I have a confession.  After I snapped this picture, I went running back into the house for warmer clothes.

Most of the mountains around here look about like this:

No.  I’m lying.

That’s actually a picture I took last June when Martin and I got back to the United States.

Yes – that is a normal June 20th photo around here.

Here’s what it actually looks like today with the “midget” mountains as opposed to the ones in the June picture:

Meanwhile, I guess most of you are looking at scenes like this one I snapped in Berlin last April, right?

Well you guys are just weird. (wink)

April is supposed to look like this when you wake up sometimes:

You’re supposed to expect snow at your high school graduation party in June.  (And yes – my brother and I both got it!)

This is spring in the Rocky Mountains up here.  There are no flowers.  No leaves on the trees.  No green grass.  Nadda.

It’s beautiful.  I would not have it any other way.

You always, ALWAYS wave at cars you pass on the rural roads.  It’s a very natural wave + head nod.  I think it gives away the city folks.

Poor Martin still doesn’t have it down!  Oh – but he rocks the “Howdy!”

We went to our favorite little restaurant the other night; it’s a rustic old cabin turned restaurant that’s heated with two big fireplaces.  There was a band there, rocking out with a banjo and harmonica.  The creek alongside the cafe is completely frozen.  I think we had to brake for deer about 30 times on the way over there.

One of the guys we were meeting up with said, “I think I’ve seen more deer here than people.”

He’s right.

This lifestyle is totally natural and awesome.  It’s the friendliest and strongest people you’ve ever seen – and believe me.  I’ve lived in “a few” different places.

It really all just comes down to loving where you live.  And we loooove it here no matter the cold and snow.

I added to my wardrobe again.

This project is actually a no-sew one that I whipped up before Martin was even awake on Saturday morning.  It’s super easy.

Yep – they’re just some simple fabric flowers on my jackets.  Summer evenings get chilly around here (and did I mention we’re still getting snow? ha!).  I figure it’s a good investment… although I’m not quite sold on the gray flower/green jacket combo.

All you need is fabric, scissors, glue, and a pin or clip for the back.  I used some knit scraps – like from an old t-shirt – for these flowers.  You could use wool, corduroy, or any other fabric.  It’s so perfect for scraps!

Cut out a circle of fabric (about 1/12 inches or 4 cm in diameter).  It doesn’t have to be perfect because you’ll never see it.

Draw a flower shape on a scrap of paper.  Mine is about 3 inches (7.5 cm) tall for these flowers.  Cut it out and use it for a template to make 6 to 8 fabric flowers:

Fold the flowers in half, then in half or thirds again like this:

Snip a little bit off the center of the flower (under my thumb in the picture).  It makes gluing so much easier.

Cover your little circle in glue (I use tacky glue).  Then press the snipped center of each flower onto the circle.  Keep adding more and more little flowers until the whole thing looks like a big bloom.

When the bloom is dry, sew or glue a pin or clip onto the back.  Seriously – that’s it.

I thought I’d head out to see what all the neighbors think before I head to town this afternoon.

And there’s me squinting at the camera, thinking, “Huh!  Who’s hogging the limelight here?!”  So much for attempting to make a smile the signature today!

Wouldn’t these be fun in the hair of a little girl, too?

(Linking up with what i wore wednesday and what’s up wednesday)

I decided I want to have a signature look. All the great women of history have. There’s Jacqueline Bouvier Kennedy’s incredible style. Elizabeth Taylor had her diamonds and gems. My 10th grade English teacher had a different pin on her sweater every day. The girl sitting next to me painted her nails a different color each day. Me? I think I’m going to go with this:

No it’s not the paper hat or the chocolate ice cream-covered cheeks.  It’s also not the crooked bangs because I wouldn’t keep still for my poor mom and her scissors.  I mean, those do look pretty cute, but it’s just not quite what I had in mind.

I want my signature to be a big smile and a warm face.

It costs the least.  It never goes out of fashion.  And for some reason, people really like it.

I remember sitting in German class in Berlin last spring.  We’d all brought photos of our families to share during a break.  Everyone chatted about the clothing styles of the Russian families and what was going on in the pictures of Vietnamese and Polish families.  It was awesome!  Then I pulled out my photos.  Everyone started laughing.

“What?” I kept asking.  ”What?”

“They’re just soooooo American,” everyone told me in German.

I had a puzzled look.  My forehead wrinkled up, and I just looked at the pictures of my family just doing our thing.  ”What do you mean?” I asked.

“You’re all smiling.”

My forehead was still wrinkled.  ”Yeah,” I said.  ”We’re happy.  Of course we’re smiling.”

(me in red with a classmate)

My husband, Martin, and I have always had a running joke that no matter were we go, someone always asks me for directions or to take photographs for them.  The funniest is when they’d start asking me in German, and I’d have to shoot a nervous glance toward Martin.  ”Help!”  He’s returned from getting tickets or our lunch to find someone chatting with (or at!) me.

I started carrying a map everywhere I went in Berlin just so I could answer questions.  It’s actually been one of the best ways to practice German!

