Mountains

Last week, I went on a road trip with my (truck driver) husband to California.  I swore I wouldn’t do it again, as he is a “head for the destination point, do not pass go and do not collect $200” kind of guy.  Do I sound like a monopoly player or maybe a person who likes the journey more than the destination?   Well, you would be right on both counts.   I decided to look on the bright side and expect a blessing.  As we drove over the Siskew Mountains I spotted Mt. Shasta straight ahead of us and it looked like we could drive right into it. 

It was a beautiful day and I couldn’t help but snap this picture.  I have always loved Mountains and spent a lot of time camping in them when I was young.  I also love mountains because the bible talks a lot about mountains and I think of all the mountain top and valley experiences I have had in my lifetime and when I look at a mountain I see the grace and glory of God.

I think my next card design will have mountains in it but until then, I thought I would share this beautiful picture of Mt. Shasta and hope it blesses your day.

 

It's a Sunny Day and I'm back

I know I have been off the grid for a while, a lot has happened since this year started and I won’t bore you with all the details, but I am so thankful for all the changes and growth in my life.  One year ago, yesterday I started attending a church near my home.  I had not been to church in 10+ years partly due to my late husband’s illness and a demanding job and after he died, I just lost touch and no one called so I just moved on.  I never stopped being a believer just checked out of the family as we sometimes do in our natural families as well.  I mention this because I have grown in so many ways this past year and feel I am stronger and better for taking out the time at the beginning of this year to really evaluate what’s important and to re-set priorities and goals.

Needless to say, I have really missed blogging and am presently putting together a regular schedule for blogging and a series of things I want to share along with my crafting business.

I needed to time to really think about where I want to take my crafting and what I love doing most and I have made some new decisions on that.

One thing I would like to share is a new love I’ve found in doing letterpress on my cards.  I discovered it is easy and fun and I love the results.  I have shared a card with this post that I did in a class.  It is not my design work but I hope in weeks to come to show some original design work and have plans to share a video tutorial of how easy it is if you have the tools but that will be a few weeks away.

I hope you enjoy the sunny and bright card below and will enjoy the new ones to come.  I do have some other cards I’ve designed (not letterpress) in my next few posts though to catch you all up with some of my recent projects.

Remember you are a person of great worth and value and you are loved.

11^th day of Christmas,

Family Traditions

We all have traditions that we have practiced for years.  Some we do consciously and some we do it because it’s familiar, what we know or what our family always did.

Today, I’d like to share a few of my family traditions.   We always opened our presents on Christmas Eve and of course everyone knows that “Santa” comes on Christmas Eve.  My parents were very creative and we always went to my maternal grandmother’s on Christmas Eve and when we got home, low and behold, Santa had come while we were gone.  It wasn’t till I started to get a little older and wiser, that I realized that every time we left for Grandma’s, Dad forgot something in the house.  It was his wallet or he forgot to turn off a light, and I began to think either he’s getting forgetful or you know the rest.

After my maternal grandmother died mom took over the Christmas Eve event.  I was 14 and my brother was 13, so we were past the Santa thing.  To this day, everyone comes to my house to eat and open gifts on Christmas Eve.  When my granddaughter, E was born, we began going to their house on Christmas morning to watch her open her presents and have brunch.  She’s 18 now, but we still go there just get to sleep in a little now, because we mostly go for brunch.

For me, Christmas evening after everyone is exhausted or gone to bed is my time.   I sit in front of my Christmas tree and reflect on all the goodness of life.  I think of Christmas past, present and think about what Christmas future will look like.  It is my time to spend quiet time to say goodbye to Christmas this year and move on into the New Year.

I would love to hear about some of your family traditions so please feel free to comment and share some of those.

On the 10th Day of Christmas

On the 10^th Day of Christmas

Giving…and Joy

These two go hand in hand in my mind so I just couldn’t separate them.

Remember my husband, (the bah-humbug guy?)   Don’t tell him I told you this, but he is the first one at Thanksgiving and Christmas to ask me if I know any people who are in need and to tell me we need to do something for them, and when he found out the neighbor lost his job his first words were write a check and take it to them.  We both like to give anonymously as much as we can.   I haven’t always been in a position to give money or things of value, but I have always believed we can give time and ourselves as much as we can.  Giving brings so much joy to a true giver.  So now you can see why I can’t separate the two.  I think that is why the Bible says “it’s better to give than receive”.  God is the ultimate giver and He understands the joy it brings to our lives.

 It is also hard for givers to receive when they are in need.  I hate to admit it, but it is a very humbling experience to be on the receiving end.  I was there once myself and I had a hard time receiving and the individual who was the giver at the time, said this to me.  “In order for me to receive the joy that God has for me, you must receive this gift I’m giving you, and in doing so, you are giving me great joy”.  This is one of the reasons I love Christmas so much, because I see so much giving and joy in people that we don’t often see throughout the year.

As I was writing this, I thought what does joy look like?  What kind of a picture would represent joy?  I thought, painting a picture of joy, is a little like describing the color blue to a blind person.   Then I thought when I look into the eyes of a happy child at Christmas time – I see what I can only describe as “pure”, unfiltered joy.  So  here you go…you be the judge.

At Christmas time and all year through, I am blessed with “joy unspeakable  and full of glory” at the wonders of God’s love and blessings.  I hope you receive great joy as you give this Christmas.

On the 9th Day of Christmas

The 9^th Day of Christmas…

Random Acts of Kindness

A couple years ago, I was in the Starbuck’s drive through lane waiting to get a coffee.  I was about the 6^th or 7^th car back.  When I got up to the window, I handed the lady a $20 dollar bill  to pay for my coffee, the lady at the window, said the person in front of you paid $4.00 toward your coffee this morning.  I was surprised and responded with “really?”.  So as she handed me back the change I’d given her, I handed her $4.00 and said do the same for the car behind me.  She laughed and said, “this has been going on all morning, isn’t it just amazing?”

