Category: NEW YEARS

EPIPHANY to NEW YEAR’S RESOLUTIONS ~ pre-blogmas 2025 ~ BLOG 365.6

The epiphany, January 6th is an important date for many Christians as it’s when people celebrate how a star led the Magi, aka the Three Kings/Wise Men, to visit the baby Jesus after he had been born. ‘Epiphany’ comes from the Greek word meaning ‘to reveal’, as it is when the baby Jesus was ‘revealed’ to the world.

The Star of Bethlehem is central to the Christian feast of Epiphany, which celebrates the wise men’s visit to Bethlehem. According to the Bible, the wise men, also known as the Magi, followed the Star of Bethlehem to find Jesus in Bethlehem. The Magi were astrologers and probably from the area of present-day Iraq, Iran, Yemen, or Saudi Arabia. They were skilled at observing stars and celestial patterns, and saw the star as a sign that the prophecy of the birth of the “king of the Jews” was being fulfilled. 



In western Christianity the Epiphany is celebrated on January 6th. In the Catholic Church, Epiphany is sometimes celebrated on the Sunday between January 2 and January 8. 

Some say that the star was an ancient form of the internet and that the wise men’s stargazing was an ancient form of internet search. Others believe that Mary is the real star at Epiphany.

In today’s “reality” of scientific research the Star of Bethlehem was probably a planetary conjunction. A conjunction occurs when two or more celestial bodies appear to meet in the night sky. In the years before Jesus’ birth, there were several conjunctions between Jupiter, Venus, and the star Regulus. These events could have been interpreted by the Magi as the birth of a king in Judea. However, there are other possible explanations for the Star of Bethlehem, including: A comet, a supernova, an alignment between planets and stars or constellations.

The nature of the Star of Bethlehem is a matter of faith. There’s no clear record in history AND science can’t explain it as a known physical object. 

While the Epiphany is a Christian holiday it can also be a time to reflect before making resolutions for the new year. Epiphany is a time to reflect on the encounter of the Three Kings with Jesus and how it changed each of them. The Three Kings were sent by Herod to find Jesus, but after their encounter, they resolved to go home by a different road. 

Epiphany is also known as Twelfth Night, and is a common deadline for taking down Christmas decorations. 

Epiphany is a Christian feast day that takes place on January 6th. It celebrates how the Magi, also known as the Three Kings or the Wise Men, were led by a star to visit the baby Jesus.

Some say that Epiphany is a time to consider what to add or subtract from your life, and to depend on God to set your course. Others say that Epiphany is a time to be open to the needs of your community and to offer Christ’s love.

The New Year can bring anxiety and trepidation, but also love and excitement for everything to come. It’s a time for reflection on what worked in the previous year and what didn’t and make the changes necessary for happiness and contentment in the new year.

Here are a few suggestions for you if you’re not into making resolutions. The only TRUE resolution I make each year is to make the new year better than the last.

Don’t forget to make some KING CAKE too!

HAPPY NEW YEAR’S EVE ~ BLOG 366.366

We’re staying home this year and watching movies. I usually make a charcuterie board and we have some favorite Proseco chilling in the fridge, but this year I’m making a scalloped potato pork stew and balsamic caramelized onions, and the Proseco is still on the menu.

We went out last year to a BIG party and narrowly escaped coming down with COVID. 32 people that we know of came down with it from that party – most of which we were in direct contact with, sitting at the same table we were… So, this year we decided it just isn’t worth the risk.

What are you doing for New Year’s eve?

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!!

HAPPY NEW YEAR

Oh my, can you believe it’s the first day of 2020?  HAPPY NEW YEAR TO YOU!  I cannot believe how fast time goes, not just this past year, but this past decade! We are 20% done with a century that seemed unimaginable when I was a girl! My plan is to go simpler in ALL things. I started awhile back and have even donated MANY Christmas decorations and such already. I LOVE streamlining my life.

This was a tough year, but not as tough as many have been.  And I’m so blessed to still be here and more so to actually realize that.  Many say it was a bad year and I agree there were MANY ups and downs, but you know what?  That’s life!  It’s NEVER ALWAYS up or always down and our ability to ride this roller coaster we call life with a smile on our face is what makes it worth living – knowing there is ALWAYS good to come our way.

