2009 Books-I-Read Wrap Up

Wow. I passed up last year's total of 56 books read (just barely) with a total of 58 for 2009. Somewhere at the end of October I fell down on the job of writing book reviews so I have about six or seven to do to catch up! Yikes. Anyway - here's the totals:

Non-Fiction (Christian) - 15
Non-Fiction (General) - 7
Fiction - 22
Fiction (Audio) - 12
Poetry - 2

So, my favorites, you ask? Hmmm... off the top of my head... for non-fiction I guess I'd say Reading is Believing and for fiction Olive Kitteridge. But, really, there were so, so many. Check out the "Books Reviewed" tab on my nav bar. Also, Semicolon has a very intriguing list of her favorite fiction books of the year... She has many more to choose from since she read TWO HUNDRED TWENTY SEVEN books in 2009!! Her book of the year was The Sparrow which is in my top-ten-best-ever list so I'm thinking I'll check out her other suggestions.

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2009: Year in Review

This blog is really a scrapbook of sorts for me...a place to remember all that's happened, to recall how good God is, and to look back down the path to see where He has taken me. Reading this post from Beki gave me the idea to choose one photograph from each month of 2009 and post it as a summary of this most excellent year that we've been given.

A (very cold) birthday trip to New York in January...

Three bald guys keeping warm on the porch in February...

A flying license in March...

A driving license in April...

Off to a new job in May...

Chaos for family pictures in June...

Birthday wishes in July...

Teaching swimming lessons in August...

Hanging out with a best buddy in September...

The Girl making an appearance at a birthday dinner in October...

Carrying another best buddy through the streets of Philadelphia in November...

And, finally, welcoming our new puppy Molly in December...

Blessings, bloggy friends! Wishing you a wonderful 2010!

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Hair

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Have Fun!

I dropped the biggest and the smallest of my babies off at the train station this morning to catch the Amtrak to D.C. The trip is Mary's Christmas present from her Dad. They'll have three days to enjoy all the museums, monuments, the Capitol, and (hopefully) the White House. I'm so excited for them! Mary may be blogging about her adventure...I'll keep you updated!

(Photo from sandhillsDig.com photostream.)

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Flower Wheels

I spent most of the Sabbath day either reading or doodling these flowers. (Ok - I'll admit it. OR eating chocolate!) I sat at my little round table by the fire with two puppies snoring in their beds at my feet and doodled to my heart's content. And a lot of that time I was praying even as kids and hubby were coming in and out, chatting here and there.

As I look at the drawing today I can remember who or what I was talking to God about as I drew.... The flower with the wood grain center was for Sean and The Girl M....The lacy looking flower was for E...The circle with the hatching was for Mary... I prayed for friends, for our jobs, for our church, for the New Year. And then I was quiet and just listened for God's voice. It is so funny to me that I feel closer to God, can talk more easily to Him, when I draw. My mind finds it so easy to drift away when I'm sitting in my chair early in the morning trying to pray. Drawing while I'm praying seems to somehow tether it down.

Blessings, bloggy friends -

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Seven on Saturday

Hope all of you out in Blogland had a very Merry Christmas yesterday!

1. On Christmas Eve we read three books and then the Christmas story from the Gospel of Luke. This year,

Mary read A Tale of Three Trees.


And Ellen read Alabaster's Song.


And Matt read The Night Before Christmas.


And The Girl M (with The Boy looking on) read the Bible.

And I took the pictures! :-) Then we swapped "sibling" presents. It was a sweet night.

2. We had a smorgasbord of food yesterday. We didn't have the traditional Christmas turkey and dressing. Instead everyone picked out their favorite dishes:

Sean - Shrimp Gumbo, Deviled Eggs;
E - Doritos & Velveeta Chicken Casserole, Broccoli & Chicken Casserole;
Mary - Shepard's Pie & Taco Casserole;
The Girl M - Salad;
Everyone - Mashed Potatoes, Special Creamy Onion & Pickle Chip Dip
PLUS - Butter Finger Pudding, Banana Pudding, Chocolate Pie, Apple Bread Pudding, Brownies

No worries - I didn't cook all this myself! We had friends join us. A good time had by all with lots and lots of leftovers for the next few days!

3. E and her friend A dressed up and went out for a nice dinner tonight!

4. I've spent almost all day in my pj's reading Cutting for Stone. Love, love, love it so far!

5. Seven weeks away from walking another half marathon in February. Yikes! My neighbor called and got me out and walking Thursday and we went again today, so I'm feeling a little better. I'll start a seven week training plan tomorrow. My goal for this one is to average under 15 minute miles. Matt's signed up to run the full marathon! We've got some work to do...

