A Year in Pictures

[I got this idea from my friend, Bernice, who is one of my artsy mentors - seriously, her work is as beautiful as the life she leads!

Check her out here.]

Here are some of my favorite photos from the past year [most all are straight-out-of-the-camera] - even in a year with little photo taking, it's hard to pick just one for each month -

January -
it snowed 8 inches and stayed on the ground for over a week. Beautiful, yes, but we grew tired of it too - and no, we didn't hang out in the hammock much - lol.February -
Craig took this photo after visiting his dad in the hospital one afternoon
- a nice little gift to assure that God was with us - and I had to throw this one in - littlest of the clan talking to an older cousin - too cute.March -
going to eat with our boys at a favorite catfish place is always fun - and sometimes you've just got to snap that family photo when you're all in one place - even if you have no idea who the truck behind you belongs to - lol.
April -
Sunrise service with my mom, then breakfast and church with Craig's mother =
lovely Easter Sunday -April also brought storms that resulted in lots of long days and travel for me - loved seeing the sunrise over the lake as I drove out of town
[I know I have a better photo somewhere, but can't find it -]

May -
a little trip to New Orleans that proved to be a nice little respite for the two of us...June - Pauly [originally named Polly]
- just hanging out at home; remember he's poly-dactyl - just look at those paws!July -
love my garden - August -
The World's Longest Yard Sale was a fun get-a-way for us - we saw all kinds of things, and bought a few, but mostly just enjoyed being together - September -
Emma Lou moved in three months before and this was her first trip to Gr-Mommie's. Love the light, and Mama's hands, and of course that cute little AUburn outfit - October -
enjoyed a wonderful art retreat at the foot of some of my favorite mountains.November -
love just sitting out on the patio drinking my [iced] tea as I start the day -and December -
our new skinny tree, in the living room window -Happy New Year's Everyone!

Ten on Tuesday

1. So, the first day of winter has come and gone – meaning the days are [[really]] getting longer - yay. I do miss those ‘winter soup nights’ that always started on the first day of winter and went through the first day of spring [monthly get-togethers, at our house, with warm soup and fellowship.] Maybe we can do that again in a couple of years [next year we should be attending a graduation so I know I won’t be thinking about soup – lol –]
2. And then we were Christmas-ing for the rest of the week – had our family dinner and gift giving on Thursday evening with Matt, Drew and his sweet Haley – SO NICE to just be together. LOVE family time and it’s far too short these days – [We had sautéed shrimp, salt-crusted prime rib, crash potatoes and roasted veggies with salad and rolls. – I’ll get recipes up there after the first of the year – promise!]
3. Then on Friday we drove up to Tennessee for Craig’s family Christmas – I’ll admit, I was a little skeptical of how Christmas might play out in a hotel room – but we had a huge room and brought in chairs from the other rooms so it was just like sitting in a family den and being all together. We took our little rustic tree [designed for a mountain Christmas] and goodies that included snowflake cupcakes and a crockpot with meatballs, and everyone brought more goodies to share as we enjoyed being together and opening gifts [- they wanted to do something different since this was their first Christmas without Daddy – and while he was on everyone’s minds, I think we had a very good gathering afterall.]
4. Saturday we shopped a little at Providence and Opry Mills [yes! THREE stores are open now -] and then headed out to the Opryland Hotel – which is ALWAYS gorgeously decorated for Christmas – Love that they make no excuses for the reason for celebrating Christmas with this HUGE nativity scene in the entrance to the hotel. And I LOVE these huge poinsettias made of lights – they’ve been there for as long as we’ve been going to Opryland to see the Christmas lights – OMGoodness – 27 -28 years now?!?
5. That evening Craig and I decided at the last minute to run down to a local church for their Christmas Eve Service - a lovely little church with traditions unfamiliar to us – communion was done by tearing off a bit of bread and dipping it in a communal cup of wine. Still, it was very nice to be out at midnight and recognize our Savoir at the beginning of His Day –
6. Christmas Day we headed over to attend church with my sister and her family and enjoyed singing familiar tunes and joined in communion in the good ‘ole Baptist way – lol. Love what their preacher said about God loving us SO MUCH that He would squeeze into an earthly body just to show us his love – by giving the ultimate sacrifice. [AND – it was a treat to hear our nephew playing drums – what a great job!!]
7. Then it was home to have some of that left-over prime rib with freshly made garlic mashed potatoes – yum – and to unpack the car so we can do it all again next weekend – lol [well, we’ll only be gone one day next weekend to celebrate with my family, and we have a full week of work and activities between now and then -]
8. We’ve also had a house full of kids a couple of nights this week – and we love that actually – SO GLAD they helped us finish off the sweets we had made!! So glad the youngest and his friends still feel comfortable hanging at our house -
9. And yesterday Craig was up early to go duck hunting [he brought some home to cook – eek!] and I just had a lazy day of catching up with friends on the internet and television watching and knitting – getting ready for the new year -
10. – do y’all enjoy opening a new calendar as much as I do?

