Fabulous Friday:We Give Thanks! November 28, 2008

Do not be worried, you are in the right place. Just a new seasonal look for the Christmas holiday! I like it, don’t you? I’ll be sure to post more about Christmas later, but now I want to give you a picture recap of my family’s Thanksgiving! We had a wonderful time, and spent most of the day visiting and playing games. We played two lively rounds of “Catch Phrase” this is quite possibly one of my favorite games, ever! It’s fast paced and highly competitive so you can imagine that my family really got into it! Anyway, on to the pictures! I hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving as well…now let’s bring out the Christmas music,oh, wait, I’ve already done that

 

Mary Fran was excited!!

 

And just plain cute!

 

Aunt Kris was hungry!

 

Three lovely ladies

 

Our little buddy

 

All in all, it was a wonderful Thanksgiving! Tomorrow, we bring out the Christmas decorations!! You can bet that I’ll post on that! See you on Monday!

 

I’ve So Much To Be Thankful For… November 27, 2008

This past Sunday my Sunday School teacher, Roger Critcher, taught a lesson on true, Biblical thanksgiving. It was extremely thought provoking, and challenging. His own definition of “thanksgiving” was first, THANKS and second, GIVING. Meaning first you think of what or who you’re thankful for, and then give the thanks to that person and most importantly, God. I find it all too easy to just think “oh, I’m so thankful for my family.”  and then not actually tell  them that I’m thankful for them. And worse is when I neglect to give thanks to God for blessing me with my family, or any blessings in my life.

 

So after listening and being challenged by Mr. Roger, I have really been thinking about who and what I’m thankful for. And I would like to post here what I have thought of. It would actually take countless pages to name all that I’m thankful for, for God has blessed me far beyond what I deserve, but here in my simple words I will try to express my thanks to my awesome God.

I am thankful for:

God’s redemptive work by sending His son, Jesus, to pay the price for my sins, so that I may be made holy and righteous in His Presence.

My wonderfully, close family that encourages, challenges, loves, and tickles me!

Evie, Ruthie, Mary Fran, Daniel, Baby P, LeeAnne and Ward: My nieces and nephews

My wonderful friends, who are like family to me.

My home that I share with my parents, and the love, laughter, and joy that is shared here.

My completely crazy cousins who add such joy and laughter to my life!

My grandparents who have left and are leaving a legacy for me to follow.

My parents, who have sacrificed so much to obey the Lord in raising me and my brothers.

My brothers, who are eight years older than me, whom are my constant companions, protectors, and ad visors.

My sister-in-laws who have brought a whole new element of joy to our family.

My aunts and uncles, who support and encourage me.

Breath

Two arms, and two legs.

Sunrises

Sunsets

Snow

Autumn Leaves

Summer Flowers

The ability to think and communicate with others.

The Bible

God’s Love

God’s Grace

God’s Guidance

God’s Testing

God’s Faithfulness

God’s Righteousness

God’s Awesomeness

God’s amazing work in His children’s lives…

And the list could go on and on and on. The truth is, I don’t deserve any of these things, I don’t deserve to be blessed beyond measure, and I certainly don’t deserve the family I was born into. But God, in His mercy, has chosen to bless me with all this, and more! As it says in Ephesians: Now to Him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to His power that is at work within us, to Him be glory in the church and through Christ Jesus throughout all generations forever, and ever! Amen. Ephesians 3:20-21

I can’t fully describe what this passage means to me. Because if I were truly honest with myself, what I truly deserve is death, because of the evilness of my sin, but God chose to give me the free gift of life! And is able to do immeasurably more than all I could ask or imagine! WOW! What an awesome God, I have! I pray that if you don’t know God, and have not experienced His awesome redemptive work you will come to know Him as your personal Lord and Savior.

 

Happy Thanksgiving! May God bless you!

 

“Therefore, since we are receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken, let us be thankful, and so worship God acceptably with reverence and awe.” Hebrews 12:28

Wordless Wednesday: All Things Thanksgiving November 26, 2008

Pumpkin Pie

 

Cranberry Sauce

Auntie

First Taste of Pumpkin Pie

Reaction to First Taste of Pumpkin Pie

Brenden’s Wish… November 25, 2008

As I was checking my e-mail today, I saw this video and was intrigued as to what it was all about. After I watched it, I was completely blown away by the selflessness of this little boy who was dying with leukemia. I was convicted as well, for I do not have a terminal disease. Am I taking advantage of opportunities to bless others? Please note that while this story is inspiring, it is about a boy who is eleven, and dying with leukemia. Actually, he passed away last Friday. Just wanted to let you know, before you watch…

I’m praying for the family of Brenden, and I praise God for little boys like this, who leave are leaving legacies for future generations!

Miss Ruthie’s Hat November 25, 2008

 

Fabulous Friday: Laminin November 21, 2008

Now what is Laminin? Glad you asked! I came across this video a few months back and wanted to share with all of you. I found this to be so cool, and awesome! Honestly, when I saw it I just sat in amazement at what an awesome God we have! Hope you enjoy this, have a great weekend!

One Week ’til Thanksgiving!! November 20, 2008

Hello, friends!

 It’s officially one week until Thanksgiving! And in honor of that fact, I am going to provide a recipe for “Pumpkin Cheesecake” it is so good, and really easy to make! As I don’t have too much time to write, I’m going to post the recipe and get outta here! Hope you enjoy! Join me tomorrow for Fabulous Friday!

