Happy New Year!

Happy New Year!

I hope you all have a blessed year in 2013! 

My Main Goal in 2013

With only a few days left in 2012, minds go to what goals or resolutions they would like to set and accomplish in the new year.  I would like to share a personal goal that I am making.

I received a new Bible for Christmas this year from my sweet husband. :)  It is black and pink engraved in silver lettering - my name and the reference - Song of Solomon 2:9.  Which reads..."He brought me to the banqueting house, and his banner over me was love."  I love that. :)  It is a study Bible - the Life Application Bible.  I am so very excited to begin many studies in my new Bible.

I am the type of person who enjoys following a Bible reading schedule.  I enjoy reading through my Bible in a year.  I enjoy pursuing that goal.  This year, I am not only going to read through the Bible - in my new Bible :) -

I am going to listen to it while I read.

There is a wonderful Bible app out there.  My husband has it on his IPhone and I have it on my Kindle Fire and we have it on our laptop.  It is called You Version.  I can read any book, chapter or verse I want with this app.  I can add notes while I am reading.  I can bookmark favorites.  I can even choose a plan to follow such as The Bible in 90 Days, Chronological, Historical and so on.  

And I think my favorite part is I can listen to the Bible being read out loud to me.  So this year, I am going to follow the Chronological Bible Reading Plan - as I listen to the entire Bible - I will follow along in my new Bible.

And you know...there are many days that I just need the Word of God to soak into my heart, mind and soul.  So when I am doing dishes in the kitchen, I turn on the Word of God and just listen.  Frustrated?  Overwhelmed?  Defeated?  Discouraged?  Try listening to God's Word.  It provides a peace that passes all understanding.

I have other goals I really want to accomplish...but none as important as this one.  For it furthers my relationship with my Savior.  And that is worth more than anything.

2013...

What do you think this new year of 2013 will hold for you?  I think more so than ever...my new year will include stepping out.  Stepping out into the unknown.  And to me, that is a scary thing.

I don't like change.  I don't like leaving my same schedule.  I don't like trying new things.

Sometimes though, that is the only way to grow.  This past year, I stepped out into new territory.  I went back into the work force and began working a nearly full time schedule.  For most, that would be no big deal.  To me, it was a major change.  It was difficult to take that first step...and now, it seems like simply a part of my everyday life.

So I can either choose to refuse to take any new steps and stay in the exact same place I am.  A place of comfort.  A place of what I know.

Or I can take a deep breath, say a prayer for the Lord's help and jump into the new!  Honestly, I don't even like to type that...LOL!  But I need to push myself.  I need to grow.  I need to trust the Lord that He knows what He is doing by bringing these new things in my life.  

Are you ready for the changes of 2013?

A Fresh Start

Yesterday, to beat the post holiday blues, I kept myself busy!  LOL!  My husband only has one day off for Christmas so he was back to work.  The girls were busy playing with their new Barbie house and other toys.  So I told myself that I would first take down our real tree to reclaim our dining room space...

After that, it spiraled into a cleaning day. :)  I took down our other tree, swept and vacuumed, rearranged furniture, did several loads of laundry (Seriously, I had every laundry basket empty on Christmas Eve, ironed and put away...how do you find several loads of laundry in one day. :)  Towels, blankets, robes, etc.  Oh my goodness.), ironed, dishes, changed out my placemats and napkins, dusted.  

It was a very overcast, gloomy and chilly day.  So I kept the candles burning and lights on.  :)  

I then worked on a few office things and heated up the rest of the red beans and rice for dinner.  Yum! Then finished off the day writing my Christmas thank you's.

 I am excited to start the New Year off with more organizing and cleaning goals in mind.  And yesterday helped to kick start 2013 for me. :)

Christmas 2012

Merry Christmas!

We had a relaxing and blessed Christmas day. :)  My husband woke up before me...(a Christmas miracle-LOL!) and made coffee (praise the Lord!).  Then I got up and we enjoyed coffee, he typed a letter from Santa to the girls and we listened to the Christmas story on my Kindle.  When the girls awoke, we all read the Christmas story together.  It is our tradition.  Then we had prayer and opened our gifts.