PS- Be watching for a fun blog hop coming January 7th - with lots of ideas on how to use your 'vintage' [haHAha] scrapbook tools and other supplies!

Merry Christmas!

Card from Walgreens;

turquoise fence courtesy of some neighbors;

vintage glider - from our collection.
[Thanks Stephanie for taking a great picture!
Edited with picnik, free, on-line]

Merry Christmas!

Ten on Tuesday

1. Been about as sick as I’ve been in years these last few weeks and finally, Sunday evening, it was enough to make me schedule an appointment with my doctor – luckily they worked me in pretty quickly [without the usual waaaaaaaaait] and after a few days on meds I’m feeling back to my ‘normal’ self again – well, almost. BETTER, for sure.
   
2. Good news - Mom is home and doing well. SO HAPPY she’s living where she feels secure and has people she trusts to help her when she needs it -
3. I made Knock You Naked brownies [used those new caramel chips – DON’T. It’s just not as good – still yummy though!] And red velvet Cake Balls – dipped in white almond bark with red & green sprinkles [thanks to my sweetie for helping me dip them up!] And Mama’s Chocolate fudge – tastes like hers, still, it’s not as firm as I’d like, but I’m so not a fudge eater that I’m not sure how firm it really should be – lol [and I’m VERY UNHAPPY with the marshmallow cream people for cutting an ounce out of the jars they sell these days – don’t they know we don’t want to measure?!?!]
4. Recipes on the tab above, eventually – lol. I’m not sure I’m loving those tabs – but I really haven’t had time to explore and fill them as I’d like to – [Cake Balls: bake a cake mix and crumble with a tub of frosting, roll into balls and refrigerate, dip in melted almond bark or candy coating - add sprinkles.]
   
5. I spent the day at Lowe Mill on Saturday – and came home with about a third less of the stuff I took – yay!! Another artist came by and whispered in my ear that I was selling too cheap – but my goal is not $$$ [I paint / create for the fun of it] – my goal is to not take it home – so, goal met. Even one of my favorite big girls [out front] went home to be gifted to someone - love it.
6. Lowe Mill is a fun, eccentric place. You see ALL KINDS of people there – and it’s always nice to come home with a freshly baked loaf of Fred Bread. [Cranberry-Walnut is delish.]
7. AND I finished Christmas Stocking Number 1 – it’s not perfect, but handmade never is, is it? I’m sure the next one will be better…
8. Working on other crafty things now – this is a quick one that I’ve already shared on FaceBook [come on over and ‘friend me!’] – little glass jars available at Hobby Lobby [mine came from Old Time Pottery] and little clips of winter goodness [spruce – bird – berries] - $1 each at The Dollar Tree [the jars have a ‘handle’ on the lid so these clipped right on,] and big golden jingle bells tied to the jar [The Dollar Tree - $1 for nine of them] Fill with Chex Mix – that, yes, I bought. - And you have some cute little gifts in no time at all.
9. Craig and I visited a different church this past Sunday – a little [of what we call] high-churchy, kind of a cross of Baptist and Methodist [the pastor and choir director wore robes.] Different, but nice, and special too.
10. And finally, I’ve sure been enjoying a local radio station [Lite 96.9] that plays non-stop Christmas music from Thanksgiving until Christmas day – love it – fun songs and spiritual ones too – helps keep me in the mood for Christmas - I’ll catch you on the flip side – Merry Christmas everyone!

