Thank you Joyce for taking time out of your busy week to come up with this weeks questions.  Come play.
Can you believe it's 12/12/12! I wonder who will be born at 12:12?  Now that would be impressive!

1. So, when did you last take a walk in the woods? A stroll along the beach? A drive going nowhere in particular in the car?
We drove around last week to look at other people's homes and Christmas decorations.  What fun.

2. Are you sending Christmas cards this year? About how many do you send? Photo card or something more traditional? How do you display the cards you receive?
Yes, we mail some and hand out most at Church and work.  I make the cards and every year we display them differently so I guess we are still looking for the perfect way to do so. We decided to do this this year.

A ribbon down the middle of the kitchen cabinets, then the cards are taped to the ribbon.  So far I like it.

3. What's a word you've heard too much of in the past week?
I can't think of anything that I heard too much of this week. Sorry.

4. December 13th is National Cocoa Day-are you a fan? Plain or flavored? Marshmallows or no marshmallows?
I do like hot cocoa but I like it either plain or caramel hot cocoa with mini marshmallows (however in a pinch I like Fluff)

5. What is something you do to help alleviate the hectic pace of the Christmas season?
Watch a Hallmark Christmas movie. There are lots to pick from. Add a nice cup of tea or cocoa and relaxing just happens.

6. Besides jewelry, what's a favorite sparkly-glittery item in your home or closet?
I have a bling iPhone case that I like.

7. Share a favorite line or two from any Christmas carol.
"God bless us, EVERYONE" Hubby's favorite is "BAH! Humbug!"

8. Insert your own random thought here.
Last week I blogged about not putting up lights outside.  Well, this week, Hubby did just that. He decorated a tree and added a few deer to the side yard. So we officially have outside lights now. No idea when he will take it all down. March?

During the day, it looks like this.

At night, like this

Ok your turn, how would you answer the questions?

OK I'm Hooked and I blame Kim.

Kim is a wonderful friend of mine. She has a love of God, love of family, love of friends and a really good cook who has talked about this for a while. She finally got me to try it and I must say, Kim has good taste!

It's Spaghetti Squash.  It's so easy to make there are several ways to make it.  Since we had lots of time and I love having the oven on when the temperature dip low we cut it in half, scraped out the seeds, and placed it in a baking dish and popped it in the oven for about an hour.

Then it was just pull the "spaghetti" out of the shell and enjoy.

The shell, itself is really thin so there is a lot of Spaghetti in these things.

I added just a bit of real butter and a pinch of brown sugar twin (really didn't need it) and combined with Hubbies meat stuffing, it was the perfect meal.

And today's lunch as well.

So thank you Kim. I will be making it again...
Have you ever made Spaghetti Squash and if so, how do you cook it.. Now I want to try the other ways to make it.
Funny how something so simple can be so wonderful.  And It's Low Carb!!!!

A Weekend to Remember

It's really starting to look and feel like Christmas around here.  No, we don't have snow but we do have some sleet, freezing rain, which makes  for some crunchy, frozen grass to walk on so it sounds like Christmas.

Saturday, we had our Church Christmas Party and with about 60 of us packed into one of the members home (not ours!) it was cozy and lots of fun.

The host had more than one tree so this one was right inside the front door to greet you. It was so festive to walk in and see this.

With most things "Church Related" there was food......lots of great food!

This was just one of the dessert tables!  I really was proud of myself for staying away from this table until, at the end of the evening, the host told me she made fudge with chocolate and Velveta cheese.  Well, somehow that combination just called to me and I had to try it.. It was just delish.

Sunday, we finally got our decorations going.  We have a long way to go but we did make a dent in it.  My energy was down a bit and so we didn't get a lot done, but we did put up our little tree.

It's four feet tall and sits on a toy cabinet. I was surprised just how many decorations I was able to hang on it.  We are going to downsize some of the decorations this year. Later today, I hope we get more decorations up around the house.  

How about you. Do you decorate the entire house or just put up a tree and that it's?  How do you display the Christmas Cards you receive? I'm always looking for a different way to display them. 

We Are Starkers! Are You?

Do you put lights up on the outside of your house?  When do you put them up and then when do you take them down?

We don't put up outside lights. I don't really know why except it's cold up here although putting them up may not be too bad, taking them down in sub-zero temps is just not going to happen and leaving them  up until Spring, just seems silly.

So we drive around and look at others lights. Do you do that as well? Do you listen to Christmas music while you do that?

We like some.....

We love others......

And we are glad we don't live anywhere near a few.....

But we just about comment on all of them.

Here are a few photos of what we saw just in our area the other night.

One house had all white lights which is very nice.

But I really like the houses with colored lights.

One house had just a few lights in the windows. This photo doesn't do the house justice as it was simple and elegant.

While others light up the yard more than the house.

Where do you stand on the whole house lighting issue?  Do you like it?

Do you light up just the house or the yard as well?

White or colored lights?

Do you add music to the lights?

Do you light up the front and back or just the front?

I'm still looking for the "Over-the-top" house but so far, none are in our neighborhood.

I'm thankful for that.

Have a Blessed weekend and I'll see you Monday, Lord Willing...

It's a Wednesday Christmas Hodgepodge

Well you know the drill by now right? Answer the questions here, visit others, make a comment on their blog and enjoy learning about all of us.  Now to my answers.

1.  Share your traditions surrounding the Christmas stocking. 
We hang our stockings on the mantle and they get filled with small things for us and our "kids", a.k.a. our dogs.  Christmas Eve we open 1 gift, and our stockings. We open the other gifts on Christmas Morning.

2.  How many hours of sleep do you average at night?  Is it enough?
I get a lot of sleep!! Often 9 or 10 hours with a nap in the afternoon. Yes that is a lot but it's all good!  For now, I need all that sleep so it is enough and my doctor is fine with it.

3.  If you had to give up one thing for the remainder of this year what would it be? 
Well, if I had to give up something, and clearly I get to pick the thing I'm giving up...... it will be laundry and I would just be fine with giving it up.

4.  The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge (or Wills and Kate as I like to call them) have announced they're expecting a baby. Do you follow news of the Royals? 
I love keeping up with the Royals!  I am so happy for them and pray that Kate will be well throughout the pregnancy. I just so enjoy watching the kids grow up and remember watching Diana's wedding...  So to watch her two sons become men and fathers in their own right will be so much fun.

5.  For me,  the sound of childhood is beautiful, fun, exciting and a gift from God.

6.  Fruit cake-yay or boo? What's your favorite dessert made with fruit?
BOO. I wonder how long that fruit cake has been around both in terms of how long it's been in the cabinet and how many people re-gifted it.  
I really like any fruit pies, or upside down cakes, or, in the fall and winter, fruit cobbler!!  Bring it all on!!

7. What is one thing you want to accomplish before 2012 comes to an end?
I still need/want to get the rugs shampooed. They are usually done by now but as of today, they are not done!! I really need to get on that...maybe the weekend..

8.  Insert your own random thought here.
I know that I have not been blogging a lot the last few weeks. I am so glad that I got the Christmas shopping done early because I would not have the time to get it done now.  I have been working full time,  sewing gifts, making Christmas cards, caring for August who was neutered last week and sleeping. Did you see my answer to #2!  I hope to be back at it soon.  I do miss blogging about our lives here in the upper right hand corner of the USA. I just run out of time.

Ok so now it's your turn to answer  Ready, Set Go! Remember the Elf of the Shelf is watching.....