How was your weekend? Did you do anything spectacular? As for me this weekend held a lot of excitement and fun. Friday, we ventured to the mountains. Our destination, Dillsboro, North Carolina.
Every year, this little Smoky Mountain foothills community really deck the halls. The store fronts are beautifully decorated with lights, ribbons, and evergreen boughs. What makes it especially nice is, they place hundreds of white bags (weighted with sand) each with a candle along the streets and at dusk with the flicker of each little light transforms Dillsboro into a magical place.
Saturday we celebrated my 52nd birthday. A few days earlier, we picked up some take-out from Chuy’s Mexican Grill. We watched “White Christmas” with Bing Crosby and Danny Kaye while we feasted on big-as-your-mouth burritos (ground beef version) topped with creamy jalapeño sauce with green chile rice and a side of charro beans. To cap off the fabulous meal, we had two scoops of Blue Bell ice cream: Peppermint and Rocky Mountain Road.
Sunday, DH and I made from scratch gingerbread cookies. I did all the mixing of the batter, cut out about three cookies, and the rest I let DH do. This is something he didn’t get to do much of while all the kids were at home. He really enjoyed doing this and was actually quite good at it, too. Decorating the cookies got a bit messy, so DH left that job for me to do, which was okay because I love the creative aspect of cookie making.
Please join my NO-RULE Monday Morning Musings link up party below…
Now, it’s time to join a few other bloggers in their weekly kickoff blog hops. First stop leads me to Stasha from The Good Life for Monday Listicles.
- Watching Frosty the Snowman on my grandparents’ TV
- My parents’ totally retro silver Christmas tree
- Heavy snowfalls in the hills of southern West Virginia
- Treat bags from my Sunday School teacher
- Drawing names in school to exchange Christmas presents
- Santa visiting my brother and me in the mid-60s in our house
- Eating orange slices and cream drops with my daddy
- Smelling the tasty fragrances of Christmas turkey cooking in the wee hours
- My brother and I climbing into bed with my parents on a cold Christmas morning
- Getting engaged on Christmas Eve 1978
Next up, I would like to take you by Heather’s place. She and her husband, Wayne, put together each week FOUR QUESTIONS to borrow and answer on your blog post, and then they give you the option to add a fifth question of your own for your blog visitors to answer in the comment section, along with commenting on the four questions you answered, if they want. If you decide to play along, then don’t forget to grab the MQAM badge for your blog/post from Acting Balanced and be sure to link up for the blog hop fun!
1. What song represents your last week? Joy to the World. This season fills me with unspeakable happiness. First off because Jesus came to this earth to be the ultimate gift to all mankind and secondly the undeniable joyous sense that’s present during the holiday season, which is felt by every person regardless of religious (spiritual) or non-religious affiliations.
2. Have you made your list and checked it twice? Yep, I’ve checked it once and I’ve checked it twice and few other dozen times. Everyone is now checked off!
3. December 16th (Tuesday) is National Chocolate Covered Anything Day… what is your favorite thing to eat covered in chocolate? Oooo, I didn’t know! This gives me a grand excuse to indulge in some chocolate covered cherries. I think I’ll make a batch today!
4. Speaking of songs, what Christmas Carol is following you around this year? That’s an easy one. All I Want for Christmas is You keeps playing over and over in my head!
My question to you this week is…what is your favorite Christmas cookie to make or have each year?
To complete my Monday morning ramblings, I want to skip over to Carissa’s last installment of:
The heavenly scents from one’s kitchen produces memories for years to come and nothing better than gingerbread is one of the loveliest holiday aromatics. My MIL passed this recipe to me.
Do you like music? Would you like a fun, loving group of loyal bloggers to visit you week after week after week? If you’re nodding your head yes like I think you are, then you’re gonna wanna check out my Monday’s Music Moves Me post and be a part of the dance floor shakin’!