Christmas Blog Carnival: Day 2

Today's topic for the Christmas Blog Carnival  from Wives of Faith is about Your Favorite Christmas Dessert (with recipe).

 

At Christmas time, I do not think I actually make an actual dessert; just an assortment of goodies from candies to cookies, etc. Christmas time baking is a favorite in our home with the whole family getting involved. Making memories is a great thing!!

 

One of my all time favorite goodies has to be the chocolate dipped peanut butter crackers that were at every Christmas gathering when I was a kid. You seriously cannot eat just one!

 

Ingredients:

*Creamy peanut butter 

*Ritz Crackers; sometimes the Honey Ritz, even. *Almond bark and a little vanilla; actually, I have this thing with vanilla so it kind of ALMOST goes in everything I bake.

*Sprinkles, nuts, etc for topping -- if you want (which that's what I'm doing this year).

Directions:

*Melt chocolate in a double broiler. We do not have a double broiler, so we do the whole, glass bowl over a boiling pot of water thing.

*Spread Peanut Butter on one cracker; then top with another cracker -- like a sandwich.

*Dip into chocolate and be sure to coat both sides. You have to work somewhat quickly because of the hot chocolate and the peanut butter -- it kind of makes the peanut butter extra creamy which will make your cracker slide around.

*Place on waxed paper to dry; and top with sprinkles, nuts, etc - if you like.

ENJOY!

Christmas Blog Carnival: Day 1

This is my first go at partaking in a Christmas Blog Carnival  hosted by Wives of Faith. The topic for today is: Your favorite Christmas movie.

My favorite Christmas movie? I thought about this and the only movie that truly pops in mind, amongst the plethora of Christmas movies out there is: Elf.

Buddy is my favorite elf of all elves!!! 

This movie is the only movie, that when it is mentioned and talked about, I can actually recall the different scenes.



Here are some of my favorite quotes from the movie Elf:

*there's a few conversation exchanges that I like that happen between Buddy and the Gimbel's store manager and between the "fake" Santa at Gimbel's, too -- but I only included quotes from Buddy, himself.*

"We elves try to stick to the four main food groups: candy, candy canes, candy corns and syrup."

"I just like to smile, smiling's my favorite."

"What's a Christmas Gram? I want one!"

"Have you seen these toilets? They're GINORMOUS!"
"SANTA! OH MY GOD! SANTA'S COMING! I KNOW HIM! I KNOW HIM!"

"I am a cotton-headed ninnymoggins!"
Okay ... so I could list many more ... Now ... go watch the movie! It truly is a good laugh!

Happy watching! 

Almost Wordless Wednesday

Care Package from the beginning of October 2011.
Sending care packages is one of my favorite things to do while my love is away.
Many say my husband is a bit spoiled: at least one box goes out every week. :-)

A Girl and Her Horse

One of our favorite weekly outings consist of taking Mariah to her horse riding lesson. She rides through the Horses 4 Heroes program. Her instructor, Carol, is absolutely amazing!! Her and Mariah work so great together.

The below picture is of Mariah on her horse, Pepper -- a.k.a. Peppy or Pep. Mariah adores Pepper. She even brings him a couple apples or an apple and a carrot every week. I am absolutely positive that Pepper knows Mariah because he is looking for those treats before Mariah has the chance to brush him out before she rides. They have a beautiful relationship! :-)

Two things that I love about the below photo: 1. Mariah is beaming with an ear-to-ear smile! 2. Pepper is sticking his tongue out! HAHA. I did not notice that until looking at this image a week ago.

Mariah and Pepper -- September 2011
I think the halter was left on Pep on purpose because he was having an attitude this day.
Hmm. Maybe he purposefully stuck out his tongue. ;-)

Mini Homecoming Preparation

Okay ... so I was thinking earlier, as I was talking with a dear friend, that we do some crazy things to get ready for the homecoming of our loved one. A LOT of crazy things. I get butterflies and the giggles really bad. But I can't help it. It's who I am. It's who God made me to be.

The other thing I was thinking about was the fact that when I have not seen my husband in a week (or even more), those butterflies and giggles come back. It is like a mini homecoming. Seriously. It gets so bad, that when I know he is back at his home base and/or the day is drawing near to when he could possibly be arriving at the home base, I cannot help but get ready. I do a workout, shower, and straighten my hair (either that night, or the following morning) and when I KNOW we will be on a video chat, I put a little makeup on, too. It plays out like a mini homecoming in my head, almost like a date.

I may not be able to wrap my arms around him or give him a kiss, but I still want to look my best when we see each other for the first time after a week being apart-apart. <--- if that makes sense.

Workout gets me fired up!

Part of the arsenal.

A shower makes me refreshed and hopefully makes me look not
so tired since good rest does not happen while he's out and about.
OH! And the cell phone is never far from me ... most of the time.

 Does any of you do anything that gets you ready to see your loved one on a video chat during a deployment? Look at it like a date. I am absolutely positive he WILL notice!

My husband does and  it makes my heart smile.

Thanksgiving

Today has been a great day, overall; regardless of the emotional-polar express I feel like I am on the last few days. There are so many highs and lows -- ALL due to missing my dear husband and the holidays being here.

