A Christmas Themed Weekend

"If you look for it, I've got a sneaking suspicion... love actually is all around." ~Love Actually

This weekend I decided to do some of my favorite Christmas-related activities.  Next weekend I'll be out of town being a groomsma'am in BFF's wedding and the weekend after that I'm hoping to be at my parents' for Christmas, so this was pretty much my last chance.  I took full advantage.

I watched two of my favorite holiday movies:  Elf and Love Actually.  I know those are on pretty opposite ends of the spectrum, but if they don't put you in the Christmas spirit, nothing will.  And the guy with the signs....melt my heart.  Where do I get one of those stalker/secret admirer types to show up at my door?

I broke my diet for hot chocolate and lots of marshmallows and some of the amazing Christmas present of Oatmeal Squares, pecans and caramel sent to me by ND Friend's Sister (who somehow managed to get this made and in the mail all while taking care of two little boys and giving birth to a third on Saturday--she's a rock star!).  Back on the diet and running plan manana.

I got my Christmas tree all set up and decorated.

I made/wrapped TONS of gifts. We used to make fun of my mom for going Christmas overboard every year....that may have been genetic.

That doesn't even include the ones I'm mailing. The post office is going to hate me.

I did my "angel tree" shopping..  This year I did two different trees, one from church for various charities and shelters and the one I do every year at Wal-Mart for people in nursing homes.   It was really great this year when I happened to be shopping at the same tim as about 200 cops were there shopping with needy kids.  Each cop had a kid and a cart full of coats and shoes and toys and bicycles...you name it.  It was awesome.  Reminds me of what's right with the world.

Also reminds me why I should never think that just because it's 8:30 on a Sunday I should not go to the store with no make up and my hair in a ratty ponytail.  Because guess who got interviewed by the local tv station about buying gifts for charities over the holidays?  This girl.  It was NOT pretty.


Edited for language....Bible Belt Moms read this blog! :)
 

I checked an item off of my 30 for 30 list when I sent an anonymous gift card to a family that really needs it.  When I met them earlier this year, they really touched my heart and I know that something like this will really make their holidays.  I love that God has blessed me with the ability to do things like this!

And I came up with a couple of last-minute additions to my Christmas list. 

1.  Check out this idea.  You just take any ticket stub---airplane, concert, movie, train, whatever---to Kinkos where they will blow it up and print it on a pillow.  LOVE it!  I wish I had done this for all of my trips and I'd have a cool set of souvineers!

2.  These necklaces.  Mine would be Oklahoma, of course, with a big ol' heart where Stillwater sits.

30 by 30 Report: Month 1

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“The greater danger for most of us lies not in setting our aim too high and falling short; but in setting our aim too low, and achieving our mark.”  ~Michelangelo Buonarroti

I can't believe it's already been a month since my birthday.  That means I have only 11 months to go to get my 30 by 30 list complete.  Here's an update on my progress for the first month.

# 1:  Cook 10 new recipes.  (2/10 completed)

That's right kids.  I cooked 2 new recipes.  AND....they were a success!  Woo hoo! 

First up, as you already know, I made an apple pie.  Other than the minor explosion, that was all good!

Second, I cooked spaghetti squash for the first time after reading in Shape magazine that it was a great alternative for pasta.  I've got to admit, I was impressed!  Here's the recipe along with my comments in italics.

Prep:  Wash the squash to remove any dirt.  Chop off the vine end and split lengthwise.  {This sounds easy, but I swear it was like an act of Congress.  Those suckers are hard to cut!}  Gently remove the seeds with a spoon.  {It's like pumpkin innards, which sort of makes me gag, so fair warning.}

Cook:  Lightly season with salt, pepper and olive oil and place cut-side down on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper.  {I'll be honest, I don't know what parchment paper is, much less did I have any, so I just used foil.  This could be why I suck at cooking....} Cover with aluminum foil and cook for 30 minutes at 375 degrees.  {I think I should have cooked mine a little longer because it was a little crunchy.}  Allow to cool and then scrape out the flesh with a fork.  {This is where it comes ou tall stringy like spaghetti.}

Serve:  Drizle with olive oil and top with chopped herbs and toasted pine nuts, pasta sauce, and a bit of grated cheese.  {Here is my other problem when cooking....I don't read carefully.  I did not read the part about adding pasta sauce and I just ate mine with the olive oil, pine nuts and cheese the first night.  It was good that way too, fyi!}

#7:  Read 24 more books  (2/24 completed).

In November I ready Notre Dame Inspirations and Journey to Peace.  I'll be doing a book report on them next week, so stay tuned for that!

#8:  Send little gifts to my friends once a month.  (1/12 completed).

This is one of my favorite goals.  I love sending little surprises to people in the mail.  For this first month,  I decided to send a little Thanksgiving gift to some of my favorite girls.  I ended up buying Reisen's candy (if you haven't tried it...do it now!) and making little gifts called "The Top 5 Reasons Why I'm Thankful for [insert friend's name]" and on each piece of candy, I wrote something I was thankful for about each girl.  I think the hardest part was narrowing it down to 5 things about each girl. 

