I have many memories of different ways I have counted down in childhood. But none of the memories are very clear or complete. I don't remember many details. I know as a young child that Mom would take me to Mentor mall and we would wait in line to talk to Santa. I have several pictures of these times. I know we usually shopped Black Friday at the Mentor mall too. It was the only mall that was close within 40 miles. I remember one year we went to Cleveland's Euclid square lighting of the Christmas tree. It was very pretty and it wasn't too cold or much snow yet. But that is about all the memories I have of shopping for Christmas etc. I remember more the years we went and cut our own Christmas trees but that is another topic.
Since I moved away from home when I was 18 years old. David and I have changed our countdowns. We wanted our kids to know that Christmas wasn't about presents but about Jesus and his reason for coming. Now we pick songs to sing in church for Christmas eve service, doing our parts for the local area nursing homes (Nativity play), and getting ready for the Live Nativity. We also get our horse drawn sleigh ride when we do the Live Nativity. Yes, we do the play even if it is -20 outside. People actual do still come.
We do presents but they are not the most important part of our Christmas. Our kids now look forward to doing all the giving things at Christmas and the most important welcoming Jesus into our lives.
So what do you do in your waiting part of Christmas?
Friday, December 6, 2013
Wednesday, November 13, 2013
The Artist's Way
I am trying embark on a journey of self discovery and letting some inner troubles go. I have read parts of this book before(The Artist's Way by Julia Cameron). It causes you to look at yourself and free yourself from whatever is keeping you from accomplishing what you want out of life. I am also reading another book A Million Little Ways by Emily Freeman. This one explores how our creativity is derived from God and how he wants us to be creative individuals. It is interesting to see how both these books start with looking inwardly and seeking what is really there within us.
It seems I have always wanted to create something whatever that may be. I watched my sister Charlotte crochet afghans growing up and my mother doing some things when I was small. My dad was also creative. He made macramé chairs out of old lawn chair frames. I know when I was small I really wanted to paint a picture. It was very hard for me because of I couldn't draw a straight line. I can remember people always telling me that a picture I made was okay for a child. So somewhere along the lines I heard you are not a painter. You can't do anything like that. It have never really been voiced but that is what I felt I was being told. As youngster, I was often sick and when I was really little I had seizures a lot. I have very little memories of being really little. I think my memories start at around age 4 or so. My kids remember things from when they are 2 or 3 so that is amazing to me that I could have had memories from that age but they are lost to ether because of my health. I was not a very coordinated child either so everything I did was physically was very hard for me to do because it took twice as long for me do something than it took anyone else. So I was always the kid that was picked last for any game at school. I was always struggling to keep up. So I became the book kid. I was always reading something. It really helps now that I am an adult. I am really good at trivia games. (Now I am finally picked first for teams where trivia is involved.) But there was always this need to create something. My first craft was embroidery. I remember going to Thompson's store not for the candy so much as the stamped embroidery and floss they sold. I taught myself embroidery one summer. My mom helped as she could because she really couldn't see what I was doing but was able to describe the steps. So many summers when I didn't have a book I was stitching something too. Junior high and High school were just busy with homework and band and life. I think I started some counted cross stitch during this time on and off. That for me was like painting pictures. I figured it was the closest thing to being a Painter as I was going to get. But now I have taught myself numerous crafts. I finally started taking online classes about painting pictures and portraits. It has been so freeing to paint on an actual canvas and feel like that is a good painting. I have working on one canvas for a few weeks now. I have to finish it soon just because it gives me a great feeling of accomplishment. The bonus is I really like how is it taking shape. Maybe I will share when it is done. It is my faith combined with art that I think I like the most.
Well, I hope I can make myself take the commitment to go on this journey to find some truths that I have searching for a long time. I am not sure what I will find but I think it will worth it.
