Flamingo in a tutu

On the first day of Christmas,
my true love sent to me
A flamingo in a tutu.

When I was trying to come up with different things to fit the song The Twelve Days of Christmas, I looked around my office and all I saw were flamingos so hence the opening for the song. I am surrounded by flamingos in my office which has hot pink walls. I have included pictures of some of the various flamingos I have--none in a tutu but one in a grass skirt, another in a skirt, a Santa hat wearing one, another with a hot pink coat on and lastly a flamingo in pants.


So my topic for today is having fun during the holidays. Here are some suggestions I came up with, but I hope you will add yours. What do you and your family and friends do to have fun at Christmas?

1. Decorate the tree with family and even friends--make it a party. (The picture is of my granddaughter having fun with the beads that go on the tree--she's a diva at 17 months--loves those necklaces, even extra long ones.)


2. Bake cookies with the children or grandchildren and then have fun decorating them--the rule is anything goes.

3. Make Christmas cards together.

4. Make Christmas gifts together. In these economic times this is a great way to cut cost and have fun at the same time.

5. Going caroling with friends and family and visit your neighbors to sing to them.

6. Wish people a "Merry Christmas" as you go through your day even strangers on the streets.


7. Listen to and sing Christmas carols in the car, while you're cooking dinner, doing housework--whether you can sing or not. So many of the songs are uplifting and fun.

8. Give of yourself--anytime I do I find myself having fun. I sewed Christmas stocking for some needy children and had a ball coming up with different designs.

9. Visit people who are shut in and bring them some cookies you baked (see #2). Their smiles of appreciation will be contagious.

10.Bake a birthday cake for baby Jesus and have the children decorate it.

Of course, there always is getting together with friends and family. Coming up with a reason to have a party and enjoying it even if you are two friends having a tugging of war over a Christmas basket as Myra and Therese did at our WIN party.


Mostly smile and laugh. Don't let the holidays overwhelm you (that can be hard at times, I know). Take everything one project or task at a time.

Okay, what are some things you do for fun during Christmas? I only mentioned a few. There are so many other things you can do to bring cheer to yourself and others.

Twelve Days of Christmas!

I don't know if any of you have noticed but Christmas is ALMOST HERE!

I always try to keep my focus on the true meaning of Christmas, God's gift of His Son to this dark world.

But I love all the holiday fun too. And we're going to have some with you here on this brand new blog.

Our own Margaret Daley has come up with her version of
The Twelve Days of Christmas. And her emphasis was on the fun part of Christmas.

On a personal note, I am very pleased to announce the release of my first Love Inspired Historical TODAY!

Most of you know that I've been a long time Love Inspired author and I am thrilled that LI now has a historical line.

My book is titled Her Captain's Heart and is the first in my Gabriel Sisters series which will be released one each December starting this year and finishing in 2010.


These three sisters, Verity, Felicity, and Mercy, live in the turbulent period after the Civil War and do their best to try to bind up the wounds of the injured nation both North and South. If you have a heart for children, you will love the first, Verity's story.

Please drop by my website www.LynCote.net if you'd like to see the trailer I made for this book on my home page and to read more about it or to order it for some delicious winter reading. (I designed a really great hero for Verity. She deserved him and he needed her.)

Last Roadtrip and New Beginnings

I just got back from a roadtrip between central Montana and Tucson, Arizona. There's nothing like the feel of the open road for adventure. It all reminded me of a remark I heard at the last RWA convention in San Francisco -- it seems that the Harlequin editors had realized that a lot of books begin with a scene of the heroine or hero driving into town. As I was driving along, I started thinking about books I had written with that beginning -- my very first Steeple Hill book, An Angel for Dry Creek, for one. Can you think of books that have begun with the road into town? Tell me what you think of it.

Hero Interview from her Small Town Hero

Hero Interview from Small Town Hero by Arlene James:

1. Holt, tell me the most interesting thing about you.

Goodness, ma’am, I don’t suppose there’s anything interesting about me. I’m a wildcatter and driller, like my daddy before me. It’s a dangerous job. He was killed doing it, but I don’t lay hands on the rig much anymore.

