Merry Christmas

I'll be taking a break from the blog 

until after the holidays

as we spend time

 with family and

friends.

But before I go,

I thought I would show you

a little of the 

Christmas decorations 

in our home.

I'll be back soon with 

lots of pictures

of 

Lorelai's

first

Christmas.

In the meantime,

my family 

wishes

your family

a very

MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!!

Hugs -

Carol

What do you say?

I know that I have been very quiet here on the blog.

I've been trying to figure out what to say.

No words come to me.

All I can do is 

pray.

"Trust in the Lord with all your heart

and lean not on your own understanding;

In all your ways submit to him

and he will make your paths straight."

Proverbs 3:5-6

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Little Miss

Last week was Lorelai's six month birthday.

I admit that I didn't take a picture.

I know, I know -

bad Nana!

Well, her mom took a picture of her this

past weekend

sitting in front of the

Christmas tree

at their house.

Just thought you might

enjoy seeing

just

how big

she is getting.

Hugs -

Carol

A Revelation (at least to me)

Okay, how many of you have ever received a card from a business that said 

"Happy Holidays"?

Everyone, right?

How did you feel about it?

Did you just ignore it?

Did it upset you?

Or did you notice it at all?

Well, 

I used to get upset - 

that is until today.

You see, I was reading a letter to the editor of our "local" paper.  

The writer of this letter was ranting about a car dealership that had sent him a card that said "Happy Holidays" 

He stated that he threw it into the shredder 

and then sent an angry email to the dealer 

saying he would never do business with the firm again. 

He was ranting, in his letter to the editor,

that he wanted a card that said

"Merry Christmas"

and NOTHING

else. 

This is when I had my revelation.

I am celebrating

 Christmas. 

However, 

my Jewish friends are celebrating 

Hanukkah.  

Both of these religious celebrations happen 

during the same time frame every year.

(Now, my revelation)

How is a company suppose to know if you,

 as a customer, 

are Jewish or 

 Christian? 

They don't.  

So, 

why is it so bad for 

them

 to wish us a

  "Happy Holiday"?

Now, 

I will tell you right now, 

when I am looking for my Christmas cards 

I read the message -

if it says "Happy Holidays" 

I put it right back on the shelf.

Why?

Well, to me, 

a Christmas card

 is one way to be a witness 

to my faith.

At our house, we celebrate  

the birth of my Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ -

known as Christmas.

When I send a Christmas Card I am

acknowledging the fact that I

am a Christian.

I say "Merry Christmas" to people on the street 

and in stores.

We have a Christmas tree in our house.

So, what is the point to this post?

 The next time you receive a card from a company, 

and it says

"Happy Holidays"

don't get upset.

Rejoice

 that 

this company

  is acknowledging

 both 

religious holidays.

After all,

isn't that what

Jesus

would want us to do?

Merry Christmas!

Carol

6 Months

Just a quick line to say 

HAPPY 6 MONTH BIRTHDAY 

LORELAI ALEXIS!

YOUR NANA LOVES YOU SO VERY MUCH!

Busy Time

So, are you ready for Christmas?

What are you waiting for?

It's not going to wait on you, you know.

The last time I posted (about a week and a half ago) I had not even STARTED  buying Christmas presents. 

Well, I'm done!

Finished!

Even cancelled my Prime membership on Amazon.com.

(Oh, BTW, I didn't walk into a single store - everything was bought on line.  Thank you Amazon!)

Now, I still have to wrap (waiting for two more presents to be delivered) - but that is the fun part.

What else have I done?

Well, last weekend (actually Friday thru Sunday) we were up at Dowling Park. We left on Thursday evening after Melissa picked the baby up and were able to stay through Sunday morning.  We had to go up and get the camper and bring it home, so last weekend was the last time that we could before Christmas, plus the rent on the lot would be due the first of December.  So, it worked out to be perfect for us.  

It was nice to get away for a just little while.

I was even able to take TWO naps.

Can't remember the last time I did that.

