Saturday, December 31, 2016

Reflecting on 2016

It's hard to believe 2016 is almost over. It doesn't seem possible. I've been reflecting on how this year started off so horribly. Losing Dad in December of 2015 was really hard for our family and then losing the house Tim and our girls grew up in was almost unbearable!

But through it all, we have seen God's hand in everything. He provided a place for us to stay for free at our friend's YWAM base. He provided enough money for us to stay in a nice hotel for two weeks. Our realtor and his wife provided their RV on their property for us to live in for free while we looked for a house. God showed us this house and confirmed this is the home He wanted for us.
Funny thing about living here in the country, I at first wasn't "feeling" it. It's far away from stores and it's sort of in the middle of nowhere. I wasn't ready to live in a rural area. I wanted to live in the city near Walmart, JoAnn fabric, etc. But after spending a month in the RV and getting used to small town living, I love it here! I wouldn't want to go back to city living.

Today our realtor is bringing me a cheesecake for my birthday. Did I tell you he makes killer cheesecakes? He and his wife have this tradition of making a cheesecake when they close on a house. We got a cheesecake when we moved in and I asked him to please make one for my birthday.

I will be posting my goals for 2017 tomorrow (Lord willing) as is my tradition of posting on January 1st of each new year.
Have a Happy and safe New Year.

Thursday, December 29, 2016

Some Snow Pics

We had our first experience with snow and we had a real White Christmas. With all the sadness I wad feeling ans still feeling I wanted to post something nice.
Our trees. The middle tree is decorated but you can't see them due to so much snow.

Part of the front of our house. Looks like a Christmas card!

This is our street .There really is a road there!

Wednesday, December 28, 2016

Feeling Completely Overwhelmed!😢

I'm just so overwhelmed with all the celebrity deaths that has happened in the last couple of weeks. Yesterday I was moved to tears over all the losses and feeling the family members pain. I also know that there are those who died without every knowing the love of God and the peace that comes when Jesus is their Lord and Savior.

That's why it is so important to pray for those celebrities. I'm not going to name names of  those who especially need our prayers but when you are online and a news blurb comes up about someone stop and pray for that person.  This is definitely true when the article glorifies a woman wearing an article of clothing she shouldn't be wearing or posting inappropriate pictures online. I've come across those lately and I won't read them. I just pray for salvation for the person involved.

Saturday, December 24, 2016

If You Think of It

Please pray for Carrie Fisher and Nick Cannon. Carrie as you Star Wars fans know played Princess Leia. She had a massive heart attack if you hadn't heard yesterday and is in the ICU at a Los Angeles hospital. Nick Cannon is in the hospital suffering from lupus. He's the former husband of Mariah Carey and was a Nickelodeon star when he was a kid. Pray for healing but mostly their salvation.Thank you!

I also want to thank the new ladies who visited my blog recently. It was a blessing to see your comments. Have a safe and Merry Christmas!

Dreaming of a White Christmas Take 2

Well my post disappeared into not so smartphone space. Here are a couple of backyard pictures.

Oops!

My post that is either slow in posting because I posted from my phone. The title says I'm Steaming of a White Christmas. It should have said I'm Dreaming of a White Christmas. Hope it shows up.

Merry Christmas!

I want to wish my readers a very Merry Christmas! This is our nativity scene my aunt-in-law gave us many years ago when my girls were little.


Thursday, December 22, 2016

Mini Gingerbread Houses

I bought a gingerbread house cutter to make mini gingerbread houses. We had never made them before. We didn't have much to decorate them but we had fun anyway.

Friday, December 16, 2016

Christmas Music

I love Christmas and I love Christmas music. I love Christ-centered ones the best. Some of my favorite songs are O Come, O Come Immanuel, Silent Night, O Holy Night, Do You Hear What I Hear(sung by Whitney Houston or Bing Crosby) and Joy to the World.
I have a few secular ones that I enjoy like Silver Bells, White Christmas and Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas.
I will miss hearing the Christmas carolers coming to our door like they did at our old house in CA. I don't know if we will get them here being out in the country and all.  Maybe I could get a group of people together and go Christmas caroling ourselves.

Tuesday, December 13, 2016

Christmas TV Ads

I admit I'm a sucker for mushy make me cry Christmas TV ads. Some of my favorites are really old like the one from McDonald's where all the kids are ice skating with Ronald McDonald. But there's a little boy who can't skate as well as his friends so he has this sad look on his face. That is until Ronald scoops him up and spins around with him. There's one from Apple iphone from Christmas 2013 called Harris Holiday or something like that. This one there's a teenage boy who appears to be into his phone and not really participating with the family but in reality he is making a special Christmas video. I became a blubbering idiot when I saw it for the first time. Don't get me started on the Hallmark ads that only air during Hall of Fame presentations. 😭😭😭

We don't have cable so we don't get to watch many of the Christmas movies but we do have a small collection of DVDs like It's a Wonderful Life, Meet Me in St. Louis, A Charlie Brown Christmas to name a few. I'll have to watch YouTube for the Hershey Kisses commercial. That's my favorite!

Monday, December 12, 2016

One Year Ago,Christmas and Loss

Our lives changed forever when my father-in-law passed into glory. He suffered greatly from COPD,dementia and a cracked hip. We had no idea then that we would be selling our house and moving to Arizona.
That first Christmas without Dad was painful but I'm sure it was worse for my dh Tim. He made sure Christmas for us was as normal as we could possibly be though. I think experiencing grief during the holidays is excruciating. I like to pray for those involved in Hollywood and this year many passed away so I know their families are feeling the loss of their loved ones during this time of year.
There were, that because we were going through our own grief, I didn't even know were gone. People like Patty Duke, Delores Roberts, and Prince. I want to remember their families in prayer.

So here it is Christmas time in our new home. It's a little weird because at our old house in CA we decorated with some of the same decorations and each decoration had it's special place in the home.
When Tim brought in the Christmas boxes we started going through them but we weren't sure where to put things because it just wasn't the same.
I watched a YouTube video recently of a old Hallmark commercial that aired during the Hallmark Hall of Fame movies. The commercial was about a little boy and his family spending their first Christmas in their new home. He was all concerned about where things were going to go. Anyway, his mom shows him some of the ornaments they had collected that held special meanings. The commercial ends with the little boy saying "I'm glad we brought Christmas with us."
So we brought Christmas with us. We have put our decorations in new places. We have a beautiful nativity wall hanging that used to hang by our front door in the entry so that it would be the first thing people saw when they came in.
This year it is hanging over the wall flat screen TV rack that came with the house. We have a fireplace so now our stockings can hang on the mantel.  At our old house they hung on a wall in the entry outside the nativity wall hanging.

Even though things will never be the same, I'm so grateful that the Lord has brought us to this house. I'm am grateful we get to celebrate our Savior's birth here. Blessed be the name of the Lord!

Moving My Blog

 After still trying to figure out the subscription thing with MailChimp and never having success, I've decided to go ahead and use my Wo...