2010 Will Never Be Seen Again

Farewell, 2010! I cannot believe how quickly this year has passed with so many joys and memories with it as well. 

Let's look back, shall we? 

~The Highlights of 2010~

I started blogging in February of 2010.

I bought my first good camera. 

My fourteenth birthday.

Our family's 7th trip in a row to Yosemite National Park. 

The meeting of so many sweet and dear friends on this blog! {you are all such a blessing!!!}

At the ending of next year, hopefully we shall be adding to this list of blessings. This year and the past have been a bit overshadowed by the passing of my brother-in-law last year and of my grandfather. Mother says that 2011 is going to be a GOOD year and I absolutely believe that, because all the grieving will be gone, and hearts will be bound and healed.

As we anticipate the future of the New Year, what about 2010? What blessings have filled your year? 

 What a blessing it is that the Lord has given us a whole new year to start fresh and anew! New year to take photos, explore our world, bloom into the young ladies we are becoming, but most of all walking closer with our dear Heavenly Father. 

May the Lord Bless your New Year, dear Readers!!!!

Lots of Love,

Grace 

Thoughts~

What do you think about my new header and background??? Of course, until my 200th post I will not give an explanation as to why there are so many tea-related things {background, header, etc}, but let me give you a hint...

It has something to do with the New Year...and...TEA!:)

Thank you all so much for the wonderful help with my blog...I'm still getting used to the HTML codes and whatnot. 

Well, while you are still guessing, I want to let you know some wonderful giveaways are coming soon, but I think you all ready know that!:) 

Hope all is well with my dear readers,

~Grace~

Christmastime, Oh What Fun!

Good evening readers! Come to visit my garden walk and observe the stars? *sigh* They do look brighter during the Christmastime season, do they not? Perhaps, they know that the Bright Star which led the Wise Men to Jesus appeared during this time of year so long ago...

I hope that you all had a wonderful time celebrating our dear Savior's birth. The New Year is approaching us soon with many changes on its wings. You can feel it, no? Have you started to think of your New Year's resolutions yet?

Well, I thought I would perhaps share a few pictures of our family's festivities. Here are a few of our ornaments:

Playing around with the burning effect on Picnic. Can you tell I am new to photography?

I love ornaments where you can see your reflection! *happy sigh*

~Popcorn Garland~

{Friend took this picture}

My dear Mama's frog ornament...my grandmother who passed away when I was four absolutely loved frog trinkets, and collected a few little {tiny} statues. Reminds me of her when I glance at this green ornament!:)

{Love this picture!} A snowflake...

My Mama also collected penguins, which is her favourite animal, for a time. She keeps a big shelf full in our living area. Our tree is decked with them!:)

~Christmas Day~

I woke up at 8:20 {sleeping in:)} and prepared a big pot of tea before Mother woke up. Served in my Royal Albert Old-Country Roses china, a Christmas gift last year from my dear aunt.

{Tea Cosy from Rebekah @ ~By His Grace and For His Glory~ also Etsy shop Tea Cosy Treasures}

We started opening gifts at around 9:00...we usually do things casually around my house on Christmas morn. Instead of tearing the wrapping up first thing when we wake up, we try to make the unwrapping last {two hours is the longest!:)} We enjoyed a delightful spot of tea {mixture of orange, lemon, and apple cranberry herbal teas}, so lovely accompanied by Trader Joe's Lindonberry scones! Yummy!:)

Lily certainly enjoyed her gift. When it arrived weeks before, she could smell the catnip inside and attacked it; therefore, we had to put it away until Christmas.:D

I received some lovely gifts including this absolutely DARLING pincushion from both of my dear parents! Is it not sweet?

I also received:

Preparing to be a Help Meet

Scrapbooking Supplies (Scrapbook, cutouts, stickers, paper, more paper, and scrapbook pad from Daddy)

Michael's Giftcard

Fabric Scissors

Masterpiece Theater's Emma {2009 version with Romola Garai}

Two purses

Two makeup bags

Money

Sweet-smelling Clementine Soap {locally handcrafted from our Farmer's Market Soap Lady} a scrubbie to go with it

And these beauties from the same Aunt who gave me my china:

{She gives me the best presents}:) She also gave me two tea cups that go with my tea pot.

