40 Day Love Dare

Since it's Monday, and I've in no way, shape or form bitten off more than I can chew lately with this blog, I've decided to start one more project. Have you seen the movie Fireproof? Well, awhile back I signed up to participate in the 40-Day Love Dare from Family Life. I saved the email challenges, but I didn't do them. Why? I don't know. I wanted to do them. Just didn't feel like it, I guess. But you know what? I think marriage can use all the exercise it can get.

Yesterday was a bad day for Devan and I. A REALLY bad day. We both did some things that started us off on the wrong foot today. So I can't start the first challenge. However, I'm going to put it up here today so that I can do it tomorrow. And I'm sticking with it. If you want to participate in the 40-Day Love Dare, feel free to follow
along here.

You can order a copy of the book "The Love Dare" from the movie Fireproof here.

Day 1:

Resolve to say nothing negative about your spouse today.

Ephesians 4:2

Be completely humble and gentle; be patient, bearing with one another in love. Make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace.

*New International Version*

Powerful stuff.

A Christmas Survey (Feel free to play along)

About the TREE....
1.When do you put up the Christmas tree? November 29th (my birthday) and it comes down on January 6th (my mom's birthday) That's the way we've always done it!
2. Real or fake? Used to be real; now I'm satisfied with a pre-lit fake.
3. Lights? What color? Mulit-color.
4. Garland? Not on the tree.
5. Theme or no theme? Woodland Christmas - green, burgundy, gold, and a few special ornaments that I've collected so far.
6. What kind of topper? A burgundy and gold angel from my Aunt Dawn. Beautiful!
7. What's your favorite ornament? Minnie Mouse. She hasn't yet been passed down to me, but someday she will! She's gorgeous, old hand-blown glass.
8. What does your tree skirt look like? Green velvet with a Santa Claus.
9. Where do you put your tree? Wherever there is room!
10. Who decorates the tree? . It's a family affair.
11.What's "under" the tree? Presents
12. Do you put candy canes on your tree? Usually, no. This year, yes.

About the FOODS....
1. What's your favorite Christmas cookie? Papa's shortbread cookies and gingerbread.
2. Do you bake cookies and give them away? Sometimes
3. Any "special" foods or candy that you only have at Christmas time? Eggnog, gingerbread, and Aunt Bev's Jewish coffee cake. Oh, and Candy Cane Lane tea! And rum balls!
4. What do you eat Christmas EVE? Finger foods and appetizers and fondue, but we're going to start doing a seafood feast on Christmas Eve.
5. What do you eat on Christmas day? Breakfast: Make ahead casserole, special sticky buns (I will share a link to the recipe where I found it sometime soon here), eggnog, strong coffee and orange juice...a dessert table set out all day with lots of goodies to snack on...dinner is a formal affair with either a ham or prime rib, mashed potatoes and gravy, green bean casserole, crescent rolls, etc.
6. Do you like Eggnog?? Love, love, love eggnog. I start drinking it as soon as it's available. My friend Loretta gave me a recipe for eggless eggnog that I think I'm going to try this year.
7. Do you like candy canes? Not really. I think they are cool to decorate with and a nice stocking stuffer but I'm not that into eating them!

Decorations
1. Where do you hang your stockings? Used to be on the fireplace mantel, but we don't have a fireplace anymore. So they are on our entertainment center! Jeremiah has a snowflake stocking holder, Devan has a Christmas tree and I have a reindeer.
2. Do you put lights on your house? White icicle lights for house, colored lights for trees and bushes, light up reindeer.
3. Got any outside lawn decorations? Yes, a bunch. (Hint hint hint to Devan, I'd love that light up horse and sleigh we saw at Menards. Nudge, nudge, wink, wink, HIIIIIIINNNNNNNNT)
4. Do you put up a nativity (crèche)? One? Try four.
5. Do you hang mistletoe over the door? Yup.
6. Got a wreath on your front door? Yes, a beautiful evergreen wreath my mom sent me! It makes the whole house smell like Christmas!
7. How long does it take you to decorate? Rome wasn't built in a day, my friends.

