Vow-Newal ..... back after taking a breather....

Hello everyone!

I've missed chatting with all of you ... and would like to revamp my blog ... gotten bored with how it looks.

Life just got too complicated ... lots of things I wanted and needed to do (purge our home of some of the excess, college classes for a Finance degree, preparing for DH and my silver anniversary and vows renewal, family reunion and the list just kept going on and on .... and on!!)    Bet you have had some of those days....

Got much of what I wanted to do done ... silver anniversary celebration went wonderfully and so did the family reunion.  Great to see so many people we haven't seen in quite a while due to DH's work overseas ... 

DH and I had my rings re-sized ... I hadn't been able to wear either of them for years ... worked with electronic repair.  Wearing jewelry is just bad ju-ju when fixing stuff!!  

When we renewed our vows, DH put my rings on me again .... nice to have them back on again!

We also had a butterfly release that went amazingly well ... DH said he kept flashing on an old episode of "Two and A Half Men" where Charlie's mother gets remarried at the beach house and the butterflies are dead and serve as seagull food.   Even the photographer said the butterfly release was one of the best she had ever seen.

We're back home again ... and brought back two Siamese cats we adopted from a rescue in Southern California (more about them later this week).... trying to get back into the swing of normal life again.
Really enjoyed the celebration and family reunion ... but there were days that dealing and coordinating all the details long distance could be quite demanding. Being back home, taking care of day-to-day life details is such a relief!!  

Of course, now I am starting to work on details of the next family reunion in 2018... still have to pin down which of two places it wll be held ... 

Onward and upward ... 

What wonderful things have happened in your life since last we spoke?  
Please share one or two ...

Holly

Could it possible be.....?

This morning,  looking over the fresh, unmarked snow from last night's snowfall  .... 

only to see, going down the street ....

could they be Santa's 

or Pere Noel 

 or  Father Winter's ... 

 Could it possibly be?

It's the time of year for  child-like faith and belief Holly 

Feasting on Friday ... Frog and Toe Jams

DH and I are finally back home again after nearly two months ..

SO good to be back in our own beds and normal routine....

now if we can only get re-adjusted to our home time-zone.

 

We spent Mother's Day weekend with my mother-in-law ~

found these at a small roadside stand while driving to

my in-law's home. 

 

Just had to get them both for DMIL and DFIL!

Love the names!!

 

 

Gotta love the quirky names! 

And there were several people who walked into the place,

read the jar titles and said "Eww!!"

 

"Toe jam" in the US is a slang term for

the gunk that accumulates between the toes.

Definitely not the first thing you think of at a produce stand!!

 

In this case .. "Toe Jam" means "Tangerine, Orange, Elderberry"

~ "Frog Jam" is "Fig, raspberry, orange and ginger".

 

Do you have a quirky food specialty in your area?

Please share!!

Hope to hear from you soon ~

Holly

 

 



It's Spring!! Special Menu to Celebrate!

One of our family traditions is to have a special meal when the season changes ..

Today is the first day of Spring ...

 

So we enjoyed

 

Stuffed Pork Tenderloin

 (with spiced apples and bacon)

Rosemary Potatoes

 

for dessert ... yogurt fruit bombe with apples, strawberries and bananas

 

 

... both are really easy to make ...

and I found the potatoes in the freezer section of a local grocery.

 

Even better ... DH was off

(normally he works evenings),

so no rush to make this for lunch!

 

Do you celebrate a  change of seasons?

I would love to hear of your traditions ~

Holly

 

 

 

 

 

Check out my German Easter Tree!

Germans decorate trees, bushes, branches ...

indoors and out with eggs for Easter.

Lots and lots of eggs!

Yesterday, I saw a huge, green pine garland wrapped with egg loops ..

 

DH and I have been visiting Easter Markets

the last few weekends ~

these markets focus on decorated eggs

 (beaded, drilled, painted, embossed and more)

 and other spring yard and home décor items.

 

I have two trees ~ here's one with the eggs bought over the last two years ~
 

 

Do you do anything special

to welcome Spring

into your home and life?

 

Would love to hear what you do ~

Please share.

 

Holly

 

Bunnies ... bunnies ... who has the bunnies ?

Dh and I visited an Easter Market up in Frankfurt over the weekend.

These was a new experience for us ...

 

DH found one for his tummy  ~ I found one for our Easter Tree ~

Good day for both of us ~

Holly



Happy International Women's Day !

Happy International's Women's Day ! 

 

DH and I got flowers for three of our neighbors!

Here is the set he bought for me.

I hope you can celebrate the day with a special female in your life !

Holly



Happy Valentine's Day

Happy Valentine's Day to all of you!

This morning DH mentioned wanting pumpkin waffles ... fortunately I have everything I need to make them.  If I had thought about it last, night I could have thawed out the bacon in our freezer and made heart bacon for breakfast as well.  (you fold the streaky bacon strips so it approximates a heart-shape).
Tried to make heart shaped waffles ... major flop.  Next time I'll put the waffle batter into a container with a spout ... that should let me  "shape" the batter.
Waffles turned out great ...

Aren't they pretty?  Yummy too!

We're off to visit a wild animal park ... hope you all do something fun today!

Holly

Farewell 2014 ... Hello 2015

I wish all of you and yours all the 

joy and happiness

 your hearts desire in 2015.