My husband spoiled me with some gifts - mainly practical because that is what I ask for. LOL!  I got a new pink hair dryer to replace my current one that I am not sure would have lasted the week.  It has taken me around 20-30 minutes to blow dry my hair with the old one and smells like it might catch on fire.  Ha ha!

I got new and very warm slippers to replace my current ones that the stuffing was coming out the bottom. :)

I got an iced coffee maker!  Yay!  I do not have one and this sounded like a lot of fun to be able to make my own iced coffee at home.  Yum!  

A holster for when I receive my CCW permit to carry my revolver and more ammo!  I know...but I asked him for these things.  I tried out my new holster (it clips inside the waist of my skirt) while I cooked my dishes for Christmas dinner and it was awesome!

And I got a new Bible!  I didn't necessarily need a new one - but I have seen this study Bible - the Life Application Bible and I have wanted it for a few years now.  My hubby got me a very nice black and pink one engraved and I can't wait to use it!  More pics tomorrow. :)

I hope I don't sound like a selfish person talking about my gifts but I wanted to brag on my hubby for the thoughtful things he got me. :)

We then walked over to Papa's house and opened gifts there with him.  I also surprised my husband with a new recliner!  I was pretty excited about that gift. :)

Then it was back for Christmas breakfast of biscuits and sausage gravy.  And food preparation for Christmas dinner, dishes and cleaning up new toys and the mountain of paper and boxes. I am glad tomorrow is our garbage day! :)

At 1:30pm, we headed over to our friends' home - Cleve and Judy Cox - who had kindly invited us for Christmas dinner.  It was a delicious traditional dinner of two different turkeys, mashed potatoes, stuffing, gravy, rolls, sweet potatoes, cranberry sauce, green beans...it was all so delicious!  I brought homemade mac n cheese, deviled eggs, cheese ball with crackers, soda and peach cobbler with vanilla ice cream.

It was a wonderful time of fellowship with our friends and we feel very special that they invited us to share in their Christmas.

Merry Christmas Eve!

I hope you all have a blessed Christmas Eve with your friends and family!

Video-Tastet and Traynor Kiddos-Christmas 2012

Here is a short video of our three daughters, Addie, Autumn and Sierra along with Thomas and James Traynor singing "Away In A Manger" for our Christmas service.

You can find the video here on You Tube - http://youtu.be/0RJUqAjUHBg or on my Facebook page.

Addie put this special together - she is playing the piano.  :)

Video: The Tastet Family Singing "Mary, Did You Know?"

This morning, our family sang our special song that we sing every Christmas - "Mary, Did You Know?".  Love, love, love that song!!!  What a thrill it brings to your heart!  

It was too large of a video to post directly to my blog so I posted it to You Tube.  You can watch the video through this link - http://youtu.be/Sh7NQJMC9GI .  Or you can find it on my Facebook page.  

I feel truly blessed to share this with you...I love my husband and daughters and are so happy to sing together as a family. :)

Grateful

What a tragedy yesterday...my husband texted me yesterday and said how grateful he is that we home school our girls.  I am grateful...and I would like to share a few things that I am grateful for. :)

As I was watching the coverage of the shooting, my daughter asked if she could sit by me and do her seatwork.  It was a little sign from God to thank Him for my gifts - my children.  She is in kindergarten. She is five years old.  She could very well have been one of the children murdered that very day.  God is good.

I am thankful for my Grandma Holt.  She would have celebrated her birthday this past week on Thursday.  She left a goodly heritage to me...this was one of her ornaments from her Christmas tree that now hangs on my tree.

I am grateful for a godly husband.  This was the scene that I came home to this morning from working last night.  What most of America is missing...is what I have.  A godly man to lead our marriage and our home.

Thankful for these four munchkins!

Thankful for a father-in-law that lives around the corner...and calls me to ask when can he have these munchkins over.  He misses them.  So today, he is going to have them over for some Papa/grandkid time while the hubby and I have date time. :)  Awesome!

