Home After Christmas

I am getting back to daily life after our typically well traveled Christmas. For us it means all the weeks leading up to Christmas we try to squeeze as much work, friend time, local family events and spiritual balance into them as possible so that we can spend time our sons if they are available...they live out of town so we are the travelers. 

We spent the week with our younger son and family arriving in time for the youngest granddaughters 5th birthday. The kiddos grow up so fast-we're so glad we are able to spend moments where we can.

The party was themed around teddy bears this birthday with lots of fun balloons, gifts and Lauren made yummy cupcakes too! 

Teddy Bear Balloons

Presents piled high!

 

Waiting to open presents

I pick this one first.

Making cupcakes :)

Here are a few of our shared moments...

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The balloons lasted all the way through Christmas!

Part of the time the family shared the sickie bug...what a thing to share! 

So far Tom & I have avoided it, we'll see. 

And So This Is Christmas

And so this is Christmas... as John Lennon sings. Yes this is nearly Christmas and I am busy making Christmas cards, preparing for a visit to celebrate my granddaughters 5th birthday and trying to finalize shopping for a few Christmas gifts but the one thing I love to do during this season is hand make a few gifts. 

Here were a few of my Christmas cards before we got them addressed and out the door.

Just before heading out for Christmas at Nate's house we had a surprise birthday party for my niece. I had a fun idea for her gift since through the summer she and her family do quite a bit of camping. I had seen this camp bucket idea the year before and in fact had made one design for my DIL for her birthday. They also like to camp during the summer months. Hers turned out cute and I was excited to do this one for my sweet niece.

A fun project I created for my grandson Leo who is so-ooo into BLACK PANTHER anything right now... I made a cute design for a long sleeve red shirt. 

I made up this Lavender Poppyseed Sugar Scrub for a few friends and business partners that was inspired by some I had purchased at an event here in the fall. It was so delightful I decided to give my version a go. It turned out so nice.

So this is my view out the window as I am finishing up all my last minute projects....I love this view! 

I did finally get to make some fun foods. We made Snickerdoodle Christmas cookies while we were at Nate's and I made some of my 

Breakfast French Toast Casserole. I also made Scalloped Potatoes and Nate cooked some Prime Rib from a recipe he found on the web. Everything tasted yummy.

It's National Scrapbook Day!

Today, the first Saturday in May is all about Scrapbook Day... so I'll share a  page I created to document special moments in our life...

My sweetheart and I are all about enjoying life's moments😍

This image is all about our dreams and where they have taken us throughout the years. 

Finding Joy In Your Life

Are you in need of some joy in your life? Has this covid crisis and this time of separation left you isolated and feeling very alone? So many of us are experiencing this. We are just beginning to attempt life outside of "lockdown" and other life hardships... I'm not sure we remember how. 

My sweet friend Diane who is known for her unique ways of reaching out to people, used to host these fun Game Nights for recreation, food and always loads of fun. So many friends have been missing these hosted activities and pressing for a commitment to the calendar.

I love investigating and ruminating on words.I wondered what does recreation fully imply... h-mmm.

A person involved in recreation is "re-creating" themselves. The whole point of recreation, as the original Latin word recreare implies, is to refresh and renew.

Types of Recreation

• Physical activities (sports, games, fitness, etc.)
• Social activities (parties, banquets, picnics, etc.)
• Camping and outdoor activities (day camps, resident camps, backpacking, float trips, etc.)
• Arts and crafts activities (painting, scrapbooking, ceramics, woodworking, etc.) 

When attending my sweet friend's game nights in the past, we would often play interactive and board games, enjoy an amazing array of personalities and foods while trying desperately to win while hearing the latest news from our friends. 

Finally the calendar had a date and in anticipation of the date I heard that this Game Night included my friend Diane's famous Zuppa and Garlic Bread! M-mmm, I was in!  

We were delighted to see so many friends- along with lots of other classics... crackers and cheeses, fruit plates, veggie platters, and a few sweeties! 

We started the games with Left, Center, Right and a similar one Left Center Right Wild. Just when you think you are out of the game you find yourself back in again. The next game, Spoons brought back some funny memories! My sisters thought it was so much fun to conspire while we played to ensure I lost. Haha! I also remembered another time playing and wondering if my new dining table was going to be history...this game so-ooo brings out the desire to win. This time it was a hurt shoulder, a broken spoon and smacked hands...all in all,not too serious a risk threat (unless someone failed to report other injuries. ;) 

Mad Gab we teamed up. Hilarious!  It is always a fun and interesting time. 

I had to take a minute to see what others like to play in social settings and another momentary rabbit trail ensued... so I discovered you can make your own game or search for a game like Mad Gab (which are actually flashcards) at this site. 