About the movies/show
1 . Favorite Children's Xmas TV show/cartoon? ? "A Christmas Story" I watch it all year round..."You'll shoot your eye out, you'll shoot your eye out"...."He looks like a pink nightmare!"...
2. Wonderful Life/Miracle on 34th St/A ChristmasCarol (Scrooge)Never got into A Christmas Carolt hat much...so I guess it's a tie between Miracle on 34th Street and It's A Wonderful Life.
Favorite Christmas movie?? A Charlie Brown Christmas, The Grinch Who Stole Christmas, Prancer, and A Christmas Story, it's a 4-way tie.
4. Have you ever seen the Nutcracker Suite Ballet live? No.
5. Ever been to the Radio City Music Hall Christmasshow?? No. I've only been to NYC once and it didn't include Radio City Music Hall, unfortunately.
6. Ever gone to the movies on Xmas Day? No, but I have had takeout pizza for Christmas dinner.

Other Christmas things....
1. Favorite Christmas book or story? The Christmas story from the book of Luke. That's always my favorite. I also like "A Cajun Night Before Christmas" - discovered that one when I lived in Louisiana.
2. Do you stuff your stockings with any types of food? For the fur kids? I always put candy in the stockings (except for Jeremiah, he gets baby puffs!) And our furbaby Ares does have a stocking. He's getting a bunch of squeaky toys from Dollar Tree anda Kong ball that you stuff with peanut butter and the dog has to figure out how to get it out, to keep him from getting bored.
3. Do you go to church on Christmas or Christmas Eve? I've been to Midnight Mass at a Catholic church one Christmas Eve and it was a beautiful service. However, I don't usually go. This year, I will be attending a Christmas Day service because our handbell choir is playing "Do You Hear What I Hear?" and I'm going to try and get a video to put on here for you to see and hear us!
4. Have you ever gone Caroling? Lots of times, back in the day!
5. Favorite Christmas Carol? "I'll Be Home For Christmas", especially sung by Anne Murray. It was beautiful when it was written for soldiers way back when, but it means a lot to me now that I've been away from my family for so many years.
6. Do you believe in Santa? Yes
7. Do you leave Santa cookies? Yes I do.
8. What about Rudolph...We leave carrots for the reindeer and a little "Magic Feed Corn". (If you've ever watched Santa Claus is Coming to Town you know all about Magic Feed Corn!)
9. What was your best Christmas gift? A silver teapot, sugar, creamer and tray that belonged to my great-grandmother who came to America on a ship from Ireland.
10. What was the worst/most odd gift? When I was 15 my grandmother sent me a Jurassic Park coloring book and a pack of crayons.
11. Do you go to a "work" Christmas party? Devan's company doesn't have a holiday party.
12. Do you hate going? See above.
13. Do you send Christmas cards? Many!!
14. Do you make a "list"? Yes
15. Do you check it twice? & thrice & etc...Yes, there's no fooling me!
16.When do you start shopping? Around Dec. 26
17.Do you shop on Black Friday? No way. I'm done shopping way before then!
20. ARE YOU READY FOR CHRISTMAS? I'm always ready for Christmas.

TAG! You're it.
I Tag:
LORETTA @ Under The Wild Cherry Trees
DENIECE @ Organized Homemaking for Christ
GRETCHEN @ Still Writing Love Letters
And ALL of my Sugar Pie Sistas!!

Christmas Trees Around The World (Day One of Petals and Pine 18 Days of Christmas!)

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

Welcome to Day One of Petals and Pine's 18 Days of Christmas...I will be counting down the days by sharing all sorts of Christmas goodies each day. This is in honor of Petals and Pine's Christmas blog, which I am closing down. Anything I can do there, I can do here...Christmas is a part of my life year round and so it deserves a key place on my main blog. So I hope you enjoy day one, a look at Christmas trees of the world!

Drink a glass of gluhwein from the holiday market at the Romer Frankfurt's city hall since 1405 and enjoy a taste of Christmas past.

Against a backdrop of tall, shadowy firs, a rainbow trio of Christmas trees lights up the night (location unknown).

A token of gratitude for Britain's aid during World War II, the Christmas tree in London's Trafalgar Square has been the annual gift of the people of Norway since 1947.

This is the Capitol Christmas Tree in Washington, D.C. It is covered with 3,000 ornaments made by American schoolchildren and is surrounded by evergreens in the "Pathway of Peace" that represent the 50 states.

A Christmas tree projected on the exterior of Tokyo's Grand Prince Hotel Akasaka.
A little too not my style!

The world's largest Christmas tree display rises up the slopes of Monte Ingino outside of Gubbio, in Italy's Umbria region. The tree is composed of about 500 lights connected by 40,000 feet of wire, the 'tree' is a modern marvel for an ancient city.

Illuminating the Gothic facades of Prague's Old Town Square, and casting its glow over the manger display of the famous Christmas market, is a grand tree cut in the Sumava mountains in the southern Czech Republic.