Lastly, for my mom and dad.  And that her surgery went well.  I am so grateful.  

Have a wonderful Saturday!

Reset Button!

This post is more of a reminder to me than to anyone who reads this. :)

Christmas is a joyous time...usually a very busy time.  Shopping, wrapping, baking, Christmas activities and parties, cantatas and plays...the list goes on and on.  Sometimes, even though it seems like we are doing much for others...we can get wrapped up in what I am doing.

Today, I am refocusing on the needs of others this season...what can I do for someone else?  How can I encourage someone else?  

It isn't big things...just thoughtful things.  How about you?  Do you need a re-focus day as well?  Let us make today that day! :)

Mom's Surgery

Thank you to my friends who prayed for my Mom today!  She came through her surgery well.  The surgeon said she had gone as far as she could on that hip.  I praise the Lord for modern medicine and the Lord who has given the doctors wisdom to do these amazing procedures!!  My mom is resting now in her room.  She will be in a lot of pain throughout the next weeks as she recovers.  Keep her in your prayers.  

Mom, rest up and we will Skype soon! :)  Also, get better soon...you have a big family hike coming up when you visit Reno next! LOL!  We love you!

Mom's Surgery

Please pray for my mom, Marcia Holt, tomorrow morning at 6am Eastern time.  She is having hip replacement surgery.  I love my mom to pieces!!! Praying for you, Mom! :)

Couponing: Week of December 10

Walgreens has the Walgreens brand of diapers and pull-ups on sale - BOGO Free this week!  So you will pay $8.99 for two packs which is $4.49 a pack.  

No coupons needed AND this is a great way to use up your Balance Reward Points if you have been saving them. :)

At CVS, I did a little browsing and picked up some clearance items that I found.

The Almay mascara was $9.29.  It was 75% off so the final was $2.32.

Cortisone was $5.49.  I paid $1.32.

Suave conditioner was $1.77.  I paid $.88.

Tresemme shampoo was $4.49.  I paid $2.24.

The lotion was a FREEBIE!

They have LOTS of makeup and nail polish on clearance from 50-75% off right now!  Great savings even with no coupons!

Random Photos

Just a few pics...I loved this picture from last week.  Behind the clouds is Mt. Peavine.  You wouldn't know it unless you peeked into the little break and you can see the snow-covered peak. :)

I know this isn't the best picture with the power lines and the tree branches...but the mountains look so beautiful in the sunset. :)

This little stinker had her big sister's glasses on. :)  "Aumum's glasses", she says.

Yay!  We are getting two new stores in one of our valleys where we live - Grocery Outlet Bargain Market and Big Lots!  I love Big Lots. :)

After their shower, Addie dressed her little sister like her. :)

Couponing - Week of December 2-8

This was my only couponing trip last week.  I squeezed in a trip to CVS on Saturday.

Carmex - $.67 each.

Gillette Razor and 4 pack cartridges - Sigh. I can't remember the price on these.  LOL!  But it was decent. :) (I actually don't want to get up from my blanket and heating pad to look.)

All Laundry Detergent - $1.99 each

Recipe: Jiffy Ground Pork Skillet

Winter is a good time to enjoy a good skillet dinner. :)  Here is a new recipe I recently tried and really enjoyed it.  It is very hearty and filling...nice and piping hot!

Jiffy Ground Pork Skillet

1 1/2 cups uncooked whole wheat penne pasta
1 lb. turkey sausage
1/2 medium chopped onion
1 can (14 1/2 oz.) stewed tomatoes, undrained
1 can (8 oz.) tomato sauce
1 medium zucchini, cut into thin slices
salt, pepper, cajun seasoning

Cook sausage and onion in a large skillet until no longer pink.  Cook pasta according to package directions - al dente.  Drain.  Add tomatoes, tomato sauce and seasonings (Yes, here my cajun seasoning is a must again!  If not, it may be rather bland. :) to the sausage/onion combo in the large skillet.  Bring to a boil.  Reduce heat; cover and cook for 5 minutes.

