Friday Faves #25 TV Channel

Friday Fave #25 - Favorite TV Channel

Frankly there isn't any one particular channel that pops into my mind... not many of them are child-friendly these days which is so sad...even the channels specifically geared for kids! If I had to pick though, it would be between HGTV and the Animal Planet channels. I love decorating, crafts, architecture and house hunting, so HGTV covers that. I also love animals, and Animal Planet offers some great quality shows. I only wish that we could watch TV without all the commercials...they really are annoying, especially that Vonage one...ever see it?? Yikes!!! I can't get their song out of my head...which I guess is their point.

I'd rather be reading a good book or watching a Jane Austen movie than watching TV anyhow!!! So, what's your favorite channel??

Friday Faves #25 Candy

Friday Fave #25 - Favorite Candy

Do I HAVE to pick just one? Who doesn't love all sorts of candy!?! If it's made of chocolate, it's GOT to be yummy! Well, OK, even candy not made of chocolate is yummy.

In my opinion, anything with chocolate and peanut butter together is great, but I've always had one absolute favorite candy bar! Check out the photo below...

Can you guess what it is?



It's a 3 Musketeers bar!!!!!! I even love them frozen, ever tried that?!? Yummy! I do have to watch what I eat though, so it's been a while since biting into one of these...but whenever I do, it's pure heaven! What's your favorite?

Friday Faves #24 Animal

Friday Fave #24 - Favorite Animal (besides dog or cat)

My favorite animals are most definitely from Africa! I love both the zebra and the giraffe. They are often seen together in the wild, and I love how they interact with one another.

When I was living in South Africa, my favorite place to go to was Kruger National Park to watch the giraffes and zebras - there are so many of them there!!! Ever seen a giraffe run? GORGEOUS!!! Ever hear the wah-wah of a zebra in the wild? It's a must! Did you know that some zebras wear pants while others wear shirts?? Check it out here to see what I mean.

Friday Faves #19 Musician

Friday Fave #19 - Favorite Musician

Oh my goodness, I don't know that I could pick just one!?! I love SO many. My favorite music is definitely Christian Inspirational, but I also love classical and some of the more modern mellow music that's out there. I'll list my favorites by topic:


Favorite:
Christian groups: Selah
Christian soloists: Mark Lowry, Michael W. Smith
Non-Christian groups: Il Divo
Non-Christian soloists: James Galway!!! Josh Groban, Andrea Botticelli
Classical composer: Mozart
Modern/classical album: Sundown by Stewart Dudley, George Winston

There, that about covers it...or not. I'm sure I'll think of a bunch more after I post this! What are your favorites?!?

Friday Faves #18 Smell

Friday Fave #18 - Favorite Smell

My favorite isn't one particular smell. Ever been somewhere and you smell something that reminds you of a place you've been before? The kind of smell that brings back fond memories? It doesn't happen often, but when it does, I love it! There are times I've walked into a building or out into the fresh air and if I closed my eyes, it would have put me back to a different place and different time. Sounds weird, I know, but it does happen!

These are the more specific smells I enjoy...

• coffee
• cinnamon
• carnation flowers
• fresh bread baking
• lavender

I also love walking into the Yankee Candle store and smelling all the candles mixed together - yummy!! I'm not particularly fond of the floral scents, but any country smells or baked goods smells are my favorites....Shortbread Cookie, Macintosh, Spiced Pumpkin, Autumn Wreath, Sugarcane & Vanilla, Juicy Peach, and Harvest...to name a few.

Friday Faves #17 Literary Character

Friday Fave #17 - Favorite Literary Character

I have to admit that I can't think of just one...sorry. I love several of the characters in Jane Austen's novels. One of my favorites has to be Col. Brandon from Sense & Sensibility. He is extremely loyal, loving and has a way about him that just draws you in. At first Maryann isn't interested in him, but I believe she truly falls in love with him...not because he's good looking or has lots of money, but because he is honest, sincere, gentle and extremely patient...he had to be to tolerate her childish behavior at first!

I also love the character Anne in Anne of Green Gables. I believe Lucy Maud Montgomery (the author) used her own background as the basis for her character and setting of the story. If you've never read the book, I highly recommend it. The movies are also wonderful, so if you're not a book lover, at least watch the movies!!!

Friday Faves #16 Comic Strip

Friday Fave #16 - Favorite comic strip

I don't have any one particular favorite comic strip, but there are a few great comic artists out there. I prefer the Christian comic writers since I can relate to their funny ideas. Here are a few of my favorites...



Kevin Spear:




Reverend Fun:





Todd Wilson:


(Been there...done that!)

