New Years Eve-Day and Recipe Thrown In for Fun.

I'm finally down at the church with a chance to get on here and post a few things. I will throw in quickly that our internet company is coming back to our house this Thursday and is going to attempt to get us service again! This will be a wonderful thing! As much as I love the holidays, I will admit that I'm glad they are over. I'm tired and that's all there is to it. I think the main reason is that I was/have been sick for the past month and a half with a cold bug. I'm ready for life to slow down a bit, though soccer is starting back up for both girls so I'm not sure how "slow" anything is going to get. We had a great time on New Years Eve. Our original plan was to go to a Portland Winterhawks hockey game with some of the youth group and a few youth leaders. That partially happened. We also had been invited to the home of some friends of ours whom we have been wanting to get together with more and it just never seems to work out. We decided to switch up our plans a bit. We drove ourselves to the hockey game and stayed for one quarter. We left there and headed to one of the funnest parties I have been to. There were 4 families represented, each with 2-4 kids and a few extras thrown in. Altogether I believe there were 25 people. Our friends are wonderful hosts and had an array of goodies to snack on. Everyone participated in the Wii Just Dance...I danced to KC and the Sunshine Bands "That's the way I Like it"...I do not want to know what I looked like. I will admit it was a total blast. Hubby even got in on it and participated. Then BINGO began. Can I just say that 25 people playing BINGO makes for ALOT of noise. Our friend had it set up so well. We started out playing just straight bingo (the prizes being $5 bills or $1 bills) if you got a bingo you drew a piece of paper with one of those monetary amounts. We moved on to X's and T's for which she had 2-$20 dollar bills and two board games. Then whoever got blackout won $50. In the end hubby won $26 (but gave $20 away), Kat won $5, Nan won the $50 and we came away with the board game Settlers of Catan....which we had been wanting to buy but it was a bit spendy so we hadn't purchased it yet. Close to midnight she turned on the TV so we could watch the ball drop. There were party hats, party favors and TONS of confetti. It was a wonderful night of fun, laughter, food, games and friendship! New Years Day we headed to another families home (this family has celebrated New Years Day with hubby's family for as long as they can remember). Football was watched, food was eaten and games were played. We headed home and played a round of Settlers of Catan. You know I love the start of a New Year, not because of the resolutions I set (I don't set them by the way). I love the start of a New Year because of the possibilities that New Year holds for me. Possibilities of new adventures, new excitement, new opportunities, new revelation. There are things I think of that I want to improve on, not because it's a New Year and I need a new resolution, but because it offers a fresh start. I go into this New Year wanting to take more time to take care of myself physically (exercise and continued healthy eating...which I was doing but got a bit off track with the exercise part). I want to hear the voice of the Holy Spirit speaking to me more. I want to be completely intoxicated by His presence. I'm excited to see all that 2010 has to offer me, my family and my church! It's a year I want to see God do miraculous things in and through my life and the lives of those around me. I wanted to share this recipe I made for New Years. I had planned on making it for Christmas but decided not to (we had enough food). It is a cranberry apple casserole that can be eaten hot, cold, warm with ice cream or even whipped topping or simply by itself. Cranberry Apple Casserole
Printable Recipe
Servings: 8-10

3 cups chopped apples

2 cups fresh cranberries 

1 1/2 cups sugar

1/2 cup (1 stick) margarine

1 cup rolled oats 

1/2 cup packed brown sugar

1/2 cup flour 

1/8 teaspoon salt 

1/2 c. Chopped pecans

1. Combine the apples, cranberries and sugar in a large bowl and mix well. Pour into a greased baking dish.

2. Melt the margarine in a saucepan over medium heat. 

3. Remove from heat and stir in the oats, brown sugar, flour and salt. Stir until well blended. 

4. Pour the butter mixture on top of the fruit, spreading well to cover. Top with pecans. 

5. Bake at 350 degrees for 1 hour

With Joy UNquenchable,