Merry Christmas

with all our love, and wishes for love, hope, 'enough', health, happiness to our chosen family and their families

~Ward, June and children

We wanted to share some of our favorite Christmas songs with you...

...agus Síochán leat, agus Nollaig shona duit.

HIS POV:   Good tidings and Merry Christmas to you all! From our family to yours, we wish you a happy, healthy, safe and merry Christmas!  Weather you are headed across town to Grandma's house, or across the country, we sincerely wish that you be blessed and prosperous in the year to come and all of the years that follow!  Thank you so much for sharing our journey this year and we look forward to sharing and learning more in the year to come!

Cookies - as requested by Cat :)

 

Dark Chocolate and Salted Caramel Topped Shortbread

Prep Time: 5 minutes

Cook Time: 15 minutes

Total Time: 2 hours

Yield: 64 - inch bites

Ingredients

• For Shortbread:
• 10 tbsp. salted butter, melted
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1/4 tsp. salt
• Zest of half an orange
• 1 egg yolk, whisked
• 1 2/3 cups All Purpose flour
• For Caramel:
• 14 tablespoons butter
• 3/4 cup light brown sugar
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 3/4 cup light corn syrup
• 2 tsp. sea salt
• 1/4 cup heavy cream
• 1 1/2 tsp. pure vanilla extract
• 1/4 tsp vanilla bean paste
• Sea salt flakes, to top
• 
  

Instructions

1. Prepare an 8×8 inch pan with parchment paper with the edges of the parchment hanging over two of the sides. This allows you to remove the bars easily once cooled.
2. Combine the melted butter, sugar, salt and zest with a fork in a large bowl. Add the yolk and again combine with the fork. Add the flour and stir with a heavy spoon or your hands and combine the dough until it is well combined. Place the dough in the prepared pan and press down evenly with your hands until the pan is covered. Refrigerate for 30 minutes to one hour. Remove and bake at 350 for 25-28 minutes, until very lightly browned. Allow to cool while you are preparing the caramel.
3. In a heavy bottomed pot, such as enameled cast iron, combine all caramel topping ingredients save for the extract and bean paste. Bring to a boil and stir until sugars are dissolved and the mixture is well combined. Using a candy thermometer, watch for the goal of about 230 degrees. Allow to boil at this temp for several minutes, until it begins to climb over 235. Stir continuously. Remove from heat and stir in the extract and paste. Allow to cool for a couple of minutes, then pour over the shortbread base. Once chilled, top with melted chocolate and sprinkle with sea salt.

Notes

For chocolate topping, melt 1 cup dark chocolate chips and 1/2 tablespoon shortening in the microwave. Heat at 30 second intervals, stirring after each. When smooth, use as directed.

 June's note: I would probably lessen the amount of salt in the caramel. Frankly it was a lot of effort and a disappointing result as written. We won't be making this recipe again

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Lemon Ricotta Cookies with Lemon Glaze

Prep Time: 15 min

Inactive Prep Time: 2 hr 20 min

Cook Time: 15 min

Serves:  44 cookies

Ingredients

Cookies:

• 2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 stick unsalted butter, softened
• 2 cups sugar
• 2 eggs
• 1 (15-ounce) container whole milk ricotta cheese
• 3 tablespoons lemon juice
• 1 lemon, zested

Glaze:

• 1 1/2 cups powdered sugar
• 3 tablespoons lemon juice
• 1 lemon, zested

Directions

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F.

Cookies:
In a medium bowl combine the flour, baking powder, and salt. Set aside.
In the large bowl combine the butter and the sugar. Using an electric mixer beat the butter and sugar until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes. Add the eggs, 1 at a time, beating until incorporated. Add the ricotta cheese, lemon juice, and lemon zest. Beat to combine. Stir in the dry ingredients.
Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper. Spoon the dough (about 2 tablespoons for each cookie) onto the baking sheets. Bake for 15 minutes, until slightly golden at the edges. Remove from the oven and let the cookies rest on the baking sheet for 20 minutes.
Glaze:
Combine the powdered sugar, lemon juice, and lemon zest in a small bowl and stir until smooth. Spoon about 1/2-teaspoon onto each cookie and use the back of the spoon to gently spread. Let the glaze harden for about 2 hours. Pack the cookies into a decorative container.
SERVES: 44 (PER COOKIE); Calories: 113; Total Fat 3.5 grams; Saturated Fat: 2 grams; Protein: 2 grams; Total carbohydrates: 19 grams; Sugar: 13 grams Fiber: 0 grams; Cholesterol: 20 milligrams; Sodium: 76 milligrams

June's note: MAKE THESE COOKIES!!! They are awesomesauce! I can imagine all kinds of variations, making with lime, or orange, or orange and CHOCOLATE CHIPS - YUMMO!!!!!

