Weekly Header Challenge -- Something New

It's time for the Weekly Header Challenge!

"Headbanger" Participants

Craver VII 

Fishing Guy 

Katney 

Imac 

Lew

I'm joining in the group above for this weekly challenge.

Click on the other participants' blogs to see

what they've come up with!

Theme ~ Something New

Chosen by Moi.  That's me.  :)

For this week's theme, I decided to show off my new Christmas tree ornaments.  I collect snowflake ornaments, and this year's new finds were special.  I made my first snowflake discovery in August!  I was up at the Lake as a surprise for my mom's 75th birthday, and she and I spent one day touring the Thousand Islands and Boldt Castle.  At one of the shops in Alexandria Bay, I found four tin snowflake ornaments, heavily discounted because--well, it was August.  I think my mom paid for them, too!  They're all brown and white on tin, with different patterns.  Here's the one in my header:

The next ornament I found I literally almost walked into.  After Thanksgiving, my parents, brother, Jacob, and I went to The Growing Place to pick out Christmas trees for our respective homes.  In their gift shop, I walked in and right up to a display featuring snowflake ornaments hand-crafted by a local artisan.  That went in my shopping bag!  It ended up being the only purchase that day, because when I went up to the counter to pay for my tree, the cashier told me my dad had already paid for it.  I love my family.

My final two new snowflake ornaments (I usually acquire only one per year!!) were given to me by my younger brother, Jeff, who was with us on the Christmas tree excursion.  He had heard me exclaim my love for snowflake ornaments, and how I collect them for my tree, and when he picked my name in the family grab bag gift exchange, he found a few gems to give to me.

I had wanted this post to feature something more profound, seeing that things are finally turning around for the better in our family, with employment, financial issues, etc. now starting to be resolved one by one.  However, these snowflakes remind me that family--and people, and experiences--are so much more important than things.  And when I decorate our family Christmas tree next year, I'll be able to cherish the memories of people and experiences surrounding these new gifts for my tree!


Treasuring life's moments,
Christine

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Weekly Header Challenge - Steaming into the New Year

It's time for the Weekly Header Challenge!

"Headbanger" Participants

Craver VII 

Fishing Guy 

Katney 

Imac 

Lew

I'm joining in the group above for this weekly challenge.

Click on the other participants' blogs to see

what they've come up with!

Theme ~ Steaming into the New Year

Chosen by Mac.

I'm publishing this post as we are steaming toward midnight here in Chicagoland!!  Here's the full image representing my header:

A little odd, I admit.  But see that truck?  It has a satellite dish on the back of it, and Fernando drove it home the night before Thanksgiving, just in time to celebrate with us.  This truck--called a SAT truck in the industry--represents our future:  Fernando's employment, steady work, and the ability to continue to live in our beautiful little (by American standards) home.  This is what we'll be using to steam into the new year.

As we take down the ornaments on our tree...

...and reflect on how the Lord has blessed us this past year, we're looking forward to continuing to celebrate...

...every answered prayer (all prayers are answered, y'know), every blessing, every turn in the path, as we drive down the road the Lord has planned out for this new year.  God bless you and yours, as you steam into your own wonderful new year!!


Back to life,

Christine
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Weekly Header Challenge - Silver and Gold

It's time for the Weekly Header Challenge!

"Headbanger" Participants

Craver VII 

Fishing Guy 

Katney 

Imac 

Lew

I'm joining in the group above for this weekly challenge.

Click on the other participants' blogs to see

what they've come up with!

Theme ~ Silver and Gold

Chosen by me.

I'll admit I was thinking ahead to Christmas when I thought up this theme.  And boy, if I look outside right now, it sure looks like Christmas--we got about two inches of snow yesterday!!  Either way, most of the images I've chosen today are also sparkly (I think that was a weekly theme last year).  Here is my header, full image:

Treats at a 50th wedding anniversary.

Two metals--silver and gold--and lots of medals!

Lots of silver and gold in this pool at Boldt Castle, Thousand Islands, New York.

Table silver at Boldt Castle.

My mom's silver servingware at Thanksgiving.

I collect snowflake ornaments for my Christmas tree each year, so here are some glittery silver and gold samples.

And one gold-topped Christmas gift.

Now I'm getting excited about Christmas--not just from sharing these images, but this year we're going to have a Christmas tree!  Yes, it's a little thing, really, but it's rather big with me after the last year we've endured.

Although I'd love to sign off with a Merry Christmas, I really need to say

Happy Thanksgiving!!

Treasuring life's moments,
Christine

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Weekly Header Challenge - Boxes

It's time for the Weekly Header Challenge!

"Headbanger" Participants

Craver VII 

Fishing Guy 

Katney 

Imac 

Lew 

I'm joining in the group above for this weekly challenge.

Feel free to click on the other participants' blogs

to see what they've come up with!

