Blog Dates...

What's with the dates of my blog posts?

Treadmill was posted TUESDAY

The "W" in Christmas was posted SATURDAY...

This is bugging me.

Any idea why my blog is a day late on life?

P.S. Of course, this post is showing the correct date... what is with this???

Treadmill

Before I forget, friends of mine is adopting a little boy from Ethiopia and they are 1 month away from bringing him home, but they have learned from the orphanage that he is very sick. Please keep Tucker in prayer.



For for the frivolous post:

I have been going going going like crazy!
I feel like I am on a treadmill, but it is an awesome, Christmas, I-Love-What-I'm-Doing Treadmill!

In the past few days I have:

• driven to and from Greeley to spend the weekend with Chris (the trip back happens on Monday morning (a 4a-7:30a drive)
• written, addressed and sent 100 Christmas cards (only 25 or so left)
• baked bread
• done laundry
• vacuumed the family room and kitchen
• shopped for family and friends
• wrapped presents for family and friends (only a dent in this project is done... much more to do)
• mailed packages to extended family
• gone grocery shopping
• exercised (several times)
• gone to work the past two days - including an average of 50-75 miles of travel/day
• made and eaten healthy dinners
• fed the cat

All that to say, it has not left much time for blogging. And I have some really good ideas for posts too... including one of the island of misfit toys and one about nightly 10 at 10... I'm writing those titles so that you guys help keep me accountable to actually post them this week.

This is one of those AWESOME weeks where I'm so excited for this weekend to come... but I have so much to do every day of the week - and so much that I'm excited about each day of the week, that I am perfectly content for each day to pass one at a time!

Merry Christmas Craziness!
Jesus is the reason we celebrate!

The "W" in Christmas

Growing up, our newspaper carrier used to include some sort of Christmas story with our paper on Christmas morning... I never forgot this one:

The "W" In Christmas

My son, Nicholas, was in kindergarten that year. It was an exciting season for a six-year-old. For weeks, he'd been memorizing songs for his school's "Winter Pageant."

The time for the performance came and I filed in 10 minutes early, found a spot on the cafeteria floor and sat down. Because the public school system had long stopped referring to the holiday as Christmas, I didn't expect anything other than fun, commercial entertainment - songs of reindeer, Santa Claus, snowflakes and good cheer. So, when my sons' class rose to sing, "Christmas Love," I was slightly taken aback by its bold title.

Nicholas was aglow, as were all of his classmates, adorned in fuzzy mittens, red sweaters, and bright beanies upon their heads. Those in the front row-center stage - held up large letters, one by one, to spell out the title of the song. As the class would sing, "C is for Christmas," a child would hold up the letter C. Then, "H is for Happy," and on and on, until each child holding up his portion had presented the complete message, "Christmas Love."

The performance was going smoothly, until suddenly, we noticed her; a small, quiet, girl in the front row holding the letter "M" upside down... totally unaware her letter "M" appeared as a "W".

The audience of 1st through 6th graders snickered at this little one's mistake. But, she had no idea they were laughing at her, so she stood tall, proudly holding her "W." Although many teachers tried to shush the children, the laughter continued until the last letter was raised, and eyes began to widen. In that instant, we understood the reason we were there, why we celebrated the holiday in the first place, why even in the chaos, there was a purpose for our festivities.

For when the last letter was held high, the message read loud and clear:

"C H R I S T W A S L O V E"

He still is.


Merry Christmas!

Christmas Party: Music and Movies

Christmas Music and Movies... what a great topic! There are many of both that I love and help me get in the Christmas Spirit!

There are SOOO many wonderful Christmas songs/cds - especially the classic songs and classic singers (Frank Sinatra, Bing Crosby, Nat King Cole)... but I want to highlight a newer Christmas CD that remains one of my all-time favorites.

The Christmas Shoes is a great song, but I also love Christmas Carol, and Sing Noel... these songs sing Christmas to me.

Other sounds that get me in the Christmas mood is the cd of Mona Shores High School Singing Christmas Tree: The Tallest Singing Christmas Tree in America -- and I sang in it 3 seasons.The choir is HUGE, music is beautiful, the students work so hard, the discipline to participate in this spectacle is intense... and the memories are priceless!

For the movie I'd like to highlight tonight, again, I'm deviating from my Classic Christmas Favorites. Within the past few years, I have come to love Borrowed Hearts and Twas The Night Before Christmas.Borrowed Hearts is a holiday romance about faith, trust, romance and love. My roommate and I watched it last night by the light of our Christmas tree with Lexie curled up beside us on the couch.As a child, I loved Twas The Night Before Christmas -- the cartoon and I've found that as an adult, I love it as much if not more. I know all of the songs (of the 22minute VHS) by heart and it really nourishes my child-like faith as I wrap presents, decorate my tree, re-read the Christmas story and prepare for Christmas with family."Merry Christmas to all, and to all a good night!"For more Christmas movies and music, visit here.

Word-Filled Wednesday: Isaiah 9:6

Hallelujah Chorus

What a great video. Thanks, Aunt Pat!



Okay, so why is this YouTube video so big on my blog when my YouTube video from a few days ago fits perfectly? I don't like cyberspace blog issues!

Flying Colors!

Just taking a quick minute to pass along my good news.

I passed my Braille Test with...I earned 92/100 on the multiple choice part and 100% on my braille transcription part! I am so happy all that hard work and studying paid off!

Thank you for all your prayers throughout that process - the WEEKS and WEEKS of studying, the pre-test anxieties and the actual test-taking. Thank you for walking with me through this process.Happy Monday!