TREE LIGHTING

It was the Tree Lighting at The Shadow Lake Town Center.

 We got about three jackets on us and went out there into the cold, it was about 31 degrees!! 

 There was not just the Tree Lighting event, The Peppermint Elves were performing too. 

The freezing temperatures were perfect for hot chocolate. The only place to get hot chocolate at that mall is at Chocolaterie Stam, so there we walked. Of course there was a long line!
But we didn't mind, because it was warm inside. Kids even started to play cards.
Then the chocolate was ready, just in time to go catch the parade!

It was so crowded and we didn't get to see much, but my kids are older so no crying kids for me.

Then we manage to get all the way to the front!

 Here is LaVista South Titan Marching Band.

This is it! Fireworks and sparkly hats made it clear that Christmas was here. 

. 

They counted down from 10 to 0 and lights went on! So pretty!

This guy is too serious, I will not take the chance to cross the line and see what's in those present boxes.

Santa was there too. All of these kids below were waiting to have their picture taken with him. 

I had to take this picture with the flag, reminds me of the ones that won't be able to spend time with their love ones this Christmas, because of their duty to the country. I hope they get lots of cookies in the mail!

Decorating the Temporary Place

T for Temporary

I know I won't be in this apartment for more than a year and that it is useless to decorate it
and even money wasting.

All of that is true, but I can't just be here sitting around,
waiting for the time that I can pack my trinkets and head to back Virginia. 

So I  have adopted this new idea of using this opportunity to create beautiful spaces. 

If I was to buy a new house and decorate it.  I would go out there and buy all the things
I need to do the job. I would pick what I wanted, because it would be sort of a  "need"
to go shopping and find things to fit good at my new home.

I'm not in a new house and I'm fully aware that I will only be here for a couple of  months.
And as much as I would like to go out there and spend the money that I don't have I will not do it.

I will work with what I have and I'll get stuff from yard sales and thrift stores.

So far I've been having fun with this idea.
And I'm very happy with what I have been able to come up with.

I never thought I was ever going to find something to match with the bed cover and shams that a friend gave me. I thing they go together perfectly!

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Linking to ABC Wenesday

S for Seeds

It's getting very cold here in Omaha! Almost all of the trees have lost their leaves and the view is usually gray or brown. 

Just today I went to the store and people were already talking about slippery roads.

This is my second year in this city, so I knew this was coming. 

And in anticipation of it I have been keeping my creative mode wide open. 

So yesterday I went across the street from my apartment to take pictures of what's left from the asters, coreopsis, cone-flowers and other plants that the city planted on a corner of a parking-lot.

In this same place I took some very colorful pictures some weeks ago when the monarch 

butterflies passed through this area on their way to Mexico. 

You can check it out those colorful pictures here. 

Reminder to myself: Yes Leticia, there is beauty in the brown and gray winter.
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With this post I will link with ABC Wednesday

"The flower that blooms in adversity..."

This image looks kind of boring, and meaning less. 

But I had to take it! It's actually inspirational. 

I was taking pictures of the Autumn. All I had in mind was brown frost bitten flowers

 and dried sticks. But here it was this little sunflower bright yellow! 

As if on a mission to keep the field colorful. 

Doing it's best to stay up despite cold morning frost, and midday scorching sun 

“The flower that blooms in adversity is the rarest and most beautiful of all.” 

Walt Disney Company, Mulan 

Today's theme for #capturingblessing is quote. This is what I came up with.

Gingerbread House Recipe

I hope the Thanksgiving Turkey doesn't get mad at me! 

But my Zumba instructor pointed out that this year the Christmas season  is going to be shorter 

than the previous years. Thanksgiving is at the very end of November. 

She even made us do Zumba with a Christmas song!

At first I was resisting it, because I didn't want to lose the Thanksgiving spirit. 

But now that I think about it, Christmas always sneaks in and out of me pretty much every year 

and the next time I take another glance at the calender  it's already Valentines Day! 

I'll just go with what the  Zumba lady said and I will start thinking Christmas thoughts now.

Some years ago the kids and I made a Gingerbread House. But by the time we got all the ingredients
and got going with the process, it was already December 25th!
Then the painstaking Gingerbread house was pushed somewhere in the back 

because it was time to celebrate New Years and Valentines!

I want to make a Gingerbread House again this year.
 And I will not wait the the last minute this time, I will start getting ready now.

I will be using this recipe here. It also comes in  PDF version. 

This is the same recipe we used last time, I hope we get to enjoy the making of it this time.  

Last time was a little challenging, since it was our first time constructing a Gingerbread House and had no idea if all the hard work was going to end up well.

Introducing my Cacti

Cacti are some of  the plants that I will be adventuring into now that I live in an apartment. 

These spiky little plants are so cute! If they were candy, I would've eaten them long ago!

This one above is one of  my favorites, it's only about 5" high. 

It's like having a souvenir of the tall ones in Mexico. 

I will call it Little Senor Nopal. Back home in Mexico cacti are called
 nopales and are edible. Who can forget those tacos de nopales!

 And here are all of them that I got. I'm a little late posting about them. 

(We single moms tend to get soo busy sometimes!)

 But I got them back in September. 

 One more picture of  Little Senor Nopal. 

I was worried that something was wrong with it because of the white stains.

 But it's been a couple of months now and Little Senor Nopal is still up and going!

Street View

Today's theme for #capturingblessing is Street View. 

I went to find my picture for this challenge when the sun was almost gone.

Love how I captured the water tower besides the sun in this picture!

This is how most of the town looks like. There are cornfields right beside the neighborhoods. 

It  reminds me of my little town back at Mexico. 

When I visited Nebraska for the very first time I was surprised. 

For some reason I thought it was a Mexico thing only. (smile) 

The picture above it's going west down the hill. 

