It's been 7 months now since we moved to Brightwood Oregon. The first 5 months or so we hardly had any rain, and apparently it was one of the biggest droughts since the 80's? Don't quote me on that, but either way...it was soo dry and there was quite a bit of sunshine. Our house is covered by at least 15 or so Cedars and Douglas firs...which means our house is shaded! Any glimmer of sunshine is like finding the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow. I've recently decided that finding the perfect home feels a lot like dating. Now, don't get me wrong...I absolutely LOVE where we live. I love our much smaller house, our vaulted ceilings, I love how cozy our home is and that we get to live in the woods... I love our house so much that the thought of not having this house for the rest of my life makes me really sad. With that said, I don't feel like I could live here the rest of my life. Even if it was large enough to suit a family of 6 [assuming we had 4 kids or something] it's just with the abundance of so much shade and lack of sunlight, compared to our last house in centerville that had soo much sunlight, i've learned from these two homes we've lived in that I need as much natural light as possible.  Next summer we hope to cut down a few of the trees in the front to bring in more light...

On a related note, when I got my levels checked a couple months ago [for my Hashimotos] apparently my vitamin D levels were very very low, since then i've been taking Vitamin D gummies and I actually notice a significant change in my mental well being. :) So if you're like us, living under a canopy of trees, do not neglect your vitamin D. This will help combat your lack of sunshine. 

So, this now brings me one of my favorite things: S N O W. This morning I was asking myself why I like snow so much, what is this hold it has over me? And I realized that it is because it's light in tangible form...well, till it melts. :) Snow light is very different from regular sunlight...all that whiteness, and making forts, snowmen, snowballs, sledding, skiing, snowshoeing, etc. it provides activity, but if you prefer to stay indoors, it's the prettiest winter accessory to admire from afar. This sounds like and Ode to Snow...lol what am I getting at? I miss snow, i'm having snow withdrawls and i'm sure this is because of all the wintery photos I have been looking at the past couple weeks due to getting into the holiday "designing" spirit. :-p 

Our side yard at our old house in Centerville... 

After we would get a pretty blanket of snow, I would go out and photograph everything around our yard...using it as inspiration for my artwork, and to also add faces to.  Look at how the snow perfectly formed little white cashmere beanies for our fence posts.... they looked more content after that.

My love for light honey colored wood, all things white and red is reflected here in the front yard... I miss that cute round red door! so cheery. :-[)  I don't know if you can see the Santa face hanging on the door?

Here's a closer pic.  This was a holiday Tradition I started 3 years ago...making Santa's out of baskets [part of my ongoing basket face series] This year I plan to make 5 to give to family and friends...it's all about finding the perfect shallow basket or basket lid! 

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Yesterday I made one of my favorite cookie recipes: Crispy/Chewy Chocolate Mint cookies and as usual, they turned out perfect...because they are the EASIEST cookies to make! The recipe I used is here. I did two kinds, one batch I used the Andes thin mints and the other batch I used the Andes peppermint white chocolate mints... If Roxy Marj had a national cookie, it would be this one!