Our Valentine Supper

Hey friends!

Last night, the three of us sat down to a delicious Valentine dinner made by yours truly.

We enjoyed heart shaped ravioli, in a home made tomato-cheese sauce. And you know, since it was Valentine's day and all, we ate by candle light with a rose on the table.

It wasn't the type of Valentine's day Carl and I are accustomed to, but it was still a lovely evening. Carl and I are going on a date for the two of us this coming weekend.

I wanted to show you our adorable pasta. Take a look!







Isn't it lovely?

Happy Tuesday!

Lindsey

Happy Valentine's Day!

Happy Valentine's Day, folks!

I hope your day is full of love, romance, and appreciation. 

Although love, romance and appreciation often go unnoticed, I hope today is the day that you take the time to feel all three.

And, to give all three.

******

When I was little, Valentine's Day consisted of carefully tearing the perforated cards that my parents would buy from the drugstore, so I could give one to each of my classmates.  

As I got a little older, Valentine's Day consisted of me blushing when a boy would give me a card professing his undying love for me.  

Side note: I was none too thrilled with this.  Especially with the fact that he told everyone in the school (where my mom worked and heard about it before I did) that we had been secretly dating for a while.)

  Who said girls were the only dramatic ones?  Sheesh.

Then I got a little older and my Valentine's Day consisted of me getting a card at school that said, "I love you."  And I kept my classmates guessing at who the sender was.  Although, I knew who it was from.  My daddy.

Then came the teen years full of teddy bears, balloons, stuffed animals, chocolates and roses.

******

Now Valentine's Day is still full of all those little sweet gestures, but it's more than that.  It's still a romantic day that we make sure to love on each other a little extra.  But, being married, it's not only chocolate and roses.  It's about loving the real stuff, too.  And, taking the time to really appreciate it.

This song I have for you to listen to is not about Valentine's Day, and it's not about romance.  It's about real life.  It describes me and Carl pretty accurately, and I'm sharing it with you because these are some of the little things that we appreciate in one another.  We do our best to not take them for granted.

And this Valentine's Day, I hope you, too, find the little things to appreciate in your relationship with your loved one.

******

  

Is He Here At The Mall?

My friend, Toe-thumbs, shared this video last week.  It's apparently gone viral on the internet, so I had to help spread the word... it's a great song inspired by a 4 year old boy.  Take a listen :)

Must go!

Scene: Wintery cool day inside a warm vanilla spice scented home.  The kiddo is at school, the hubby is at work, and the puppy is laying in my lap.  We're all doin our thing, whether it be learning, working, writing, or snoozing... it's a nice day.  I appreciate days like today when the hustle and bustle just settles down long enough to recuperate.

We've been slowly preparing for our big move to California and we have decided what furniture we will bring, what we will store for a while, and what we will sell.  We found a house to live in in Turlock, and because it's smaller than the one we currently own, we've decided to sell some pretty big items.  One being Carl's car.  God is so good; with the car being for sale for only a couple of hours, 3 people have called expressing interest in it!  I know that the car will sell soon, and God is continually taking care of us.  We have enough stress, we just need to hand it over to Him.

Amid all this chaos of moving is Christmas.  Sadly, my home is not decorated for Christmas like it normally is.  I don't even have one Christmas piece out.  Last night, I just couldn't take it anymore.  I decided to, at the very minimum, hang up Christmas towels.  My grandma had a bunch of Christmas towels still stored in the furniture I brought back from her house, so I headed to the dresser and started laying each towel out on the bed.

After about ten minutes, I realized out of nine (yes, 9) sets of towels, not one of them was complete!  I either had bath towels or hand towels.  Hand towels or wash cloths.  Not a complete set!  It made me laugh that she got away with this so well!  Nobody ever noticed because they were all so well coordinated.  And each towel was in mint condition, with fine embroidery on it and not a stain to be found.  Today, I will hang up the towels and enjoy the little touch of Christmas cheer.

