Friday's Fave Five #870

Welcome to the first FFF of 2026.  Happy New Year everyone!  May you God's love, peace and joy reign in your life during 2026!  Sorry I am late posting.  I'm definitely in the void between Christmas and New Years where one doesn't know what day it is.  I've had a houseful of people for over a week and the last just left late yesterday so I'd totally forgotten where I am in the calendar.  But when it finally dawned on me it was Friday today, I couldn't pass up doing the first FFF of the new year and kick it off right.  If you are around please join in with starting the new year of 2026 with gratefulness!

~ family together ~ though at times overwhelming, having the whole family together this Christmas was a wonderful blessing.  As kids become adults and move away and have careers and lives of their own getting everyone together at the same time is hard.  But it happened this year! And they all stayed at my house.   It was loud, chaotic, fun and tiring but I wouldn't give it up for anything!  Missing in the pic is my son's girlfriend who unfortunately had to go back home for work.  We also got to spend time with Hubby's extended side of the family who we haven't done Christmas with for a few years.  It was all a hallmark year for family time this year!

~ pockets of peace ~ when that many people are in the house 24/7 and the energy is high  and when one is used to having a few hours to one's self in the evenings it can get overwhelming.  But I'm grateful for the the pockets of peace that I had throughout the week when everyone was out and about for a couple of hours.  They were my sanity saving moments.

~ escape room fun ~ my son treated us to an escape room one afternoon.  Again chaotic, but fun.  We missed escaping by about 30 seconds.

~ wonderful food ~ a big part of the holidays is the food and there were so many nice meals during the week with everyone contributing in some form or fashion, whether it was made at home, Christmas Day dinner at my sister's, takeout, eating out or just simply grazing through the fridge with the myriad of leftovers. 

~ safe travels ~ I'm very grateful for the safe travels everyone had coming and going.  The weather was good travelling weather with no storms that anyone had to contend with.

What were your favorite blessings to kick the year of 2026 off with?

Friday's Fave Five #869

Welcome to Friday's Fave Five.  Taking a pause in the week to look for our blessings.  I'll not lie.  It's been a hard week emotionally for me, a hard month actually.  Yesterday marks a year that my Mom passed away. Lots of hard memories of her last 3 weeks.  I miss her so much.  But in spite of feeling sad about that there is some very nice blessings God has sent my way to show His care and love and I want to notice them.  

~ lovely memories ~ I have taken my photo albums down to transfer them to another spot and well, how can one handle photo albums without taking peeks into them?  As I did I saw so many pics of my Mom and so many lovely memories of her filled my heart.  I'm thankful for visible reminders of what a good Mom and Grandma she was and how very much she was a part of our days with her love and support.  

~ favorite Christmas cookies ~ I was at the drugstore picking up some items and came across a bag of cookies I always associate with Christmas. Pfeffernusse.  My mom used to buy them and I love them.  So I treated myself to a bag.  I really should learn to make them.

~ fresh color and cut ~ I had my salon appointment just in time for Christmas .  A fresh cut and color always lifts my spirits.  And best part is I used a gift card to pay for it.

~ manicure ~ there was money left on the salon gift card so I made a spur of the moment decision to have a manicure.  I haven't had one since my daughter, who's an esthetician, moved away years ago.  How nice to have my nails done again just in time for Christmas.

~ gift of baking ~ one of my dayhome parents gifted me with a little sampler of Christmas baking including some tiny little pup cookies for my dog.  What a blessing that is because though I love to cook, I am so not a baker and don't enjoy it at all.  It was nice to have some homemade goodies.

What have been your blessings this week?

I want to wish everyone a very Merry Christmas filled with the hope and peace that Jesus brings as we celebrate His birth.  May your celebrations be filled with love and laughter and hopefully some great food.  

Friday's Fave Five #868

Welcome to a very frosty cold Friday's Fave Five.  I hope it's warmer where you are.  But I'm so glad you came to join in once again to look for blessings that make your days more uplifting, blessings that bring you joy or even blessings that just get you through your day.  

~ hard working hubby ~ well we've had another big dump of snow and I am so thankful for my Hubby who goes out there before families start arriving to the dayhome to shovel all the walks, steps and big double driveway.  I'm open at 7:30 so that means he is out there well before that.  I'm so grateful especially now when it's hard for me to shovel.  I can do it, but then I pay for it later.  I used to love shoveling and would do some the night before as it was needed but now the whole thing has fallen on him.  So out he goes faithfully every morning when there has been snowfall without a word of complaint.  He's a champ!