2. What do you do for fun?

I mostly spend time with my family. Like my grandpa Hap, I do love a good game of forty-two. More than anything, though, I guess I enjoy a good meal. Folks say I have two hollow legs, and I guess it’s a good thing I’m built lean.

3. What do you put off doing because you dread it?

Goodbyes. You never know when you say goodbye to someone if you’re ever really going to see them again. I like to keep my loved ones close. That probably comes from the way my folks died. Dad was killed on the job, and Mom couldn’t face a future without him, so she swallowed some pills. I was off in the City at the time, just out of college, and I can’t help thinking that if I’d been around Mom wouldn’t have done what she did. I’ll always remember my last goodbye with my folks. But sometimes you just have to let go and trust.

4. What are you afraid of most in life?

Hurting those I love and those that love me. I never want to disappoint them or see them unhappy.

5. What do you want out of life?

I’ve got most of what I want, my ranch and my house, my business and my family, friends who respect me. Of course, I don’t guess you ever have enough friends or family.

6. What is the most important thing to you?

It’s not a thing. It’s an idea, I guess. Living so that my life pleases God and harms no one else is more important to me than having things.

7. Do you read books? If so, what is your favorite type of book?

I read when time permits. I especially like history and most especially a good western.

8. If you could change one thing about yourself, what would it be?

Well, it’s a sad fact that I worry more than a Christian man ought to. My baby sister Charlotte says it’s because I’m overprotective, but I don’t know about that. A man takes care of his own or he isn’t much of a man, if you ask me.

9. Do you have a pet? If so, what is it and why that pet?

I’ve got an old dog, a black-and-white border collie named Skunker. He’s half-wild, never spends more than a minute or two indoors and is fool enough to love harassing every skunk he can find on the property. Good cow dog, though.

10. If you could travel back in time, where would you go and why?

Oh, I’d put my boots down in the Old West. Hard to separate fact from fiction about those days, you know, and I wouldn’t mind a front row seat on that period of history, just to see it all firsthand and really know what it was like. My own past, now that’s God’s business. My future, too. My business is today, right now. It would be fun, though, to take a peek at how it was done back in the 1800s.

Featured this Week!

Help Wanted at the Heavenly Arms Motel

If only someone will take the job so oil rigger Holt Jefford can stop making beds and burning breakfasts. And then someone does: a lovely single mother with a baby boy—and secrets.

Sweet, kind Cara Jane is scared of her own shadow—why? Holt warns himself not to trust his skittish new employee, but watching her with her son and his old granddad breaks through his guarded heart. Holt senses she's hiding out here in Eden, Oklahoma. Good choice, because the place comes with her own small-town hero.

Ooooh! I got here. I think.

When it comes to things electronic, give me old-fashioned any day. I know the "good old days" were far from perfect, yet there are times, like when I sit in front of my computer, when I miss just using a pen and paper. At least that way, if I make a mistake, I can wad up the paper, throw it away, and no one else will know I goofed. On a blog, it's right up there for all to see! Therefore, I vow right now, to NEVER make another error. Yeah, right!

And as soon as I figure out how to add pictures, which I may have just done, I'll post a few of me. The one I did try to add ALMOST looks like me. Well, not quite, but I often share that sentiment. Machines hate me. My vacuum lies in wait and I know my sewing machine is in cahoots with it.