It seems I have always wanted to create something whatever that may be. I watched my sister Charlotte crochet afghans growing up and my mother doing some things when I was small. My dad was also creative. He made macramé chairs out of old lawn chair frames. I know when I was small I really wanted to paint a picture. It was very hard for me because of I couldn't draw a straight line. I can remember people always telling me that a picture I made was okay for a child. So somewhere along the lines I heard you are not a painter. You can't do anything like that. It have never really been voiced but that is what I felt I was being told. As youngster, I was often sick and when I was really little I had seizures a lot. I have very little memories of being really little. I think my memories start at around age 4 or so. My kids remember things from when they are 2 or 3 so that is amazing to me that I could have had memories from that age but they are lost to ether because of my health. I was not a very coordinated child either so everything I did was physically was very hard for me to do because it took twice as long for me do something than it took anyone else. So I was always the kid that was picked last for any game at school. I was always struggling to keep up. So I became the book kid. I was always reading something. It really helps now that I am an adult. I am really good at trivia games. (Now I am finally picked first for teams where trivia is involved.) But there was always this need to create something. My first craft was embroidery. I remember going to Thompson's store not for the candy so much as the stamped embroidery and floss they sold. I taught myself embroidery one summer. My mom helped as she could because she really couldn't see what I was doing but was able to describe the steps. So many summers when I didn't have a book I was stitching something too. Junior high and High school were just busy with homework and band and life. I think I started some counted cross stitch during this time on and off. That for me was like painting pictures. I figured it was the closest thing to being a Painter as I was going to get. But now I have taught myself numerous crafts. I finally started taking online classes about painting pictures and portraits. It has been so freeing to paint on an actual canvas and feel like that is a good painting. I have working on one canvas for a few weeks now. I have to finish it soon just because it gives me a great feeling of accomplishment. The bonus is I really like how is it taking shape. Maybe I will share when it is done. It is my faith combined with art that I think I like the most.
Well, I hope I can make myself take the commitment to go on this journey to find some truths that I have searching for a long time. I am not sure what I will find but I think it will worth it.
Tuesday, October 29, 2013
Thanksgiving preparations
As I was jotting down my list of Thanksgiving items to gather and check on amounts etc. I was thinking how much it has changed since my childhood. In my family, it was always a chaotic time and lots of food to feed an army. The trick was to see how many people we could seat a table. I think we had close to twenty people at one time.
Now I live far from family so I have adapted the huge Thanksgiving meal to just us five. It took a few years but I now have a great meal and time to enjoy the family too. My Thanksgiving dinner begins with getting the turkey drunk okay....I beer brine my turkey. I found this recipe from Emeril on Good morning America in 2003. I have been making it every year since. David was skeptical the first year and now he can't eat any other turkey. This starts the day before so turkey can be ready for his debut on Thanksgiving dinner. I have modified this recipe over the years so it is similar but not quite the same. I also use a turkey cooking bag. It always comes out great with no extra work involved.
Our family is also not a great fan of the typical green bean casserole. The menu from 2003 also had a green bean recipe that had bacon in it. Who doesn't like bacon? No one in our family so that has become our vegetable entrée. I sometimes make Grandma Rita's rolls but haven't had the time in a few years but might try to do
that this year. We will see. I also make the usual Ray style mashed potatoes, stuffing and gravy. I have been using Stove top the last few years just because nobody eats enough for a traditional batch of stuffing. The last few years I have been making pecan and pumpkin pies. I do make the crust for these from scratch.
Now I live far from family so I have adapted the huge Thanksgiving meal to just us five. It took a few years but I now have a great meal and time to enjoy the family too. My Thanksgiving dinner begins with getting the turkey drunk okay....I beer brine my turkey. I found this recipe from Emeril on Good morning America in 2003. I have been making it every year since. David was skeptical the first year and now he can't eat any other turkey. This starts the day before so turkey can be ready for his debut on Thanksgiving dinner. I have modified this recipe over the years so it is similar but not quite the same. I also use a turkey cooking bag. It always comes out great with no extra work involved.Our family is also not a great fan of the typical green bean casserole. The menu from 2003 also had a green bean recipe that had bacon in it. Who doesn't like bacon? No one in our family so that has become our vegetable entrée. I sometimes make Grandma Rita's rolls but haven't had the time in a few years but might try to do
that this year. We will see. I also make the usual Ray style mashed potatoes, stuffing and gravy. I have been using Stove top the last few years just because nobody eats enough for a traditional batch of stuffing. The last few years I have been making pecan and pumpkin pies. I do make the crust for these from scratch.