Pssst! You can even play online if nobody showed up for your game night!

So dear friend Diane, how successful was this night? Hats off to you dear friend! 

So in Mad Gab spirit I leave you this: 

Abe Less Sing... 

and for those who didn't figure out this Mad Gab...

Time With Friends Of The Heart

Finally, finally, finally... dear friends we had the opportunity to have a girls night over! Do you long for those special moments to gather with friends of the heart...that deep need for some time together with those people that feed your spirit...whether you are sharing moments of pain, joy, deep sorrow or wonderful spiritual awakening. 

Our first evening we had a really unique time of spiritual worship as we participated in an event at their church, Crossroads Christian Fellowship. It was so uplifting. It was like getting a wonderful drink of cool water on a hot, hot day. Here is a quick question for you dear readers. What does worship mean to you? 

The next day we all went to a mineral hot springs, Crystal Hot Springs. My first experience of this type in our state. Wow the day was absolutely perfect. This week our temperatures had finally headed into the 70's, what perfect weather. The pools are various temperatures... some like relaxing bath water, some cooler and some hot. There are these fun waterslides also although we opted for the relaxing pools this visit. What a perfect afternoon we had. 

We ended our fun stopped at a drive-in that has been around since 1937... that is 85 years! It is well known for it's yummy shakes made with rich homemade ice cream, a place called The Peach City. It tasted so divine! In all fairness it just might also have been extra special because not included items like this in my food plan for a bit. I have been on a weight loss journey for a while and usually choose to exclude such foods with low nutritional density to food energy ratios. Yes it was a treat and yes I enjoyed every yummy spoonful. 

Driving home I reflected on all the moments we've shared and how special it is to have "friends that know the song in your heart and can sing it back to you when you have forgotten the words.”

Have you been on empty for a while? Is it time for you too?

Scraps of Life, Friendship Bread and Relationship

Today I started out thinking about my new project that came from my sister Kathi. Perhaps you've heard of it,  Amish Friendship Bread. Today it is time to feed the starter some flour, milk and sugar. This starter came in the form of a gift for Christmas...(we celebrate in January to accommodate Christmas travel etc.). My sister Kathi started the bread starter and we are now on day 6 for this starter. Time to feed the starter...ha-ha! It kinda sounds like "time to bake the donuts!" It is now busy bubbling and fed.

Earlier I wrote about some other thoughts on my blog dedicated to my Nana called Nanas inspiration. Of the life she shared, it often it took place in the kitchen and started while making food, eating or cleaning up. As I reflected on what this bread represents I thought about how simple things like bread, sharing our workload, our interests and our energy in life build relationships and that can influence one life so powerfully. I also shared about a friend who had a heart for being there to help in life and what it meant for so many. That friend and his sweet wife are two amazing people who know how to share life with others. They have built relationship in life simply by sharing their life...all of it with those around them. Sometimes it is food at the table, sometimes it is time and other times it has been in asking others to help them with a moment in life. What did it all add up to when we said goodbye to our sweet friend in April his year? Lives forever changed in powerful ways...So today was just about feeding the starter and by day 10 it will be about baking bread but is it really? Does it have to be just that? Maybe it is about a life you can touch, or about that moment where we gift our time and heart to someone. Today may be your day to reach out...and if you haven't taken a moment today to share your life whether in sharing a "friendship bread starter, calling a friend, connecting in person or just a simple text or comment on social media. Remember, "Friendship isn't a big thing, it is a million little things." 

QR Code and How I am Using Them

The QR Code has been used in so many ways. QR stands for "Quick Response.While they may look simple, QR codes are capable of storing lots of data. But no matter how much they contain, when scanned, the QR code should allow the user to access information instantly – hence why it’s called a Quick Response code. My recent jump into the QR Code scene has been fun, creative and useful. These are codes I created and what I am using them for but in the future I plan to expand its use to other areas helpful around my home like labeling the contents of a bin. I am currently researching how to best do that.

My newest code in 2022 is QR Code with the company logo takes you directly to my personal health and wellness website. I printed these on labels to attach to our newest catalog.

When we head out to into the business world I sometimes need a method of product or services payment and there are some great apps for that which use QR Codes so on can simply pay sellers by scanning a thier displayed QR code. 

Radical Assets, our business website uses this QR Code with a logo in the center takes a person to the site.

Our health and wellness company has a website for its products and information about how to use them. This cute one with the dinosaur in the center leads to it.

As with so many things in our world today hackers have found a way to do their thing and we must be our own advocate to safely use them. I found this article about QR Code and security on the Kapersky.com site to be valuable for identifying hazards and also how to safely use this technology.