#9:  Eat in 10 new restaurants.  (1/10 completed).

I checked this one off when The Twin and Mrs. Texas got some friends together to go to breakfast for my birthday.  I was SO excited when I learned we were going to Tim's Place.  I had read about this restaurant, owned by a great guy named Tim who has downs syndrom (and plays on The Other Twin's Special Olympics basketball team) and I had wante to try it.  It was awesome.  Great food (I had a breakfast burrito and the green chile that it was smothered in was out of this world) and Tim gave us the royal treatment becuase of Coach The Other Twin being there.  Lots of jokes and hugs and attention.

#29:  Bring home a bouquet of flowers once a month.  (1/12 completed).

Courage To Live It

What I'm Loving Wednesday: There's Good in the World

“Our job is to love others without stopping to inquire whether or not they are worthy. That is not our business and, in fact, it is nobody’s business. What we are asked to do is to love, and this love itself will render both ourselves and our neighbors worthy.”  ~Thomas Merton

There's good in the world.  And sometimes, we just need a little reminder of that.  Today, I'm loving a few of these reminders I've seen in the last week or so.  (Linking up with Jamie!)

First up we have a story about a football team coming to the rescue for a girl who was being bullied.  Chy Johnson used to go home crying every day because kids were mean to her and she had to eat lunch alone.  And then, the football team got involved.  She now eats lunch at the popular table, calls the team "her boys" and hangs out with them on the sideline.  These boys put an end to a bad situation for this girl.  Good work, kids!

photo via ESPN

Next we have a story and photo of a police officer in New York helping a homeless man who was barefoot and freezing in Times Square.  He did not know anyone was watching and did not seek any recognition.  He just did something kind to help another person in need.  What an example of being the hands and feet (by warming the feet of others) of Jesus. 

Photo via NYPD

Third, let's talk about Manti T'eo and Notre Dame.  Yes, more football.  What do you expect on my blog?  It's no secret that I LOVE Notre Dame and this kid.  There are tons of stories that I could share.  Check out this video of Manti talking about how the Notre Dame community (and even the opposing fans) rallied around Manti after he lost his girlfriend and grandma within 48 hours, and about what an amazing person his girlfriend was.  When asked about him being Mormon and attending Notre Dame, he told the story of taking his family to the Grotto at night when they visited for a game.  His uncle said, "It doesn't matter what religion you belong to, whether you are Mormon, Catholic, Jewish, Baptist, when you step on these grounds, it's holy."  Plus he is the king of goal line stands and is taking the undefeated Irish to the National Championship.

Photo via me during my trip to Notre Dame

I swear if this kid doesn't win the Heisman I'm going to file some sort of protest.  Sorry Johnny Football and my K-State friends.

Letters to Mr. Right: Letter #15

"I thank the Lord everyday, if I get the chance to pray, for all these blessings, He's given me.  Like living with you, in our small town family dream."  ~Josh Abbott Band, Small Town Family Dream

Dear Mr. Right,

Last week I ended up on a last minute work roadtrip through rural west Texas.  I kinda secretly hope that you live there.

In a small brick house, surrounded by cotton fields.  With two dogs and a tire swing in the yard.  And a John Deere tractor and a beat up Ford truck in the driveway.  And that the house has a back porch that holds a porch swing overlooking the orange sunsets on the western horizon.  Near a town with a sign that says "Population: 2006" and a high school football stadium that holds double that number.  And a tiny church where people sing Amazing Grace on Sunday.  One with a water tower that lists the State Championship titles won since the 1970's and a welcome sign made by the students in FFA.  That's my dream.

Because small town football and a porch swing, a John Deere and Amazing Grace, you and me....well what could be better than that?

Waiting for that day,

Me

(Anyone know a west Texas farmer?  No, but seriously...anyone?) :)

*Linking up with Ashley!

Family Thanksgiving 2012--Redneck Style

"There’s nothing that makes you more insane than family. Or more happy. Or more exasperated. Or more . . . secure.” ~Jim Butcher, Publicity and Advertising

Well you already read about the hard part of Thanksgiving and about the excellent horseback riding adventure.  But there's lots more to the weekend recap.  My mom's entire family invaded as they do every year for lots of food, family and fun.

This year's family Thanksgiving theme.

We put Cousin Swiss Mister in charge of feeding the neighbor's horses and mucking out the stalls.  Clearly he took his job seriously.

On Friday morning, we preg checked the cows.  Cousin Swiss Mister was NOT prepared for this activity.  Here was his face when he got a glimpse of the first cow.

We couldn't get him to try one.  He said it gave him the creeps.  City boy.

And then all of the other crazy people arrived it it was time for the annual family shoot out.  Check out these pictures.  If this ain't redneck, I don't know what is.

Everyone shoots.  Men, women, children, teenagers, foreigners from Switzerland who come to visit.  And we shoot it all.  Shotguns, rifles, pistols, revolvers.  You name it.

