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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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May 28, 2016

Weekend Wonderings

Happy weekend my friends!! What will you be up to? We’re celebrating my son’s 13th birthday today and I can be found curled up in a corner in the fetal position because I cannot believe that my baby boy is now officially a TEENAGER! Sniff…sniff…

Actually, even though it’s so bittersweet we are incredibly proud of the young man he is becoming and we have a BIG surprise trip planned for him. I’ll fill you in more on that another time.

But first, how about a little bit of inspiration to get you going on this Saturday morning?

Have you ever seen a recipe for something and wanted to eat it RIGHT.THAT.SECOND.? That’s how I felt when I saw these Raspberry Muffins from A Burst of Beautiful. I mean, seriously, these need to be baked at my house pronto!

Raspberry-Muffins-A-Burst-of-Beautiful-5

Have you ever thought that you couldn’t possibly love old shutters any more and that you’ve probably seen every use for them? Well that’s how I felt until I saw how Kim from Savvy Southern Style incorporated them into her beautiful deck makeover!

savvy southern style deck

Have you ever wondered if perhaps you have a basket addiction but then you see a totally new use for them and realize that this gives you the perfect excuse to run right out and buy another one? Well that’s how I felt when I saw this fantastic idea for turning an ordinary basket into a Party Cooler Basket from In My Own Style.

How-to-make-a-basket-into-a-cooler

Have you ever seen something in a shop and had it put a smile on your face because it was just so sweet? Well that’s how I felt when I saw this darling Cake Topper from Finding Home Farms. My girlie has a birthday coming up and I’m thinking this would be just the thing for her cake.

Happy-Day-Cake-Topper

Have you ever wondered why you took so long to purchase actual grown-up nightstands? That’s how I felt when I finally found the perfect new additions to our master bedroom and finally removed the table held up by yearbooks.

vintage books on dresser

And finally, have you ever had a wonderful reminder of the true heart of hospitality and had it remind you of just how much we need more of this in our world today? Well that’s how I felt when I read this from Life in Grace.

pinkbedevoted-700x700

I hope you have a truly wonderful holiday weekend as we honor those who have given their lives for the freedoms that we have. We have some fantastic ideas to help you get in the spirit of patriotism!

No-sew pennant banner and pillows

pennant-banner-11_thumb2

 Red, white and blue Jello Firecracker Shots

 jello-firecracker-shots-1-1024x1024

Patriotic Hand Pies

patriotic hand pies

As always, thank you so much for meeting us at the Fence and we hope you have a wonderful weekend!

5 Comments Filed Under: Crafts, Decorating, Desserts, Fourth of July, Good Ideas, Holidays, Recipes Tagged With: crafts, decorating, dessert, memorial day

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Comments

  1. Michele says

    May 28, 2016 at 3:56 AM

    A very happy birthday to your son! My little sister’s youngest just turned 13 recently so I know exactly how you feel. Congrats – it is a milestone for you both! : – )

    Great features.

    And I love your new pictures – you and your sister are two beautiful young ladies!

    Hugs – have a wonderful weekend.

    Reply
    • At The Picket Fence says

      May 29, 2016 at 2:50 PM

      Michele thank you so much for your kind words!! You are always so sweet and such an encouragement!
      Have a wonderful weekend,
      Vanessa

      Reply
  2. Martha Franks says

    May 28, 2016 at 9:40 AM

    What a delightful blog this morning! I’ve been outside working all morning and came in for lunch, which I eat in front of the computer catching up on blogs and stuff. You-and your sister- are a breath of fresh air!

    Reply
    • At The Picket Fence says

      May 28, 2016 at 8:35 PM

      Thank you so much Martha!! So glad we were apart of your morning. 🙂

      Reply
  3. Lynn Richards says

    June 3, 2016 at 6:07 PM

    I just about died laughing at the “grown up” night stands…. still don’t have them.

    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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