Theme ~ Boxes

This week's theme was chosen by Katney, who was thinking about Boxing Day for our Brit participant.  :)  I actually have pictures of boxes, which I find humorous.  My header is from autumn 2012, when my parents' new home was move-in ready, and we were able to clear out our garage of all their boxes:

Eighty percent of this stuff is theirs!

The below was written on one of the boxes packed by the movers.  It was sufficiently funny to be picture-worthy.  ;)

Below is a random image of Isaiah at last year's Labor Day parade.  All the kids in our multi-family group brought boxes to stash the candy that is normally passed out by the parade participants to the onlookers.  I don't think he filled his huge box.

Part of every Christmas at our house is the putting away of the tree ornaments.  Every several years, I am compelled to go through the ornaments and cull the ones that are no longer loved, or that are broken, etc.  Then comes a re-organization phase, since I'm wired that way (almost obsessively).  Many ornaments have stories, and I want to make sure they're packed carefully away so I can find them again the next year.  Below are photos I took of last year's re-organization process.

Every shoebox is labeled with every ornament inside (told you I was obsessive).  And everything is so neat and tidy!

Just an FYI--I took these pictures to blog about the organization process; if you want to read about it, click on over to my family blog and enjoy!


Treasuring life's moments,
Christine

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Weekly Header Challenge - Sparkles

It's time for the Weekly Header Challenge!

"Headbanger" Participants

Craver VII 

Fishing Guy 

Katney 

Imac 

Lew 

I'm joining in the group above for this weekly challenge.

Feel free to click on the other participants' blogs

to see what they've come up with!

Theme ~ Sparkles

It was my turn to choose the theme, and it was pretty random.  A word pops into my head, and I'm rather stuck.  So there you have it.  I thought of raindrops, and then my mind traveled to snow, snowflakes and other things Christmas.  Here's the header image in all its sparkly glory:

I collect snowflake and icicle ornaments, so here are a few more from our Christmas tree:

And since we can't afford a tree this year, I made one out of sticks and my neighbor's spruce trimmings, with lights and snowflakes.  It's much more sparkly in real life.  :)

And now since I'm thinking about Christmas, here are a few more things that make the season sparkle:

I think it's time to plan my holiday baking!!


Treasuring life's moments,
Christine

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A Manger and Snowflakes

I took a few pictures of my Christmas manger scene, and several of the snowflakes gracing our Christmas tree.  My mom gave me the manger figurines, which are papier-mâché and belonged to my grandmother.  She had purchased them from a Ben Franklin; are those stores even around any more?

I love the snowflake ornaments on our Christmas tree.  I've been collecting them for a number of years, and hope to have the tree completely decked out with them one day.  I also collect glass icicle ornaments, but have just five or six of those.  They are definitely treasured!

The below snowflake is one of about ten, and they're new this year!  Fernando bought them on our trip to Wisconsin with friends to purchase a Christmas tree.  They're actually gold, but in this image are reflecting the pink hues of the lights.

The below snowflake is one of six or seven which were the first of my collection.

In addition to the snowflakes on the tree, I have snowflakes gracing my fireplace mantel.  We decorate the mantel with branches cut off the lower trunk of our Christmas tree (disposable decoration!), then randomly place on it some crocheted snowflakes given to me by my mom.  We also place a few red bows, add a candle in the center of the mantel, and everything looks Christmas-y.

And finally--it snowed this morning (the morning of this post)!!!  It has since stopped, but at least we received a dusting of white.  *happiness*


Treasuring life's moments,
Christine

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Project 2012 -- Week 51

Project 2012 -- Week 51

December 16-22

Welcome to my Project 2012 weekly post!  This is my time to look back over the past week, 
choose seven favorite images I've taken, and share them here with you.  
If you have a project you're working on, please leave a comment 
so I can visit your blog and see what you're up to!

Wow--I almost didn't take any pictures this past week!  Almost.  It's kind of nice that business slows way down for me during this time, so all my focus can be on my family, my home, and the Lord at His birth.

These biscuits will probably make it on my family blog in the form of a recipe.  They were tasty, though a little dry due to my overbaking them.

[351] Garlic parsley biscuits

This picture of me is cheating for Project 2012--Danny took it.  :)

[352] Christmas me

Sometimes the sunsets out my kitchen window are fantastic, even with power lines and telephone poles.  You have to get creative with the camera to capture them properly.

[353] Another suburban sunset

Then it was back to my beloved macro lens to capture some images from our Christmas tree.  The figurines in the manger scene below are from my grandmother; she purchased them from a Ben Franklin store a looooong time ago.  (Are those stores even around anymore??)

[354] Manger scene

[355] Snowflake sparkle

[356] Red snowflake

This year, I've been using 3M poster strips--they attach paper to wall (or other surface), then are easily removed without damaging the surface.  Yep, there's my plug for 3M Command Adhesive, lol.  It's so fun to decorate with people's greeting cards and pictures!  (Oh, and I love the bokeh!)

[357] Christmas greetings

If I don't post tomorrow, Merry Christmas!


Treasuring life's moments,
Christine

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