What’s This I See?

 

Can you see it?  Look at this photo.  It’s just out there in the distance. 

No…not the guy walking…or the fishing pole sticking out of the sand, silly….

Out there where the sun is rising on the horizon…

Yes!  There it is!!  The first new day of the New Year 2010!!

WOW!! 

A new day…PRAISE YOU LORD!!

A new year…THANK YOU LORD!!!

So, sweet friends, I’ve just been wondering…

What are your thoughts on this New Year we have all been blessed to behold??

Here are some of mine.

~~~~I am going to strive to live more deeply.~~~~ 

This past year the roots of my faith in my Lord and Savior Jesus Christ and my trust in the truth of His Word have grown so much deeper, and I have to say, it is WONDERFUL!!  Abiding in the Vine…there is NOTHING on this earth that can compare!!  It is my heart’s desire to see these roots continue to deepen as I commit this New Year and all it holds to the Lord, and seek to walk in His ways.

~~~~I am going to strive to love more fully.~~~~

“A new commandment I give you, that you love one another; as I have loved you, that you also love one another.”  John 13:34

Oh My!!  I do love people, but man they can pluck my very last nerve…you know what I mean right?  What would Jesus say??? c’mon…you know what He says. Say it with me…

LOVE them ANYWAY.   As He has loved me???    He died on the cross for MY SIN so I could LIVE with Him throughout eternity, and I sometimes can’t even handle petty annoyances from the people around me? 
I will endeavor to do a better job of  loving others as Christ loves me.

~~~~I am going to strive to give more freely.~~~~

…“Freely you have received, freely give” Matt. 10:8

I have received unspeakable JOY, LOVE, PEACE, GRACE, MERCY, STRENGTH, WISDOM, GUIDANCE,AND TENDER LOVINGKINDNESS from my heavenly Father.  I will never be able to give as He has given to me, but I will leave this earth one day having given it my BEST shot!!

SPEAKING OF “shots”…I read this quote the other day on someone’s blog and LOVE it!  Great one for the new year!

“100 % of the shots you never take will never make it in.”   ~~Wayne Gretsky

What are you gals shootin’ for in 2010?  do tell!!

Remember, I am committed to praying for you all, so you can always email me any requests you might have.  holidayinthesun_1@yahoo.com  I do consider it a privilege to bring your requests to the throne of God!!!

May God draw you each close to Him in this New Year and may you find Him to be your ALL IN ALL.

Loads of Love!

Becky

Oh Yeah!!  And…

HAPPY NEW YEAR, YA’LL!!

 

Sooooo…Whatcha Up To?

It did happen, right???  You know…Thanksgiving and Christmas?  I blinked and it just raced right by!

Oh yes…I savored what I could, and it was delightful, but if I didn’t know any better I’d say God was speedin’ up the days already!!  Do you know what I mean?

As they (not sure who) say:  onward and upward!!

SO whatcha up to, gals?  I sure hope your Christmas was a joyful delight for you!  Mine was even tho’ it seem to happen at lightening speed! 

Are you resting with your feet up?

Dealing with some of this?

And needing some of this?

It may not be that cold here, but it’s colder than we’re used to in these parts, and I am enjoying my fair share of warm chocolately cocoa and wonderful Gevalia coffee, that’s for SURE!!

I have had a couple days of rest and relaxation, and am really beginning to look forward to what this coming new year holds! 

Don’t you love the idea of a fresh clean start?  New goals?
Just the wonderful promise of it all?

I sure do!

And I can’t wait to share it all with you girls!!  You are the BEST!!

Have I told you that lately??!!

You make me laugh, cry, inspire me, encourage me, teach me, and fill up my cup to overflowing with your kindness, thoughtfulness and prayers!!  WOW!!  What a HUGE blessing you are!! 

Who wouldn’t want to spend their new year with you??!!

I want each of you to know that you have added sunshine to my days all through 2009, and that I am committed to praying for each of you throughout 2010! 

Now that is a privilege, indeed!

Hope you all have a great week! 

Love and BIG SQUISHY HUGS,
BECKY

 

Christmas Fun!!

It is 9:30 on Christmas Eve, and I am finishing up wrapping my gifts…only 4 to go!!

This gift made me LAUGH!! 

Question…How does one wrap a grill pan????

ANSWER:

Question:  Do you think she’ll guess what it is?  LOL!!!  I didn’t have a box or bag that would fit it!!  I think she’ll laugh, too!!

