Saturday 9: Happy New Year!

I want to wish all of you a wonderful New Year, filled with hope, happiness, and love.




Saturday 9's questions this week are as follows:

1. Over all, how do you feel about what happened in your life in 2011?

Honestly? I'll be glad to see this year behind me. Some parts of the year were great, some goals were met. Other areas still need a lot of work! It has been an exhausting year on many levels.

2. Do you do New Year's resolutions? If so, what are they this year?

I don't do resolutions. I have goals, but those goals are subject to change as other things in my life change.

3. In the past 24 hours, I have reconnected with 3 old friends that I've not spoken to in years. If you could reconnect with someone from your past who would it be, and why?

I would like to know what happened to my friend Allison from elementary school. We were best buddies way back then. I left for private school after sixth grade and I don't know what ever became of her. She was a very kind, giving girl.

4. Do you have anything that you would have not done or done differently in 2011 as you look back?

Yes, but the list is way too long to put here. But, for starters, I wouldn't have gone so off course with food choices. I was making good progress with the vegan idea, but fell to temptation and haven't found my way back yet.

5. Going back to my ex-friends that I reconnected with, one of them ended over a boyfriend. She called to apologize. Do you have someone that you fell out with you and wonder how they are?

No one comes immediately to mind.

6. If you had a chance to reconnect with an ex (say for coffee), who would it be, and why?

There are no ex-boyfriends for me. The boy that I liked before I started dating my husband was killed in an accident and we weren't boyfriend/girlfriend. He was just a boy that I liked.

7. One of resolutions is about weight-loss. Have you ever struggled with your diet?

No struggle, really. Either I follow it or I don't. It isn't really a diet, per se, but a lifestyle choice. I am working my way back to vegan, though very slowly at this point.

8. What do you think was the top news story of 2011?

Overall for the world, I have no idea. For me, I guess it would be the earthquake in New Zealand. I still haven't heard from my friend down there. I can only hope and pray that she is OK. I saw yesterday that they've had another one down there.

9. What are your plans for (New Year's Eve) tonight?

My husband and I have watched the ball drop via Dick Clark's New Year's Rocking Eve every year that we've been together, with exception of the switch from 1981 to 1982. I was sixteen years old and in the hospital for a tonsillectomy then and they wouldn't let him stay in my room to ring in the new year. We usually watch it on television, but tonight we'll be watching it online. We will have sparkling grape juice with the kids, clink our glasses (and hopefully not break them!), hope for a better year, and then get on with life.
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Happy New Year to all of you!

Five Minute Friday: Open

Please click the button above and be prepared to be inspired by The Gypsy Mama's writing. Join the rest of us as we write life five minutes at a time, unedited.
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I opened the car door filled with both excitement and dread, not knowing what was before me. The drive would be over a thousand miles long...would I be able to do that?

I did and have never gone back.

That day simultaneously closed one part of my life and opened yet another and now I'd give just about anything to go back to the way that it was before I opened that car door, before my husband picked up the telephone, answering a call that changed our family forever.

There have been many openings and closings over the last seven years. I know that there are more ahead, though I don't know what they will involve, what will be waiting on the other side.

As 2011 sneaks away and 2012 is ready to pounce, I am hoping that this new year offers more openings than closings, more gains than losses, more open hearts, more love and laughter.

I hope this for all of us. May 2012 bring you days full of laughter, love, and blessings from our Heavenly Father.

Happy New Year!

Day One Hundred Sixty-Seven

167. I am thankful for the rain and the healing that it brings. I am thankful for the new year ahead and the promise that it brings. I am thankful for the discoveries that I've made recently on my family tree. I am thankful for friends that don't betray trust for any reason. I am thankful for Kate and Braden and their perseverance. I am thankful for books that are written in such a way that you have no choice but to feel something.

This song was shared on another blog that I visited today: The Berry Patch . It was such a touching song that I wanted to share it with you here on One Thousand Gifts.



Please let me know what you think of it. I had never heard of this singer before tonight. I am glad that I visited The Berry Patch and found a new voice by which to be blessed.

I wish for all of you a very happy New Year.

One Thousand Gifts: A Dare to Live Fully Right Where You Are

Wednesday Hodgepodge

Please click on the button above to join Joyce's Wednesday Hodgepodge fun!

