Merry Christmas!

Peace and Good Will to all.

Christmas Traditions, Part Two

The tree is another tradition in our household. So are pictures—stills and movies. One year, I made a movie using stop action (along with Hubs’ patience) where the artificial tree assembled itself and added its own lights and ornaments. Another year, we put our two-week-old daughter under the tree, the moment preserved in a photo. Then there was the morning captured on film when our nearly one-year-old son toddled around the corner and saw the tree all lit and decorated. (One of these days, I’ll transfer those Super 8 films onto DVDs.)

While many people enjoy spectacular “themed” trees or are so talented that their trees look as professionally decorated as ones in stores, ours is filled with a mishmash of ornaments. As I put ornaments on our tree this year, Hubs made an observation. Now we’ve been married forty-one years and this is the first time he noticed how much enjoyment I get recalling the memories attached to ornaments—who gave it to us, when and/or where we bought it, who made it. Ornaments from our childhood. The gold mesh ball with potpourri made from our daughter’s wedding bouquet. Ones given to our son when he was little.

Lest you think I have a terrific memory, I’ve written on most of the ornament boxes the giver’s name and year received. (Is that cheating?) I do the same with my nutcracker collection. I wished I’d written the year on the first nutcracker my in-laws gave me. My mother-in-law didn’t know what she started as that one nutcracker from the mid-80s has mushroomed into close to a hundred. LOL At least I now have a home where I can display most of them. As I sit here writing this post, I look at the tree and the decorations and the memories keep interrupting.

Last, but definitely not least, is the nativity set. My first one when I was single had a few plastic pieces. With small children, I made sure the next set was unbreakable resin. Hubs even made a “stable” where the kids could rearrange the cows, sheep, shepherds, camels and kings. But Mary, Joseph, and the Baby Jesus always stayed inside the stable. My favorite nativity set is the one my mother made in ceramics class. Along with reminding me of the real meaning of Christmas, it’s like Mom is sharing Christmas with us.

No matter how you celebrate this season, my wish for you, my readers, is peace for you, your family.

Saturday Sampler - Passion's Sacred Dance by Juli Revezzo

Passion's Sacred Dance

Blurb:

Battling mounting debt, Stacy Macken is determined not to lose her historic art gallery. When Aaron Fielding appears and offers to help, she fights to keep the attraction sizzling between them from clouding her judgment. He may be her savior in disguise--but can she trust him?

Aaron intrigues her with tales of the Tuatha dé Danann, sworn warriors who protect humanity from the monsters seeking their destruction. If Aaron can prove what he claims, she would give up anything to help--even the gallery he claims is sacred ground. But with her property set to stage the next epic battle, she needs answers. An old family diary will confirm the ancient legend is true, if only they can find it in time.

If the battle is lost, the enemy will take control of Earth for the next five hundred years. Stacy and Aaron's budding love might only complicate things.

Excerpt:

“It was a strange dream, to be sure. I had a freaky encounter with this incredibly strange woman, right here in our courtyard.” She waved a hand in the direction in question. “And you nearly beheaded her.”

“Did I?” He pondered the lost and found box absently. “That is some dream. I’m glad to see I made an impression.”

She frowned. “That wasn’t the dream.”

He set the box aside, folding his hands and giving her his full attention. “Wasn’t it?”

“No, the dream consisted of you whisking me away on some wild trip through the lights. I can’t account for what happened between then and six the next morning.”

He said nothing and she frowned. “I’m not stupid, Aaron. I remember what went on last evening.”

He still said nothing.

She smoothed her hand over the angel pin tacked to her collar. “I’m sorry. I’ve been a little distracted lately. The blasted bank has us in foreclosure, and they won’t renegotiate.” She waved a hand as if batting the problem away. “I shouldn’t rattle on at you like this. I’m sorry to trouble you.”

His eyes twinkled and Stacy gulped. “It’s no trouble,” he said. If possible, his voice got even deeper with an edge of desire to it that curled her toes pleasantly. “I must say you’re pretty enough to be forgiven just about anything.”

No trouble? Her brain, and her honor, headed south every second he stood across from her. If they lived in the sixteenth century, she’d consider begging her father to make a marriage contract with Aaron Fielding.

Buy links:

Passion's Sacred Dance-- from The Wild Rose Press, Available at Amazon, All Romance Ebooks,Bookstrand, Itunes, Kobo, and The Wild Rose Press

About the Author:

Juli D. Revezzo is a Florida girl, with a love of fantasy, science fiction, and Arthurian legend, so much so she gained a B.A. in English and American Literature. She loves writing stories with fantastical elements whether it be a full-on fantasy, or a story set in this world–slightly askew. She has been published in short form in Eternal Haunted Summer,  Dark Things II: Cat Crimes (a charity anthology for cat related charities), Luna Station Quarterly, The Scribing Ibis: An Anthology of Pagan Fiction in Honor of Thoth, and Twisted Dreams Magazine. She is author of The Artist’s Inheritance, Caitlin’s Book of Shadows (of  the Antique Magic series) and has recently released her debut paranormal romance novel, Passion’s Sacred Dance.

She also has an article and book review or two out there. But her heart lies in the storytelling. She is a member of the Independent Author Network and the Magic Appreciation Tour. Come learn more about her at: http://julidrevezzo.com

You can also find her on:

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/julidrevezzo

Good Reads: http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/5782712.Juli_D_Revezzo

Google+: https://plus.google.com/u/0/111476709039805267272/posts

Pintrest: http://pinterest.com/jewelsraven/

Twitter: @julidrevezzo

Sign up for her newsletter at: http://bit.ly/SNI5K6

Thanks, Diane, for hosting me!