Jenny's Heart

Merry Christmas Y'all! Can you believe it is here already. I have not had much opportunity to enjoy most of the festivities of the season, but we (the women in the family did get together last Sunday for a Christmas Tea. Shelby and Amanda we had a ton of food that was delicious! We had : Chicken and Tuna Salads Pimento sandwiches Cucumber sandwiches Ham and cheese pinwheels Crab dip Phyllo Wrapped Asparagus Lemon tarts and muffins Fudge Santa Hat Brownies Sticky Toffee Pudding Cake Pineapple Cake Rice Krispy Treats I am sure I am forgetting some of it, but we made it all and every bit was just perfect! We had several different teas and I think the hit of the day was Twining Christmas Tea and Bigelow Constant Comment. We women used to get together and bake about a million cookies all day one Saturday in December, then we switched to getting together for a tea or lunch at a restaurant  or tea shop. Now we do our own and we are happier that way, and our goodies...

Hey Y'all, How are ya today? Christmas is only 8 days away, and I not even close to ready this year. I want to share with y'all the most precious gift I own. In 2002 my dad found a relationship with God, he never knew he could have. He found that relationship by spending time with Him, while building 5 houses. One for each of us. They are 100% hand made, right down to the hand cut shingles on the roof. Personalized to fit us with our favorite colors and other little touches. Mine is Red. Always my favorite color. The living room.(Can you see little me in the fireplace?) The bedroom with a little me tucked into bed. And little Duncan keeping watch. All lit up, it looks very cozy doesn't it. ( Note the hand plastered walls and ceiling ) The Christmas tree all lit up. Someone asked me once what I would take from home if I had to leave fast. This house and my photos. It is my most cherished possession. This little ...

My Heart is Breaking for the families of all those killed today.  Those precious babies... I have no words, only a hurting heart.  Hold each other a little closer tonight. I Love each of you. God loves you more.

Merry Christmas Y'all! How is your Christmas season going so far? Mine has been nice so far. So on to spreading some Christmas Cheer. I had 18 comments, which I think is a record for me :) The cupcake mix is going to number 2 Marci at   Suzy Social Worker By Day...Betty Crocker By Night YAY MARCI! Y'all take a peek at some of the AMAZING COOKIES this lady makes **I SWIPED ALL PHOTOS FROM HER BLOG** She is so talented! I could Never do what she does. Number one I do not have the patience for it and number 2, I don't have the talent for it either. Congratulations Marci J! Email me your address so I can get it out to you. Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas Y'all. Yes I say Merry Christmas! I keep Christ in  Christmas because it matters to me. I was at a craft show recently and at one of the booth's I wished the vendor a Merry Christmas, he said Thank You and then said "I don't say anything anymore, you never know what people believe and I don't want to offend anyone" OK I get that, he is a businessman....however;  I replied...."I say Merry Christmas because it is what I believe" he said huh... I have never thought of it that way before... I work for the "worlds largest retailer" and I say Merry Christmas all season long, In all of the 23 years I have worked in retail, no one has ever said "don't say that to me" actually most people are kind of surprised to hear it if I judge by the look on their faces and most reply Merry Christmas to you too. So try it on for size, the next time you are out, wish the people in your path a Merry Christmas, I bet it will make...

Ho Ho Ho Y'all! How are you today? I finally have a day off and I am hoping to get my Christmas tree up today. I slept in so I have a late start already, but it was worth it to not get up to the alarm! My poor neglected blog needed a Christmas theme so I found this cute Gingerbread and HEART theme. Love it! I will probably change the background every week between now and Christmas :) This time of year is my most favorite time of year. The nights feel magical to me and I love to sit on my porch with a mug of hot chocolate and look at the stars and talk to God. I have not had much opportunity to do that so far this season, so I hope to change that very soon. The stars from my back yard  I have been doing some crafty bits but I can't share them just yet... Well time to get busy. Have a great day.

Hey Y'all, I wanted to take a moment and tell you how Thankful I am for each and every one of you! I am so Thankful for all the sweet and lovely people I have "met" through blogging. I am so Thankful for my family, they are my heart. I am Thankful we get to spend another year with all of us together. I am Thankful to a Loving God, who blesses me. Have a WONDERFUL Thanksgiving. Be safe in your travels. See you next week, when I hope to be in full Christmas mode! My favorite time of year.