Little Miss Em’ working on her gingerbread girl.  I freehand cut these and they come out ginormous and oh so very chubby!!

Sneaking a lick as any self-respecting 4 yr old would do!!! 

My 28 yo daughter Sam’s version of Mrs. Claus
LOVE IT!!!

Birdy’s self portrait ginger girl!  Notice the stars in her eyes?!

 

Kristina’s ginger girl! 

Birdy’s gingerboy boyfriend! The reason for the stars in her eyes!

The artists!!  If you look you can see Maddy’s gingerbread man from Shrek!!  He came out perfect!

Such fun!  Hope you are making some great memories, too!!

MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!

LOVE YOU BUNCHES!!

The Light of the World

 

Christmas…the day JOY entered the world!!

My wonderful friends,  I read this and just had to share it with you.  It is an excerpt from the Streams in the Desert devotional book.  If you have volume 2, it is on December 21st. 

“The birth of Jesus is the sunrise of the Bible.  Toward this point the aspirations of the prophets and the poems of the psalmists were directed as the heads of flowers are turned toward the dawn. 

From this point a new day began to flow very silently over the world—a day of faith and freedom, a day of hope and love.

When we remember the high meaning that has come into human life and the clear light that has flooded softly down from the manger-cradle in Bethlehem of Judea, we do not wonder that mankind has learned to reckon history from the birthday of Jesus, and to date all events by the years before or after the Nativity of Christ.”

‘Twas not the angel’s message
  That gave the Christmas thought
Nor yet the gold and incense
  Which the wise men had brought.

’Twas not the star that led them
  Upon the unknown way;
It was the birth of Jesus
  That makes the Christmas day!
--Annie Johnson Flint

Praying that you all know the JOY of life in the Savior, and that your Christmas is filled with love, laughter, and all things wonderful!!

Much Love to you all!!
Becky

Little Joys!

Don’t you just LOVE all the little joys that fill your days?  You know, things you love to do, items in your home that make you smile because of fond memories they hold or things you just really enjoy!! 

I’m sharing a few of mine today.

I so enjoy making my own cards.  I make all different kinds, and had the JOY of getting together with a lovely friend on Saturday and making Christmas cards.  We made cards from about 9:30 a.m. til 3:30!!  I haven’t done anything like this in so long, and it was sheer delight!

I can’t show most of them because I don’t want the recipients to see them before they arrive in their mailbox, but here is one I made for my older brother, Randy.  He loves to hunt just like my Randy, and lives in St. Louis, so I thought a snowy scene would be cool. (no pun intended!  HA!) :o)

I smiled from ear to ear ya’ll when I pulled this adorable gingerbread house Maddy made out of the box!!  It’s the one she won 1st place at the county fair with, and can’t you just see why??!!  We found the little gumdrop tree at JoAnn last year, and the little Santa in the car is a vintage ornament that Randy (my brother) gave us a long time ago.

I keep this set up low on a little serving cart so the kids who come here can enjoy it, and they love it, too!!

Maddy did such a great job with the detail! 

And I bought this poorly painted silly little bit of whimsy years ago at Big Lots for $6!  It has been an endless source of delight for my kids and all the little people who visit!
You wind it up on the bottom and the little penguins skate and slide all around to the tune of We Wish You A Merry Christmas!  It is so much fun to see their little faces light up!

It is all usually part of a snowy scene, but I left off the snow this year.

And this is one of two birdies that make me smile!
I think I got them in Mt. Dora last year.  Definitely faves of mine!

Well sweeties, I hope you take the time to truly savor the sweetness and JOY of this Christmas season, and that you share your JOY with everyone you see!

May God make His face to SHINE upon you!
Hugs,

Becky

Oh Christmas Tree!

 

Happee Sunday, Gals!!  Hope your week was full of the JOY of the Lord and that you’re pacing yourselves and just drinking in the goodness and delight of this holiday season!!

Doesn’t this silly little guy just make you SMILE??!!!

OK, can we talk?  I have to be honest…last week early on was a challenge for me emotionally and hormonally!  I was missing my Mom and hit a low hormonally that just wasn’t pleasant AT ALL!!