Venice 's Murano Island renowned throughout the world for its quality glasswork is home to the tallest glass tree in the world. Sculpted by master glass blower Simone Cenedese, the artistic Christmas tree is a modern reflection of the holiday season.

Moscow celebrates Christmas according to the Russian Orthodox calendar on Jan. 7. For weeks beforehand, the city is alive with festivities in anticipation of Father Frost's arrival on his magical troika with the Snow Maiden. He and his helper deliver gifts under the New Year tree, or yolka, which is traditionally a fir.

The largest Christmas tree in Europe (more than 230 feet tall) can be found in the Praça do Comércio in Lisbon, Portugal. Thousands of lights adorn the tree, adding to the special enchantment of the city during the holiday season.

'Oh Christmas tree, oh Christmas tree': Even in its humblest attire, aglow beside a tiny chapel in Germany's Karwendel mountains, a Christmas tree is a wondrous sight.

This one is far and away my favorite. In my eyes, there is nothing more beautiful, especially at Christmastime!

Ooh la la Galeries Lafayette! In Paris, even the Christmas trees are chic. With its monumental, baroque dome, plus 10 stories of lights and high fashion, it's no surprise this show-stopping department store drawsmore visitors than the Louvre and the Eiffel Tower.

In addition to the Vatican's heavenly evergreen, St. Peter's Square in Rome hosts a larger-than- life nativity scene in front of the obelisk.


A note: I received these pictures and information through email. If it is yours, please let me know
and I will be more than happy to give you credit! This is absolutely beautiful.

Project Home Economics Day 5

I know I've been slacking in the project. I've had a rough week with Devan and I being sick and now Jeremonster having a cold, on top of all the holiday stuff I've been trying to catch up on!

You can find the original post on Project Home Economics Day 5 here.

Today we are continuing our study on an organized home management space. As I've stated before, it's difficult for me to set up a space for home management because a.) we don't have a home to manage and b.) if I did this it would insult my mother-in-law! I am still enjoying reading and picking up on tidbits of information that will help me establish a space for the management of my home when we are out on our own.

This lesson focuses on:

• What causes your desk clutter
• Setting aside some desk time each week
• Keeping a file folder for current items (an "active" file) to hold things that you will need in the next week and up to 3 months from now; also setting up a filing system for inactive items. One part that I found especially interesting was keeping a folder for sentimental things, such as a family tree. Since I'm very interested in genealogy and have been working quite hard at discovering my roots, I think that this is one principle I will definitely apply!
• The importance of having a bank lock box for keeping items such as birth and marriage certificates, deeds, wills, stock certificates, etc. (Basically paperwork that is a pain in the rear to replace!) Also, do you have trusted guardians for your children in the event of something happening to you? Devan and I have discussed this a few times but I think it's something we need to actually sit down and figure out!
• Organizing your computer. I found some great tips here. This article covers everything from organizing your email inbox to correct subject lines in emails!

The next assignment was to record happy thoughts in your Book of Days.

Here are some of my happy thoughts for today:

• Jeremiah can walk!
• Jeremiah says Mom!
• The weather is still fairly nice outside!
• I've been sticking to my diet fairly well!
• Christmas is right around the corner and all my shopping is done!

For the Project Home Economics notebook, the assignment is to write a few paragraphs about your homekeeping goals for the coming year (2010).

The foremost goal I have for 2010 is for us to be in our own home. That's so important! Aside from having our own space, I want to have a cozy, comfy home for my best friend to come visit when she comes down next summer. She's been my best friend for my entire life and I haven't seen her for several years, so this is important to me! I want her to feel welcome in my home.

It's hard to set goals like this when you don't have a home of your own to begin with. It's hard to study home economics, too. But I'm sticking with this because I know that I can learn a lot and be prepared when we are out on our own, just my little family...Devan, Jeremiah and Ares...(and Bowser, I can't leave him out!

Dressage

THIS is what I want to learn to do. Don't forget to scroll down and pause the music player on the bottom of my page. This is a dream of mine...a goal...something I want to achieve. Dressage is a beautiful art form and a lifetime achievement.

Furbaby Friday: Things Dogs Should Remember!

(This spit bubble is relatively small compared to the usual that we see from Ares!)

THINGS DOGS SHOULD REMEMBER

I will not play tug-of-war with Dad's underwear when he's on the toilet.

The garbage collector is NOT stealing our stuff.

I do not need to suddenly stand straight up when I'm lying under the coffee table.

