Here we are at Friday again and time to look back to share five of the things that made us say "thank You" to God. I participate in this each week...you can learn more about the Friday Fave Fives by heading over here.
FIVE FAVES
- AMAZED! You can read about my adventure here. I was amazed at how peace settled on my heart after the anxiousness of that university bill.
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image courtesy of imdb site |
- STAY HOME DATE: Last Friday evening both my husband and I were extremely exhausted...mainly, mentally, from our jobs. He had to work late and didn't get home until close to 7. Courtney went from work to a coffeehouse event and then out to a gathering at a friend's home. So I surprised Dave by picking up a chicken-pesto pizza for dinner and we sat curled up on the couch in our lounge-wear and watched the movie pictured above on Netflix. I had read the book years ago when it first came out but for some reason, although we love both actors, we had never seen the movie! It was excellent. We had such a great time just being together in the comfort of our family room. I'm thankful for evenings in with my love.
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| Barren tree in the Fox Preserve North Colonie, NY 16 November |
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| Courtney and I |
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| along the orange trail in the Fox Preserve 16 November 2019 |
- LATE AFTERNOON HIKE: Saturday was housework, small group prep, errands and a leisurely breakfast with Dave. He had stuff he wanted to do in the afternoon after bagging the rest of the fallen leaves, so Courtney and I headed out (I bribed her with Starbucks afterwards!) for a late afternoon hike in a relatively new nature preserve on the edge of our town. The preserve land was donated by a local doctor two years ago. There's a main trail (which we hiked) and a short spur trail (we were on part of it). We hiked just a little over a mile in the cold temps of 27 degrees! The Caramel Brulee lattes we ordered afterwards hit the spot and we were thankful for the exercise in nature as well as the time together.
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| Banana Nugget Cookies |
- XMAS COOKIES! This past weekend I had time to bake another batch of Christmas cookies. I set a dozen aside for lunches this week and put 1 dozen in the freezer for Christmas Eve/Christmas Day. This particular cookie isn't a traditional Xmas cookie but the woman who gave me the recipe died last year. She was a dear saint in my church growing up back in central NY and she used to babysit for us one summer when my mom was back to working full time and we three weren't old enough yet to stay home alone. I remember being 11 and helping her bake these cookies. She ended up giving me the recipe when I went off to grad school and now my children love them. I make them vegan by replacing the eggs with ground flaxseed and the chips are the very dark chocolate (no milk fat) kind. They're so delicious!! It feels good to have a second batch in the freezer (first batch is Gingerbread cookies). I'm thankful I had some extra time to bake.
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- NEW TOYS! The ladies of my small group participated in the service project I created for them. Our church is big on service projects....helping those in the community who need it and getting the small group members involved. Service projects are always optional but I usually have 100% involvement. I had explained to them about the non-profit preschool agency where I help teach and that all of the children there have IEPS because they are in special education and that our resources are very low. So almost every woman, minus one, bought new or gently used toys to group and I was able to bring them to school yesterday. Then another woman who was sick on Wednesday night, dropped stuff off at my house yesterday so I was able to bring those items this morning. I'm so thankful for these generous ladies.
That wraps up my week.
I hope you all have a wonderful Thanksgiving next week....those of you who celebrate it here in the United States. I'm not sure if I'm bringing my laptop to Boston so if I don't, I will be back in December for the FFF!!!
8 comments:
In Germany the women used to bake a lot of Christmas cookies, my mother did, my grandma too I didn't in Belgium it is not the use and my men are not so keen on cookies. I had to laugh that you enjoyed eating a pizza together and watching a movie ! When you are both retired and 24 hours together it's not so funny anymore, lol ! But we made it til our Golden Wedding and had a wonderful celebration offered by the city (on my blog)
Somehow we have never seen that movie, either. I love cozy nights like that.
How special to have a recipe like that from someone so meaningful to you!
I love service projects, too. Our ladies' group in SC loved to do that kind of thing. The verse I loved to use for those was from Luke 8:2-3, which lists several women who followed Jesus and "who provided for them out of their means."
Hope you have a great time in Boston!
I never saw the Pelican Brief!!
I love date nights at home!
Those cookies look amazing YUM
I Love that pic of you and Courtney (I wish this had emojis because I would put the heart emoji LOL)
I love movie nights at home. I haven't seen that movie yet either. Caramel Brulee from Starbuck's is my favorite and would be an awesome bribe! I'd be all over that offer! LOL. Thanks for the idea towards a service project. I've been trying to think of one my group can do for Christmas. We are a very small group this year so it's been hard to think of one we can be involved in. I have not even started to think of baking. Maybe this weekend. I tend to leave it too late and then it becomes overwhelming.
I'm glad the financial worry got taken care of. I love that film. I've seen it a couple of times. Glad you had such great support for your pupils with the toy donations too. Definitely a good week for you. Enjoy the rest of the weekend.
I love these faves! Glad to be back in blog land. I will join with the Friday Faves next week!
Have a good one, my friend!
~Deb
Your Thanksgiving quote is quite apt. I had to take a minute to copy it, and then put it on my Facebook page.
I read your post about choosing to be amazed by God. I could feel your stress and then feel your surrender which then turned to amazement. You encouraged me to stay amazed in God’s presence. Thank you for sharing this.
Her evening and sounded lovely. I don’t think I’ve seen the Pelican Brief. I’m gonna check it out because I like both of those actors. Yum, chicken pesto pizza, Yum.
Starbucks is always a good bribe. I think I would’ve had to of had more than Starbucks, though, to go hiking in 27° Your Daughter is a good sport.
Look at you rocking this getting cookies done early. I’m going to a cookie exchange next Monday, and I plan on making extra for the freezer. I’m hoping to make a spiral cookie, Which I’ve never done before.
Your small group sure blessed the kiddos in your classroom. What is that green thing with the funny googly eyes? It looks like something I want to play with.
Happy Thanksgiving, Faith. See you in December.
I stopped baking my grandma's sugar cookies a couple of years ago--no one around to eat them :) Maybe when we are relocated, I'll bake them again for the grandkids.
I love those short walks and hikes too--just being outside makes me happy. I'm glad you got out in the cold.
I read your amazed post. Yes, we should just not worry or be anxious (note to self: do that; don't just write it!) I'm glad it all worked out.
Have a Happy Thanksgiving Week!
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