Happy Sweetest Day

We don't celebrate, but thought I would say it anyway! LOL!!

He Is Risen

Hope you all had a wonderful Easter and took a sometime to think about why we celebrate this glorious day!

Happy Valentine's Day

Love does not consist of gazing at each other, but in looking together in the same direction. ~ Antoine de Saint-Exupery

Happy New Year

I wish each & everyone of you a happy, healthy, prosperous 2009!

Fun Times

Tonight Bob & I are heading out on the town with a few dear friends! I am really looking forward to it. I think we have spent every New Year's Eve since we have know each other home. We end up being asleep on the couch before the New Year even arrives. At least I know we will see it in this year. LOL!!

My Wish for You...

It's a Wrap

I can't believe I am not out shopping today or planning a late night wrapping session. All my shopping was done on Monday & I wrapped the last present this morning around 9:30.

We are home from our Christmas Eve church service (it was lovely) and now I am waiting for the turkey breast & potatoes to get closer to the finish line so I can get the veggies & rolls going.

It's just Bob, Olivia & I here today. After we eat we will watch a Christmas movie, open the gifts from Bob's parents & the new PJs Santa dropped off early. Then we will settle in for our long winter's nap...lol!

Hope you all are having a nice Christmas Eve with your family and/or friends!

Thank You

A Different Thanksgiving

Bob & I are seriously considering changing up our Thanksgiving traditions this year. We are thinking of serving a meal at a nearby homeless shelter. I love my family and all, but I think it is time for Bob, Olivia, & I to make traditions of our own.

When I mentioned it to Olivia she said I would rather go to grandma's. Well, of course, she would. However, I told her these people would rather not be homeless. She got my point & has come around to the idea.

I think this will be a great thing for us to do as a family!

Happy Independence Day

Happy St. Patrick's Day

A little boy at one of the parties today had on the best t-shirt. It had a little picture of a leprechaun on it. Next to that image were the words: "patrick was a saint i ain't"...LOL!!

Tonight is that Springsteen & E Street Band show I mentioned so many months ago. Bob is really excited! As for me, not so much excitement here. He is a much bigger Springsteen fan than I am.

Workin' Once Again

It's time once again for my annual two week stint back at McDonald's. Today were the first two of twelve parties. In past years, I only did one party per day, but have added a second party on a few of them this year.

I'll say it again: I have no desire to go back on a regular basis, but it is fun to get out and help for a couple weeks each year.

Happy Groundhog Day

Hehehe!! That crazy snowman!

Happy New Year

May all your troubles last as long as your New Year's resolutions. -- Joey Adams

This made me chuckle & I just couldn't resist posting it!

Merry Christmas...

from our house to yours! I hope you all have a wonderful Christmas Day surrounded by those you love.

About My Christmas

1. Wrapping paper or gift bags?
Both -- I prefer wrapping paper, but when a gift is an odd shape there is nothing better than wrapping it with a bit of tissue paper & putting it into a bag.

2. Real tree or artificial?
Both -- real in the living room & artificial in the family room.

3. When do you put your tree up?
The artificial goes up the Monday after Thanksgiving & the real usually goes up the first weekend in December.

4. When do you take the tree down?
Real one comes down sometime shortly after New Year's Day. The artificial is taken down by January 10.

5. Do you like egg nog?
NO!

6. Favorite gift received as a child?
I was a teen, but the best gift would have to be the HUGE box of quilt pieces cut out of vintage fabrics & the quilt book my mom found with a book that had a quilt pattern that could use those pieces.

7. Do you have a nativity scene?
Yes, it's the Jim Shore set & I love it!

8. Hardest person to buy for?
Definitely my mother-in-law.

9. Easiest person to buy for?
My Mom, Bob & Olivia

10. Mail or email Christmas cards?
Mail, but I do send a few e-cards.

11. Worst Christmas gift you ever received?
I'm going to invoke my Fifth Amendment Right on this one! ;)

12. Favorite Christmas movie?
Nester, the Long-Eared Christmas Donkey

13. Have you ever recycled a Christmas present?
Unless sending it to Goodwill counts as recycling, I have never recycled a gift.

14. Favorite thing to eat at Christmas?
Cookies!!

15. Clear lights or colored on the tree?
Clear lights on both trees.

16. Favorite Christmas song?
O, Holy Night

17. Travel at Christmas or stay home?
We go to my parents on Christmas Day. Mom's for an early lunch & Dad's for dinner/dessert. When Bob's parents lived in town we spent Christmas Eve with them.

18. Can you name all of Santa's reindeer?
Yes -- Dasher, Dancer, Prancer, Vixen, Comet, Cupid, Donner, Blitzen, and the most famous reindeer of all Rudolph. (My least favorite Christmas song, by the way)

19. Open the presents Christmas Eve or morning?
We open on Christmas morning, but will be starting a new tradition this year. I discovered it while reading traditions of many bloggers last year. We each will open one gift on Christmas Eve -- it will be new jammies to wear so we can be pretty in our new jammies for Christmas Morning pictures. :)

20. Most annoying thing about this time of year?
Political Incorrectness Alert: That the word Christmas is being replaced by Holiday for nearly every Christmas tradition there is ie trees, lights, decorations, parties, etc.

21. Favorite ornament on the tree?
I would say right now it is the one I bought at the Holiday Folk Fair the day I ran in the 5K last month.

22. Favorite thing to eat for Christmas dinner?
Cookies -- oh wait, that says dinner...LOL! It depends if the menu has ham or turkey. If the menu calls for ham, then it is the cheesy potatoes. If the menu calls for turkey, it's the stuffing! YUM-O!

23. Do you decorate the outside of your house?
We usually do, but the cold and snow hit us much earlier and harder this year than usual so we never got them up.

24. Does Santa wrap his gifts or leave them upwrapped?
Santa wraps, but in different paper than I do! :)

25. What do you want for Christmas this year?
To spend quality time with my family & friends. My dad's heart attack this year hit me really hard. Harder than I thought, I guess. I have had a hard time being excited about the preparations for Christmas Day. The gifts, the decorations, etc all go away, but relationships with those we love are what's really important. (I don't mean for that to sound preachy, sappy, cliche. That is honestly how I have felt about Christmas this year.)

Now tell me about your Christmas! If you are so inclined, copy & paste this and replace my answers with yours! If you do play along, let me know so I can stop by and read about your Christmas traditions, likes, dislikes, hopes, etc.

The Alternative Pumpkin Pie

Doesn't this look divine?

It's Pumpkin Cheesecake with Gingersnap Crust. The recipe is at cleanhomejournal.com. Anyone else tempted to try this? I know I am extremely tempted!!

Happy Halloween

Don't eat too much trick-or-treat candy!

Happy Independence Day

Freedom has its life in the hearts, the actions, the spirit of men and so it must be daily earned and refreshed - else like a flower cut from its life-giving roots, it will wither and die. ~ Dwight D. Eisenhower

This image is from a few months ago. There was a storm approaching, and I loved the way our flag was waving in the high winds. I snapped about 25 shots of it before I took it down. The rain hit just a few minutes after I got this shot.

Remember & Honor

Today we remember & honor those who have served our country!

Courage is contagious. When a brave man takes a stand,

the spines of others are often stiffened.
Billy Graham