HELLO Monday...........

Joining up with Lisa Leonard today for Hello Monday.

A warm welcome.....

 Do ya think that our front door might scream Mardi Gras?  I love the colors of Mardi Gras and having been using this decor on our front door the past few years.  I've never been to Mardi Gras and do not plan to ever go.  Mardi Gras is defined as "a carnival held on Fat Tuesday, usually in New Orleans."  Hummm, sounds innocent enough doesn't it.  Well, that might or might not be so.  It is generally a  "wild" celebration where some folks act complete fools.  But, as we know, it only takes a few foolish acting folks to ruin what might otherwise be a decent event.  Anyway, my only connection to Mardi Gras is our front door and few festive decorations inside the house.

Gotta love a sale...

The entire outfit that my little Princess is wearing in the picture above was bought on big time sale after Christmas.  I got the jumper and shirt for 50% off and got the adorable silver Uggs for about 60% off.  I was so excited, especially over the Uggs.  They are soooo expensive and I just would not pay the price they want for them.  They are plenty big that she will be able to wear them next year as well. 

My word for 2014.....
 A lot of folks have been selecting a "word for the year" in recent years.  Last year was my first year to have a word  and it was "expectation" and it proved to be a good word for last year.  After much thought, this year my word is "striving." Yes, I will be striving to be all that HE would have me to be in all areas of my life.  I've found that if I'm not striving, I'm probably not growing in any area, in fact, I'm probably going backwards.  So, looking forward to a "year of striving."

A true Southern lady....

 Hubby and I had the honor of attending the 100th birthday celebration for one of the dearest women in our community.  She is affectionately known as "Miss Lucy."  She was Hubby's first employer, she hired him to mow her lawn when he was just a boy.  They were across the street neighbors  and she has had a love for Tommy ever since.  She now resides in a nursing facility but she is still amazingly keen and a sheer delight to be around.  Her family did an outstanding job honoring her and she was so deserving of such an affair.  And, as you know, folks here in the South definitely know how to throw a celebration. ~smile~

Don't quite understand....

This will mean nothing to anyone except bloggers.....  But, I have been blogging for almost 4 years and the general jest of blogging is visiting around to other blogs, leaving comments and generally building some kind of friendship with that blogger after a time.  But, if the bloggers you visit NEVER stop by your blog in return, it doesn't work very well.  I have quite a few blogs that I follow and really enjoy and their only response is through a reply to my comment via email.  They have never visited my blog in return. ~boo! hiss!~  While I do appreciate their reply via email it's just not the same as visiting my blog and leaving me a comment of some sort.  And, worse than that are the ones who leave a response in their own comment section.  I mean, like I'm going to go back to their blog to check and see what their response was to my comment.  ~Not!~  Maybe they are too busy or have all the blogging friends they want.  And, I can certainly stop visiting their blogs and that might be exactly what I do. I think 4 years is plenty long enough to give someone to stop by.  Okay, thanks for allowing me to get that off my chest.  

    

Lea's Daybook - Friday, January 10th

FOR TODAY
Outside my window...the sun is trying to shine.  We have had a wide range of weather this week.  It started out bitter cold and then it rained the live long day yesterday and reached 44 degrees and today is "suppose" to be sunny and 50.
 
I am thinking...of the year ahead and all that it will entail and of course, most of it, I am totally unaware of at this time.  But, that's likely a very good thing because I probably will be just as well off not knowing until it happens. ~did that make sense?~

I am thankful...for the peace that has flooded my soul in recent weeks.  Funny thing it's there all the time, we just may have to seek it a bit harder at times. There's been so much to shatter my peace in the past 5 years that I sometimes wondered if I would ever feel it again.   But, I do and it feels so good and so comfortable. ~thank you Lord~

In the kitchen...as I said it has been cold, cold, so we've been doing a lot of winter eating this week.  And, I tried cooking a roast by a method I saw on FB the other day.  You take an envelope of Brown Gravy mix, an envelope of dried Italian Dressing, and an envelope of Ranch Dressing mix and stir them into 2 cups of water.  Take any roast of your choosing that is about 3#, put it in the crock pot, pour the mixture over it and cook it 4 hours on high or 8 hours on low.  I used an eye round roast for mine and we really liked it.  We had lots left and I made stew with that.  Oh, it's called 3 Envelope Roast. ~duh, really?~

I am wearing... black pants, a grey sweater and black boots.  I'm going to the funeral of a precious lady in our church this morning.