Monday I worked in the kitchen some.

Tuesday, I cleaned the house and did all the laundry while Little Bit took her nap (she slept a l -o - n - g time Tuesday).

Wednesday, I made white chocolate covered pretzels 

(one bag for Melissa and Justin and one for Dan and I).  

Then I balanced the checkbook and paid the bills for the month.  

Today I have to check on some stuff with the insurance and Dan's prescriptions (he has a couple that have no refills left).  

I've already called the doctors office, but I think they messed the order up.  Anyway, that will take some time - if you have ever dealt with insurance companies you know what I mean.

Then I hope to get some more stuff done for the freezer.

As you can see, my life is really busy!  Ha!Ha!

Actually, it seems like my life is pretty boring - 

but, as my daughter says, 

It is what it is.

There are some other things that are going on, 

but I'll make you wait for that.

Well, I hope that you are having a fabulous week 

and I'll "see" you soon!

Hugs-

Carol

What's Up?

Good morning everyone!

What's up?

I have been a busy camper around here - 

Thanksgiving we took my mom out to lunch.  We went up to Sebring and ate at the Village Inn.  What?  

Well, actually we were going to go to the local Golden Corral, and decided to go at 1:00 - thinking that we would be later than the early guys and earlier than the later guys (does that make sense?).  Well, we were WRONG!  We picked mom up, went to the restaurant and people were lined up out the door.  If you know my darling hubs you know that we will not wait in a line - ever!  So, we had to go to plan B - we drove up to the only other "sit down" place in town and they aren't open (don't you love living in a small town).  So, off we went to Sebring - passing place after place that was closed.  I suggest the Village Inn - they are open all the time and I get the "look" - you all know what "the look" is don't you?  Well, to make a long story short, we pulled into the parking lot and walked in - were seated right away and served very quickly  - and the food was really good.  (Okay, Crystal, maybe not 5 star or even 4 star, but it was good).

We spent the rest of Thanksgiving day just hanging out at the house and watching football.

Friday and Saturday we were over at mom's by 8 to help her with her "big" garage sale.  Now, I have to say that she did have a lot of stuff and she even sold material.  For those of you that know my mom that is a very big deal, for those of you that don't - my mom could open a quilt shop and not have to buy any inventory - she has everything she would need in her sewing room!  Anyway, she had a lot more traffic than I thought she would on Friday, especially since it was Black Friday, and then the traffic was a lot less on Saturday.  She really had, what I consider, a good sale and now we are trying to get rid of the rest of the stuff that didn't sell.

Sunday I spent most of the day packing up the fall stuff and putting up all the Christmas decorations.  We have decided that we are not going to do a lot of decorating this year since we are in the "itty bitty" house.  I put up the tree, put a wreath on the front door, a few things on the porch, and a very simple table decoration.  That's it - very simple this year.

Yesterday started another week and we are keeping the little one.  She is growing so FAST - she is sitting up now with just a little support on her back. She is also spending much more time on her tummy.  She is flipping back and forth at will from her tummy to her back and starting to pull her  knees up - I don't thing it will be too much longer before she will be crawling.  I don't think it will be by Christmas but I don't think it will be long after that.

Tonight we are planning on a quick trip to Walmart for a few groceries - mostly fresh stuff (veggies, butter) and some soda.  I will admit that I have gotten hooked on root beer - I would much rather have root beer than Coke.  What I need to do is go back to drinking water all the time - not sure that is going to happen.  I do know that IF we go into town we have to be home by 8 - the finals of DWTS is on tonight!  (I know - but I have to have some vice)

Oh, I also started my Christmas shopping yesterday - I ordered the baby a couple of things and I did ALL of Dan's shopping - I still have quite a lot to buy, but I have no idea what to buy for people.  Gonna have to figure something out and pretty soon cause Christmas is not going to wait for me!

Well, I hope you all are having a fabulous week - I'll try and post some pictures of the decorations later in the week.