Friday Faves #15 - Flower

Friday Fave #15 - Favorite flower

I have to say that I really love all types of flowers...there aren't any that I dislike. God created so much beauty in this world for us to enjoy! My husband is always bringing fresh flowers home to me - something he's done that I've always appreciated. He always tries to include carnations in the bunch too!

If I had to pick one flower that is my all-time favorite, it has to be the carnation. It's a simple, yet elegant flower. For some reason I just love the smell of fresh carnations!! When we went to Scotland on our honeymoon, one of the castle's we visited was Floors Castle. They had a ton of carnations growing in their gardens - it was absolutely gorgeous!!!

I also love taking macro photos of flowers...I took the photo above with the 'Friday Faves' logo on it, along with these carnation photos. I have to admit that these aren't the best shots I've taken...carnations are hard to photograph!! Some of my better photos are of roses, wisteria and sunflowers...all of which I absolutely love too.

The next time someone brings you flowers and there's a carnation in the bunch, smell the center of it and see how sweet they are!!

Friday Faves #14 - Book

Friday Fave #14 - Favorite book

My favorite book of all time is definitely The Bible...there's no comparison! God's Holy Word is the best there is. It is a love letter to us and we need to read it daily.

The Bible I use most is the NIV Study Bible. My husband gave it to me before we were married. Before that I used the American Standard, but I'm not crazy about that version anymore. A friend of mine highly recommended the ESV Bible which is fairly new. It's very similar to the King James Bible which is what I grew up on, only it's easier to understand. I'm looking forward to when they come out with the ESV in a nice leather study Bible. I really enjoy study Bibles because it gives you a place to start when you want to research more on a particular passage. For now though I'll stick with my NIV....I've got so many notes and underlined verses in it that it may be hard to work on a new one. To me, the older and more worn out the better!

Friday Faves #13 - Sport

Friday Fave #13 - Favorite sport

My favorite all-time sport has to be figure skating! I have always enjoyed watching it on TV, especially when the Olympics are on. I haven't watched it so much lately, but back in the 80's and 90's I was really into it when my favorite skaters were in their 'hay-day'.

Who are my favorites? Scott Hamilton, Paul Wylie, Brian Boitano, Torvil & Dean, Gordeeva & Grinkov, Kristi Yamaguchi, Nancy Kerrigan, Todd Eldredge and Kurt Browning.

Here are a few of my favorites:

Paul Wylie skating to Carmina Burana


Scott Hamilton skating to Figaro (Barber of Seville)


Todd Eldredge skating to Gettysburg (Gorgeous music!)

Friday Faves #11 - Beverage

Friday Fave #11 - Favorite beverage

Well, I do enjoy a nice cold ice tea or lemonade in the summer-time, but hands down my favorite beverage of all time has to be COFFEE! I admit it, I'm a coffee-a-holic! Is there really such a thing? There should be!

I love going to Starbucks, Barnes & Noble Cafe, or any other fun coffee hang out with my homeschool-mom friends for a cup of hot coffee and some fellowship! When I'm home though, I love to pop a K-cup in my Keurig coffee maker and drink it while reading a good book. If you don't know what a Keurig is, take a look:

Wikipedia describes it best: Keurig is a coffee machine manufacturing company that is a subsidiary of Green Mountain Coffee Roasters Inc. Their machines are all designed to brew a single cup of coffee at a time, in under a minute. The coffee grounds are in prepared, single-serving K-Cups. The user is required to insert a K-Cup, place a mug under the machine and press a button."

Here are some fun and interesting facts about coffee:

• With the exception of Hawaii and Puerto Rico, no coffee is grown in the United States or its territories.
• The term "Cuppa Joe" came from "G.I. Joe," who always had his coffee.
• It is estimated that 100 million Americans drink a total of 350 million cups of coffee a day!
• In 1732, Johann Sebastian Bach composed his Kaffee-Kantate. Partly an ode to coffee and partly a stab at the movement in Germany to prevent women from drinking coffee as it was thought to make them sterile.
• A mature coffee tree will produce one to two pounds of coffee per growing season.
• Some of the worlds most powerful business, including Lloyds of London and the New York Stock Exchange, started life as a coffee houses.
• In 1683, one pound of coffee in New York was worth as much as 4 acres of land.
• Espresso has 1/3 of the caffeine of a regular cup of coffee.
• We say coffee beans although they are really berries.
• Beethoven who was a coffee lover, was so particular about his coffee that he always counted 60 beans each cup when he prepared his brew.
• Dark roasted coffees actually have LESS caffeine than medium roasts. The longer a coffee is roasted, the more caffeine burns off during the process.