1. Share something you loved about your Christmas day.

I loved having absolutely no reason to have to leave the house. We didn't have any jobs to do, the stores were closed (at least the ones that usually suck us in at least once a day!) and it was just a fine day of relaxing with nowhere to have to be.

2. You get to put five items in a time capsule to be opened in 100 years, what items would you choose and why?

First: I would start with a copy of my genealogy research so that future generations wouldn't have to fight the same battles that I've had to fight to get it.

Second: I would include copies of my pictures along with an index of who the people/places are in those photos.

Third: I would want to make a blessing gown and outfit (one for a girl and one for a boy) so that my future grandchildren would have something that I made and it would have my stitched signature and the date I completed it.

Fourth: I would include a copy of Enya's version of Silent Night, called Oiche Chiun. However, I have no clue how music will be formatted in the future, so maybe they'd just have to take me at my word that it is the most beautiful version of Silent Night in existence.




Fifth: And last, but not at all least, a letter telling those in the future about how important it is to have faith in Heavenly Father in ALL things, not just some things. We are not promised an easy life, but if we keep the faith and persevere, happiness is waiting for us on the other side. No matter what is happening, we just need to make it one more day...I don't know what tomorrow holds, but I know Who holds tomorrow.

3. What do you like on a cracker?

I like several things on cracker, but not at the same time: peanut butter, cheese, seafood salad, and chicken salad.

4. Do you make resolutions? How'd that work out for you this past year?

No, I don't generally do resolutions. I have goals, but they are flexible and often change. Making resolutions is too much like setting it in stone.

5. What's a song or song lyric you'll associate with 2011?

My health battle isn't cancer, but like the song says, I just want to feel like a woman again and this is hard because of what surgery took from me. For those friends and acquaintances that have received the "c" diagnosis over this past year, this one's for you:



Jesus Take the Wheel...He's the only way this train will keep moving.




He's the only reason that I'm still here today.

6. How will you ring in the new year?

I will ring it in at home with my husband and remaining children, with sparkling grape juice and I'm not sure what else. I don't know if fireworks will be happening or not because I'm not sure if the burn ban is still on or not.

7. What is something you look forward to in 2012?

Although "freedom" was my word for 2011, it is my goal for 2012 as well. I won't go into details on that one. Also, I look forward to more family tree discoveries.

8. Insert your own random thought here.

Childhood cancer is on my mind. It stinks. They shouldn't have to fight such things...and we shouldn't have to bury our babies.




For those still fighting, like Kate and Braden and so many others, please pray for them. For those little heroes that have gone on to Heaven, please remember their grieving families in your prayers. There's a cure out there somewhere and He's still in the miracle business. Please support the fight to end childhood cancer!


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Happy New Year, everybody!

Voices from the Past

Much of this last week, I have been spending more time amongst the dead than the living. I am working on a genealogy book to share with my children so that they don't have the thirty-year+ struggle that I have had tracing my ancestors, many times banging my head against a seemingly unbreakable wall.

Over the last few days, several of those brick walls have crumbled but good. I have found little bits and pieces about various branches of my family over the years, but as each generation passes, more is lost to those of us that come along later. Thanks to the work of other genealogists and the Internet, some of that "lost" information is no longer lost. I have found information that I didn't know that I didn't know. I have found names of collateral relatives (as in, not a direct-line relationship with me) as well as death certificates and, in the case of one woman, a birth certificate.

Last night, I stumbled across a website devoted to the genealogy of one of my great-great-grandmothers, Philadelphia Isabella, who was an Evatt before she married a Pressley, and her siblings. I had the names of her parents before and now I have pictures of them.

Here they are, my great-great-great grandparents, Jared David and Margaret Bush Gaines Evatt.

I can't begin to express the excitement that I feel with each new discovery, especially when those discoveries involve pictures of these folks that I never got to know. I am because they were and it is just incredible to get to put a face to their names after all of these years!

Day One Hundred Sixty-Six

166. I am thankful for the newborn baby that came to this earth so many years ago to be my Savior, granting me the opportunity for eternal life, if only I believe in Him. I am thankful for the churches that were a part of my childhood. I am thankful for family members that tried to help me along my spiritual journey.

