Advent Memories Day 25 : Jesus' Birthday!

During the days of advent this year, I’ve shared many memories with you. I’ve clearly had some very fun Christmases surrounded by wonderful family and friends. I have been blessed abundantly with things I really do not need, but am thankful I get to enjoy. All these things are great, but the thing I am most thankful for from past Christmases is that I came from a family that taught me what Christmas is really about. It is what means the most to me today and lingers with me far past Christmas day and throughout the year. So, today I’m not sharing with you one specific memory, but what I celebrate every year on this special birthday of our Savior….

- He was God, Creator! The Creator of our beautiful world. The one who created even me and you. He lived in the heavenly realms (which I imagine are super spectacular) and still chose to come to earth in flesh...because of His love for us!

The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us.

We have seen his glory, the glory of the one and only Son,

who came from the Father, full of grace and truth.  John 1:14

- He was born a baby. In a manager of all places, surrounded by farm animals. It probably stank to high heaven. He was our King, but entered earth in the most lowly of places.

She wrapped him in cloths and placed him in a manger,

because there was no guest room available for them. Luke 2:7

- He was fully God, but fully human (I know, crazy...we can never fully comprehend it!) This means he had to learn to walk and to talk. He went through teenage angst. He lived in poverty and worked very hard as a carpenter. His life was not glamorous. He was tempted in every way. And because He lived that life, He is able to fully relate to every struggle we have and His compassion for us is great.
 

For we do not have a high priest who is unable to empathize with

our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every

way, just as we are—yet he did not sin. Let us then approach

God’s throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive

mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need. Hebrews 4:15-16

 
- He suffered. He always chose to walk in God's ways, but He didn't always want to. He did it anyway. And He often suffered for it. He endured and pressed on. What an example for us!

When they hurled their insults at him, he did not retaliate;

when he suffered, he made no threats. Instead, he

entrusted himself to him who judges justly. 1 Peter 2:23

- He was persecuted for proclaiming His Father's name. He even died on a cross for it.

When Jesus had finished saying all these things, he said to his

disciples, “As you know, the Passover is two days away—

and the Son of Man will be handed over to be crucified.” Matthew 26:1-2

- It wasn't His desire to die such a brutal death...He even begged to not have to do it.  But He did it anyway. Because He loves us and because He loves His Father, God.

Going a little farther, he fell with his face to the ground

and prayed, “My Father, if it is possible, may this cup

be taken from me. Yet not as I will, but as you will.” Matthew 26:39

- Through His death, He took on the punishment for my sin, allowing me to live in freedom forever.

God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we

might become the righteousness of God. 2 Corinthians 5:21

So today, I thank Jesus for choosing to come to earth even though it meant living a really hard life. I thank Him for proclaiming God's name and for dying on a cross...all for me!

And I am thankful that as a child, my parents proclaimed Jesus' name boldly. They would never deny Him. They prayed with us daily, teaching us to pray along the way. Every single morning (throughout the year...not just Christmas time), I had the privilege of witnessing my mom reading her Bible in the Living Room and my dad reading his with his coffee at the breakfast table. It was such an example to me of how important it is to seek God daily and to know His word and hide it in my heart. They taught me that Jesus is someone we can have a real, living relationship with. And at Christmas time, they reminded us that He was born in a manager and lived and died for me.

Happy Birthday, Jesus! I love You and I praise You today!

Advent Memories Day 24 : Best Gift!

A year after Beth got married, I moved into the building they were living in.  It is a 4-plex that Brian owns and a unit had become vacant and I loved it and Brian offered a little family discount.  I have fond memories of living across the hall from them for a year.  That year, my parents came in to Dallas for Christmas.  We celebrated Christmas Eve as a family and my Uncle Don came along.  This was during the period of Christmases where Beth and I would fight over which church service we were going to go to.  She wanted to go to the one at her church and I wanted to go to the one at mine.  But, we wanted to go as a family!  So, we usually ended up going to both :)  After church, we did something a little different and went to dinner at The Melting Pot.  It was a fabulous fondue meal!  At some point during the meal, Beth announced that she and Brian were giving me a small Christmas gift early.  I thought this was very strange as Beth and I usually just give each other one gift or maybe two small things and always on Christmas Day.  But, of course, I wasn't going to turn down an early gift!  It was a tiny little gift and inside was a small Christmas ornament that was a frame.  Inside the frame she had written a little something.  I can't remember exactly what it said, but it was my first indication that she was pregnant.  I burst in to tears right in the middle of the restaurant!  I was so excited.  My parents had already been told, but my Uncle just sees me crying and he keeps saying "Oh my gosh.  What is it?  This must be the best gift our family has ever given!" Ha!  Best gift, indeed!

Advent Memories Day 23 : Parties!

My crew of friends in Dallas were really good about hosting and/or attending Christmas parties.  I always had multiple throughout the Holiday season and I loved it.  It's one thing I missed when I moved to New York, but I'm finally in a groove there and had a few different ones this year...yea!  In Dallas, the parties varied...I remember a very fun dinner party one year, my Bible study group had a party each year, usually our Sunday School class had a party - one year it was super fancy, and then random friends would have other parties of their own.  These parties were always such a great time with good friends who I loved.

One of my favorite parts of the parties were the Chinese Christmas Exchanges...primarily the ornament exchanges and cookie exchanges.  I always loved shopping for and finding the perfect ornament for these parties and I always wanted to have one that was liked by all in attendance..if it got stolen multiple times, it was a success!!  I also wanted to end up with one I loved - which usually happened.  I love my collection of Christmas ornaments...from the ones I won at these parties to ones I've received as gifts to ones I bought on vacations (my favorite souvenir), they always bring back special memories.

And the cookie exchanges...oh, my!  I always left with so many delicious goodies to taste and always had some to take to family or to my co-workers.  The best part was all the recipes...I've got tons in my recipe drawer now!

Advent Memories Day 22 : Sick!

I just realized that when I wrote my original Christmas Eve post, I left one very special person out who was always there!  My Great Uncle Pete!  Christmas Eve was always my grandmother's family and Pete was actually my grandfather's brother, but they were the only ones left, so Pete always came with us that night.  He was a very loving man who loved my dad like a son and my sister and I like his grandchildren.  A 3rd grandpa to dote on us?!  Yes, please!

One Christmas Eve, we all hauled over to Aunt Becky & Uncle Chris' house for our usual gathering.  This particular year, Uncle Pete brought some tamales to add to the supper.  Beth and I were unfamiliar with this food that you can buy from the back of car trunks in parking lots all over Dallas.  Today I know that they are very yummy, but that night I was skeptical.  I don't think I would even try more than a small bite.  When the evening was over, my family went back to my Grammy's house, where we always stayed.  Beth and I both were super sick all night long.  Throwing up....everywhere!  My mom was not pleased that we each had a turn where we didn't make it to the toilet (and we were old enough that we should have...we were really sick, though!)  I remember Beth and I huddled around the toilet together - it was uncomfortable and awkward and we were miserable!

We always blamed it on the tamales.  Looking back, that's probably not what it was.  I really think that we barely tried them and there were many adults there who ate whole ones and didn't get sick.  It was more likely some sort of terrible bug.  We were still not super well on Christmas morning, but at least the barfing had ceased.  I remember all of us spent most of the day lounging around in our PJs.  And I was well enough to spend the night with Nicole that night (Beth was still in recovery mode).

Advent Memories Day 21 : Christmas Plays

As with most young children, when my sister and I got together with our cousins, we loved to put on a show!  At Christmas, it was usually some sort of Christmas play.  I remember one year that we spent Christmas Eve huddled in a room writing a play and coming up with costumes.  I can't remember what it was about exactly, but there were elves and a reindeer and I think my sister was Mrs. Claus.  My family never had a video recorder, but my Aunt & Uncle always had one and they always recorded our plays and we loved to watch them after our big show.  This particular year, Amy was probably 4 or 5 and she was our little elf.  In one part of the play, she was just supposed to be standing there, but she started making funny faces and pulling her mouth wide with her fingers and sticking her tongue out.  The rest of us were very serious about our parts and completely oblivious that this was going on behind us.  When we played our big show back on the TV, we thought she was the funniest thing we'd ever seen!  We watched it over and over and over again and laughed until we cried.  So fun!

