Celebrating November and December

Well it has been almost two months since I last posted. Oops! I really think that I will be doing well if I manage to post once or twice a month. I have a very full life these days, and time spent with my honey and in going to church, along with working some overtime and spending time with my kids, has really kept me busy.

Oh! My boyfriend, Pastor Mike, has just begun his own blog Soul Nachos. Please visit him. He will be doing eDevotions and sometimes sermon snippets. He is just getting started and only has one post so far, but I love his little nuggets of wisdom. He has a very folksy, relatable way of getting his story across that I just love. It's one of the things that attracted me to him before we actually met in person. If you do visit, please leave a comment and let him know I sent you. Pretty please!

The fall season began with me finally getting around to decorating my porch for autumn. Since money is especially tight right now, I used only things that I already had.




We had a fairly warm autumn, so I was still able to sit out on my porch occasionally.

Next thing you know, it was Thanksgiving. I worked third shift the night before and went straight to work cleaning house and preparing for dinner. My table setting was not too different from last years, but in a different home.

This year the centerpiece was my wreath from outside, and a cornucopia shaped planter.


Family started to arrive!


My sweetie Mike carved the turkey.

My son Jared's girlfriend Kylie, of the pretty gray-blue eyes, was able to join us and took her place beside him at the table. My older son Sean and my brother Dave were there too.


Here are all three of my children and my little brother.


On the other side of the table were my brother Dave again, daughter Tara, and sweetie Mike. Not sure why my son-in-law Mike S. is missing from that empty chair. He was there, I swear!


Even my dummy dog Jake got in on the action, scavenging for goodies underneath the table. He didn't have to go far. I found out a couple years ago that the kids were slipping him scraps!


Soon enough, it was time to decorate the porch for Christmas! Again, I used things that I already had around the house. My poor Santa was so much worse the wear since he was always being blown over at the last couple places we lived. I had to use Gorilla Glue to put him back together. Almost good as new!




I loved how my lit tree looked through the window. The metal blinds inside the window panes made it look like lights were streaming down.


My honey, Pastor Mike, decided to do an advent series on The Christmas Carol and donned Ebenezer Scrooge-type jammies for a couple Sundays. Then he dressed as the Ghost of Christmas Future, complete with a Scrooge's headstone that he had crafted.



All three of my children and my son-in-law were here Christmas morning. I love that they are all adults now. They didn't even try to wake me until 10 in the morning. Later in the day, my brother Dave and my sweetie Mike joined us all for dinner.

I had it all set for Christmas with special plates, placemats and candles.


Here is the centerpiece that I found at Goodwill last year for only $3. I added a trio of candles that I purchased at a deep discount during post-season sales last year.


Yummy food! Candied yams, green bean casserole, and ham were among the goodies served.


Everyone looked ready to eat, including my brother Dave,my son Jared, and my sweetheart Mike.


My daughter Tara and her hubby Mike S. took their places at the table.

Dinner was good! Wow, I really love that empty box decoration in the background filled with stuff that was thrown in hastily after Christmas morning.

I had a home party in November, and got this cool beverage server. I put it in the freezer before so that it would keep the apple cider cold.


Mike's favorite gift EVER was this camera I bought him for Christmas! I'm so glad he liked it.


As you can see, he had a lot of fun with it.


So no pics of me? Okay, here is one from November on a day that Mike was visiting. He did a pretty good job as my photographer!


Hope that all of you had a great holiday season too, and a very Merry Christmas! I'll be visiting when I can.

A Li'l Luau!

What fun I had this weekend! I was hostess for a home party, and it gave me a great excuse to do a tiny tablescape as the theme for the party was Hawaiian Luau. It also gave me a great reason to clean my house, and it probably won't be quite this pristine again for a while.

I had so much fun putting this together! Just a tropical green bottle with faux lilies, a pineapple, coconut, and bananas placed on a bright strip of fabric, and tied with coordinating ribbon.

The Hawaiian-looking napkins were left over from my son's birthday party over a year ago.

I even wore this tropical print shirt. It was purchased this summer at Goodwill for a luau at a camp event.