Ten on Tuesday

1. First of all – Mom is doing so well - she is still having some little episodes of aphasia but they don’t last long and she has a good sense of humor about it all. We’re all really praying and hoping that the change in meds will prevent another stroke [mini or otherwise!] from occurring.
2. Also, please keep one of my aunts in your prayers – she’s scheduled to have a double mastectomy on her 80^th birthday in a couple of weeks. She also has a wonderful sense of humor about it all and is hoping this radical move will prevent any further needed treatment.
3. I don’t have a ton of news to share this week – Craig has been duck hunting a few more times. They always give them away to others who are willing to clean and eat them – I’m not sure I would even know what to do with duck – but I’m sure there’s plenty of recipes available on the web -
4. And Emma chased her first RABBIT – it was as big as she was. It would be hilarious if it or some of the squirrels in our yard decided to turn and chase her like Pauly does. Pauly, but the way, is One. Giant. Marshmallow. Now that he’s fluffed out for winter – all 15 pounds of lean, [not so] mean, machine of him. LOL.
5. I participated in an ornament swap with some of my Spark Sistas and had a lot of fun creating a fun little sparkly ornament [above] and went ahead and made a few more as well -
6. And I’ve continued to knit some – it’s so relaxing to me, but at the same time I can become so consumed with a project that I can’t get it out of my mind – at all. If you couple that with concern about my mom I’ve not slept very well most of the week so I’ve had to Step. Away. From the Knitting. – But just for a couple of days – haHAha, I can’t put it down for long.
7. I’ve got a couple of other crafty [dare I say, jewelry] projects I need to get started on before Christmas Day.
8. And news on The Tinsel Trail – our schedule hasn’t quite allowed us to get by there – and I so want to do this since I now know that seeing them from 11 floors above doesn’t do them justice. [Photos from The Huntsville Times – I work on the top floor of the yellow building to the left -]
9. My staff meeting in Montgomery was cancelled for this week – we had a phone conference instead, not quite the same, but we still accomplished the meeting goals. It’s good and bad – Good = I really didn’t want to be so far away from Mom this week, and Bad = I have a dirty santa gift and no one to play the game with, and I missed getting hotel points – lol.
10. And lastly -. I had my hair cut this week - I think it may be the first time since I had to tell the stylist to, " put the scissors down, no REALLY. Put. The. Scissors. Down." I do a decent job of trimming it up, but it's nice to have a professional [?] do it once every couple of years - lol. And while the 1/2 inch I asked to be taken off somehow turned into TWO inches - I'm okay with it, it's a nice shape and the grown out bangs blend in nicely ---
    

Ten on Tuesday

Note: I really meant for this to go up late Tuesday night [and will still post it to show on Tuesday, even though it's more than a few days later] but life happens. Please keep my mom in your prayers - she had a little mini stroke this week and is working through some things [a tiny bit of aphasia, and a lot of knowing it could happen again at any time...]

1. First let me say that I'm more than a little sad that I now have to moderate comments, but I've had some crazy ones showing up with links to not so nice places -- Be patient with me as I remind myself to check them each day.
2. As a result I'll probably be commenting on comments in the comment section. Does that work for ya'll?It will probably be more timely this way ---
3. I finished up the Christmas decor - and switched things up a bit, love that most everything coordinates enough to move from room to room. This little snowman nativity is usually in the bathroom - the one awaiting the re-do - so I put it on the table in the dining / living area with a pedestal of ornaments and the jingle bell wreath above. Love that I can combine a little whimsy with the True Reason for the Season.
4. Note - the basket holds past December albums and other mini albums, the giant glass apple is a favorite of mine that moves around the house, the copper kettle is from my mom's house - they'd save their silver in it and rotate giving it to the gr-sons when it was full - it's Matt's now, and if you look closely you can see our big nativity set on the table opposite this one - my cousin made it for me YEARS ago - still love it. I'll do a little post later on and show all my simple Christmas decor -
   