Advent Memories Day 20 : Illegal Driving!

When my sister was probably 12 or 13, my uncle started a new tradition with us on Christmas Day.  After the gifts had been opened and our bellies were full, he'd put the two of us in his car and we'd head to the nearest large, empty parking lot.  Don wanted to teach Beth to drive!  She was pretty good at it and we always had fun.  A few years later, Don let me take the wheel!  I don't think I was quite ready yet...I had a heavy foot and we'd go flying across the parking lot.  He didn't let me stay behind the wheel for long and I'm honestly not sure he ever let me try again!  I still thought he was a pretty cool uncle for trying to teach us though!

Advent Memories Day 19 : Cramming It In

When it comes to the Holidays, I want to cram in as much as I can. Multiple parties, all the best shops, lots of baking, time with family, seeing every close friend I can, etc.... Christmas of 2000 was a crazy one where I tried to see most of my favorite people even though they lived in different cities! I celebrated Jesus' birth with my family in California then flew back to Texas and drove to Missouri to see my high school friends. After a few days in CoMo, I hit the road back to Texas and that very evening, flew out with some of my favorite Dallas people to spend New Years in Vegas! Ahhhh....craziness! It was so fun, though. I remember feeling satisfied afterwards...I'd gotten to spend quality time with so many loved ones and was ready to start a new year!

Advent Memories Day 18 : Christmas Tea

One year while living in Dallas, I decided to host a Christmas Tea in my apartment.  I sent out invitations (real ones...in the mail!).  I think there ended up being 16 or 18 girls at my apartment that day.  It was a tight squeeze, but I added 2 tables in my living room and we made it work.  I got to put all my Christmas dishes and glasses to use for the occasion.  For teacups, I borrowed from my grandmothers stash.  She had several different sets of china and they all had teacups and saucers.  I loved the idea of having a variety of teacups, so I borrowed several from her.  I made two kinds of tea...a cold Almond flavored one (it's delish!) and a hot peachy flavored one that was also quite good.  For food, I went the traditional English tea route.  We started with plates full of mini sandwiches...cucumber on white, chicken salad on pumpernickel, and egg salad on wheat.  The next course was scones...my only time to make scones, but they were so easy.  I just made plain scones and served them with berries and whipped cream...so yum.  The final course was the mini desserts...chocolate covered strawberries, mini tarts, and sugar cookies (of course I can't have a party without sugar cookies!).  It was such a fun party and I've been wanting to have another tea party ever since!

Advent Memories Day 17 : Cali Christmases

I mentioned in my first blog of this series that I can't remember how many Christmases I spent in California.  My parents lived there for seven Christmases...1998-2004.  I know for sure I was there in 1998 and 2000.  Beyond that, I'm just not sure but I'm guessing there was another one or two Christmases in Cali.  California Christmases are different.  You're basically at the beach!  Which is weird when you don't grow up having Christmas at the beach.  I remember there being at least one year that it was warm enough that I actually laid out at the beach.  These Christmases felt like more of a vacation to me (but probably not to my parents).  We got to do all my favorite things in San Diego and explore new places as well.  Trips to Coronado Island (where we always picked up one of the annual Christmas ornaments at Hotel Del), wandering around La Jolla, shopping at the mall near my parent's home, maybe a trip to LA or across the border into Mexico, etc...  And there was also a lot of time to relax since I didn't have any friends there.  It was just me and my parents and Beth.  Oh, I'd really like a Christmas like that again!  Like I said earlier...Hawaii 2011!  I'm gonna make it happen.

Advent Memories Day 16 : Special Gift from Paris

My sister lived in Paris for three years and for three Christmases (she did make it back to the states for one of those Christmases). Her first Christmas in Paris was in 1996 (really? that long ago? Nuts!) and she'd only been living there about 3 months. I was soooo excited to get a Christmas gift all the way from Paris! A box arrived to my parent's house with wrapped gifts for all of us. The gifts were placed under the tree until Christmas day. It was the gift I was most excited about opening that year - I couldn't wait! I had no idea what it was, but it was from Paris and it would be fabulous!! So, Christmas day arrived and I opened the tiny little package with my name on it and, well, this is as anti-climatic of a story as it was a gift. It was a packet of kleenex. Yep, kleenex...all the way from Paris.
It would be dishonest for me to say I wasn't disappointed. I was. Granted, they were those really cute Kleenex and they were Frenchy (had Eiffel towers or something all over them). And it was the very first time I'd ever seen those cute kleenex that you see everywhere today, so they did seem a little special. But I still saw it as just a packet of kleenex. I remember seeing my cousin shortly after this (not sure why I got to see her...we didn't see each other much during our college years). Nicole was as excited about the idea of a gift from Paris as I was. She wanted to know all about what Beth had sent me. Surely it was something grand - from Paris! She, too, was disappointed that it was simply kleenex. Ah, well. I suppose I've gotten over it.
I should cut Beth a little slack because she was a nanny making next to nothing...she couldn't afford us nice gifts that year. I do still give her a hard time about it though. My first year in New York, I hid her real gift in another room and I only placed a wrapped packet of cute NYC kleenex under the tree for her. I could see the look of disappointment on her face when she opened them and I waited until the very end of the gift opening to bring out her real gift! I think I proved my point that day :)

Advent Memories Day 15 : Special Guests

My Junior year of college, I was blessed to have 2 of my roommates come up to Columbia for a few days of the Holiday break.  It was so much fun to be able to show my two very best friends (at the time) where I was from.  I lived with Becca for 2.5 years and Sara for 3 years....we were very close friends.  And, well, Becca is probably my closest friend ever (there are a couple others who come darn close, though!).  The girls flew in to Kansas City on the same flight from Dallas (Sara is from Dallas and Becca flew to Dallas from Amarillo).  I picked them up in KC and we all jumped for joy and hugged...not just because we were all together in Missouri, but Becca had gotten engaged a few days prior...my first friend to get engaged, and my best friend, at that!  We spent some time on the KC Plaza before driving to CoMo.  I can't remember what we did in Columbia, other than eating pizza at Shakespeare's one day...of, course!  I also remember it was extremely hot and we put on shorts and took my car to the DIY car wash.  After a couple of days in Columbia, the girls had the privilege of driving back to Dallas with me.  I thought they were going to DIE about 1/2 way through Oklahoma.  I'd been doing the trip at least twice a year since I was three, so I was used to it and never thought much of it.  And once I started doing it on my own, I found the long drive kind of therapeutic.  They thought it was the worst thing ever.  Too funny.  But, it was so great to spend part of the Holidays with my best friends!

Advent Memories Day 14 : Scripture Reading

One Christmas during college (most likely my Senior year), I was already back in Columbia for the Holiday when I received a phone call. It was the worship minister at our church and he was wondering if I would read scripture at the Christmas Eve service. I was kind of confused by this as there had been some turn-over in staff at our church since I had left for college and I really didn't know the pastor or the worship minister at all. Why would they call me to do this? I still don't really know the answer, but I think they involved several people from different stages of life in the program that year, so I suppose I was their token "college student who came back home for Christmas." He picked the scripture, so all I had to do was get comfortable with it and then read it in front of a crowd! I wish I could remember the passage I was given...I think it was maybe a Psalm, but I'm really not sure. That night, I was a little bit nervous, but it actually ended up being fun. I think our family enjoyed being involved in the service in a small way that year. And, I think that's when I discovered that I actually like speaking in front of people. Well, so long as it's not something I have to write or something that's not super personal to me...that makes me super nervous!!