Ward's note: MAKE THESE COOKIES!!!! Your life will seriously be better!

Images of Submission 1

A submissive is not powerless, they have a great power in cultivating love in yielding to the Dominant they trust.

These are just some images that evoke a strong response in my submissive muscle:

I have never in my life been made to feel beautiful. I have always been told I was lacking. I have never felt that I possessed any kind of grace, not physical, not spiritual...Ward impresses on me every day that I possess a grace that colors my interactions with him. I surrender to him because I enjoy that feeling of yielding. I can feel myself under his hand, like the tree under the hand of the wind, bending to his will, and retaining myself...my true self...growing stronger in my identity

                                                                                             

The more that we dance this dance, the stronger my hunger for him grows, and the stronger grows his hunger for me. I need to feel him, his essence, his aura, I need the scent of him, I need his warmth. My pulse, my heart quicken at the mere thought of him. He thrills and excites me, he calms and soothes me, he holds me in the palm of his hand and he lets me fly.

I am naked before him.  I have no secrets, no guile. He knows me so well that a change in my breath will bring him to my side. He knows me so well that all I need do is meet his eyes, or touch him. He knows me so well, that he knows my heart and soul when his hands are on my body. I thirst and he is water. I hunger and he is bread. I gasp and he fills my lungs. I weep and he is comfort. I cry out and he is release. I am affected and he is joy. I live and he is the world that fills me, surrounds me, nourishes me.

                                                                          

I give him my submission freely, doing so frees me. I have been a prisoner of convention. In yielding to him, in bending to his will, in offering him myself, I find that place of peace.

dī méi  ("eyes downward in submission" - yes this is really my neck)

HIS POV: 
Next to salvation, her beautiful submission is the greatest gift I  have ever been given.  She gifts me with her deference, honors me with her obedience and lifts me up with her support.  I am a very lucky man to have such a sweet, submissive lady who lives for the love that we both create!

Ohhhhh Tardar Sauce!- The Final Christmas Chapter

Okay, okay - this is the last of them for Christmas....unless I find something else hysterical....seriously....she makes me laugh till I cry!

HIS POV:  Still the proverbial "Sour Puss"  sorry folks couldn't resist, Tarder really is a hoot, and captures the true mailaise of the feline mystique!

Images of Dominance 1

These are just some images that speak strongly to me of dominance ~ June

                                             

 

               

HIS POV:   

June has spoken of "quiet command" before and indeed it speaks to the nature of a man and HIS lady.  Indeed her beauty demands grace and her submission demands my best. I love the wonderful closeness of it all...it is indeed ours.  Her heart speaks to our depth and the fervor of her obedience speaks to her dedication. She kneels before me naked and unashamed and in this she finds freedom, in this I find myself at my best. These images speak to the heart of our perspective places, our nature and our passion. June has a heart to please, and I have a heart to lead and guide her into a place of true light. Passion, hunger, strength and a desire to be better, are all what I think of when I see the lovely images she has displayed here. June's submission allows me to lead, and my dominance allows her to submit... it's a beautiful thing.

Sensitivity and Knowing Our Partners...

                                                                         
                                         

                                        

                                                      

 Happy Holidays people!  June and I will probably be  enjoying holiday break soon and you know what that means.... Friends, Family, Food, Fun, and some much needed time to enjoy a little special time just for us.

We wish you much merry making, and a happy, safe holiday to you and yours! Expect to see a few sporadic posts here and there, but as implied we will probably be pretty busy as this time of year keeps everyone on their toes. I was in a holiday state of mind today and for some reason it occurred to me that the holidays can be a pretty stressful time for our partners and loved ones... I  thought it prudent to share a little about sensitivity. 

                                                         

                                                                        

  One of the greatest things that we can do for our partners is to be sensitive to their needs and thoughts. It isn't always easy to listen with grace, but often it is what is the most beneficial to our relationship. I've been with lady June for sometime now and I have a pretty good idea of what her needs are and how I can meet them. But you know, every now and again, June comes to me and it becomes very clear that the best thing I can do for her (and us) is slow down, take time and really hear her out. Sensitivity isn't always just about listening either.... sometimes it's about showing your partner that what is important to them is important to you too. After all, as with many things in life actions can speak a lot louder than words.

                                                  

I've never been one to make "recommendations" or try to make DD/TTWD a one size fit all application, but I think if all of us are honest, we can all agree that we could show our partners more sensitivity  and appreciation for what is important and special to them. Even the small things in life take on a new vibrancy when we share them with  the ones we love... One of my favorite things in the world is to lay in bed holding June in my arms, listening to the rain on our roof and talking about the day/week's events, sharing thoughts, fears, dreams and ideas.