~ tea advent calendar ~ my friend gifted me with an advent calendar from David's Tea.  There has been a delicious tea to try for each day.  That in itself has been a delight, but she also bought herself one and we've been connecting daily with our thoughts on each flavor of the day.  That has made it even more of a gift.

~ tree finally decorated ~ the Christmas tree made it up the first week of December but for various reasons it has taken forever to get it fully decorated.  But finally on Thursday night I finished it. I can finally get all the boxes out of my upstairs and back down where they belong.  I'm the kind of person who takes the bull by the horns and does a job until it's finished rather than do it small chunks.  So the fact that this took a week and a half with everything sitting around was beyond frustrating.  But now I can enjoy the beautiful glow of the lights without stressing that it's only partially done!

~ shopping done ~ I'm pretty much done the Christmas shopping with just little odds and ends left and the groceries.  So thankful for that.  Now that the tree is done I can get to wrapping and get that checked off the list.

~ great news ~ all the kids will be home for Christmas this year.  This hasn't happened in awhile.  So I'm beyond excited.  Barring bad driving conditions for my daughter coming from another province, we'll have at least a few days where we'll all be together to celebrate Christmas.  Praying for good weather over the holidays.  

What were some of your blessings this week?

Friday's Fave Five #867

Welcome to the first Friday of December.  How can that be?  But it is.  We are almost done another whole year of thankfulness.   Have you developed a habit of looking out for the blessings God sends your way?  Has thankfulness and gratefulness come more naturally to you on a daily basis?  If so, then FFF is doing it's job. If you, like me,  sometimes forget or fall off the train, don't give up.  Just get right back on.  It takes time and effort to build an intentional habit.  And while some habits are not good for you, the habit of sincerely being grateful & thankful to God for His blessings will make your life more joyful and fulfilled.  So thank you for joining in with me and keep on keeping on!

This week I'm thankful for:

~ safe travels ~ we were supposed to leave for the OCC Processing Center on Friday last week but a huge snow storm blew in.  It snowed and it snowed and it snowed some more.  My son was texting me in the middle of the night that the roads were pretty treacherous, even the ambulance was sliding around.  Then warnings of blowing snow on the sections of the highway started.  So mid-morning we made the decision to not go that day but to wait until Saturday morning because the weather reports were much better.  Saturday turned out to be a sunny beautiful morning.  The highways were clear and by the time we arrived the city had already had the chance to start plowing and salting the main roads.  So thankful we made the decision to wait and that we had safe travels there and back.

~ volunteering with my group ~  Saturday was our shift at the Operation Christmas Child Processing Center where they check all the lovely shoebox gifts people have packed.  This year along with Hubby, my son and his girlfriend joined us as did 3 ladies from my bible study group.  It was so much fun having them along and getting to share this step in the journey of a shoebox with them.  And if you are wondering, items are never removed from shoeboxes unless it is an item that is not allowed.  The shoebox gift is kept the way the giver intended.  Sometimes if the boxes are a bit on the sparse side they will add filler items to make the boxes nice and full.  Then they are taped shut, indicating to the receiving country's customs that the box has been checked, and packed into cases to be put on flats for shipping.  Thankful to be able to participate again this year and to have friends along with me.  Unfortunately, I forgot to get everyone's permission to post their pictures so here's Hubby and I.  And per usual I forgot to check if I was holding the box right side up.  Every. single. year.  An upside down box is apparently my signature move.

~bed to sleep in ~  a local street mission is asking us to reflect on our blessings by posting a different item each day during advent that we probably have and take for granted that their clients probably do not have.  Yesterday's question was "Do I have a warm bed to sleep in?"  With the cold, snowy weather we have had over the last couple weeks, this really hit home.  I am so very thankful that yes I do.  And I pray I am more aware that not all others do and to walk with more grace and mercy and a giving attitude towards those who don't.  

 

~ celebrating Hubby's birthday ~ after our shift at OCC we all went to The Old Spaghetti Factory for supper to celebrate Hubby's birthday.  It's one of his favorite places to eat and we all enjoyed our well earned meals after working all afternoon.  

~ beautiful drive home ~ on the way home, God treated us to one of the most gorgeous skies and then astounding sunsets we have ever seen.  I have never seen such a blazing red sky and then just for a minute it got this bright yellow center.  What a blessed way to end a great weekend.

The pictures just don't do it justice.

What have been your favorite blessings from the past week?

Friday's Fave Five #866

Happy Friday!  I hope all my American friends had a lovely Thanksgiving Day yesterday!  Thanksgiving holiday rolls around once a year but here at FFF we are endeavoring to be thankful as a daily lifestyle.  So join us in our pause to take note and be thankful for five blessings from the last week. 