- This our meal:
- Emeril's Beer Brined turkey
- Bacon green beans
- Stuffing
- Mashed potatoes
- gravy
- Pumpkin pie
- Pecan Pie
- Ice cream
- Whipped cream
- Rolls
Wednesday, October 23, 2013
Traveling families
I have been thinking about this topic a lot lately. I think since we may be moving in the next year or so. It is on my mind more than usual. I have been taking a look at my family. I am the last of 7 children. When you take a look at where we all have been in our lives it is interesting that 6 of us have left home at one time or another. I am surrounded everyday by people who have lived in a small town all their lives with maybe an exception of going to college in one of the bigger cities in North Dakota. Here people are very tied to the land and family businesses. I suppose that is probably true for most people wanting to remain where they know everyone and know the area. Our family seems different. We have all gone our separate ways, followed dreams or just being with our husbands.
At age 18, David and I decided to get married. He joined the Air Force and I finished high school. He was stationed here in ND. I came out to visit 2 weeks after my high school graduation and we got married at the court house here in Grand Forks. I stayed my week and returned home to plan a wedding with family and friends. We felt it was important to have our families to be a part of a special time in our lives. So after our wedding we left to move 1100 miles away from all we knew. I don't remember being very scared or unsure. It was a time of freedom and possibility. We somehow made it work. I did go to college and received my bachelor's degree in Business administration. But I don't regret living in North Dakota because I found a place where I could reinvent myself. I love living here because it is a safe and quiet place. Sometimes it was hard to be so far from family but it is worth it for the security of my children. We found a place to grow and become something together. Our marriage is better for the fact that we had to rely on each other. We weathered storms both nature and with people. But we have enjoyed our home with our transplanted roots here in ND.
In my family, all of us enjoy traveling and seeing new places. I have wondered if we are genetically disposed to wanting to travel whereas other people are genetically disposed to staying in the same area. It seems wanderlust is usually relegated to one person in a family but it seems in ours we have quite a few who have learned to enjoy the new experiences that traveling or moving to another area brings. What does this mean? I don't know but I like to think we are resilient people and strong people. A lot of this traveling is not a "Let's live a new place all the time" kind of thing. It is more of a once or many times moving because of either a job or an education opportunity. I think we have learned to embrace change because really that is all there is an assurance of is change.
As my daughter starts to look at her options for work and living places in the next few years. It will be interesting if she will move far away or stay close. I am fine with what ever she decides to do. How could I not be given that I moved far away from my family when I was much younger than she will be.
What do you think? Is it a striving to see a new place or just new possibilities? Is this what made the pioneers move to uncharted territory? New possibilities? I suppose it is always a hope of a better life for your children not matter what that might mean.
At age 18, David and I decided to get married. He joined the Air Force and I finished high school. He was stationed here in ND. I came out to visit 2 weeks after my high school graduation and we got married at the court house here in Grand Forks. I stayed my week and returned home to plan a wedding with family and friends. We felt it was important to have our families to be a part of a special time in our lives. So after our wedding we left to move 1100 miles away from all we knew. I don't remember being very scared or unsure. It was a time of freedom and possibility. We somehow made it work. I did go to college and received my bachelor's degree in Business administration. But I don't regret living in North Dakota because I found a place where I could reinvent myself. I love living here because it is a safe and quiet place. Sometimes it was hard to be so far from family but it is worth it for the security of my children. We found a place to grow and become something together. Our marriage is better for the fact that we had to rely on each other. We weathered storms both nature and with people. But we have enjoyed our home with our transplanted roots here in ND.
In my family, all of us enjoy traveling and seeing new places. I have wondered if we are genetically disposed to wanting to travel whereas other people are genetically disposed to staying in the same area. It seems wanderlust is usually relegated to one person in a family but it seems in ours we have quite a few who have learned to enjoy the new experiences that traveling or moving to another area brings. What does this mean? I don't know but I like to think we are resilient people and strong people. A lot of this traveling is not a "Let's live a new place all the time" kind of thing. It is more of a once or many times moving because of either a job or an education opportunity. I think we have learned to embrace change because really that is all there is an assurance of is change.
As my daughter starts to look at her options for work and living places in the next few years. It will be interesting if she will move far away or stay close. I am fine with what ever she decides to do. How could I not be given that I moved far away from my family when I was much younger than she will be.
What do you think? Is it a striving to see a new place or just new possibilities? Is this what made the pioneers move to uncharted territory? New possibilities? I suppose it is always a hope of a better life for your children not matter what that might mean.
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