I am also thankful for my blog followers and readers and hope that you've all had a beautifully blessed Christmas. May our Heavenly Father bless you all with a very happy New Year.
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I also want to let you all know of a contest in which you can win a $25 Amazon gift card. Please visit McClendon Villa and click on the red contest button in the sidebar there to learn all about it.



One Thousand Gifts: A Dare to Live Fully Right Where You Are

Contest Announcement: Win an Amazon $25 Gift Card

Dear Friends and Associates:


David and Suzanne McClendon hope you had a very Merry Christmas. We hope that you had a very Jesus filled holiday and that your New Year will be very prosperous. Remember to eat those greens, peas, and ham.

Today we would like to announce a contest we have to promote our blogs. As many of you are aware, we have a handful of blogs that, hopefully, will have a little something for most people.

We will be giving away a total of three Amazon gift cards. For all the details please visit McClendon Villa and follow the link that says “Contest." If for some reason that link is not working, please try McClendon Enterprises.

Please pass this contest along to all your friends and relatives.



Warmest Regards in Christ,

David E. and Suzanne G. McClendon

Contest Announcement: Win an Amazon $25 Gift Card!

Dear Friends and Associates:


David and Suzanne McClendon hope you had a very Merry Christmas. We hope that you had a very Jesus filled holiday and that your New Year will be very prosperous. Remember to eat those greens, peas, and ham.

Today we would like to announce a contest we have to promote our blogs. As many of you are aware, we have a handful of blogs that, hopefully, will have a little something for most people.

We will be giving away a total of three Amazon gift cards. For all the details please visit McClendon Villa and follow the link that says “Contest." If for some reason that link is not working, please try McClendon Enterprises.

Please pass this contest along to all your friends and relatives.



Warmest Regards in Christ,

David E. and Suzanne G. McClendon

Contest Announcement: Win an Amazon $25 Gift Card!

Dear Friends and Associates:


David and Suzanne McClendon hope you had a very Merry Christmas. We hope that you had a very Jesus filled holiday and that your New Year will be very prosperous. Remember to eat those greens, peas, and ham.

Today we would like to announce a contest we have to promote our blogs. As many of you are aware, we have a handful of blogs that, hopefully, will have a little something for most people.

We will be giving away a total of three Amazon gift cards. For all the details please visit McClendon Villa and follow the link that says “Contest." If for some reason that link is not working, please try McClendon Enterprises.

Please pass this contest along to all your friends and relatives.



Warmest Regards in Christ,

David E. and Suzanne G. McClendon

Redemption

Redemption

The chest heaves;
The eyes cry;
The throat retches;
The blade bleeds;
The nails pierce;
The cross stands
and I am safely in my Father's hands.

© 22 December 2011, Suzanne G. McClendon

Writer's Workshop: That Red Dress!

Please click the button above for some really great writing prompts!

The prompt that I chose this week is:

5.) Put together a holiday outfit you’d love to wear at a holiday party should a holiday party ever be on your list of things to do.

It is totally weird because it is so not me, but the first dress that came to my mind was the red dress that Rhett Butler made Scarlett wear to Melanie's party in Gone With the Wind. It was so pretty and sparkly and a body would have to be thin to fit in it. I'm way too conservative for that dress, but I'd love to be able to fit in it.

In reality, I would probably choose something dark green and very conservative, as in not too short on either end. I would add to that diamond stud earrings and the necklace that my children gave me for Mother's Day one year. I would wear basic black pumps, not too low but not stiletto-height either. I don't want to break my neck! To top it off, I would consider getting my hair back to the color it was when I was a little girl because that red was totally beautiful with the green dresses that my mama bought me way back then.

Merry Christmas, everybody!

Wednesday Hodgepodge

1. Are you cooking Christmas dinner? How many will be round your table this year? What are we having?

A friend will be frying a turkey for us to bring home. We'll be having dressing and I'm not sure what else at this point. There will be five here: my husband, our three remaining children and me.

2. What is one must-have Christmas cookie in your house?

Sugar cookies! I love sugar cookies.

3. Santa likes a glass of milk with his cookies-do you? What kind of milk is on tap at your house-skim, almond, soy, full fat (Gasp!)

