Playing with the ice

Because we've had such little snow this year the ice formations are very clear leaving great designs over top of the autumn leftovers. I thought these leaves were beautiful with all the imprisoned bead like bubbles adding an interesting texture to the mix. It's been sunny and wonderful the last few days... a nice break from the gray gloom. Such a contrast from last winter.

Happy Faces...

on Christmas Eve morning, our day of celebration. No snow this year- a 180 from last year... but it didn't quite feel like Christmas without some of the white fluff laying around, so Mike made a lovely fire and put on some crooners singing White Christmas to help out the mood.
Everyone got what they asked for from Santa, and though you can't see Mike's gift it was a GC to Fitness Fanatics for new gear. The kid's toys are getting more expensive... the bigger the kid the bigger the tag.

Our day was full of family and good food, lot's of laughter, and contentment in knowing we are blessed with a good life. In these trying times we are truly fortunate to live as comfortable as we do, and thankful for everything, every convenience we have here in America that make life easy. Thank you Universe!

Hope your Holidays were blessed and happy too!






Christmas with the Bold family







The annual Allen Family Christmas picture

What's for breakfast these days...

mmmm... green smoothies! That's right - kale, chard, lettuce, romaine and a whole lot of fruit. After attending a class at Fresh Abundance I was inspired to go green on the inside. And I have to say it's pretty good stuff. I feel good after drinking it- good energy, nice skin, clear eyes it seems to do a lot... not to mention other things I won't mention. It has become a ritual every morning to make a blender full for one in the morning and one in the afternoon. Happy happy body. I don't think I could sit down and consume that much green and fruit, but drinking it sure makes it easy.

Peppers and Pears

I've joined a photography website and will be posting photos there regularly. This was the first submission from the assignment-kitchen. While our kitchen is nothing spectacular I think some of the food that passes through it is just that. The goal here is to have fun first, and to also improve on my images. We'll see what happens.

A friend...

sent this article to me and I thought it was so very good I wanted to share it with you.

Tom Hennen has a line in his poem, The Life of a Day, that says,

“We examine each day before us with barely a glance and say, ‘no, this isn’t one I’ve been looking for,’ and wait in a bored sort of way for the next, when we are convinced, our lives will start for real.”
That line is a little bit frightening because you read it and realize you’re guilty. You’ve been waiting for that day when your life will start “for real.”

The trouble with life is that it’s just so daily.

I share this with you because I’ve been thinking about my two grandfathers who are dead and my father who is likewise and I’ve come to the obvious conclusion:

Live while you have the chance.

“Papa was a rolling stone. Wherever he laid his hat was his home…”
- The Temptations, 1971

In the final moments of his life, my father scribbled a note for me to find. In barely legible pencil he scrawled, “All the little things in life add up to your life. If you don't get it right then nothing else matters. It gets lonely in the promised land by yourself.”

My Dad died lonely, I think, because he never made deep commitments. My father’s confession of his loneliness makes me sad, but his scribbled note tells me he wanted me to learn from his mistake.

I meet a lot of people who sigh deeply and say they’re looking for their passion, something to set their souls on fire and send beams of light shining out through their eyes.

But the people with light shining from their eyes know this:

Passion does not produce commitment.
Commitment produces passion.

Solomon, that wise king, spent years of his life searching for passion. In chapter 9 of the chronicle of that search, the book of Ecclesiastes, Solomon writes, “Whatever your hand finds to do, do it with all your might, for in the grave, where you are going, there is neither working nor planning nor knowledge nor wisdom.”

People read that and think Solomon is saying, "Eat, drink and be merry, for tomorrow you may die," but that's not it at all. He's saying, "Throw your whole heart into whatever you do. Live while you have the chance."

This is my Holiday gift to you,
I hope you will receive it:

Find something that needs to be done
and throw yourself headlong into it.

Let today
be the day
your life begins
for real.

Roy H. Williams

"May you live all the days of your life."
- Jonathan Swift, author of Gulliver's Travels

OK....

so I have no picture to show you of the kids drawings from Kopanga. I missed my chance to take a picture of the piece before it got framed and went to the event. Everything was nice at the event, over $13,000 in auction items. I'm not sure what the grand tally was but it seemed like most of the items had bids. There was not the turn out they had hoped for but with this economy I think it was the best one could get. I had my fill of trying to be the social girl for the evening- that's all I'll say about that, but it was great to hear some stories from the people who had already been to Kopanga. A wide range of experiences, and opinions of the situation there, some a bit opposing. I think I'll just have to see for myself.

On another note I got a new camera... rather my Mother gifted me a new camera - a Nikon D90, and I am absolutely loving it! My D70 was nice but this one is so much fun, and I know I have barely scratched the surface with what it can do. I feel some shooting days coming on... yeah!!!