Though I had invited many people, only one person...just ONE!...was able to make it. So disheartening. This is why I never hold home parties. *sigh*

A post by my friend BJ at Sweet Nothings (she's in my sidebar) got me to thinking about tables. When I got my first apartment, my parents gave me their old drop leaf table. I loved it because when it was just my daughter and I, I would drop both ends down and it was perfect for the two of us. When I had a party or get-together, like the little party I just had, I could put the ends up and put the leaf in the center, and have enough room for 8-10 people. I loved it! Alas, during a home move, my ex dismantled it and didn't put it back together right, so nothing slid into place any more, plus my children just about ruined it during their young destructive years.

I have a table that I adore now, but sometimes I do miss that little table, especially when I lived in my last apartment which had less room for my dining room table.

Some of you may have guessed, and yep, this is a teaser post for another great CSN review! I absolutely adore the beautiful lamp I got with my gift certificate last time. I was floored with their quick shipping. Stay tuned to see what I review next, and please do click on the link above to check out some drop leaf tables.

Maybe you'll find one to love as much as I loved my table!

I'll leave you with a recipe for a dish I served at my luau. So easy to make, and really delicious, even for those who normally don't like a dessert with Jello:

Pineapple-Lime Delight

1 can crushed pineapple
1 6 oz. pkg lime Jello
1 8 oz. pkg cream cheese, softened
1 8 oz. container Cool Whip

Drain the pineapple and reserve the juice. Add enough water to the juice to measure two cups. Boil and stir in gelatin. Add to bowl and chill until thick (like molasses), but not solid. In another bowl, mix together the softened cream cheese and the fruit. Add into the thickened Jello, then fold in Cool Whip until all is mixed thoroughly. Chill.

You can also make this with sliced strawberries instead of pineapple, and strawberrry gelatin instead of lime. I like that version even better, and sent my honey home with the strawberry dessert tonight.

Stay tuned...in addition to the upcoming review, there is more excitement in the works!

Hiking at Goll Woods

My sweetheart Mike, his children, and I took a walking tour of a state park last month. Our visit was to Goll Woods in Fulton County, Ohio, and a park ranger led a group of people along the trails, pointing out interesting things.


It was an unseasonably warm day, about 75 degrees, so there was a nice group of people. Right before the tour began, the ranger pointed out a little woodland critter, and here is the group getting a gander of this...


...a little frog! Not sure what kind of frog, but it was native to the woodlands.


One of the first things we learned about was the paw paw tree, which grows a fruit that tastes similar to a wild banana. There were none left for us to try though as the deer and squirrels got first dibs.


There were some very tall trees here. This is one of the very few remaining virgin forests in Ohio. Here is Holden craning his neck to look up at one while Corinne keeps her eyes close to the boggy area on the ground.


This is the largest oak in the area.


I kept taking pics of Mike because I think he is so cute! Love this pic of him.


I thought this rotting log was interesting as it was covered in moss.



The ranger was pointing to this tree and telling about how the peeling bark is often a good place for bats to nest and live. Glad I didn't see a bat!


I thought the tree stump was interesting too.


Red leaves in the trees. Unfortunately, due to the dry summer, there were not as many pretty red leaves as usual.


I liked the look of the sunny sky through the tree branches.


More pretties on the trail.


This tree looked interesting, especially the roots. I think that the roots on the right side of the second pic look a lot like a dragon's head.



The group on the move.


I couldn't resist a pic of my honey's cute butt as he hiked.


Holden in profile.


And Mike in profile.


A closeup of Corinne who has no idea of how beautiful she is!


And a pic of the three of them. No pics of me today. I was called home unexpectedly due to my son needing a ride to work, two hours earlier than he planned.


I found a pretty red leaf untrampled on the trail.


These heart berries were pretty. Bet they would be nice in a romantic centerpiece for the table.


More things that I found to be photo-worthy on the trail.



Before we left, we also toured an historic barn on the property. It is about 150 years old and was recently restored and being shown for the first time that weekend.



The view through a door in the barn. I call it "Oops, your barn door is open, but wow, I sure do love what I see!"


On the way to my car, I spotted this trail through a pine forest. It beckoned to me, so I will have to come back another time to explore.


A tree tunnel! I think these are so cool, and there are more down the road. What a unique way to leave the park!


It was a great afternoon with my sweetie and his great children. I liked that it was also totally free. You really can have fun in these trying times if you look for events like this. We all learned a little something too.

Hope you are still having wonderful autumn days!