Happy Thursday, friends! I'll write my usual Thankful Thursday post, then I thought I'd join in with my friend Holly and her friend Patty for Monthly Musings. This is my first time to join that link up!
I am focusing on one thing (out of so many) that I am thankful for this week and that is the gift of godly friendship. I know I've said that before, but I really do mean it. I have found my people and I do not take one single moment with them for granted. I'm blessed to say that I have many! Friendship was something I struggled with in my younger years (girls can be so mean!), but the Lord has redeemed every bad moment I ever went through. I've discovered that there are friends in differing phases of life...some are just around for a time or a season and some are the lifelong type. I have best friends from my childhood that I still talk to today, I have a very small handful of friends from school, I have friends from old churches I've attended throughout my years, I have my current church friends, I have my writing team besties, I have my Bible study and small group friends who are that different level type of friendship—the ones I've bared my soul to and who have prayed for me. I am grateful to God for every single one of them! I have said it before and will say it until the day that I die—I wouldn't want to live one moment of life without Jesus or without my family and friends. (Of course I consider my family my friends as well as my family! I was telling Mom that just yesterday morning.)
Look at how we ended our Bible study yesterday. This moment made me cry! It's such a beautiful thing seeing women come faithfully each week to study the word of God and grow in their faith. We studied the ending of Jude as we wrapped up the ten week study that us writers co-wrote. I love how this book and our time of worship ended!
And now onto the second part of this post...
🎄 Favorite holiday traditions? One of my favorite traditions is very simple and has evolved over the years. Dad and Sandy come over on Christmas night to have snacks and to see what the boys got. I'm smiling, because they really don't see what the boys get anymore, but that was how it all got started. I also really love Thanksgiving and Christmas day at Mom's and Bill's and our Goodwin Christmas that takes place a few days before the big day. I really enjoy all the extra church and choir events and I love driving around to see Christmas lights. I'd love to take a Christmas light stroll somewhere this year...I'll be working on this.
🎄 What holidays do you celebrate? All of them! Thanksgiving, Christmas, New Years. I do consider New Years part of this and kind of lump all the days together. Speaking of Thanksgiving Song, have you heard this song by Ben Rector? I love him and I really love this song called Thanksgiving Day.
🎄 How early do you shop? Not very early, unfortunately, though I did purchase my first gift back in early October! I do the majority in November and early December. The way we shop is that I get all the gifts for other family members and Todd shops for the boys. I used to help, but honestly? They all want vehicle accessories or electronics now and I know nothing of those things. This arrangement works well for us!
🎄 When do you decorate? Um, it's been done for a week. 😁
🎄 Do you host any holiday festivities? Not officially, but I'd love to host something this year. I don't know what yet, or even if I will. I'm halfway thinking of hosting or leading a holiday book club! I have such grand plans, though and rarely follow through. I have some young friends who have book club every month and who have named themselves The Novelties and I am so jealous of how beautiful their table always looks and the fun they have. I've been wanting to do this for a while and have done a little research on it, because I tried it before and way too many people came AND half of them didn't read the book. I have read that the secret to a successful book club is to not invite too many people. The other issue I have is finding people who love to read as much as I do. We'll see. Stay tuned!
🎄 Favorite holiday meals or recipes? I don't know why I only make this during this cold season, but we LOVE homemade Chex Mix. I use all three kinds of that cereal, along with Cheese-its. I season with butter, garlic, Worcestershire sauce and a dash of red pepper flakes. We could all eat our weight in this!
🎄 Best holiday organization tips? Ummmm, I don't have many, honestly. The only one I can think of is to have gift wrapping materials super handy at all times. I am forever giving a last minute gift to someone and try to keep little things on hand for this. And speaking of that...
🎄 Gift wrapping? Love it or hate it? Hello! My name is Jennifer and I LOVE TO GIFT WRAP.
One year I gave each kid a certain wrap...usually I just do pieces of paper with my writing. I'm not a perfectionist at this like my husband is, but I can wrap presents so quickly! I only buy the wrapping paper from Hobby Lobby, the Brothers & Sisters brand. I buy it because it has grid lines to help make smooth cuts! How genius is that?
🎄 Holiday coffee drink? I don't really buy fancy coffee drinks anymore, but I do love a hot chai tea latte from Starbucks. It's the only thing I like from there. I love peppermint mocha and I love peppermint milkshakes from Chick Fil A! Do you like those? But I make really good coffee and just doctor it up with my favorite (healthier) cream. I love the frosted sugar cookie kind, I love peppermint mocha, I love sweet cream...I love any and all coffee drinks equally, honestly.
🎄 Are you a holiday baker? I do like to bake and I am actually a good baker, but I rarely do it. My family's favorite sweet Christmas treat are these no- bake cookies.
I also used to make these cute little reindeer noses. I'll do these this year, since I skipped them last year.
You preheat your oven to 300 degrees, and lay out pretzels on a sheet pan. ||The recipe calls for Rolos, but we like Hershey's kisses.|| Lay a kiss on top of each pretzel, then bake in the oven for three minutes. As soon as they're out of the oven, press an M&M onto the center and push down a little. We always have to refrigerate ours afterward, and we just keep them on these sheet pans, because the kisses tend to separate from the pretzels if you put them in a bowl or dish.