I'm tidying up around the house today, but I came across this old video and it just made me smile.  My little Belle and her cousin Bonnie.  I might've showed this before, but this pup just makes me smile.  I'm gonna share it with you, then back to tidying up I must go!  By the way, if anyone wants a great rear projection 65 inch television, lemme know.  This baby must go!  She won't even fit in our new living room.  Unless we want to watch her from the kitchen.  No, thanks.

Christmas Survey

1. Wrapping paper or gift bags? Both.  Wrapping paper looks beautiful, especially the way my mom decorates the packages.. but bags so are so much easier.

2. Real tree or Artificial? I always had a real tree growing up, and it was often my job to crawl underneath the tree to water it.  Remembering the pine needles all over the floor is nice, as a memory.  We do fake ones now :)

3. When do you put up the tree? Seeing as how I've only had one Christmas married so far, we don't have a "usual" time yet, but I prefer to believe it goes up Thanksgiving weekend.  Sadly, this year, we aren't doing any decor since we're moving.

4. When do you take the tree down? I hate that part.  Do I really have to think about that?  I don't even have a tree up this year and it makes me sad to think about taking it down.

5. Do you like eggnog? No siree.

6. Favorite gift received as a child? My little puppy, Peekaboo.

7. Hardest person to buy for? My mom, and my dad.  Both are hard for me to buy for.

8. Easiest person to buy for? Austin. :)

9. Do you have a nativity scene? Yes, it was my grandmothers and I fell in love with it as a child so one year she gave it to me.  It's small, so I keep it in one of her old powder dishes.

10. Mail or email Christmas cards? Classic snail mail!

11. Worst Christmas gift you ever received? No idea.

12. Favorite Christmas Movie? The Christmas Classic ... It's A Wonderful Life. Also, all the cheesy Hallmark ones. Love 'em!

13. When do you start shopping for Christmas? I normally start the day after Christmas to save up for the next year.  Only problem is, I forget what I buy so then I have a bunch of hidden presents throughout the year.  Ask my parents how many times they've heard, "I forgot to give you this on Christmas, so....um.... happy June!"

14. Have you ever recycled a Christmas present? No.

15. Favorite thing to eat at Christmas? Opa's moon cookies.  I don't know what they're actually called but I love them.

16. Lights on the tree (colored or clear)? Color!  But last year we were blessed with two trees, so one was all colors, and one was white lights with only silver and gold ornaments.  That was lovely.

17. Favorite Christmas song? I love to sing O Holy Night... on the piano I love to play Carol of the Bells, and Dance of the Sugarplum Fairy.  And, Mary Did You Know always gives me goosebumps.

18. Travel at Christmas or stay home? Both, as long as it's with family.

19. Can you name all of Santa's reindeer's? Why of course I can!

20. Angel, star or ribbon on top of tree? It was always an angel growing up, but we don't have a topper yet since we've been married.

21. Open the presents Christmas Eve or morning? In my home, we opened one gift on Christmas eve and the rest in the morning.  

22. Favorite children's Christmas song? Alvin and the Chipmunks!

23. Most annoying thing about this time of the year? Nothing typically annoys me about this time of year, but the saying "Happy Holidays" has been getting to me lately.  It's Christmas, y'all.  If you don't celebrate Christmas, please wish me a Happy whatever you celebrate.  I won't take offense!

24. Favorite ornament theme or color? Anything with some sort of meaning behind it!

25. Turkey or ham on Christmas day? Turkey, gobble gobble.

26. What do you want for Christmas this year? I'm having a hard time coming up with anything.

27. Does anyone in your family dress up as Santa? No.

28. Age you discovered who Santa was? I don't know how old I was but I remember it vividly. It wasn't the best of days, and we'll leave it at that.

