Happy New Year's Eve!

Our Year...in Pies

As 2017 draws to a close, it's time for my annual "year in pies." (See 2016 and 2015 here).  Along with the following month-to-month pie pics, I'm also including a few extra photos plus a really fun "contest" at the end, one that could earn you the coveted spot atop our January pie!

JANUARY: Commemorating the New Year!

_____

FEBRUARY: A Valentine's Day pie for my sweetie, my husband John.

John on our February trip to Wilmington, NC

_____

MARCH: A pie for St. Patty's Day, which also happens to be my birthday. :)

Celebrating my birthday in NYC, where I got to meet actor Dakin Matthews, who played Headmaster Charleton in Gilmore Girls. Fun!

_____

APRIL: An edible 1040 form, perfect for tax day.

_____

MAY: April showers bring May flowers...

...including this magnolia blossom, spotted outside my hotel on a May visit to Louisiana.

_____

JUNE: Celebrating my daughter Emily, who earned her master's degree from the University of North Carolina, Wilmington

The happy graduate with her sister Lauren

_____

JULY: Fourth of July pie!

_____

AUGUST: John made this one, in honor of the big eclipse.

Belle, watching the eclipse through safety glasses. ;)

_____

SEPTEMBER: This pie was in honor of our visit to Scotland. 

The trip was actually a few months earlier, but I was finally getting around to organizing all our photos in September and felt like commemorating with a pie my favorite of the various countries we visited.  (We also got to Iceland, Sweden, Finland, Russia, Estonia, and Latvia, all of which we loved, but Scotland was my personal favorite.)

John, Lauren, and Emily pausing for a pose in the Scottish Highlands

_____

OCTOBER: There's nothing like turning in a completed manuscript. (Though I guess it's not one of my better pies, because my hubby thought the book on the crust was a headstone! Yikes!)

_____

NOVEMBER: This pie is all about fall.

Belle enjoying the November leaves

_____

DECEMBER: I made this one to celebrate our first snowfall of the season.

Belle in the snow

_____

And there you have it, our year in pies. Hope you enjoyed looking at them as much as we enjoyed eating them!

A Pie Made in Your Honor

Answer the following question in a comment below and, just for fun, I'll pick a winner and create a pie in your honor. You won't actually get to eat it, but I will post a picture of it here and on Facebook along with your name and the event it's commemorating! (Deadline to post a comment is midnight on New Year's Eve.)

So here's the question: What event from YOUR life this past year deserves a pie? 

Merry Christmas!

Serenity Sunday

Adventure in Christmas Village, Part 2

Welcome back for Part 2 of Adventure in Christmas Village, along with a special bonus, a fun new list for book lovers.

First Things First

If you read last Wednesday’s post, you probably caught Adventure in Christmas Village Part 1, which ended on a cliffhanger. Now here's the second half of the story, Adventure in Christmas Village Part 2:  

And there you have it, the totally random and silly tale I came up with for my village this year. Hope you enjoyed it! 

Now for the real fun…

Since we’re on the topic of Christmas Villages, I thought I'd share my picks of favorite village accessories for readers like you and me. Enjoy!

1. A big book sale

2. Charles Dickens at a book signing

3. A man reading to a child

4. A Little Free Library

5. A boy reading a book

6. A newsstand

7. The Corner Bookshop

8. Boz’s Books

9. The Jefferson Library

10. The house from Little Women

11. The house from Tom Sawyer

12. The house from The Great Gatsby

Bonus Accessory

FYI, for those who asked where to get an Amish family for their village, I couldn't find one like I have in mine, but I did run across this on amazon (though as of today there’s only one left, so it may not still be available):

Christmas is Just Around the Corner

That’s it for my venture into Christmas Villages. I hope you enjoyed it—and that you find much peace and joy as we near our Savior’s birthday. Have a lovely Christmas, and thanks for watching!