A Season of Hope

I love Advent.

I love the prayers.

I love the hymns.

I love the season of preparation, of thinking of others, a time where joy and good will come to mind as automatically as the sun is meant to rise and the snow to fall.

Andy Williams sang about it being the Most Wonderful Time of the Year...

I love that song! I love the anticipation!!!

I used to go overboard with Christmas.  Yes. I was That Person.

What a goof!

Now I make sure my priorities aren't on presents, but on giving. Our family fun is in helping others, because we're blessed. How silly that I didn't see this as clearly as a younger mother!

Here's Eli with our Advent wreath on Sunday....

Leftovers turned into Turkey a la King (RECIPE HERE AT YANKEE BELLE CAFE!) and holiday nog, a present from Grandpa....

And a quiet evening of stringing lights and playing games.

We've lighted the first candle, and three to go... The waiting has begun for the best gift of all. A baby, a child of the poor.

And here is the Youtube link to "Child of the Poor/What Child is This?" performed by the Notre Dame Folk Choir.

Child of the Poor/What Child is This?

All Dressed Up in Love Giveaway!

You are a guinea pig right now. 

Wait, that doesn't sound very nice.

Okay, how does Crash Test Dummy sound? Worse, right?

Okay, I won't make you BE anything, I'll do quiet internal testing. I'm weighing blog sites, my blog that's embedded in my website and my fun "Ruthy's Place" blogger site here... and checking out the pros and cons of both! 

So bear with me, I don't mean to confuse the issue, but it's kind of fun to see what works best!

First, there's this:

My newest release from Zondervan/Harper Collins, and I cannot tell you how much I love, love, love this story! Part of the "Year of Weddings" novella collection, mine is the 4th book of the 2015 collection and it was so much fun to write! 

I was a bridal consultant for eight years at one of the best stores/workplaces imaginable. Started by the Hall family, "Bridal Hall" became a Rochester icon, a business everyone knew about and most visited because you felt like you were somebody when you walked into Bridal Hall... the warm atmosphere, the amazingly nice and helpful staff, the humor, the music, the family vibes... and yet professionally focused to give each bride confidence in her choices...

This book honors those wonderful people I worked with. It's my lovesong to them, to Bridal Hall, to Kathy, Donna and Jean and the entire Hall family and staff. 

Now, I just opened the prize vault and found a BUNCH of books to give away! This book is an e-format, so you either need a Kindle app on your computer, or a Kindle/Nook/Sony/Apple e-reader...

But the app is FREE and you can get it from Amazon so don't hesitate to leave a comment to enter this contest! 

If you've ever had a favorite job, tell us what it is.... and if you haven't, what would you imagine it to be?

Leave a comment and I'll toss your name into the new cat dish (the cats were quite annoyed that their cat dish kept disappearing, silly kitties!!!) I'll draw names on Thursday, which means you could be reading "All Dressed Up in Love" by Friday! SUHWEEET!

And here's a little winter fun to make you smile because it's still winter here in upstate NY!

Our marsh, the home of my famous little buddies, the spring peepers! (tree frogs)

Finn. Finn is part clown, he's 18 months old and thinks he's funny. He is funny. He is also a death-defying climber who loves to straddle the tops of couches and taunt you with a grin. And yes, he's had several emergency room visits and is undeterred... :)  He's a boy!

Waiting for the bus on another snowy morning! 

We know how to do winter in upstate New York, LOL! But once March rolls around... we're all ready for spring!