Hugs -

Carol

Happy Thanksgiving!

Wishing all of my friends a very Happy Thanksgiving!

I hope you all have an absolutely fabulous day whether you are with family or wishing you could be.

Remember that we all have so much to be thankful for today and everyday!  Some day's it might be a little more difficult to find those special blessings but they are there if we just take the time to look for them.

While I won't be cooking this year - and won't be spending the day with the grand baby - I will be with Mountain Man (the love of my life) and my mom while Melissa, Justin and Lorelai spend Thanksgiving with Justin's family in Lakeland.  We are going out for dinner today (that's a first for us) and I'm looking forward to not having to spend another day in the kitchen!  (ten hours last Sunday was enough for a while)

I have been thinking a lot about this blog and I have made some decisions - I have decided that I am going back to the original roots of this blog - a personal journal of what is happening in my life.  

I have tried too hard to make my blog fit into what I thought people wanted to read.  I looked at too many other blogs that had hundreds of followers and tried to mold mine to what they were doing.  And I lost the desire to post anything. 

Well, no more.  

I might, occasionally, post a DIY project, and I might continue to post the weekly menu - but that is not going to be the main focus.  Mostly, I will use this as a journal - or diary- of what is happening around here.  If I have some people that follow my rants and raves that would be great, but the "parties" are going to be discontinued.

For the few of you that read - I hope you will continue, because I do love to hear from you - and I am very thankful for you - but if you don't I understand.

See you later!

Hugs -

Carol

New Fall Wreath

Last year I made a wreath for the front door.

We are now in a different house and I just didn't want to use the same wreath.

So, after seeing hundreds and hundreds of wreath ideas on Pinterest I decided to make a new wreath for the new house.

Now, I wanted something different from anything I had done before and I found, what I thought would be the perfect one.

Here is a link to my inspiration:

http://www.bhg.com/thanksgiving/outdoor-decorations/holiday-wreaths/#page=10

Here is my version.

So, what do you think?

Would you like to know how I did it?

Well, a couple of weeks ago I went to the Beall's Outlet store and found two bags of the faux gourds and a garland of fall leaves.

I already had the straw wreath and a spool of fall ribbon.

 I wrapped the straw wreath with the ribbon and then wrapped the garland around the wreath.

Next, I got out my hot glue gun and just started gluing the gourds on the wreath.

So, do you think I succeeded in making this one like my inspiration?

One more time - 

my inspiration:

My version:

Have a great weekend!

Hugs -

Carol

I'm linking up at:

http://www.atthepicketfence.com/2012/11/welcome-to-inspiration-friday-no-90.html

http://katherinescorner.com/2012/11/15/thursday-favorite-things-blog-hop-62/
http://kristenscreationsonline.blogspot.com/2012/11/share-your-creations-party-63_1244.html
http://chiconashoestringdecorating.blogspot.com/2012/11/flaunt-it-friday-127.html
http://www.504main.com/2012/11/tickled-pink-no-123.html

Monday Menu

I am really going to do something different for you this week - I'm NOT going to do a weekly menu plan.

Why?

Well, for one thing, I haven't done my monthly menu plan for November yet - 

WHAT?????

Yep, you see I had planned the first week of November when I did the October menu plan - I figured that I would have the new plan by now but something happened on Saturday that changed the everything.

So, what was this earth shattering event that kept me from doing my menu plan for the month?

We bought a freezer!

HUH????  

This is "earth shattering"?

Why, yes.  Yes it is.

You see, I have decided to do some freezer cooking - and the menu for the month will be "planned" around that.  Now, I just have to get my recipes together and get to the grocery store - then spend a WHOLE day putting everything together.

Sounds like a weekend thing to me.

So, this week I'll do my planning, Saturday I'll do my shopping, then, finally,  Sunday I'll put every thing together.

Does this mean that we aren't going to eat for the week?

 Yeah, get real.

If you know Mountain Man at all you know that is NOT going to happen - so, I'll be going back into the October menu and cook the things that I didn't cook during the month for some reason or another.