Advent Memories Day 13 : Mammaw's Creme Puffs

My Mammaw was known for her cooking.  She had some specialties we all loved and we each had our personal favorites (mine was probably her blackberry cobbler....so yum!)  Mammaw's Creme Puffs were a big hit with just about everyone, but especially my dad.  They were not the easiest thing to make, so she would usually only make them when my family was in town (which led to just a little bit of bitterness from family who lived right there and had to wait until my dad came in to get their creme puffs!).  One year, however, I did learn that the Texas fam was often treated to a little taste of creme puffs when their family from Missouri wasn't in town.  My cousin, Nicole, and I spent the night at Mammaw's on Christmas Day one year.  I'm not sure why it was just the two of us because usually all the cousin's would spend the night together.  I think Beth was sick this particular year and maybe Mammaw just invited the older girls to come or something.  That evening, Nicole let me in on a little secret...Mammaw would sometimes whip them up a little batch of creme puff filling and serve that for a little snacky snack before bed.  I thought it sounded a little strange at first...creme with no puff?  Weird.  But, upon Nicole's request Mammaw got to it and shortly after we were sitting at the table with individual bowls full of white custard and eating it by the spoonful.  It was actually delicious!  The first and last time I've had creme without the puff!

Advent Memories Day 12 : Rock Candy

Growing up, my mom had a dear, older friend in our church named Mildred.  I don't know how old Mildred is, but I'm amazed that she is still alive (although not kicking quite as hard these days).  Mildred was an expert at making rock candy and my mom decided one year that it would be fun to have Mildred over to teach us during the Holiday season.  I was definitely on board!  I don't remember the whole process, but there were candy thermometers and food coloring and all kinds of flavorings.  We made a TON of rock candy that day in many different flavors.  We had our Christmas gifts for friends, teachers, etc... for the year!  Mom and I had a blast and immediately decided it would become an annual tradition!  After making rock candy all morning and afternoon, I left the house to go somewhere with friends (I'm going to guess the Columbia Mall...because where else did we go in Junior High?).  When I came home that evening, I walked in the door and was welcomed by the extremely strong vapors of all the flavors we used that day.  It was so potent!  So much that it made me sick to my stomach and I had to make a mad dash for the toilet!  I've never been too big of a rock candy fan since then and our plans of making it a tradition were squashed...we've never made it since!  But I do love that I have a special memory of a day spent with Mildred and mom.

Advent Memories Day 11 : Nanny's Gang

For all our Christmases in Texas, until I was 15, we spent Christmas Eve with my dad's side of the family. In my youngest years, it was all of Nanny's crew who came along. Nanny was my great-grandmother and although my memories of her are few and rather vague, she was a sweet little lady who was a very petite 4'9" (or maybe 4'8"). She was my dad's mother's mother. She had 3 children: my Mammaw, Buster, and Marion. Mammaw's crew included my immediate family, plus my Aunt Becky, Uncle Chris and their 3 kids...my 1st cousins! Buster was killed in WWII and left behind his wife, Ruth (who happens to be my cousin on my mom's side of the family...weird, I know!) and their baby girl, Carol Sue. Carol Sue continued to have Christmas Eve with her father's family thru the years, so she was always there with her husband Ken and children Rusty and Amanda who seemed worlds older than my 1st cousins, Beth and I. Marion came along with her son, Tony and his wife Betty and children Lisa and David. Lisa and David were close in age to Rusty and Amanda so the four of them had a blast together while I was part of the younger kids crew with Beth, Nicole, Amy and Christopher. It was such a fun night for all of us!  There was delicious food, lots of gifts to open, and so much time to play with cousins. Those evenings felt like eternity to me...we must have started early and stayed well into the night, or at least it seemed like it to me. I remember running laps around my cousins' neighborhood and working up a sweat in Texas where it was often a little warm at Christmas (it was often very cold too...there was the one Christmas where everyone lost power in an ice storm). I remember the older cousins hauling us smaller ones on their backs around the yard. I remember it as such a happy, joyful time.

Nanny died when I was in the 4th grade and sometime after that the dynamics of Christmas Eve changed up a bit. Carol Sue and Tony and their families stopped coming at some point and our Christmas Eve became just Mammaw's crew. Also, at some point, we stopped calling Carol Sue by that name and we now call her Susie. I suppose it was the same with my mom at some point as she used to go by Katie Kay in her younger years...at least around family, and at some point became just Kay.

Ever since my parents moved back to Texas, we've started having Christmas Eve with Susie and her clan again, so that has been fun to revive an old tradition. Tony and Becky's clans have moved away from Dallas, so they miss out on Christmas Eve (although almost all of Becky's crew did make it to Dallas once a few years ago)! I think Nanny would be pleased to know that all her grandkids still keep in touch and love each other and even make an effort to see each other and spend time together. Hope my cousins and I can say the same in 30-years!

Advent Memories Day 10 : Road Trip!

My first 15 Christmases included Road Trips. All the way from Columbia, Mo to Dallas. I think it originally took us about 12 hours to do this drive, but over the years as us kids got older and roads improved, I think the fam cut it to about 10 (and I think I personally could do it in 9 when I got to college and did it on my own). I have several memories of these long drives in the car. Unfortunately, many of them are not so great! I don't think they negatively effected me too much though.
-- Fighting over backseat space with my sister. My parents solved this little issue when I was 9 by purchasing a vehicle with a 3rd seat.

-- Throwing up. I used to get very car sick and would throw up at least once every trip. I'm not sure when I finally outgrew this (although, I still get car sick in NYC taxis).

-- Games. We had car bingo and we always played the ABC billboard sign game. I think we knew exactly where every Q and every Z was along the route.

-- Being carried to the car at the crack o' dawn in my PJs. In my youngest years, we'd leave super early and mom and dad didn't bother to wake me up. Guess they thought they could get a few hours of driving in silence out of it.

-- Rolling into Dallas after sunset. When I was really little, I didn't know where we were most of the way through Missouri and Oklahoma, but I knew when we were driving into to Dallas. The roads would be bigger and the lights would shine brighter. I also had a sign that we were almost to my grandparent's house...the piano store on Central Expressway. I think it went out of business in recent years (it was still there for at least part of the time I lived in Dallas post-college). It was a really big piano store with huge windows so you could see all kinds of grand pianos. As soon as I saw that, I knew Grammy's house was just around the bend.

Advent Memories Day 9 : Ants in my Pants

There was one Christmas when I got a rocket - I think it was an Uncle Don gift. I can't remember exactly how it worked, but I think you filled it with water and then there was a pump thing you used and then it would shoot into the air at crazy heights. Don often gave gifts the whole family enjoyed playing with on Christmas Day and this was one of them. At the time, my grandparents lived in a house with a lot of land and a parking lot out back...the perfect place for rocket shooting. We all went outside together and took turns shooting it off. A few minutes into our outdoor excursion, I realized that my legs were burning and I started screaming. I had been standing on a Fire Ant hill. We pulled up my pant legs to discover there were fire ants EVERYwhere. My mom helped me pull off my shoes and socks and we were trying to brush all the ants off my pants...it was awful. I had sooooo many bites all over my legs and feet.

My Grandaddy came to the rescue that day. He had a friend who homemade this organic ointment stuff and Grandaddy just happened to have a little bottle of it in his bathroom. I have absolutely no idea what it was, but it sure took the pain and itch out of my bites quickly!

I like a lot of things about Texas. Fire Ants are not one of them.

Advent Memories Day 8 : Uncle Don's Great Gifts

My Uncle Don didn't have any kids until I was 13-years-old when he acquired 2 through marriage. Until that time, he loved lavishing Beth and I with terrific gifts at Christmas. They were always a surprise and they were always awesome! He also liked making the gift giving/opening a little bit more fun and interactive. The year I remember best was when I was 10 and I opened a very heavy gift from Don to discover 2 bricks! But, attached to the bricks was an envelope and inside the envelope was a single key...no note. It was up to me to figure out what the key went to. We figured out that it fit the back of his Bronco. And in the back of his Bronco was a shiny new 10-Speed bike! I loved it and used it like crazy for a few years until I got to an age where I thought I was too cool to ride a bike anymore (little did I know!). Don always helped make Christmas a little more exciting and fun!

