My Christmas HOLLIday party

This past Tuesday night I hosted a "girls night in" dinner party.  Weekends are so crazy with parties, shopping, decorating, and more that I decided to have it on a week night. I just told the girls to come over when they got off work.  I served tacos with a build your own bar with all the fixings.  I had dips and chips for appetizers and my friend Debbie made s crab Rangoon dip for us to try.

A friend had posted on my Facebook page last week a fun drink called The Grinch.  I saved it because I knew it would be perfect to serve at party. I bought all the ingredients the day I saw the post.  It's like a punch. It has juice and sprite in it. It was soooo delicious! 

Here's the recipe from Pinterest.

  I  have a leak in my drink dispenser so we could use it to make the punch but we would have to get it out from the top and not the nozzle. The funny thing was that I couldn't find my soup ladle anywhere.  One of the girls  found my turkey baster and said we can use this.  So we did. Hahaha! It took a while to fill 9 cups but it worked. I bought a ladle yesterday on lunch hour so no more turkey baster for drinks.

 

 We grabbed a Grinch hat from my collection and put it on the jar.
 

My friend Diana and my cousin Jadona both have birthdays this week and so I bought a red velvet birthday cake and grabbed 2 candles for them each to blow out.  They were very surprised that I included their birthday celebration with my Christmas party.  Everyone was happy and thanked the girls for having a birthday so they could have yummy cake. 

I had 8 friends make it so there was 9 including me. 

I made them all a gift bag that included  a mason jar with lid that I put 2 Christmas fortune cookies ( they are red or green and I ordered from oriental trading co), a gingerbread twix candy bar, a cute decorative  Christmas kitchen towel , and a small bottle of booze. I bought the cute airline travel bottles of various kinds and I had some that were in shape of round Christmas balls that were martinis. 

As I looked around the room with all these ladies around me, I couldn't help getting choked up because I'm so very blessed. These gals are so special to me. Some I've known for over 25 years and some I've only known for 2 years but I love them all.  

Since it was a work night, everyone was gone but one person by 8:30 pm.  It was a perfect night with friends and laughs and still able to be home at a decent hour.  It's a huge compliment when my friends texted me yesterday and loved all the rest of the gals. Some of my friends didn't know each other but they all enjoyed each other. 

Everyone got to meet Lila for the first time. Most have already met Jax. He was in someone's lap somewhere when I took this pic.  They are rotten!

Not sure I'm going to post tomorrow. I have a very busy day. A friend of mine is moving tomorrow and Saturday and I'm helping her tomorrow. Then tomorrow evening, I am volunteering at Metro Relief  Toys for the community. I'm not sure what I will be doing but they needed volunteers from 5 to 8.  I already addressed 100 invitations and mailed them out this week for them. 

Have a wonderful weekend and be safe!  Spread JOY when you can. 

My day on the Metro Relief bus

Good morning y'all!  I am on vacation this week so I am typing this post in my jammies with coffee and it is great!! I wanted to tell you about my amazing day last Thursday. I took a vacation day so that I could spend the day with Metro Relief.  I had to work Friday so I was so busy making up from the day before, I didn't get to write a post.
This is their mission statement: Metro Relief is a not-for-profit organization based in the Dallas/Ft. Worth metroplex. Our goal is a simple one: Go to the people, meet the people, and take care of the people. At the core of our mission is Christ’s charge: “Then the righteous will answer him, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink? When did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or needing clothes and clothe you? When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you?’ “The King will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.’”

I called Pam who is the volunteer coordinator and she asked me to be at the building at 8:30 am.  There is much to do to prepare for the Dallas outreach daily.  There were several volunteers that happen to show up the same day I did and they said it was unusual for the turnout.  People who have to do community service can volunteer there. We also had 3 students that were volunteering for a Speech class at a local college.  We were split up in 3 teams. One team made the soup that would be handed out that day. Another team rolled up pairs of socks and put them in a tub, while the last group put hygiene packets together in clear bags. The hygiene packs had mini deodorants, shampoo ( like from hotels), toothpaste and some kid of snack like candy bar or granola bar.  I got soup duty and it was pretty fun.  First we had to make the special seasoning- there was a recipe book with instructions on all the spices and amounts that got mixed up together.  Then we made the soup in the ginormous kettle and then we made lemonade. We had an employee there with us the whole time walking us through. 

