homemade with love...

My older sister, Rachel, LOVES making things from scratch.  For this, along with many other things, I admire her.  
Most of her family's food is made from scratch and almost every gift she gives was made with her own two hands (or the hands of one or more of her five children).  I love spending time with her and mulling over creative ideas with her.  
Our baby sister recently got married and Rachel knit a beautiful green afghan for her and her husband.  Thus began the afghan wedding gift tradition.  The afghan is the inspiration for this blog post. 

This is a picture of the gift that Rachel is knitting for me and my fiancee, Caleb, for our wedding.  I can't wait to see the completed project and was blown away by the number of stitches involved and how much time and energy Rachel spends working on it.  
What inspires me even more than the generosity of putting her fingers to sleep numerous times a day on a project like this is that she does these things for other people.  She isn't slaving over these potential heirlooms for herself.  She works day and night, creating beautiful works of art, then turns around and passes them on.  
Because of this inspiration, I've decided to pay it forward.  This year, once a month, I will be making something from scratch and sending it on to someone I care about.  Be ye warned, because, while we may share a somewhat similar sense of humor and ability to make grandma rolls disappear in the blink of an eye, I do not share her natural ability to make beautiful/delicious/practical items from scratch.  I will give it my best shot and hope to inspire others along the way.