Then I turned around  to go back home.

I had to wait for the traffic before I was able to make a U turn. 

So by the time I was back on top of the hill, going east, the pictures I took were less sunlit. 

And this time I got the moon in it! 

TAPS

Today I did something I always wanted to do, I pasted words into one of my pictures.  

It took me a long time since I never really put the effort into it,

and this is what I came up with.

The lyrics for Taps. I did this for the #capturingblessing  picture challenge I'm doing on Instagram. 

Today's theme was lyrics, and since today is Veteran's Day I thought it would fit in nicely. 

I showed my picture to a young lady, she said "Nice poem!". 

I gave her a little lecture about Taps. 

Bonus for me!! Feeling Great! 

But don't ask me how my kitchen looks like. 

Since it took me almost the whole day to get it done. 

I got this done with this site.

Sunny/Raining

 Found this picture from last week. 

It was one of those days when it gets warm and humid.  

A green house type of weather. Then out of the nowhere it would start to rain. 

I thought it was cool, I had to call the kids to our balcony. 

  And had to take the picture too ! This is looking south.

Minutes later we had double rainbow on the north side. 

The picture didn't come up as good as I wish it had. Those rainbows were beautiful! 

Begonia Rescue & Beginning on houseplants

I miss my garden! 

I like getting my hands in the dirt, planting seeds,caring for baby plants, and watching them grow. 

And most of all, I love the beautiful flowers they give me!

I never really was interested in house plants, only outdoor plants.

I get a little to lazy to water them more than I should an outdoor plant. 

 But now that I live in a apartment, I want to bring some color and plant excitement to it.

So I went ahead and started buying houseplants.  

I got succulents and cacti plants. I read they are very easy to take care of, 

and don't need to be watered often.

One day when I was shopping for pots. I saw other plants, plants that have color in their leaves! 

So I ended up buying some of those too. 

One of them was this begonia. 

Lowe's had it at the clearance section, along with others that were more dead than alive. 

Even though it was full of withered leaves, I still thought that  it looked pretty! So I bought it.

 And when I got home I placed it a container of water and let it sit there for a long time. 

Then I got rid of all the withered leaves and this is what I ended up with. 

I think this begonia will bounce back, and new leaves will grow.
I can't wait to see those red and green leaves contrasting with the snow view at my window sill!

One of my Favs

This is what I came up with on Day 2 for the picture challenge I'm doing with the Instagram ladies.

The theme was Grateful. 

I like to read the Bible, it helps me get a good sense of perspective and gives me hope. 

And do I need hope! Things are not always sweet lollipops. 

So I hold on tight to scriptures like the one above. 

I'm not  here in this world like a ship without ruder in the middle of the ocean. 

No, God has great plans for me. 

And He has mapped the course of them in my life. 

I already have seen it too many times  in my short life. 

And for that I'm grateful!

4 Legged Pencil Sharpener

I caught  Oreo red pawed, chewing a pencil. 

"Ugh!   That dog!

 And  look at all that mess! Now I have to vacuum again!"

This is the way I react most of the time, except that time.  

That time I took a picture of that little chewing machine. 

Some how I knew it was going to make me laugh later on. 

She is like "I couldn't find the sharpener, so I had to improvise!" 

Autumn From my Window

We moved  from Virginia to Nebraska at the beginning of the school year of 2012.

I was planning to permanently move here. But it was very hard on me, when I realized how much I liked Virginia, and had to force myself to like Nebraska. 

And then the weather didn't help at all! The days started to get cold and shorter,  the snow came and things turned gloomy for me. I don't know how I made it! 

It was one of the longest winters I remember. 

(Can't forget the winter I went to Navy boot camp at Great Lakes, Illinois either!)

 But before I knew it was May! 

Kids finished the school year and we visited Virginia.  Awww, It was so good!
The warm, the ocean, the mountains, Sweet Frog yogurt, my church, my garden...
 It was like paradise for me. 

We have made the decision that Nebraska is not for us. 

But kids wanted to do one more year of school in Nebraska.   

So we came back to the Midwest, again. Ay ay ay, it's soo hard! I miss my garden, the ocean,
my house and some special people from Virginia, so much!

The only good thing about this time, is that now I know what's coming. 

I know that this place will get gray, cold and full of snow.  

There will be days that the sun will come out for some hours or not at all. 

So I have switched to some type of denial, if you wan to call it that way.
I can't let the gloomy weather get me this time! 

I want to, and will try to make the best of it this time. 

I don't want to look back and remember this as a terrible time.

As I do, when I think of  the winter of 2012.  

I will adjust my doomed attitude and find the beautiful things 

God has placed right in front of  my nose!

 And just in time (God at work). I found these people on Instagram that share  pictures
of the blessings they encounter every day.
And I have joined them. I think it will help me to keep going and to appreciate the things/blessings
around me at this time of my life.  

Today's theme is autumn. I'm sharing a picture of my windows view.
I enjoy the autumn view of a birch tree's leaves changing color.

What a colorful blessing, so worthy to be captured!

I think it's so pretty, that I will also use this picture for my blog header.

Soft Fur for Good Mornings

This is my cat, his name is Cutie. 

Every morning when each of my family members wakes up he comes up to greet us. 

It's the sweetest thing! 

Except that some mornings I'm running late on my chores and I get mad a him for mewing at me. 

Then he and my kids give me the "I can't believe" face. 

I still think he is a blessing for our family! 

When I get to interact with him, I take him in the couch with a blanket or a jacket, as I did this morning. 

And he starts purring. Some times he gets very loud, as if I will pay him for it! 

He is also very playful, the part that I like most about Cutie.

 But I got to watch out for those little sharp claws! 

 I'm joining  Instagram hashtag #campturingblessing