Well, I gotta go grab a 'cuppa joe' and finish the book I'm reading.

Friday Faves #10 - Magazine

Friday Faves was officially canceled, but I had so much fun doing it, so I decided to make my own Friday Faves graphic and keep it going. If you'd like to join me, feel free to use my graphic (copy it, don't link to it!) for your site and post a comment here letting me know. I hope to put a Friday Faves list on my sidebar soon so you can participate and know ahead of time what the next 'fave' topic will be. For now, check here each week for the fave topic.

Friday Fave #10 - Favorite magazine

I love reading magazines of all types. I enjoy Country Woman, The Old Schoolhouse, Creation Magazine, Digital Scrapbooking, the History Channel Magazine, Birds & Blooms, and Home Education, but my absolute favorite magazine lately has to be Log Home Living!

I always wanted to be an architect, I love anything country, and those two are definitely represented in this magazine! My husband often brings me home various log home magazines (there are a few great ones!) and I sift through them all and drool!! I will always wish I pursued my dream career, but as long as I have these magazines to read, it'll be enough for now. My life is definitely complete, so I don't need to be going back to school again...I still have 11 more years of homeschooling ahead of me! When all is said and done, I'll have gone to (or taught) for 38 years of my life! That's enough for one person, don't ya think?

Friday Faves - Favorite Kitchen Gadget

Friday Faves: Favorite Kitchen Gadget

I'd have to say that I really love using my Braun hand blender. We use this for a bunch of things, but I'd say that the my favorite way to use it is for making smoothies and mashed potatoes! Stick a few bananas and some frozen strawberries in the container, add a little milk and powdered sugar and blend! It's that easy! Potatoes come out real creamy too when you use this blender. The best part - it's easy to clean. (Is this sounding like a commercial? ha ha)



My favorite appliance is also my Keurig...someday I'll post about that one, but if you don't have one and you love coffee...quick...go run out and grab one!!!

Friday Faves - Reality or Game Shows

Friday Faves: Favorite Reality or Game Shows

Hmm, I had to think about this one for a bit. I hate to admit it, but I do enjoy watching some of the reality shows out there...like Survivor, or The Amazing Race. Some of them are quite trashy and I don't even give them a second glance! I used to love The Mole, but they pulled that one off the air. I really enjoyed that show. I like the shows that make you think!

I also enjoy game shows now and then, but don't go out of my way to watch any. The new ones today really annoy me. They're all pretty much the same...dark rooms, lots of flashing lights, big loud music and way too much time explaining things and waiting on people to make decisions!!!! So...with that being said, I'd have to say that my favorites are the game shows from the past.

Remember these?

• Beat the Clock
• Truth or Consequences
• Let's Make a Deal
• Match Game
• Press Your Luck
• What's My Line?
• High Rollers
• I've Got a Secret
• Sale of the Century
• The Newlywed Game
• Tic Tac Dough
  

Oh there's lots more, but those are the ones off the top of my head. I'd have to say that the only ones I enjoy now are Jeopardy, and the Cash Cab...anything with trivia. My absolute favorite channel though is HGTV (Home and Garden TV). That's more my speed. What's even better? A good movie with my dear hubby!!! Nothing beats that!!!!!!

Friday Faves - Past Time

Friday Faves: Favorite Past Time

There are a bunch of past times that I really enjoy, but they're mostly things I do alone...scrapbooking, playing my flute, working on the computer, and watching movies.

Hands down though, my absolute favorite past time is definitely hanging out with my family!!! My husband and dear children mean the world to me, so I jump at every chance to spend quality time with them. We love to go up north and hike - one of our new favorite things to do together. We also enjoy bowling as a family, going to movies, and simply playing games at home with a bowl of popcorn (chips for Edward), some coffee and hot cocoa!

Anyone up for a game??

Friday Faves - Christmas Tree Ornament

Friday Faves: Christmas Tree Ornament(s)

I do not have just one favorite Christmas tree ornament...is that even possible?? My husband was an ornament collector before I married him, so we had several hundred of those fancy Hallmark ones for a long time. We eventually got rid of a lot of them and now enjoy a larger variety of ornaments on our tree, including homemade ones by the kids...a must for every family with children!! This year though I have a few favorites...mostly because they bring back fond memories.

This little guy is standing beside a large drum with a fire inside (which flickers). It reminds me of our Christmas tree hunt each year.


This ornament is special because my Mom had it made the year I returned home from living in South Africa. It's a hand blown glass ornament with a hand blown glass elephant in the center. It's really awesome!!! It is extremely breakable, but so far it's made it through Christmas for almost 19 years!


