What's Your Thing in December?

Tuesday December 10th--Christmas Cards and Pictures, the old fashion way and a new way-
Mailing Christmas cards with pictures is something I enjoy doing. I worked on stuffing and labeling envelopes.  I know it's easier to email a letter and save trees. But I like to mail one too. For the first time in over 15 years we had professional pictures taken as a family. We usually have a family member snap one that I use each year. WOW! How nice that was in Fall in the middle of the beautiful Fall leaves. I am so glad I had that done! So this year it was easy to make a photo Christmas card to send out. I went online and ordered all the copies and cards I needed. I also like to send extra pictures from the year, or old extra printed pictures that I have taken. I put them in with the Christmas card and send it out. I also like to do a Power Point or a smile-box and email to family and friends. I have used smile-box dozens of times, I just love making invites or announcements through this website. http://www.smilebox.com/  So there it is, wheather sending out a letter, family Christmas picture, or email, it's great to do in December to wish all a Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

Whats your thing in December?

Monday December 9th--Celebrate Life not Loss.

 Finding thankfulness in loss and grief is hard sometimes. The pain of loss hurts; I miss the traditions shared by my grandma G especially around the holidays. Remembering life not loss is what I choose.  I choose to be grateful and use my energy to dedicate my life to my grandma, my kids, and my future grandchildren. How grateful I am for the closeness, physical and emotional, that I shared with my grandma. Our family was lucky enough to live nearby….a three mile bike ride. Grandpa died before I was born so I know that grandma loved my company. She taught me how to garden, dust, have confidence, eat healthy, how to read better (she would make me read out loud), how to be kind, how to mow the lawn, and so much more. I celebrate her in memory. Today on her birthday, she would have been 105.  Grandma was  64 when I was born, she did got married until 37, so she had a late start. I had an early start so I hope I have many years to be a healthy grandma to my grand-kids.

You don’t need to “move on” but “move further” by sharing memories, celebrating birthdays, making new traditions, experience true love, and the time spent before your loss. Loss is not always experienced by death. Divorce, emotional separation, and a hard heart can create loss.

I think that I miss her so much because I truly loved her. What a blessings to truly love and trust someone so deeply. She was my savior, my escape, my hope, and an example of how I want to live my life every day.

 I truly owe her my life. 3 years ago as I lay in a hospital bed after a full hysterectomy all alone, I was in great pain. This pain was extreme, a 20 out of 10.  I was grateful that the Drs. didn't find any cancer with the 4 masses found, but I was so discouraged because of my circumstances. I was suffering emotional and physically. I thought I was going to die. All alone, I was extremely scared. My first night in the hospital was extremely hard. Early in the morning I was very lonely, needed comfort and pain relive. My grandma was there for me, not physically, but in spirit. Those four days, and the next several years after this, I have experiences many disappointing times. With God and my grandma by my side I know I can make it.

What’s Your Thing in December?

Sunday December 8, 2013--Go sledding and make hot-cocoa—

My daughters and I walked across the street to en empty field. The refreshing cold air was enjoyable while hiking up and down the sledding hill. We found a fresh spot to start a path.  For me it brought back wonderful feelings of happiness from my childhood, as I had talked about in an earlier post.  I felt young as I jumped on a sled and screamed as I was rushing down the hill. It was so much fun watching my daughters laugh and smile while playing in the snow.

As dark was near, we went home to get warm. Sledding is a must for December!

I quickly found my favorite recipe for homemade hot cocoa and started warming milk on the stove, added the ingredients and stirred. 

1/2 cup sugar 

1/4 cup cocoa

1/3 cup hot water

4 cups milk

3/4 tsp. vanilla

Oh how it ever hits the spot—so warm and rich, just in time to watch the LDS Christmas Devotional on TV.  How lucky and blessed to have so many resources to hear the gospel and watch the beautiful songs song by the tabernacle choir. Coolest Choir Ever I am so grateful of  Christ’s sacrifice and for the knowledge that there is life after death.  I yearn for the companionship and mercy of the prince of peace, for I need to sleep in heavenly peace tomorrow will come to soon, as it is my grandma G's birthday. 

Whats your Thing in December?

Saturday December 7th- Be Grateful for Trials and Don't take LIFE for Granite, But Don't Be Heart Attack Worthy!
Almost a year ago the unthinkable happened. Small sweet children were taken from this earth as a result of an angry man out for revenge in the Sandy Hook Elementary shooting. Taking minute and reflecting on the Lords tender mercy's and turning something that has gone wrong into love, passion, and forgiveness is hard to do. As the world grieves for the victims of that horrifying day, evil turned good as the power of mercy became power, evil did not win! God bless all the families that morn for their child this Christmas season. December 14th 2012 will never be forgotten. Turn evil into the power of Mercy  click here

The snow is falling like nuts. The first thing I want to do when it's snowing like this is shovel the driveway. I know CrAzY! But I am the type of person that does not want to wait until there is two feet, I would rather get some done now and some latter before it is unmanageable or heart-attack worthy. It wouldn't hurt if I could apply this method to other area's of my life. Instead of trying to be perfect right now, or waiting until the "snow" stops to tackle my imperfections, or waiting for someone else to read my mind, take a stand, do a little at a time, ect.... so it doesn't kill me.  Wear the right armor for the "snow", have your snow tires on.
 Be Prepared! Enjoy the Journey! Tackle Life one Day, Hour or Minute at a time!


This one is for a LOL!  Had a nice massage this morning and stopped by and got me Roxberry and then spilled it. No one here to hear me swear. Why not let the dogs in?

