Ajax Day: friday link party

Showing posts with label friday link party. Show all posts

29.6.12

Gratified Friday: Friendship

Watching my two kids together, I see a closeness between them that is uncommon between siblings. At least, it seems uncommon to me. Until these two, I thought siblings were all about rivalry, and competition. But not for them. They are true friends. I have seen them stand up for each other in times where that was the hardest thing to do. I watch them share moments between them that only they can share. They have their fall outs but never for too long, because they aren't mean to each other, or vindictive. The bond between them is meaningful, and I feel so grateful to watch it continue to deepen, as their friendship grows.

Practicing gratitude is one path to happiness.

Did you post something that made you happy this week? Feel free to share.

Be a follower of my blog and link back!

22.6.12

Gratified Fridays: Summery Fun and Shortbread Cookies With Fancy Frosting

Here is a simple shortbread cookie recipe straight from Betty Crocker's cookbook. You know they're going to be good when the main ingredient is butter!

Shortbread Wedges And Fancy Frosting

>>>To make the shortbread:

1/2 Cup Butter (softened)
2 Cups Flour
2 Tbsp Sugar

Mix the flour and sugar. Gradually add the butter until the mix is crumbly. Knead it into two balls. Flatten each one onto a non greased cookie sheet to make an 8 inch circle. With a knife slice the circles into 6 pieces each. Bake at 350 degrees until light golden brown on the bottom. Let cool 5 minutes and re-slice the wedges. Cool.

>>>Make the frosting:

Powdered Sugar
Milk
Lemon Juice
Food Coloring

This is my go to frosting concoction because it is so simple and delicious and not too overpowering. Pick out how many colors you want to use making sure to pick out some contrasting colors. Mix mostly powdered sugar and just enough milk to make your frosting the consistency of yogurt. Add a drop of lemon juice for flavor. Now have fun adding your food coloring!

To create neat feathery designs like we did, first frost the bottom of the cookie in one color. Now add stripes of another color. Use a toothpick or butter knife and drag this through the icing the opposite direction of your stripes. You can also alternate direction for an even more detailed result.

Enjoy!

Loving this summer vacation for nature walks with the family, and cookie making. Having the kids home gives me reason to dream up these small adventures, in attack against the summer boredom that so easily sets in for them. So grateful for these little moments.

Link up here with a post about what made you happy this week! Be a follower, link with my button or link to my blog!

16.6.12

Gratified Fridays: House Hunt and The Beach

Who doesn't dream of living on the beach? It is easy to imagine myself starting the day with a jog on that long sandy beach, all salty hair and bare feet. Or perhaps a dinner picnic, with the sun setting beautifully around me.

In our search to buy the best house for us, Matt and I keep finding ourselves clicking on homes for sale near the coast. So yesterday, when we found one that we really liked, only five minutes from the beach, we packed the family up and headed over to check it out.

The house was beautifully quaint, cabin meets modern kitchen type of thing on a half acre. I could just see us there, sitting in an adirondack chair, sipping coffee (that's me, Matt would be sipping cocoa), and the kids playing in the creek that runs through the property.

That house was a dream. It was also an hour drive from Matt's work. We lay on the beach together and talked out the pros and cons, but ultimately, we know that neither of us wants to lose two hours a day to a commute when we could be spending those hours together.

It is funny how one thing I thought I really wanted uncovered something else that I want more.

Which brings me to gratitude. I am so happy to have a husband and family that can pick up on a whim and enjoy a perfect day at the beach. I am so grateful to love them so intently that the rest just falls away in comparison.

“We can only be said to be alive in those moments when our hearts are conscious of our treasures.”

— Thornton Wilder

Practicing gratitude is said to be one of the key ingredients to happiness. I practice this every Friday (unless, like today, I was too busy finding gratitude and post on Saturday).

Join in and add a post about anything that made you happy over the last week or so. Use my button, link to me or use my button, and please be a follower of my blog.

31.5.12

Gratified Fridays: Nature's Beauty

It's been impossible not to be grateful for all of the gorgeous weather we have had lately! The park down the street has finally gotten its little pond and stream filled. It was so nice soaking our feet, and listening to the trickling water. MyBoy sang as he put his hands in the water, thinking no one could really hear, but I could, and it was the sweetest sound.

This week, Matt and I resumed our house hunt, and as we drove out farther into the countryside, we saw clover fields, burgundy pink, rolling color across the land. Beautiful. I can't wait to find that perfect special place for us...I have so many plans...and I just can't wait to add remodeling, gardening, and interior decorating to the topics of this blog!

What are you grateful for lately? Link a post about anything that made you happy this week!

I hope you will share in this link up, to spread gratitude, and ultimately happiness through this online world...Link back to me with my button or a link and be a follower of my blog, thanks!

He is a wise man who does not grieve for the things which he has not, but rejoices for those which he has."

- Epictetus

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