30 December 2013

hello monday

hello week of december 30th
hello last few days of 2013
hello to more time with friends and family
hello to board games and puzzles
hello to collard greens and blackeyed peas
hello to a fresh crafting year
hello to books and movies
hello to lots of discussion and planning for 2014 with the Chosen One

hello to my glorious life

what are saying hello to as one year ends and another begins?

28 December 2013

Sharing on Saturdays



Wow! The last Saturday of 2014! Usually it takes me well into February before I am completely good at writing the new year but for some odd reason for the last month 2014 has been inserting itself into both my writing and speech. I'll just take that as excitement for what lies ahead.

Do What You Love For Life Logo

I have joined the New Year's Revolution.
"Are you ready to make major changes in your life? Do you want to look ahead to 2014 with excitement and anticipation? Do you want to make it the year you finally do what you love? If so read on because this is for you
Doing what you love doesn’t happen overnight. It is an attitude, and a way of life, and it takes courage and boldness to make the tough decisions which let you get there. It also takes thought and planning, so we have created this special gift to help you on your way.‘New Year’s Revolution: A practical kit to help you make 2014 the year you do what you love’ is a FREE 24-page PDF to help you extract the good from 2013, look ahead and shape your 2014 into the year you want it to be. It includes a powerful technique to help you make dreams into reality, and make your ideas happen."
Pop over here to download your free copy and to learn more.

I have found several cute and free pdfs to use for New Year's Eve or Day journaling.
This is one is offered over at Somewhat Simple

NewYear1


There is no known creator for this one  

New year


and you know I love this

Have a resolution photo booth.

have family and guests commit in a photo


Enjoy your last few days of 2013!



26 December 2013

On the First Day of Christmas


So, I am not sure how the 12 days of Christmas turned into being the 12 days leading up to Christmas. I guess somehow it became a mix of  the Advent calendar and a reason to build up anticipation of the big day. The 12 days of Christmas are actually the 12 days between Christ's birth, Christmas Day, December 25th and the coming of the Magi, Epiphany, January 6th. Some have tried to attribute Christian coding into the song The Twelve Days of Christmas but there is no evidence there is any religious symbolism in the song and no mention of it until the 1990s.

 I am celebrating the 12 days for the Chosen One. He'll have a gift to open each day but the gift may not be material, it may ......... what if this is one of those rare occasions he reads the blog..... those kinds of things.  I have 12 boxes all ready but still need to decide on exactly what a few gifts will be. 
What I do know is that they will be selfless gifts, they will be gifts of time and love because he deserves them.

Here's a link to the free printable tags I found.

I had this post waiting in auto post for tonight and during the day read a friend's FB post on leaving her tree up and the same topic along with a link to good info about the 12 days of Christmas. Loved one of the comments left by her friend, Susan " There is a lot to be said for waiting until a couple days before Christmas to put up a cut tree. society has it backwards; if we spent more time observing the anticipation of Christmas (Advent) and savored Christmas between December 25 and January 6, we wouldn't be tired of it by December 26!" Oh and like her, I keep my tree up until January 6th, Epiphany or "Old Christmas" as my Mama would call it.

Leave some suggestions in the comments for these types of gifts for your romantic love, your parents, child or friend. I'll compile a list to share in preparation for The Twelve Days of Christmas 2014.




25 December 2013

Merry Christmas




Merry Christmas to all of you! I hope it's a glorious day for you and all those you love.

20 December 2013

simply a moment ~ december 2013 ~ pomp & circumstance




The chords of Pomp and Circumstance begin and the first banner bearer enters the coliseum floor NC State University Poole College of Management Undergraduate Programs and I feel the prickle in my tear ducts.




Soon the bearer enters carrying the banner NC State University Poole  Accounting and the tears begin.




Right as you enter the waterworks open up and in no time my face is completely wet. I am so very happy, so filled with joy.


