And Miles to go Before I Sleep...

My yard has turned into a winter wonderland. The surrounding fields are covered with a blanket of snow and the mountains are white with icy clouds encircling them. Winter has completely taken over, and I constantly find myself staring out the window thinking of one of my favorite poems: 

Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening by Robert Frost. 

Whose woods these are I think I know.   

His house is in the village though;   

He will not see me stopping here   

To watch his woods fill up with snow.   

My little horse must think it queer   

To stop without a farmhouse near   

Between the woods and frozen lake   

The darkest evening of the year.   

He gives his harness bells a shake   

To ask if there is some mistake.   

The only other sound’s the sweep   

Of easy wind and downy flake.   

The woods are lovely, dark and deep.   

But I have promises to keep,   

And miles to go before I sleep,   

And miles to go before I sleep.

This poem has always meant so much to me. The words resonate deep inside my soul and I can swear that I've been in those snowy woods. I can see my breath rising in the coldness, I can feel the urgency from my horse. 

I love the conflict between his attraction to the woods and the pull of responsibly. In the end the traveler must refuse entering the darkness of the woods and continue his journey. I can't help but wonder what is truly in those magnificent woods. 

Robert Frost has a way of crafting poems perfectly, and each sentence seems to be made for each other. I see two versions of this poem. One is simple and literal, the other is as complex and deep as the very woods it speaks of.

So many times I have repeated the lines: But I have promises to keep, and miles to go before I sleep. And miles to go before I sleep. 

Beautiful. 

It's Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas

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I can't believe how close Christmas is! I've been trying to soak up every fun-filled, frosted day before December ends, and I've discovered a lot of different Christmas recipes and crafts.

I'm a big Pinterest fan and I love searching through different boards and finding the perfect pin.  I've posted pictures below from my Christmas board, and I hope that you can find some inspiration from these brilliant ides. (Note: I did not come up with these ideas, but I'm happy someone was kind enough to share them on Pinterest!). 

I just barely tried this one today. You use old scraps of wrapping paper to make bows. I think I'll be making these scrap bows for years. 

This idea is amazing, and I love how mine turned out. I used an old tree skirt and hot glued strips of cream colored fabric to make this beautiful ruffly one. I'd definitely recommend this one. 

Peppermint candy tray. I used red mints and made a tray for our gingerbread houses. All you do is place Starlight Mints on wax paper and put in the oven. Pretty cool, huh? 

Mmm. Peppermint ice cream. I've been eating this a lot lately, and there are several recipes to choose from on Pinterest. 

This is the simplest idea, but It looks so cute. You can hang all your Christmas cards along your stairs with clothespins. Easy! 

These are the ideas that I still want to try. I think these chocolate covered pretzels would make great neighbor gifts. 

Tomato cages upside down with garland wrapped around them. I think I'll hang on to my tomato cages and try this one next year! 

And lastly I just had to post this adorable picture that I found on Pinterest. I love Christmas at Hogwarts. Sigh. 

To find more about these pins and the bloggers that came up with the great ideas, you can find their links on my Pinterest here: http://pinterest.com/hezface/christmas/

MERRY CHRISTMAS!