29. Eggnog, hot chocolate, or apple cider? Hot chocolate!

30. Traditional colors (red and green) or other colors? Love the reds, greens and golds, and silvers!

31. Do you have any Christmas decorations on your roof? Can't say we do.

32. How does Santa get into your house? Chimney or magic key? Chimney

33. Do you prefer gifts or gift cards? I love gift cards, but gifts are nice too!

34. Favorite children's Christmas Cartoon? The Polar Express... what a magical story!

Happy Halloween!

Hey y'all... Belle here, again!  Mom took me trick or treating tonight with our friends.  We had so much fun!  I'm a little hoarse sounding from all my barking, but so many kids kissed me on the nose, I think it was worth it.  Here are a few before shots from when we were just getting ready to go.  You ready to see what I dressed up as?  I sure was cute.....See?????

I made sure mom got a picture of me from every angle.  Dad took some for me too!  Here's me and momma!  

She loves me....

And I love her.  *Hugs*

These are our friends we went trick or treating with... Forrest on the left as an archaeologist (Mom says that's someone who gets to dig for a living instead of for fun...what?)  Alana and Loni are in the middle, and the ninja on the right is my brother Austin.  But I didn't like his costume.  It kinda scared me.

Anyways, that was my halloween!  What was yours like?  I'm gonna go get my belly rubbed now.

Night folks!

~Belle

A little ahead of myself...

In my last post, I addressed the subject of Christmas treats for our neighbors.  Hello, Lindsey.  It's October. I'm glad I have my plans for my neighbors' treats already, but I've got to focus!  It's not all year that I can make pumpkin shaped desserts, or make desserts that are meant to look scary and Halloweenish!  I've gotta get it together!  Let the projects begin!

Last Sunday, my small group at church got some of my Brownie Bites.  I mixed everything for the brownies, then poured the batter into a squeeze bottle.  I then dug out my miniature cupcake pan that I've NEVER used before and lined it with miniature cupcake wrappers.  They were pretty cute, I must say.  I then squeezed all of the batter into each little section in the tin, and baked it for a little bit.  I watched the brownies carefully, and once they appeared done, I took them out.  As cute as they were, they just needed a little something else.  

Something to dress them up.

Something that says, "Hi October, glad you're here!"

And tastes good too, of course.

This is what I came up with.

You like?

They're little pumpkins!  Aren't they cute?  The orange frosting is cream cheese frosting, and the green stem is one lone sprinkle.  I thought they turned out kinda cute.  ;-)  What Halloween treats are you making this year?

Christmas goodies!

Hi friends!  Sorry I've been away, yet again.  I've been exploring some new projects I want to get into.  Because projects are almost always expensive, I haven't started any...yet.  I plan to start a few soon, though.  I have all the materials for a Christmas project, but you'll have to wait to see that!  Here's what I can tell you about it though.

• Every Christmas, Carl and I want to spread some Christmas cheer.
• Normally, Carl and I go from door to door in our cul de sac and street (about 15 houses) and deliver 5 chocolate chip cookies or 5 brownies to every family. 
• And we wish them a Merry Christmas.
• And we try to get to know them a little bit. 
• The treats are normally wrapped in cellophane, with a red ribbon tied around them.
• The families always appreciate our little visit and merry wishes.
• I always walk away with my head down, feeling it just wasn't good enough.
• 5 Cookies per house, I mean...c'mon.  5?  
• This year will be better.
• And it doesn't involve cookies, or brownies.
• But each family will receive a little tin of home-made goodies.  
• That's all I can tell you now.

Fall Decor

Yesterday was my day off of school so I spent the Tuesday doing what I always do on Tuesdays.  Housework.  But, this Tuesday was special.  It was the first available day that I had so I could pull out all of my Fall decorations!  Yay!  There was a show I was watching over a year ago and one of the characters were talking about how much she loves Halloween...but not because of the candy or trick-or-treating.  She loved going door to door only so she could see inside people's homes!  While it sounds a bit creepy, I have to admit that I actually enjoy peeking into people's homes too!  Don't get me wrong here, I'm no peeping tom.  But when a fellow blogger opens up her home to show us around, I just think it's so neat!  I like looking at the lighting in their home, their little knick-knacks they have around, the color of their walls.....  To be fair, I'll show you a few rooms in our house too.  For now, you'll only see the rooms with our Fall decor.