I am so incredibly proud of you. Your journey to this degree has not been conventional. As a senior in high school you decided to pass on the acceptance into Engineering School to instead attend NASCAR Technical Institute. Eighteen months later you were out in the real world. Two years later you were given the opportunity to assess where you were and consider if you wanted to pursue your bachelor's degree in any field. You decided that as much as you loved your work, it was something you would be content to do on the side or as a hobby. You attended Wake Tech while working full time to take care of the general college requirements then transferred here. North Carolina State University, where you would for two and a half years pursue a degree in accounting. During those years you would continue to work full time, fall in love, suffer injuries in a bike accident, go through 4 surgeries and marry the woman of your dreams. Today you will culminate all that work, walking across the dais, being handed your diploma with a handshake. Your graduating class is seated and I wipe the tears from my beaming face.




Well done, my son. Congratulations, Christopher!









This post is done  as part of Alexa’s monthly meme, Simply a Moment.  
For more captured December moments visit Simply Alexa. 



16 December 2013

hello monday

hello week of december 16th
hello to the Pirate being home and the Chosen one being off work until 2014
hello to the Beast graduating from North Carolina State University with his Bachelors degree in
          Accounting
hello to three Christmas gatherings
hello to the tree going up and decorations being finished
hello to timing visits to the post office and some stores well
hello to final 2013 sales
hello to watching movies at home and at the theater
hello to cooking, baking and creating for the people I love

hello to my glorious life!

what are you saying hello to this week?

12 December 2013

"Blog Cos You Want To Club" - cookie recipe 2009

 Sian suggested to "The Blog Cos You Want To Club" that when we are looking for a post idea we look back in our archives and pull an oldie out. This cookie recipe post has been one of my all time most viewed post so here it is again. I made a fresh batch yesterday. The Chosen One had no problem doing away with more than a few, I gifted 6 to a neighbor, 4 to The Beast (his daddy ate some of his @@) and froze a dozen for The Pirate's arrival.

November 30, 2009
COOKIE SWAP BLOG HOP
THE ULTIMATE OATMEAL COOKIE
OATMEAL RAISIN CINNAMON PECAN COOKIES

Ingredients
3 eggs, beaten
2 cup raisins
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup butter
1 cup packed brown sugar
1 1/2 cup white sugar
2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon ground cinnamon
2 teaspoons baking soda
2 cups rolled oats
1 1/2 cup chopped pecans

Directions
1.Combine eggs, vanilla and raisins in a small bowl; cover and let stand for 1 hour.
2.Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
3.In a large bowl, cream the butter, brown sugar, and white sugar together. Sift together the flour, cinnamon, and baking soda; stir into the creamed mixture. Then stir in the raisin mixture, rolled oats, and nuts.
4.Drop by teaspoonfuls onto an ungreased cookie sheet. Bake for 10 minutes, or until lightly browned.



09 December 2013

hello monday

hello cold days


hello week of december 9th
hello cold weather :(
hello to wrapping some gifts
hello to cleaning and decorating
hello to one day with 2nd graders (I was wrong last week, I was blessed by 5th graders)
hello to a nutritional checkup
hello to some suspicious allergy stuff going on
hello to an authentic African meal and missions program by the members of the African church that
         is a part of our faith community
hello to opening a pop up facebook shop with 3 friends, like regular pop up shops it will only be
        around for a limited time https://www.facebook.com/StayHomeStayWarmShop
hello to crock pot meals and snuggling in
hello to the Pirate coming home for a few weeks!!!!

03 December 2013

Time for Tea


I'm so glad we could finally find a day with unscheduled time in it to share a cup of coffee/tea/hot chocolate. It has turned cold here, mid 50s and yes, I consider that cold so I haven't fixed any sweet tea or lemonade this time. We are suppose to be in the low to mid 70s Thursday and Friday which makes me a happy girl. I'd offer you some leftover pumpkin pie bars or pecan pie bars alas there are none. They were a hit and disappeared over our holiday weekend. I'll be sharing both recipes soon.

Fall was filled with planning our church's first fall bazaar and participating in it, ECU football and a good amount of learning and creating. The bazaar was a loooootttt of work. We had 38 vendors and a cafe. For a first time event it was deemed a success and the vendor feedback was graciously positive. We won't have our wrap up meeting until January so hopefully we've all made notes and will be fully recovered lol.