This moose reminds me of our trips up north to Vermont and New Hampshire. We love going up there, hiking in the mountains, and enjoying a bit of God's beautiful creation!


Here is a photo of the whole tree. This year it's 8' tall and we only put about 1/5 the ornaments on it - simply because we got too tired!

Friday Faves - Christmas Carol

Friday Faves: Christmas Carol

Even though it's not a 'carol' by most standards, my favorite Christmas 'song' hands down is "Mary Did You Know" by Mark Lowry (lyrics) and Buddy Green (music). It's not only a beautiful song musically, but the words are very powerful!! The very first time I heard this song was in 1995. My son played baby Jesus (he was just 3 months old - his acting debut!) and they sang this song as 'Mary' and 'Joseph' sat with my son in the manger. I cried then, and I still get teary-eyed now when I hear it. Here's a video of Mark singing it along with the lyrics. I hope you enjoy it as much as I do!



Mary did you know that your baby boy would some day walk on water?
Mary did you know that your baby boy would save our sons and daughters?
Did you know that your baby boy has come to make you new?
This child that you've delivered, will soon deliver you.

Mary did you know that your baby boy would give sight to a blind man?
Mary did you know that your baby boy would calm a storm with his hand?
Did you know that your baby boy has walked where angels trod?
And when your kiss your little baby, you've kissed the face of God.

The blind will see, the deaf will hear, the dead will live again.
The lame will leap, the dumb will speak, the praises of the lamb---.

Mary did you know that your baby boy is Lord of all creation?
Mary did you know that your baby boy would one day rule the nations?
Did you know that your baby boy is heaven's perfect Lamb?
This sleeping child you're holding is the great--I--- AM---.

Friday Faves - Holiday Tradition

Friday Faves: Holiday Tradition

There are so many wonderful traditions that my family has had over the years...cutting our own Christmas tree down at the local farm was one of our favorites. There were others...

Baking cookies together, especially my Gramma's secret Scottish Shortbread. You know the one... The-I'd-give-it-to-you-but-I'd-have-to-kill-you-after-so-why-bother-recipe.

Decorating the tree together...well...basically it was Mom sitting on the couch directing Dad to string up the lights a certain way while my sister and I followed him with the tangled up twisted mess...half of which didn't work (which we didn't know until after they were strung). The ornaments? Well, let's just say that they were old, hand-made or half broken...except for those balls with the hair hanging off of them. Whoever came up with the idea to string soft fabric over styrofoam obviously never had a real tree with real branches that would get caught in them causing them fray all over the tree. Eew!

Another tradition we had was with the whole family. My parents would invite everyone in the family (both sides!) over later in the afternoon on Christmas. Before the company came though, we would not only have to clean the house top to bottom, but would have to arrange every one of our gifts under the tree as neat as a pin so we could do the "hey, look what I got" thing as each of them entered the door. My parents weren't rich nor did they brag, so I'm not sure why they wanted to flaunt the gazillion gifts they bought us for Christmas....from the big fat Bonnie Bell lip gloss on a string, to our bean bag chairs, to the handmade hats and scarves we'd get every year. I think the gifts sat there for about a week before we were allowed to put them away in our rooms and play with them. Go figure!


What's up with those bulbs?!?


Yup, that's me in my big red vinyl bean bag chair - far out!

With that being said, most of those traditions are now gone. Smart decision huh? That last one was a tradition that I personally laid to rest!!!! We have made some of our own family traditions with our children...two of them really stick out in my mind...

We still cut down our own Christmas tree each year - it's a total blast and the memories we make are truly priceless! The best time to go is when there's snow on the ground, but it doesn't happen every year. We hike all over the rolling hills to find that 'oh so perfect' tree. When we do, Daddy and Lionel saw it down together. After putting it on the van, we go grab some hot cocoa and enjoy the wonderful surroundings for a bit before heading home.





The other 'tradition' we have in our family lasts the entire month of December. Beginning on December 1st (tomorrow!), we each write something down on a piece of paper that we're thankful to the Lord for on that particular day. We then put our papers into a stocking we so aptly call 'The Jesus Stocking'. On Christmas Eve, we have a birthday party for baby Jesus (complete with cake) and we open up the stocking. Daddy reads all the papers we put into it throughout the month. The kids especially love to hear all that God has done for us just in such a short time. It's encouraging, and it reminds us that God is always with us! He gives us so much more than we need, when all we truly need is Him!! He is the real reason for the season!

Traditions or not, I hope you make some very happy memories with your family this Christmas!!