For example, tonight we had Chicken Alfredo.  We were suppose to have it a couple of weeks ago, but for some reason that I don't remember, we never did.  So, I had everything I needed and it was a quick and easy dinner for us tonight - throw in a salad and it was even somewhat healthy.

Mountain Man and I have been working on some projects around here.

 I'll try to post about them this week -

hope you'll come back and check it out.

Until then, have a great week!

Hugs -

Carol

Monday menu

Okay, maybe I need to change the title of this post to

Tuesday Menu.

What do you think?

Anyway, here is the plan for this week.

Monday, November 5 - Lasagna, Salad, Garlic Bread

Tuesday, November 6 - Roast Chicken, Stuffing, Steam Cabbage, Biscuits

Wednesday, November 7 - Crock Pot Smothered Steak, Mashed Potatoes, Green Beans

Thursday, November 8 - Chicken & Dumplings

Friday, November 9 - Pizza

Saturday, November 10 - Chef's Choice

This was the plan - 

ain't gonna happen!

No way, No how!

This is what we are eating:

Last night - Chinese Take Out

Tonight - Fish, Brown Rice, Mango Salsa, Salad

We'll see about the rest of the week.

Hope you have a great week!

Hugs -

Carol

Another Pinterest Idea

I know - three posts in one week!  Hey, maybe I'm getting my groove back (but lets not bet on it!)

Okay, I have been busy doing some things - believe it or not.  I decided I would share something that we have all seen on Pinterest - it was all the range this past summer.  It seemed like every other post was doing this one single craft.  So, what am I talking about - converting your pictures to an "engineer print" and then mounting it on wood.

Well, when we moved into this "little bitty" house we had a problem in the master bedroom.  The space that we had to put our king size bed meant that the room was "off kilter" - you know, it couldn't line up with the window on the wall.  I thought and thought about how I (we) could fix this without spending a ton on money on curtains.  (I had thought about putting curtains along the whole wall, but that would have cost a FORTUNE! - not really an option.)  

So, what to do?  

Then I remember those posts and thought - why not give it a try.  Every post said the engineer print was really cheap and easy and Mountain Man is really talented.

Here are pictures of the bedroom before we moved in.

The door you see here leads into the living room.

We couldn't put the bed on this wall.

I tried the desk unit - but that just didn't look right so....

The wall to the right is the only wall where we could put the desk unit where it actually was functional.  The wall had the cable hook up and we were able to set up the Internet there - so no bed on this wall.

This left two other walls - the one that I don't have a picture of is the one that has the door way into the bathroom and the walk in closet.
That wouldn't work.

Soooo, that left this wall ------

You would think that this wall would be perfect and that you could set up the bed directly under the window - wrong!  The dimensions of this room was not meant for a king size bed and two night stands.
You have to have room to walk into the bathroom - so what to do???

Ah Haaa!  

Pinterest!

Engineering print project.  

Now, I have to admit I didn't 'pin' this project so I can't give credit to the original person who came up with this idea - if you know, please let me know so I can give credit.

So, I went online and ordered a print from Staples - we do not have a Staples in our area, but there is one in Lakeland and I have a son-in-law who works in Lakeland. (insert smiley face here.)

Now, what they don't tell you on Pinterest is, it's not that easy to order an engineering print online - at least, not for me.  Trying to find the right picture that would actually enlarge to the size I wanted was not a piece of cake, but I kept at it till I finally was able to get the picture downloaded.

Justin went the next day after he got off work and picked the print up for me.

Now, I was not sure what to expect, but I was pleasantly surprised.  It really turned out pretty well.

So, the next step was to go to Lowes and get the wood and trim.

Now, while I was pleased with the quality of the print - it still was not the correct size - we had a border of white and that wasn't the look I was going for.  So, while Mountain Man cut the board to size and painted it the wall color, I trimmed the white border off the print.

Off to the garage we went.