Yes, I have an off-beat sense of humor. There are days when I'm actually serious but I try to limit those!
Blessings,
Val

Dorm Room; Blog Room

Then: Roughly [insert ridiculously high number here] years ago, I went off to college. I looked a lot different than I do today. I had long, long, black hair – so long that it hung over the backs of the school desks and sometimes got caught in bolts. I wore bell bottoms and my girlfriends and I promised each other we’d never wear the dreaded straight legs. I weighed a lot less. I drove a gold Camaro. My favorite group was LoverBoy. And, the best thing about going off to college was living in the dorm and making new friends. I attended a Christian college. My room-mate was a spunky barrel-racer who rodeoed during the weekends and who took me home with her sometimes so that I could learn to bale hay, milk cows, and ride a horse (I do have a funny horse story – there’s even a cute hero in it, but I didn’t marry him). Across the hall was one of my best friends. She was a leader. She did yearbook and such. Because of her, my name is on the yearbook. I learned to cut and paste and crop. Her room-mate became a great friend of mine. She was the tallest girl on campus and played sports with ease. She took me home with her, to Montana and I learned to ski (Okay, I learned to fall). Down the hall, there were so many different personalities, so many smiles, so much potential for friendship.

Now: Roughly one month ago this blog started to come together. In so many ways, it reminds me of the first time I walked down the hallway of my college dorm. Excited girls on both sides (Okay, today they're women). Yup, I’m there, too. Today I have shoulder length black hair (I dye it red, the gray goes red, and I have this neat highlighted color.) I wear suits during the day (college professor) and stretch jeans and baggy shirts most of the other times. I have in-between clothes for church and conferences. My best friends and I are a little embarrassed about our bellbottom days, and today we love straight legs (it could be that chubby women should never, I repeat, never wear bellbottoms). I weigh a lot more (no, I’m not telling). I drive a Rav4. It was purposely purchased with baby in mind. Said baby is now 3. My favorite group is Rascal Flatts. And today, one of the highlights of my day is coming to this blog room and making new friends.

Look, They're all here. Do you see the potential in this room. And, excitement. Just like the first day.

I look to my right and I definitely see a cheerleader. Look at that big smile. She’ll definitely rah rah our sales and her own and she lead as we thank the Lord for his blessings. Look, there’s her roommate. Yup, she already getting ready for the semester. She’s setting in front of her computer, not doing homework, but working on that next book. So much dedication; what an example. She’ll offer advice on plotting, characterization. We’re so lucky she’s here. Ah, here’s another friend. She’s an organizer. She’ll help make sure everything gets done. The ideas that woman has. Ah, I see someone I know. I room with her an a different dorm. She’s always willing to pitch in. Plus, she’s not afraid of anything. If the light go out in the blog room, she’ll find the switch. And there’s another friend. I’ve known her for a decade, since we both were first published at a different house. Small world, too, one of her best friends is in my critique group. I guess she’s destined to be a friend since our paths keep crossing. Oh, just look to the right. Do you see? The gangs all here, smiling, waiting, ready to cross the line to friendships both on and off the blog.

I don’t remember who said this: If you have a friend, you’re lucky. It you have more than friend, you’re more than lucky.
Thank you, God, for making all of us more than lucky.

A Last Vacation

As I’m writing this post, I’m sitting in Thermopolis, Wyoming. The snowfall today was beautiful but brief. I came out from Abilene, Kansas with my parents. We met up with my brother, Mark, from Montana for a few days of rest and relaxation in the hot springs here. It’s a long way from Kansas and I really couldn’t spare the time off, but I also knew there wouldn’t be many more trips like this that I’d be able to take with Mom and Dad. Their getting up in age and Mom’s health is frail.
This morning, Mom, my sister-in-law and I were visiting about our childhoods when Mom suddenly forgot who I was. She was convinced I was one of her sisters. Several long minutes later, she piped up and said, "Oh you’re my daughter. You’re not my sister."
We all laughed about it, but for those few minutes I saw what was to come and it was incredibly sad.
I am so glad I came on this trip. I thank God for all the wonderful minutes, hours, days and years I’ve had with my parents. I pray I’ll never take another minute together for granted.
Pat Davids

