it's beginning to look a lot like ...

C*h*R*i*S*t*M*a*S ....

Walkin' in a Winter Wonderland 

...and the stockings were hung by the kitchen sink w/ care
 (my makeshift Christmas curtains : )

Sunday afternoon father/mother/daughter project

 

Festive table to usher in the tree trimming to follow.

The most appropriate attire for this particular party just so happened to be brand new P.J.'s
 I'm thinkin' this may become a new tradition -  as  I have visions of adorable grandbabies years from now  pitter-pattering around in pj's for just such a party as this! :) 

IBC Reinbeer  has a  jolly happy soul effect on all who sip it.

We had a BIG helper for tree trimming :) 

This year our entire tree is simply covered in sparkling snowflakes and stars ...

...with the exception of one special ornament I found in our mailbox recently.  I placed it in plain view bc it whisks me back to the warm Arizona sunshine where I  grew up in the desert with my friend who made it.  She has a rather unique way of warming me up from the inside out w/  her melted glass he-artwork.  After Christmas I'm adding this to my collection of ReAlLy warm stuff! :)

This fella emptied the dishwasher for me the other day! 

Santa's Workshop ...
sleighs & canedeer here on the assembly line
and more reinbeer to be manufactured momentarily

Ugly Sweater Shopping
We searched high & low & I don't think there's a sweater out there that would look ugly
 on either one of these two beautiful girls :)

and

 judging by the crowd of cars at the Salvation Army ...

I can't help but wonder if  the person who invented the ugly sweater party had any idea
what a huge revenue generator it would become for charity thrift stores?! 

snapshots of the season (Winter)

Yesterday pretty much eVeRyThIng outdoors was encased in an icy crust.  For anyone who stopped even a second to see past the stress from slow traffic, slick roads & slippery parking lots, the sheer beauty was simply stunning.  Just imagine how it would have sparkled if the sun were shining :) 

Our lawn

treasuring & pondering privately but with great joy

After they had heard the king, they went on their way, and the star they had seen when it rose went ahead of them until it stopped over the place where the child was. 

Matthew 2:9

When they saw the star, they were overjoyed.

Matthew 2:10 

It's early in the morning as I begin this post snuggled on the sofa with the star lit overhead and barely illuminating the Nativity scene Justine, her daddy and I enjoyed making together yesterday. And here and now I find myself, on some miniscule level, closely relating to Mary in the wa-ay back there and then setting these carvings attempt to convey.

A week ago yesterday (Sunday) my husband and I ventured out to the ocean's edge in the wee hours of morning to watch the star at the center of our solar system rise at dawn above the defining line where the vast expanse of heavens above unites with the earth below.  

The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of his hands. Day after day they pour forth speech; night after night they reveal knowledge. They have no speech, they use no words; no sound is heard from them. Yet their voice goes out into all the earth, their words to the ends of the world.

Psalm 19:1 - 4a 

Little did we know how timely and almost prophetic the "speech" the heavens proclaimed would be for us personally. Just hours later and only a little further up the seashore our daughter's utterance of the word "y-e-s", in response to a question proposed to her, transformed her best friend into her fiance' right before her eyes.  

In the heavens God has pitched a tent for the sun. It is like a bridegroom coming out of his chamber, like a champion rejoicing to run his course. It rises  at one end of the heavens and makes its circuit to the other; nothing is deprived of it's warmth.

Psalm 19: 4b - 6

The two shared their news that evening with those they wanted to tell personally and followed that up with brief status updates on facebook - and, well ... good news travels f-a-ast!  

When they had seen him, they spread the word concerning what had been told them about this child, and all who heard it were amazed at what the shepherds said to them.

Luke 2:17-18 

I'm so very pleased at what we've seen and been told in this regard. Yet these past several days I've withdrawn to some degree from social circles in order to ponder these good tidings of great joy privately and to treasure this time when Alexis' dreams are becoming reality and she begins to plan and prepare for the future. 

And I can't help but wonder,  ... should I be surprised at how this child of mine came to me at dawn of this very day (even as I was writing this post) and, at such a time as this, ...

