Full of Memories

What a wonderful Thanksgiving! What a Thanksgiving full of memories!
Lexie found a new favorite place in the Vail condo...
"Is the turkey ready yet?"We indoctrinated Chris into the Sanden tradition of watching the movie PILLOW TALK... I say "watching the movie" but really, we talk through the whole movie... we quote the movie and say the lines with the characters... poor Chris! Mom and Daddy danced to one of the Doris Day songs.
We had a great Thanksgiving dinner - in this picture, Daddy is on the phone with the Seattle Sanden crew -- my brother, Trent, his wife, Maria and their two kiddos, Jake and Ryan. Happy Thanksgiving!Chris and Lexie have their own games they play together.We attended the Beaver Creek Christmas Tree lighting on Friday night and it was a delightful event! It was hard to get a picture amidst the crowd - but there were candles, carols, poetry, gingerbread houses, Santa Claus and fireworks.
Beaver Creek just celebrated its 30th anniversary of the ski resort, and the MC asked how many people have been skiing Beaver Creek for the past 5 years? 10 years? 20 years?... when he got to 30 years... my parents were some of the only ones to cheer -- they remember skiing the year Beaver Creek opened.Thanksgiving is over -- Santa Claus is Coming To Town!Chris and I played Monopoly after the tree lighting... we tried that is... Lexie was all about this game. "What piece should I choose?""How much money do we start with?""I am NOT going to jail!!! Give me my $200 dollars!""I wanted to buy that property... don't even think about it!" (The thimble is under her paw.)Ready for the Michigan v. Ohio State football game with mom and dad's long-time friends, Dr. and Mrs. DeYoung.Unfortunately, our shirts didn't work!We had fun... but, of course, Michigan got creamed.I hope you had a beautiful Thanksgiving! God bless as you embark on the Christmas season!

Braille Tests: DONE!

Saturday Test: Done!
Monday Test: Done!THANK YOU for the prayers through this process. It has not sunk in that my tests are finished -- partially since I've been fighting a losing battle against a headache all day. I won't know how I've done on then for a few weeks... but I felt really good about them.

HAPPY THANKSGIVING, Dear Ones!
(I can tell you the braille for that sentence if you'd like...)

The Easy Part

How do you feel about tests?
My dad always said "You've studied, you've worked hard... taking the test is the easy part." I didn't always agree with him (those years of middle school tests evoked more stress than ease) but after YEARS of tests... and more importantly, YEARS of STUDYING, I completely agree with him.Tomorrow, I will begin my 2 standardized tests in 48 hours (1pm Saturday-1pm Monday) PAR-TAY! :-D Prayers will be appreciated, but I feel prepared -- at least READY TO STOP STUDYING and put the pencil to paper (and braille writer to paper) and take it.Have a great weekend before Thanksgiving and my prayers are with you for safe travels and a restful and blessed Holiday.

Tomorrow Is...

OPENING DAY OF VAIL MOUNTAIN!!!
And we actually have snow! 7 Lifts and 550 acres are opening.
This weekend, I want to:BUT... instead, I will take one state test on Saturday and one state test on Monday... check out home many Braille contractions I've identified in the pictures below. All of these circles/squares/arrows mean that those letters have some rule that means they are not just spelled with the letters they have. There is some other rule I need to employ when transcribing this into Braille.HOPEFULLY, my diligence and hard work will pay off and by spending this weekend in test world, I will have the rest of the winter to enjoy the Vail ski season.And here's one picture just for fun... it's fun because this is as close as Lexie got to this candle. Lexie loves Vail too and is looking forward to seeing her grandparents (my parents) starting next week! AS SOON AS THE LAST TEST IS OVER!!!Happy Thanksgiving!

Little Things and Big Successes

So, I've already posted tonight, but I am EXCITED! Many people more blog-savvy than I may find this is totally lame... but I've wanted three columns to my blog - basically since I started blogging and never had time to figure out how to get it... and tonight I figured it out!

Also, I have wanted to learn how to label my posts for some time now... tonight I figured it out!!!

Also, I've been itching for a different look to my blog lately - I don't know that this will stick, but it's something different for the moment... and tonight I did it!

This has been a successful night for my blog -- this has not been a successful night to sleep. Time to give sleep a try and hopefully I'll be as successful as I've been at blog endeavors!

Oh, also, I didn't even realize I've hit 100 posts in 2010! This is post 101. Maybe a giveaway will be in my future to celebrate... but I will leave that for another day. :-D

Good night and good luck at the little things that make for big successes in your life!