This was fun to think about and write! Do you have something "signature" that you're known for? I'd love to know what it is, if so! Thanks for reading my blog, friends. Love to all!
We used to make Chex Mix every year but have gotten out of that habit. Your talking about it reminds me of how good it is! Our Dollar Store sells wrapping paper that has the grid lines on it. I love the fact that it's cheap and that it has the lines;). This was a fun post to read! Reading about how others celebrate is so interesting. I will likely not get around to joining the link up as the next few days are shaping up to be busy but in my mind I'm answering the prompts! Have a great Thursday!
ReplyDeleteLOVE your Christmas bedroom!! I hope you host something this year and share the details with us :) Reading these posts are giving me all of the feels- thank you for joining us- your writing always brings me JOY!
ReplyDeleteMaria, you should make some Chex Mix this weekend! It's actually hard to find the cereal these days....I'm even thinking of ordering it online. That's so cool that your Dollar Tree has paper with grid lines! I don't blame you for buying it there! It's always cheap at Hobby Lobby as well, because of how much they mark things down. I rarely spend over $3 a roll. I always love these kinds of posts too! Thanks, friend. Have a great day!
ReplyDeleteThanks, Holly! I like it too...it feels so cozy. I really do want to do something, even if it's not here at my home. I will be thinking on this! Thank you for your kind words! These were great prompts!
ReplyDeleteI used to do all the fun treats at Christmas, when the boys were little, like the "puppy chow" mix, peanut butter crackers dipped in chocolate and chocolate covered pretzels, but haven't in years. Why? I think there are so many things we quit doing when our kids grow up, but I think I might start again! :)
ReplyDeleteI cannot shop before November or I will totally forget what I've bought and buy more stuff :) I did find this really great app on my phone this year, that keeps track of gift ideas, what you've actually purchased and your budget. It's helping out a lot!
And on the topic of friendship...my husband and I were just talking about how we miss the "old days" of being newly married with young children because we were with friends all the time. Now it seems that people are so busy and you have to make appointments to get together.
I love your bedroom decor!
Debbie, I've noticed the same thing- about how I don't make certain things as much now that they're older, but they still love them so much. I am excited about doing this again for them, even if I'll miss them being in the kitchen with me. Life is always bittersweet, is it not?
ReplyDeleteI haven't heard of that app! I do keep a list of people/gifts on my phone each year and that helps me stay on track. I'm actually going to do some shopping tonight to buy more presents! I love this time of year.
That's so sad! I know what you mean, though. We stay pretty social through ministries in church that we serve in, so that helps us a lot. We're both pretty social, but other than that, we're not with friends a lot together anymore. I am grateful for that one thing, though. And we do lots of fun things as the worship ministry department that we both serve in. Our worship pastor is young and so fun- and he makes everything exciting to be a part of. I love that about him!
I enjoyed reading all the responses! I love making/eating those reindeer noses too and have already bought the ingredients to make them this year. I feel like we do have some good friends, but we don't all really hang out a lot, especially as couples. I am going to visit with 2 friends this weekend that I haven't spent time with in 6 months, so looking forward to that.
ReplyDeleteI enjoyed reading your post this morning. I've bought one Christmas gift this year so far. Today is our last day of vacation and I plan to go to my favorite Christmas Store called the Christmas Mouse. I've saved it until the end. I'm hoping to buy special ornaments for my girls and their families and maybe for my extended family too. We'll see how it goes. One of these days, I'd like to be a part of a book club and/or a crochet club. I love reading books with these kinds of groups in them. Maybe someday! Hope you do a book club. I would love to hear about it. Take care and thanks for hosting Thankful Thursday.
ReplyDeleteMy sister used to make those rolo/pretzel bites each year and my boys just loved them. I'm not sure in our 21 years of marriage that my husband has ever bought a single gift (that wasn't for me!)... and in the last few years I've even started buying those! LOL. I do hit him up for ideas for his side of the family though as I often draw a blank when it comes to either of his parents.
ReplyDeleteThanks, Marilyn! Aren't those so yummy? Your weekend plans sound like so much fun! I know you'll enjoy being with dear friends. ❤
ReplyDeleteThanks, Cathy! I did not realize you were still on vacation. How awesome to have that time away to be refreshed! Your Christmas shop sounds wonderful, I love those! I'll be doing a bit of shopping tonight...and I'm excited to see some of my favorite spots all decked out for the holidays. I love reading about those as well! Have you read any of Pamela Kelley's books? If not, you should! I think you'll love them. Start with The Nantucket Inn and go from there.
ReplyDeleteJoanne, I don't know many people who wouldn't love those little treats. They're so good! I do realize how fortunate I am to have a husband who does the shopping for our boys. These days the "shopping" consists of online ordering, but still...I am blessed! I wouldn't have a clue as to what they were talking about. Ha!
ReplyDeleteReindeer noses:) I've made those treats plenty of times in the past...but had never once heard them called that - so cute! And so is your bedroom!:)
ReplyDeleteI'm pretty sure that name is what caught my eye about them! They were magical to the boys when they were younger. Thanks, Jennifer!
ReplyDeleteJennifer, welcome to the link up. So glad you are here. I love those Reindeer noses. I may have to try them with gluten free pretzels. And I am with you on wrapping paper w gridlines. It's the Best. Hope to see you back at our link up another month.
ReplyDeletePatty
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