Here you can see the print, the board, and the trim - along with the paint and spray adhesive.

Close up of the print.  See all the wood that is showing - well, we have a solution for that.

Lately, this has been my friend.  Seems like every project that I do I need spray adhesive.

Print glued down.

Okay, now I don't have any pictures of the next steps - Mountain Man decided to go out and get everything finished without letting me know.  (Sometimes I think he does that on purpose, so I don't see all his little secrets!)

So, I'll just have to skip to the finished product.

Isn't it great?  

Can you even see the additional board around the picture?

 How about now?

If you look real close on the left bottom corner you can see where the additional board comes down to the window sill.

I really love the self above that I was able to decorate a little.

I can't tell you how much better the room looks now -

yes, we covered up a window.  

But, we really don't need that additional light (these pictures were taken without a flash - so I'm certainly not in the dark).

I'm really happy with the symmetry and the room looks so much better.

Now, I still might make another addition on this wall, but you'll have to wait for that one.

So, what do you think?

Think this solved our problem?

Now, as far as the Pinterest idea - I think that it worked.  You just have to be careful what print you pick - and IF you have a Staples in your town it would probably be easier (and you might even be able to get it to the size that you really want - LOL!)

Hope you have a fabulous weekend!

Hugs -

Carol

Linking up to these great parties:

http://chiconashoestringdecorating.blogspot.com/2012/11/flaunt-it-friday-125.html

http://kristenscreationsonline.blogspot.com/2012/11/share-your-creations-party-61.html

http://www.atthepicketfence.com/2012/11/its-inspiration-friday-no-88-welcome.html

Apple Enchiladas

Yesterday I told you that I had made a dessert a little while ago and that I would share it with you this week.  Well, here it is:

Many of us are hooked on Pinterest and I am among those that seem to 'pin' all kinds of things and don't do any of them.  I decided that I was going to get off my duff and do SOMETHING!  So, I pulled up my boards and decided to look at my 'cooking' pins and saw "Apple Enchiladas".  Hmmmm, that sounds good - so, let's try that one.

First thing first - 

Needed apple pie filling, brown sugar, white sugar, cinnamon, butter, water, and flour tortillas.

(please ignore the fish in the background - the dogs broke a piece off and Mountain Man had glued it back on - well, we do keep it real)

Put the brown sugar, white sugar, water and butter in a sauce pan and bring to a boil, stirring constantly.  Reduce heat and simmer for three minutes.

Now, I don't have pictures of this step, but its really easy.

Place approx. a quarter cup of the apple pie filling in the middle of the tortilla.  Sprinkle with cinnamon.

Roll up, tucking in edges, and place in a prepared pan.

(see told ya it was easy!)

Pour sauce over the enchiladas.

Let stand for 45 minutes.

Place in a preheated 350 degree oven and bake for 20 minutes.

I don't have pictures of the best part - 

eating.

Serve with a scoop of vanilla ice cream.

YUMMY!!!!

Here is the recipe:

1 can apple pie filling

 (peach or cherry can be substituted)

6 flour tortillas

ground cinnamon to taste

1/2 cup butter

1/2 cup white sugar

1/2 cup brown sugar

1/2 cup water

Spoon approx. 1/4 cup apple pie filling down the center of the tortilla.

Sprinkle with cinnamon - roll up, tucking in edges and place seam side down in prepared pan (to prepare pan - rub with butter on bottom and sides.)

Place butter, both sugars, and water in medium saucepan over medium heat.
Heat to boiling, stirring constantly.  Reduce heat and simmer for three minutes.

Pour sauce over enchiladas and let stand for 45 minutes.

Bake in preheated 350 degree oven for 20 minutes or until golden brown.

Serve with vanilla ice cream.

This was from the blog 

Cornfed Momma

and here is a link to the original post:

http://cornfedmomma.blogspot.com/2011/04/apple-enchiladas.html\

(gotta give credit where credit is due!)

Hope you enjoy!

Hugs-

Carol