Not Saying Anything

So I'm not saying anything... but post-studying braille tonight, I learned the following:

You Are a Seahorse

You are a powerful and graceful creature. You always keep your wits about you. Most people consider you to be lucky. You have been especially fortunate when it comes to romance. You are friendly and generous. You enjoy spreading the wealth around, especially to those down on their luck. You are calm and persistent. If you're faced with a problem, you know the most important thing is to not give up.

What Sea Animal Are You?

Blogthings: We're Not Shrinks, But We Play Them On the Internet

AND...

You Will Be A Traditional Bride!

You're the type of girl who is feminine, old fashioned, and totally traditional. You've been dreaming of your wedding day since you were young And you can't wait to be a princess in your big white gown. It's likely that you'll have a big family wedding and take your husband's name While a huge affair will be fun, just don't go all Bridezilla about the color of your napkins!

What Kind of Bride Will You Be?

Blogthings: Our Quizzes Weren't Written By Bored 12 Year Olds

What are you doing to waste time... I mean release stress these days?

Mind On...

My mind is on many things...

• skiing
• snow
• Thanksgiving
• seeing my parents
• seeing CHRIS with my parents
• exercising
• baking/cooking
• READING
• Holiday movies
• Christmas cards
• Christmas shopping
  

My mind needs to be on...

• BRAILLE

Today I am more focused than yesterday, but it is getting difficult to CONTINUE to practice braille and drill braille and write braille when there are SOOO many other things I would rather be doing with my time.

Braille Test Countdown: 5 days, 11 hours, 40 minutes

What's on your mind these days?

Do You Miss Middle School?

Check out this awesome youtube that has been making me laugh all evening:







Braille test countdown: 6 days, 11 hours to launch

What Do You See?

What do you see in this picture?
How about now?
How about now?There she is!Look at the first picture and check out that middle shelf... how did she get there? She is adorable!
I love my Lexie!

Inspired by this post by my friend Emily, and by my wonderfully creative kitty-cat.

Thank You: Magic Words!

Thank You

Two little words, and yet so influential, so meaningful, so beautiful. I've been trying to spend November with a focused and thankful heart, but for some reason I don't often associate Thankfulness and the words Thank You. Don't get me wrong, I say Thank you many times throughout my day, and Thank you is consistently present in my prayers, but I just haven't put the two together until today.

Today, my wonderful roommate specifically came up the stairs before she left and thanked me for some work I've been doing for a mutual friend. She said she felt like I have been going above and beyond for this friend, and she felt like maybe it was going unacknowledged. She just wanted to say Thank You.

The words Thank You are magical - I guess that's why parents tell their children to "Say the magic word"... wait, Please is the magic word. Nevertheless, Thank You is a magical phrase. I felt so appreciated when my roommate said that to me. I had such a good attitude about continuing to go above and beyond for this other friend.

First thing on today's agenda was a much-anticipated meeting. A meeting that could have included fireworks of all kinds... well, all kinds, except the good, pretty and celebratory kinds. The meeting was very productive, very collaborative, and... very appreciative. A colleague and I were openly thanked by several teachers at different parts of this meeting, in front of the group, to commend us on the work we do and on the skills we bring to the students in this school. These acknowledgments were completely unexpected and very appreciated. The spirit of thankfulness and the verbal Thank Yous that were offered kept a very positive, cooperative tone in the meeting. And, you know what? I am rejuvenated and excited to continue serving this school and giving them my best every day I'm there.

Thank you are magical words!

Psalm 95:2
"Let us come before His presence with thanksgiving"
Psalm 100:4
"Enter into His gates with thanksgiving, And into His courts with praise. Be thankful to Him, and bless His name"
Philippians 4:6
"Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God"

The Bible talks about thankfulness and thanksgiving, and the more I think on the subject, the more I think my (or humans in general, our) desire to be appreciated is not an egocentric, conceited characteristic, but is from the Lord. We are made in the image of God, and the Bible tells us to express thankfulness to the Lord for what He has done - that must mean that thankfulness, i.e. Saying Thank You, pleases our Creator. What a great arrangement - the Bible calls us to be thankful and express thanksgiving, and those magical words carry power on earth along with pleasing God in Heaven. Basically, only good things can come out of practicing thankfulness and expressing a thankful heart. It's the best example of a WIN-WIN I've heard in a really long time.

Thank you are magical words!

Thank you for reading my blog. An additional Thank You if you comment on my posts every now and then. It encourages me to read your comments and your feedback and share your lives through this crazy blogosphere.