For instance: Thanksgiving. I LOVE to cook. My husband LOVES to eat. It is a win-win for both of us. What is on our Thanksgiving menu this year, you ask? Hen, homemade mac & cheese, green beans, rolls, pumpkin pie and Hershey pie. This is it. Sure, this menu is definitely a lot more than what some will be eating, but this is possibly a quarter, MAYBE close to half of what we usually cook up. OH and speaking of cooking ... my husband is usually in the kitchen with me being another set of hands baking and cooking Thanksgiving dinner, side-by-side. Him being in the kitchen with me is one of my favorites.

It is always the simple things that you miss most when your loved one is not there to share in the time with you. I know I completely miss the little things, big things, and all the in between things about my amazing husband -- my best friend. We are counting down the days to his return. We all CANNOT WAIT for that special reunion day!! Which leads me to be so grateful that the time has gone by so quickly.

Here are a few of my counted blessings for this Thanksgiving:

1. Jesus. He is more than my Savior. He is my Best Friend. He feels every joy, pain, hurt, discomfort, and excitement I have. He knows me better than I know me -- and ALWAYS knows what I need, when I need it, before I know that I need it! He loves me, regardless of my short comings. I'm truly thankful that He WANTS me to be His child. Walking with Him in life is a pure adventure -- and that is truly an understatement!

2. My husband. My best friend. He's amazing in every way. Not perfect, but perfect for me. I miss him greatly and eagerly look forward to the day of him returning to our family. There is NOBODY else I could imagine spending the rest of my life with. I love him TO THE MOON AND BACK!

3. Our children. They are three of the greatest blessings God has given to my husband and I. They make us laugh (even to the point of tears), cry (literally), become frustrated, and even test our patience. They are definitely the best children we could have ever asked for!!

4. Best friends. I have two more -- besides my husband and Jesus; my mom and my best friend, Amber C. I love the fact that they understand me, don't judge me, can laugh and cry with me. I have learned so much from them. You know you have a best friend when you feel sad to miss their phone call -- that's how I feel when I miss either of their calls.

5. Home: for it's more than just a dwelling. Money: to pay our bills and put food in our cabinets and on our table. Reliable vehicles: to get us from point A to point B and back to point A.

6. Technology. Yes, even me who loathes electronics is truly thankful for technology. The computer/internet keeps me informed and in contact with so many that live MILES away. Skype/ooVoo have been absolutely one of the biggest blessings during this deployment. Smartphones: they're smart. Enough said.

Regardless of the emotions that may protrude from my being on a Thanksgiving day, there is one thing for certain: I am absolutely blessed and absolutely grateful the LORD's presence in my life. That alone gives me joy; EVEN if I feel sad <--- that's temporary. HE is my true joy <---- my Everlasting Peace! 

HAPPY THANKSGIVING!

Passing the time

It's been a while since I have blogged; and believe it or not, I do have several writings started -- I just need to finish them. Maybe I should write a little at a time? For those that know me, I'm an all or nothing kind of gal. Writing here and there is a hard thing for me to do -- which means I could never be a real writer of some book. When I do something, 98% of the time (because from time to time I do get lazy), I really do give it my all!


Okay, so what do you do to pass the time? When you're waiting to be seen at a medical appointment, do you read, play games on your phone, or watch whatever the office may have on the television? What about you military spouses: what do you do to pass the time while you wait for your military spouse to come home and/or even just to talk to them on the phone or computer? Here are a few quirky things I do to pass the time (and in no particular order):

1. Every now and then I'll make note of how much of the countdown sticker chart we have gone through. This is what the kids use to countdown the time. For example: We had about a 5 foot section of our kitchen island wall covered in unmarked days. Now we are well pass the halfway point of the island! YAY!! :-) 

2. Sporadically check the countdown clock on the laptop. I TRY NOT TO check it every day, even though it is in plain sight, I do TRY NOT TO look at it every day. Then I can say, "WOW! 3 days has gone by already?!" Silly. I know.

3. I check the 10 day forecast. Even though most of the time I really am checking the weather forecast, I am secretly wow'ing at the fact that in 10 days, we're that much closer to the end of the month. For instance: Can you believe that in 10 days it will be 28 November 2011?! Where has the time gone?! OH! And FYI: the forecast in 10 days is 64 as a high and 41 as a low.

Sunny	Mostly Sunny	Sunny	Partly Cloudy	Mostly Cloudy	Mostly Cloudy	Mostly Sunny	Sunny	Sunny	Mostly Sunny
63°	62°	60°	64°	66°	59°	64°	64°	67°	64°
43°	42°	41°	43°	44°	41°	41°	44°	42°	41°

4. Each Thursday afternoon, except when a holiday falls on this day, Mariah has a horse lesson. Yes, even this once a week adventure helps me pass the time. I LOVE watching our girl ride her horse and learn new things. I also love that when Wednesday of the following week rolls around, somehow I always think to myself "WOW! It feels like we just had a lesson!"

5. Cleaning. Cleaning. And doing it all over again and cleaning some more. I know, how mundane, but to me cleaning is relaxing, helps pass the time, and it's also "quiet time".

These are just a few quirky things that I do to help pass the time. While I do still count each and every day as a blessing, and I look forward to the fun things and times and laughter the kids and I have together -- There is that part of me that lives in the future .... because that's when I can hug on my amazing man returning home from yet another deployment.