I love milk with cookies, but milk doesn't love me, so I don't have it very often. Santa and the little elves all drink 2%, when we can find it. When we can't, we buy whole milk. Skim milk is ICKY! For some reason, the local store has an awful time of keeping 2%. I can't imagine that there's suddenly been a high demand for it, but maybe everyone around here decided to lessen the fat in their milk to make room for more cookies?

4. Time magazine recently named its Person of the Year for 2011. This is the person the editors believe has had the greatest impact, for better or worse, in the past year. This year they chose 'The Protester'. Your thoughts? Who would you name person of the year for 2011?

As far as having an impact on the world as a whole, I cannot answer this. But impact on me personally and a large number of other people who are praying for them, I would have to say Braden and Kate. These two little ones have gone through so much in their young lives, more than many of us will experience in our entire lifetimes. They have cancer. They suffer tremendous pain and yet they keep on fighting. They hold onto faith. No matter what happens, they are fighters and they will win. They will find healing and I am praying that this healing brings with it long and happy lives for each of them.

They have been teachers of priorities, detours, and perseverance. They have taught what really matters: love, being happy in the moment, and being thankful for what you do have. These children are heroes in my eyes.

Here is a link to the foundation that Braden's family has set up to help all children to some day be free of such tragic illnesses: Braden's Hope

This site has been set up by Kate's family: Pray for Kate

Please pray for these precious children and all like them, fighting battles that are difficult even for adults. Thank you!

5. December 21st is National Flashlight Day...when was the last time you needed a flashlight? Did you know right where to find one?

We almost always leave something in the car that we meant to bring into the house and don't remember that we forgot it until the middle of the night. This is an almost nightly occurrence. "Fishy" (the name our kids gave the flashlight) lives on the stand beside our television.

6. candy canes...yum or yuck?

I think that candy canes are pretty but that is about as far as it goes for me. They make me sick to my stomach. I don't think that they taste bad, really, they just don't agree with me. They make great Christmas tree ornaments.

7. What Christmas carol lyric means the most to you?

I like all of Silent Night, especially the version done by Enya called Oiche Chiun. It is the most beautiful, most peaceful version I have ever heard. The song says "all is calm" and this version of the song just washes me with that calmness. Just beautiful.

8. Insert your own random thought here.

I want to wish each of you a very Merry Christmas filled with love, laughter, and family all around and a new year full of the same. May Our Father bless you all richly as you seek to be the best that you can be.

Day One Hundred Sixty-Five

165. I am thankful for the discoveries that I have made with my genealogical research. I am thankful for sites that allow searches and viewing without charges. I am thankful for mysteries solved and new ones ahead. I am thankful for opportunities to assist others with their research. I am thankful for photos of those that I have never met, yet made me who I am. I am thankful for the gift of eternal life given to me by a loving Father in Heaven, Who has the answers to all of my questions.

One Thousand Gifts: A Dare to Live Fully Right Where You Are

Oh, That Granny!

Anybody that has known me long at all knows that I am totally into genealogy. And tonight, this genealogist is on Cloud 9! I found a census report from the year 1900 that has unlocked a question I've tried to answer for the last thirty years and also answered a question that I didn't even know that I should have. Of course, it caused a few more questions, too. :)

My Great-grandma Carrie had sisters named Sallie and Mattie. Between the their three obituaries, their mother (my Granny Maggie Williams) had two different names listed as her maiden name. One's obit said Frazier and one said Roberson. This has always puzzled me and has been a very frustrating thing to try to sort out.

At the time of the 1900 Census, Granny Williams' sister was living with her and her children. This sister is listed as single and she has the last name of Roberson. I am ecstatic! A thirty year mystery is finally solved.

Also, I know now that my Grandpa Williams was already dead by the time of this census as it lists Granny Williams as a widow. Their youngest daughter is listed as six years old, with a birth year of 1894. So, Grandpa Williams died between 1894 and 1900. I had no clue about when he died before and now I have a date range to work with!

Now, for the bit of information that I didn't even know that I didn't know: My Great-grandma Carrie had a twin sister! How cool is that? Her name was Emma. I have no idea what happened to Emma. I never heard her name mentioned. I only ever heard talk about Great-grandma Carrie, Aunt Sallie and Aunt Mattie, nobody else.

