Something Extra on New Years Eve

(CNN) -- It happens only once in a blue moon -- and scientists say a blue moon is exactly what we'll see in the skies this New Year's Eve.

Don't expect an azure glow over our lunar satellite, however. The term "blue moon" simply refers to the second full moon in a calendar month, something that hasn't happened on a New Year's Eve for nearly 20 years, NASA says.

"The phrase 'blue moon' has been around a long time, well over 400 years, but during that time its meaning has shifted," he said. "I have counted six different meanings which have been carried by the term, and at least four of them are still current today. That makes discussion of the term a little complicated."

Full moons used to have 12 names, one for each month, such as "harvest moon," NASA said. The term "blue moon" referred to the 13th full moon in a year.

A blue moon on December 31 is rare.

Third quilt down..

.....and one more to go....

Here is the quilt I made Ariel, my third in line daughter.

This one is called: "Christmas Around the Block"

.

Christmas Eve

It has been a Christmas Eve tradition for as long as this fifty

something year old can remember, many things have changed

through the years but the one thing that has remained

the same is.......eating dinner together

(including the meat of Jesus...LAMB)

with family.

Here is the table Dad & Juana set:

We shared our memories of christmas past and expressed gratitude

for a loving Father in Heaven who shared HIS son with the world!

(Left to right)Dallas, Katlin, Ariel, Juana & Dad in the back.

BOOK CLUB CHRISTMAS

BookEnds

We shared in a fabulous brunch,

there was so many devilish dishes to eat, but the best part

was the table full of books to choose from.

Check out the blog and what our reading "picks " for 2010

Christmas 2009

Thanksgiving 2009 Revisited

Random shots of our 2009

Thanksgiving trip to Houston.

Grnadpa & Grandma let Finn pick out his Christmas gift.

He was guided to the archery section.

Finn loved his Bow & Arrow set.

Magic moment..

So this is what it is like to live in a house of ALL GIRLS..

(notice who captured this photo.. left corner).

Todd was the master Deep Fried Turkey Chef this year..

maybe I'll take over next year and just roast the turkey.

Aunt Dallas with Finn & Farren.

Ski NOW!

STARTNOW skiing, it's never too late....click here: Park City offer.

Here’s how the program works, all for just $25:

• You must be a Utah resident
• You must be a first time skier or rider
• Ages 6 and up
• Afternoon ski or snowboard lesson and lift access (1:00 – 4:00 pm)
• Ski or Snowboard equipment rental
• Bounce back option: 4 more times for $25 each, including all day lift ticket, equipment rental, and a 2 hour lesson.

Christmas waves a magic wand over this world, and behold,

everything is softer and more beautiful.

-Norman Vincent Peale

John Stossel

It all started when ABC aired 20/20. I have been a dedicated viewer this TV program for many years, it has been a fact that I primarily watched it because of John Stossel. (He joined 20/20 as a consumer-affairs reporter in 1981. His profile grew as his opinioated libertarian-flavored advocacy, running against the grain of traditional broadcast journalism, drew both wild adherents and wild detractors. He defined consumer affairs in an assertively broad way: global warming, health care, civil liberties, social security, free trade, anger management.)

I have liked his contrary attitude, he seemed to look at reporting from a pessimistic or critical vantage point to the normal point of view.

I'm not sure about his jump to FOX Broadcasting, but his program will aire for one hour on Thursday evenings. Click here to read more.

I AM HAPPY-I will be watching.......

Living Christmas

I've spent many years thinking about this magical holiday.

The colors, the fun; the

music, the smells of

special foods, the secrets, crackling fires,

the greeting cards, Santa, all get me feeling very happy.

When I was young my parents made this season

so memorable and festive. It was very hard for me to

contain the secrets of what was wrapped under the tree,

so many times I un-wrapped my presents.

Christmas Day was the ultimate in love, laughter and

pure joy of getting that

one present that only Santa knew about!