Add pasta to skillet.  Stir in zucchini.  Cover and cook for 5 minutes or until zucchini is crisp-tender.

I doubled this recipe for our family of 6. :)

Serve with a salad and french bread if desired.  Top with grated Parmesan cheese.  Enjoy!

The week in pictures...

Here are some random pics from the week...

I thought this picture was pretty cute. :)

They are getting pretty close in height for their ages. :)

For the weeks that I teach Junior Church, I hand out an assignment sheet for the children to take home and complete.  One of the tasks to complete was to write a letter to a little girl - Deanna Clark.  She is 2 yrs. old, is the daughter of a youth pastor in northern California and has leukemia.  This past Saturday evening, my girls were working on their sheets and here are their letters to Deanna.  After they wrote their letters, they came and showed me.  And tears came to my eyes.  Thankful for caring children and thankful for healthy children.

This is Addie's letter.

This was Autumn's letter.

This was a photo taken Sunday morning coming from work going to church.  You can see faintly in the background our church sign.  Normally, you can see the Sierras in the background above the church...but not on this day.  It was an intense storm!

As we were almost home Sunday afternoon after church, this rainbow appeared. :)

We have had a lot of clouds, rain, wind, etc. the past week.  Here is a different rainbow from Tuesday afternoon.

How To Host a Christmas Cookie Exchange

For three years now, I have hosted a Christmas Cookie Exchange for the ladies of our church.  I thought I would share what I do and maybe it will help someone else hosting their own party.

Our Christmas cookie exchange is part of our ladies Bible study night that we hold the first Tuesday of the month.  This year's was held on Tuesday, December 4th at 7-8:30pm.  I held it in my home to create more of a homey atmosphere to the evening.  (Our regular Bible studies are held at the church.)

All ladies who attend our church are invited to attend.  They are welcome to bring any lady friends as well.  Ask every lady to bring 2 dozen cookies to the exchange.  (You may need to adjust the amount depending on how many ladies you have attending.)

Preparation is the key to any event.  You will want to be prepared that when the first guest arrives, you are ready to host.  Do not wait to make the coffee or set out games or light the candles until your guests arrive.  Make a checklist for the evening of everything that needs to be done.

You will want a table covered with a festive tablecloth to place all the cookies and goodies that are brought.  My table was a bit small and I will set up a larger table for next year.

I made mini banana bread loaves for my contribution.  I made them the week before, wrapped individually and placed in freezer gallon bags.  I then froze them until the day of the party.  Since I was hosting this and had lots of responsibilities on that day...I pre-made my goodies.  This helped me tremendously!  I already needed to do cleaning for the party - I did not want to do baking cleaning as well. :)

For a cookie exchange, you will want to set up a drink station.  

This is what I offered:

Coffee - In the large coffee maker.

Hot water - In the small coffee maker.  This is for hot tea (I had peppermint) and hot cocoa (with a can of whipped topping :).  

Egg nog - I had the small red cups for the egg nog.  

For the hot drinks, I used real mugs.

On the side, you will want sugar, artificial sweetener (Sweet-N-Low or Splenda) and drink stirrers.

You will also need small plates for the ladies to put their food on for the evening and napkins as well.

For the end of the evening, you will need large plates and saran wrap for take home cookie platters.

Simple Christmas games are fun to play.  Here is a Christmas word search and a word game to write down a word for every letter of the alphabet.  I gave five minutes for each game.  The winners won a Christmas mug and hot cocoa.

We also played Christmas Bingo - 3 rounds.  The winners won a winter candle.

Prizes for the games.  Two of the mugs were for a door prize.  Every choose a Christmas picture out of a mug when they arrived.  We chose two winners for the night.

Bingo was the first game we played.  We had the Bingo sheets at each seat along with a cup of pennies to use as markers.  

Use a simple CD player to play Christmas music as everyone arrives.