Advent Memories Day 7 : Stocking Stuffers

Most of my childhood Christmas mornings were spent at my Grammy's house (or houses actually...Grandaddy was a house builder and so they moved a lot).  There would be breakfast while the gift opening began.  My mom always made sure our stockings were stuffed to the brim and they were always the first thing Beth & I got to open.  They usually contained some pretty fun stuff and smaller things that we really wanted to needed.  They also always had some very random stuff inside...I think my mom just wanted to make sure they were full, but to not spend a ton of money on each thing inside.  One year, she gave Beth and I each a bar of Faberge Soap and it had something printed on it like "Faberge Baby".  "Faberge, baby" became a common phrase around our household for years.  And when Beth & I never used our bars of soap, we found them in our stockings again the next year...ha!  Another year, my mom had taken the volunteer job of combing the hair of all the students at Fairview Elementary before their school pictures were taken.  In an effort to be clean they provided her with a huge sack of combs.  At the end of the day, she was sent home with the leftover combs and there must have been hundreds of them.  That bag of combs was in our hall closet for years and my mom would find any means of getting rid of them, short of just throwing them away.  This meant that most years Beth and I would find one in our stockings.  Oh, joy!  It was pretty hilarious though and the running jokes about what would be in our stockings kept us entertained.

Advent Memories Day 6 : Snowmobiling

The Christmas we spent in Monarch, CO with my aunt, uncle, and cousins was a great one!  So fun to all be staying together in a cabin in the middle of the mountains on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day.  There were 16-17 of us staying together, including 2 tiny babies.  We skiied, ate well, and played lots of games.  We also had some adventures in snowmobiling.  Because there were so many of us, we had to go in 2 groups at different times.  The first group to go consisted of Beth & Brian and Nicole & Jason and their 2 oldest children.  They came home and said it was so easy-going and fun.  So, the next group set out...mom & I, Nathan & Amy, and Becky & Chris.  We had no kids with us like the first group and apparently that put us on the more extreme ride!  It was really scary.  My mom and I got thrown off our snowmobile pretty hard at least 2 times and my mom got the biggest bruise I've ever seen!  And even worse....Aunt Becky broke her ankle on the ride!!  It was crazy.  And, unfortunately, that experience instilled in me a hatred for snowmobiling.  Kind of wish I had been with the 1st group!

Advent Memories Day 5 : Christmas Eve in CoMo

I mentioned in another post that my family doesn't keep a whole lot of traditions.  When Beth started college and we started celebrating Christmas in Columbia, we did come up with our own new Christmas Eve tradition.  Like I mentioned before, my church had two services...one at 6pm and one at midnight.  They were not the same, so we chose to go to both.  After the 6pm service, we always drove straight to Olive Garden where one of us would run in to pick up a salad and breadsticks to-go (who doesn't love their salad & breadsticks?  I confess that even in the midst of all the amazing NYC restaurants, I have gone to the Olive Garden in Times Square twice since I've lived here just to get a taste of that salad goodness).  After the Olive Garden pit-stop, we'd head home where we'd be greeted with soup my mom had made...I can't remember what kind of soup we had, but I do remember that we loved this meal of soup and salad!  After our dinner, we'd load back in the car and ride around town looking at Christmas lights.  My mom usually had an article from the newspaper with her that listed the best lit houses around town.  They were often out in the boonies, but I think we usually managed to find them.  Dinner then lights was just the perfect amount of activity to get us back to church for the midnight candle light service...where we always lit our candles to the tune of Silent Night.

Advent Memories Day 4 : Dallas Lights

During our stay in Dallas every Holiday season, we would always have one night of driving around looking at Christmas lights.  There were some houses that went all out every year and it was unlike anything we could ever see in Missouri.  Our favorite house was on Lovers Lane...not far from where each set of my grandparents lived at the time.  This house on Lovers Lane (don't you just love that street name?) had lights every where and a huge Christmas scene all over their front yard.  There was a life-size sleigh with a real Santa inside and every year (at least in my youngest years), Santa would hand out huge lollipops to all the kiddos who came by.  We loved it!!

Advent Memories Day 3 : Rocking the Babes

At some point during my junior high or high school years, my mom took on the volunteer job as the nursery coordinator at our church.  This meant that I was often the "on-call" nursery worker.  During the years that we spent Christmas in Columbia, there was often a need for a nursery worker on Christmas Eve and I was often the one to fill that role.  My mom never made me do it and although I've always loved Christmas Eve church services, I usually didn't mind missing the service to stay with the babies.  And, actually, during our CoMo Christmases, my family often went to both the 6pm service and also the midnight service because they were different and it was just the 4 of us and we had nothing else to do!  The nursery was only open during the earlier service, so I still got to go to the late night one. Most parents chose to take their toddlers or older kids to this special service, but there was always a baby or two left in the nursery.  And there was something so sweet about rocking a baby in my arms in the quietness of the church while waiting for the service to end.  Silent Night, indeed!

Help Me Shop!!

I am going to a Christmas Party and Scarf Exchange in a couple of weeks (isn’t that the greatest idea??). I’m so excited about it. I’ve been browsing Etsy for some cute scarfs..can you believe that Etsy has over 2,000 pages of scarfs?? No, not 2,000 scarfs, 2,000 PAGES with multiple scarfs on each page! A little overwhelming to say the least. I made it through the first 15 pages and have picked out 5 that I like. However, I’d like to know…which do YOU like? I want to get something that people at the party will gravitate towards…no one wants to bring the dud gift to a gift exchange! So, I'm going to go with the majority here.  Please leave your vote in the comments section!!

Scarf #1  -- I like the unique color on this one and I like how the sparklyness dresses it up!

Scarf #2 - I like this one because it is different and I think it's fun that it can be worn 3 different ways!  If I get this one, I think I'll include a print-out of these pics so the recipient knows how it can be worn.

Scarf #3 - I love ruffly scarfs and anyone can use this grey color!

Scarf #4 - Again with the ruffles!  I also liked the fun colors of this one.

Scarf #5 - Like the ball trim and the sheerness of this one.  Comes in lots of colors, but I think I'm partial to the white!

Alternatively, if you’ve seen an amazing scarf at a store recently (preferrably a store I can find here or online), let me know and I’ll check that out, too.  Vote soon, I need to order ASAP!  Thanks!

Advent Memories Day 2 : Christmas Eve Day Tradition

My family is not a “traditions” family. We don’t have a lot of things we do the same from year to year. Sometimes I wish we did have a little bit more tradition, but for the most part, we love trying new things, exploring something different, embarking on a new adventure. I guess you could say we’re all a bit ADD.

But, we have had a few traditions that lasted over certain periods and one tradition we had for many years when I was younger was our plans for the day of Christmas Eve. We always, always spent this day with Beverly. Beverly was my mom’s best friend at Baylor. She is the sweetest lady with the thickest Texas accent you will ever meet. We don’t get to see her often anymore, but we love her. Her family lives in East Texas, but Beverly’s parents lived in Dallas, so like us, they were also there for Christmas every year. On the morning of December 24th, Beverly would always pull up to my Grammy’s in her suburban loaded with her 3 kids, Ali Kay (named after my mom), Stacey, and Jeff. My mom, Beth and I would pile in and off we’d go. Shopping was always the agenda. Today, it seems crazy that 2 moms chose to take their 5 kids shopping on Christmas Eve of all days! But, that was our tradition. We always hit up the same places – NorthPark Mall and a children’s clothing store on Preston Road called Audra’s or Andra’s or something like that (it’s no longer there). It was across from Chocolate Soup and I imagine there were some years when we also popped in that store because its clothing made up the majority of my wardrobe in my youngest years. NorthPark is (to this day) the greatest mall at Christmas time (well, anytime, really). It is so festive and decorated beautifully and they have several kid friendly Holiday activities going on. We were never short on entertainment there. It was always a very joyful day. I often find myself wishing that Beverly and her crew would wind up in Dallas for Christmas again so we could revive our tradition and include the newest generation....there are now 11 grandkids between Beverly and my mom!

