Not Me Monday ~ Froze My Brain Edition

I did not venture out of my warm home in sub-zero weather to go take pictures with my little point and shoot camera. I would never leave my warm bathrobe and comfy couch to do something like that.....NOT ME that would just be crazy!

I would not travel around the corner to a little park to get these pretty little pictures without gloves, snow pants, and a hat. Someone who has been a Michigander her whole life would never be so insane. She mostly certainly would not think to herself, "I will leave those things behind to make sure I don't stay in the park to long"....No Not Me!

I would not run at all taking these pictures to warm myself up.


I would not place these footprints just for a picture...Not Me!


I would not think, "I should sit down on the bench and take a picture after of my backside prints on the bench....that would be funny!" I am more elegant than that.


I would not love this picture!
I did not hear terrible sounds coming from this bridge when I walked on it. I did not imagine what I would do if I fell into the river below. I figured, considering how cold I already was, that I would die as soon as I hit the water....I did not think that....No Not Me I am stronger than that. HA

I would not love this one too!!!

I did not travel on private property....
To get a picture of these cute little trees!!!!

I did not jump out of my warm car to grab this picture...Nope Not Me!

I did not think how fun would this picture would be. I would also not think how wonderfully tall this 5'1" girl looked today! Well, check out those long legs ....Whoo hoo!

I did not run back to the car with my arm on top of my head trying to warm up my brain; because I didn't bring a hat. I did not frantically try to use my car starter from a 1/2 mile away.

I did not have to defrost my glasses and myself!!!!!!!!!!

I do not have Pneumonia now...Nope Not Me!!!!!!

"Whenever I’m about to do something I think, would an idiot do that? And if they would I do not do that thing!" ~ Dwight Shrutte

I am NOT an idiot!

Welcome to Not Me! Monday! This blog carnival was created by MckMama. You can head over to her blog to read what she and everyone else have not been doing this week.

Homemade Christmas ~ Bath Fizzies & Card Holder

Have I ever told you how much I love Martha Stewart??? I do and these are some of her ideas, Bath Fizzies & Christmas Card Wreath . I will post instructions and pictures here of the steps I did for the Bath Fizzies. I love the Card Holder! I think I may change the bow for birthdays, I never know where to put birthday cards...now I do. Both of these things are soooooo super easy!

Bath Fizzies

(the steps are from marthastewart.com with little add ons from me)

Supplies:
Baking soda
Cornstarch ( I use to play with cornstarch and water mixture when I was a kid...fun stuff)
Citric acid (bulk food or health food store)
Spritzer bottles (thank you American girl hair care kit)
Food coloring
Glass bowl
Essential oil ( I used vanilla and peppermint)

Step #1

Sift 1 3/4 cup baking soda, 1 cup citric acid, and 2 cups cornstarch through a sieve to remove chunks. To make different tints, fill small spritzer bottles with water and add about 6 drops of food coloring to each.

Step # 2
Pour 1 cup of powdered mixture into a glass bowl. Lightly spritz, stirring after each spritz, until powder is desired color. Add water slowly, so mixture does not fizz. If mixing two tints, alternate colors as you spritz. Check the consistency of powder with your fingers; when it can be tightly packed or shaped, stop spritzing (this may take a little while).

Step #3

Select an essential oil. Add 5 drops if it's one of the stronger scents (peppermint, lavender), 6 if it's a weaker one (lemon, grapefruit). Mix well. Firmly pack mixture into small baking molds. We used 1/4 cup for each fizzy, which is good for one bath. Allow mixture to set for 2 hours, then pop out carefully. Repeat with different tints for remaining powder. My pink ones turned out better than my yellow ones, I think because I used more water.

Step #4
Place in some pretty packaging and put a bow on it! This is a fun gift! Becareful with it they do break pretty easy.

Christmas Card Wreath

All you need is a sewing ring, clothes pins, hot glue, ribbon and get a few Christmas cards outa your mailbox! Hot glue the clothes pin (facing outward or some inward too if you have a bigger ring) to the ring. Then all you need to do is attach a bow, hang it and clip your cards on! I love this!!!!!

Lazy Wednesday's Walk ~ Toothpaste Request

So for Wednesdays walk I am participating in this

So click here to read my Lazy Wednesday's Walk!

A Toothpaste Request!

Sweet Tradition Comes to an End!