On top of that, the nasty ol’ ENEMY of my soul started to try and mess with me too!!  Fortunately, with prayer and wonderful, encouraging, godly, prayerful friends interceding for me, I OVERCAME it all and am back to my JOYFUL self!!!  Praise You Lord!!!  Big thanks to Jess, Nellie, and Nor’!!

My precious friend, Noreen, is a lovely godly lady I met through blogging.  We had an instant connection, and I know we will be great buddies for life! If you haven’t stopped by Life’s Blessings for a visit , you’ve been missing out!!  I hope you’ll go over and share some Christmas love with Noreen!!! She has such a sweet spirit and spreads the love of the Lord around blogland with her thoughtful, kind, warm friendly ways!  Love you, Nor’!!  You are an incredible blessing to me!!

I really want to share some of my Christmas tree decorations with you today.  You see, I have always wanted a beautiful themed tree with white lights that I can just FROU FROU all up!!  Well, I am proud to say that I do have a themed tree, and it is “My Family Christmas Tree” and just delights my soul!!

This tree is chockfull of my childhood Christmas memories, ornaments that my children made through the years or dear friends gave me.

Here is our tree (minus the star ‘cause i keep forgettin’ to remind hubby to get it up there) and some of the ornaments and decorations we treasure:

  

 Our tree is far more simple this year than ever, and I really like it!  I can’t stomach the price for extra large tree skirts, so I went to Joann and purchased a big ol’ piece of red felt, and just wrapped it around the base.

The 3 older girls made these heart shaped ornaments about 14-15 years ago.  Two made snow scenes and the oldest made this nativity. 

Mom’s ladies' group at church beaded all kinds of things and I have several different sizes of bells.  Just love them!

Mom also made these little soldiers from clothespins. Cute!

I absolutely ADORE this glass bead garland.  This tree is truly vintage and my Mom’s garland is just perfect!  I am on the hunt for some more to go with it!

The little sleeping Jesus ornaments were a giveaway at Secret Sisters one year! So simple and adorable!

This one is for YOU KAR!!  Didn’t know if you saw it last year or not, but it’s one that my Mom’s friend gave her because she was such an awesome knitter!!  Mom loved it, and so do I!

 

Mom knit the hats for all of these little Santas, and made sure each of us kids got one!

My Mom was a lovely, peaceful soul, and she loved hearts of all kinds.  The  simplicity of this dove with the heart reminds me so much of her traditional, simple, caring ways.
I hope my children will remember me the way we all remember our special Mom!!

A sweet vintage Messiah ornament Mom loved and bought. 

A reindeer made from Mallory’s hand tracing when she was in grade school.  Too cute!

A vintage styrofoam star is one of several different styrofoam ornaments me and my older siblings decorated when I was around 5-6 years old, I think.  Precious!!

If I ever do have a themed tree it will HAVE to be a second tree!  There is no way I would give up the family heritage and treasured memories of my FAMILY TREE!!

Love you sweeties!! Be sure and take the time to make some wonderful memories this Christmas.  It will be 2010 before we know it!!

Hugs,
Becky

SIMPLY Wonderful/Teacup Lane!

Good Morning, sweet friends!!

I CANNOT believe that there are only 15 days
until Christmas, but I am plugging along, pacing myself and SIMPLIFYING!!!

Simplifying is definitely the way to go!  I am so into the whole LESS is MORE thing, and putting the emphasis where it belongs…on JESUS and the free gift of salvation He offers to the world. 

This Christmas,if we each just focus on being the hands, feet, and mouths of our loving Savior, I wonder what MAGNIFICENCE would result!!  He can use us to rock this world if we will just listen and obey!  So, what do you say?  LET’S GO INTO THE WORLD TODAY AND SHAKE THINGS UP FOR JESUS!! 

I have to tell you about my new friend, Sandy over at Teacup Lane!!  I visited her blog recently and commented on the wonderful dishcloths she had crocheted.  I loved her blog and followed it.  The next thing I knew she commented on my blog and told me she wanted to make some of her wonderful dishcloths FOR ME!!  What a delightful, thoughtful and kind gesture!!

Here is what arrived in the mail soon after…

 

Aren’t these just simply delicious?