Scrooge's House @ NorthPark Mall

Things That Were Heard - Thanksgiving 2010

It will take me a bit to get around to uploading/editing photos and writing the blogs to go along with my family Thanksgiving WEEK+ in NYC. In the meantime, I thought I'd share with you some things that were heard, rather than seen during the Holiday vacay....

Sweetest Words...
Beau -- "SuSu, I like you."
Me -- "I like you too, Beau!"
Beau -- "I am glad we are all the same family."
Melt my heart.

Foulest Language...
Beau, describing his ice skating experience to KayKay -- "I did a firefart!"
We have no idea where he picked that one up, but he was pretty adamant that it is NOT a potty word, rather an ice skating term.

Maybe Brian should have taken the Foulest Language crown....
Upon my arrival at 6AM to the parade route, I witness Brian in a strange ladies face saying "Back off bi***!"
Yeah, I was slightly worried how the rest of our 3.5 hours of waiting was going to go. Luckily, that first minute was the worst of it.

Ryder's Sweet Dreams....
Ryder, early one morning -- "SuSu, do you have ice skates?"
Me -- "No, I don't own my own ice skates."
Ryder -- "No, no. I mean can you get me some ice skates? You know, at that place where you work?"
Me -- "Well, maybe. I'm not sure if we have any in your size, but I'll check! What made you think of this idea?"
Ryder -- "I just dreamed about it!"

Funniest Sound...
The very loud boom & pop at the parade when the caterpillar balloon handlers decided to get fancy and run circles with him right in front of us. They ran him straight into a one-way street sign. Hilarious!

Random Comment....
Dad, as the Pillsbury Doughboy balloon came down the street -- "Guess it's time to pop open a can of biscuits."

Big Demands...
KayKay, while telling the story of Snow White to the boys one night had to stop several times and say "I can't remember what happens next, so we'll just skip to the next part."
Ryder: "Maybe you should just tell us The Three Bears. You know that one!"

Most Tense Moment...
Brian, in an anxious tone..."Where's the backpack?"
Beth... "Oh, no."
Susan..."Beth, did you leave it on the park bench?"
Brian...no words, but his face turned the brightest red I've ever seen.
Luckily, they ran back to the bench and found it...everything intact.

Ryder's response to most questions...
Ryder, what was your favorite balloon? "Um...all of it!"
Ryder, what was your favorite train? "Um....all of it!"
Ryder, what was the coolest thing you saw from Top of the Rock? "Um...all of it!"

Parting Words....
Me: "Beau, I'm not going to get to see you again. You're going back to Dallas tomorrow."
Beau, in his best whiny voice: "Owhhh. But I like you!"

Advent Memories Day 1 : Where Was I?

I decided that instead of an advent calendar, I’m going to count the 25 days to Christmas down by going down memory lane. Hopefully, I can pull off one Christmas memory for every day.

Let’s just start with the basics. Christmas through the years…where was I?

Texas! I’ve spent the far majority of my Christmases in Dallas. It wasn’t until I was 15 that I spent Christmas anywhere else. We lived in Dallas for my first few and once we moved to Missouri, we would make the road trip back for a week or two over the Holidays. My parents were really the first in either of their families to move away from Texas so all of my grandparents, aunts, uncles, cousins, and beyond were in Dallas all those years. We had plenty of people there to visit and celebrate Christmas with.  Once my sister started college, we started doing Missouri Christmases because she (and later I, too) needed a break at home during that time. And at that time, Missouri was home to us. After I graduated from college, things get a little fuzzy. My parents were in California at that time and we spent some (2-4) of those seven Christmases in Cali and some in Texas…I can’t remember how many in each place though. There was also one Christmas during that time period that we spent skiing in Monarch, Colorado with our extended family on my dad’s side. Since the time my parents moved from Cali and back to Texas in 2005, we’ve spent every Christmas in Dallas. We’ll be back there this year. So out of 34 Christmases (1976-2009), I’ve spent 22-24 of them in Texas, 7 in Missouri, 2-4 in California, and 1 in Colorado.

I’m hoping for Hawaii in 2011 :) Beth & I are discussing and need to pull mom and dad in the loop (Nicole…you want to start discussions amongst the CanStonIs crowd)?

Fall Back

I've hinted at this a bit on here without getting much into the details, but I've made some big changes to my regular activities this fall.  I had been feeling like I was in a bit of a rut and not liking where I was in several areas of my life.  My spiritual life was really lacking and the time I was spending studying God's word or in prayer was just not enough.  I wanted more, but needed to make some changes to kick-start it.  I needed to "Fall Back" into some old habits I had gotten away from.  Thankfully, the changes have helped and have also brought some newness and fresh air, new people and a busyness that I am enjoying this fall. They've also brought some reading into my life. 

A whole. lot. of. reading. 

So, what are these changes I speak of?

-- BSF. I used to do BSF in Dallas, but hadn't tried out the NYC chapter. My good friend Lucy has been doing it here for a couple of years and I've been wanting a good Bible Study, so I'm giving it a go this year. It's an International Bible Study (my sis even did it when she lived in Paris and she is doing it now in Dallas with the boys...they have an incredible kids program!), so you can find it in just about any city. And it's non-denominational...in fact, they ask that you refrain from giving specifics on your own church to your group. It's a Bible study in the rawest form...really just digging into the word. We are studying the book of Isaiah for 32 weeks (Sept-May). There are four parts to BSF 1) each week you have daily scripture reading and questions to do on your own 2) on Monday's we get together in assigned small groups to go over our answers to the questions 3) all the small groups come together to hear a lecture on the material we studied all week and 4) we are sent home with notes from the lecture to read through. So, it's a lot of reading, but I really was craving this. I have trouble coming up with my own Bible Study plans and sticking with it. BSF provides a structure and accountability that I really benefit from. It is held in a beautiful church on Park Avenue, so it's also nice to go there every week. Several ladies from my church decided to do it this year as well, so it's fun to see them and catch-up each week. My small group is amazing. These girls have incredible faith and trust and a huge desire to seek God and follow His will and are doing it so well in a city where things like materialism, sex, excessive drinking, etc... are constantly thrown in your face. I didn't expect to find this type of community at BSF, but I've been very happy with it.

- New Community Group. After about 3.5 years in the same community group, I was ready for a change. When I met these girls, I was fresh off quitting my job at the Journey...I was starting over in New York with a new job, new church, and new friends (for the most part). One of my big prayers was to meet girls around my age and same life stage. What an answered prayer! They were exactly what I thought I needed at the time. We have had a lot of fun over the past few years. But for the last couple of years, I really struggled with it being more of a social group than anything else. And as far as a community group goes, we really weren't a healthy one or didn't embody the things that define what true community is. This past year, I was giving it a final chance and then about half of our group started making some poor decisions not in line with scripture and didn't care (it's the not caring that gets to me...I make poor decisions all the time, too). Although I love these girls dearly and will continue to count them as friends, I just couldn't have my community group be full of people who weren't striving or even desiring to know God and His will better and to be obedient to that. It's really hard to always choose God's way and it's even harder when I don't have people encouraging me in taking that path - and although I totally take responsibility for some of my set-backs over the past couple of years, I was aware that right now I really need to surround myself with other people who were striving for that. It was time for me to move on. I explained it to the girls - they understood and were not surprised as I'd really been trying this past year to take us to the next level and we clearly weren't getting there. So, I immediately moved on to a new group...and I am loving it!! This group sort of exploded when I started going and it's pretty big...about twice the size of my old group.  Some of the girls I've known for a while, although not well. They were so welcoming. Ema, who I've known since my very first days at the church, hugged me no less than 3 times my first night there and told me repeatedly how glad she was that I was there. It was nice and I have felt so welcome there every week. It's a mixed group, so we have guys in our group which is new for me. I have really appreciated their input, though.  One of our leaders is a guy and he is so incredible...so Godly and prayerful. And the group is so sincere and everyone seems to really want to experience a deeper relationship with Christ and true community with each other. So, that has been a welcome change. I am looking forward to spending this next year with this group. And, I'm really enjoying getting to know a few of the girls who I didn't know before and think some of them may become dear friends. In fact, one of the girls, Katie, told me that she's just sure we're going to be close and she knew it the moment I walked in the first night - I have no idea what makes her think that - ha! But, she's adorable and we've been having some fun together.

