Thankful Hearts!

Happy Thanksgiving!

We had a small Thanksgiving this year, with just our family and my older sister's husband and baby, Elisabeth, but it was a relaxing, refreshing, enjoyable, and blessed day! 

Amber's beautiful Apple Pie!

Psalm 107:22 And let them sacrifice the sacrifices of thanksgiving, and declare his works with rejoicing.

Psalm 116:17 I will offer to thee the sacrifice of thanksgiving, and will call upon the name of the Lord.

Reliving the Civil War

Grammy and Grampy took me to Chattanooga area in search of as many Civil War sites as we could find! We had a great time, and enjoyed walking the sites of some crucial battles in American history! We took our time and enjoyed reading all the plaques and writings along the way, so we didn't have time to see everything there was in the area! We still learned a lot and enjoyed the day! Now that is my kind of studying!

A lovely view from the side of the highway on our way to Chattanooga.

Yes, I was cold!

A view of the Tennessee River from the top of Lookout Mt.

Entrance to Point Park on top of Lookout Mt.

An electronic 3D map of the Battles of Chattanooga! What an amazing presentation! So much better than just reading about it!

Cravens House. First controlled by the Confederates, but soon taken for Union officers

"Mr. and Mrs. Craven"

Maybe a Confederate soldier once crouched behind this rock reloading his rifle as the Union army pushed their way up to overtake Lookout Mt.

Invitation to the President's House!

Ok, so I wasn't exactly invited to the Presidents house... but we were welcomed to tour it (for a small fee, of course!)! After Grammy and Grampy picked me up at the airport in Nashville we stopped at President Andrew Jackson's house, The Hermitage. I thoroughly enjoyed our tour as we strolled through his garden, peeked into the old slave cabins, explored his mansion, and trekked his grounds! Though he was president before the Civil War and did have some impact on the events that lead up to the war not much about him will be on my test, but it was still a great way to spend the afternoon! The only problem was... I was freezing! I don't know what I was thinking but I hardly brought more than my jean jacket and a sweatshirt... I could have used my winter jacket... and gloves! :) I guess I thought I was going South so it would be warmer, and it is, but just not as warm as I had hoped!

Entrance to The Hermitage

Smoke house

Dish design that President Washington chose

Back of the Hermitage

Slave cabin

Andrew and Rachal Jackson's grave site

"The General's" headstone

The view of the house from the garden 

Family and close friend cemetery in the garden

Inside the slave cabin.  20x20 living quarters!

The house that the Jackson's moved into before The Hermitage was built, they later became slave cabins.

A "sample" field of cotton. 

Up close cotton plant

Almost Opposites!

My journeys continue... to TN!

When I was in Japan, my host family offered me their sky miles to book a round trip flight somewhere. The list of possible destinations was rather long! (I’ve got the traveling bug!) I decided to visit my grandparents in TN for a week! Japan and TN are extreme contrasts, and, even though I'm still not sure which side of the road I should be on, are introducing me to new sights, sounds, and thoughts! I've been to TN before, but it was many years ago and I hardly remember the trip! I'm so thankful for this opportunity to get to know my grandparents better and get a taste of what life on a farm is like! A bonus feature of my trip destination and timing is all the Civil War battle sites and museums! I'm currently studying the Civil War to prepare for the DSST exam!

Here are some pictures of the farm my grandparents live on. They just moved here recently so they are in the process of building barns, putting up fences, etc., but it's still beautiful! 

View of the house from half-way up the hill

Chickens and Roosters!

The woodshed on the left and the old tobacco barn on the right

The horses! I don't have a picture of them, but they also have 4 cows in there.

Kallan and Kenzie! Very big babies! 

The skittish Belties (Belted cows)!

Inside the old tobacco barn

Old trucks!!!

A few "flowers" can survive these frigid climates! (I've been freezing the entire trip thus far! I don't get it! I'm supposed to be a thick-blooded Northern girl.... but I'm just not! At least I'm not thick-blooded!)

Sewing Alterations Experiments...

Though I never blogged about it, I had a lot of opportunities to sew in Japan! (Maybe I did blog about that...?) Mrs. Winters helped me and taught me a few new skirt and culotte patterns and tricks and tips to sewing! I'm so thankful to her for this! :) Being able to sew (clothes, household items, quilts, etc) is a life goal of mine, and I am excited to be working toward accomplishing this goal!

I have always greatly admired my Memere who, I believe, posses great crafting skill and expertise! It was she who inspired me (perhaps unwittingly) to "go at" some of my clothes with my seam ripper, scissors, and sewing machine! I had a blast last night altering a skirt, a hooded shirt, and some PJ pants. After I did these, I ran up to my room to see what else I could alter!

Of course... I forgot to take "before and after" pictures... but maybe I'll remember to next time! I took a pleated panel out of the front of the skirt and sewed a straight seam instead (it's hard to explain, but the skirt looked almost like culottes, so I took that piece out, which removed the under pleat, and sewed the two sides together).

The shirt was just way to baggy on me... which is why it has been sitting in my drawer for a few years, untouched. So, I put it on inside out, Mom pinned it where I would sew, then I took it off, drew a line, and sewed both sides to take in the tons of excess material that made me look so frumpy! Viola! Cute shirt that I no longer have to get rid of because it fits!

For the PJ pants... I cut the old waist band off and just made a new elastic casing and stuck a new elastic in it! Someone... please get me a Staples 'easy' button! :)

Blessings!

I May Just Be Biased...

But my niece is ADORABLE! Here is the evidence!

I love that little smirk!

She looks so much like my cousin Chloe!

Modeling her Ukata from Japan!

I love the big pink bow!!!

Laughing at her Mommy!

Happy Girl!

My little sis, Dani

Concentrating on the leaf!

Got it!

"Is it ok if I eat this, Mom?"

"Don't mind me, I'm just gonna snack on this leaf!"

Amazing Autumn Colors!

Sleepy girl after all those pictures! (This is one of my favorites!)

My little niece, Elisabeth, is a blessing from God! I can't wait to teach her about Jesus Christ and help her learn to love and follow Him!