I welcomed in Christmas

 

 

 

 

 

and

 

 

 

 

 

I am welcoming in the new year

 

 

Happy New Year!

Never too old to learn

I have heard a lot of people talk about Pinerest and I have looked at the site a few times but didn't think much of it until......I hit on a subject that interested me and yes you can spend hours just looking and looking.

I eat lunch alone and get tired of can soup so have been looking into recipes that I can make and freeze or use for other dishes so my first attempt was Chicken tortilla soup. I bought these tortilla strips

and the smallest amount of Jack Cheese I could get of which I grated and stored in coffee filters

 Which I plan on putting in a freezer bag when I am finished with the soup and freeze for a later use.

 

I ate the soup till I tired of it and rather than freezing it as I had planned I decided to create a whole new dish from the shredded chicken, corn and diced tomato's in the soup.

 I cooked this rice as directed then put half of it on a paper place, place shredded chicken, corn and tomato's on top and then topped it all with some of the shredded jack cheese. Popped it in the microwave and cooked until the cheese melted.....delicious!

 

I am trying to  prove you can eat good even alone:)

 

Just learned you can freeze bacon grease and a lot of other things you wouldn't have thought of...opens many doors of opportunity for cooking for one without waste.

 

Christmas

We know the song......"The first Noel" but what does it mean?

 

Song?

 

Peace?

 

Season?

 

\

\

\

\

\

\

\

\

\

\

\

\

\

\

\

\

\

\

\

\

\

\

\

\

\

\

The word "noel" has Indo-European roots, and means "birth" or "to be born and it is not found in the Bible but it is all about the birth.....

 

 

 

 

Christmas memories

Daughter and I made these Christmas Carolers over 20 years ago.

My mother gave me this nativity scene 30 years ago.

Hours and hours were required to finish this and finally be able to hang it up for the holiday.

I know they continue to have new things up for sale every year but I seem to enjoy the old ones with memories the best.






 

Heavy Heart

No words

No understanding

No laws

 

Can mend a broken heart

 

I am a long way  from Sandy Hook Elementary School in body but not in spirit

Decorating

Every year I seem to have less enthusiasm about decorating for Christmas. This is the deal...I like to look at it but I don't like putting it up or taking it down....... How is that for a dilemma.

I think part of the problem is that I have too many Christmas decorations

and having to choose what to put up and what not to put up is part of my problem. I am thinking that maybe if  I downsized my Christmas decorations and had a set pattern for decorating every year it would be more of a routine rather than a dilemma?  Maybe it would become my traditional Christmas?


So tell me...do you put the same decorations up every year or do you vary it each year?

 

Tribute

US Tries to Stop UN Internet Control

Since this was headline news today I felt I wanted to write a tribute to my blog while I still can.

Here is some information on the UN:
The United Nations is an international organization founded in 1945 after the Second World War by 51 countries committed to maintaining international peace and security, developing friendly relations among nations and promoting social progress, better living standards and human rights

The USA not only hosts the UN Headquarters in New York City

 it has given billions of dollars to it as well.

Trying to find out much about UN is like stepping in a den of snakes...

and the original stated goals of friendly relations among nations seemed to not exist while

 

 

 

 Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad

 

defiant as ever, in his final address to the UN General Assembly; was allowed to lash out against Israel and the U.S. calling for a new world order.

 

Membership in the United Nations requirement? It is open to all other peace-loving states which accept the obligations contained in the present Charter and, in the judgment of the Organization, are able and willing to carry out these obligations Like I said it is a den of snakes. Now they have decided to take over control of the Internet and what will that look like?

 

From the beginning, the Internet has been governed almost exclusively by the engineers who designed it and who continue to enhance and extend its capabilities. The core standards and protocols are overseen by the Internet Engineering Task Force. Website domain names and IP addresses are registered by ICANN. And the constant redesign of the Web itself is the job of the World Wide Web Consortium. These are all multi-stakeholder, non-governmental organizations, beholden only to the over two billion Internet users around the world. It’s not much of a stretch to say that the Internet works as well as it does precisely because it has managed to stay largely immune from interference and oversight from traditional governments—slow-moving, expensive, secretive, jealous, partisan governments.

Tribute

When I started blogging it was because of the advice I was given as a way to promote my book but then I got a comment! Just that little note of approval as sweet as the sound of "You got mail". I have had the privilege of blogging about whatever subject I choose from political to travel to recipes to family and funny. I am saying these things because I was told recently that whatever you put on the Internet will stay there forever and then it occurred to me....It is possible my future great grand kids could read my blog........DOESN'T THAT BLOW YOUR MIND! Think about if you could access your great grandmothers blog, what would she be saying. Well along with the things I have chosen to blog about I want my future generation to know that we are at war to keep the rights that established this country. They are being chipped away piece by piece and I am afraid that if you have the opportunity to read this you won't even know what our country stood for. So hear me loud and clear....The USA was a country built on Christian principals and one to be proud and one that people were willing to die for. A country that  gave OPPORTUNITY to become whatever you wanted...Christian or non-Christian, successful or failure it was all in YOUR control not the governments. No take from the rich and give to the poor...no it was reach our a hand to help the poor get our of poverty. Not change all the tradition and laws because one person or group was offended, not force people to buy a product (health care) because the government said it was good for us and to have electric cars because it was good for the land and etc. No....we use to be free to make our own choices and it may be that our freedom of accessing the Internet will no longer exist either.