And a lovely, original {antique} copy of Correct Social Usage, filled with Victorian etiquette for teas, and balls, and dances, etc.

What did you receive for Christmas? Do tell! Did you receive everything you wished for? What special things happened at your house?

As the New Year is approaching us, big changes are coming to my blog, as well as announcements, events, and giveaways! So stay tuned. I will be needing your help soon as well with my blog design!

May the Lord richly bless your evening! Now off, to read my book {The Goose Girl}.

Lovingly,

A Merry Christmas, dear Readers!

May the peace of the Lord be upon you and family this Christmas and upcoming New Year. You are all a blessing to me, dear sweet readers with your cheerful and kind and encouraging comments!

A merry Christmas to you all, my dear sisters in Christ!

Blessings to you all!

A Christmas Special

Dearest Readers~

Since it is Christmas, I thought I would share one of my favorite stories when I was a little girl {it still feels weird to say that!:)}

Beauty and the Beast: The Enchanted Christmas

Yes, even when the season was not Christmastime I would watch this over and over on the VHS, and now that I have watched it again after all these years, I basically know every line by heart. Unfortunately, it does not spread the true reason for this season, but it is still a sweet movie. Of course, it is not even close to as good as the original classic Beauty and the Beast.

I thought you might enjoy snuggling up with a warm throw after all that Christmas shopping {and baking!:)} , and watching one of my fav. Christmastime movies!

(Note: I would recommend this to younger girls {8 and up}. The bad guy is very creepy!)

I absolutely LOVE the the song Stories! So catchy too!:)

May the Lord bless your Christmas preparations!

Lovingly,

Grace

It's Beginning to Look A Lot Like Christmas~Aspire Photography Challenge

Dear Readers~

Miss Hannah Nicole over at Aspire is hosting a Christmas photography challenge that I thought would be very fun to join.

This is my entry; I really like the bokeh {I still have NO idea how to pronounce this word:D} in the background while the camera focused on the light.

Blessings,
Grace

The Voyage of the Dawn Treader Movie Review

Dearest Readers,

Yesterday, my friends and I went to see The Chronicles of Narnia: The Voyage of the Dawn Treader. Before I watched the movie, I had low expectations that it would be worth watching because Prince Caspian was so horrid {in my opinion}, but I was completely mistaken.

Filled with humor, adventure, and magic, The Voyage of the Dawn Treader was an excellent movie production!

Step back into the enchanted land of Narnia once again, joining old friends and new on an epic adventure.

Unlike Prince Caspian, there were no gory wars, thankfully. The director did a wonderful job making the pages of the book become real, and while I watched the movie, I just wanted to step into the screen and join the ship's crew!:) The director did not object tying into the movie what Aslan resembled, whereas the other director for Prince Caspian had hidden Aslan's true identity.

~Old friend's and new~

Although completely not accurate to the book, I certainly would not have changed anything. The director tied in two stories, Dawn Treader and Silver Chair by C.S. Lewis, but they actually worked!

A lesson that can be learned from the movie is this: emotions and temptations that you face daily are stronger wars than any that have been faced in Narnia.

Lucy struggles with vanity and accepting who her true nature is. She thinks that if she were as pretty as her sister Susan, her parents would love her more.

Edmund struggles with thinking he would be a better king than Caspian, and that he deserves a kingdom of his own.

Overall this was an AMAZING movie; however, it was a bit abrupt in the beginning and throughout the whole movie. The quality of it was not as good as some movies I have been watching as well. And there is a very gross {notice not scary} sea serpent closer to the end.

I cried at the ending because *SPOILER ALERT* Lucy and Edmund are not allowed back into Narnia. :( That scene was SO sad, but happy at the same time because they will be back in

The Last Battle.

If you had the opportunity to see the movie, what are your thoughts? Whenever, I watch a Narnia movie I want to basically cry, for we have no way to get into that land, but that glimmer of hope that Narnia is truly a real land can definitely encourage you after watching the Voyage of the Dawn Treader.

