Time to pull all the pictures off the camera, recycle the wrapping, and send out those thank you notes! What a beautiful day full of wonderful memories! After a day of family and friends in Tacoma, the hubs and I headed home and stopped off at the stunning Allison Inn and Spa in Newberg, Oregon to check it out. Moments after walking through the door we found ourselves snuggled up in the dining room enjoying a lovely dessert plate! This Inn is a jewel in the wine country here in Oregon. I am told it is a sign of what is to come to our uniquely Oregonian wine area! Wow is all I can say! It is on my list for a dream weekend getaway!
We Wish You a Merry♪♫•*¨*•.¸¸♥ ¸¸.•*¨*•♫♪ Christmas♪♫•*¨*•.¸¸♥ ¸¸.•*¨*•♫♪We Wish You a Merry ♪♫•*¨*•.¸¸♥ ¸¸.•*¨*•♫♪Christmas ♥ ♥ ♥We Wish You A Merry ♪♫•*¨*•.¸¸♥ ¸¸.•*¨*•♫♪Christmas ♪♫•*¨*•.¸¸♥ ¸¸.•*¨*•♫♪...And A Happy New Year!♪♫•*¨*•.¸¸♥ ¸¸.•*¨*•♫♪...
Here is the latest support for the family table! Check out Dr. Christine Carter's website for the latest information in raising healthy children. She will also be releasing a new book soon chock full of great tips and information for families! Below is one of her 10 tips for raising Happiness!
The benefits of family mealtimes for kids are remarkable. Studies show that kids who eat dinner with their families on a regular basis are more emotionally stable and less likely to abuse drugs and alcohol. They get better grades. They have fewer depressive symptoms, particularly among adolescent girls. And they are less likely to become obese or have an eating disorder.
Family dinners even trump reading to your kids in terms of preparing them for school.
What a truly unique experience to blow glass ball ornaments! Now through Dec 23 Elements Glass here in Portland will allow you to come into the studio and be guided through the process of making your own ornament. The family and I made two, one to keep and one as a gift! What a fun process! My friend Kym recommended the adventure after making one for our annual ornament exchange. When she made hers for the party she chose an intentional word to blow into the ornament. I loved that idea so much that I also blew a blessing into my ornament... I loved the process!
Whether in your home, office, or school, this paint is amazing! As an entrepreneur I love brainstorming with visual brain mapping on big surfaces. This product can be applied to anything to create a "Dry Board" surface like the old fashioned hanging boards at the office.
Invented in a college dorm, this product is now found in hospitals, schools, even manicans for medical teaching. Most appealing for home is the applications for young kids, painting the wall is allowed! You can paint a table and let the doodling begin! Check out the site and let your imagination create! Click Here!
(Dec. 18) -- Just about now, the Santa Claus loved by children everywhere is busy wrapping up presents at his home in the North Pole. But if some historians are correct, the figure who inspired everyone's favorite portly gift-giver lies buried in a moss-covered Irish graveyard.
At issue isn't the white-bearded reindeer fan, but St. Nicholas of Myra, the philanthropic fourth-century Bishop of Lycia, now part of modern-day Turkey. According to Philip Lynch, chairman of a historical society in the Irish town of Callan, the original St. Nick's remains are interred under the ruins of Jerpoint Abbey in County Kilkenny. "It is an amazing story and yet very few people know about [his] connection to this country," Lynch told the Daily Mirror newspaper. "Every year now we get visitors to the site, but still not that many."
Like his more famous successor, the true St. Nicholas was renowned for his generosity. Born into a wealthy merchant family in the Mediterranean city of Myra, he dedicated his life to serving God and following Jesus' instruction to "sell what you own and give the money to the poor." He left anonymous gifts for the sick and destitute – bags of gold were a favorite – and later earned a reputation as a miracle worker with the ability to resurrect murdered children. Following his death in A.D. 346, his tomb at Myra cathedral became a site of pilgrimage for early Christians, who believed it possessed mystical healing powers.
Tom Kumpf, ZUMA Press
Some historians say this slab of rock in Kilkenny, Ireland, marks the grave of St. Nicholas of Myra.
So how did a Turkish saint end up on the Emerald Isle? It's long been known that St. Nick didn't stay in his initial tomb for long. In the 11th century, the city of Myra – part of the Byzantine Empire – was besieged by Seljuk Turks. Worried that they might lose the saint to the invading Muslims, a crew of enterprising Italian sailors snatched his remains and spirited them across the Mediterranean to their home port of Bari. Today, Catholics, Protestants and Orthodox Christians flock to that city on the Adriatic to pray at the grand Basilica di San Nicola, where his relics are rumored to be kept.
However, Irish historian Lynch tells a different tale. He claims that the rescue of old St. Nicholas was actually carried out by a family of French crusaders, who were known to be major collectors of relics. "The de Frainets, who are now known as the Freaneys, had land near Thomastown in Kilkenny," said Lynch, referring to a county in the south of Ireland. "They also had lands in France. They went on the Crusades to the Holy Land to take on the Saracens." Lynch said the crusaders grabbed the bones as they were retreating from a Saracen army and took them to Bari in southern Italy, which was then part of the French Norman empire.
As Lynch tells it, the odyssey of the holy remains wasn't over yet. After the Normans were forced out of Bari by the Genoese, the de Frainets shifted the relics to their home in Nice. But soon the balance of power turned against the Normans in France as well, so the family packed up St. Nick's bones and headed to Ireland. Lynch said his remains were finally buried at Kilkenny's Jerpoint Abbey in 1200. The abbey now lies in ruins, but Lynch said one impressive tomb still stands out: a slab of rock into which the image of a bishop and two other heads have been chiseled. The heads are believed to be the two Crusaders who brought Nicholas to Ireland. And the bishop, surrounded by three gold bags, is St. Nicholas.
Of course the story could all be blarney. But there is another bizarre connection between this region of Ireland and Mr. Claus. Coca-Cola, the company that popularized the red-suited, black-booted modern Santa, was founded by the American entrepreneur Asa Candler. His family originally hailed from Jerpoint in County Kilkenny.
Tim Miller and his team over at GreenLite Motors show cased their innovative green vehicle last month in San Francisco.
"Winning the NW Clean Tech Open gave us the opportunity to present to nearly 2,000 attendees at the CTO Gala in San Francisco last month. An online news source captured our talk – including pictures and our prototype video – in a tight 3-minute clip. Have a look" ~ Tim Miller
Inspiration for gathering American families around the table. Come along with me as I explore the many applications of table in Portland and beyond! Learning to create a PASSION FOR PLACE in our community and our home!
Pull up a chair and lets talk! When family and friends gather around the table, watch the power transform our world!
Come Gather Around The Table!
Let's make memories and healthy children with modern tools and inspirational values for gathering! ~MJ