I can explain

Okay, Tuesday was my day to blog! And where was I? Sitting in the dentist chair having a root canal done. Honestly. I had my blog day marked on the calendar but I got confused. (This often happens to me!) I thought we'd changed things a bit. So even thought I kind of thought I should speak up yesterday, I was sitting at dentist and wondering what to do. I then had some holiday errands to take care of. So with a numb lip, I went shopping to find gifts to send to all my relatives who live in Georgia. Well, you know how that goes? It took longer than I expected and of course I found some great buys for myself, too! Then I ran into to two nice ladies from church having lunch and they invited me to sit with them. Well, I was hungry and my lip was no longer numb so I ordered lunch and had a nice visit with them. By the time I got home I had three messages to return and a ton of work waiting on my desk. So I tried to get through all of that, thinking somewhere in the back of my mind--there's something else I'm supposed to check on today! Then I had a friend drop by to give me items for some goody bags we're putting together for Dress for Succcess (I'm on the local board). Then my husband came home and I caught him up on my day. Then it was time to cook dinner. And all the while, I'm still thinking what was it I wanted to check on today. Then just as we sat down to eat, our daughter called. She'd moving into a new apartment so we're trying to get that organized before the holidays. Then my husband's sister called and we talked to her a while. And I'm still wondering what I can't seem to remember that is really important. By then, I exhausted and go to bed. And then, I wake up in the middle of the night and sit up and think "I never did check on whether I'm still supposed to blog today or not! I didn't blog!" Well, of course I felt so bad that I'd managed to SKIP my first official day of blogging here. But I'm here now and that's my story and I'm sticking to it. Please somebody tell me I'm not the only one with menopause moments such as this. And to top it off, I was shopping for my great niece and nephew (my nephew's children) and I couldn't for the life of me remember the poor kids names. That also hit me in the middle of the night! I'd better start writing things down all around the house!

Lenora :)

We Need a Little Christmas

Is it just me or is Christmas shopping different this year? Yesterday, inspired by Debbie’s post about friends, I met an old friend for lunch and then cruised off to the mall for a few hours of Christmas shopping. Granted, this was on a Tuesday afternoon, but the mall was dead. Dead. I felt like I was in some alternative dimension alone in a giant mall. A couple of stores played Christmas carols and there was the ubiquitous Santa display at center mall (no kids or elves), but otherwise I saw little sign of festivity or activity, including only a handful of shoppers. One problem I think is the lack of Christmas spirit among retailers. Stores around here just don’t decorate up the way they used to, so no one is ‘window’ shopping either. I could tell them that if they would make a little more decorative fuss, if they would play lots of Christmas carols over the loudspeaker instead of rap or elevator music, and if the sales clerks would wear Santa hats, reindeer antlers, or at least say, “Merry Christmas”, they would sell more stuff! I mean, come on, who gets into the Christmas spirit by being asked, “will this be on your (insert store name) card?” When I ‘feel’ Christmassy, I tend to linger longer and shop more. Don’t you?

So, what’s your take? Is your shopping done? Started? How are you feeling about the slow disappearance of traditional Christmas and the sneaky efforts to de-Christianize the holidays? Or am I the only one who thinks Christmas has really changed in the last few years?

Treasuring Good Friends

Welcome! This is my first post to the Craftie Ladies of Romance blog and I am so excited to be here. We hope this will be a place where readers can come share time with us as we talk about the joys of friends, family and faith...and as we build new friendships with you. We hope you'll join in on the fun.

I wasn't sure what to blog about since my post is the first official post to blog so I decided to talk about friends...