I am creating...a coupon wallet.  Yep! couponing seems to be the "be all, do all" the past few years and I decided that I'd jump on board.  Now, I don't imagine I'll ever be one of the so-called extreme couponers, but I'm thinking a good steward probably uses coupons.  ~yes, yes~

I am praising God for...how HE works in our lives even in the midst of adversity.  It's so awesome when we can look back and see how HE really did work it all for our good and His glory.
 
I am wondering...how on earth computers can give you such misery.  I was on a website Wed. and was going to print a coupon off from the site.  It told me that I needed the latest version of Java to do so.  It had a place on the website to click to download the latest version, so guess what, I clicked it.  I mean I've updated Java a zillion times over the years and it's no big deal.  That is unless you are doing it from a site other than the Java website.  After the download my "almost new" computer was pretty much non functioning.  Scared me too death!  Thank goodness I have a wonderful computer man that can work miracles on computers.  He informed me that my computer had contracted malicious malware from that site.  He is having to do a total system backup of my computer and assures me it will be good as new when he gets through.  A very hard and expensive lesson learned!!!

I am reading... the Bible through this year.  Now, I am plum embarrassed to admit that I have never done this.  Yes, I read the Bible daily and have for years and years, but it's just not the same as reading the Bible from cover to cover.  I am using the NIV One Year Bible and I am not doing it electronically.  I like to hold the Bible in my hands and have my yellow hi-liter and pen in hand. I'm only 10 days into it, but it's already been a real blessing.

I am hoping... that this may be the year that our SIL will be transferred with his job to a place closer to his family and to us. It never hurts to hope and I'm backing my hopes up with prayers.

I am looking forward to... going to Florida the end of this month.  Hubby and I and his sister and her husband will be going with us.  We're going to visit The Villages.  We had friends go last summer and they absolutely raved about the wonderful time they had, so we decided we would go and check it out.  No, we're not interested in retiring there, but we are interested in going there for a few days and having a good time.  And, what better time to go to Florida than in January. ~sunshine state~

I am learning...that 4 and 5 year olds are way too smart and way too quick.  While we had both our Princess and little Cowboy together during the holidays, it was such fun to watch them and to listen to them.  They never miss a trick that's for sure and they converse like adults.  I love, love this age!!!

I am in prayer for...people I know that are hurting terribly and people that are grieving losses and always, always for my Hubby, children and grans. ~love them too much not to~

Around the house...it's time to purge the 2013 files and get the 2014 files ready.  I plan to work in our home office tomorrow getting this little project done.  I have been doing this for almost as long as I can remember.  I love packing away the old and preparing for the new.  It's just amazing though how quickly the new files begin to fill back up.  I came up with my own system of how I do this and it has worked well for us over the years.  The smaller Rubbermaid tub type containers work beautifully for holding about a years worth of records for us and they go in the top of a designated closet and remain in our possession for 7 years and then are sent to the shredder. ~love a shredder~

I am pondering...hummm.......haven't done much pondering lately.

A favorite quote for today...

 

One of my favorite things...is being caught up and not feeling overwhelmed

A few plans for the rest of the week......not sure past the purging of  our home office.  Hubby has had "the crud" that everyone else has had and still isn't quite up to par, so it may be a quite weekend at the Culp household.  I'm crossing my fingers that I can escape this vicious cold and congestion.

A peek into my day...a few errands, visiting with my Dad and then just whatever my heart desires. ~I love it~

And, I leave you with this......

Wednesday Hodgepodge

Oh, it's so good to be back Hodgepoding today.  I missed it last week and there was a void in my week. ~big laugh~  Nothing like beginning my Wednesdays with Joyce and her great questions.

