Blizzard...with splashes of red.

When we first purchased this house a little over a year ago, nearly every wall in the house was some shade of white or ecru. Very dull and colorless and blah. No personality, and certainly not the warmth and welcome that I like our home to speak both to our family members as well as to anybody who comes through our door. Now, this is the room that greets those who enter our home. I was very sure that I wanted out entry to be red, because it is a color that just speaks warmth and boldness and comfort and life. This shade of red--Barn Red from Sherwin Williams--is the perfect balance of red without being too shocking. By combining it with black accents--such as the antiqued black letters than combine to spell HOME and FAMILY--I have been able to create a look and a feeling that I love. Nearly every visitor to our home comments on the color and the letters, and I really hope that they feel embraced immediately.

Here is what we woke up to this morning....billowing pile upon pile of snow, with no end in sight. My only question is this: Where was all of this six weeks ago when we were all dreaming of a white Christmas? It is truly beautiful but there is SO MUCH OF IT! We actually ventured out today to have breakfast and get groceries so we could burrow into the house in our pajamas for the rest of the weekend....oh, yes, and we had to make a quick stop at the scrapbook store. I know, we are totally in a blizzard, and I had to make sure I had enough scrapbook supplies for the weekend.....I know many of you can relate! The roads were VERY bad, with several white-outs along the way, but God delivered us safely and we are planning to stay put until this mess subsides. It is so cozy to sit inside and watch the snow blow out in the fields. God's handiwork is so amazing....when I take the time to really ponder the depth and breadth of his creativity, it reminds me that everytime we create something--whether crafting a scrapbook page or building a bookshelf or cooking a meal or designing a display in our home or composing a song or writing a story--we are intersecting with the very peron and character of God. Just another reason to take the time to create every day! So, I snapped a few pictures of the snow, and I was especially drawn to the one below. If you look really closely, in the bottom right of the photo, you can see some tiny red berries. I was drawn to the stark contrast of the red with the white blankets of pillowy snow hanging on the branches. The picture really doesn't do the scene justice, but suffice it to say that it is gorgeous in our little piece of the world today. Church has already been cancelled for tomorrow, so we are planning to watch some movies and play a few games tonight, sleep in tomorrow, do a little scrapbooking, throw in a batch of my husband's infamous nacho cheese crock pot dip, and gear up for the SuperBowl. My husband--who is a football coach and basically lives and breathes football--looked at me today and said, "What if we lose our cable and can't see the SuperBowl?" OK, so we won't even go there. Good Saturday night from the land of endless snowdrifts, swirling snow, and chilly temps. My footballs and snowflakes dance in your heads tonight.....