Office Party

I have been blessed to work for a very kind and godly man for the past (almost) ten years. 

Besides being my boss, Geoff is also an elder at my church, and a very dear friend.  One of the perks of working for him has been visiting his home for lunches and dinners.  Wednesday evening we had our annual office get together....and lucky us, the get together was, once again, held at his home.   One of the very best parts about visiting his home is visiting her home!  This is his wife Peggy.  She is one of the kindest, sweetest, most gracious women I know...and she definitely knows how to make a house a home!

 

I can't believe that I forgot to take a photo of the front of their beautiful home. It's nestled in a wooded area, and looks like a house that should be on a Christmas card...just look how welcoming this front porch is!

Speaking of porches, this is the screened in porch. It's not heated, but I think it's warm and cozy!  The fresh snow on the ground just added to the view!!

  

Forgive the lighting in some of the photos...but really, this space looks wonderful no matter

how the lighting is!

 

 

Greg, Peggy's son, has been making some awesome wood crafts this year (I have a few of them in my home).  One of his newest creations is this really fun snowman!!  Peggy dressed him up with beads from an old necklace, and a hat made out of a glove.  He also created the little wooden tree.  My daughter Mandy made the "Be Merry" sign...Peggy bought it at my recent craft show.

 

A pretty table setting.....LOVED the beautiful runner!

Loved this piece of pumpkin pie too!

Greg made little trees for each of the guests this year...this is the one I got to take home. 
So sweet!

 

Peggy displays her Christmas carolers each year.  Did you catch a tiny glimpse of them in the photo of the front porch?

 

Candle light and cookies...the plate of cookies was a gift to Geoff from Mandy.
She cleans our office each week.



 This was my view during the gift exchange portion of our evening.  The tray was my gift to Peggy last Christmas, and the little silver cup was her cup when she was a child.

Now how did he get in here!!  Oh, that's right....technically it's HIS party!  Geoff and I have a love/hate relationship when it comes to squirrels.  Guess who hates them?  Joan gave him a gift certificate for Bass Pro, along with this example of wall art that he might be interested in purchasing.  So sad......

Peggy is one of my favorite people to buy gifts for...if I like it, chances are very
good that she'll like it too!  

I love this vignette...that tree is another one of Greg's creations.

This year, Peggy added the Shepherd with Bagpipes to her Willow Tree nativity.  She told us a story about a 'crippled shepherd" ~ but perhaps that's for another blog post!

 

Isn't this a cozy corner?!  See that sketch hanging on the wall?  That's a drawing of their home...it was done by a family friend.
So I guess you do get a peek at their home nestled in the woods after all. 



 

Everything about their home is warm and welcoming...it's one of my most favorite places to visit.  Of course it helps that two of my most favorite people live in it!!

 

Here we are...Joan, Geoff, Regina, and me.  And we're still smiling after all these years!  Joan and Regina go to my church as well.  Not only do we all work together, we also share a love for Jesus Christ. We get together to celebrate another year of business, and friendship, but most of all we get together to celebrate the birth of our Savior and King.  That's why we're smiling....because we know just how blessed we are!!

Speaking of blessed...here's a peek at some of the gifts I received.  Geoff gave each of us a Visa gift card too...woo hoo...shopping here I come!!  The gifts are very special, but it's the people that made the evening pretty perfect!!

"For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace." Isaiah 9:6

 



Wait

Each Christmas my boss (Geoff) generously treats us to a Christmas lunch or dinner.  He's taken us to some very nice restaurants over the years....and I've enjoyed each one very much.  But my favorite Christmas get togethers are the ones we have at his home.  Last year we had a lovely luncheon there. We closed the office for about a couple hours...after that Geoff went back to work and left us to enjoy another hour or so with his sweet wife.  This year we'll be getting together for dinner at their home...tonight!  We'll be going to his home right after work for dinner and our gift exchange.  I love to try and make gifts for my boss, his wife, and my two co-workers....I didn't get everything done that I would have liked, but I'm happy with what I did manage to finish.

This little sign is one of my gifts for Peggy...Geoff's wife.  The word "wait" has some significance for her. I wanted to put it together with the verse from Psalms because by itself, "wait" can be kind of a depressing word.  When we remember we're waiting on the Lord and His timing we can "wait" with anticipation and joy.

I hope she likes it and I also hope she's to busy getting ready for our dinner tonight to stop and read or look at my blog today!! 

A Burlap Bee & Matchbox #9

Yesterday we had our office Christmas get together.  In years past we met on Sunday evenings at a restaurant ~ but yesterday we met for lunch at Geoff & Peggy's home.  I brought my camera but was too busy having fun ~ I took one picture the whole afternoon.  But even though I have no picture proof ~ I can tell you that I had a wonderful time!!  I'll try to do another post all about it, but for now here's a peek at one of my favorite gifts.  I received some wonderful gifts from my co-workers and my boss (loved them all) but

something about this gift from Peggy just delighted me.  This is a photo from the website ~ Ballard designs ~ isn't this tote bag great?!  It's BIG! About 15 x 22 inches.  

I love this bag and I can't wait to fill it up with "stuff"! 

  

*************

Matchbox #9

Isn't this a pretty pink matchbox. The colors are so different & fun and I love the little bit of bling!  Tucked inside is one of my favorite things. A little embellished tile and it has one of my favorite words on it!  JOY.  This matchbox came from Amy of Paper Trails  By A Paper Lover.  Thank you Amy ~ I love it!!



It's Monday

Well.....here we go.....the beginning of a new work week.  Working 9:00 to 5:00 ~ "what a way to make a livin' indeed"!  I work in an insurance agency, and while this is definitely not my dream job, I am blessed to be working with good people, who I care about.  We're all friends, we go to the same church, we lean (politically) in the same direction ~ no office drama in my workplace! We just like to get our jobs done and maybe have a little fun in the process.

This is my boss.  His name is Geoffrey with a G.  Not Godfrey as he's often called.  He's Geoff or maybe Gee-off as my daughters call him.  Or Big Dog....so many names, so little time!  Anyway this is Geoff. Geoff's wife is Peggy.  She's my friend too!  They are two of my most favorite people!                                  

This is Geoff's lunch...Peggy packs it for him almost every day.  I love how he takes his time to spread it out just so.  He does this all the time.  I know because I watch him do it. 
Sometimes it's slow at work ~ I have to amuse myself somehow!

My most favorite part of Geoff's lunch is his apple.  Peggy cuts it up for him and then wraps it up so it doesn't get brown.  I think it's so sweet the way she takes care of him.  Actually, I tell him he's pretty spoiled ~ he agrees.

Here he is enjoying his lunch.  I took this photo from my desk.  See what I mean about being able to watch him....directly in my line of vision....if I lean about six inches to my left.

 
Speaking of my desk ~ I better get back to work.  I've probably spent enough time playing on my blog!

Just in case you couldn't tell by the "posed" pictures....he knew this post was coming!  He's a good sport!  He's also a year older than he was last time I saw him.  He celebrated a birthday on Sept 25th!

Happy Birthday Boss!