- Katie and I actually decided to start reading a book together and have been meeting before group each week to discuss the book and eat a yummy meal - fun! We are reading a book that was mentioned on our women's retreat back in September.  Several girls in the church are actually reading thru it together in smaller groups.  So, that's neat that everyone is doing it at the same time.  The book is Beth Moore's "So Long Insecurity".  I have done a couple of Beth Moore's intense Bible studies in the past ("Breaking Free" and "To Live is Christ").  I have found those books to be life-changing.  Perhaps because they force you to really dig into scripture and the power of God's word has a way of transforming your mind and desires so that they conform to Gods.  I have also read her book "Praying God's Word" and that's one I should actually pick back up...it is a great tool for your prayer life.  This past spring, I read on several blogs that different ladies were reading "So Long Insecurity" or going to the conference tied to the book.  I don't feel like I suffer from insecurity as severely as many girls do, but of course, I think we all suffer from it to some extent.  So, I thought this might be a good book.  We're about half-way through and I still haven't gotten a whole lot out of it.  I feel like we haven't gotten to the "meat" yet....hopefully it is coming.  It has made me think about some things and realize some things about myself that I hadn't before or maybe I had and just ignored or pushed out of my thoughts.  I'd love to feel secure 100% of the time...to never walk into a room feeling like I am about to be judged or to always feel like I can be myself.  And I CAN feel that way, it's just a matter of getting to that point and always remembering that God made us in His image and He clothed us with strength and dignity.  He made me a dignified person, one who deserves respect!  If He says that is who I am, who am I to deny it?!

- My book club. I took a few months off of book club in spring and summer...no particular reason other than I was too busy to read or go to the meetings, so I backed off for a bit. But, I missed it, so I've incorporated it back into my life. I missed out on some really great books that I'm going to have to figure out how to fit in now! When I started book club, I liked it because it was a different group of friends outside of church, which is where most of my friends come from. I enjoyed having a different set of people to spend an evening with once a month (sometimes more). Book club started out with a bunch of Texans who knew each other through various connections. But, most of the Texans moved on back to Texas (first Stephanie, then Christina, next was Lynn, and finally Courtney)! Such is life in such a transient city. Only Rosella and I are left from the early days and Texas clan. Beth is still around too...although, she's not from Texas. And Beth has done an excellent job of recruiting more members. She works in the movie industry and has all these friends in the movie industry, so the Texans who left have all been replaced with movie people. Our book club now represents Focus Features, Paramount, Weinstein Bros, and the Tribecca Film Festival. Yes, free movies are in my future! When I went back to club for the first time in August, there were some unfamiliar faces and many I'd seen only once before. Book club had really evolved! I was actually a little nervous going there. It turns out I love it though! In fact, I think I may like this group better than I did the original one. They are so nice and really fun! I've read 4 books since I started back..."One Day" was my favorite. I did not like "The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie". "My Name is Memory" was pretty good, too. We've eaten at some really great spots, too...at the end of August we went to the Clerkenwell, which was a British pub (it wasn't great, but okay). At the end of September, I chose Pink Pony, which is where I went for Joy's birthday last year...super cute little spot with French food in the LES. And at the beginning of November, we went to Pulino's, which is a great pizza place owned by the same people who own the infamous Pastis.

So, yeah!  Lots of reading!  I'm enjoying it all though...I like it when I have deadlines to read because I'm not so good at doing it on my own time.  And all the reading of God's word is really effecting how I feel...in a great way!  It was kind of crazy, but back in September, my pastor made a statement at church and then our BSF leader made almost the exact same statement the very next night during the lecture and it really spoke to me.  This is what was said:

my notes from church -- "We were created in the image of God - to reflect Him, to meet His purposes.  If we flee from that, we are fleeing from what it means to be human."

my notes from BSF -- "Our present reality is this, when we depart from God, we lose our true humanity."

So, I pretty much knew this and it was similar thoughts that led me to make so many changes this fall with the CG change and adding in BSF.  However, I had never heard it worded quite like this and how crazy to hear it two nights in a row.  Probably not so much a coincidence.  It really reminded me how I've felt the past two years when I've often put my relationship with Christ on the back burner.  Basically, I haven't felt like myself!!  And it makes so much sense when I think about it in this way.  God created me to be in relationship with Him and when I am not pursing that, I am less than He created me to be.  I am dehumanizing myself.  It was like bells were going off in my head.  And, after the past couple of months of immersing myself deeper into the Word (not with perfection, but a whole lot more than before), I feel so much more like myself and like I know who I am.  It is so freeing and feels so much more light and easy.  Hope I do not forget this little lesson.  Ever.

Final Catch-Up!

Here is one of my typical random catch-up posts. And you know what?! After this, I am officially caught up after continually lagging behind for months now! Ah, it feels soooo good. So, here's some random fun things I've done recently.....

Mindy and I have hit up Alice's Tea Cup for dinner twice in two weeks! I normally think of Alice's for breakfast/brunch, but we had both gotten coupons and they were only good for dinner Mon-Thurs. We had a super hard time coming up with nights we could go, but finally worked in our 2 trips...just before our coupons were set to expire. I was super impressed with their dinner. Warm, delicious sandwiches...perfect comfort food for the cold fall nights! And one of their amazing scones for dessert - so yum!

Twice a year, the members of my church come together for a brunch and update. I signed up to be part of the baking crew this time and took my Butterhorns. There ended up being around 130 people there...the last one, we only had 90! Huge increase!! And there was a ton of baked goods and they were ALL gone. It was amazing. The updates our pastor and other deacons gave were so good and encouraging. It is such a blessing to be a part of that community where people really love the Lord and want to know Him more and also love this city and want to learn to serve its people better. I was so excited to hear the church is introducing a seminary-level type course in 2011. It costs a little to enroll and would be a major time commitment, but I think it's something I really want to do. I love in-depth studies of the Bible where other people are holding me accountable to keep up with it and I've always wondered about taking a seminary class. This isn't seminary at all, but would be a similar type class. I'm still thinking about it, but will probably do it along with a few people from my community group.

After the church brunch, Lucy and I grabbed lunch. Uh, yeah, we went from brunch to lunch!  I never eat much at those brunches and we ate at 10:00 and didn't leave until close to 1:00, so we got some food at a little Italian deli nearby. After eating and catching-up, we met some other church peeps at the movies. We saw 127 Hours. This was not an easy movie to watch, but it was made really well and the story was told well. I liked it a lot.

The New York Philharmonic put on a production of Mendelssohn's Elijah and I went with about 10 people from church. I've only been to the Philharmonic a few times (not counting when they're in the park, which is a totally different vibe and experience). I liked this one because it wasn't just instrumental and the singers sang the story of Elijah. It was good, but I really shouldn't go to the Philharmonic anymore...I get rather bored and it's probably not a good use of my time or money. Lesson learned - don't let me forget!