I set up extra seating with simple folding chairs to accommodate everyone.  There is nothing worse than being invited somewhere and the host does not have enough seating.  You do not want your adult guests to have to sit on the floor. :(  

Little extras...have candles burning everywhere.  It adds to the beauty of your home.  Use lamps and not overhead lighting.  It takes away from the coziness.  Make sure the room is warm - but doesn't get too warm throughout the night.  Fresh flowers are a nice touch.  (One of my ladies brought me a bouquet. :)  

So now that you have the preparations made, here is a schedule:

Ladies arrive.  The evening begins at 7pm.

They receive their Christmas picture for the door prize drawing as they walk in.  

I used my daughter as a greeter at the door and she would welcome them in and let them pick their picture.

Everyone should place their cookies and goodies onto the table and find a seat.  As they come in, unwrap their containers and platters on the table.

When everyone has arrived, say grace and invite the ladies to have a plate of goodies to eat and what drinks you have to offer.  

After everyone has served themselves and chatted for 5-10 minutes, have your speaker to speak for the evening.  This was the time that I gave my personal testimony and background so our new ladies would get to know me better. :)

We then played our games and handed out our door prizes.

After the games, I allowed any lady that liked to - to share a life lesson that they learned in the past year.  I asked them to keep it to 3-5 sentences.

End the evening in prayer.  Have a few ladies to help assemble take home plates for all the ladies who came.  We simply divide up the remainder of the cookies and goodies evenly between the number of ladies that we have.  Everyone takes home a platter of all kinds of yummy goodness from the evening. :)

TLC Christmas Cookie Exchange 2012

Last night, we had our annual TLC - Touching Ladies for Christ - Bible Study and Christmas Cookie Exchange.  We had 14 ladies in attendance and it was a sweet time of fellowship.

My oldest daughter, Addie, was my helper for the night.  We had fun dressing up in our Christmas best for the evening.

From left to right - Danyelle, Kristina, LeAne and Jenni.

Addie, Megan and Lisa.

Pam, Deidre and Shannon

Claudia and Sharon

LaDonna and Char (sisters that attend) brought me two gifts for the host. :)  One was a beautiful bouquet of flowers.

The second was this beautiful plate with the Nativity scene on it. :)  Thank you, ladies and I love you!

Oh, and LeAne gave us two special boxes of fudge just for our family.  Yum!

Couponing...TP!

Last week, I did one couponing deal.  I needed to use some of my CVS EB's. :)  

They offered a deal if you bought $30 worth of certain products, you received $10 EB's back.  I bought 5 packages of Charmin - used $2.50 worth in coupons (MFR and CVS Red Machine) - received $10 EB's...the total was $3.49 per package for 12 double rolls.  Yay!

Angel Soft at Wal-Mart is $5.99 per package of 12 double rolls so it was good to get a stock up - for a few days at least. ;)

Recipe: Buttermilk Pie

Here is an easy pie recipe that is wonderful for the Christmas holidays. It is an old-fashioned custard pie that is sure to please!

Buttermilk Pie

3 eggs
1/2 cup butter, softened
1 1/2 cups sugar
3 tbsp. flour
1 cup buttermilk
1 tsp. vanilla
1 tbsp. lemon juice
1/8 tsp. grated nutmeg

9 inch unbaked pie crust

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Beat eggs until frothy.  Add butter, sugar and flour.  Beat until smooth.

Stir in buttermilk, vanilla, lemon juice and nutmeg.  Pour into pie shell.

Bake 40-60 minutes (mine was done at 50) or until center is firm.

Christmas at our Home

Here is our Christmas tree - it is our first tree we bought 11 years ago - our first Christmas as newlyweds...for $19.99 at Wal-Mart.  That was all we could afford and we have put it up every year. :)

This is our tree that we cut down - it is in our dining room. :)

I got this placemat and napkin set new at the thrift store last year. :)  

The girls wanted to cut down a little tree for their bedroom.  But you are not allowed to do that without a permit.  So they used one of the branches off the bottom of our tree...we decorated it with lights and red ribbon. :)