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My Man Of A Thousand Years

Psalm 31:3
For Thou art my ROCK and my fortress; therefore for Thy name’s sake lead me and guide me. 

_______________

My man is my rock, he is led and leads.

He lives the above words of Psalm 31:3

He is led by the Rock that is higher than I.  

The Unmovable one, the one who is never changing, who will not budge from His promises. 

He is solid, a strength that has been there for over a thousand years 


My man, his hand reaches and rests.  

Movement to rest.

Not a striving, just a leaning.

It takes this movement, a decision, a reaching out. 

A faith that our Solid is there steady. 

Ready for our leaning.

 

My man leans into this Ultimate firmness, which in turn makes his heart soft.

This safe strength opens my heart, makes me vulnerable, and I, too, lean.

I want to stay in this place, a thousand years more.

 

 

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Books/ FUN/DIY/ Kids/Family

A Perfect Friday Night & “Unbroken” by Laura Hillenbrand

OR, eat chocolate, drink red wine and sit curled up with a GREAT book!
It has been a great Friday night here at our home.  It started as every other Friday night does around here. Dad takes 3 little girls to the local drug store to let them pick out a sweet treat, and then brings home take-out so I don’t have to cook!  We eat while watching recorded TV, tonight it was ‘Survivor.’  
I didn’t want to miss out on a sweet treat, so I made my favorite Oatmeal Peanut Butter No Bake Chocolate bars, one of my most popular recipes here at New Nostalgia. The ingredients are very healthful, but you would never know it by tasting these.  They are luxurious!  This time I put dried cherries in them instead of dried cranberries, and THAT my friends, was an awesome decision!
I also poured myself a glass of red wine.  My favorite wine guy from Trader Joes pointed me to this particular kind.  I told him I wanted the sweetest red wine he had and he pointed me toward Joseph Handler Sweet Red.  It like it very much, it is mellow with hints of cherry and plum. It is a nice change from my usually bubbly Moscato.  I only indulge in a glass wine every few weeks, as I am too cheap and health conscience to do it more often!
To top the awesome night off, I sat with my Nook reading “Unbroken” by Laura Hillenbrand.  It is an amazing story, one that is very hard to put down.  But, as I was sitting there finishing up my Oatmeal Peanut Butter Chocolate Bar and sipping on my glass of wine, I thought “this is the perfect night and I must go share with my readers.”  So yes, I tore myself away from my Nook book just to come tell you about it!  Here is more about the book about the author:

The Story of Unbroken by Laura Hillenbrand
“Eight years ago, an old man told me a story that took my breath away. His name was Louie Zamperini, and from the day I first spoke to him, his almost incomprehensibly dramatic life was my obsession.

It was a horse–the subject of my first book, Seabiscuit: An American Legend–who led me to Louie. As I researched the Depression-era racehorse, I kept coming across stories about Louie, a 1930s track star who endured an amazing odyssey in World War II. I knew only a little about him then, but I couldn’t shake him from my mind. After I finished Seabiscuit, I tracked Louie down, called him and asked about his life. For the next hour, he had me transfixed.

Growing up in California in the 1920s, Louie was a hellraiser, stealing everything edible that he could carry, staging elaborate pranks, getting in fistfights, and bedeviling the local police. But as a teenager, he emerged as one of the greatest runners America had ever seen, competing at the 1936 Berlin Olympics, where he put on a sensational performance, crossed paths with Hitler, and stole a German flag right off the Reich Chancellery. He was preparing for the 1940 Olympics, and closing in on the fabled four-minute mile, when World War II began. Louie joined the Army Air Corps, becoming a bombardier. Stationed on Oahu, he survived harrowing combat, including an epic air battle that ended when his plane crash-landed, some six hundred holes in its fuselage and half the crew seriously wounded.