One of my favorite traditions of Christmas celebrated it last year on Saturday. Faith Covenant Church for the past 31 years has had a traditional Swedish Breakfast the first Saturday of December. My family has been going to this event for the last 25 years. My family is Swedish so it is nice to learn about traditions of the Swedes(I wrote a portion of the program that explains the celebration at the end of this post). It has always been one of the highlights of our holiday season and this year it was no exception. I love this event and I love the message of Christ. (I have written going to this before, my great grandpa's Swedish pancake recipe is posted there Yum!)




A little Christmas shopping before the breakfast, we just had to get some more Swedish decorations.

The entry is just beautiful and "God Jul" (Good Yule) is Swedish for "Merry Christmas"!

Mom with her daughters.

Grandma with her granddaughters.

The candles were lit one last time.

In Jesus' name to the table we go.

Bless, dear God, the food we are about to receive.

For God's praise and for our use.

We receive the food.

In Jesus's name.

Amen

~Swedish Table Grace

We gobbled up our Lucia buns, cardamom bread and fruit soup.
St. Lucia leads the way in celebrating the birth of our Lord.

The hand bell choir played beautiful Christmas music.
The pastor gave a wonderful message of the birth of our Savior and that He came to this earth to die for us.

One last picture in front of the fabulous tree decorated with symbols of God. I love the gold crown at the top.

As one tradition ends new ones will always begin, but lets never forget Christ and why we celebrated His birth. God in heaven sent His son to be born of a virgin. Here on earth He was fully God yet fully man. His name is Jesus and He lived among us a life of purity and did many miraculous things. He who was blameless died for us so that we could be made right with God. But death could not contain Him. Jesus conquered death and rose again three days after His crucifixion. He ascended to heaven and is now preparing a place for us there.

When we die we can go to heaven as well. All we need to do is to accept Jesus as God. We must believe in our hearts that Jesus is who He says he is. Then we must ask for forgiveness and live a life that is pleasing to Him.

God loves us so much, that he died for our sins. He wanted to make a way for us to be with Him forever and He did that through His son. It is His gift to us and it is free, all we have to do is accept it.

In the program the girl who played St. Lucia said this....

"Do not hide your light under a basket, but let it shine for the whole world for all centuries to see. We must ask Jesus for courage to bring the light of His love into our work, recreations, our relationships, our conversations....every corner of our day.

Hosanna, Christ the light of the world is born!"

The Saint Lucia Tradition (from program)

Lengend describes Lucia as a beautiful young Italian girl, who, as she was about to be married, gave her dowry to the poor and confessed to having become a Christian. She carried food and drink to the Christians hiding in the catacombs, wearing candles in her hair to help light her way in the dark. Finally, she was captured, accused of witchcraft, brought to trial as a Christian and burned at the stake on December 13th, 304 A.D.

The legend of Saint Lucia probably came to Sweden by way of the Church. It was primarily a family observance. Early in the morning, members of the family were awakened by the eldest daughter, who served coffee and special, freshly baked rolls. She wore a white gown and on here head she had a wreath of greenery adorned with lighted candles. Today, Saint Lucia festivities open the Christmas season in Sweden and are celebrated in homes, hospitals, schools and communities.

Saint Lucia stands as a symbol of service and light.

So, You Really Want To Know?!

Hello, my name is Christina....

nice to meet you!
I was born in Ohio but raised in Michigan. I love living in Michigan in fact my sister and I were talking about it and how much we love our four season state (well maybe we could do without such a long winter). I have a godly heritage.... wonderful grandparents, loving parents, the best in-laws and a beautiful sister.



Some simple things about me are:


I love art, reading, blogging (but I have always hated writing), singing, taking pictures, doing kid's parties, crafty things and making them, hanging out with my family, things that are cozy, holidays, my kids, the ministry, the Bible, learning more about God, Getting Joy!
I have a beautiful family. I married my high school sweetheart 15 years ago. My wonderful husband is currently a youth pastor. You can read more here about us. I have three adorable children who are a blessing to me everyday. I have two girls and my baby boy! My oldest daughter is my creative girl. My middle girl is my little leader. My son is pure joy. I have tons of blogs about them. Oh, and lets not forget my dog, Eowyn (A-O- Win).

I am a follower of Christ. I love Him dearly and long to grow in the knowledge of God and a deeper relationship with Him. He has given me a hope and a future. He knows me inside and out and still loves me. Because of His great love my life is full of purpose.
Because of my faith in Him, He has called me to be His servant. I am a licensed minister of the Assemblies of God. I believe God has called me to minister to the children of our church they are a complete joy! I am so humbled that God in all His glory would chose me to share His story. I live for Him. 

We are also beginning a new adventure within the year...starting a new church!   Whoo HOO!

