Wordless Wednesday

Hello, ice.

Hello, wind.

Hello, day home from work.

Hello, books. Hello, blankets.  Hello, hot tea.

What's going on in your backyard?

Water Bottles

For several months, I was on a quest to find a fantastic water bottle.  

Really, how hard could it be?

But after reading lots of reviews of different brands, apparently it was going to be harder than I originally thought.

I wanted one that was BPA-free, no-spill, and not a screw lid, because I always manage to spill that kind all over the front of my shirt. Ahem.   Definitely something durable, being the rather klutzy person that I am.  

So now I present you with the answer to that quest of mine:

CamelBak

But you probably already knew that, right?

What I didn't realize until I became a CamelBak owner myself, is that pretty much everybody else I know already knew that it was one of the best water bottles in existence. 

After two weeks of using it personally, I'm completely sold. 
Five stars from me! 

And the hands-down best feature?  

There is Absolutely. No. Spilling.  Not a single drip. 

All my previous bottles have leaked in my book bag, spilled in the car, lids come off when dropped, etc.  This baby works like a charm.  It's been knocked, dropped, rolled, and never had one drop of water escape.  It's my dream come true (for a water bottle, that is).  

We're pretty much inseparable now.

What kind of water bottle do you use?

the Winner

Just stopping in to announce the winner of the Dayspring giveaway!

And the winner is. . . .

:: drum roll :: 

Wait for it. . . 

Steph from Calculating Blessings!

(I'll be contacting you shortly.)

Congratulations and happy shopping!!!

Sweet Yummies

Guess I’m just a few days behind on posting about Valentine’s Day, ‘huh?  We celebrated over the weekend since we both had to work on Monday, but it was nice and relaxing and we always love an excuse to have some “date” time!  

We walked around downtown, got our wedding rings cleaned, ate Rock Shrimp at the only place in town you can get it, and talked.  Always lots of talking.  We’re really good at that.  Probably one of the many reasons we’re best friends.  I love dates with my husband!

For our VDay breakfast I made Baked Butter Pecan French Toast, which was a new recipe for me but it ended up being delicious!  The fact it was super easy to make certainly didn’t hurt anything either!

Served with some fruit and bacon, we had us a top-notch breakfast! 

There were also some little presents, including these Mr. & Mrs. mugs from Dayspring, and some of M’s favorite tea from Aveda.  Don’t forget to enter my giveaway to win a gift certificate for Dayspring and maybe you can get a set of mugs for yourself! 

And in case you’re looking for a sweet-little-something to make for breakfast this weekend, here’s the recipe for that French Toast (we cut the recipe in half and it made about 4-5 servings).

Baked Butter Pecan French Toast

1 cup firmly packed brown sugar
1/2 cup butter or margarine
2 tablespoons honey
1 cup chopped pecans, toasted
1 loaf French bread, cut into 1/2-inch thick slices
6 eggs, beaten
1 2/3 cups milk
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 tablespoon granulated sugar
1 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice
Maple syrup

Heat oven to 350°F (175°C).

Combine brown sugar, butter and honey in 1-quart saucepan. Cook over medium heat, stirring frequently, until sugar melts (2 to 3 minutes). Pour into a greased 13x9-inch baking dish. Sprinkle with pecans. Top with half of bread slices.

Combine eggs, milk and vanilla in large bowl; beat until well mixed. Dip remaining bread slices in egg mixture on one side only. Place over bread in the pan, dipped-side down. Pour remaining egg mixture over bread slices.  Sprinkle with a couple extra tablespoons of brown sugar and some additional pecans, if desired.

Combine sugar and pumpkin pie spice in small bowl; sprinkle over top. Cover; refrigerate for 4 hours or overnight.

Bake, uncovered, for 50 to 55 minutes or until golden brown and knife inserted in center comes out clean. Let stand for 10 minutes. Invert each serving when you scoop it onto the plate.  Serve with maple syrup, if desired.

Review and a GIVEAWAY!

The sweet folks at (in)courage by Dayspring have given me the opportunity to review their lovely necklace: God's Heart For You.  When it arrived in the mail, I opened up the tiny velvet pouch and pulled out a delicate silver chain with a one-inch pendant hanging from it. The words etched on each side of the pendant read: 

Created.  Celebrated.  Cherished.  Chosen.   

Today is Valentine's day, and while the stores are filled with people buying flowers & chocolate for their sweeties, I was struck by the perfect timing of the words inscribed on this necklace.  God's love for me is there every single day of the year, but so often I get too caught up in the business of life to pay attention.

As a child of God, it does not matter if I am married or single, rich or poor... I am Loved by God.  He Created me, Celebrates me, Cherishes me, and (my favorite) He Chose me.  Every time I slip this chain around my neck it serves as a wonderful reminder that I am precious in the sight of God.  I am reminded of love.  

This beautiful necklace can be purchased in either sterling silver or rhodium-plated. It is a very good quality and has a stylish design.  I've only worn it a couple times but I love it already!

And now for the really fun part!  

:::: drum roll please :::: 

These same sweet people at (in)courage are also letting me give away a $20 voucher to the Dayspring store!
(Shipping & Handling will still be charged on your purchase).

Entries will be accepted during the week and the winner will be announced on SATURDAY, February 19th, but in the meantime. . . 

Mandatory Entry:

• Be a verified follower of this blog and leave a comment telling me what catches your eyes at the Dayspring store! 