And she gave me this snowflake, too, which is the very first one she has ever made!! 

What a neat pattern!  Oh I forgot to say she even asked me what colors I wanted!  Now is that special or what? 

A close-up of the snowflake!  LOVE IT!!!!

It looks lovely on my tree, and fits right in with our vintage ornaments and glass bead garland from my childhood.

Thank you so much, Sandy.  You have no idea how much you blessed my heart!!! 

Please go meet Sandy, sweeties!!  You’ll be glad you did!!

Love to you all!!
Splash the JOY of Jesus all over the place today, ok??

Becky

Wreath Love!!

Good Morning My Friends!!

What a great morning to be alive!!

I thank you Lord, for this brand new day, and all the promise it holds.  May I glorify you in all I think, do, and say.  Please bless my friends, and grant the request that is closest to their hearts.   In the mighty Name of Jesus, Amen.

Well sweeties, here is the wreath I made for Jess. She loves sparkle and sparkle she got!!  There is a lot more than what shows up in this photo!!  I normally put a bow on my wreaths, but this just didn’t need one!

What do you think?  I love it and it sure makes the wreaths on my front doors look BLAH!!!  I may change them up a bit…if I have the time…maybe next year???  LOL!!!  Don’t think I need one more thing, but who knows? 

I DID NOT get the tree done, but got started on the rest and will finish it all tomorrow!!  I can’t wait to be done and just enjoy it all!! 

How are your Christmas preps going?  We are serving dinner here with a few less people than Thanksgiving, so I need to prepare my menu, too.

What does your family have for Christmas dinner?

Typically we have ham…yummy mouthwatering ham, and since my family tends to get in a rut…we’ll probably have…you guessed it…

HAM!!!!!

Well gals, I hope your day is as wonderful as each of you are, and that you will share a smile with someone in need!!!

LOVIES!!!
Becky

YAY!!! Puter is Up/A Blank Canvas!

Top of the morning to you Sweeties!  Wow!  Can’t believe this puter is working again!  It’s only been about 12 days, but it seems like forever! 

I am running hard to catch up around here!  Was down with some sinus issues, and finally got my Christmas decor  from the attic, and got the tree this weekend and…and…and…

LET THE DECORATING BEGIN!!! WOOHOO!!!

Don’t you just love foofing up your home for the holiday season?  Well, I do, although I am simplifying the process each year.

I find blank canvases very inspirational, and here is our LOVELY tree that we will be decking out today!!

Mmmm!!  Can’t you just smell the piney goodness of it all???  It is an 8 1/2 ft. tall Frasier Fir, and it does smell wonderful!!  Hubster always wants something underneath the tree, hence the sheet.  The tree skirt will go on top of it.

We can’t wait to decorate it!  Might do something different this year!!  Update to come!!

And who do we have here??  Oh Critta!!  Don’t get any funny ideas about that tree!!

You talking to sweet little innocent ol’ me?  How could you even think such a thing??

This handsome guy just LOVES to paw at the tree skirt until he uncovers enough of the base to sit and get a few refreshing laps of tree water!!  I am CONSTANTLY adding water, because as soon as it is inside, it becomes his personal water bowl!  Isn’t that a hoot??  Anyone else’s cat do this?

And here are some components I am using to make a wreath for my buddy, Jess.  I absolutely LOVE making wreaths, and I think I am going to redo mine in the next day or so too!  I’ll show you the end result after she sees it!

I sure hope you all have a delightful week, full of the JOY of the Lord and shared joy with family and friends!  We all need to count our blessings each day, and not get caught up in all of the busy-ness, ya know??? 

Love and hugs!
Becky

Hmmmph!!! "Puter Probs Continue!!

Hi everyone,

Our computer is clear of viruses, but for some reason unbeknownst to me it is going almost as slow as dial-up!! Ugggh!! Quite frustrating!! I even have photoshop now and can't really enjoy using it because of this issue!! I am contacting Cisco tomorrow, because their technical support fixed it before. Hoping they can do it again!! We'll see!

Been very busy!! Had Keeper's today and had a blast with the girls!! It is such a wonderful group! I couldn't have hand picked a better one!! We made little gifts to give to people in need of some Christmas cheer as part of our "becoming other oriented training". Can't wait to hear their stories when the Christmas break is over!!