This census also lists that Granny Williams was the mother of six children but that only four were alive at the time of this census. Now, my quest is to find out 1. what happened to Emma, 2. who the other two children were, and 3. pin down a death date for Grandpa Williams and to find out what took him so early on.

My youngest daughter has such a sense of humor. While I was telling her about Emma and wondering what happened to her, and sharing my plans to try to find that out, she made me laugh when she said "I hope it doesn't take you another thirty years!"


Citation
The 1900 Census information and image were found at:
1900 Census
Thank you, FamilySearch.org!

Chats on the Farmhouse Porch 22: #15

This week Patrice shared her Christmas tree and ornaments with us via video. How nice to have a voice with the words this week!

Please head on over to Everyday Ruralty to join in the fun!

This week's questions:

Tell me your favorite Christmas tradition.

I think that my favorite Christmas tradition is watching the old movies It's a Wonderful Life and Miracle on 34th Street. Watching the Macy's parade used to be a part of this, too, but they've gone so off course from what it was meant to be that it is no longer a joy to watch. This year is the first year since I can remember that I didn't watch the parade. And you know what? The world didn't come to an end! Traditions are nice, but sometimes, maybe, we have to let go of some of them. When Victoria let her secret become the focal point of the parade's entertainment, in my opinion, it was time to let go of that tradition. I also love the tradition of starting our official Christmas season with my oldest daughter's birthday.

My favorite Christmas tradition when I lived in South Carolina was going to my granny's house for dinner. We went every year from the time I was a little girl. I don't remember ever not going to her house for Christmas when I was a child. Granny and Mama didn't always get along and sometimes there would be an argument, but we were all there, together, and the food was wonderful!

Are you ready for Christmas?

I'm as ready as I will ever be. It just hasn't been the same since we moved out here to Texas and can never be the same now that Granny has gone on to Heaven.

What would you like to talk about if you were sitting here in my living room with me?

I would love to talk about family history, world history, books, and most definitely life on a farm. I would love to live on a farm way out in the country. I was born in town but I was raised in the woods. I'll always be a country girl at heart.

Merry Christmas, everybody!

Meet Me on Monday

Please click the button above to join the fun at Java's!

This week's questions:

1.Wrapping paper or gift bags?

I prefer wrapping paper, although gift bags are easier to deal with.

2.Real or artificial tree?

I love the smell of a real tree, but that is where it stops. We have an artificial tree. My husband's family used a real tree in one of their rooms when he was a boy, but I grew up with artificial trees.

3.When do you put your tree up?

Our Christmas season officially starts on December 18 as it is the birthday of one of our children. However, our tree stays up all year long.

4.When do you take your tree down?

We don't take it down. We used to take it down on the Day of Epiphany, but now we leave it up year-round.

5.Do you like eggnog?

I don't know. I've never had it.

6.Do you have a nativity scene?

I would love to have one, but we don't yet.

7.Favorite Christmas Movie?

There are two and, no, I can't decide between them. They are: It's a Wonderful Life and Miracle on 34th Street (the old version). They are classic and both have a wonderful message of faith and love.

8.Favorite Christmas cookie?

I love sugar cookies, unfrosted.

9.Where will you eat Christmas dinner?

My husband and I will be at home with our three remaining children.

10.Angel, bow or star on top of your tree?

I prefer to have an angel on top of the tree. I collect angels and try to get one each year in memory of our babies that are waiting for us in Heaven.

11.Most annoying thing about this time of the year?

The crowds and crazy drivers...and the commercialism are the worst things about this time of the year.

12.Do you like Fruitcake?

I'd rather have chocolate cake or my granny's pineapple-coconut cake.

13.What are you most excited about the holidays?

I'm not really excited, per se, but I do enjoy seeing the way folks have their houses decorated. It is really pretty driving through town at night seeing all of the lights.

14.Do you open presents Christmas Eve or Christmas Morning?

Yes! It just really depends on our mood at the time. This isn't something that we've been really tied down on over the years.

15.Will you still be wrapping presents on Christmas Eve?

No. There's nothing left to wrap.

Merry Christmas, everybody! May your day be blessed with laughter, love, and lots of family all around to thank Him for the wonderful gift of His love, born as a baby in a lowly stable that silent night so long ago.

Five Minute Friday: Connected

The Free Dictionary has this definition for "connected":

con·nect·ed (k-nktd)
adj.
1. Joined or fastened together.