Love from your fellow Narnian,
Grace

~Christmas Traditions and Decor. {And More Giveaways}~

It's beginning to feel a lot like Christmas! Good evening, dearest readers! I apologize for not posting as much as I would like! Christmas has kept me SO busy: I still have presents to wrap, gifts to be made, cookies to be baked, movies and activities to be done with friends, and Christmas is in about a WEEK!!!

Miss Sereina with her lovely photography blog, is hosting a photography event, this week's inspiration is holiday food.

My Mother's dear friend is a dear Italian woman, and she graciously invited me to have a baking day with her {since she knows how much I like to bake}. We baked a big batch of an Italian cookie called Biscotti meaning twice baked cookie. It kind of tastes like licorice with the Anise oil we put in the recipe.

With a tall glass of milk for dunking...yummy!!!

Sereina also wanted pictures of our home decorations and lights! Here are a few I took with my new camera!:)

Such a sweet bird surrounded by festive beads!

This is actually at a friend's home, but I thought it was neat looking...

Sorry, the picture is so dark. One of my Christmas traditions, is making a popcorn and cranberry wreath for the tree! What fun!:)

Our home's Christmas lights...

I love this picture of the tree! It took a few times to take it, because my "smart" :D camera kept wanting to focus it sharply!:)

Another tradition of our town is what's called, "The Victorian Home Showcase," known as Vine Street. Annually, our town hosts a very fun family event, where people can hear live music, and eat lots of goodies while enjoying the beautiful Victorian houses on Vine Street and the lights. It's like a huge block party only at night, and filled with Christmas, "magic." ;)

~~~~~~~~Giveaways~~~~~~~~~

My friend, Margery from her ever so lovely blog, Maiden's Musings is hosting her very first giveaway. She is giving away this sweet little country pillow:

I absolutely adore her blog! She has done an excellent job creating her website! I am sure you will enjoy your visit there as well. So enter her giveaway HERE.

My dearest friend, Miriam, is hosting her 300th post giveaway as well. She is giving away a lovely apron made by Ashley from Bramblewood Fashion, three bars of heavenly smelling soap, and lip balm made by Miss Antoinette from Practical Simplicity!

So head on over to her lovely blog and enter her giveaway HERE

I am linking this post up {with pictures} to the following events:

May you create so many lovely Christmas memories this year with family and friends!Blessings to you all,

P.S. I just wanted to let you know that my grandfather has just recently passed away. Unfortunately, we have no idea if he had accepted Jesus to be his personal Savior and had rejected His salvation so many times that we had witnessed to him. During the later part of his life, he was doing very poorly and was very ill; therefore, we had anticipated that he would be passing away shortly and his death was a little easier to bare. Please keep my Mom and my Aunt {her sister} in prayer for comfort! Your prayers are so appreciated!

Your Guide to Christmas Gifts {Etsy Edition}

Dearest Readers,

Etsy's business must be booming during the holiday season. I absolutely love browsing on the Etsy website, and I thought you might like some of these for gift ideas.

~~~~~Supplies~~~~

A soft ball of 100% wool!:)

Found HERE

~A Ball of Lavender Cotton Yarn~

HERE

~A Set of Crochet Needles~

Perfect for the crocheter in the family, and under $5.00!

HERE

~A Set of Bamboo Knitting Needles~

HERE

A Set of Cotton Washcloths

HERE

A Lovely Set of Knit Washcloths

HERE

~Lilac Soap~

HERE

~Lilac Rose Soap~

HERE

~~~~~~~~~~Fabric Gifts~~~~~~~~~~~

~Tea Cosy~

So beautiful, keeps your tea, cider, or hot chocolate warm with that old-fashion charm.

HERE

~Ipod Case~

HERE

~Ruffled Makeup Bag~

HERE

~Tea Book~

HERE

~~~~~~~~~~~Knit Gifts~~~~~~~~

Neck Warmer

HERE

Knitted Fingerless Gloves

HERE

My Mother and I call these Smittens, because they are fingerless gloves and mittens, and the cuteness smites you!:)

HERE

Neck warmer/headband in an array of colors!:)

HERE

HERE

Knitted Scarf

HERE

~~~~~Jewelry~~~~

~Knitting Needle and Yarn Charm~

Too cute!

HERE

Key Necklace

HERE

Hope you enjoy!

Blessings,
Grace