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At The Picket Fence with Vanessa Hunt

Where Ideas for your Home Meet Inspiration for your Heart

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December 29, 2014

Our Best of 2014

Let’s all say it together shall we? FASTEST YEAR EVER! Seriously, folks, is it just us or did this year literally fly by?

I'll Have A Blue Christmas 1

Anyone else find themselves on Christmas Eve having that panicky moment where you look around and think to yourself, “wait, is it actually Christmas Eve right now? Wasn’t it just Easter?” 😉 You’ve been shopping and decorating and baking and wrapping all season long and yet somehow you feel totally perplexed as to how you actually got to this point in the year.

Please tell us we aren’t the only ones! 😉

So, we thought maybe we would take a look back through a year’s worth of blog posts in an effort to help us feel like this year really DID happen and we really DID get things done because right now we feel as though we have been turned into a big ball of post-Christmas mush and we can’t recall what actually occurred over the past 365 days.

Apparently there were some crafts and home decor projects…

Valentine’s Day Party Poppers

5 minute valentine's day poppers

 Tween Boy Bedroom Makeover

wall light mounted on headboard over bed

Blue and White Home Decor Ideas

How to decorate with blue

 DIY Iron Grate Mirror

DIY iron grate mirror from atthepicketfence.com

 

Homemade Lilac Room Spray

homemade lilac room spray

DIY Wall Plate Rack

plate rack on wall in kitchen atthepicketfence.com

And supposedly there were some yummy recipes…

Nutella Hand Pies for Valentine’s Day

Nutella and Blackberry Valentine's Day Hand Pies

Key Lime Pie Dessert Shots 

Key Lime Pie Shots

Lemon Crème Brûlée

Lemon-creme-brulee atthepicketfence.com

We know for a fact which was our most important makeover this year…

Weight Loss Journey 

Heather weight loss 10 months

 We also know that we shared with you from our hearts…

The Holy Spirit Made Me Do It

cherry blossoms

 We have no doubt that this next year will go just as quickly. There will be successes and failures, good days and bad ones. There will be all of the highs and lows that make each year a crazy roller coaster in which we find ourselves strapped in and holding on for dear life.

new year

This fresh new year is filled with possibilities…with opportunities and endless choices.

Some will be small and simple and others will be life changing.

Over this fresh new year hangs a giant question mark. It can be so overwhelming to stare down the barrel at the next 365 days and know that while there are things we know are coming, there are so many other things that we aren’t prepared for.

But, the one thing we do know is that we have a God who knows what is coming in the next 12 months, 52 weeks, 365 days, 8,765 hours and 525,949 minutes.

And we trust Him with every last one of the 31, 536,000 seconds in that year.

We hope you know how very much you all mean to us. Our lives change and shift and we don’t know exactly what you will see each week here At the Picket Fence in 2015. There will always be plenty of ideas for your home, but our deepest desire is to provide inspiration for your hearts. You see, when we look back at this past year, we count YOU among greatest blessings. And we want to get to know you better. We want you to share your lives with us as we share ours with you.

So, buckle up friends. We’re all on this roller coaster ride together and we wouldn’t have it any other way!

Happy New Year!

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7 Comments Filed Under: Good Ideas

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Comments

  1. Shirley@Housepitality Designs says

    December 29, 2014 at 6:19 AM

    Loved all of your projects of home decor, recipes, and posts from the heart in 2014….looking forward to another great year of enjoying your inspiration of home and heart!…

    Reply
  2. martina says

    December 29, 2014 at 7:10 AM

    You girls had an awesome year filled with fabulous projects and inspiring posts…looking forward to seeing what you have planned for 2015!! Wishing you both all the best in 2015!!

    Reply
  3. dee says

    December 29, 2014 at 8:45 AM

    I’ve so enjoyed your blog and I only found it a couple of months ago . . . so I can’t wait to see what you share with us in 2015 😉

    Reply
  4. Sami says

    December 29, 2014 at 9:09 AM

    It has been a time warp for me. One day I was having my tree put up and now…well…I feel like Christmas was two weeks ago. I will maintain for the twelve days though. Probably longer if I’m truthful since one of my biggest fans hasn’t seen my tree yet.