~

Because I come from a large family;

(I am the middle child of five siblings).

The excitement of that day was filled with opening presents,

playing games, and lots of food. My parents would loads us

kids in the car and off we would go to visit friends.

(my parents families lived in another state).

These traditions and memories have helped me

celebrate this holiday with my own family.

I have done Christmas every which way I could think of...

~

I heard a thought today, that was so wonderful,

I thought I would try doing it this Season, it is;

"Living Christmas" instead of how we celebrate it.

Remembering the Saviour

His life and mission on this earth

His unconditional love he has for me

and for all the inhabitants of this world.

What an astonishing gift He gave to us!

Here is my inspiration for today,

"I believe that the eternal lesson of

Christmas is to inspire us to use our God

given gifts to build a better world".

Norman Vincent Peale

Social Darling Frock GROSGRAIN GIVEAWAY!!!!

Social Darling Frock GROSGRAIN GIVEAWAY!!!!

Camera.....ACTION!!

Here is the deep fried turkey my

son-in-law Todd

cooked for our Thanksgiving Feast!

(it really did taste good, we didn't keep the skin on)

Here is the Gang getting ready to

play "Nerf Wars"

aka "Joel's Angels"

One of the Crazy photos we took for our Christmas Card....

(is this family ever serious)?

Stand By Please...

I just got back from a relaxing warm respite in Houston.

My family feast was the best..wait until you see the pictures of the

turkey my son-in-law cooked.

We had a great time together, I have never acted so kiddish!

-Wait until you see those pictures..

On the subject of pictures we took our families annual Christmas card picture..

that was a very creative hour and half..

you'll laugh when you view those pictures!

With my new job, I am finding that I have hardly any time to blog :(

so..stand by.. while I get caught up.

No Self Control

Can you guess what this is???

That's right..

An Autumnal Delicious BYU Bookstore Carmel Apple!

I HAVE NO SELF CONTROL WITH....

Tell me what is your temptation?

The Book

I finished reading the

Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society.

Interesting name...

..I really enjoyed it.

This week I am my Book Group Facilitator.

This is how I imagine what some

of the characters in this

book would be cast if

they made this into a motion picture.

~

Juliet Ashton (Amy Adams)

Sidney Stark(Colin Firth)

Markham V. Reynolds (Matt Damon)

Dewsey Adams (Viggo Mortensen)

Isola Pribby (Shelly Duvall)

Kit (Abigail Breslin)

she is too old for this part, so the BBC will have to

cast someone like her in this role.

Amelia Maugery (Judy Dench)

~

There are so many characters that were strongly

developed in this novel, too many to blog about, they all

had unique personalities and had interesting backgrounds.

I give this book a 4 star rating and a left thumb up!

Read any interesting books lately?

P.S.

This is my 250 Blog Post!!

I heard...

..that my grand kids expect me to bring an original gift

when I visit them at Thanksgiving.

(I think I have set a bad precedence)

I have not had a creative thought for months so this task was challenging.

To make it more difficult, I am not equipped to be

creative when it comes to BOYS..

This is what I made for Farren who is now 5 yrs. old.

This is a pillow for her bed, the colors will match

her bed room color scheme.

I used fabric, appliques, and felted wool, buttons

(notice the bee buzzing around).

The flower pots are pockets,

so she can hid her little treasures.

I think this will make her SMILE. :)

Now, what to create for FINN..?

It's Beginning to....

I am putting on my

and dusting off my

and

some ideas for my

Christmas

Getting the JOB!!!

I AM SO EXCITED!

This has been 9 months in the undertaking..

I signed my acceptance papers today..

Got Background checked

Got drug tested

I am now working for

Job Title:

Support Coordinator

The persuit of getting a job has taught me these essential things:

1. Believe in yourself(you are your best advocate)

2.Know your strengths

3. Fine tune your skills

4. Persevere through rejection

5. Be Happy and positive

6. Keeping the momentum of the search alive

(this means everyday you are working towards gaining employment)

7. Sell yourself

(I had to do this, in three

separate days of interviews.