Well?  Come on in!  Kick your shoes off, and stay a while!

Welcome to our living room.  Here on the table is a little pumpkin glass.  Isn't it cute?

Behind you, you'll see this beautiful orange glow.  This will be leaving after Halloween since it's more Halloween-y than Autumn-ish.  But we'll enjoy it while it's here.

Here, walk with me through the dining room into the kitchen and I'll show you the other side of the house.

My lovie brought me these flowers last week when I was stressed about a bunch of tests.  He's so sweet.  I stuck them in a Fall container and they're sitting right above my sink so I can enjoy them while I wash dishes.

Here's our kitchen table with our Autumn placemats and a little centerpiece that has scented cedar chips inside.  Mmmm, apple spice.

In our family room, we have this funny little basket of Fall vegetables.  I guess they aren't that funny, but they remind me of a little "incident" we had last year with them.  I'll have to fill you in on that later!

Here are some Halloween lights that I put up around our window that overlooks our pool and patio.  The weather was so beautiful last night, we ate outside.  There are the boys eagerly waiting for me to join them so we can eat!  Notice our windows are open as well.  Nothing like a Fall breeze blowing through the house.  Aaah.  (The center window's blinds are down because of the stained glass in the window.  It occasionally falls down and the blinds have always caught it.  I'm a bit too nervous to raise the blinds in case the suction holding the stained glass decides to let go!)

I'm gonna go fix us some vanilla carmel tea, which you'll absolutely love.  I'm so happy you stopped by!  Come join me on the patio.  We'll sip our tea and listen to the owl as dusk creeps in.   Oh, how I love this time of year!

Welcome back, October!

Dear October,

I am so glad you have finally come to visit!  I have thought about you since last October when you just weren't yourself, and I even began to worry that you just wouldn't return.  But alas, you have.  And how I've missed you.

Two years ago, I remember walking around with you and enjoying your crisp air.  All of the trees were starting to lose their leaves, and even though they made a huge mess in my yard, it was a-o-k with me.  Because you were here!  You made it so beautiful outside.

Last year, when you finally came to visit, you just weren't yourself.  I'm not sure what was going on, but looking back I think you and January might have been having a fight over who's the better guest.  Between you and me, October, you are.  January tends to drag on for far too long, and she's so cold!  You're a better guest because you don't suffocate me when you come to visit, you let me do my own thing while also getting to spend some time with you.  But January?  Well.....I hate to say it...but, she stays around for far too long.  And, not that it's her fault, but she also makes December leave our home far too quickly!

Anyway October, enough bad mouthing January.  I'm sure some people just love having her over.  But my point is this, I'm so so glad you're back.  I'm so glad I get to sleep in flannel pants and long sleeve shirts again.  I'm so glad that I get slightly chilly when I take our Belle outside in the evenings.  I'm so glad I can walk around school and arrive sweatless to class.  And, I'm so glad that you bring so many beautiful colors with you when you travel.  You're awesome, October.  I'm going to go light all of my pumpkin spice candles now.

One of your fans,
Lindsey

Number 3

My third memento I would like to share with you is our Christmas card picture. Yes, we’re one of those families that send out a picture of us wishing you a Merry Christmas.

From Blog

Behind us is our tree that’s in our family room, our “colorful” tree. This tree was a gift from a close friend of the family, so it means a lot to us. We put all of our colorful lights, garland, and ornaments on this tree, and we had another tree in our formal living room for the white lights, white garland, and silver and gold ornaments. That was our little taste of a White Christmas, since we don’t have snow in Florida. I don’t know why I didn’t take a picture of it!

This was our first Christmas as a married couple, and that's our son Austin with us.