~ persimmons ~  had my first persimmon ever in my life and I am hooked.  So sweet and smooth and delicious!  The dayhome kids were unsure of it, but that's ok, more for me.

~ helping with the intake of boxes ~ Sunday I helped with the intake of shoebox gifts at the main drop off location.  It was the last drop off day so it was a big one with several surrounding towns bringing in their boxes.  It was nice to meet a lot of project leaders and others involved with organizing for their churches.  I'm thankful to work alongside so many great volunteers.

~ encouragement given and received ~ At ladies bible study this week there was some really great back and forth on the topic being studied and it was great to see encouragement being given and received as some of the questions really asked us to do some soul searching.  I love and am thankful that our group is a safe place to share our thoughts and our struggles and our victories knowing we will lift each other up.

~ winter tires on ~ I'm thankful for my hubby who worked hard to get my winter tires on for the season.  And just in time for the snowfall we got this week.  

~ evening tea ~ with the weather cooling off evening tea has been a welcome and relaxing ritual.  So nice to curl up with a good book or fave tv show and that hot tea to warm up with.

What have been your favorite blessings of the last week?

 

The Secret War of Julia Child by Diana R. Chambers ~ Book Review

Julia McWilliams is 30 years old, single and at a bit of a cross roads in her life.  Born into an aristocratic Pasadena family, she earned at degree in history in college. Determined to achieve something of worth  she moved to Washington to take a job under General "Wild Bill" Donovan in the Offices of Strategic Services.  Highly ambitious she quickly moved up to Head of OSS Registry of Secret Files.  But she wanted more.  She wanted to go overseas and help somehow with the war effort.  But her 6 foot 2 height disqualified her from enlisting.   General Donovan, seeing her hard work,  rewarded her motivation and optimism by sending her to Ceylon to set up offices for their war effort there, where eventually she was assigned to India and China.  While there she met Paul Child, a very talented and dedicated map maker, but the two were very different and like oil and water.  Eventually they form a begrudging friendship as they are thrust into working together, sometimes in incredibly dangerous situations where they start to see the qualities that begin a lifetime love.  "I was never a spy" Julia takes on the challenging tasks given to her with her trademark gusto and  with no idea of the impact her assignments will have or where these experiences would eventually land her.

This was a work of historical fiction centering around Julia's time with the OSS in India and Asia.  Though the author did extensive research there are many missing parts to Julia's story especially because she refused to admit she was a spy.  The author took many liberties to fill in the gaps and she freely admits to doing so.  With this in mind, some of the things told made me wonder how far an event or incident was pushed for story's sake or if it even happened at all.  A few of the parts dragged a bit and though the number of characters is large and at times confusing it was still an interesting story as I have never read of the history of British colonialism as it pertained to the war nor of the resistance against Japan in Asian countries.  It was an interesting speculation of what might of happened in the war to make Julia become the person we all eventually came to know as the person who brought French cooking to the home cook.

I rated it a 7.5/10 

Friday's Fave Five #865

Welcome to Friday's Fave Five.  Thank you for joining me in pausing our hectic weeks leading up to the holidays and looking for those blessings we are grateful for.  It has been a very busy week for me, so I'm thankful for this pause that helps me notice blessings in my life.  

~ Occ Boxes loaded and delivered to the drop off location ~  Sunday was collection Sunday at our church and we prayed over the shoebox gifts as a congregation.  Then we loaded them up for the next step in their journey into the hands of a child.  Tuesday I dropped them off at the main collection center in town where next week they will be loaded into a semi for their journey to the processing center in Calgary.  I love every step of the shoebox journey.

~ work Christmas party ~  last night was our agency's Christmas party.  We had a lovely turkey dinner and got to meet and interact with some of the approximately 70 educators that have family dayhomes that are licensed with our agency.  It was a fun evening and I'm grateful for all the work the admin ladies did it putting it together.

~ gift of beef ~ One of my dayhome families gifted us with a roast and some steaks from a cow they had butchered.  With the insane price of beef around here this was such a blessing!

~ Christmas shopping started ~ I've been dreading the holidays coming up, in fact the whole month of December.  Last year was when my Mom went into hospital at the beginning of December and passed a week before Christmas.  But I picked up gifts for the dayhome kids this week and a couple of others on my list.  I'm trying to keep it simple and not second guess myself this year like I usually do.  So I've got those and moving on.

~ a three year old's belly laughter ~ such joy it brings.  I love when one of the dayhome kids gets the belly laughs or something silly.  It's infectious.  You can't help but laugh along.

What have been your favorite blessings that you are thankful for this week?