 

1. Every January 1st since 1976 Lake Superior University has published a list of words they'd like to see banished from the Queen's English.  Words may be banished due to misuse, overuse or just general uselessness (go here to read more about how the words were chosen).  Here are the words/phrases they'd like to see banished in 2014-
selfie, twerk/twerking, hashtag, Twittersphere, Mr. Mom, T-bone, ____on steroids, the suffixes-ageddon, and -pocalypse added to anything and everything, from the world of politics the words-intellectually/morally bankrupt and Obamacare, and from the world of sports the words-adversity and fan base
Which of these words/phrases would you most like to see banished from everyday speech and why? Is there a word not on the list you'd like to add?
Twerking - I mean really, do we need another word that means to dance in a sexually provocative manner.  I think NOT!

2. What one unfinished project nags at you begging to be completed in this new year?
Well, I cannot stand unfinished projects, so generally whatever it takes to get it done, I do it.  I know, that's strange and I do realize that the day may well come that I will have unfinished projects and hopefully I can handle it with grace. ~sigh~

3. When did you last have a bowl of soup? What kind? Homemade or from a can? What's your favorite soup?
Hubby and I had homemade vegetable soup and cornbread last Friday night.  We love soup and pretty much we eat soups, stews, chili and gumbo all winter long.  I've become quite good with these "one pot meals."  I would say that Broccoli Potato is my favorite but it is so, so calorie laden that I do not make it very often at all.

4. Snowed in, snowed under, snow job...which one most applies to your life in recent days, figuratively speaking.
Hummm....well, I guess I was a little snowed under after our daughter and Grandson left last Thursday.  I had lots of laundry to do, lots of cleaning to do and a pile of ironing.  But, it wasn't anything that a couple of days didn't take care of and it was well worth the work to have spent such a wonderful time with them.

5. What's the funniest movie you've ever seen, or at least one of the funniest?

Oh, my goodness, if you haven't seen Bernie, then you need to put it on your list.  It is so, so funny.   It was a 2011 movie that took place in Texas and is about a most colorful mortician.  Jack Black, Shirley MacLaine and Matthew McConaughey star in it but the towns people in it are great too.  As I said, it's worth a watch.

6.  In general, would you say you're clumsy?
No and as far as I can remember I never have been.  Now that I've said that, I'll probably do something clumsy today. ~smile~

7. Elvis Presley was born on Hodgepodge Day (January 8th) back in 1935.  Are you an Elvis fan?  What's your favorite Elvis tune? If that's too hard, which Elvis tune do you dislike the least?  Click here for a list of his songs.
Oh, my goodness, am I an Elvis fan?  You bet and I have an Elvis scrapbook to prove it.  When I was 20 years old he came to the Civic Center in the city Hubby and I were living in.  The tickets were somewhere around $10.50 each and we couldn't afford for both of us to go so being the sweetie that he is, he told me to find and friend and go.  And, I did and we had an absolutely wonderful time.  We screamed and we grabbed for one of his sweaty scarves and even went and stood as close as we could get to the hotel room he was staying in.  And, to hear him sing "Love Me Tender" use to make me go weak in the knees.  ~how crazy, but true~

8. Insert your own random thought here.
Okay, I was so excited about Downton Abbey coming on Sunday night.  I love that show!  But, I did think that it had way too much going on and it nearly made me have a "fuzzy brain" trying to keep up with all the drama going on.  Thank goodness I can go back and watch it a couple more times this week and get it all straight before it comes on this next Sunday evening. Just sayin' 

 

Monday Musings............

Oh, my, I have missed you folks and I've missed blogging, but sometimes there is just not time for such.  It's been a wonderful holiday but I am more than ready to get back into a routine and begin a new year.

Some hi-lites of our Christmas.............

We celebrated with my Dad and step-Mom on Christmas Eve.  My Dad was pretty proud of his new threads.

The rest of our Christmas did not happen until Friday, the 27th when our daughter and grandson arrived from Kansas.  Can I just say that these two little ones make their Poppa and CiCi's heart nearly burst.