Hey Y'all How are you today? It is a cool and rainy day here today, but, I love these kinda days. Thank you all for the sweet words you left for me and Lee, they mean so much. I am a little less jumbled today. Love Y'all! OK,  So on to today's post. While Beth, Leigh and I were hanging out together we went to                              The Christmas Shop and Island Gallery it had been years since I had been to Manteo and so much had changed, but this gem was just perfect. They have a long history in Manteo. If you are ever near there, it is another spot you must not miss! You walk in the door and peace just wraps around you. Beauty and Art, every sense is stimulated. Lovely. And of COURSE they do celebrate the most wonderful time of the year! It is so much fun in the Christmas Shop, there are trees decorated in every theme, shape and size. There are ornaments  for every occasion ...

Hey y'all how are ya today? It is nice and cool here, we may even see a few flurries here tonight YAY! It won't stick and it will only be a few, but I LOVE IT! ****BE AWARE THIS IS A RAMBLIN' POST****   :) So the past few days my heart and head are in a jumble... I just can't seem to sort a few bits out, do you have days like that? There are a few projects I need to finish and a few I need to start. Work is just about as rotten as it can be! I do not remember where I saw this (other than the Bible) so I can't give credit, but probably Pinterest...                              When I get jumbled, the word of God helps calm me. Lee's arthritis is debilitating and he is having a hard time with the cold air that  I love so much, and he fell HARD again the other day, it took him a good while before he could get up. I am just glad I was there this time and could help him. It about broke my hea...

Hey Y'all, How are ya today?  I am Thankful and Blessed that you decided to spend a few minutes here at my little 'ol blog. Today I wanted to share a bit about my trip to North Carolina last week. So, I told ya that my sister Beth and I went down to see Leigh (our cousin) for her Birthday.  For her birthday dinner she wanted to eat at a restaurant in Windsor, North Carolina  called  The bar you are seated at seats only 27 at a time, so since we had a few (less than 10) minutes to wait we were invited to check out their new addition  The deck area is brand new and it is so cool! We were sitting out there enjoying the lovely evening relaxing and waiting for our spot to eat.  We love the deck! BUT what we loved even more was the Food!                                                         ...

Hey Y'all Happy Halloween :) I hope everyone has come through the Hurricane OK. We are fine here, thank God. We are truly Blessed to have been spared. I wanted to share my tag-a-month swap tags with y'all today. This month I was matched up with Ginger at A Few Of My Favorite Things She is a sweetie pie. I love her creativity. She made me the most amazing tags! First up is the cutest Halloween card she made. Next is a bag of goodies I love the vintage style bags she sent everything in too. Next is a  bag she made, perfect for a few sweets... How cute is that! Now for the tags yes plural she made me 2 perfect for Halloween tags! First is a Spooky haunted house and the cutest Mummy you will ever see... Thank You So Much Ginger! I love every bit and thanks for making it all cute :) **In addition to all this I wanted to share my 3rd Foodie Pen Pal swap box but as of today  I have yet to receive it, as soon (or if) it arrives I will share it...

Hey Y'all! Our trip to NC was great, I'll post about that later. Today we are deluged with Hurricane/Tropical Storm Sandy. This is a massive storm...BUT as Hurricanes go...eh we have had worse. So far is is just a lot of rain and flooding and some wind, we are in the worst of the storm now. So far just a lot of mess, due to flooding. Here is an example This photo was taken by my friend Renee, she lives in Chesapeake, Va and this little family cemetery is across the street from her house, this is her front yard and it is still raining! 50 miles inland is where I live and this is my front yard What a difference and hour of drive time makes! There is a lot of water damage all around our area, we are at sea level after all and the low lying areas are all under water. Some of the bridges and interstates around the area are closed due to flooding. Everyone (it seems) is safe for now. For all my Northern friends I am keeping y'all in my prayers. It appears ...

I am on Vacation for the next 8 glorious days! Thursday night I am heading to Carolina to celebrate Leigh's 38th  Birthday with Beth  We are taking a little road trip over a long weekend for us. I think we are gonna go to a haunted house and a BBQ festival. We all like to go junkin' so I am sure we will partake of a few thrifty spots along the way. Tomorrow I am taking it easy, I am gonna sleep late and piddle,  oh and do some laundry so Lee has clean towels while I am gone for a few days. Ah! Vacation time. Just what I need right now!