5. Saturday I cropped with friends and we enjoyed a yummy meal together [the green bean casserole in the crockpot WORKS] and then did our tag swap - such beautiful tags! Thanks to everyone who participated!! And we played Dirty Santa - love the crafty stuff I came home with!
6. That evening Craig and I attended the "Keep Christmas Alive" concert - we've gone a couple of years in the past - and it's just THE BEST way to start the Christmas season -
   
7. And an added bonus was that they had Larnelle Harris as the featured entertainer. WONDERFUL. You might remember that THIS is one of my all-time favorite Larnelle songs - not so Christmas-y, so he didn't sing it - but he was great all 'round!
8. I finally decided to bite the bullet and JUST. DO. IT. -- Knit a Christmas stocking, that is - I know it's far from perfect but I've enjoyed it [LOVE TO KNIT -SO RELAXING] so I'll work on some things and the next one will be better [and hopefully the next next one will be even better - lol.] But I have to remind myself that not everyone cherishes a heirloom stocking - as seen in a recent Goodwill excursion - kind of sad, isn't it?
   
9. This week I've watched outside my window [at work] as more than a hundred Christmas trees were put up in the park [I think there's close to 200, but am not sure-] and decorated throughout the week - I've seen them lit from afar, but almost think they're prettier in the daylight - I'll try and get some photos before the month is out.
10. Late in the week we had a last minute opportunity to sit in on a broadcast of The Rick and Bubba Show. I've listened to this radio show since the early 90s - just good, funny, God-loving guys. So it was fun to see how they pull it all together [and to know that Bubba and Craig played pingpong in-between "on-air" times. LOL - Yes, they have a pingpong table in the studio.] - Much thanks to Allison the Intern [so sorry I can't remember your "on-air" name] who is a good friend of my brother's and worked it all out for us to be there.

[an edited repeat from past years...]

How do you feel about Santa Claus?

Pere Noel, Christkindle, Father Christmas, Kriss Kringle, Sinterklas,

St. Nicholas

I was first introduced to St. Nicholas as a freshman in college when my dear friend Grace [whose grandparents on both sides of her family came to the US from the Netherlands] put a wooden shoe, filled with candy, outside my door on December 6^th. [Still have that shoe, btw.]

I’ve loved the idea of St. Nicholas ever since!

There’s a lot of fact and folklore about him today, but most believe he was a real person and that the idea of Santa Claus came from the acts of goodwill that he did.

[Random Acts of Christmas Kindness, if you will - more on that later in the month.]

Here’s a link that tells his story briefly.
I’ve always wanted to have “Santa Claus” visit our boys on December 6^th and keep Christmas sacred [or, practically --at least spread out the gift-receiving a little for them], but differed to C’s wishes. So instead, for the last 25 years, our boys have always received a chocolate Santa on December 6^th. [Granted there were some years when I was out at 5 a.m. to get these Santas because of our crazy schedule! – but it was done!] This year we mailed a few to our college boys and sneakily placed one outside the oldest's new home, for him to find this a.m.

So, Happy St. Nicholas Day to you!

At our house Santa has always been pretend.

Our boys were never taught he was real, but more just a character of the secular celebration of Christmas [kind of like Mickey Mouse – celebration of magical place] who left gifts for them on Christmas morning. They’ve always known that Mom and Day were “Santa.” We’ve had a few Santa photos through the years [we have those Mickey ones too!] and we’ve had fun with it, but have always, always tried to help our boys see that
Jesus truly is the reason we have anything at all to celebrate in this life.
We hope that in the midst of all the hustle and bustle of the Christmas Season you can take the time to see a tiny baby lying in a manger who died so we might live eternally.
What a hope we have because of Him!

Christmas waves a magic wand
over this world,
and behold,
everything is softer
and more beautiful.
- Norman Vincent Peale