Day 2692

 

Seven and a half years

 

Two thousand, six hundred, ninety-two days

 

With this delightful girl

 

Who continues to make us laugh

 

Amaze us by her memory and smarts (100% right on her first spelling test!)

 

God gave us such a wonderful gift in Maggie.

1000 Gifts, New Year, New List

As the new year began, I anticipated continuing with my list as I had before. It was a good process. I would list out my gifts as they come to me, sometimes on paper, sometimes on Twitter. And I still do that. But I needed a little more "help," and so while following Ann Voskamp and One Thousand Gifts on Facebook, I decided to take her challenge to the next level and download her daily prompts.  Her prompts are for 3 gifts.  Sometimes it is easy to see the gift and, as usual, sometimes the gifts are trickier to find.  So I decided to change how I was posting my gifts, and will now post monthly, following her calendar.  I will still list gifts as they come to me on Twitter, which if you are there, feel free to follow me and start your own list there.

1000 Gifts. 93 Gifts in January

3 Gifts heard: Jessica's laughter, Maggie's singing, Rocky's snoring
A Gift outside, inside, on a plate: Beautiful blue skies, returning to work after a long weekend, leftovers for lunch!
3 Graces overheard: Praise songs playing in the background, prayers that will be said, "If we are the Body"
A gift old, new, blue: Leftovers, a new leather chain for my cross, my new travel coffee mug
Something you're reading, making, seeing: The Confident Woman, prayer journal, a prayer I needed at the right time.
One thing in your bag, your fridge, your heart: A coupon book, a bottle of bubbly wine, ability to forgive
3 Graces from people you love: Snuggles with Jessie, giggles with Maggie, another chance from Rocky
Dusky light, surprising reflection, lovely shadow Watching the sun rise as I take Maggie to school, catching her eye in the rear view mirror, the shadow of Rusty - always ready
A gift held, passed by, sat with Maggie's hand, passing by the crowd at the press conference at work, sitting by the tub as the girls play
A gift sour, sweet, just right Sourdough toast for breakfast, my husband's sweet kiss, date night
3 yellow gifts of fresh mercy Looking for yellow clover seeds (flowers blooming as a sign of renewal), the sun hiding behind the clouds as the snow falls, the lemon in my water - refreshing!
Something above, below, beside The bright sun shining from above in the cold, Rusty at my feet -- nibbling at my socks, sitting beside my husband on a date night
3 things about yourself you are grateful for My faith, my voice, my curiosity
3 startling graces of God  The bitter cold wind - for I am safe & warm in a house with a working furnace and plenty of food!
A gift worn, given away, shared My W2E cross a reminder of the weekend filled with grace; giving my gloves to my daughter who left hers in school; sharing music with Maggie on the drive to school
3 witnessed blessings seeing Rocky at his work, Maggie & Jessie sharing a bowl of chips, sunset
A gift bringing laughter, prayer, quiet Friends in prayer group, first day of counseling, sleep
3 Gifts from God's Word Isaiah 43:2, Job 37:5, Mark 11:24
3 gifts that might never have been Jessica (we would have someone else if I had not miscarried), our marriage (if someone else had been chosen to go to HOBY from my school or Tammy's), who I am today (if not for Christ)
3 gifts only seen close up Details on my W2E cross, words in my Bible, Clover seeds
A gift in sky, water, memory The moon & Jupiter, so clearly seen; cold refreshing water, summer camp
A gift wrinkled, smoothed, unfolded: the lines on my face, the comforter on my bed, the laundry that needs to be folded (so blessed to have so many clothes!)
3 gifts found in Christ comfort in his Word, joy in Christmas & Easter, time of reflection as we approach Lent
3 things Blue: Rocky's eyes, my coffee mug from the girls, the Montana Big Sky
A grace borrowed, found, inherited helping at W2E, our new awkward attempts at communication, the love of singing his praises (inherited from my grandmothers)
A gift before Dawn, at Noon, after Dark The full moon shining in our room, lunch with my family, date night!
3 Gifts in the Kitchen planning, cooking, tasting
3 Graces found in Friends Diane, Alyssa & Chris who can be my electronic confidants -- quick responses via text or social media; My prayer group -- understanding without judgment; Michelle, Lori & Shannon -- godly work friends
A song heard, a soft word, light seen Majestic! by Lincoln Brewster, Jessie's soft "wake up Sissy!", a meeting in the Commons
3 Old things seen New hand-me-down clothes, marriage, South Dakota
A gift on paper, in a person, in a picture Maggie's story about her future cat; Rocky helping out a friend; Maggie & Ainslee being silly at lunch.