Hooray for the start of new year ~

Another chance for all things 

to become right!

Happy New Year!

Holly

most influential person ... thought-provoking

I found this on a dear friend's Pinterest page today ,,, I found it incredibly moving.

No matter your faith ~ or none at all ~ this could be part of anyone's life ...

and it isn't limited to only women of the world ... 

many men are belong as well ...

The World Does Not Know Her Name 

I realize how blessed I have been by so many people whose aid or help 

I took for granted ... how small of me ... and how great of them.

Doesn't matter your faith ... looking back, many of those who helped me

were of faiths vastly different from my own. 

Wishing all of you a Happy 2015!

 

Holly

Last year's Christmas gift from my son

Don't think I ever shared one of the great gifts my son gave me last Christmas ... 

Tried hanging it on the door ... 

but the adhesive hook we put on the door keeps pulling free and crashing to the floor ...

Since I don't want this damaged or destroyed ..we display it in our entryway ...

Isn't it terrific??  

I just love it!!

I am so lucky to have such a wonderful son!!

Holly

 

Have you ever put Christmas trees outside your windows?

I've seen lots of trees that are placed so that they can easily be seen through the windows ... but I don't recall ever seeing trees hung outside a window.   DH and I saw this recently in a nearby town ... the owner was still hanging and decorating them while we were shopping in the street below.

The branches on the side closest to the window are trimmed off and used elsewhere.

So much fun to see how other people do things ... not just Christmas, but all through the year ...  

People are people ... and we can all learn from one another.    Holly

 

... the last of the Christmas gifts are ready to go out!

Christmas cards have all been mailed ... most of the gifts have also gone out.  
It's a nice benefit to DH's deployment ~ many things were done well ahead of schedule. 

Of course, I haven't decorated our home this year ... other than putting out the Advent calendar and our Moravian Star.  

These are the last two gifts to go out ... the two relatives these are going to don't read my blog (and my son already has his gift) ... so I can share this with you.   
 
It's my simple version of this pin:  
  http://www.pinterest.com/pin/571746115165549284/

Was hoping to get a box from the local pizza place ...
 but that's didn't work out (rats!).

Will express-mail them tomorrow when I go grocery shopping ... then I will be done!!

Now I can just relax and enjoy the season
     ... and watch the snow fall....

Holly

gotta love it!!

A friend sent me this on Thanksgiving... just had to share 

(okay... didn't HAVE to ... but I'm going to anyhow)

Don't know who the creator is so I can give him/her credit for this ... 

he/she has a great sense of humor and imagination!

Smiles!!   Enjoy your day ~  Holly

 

Happy Thanksgiving!

Happy Thanksgiving to my friends around the world!

May your stuffing be tasty, may your turkey be plump,
May your potatoes & gravy have nary a lump,
May your yams be delicious, may your pies take the prize,
May you remember your blessings and hopes that the rolls will rise.
Wishing you a joyful time with your families this Thanksgiving.
*********Happy Thanksgiving! *********

Holly

springtime bunnies ...

A bunny in a nearby farmer's field of rapeseed (for rapeseed oil ... lots is grown in the area) .... 

What signs of springtime show up in your area?  Is there a flower patch, a flock of birds or something else that really tells you that Springtime is here?  

Holly

Thanksgiving - bless us one and all

Some of the men carving the turkey as seen from outside -

The fourth Thursday in November is the American holiday of Thanksgiving ....oddly placed on the calendar to serve as a celebration of the harvest and to give thanks for the blessings of the year.  

To me, the Canadian date for Thanksgiving, the second Monday in October, is more aptly placed on the calendar.  Never the mind.




 Today DH and I celebrated Thanksgiving with a feast with our neighbors and other friends.  It was good to share a wonderful meal and remember all we have been blessed with - family, friends, life ...

Wishing you and yours all the best -

 Holly

Finally back .... made a snowman

Bet you all thought I had fallen off the end of the earth .... sometimes, so did I.  Still trying to go through boxes from the move, have gotten most of them dealt with (or tossed ... or given away ...). 

The rooms in our German home mostly flow together ... so I don't want to put a lot of decorations up (plus I REALLY REALLY don't like putting Christmas decorations up before the American holiday of Thanksgiving held on the fourth Thursday of November ... I LIKE being able to enjoy each holiday in its turn).  

For right now ... this is my only decoration ... what do you think?

Holly

Christmas letter 2012

This is one of the two versions of the Christmas letter DH and I sent out with our cards this year ... the family one had a few more personal items listed on it and the "Merry Christmas" and "into 2013" block were both smaller so I could add personal notes.

Not quite what I had originally envisioned , but I like how it came out.

"Cookie Dough" I sent my son for Christmas

A friend of mine sent me a photograph of a variation of this ...
 that one used a deep picture frame to hold the "cookie dough". 

I found this plate (started looking around for one with writing in Italian .. no joy.. oh well, so life goes sometimes) in a euro-store
 and decided I would rather use it to hold the gift.
Modified the wording of the original tag ... not totally satisfied with the wording ... will play with it some more to see what I can come up with.

I think it turned out pretty cute.


Late note:  At some point, it may be a good idea to let the recipant know the money is real ... my son didn't realize that until we talked on the phone some days later.   He thought it was a joke gift until we talked.