Friday Favorites – Christmas 2016

December 30, 2016December 29, 2016 RefreshHer3 Comments

Christmas 2016 will have to go down as a favorite Christmas! Everything about it was just special. It wasn’t perfection, but it was full of good food, sweet faces, and fun memories! Here are my top photos. Let’s start with the FOOD!

Christmas Eve – Our traditional Senate Bean Soup, Chicken Gnocchi, Party Ryes, Cheese Ball & Crackers, Veggies & Dip, and LOTS of cookies and goodies not pictured!

Christmas Breakfast – Whitney made Grits and Bacon Quiche, Alli made these Cinnamon Rolls, I made Cream Cheese Danish and Orange Juilius, another tradition.

Christmas Dinner – Spiral Glazed Ham, Twice Baked Potatoes, Frozen Fruit Salad, Green Bean Casserole and Angel Biscuits.

Now, a look at the Faces:

I’m telling you, we laughed so hard while we were together. The close up pics of my family were all taken while playing Quelf, a hysterical group game! Our time as a family found us talking and catching up, asking questions, interrupting with another question and enjoying every minute the Lord gave us to share!

One more group of pictures of random things from the Christmas weekend:

Liza loves ribbon and paper, of course!

I made snow globes for the Christmas Eve table and then scattered bottle brush trees in between.

We went After Christmas shopping and Whitney was nearly beside herself at Target! We all got great deals that day! That’s lots more fun than Black Friday shopping, in my book!

A couple days after Christmas we went back to Dollywood with Andrew and Alli. She and I rode the Ferris Wheel; it was kind of scary in the dark! But it was worth it to catch the view of the half million lights!

Love the picture of my husband with his daughters. They love to tease him, and I’d say he’s had it coming! 😉

I loved that Christmas was on Sunday! What a special service we had that day! We also had a candlelight Christmas Eve service that was a blessing! God’s gift to us in the form of His Son = the BEST gift ever!

Now, I’ll close with my favorite picture of the weekend. It’s hysterical. I snapped it as I was getting off the escalator during our epic After-Christmas Shopping trip. This wasn’t long before we headed home. It wasn’t staged – it just happened ~

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I posted this on Instagram and said that this really said everything about how each one felt about our shopping trip –

Dale – Yes! Let’s find more sales!
Paul – I’m good; can we go now?
Andrew – You spent how much?!
Alli – Let’s go get a snack!
Whitney – I’m tired, but let’s all smile for Mom’s picture!
Denise – Out front, leading the way!

Thanks for stopping by to see my Favorites today! What was your favorite moment from your Christmas celebrations?

Happy New Year, Friends!

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Encouragement · joy

It’s Christmas Again Today!

December 29, 2016December 28, 2016 RefreshHer6 Comments

Christmas is over, and sometimes it can be a bit of a letdown afterwards, right? But wait! What if we considered that we have so much to be thankful for every single day?

Someone posted the best little video on Facebook this week that was a reminder of just how much we have, and how thankful we should be for all the little things every single day. It’s too good not to share with you all! It’s less than two minutes long, but it’s powerful.

Here we go:

So now, look around you and consider that everything is a gift from our loving God, and be grateful and celebrate the joy of it all!

Merry today!

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Family life · Marriage

Monday Marriage Mattters – December Recap

December 28, 2016December 27, 2016 RefreshHerLeave a comment

As the year comes to a close, I look back on these posts of Monday Marriage Matters and know that we have truly worked on our marriage this past year. These posts are not simply done for the viewing of the public; they are our lives, our marriage that really, truly matters. We want to daily be pouring into this God-given gift, so that it is growing, but also so that it is a picture of the Gospel.

Here’s what the last month of our Marriage Matters looked like:

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Christmas mugs. Sweet messages. Full cups and hearts.

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I love making something in my kitchen that I know my husband is going to love. Surprising him when he comes home is a joy that never gets old.

Happiness is not not found in things, but in relationships. To be married is one of God’s greatest blessings. Why Do people get married and then stop having fun? We should never get over the joy of time together. Oh, and when there’s mistletoe, we use it! “Ban the peck.”

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The work of Christmas is a lot for the wife, but this guy helps me so much when I work in the kitchen. He thanked me for all I did to make Christmas special, but I was quick to remind him that I couldn’t have done it without his help, and It’s So true. We work as a team, each contributing to our home and marriage. It’s not 50/50, it’s 100/100.