Are they not adorable ?  We so enjoy them being together and it doesn't happen near enough.

I had fun creating some photo props for us to play with while taking some of our pictures.

I found these on the internet by Googling "photo props" and they have them for  any and all occasions. ~in case you are interested~

Our celebration began with a birthday celebration for Jesus.

I always get a "real" birthday cake for this and Clancy and Hanna Beth get so excited and they were so into it this year and know exactly whose birthday we are celebrating at Christmas.  We paused to thank God for the gift of His son.

Afterwards we did our gift exchange and some of us get really excited when we open our gifts. ~too funny~

At the end of our gift exchange I give them their stockings, except that this year I used pretty Christmas boxes for their stocking stuffers.  They get more excited over their stocking than anything else.  And, I probably enjoy doing their "stockings" more than anything else too.

We were excited to be able to take Clancy to church on Sunday.  Often they are not able to stay over on a Sunday so it had been a while since our friends had actually seen Clancy "in the flesh."

I mean, part of the fun of being a Grandparent is showing off the Grans. ~smile~

Hubby made sure that we had fireworks for New Years Eve.

Clancy held his first sparkler and thoroughly enjoyed it, but not quiet as much as he enjoyed going hunting with his Poppa on New Year's Day. 

He jumped out of bed around 5:15AM and was raring to go.  They stayed about 4 hours and killed a doe, so it was lots of fun for both of them.  

Late in the afternoon on New Year's Day my precious Vietnamese family came for a visit.

Then it was time for Bridget and Clancy to bid good-by.

Clancy grabbed his traveling companions, his two blankets and off they went.  We are always thankful when we receive the phone call that they have once again arrived safely home.

It was a most special Christmas and we made a lot of precious memories to add to our treasury.

 I love a new year, even though it means that time is marching right on by.  But, it's like a clean slate and new opportunities await and of course, new challenges.  

Blessings to you as we begin this new year! 

From Our House to Yours

From our house to yours we wish for you and yours a very southern Merry Christmas!

May your hearts be mindful of why we have Christmas and how different our lives would be if it were not for the birth of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

I'll be away from blogging until January 1st.  I'll be busy making memories and hope that you will be too.

 Merry Christmas!

Lea's Daybook - Dec. 20th

It's seemed a good day to do a daybook and share a little of the holiday "goings on" from my life.
 
FOR TODAY
Outside my window... it is very dark and I'm thinking it's going to be a rather dreary day weather wise.  And, storms are predicted for tomorrow.  Not Christmasey weather at all...........
I am thinking... that our daughter and cowboy Grandson will be arriving a week for today and we'll have our Christmas at that time.
I am thankful... that God really can take the adversities of our lives and use them for our good and bring us through to the other side.
In the kitchen...oh, my kitchen has been a busy place the past couple of weeks and it is temporarily closed. ~smile~ I have had a couple of gatherings here that I cooked for and then I've done "boo-koodles" of holiday goodie cooking.  I'm so tired of cleaning up the mess, thus I'm going to take a couple of days off and will return to begin cooking for our family Christmas in 2-3 days. 
I am wearing... jean jeggings, a black top and for a little "holiday snap"....a red scraf.
I am creating... some plans to make our family time together a most memorable event.
I am going... to Florida the end of Januray and cannot wait!!
I am wondering... why we can't just love each other, accept each others differences and move on.  My goodness, this whole mess with Duck Dynasty is just another reminder of what our world is coming to. ~sad,sad~
I am reading... "Disappointed With God" by Phillip Yancey.  A book that requires a lot of focus, but such truth and oh, so powerful!
I am hoping... and praying that Bridget and Clancy will have a safe journey here next week.  It is a long way from Kansas to Louisiana. ~wish it wasn't that way~
I am looking forward to... the new year that will bring new opportunities, new adventures and of course, new challenges.
Around the house... things look very Christmasey
I am pondering...well, I am usually quite the ponderer, but haven't done so much in the past couple of weeks ~not sure what that means~ grin
A favorite quote for today... "It's never to late to be what you might have been." ~we're never too old to pursue our dreams~
 One of my favorite things... is a sense of peace
A few plans for the rest of the week...getting caught up on some things here at the house and preparing for our family Christmas.
A peek into my day...going to visit with my Dad, deliver some holiday goodies and then Hubby and I are going out for a little holiday fun.
A picture(s) worth sharing....
I had my birthday group, The Formidible Women, for our annual Christmas Brunch yesterday. Aren't we the cutest with our Santa hats? ~thanks to editing tools~ chuckle~