 

We even drag first-timers into the fun.  Aunt Black Belt's sister came to family Thanksgiving for the first time.  When the shooting began, she repeatedly said, "I've never seen so many guns in my life!"  But then someone gave her a beer and a little later, there she was, crazy like all the rest of us!

 

The award for funniest shooter definately went to Aunt Delta Dawn.  Every time she would shoot she'd get a really mean, angry look on her face, fire the gun, and then drop her hands down by her knees.  It was bizarre.  She also had two excellent quotes.  When trying to look through the scope on a rifle, she says, "You know, I was never good with micrscopes either, that's probably what it is."  And when her grandson told her not to worry, that her last shot was close, she replied, "What?  Really?  How can you tell?"

After a day of riding and shooting, it was time for some eating.  So we all invaded the restaurant in Logan.  Poor waitresses.

On Saturday, we ate some more.  We really enjoy that.  We talked a lot.  We enjoy that too.  And then we played some baseball, some silly string wars, and watched some football. 

Silly string victim.

Speaking of things we enjoy, Cousin Kevin loves it when he has to hold hands during a prayer.  So, after seeing how much fun he had with that during grace before the meal, I made sure to get a picture so he could remember how much fun that was.

 

Cousin Kevin and Cousin Swiss Mister--two of my favorite people.

Poor Cousin Swiss Mister is a bit of a germo-phobe and does not deal well with double dippin.  So his sweet sister, knowing that my family would make him miserable, sent him his very own no-double dippin bowl.

After most everyone headed home, Coach A bought Gbaby over for a little visit.  How the that tiny little baby has turned into the almost-walking kid she is now is beyond me.  She's the cutest thing ever.  And she loves cake, just like her Godmother.  A kid after my own heart.  This was good practice for Cousin Swiss Mister and me...we're discussing getting ourselves a timeshare baby.  You know, since neihter one of us are getting any younger and all.

So, there ya have it.  Our big, fat redneck Thanksgiving.  I wouldn't have wanted it any other way.  They say that you can't choose your family, but I don't need to.  I was blessed to be put exactly where I would have chosen to be. 



Family Farm Friday #76: The Thanksgiving Ride

"I'd rather be on my farm than be emperor of the world." ~George Washington

It's hard being a rancher.  Especially right now.  We're seeing the worst drought in decades.  The soil is blowing, feed prices are through the roof, cattle are being sold and things look grim.  But sometimes you're reminded of what's really important.  Of why, even in the midst of all of the bad, we're the luckiest people in the world.

The day after Thanksgiving, we saddled up 5 horses and loaded up 6 people.  My Dad, Little Brother, Sister in Law, Cousin Swiss Mister, Little Cowboy and me.  And for two hours, we just went riding. 

We saw turkey tracks and lots of jack rabbits and three deer.  We remembered the apricot trees that used to be in the old orchard and how Gran taught us that there's no water that tastes better than that coming out of a windmill.  We taught Cousin Swiss Mister why you don't let a horse run back to the barn, learned that the black horse will stop acting like a twit after an hour, and picked Little Cowboy and me up off the ground after a small incident (i.e. he was losing a boot, so Aunt Tiff tried to lean over to help and the saddle wasn't cinched on tight enough, causing us both to fall off the darn horse!).  We talked about crazy dude ranch schemes, waived to the neighbor as we passed by his place, and kept an eye on the crazy llama watching us from the next pasture over.  Little Cowboy decided that we should change one of my aunt's names to Cheryl and promptly announced after falling off the horse that, "I didn't cry, I didn't cry!"

But mostly, we were just together.  We were outside under the clear blue sky on good horses, riding across land that has been in our family for generations.  If that's not reason enough to be thankful for what we have, to consider ourselves the luckiest people in the world, I don't know what is.

Don't Overlook Life's Small Joys...

Letters to Mr. Right: Letter #14

"He wasn't the type for displays of affection, either verbal or not. He was disgusted by couples that made out in the hallways between classes, and got annoyed at even the slightest sapppy moments in movies. But I knew he cared about me: he just conveyed it more subtly, as concise with expressing this emotion as he was with everything else. It was in the way he'd put his hand on the small of my back, for instance, or how he'd smile at me when I said something that surprised him. Once I might have wanted more, but I'd come around to his way of thinking in the time we'd been together. And we were together, all the time. So he didn't have to prove how he felt about me. Like so much else, I should just know.”  ~ Sarah Dessen, The Truth About Forever

Dear Mr. Right,

I'm ready for someday to be today.  I think mostly, I look forward to the little things.  Sitting on the couch together watching football.  Grocery shopping on Sunday afternoon.  Holding hands in church.  Talking about what to cook for dinner.  Fighting over the remote.  Sharing my favorite blanket.  The smell of cologne in the bathroom in the mornings.  The afternoons spent on the future front porch swing.  You walking on the side of the sidewalk closest to the street when we go somewhere together.  Dancing in the kitchen on a random Tuesday.

Because those things?  They'll be my definition of paradise. 

That Johnny Cash knows what he's talking about.

Waiting for that day,

Me

*Linking up with Ashley!

I Am Somebody