40 Nights Red Wine

This is a red wine from Eastern Washington. The bottle does not indicate what grapes were used, but the website indicates a blend. This is a nice table wine. It was part of the Simply Wine Club, but I'm not sure when.

I'm starting back into the club next month, which means MORE WINE POSTS!

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Champagne, Not Just For Special Occasions

Zibibbo: Sweet, bubbly, Moscato. Excellent.

This is actually Angove Zibibbo Sparkling Pink Moscato from Australia.  I picked up this bottle at Sam's Club for $11.95.  I thought I recognized it from a post by Reverse Wine Snob (and I did).  I've always wanted to try pink champagne, probably since seeing "A Love Affair".  It really is a great wine -- fruity, with a great berry flavor.  Definitely adding this to the purchase again list.

 

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Return to Wine

I have not had a wine post in much too long.  But in all honesty, I've mostly been drinking Barefoot and Middle Sister, both great affordable wines, but not much to write home about.  Though I did pick up a Barefoot Bubbly that was wonderful and deserves it's own post!

The other night, however, I thought deserved something that's been sitting in my wine cellar for awhile.  I'm not even sure when I got this in the Wine Club.  This is a Cabernet Sauvignon.  You probably don't remember, but I'm not a big fan of this grape, at least not in young wines.  I think this grape needs time to develop in the bottle.  So I waffled on opening the 2009 bottle from Bogle Vineyards.  This was a very nice Cab, and surprised me.  It wasn't overly dry (which is typically my complaint).  It has a nice blend of flavors and odors to make this a bottle to enjoy, even on a Thursday evening.

I wanted to jump start blogging about wine again and as this is one I want to purchase again (and maybe a couple, get one or two to save to see what another 5 years does), I think this was a good one to start with.

Salut!

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500 Gifts

I hit 500 gifts on my list yesterday; a great way to end 2012.  I do plan to continue the list, with a goal to get to 1,500 gifts by the end of 2013.

451. The church Christmas program – Maggie singing her heart out!
452. A glass of Red Velvet, “White Christmas” and pizza
453. Jessie waking up Maggie, a gentle whisper “Wake up, Sissy.”
454. Ice skating with Girl Scouts
455. Maggie reading “How the Grinch Stole Christmas.”
456. The quiet of the office after everyone else has left.
457. Laying in my bed, looking at the stars, marveling at Jupiter
458. Barenaked Ladies Christmas music
459. True White elephant party at work – lots of laughter & food
460. Office closing early
461. Wendy’s hamburgers for supper
462. The whole family pitching in to clean – even Jessie!
463. Maggie cleaning her room without prompting
464. Cooking for the week
465. Maggie eagerly awaiting Grandma Alana’s arrival
466. Both girls’ excitement when grandma finally got here
467. Jessie calling for Grammy
468. Zoo Lights – the girls’ excitement at the “peddy lights”
469. Picture with Santa and a pony
470. All the presents that Grammy brought – the tree looks like it exploded!
471. Awaking to a small dusting of snow
472. A lazy Sunday
473. Decorating cookies
474. Watching Christmas movies
475. Christmas Eve candle light service – those wonderful old hymns and beautiful renditions of them. Listening to Maggie sing “Silent Night”
476. Maggie praying for snow – and it snowing on Christmas Eve!
477. Gift opening lasting all day
478. Maggie’s joyful face when she opened her American Girl doll, Josephina, from Grammy. Her first reaction was to run over to give Grammy a hug!
479. Maggie and Jessie playing with Maggie’s new Barbie dolls
480. Ornaments made in school and daycare
481. The mess of all the wrappings
482. Gifts for the whole family
483. Our own picture board from Grammy
484. Playing outside in the single digit weather with Rusty
485. A lazy Christmas day
486. A girls’ day with Maggie & Grammy, lunch, shopping and a movie “Wreck-It-Ralph”
487. Maggie picking out 2 board games with her gift cards
488. Playing Mouse Trap with Maggie
489. Jessie playing in the bathtub
490. A night out with Mark & Kristi
491. Seeing the right thing to read at the right time; God’s intentional timing
492. Romans 15:13: May the God of hope fill you with all joy & peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.
493. Old pictures of my girls, Maggie’s round face, chubby cheeks, seeing the little girl Jessie will become in her tiny baby photos
494. Jessie napping on my lap
495. Snuggling with Rocky, watching “The Avengers” again
496. Hand-me-down clothes
497. Jessie hiding Grammy’s bookmark in her diaper
498. Following the Vikings’ game on Twitter
499. A quiet New Year’s Eve day at home watching movies
500. A quiet New Year’s Eve dinner with friends, chili & wine