As I drove the rest of the way to work, I couldn’t help but think of what a chain reaction the first person that morning had started.  I felt so uplifted and my heart was light and it truly made the rest of my day.

My last post, I talked about giving and joy and it reminded me of the Starbuck’s incident.  Each year, I try to do something like that.  So I thought wouldn’t it great if we could think of lots of ways to do “random acts of kindness during the Christmas season, like taking a few extra seconds and letting a car in front of you or if you see someone behind you looking for a parking spot and you drive past the first one you see and maybe you find one farther away but as you are walking the extra distance, think of how good it made you feel to do something random for someone you don’t know and will get no “thank you” for.

I’d love it if you would post a comment with your ideas for random acts of kindness.  I’ll collect them and after the first of the year, I will list them all in a post to inspire us to start the New Year the same way, practicing “random acts of kindness”.  The definition of “random” is happening or chosen without method or conscious decision…haphazard…by chance.
 

 I decided to post a picture of my church here because my church is so awesome.  Everyone in our church has such a community spirit, in fact my Pastor preached on that for several weeks.  I believe the people in our church practice random acts of kindness nearly every day because they really care about people.

On the 8^th day of Christmas …

Music

Music has always been a huge part of my life since I was little.  I can remember when I was maybe only three or four years old, my grandmother would put me up on top of a picnic table at the annual family reunion and say “sing for everyone”.  I would sing “You are my sunshine” and top it off with a sort of childlike soft shoe ending.

Over the years, I was in school choruses, several church choirs and even went on the road with my late husband as evangelists and sang in churches and faith groups all across the United States and Canada.  All anyone had to say was “sing, Shavanna” and I would break out in a song.  I remember one year at the airport in Washington D.C. while we were waiting for a flight, a group of us girls were just coming home from an Aglow Conference and one of the gals said the “magic” word and right there in the airport, I began to sing “hail Jesus you’re my King”….and everyone in the airport stopped as the gals echoed the song, which is how it goes.  About half way through I realized we were in a very public place and I looked around to see if I could read what people were thinking and they were all smiling and clapping and seemed to really be enjoying it.  I have always believed that music is a universal language, because even if you don’t understand the words, music touches the heart, heals the soul and enriches our spirits.

So it goes without saying that I absolutely love Christmas songs.  I have several favorite tapes that I play each year for a variety of different reasons.  My fun favorite is my redneck Christmas tape, and probably my most moving one is my Vince Gill tape.  I play Alan Jackson’s, Let it be Christmas because that song so speaks my message of “let it be Christmas everywhere, let heavenly music fill the hair, let every heart sing and every bell ring the story of hope and joy and peace and let it be Christmas, Christmas everywhere.  There is one song on the Vince Gill tape that always makes me cry because he wrote it about the first Christmas since his brother passed away and it so fits my youngest brother because Vince sings about how Christmas time was his favorite time of year.  I like to sit in front of my tree with only the Christmas lights on in the house and listen to the Vince Gill tape and reflect on what Christmas really means (which by the way is some of the words he says in one of his songs).

 I hope this Christmas that music fills your heart, soul and spirit and makes your Christmas Merry and Bright.

7^th day of Christmas

Baking…mmmmmmmmm

I have always loved to bake.  My grandmother was a wonderful baker and she taught me how to bake.  She taught me the “art” of making Divinity candy.  Not many people make it because conditions have to be just right, i.e. not too humid or dry in your house, and if you make it the old fashioned way, that is without a candy thermometer, you have to know how to let the corn syrup mixture “spin a good thread” to be sure it is cooked just right.  Then it takes a lot of beating (thank you, KitchenAid).

So, needless to say, baking is another important part of my Christmas festivities.  I like to make everyone’s favorite, my daughter in-law likes 7 layer bars, my son-in-law likes lemon bars and I even learned to make the wonderful cookie bars that my step-daughter, Jennifer likes (gluten free) as she discovered she can’t have gluten in her diet.  My son, likes my peanut butter fudge and last year, I introduced “Crack Cookies” to my granddaughter.  She loves these.  I know that is a terrible name for them but the gal I got the recipe from said, “she called them that because they are so addictive”.  She was right and yet they are so easy.

Here is the recipe if you want to try it.

1 Box Cake Mix – any flavor (chocolate doesn’t work that great but lemon, funfetti rainbow ship work well.  1 8oz cream cheese (softened), 1 stick butter(softened) and 1 egg.  Beat well and chill dough.  Take teaspoon fulls of dough and roll them in a ball and then in powdered sugar and bake for 8-9 minutes at 350 degrees.  They might not look like they are done, but they are.

From the time my granddaughter, E was about 2, (she’s now 18) we have baked together every Christmas and I have taught her what I know and she in turn loves to bake and is very good at it.  She is even considering going to culinary school and maybe becoming a pastry chef.  I am so happy that I was able to pass something down from my grandmother to me to my granddaughter.  That’s what traditions are all about.

I was going to just put a picture of goodies here, but I decided to put a more beautiful one.  One that never fades…because it is in my heart forever.

Each Christmas, I say to myself “she’s older now and she won’t want to come and spend time baking with me, she has a job and a life of her own”, and yet each year she still likes to come and that really makes me smile.  Our son-in-law is deployed this Christmas and it was fun to start some early baking and send him a care package of goodies.

I hope you have a “baking party” or a baking tradition that adds some sweetness to your Christmas.