NOTE: my blogging will likely be "hit or miss" the week or so, but never fear, I'll make up for it! ~sigh~

Wednesday Hodgepodge

Another week of good questions by none other than our Joyce. Even in the midst of her busy holiday schedule she made time for her ever lovin' Hodgepodgers! What a lady!

1. Do you believe in miracles?

Wikipedia defines miracles as:

a surprising and welcome event that is not explicable by natural or scientific laws and is therefore considered to be the work of a divine agency.

Oh, yes, I do believe in miracles and I think we often limit our thinking on miracles to physical healing and healing can definitely be a miracle, but there are so, so many other miracles.  It can be a changed life, a changed attitude, a restored relationship, etc. I'm so grateful that I serve a God that is in the "miracle working" business and I've seen him do some pretty miraculous things in my own life and I'm anticipating even more.

  

2. What's a recent fad you admit to trying?
Oh, I think it would be the wig that I bought this past Spring.  I bought it on a whelm and for the moment, I thought it was a great idea.  But, unless they are needed due to lack of hair, wigs are definitely "fadish."  I have pretty decent hair and I could just never quite adjust to having it on. Thus, a complete waste of money as are most fads.

3. Peppermint-are you a fan? If so, what's your favorite food or beverage containing peppermint?
The very first thing that came to my mind was Peppermint Bark.  I never think about it until the holidays but oh, I do love me some Peppermint Bark.  And, add it with a little chocolate and it will surely make you "slap your pappy."   I will usually buy myself a small bag of the Ghirardelli brand and enjoy it through the season.

4. Break the ice, on thin ice, as cold as ice (emotionally, not literally)...which phrase have you run into most recently? Explain.

I went today for a pedicure and the place that I have been going to for the past 14 years had a new lady.  First thing I wondered was if she spoke English and she did and we had the nicest conversation. I "broke the ice" by asking her about her family and she was more than happy ~ as is generally the rule~ to tell me about her husband and children.  I have a deep love and respect for so many Asians and it was a delight to make another Asian friend.

5. Have you ever broken or spilled something in someone else's home? Still friends?
Well, the only incident that I can remember is when our son was about 18 months old.  I took him to a friends to visit and he promptly marched over to her coffee table and picked the lid up off a glass dish.  And, then he promptly dropped it and broke it.  It was beyond repair and my friend could not have been more gracious. I was just glad it wasn't some family heirloom. ~smile~

6.  'Tis the week before Christmas...are you feeling more like Buddy the Elf or the Grinch before his heart grew?
Humm.......I haven't seen Buddy the Elf, but I'm definitely not feeling like the Grinch, so will have to go with Buddy. ~scratching my head~  It's an extra special season for me as my heart feels so free and unburdened. And, of course, our daughter and our little cowboy will be arriving next Thursday. And, when I think of what the birth of Jesus has done for me, well, it's a joy unspeakable!

7. Share a favorite quote relating to Christmas.
Bob Hope said,
My idea of Christmas, whether old-fashioned or modern, is very simple: loving others. Come to think of it, why do we have to wait for Christmas to do that?
If only everyone felt this way, what a wonderful world it would be.

8.  Insert your own random thought here.

Okay, all together say, "aweeeeee!" I mean is that not the sweetest little boy, all dressed up for his preschool Christmas program this past Monday evening.  I simply can hardly wait to get my arms around this little fella next week.  It sometimes feels like my heart may burst. ~such sweetness~  And, is he looking so big?  Yes, not a baby anymore. ~tear in my eye~