Friends are so needed and we as women sometimes neglect to maintain those bonds because we get caught up in our jobs, and doing for everyone else. We're just busy people! This picture is of me and my two best friends since 3rd grade. That's me in the white jacket then my friends Deb and Lisa. They have been such a blessing to me over the years but especially over the last five years. While our kids were growing up we were so busy working and taking care of family that we disconnected from each other even though we all lived in the same small town. But after my husband died in 2003, Deb and Lisa made it a priority to come back into my life. They have been a great blessing to me. Especially since I write full time and can become a hermit! Really, I've always been a workaholic, only now I hole up here at the house with my imaginary friends and create my books--and while I love doing that I do need to get out. We all need to take time out for friends. For me, a break with people who've known me for so long and who share so much of my past is not only fun but relaxing. What I've found is sometimes the best time for Deb and Lisa to sweep me away for the evening is when I'm on a horribly tight deadline(lol which is most all the time)...why? Because laughter truly is the best medicine. It renews our spirits and lets joy flow through us. My writing is always better afterwards. I thought I'd share a special gift idea that my friend Deb had last Christmas. It was her idea to take the picture above. We had been out to eat and she had us sit on the bench in the order in which we are sitting. Then at Christmas she presented Lisa and I with a cool, double photo, glass frame she'd bought at Hobby Lobby. The frame stood on its own with one photo on top and one on the bottom. This second photo is us at 17 on our senior trip! (As you can tell I'm not the photogenic one but I was having a blast :) We are sitting on a paddle boat and as you can see I have no makeup on because I have been swimming. I thought it was such a wonderful idea for a gift and brought back such great memories. Deb had also placed gold numbers of the date of each photo at the corners to remind us of then and now. I will treasure it always and wish I'd come up with the idea :) Maybe you can use it for your friends.

I hope you will bookmark our site and that you'll count all of us Craftie Ladies of Romance as your new friends here in cyberspace. Come share with us, leave comments, join in on the contest! And when you can, call up your old girlfriends and make a date--especially if its been a while since you connected with them. You deserve it!

Also, if you'd like to know more about me and my books drop by my website debraclopton.com and my personal blog debraclopton.blogspot.com where I just posted a few fun coincidences I share with NYT best selling author Debbie Macomber!

Until next time live, laugh and seek God with all your hearts,

Debra Clopton

Stay tune for book 10 in my Mule Hollow Series, TEXAS RANGER DAD hits the shelves April 2009! For more information visit my website debraclopton.com

Happy Thanksgiving

What a great time to be with family. I am so grateful to God for all he's given me. And, right now, I'm especially grateful to the authors on this blog who are all chipping in to make it a standout sight/site!

Happy Thanksgiving!!

I hope everyone is having a wonderful day with friends and family! Today, I especially want to give thanks to God for the opportunity to write stories for Steeple Hill Love Inspired. I love writing, I love my editor and all the Steeple Hill folks, I love the readers and their letters that touch me and humble me, I love that I can work in my p.j.'s if I so choose, and I love that I get to meet so many great authors who also write for Steeple Hill!

So, enjoy the turkey and dressing on this special holiday. And once you've cleaned up and had your nap, be sure to pick up a book and spend some time reading. That's what I plan to do. :)

Missy

Look who's here!

I did it. I'm so proud of myself for making it all this way. Not only do computers hate me, all machines do, so they do their best to thwart my best efforts. Hopefully, I'll be able to post here as promised. At least that's plan A!

Blessings,
Valerie Hansen

Thanksgiving Recipe and Stories of Strong Women

This is my first posting on this new blog. I'm excited to have another chance to talk to the faithful readers of Love Inspired Romances. I was fortunate to have my very first book, Never Alone, come out in the first year of the Love Inspired line which has grown so much with the support of faithful readers like you.

Now first, I was to give you an inexpensive and easy coffee cake for Thanksgiving (or Christmas) morning that you can make ahead.

It's adapted from a recipe I watched Paula Deen make on her TV show.

Easy Cream Cheese Coffee Cake
Ingredients
3 tubes of refrigerator biscuits
1 tube or 1 8 0z package of cream cheese
3/4 cup ground pecans ( the nut of your choice)
Cinnamon Sugar
1/3 cup melted butter (Paula Deen can't cook without butter!)

Now this is what is called a tease. Today I'm also launching my first ever personal blog, titled "Strong Women, Brave Stories" and I'm going to post the rest of the recipe on www.LynCote.net

And a story about my first strong woman in my life, my mom.
Didn't you always suspect that I was a big tease?