8. Don't give yourself an excuse for not applying for a certain job..

(Ok, the one's that you are quailified for)

9. Be grateful for this opportunity

10. Celebrate when you accomplish the goal!

Humm..what should I do for my family

to give them their thanks for supporting me in

this job search??

Omniture Halloween

For the past several years, Omniture, now an

Adobe Company

has it's annual Halloween Event.

It's a private party with family and friends of

Omniture employee's.

Last year was fun but this year was really great!

My daughter Katlin's executive office were "Smurfs"

Each dept within Omniture, dresses up and decorates

their area with their own theme.

Some of the themes were:

Las Vegas, Never, Neverland,

PAC MAN, Care Bears

Here I am with this "Betelgeuse"

from the movie Beetlejuice

this guy was really acting the part which gave me the "creeps"

The very last was the best display of creativity,

it was 3-D of space travel,

we put these on

and walked thru a really cool 3-Dimensional maze.

Thanks Omniture/Adobe!

Central Asia Insitiute

Greg Mortenson forum to be rebroadcast Nov. 1, 3

BYU Broadcasting has announced rebroadcast dates and times for the Oct. 27 forum address presented by Greg Mortenson, co-founder of the Central Asia Institute and founder of Pennies for Peace.

Mortenson spoke about his work described in his book, “Three Cups of Tea: One Man’s Mission to Promote Peace…One School at a Time,” which spent 120 weeks on The New York Times best-seller list following its release in January 2007.

The forum will be rebroadcast on BYU Television Nov. 1 at 8 a.m. and 7 p.m. and Nov. 3 at 8 p.m. It will also be rebroadcast on KBYU-TV (Channel 11) Nov. 1 at 6 a.m. and 3:30 p.m. In addition, on Nov. 1 KBYU-FM (89.1) will also broadcast the forum at 8 p.m., and BYU Radio will broadcast it at 4 p.m.

All times are Mountain Standard Time. For more information, visitbyub.org.

The Gray Thing Again...

I guess I need to go talk to my "hair dresser-shrink" again,

(she must not be giving me the therapy I need)

or

Maybe...

I am beginning to like the color or should we

say the "NON" color of my hair.

To make my statement about going gray I recently

submitted my photo's

to Anne Kreamers book site

She has a page of women with

Before & After pictures

you can see for yourself

click here.

It's not my best look, but never the less you can

start to see the slow down of my

“melanogentic clock”

If you want to learn more about the science of hair turning gray

click here.

Here is my "new mantra,"

I just joined the Left handers Group on FB

I felt as though I needed to join a group of people that I can relate too.

It is difficult for "right handers" to feel this way,

"lefty's" are more sensitive and have a

keener insight into how others can and do overcome

life's challenging obstacles.

I borrowed these images

from my FB group.

Thanks

Update on Sudan

Yesterday, the US outlined new policy for Sudan read here

Here is the "Official White House Statement"

You can participate as I have in this movement to stop the Genocide around the World.

We have a voice, if you take the time to read these articles and do a bit of research, you will feel the way I do about the atrocities that are happening while we live our nice comfortable lives.

Watch this video, it will help you gain better insights into this

Darfur Genocide.

This film was made in 2006, three years ago...

you can go here to make a difference.

Thanks

Greg Mortenson

Have you read this book yet?

Do You know who

this Humanitarian is?

This is Greg Mortenson and the children of the

Peshawar Provedence in the Swat Valley, Pakatain

The reason I am featuring him

and his great work in

Afghanistan & Pakistan is because....

He is coming to speak at the

BYU Marriott Center on:

Tuesday, October 27 at 11:00 am

If you can make it, and even read

his book before hand (I highly recommend)

You will be a changed person!

Assalaam Alaikum (Peace Be With You).