The end of a matter is better than its beginning and patience is better than pride.

Ecclesiastes 7:8

shared her desire to unite her hand in marriage with that of her groom during a sunrise ceremony?!

But Mary treasured up all these things
 and pondered them in her heart.

Luke 2:19

the hands of time - revised ... for such a time as this

Just revisiting & revising this entry I posted over three years ago (April, 2009) because I have no idea where the time has gone, but it s-u-r-e has a way of changing things ...

*

Distant Past

(In the previous edition this was simply "Past")

This is one of my all time favorite pictures.

*

Recent Past

 (Previously this was "Present")

This is a card David made with help from his parents and gave to Alexis for her 15th birthday. The first time I posted this back in 2009 was the first time David was mentioned here on my blog as Alexis' boyfriend. I cut, pasted and polished up a bit below some of what I shared back then in regards to this photo:

As I'm traveling back & forth thru' time this morning, I can't help but remember that I was 15 when I met my best friend ever/the man I would marry and while I'm in no rush(!), I can't help but wonder if/when daddy and daughter eventually walk hand in hand down the aisle, whose hand will he give hers to in marriage. And I realize that from this day forward...I should be praying - for him. So please excuse me while I go do that - now.

Now fast forward to what has transpired (in what seems to be no time at all - but in reality has been three more years in the making) into the ...

*

Present

and sure enough

... while David and Alexis were celebrating his birthday just this past weekend, David asked Alexis for her hand in marriage. A picture speaks a thousand words so click on the photo above if you'd like to link to their sweet engagement story. There is something though that one might not realize unless someone with access to the inside story told them :) That being how beautifully this precious stone reflects the sparkle in Alexis' beautiful blue eyes when she and David are together. It's simply stunning. 

*

  And as to the 

Future

Well, it's all becoming much clearer now but ...

 still

 so 

 much 

 remains 

 to be

  seen

It's been said though, something to the effect that the past is always re-viewed with 20/20 vision. And with the advantage that 26 years of hindsight affords my husband and I, even we still can't help but wonder what our life together might have been like if we'd done some things differently in the beginning. I was 15 when we met. He was 22 and I was just barely 18 on our wedding day. When I look at our wedding photo I see two kids(!) making a lifetime commitment.

Fast forward 

to 

Here

 & 

Now

There is no doubt we've made some sacrifices doing things "our way" - but isn't sacrifice at the heart of true love?!

Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud.  It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs.  Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth.  It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. Love never fails.

 I Corinthians 13:4-8a

And what if we grew up first instead of growing up together? The only possible advantages I can see to that are that we might have always had more than enough money & maybe we would have made less mistakes. There are certainly some things we'd go back and do differently if we could, but within them is where we did so much growing up together. 

We've always had enough 
of everything but time together.

And knowing now

what I didn't know then, 

 I'd marry the same man

over and over and over again 

in. a. second.

And in growing up together Jeff and I learned so much we couldn't have possibly understood nearly as well any other way, and were therefore able to gently (& sometimes not so gently) guide and encourage this delightful young couple toward becoming much more mature in ways that we were not, ...

for such a time as this.


*

And she said ...

Sunday my best friend (my husband) & I woke at 4:30AM and headed out to the ocean to watch the sunrise. Some might say we skipped church.  I think not ...

¹ The heavens declare the glory of God;

   the skies proclaim the work of his hands. ² Day after day they pour forth speech;

   night after night they reveal knowledge. ³ They have no speech, they use no words;

   no sound is heard from them. ⁴ Yet their voice goes out into all the earth,

   their words to the ends of the world.

Psalm 19:1-4a

From there we drove the scenic route up the coast to Portsmouth.

Ironically  (I use that term loosely) our daughter and her best friend (boyfriend) had planned a trip to Portsmouth on the very same day to celebrate his birthday. She hoped to find a gift for him there. And so-o ... off they went - albeit about five hours or so behind us.  Just after we left Portsmouth, they arrived there. The two had fun ...

