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

First Post

The first post is always the hardest. It's usually something sappy that a person throws together so that they can see what the blog will look like with a post. Oops, did I just admit that? Here's the truth. I'm in the middle of designing this page. So far, it's not exactly what I want. The only way for this site to be whole is for a whole bunch of Love Inspired authors to say, "Looks like fun!" So, here's the Craftie Ladies of Romance blogsite. Shall we start rocking?