    Reply
  5. Julia G. says

    December 29, 2014 at 10:38 AM

    The year has gone very quickly for me. Thank you both for posting and sharing your lives with us readers. You have encouraged and inspired me this past year. God’s blessings to you both in the coming 12 months, 52 weeks, 365 days, 8,765 hours and 525,949 minutes and 31,536,000 seconds!

    Reply
  6. laura@top this top that says

    December 30, 2014 at 4:16 AM

    Happy New Year guys!

    Reply
  7. Pamela says

    December 30, 2014 at 7:53 AM

    Happy New Year gals!

    Reply

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I've been watching our cherry trees bloom for 12 y I've been watching our cherry trees bloom for 12 years now and every year I ohhhh and ahhhh over the blossoms like it's the first time I've ever seen them. I gush and I take photos (that look exactly like the ones I took the year before and the year before that) and I make my family come outside and look at them with me which you know they just LOVE to do. 😉 I think that is one of the main reasons why I love spring so much. On the one hand, it's predictable and yet, on the other hand, it still feels like such a surprise after the long months of barren branches.

And yesterday, as I was staring at the gorgeous blossoms for the umpteenth time, I couldn't help but think that I hope this is how I feel when our lives return to some semblance of normalcy.

I hope that the predictable feels special and that the typical feels anything but. I hope that I ohhh and ahhh over the simple things I've realized I've taken for granted. And, most of all, I hope that feeling doesn't go away for a very, very long time! 💗
Are you living with great expectation friends? Bec Are you living with great expectation friends? Because He is risen!

Happy Easter from my home to yours!
Lemon bars all ready for tomorrow! It’s going to Lemon bars all ready for tomorrow! It’s going to be a different kind of Easter for sure but some things don’t change. Have you been baking and getting ready for tomorrow? What’s one thing on your menu that you have to have every year?
If this is Good Friday, why doesn’t it feel so “good”? It all seems backward doesn’t it?

What could be good about the unspeakable pain he suffered? What could be good about the shame and betrayal?

Easter Sunday is so joyful, bright and cheery. Shouldn’t that be the day we call “good”? It just feels so much better!

But, I don’t know how to rejoice over His resurrection, unless I have felt the pain of His death. I have realized that in life the sweetest victories are the ones which were realized after a pain-filled journey.

And, so it is with Good Friday. I know there will be victory over death, but I can’t skip ahead in the story.

Jesus knew what was coming. He knew what he would experience. And he knew why he would go through it. He did it for me. He did it for you.

Do you know that? Have you felt it down in the very core of your soul? 
Sometimes it makes me squirm a bit. Why would anyone do that for me?

Well, because, I can’t do it for myself!

There is nothing I can do to earn that kind of love and mercy.

That is why it is called GRACE.

His grace is freely given. We don’t have to pay for it. He paid the price for us already.

Do you remember that movie from years ago called “Ransom”? A couple’s young son was kidnapped and the parents went to hell and back trying to find him and pay the “ransom” demanded by the kidnappers.

Well, Jesus is our “ransom”. (1 Timothy 2:6) His life was the payment.

Why is it called “Good Friday”? Because that wasn’t the end of the story….
.
…It was just the beginning!
Raise your hand if there’s a table in your house Raise your hand if there’s a table in your house that’s become the landing zone for ALL THE THINGS! 🙋🏻‍♀️🤪 I’ve never been more thankful for our rarely used dining room table as it’s become command central for school books and laptops and games.

Where are things collecting in your house right now?
“Sighing, tears, frustration, anger.” Every si “Sighing, tears, frustration, anger.” Every single one of these emotions has made their way through our home in recent days and, my guess is, they have in your home too.

I SO needed this reminder today from the new book ‘Adore’ by @sarahagertywrites.