Once all the soup, lemonade, and packets were ready, they were put on the bus. Metro Relief has 3 buses ( old school buses) that have been gutted and a Pit has been built in. The pit is a small area that has a window built in ( like a food truck) and all the food is served from there.  The seating is up at the front where we all rode. Once we're at the locations- we are then split up again with different jobs. There were the ones that would serve the food - which was a large foam cup of soap, a dinner roll, cookie and lemonade or water.   Another group ( 2 people) would pass out the socks, hygiene packs and would pray with them if they had a specific prayer on their heart.  The rest of volunteers would set up the tables, tents, chairs and mingle with them and walk around asking people to come eat.

We made 2 stops in downtown Dallas.  The first stop, I stayed on the bus and did the prayers and handed out the packets.  Its humbling that when you asked what to pray for,  almost every single person wanted me to pray for their friends or family and not for themselves. They were homeless and had all their treasures in one bag but they were so selfless and was concerned for others.  There were prayer requests for a few of them to get past their addictions and for them to find a job. These people are actually so much braver than I ever thought I was.

The second stop , we had to switch our duties so then I was off the bus and walked around the neighborhood where the homeless were on all the corners and asked them to come get something to eat.  When we got back to the bus, I sat at the table and just visited with them and listened.  The important thing is simply not to judge and to listen. They are human like us and deserve to be heard.  I will need to do another post on some of the experiences from that day.  I love serving and my heart grew 3 more sizes for sure this day.

Everyone, please have a Blessed and thankful Thanksgiving. Enjoy your holiday and hug on your loved ones.  Big hugs!!!

People need help all year- Not just thru the holidays

I have often wondered why you always see a large increase of  coat drives, sock drives, food drop-offs, etc during the holidays.  I understand that there is more time for reflection such as how hard it is for people to have a tree, presents, and all that goes along with the holiday.  Don't get me wrong, anytime people can donate and help others is always a good time.  I have volunteered to feed the homeless for the last 13 years on Thanksgiving Day. I have so much fun and I get to use my old waitressing skills for the day. Ha!  To see the same faces is a joy and I wouldn't trade one of their hugs for anything.  Some people have asked why I let them hug me when they havent showered and they may have a certain smell to them.  Shoot, I am sweaty and have food all over me and don't consider myself any cleaner than them. I'm a hugger!  I have made a choice this year -I have decided to not do it this year. Last year was my first year to be married and I had a family to be with but I still insisted on volunteering.  This year I want to spend it with my husband and family and truly appreciate the holiday and all I have to be thankful for. 
I am pretty active taking in donations of clothing all year long for our church clothes closet. Y'all have read my posts on those days that we set up out church to resemble a department store, and our community can come in and go shopping for free.  I'm taking guitar lessons from the director of Metro Relief which is an organization that takes care of the homeless everyday.  Last night, we talked about the holidays coming up and I asked where they serve on Thanksgiving day. He said, that's the one day they DONT because so many companies, churches, and organizations jump on bandwagon and do their one day of volunteering. That really made me think.  Again, please know that this is just a personal choice for me. I want to be someone that tries to make a difference everyday. Not just one holiday of the year.
I have gone downtown a few times with various groups and handed out food and clothing to the homeless on a weekend. I loved it. One day it was so crazy hot during a summer day and we all sat together under a table umbrella and prayed. It was very moving.  I hope to get more involved but I do what I can right now.  Another shopping day is actually coming soon and I work all day at the church. I get to count the clothes, bag them up, help them shop and sometimes hold their cute babies while they shop.
Are you involved in any charities? Do you volunteer? I would love to know about it.
Have a great day!