I'm so confused

Hi. I'm Lenora Worth. I've written 34 books, most of those for Steeple Hill. I don't blog much and I've decided like Missy, that as much as I love to talk I go blank on what to say on a blog. But somehow I find myself agreeing to blog everywhere anyway!



When I was first asked to join this blog, I thought CRAFTIE?? I almost broke out in the hives. I don't do crafts of any kind. I tried crosstitching once and almost went cross-eyed doing that. It was for my husband's grandmother and I managed to make the thing (a small one that gave the definition of a Southerner as someone who loves porch swings, fried chicken and sweet tea and some other things I can't remember. It took me about two months to do it. After Granny passed away, my husband's mother gave the little cross-stitched picture back to me and it now hangs in my kitchen. So I guess I survived that little crafty venture and now have a lot of great memories of a woman I loved dearly. But mostly, when I try to "craft" something it looks more like what a pre-schooler would make than a middle-aged woman. Anyway, I panicked when I saw our name, thinking oh, my, I've signed up to make crafts???



Thank goodness the only crafting going on here is fun, friendship and a love for writing inspirational stories of love and hope. Sigh. That I can live with! I think my day to blog is the second Tuesday but I might be wrong on that. I'm still learning all this stuff. Maybe this is like cross-stitching after all. You just have to know where all the stitches need to fall. I might be in trouble!!!!

For those of you who don’t know me, I’m Patricia Davids. I write inspirational romance for Steeple Hill Books. If you’d like to know more about me, you can visit my website a http://www.patriciadavids.com/
My newest book, A MILITARY MATCH, is on sale now. The fun thing about writing A MILITARY MATCH was actually getting to attend the U.S. Cavalry Competition while I was doing research for the book.
A MILITARY MATCH is the third book in the Mounted Color Guard series. The series features an actual army unit at Fort Riley, Kansas called the Commanding General’s Mounted Color Guard. Troopers and horses of this unit are outfitted in the uniforms, equipment and weapons of the Civil War period. The men, brought together from various units stationed at the fort, receive instruction from the same type of manuals used by the men of Custer’s 7th Cavalry in the 1860’s.
Anyone who has an opportunity to watch a demonstration by the CGMCG shouldn’t miss it. They are awesome.
It is also possible to visit the stables and talk with the men if you’re in the area. The stables, located on Fort Riley's Main Post in Bldg. 275, are open from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m., Monday through Friday. The stables house 18 horses and two mule. I was amused to learn one of mules and I share the same name. Be sure and say hi to Pat if you happen to stop in.
You can learn more about the unit by visiting http://www.riley.army.mil/OurPost/ColorGuard.aspx
As it turns out, Fort Riley isn’t the only military base with a horse guard, but it is the home of the U.S. Cavalry Association and Museum. The association, in an effort to promote the history of the cavalry, hosts a cavalry competition each year. Active duty and civilians re-enactors compete in skills such as saber, pistol and military horsemanship while attired in authentic dress of their chosen period. In my book, I used a fictitious contest, but the real competition happens each fall at various sites around the country. To check out their schedule visit http://www.uscavalry.org/
I could go on and on about this amazing unit, but I won’t. I have to get back to my work in progress, an inspirational suspense set in a small Kansas town entitled SPEED TRAP. It will be out next September if I get it done this month.

Blessings to you all.
Pat Davids

The Rose Pig

Did anyone notice that the roses in the photo at the top of the blog resemble a pig?

Or is it just me?

LOL

Glad to Be Here!

I'm Missy Tippens, and I'll be posting the 2nd and 4th Thursdays of the month. I look forward to getting to know everyone better--authors and readers!

Please bear with us as we decide on a format and on what we want to include in our posts. November is our month to "play" with the blog and figure it all out. :)

Thanks for stopping by!
Missy

Thrilled to be here

Let me say that I love the look of the site and that I'm thrilled to be invited to this cyber party. Those who know me know I love to talk. And what better place to chat than with my fellow Love Inspired authors. Let the fun begin.
Pat Davids