A Few Favorite Things from the Holidays

Every holiday season I enjoy finding new foods and other items that are unique, seasonal or new to me. Here's a list of my top 4 new found favorite things....in no specific order....drumroll please....

Run to your local grocery store and get you some of this mix. In 15 minutes..plus the time it takes your oven to heat up, you can be giving your taste buds a little party. These taste exactly like the restaurant ones. Unbelievable. And I followed the box directions precisely and got, not 10 but 12 ...one dozen...of these babies. Excuse me while I wipe the drool off my chin.


Since we're on the subject of food....after you finish your biscuit....finish up the party in your mouth by tasting one of these little darlings...

Somewhere between soft and crispy you'll find this chocolate snowball cookie. It's almost like a devils food cake with powdered sugar....and they are super cute too. My sister in law brought these over Christmas Eve night and I think I ate 1/2 of them. Oh...wait...this isn't a confessional.

After you fill your belly with all that deliciousness you're likely to need a good cleansing....wait...not that kind....I'm talking about a facial. Sugar, chocolate, greasy foods of the season...all lend themselves to facial breakouts no matter what the age...My sister got me this cleanser for Christmas....

Praise the Lord...I'm not using the antibacterial hand soap on my face anymore....and no...I'm not kidding. And do you know how embarrassing it is when people are like, "wow, your skin is so pretty...what do you use?" and I have to reply, "great value, antibacterial hand soap". My skin thanks you and the world thanks you, my dear sister, Amy.

Another gift I received for Christmas was this lovely Erin Condren planner. Now...before you go a googling it...I'm just reminding you it was a gift...because even though I LOVE it....I'm not sure I could throw down the cash money for it on my own...because I am cheap frugal. But now that I have one of my dreamy planners....I am going to be the most organized frugal woman in Texas...or at least my county. This planner not only has month by month, but day by day calendaring and lots of extra room for notes. It also has a pouch and several envelope type folders attached. It's spiral bound with a ruler and it is extremely well made. 

In addition to these personal favorite things I'll also tell you my favorite gifts that I gave this year...

next week. I hope you'll come back to see!

Meanwhile, if you discovered something new and wonderful this season....share it with us all in the comments below.

What I Know About Love

1 Corinthians 13 (Message)

The Way of Love

 ¹ If I speak with human eloquence and angelic ecstasy but don't love, I'm nothing but the creaking of a rusty gate. ²If I speak God's Word with power, revealing all his mysteries and making everything plain as day, and if I have faith that says to a mountain, "Jump," and it jumps, but I don't love, I'm nothing. ^3-7If I give everything I own to the poor and even go to the stake to be burned as a martyr, but I don't love, I've gotten nowhere. So, no matter what I say, what I believe, and what I do, I'm bankrupt without love.    Love never gives up.    Love cares more for others than for self.    Love doesn't want what it doesn't have.    Love doesn't strut,    Doesn't have a swelled head,    Doesn't force itself on others,    Isn't always "me first,"    Doesn't fly off the handle,    Doesn't keep score of the sins of others,    Doesn't revel when others grovel,    Takes pleasure in the flowering of truth,    Puts up with anything,    Trusts God always,    Always looks for the best,    Never looks back,    But keeps going to the end.

 ^8-10Love never dies. Inspired speech will be over some day; praying in tongues will end; understanding will reach its limit. We know only a portion of the truth, and what we say about God is always incomplete. But when the Complete arrives, our incompletes will be canceled.

 ¹¹When I was an infant at my mother's breast, I gurgled and cooed like any infant. When I grew up, I left those infant ways for good.

 ¹²We don't yet see things clearly. We're squinting in a fog, peering through a mist. But it won't be long before the weather clears and the sun shines bright! We'll see it all then, see it all as clearly as God sees us, knowing him directly just as he knows us!

 ¹³But for right now, until that completeness, we have three things to do to lead us toward that consummation: Trust steadily in God, hope unswervingly, love extravagantly. And the best of the three is love.

A Few of My Favorite things

Here are a few of my favorite best things of 2011.

Favorite Book I read: One Thousand Gifts by Ann Voskamp

Favorite Free App for my iphone: Instagram

Favorite New Recipe I Tried: Amish Sweet Bread

Favorite New (to me) Song: What Do I Know of Holy - Addison Road

Favorite New Christmas Song: Celebrate the Day- Reliant K


So...did you have any new favorites of 2011? I'd love to hear about them!

Friday Favorites

My favorite things about summer:

1. More relaxed schedule with the kids. No preschool, homeschool, homework!

2. My garden....fresh squash, tomatoes, corn...yummy!

3. My flowers....I inherited tons of beautiful flowers in my yard from the previous owners....it's wonderful to wake up to something new everyday!

4. VBS....my kids love it and so do I. This year I only get to work for an hour a day because I will still be working my job, but I am excited that I still get to be involved.

5. VACATION!...we don't usually take a summer vacation so I don't know if this one will stay on the list (we love the mountains in the fall). We are headed to Branson in a few weeks. Gonna be fun I am sure!

6. More time to visit with friends. No one is rushing out the door to get kids in bed for school. Everyone is just more laid back.

7. Visitors....more out of town friends and family visit during the summer. It's fun catching up!

What about you....what are your favorite things about summer?

Top 9 for '09

Here's a list of favorite things for 2009:

1. Living by radical faith

2. Tucker...POTTY TRAINED!

3. Watching Mission Gunter thrive

4. Mom getting married

5. My niece's arrival on Christmas Day

6. Chris Tomlin concert with Savannah

7. Strengthened marriage

8. New Church

9. Faithful friends...old and new.

What were a few of your favorite things in 2009? We spend so much time on New Years Eve trying to put the past behind us. Is there anything good that you would like to remember?