Optional entries (leave a new comment for each):

• Follow me on Twitter (@blessedbride08) and tweet about the giveaway.
• Blog about the giveaway and link back to this post.

*I was not financially compensated for this post. I received the above mentioned product from (in)courage by Dayspring for review purposes only. The opinions stated here are completely my own based on personal experience.* Contest is open to US residents only, 18 years of age and older.

Happy Valentine's Day and enjoy the giveaway!

Melting. . .

Source

I love the sound of melting snow.

The steady flow of water running through the downspouts.  Drips and splashes leaving a pinging sound as they hit the metal and fall to the ground. 

The temperature hit 40 degrees today; warmth we haven't felt since around November.

We left the heat on and opened up all the windows.  Silly, I know, but oh the smell of that glorious fresh air!

I stood by the window and let the sun beat on my face and just listened to the water.  It's a sound that always fills me with hope. Hope that spring really is coming soon and that any day I might see a Crocus trying to push its way up through the dirt.  I couldn't help but smile as I stood and listened. 

And then I thanked God, Creator of all, for the sunshine and the sound of Hope in the air.

Brightly Colored.....Everything!

I was browsing in Pier 1 Imports this week (something I haven't done in years), and came across so much adorable dishware!  It's probably a good thing I don't go in there frequently, or else my kitchen cupboards would be brimming with brightly colored mugs, tea pots, soup bowl, platters.... you get the picture. 

I've always thought some day I'd have shelves full of Fiestaware and bold happy place settings to use when company came... so obviously these dishes were just my style!

Seriously, aren't these adorable?

Who wouldn't want to use these for a mug of soup, a foamy latte, or a humongous cup of hot chocolate?

You know you would.

Wouldn't you just love choosing a mug to use for your morning coffee if your shelves looked like this color palette? 

And then there was the platter section!  I'm sure cookies would taste even better if they were served on this pretty little thing!

I browsed and smiled, and left the store empty-handed.

Some day I might have a table laid out with brightly colored pieces of matching dishware; the kind of place-settings people want to take a picture of because it's just so cute... but if I don't, that's okay too. 

Things are just things... it's the person you're sharing that latte with that really matters.  A giant mug brimming with warm goodness and whip cream touching our noses when we drink might make for a great picture and a good laugh... but I've had some of my best conversations holding nothing more in my hand than a styrofoam cup filled with water.  It's not about the things.

So if you want to come to my house for a chat over coffee, I'll pull out some mugs and a platter of cookies, but I can't promise you they'll be matching!

My Miscellany Monday

 

1.)  Still playing around with new header/designs for my blog.  I'm never quite satisfied, so please just bear with me while I change my mind about it another million times over & over again...

2.)  Hubby & I spent most of the weekend home sick on the couch.  Again.  I think we need a whole bunch of warm weather and sunshine to help kill all these germs.  I made a batch of Chicken Noodle Soup to help us feel better.  Sometimes, you just need some good old-fashioned comfort food.

3.)  I've had the urge to go thrifting in a bad way lately and maybe score a treasure or two for some DIY projects around the house.  I love the excitement of finding a great deal and making a dollar stretch!

4.)  I didn't make any special food for the Super Bowl yesterday.  Am I the only one?  Twitter will filled with links to all the yummy food that everybody was whipping up.  Frankly, I forgot about the S.B. until earlier in the afternoon when hubby was checking to see what time it came on.  Guess I should have pulled out a box of Cheese-Its or something festive like that.

5.)  That's all I got, folks.  It's been pretty quiet around here lately and my brain is tired...which isn't a very encouraging start to the week considering it is only Monday.

Happy Monday!

When It's Cold Out

Supper was done; the driveway was cleared of snow.

There was some Jim Brickman playing quietly through the speakers and I lit the wick on the new “Passion Berry” WoodWick candle a friend had just given me.  I have never had a WoodWick candle before and I absolutely love it!  We don’t have a fireplace in our house but the candle crackles so cheerfully as it burns that if I close my eyes I can almost imagine that there is a full hearth blazing in the corner.    

We pulled out Yahtzee and sprawled on the floor to play the best 2 out of 3. I love those quiet happy moments when the rush of the world fades away, the TV is off, the computer is shut down, and the loudest noise is that of our laugher.

I could really get use to having snow days...

A little snow, anyone?

Snowmageddon aka The Blizzard of 2011

Meteorologists had been predicting it for a week and amazingly enough it actually happened.  Apparently this storm was supposed to hit most of the U.S. too, if reports on Facebook and Twitter were any indication.  

My boss sent the office staff home early from work on Tuesday and told us get ready to stay home on Wednesday. I'd never had a snow day from work before!

 By 6:00 last night it was snowing pretty hard and when we got up this morning there was a good twelve inches (or more) of show outside.   Most the state is covered under a minimum of a foot of snow and some places were pushing twenty inches.   I’m sure this is considered “normal” in some states, but not here. 

Everybody was told to stay off the roads, but of course there are some people who don’t heed that kind of advice.  Like our neighbors, who we saw get stuck in the street and had to call a plow truck.   Hubby went out to blow the driveway and I poked my head out to take a few pictures.  

 Now I am cuddled-up back on the couch watching the snow from the warmth and coziness of our little house.

This is the scene from my window while I'm working: 

 Enjoying some coffee and a bit of relaxation... I love snow days.

Did you get hit by Snowmageddon?