Hey Y'all how are ya today? I am starting to feel like we will never get a frost this year! I must admit it is frustrating me this year...ha ha ha. It is supposed to be in the upper 70's low 80's for the foreseeable future...so not feeling like fall! any way...how are things in your neck of the woods? I finally got all the packages for swaps out today and a couple of other goodies as well. Happy Mail Well at least I hope the folks who get them are happy, putting the boxes and envelopes together  made me very happy. I love getting packages wrapped in brown paper, It is silly, but I do ! So I usually, wrap the ones I send out too. Now if the post office would still let us tie them with string...

Hey Y'all how are ya? Still waiting for that first frosty morning but other than that we are doing ok here. So last weekend me and about 1/2 the family, my friend Julia ans her son Zach all went to Busch Gardens, Europe which is in Williamsburg, Va. image from google Do you think I took a single photo? NOPE we were having too much fun!                                         image from google In the fall they turn the park into Howl-O-Scream, it is a lot of fun, some of the rides are turned into haunted houses or forest. image from google The shows are all Halloween themed, for example in Germany at the Festhaus (which has the best food) the show was Vampires singing and dancing vamp's...lol image from google Werewolves and clowns and other scary ghouls start roaming the park at 6pm. Believe me I am not into horror movies and such and I really don't like to be scared...

In September I got the sweetest package from my secret blogging sister. She sent me the perfect gift. CUPCAKES!! For those who may not know I have an addiction to cupcakes and cupcake collectibles. Don't cupcakes make you happy? Every time I see a cupcake it just makes me happy. I smile every time I see one. So this sweet mix of one of my favorite flavors made my day. This was the yummy result after my neighbors son helped me ice them...lol He just had to help and I was glad to let him. They may not be pretty, but they were so good! Thanks Secret Sis. You know me well and send the best gifts!

These are the amazing goodies I received from Lynn at Life on the Wienee Ranch . She out did herself and spoiled me rotten (yay) Loaded with Vintage perfection! I flat out adore my hat! Thank You So Much Lynn! This spooky Trio are cute as can be! Even more extras! The jello mold basket with the chenille stem Jack!  an altered match box filled with lip balm, and a ton of yummy favorites!  And A BOO Banner! I love every bit! Thank You So Much Lynn, you made my day!

Hey Y'all how are ya today? Waiting for the first frost of fall here! It feels like it will never arrive!  That morning the first frosty morning is my Cream Of Wheat morning, it is a silly little tradition I have,  just for me as Lee hates Cream of Wheat...ha ha ha. I am a seasonal eater too, so hot cereal is not a Summer food for me. Do you eat seasonally too? I was so excited that I  was able to participate in Vivian's   Witchy Hat Swap. It was such fun trying to decide what to do...Do I alter a fabric hat?  Do I send just a tiny hat and lots of goodies? Do I paint or paper a paper mache hat??? Decisions!  In the end I decided to send to Lynn at  Life on the Wienee Ranch  a painted paper mache hat that I embellished the devil out of...teehee. I also included a big ole bunch of goodies, which I neglected to photograph :( oh well, hopefull you will see it on Lynn's blog! Here is how my hat turned out It was such a fun swap! ...

Hey Y'all, how are you today? Doing OK here in Virginia today. So this month I participated in my second swap with Foodie Pen Pals at The Lean Green Bean. you can read all about it here . This is such a fun swap! This month I sent my box to New Orleans To Kate at Kate Is Eating , she is such a sweetie and it was great fun putting her box together for her. My box came from Bridget in Georgia. She is lovely and sent me such yummy gifts! I LOVE to try foods that are regional and specific to where you live; you know Buffalo Wing Sauce from Buffalo, Cheese from Wisconsin...you get the idea, well this southern lady sent me locally stone ground yellow grits...LOVE...I love grits, but have never had yellow grits, I have always eaten and buy white, it's just what I am used to so yellow was new to me, but I made a bowl of cheese grits and chowed down! YUMMY! She also sent me a gift pack of sweet honey harvested and bottled in Savannah. I must admit I have only ever had clover honey...