Deck The Halls!

This weekend my family and I are decking our halls with all the Christmas decorations! It's the most wonderful time of the year!

Christmas in a Jar

My sister and I were sitting at Starbucks one evening, and we were so excited to see the famous Red Starbucks Coffee Cups that come out ever year for the holiday season - wow it was only the first week in November and they were out! We were talking about how when they bring out the red cups, they don't continue to have the quotes of different people on the cups. Maybe they could have Christmas theamed quotes??

We got to thinking and decided to make a Christmas Jar full of everything Christmas. We typed up many memories, quotes, verses and even quotes from our favorite Christmas shows and movies - It was so fun!! Then we printed them on some nice red and green shimmery paper that we found at Paper Zone. After cutting each quote out, I curled each paper strip and placed them in a jar I had found at Target. So now everyday anyone can pull out words of Christmas out of the Christmas Jar, and be reminded of a fun Christmas memory or a beautiful song lyric - all inspiring us of the joy and hope that Christmas brings!

Thanksgiving Sunset

This was taken on our deck looking out to the beautiful sunset

A day full of blessings!

I think Bailey is ready for Christmas!!

Happy Thanksgiving!!

Wishing you all a wonderful Thanksgiving!! I'm so thankful for you, my friends and family!

May God bless you!

(Photo courtesy of: http://www.vintageantiqueclassics.com/thanksgiving_turkey.jpg)

Philippians 1:3-6

Thanksgiving Breakfast Idea

Thanksgiving is tomorrow!! Are you ready?

Since Thanksgiving day is full of time in the kitchen preparing for the big meal, I was thinking that to start the day off right, you always need a good breakfast, but nothing to crazy. Here is an idea...

On the morning of Thanksgiving while you are watching the Macy's Day Parade and sipping your coffee, eat a yogurt Parfait! Grab your favorite yogurt and add granola and fresh fruits to it. It will most defiantly fill you up and get you ready for the fun day ahead!

Here is a story on my recent yogurt parfait experience, haha :)
I was at the Blue Water restaurant in Kirkland a few weekends ago for a brunch in celebration of a friends wedding - it was great! They had a great breakfast menu and I was in the mood for something light yet filling. I saw that they had a yogurt parfait so I decided on that. I was thinking of coarse that it would be your average Starbucks parfait - oh was i wrong! It was GINORMOUS!! The bowl was about five inches in diameter and overflowing with fresh strawberries, blueberries and bananas with dried fruit mixed with the granola and vanilla yogurt. Then to top it all off, they beautifully sprinkled powdered sugar all over and around the dish! Let me tell ya, this parfait was so good and so filling, but it didn't give you that stuffed feeling which most of the time happens on Thanksgiving, haha! Here is a picture of the parfait that a friend and I ordered.

Enjoy! I'm off to the store to get the pumpkin pie and last minuet Turkey Day stuff :)

A Thankful Heart

All through my life I have listened to, watched on TV, or read Pastor Charles Stanley's sermons, devotions and articles. Yesterday my mom passed on to me his recent Life Principles Notes. He writes about having a thankful heart, and mentions how the heart is the one thing that reflects our emothions, passions, moral choices, attitudes and thoughts. So we need a healthy heart that is pure, loving, unselfish, kind, but above all greatful. He references 1 Thessalonians 5:18 where it says "In everything give thanks; for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus." Ok, so in everything give thanks?? This can be a challenge for all of us, but I love how Charles Stanley breaks it down. Here is what I gathered from his points on things that motivate us to be grateful:

• The Lord is sovereign - God knows everything that we go through, so we are to be grateful for the good times and bad because he is always there to help us through and shape us through our circumstances.
• God loves us unconditionally - His love never changes, and we can't loose it, no matter what!
• The Father restores our relationship to Him through Christ's death on the cross - we can have a relationship with our God because our sins are paid in full because of Christ.
• God's forgiveness - He forgives our sins when we confess and turn to Him.
• The Lord abides with us - When we live in the spirit we can experience His guidance, strength, love, peace and more, in anything we face in life.
• The Father has sealed us with the Holy Spirit - We are apart of His family and we are preparing for our eternal home in heaven, and nothing can take that away from us.
• God always hears our prayers - We can talk to God whenever we want! Pray to Him without ceasing! Philippians 4:6 "Be anxious for nothing, but in everything (there's that everything word again) by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God." Giving him praise with thanksgiving, and make your request known to him, but have your focus on Him through all things.
• The Father has given us a Helper - We can serve God through the Holy Spirit with the gifts and talents that He gives us to give Him glory.
• God has a purpose for our lives - God's plan is the best plan ever, so we must seek Him and obey him, because only He can give our lives eternal significance and meaning.

May we all face each day with a thankful heart, for God knows everything we face in life, and He is using it to shape and mold us into His image! Let us give thanks for all that God continues to do in and through our lifes!

Here is the link to the full article on A Thankful Heart. http://www.intouch.org/atf/cf/%7B865500FE-874B-487B-A95C-C0B327D0A690%7D/LP071118.PDF

Apple Cup!

(Photo courtesy of: www.cubuffshockey.org/.../uw_huskies_logo.jpg)

Today is the Apple Cup game, a day where the state of Washington is split with the support of two teams; the Washington Huskies and the Washington State Cougars. Today they come to play a game that will most likely be entertaining since both teams rank as the worst teams in college football this season. Even with that, devoted fans come out for their support! GO DAWGS!!

A festive Tiramisu dessert - I was so excited it turned out so yummy, even with purple cool whip, haha!

Blessings

This Thanksgiving season I find myself reflecting on this past year. It's been a year of many blessings from the Lord, and I'm touched by each and every one of them. From my wonderful relationships with family and friends, to God's continued faithfulness through my health challenges this year, I'm so grateful for all that He has done and given!

I recently read a devotional by Joni Eareckson Tada where she talks about our blessings in life, and it was a good reminder, and got me thinking. She writes about a man who became blind at an early age, and was able to have surgery so that he could see again. During this man's life with renewed vision, he experienced a set back due to a ulceration in his eyes, causing his eyesight to be greatly impaired. He had good eyesight for only a time, and now lives with the impairment, yet able to see only with magnifying glasses and strong light. With this difficult occurrence, he has learned not to hold onto the joy of eyesight, but give thanks for the blessing that it was. He mentions a quote by William Blake:"He who binds himself to a joy, does the winged life destroy; but he who kisses the joy as it flies lives in eternity's sunrise."

God has given each of us blessings in life, and He does this because He loves us, but above all, so that He may be glorified in return. May we not hold onto our blessings as our hope and joy, whatever it may be, for it could be gone in an instant. For we must hold on to, and look to Christ who is our everlasting hope and joy, because he will never change or go away! Hebrews 13:8 says, "Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever." May we praise Him for all that He is and does for us! Joni ends the devotion with a prayer "Great Giver of all gifts, thank You for the blessings of this life. Help me to hold loosely, very lightly the gifts that you bestow. Help me to hold fast to You."

New Recipes!

Recently I have enjoyed finding new recipes and collecting them for my cookbook. Whether it's a simple "every day meal" or something a little bit more challenging, it's been an adventure! This week I plan to make my first Tiramisu Bowl - gotta love a good Jell-O dessert! I will be adding some flair to it with some food coloring - we shall see how it turns out...

With Thanksgiving next week and Christmas quickly approaching, it's fun to see what holiday recipes are out there. One in particular that I'm so excited to try is Peppermint-topped Brownies. I'm a huge fan of anything mint, mostly peppermint though. I found the recipe in this months Real Simple (one of the best magazines ever!) who got the recipe from Sunset Magazine. Fudge brownies with peppermint candies on top to finish it off sounds amazing, and I can't wait to see how it all comes together!

Here is the recipe if you would like to try it too! :)

http://www.sunset.com/sunset/food/article/0,20633,1681166,00.html

Starting Out

I have had several friends create blogs, and I think it's time to start my own! So here goes, still learning how this all works :) More to come...