 I have inventory so am participating in a Drop & Shop at a friend's home this coming weekend. 






My Pirates have had a phenomenal season, beating some in state but out of conference teams that have always looked a bit down on us, whhoohhhoo those victories were sweet!  We ended the regular season 9-2 and are headed to a bowl game over the holidays. Do you follow any college sports teams? I enjoy college football and basketball but am not a fan of pro sports.




Our church called a new full time senior minister and it has been so exciting. You can truly feel the joy and energy people are experiencing. I have no doubt God is going to be using us in glorious ways to glorify Him. I am on 2 new teams, one is planning dinner groups and the other is brainstorming ideas for small groups .... my heart is that we need to build deeper than surface relationships and I can't wait for these seeds to grow!


Thanksgiving brought the traditional meal, time in Oriental with family and online shopping. If you don't know, I am not a shopper, I do not enjoy it at all but I do love buying gifts so online shopping is perfect for me.  Do you love shopping? Some of my best friends are shopaholics, some are also early shoppers. As in, they are buying Christmas gifts in April. That's not me either, I love buying and wrapping in December. Now, if I see the perfect thing for you I'll get it whenever but Christmas is not generally on my mind in the summer. Being at the river while the majority of Raleigh is hit with traffic and crowds is the best choice, don't you agree?



Your face says it all, you understand where I am coming from! 

Are you in the midst of any projects? Are you one of the Friendship Quilt 12?  I have just mailed off my first two squares, hopefully since I am now more confident I will be more timely. I am also doing a Christmas quilt for us and have ordered the fabrics of The Pirate's graduation quilt. I hope to finish my coiled rag bowl before tomorrow night since I am helping teach how to make them. They are easy but the arthritis in my hands particularly my thumbs are making it clear I will have to allow a longer period of time in the future so I can do shorter sessions.


Yes, I'd love to stop by your home and see what you are up to creating!! And if you're not creating, what are you reading, I'm downloading books for Daddy's Kindle? Thank you so much for dropping by today, I'll expect you again at the end of the month.

If you'd like to chat some more why not drop by Abi's where you can always enjoy a cuppa tea and links to other homes expectantly waiting for you!


02 December 2013

hello monday

hello week of december 2nd
hello to making a coiled rag bowl
hello to Christmas cards
hello to 2 exciting planning meetings
hello to lots of packages arriving and going out
hello to a day with the best 2nd graders
hello to a new cheesecake recipe
hello to results and recoveries

hello to my glorious life!

what are you saying hello to this week?

01 December 2013

The Meaning of Advent

by Dennis Bratcher

Advent is the beginning of the Church Year for most churches in the Western tradition. It begins on the fourth Sunday before Christmas Day, which is the Sunday nearest November 30, and ends on Christmas Eve (Dec 24). If Christmas Eve is a Sunday, it is counted as the fourth Sunday of Advent, with Christmas Eve proper beginning at sundown.

The Meaning of "Advent"

The word Advent means "coming" or "arrival." The focus of the entire season is the celebration of the birth of Jesus the Christ in his First Advent, and the anticipation of the return of Christ the King in his Second Advent. Thus, Advent is far more than simply marking a 2,000 year old event in history. It is celebrating a truth about God, the revelation of God in Christ whereby all of creation might be reconciled to God. That is a process in which we now participate, and the consummation of which we anticipate. Scripture reading for Advent will reflect this emphasis on the Second Advent, including themes of accountability for faithfulness at His coming, judgment on sin, and the hope of eternal life.

In this double focus on past and future, Advent also symbolizes the spiritual journey of individuals and a congregation, as they affirm that Christ has come, that He is present in the world today, and that He will come again in power. That acknowledgment provides a basis for Kingdom ethics, for holy living arising from a profound sense that we live "between the times" and are called to be faithful stewards of what is entrusted to us as Gods people. So, as the church celebrates Gods inbreaking into history in the Incarnation, and anticipates a future consummation to that history for which "all creation is groaning awaiting its redemption," it also confesses its own responsibility as a people commissioned to "love the Lord your God with all your heart" and to "love your neighbor as yourself."