Last Saturday, my community group got together for a little shopping and brunch!  I was designated the job of "Angel Tree Ambassador" for our group.  Pretty important, yes?  My church supports Angel Tree every year...giving Christmas gifts and helping sponsor a party and church service for kids and their caregivers who have one or both parent's in jail.  It's a really neat organization.  The prisoners actually get to suggest gifts and write notes to their children so the gifts end up looking like it really is from them.  I got to participate back in October calling the kid's guardians to verify the kids names, ages, gender, etc... and make sure the toys and clothes the parent had suggested were still appropriate/needed/desired.  Some of the parents have not seen their children in several years and you get a dad suggesting a doll for his 14-year-old daughter.  So, the phone calls are to correct things like that.  I was a little nervous about making the calls, but it was actually a really neat experience and some of the conversations were pretty funny.  Anyway, my community group consolidated funds to contribute towards some Angel Tree gifts and then 5 of us went shopping for gifts.  My group was so generous!!  We were able to get all 5 of the Angel Tree gifts we were assigned as well as 4 other random toys we picked up to donate to His Toy Store...another organization my church supports (I helped at that one last year).  After having fun shopping for toys and clothes, we went to brunch at a diner nearby.  Fun times with friends!

My friend, Mindy, was in her first off-off-Broadway play. She was so excited for this. The play was The Seagull and it was recently on Broadway. It was actually a really good story and Mindy was the best actress there. I hope her success in this city continues to grow - she's been working so hard to make the right moves and meet the right people. I'm glad I'm not in the arts - I couldn't hack it!

And now, I'm officially caught up as we head into this busy Holiday season that is sure to create some blog-worthy material.  I'll keep you posted!

Carrie Underwood (cont.)

So, Carrie Underwood?  Yeah, she was AmAzing!!  I like Carrie Underwood, but I honestly didn't expect her concert to be that great.  It was beyond great...so good.  I probably didn't even know half her songs and I'm the type who enjoys music more the more familiar I am with it.  Her voice is so beautiful though.  Flawless.  If I could choose a singing voice for myself, I'd take hers.  And she's cute and fun and her costume changes were great.  I loved it so much that I've added seeing Carrie Underwood at the Grand Ole Opry in Nashville to my bucket list!

The best part of the concert?  She created a nice little segue straight from "Jesus Take the Wheel" into "How Great thou Art".  Remember how I said I didn't expect her to pull that one out for this concert?  Well, she did and it was oh. so. good.  She brought the house down with that one.  I mean people clapped after every song, but after that little duo it was thunderous and lasted for a couple of minutes.  I was feeling kind of guilty for missing BSF for the second week in a row to go to this concert, but after that, I felt like I'd definitely gotten in some good worship time.  Loved it!

 Temporary Home was a pretty

worshipful moment as well.

 The flying truck was fun!

 Belting out the last few notes of How Great Thou Art

She said she almost fainted!!

Singing What Can I Say with Sons of Sylvia

Allergic?

So, I've always considered it a great thing that I'm allergic to essentially nothing.  My sister always had really horrible allergies every spring...she always looked and sounded so miserable for a few weeks and when she would rub her itchy eyes, the squishing sounds her eyes made never ceased to gross me out.  Eeew. 

Anywho, I always said I had no allergies, but truthfully I was extremely allergic to poison ivy.  I never really counted that because I thought that anyone who touched poison ivy would have a reaction (is that true?).  I will say, I was extra sensitive, if that's possible.  Or, maybe I just played in the woods a lot (which I did..there was a forest across the street from our house growing up).  I used to get poison ivy all the time and some cases were quite severe.  My parent's used to joke that I would have a reaction if I just smelled a plant nearby.  The worst was the time when I was 10 and I had a reaction all over my body...it was as if I had rolled in it naked and taken leaves and rubbed them on my face.  My eyes were so covered in the itchy bumps that they were completely swollen shut.  This was the only time my reaction was bad enough to freak my mom out and into taking me to the doctor (we were rarely taken to the dr growing up...it had to be really bad for us to go)!  You know, I don't think I've had poison ivy since then...I wonder if it's possible to build up an immunity to it?

Today, I had a new allergy realization.  I think I might be allergic to mollusks.  I ate calamari two times around 2000/2001 and both times got sick to my stomach and threw up later.  I've pretty much stayed away from calamari since then, although I recently had it in a seafood pasta dish, but there was so much other stuff in there that I don't think I really ate much calamari.  A couple of weeks ago, Amanda took Lucy and I to Mermaid Inn for dinner.  Amanda is the voice of Mermaid...she's their social media guru and does all the tweeting and facebooking for them.  This was a restaurant I'd been wanting to try since long before Amanda got the job there, but it was fun to make my first trip with the Mermaid herself and Lucy....plus we got a discount - sweet!  Anyway, we had oysters.  Amanda loves oysters and I told her I wanted her to educate me and order for me.  I'll admit, I didn't love the oysters.  I did, however, love my salmon and veggies...it was SO good.  Later, within a few hours of being home, I got sick to my stomach and threw up.

Today, it dawned on me that maybe there is some sort of relationship between calamari and oysters.  After a little google research, I learned that they are both mollusks...maybe something I should have already known, but I didn't.  The only thing is that scallops are also listed as mollusks and I think I've had those several times without getting sick.  In fact, I have a whole bag of Trader Joe's scallops in my freezer now and am hoping I don't have to throw them out!  I think I may be on to something though...do you??  The other issue is that mollusks are a shellfish as are crustaceans (shrimp, lobster, crab) and from my little bit of research, I learned that if you're allergic to any shellfish, you should stay away from ALL shellfish.  I don't mind staying away from calamari (done it for 9 years now and haven't minded) and I learned I don't like oysters anyway.  But, if someone tells me I can't have lobster the next time I go to Maine, we may have a serious problem here.  Oh, and shrimp cocktail is one of my favorite treats at fancy parties or receptions.  I've never had a problem with crustaceans, can I push my luck and continue to eat those and just ban the mollusks?  Do I have to go to a Dr for this (cause I'm kind of like my mom when it comes to doctors...only when absolutely necessary!)?  Goldilocks' mom, maybe you should weigh in here!

Transparency

Have you ever come across a person who you barely knew, just met, or never even met at all and knew without a doubt in your mind that they were a Christian?  It has only happened a few times in my life and I consider it a privilege that it has happened at all.  I count seeing Christ lived through another life (without even knowing that it is a life committed to trusting Jesus as their Savior) as one of my neatest experiences.  Some of you probably think this is crazy talk, so let me share with you a few examples....

Several years ago, while still living in Dallas, I went to the baby shower of a co-worker, Cari.  It was mostly co-workers and then a few other friends of hers.  One was an older woman and I don't think I even spoke to her...or maybe just exchanged names.  But, I watched her and saw her interacting with other people and I just knew that there was something Holy about her.  There was a gentleness, a kindness, a Joy that cannot be mistaken.  It was so strong that I wanted to ask, but I did not.  However, when it came to gift giving time and Cari opened the gift from this older lady, it was a collection of children's books...every single one of them was a Christian book.  I knew it!

"Though you have not seen him, you love him; and even though you do not see him now, you believe in him and are FILLED with an inexpressible and glorious JOY, for you are receiving the end result of your faith, the salvation of your souls." 1 Peter 1:8-9

Another time this happened was a few years ago, here in NYC.  I was meeting a friend later, but had some time and needed to grab a bite for dinner.  It was a gorgeous day, so I picked up some cheap sushi to-go and took it to Lincoln Center to eat in the beautiful outdoor area they have.  After a few minutes, a girl came up to me and asked if I had a pen she could borrow.  I found one and gave it to her and that was the extent of our conversation.  There was literally nothing to it, but she had a joy and a light that was unmistakable.  I just knew she knew God well.  I was intrigued and I watched her.  She went and sat not far from me and pulled out her Bible and a journal.  When she came back a bit later to return my pen, I told her I noticed she had been reading her Bible and asked where she went to church.  She was a faithful member of the Brooklyn Tabernacle and I asked her a lot about that as I had always thought of it as more of a tourist attraction...turns out they have a really great community.  Anyway, she was definitely a Christ follower and her time spent with God caused her to glow.