Life these days is all about being connected, how many friends you have on Facebook, how many followers you have on Twitter, how many connections you have on LinkedIn. In reality, how many people are you truly connected with instead of to?

Are you just passing through this life, being connected on the surface, but failing to be truly fastened together with those around you in real life?

It often seems to me that the advances in technology are not truly bringing people together, but pushing them further apart. Sure, we can have friends that we've never met all the way on the other side of the world and we can learn about things that we never knew existed. All of that is great. But, when I'm sitting in the local McD's and see people come in together, but never look at each other because they are each on the cell phone, either texting or talking to someone that isn't there in the flesh, never saying a word to the person they are there with, it makes me sad. For all of the connecting going on out there, there is more of an unjoining than a joining with those right there in our presence. There is more Facebook connecting than face-to-face fastening together.

Is this how life is truly meant to be lived, based on cell towers and button-pushing, never looking or talking to those around us?

Citation:

connected. (n.d.) The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition. (2003). Retrieved December 18 2011 from http://www.thefreedictionary.com/connected

Wordless Wednesday: Stephen F. Austin Died Here

To see other posts for Wordless Wednesday, please visit Wordless Wednesday and join the linky there!

Wednesday Hodgepodge

1. Do you put Christmas decorations in every room of your house? If not, what rooms do you decorate?

We have angels in the living room and on the tree. The tree lives in the dining room. Other than angels, we don't really have a lot of decorations.

2. If you could visit one of the Nordic countries (Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway, and Sweden) which one would you choose and why?

I think that I would choose Denmark. There is a large Danish population here where I live. These folks are really nice and I think that it would be nice to see the area that they came from.

3. What does the word faith mean to you?

It means believing without seeing. It means you don't give up just because things are bad. You know that He has it covered and Who wins in the end.

4. You can go back to your childhood for one day...what day and age would you choose?

I have been doing a lot of genealogy research lately, so those relatives that have gone on to their rewards have been on my mind. I think that I would choose age fourteen and the day before my Papa Gunter died. I would want to go back with the knowledge that I have now and be able to prevent the event that led to his death.

5. When did you last have 'punch'? If its not too much trouble share your favorite punch recipe.

I can't remember the last time that I had punch, at least not any that I made. When we make it, we make what we call "Gremlin Guts." I can't remember the recipe at the moment, but two of the ingredients are lime sherbet and ginger ale.

6. Do you fill stockings at your house? Are stockings opened before or after the bigger gifts?

We usually fill stockings. There isn't a particular order of events here.

7. What takes your breath away?

Physically, cigarette smoke, strong chemicals, and perfume/cologne so loud that it seems the person fell into the bottle.

Emotionally, my children and some of the things that they come up with. The twinkle in my husband's eyes along with that grin of his do a pretty good job of it, too.

8. Insert your own random thought here.

I have been researching the family tree of Jesse James as well as my branch of the James family to try to find if and where our families cross paths. One thing that I decided last night is that Jesse's family tree is about as twisted as my own, so I won't be the least bit surprised to find that he is, indeed, a relative. Sometimes I wonder if other folks have family trees that look like the people were in a braiding contest!

Book Review: Healing is a Choice by Stephen Arterburn

Healing is a Choice is about healing the hurts of our past and present thereby leading us into our futures stronger and better able to deal with the hurts that are inevitable. Ten choices are given to aid us on the path of healing as well as ten lies that are obstacles to our happiness. The workbook section gives questions for us to ponder that are also suitable for small group discussions.

I think that this is a very helpful book. I do not blindly accept guidance from anyone. I question everything and this book offered me plenty of opportunities for questioning. It challenged me to step out of my comfort zone, which hurt can become when it has been a part of your life for so long. I argue an issue until I see a valid reason to accept the suggestions given. Mr. Arterburn gave me plenty to consider, such as moving forward involves risks. He lays down the challenge to risk hurt to find healing. His reasoning is sound and backed up by scripture. I would recommend this book to anyone struggling to let go of the past and hoping for a brighter future.

BookSneeze (http://BookSneeze®.com) has provided me with a complimentary copy of Healing is a Choice in exchange for a review. However, all reviews written by me are my honest opinion, regardless of compensation.