So what have you been up to?

The day after Thanksgiving we hit the road to north Florida and the hunting camp! We had a great time in spite of the freezing temps, but our freezer remains venison free. Oh well!!! Maybe we'll get one next time. Sure could use the meat!

I do have a praise to share with you, sweet friends!!! God answered that unspoken prayer request of mine, and all the glory is His!! Thank you so much for your support and prayer! He has been so wonderful to me, and I thank Him for His healing and for each of YOU!!

Hope your Friday is delightful!!

Miss ya'll and can't stand using this lap top!!

Love and hugs,

Becky

SO THANKFUL!

HAPPY THANKSGIVING TO YOU, MY FRIENDS!!

HOPE YOUR DAY IS FULL OF ALL KINDS OF WONDERFULNESS!! AND OF COURSE, THANKS TO GOD FOR HIS GREAT LOVE, FOR FAMILY, FRIENDS, A FREE NATION, AND PRAYERS FOR THOSE SERVING OUR COUNTRY AND THEIR FAMILIES, AND THOSE LESS FORTUNATE HERE AND AROUND THE WORLD.

SHARE YOUR JOY AND THE LOVE OF OUR LORD THIS HOLIDAY SEASON, AND SEE GOD MULTIPLY IT BACK TO YOU!!

OUR COMPUTER IS VERY SICK, SO IF I'M NOT HERE FOR A LITTLE WHILE YOU KNOW WHY!

SO THANKFUL FOR EACH OF YOU!!

LOVE AND BIG SQUISHY HUGS!!

BECKY

To Brine or Not to Brine?

 photo from Food Network

Well, if you have never brined your turkey, you will probably answer “No brine”.  HOWEVER, we found out last year that we will never NOT brine our turkey again!!  Can we say YUMMO??!!

We use Food Network’s Alton Brown’s recipe for making our turkey brine.   Brining is merely soaking your turkey in a seasoned brine to increase moisture and flavor.  It does that indeed.  This year we are also making some sage butter to put between the skin and the meat for some additional flavor.

Sage Butter:

2 sticks butter
1/4 c. chopped sage
dash of salt and pepper

Mix ingredients and place pats of butter between skin and breast meat. Be gentle so the skin doesn’t get broken.

I am making my own vegetable stock for the brine, and oh how I wish you could smell the wonderful aroma!!  It is just filling every nook and cranny of my home, and just screams out “The holidays are here!! The holidays are here!!” 

So what’s cooking at your home?

Cleaning today here, and tomorrow pies, and prep for all of our other dishes!  I will also be sharing an amazing recipe for a new twist on salsa!!  You will LOVE this!!!

C’mon and get your “THANKS” on gals, and know that I love ya and am thankful for the blessing of YOU!!!

HUGS,

Becky

Now This Will Warm You Up!!

This is for all of my lovely bloggy friends out there who are already having to cozy up to the fire for warmth!  Maybe this will help!!  ENJOY!!

We ventured out to the beach last week, and I must tell you it was absolutely DIVINE!!!

Look at this collage of cloud photos.  Doesn’t it look like a cloud trail that some of God’s mighty angel’s wings would make if we could see it??  Too cool!!!

 

When it is high tide, no cars can drive on the beach.  There was hardly anyone there (just how I like it) and mild enough that we never broke a sweat.  Ahhhh….LIFE IS GOOD!!

The surf was a bit rough, so no boogy boarding today!  :o(     Meh!!!!!

Even the lifeguard was just soaking it all in since no one was in the water nearby.

Little Miss Em!!

I just love this shot!!! 

 Sam pointed out this pelican to me that was just riding the surf in.  In all of my almost 31 years of beachin’ it here, I have never seen a pelican do this.

He just stood on the beach for almost 30 minutes and let me get within about 15 feet of him.  I think he is the old, wise one that is the head honcho, ya know!

Two little sandpipers came for a visit!!  You can get an idea of his size by looking at them.  He was very big!

My in-laws used to own a beach house on New Smyrna Beach, and all we had to do was walk down steps like these to the shore.  Those were the days!!

A lone seagull just gazing about

I love that I caught the action of this little guy’s trot!  They are SO much fun to watch with their fast little walks!!  And this one is especially pretty!

A couple of sailboats in the distance.  Do you see the little line of sandpipers along the shore?  Too cute!!!

Thanks for coming along today, friends!!

Sure wish you could have been there with us!!

If I don’t get the opportunity again,  I’d like to wish you a very Happy Thanksgiving full of praises to God for all of His blessings in your lives. 

You each are a blessing I am giving thanks for!!

Love you,
Becky