Dinner Party Time

I love hosting dinner parties, and we held a fun one last night!

My dad, Doug, and his sweet wife Esta arrived yesterday afternoon for a belated Christmas celebration, and we gathered family and friends so they could meet Esta, and so she could meet them. And we had a blast!

Here are some glimpses from the evening. Oh! And I'll go ahead and confess...I took NO pics of the food. I'm fallin' down on the job, I know. Guess I was too busy getting it all together. We had lasagna with all the fixings. Delish!

I'm not great at creating centerpieces. I usually just run around grabbing stuff from other rooms in the house until I have something that I think works. At least somewhat.

My fun buddy Gayle, sweet daughter Kelsey, and wonderful SIL Denise

Me and Esta (she and Dad are sooo happy together, which is wonderful to see)

Love seeing Dad so happy again. What a blessing!

We laughed just a little bit. : )

Then opened presents, with Jack "helping"

Our kids (Kelsey and Kurt) along with Dad and Esta

Some of the guys were MIA during picture taking time due to a certain football game with Baylor playing, so we'll have to nab their pics next time. 

And now for a funny (but useful) app that Kelsey introduced me to this weekend. It's called RunPee (LOL)! Have you heard of it before? I hadn't. Here's the gist (as taken from iTunes):

"The RunPee.com app tells you the best time to run and pee during a movie without missing anything important. Besides that, it lets you know if there is anything extra after the end credits and even gives you a synopsis of the first 5 minutes of a movie in case you're running late. The built in timer helps you see how the peetimes are spaced in the movie and quickly get a reading on how long you have to wait until the next peetime. The best part is that the timer will vibrate your phone before each peetime. Now you can sit back, relax, and enjoy the movie."

ROFLOL. I got so tickled. But really, the app proved useful during War Horse this past weekend, and it's free! So head over to iTunes and grab it (so you'll know when to pee).

Now tell me, what's a favorite app of yours?

Tammy

A favorite 2011 Christmas memory

Join me at Writes of Passage today where I'm sharing one of my favorite 2011 Christmas memories...

Another Christmas passed

Morning friends! Can you believe it? Another Christmas come and gone...

I'm up before the sun, the house is quiet, and I'm jumping into writing, but I want to wish you a happy start to your week. I hope your Christmas was a warm time with family and friends, and that you're ready for the the New Year––that's going to be here in a blink! More about 2012 later this week, but for now, here are some glimpses from Christmas at our house, and then a cute video to give you a grin as you start the last week of 2011!

Our "family" gift this year––Columbia jackets. So comfy!

We really enjoyed having Joe's dad, Fred, with us this year too.

And the traditional "piggy back" pic of our kids, who I love so much.

And of course, pics of our desserts. My Mom's Coconut Cake. Delicious!

And the Praline Pecan Pie that I first shared here. Fabulous! (And is the breakfast of champions!)

And finally, the video. It's called the Ultimate Dog Tease. If you haven't seen it yet, it's really cute. Enjoy!

Blessings on your week!
Tammy

Christmas Bundles--and scents!

Saw this video this morning and it gave me a smile. Makes me want to go hug Jack!

So…are any of you expecting––or giving ––a Christmas bundle like this this year? So fun!

I'm busy writing today, working toward "The End" of the first draft of my next novel. Still a long ways to go but I'm getting there. It's an overcast, chilly day here in Nashville, the house is quiet, and I'm off to build a fire in the keeping room, and hoping to finish a chapter today and write another. High hopes for this "not fast" writer.

I'm putting some simmering spice on the stove too. Love the way that makes my house smell. Mmmmm..... Do you have a favorite simmering spice recipe? Here's the one I'm using, and it makes the house smell as if you've been baking up a storm (whether you have or not).

Cozy Christmas Scent

3 (4-inch) cinnamon sticks

3 bay leaves

1/4 cup whole cloves

1/2 lemon, halved

1/2 orange, halved

1 qt water

Combine all ingredients in a tea kettle or 1 or 2 quart saucepan and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer as long as desired. Check often and add water as needed. Mixture may be stored in refrigerator for several days. Enjoy! (Now off to eat the other half of that orange. And the lemon? It's destined for some sweet iced tea in one of these special glasses.)

Warm Christmas wishes from my corner of Nashville,
Tammy

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas!

Great, now I have that song stuck in my head! : )

Hope everyone's enjoying a great start to their week and that you're ready for a very Merry Christmas. But ready or not, here it comes, huh? 

I just finished wrapping some last minute gifts and tucked them under the tree so, in that regard, I'm almost ready. More than anything though, I'm looking forward to the Christmas Eve service on Saturday and to sitting with other believers and adoring a Savior who loves us enough to have taken on our fleshly, fragile form and live among us. God with us. Emmanuel.

I've been thinking a lot about Elizabeth (from Luke 1) and her part in the coming of Christ. I posted about her on Friday, if you'd like to read those thoughts.

We attended a family wedding this weekend in Kennett, Missouri (where my husband's sister, Beverly Burcham, lives with her sweet family), and we got my niece, Brook Burcham, and her handsome fiancee, Jeremy Hughes, married in a beautiful ceremony with a fabulous reception afterward. Truly was a great family time.

Here's a glimpse of Brook and Jeremy at the rehearsal dinner on Friday night. So in love!