I'm not unrealistic, and I don't expect June to have the same enthusiasm for some of the interests and hobbies that I have and I think June somehow knows that I think Twilight... well June knows how I feel about twilight!  Still, knowing what is really important and knowing who your partner is can bring you valuable insight into not only who your partner is, but their thought process, their emotional process and in general what they need to remain happy, healthy and functioning at the highest levels.


                                    

 I've shared some of these ideas with my coworkers and sometimes they look at me like I'm from another planet, but I really do believe in my heart that there is so much value in giving your partner the love and attention they need in order to be themselves.Spending time daily and devoting a bit of attention and effort to what makes our partners soul sing can bring a world of good to any relationship.




                                     

 

Her POV 

 

I have been blessed in Ward...yeah, I know you have never heard me say that before, I should really try to be more demonstrative, lol. I have never had a partner take an interest in the things that interest me, even though I have shared theirs with them trying to foster closeness. 

So...even though I know how Ward feels about Twilight, when the newest installment comes out, he'll wrap his arms around me and whisper, "Date night, lovey?" Have I told you how awesome he is?  And he doesn't sit there and denigrate it because he doesn't especially enjoy it, he makes sure that I have the best time, and makes it special for us before and after we are in the seats. When we have family movie day he and I sit there like a couple of best friends, holding hands and giggling at the jokes the kids don't quite get....Witchy Wieners :-P  For my part, I watch football with him and try to get him to teach me so I can share his excitement.

We strive to be very in tune with and to serve the needs of the other. We are  diligent and attentive, and we have a great appreciation because it's really the first time either  of us have had it. For me, it is the most amazing thing to be of consequence. It still takes my breath away.

We wish you and your families the happiest of holidays. We do plan to hibernate just a little, we have a bunch of posts in the can. But we went for months thinking that he would be under the sea about this time. So we plan full well to enjoy every moment with which God has blessed us...like chocolate on the tongue, rich and sweet.

Lesson learned, fear shed

Part of our relationships are about growth and learning. Sometimes that is not a painless process. I have had several great revelations throughout my relationship with Ward. I just had another one... it shook me with it's magnitude and it shook him, at first negatively, thinking that I doubted him. Then, when I reached the conclusion, we began to rebuild with a new understanding.

It started with a question..."Daddy, do you think I'm real?" No, that wasn't like, do you think I'm too good to be true, that was, do you think I am genuine or a faker? "I'm afraid that the mask will fall away and that I will be ugly underneath." And it was met with the words that cut me to the core and make me bleed my faithlessness. "Why are you afraid to see the positive? Is not my love good? Does blessing not find you?"

Why would I think such a thing? I came from a woman with a dark heart. She could love no one but her self. My father...very distant... I think.... still do, though he denies it, that there is a distance because I was born from that darkness. I spent most of my life not knowing how to be, but having a vivid example of what not to be, how not to do things, how not to treat people. I have a recurring dream of her, one that wakes me up screaming, her head on the body of a viper, that sly, portentous smile that harbored the most impure of intents. She was mistress of disguise to entrap, then she attacked and destroyed.






I, myself, in this life have borne many masks. They were the masks I wore when I was told that I was not enough, to keep a love that did not really exist. My fingers curled from the burden of carrying these masks throughout my life. When I found this man who loved me in a genuine way, in an ever-growing, deep and abiding way, I waited to be not enough. We got past that hurdle. Then I began to fear that I was full of guile, that I would shed a mask one day and he would see the 'real me' and be disgusted.






And as we talked, and his words braided into the lifeline that I have come to rely on, I saw that my hands were empty...for the first time ever, my fingers are unfurled and unburdened. I carry no mask, I hold no guile...with him, I am an open heart. I have always stood naked before him, because for him, I have always been enough. And the realization that struck me like thunder? I'm afraid to be her. I'm afraid that having come from her, she will slither out of my soul. But he has taught me, enough that I can feel it, enough that I can see it, enough that I can believe it....I am not her. My heart is not dark. I will not break open and spill venom on those that I love because I bear none.




And this man, whom I love with all that I am and all that I have gives me the gift of freedom. He reaches beyond the wounds that my fear and insecurity cause to him to heal me.

Thank you, Daddy. I don’t have to be afraid anymore. I AM naked before you, there is nothing to fall away. You have always given me the freedom, the gift of being my true self for the first time ever. There were burdens I bore and masks I wore before in vain attempts to be loved. But you long ago stripped me of artifice. I feel lighter, and I have shed another fear. 

No other love in all of the world... in all of my life, there's been no other love. 

HIS POV:
June, came to me damaged in a deep and profound way. The impact that this negative person she speaks of is obvious sometimes even during joy.  I am so thankful that you have learned to let me in and let me show you the light which that person tried to hide from the world.. I saw it right away and even when you struggled... it was there.  You are my true love and greatest blessing and I thank God so much for you! Thank you for letting me take the burden from your shoulders and lead you to a place of light and love. It is a true blessing to love you!