How Was Your Christmas?

It’s been such a busy time for everyone. I hope that you all had a great Christmas. I’ve enjoyed having my two kids home this past week.

I had fun making cookies with my daughter and Tom and our son enjoyed eating them. I won a great recipe book from Jill (thanks again) and everyone got to choose a recipe for us to make. We made butter cookies, brown sugar shortbread, cheesecake pumpkin squares, golden kalacky (peach & blackberry preserve cookies) and double peanut butter fudge that were just great. Below is the recipe for the peanut butter fudge cookies.

1 can (14 ounces) sweetened condensed milk
¼ cup creamy peanut butter
2 cups all-purpose biscuit baking mix
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
¼ cup granulated sugar
½ teaspoon red colored sugar
½ teaspoon green colored sugar

1. Heat oven to 375.
2. Beat sweetened condensed milk and peanut butter with electric mixer on medium speed in large bowl until smooth. Beat in baking mix and vanilla; stir in peanut butter chips. Set aside.
3. Stir together granulated sugar and colored sugars in small bowl. Shape dough into 1-ince balls; roll in sugar. Place 2 inches apart on ungreased cookie sheet; flatten slightly with bottom of glass.
4. Bake 6 to 8 minutes or until very lightly browned (do not over bake). Cool slightly. Remove to wire rack and cool completely. Store in tightly covered container.

Christmas Eve service was lovely. Afterwards we had take out from Double Dragon (great Chinese food) and started to watch last’s season’s Lost. It’s amazing what I’ve forgotten in a year. It’s a tradition we started since leaving New York. We have take out and watch movies.

The next day after we open our gifts, we enjoyed a big breakfast (scrambled eggs, English muffins, orange juice, bacon, French toast and hash browns). I made one of my family’s favorites (cream cheese chicken) for Christmas dinner. We enjoyed a nice, quiet day together.

My son has a DS and one of the gifts he got was Brain Age. It’s very addictive. I’m not saying what my age is, but I probably need to buy one now to practice. I need lots of practice.

It’s been busy, but very enjoyable this past week. I look around and realize how blessed I am. So thank you Lord, for Tom, my children and the people you’ve placed in my life who love me.

© Nadine Z. 2007

Office Christmas Party

My boss just finished building his new house (the mansion is pictured above). It took two and half years to build. It is one of the most elaborate homes I’ve ever been in. It’s 9,000 square feet and has three floors. The grand entry way is impressive between the stairs and all the tile and woodwork. There are five bedrooms, each with its own bathroom (he has five kids). The master suite has two separate toilets (his and hers), a big bathtub, a shower that has so many jets the dirt just flies off of you and a fireplace. There is a living room, dining room, an eat-in kitchen with a family room off to the side. The top floor has the three girl’s bedrooms and a large common area. The basement has the two boy’s bedrooms, another family room, theater, exercise room, bonus room, pool room (changing area, lockers and full bathroom), wine cellar and bar. For those who are curious there are ten bathrooms and seven people living in the house. The oldest two children are away at school. The pool he calls a lap pools is two meters short from being Olympic size. It’s a very beautiful home.

My boss wanted me to cook a fancy meal at his home when it was complete. He’s been saying this for the last two years. My wonderful husband agreed to help me. Instead of going to work, I went to his house and got paid to cook Christmas dinner for the office staff and spouses. Tom and I cooked over six hours straight to get this meal together. I had a nice budget from the boss which I went over about twenty dollars.

We started off with appetizers: stuffed mushrooms, fresh mozzarella slices with tomato (seasoned with olive oil, balsamic vinegar and spices), artichoke hearts, olives, provolone cheese, roasted red peppers, cherry peppers and pepperoni. Next up was Shrimp Caesar Salad. The main course consisted of stuffed sea food shell dish in vodka sauce. The pasta shells are stuffed with ricotta cheese, mozzarella cheese, parmesan cheese, Italian seasonings, shrimp, crab meat and scallops. Tom made his version of individual Beef Wellington. It consisted of beef tenderloin, roasted red pepper, gorgonzola cheese, bacon bits, portabella mushroom wrapped in puff pastry. The side dishes were roasted potatoes mushrooms sautéed in wine sauce, glazed carrots and asparagus. For dessert we had cheese cake, fresh blackberries and raspberries with fresh whipped cream presented in a large bowl, and mini puff pastry shells stuffed with raspberries and whipped cream.

We were so tired and our feet hurt by the end of the night. I’m grateful I had Tom to help or else I would not have been to do it. My boss was very appreciative and everyone got to take home leftovers.

Below is a slide show of some of the food and the house.

© Nadine Z. 2007

Christmas Tour of Homes

Thank you Boo Mama for hosting Christmas Tour of Homes. Stop by so you can see all the beautiful Christmas decorations. So welcome to my humble home. Let me share some of my favorites.

This is our front door.
The stairs.
The tree.
These picture frames with us and the kids. (Check out my “fro”. This is why my hair is long.)
Front hall.
My daughter made this wreath in fifth grade. She's now 24.
The fireplace with my Christmas village on top. Close up of part of the village.
Nativity globe
I always loved this kneeling Santa.
I made this Christmas angel.
The wooden nativity was handmade by a friend.

I hope you enjoyed the tour of my home.

© Nadine Z. 2007

Twelve Days of Christmas

Tom’s cousin sent him this link. I thought these guys had great voices and I liked their twist on “The Twelve Days of Christmas.” I hope you enjoy it too.

How Observant Am I?

Tom and I were coming home the other day when suddenly we noticed a block away a new Walgreens in our neighborhood. The crazy thing is we didn’t notice the construction being done. Granted it was behind another store and we never turn down that street, but still you would think we would have seen it.

