Bless Us One and All

Merry Christmas Everyone!

Making the Season Brighter

 

It's been a rough week.  It started with a scratchy throat, then aches, chills, sweats, then my tonsils kicked in and have been giving me fits.  (Yep, I still have my tonsils).  Yesterday I thought I was starting to feel a bit better then not.  Last night I tossed and turned all night, got some hot tea and raisin toast at 3:30 in the morning, and watched the local news and weather forecast while blowing my nose and rapidly tossing tissues off the side of the bed.  I'm sure you can picture this miserable scenario in your head.  But rather than do that, why don't you just sit back and enjoy my beautiful holiday fireplace decorations.  Aren't they lovely?  Well, except that there is no real fire - yet - unless we want to burn down our house and I don't think we want to tempt fate again until our fireplace is fixed.  So, candles will have to do.  Pretty red ones at that!

 

Celebrating the Holidays with KitchenAid

 

We have our KitchenAid Winner! 

Congrats to Brielle #15:

email me at susan@raisin-toast.com to claim your gift.

  

What one gift are you giving that makes you feel all excited inside?

Brielle wrote:

"This year I am making gifts for my family. I love to quilt and I am making a special lap quilt for each of my 3 siblings and my mother. For the other members of my family I am having special pictures framed and matted for them to hang in their home. I think that handmade gifts and gifts that have thought and emotion behind them are more special than anything I could buy in a store. I want my family to know that I thought about each of them and what would make them happy with every gift I give."
 

I hope everyone has a wonderful Holiday.  May the Lord bless everyone abundantly.

 

 

Happy Birthday Beth!

 

Sometimes you just have to embarrass your friends.  Well, maybe not, but there is one friend who laughs right along with me ... Beth.  Today is her birthday.  She is the only person I know who gets younger every year.  Can you believe she is 21,170 days old?!!!!  Or, somewhere there about.

 
 

 

Life with this Big Guy

 

To read the first part of this family saga - click HERE.

Just before Bob and I got married, he told his parents that he was going to make sure that every day of our life together would be an adventure.  His father waved his hand at us and said "Oh hell, you two haven't even had an argument yet, what do you know about adventure?"  I had been married before, so I knew that marriage wasn't always roses, nor would it be easy, but something inside my gut told me that he was the one.

 

Frontgate - Not the Place to Buy a Christmas Tree

 

Where do I start - how about in 2004.  We purchased a Noble Fir from Frontgate for about 700.00.  Christmas 2004 the tree was beautiful.  Christmas 2005, we had some issues with the lights and tried to correct the problem ourselves.  Christmas 2006, I got shocked pretty bad - the electricity went thru my right arm.  We called Frontgate right away and took down the tree, and Frontgate told us to box up the Noble Fir and return it.  They, in turn, would replace the tree with another Noble Fir. 

 
 

 

Celebrating the Holidays with KitchenAid

 

I love red.  My family room is red. My sectional sofa in my family room is red.  My candles in my fireplace are red.  And, I love this red 90th Anniversary KitchenAid Mixer, so much in fact, that I am giving a brand new mixer to one of my readers.

And, because I am the one sponsoring this gift, this will be the last contest on Raisin Toast this year, so don't miss your chance!

Just answer the question below in the comments:

What one gift are you giving that makes you feel all excited inside?

 

 

Green Cay in December

 

My dear friend, Beth, as you all may know, is not only a wonderful cook and contributor here on Raisin Toast, but her real profession is that of a singer.  She sings professionally around South Florida.  Beth has such a beautiful voice.  Well, last night she made a movie about Green Cay.  She walks, I think, every morning through Green Cay.  It is her personal time and also her time to stay in shape.  I just wish I was there with her!  

In the meantime - she posted her first video on YouTube, and I wanted to post it here for you to enjoy too.