Adoration isn’t just sitting at His feet gazing longingly with stars in my eyes. It’s bringing my fears and my sorrows and gray roots in my hair that desperately needs to be colored and my messy house and all of the things that threaten to send me over the edge right now and laying them down before Him, soaking up His word and His presence so that when I stand back up, I am changed for having spent the time adoring the ONE who is... Healer, comforter, peace-giver, deliverer, redeemer.

What do you need to bring to Him today? I’ll share mine in the comments and I’d love to hear from you too!
I’ve always loved evenings, but since this whole I’ve always loved evenings, but since this whole lockdown thing began, I’ve come to appreciate this time of day even more.

It feels the most...normal. Daytime is strange and foreign right now. My husband has taken over our home office, I’m suddenly taking over the responsibility of managing my kids’ distance learning and let me just say that teaching 7th grade algebra to my daughter is hugely ironic since I struggled with math all the way through school. I’m trying to do my own work but it feels utterly futile with the constant interruptions which take precedence right now. In the daytime, I’m constantly reminded of how upside down life feels.

But, in the evening, I cook dinner like I’ve always done and we gather around the table like we’ve always done and we laugh and tell stories and then clean up and play games or go on a walk or watch a show. And that feels SO gloriously normal.

So now I love evenings even more than I ever did before and I’m so grateful for this little chunk of time where the rhythms we established years ago are helping to sustain us now when so much of life feels outside of our control.

What feels ‘normal’ to you right now? Whatever it is, keep doing it. 🌿
When I was in college I would frequently call home When I was in college I would frequently call home and pour my heart out to my mom, sharing with her all that was happening in my life in that completely unfiltered way that you can talk with the person who potty trained you. These phone calls usually took place at night and my mom would patiently listen as I vented frustrations about professors, roommates, boyfriends and the food in the cafeteria. And, inevitably, they would end with my mom saying, “Everything seems worse when you’re tired. Try not to overthink things or make any major decisions tonight, especially when you are feeling emotional.” Dear friends, may I pass along this advice to you today?

If you don’t absolutely HAVE to make a decision right now, I want to encourage you to wait until life gets back to normal. If you are finding yourself over-analyzing relationships and family dynamics, I want to encourage you to remember that everything seems more dramatic when looked at under a microscope. And, let’s face it, being homebound with our loved ones non-stop makes us all feel like lab rats in an experiment.

If you are tempted to quit a job, start a business, start homeschooling permanently, stop homeschooling permanently, move to a new city, buy a farm, quit pursuing your dream, join a commune or make any other major life decision just…wait. Because, if it is in fact the right decision, it will be made even clearer once our lives return to their ‘regularly scheduled programming’. Instead, in this strange season, let’s all just take a deep, collective breath and let it out slowly, releasing the anxiety that threatens to overtake us. Let’s help each other maintain some perspective and not slip into a posture of over-thinking every little thing in our lives. Let’s remember that the enemy of our souls would love nothing more than to use this time when things feel dark to manipulate us into thinking that aspects of our lives are worse than they actually are.

My prayer for you in these days is that you will have the clarity to know what is true and that you will be filled with peace even while we live in this season of so many unknowns.
Raise your hand if you’re doing more baking thes Raise your hand if you’re doing more baking these days! 🙋🏻‍♀️ I’m trying to avoid gaining the #corona15 but my daughter and I LOVE baking together and it does help to pass the time plus it counts as a science lesson right?

If you’re able to find flour in the stores (for the love people please stop overbuying!) and you’re doing more baking at your house too you need to add this apricot bread to your list of new recipes to try!

Normally I’d point you to my blog for the directions but I’m going to do you a solid and leave the full recipe in the comments.

What have you baked so far during this time of social distancing? I’d love some new ideas!
There are a LOT of people out walking in our neigh There are a LOT of people out walking in our neighborhood right now (but still social distancing!) and she decided that she wanted to bring them some joy and put a smile on their face when they pass by our house. Also, the square with ‘say no to coronavirus’ is priceless. 😂 I just love her so much!
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