A Different Kind of Christmas

Posted on by Mandy


I hate to admit it, but I was really dreading Christmas this year. Not the reason for Christmas and all that it means, but just the fact that I knew things would be different this year.

From Thanksgiving on, things just didn’t go as planned this year. Normally, our Christmas tree is up the day after Thanksgiving, but we were so exhausted from E.B.’s surgery and all the Thanksgiving festivities that two more weeks passed by before it was up. A minor glitch.

About a week ago we learned my mother will have to have a heart valve replacement and possible bypass done in January. This really blew the wind right out of my sails, not to mention the rest of our family.

Christmas cards? Oops. Everyone will now be getting Happy New Year cards. Baking? Very little this year. Shopping? last minute, as always. (Some things never change!) Even my parent’s big annual Christmas Eve breakfast for both sides of the family, something they’ve done for at least 30 years, was cancelled. Understandably, of course.

In the days leading up to Christmas, I could barely muster up any holiday spirit. Everything just seemed too different. Strange. My mind was preoccupied.

As it turns out, even though everything was different, the things and the people that truly mattered were still the same. We were all together. Seeing the excitement in my child’s eyes will never get old. Despite all of the changes, our Christmas still went off without a hitch and we enjoyed ourselves and all of our many blessings.

Musselman’s Apple Sauce

Posted on by Mandy


Musselman’s, proud growers of the highest quality of apples (grown in the USA) for over 60 years, recently sent my family a jar of Original and Cinnamon Apple Sauce to use for making a declicious holiday treat. We looked through all of the fantstic recipes located here and decided to try the Apple Sauce Oatmeal Cookies. They were delicious and it was the first time I had baked with apple sauce. It seemed like an unlikely ingredient for oatmeal cookies, but they were chewy and amazing! We’re sold!

Want another great reason to purchase Musselman’s products? To start the year off with a giving spirit, Musselman’s is donating ten cents to the National Breast Cancer Foundation (NBCF) for every package of Musselman’s Natural Apple Sauce purchased in the month of January. The NBCF is dedicated to raising awareness of breast cancer through education and by providing mammograms for those in need.

Thanks to Musselman’s for letting us try out their apple sauce. We’ve already bought some individual serving packages to pack for school lunches.

New Years Resolutions

Posted on by Mandy


I’m completely aware that it’s not even New Years yet, but it’s getting close and for some reason my mind is transfixed on making New Years resolutions. I honestly can’t tell you why I am so gung ho about this because if history is any indication whatsoever, the only resolutions I am actually any good at keeping are the ones I don’t make, and the ones I do make are completely ridiculous. Getting up every morning rain or shine at Dark o’Thirty to work out? Stop my serious procrastination habit?

Ha. And HA!

I’m usually the first one to declare loudly that I don’t bother making New Years resoltutions because that’s just silly, but the truth is that I have a hard time with setting attainable goals. I’m the type of person that if no immediate results are seen, I quit trying. I’m impatient. I’m hard on myself. I’m indecisive. I’ve become a bit disorganized in many different areas, blogging included. So this time, I’m really trying to break these resolutions down into manageable bites. I’m also praying for heaping doses of patience and will power to see me through even the smallest of changes for the better that I attempt to make.

What about you? Have you thought this far ahead yet? what do you want your 2010 to be like?