Christmas

As stated in other blogs, I paint tags. While at a bank, one of the tellers asked about my tags. I showed her a stack of 55, which she kindly commented on. Observing I didn't have any nativity tags, she asked if I'd consider painting one. I had 17 Christmas tags…snowmen, snowflakes, poinsettias, holly berry, Christmas lights, trees, ornaments and candy…but not one nativity or Christ-centered tag. We celebrate Christmas because of Christ’s birth – why hadn’t I thought about painting one? I loved her idea and painted the two pictures to turn them into tags.

This is one of the tags

I dropped off a bag of her favorite Christmas candy, along with my new nativity tags. I wanted her to know that I appreciated the idea.

I put both styles of Nativity tags inside the baggie
 with the mints to thank her for the idea. I don't know her except
that she's often the teller at the bank I go to, so it was fun to
drop this off to her. 

I recently read a Facebook entry written by Dallin H. Oaks. He once analyzed a stack of Christmas cards he had received and sorted them into three groups.

The largest group of cards (47%) were not religious in nature, but they had the words “Merry Christmas” on them, connecting the card to a religious holiday. Twenty nine percent of the cards did not mention Christ or Christmas at all and only acknowledged it to be a season of peace, joy and love. Only 24% of the cards actually mentioned or showed pictures representing Christ’s birth. 

I love everything about the Christmas Season - more family and friend get-togethers, good food, lights, trees, music, snowmen, and so on. I love it all.  And yet…I am totally aware of, and committed to, the fact that Christmas gives us an opportunity to celebrate Christ’s birth. I am grateful for Dallin H. Oaks reminder that Christmas is about Christ. And I am also grateful for all the wonderful religious celebrations that take place at this time and the opportunity to celebrate His birth.

“For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given; and the government shall be upon his shoulder; and his name shall be called, Wonderful, Counselor, The Mighty God, The Everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace” (Isaiah 9:6; 2 Nephi 19:6).

(Note: the link above takes you to Dallin H. Oaks Facebook. If you scroll down to December 15, 2015 you will find his comments about the Christmas cards)

PS If you want any tags for Christmas, check out my Etsy store: TagsByTrudy.

Pumpkins & Autumn

There is something wonderful about autumn. The colors are gorgeous! Last year I drove around and took snapshots of all the colorful trees with their greens, yellows, golds, oranges, browns, and reds. This year I stepped outside my front door and snapped photos of my own bushes during a lull in a rainstorm. Maybe I like the autumn colors because my mom decorated with them (we had an orange couch while growing up). Or maybe it reminds me of family gatherings around Thanksgiving. Whatever the reason, I love autumn.

Photo out my front door

Autumn means crisp, yet sunny days; picking, eating and dehydrating apples and pears from our trees; all foods pumpkin; and raking leaves (to name a few).  My husband and I spent the Saturday before Halloween getting our yard free of leaves. On Sunday the winds hit leaving lots of leaves on the ground for the trick-or-treaters to wallow through on Monday. Five days later we spent 4 more hours gathering leaves, and rotten pears and apples - enough to fill a pickup to overflowing. It was great being outdoors. It was a sunny, beautiful day!

While trying to come up with an autumn painting to teach my friends, I found a painting I did last year, only to realize how ugly it was. Rather than let it get the best of me, I added more colors to it, turning it into something I liked. (It's the painting displayed at the top). 

I painted this as an option to teach my friends, but in the end
they wanted to learn how to paint the one at the top.

In the last couple of weeks I've made and delivered and eaten many things pumpkin (the reason I chose my pumpkin paintings to display). Last week it was pumpkin chocolate chip bread - yummy! This morning I made pumpkin cake to give to some friends. And yesterday the girls in my youth group made Pumpkin Chocolate Chip cookies and delivered them to nearby neighbors. Delicious!!

By the way, the cookie recipe is the easiest/fastest cookie recipe I have ever used. You might like trying it! 

Mix:

• 1 box of Spice Cake Mix

• 1 can (15 oz) pumpkin

 (Note: only those two ingredients! No eggs, oil, water, etc!)
Add:

•  1 bag of chocolate chips. (I really like the Ghirardelli Milk Chocolate Premium baking chips with this recipe. They are big and yummy.)

Bake:

• Drop balls of batter onto a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper or sprayed with a cooking oil and bake at 350 degrees for about 15-18 minutes (until a toothpick comes out clean). With the size of cookie balls I made, this recipe made 27 cookies.

Photo outside front door

Many Instagram’s have displayed the joys of Autumn. I hope you’re enjoying this time of year as well!

To go with my post, I want to share three articles my youth group is studying this week about work and self-reliance. It's such a beautiful time of year to work hard getting ready for the winter or outdoors in the colors of fall. I hope you enjoy these articles. 

• For the Strength of Youth: “Work and Self-Reliance”

• Dieter F. Uchtdorf "Two Principles for Any Economy" Ensign November 2009

•  H. David Burton "The Blessing of Work" Ensign December 2009