When all else fails, let the dogs in!

What's Your Thing In December?

before

 Friday December 6th-Get Organized!
Getting organized is not always easy, especially in December. But it does make things easier to be prepared to face the madness. For me cooking and sewing are so much easier and fun when you can find what you need and are prepared. So I chose two things to organize and clean out. My spice and backing cupboards were a disaster. I have not cleaned these out in years. I found 3 spices of the same thing. Old and new all over the place. I ran to Ikea and bought glass spice containers for a dollar each. Crazy! Of course they have everything you need to help get organized! They worked perfect, I just need to label them better. Now I am excited and happy to be in the kitchen baking cookies, candies, and holiday pies. Yumm....don't worry I will share later in the month.

after

 Next, I moved my sewing machine and sewing supplies to an extra bedroom and turned an old desk into my sewing project area. The room is well lit and enjoyable to spend time in. I hung a cute homemade valance that my sister made years ago to remind me of her talents. I hung a wooden spoon holder on the wall just as my grandma's was right in front of her sewing machine. Sewing for me is very psychologically rewarding and I believe keeps me grounded and happy. It may sound weird, but I find myself wanting to sew in the winter when it's gloomy outside. It's also about feeling good inside when you can make something homemade and give it away. I can see why my grandma enjoyed sewing for many years, making hundreds of quilts and many cool rugs.  Giving defiantly gives me warm fuzzies. This time of year I sew blankets, rugs, and corn-bags. Now my sewing projects for Christmas are ready to finish and it's not so overwhelming with everything organized. I can't wait to get going!

Before

After

What's your Thing in December?

Thursday December 5th-Christmas Music and Beautiful Wrapping
After the initial shock of 4 degree weather at 8 am, today was a good day to stay cozy inside and listen to K-love Christmas music while I organized, cleaned, and dusted. Listen Online I am always moved by music, especially this time of year. I owe the discovery of this channel to my oldest daughter. Who would of thought, a teenager introducing a Christian uplifting radio station to her mother?? She would listen to this channel as see drove around in her green beetle bug all the time. Man how I miss her living at home, driving around with her, and listening to her practice for hours as she composed piano pieces. Her talent and example has touched me and many others.
Wrapping the first present of the season is magical for me. I guess I get so excited to put something under the tree. I have always loved to wrap presents. Making each corner just right, creased, with a matching bow. My mother was a pro! I remember going down to Christensen's department store where she wrapped presents for customer's one year. Wow! I thought she did such a good job, neat, perfect. My Grandma also taught me to never throw anything away, including a bow or ribbon. She had a box of all the accessories for wrapping in a box in the back room. She would save them year to year, reuse to beautify every present. So tonight was no exceptions, wrapping the first few presents with snoopy paper and bow's.

What's Your Thing in December?

I love December! There is nothing like those special traditions that you do for one month out of the year. It's fun to decorate, gather as families, go to a lot of movies, watch Charlie Brown special, shopping, serve, make homemade gifts, sing praises about the Christ child, shout out a Hallelujah, make Christmas candy, make a snowman, count your blessing, go sledding, and many more activities we all enjoy doing. Yet sometimes it's a hard month, a bit of deadline stress, cold weather aches my bones, eating too much, a virus here and there, missing family members that have passed... the end of another year. Yet I still try to enjoy all these things that only but only come once a year.

I will start on Sunday December 1st -Join the choir!
I love singing Christmas songs. This is about the only time I join the choir.  It makes me happy. I have fond memories of my high school choir days. Choir was something I did right in high school, it might of even saved me. It gave me peace through a very difficult time. It gave me friends, good friends. I worshiped and respected my choir teacher Mr. Dahlquist. As years passed I would join the alumni in singing the Hallelujah chorus and Silent Night at the Christmas concert. I left special, I was emotionally moved every time I sing. These feelings will stayed with me for the rest of my life and I am forever in debt for those experiences.

Monday December 2nd-Take a treat to someone in need; watch The Nativity!
It's so much easier to take a treat to someone in December. Service fills my heart along with the season of giving. Homemade jam and banana bread was the perfect treat this time. I never want anyone to go unnoticed. We all have felt unwanted, unworthy, and unimportant. But we have all had someone that went out of there way to make you feel wanted, worthy, and important. As in the movie, The Nativity, we see the humble setting of how Christ came into this world. It reminds me of how lucky we are all.

Tuesday December 3rd- Watch Mr. Kruger's Christmas/All I want for Christmas is a dog Charlie Brown; and collect stuff animals for needy children!
 With hot apple cider and donuts in PJ's, 9 girls snuggled up on the couches to watch these two movies with me. Of course I was teary just watching them as they enjoyed the movies as I brought them cider and donuts. There just isn't a better time of the year then December to have donuts and cider. I just love it!
Now who has way to many stuffed animals. I know my daughter does. Our kids now days are so spoiled. My daughters school is trying to have 500 stuffed animals donated for needy kids. What a great idea!

Wednesday December 4th- Be grateful for the moisture and enjoy the beautiful snow with the bright sun shining bright; and watch this! Singing in the mall
Today as I sit at my kitchen table the snow glitters like a diamond. It reminds me of all the good times I had in the snow every winter. Hunting with my father. Sledding every Thanksgiving up the canyon on our homemade fiberglass sleds. Sledding down Peteetneet hill until I could no longer feel my toes.
best school ever! Playing fox n geese in my grandma Gold's field with my siblings and coming in to get warm by the coal burning stove. To making snow angels every were in fresh fluffy snow. Those days of just playing in the snow as a kid are priceless.