What does your marriage look like as you end out 2016? Is it stronger, deeper and better because you have been intentional?

I pray that these posts have encouraged your marriage this past year. Take a look back and see other Marriage Matters posts here.

Do something today to show your marriage matters!

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Christian growth

Spiritual Leftovers

December 27, 2016December 27, 2016 RefreshHerLeave a comment

refrigerator

I spent a good deal of time early this week cleaning out the fridge – not one of my favorite jobs to do. After the fridge being crammed to its limit with all the Christmas dinner, plus extra cheeses, whipping cream container, refrigerated desserts, etc. there was a lot to contend with. There are crumbs to be wiped out of the drawers, shelves that must be wiped down from dripping this and sticky that, and then the leftovers that have to be dealt with. Why didn’t we just eat the whole ham on Christmas day? Oh, yeah, I bought an extra big one because I wanted leftovers. The blessing is that I can make several good meals with those leftovers I came across. Why one evening we had ham biscuits using the last of the Angel Biscuit Dough and ham pieces. Yum! The ham bone is safely tucked into my freezer ready for soup beans in the future.

My spiritual life is nothing like my refrigerator. “Duh!” you say. You didn’t need to read this blog to figure that out, right? But wait – don’t we often act as though they are similar? Let me explain:

We get filled up with good things on Sunday. We hear a great Sunday school lesson and a sermon that stirs our heart. We may even walk to the altar and make things right with the Lord. We return on Sunday night and are challenged by testimonies and the Word again. Our “shelves” are full.

We get up Monday morning and rejoice in all that we heard on Sunday, and know we need to be in the Word, but we slept in a little longer than we’d anticipated, and now we’re short on time if we’re going to make our morning appointment.

Tuesday finds us on the Internet with our morning coffee, then putting in a load of laundry, and before we know it the morning is gone with us trying to just live off the leftovers from Sunday.

By Wednesday we’re spiritually hungry, and those crumbs on the shelves are getting more and more crusty and dry. When we return to prayer meeting we have no testimony to share because our cup hasn’t been filled all week. We sit and listen to others and wonder what happened and why God doesn’t speak to us like He does to Mrs. So and So.

Living off of the leftovers cannot make one spiritually healthy. We need fresh manna every day, just like the Israelites. They had to gather that heavenly food each morning; so must we.

So, how’s your fridge? Is it full of yummy leftovers? You’ll enjoy some good meals! Just remember you can’t live off of spiritual leftovers – they’ll never satisfy the longing in your heart.

With love,

Cooking · Dinner · main dish · soup

(L)Oven Monday – Comforting Soup

December 26, 2016December 25, 2016 RefreshHer9 Comments

Hapy Monday and the Day after Christmas! I trust you had a wonderful time of celebration! I’ll share about mine on Friday when we hit the highlights!

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Often after all the rich holiday foods, a simple meal of a comforting, homemade soup is just the thing to have for supper. One reason I love this soup is because it’s so incredibly good, but it’s also really simple.

The recipe is for Baked Potato Soup, and it’s from Cooking Light, but I’ve tweaked it a bit. Baking the potatoes makes it easy to assemble, and I also think it makes the soup so much better than boiled potatoes chunks. This also means there’s no peeling or cutting necessary! Just wrap the potaotes in foil, pop them in the oven, and in an hour you’ll be ready to make supper. The baked potatoes make fine shreds of potatoes that give the soup a creaminess that is irresistable and comforting!

I had some holiday ham left over, so instead of topping it with bacon, the chunks of ham added the perfect flavor. So, you add what you have, bacon OR ham, and I think you’ll be delighted with the results!

Baked Potato Soup

4 Baked potatoes
2 Cups milk
1-2 Cups Chicken Stock
3 – 4 T. flour
Salt & Pepper
Sour Cream
Bacon or ham
Cheddar Cheese

Let Baked potatoes cool slightly, then scoop out the potato flesh from the skins and place in a bowl. Set aside.

Heat milk in a saucepan and slowly add flour, whisking in to combine. Cook until slightly thickened. Add Chicken stock, stir to combine. Add potatoes into mixture. Cook until thickened. If using ham, add it at this point. Cook until heated through.
Remove pan from the heat. Stir in 1/2 Cup Sour cream.

Ladle soup into bowls. Top with bacon, (if you didn’t use the ham) and shredded Cheddar Cheese.

My husband declared that this was the “best Potato soup ever!” Try it and tell me if you agree!

Enjoy!

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