Pretty happy lookin' couple! And get this: they've known each other since they were around eight years old, and have been "together" for over ten years (liking each other and then eventually dating). So cool!

I wrote in the car on the way there and then back again, and even stayed in the hotel room on Saturday night and managed to get a few more pages in then too. I...am...LOVING this story and am eager to share it with you, which will be next fall.  It's great because I actually know more about this story (as I'm writing it) than I've ever known about a story I'm writing before. And it's a good thing because there's lots to keep up with!

Before I duck back to Nashville 1866 again, I'll share some quick glimpses of Christmas around the Alexander home...

I know, I know... But the lions near our front door get ornery 

if you don't dress them up 

(Naila, this one's for you, babe, in memory of Colorado days)

Sweet blessings on your week and remember to take time to breathe and enjoy the time with family and friends. Who really cares if the house is perfectly neat or if that cake comes out "Southern Living worthy." The most important thing is being with family and friends and treasuring those moments, and lifting up our Emmanuel. God with us.

Tammy

Charmin and the Afterlife

Sunday was a day filled with missing Mom. I don't know why some days are harder than others, but Sunday was a tough day. 

That evening as I took a break from writing, the treadmill in the upstairs bedroom was whirring as Joe was walking, and I ran to the kitchen to grab a Diet Pepsi then stopped by the hall bathroom only to realize we were nearly out of toilet paper in there (sorry if that's TMI). I keep all of our Costco paper goods in the garage, so I headed down there. 

When I got to garage, I went to the shelf where we keep the toilet paper and I saw a silk flower arrangement of Mom's peeking from a box, still waiting to be unpacked and to find its place since we moved. And I just broke down. I stood there and cried and cried, missing her so much. And I asked God aloud if He would please give me some kind of encouragement about her...

Now, I worship God when He answers, and I worship Him when He doesn't. But when He answers quickly, and gives me just what I need, those times help sustain me through the "waiting room" stretches of life.

Sunday night as I slept, I dreamed. I dreamed I was on a bus headed somewhere, I don't know where. But I looked up ahead and I saw Mom standing with Jack on the side of the road, and I instinctively knew, in my dream, that she needed to give me something. So I asked the bus driver to stop. He did and I reached out the window to get what Mom was holding up. A pack of gum(!). That flat package kind where you push the gum out of its little pocket. Weird, I know. I have no clue... 

Anyway, as soon as my hand touched hers, I woke up in my dream. And I realized I was dreaming but I also realized that was Mom. The bus had already started moving again but I ran to the front and told the driver to stop. I jumped off and ran back and Mom was waiting for me, and we just hugged. I can still feel her arms around me right now, and what holding her felt like. So precious...

I don't have all the answers as to what awaits us on the other side, or in what to make of things like this. All I know is that I told the Lord of Heaven and Earth that I missed my mom, and He heard.

He hears you too. Every prayer, whether uttered or not. Every petition, whether whispered in a dark garage or amidst the hustle and bustle of a crowded mall.

A song I've recently come to love is one Mandisa and Matthew West sing. It's called Sometimes Christmas Makes Me Cry (click title to listen). The lyrics are beautiful.

As the song says, I think of Mary and the virgin birth, and I'm amazed at how much God thinks we're worth. That He would send His only Son to die, and sometimes Christmas makes me cry.

Wishing you blessings this Christmas, and maybe a few tears too. But ones of JOY!

Much love, friends...

Pics from Christmas

Here are some quick glimpses of our Christmas last week...

My sweet Dad (who's coming to live with us soon) with Kelsey on Christmas Eve

Kelsey and Kurt

Me and Kurt

Joe and Jack

(Jack's not asleep, he's chewing on the Christmas wrappings)

Kurt opening Rock Band, a gift from Kelsey

(and can you tell how excited she is?!)

Our family recently visited Gattistown, where my dad's ancestors hail from (you can read more on that visit here), and while we were there my creative-and-somewhat-sneaky husband "sweetly absconded" with a rock from the original foundation where the house stood in the 1800s, and then presented my dad with that rock as a memento. We're getting a tiny placard engraved which will aptly read "Gattistown."

If you have a moment, stop by Writes of Passage and check out my post from earlier today. It's about the world rainin' M&Ms and also about a life changing message I heard this past Sunday.

Blessings in this coming year, friends. I'm so glad we're on this journey together.

Tammy

Author's Christmas Home Tour

Would you like to see how authors Angela Hunt and Robin Lee Hatcher celebrate Christmas? Or maybe catch a glimpse of how Karen Ball and Deborah Raney decorate for the holidays? Perhaps you'd like to know what these authors wish for you this Christmas season...

If yes, then welcome to our Author's Christmas Home Tour!

Several of my writing buddies and I have recorded video clips and pictures, snippets of what Christmas is like in our homes, and are sharing them with you via YouTube.

Click below to visit me in my home here in Nashville, and then click on the link below that to visit the home of fabulous author and editor, Karen Ball! Once you've visited Karen's blog, she'll list "the directions" that will take you to the next author's home, and so forth.

Grab a cup of coffee or spiced apple cider (or a partially frozen Diet Dr. Pepper, my nectar of choice) and join us!


And if the entire "view" doesn't show here, click here to go directly to YouTube to see the large screen version. :)

Click here to visit Karen Ball's home!