 

Ingredients

Crust:

• 2 packages honey graham crackers (about 20 rectangles)
• 1 cup walnuts or pecans
• 1 1/2 sticks butter, melted

Filling:

• 2 1/2 pounds cream cheese
• 1 cup sugar
• 4 large eggs, lightly beaten
• 3 egg yolks, lightly beaten
• 2 teaspoons cinnamon
• 3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon ground cloves
• 1 teaspoon ground ginger
• 1 cup heavy cream
• 1 tablespoon pure vanilla extract
• 1 (15-ounce) can pumpkin
• Heavy cream whipped with brandy, for serving

Directions

Preheat oven to 425 degrees F.

For the crust: Put the graham crackers in a food processor and process until all the pieces are broken down to a sand-like consistency. Add the nuts and process until they are completely combined with the graham crackers. With the processor on, pour the butter in a slow steady stream, until the mixture looks bound together. Press the crust evenly into the bottom and a little up the sides of a 9-inch springform pan. Set aside.

 

For the filling: In a large bowl, mix together; cream cheese, sugar, eggs, and yolks. Add cinnamon, flour, cloves, and ginger. Blend together. Add cream and vanilla, and blend well. At this point, reserve 1/4 cup of the mixture. Add the pumpkin and blend until the color is even.

Pour the pumpkin filling into the prepared crust. Take the reserved mixture and create a design on top; a swirl, or pour thin lines across, from top to bottom, then take a knife and working perpendicular to the lines of white filling, run the knife through in similarly spaced lines.

Place on the middle rack of the oven and bake for 15 minutes. Reduce temperature to 275 degrees F and bake for 1 more hour. Cool, then chill in the fridge overnight.

Wordless Wednesday November 19, 2008

“Miss ‘Blueberry Peepers’ LeeAnne”

My Little Bakers… November 18, 2008

I certainly hope all of you who live in the Boone area are still firmly planted to the ground! The wind at my house has been unbelievable!! But I’m so thankful for this cold weather; it means that I can hit the slopes soon!! Hooray! As I didn’t get to go much last season, I have a lot of skiing to do to make up and I just found out the Beech Mountain is re instituting their “Ladies Ski Free” Day on Thursdays! This probably means that you will not find me at home on Thursdays this winter, I’ll probably be with Melissa and Hannah carving down a slope

 

This past Saturday, my Aunt Kris brought gifts for the three oldest girls in the family:

 

Chef hats and aprons that say “Baker In Training”. Too cute!! I of course, was thrilled that the girls have these, and I can’t wait to actually start training them to bake. Of course, these aprons started me to thinking about what exactly it is that I want to train them in. I really don’t want to train them how to bake, but rather the stories behind the items they are baking. Yes, it is important that they learn the essential skill of baking a pie or cookies, but I want them to know about the women who taught me how to bake pies and cookies. I want them to know the legacy that makes up part of who they are. I want them to know about how when I was their age I would go to my mamaw’s house to bake and decorate sugar cookies. Or how I would go to the other mamaw’s house to bake cakes and pies. Those are memories that I will cherish forever. Why? Is it because we made some really great tasting food? No. It’s because I made memories while making really great tasting food.

 

My grandmothers imparted so much wisdom while we were baking. And they also expressed their love for me by simply taking the time to slow down and let me help them. Surely, they could have done it faster, easier, better than I, but they chose to let me help them. I will never ever forget that, never.

 

And that is the kind of aunt I want to be to all my neices and nephews. I want to be remembered by how I made time for them in my life. How I slowed down and let them help me, even if the result wasn’t as pretty as I would like for it to be. To communicate how much I love them by spending time with them, and teaching them about their family history.

 

So in order to start doing this, I am declaring a “Christmas Cookie Extravaganza” with Aunt Molly! I’m going to set aside a day in December for the girls to come and make Christmas cookies with me! Will it be messy? Yes. Will it be chaotic? Yes. Will their be tears? Yes. Will there be many interruptions? Yes. Will it be worth it? YES!!

 

So I say, bring on the messes, and bring on the memories! The more the merrier!

OH MY! November 17, 2008

It has come to my attention that I have not posted a picture of my home in the beautiful mountains of North Carolina. Well, yesterday we had some lovely cold weather, and beautiful snow. So I thought I should snap a couple of photos for you to see my childhood home that I have made so many memories in. If only the walls of this house could talk…

 

 

 

 

Ha! I’m only kidding! For those of you who don’t live in NC, this is the Biltmore House in Asheville, NC. I had been there when I was around 4, so I didn’t remember anything except a stuffed moose on one of the walls. Strange what I remember…

 

Yesterday, my mom, dad, grandmother and grandfather took a small road trip to see the Biltmore all decked out in her Christmas finery! Unfortunately, they don’t allow pictures to be taken of the inside, so I wasn’t able to catch the breathtaking beauty of the interior. It’s hard to describe, but I will try and summarize it into one word: UNBELIEVABLE! I tried to imagine living in a house that large, and I simply couldn’t. The architecture was stunning, and the craftsmanship was outstanding.

 

Since it is a 2 hour trip to Asheville this is what I did most of the car trip:

 

Why? Well, on Friday night, I went to the ASU Men’s Glee Club concert. It was fantastic, by the way, and after the concert I went to Higher Grounds coffee shop with some friends. And since my brain was not functioning I decided to order coffee at 9:30 at night. Needless to say, I was up for most of the night and did not get to sleep until 5:00 Saturday morning. So I was tired on Sunday and the sleep was great!

Upon arriving at the Biltmore, I quickly set out to snap some pictures while their was remaining daylight. Unfortunately, the lighting is not the best, but I did manage to get a few.

 

I am tempted to make a bonnet like that for when I go caroling this year! Only kidding.

It was cold!

And windy! You’ll notice that our hair is blowing across our faces!

 

And I would like to leave you with the shot of my purchases at the Biltmore Confectionery…

What a perfect way to end a lovely day! Oh, and my vote is that the “Autumn Ball” be held at the Biltmore next year