6. Oh, we're making our way to my most, most favorite of all the holidays - The New Year! Can you believe it's going to be 2010?? It seems impossible! I love writing goals, making plans, looking forward to what the next year will bring!

7. A couple of sites to check out: Artists Who Blog and T.E.D. (Arts).

Blessings bloggy friends -

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Joy!

Inspired by Alice W, I made this little joy banner last night and this morning with odds and ends...bits and pieces... that I had around the house: A few pages from an old prayer book, silver pipe cleaners, shiny beads, floral wire, letter stamps, gold and orange napkins, and a piece of orange scrapbook paper. After lots of tweaking and redoing, I think I like it!

Merry Christmas, and wishing you a joyful Christmas, bloggy friends!

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Happy Mary!

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Sweet Cornbread Dressing

I made sweet cornbread dressing yesterday for our plant's Christmas lunch. I had a few girls ask for the recipe, so I thought I would share it here, too. It's a combination of my mom's recipe with a few tweaks from me.

Sweet Cornbread Recipe
(Makes two 9x13 pans of cornbread.)

3 boxes of jiffy mixed, cooked as muffins from directions on box
Two boiled eggs
Three cans of chicken broth (or use broth from chicken thighs below)
6 stalks of celery
1 large white onion
1 bunch of green onions
One stick of butter
Four chicken thighs, boiled and deboned
Salt, Pepper
Sage
Poultry seasoning
Four eggs, beaten slightly

Crumble up all except two of the muffins equally into pans. Eat the other two with lots of butter while they’re still hot. (This is a really important part of the recipe! Don’t skip!) Dice up the boiled eggs and add to pans. Chop up the celery and white onion and sauté in butter until tender. Cut up green onion and add to other veggies and sauté for just a few minutes more. Add equally to pans. Add chicken. Salt and pepper well. Add broth, splitting the third can between the pans and stir well. Add sage. (I have no idea how much to tell you to add, but just mix and then taste. It’s kind of a personal preference. Some people only like a little bit of sage. Some like a bunch.) Add a sprinkling of poultry seasoning, if you have it. Once you’re through tasting for seasoning, add two beaten eggs to each pan and mix well. (It would just be too nasty to taste it with the raw eggs already in it!) Put in preheated oven at 350. After fifteen minutes, take out and “rake” it down. (This just means stir it all up again, making sure you scrape down the sides good. I think this keeps the sides from getting over cooked.) Put back in oven and cook for…mmm…about 15 or 20 minutes more. Don’t overcook. It might seem mushy at first, but it firms up as it cools.

I'm thinking about trying to cook this dressing in muffin pans instead of 9x13 pans. I'll probably just have to shorten the cooking time, but it should work.

That’s it. Enjoy! Bon appétit! Happy Merry Christmas!

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Molly

So...THIS is what we brought home from Georgia! The dog, not the girl... we already had the girl.

Her name is Molly and she is a two-year-old Shih Tzu. We love her. Matt and I had been playing with the idea of getting another puppy for six months or so. We love our Sadie so much and wanted her to have a friend. Matt and I were sitting in the lobby of the Microtel (a surprisingly very nice place to stay in Perry, Georgia) in our bare feet and PJs (very classy couple, we are!), drinking coffee, waiting for the kids to wake up so we could hit the road, when in ran a little puppy that was absolutely adorable. It belonged to a gentleman who worked at the Microtel and of course we had to hold her and find out all about her. Turns out, she is the six-month-old daughter of Molly, a result of an accidental "meeting" between Molly and a Dachshund named Mr. Weiner (I'm so very much NOT kidding!)

I inquired if there were any more puppies available and the owner of Molly (who happened to also work at the Microtel!) said no, they had already found homes for all five of the puppies, but they were trying to find a place for Molly. They had four dogs and just couldn't give them all the attention they needed between two full-time jobs and kids. She didn't even want any money for her, just a good home.

So, after a little debating, we decided to take her. Molly did wonderfully on the seven-hour drive home, snuggling most of the way with E. (The photo is from a potty break in Savannah.) Sadie doesn't seem too very happy yet to have a sister, but we're hoping they will get used to each other soon. We knew Molly wasn't house trained (only crate-trained) when we took her, but we didn't know she was a "stealth-pooper." Let her out of your site for just a second and she'll leave a little present for you around the corner! So, we're back in puppy-training mode at the Furby's. Sigh. But, she has a very sweet, laid-back personality - a must for our family!