On a May afternoon in 1943, Louie took off on a search mission for a lost plane. Somewhere over the Pacific, the engines on his bomber failed. The plane plummeted into the sea, leaving Louie and two other men stranded on a tiny raft. Drifting for weeks and thousands of miles, they endured starvation and desperate thirst, sharks that leapt aboard the raft, trying to drag them off, a machine-gun attack from a Japanese bomber, and a typhoon with waves some forty feet high. At last, they spotted an island. As they rowed toward it, unbeknownst to them, a Japanese military boat was lurking nearby. Louie’s journey had only just begun.

That first conversation with Louie was a pivot point in my life. Fascinated by his experiences, and the mystery of how a man could overcome so much, I began a seven-year journey through his story. I found it in diaries, letters and unpublished memoirs; in the memories of his family and friends, fellow Olympians, former American airmen and Japanese veterans; in forgotten papers in archives as far-flung as Oslo and Canberra. Along the way, there were staggering surprises, and Louie’s unlikely, inspiring story came alive for me. It is a tale of daring, defiance, persistence, ingenuity, and the ferocious will of a man who refused to be broken.

The culmination of my journey is my new book, Unbroken: A World War II Story of Survival, Resilience, and Redemption. I hope you are as spellbound by Louie’s life as I am.”

Rumor has it that they are going to make it into a Universal film.  That would be awesomesauce!
What are you doing this Friday evening?

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FUN/DIY

Hey Girl Hilarity

So I find myself home alone on Saturday morning.  My oldest girl is at a sleepover with her cousins at Grandma’s house, and my Todd took the younger 2 to piano lessons, as he does EVERY Saturday for me. Love that man.

I made a great cup of coffee and sat down at the computer, feeling in a super thankful mood and thinking deep thoughts about how great it is to be alive and have the life I do.  I decided I wanted to share those deep thoughts with you, but then…Pinterest.

I got very distracted with Pinterest, and my deep mood turned to silly delight as I got stuck on reading “Hey Girl/Ryan Gosling” pins.  Have you seen these?  I had to share some of my favs..

 

 

 

 

 

 

{all photos from here}

Cracks. Me. Up.

17
Love/ Music Renews/ Spiritual

Extravagant Love

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I have had the song below on repeat in my brain for almost a week now.  The lyrics are beautiful.  It is a super intimate song, one that reminds me that I worship a relational Being with whom I have a deep soul relationship.

This song started on my heart when I was out of town this weekend in the beauty of the desert of Arizona.  I think I know why God put it there–to remind me of how close and intimate He is, and longs to be with us. I think it is so easy to get caught up in the beauty of creation, and forget that all of creation is just a reflection of the Creator God!  His love IS extravagant, everything about Him is, and to think we can be in relationship with Him forever? It blows my mind.

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FUN/DIY

Fun Activities For Kids!

Robyn here! While my little guy Owen is still just six months old, I’m super excited to start doing activities with him as he gets older. Thank goodness for Pinterest, because I’ve started a board full of fun activities to do with kids as young as eight to ten months old, all the way up to toddlers!

Once spring hits, I’m hoping to do one fun activity a week, even if it’s as simple as smooshing our hands in some rice or beans to feel the different textures. Here’s some of the fun activities I’ve been finding on Pinterest lately:

A Jello excavation site – fun with smooshing our hands in things!

Perfect for rainy spring days, making roads for all the cars I know Owen will have using masking tape means a different layout every time!

Owen’s little hands might be too small for beading with cut up straws until the fall, but I’m already searching for as many fun colored straws as I can find!

Who knew found objects could be so much fun? We’ve been building our treasure basket ever since I first saw this!

This list of things to do with a wiggly toddler is great! I love the idea of using watercolors to paint the inside of the tub on rainy days – easy cleanup and so much fun!

Another great round-up site of activities for toddlers – I love these simple discovery bottles made from old smaller soda or water bottles!

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Are you on Pinterest?  If you like these pins and want to see more, follow Robyn on Pinterest here, and follow Amy on Pinterest, here.