 "When Jesus spoke again to the people, he said, 'I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the LIGHT of life."  John 8:12

I had another experience last week at the Glamour show.  I mentioned in my other post that it was SO awkward when Lisa Leslie accepted her award from Michael Bloomberg.  He was awkward.  She was not.  When she gave her speech, I began to feel like she must be a Christian...she gave God credit for her height (and not in a way that seemed trite).  As she continued to speak, I got the impression that the confidence she has in her height was something that is not of this world...I pegged it as a confidence that could only be gained through trust in Christ.  I just knew she must know God well.  So, I did a little google research later and had trouble finding much, but found this little quote that I believe confirms my thoughts... "I've grown so much since 1996. I think that was the turning point of when I started to go to church every Sunday and not just because you're supposed to. But because you enjoy going and listening to the Word and being excited about it."  Yes, I believe her love of the Word has transformed her.

"Blessed is the one....whose delight is in the law of the LORD, and who meditates on his law day and night. That person is like a tree planted by streams of water, which yields its fruit in season and whose leaf does not wither— whatever they do prospers." Psalm 1:1-3

GLAMOURous Evening!

I was lucky enough to get to be a seat filler at the Glamour Women of the Year Awards again this year!  This is MY Academy Awards.  I even got to take a friend with me this year, so Katie came along.  She was the perfect companion for this because she LOVED it.  We knew ahead of time who the winners of the awards were and were already excited about that list.  But, it was also very, very fun to be surprised with who the presenters were.

Poster at the entrance to Carnegie Hall

As we entered the theatre and made our way to some empty seats up front, I brushed arms with Gayle King and Katie and I crossed our fingers that her BFF, Oprah, might be nearby.

I started the show filling a sit on the aisle on the 3rd row.  Pretty important location, yes?  Easy access to the stage to receive an award, right?  Riiight.  I had no idea at the time whose seat I was in.  There was a lady in front of me who turned around to speak to the man I was sitting next to and she made a comment that the lady he was with looked beautiful.  His response?  "Thank you.  She just went backstage to touch up a bit.  Tory Burch designed her dress for her."  (Found out later that Tory Burch was actually at the show, but I didn't see her..probably wouldn't have known her if I had).  At this point I was clued in...this was the seat of someone important!  Okay, so it wasn't the biggest celeb of the night, but it was an award winners seat...Lindsay Vonn!  The famous Olympic skier who got so much press this year!  Fun!  I didn't get to stay there for long though and bounced around a couple of times before I ended up in a pretty dull spot on the outer edge for most of the show.  At least I had a seat for the show!  Katie lucked into a 2nd row spot and was sitting right at the feet of many of the celebs who spoke on stage...she freaked!

Besides all the great celebrity sightings, the show is also pretty fantastic.  There were so many women honored for some really amazing things.  This is a show you leave feeling proud, inspired, encouraged, and challenged. 

So, who'd we see?  Well....

*NOTE...none of the following pictures are mine.  These are much better than anything I was able to get.

Janelle Monae started the show off with a little song & dance

Arianna Huffington presented to Queen Rania of Jordan

This lady is an inspiration!  She supports her own family (4 kids!) while working to see that girls all over the world have access to good education.

Kate Hudson presented an award to Fergie

They were so cute!  Girlfriends!  Fergie said she requested that Glamour ask Kate to present her award just so they could see each other, since Fergie is always out on tour.  They had plans to go out and have girlfriend time after the show.

Both Hillary Swank and Janet Jackson

presented to Donatella Versace

I loved her dress, but you gotta admit

- she is one strange looking lady.

Plastic Surgery, much?

Hillary wore Versace when she won her Oscar and has considered Versace her good luck charms ever since.  Janet spoke of how Gianni Versace dressed her brother, Michael, from a very young age.  Then, Donatella started doing all Janet's clothing for her own tours.  When Michael died, Donatella dressed the entire Jackson family for the funeral.

Katie Couric presented to Dr. Hawa Abdi and her daughters

They are three women doctors running a refugee camp in Somalia - amazing!

Chelsea Clinton presented to 20 young women/girls

who have done crazy incredible things

One of the young girls (17-year-old, I think) had built a GPS system for spacecraft!

Mayor Bloomberg presented to Lindsay Vonn,

Mia Hamm and Lisa Leslie

This presentation was extremely awkward as Lisa Leslie was probably a whole foot taller than Mayor Bloomberg.  He looked extremely uncomfortable.  I felt extremely uncomfortable just watching it.  You know who wasn't looking too uncomfortable?  The 6'6" Lisa Leslie.  Completely confident, despite her crazy tall height.  And she talked about it a bit in her speech...being so tall wasn't exactly easy as a teenager, but she learned to embrace it and made lemonade out of lemons.

UN Ambassador Susan Rice (2009 winner)
presented an award for all the female
Heads of State across the world.

Only four of these powerful women could make it to the occasion from across the world...these 4 came from Slovakia, Trinidad & Tobago, Liberia, and Lithuania.

Elizabeth Glaser was one of the first Glamour
Women of the Year winners in 1990.  Her
son, Jake, was there to remember her.

Diane Sawyer presented to Katie Spotz

Katie Spotz became the youngest person to ever row across the Atlantic Ocean.  All to raise awareness for the need for clean drinking water across the world.  She was a beautiful and amazing 22-year-old.

And the crowd went WILD when
Oprah Winfrey took the stage.
She presented to her dear friend Julia Roberts.

Julia was who I was most excited to see and she did not disappoint.  So classy and beautiful.  Her speech was funny and inspiring.  She was honored for all the work she has done for children with Rett syndrome.  Her advice to the young girls in the audience?  "Never tuck your hair behind your ears.  It never looks good."

Stanley Tucci presented to Cher

Cher has supported men who have been injured at war.  Two veterans were there who each had lost 1 or 2 legs and gone on to climb crazy mountains across the world thru a program that Cher supports.

Kelly Osborne presented to Constance McMillan

Constance was honored for fighting for her right to take her girlfriend to prom with her.

I have to be honest. This part was tough for me. I hate to get all controversial here, but it's just truly how I felt.  I didn't agree with some things that were said and it is hard to stand up and applaud something that I don't think is best. Kelly said that judging and bullying is what is wrong and that her God loves gay people. And she is so right about all of that. But, what I don't think she gets is that God is a loving Father who wants the very best for His children. And He tells us this isn't part of His plan (it's all over the New Testament and it's helpful to remember that God and His Word was, are, and always will be. And that He alone is Sovereign and All-Knowing and we, clearly, are not). Just as (most of) our earthly fathers would grieve if we started making decisions that they thought were not in our best interest, so does our Heavenly Father.  The difference being that our Heavenly Father is infinitely wise, perfectly just, always loving, where sometimes our earthly fathers falter.  I know all too well that it's not easy to choose the path of righteousness.  I began to think...I struggle pretty intensely with some specific sins. Although I'm not ready to air all the details here, Satan has found the things that he can easily enslave me to and it is very, very hard on a daily basis for me not to fall into his traps. It saddens me and I know that I am missing out on all kinds of blessings, joy, peace, and hope that God freely gives the righteous. I can choose to be a slave to sin or I can choose to be a slave to obedience, which leads to freedom.  Unfortunately, I often find myself obeying the calling of sin. I am pretty sure that if I were to receive an award related to my sin, people wouldn't stand up and applaud the choices I'm making. The sins I struggle with are ones that our culture mostly agrees are not good choices. So, I think the audience would feel sad for me, rather than cheer me on and encourage me to keep doing the same. And that's how I felt when this award was given...sad that she's missing out on the freedom of life lived in righteousness and she doesn't even care or seem to know that there is something even better. It just wasn't something that I could celebrate.....

"Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind." Romans 12:2

"Don’t you know that when you offer yourselves to someone as obedient slaves, you are slaves of the one you obey—whether you are slaves to sin, which leads to death, or to obedience, which leads to righteousness"?  Romans 6:16

I grieve my sins.  I desperately want to quit selling myself short of all God has planned for me and my life and pray to that end that His love would overwhelm me in such a way that I would be increasingly more obedient to Him and find the righteousness and freedom He so freely offers.

Whoops!  Serious tangent there.  On a lighter note, the gift bag rocked!!