Monday, November 19, 2012

My Favorite Thanksgiving Tradition


















My church hosts a Community Thanksgiving Dinner and my family volunteers. We have a dining room and we serve the people who come as if they are at a restaurant. We go to each table and take drink orders, bring them a salad, tell them the dinner menu, and bring their dinner, followed by a dessert. It is a very friendly atmosphere you meet lonely people, older people who come with friends, disabled groups of people, and whole families who didn’t want to or have the money to make the meal.

One year my husband and I was sitting with a man who was alone and he was telling us how much he appreciate the people who come out and serve it was so heartwarming I just keep thinking of the verse: Be not forgetful to entertain strangers: for thereby some have entertained angels unawares. Hebrews 13:2
Sometimes it can break your heart for the people you serve in the love of our Lord. One year we set up a special room for a large family that’s loved one was receiving hospice care and it was the last holiday they would be with their family.
If you have the opportunity to serve your community it is the greatest gift you can give and receive.

Thursday, November 15, 2012

My Mini-Goals for November

I am posting my November goals late so I have already make some progress on them:

1. The one "money/financial" mini-goal I want to accomplish/DO in November is to plan for the Holiday Season. I am blowing the dust off my calendar, grabbing my notebook, rummaging through my recipes, and checking my craft stash. My plan every year is to DO the holidays– NOT BUY the holidays!

2. The one "house/home" mini-goal I want to accomplish/DO this month is some baking and candy making during the weeks leading up to Thanksgiving for the freezer. This helps me to have some food already prepared ahead of time for my family so it isn’t as crazy when the special day comes. I also use some of it for get-togethers we attend, and give away to family and friends.

I made a snack mix last week that is a variation of Pumpkin Pie Crunch using what I had on hand and tossed in powdered sugar. I made chocolate popcorn, added peanuts, and pumpkin candy corn I mixed it all together then dressed them up in fall baggies tied with yarn.

On Monday I made a large batch of granola clusters using chocolate bark candy and a box of granola cereal that nobody was eating. I put some of it in my turkey cookie jar, sent some home with Brittany on Tuesday, and the rest is in a freezer bag for later.

My husband brought home some over ripe bananas from work so on Tuesday My daughter Brittany and I baked 10 loaves of Banana Bread with different add-ins such as walnut, chocolate chips, oatmeal, and chunky peanut butter. I set 2 loaves on a platter for my family to eat, sent 3 of the loaves home with Brittany, the other 5 went into the freezer in bags for later.


















3. My "just for me" mini-goal I want to DO is to enjoy the season.

I am going to do my devotional and prayer time each morning and give a special Thanks to God for all that he has done in my life over the last year.

I am reading the holidays books and listening to the audio books I got from the library while drinking a mug of hot chocolate.

I am also looking forward to my annual black Friday tradition of staying in bed all day reading and watching movies on the Hallmark Channel with my husband and eating Thanksgiving leftovers. When the kids were young we would watch movies all day in the living room and eat leftovers and they have since said that they have enjoys this more that the actual Holiday.

Updates on Previous Months Mini-Goals:

My Mini-Goals for September which was cleaning and organizing themed is something I am always working on. I have been doing the Home Organization 101 Challenge @ A Bowl Full of Lemons which started on September 1st and runs through December 8th. I need to update my blog soon on my progress.

My Mini-Goals for October were nutrition and fitness related. I did really well the first two week in October by prepping meals for myself and my husband and making soup each week for lunches, and not snacking on unhealthy foods but then I let myself backslid and regained the 4 pounds that I had lost. The Jillian Michaels 30 Day Shred kicked my butt and I could defiantly see progress in my fitness level. I wish I hadn’t stopped after the first 2 weeks and but I may do this DVD again in the future. I have moved on to doing Leslie Sansone: WalkAway the Pounds - Walk Strong DVD and am enjoying her 30 minute 2-mile walk.

What are your mini-goals for November?

Wednesday, November 14, 2012

My Happy-Life













Being healthy means… I feel good in my body.

My ultimate late-night carving … is microwave kettle corn when I am trying to be good or chocolate cake when I’m not since its too yummy for my own good.
You’ll never catch me eating … anything in the frozen food department except ice cream, veggies, fruit, or meat, in that order. I don’t eat fried foods or frozen entrees I prefer homemade.
I work out because … I don’t want to go back to being unhealthy and fat. It doesn’t feel good and I have worked too hard to get here I don’t want to come undone. It is lots of fun if you do something you like, for me it’s walking, yoga, zumba, weightlifting, and a rotation of exercise videos.
The person who epitomizes real beauty is… anyone who feels good about themselves because it shows.
My favorite book to snuggle up with… is Fiction within the Genre of Christian, Historical, or Amish with a hot cup of herbal tea. I ordered a bunch of Christmas Themed books and audio books from my library at the beginning of November and have enjoyed several titles so far this month. I have quit a few boxes of tea flavors to choose from but I have been enjoying cinnamon spice and peppermint the most lately.
The number one rule for entertaining is… Clean, decorate, and prep food early so you can enjoy your guest and not be working the whole time.  I also like to have my family help so it is not a burden on me to host and we truly enjoy doing all the preparation together and have created lots of memories in the process.
My family makes me… crazy sometimes but we all love each other deeply.
I am absurdly grateful for… my God and my family without whom I would be nothing.
I spoil myself by… looking around my house and seeing what I haven’t enjoyed for awhile like watching the birds in my backyard, listening to praise music, watching a movie, reading, doing my nails, crafting, baking something. Sometimes I staying in bed all day on a Saturday reading and watching movies on the Hallmark Channel. I don’t do it often enough but it is relaxing when I do. (I noticed I said watching movies several times because for me someone who doesn’t watch TV regularly or movies it is a luxury when I do.)
My happy-life motto is… You can’t always change your circumstances but you can control your attitude, choose to be content and happy. Life can be painful, choose forgiveness.