In 2020 my wish is to accomplish my list of goals, which is NOT a resolutions list, but a realistic list of things that have needed done in my life to uncomplicate it and make it more enjoyable.  Many of the things on that list just happen to mean doing things simpler than I’ve done them before 😀  My wish is that others realize that simple IS BETTER also.  Our world has become so unnecessarily complicated!  It’s time we uncomplicate it and get back to the JOY of living it!

Every year I plan on getting more organized than the last.  😀 That said, I’m actually a fairly well organized person, a list maker and love things clean, but sometimes I do give in to the clutter when I’m not feeling great.  The one thing I do religiously though is meal plan. 

To start the year off right I sat down and made my January meal plan and even part of February.  I organized it right down to the cookbooks I’m referencing during the month for new experimental recipes and even color coded them for ease of use.  Thursdays are traditionally my C.O.R.N. (clean out refrigerator nights) because it’s also trash night, so the timing is perfect!  If I happen to miss a meal I will simply add it to an upcoming month in an attempt to clean out all my recipe scraps and notes.  My ultimate goal in 2020, at least for meal planning, is to have a WORKING menu planner full of notes that make an easy reference for future meals.

OUT WITH THE OLD (2018) & IN WITH THE NEW (2019) – HAPPY NEW YEAR

It’s the last day of 2018. Can you believe we made it?  Sometimes I really wonder how we made it through the last several years with all the ups, downs and challenges thrown our way.  Many times it actually felt as if actual gauntlets were thrown down in BOLD FACE challenges.

There were heartbreaking losses of loved ones and fur children, major surgery and life adjustments, a MAJOR move brought on by family betrayal as well as many other happenings that have taught me just how strong I really am.  ALL and ALL I am grateful to be alive and here to learn from those lessons.  I am declaring 2019 the year of POSITIVITY and am going to embrace it with an open heart AND an open mind to learn from the lessons of the past.  That said, I obviously don’t know what is in store for me this next year, but I’m praying for a much easier and productive 2019. 

HAPPY NEW YEAR to you and I pray your year is also filled

with JOY, HAPPINESS, HEALTH and FAMILY!

HAPPY HOMEMAKER & MENU PLAN week 1 of 2018

May 2018 be what 2007-2017 were supposed to be!

Honestly, I’m looking forward to better things in the days to come. 

I’m not going to dwell on the past, BUT I am certainly going to focus on making 2018 the best year yet!

OUTSIDE MY WINDOW & THE WEATHER OUTSIDE

It’s 22 with the wind chill and I’m staying inside!  Highs this week are only supposed to be in the 30’s before wind chill so I’m avoiding the outside except for my follow up with the surgeon later this week.

ON THE BREAKFAST PLATE

Green Tea and Banana

AS I LOOK AROUND THE HOUSE / WEEKLY TO DO LIST & HOUSE PROJECTS

  • LAUNDRY… quite a few loads this week, towels, bedding and clothing
  • LIVING AREAS… hubby is planning on doing a deep clean today and tomorrow – I can’t wait until I can do it again (the way I like)
  • KITCHEN… pretty clean
  • STUDIO… is mainly storage these days so nothing going on there
  • YARD… nothing much after the weekend storms, just too wet to do anything
  • BLOG… some recipe updating, future post planning and holiday post planning

CURRENTLY READING & TELEVISION / DVR

  • BIG BANG THEORY, YOUNG SHELDON
  • THE GOOD PLACE, AMERICAN HOUSEWIFE, GREAT NEWS
  • MACGYVER, SCORPION, BLINDSPOT, ORVILLE
  • NCIS, NCIS NEW ORLEANS and NCIS LA, CRIMINAL MINDS, S.W.A.T.
  • MADAM SECRETARY, DESIGNATED SURVIVOR, WISDOM OF THE CROWD
  • CHICAGO FIRE, CHICAGO PD, CHICAGO MED
  • BRAVE, VALOR, SEAL TEAM
  • LAW & ORDER SVU, BLUE BLOODS, HAWAII 5-0
  • Z NATION, WALKING DEAD, FLASH, DC LEGENDS, SUPERGIRL
  • THIS IS US, ONCE UPON A TIME, THE GOOD DOCTOR
  • GUY’S GROCERY GAMES, BEAT BOBBY FLAY, BOBBY AND DAMARIS, BAKED IN VERMONT, KIDS BAKING CHAMPIONSHIP, WORST COOKS IN AMERICA
  • WHEN CALLS THE HEART

MENU PLANS FOR THE WEEK

LOL, I get to “switch” diets midweek, but I have to tell you there isn’t much difference between them.  And honestly I’m (well, my body) NOT ready for regular food despite the cravings for it.