But they didn't find a gift and Alexis was a bit discouraged. Little did she know that no amount of money could ever possibly buy what David re-e-a-lly wanted.

On their way home they too went to the beach. Alexis wanted to go where her Daddy and I had been earlier but David instead stopped a short ways from there at a beach familiar to them both.  Together they walked until David got down on one knee in the very same spot where the two exchanged the words "I love you" with each other for the very first time while celebrating her 15th birthday, and asked Alexis for what he wanted for his birthday.

And she said ...  

YES!

And 

then

(I l-o-v-e this part!) 

they 

prayed

 together 

.

 And now it is my pleasure to introduce you 

to the future

Mr. & Mrs!

*

In retrospect it occurred to me how the beautiful scene my husband and I so enjoyed watching unfold before our eyes at the crack of dawn was almost prophetic in regards to those two young lovers coming behind us and what would transpire later on. In essence it was only the first of two beauty-full sunrises we would have the joy and privilege of witnessing together in that one very. special. day. 

In the heavens God has pitched a tent for the sun.

 ⁵ It is like a bridegroom coming out of his chamber,

   like a champion rejoicing to run his course. ⁶ It rises at one end of the heavens

   and makes its circuit to the other;

   nothing is deprived of its warmth.

Psalm 19:4b - 6

C*o*N*g*R*a*T*u*L*a*T*i*O*n*S

David & Alexis!

“‘“The Lord bless you
    and keep you;
 the Lord make his face shine on you
    and be gracious to you;
 the Lord turn his face toward you
    and give you peace.”’

Numbers 6:24-26

meaning-full words in black & white

I've been gathering and keeping an ever increasing number of meaning-full words on a Pinterest board - but this weekend I displayed a few choice words in a personal and creative way. I had so much fun! And ... the fun isn't necessarily all done! - as  I can change it up for holidays & special occasions if I want to :) 

Simple Woman's Daybook - Sept 20

via

I'm thinking...about how much I miss writing on my blog. I have the desire to write but can't really think of much to write about nor have I had much time to write these days.  

I'm thankful...for a quiet morning and for the harvest from our garden.  The garden is officially done. We closed it up even before the first frost. The peppers and eggplant might have continued producing but we have much more than enough of both and not enough ways to use them! :) 

In the kitchen...I spread a toasted wheat bagel w/ peanut butter and topped it w/ a slice of Honeycrisp apple for breakfast. And I'm gonna give this Chocolate-Zucchini Cake recipe a try later today. That should help to cozy up the place.

I'm wearing...A lambswool sweater & fleece slippers. That tells you a bit about what it's like outside my window.

I'm creating...A thank you gift for our friends who gave us the beauty-full gift of the garden. The sunflowers were beautiful at the garden this year so we're going with that theme :) 

I'm going...to visit my brother and his family in Colorado soon! Yeah! Looking forward :) 

I'm wondering...If I'm gonna be able to hold off until October before donning my long johns?! It's getting really chilly - especially in the mornings. I just might be able to hold out since I'm heading out of town soon! :) 

I'm reading... Well -  I just bought two new books. 

 & 

Truman was on both my wish list and the bargain rack at the same time!  ... such a good deal for soooo many pages! :) 

I'm hoping... that someday soon both the desire and the inspiration to write will meet me in a quiet time and place and that somehow we will all collaborate on the childrens' book(s) I want to write.

Around the house... We've repainted/rearranged/redecorated three bedrooms and the downstairs family room. Now - so much stuff to get rid of! Working on that :) 

I'm pondering... how some early Christians became obsessed with legalism and others took their Christian freedom too far -and how I've found myself at both ends of the spectrum at different times. Pondering which is worse? And how does one achieve/maintain the "perfect balance?"

A favorite quote for today...‎"Two roads diverged in a wood and I took the one less traveled by, and that has made all the difference." -Robert Frost 

One of my favorite things...

Honeycrisp Apples

A Picture from my day.  I was going to skip this but then I heard Mak chewing on something and found him chowing down on an eggplant that had rolled onto the floor ... Poor eggplant :/ Silly dog :)