I am a follower of Christ, a pastor, a pastor's wife, a mommy, a daughter, a sister and a friend. And every one of these roles helps me....


(go here to read about Getting Joy)

The Key to Christmas

The Christmas season is in full swing around here and it is only the 3rd day of December. So far, I have done something Christmassy everyday. I decided yesterday that I can't get enough of this holiday....I love it. I think I could hear the Christmas story 20 million times and it would never get old.

Last night, I went to a wonderful Ladies Tea in East Tawas, MI. It was fabulous! I had yummy cake, chocolate kisses and hot cocoa in a beautifully decorated community center. There were twinkle lights, presents with beautiful bows, candles and Christmas trees everywhere. What a wonderful way to begin this holiday season.

The best portion of the night was the message shared by a friend of mine Tonilee Cullison a message of the gift of Christmas, Jesus. There were so many beautiful things that she shared but one that stuck out to me was a phrase she used "Be yourself...everyone else is taken!"

In this crazy time of year where everyone is buzzing around from party to party and seeing friends and family that we see once a year it is so easy to fall victim to trying to be someone we are not. It may be for several reasons....haven't reached our goals, our life didn't turn out the way we plan, we want people to be proud of us, we want people to like us ...the list could go on and on. Sometimes it is just easier being something we are not.

At the tea we were given a handmade key chain (Isn't my purple key chain in the picture so pretty...God wanted me to have that one, He knows my favorite color is purple). Each one of the key chains was different and unique. It was to remind us that God made us unique with different qualities, character and abilities. We are homemade by Him! We are valuable to Him!

He knew us before we were ever born.
(I blogged about this verse before here)

Psalm 139

13 You made all the delicate, inner parts of my body and knit me together in my mother’s womb.

14 Thank you for making me so wonderfully complex! Your workmanship is marvelous—how well I know it.

15 You watched me as I was being formed in utter seclusion, as I was woven together in the dark of the womb.

16 You saw me before I was born. Every day of my life was recorded in your book. Every moment was laid out before a single day had passed.
17 How precious are your thoughts about me, O God. They cannot be numbered!

18 I can’t even count them; they outnumber the grains of sand!

He has a plan for us.
(I blogged about this verse before here)

Jeremiah 29:11

For I know the plans I have for you,” says the Lord. “They are plans for good and not for disaster, to give you a future and a hope.

He loves us.
(I blogged about this verse before here)

John 3:16

For God loved the world so much that he gave his one and only Son, so that everyone who believes in him will not perish but have eternal life.

The Key to Christmas Joy is faith in Jesus Christ the son of God. When we believe in Him he fills the God shaped hole inside of us and fills us to overflowing with hope, joy and love!

Merry Christmas everyone and this holiday season please......

Homemade Christmas ~ Girly Headbands

For the next the next four Fridays, I am going to post some holiday gift ideas that I am making and will be giving this year. Hopefully you will be inspired to make some fun gifts and save some money for yourself this year.

Girly Headbands

Fun Headbands that you can make to go with your girls Christmas dress or give as a gift. This is a fun, easy craft to make and it only takes minutes to make it. It cost very little. I spent 45cents on material, two bucks on rhinestones and two bucks on three headbands.

Supplies:

1. Headband

2. Material (synthetic/polyester....material that will melt)

3. Rhinestones or buttons

Tools

1. Scissors

2. Fire (Candle or oil lamp)

3. Glue Gun

Steps

1. Cut 5 circles out of material.(hey no perfect circles here)

2. Melt edges and sides of material. (This will keep material from fraying. Experiment with the heat to enhance the edges. Practice with a few pieces first. Make sure you don't burn it or burn your house down!)

3. Arrange how you want to layer your flower.

4. Hot glue pieces in center, layer after layer.

5. Hot glue rhinestone or cute button in center of flower and the hot glue to headband (or to a pin, or sew onto a winter hat, or to a purse...whatever you want to)

Have a blessed Christmas and....

Lazy Wednesday's Walk ~ Twelve Days of Christmas

So for Wednesdays walk I am participating in this

So click here to read my Lazy Wednesday's Walk!

In honor of the Christmas season here are "My 12 Days of Christmas!"
Read one or read them all, enjoy our family traditions.

If you start with the 12 day I have all the days linked and you can work your way backwards like the song...fun!

1 Holiday Ornament

2 Pairs of Shoes

3 Children Decorating

4 New Little Buildings

5 Golden Pancakes

6 Musical Tickets

7 Songs for Singing

8 Days and Counting

9 Kinds of Candy

10 Dancing Tomte

11 Ugly Sweaters

12 Peanut Charaters