SUCCESSFUL RECIPE LINKS FROM LAST WEEK

HEALTH & BEAUTY TIPS

HOMEMAKING/COOKING TIP

ON MY MIND / THINGS THAT ARE MAKING ME HAPPY

On Christmas eve at a party we go to every year that has tons of scrumptious food that I couldn’t eat, a friend asked me if I had hit the depression yet. I just stared at her for a few minutes and thought what are you talking about?  Then it hit me, what I’ve been feeling is a form of PTSD, especially after the hospital stay from hell starting with a recovery nurse that deserves to be fired – I did speak with the patient liaison about the major mistreatment that occurred.  But, the reality is MY life was completely upended while I slept through surgery. Decisions were made I was not a party to and when I woke up from surgery and was told EVERYTHING about how I lived would be completely different for the rest of my life I have to admit I didn’t even know how to process that information.

Fortunately, I refuse to get depressed.  There are some bad days, but I am coping and will continue to think positively, take it as a challenge and adjust.

FAVORITE PHOTO FROM THE CAMERA

Hubby set Ava up to guard the stockings on Christmas Eve. 😀

INSPIRATION

Be sure to link up with Sandra at Diary of a Stay at Home Mom for Happy homemaker Monday, Terri at Darling Downs Diaries and with Laura at I’m an Organizing Junkie for Menu Plan Monday.

EPIPHANIES CAN LEAD TO RESOLUTIONS

I too like the idea of having even one epiphany, especially as the New Year begins. Epiphanies can lead to resolutions and one of my resolutions is the follow through it takes to bring those Epiphanies to life.  While I don’t make a specific resolution list as I believe that can be a key to failure, I do make lists of the things I need to accomplish as a whole!


Here’s an very incomplete, but great beginning to the list of resolutions/epiphanies/ultimate goals I want to address in 2012:

  • Make most, if not all of next year’s Christmas gifts by hand and tailored to each person’s likes/dislikes

  • Get my kitchen in order ~ I used to (before the nightmare of the house came to life) make my menus a month in advance. This was really helpful to our budget also. If a recipe called for half of an onion on Monday, I’d make sure to follow it with a recipe on Tuesday that called for the other half. During that time we tried at least 1 new recipe per week so I could try to empty the shoebox (my husband just reminded me that there 3, not “1” of these) FULL of recipes that I’d cut out from newspapers, magazines and such. That never worked because I always filled it right back up, but now it’s overflowing and desperately needs thinning out!!!!!!

  • Limit my craft & fabric purchases to ONLY the items I need to make things using mostly materials that I already own and finish ALL the quilts that are already started.

  • Take a walk daily (weather permitting or not) OR AT LEAST use the treadmill, it’s already here after all!

  • Force myself to eat breakfast ~ today was a bowl 1/2 Cheerios & 1/2 Special K with  bananas.

  • Continue my volunteering efforts, even if it’s just a home project for something I already support.

  • Write some freelance newspaper/magazine articles

  • (Here’s the big scary one I’ve avoided for more years than I care to admit) I will write the novels that have been swirling in my head and doodled on paper for years. I have the plots, characters, synopsis and the settings. I’ve conversed with the characters like they are old friends and family, I’ve developed the towns, supporting characters and walked through the houses and buildings like I built them myself. I know everyone’s likes, dislikes, personality traits and idiosyncrasies. I know all the dogs in town and who rides their bike to work or walks. I know how deep and blue the lakes are and how clear the night sky is so much so that all the stars sparkle bright and appear as if you can reach up and pull them down. All I need to do now is capture it all on the blank pages between the colorfully bound covers that I can see so vividly

  • Try to sell my screenplay (inquiry letters are written and the 1st couple dozen rejection letters are making for a great book).

  • Find a publisher for the cookbooks I’ve written.
  • Try a New Recipe each and every day.
So… I scared myself a little (okay ~ a lot) with this list. But remember, the age-old question truly is:
“How do you eat an elephant?” And the answer will always be ~ “One bite at a time!” Some bites will be smaller than others, but that’s okay too!
Happy New Year, one and all, and may you too see the light to your epiphany!