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Valentine's Day

Valentines Day Nostalgia

How about a walk down memory lane?  Here are a bunch of valentines/love themed posts from the New Nostalgia archives.  Enjoy!

Our family tradition is for the kids to wake up to a breakfast table full of treats and small gifts.  Sugar for breakfast on Valentines day!!  Todd gives the girls a few bucks to spend on me for Valentines Day.  They get so into it, I always love to see what they chose for me.

 

This mosaic Valentine coloring pages post is one of the most popular with google search engines.  It has been viewed many, many times on the blog.  Who would have thought it would be so popular?  My youngest just came in the room and said “Ooo, I remember that!  I want to color that when I get home from school.”  For the link and 4 more designs to choose from, click here.

 

White Chocolate Raspberry Valentine Bites–this is the perfect snack for little ones to have on Valentines Day, or even for a loved one to wake up to for breakfast!

 

Healthy Valentine Chocolate Mudballs.  They make great gifts for co-workers or

the neighbors

!  My youngest girl had so much fun helping me make these last year.  It is an easy, 6- ingredient recipe

no bake

recipe!

Healthy Chocolate Mudballs

1/4 cup peanut butter
1/4 cup honey
1/4 cup wheat germ
1/2 cup oatmeal
1/4 cup chocolate chips 
1/4 cup sesame seeds

Cook the peanut butter on honey over low heat until melted. Add remaining ingredients. When cool enough to handle roll into ooey gooey mud balls.
This batch made 12 balls, next time I will double the recipe.

 

For many people, Valentines Day can be a drag.

 

A reminder of what you don’t feel.

A reminder of a desire that has not been granted.

A reminder that even if you have a love, they will never fulfill the void.
A reminder of a heart that is broken.

 

If you are one of those people, I want you to know that

YOU ARE LOVED

Creator God

wrote

you many, many love letters.  Here is one that puts a few of His many words towards you and me, into one.   Below is a taste, click through to read and listen to the entire

Fathers Love Letter.

…You are fearfully and wonderfully made. 
Psalm 139:14

I knit you together in your mother’s womb. 
Psalm 139:13

And brought you forth on the day you were born. 
Psalm 71:6

I have been misrepresented
by those who don’t know me.
John 8:41-44

I am not distant and angry,
but am the complete expression of love. 
1 John 4:16

And it is my desire to lavish my love on you. 
1 John 3:1…

 

 

Going Green Valentines Holders.  These are made from paper grocery sacks.  They are really cute, and once the stencil is made, quite easy for little ones to trace, cut and make a little work of art on the inside.  For older kids, it is fun to tuck a dollar bill or 2 inside.  For co-workers or teachers, a gift card fits!

 

Homemade Valentine Gift Bags made from envelopes!  These are really cute, perfect size for little treats or gift cards.  You can send the envelopes through the printer and print whatever your heart desires on them.  Use any fun ribbon for the handles.

 

Homemade Valentine Treat Containers.  These are so fun and my girls LOVED making them.  Pretty printed paper and stickers make this a super easy project.  Put toys, money or treats inside.  Even just a little love note would be great, too!

 

Last but not least, Chocolate Fudgy Buttons!  We make these whenever a quick, sweet treat is called for.  They taste amazing, you would never know they only take minutes to make!

Fudgy Buttons

4 Tbls butter or margarine

3 tsp. baking cocoa

1 cup confectioners’ sugar

1 tsp. milk

4 Tbls creamy peanut butter

In a small saucepan, melt the butter; remove from heat.  Add cocoa and mix well.  Stir in sugar. (will be quite thick) Add milk and stir until smooth. (you will feel like you should add more milk- don’t.  The peanut butter will make it creamy and perfect) Add peanut butter and mix well.  Drop by teaspoonfuls onto waxed paper; roll into balls and flatten with your thumb.

What are your Valentine’s Day plans?  Traditions?

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