I hope and pray that if you read this blog after I am dead and gone you still know what it is like to be free.

Variety is the spice of life

Variety is the spice of life they say and yet I find that I form routines that easily slip into ruts. I eat the same foods at the same places and sit in the same seats at restaurants and at home. Is it any wonder that sometimes life feels a bit boring?  I use to crochet a lot years ago and then started knitting which I prefer now but have been feeling a little bored with that too sooooooooo I dug out a old crochet pattern and whipped it up and didn't it turn out cute?

and then I got to thinking about several cross stitch kits I had started and tucked away and I got this brain storm.
What if I do a variety of projects all in different places in my house that I normally don't even sit in......
like the dinning room

which is usually only when we have company

 

 good lighting and lots of room to work on this project

 

 maybe it will get finished in time for Christmas

 

and the living room.....

 

that never gets used...well look what I tucked out of view.....

 another cross stitch that I started many moons ago

 

 

 

 

and then there is the room where we only exercise body or voice....

I tucked a little bag of yarn scraps and a crochet hook to make up a preemie blanket and do a little rocking

 

and of course I still have my regular spot to do some knitting.....

Maybe variety is the spice of life.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

A different perspective

My motto has always been "up close and personal" but seeing this picture got me to thinking....

Banpo Bridge in Seoul, South Korea  What would it be like to drive over this bridge?



I have been over a few famous bridges like.....

The Golden Gate Bridge

The London Bridge in Arizona

 

 

The bridge over the Hover Dam

 

 

 

 

The Coronado Bridge in San Diego, Calif.

 

 

 

 

 and my experience with all of those was that the best perspective of the bridge was at a distance like this view of Sydney Harbor Bridge...

that I did not drive over but saw.

 

If I got to ride over that bridge in Korea would I even see the water?  Maybe up close and personal isn't always the best choice ...............................................................

 



 

Put your money where your mouth is.....

How many times do we hear politicians talk about helping the poor and then look at there personal charitable giving to see barely a penny's worth out of their pocket.

How many times do we hear people gripe and grumble about our government and then have the nerve to say they didn't vote.

How many times do we hear stories of people being robbed and people pretending not to see it because they don't want to get involved and then complain about the crime rate increasing.

As a young girl I grew up in a very small town and my folks owned the only grocery store....they refused to even say whether they were Democrat or Republican because it would hurt their business. Even I am not sure what their preference was but I remember thinking it wasn't right.  I would like to think as an adult now that I would have the courage to stand up for what I believe....perhaps that is why this recent story on FOX news impressed me so much. You may not agree with it but he has put his money where his mouth is and has even received death treats.


"To Whom it May Concern:
I thought you all might be interested in this. We will try to demonstrate once again that the bottom line for our business is principle, not money. Yes, it has been damaging at times but our values are intact. Effective immediately, if you voted for Obama, your money is no good here. You have proven beyond a doubt that you are not responsible enough to own a firearm. We have just put a sign up on the front door to save you the trouble of walking all the way in here.”

This is a gun shop in Pinetop, Az.

 

Just a little south cont.

Time to head a little further south to our final desination......

 Tubac Golf Resort and Spa

What a beautiful, historic place this was. Originally owned by a Mexican family for over 140 years and many of the buildings renovated and still being used like this BEAUTIFUL restaurant...

 

that was originally the stable. I loved this place just look at the floor...

 

The lighting...

The bar was rather quaint too...

with the wall of old sombrero's and the saddle stools (too bad no one got a picture of hubby and I straddled on these...on second thought it might not have been too pretty).

All the rooms were casita's and like the rest of the place they were beautiful...

With the rich Mexican colors...

But the top of it all was the grounds.....

 Unique lighted walkways that lead throughout

 

fountains and fire pits

 and in the middle of the property were shops and some original silo's (didn't get a picture) and

 huge tree's

 

 

cattle grazing in the middle of the golf course...

 

Special outside dining

 

 something to catch your eye everywhere you looked

 

 

How about this wind spinner made out of bicycle fenders.

 

They were having a hot air balloon event  and we saw them starting to set up...

and what a sight at night...

 

I walked up to one to take a picture and right when I did he gave it the gas..

They had a great band playing...

Just wished it would have been in a area where you could dance......

 

and to top it all off....the service was great and the food was awesome!

 

Slept like a baby and in the morning we walked hurried to the restaurant for breakfast (It was only 37 degrees outside) and it was just as pretty as it was before....here is a few more views..........

 

 

 

 

I really liked this place....can you tell?