Oh, and click here to see photos from the wedding we were attending. Sean is the really cute best man in a couple of shots. (Sorry, gals. It appears he is taken.) The wedding was so, so sweet and Matt and Emma are a darling couple. The photographer, Stephen, is Matt's brother (the groom)and is extremely talented, so browse his site a bit if you have the chance.

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Number the Stars

They say that on a clear and dark night the naked eye can see thousands of stars...That is IF you live away from urban and suburban lights. I live in a quiet neighborhood in a fairly small town, but still I don't have a very clear view of the night sky. Besides street lights, there are lots and lots (AND lots!) of soaring pine trees that block my view. My best option to really enjoy the night sky is to go to the center of the cul-de-sac we live on and lay down in the middle of the road. It's not something I tend to do very often. The neighbors already think our family is a bit odd. :-)

Astronomers say the typical person viewing the night sky these days in populated areas can only see a few hundred stars instead of thousands. Plus, they tell me, there's many, many more subtle things I can't see at all - like nebula, star clusters, and the Milky Way. These are too elusive to see from my little light-polluted, tree-blocked spot in North Carolina without a telescope.

When I take the time to look up at the night sky (which sadly isn't very often) I always think of Abraham. God used the stars as a word picture to tell of the extravagant way He was going to fulfill His promise of a family to Abraham. (Genesis 15) "Look toward heaven, and number the stars, if you are able to number them... So shall your offspring be.” I imagine that Abraham's view of the night sky was much clearer and unpolluted and unblocked than mine - no pesky street lights, buildings, or pine trees. I also imagine that from that night on, when Abraham looked up to the stars, each one of those tiny specks of light was to him a specific answer to God's promises, to God's faithfulness, and to His Presence. Number the stars, if you can, Abraham. I bet he did his best.

So, from this I consider the promises that God has given to me through His Word. There are so many: to bring to completion the work He has begun in me, to prosper me and to do no harm to me, to always be with me and to never forsake me, to prepare a place for me with Him and to wipe away all my tears. Like Abraham, I should look to the sky and number the stars, counting off His promises. Oh, but for the pollution of my sin that keeps me from seeing more of His promises! Oh, but for the deep-rooted trees of despair and fear and sloth that grow up and block my view!

I think one of my New Year's resolutions for 2010 will be to make a determined effort to look up at the night sky more often... to number the stars ...to remember God's promises to me... and to do my best to get away from all the artificial lights and star-blocking trees in my life. I might just make it a habit to go down to the cul-de-sac, lay down, and look up for a while. Who cares what the neighbors think?

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Home!

We're back from Georgia. We had a wonderful time....PLUS brought home a surprise I'll have to tell you about tomorrow! Tune back in...

(This is just a very silly bird I drew when I got home today to relax a little before making cornbread dressing for our company Christmas lunch tomorrow. Did I really agree to make dressing knowing I would just be getting back from Georgia? Smart girl!)

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A New Tree

Tucked amongst my books, I've got my very own tree! I bought this small artificial tree and hung it with some country ornaments and balls plus a few ornaments I've made over the past few years. A white blanket for snow around the bottom, and ta-da! I've always wanted a Christmas tree in every room of the house. No where near to that yet, but I do have our main one in the living room, this one in the library/study/art/laundry room, and a tiny pink one in the dining room. The kitchen is next! Merry Christmas, bloggy friends! Off to Georgia for a wedding...

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Christmas Memories

Anyone remember flipping through Sears and JCPenny catalogues and circling what you hoped Santa was bringing you for Christmas? Well - check out this site for some old catalogues to jog your memories. These are pages from the toy section of a 1973 Sears and 1976 JCPenny catalogues. I *know* Santa brought me Mrs. Beasely ($12.94!) and I *definitely* had the Make-Up Mannequin with hair that really "grows" ($5.84!) She had a looong hunk of hair that you could pull up out of her head. It was kinda creepy.

Well - Merry Christmas! :-)

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Silver Tree

I.Love.This. (Found it posted here on artist Anna Wilson-Patterson's blog.)

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Merry Christmas Trees!

I played around yesterday with these trees inspired from this artist. My outcome isn't nearly so cool as hers. Oh well. Still learning, still playing. I used watercolor pencils and then this nifty waterbrush to give it more of a painted verses colored look. Then I dilly-dallied with it in Photoshop. Merry Christmas, bloggy friends!

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Another Banner

Yep, another banner. Part of me thinks I'll just start recycling some of my old ones for 2010, but I imagine I'll throw in some new ones, too. I so enjoy making these! Merry Christmas, bloggy friends! (I think maybe the dead bee at the beginning is still one of my favorites! Grin.)

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