So you know what?  Clothes and accessories can really be empowering.  (They can also be just as frustrating and discouraging – anyone else struggle with what to wear this morning?!)  But every single day, if you stand tall, you’re going to carry a sense of happiness and confidence that clothes might not be able to offer. After all, who do you ask for help?  You probably don’t pick based on who looks the most stylish.  You’re looking in their faces and in their eyes, right?

And well, if you’re looking at me, I’ve got a map! ;)

Our family stopped buying new clothes in May 2008.  It’s been the greatest lifestyle change we’ve ever made.  Check out the entire No New Clothes Challenge here.

Imagine we’re sitting down for coffee.  We’re laughing and chatting about life.  You – presumably – are telling me about how beautiful and spring-like it is where you live.  I smile.  I try to tuck my down coat behind me so that you don’t see that – yes – I’m still wearing it.  I’m still catching snowflakes with my tongue!

I love having coffee with friends.  Don’t you wish you and I could do this in real life?

Sooner or later, the conversation shifts to my little world.  We talk about my passion for journaling.  You ask me a little about Gadanke.  I light up, and I tell you this:

On Journal Keeping : Celebrate Your Story from Gadanke on Vimeo.

Just a few notes on what I’m yacking about:

• why you rock ;)
• a surprising person in history who wrote about how her story wasn’t anything important
• heaps of my old journals and how they were a complete failure of telling my story
• my grandma’s failed attempt to write her story about college in the 1930s
• …followed by the challenge that forever changed the way I became a memory keeper
• journaling with a focus on self and heart
• awesomeness that you just have to hang onto

Oh – and here’s something else exciting!  Winners of the $40 gift certificates to the Gadanke journal shop are:

• Kristin – I am following on twitter!
• Tabitha – love the prayer book! (if we are being honest, i like all of them!) :)

Thanks for almost 500 entries, all.  We’ll do it again. ;)

So let’s sit down and chat again some time, okay?  I’d love to hear a few stories.  Maybe about popsicles?  I was the kid with the orange mouth.  How ’bout you?

That’s right.  There’s another kitchen item that you don’t need.

(Now there’s a start that could lead to thousands of devices.  Automated orange peeler, anyone?)

Well this time, the useless kitchen gizmo just happens to be one that I have:

I bought this hand-held juicer with a yellow handle years ago.  The spoon comes with the tire house.

We moved to Germany, and I had every intention of buying another little juicer there.  But I couldn’t find one.

To make matters worse, the weather was sunny and warm.  I just wanted a cold glass of lemonade.  But they don’t have that, either.

So I jumped on my bike and headed down the cobblestone roads to the grocery store.  I fell in love with making homemade lemonade (it’s soooo easy with that recipe).  I also figured out how to use a spoon to squeeze out the lemon juice.

In fact, a spoon works better than that special little hand-held juicer. You use it in the exact same way, scrapping the spoon along the inside of your fruit’s peel over a bowl that catches the juice.

Did you know that?

The simplicity of using a spoon for juicing is a lot like the gadget-free salad spinner we adore at our house – sometimes it’s the sort of trick that you just know. And sometimes, you just don’t.

So the only question now is:  who wants that plastic juicer sitting on my counter?

One year ago, I was nervously preparing for the German integration exam in Berlin, Germany.  I was still overcoming little language victories – trying to return something at the store, answering the telephone.

I was also stepping back, listening to my heart, and asking that age old question: “Now what?!”

My writing prompt journal shop was a fun little side business I was doing on etsy.  The responses I was receiving were humble and beautiful.  Stories were being recorded.  Lives were being celebrated.

There was that nudge.  The whispers to grow this shop and help celebrate stories were everywhere I turned.  And slowly, last April, I decided to fly.  Gadanke was born.

How time flies!

Today, my German guy and I are in the rural Rocky Mountains of the US.  It’s still snowing.  And, well, I guess we keep on flying. ;)

I learned to fly in 2009… while writing the very first journal now at Gadanke.

We’re living in a house made out of hundreds of recycled tires.  We’re carving out a handmade, simple home for ourselves. And Gadanke?  Well let’s just say it’s time to share the goodness and the pure joy.

I want to give TWO of you $40 gift certificates to Gadanke.  YEAH!

The shop is filled with handmade prayer journals, travel books, personal diaries, love letters, gratitude journals, doodle lists, and the ever-adored baby books.

I love the loose bindings – it’s so easy to add photos, postcards, and letters.

There are writing prompts, old school library cards, 100% recycled pages, and papers from Germany and Italy…

And receiving a green business award from my governor!

What are some of the stories you’d like to write down?

* * * GIVEAWAY NOW CLOSED * * *

To enter:
Please visit Gadanke and tell me in the comments below which journal you love most.

For extra entries (leave a comment for each):
Follow me on Twitter – @makingthishome
Like Gadanke on Facebook
Subscribe to Making This Home via RSS

Note:
Giveaway is open worldwide.  Ends Thursday, April 7, 2011 at 11:59 MDT.  Winners announced Saturday.

Good luck!

* * * GIVEAWAY NOW CLOSED * * *