We decided to stop in and check it out. We walked around and bought a couple of things we needed at home. We went to the check out and I asked the lady how long have they been opened. She replied, “Three weeks.” Three weeks – are you kidding me? I’m usually more observant that.

So often when life is busy (and it has been) it’s easy to miss things going on around me. Sometimes it gets overwhelming and all I can see is what is in front of me. I hate that. I like to be concerned with others. I try to be an encourager. How can I do those things, if I don’t notice the needs or hurts? I don’t want to be so absorbed with my life that I miss the world around me, especially people.

I guess its all boils down to how I look at it. I see what I want to see through whatever lens I’m using. If are my lens is clear, filtered through peace then what I see has a peaceful tint. If my lens is clouded by confusion then how I see the world is skewed. I need to take off my “glasses” and have them cleaned from time to time. At this time of year I especially want to be aware of my fellow man and woman.

So how observant are you? I hope better than I am.

© Nadine Z. 2007

Photo of poster named, “Hidden Depths.”

Perspective

A friend sent me the following email:

An English professor wrote the words, “a woman without her man is nothing” on the blackboard and directed the students to punctuate it correctly.

The men wrote: “A woman, without her man, is nothing.”

The women wrote: “A woman: without her, man is nothing.”

Interesting…

© Nadine Z. 2007

The Nostalgia Meme

I’ve been tagged by Chappyswife to do a nostalgia meme. What is that you ask? I’m to tell you what I was doing ten, twenty and thirty years ago. I’m 46 years old and I hope I can remember that far back. I have trouble remembering what I ate for lunch the day before, but let’s give it a go.

Ten years ago it was 1997 and we were living in West Virginia. Tom and I were church planters. It was the first time we done such a thing and it was difficult. West Virginia was a hard place for us but we learned so much by being there. The lessons learned helped us to pastor the church God sent to us now. Just because something is difficult doesn’t make it bad (at the time you couldn’t have convenience me of that). During those hard days I often cried out to God, “Did you send me here to die.” Yes he did, but in a good way. I died to my flesh and learned to love people when it wasn’t easy to love them. I learned so much about who I was in Him and it helped me to grow as a person. The great thing is that I know I’m still evolving and I’m still learning.

Twenty years ago it was 1987 and I was 26 years old with two small children living in New York. When we started to have kids we made the decision for me to stay home. It wasn’t an easy decision because I had a good job. It was only a job to me and not a career. I only missed the paycheck to be honest. I never regretted it for an instant. I’m grateful for the times our families helped us out financially. God always knew when things were a bit tight and somehow someone gave us what we needed to pay the bills. I loved being a mom. I loved taking care of the kids and Tom. I was one of those overly prepared moms that took almost the whole nursery with me when we traveled. I was comfortable being that anal. I’m very grateful I was able to stay home with the kids until they started school.

Thirty years ago it was 1977 and I was 16 years old. What I didn’t know was that in a couple of months (February 11, 1978) my life would change forever. I would start to date the man I would eventually marry. The funny thing about that was I never thought I would fall in love so young. I remember having a conversation with my best friend. I told her I didn’t want to get married until I was about 25 years old. I paused for about a minute. I then said, “Something inside of me tells me that by the time I’m 18, I’ll be engaged and by the time I’m 19, I’ll be married.” That was exactly what happened. He’s a good man and I’m still passionately in love.

If anyone of you would like to do this meme, consider yourself tagged. Let me know so I can check out your answers.

© Nadine Z. 2007

The Truth of the Matter – Part V

As promised more questions answered. There is one more installment to this series before I’m done.

Demara asked, “What is your favorite, most adventurous childhood memory? How old were you at the time? Why is it your favorite?”

I don’t know how adventurous I was as a child, but when I was five my parents took me on a cruise. There was a talent show. I wanted to be in it. My mom wondered what I would do and I didn’t know. Picture this: The band is playing music and I walk on stage. I start to dance. First like Elvis, then the hula and then the big finish – ballet. It is one of my favorite memories because I wouldn’t be that adventurous now. I did win a beautiful doll, not only from the cruise ship but also from a couple of passengers who thought I was cute and entertaining.

Jill asked, “Please share some special family holiday traditions/or memories. Do you have pasta?” “What is one piece of advice you’ve given your children that they would say has impacted them the most?”

On Thanksgiving we always have a turkey, ham, sweet potatoes, mashed potatoes, green bean casserole, corn, gravy, and pasta. We put up the Christmas tree and decorate the day after Thanksgiving. Since moving away from NY we have developed some different traditions. We used to spend Christmas Eve with Tom’s family and Christmas day with mine. Our kids always opened up their gifts on Christmas morning. Presently we do take out on Christmas Eve and watch movies. I have snacks for movie time until we get tired and go to bed. We open up gifts on Christmas morning and I make a “big breakfast” (scrambled eggs, French toast, bacon, sausage, hash browns, toast, orange juice and coffee). We relax all day and enjoy a special dinner. It’s been fun to celebrate as a family this way. I’m very grateful that our son will be home for Christmas and the tradition will continue.

I asked my daughter the second question and she said that I’ve taught her to have fun. Life is serious enough, so make time to enjoy it. Tom and I encourage our children to live their dreams and to pursue what they are passionate about. They are both doing that. We are very proud.

Chappyswife asked: “Do you love the area where you live? Where all have you lived? Have you ever been to OK? What comes to mind when you think of OK?

I love where we live. The climate is dry and sunny. We’ve lived in NY, WV & WA. I’ve never been to OK. What comes to mind is one of my favorite musicals, Oklahoma.

© Nadine Z. 2007