Faith Family Friends

Celebrating the Joy of Living & Home Making ~

Baking, Cooking, Decorating, Tea Time, and taking Inspiration from those I love and the world around me...

A sharing of my heart and my home from a Christian perspective

...with a wee bit of whimsy added.

Friday, 14 February 2014

A Love Story for Valentine's Day

Love is when you look into someone's eyes and see everything you need. 



Happy Valentine's Day dear friends!

Are you a soppy girl? You know, one of those girls who cries at weddings and love stories?
Well, I am, and I wanted to post something romantic today. So I decided to share a love story ~ Our Love Story.


So, pour yourself a cup of coffee or tea and make yourself at home. I know many of you have already heard my story but for those of you who haven't; here it is.
 


     


Let's take a little trip back in time to a Saturday afternoon record hop. It was a cold afternoon in January but that was the place to be in those days!

Now picture if you will, a shy young man, sporting a cute Beatle haircut and an even shyer young lady with long hair and bangs, dressed in a mini dress and high boots. Yes, I liked to dress in the latest fashion!

I was just sitting there, enjoying the music with my friends, when this young man approached me and asked me to dance.  

As we headed out on to the dance floor, there was a little attraction there and we both felt it. If you were to ask us, yes, we do believe in love at first sight. Of course we know God had something to do with it too.

Later, after we had been seeing one another for a few weeks,  he told me he had noticed me a few months before that but it took him all that time to get up the nerve to ask me to dance. Isn't he adorable!

We were both seventeen.


He asked me to dance three weeks in a row and then one day after the Hop, he followed my friends and me into a restaurant where we always went to grab a snack before heading home.
Not much wonder we were all so fit in those days! We danced all afternoon and then walked the three miles home afterwards.

He looked so cute sitting on the other other side of the restaurant all by himself, and then he got up and put some money into the juke box. He played three of my favourite songs. Coincidence? I don't think so! One of those songs was my favourite. He didn't know it was my favourite, it just happened to be his too!

Words by The BeeGees is still our song today.

My friends talked me into joining him at his table where we sat and chatted before he walked me the three miles home. About halfway home, he took me by the hand, and 'it was magic!'

We arranged to meet the following Friday night at an Eaton's department store. He had had his picture taken in one of those little cubicles before meeting me and afterwards, he asked me to get mine taken.  So I did. These are the photos from our first date.



That was our first date and that night we had our  first kiss. That date led to many more which eventually led to our marriage.

My mother was not happy that I married this young man and she felt that way for many years. Unfortunately, it put a wall between us for a very long time.
This past year however she told us she had been wrong and that I couldn't have married a better man.
Funny it took her so long to know what I knew all along. Today she loves my hubby like her own son and this makes us both very happy!

He was and still is my sweetheart, my hero, and my best friend! I always said when we met, he rescued me and I still feel that way.

Almost from the beginning of our marriage, God was at the center of it and we spent many years in the ministry. Today Hubby is still very active in the church and our door is always open.

We raised three sons together and now we are delighted to have five grandchildren.

Now that we have been married for a few decades and are in the Autumn of our lives, we often talk about Heaven. Just the other day, he paid me the nicest compliment ever. He said when we get there, he hopes he will be living right next door to me.

I feel very blessed to have him as my mate and if I could do it all over again, I would marry him all over again.

Life is a journey, and love is what makes that journey worthwhile.~ Author unknown

Happy Valentine's Day to you all and I pray you get to spend this special day with someone you love and treasure. God bless you! 

Words ~ Written by Barry Gibb, Maurice Gibb, and Robin  Gibb

"Smile an everlasting smile,
A smile can bring you near to me.
Don't ever let me find you gone,
'Cause that would bring a tear to me.
This world has lost its glory,
Let's start a brand new story, now my love.
Right now, there'll be no other time and I can show you how, my love.

Talk in everlasting words,
and dedicate them all to me.
And I will give you all my life,
I'm here if you should call to me.
You think that I don't even mean,
A single word I say.
It's only words, and words are all I have, to take
Your heart away."

Sharing from my heart~ Sandi

Wednesday, 12 February 2014

HOME ~ Hot and Spicy Chicken


Winter is the time for comfort, for good food and warmth, for the touch of a friendly hand and a talk beside the fire: it is the time for home. ~ Dame Edith Sitwell


Hello friends and welcome to my HOME once again. As most of you know by now, I am no longer hosting the HOME linky party but I am sharing recipes and other home related subjects here each week. So, please come in and make yourself at home.

I want to thank you all for your get well wishes. I am feeling much better now and look forward to Valentine's Day.

Today's recipe is a spicy one. I got it out of an old cook book years ago and changed it up a bit. I call it Hot and Spicy Chicken.

Hot and Spicy Chicken
1/4 cup chopped onion
1 TBSP butter. {I used 1 TBSP coconut oil instead.}
1 cup ketchup
1/4 cup water
1/4 cup lemon juice
2 TBSP brown sugar
dash of pepper
dash of Cayenne pepper
3 TBSP Worcestershire sauce
1/2 TBSP mustard
1/2 cup chopped celery

Cook onion in oil slowly until limp and golden. Add remaining ingredients and simmer covered for 15 minutes.


Pour over cooked chicken pieces{two boneless chicken breasts cooked and cut into bite size pieces} cover, and simmer until heated through.

Serve over hot rice with a veggie on the side. Yield~ about 5-6 servings. Enjoy!


This being Valentine's week, I set a red and white table using my Staffordshire dinner plates on top of red chargers. I am also using my King's Crown goblets for our water. I set a jug of white roses in the center of the table and we're ready for this tasty meal.


A salad on the side is nice too. This meal is actually quite filling.



Thank you for visiting my HOME today and I hope you have a very Happy Valentine's Day!

Lord, this humble house we'd keep
Sweet with play and calm with sleep.
Help us so that we may give
Beauty to the lives we live.
Let Thy beauty and Thy grace
Shine upon our dwelling place. ~ Edgar A. Guest

I am joining these lovely parties this week:

Home and Garden Thursday ~ http://www.adelightsomelife.com/
Share Your Cup Thursday~ http://jannolson.blogspot.com/
Home Sweet Home~ http://thecharmofhome.blogspot.com/

Sharing from my heart~ Sandi