I will not roll my toys behind the fridge.

I must shake the rainwater out of my fur BEFORE entering the house.

I will not eat the cats' food, before or after they eat it.

I will stop trying to find the few remaining pieces of clean carpet in the house when I am about to throw up.

I will not throw up in the car.

I will not roll on dead seagulls, fish, crabs, etc.

Kitty box crunchies are not food.

I will not eat any more socks and then redeposit them in the backyard after processing.

The diaper pail is not a cookie jar.

I will not chew my human's toothbrush and not tell them.

I will not chew crayons or pens, especially not the red ones, or my people will think I am hemorrhaging. (I will also not eat paper clips or batteries!)

When in the car, I will not insist on having the window rolled down when it's raining outside.

We do not have a doorbell. I will not bark each time I hear one on TV.

I will not steal my Mom's underwear and dance all over the back yard with it.

The sofa is not a face towel. Neither are Mom and Dad's laps.

My head does not belong in the refrigerator.

I will not bite the officer's hand when he reaches in for Mom's driver's license and car registration.

Thanks for stopping by for some Furbaby Fun on Friday!

(My blog just keeps getting more and more random, doesn't it??)

Jeremiah's First Haircut!

I took Jeremiah for his first haircut Monday afternoon. He was very well-behaved and our stylist, Destini, was wonderful with him!

She was very understanding with my demands: "Not too short, don't cut too much, I still want him to look like my baby."

What a big boy!

My mom sent us this beautiful live evergreen wreath from L.L. Bean. It looks amazing on the door but what is even better is the fragrance every time you open up the screen door onto the front porch!

In a random bit of news, we got new cell phones! I'm excited about this, because I've had my Motorola Razr forever! We went on a road trip to Dubuque, Iowa with Uncle Kyle and bought two LG Chocolate Touch phones. We were due for an upgrade anyway, since our 2 years was up, but we didn't want to pay a ridiculous price for new phones! We ended up paying $28.88 apiece for these and they are neat...hard to get used to the touch screen though!

In other news I'm at home today starting my course of antibiotics for strep throat. I knew I had it, but I wanted to get started on the antibiotics before it had a chance to really take hold and make me miserable. The doctor told me that there was only a 50% chance of me getting it...but I said "I know I have it!" and sure enough my test came back positive. When he looked at my throat he told me I was textbook strep. He explained the importance of taking the entire course of medicine because when strep is untreated it can attack the valves of the heart and cause congestive heart failure! That's scary! The only good news that I got today was that Jeremiah probably WON'T get strep, because it's apparently rare for children under 2 to contract it. I'll be recovering for awhile and then I'll be busy with catching up on Project Home Economics and I also have 2 giveaways coming up!

Tuesday Timewarp

Here is today's Tuesday Timewarp. It's all about pets. The top picture I am sitting in front of a lilac bush in the front yard of the house I grew up in with my Beagle/Labrador cross Dummy and my Chocolate Dutch Bunny, Molly.

The bottom four photos are of me and my first horse, Baldy. We were in one of the 4th of July parades for the town I grew up in, Fife Lake, Michigan.

There's my Tuesday Timewarp...where's yours??

Tuesday Treasure!

This is my treasure today! It's a beautiful lighted china cabinet from my MIL and FIL. I just love it! I have so many precious keepsakes that I'm terrified to lose, and no place to put them! (Granted most are in storage right now!~) So there's my Tuesday Treasure - what is yours?

Bloggy Progressive Dinner, Appetizers!

Welcome to day 2 of the Bloggy Progressive Dinner, hosted by Amy.

My appetizer is a recipe from Paula Deen.

Brown Sugar and Nut Glazed Brie

1/4 cup packed brown sugar

1/4 cup chopped macadamia nuts or pecans

1 tablespoon brandy

1 (14-ounce) round brie

Apple wedges, for serving

Pear wedges, for serving

2 to 3 tablespoons lemon juice

Crackers, for serving

In a small bowl stir together the sugar, nuts, and brandy. Cover and chill for at least 24 hours or up to 1 week. Preheat oven to 500 degrees F. Place the brie on an ovenproof platter or pie plate. Bake for 4 or 5 minutes or until the brie is slightly softened. Spread the sugar mixture in an even layer on top of the warm brie and bake for 2 to 3 minutes longer, or until the sugar melts. Brush the fruit wedges with lemon juice and arrange them around 1 side of the brie. Place crackers around the other side.

You can find more appetizers over at today's host, Balancing Beauty and Bedlam.