Parchment Paths

Christmas has come and gone and soon 2012 will be leaving as well. As usual there were some Christmasy events I missed out on, I do have to work , sadly, but all in all it was wonderful! Christmas Eve I attended  candlelight services at my new church and exchanged gifts with my dad. Christmas morning, I made pancakes and then we spent the day with my brother and his family. It was perfect, eating a lovely dinner, opening presents, and driving around looking at Christmas lights, but the best part was spending time with family.

Last weekend I hosted my church's Ladies Christmas Tea, making this year the first we've had the tea since my mother passed away and the first one I hosted on my own. The turn out was smaller than in the past,  but everyone enjoyed themselves and said Mom would be proud, which made it all worth while. The theme was Angels We Have Heard on High. Just as angels delivered the message of Christ's birth, we must do the same, whether by inviting people to church, or simply displaying patience while in a long, slow moving line at the store. I admit, having a loving, Christmas spirit it difficult; I work at a large retail chain, but seeing a smile on a tired cashier's face, or hearing a little kid laugh tell you about the toys they want, makes it special.  Another wonderful experience I had was finding the matching  Rescuers ornament to the one I've had since being a kid in the 90's. Does anyone remember these guys? Bernard and Bianca from Disney's the Rescuer

I am so excited about Christmas! It is my favorite time of year, the crisp air, the whips of snow falling, the music, the presents, and the food, yes, I love it all and I refuse to let negativity and materialism creep in and ruin my holiday!  I spend as much of it with my friends and family as I can. So far, I've been able to go shopping with my Dad and niece, and nephew.  I went shopping with my sister in law and one of my friends as well, I just didn't; get any pictures. Garrett writing a letter to Santa  My dad began decorating much earlier then usual, in fact he did most of it before I was even aware he was decorating!  Both of us went to get the tree though, which was nice since I've been getting it by myself for some time.

It's been a long time coming but I finally hosted the Enchanted Forrest Party that was originally planned for the Monday before Halloween. Then we, Sandy rained it out. So, I held it last Friday, and though the rescheduling forced some people to cancel, it was an extremely fun time. I'd been gathering decorations in my backyard for a while,I didn't see the sense in buying branches when I could collect them for free .The rest came from Wal-Mart and Target or I already owned.  I made apple cupcakes with caramel icing. Next time, I think I'm going to use apple juice or cider rather than dried apples though, The apples were a bit chewy and had an odd texture. I think I'd like to use the forest theme again for different holidays and events, Christmas, Chronicles of Narnia, really the possibilities are endless! My aunt did this when she was a kid. Been in the family for years. About $9.00 on clearance at Wal-Mart Leaf garland from Target- $2.50 Glitte

Well, in the midst of this massive storm, the Pennsylvania Renaissance Faire ended it's season. I am so glad they were able to properly end the season despite the storm, unlike last year where they had to close down entirely.  A friend of mine attended yesterday, the very last day and said they had a condensed schedule, but that enabled them have the final joust and finale in song. Very considerate of the faire! I attended Saturday, with some friends who had never been. They were very excited to be there! They decided they wanted to follow the story line, so we met up with some other friends of ours at Queen's Court, where she introduced the rivalry of  William Shakespeare and Christopher Marlow.  Then we took in the shops before making our way to the next story line show, Human Chess. Then we browsed some more of the lovely shops! We also watched the Royal Falconer and his birds,  a wonderful show for any bird lover, or anyone fo

I was in the Clarks summit area a few days ago and after grabbing some delectable Starbucks pumpkin latte I took a little adventure in the Abington Area Community Park . It's a lovely place particularly this time of year, with the crisp air stirring the leaves, wafting that burnt, autumnal smell over the place. I love this time of year, it's like a pretty respite of color before the grey of a snow less winter, a promise of beauty even the midst of death, that even in nature God shows us that death is only branching out into His next plan of us.  There is nothing like a hot drink on a chilly day!     Where will my next adventure be?

Like many other women I have fallen into the black hole of recipes, crafts, and goodness knows what else, known as Pinterest. I even have a wedding board and am single, very single. Well, to justify my hours of pinning I thought it would be wonderful idea to actually try some of my pins! I've only made a few attempts, but have had good results. While not exactly like the pin, they're not worthy of the blog Pintrosity, which if you don't know is where a woman chronicles failed attempts. Very funny stuff, too. But, as I said my attempts were not half bad. First I tried this :  Apple Stuffed Chicken Breast  Now, I don't normally cook; I bake. So, when the recipe did not specify think cut chicken breasts I did not realize that flattening a regular one thin enough to roll would prove difficult. The meat almost slid out from the wax paper unto the floor. That's when I decided to alter the recipe and make a sort of casserole. Instead of rolling the meat around

  I had a wonderful time at one of my favorite places this past weekend, you guessed it, the Pennsylvania Renaissance  Faire.  Even though I've been numrouse other times, this was the first time I took kids. My five year old nephew and my three old niece went along. Even though my nephew changed his mind last minute aobut the pyrate costume I'd made him and my neice had a few crying fits, all in all, they had a great day. I had printed the schedule of the website before hand and had highlighted some children's shows, but I leanred to moslty go with the flow, what we walked up to, what they wanted to do. My dad took over watching them a few times while I met up wtih some freinds, and he did the same thing. It seemed to go fairly smoothly. Yes, I wished they'd interacted more wtih the cast, yes, I wish we'd done more shows and activites, but over all I'm jsut pleased they had a new and fun experiance. They both asked to go back and I couldn't be happier.