At Easter we think of Jesus dying on the cross (Good Friday) and being raised from the dead (Easter Sunday), but where do all the eggs come in?

I have finally made sense of it!  Eggs represent new life.  On Easter Sunday we celebrate the new life we have in Jesus, because he was raised from the dead. Yeah, life is pretty good!

I came across this awesome idea for Easter decorations a few weeks ago: Grassy Eggs! I love how they show new life sprouting from them!  You can find the step by step instructions here.  Darby’s blog is one of my very, very favourites, so you should definitely check her out!

I’ve been carefully nursing my grassy eggs for the past couple of weeks and sweet talking them in an attempt to make the grass grow faster!  They survived multiple road trips to visit our families and the grass eggs are officially ready to grace our Easter dinner table today.

Happy Easter!  Enjoy the chocolate eggs, and remember the new life it represents for all of us!

“What a God we have!  Because Jesus was raised from the dead, we’ve been given a brand-new life and have everything to live for, including a future in heaven—and the future starts now! God is keeping careful watch over us and the future.”- From 1 Peter1:3-5 (MSG)

Aside from the cold, windy weather outside, dry lips are caused by constant dry air circulating through our homes and workplaces.  I am personally a big lip licker and lip biter, so that is not helping either!  Hey, I’ve even learned over time not to buy deliciously flavoured lip balms because otherwise I will be lickin’ even more!

The thing is though, sometimes my lips get so dry, or even chapped, that constant lip balm application just doesn’t do the trick.  Yeah, some exfoliating needs to happen!

I found a very easy home remedy for treating dry and chapped lips.  It seriously takes only 2 minutes, so this one is very doable. Plus the beauty is, once your lips are nicely exfoliated they will be very smooth and kissable!

What do you need?  Only two ingredients, and you may already have them in your kitchen.

Honey!

And sugar!

Mix 2 parts sugar with 1 part honey.

Apply to your lips and leave it on for a couple of minutes.  Then use your fingers to lightly rub the mixture on your lips to remove all that dry skin.  Be careful not to damage your lips, so be gentle!  If they are already severely chapped you could actually remove large layers of skin by being too rough.

My favourite part is licking the sugar and honey off my lips afterwards – mmmmm so sweet!  Remember to apply lip balm once your lips are clean to seal in that moisture. I personally love the Burt’s Bees line especially the coloured lip gloss (and the SPF 8 sun protection).

You may need to do this a few times (perhaps a few days apart) before your lips are fully restored.

Bonus Tip: Remember to drink lots and lots of water to keep your body nicely hydrated. Dry lips are often a sign that you are not drinking enough water.

Pucker up!

How was your Christmas?  I hope you got to spend time with your loved ones and indulge in some delicious eats! We hit up both of our families over the last few days and I am just about to finish up on packing for our trip… since we leave tomorrow morning.

Before we take off I just wanted to pop in to say ‘Hi!’ and show you a few pics from today’s Christmas dinner.  Remember to check back in while I am gone as I will be doing the same.

P.S. It’s not a party until there’s ice cream on the floor, right??

May the JOY of that first Christmas bring love and peace into your heart today!

Adrienne of Homemakers magazine’s happiness blog, “the bright side” contacted me a while back to see if I would feature some of the things I revel in during the holiday season.  Since my list of holiday revels are a mile long I jumped at the opportunity!  Adrienne and I also thought it would be a fun idea to do a little blog post switcheroo, so today she is visiting Revel to show us what she loves about the holiday season.

Hope on over to the bright side blog for your daily dose of happy, and check out my guest post over while you’re at it. But first, here’s Adrienne:

I’ve been gearing up for the holidays for a few weeks, but since it’s officially December, now I can scream it from the rooftops: I love the holidays! When all the right sights, smells and sentiments come together, the holidays can be the most special time of year. I’m excited to take a page out of Nienke’s book (or blog, rather) and share some of my favourite things from the holidays. It was hard to choose, but here are a select few!

Pointsettia

Just as I know spring is here when my tulips start poking up in my garden, I know it’s holiday time when pointsettia appear in stores. I have two big, beautiful plants this year – I just have to remember to keep them watered!

Wrapping

I’ve been known to wrap some gifts in newspaper (I have to be kind to the environment at the same time I’m spreading cheer!) but I am still a sucker for a perfectly wrapped present. I love dressing up a gift with nice paper, big bows and a sweet little tag before tucking it under the tree or giving it to a loved one. Plus, it’s always fun to have a wrapping party with friends. You get your gifts wrapped and can indulge in lovely chit-chat (which can be hard to fit in during the busy weeks surrounding the holidays).

Lights

I’ve never met a set of Christmas lights I didn’t like. I’m a huge fan of colour, so I love admiring nighttime displays wherever I go.

Advent calendars

When I was a kid, the first thing I did every morning in December was pop open a new tab on my advent calendar. I still can’t get enough of the official countdown, so this year I made an advent calendar for my husband. I used magnetic spice tins to create this display on our fridge. There’s a special treat in each one (and yes, I included enough so he can share if he wants!)

Snow-capped homes

Although this photo isn’t from this year — or even from Canada — there’s nothing prettier than waking up to all your neighbours’ houses covered in a fresh layer of snow. I took this photo in Switzerland a few years ago and every time I look at it, a feeling of peacefulness washes over me. Exactly how I want to feel during the holidays!

I hope you get to indulge and revel in your favourite things this holiday season. After all, that’s what it’s all about. Cheers!

For a moment I was worried about all the tweets that I would miss (the horror!), but then I reminded myself that the internet will still be here tomorrow so no need to fret!

This summer has been busy in a very fun way – meaning that I was so busy having fun that I got behind on doing some things around the house.

Right now I have my fun and energizing playlist blaring, a fresh pot of coffee is almost done brewing and I am ready to kick some deep-cleaning and organizing butt!

With the wonderfully crisp weather we are having I am declaring today as my official “Fall Cleaning” day.  See you all tomorrow (you’ll still be around tomorrow, right?!)

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