Holiday part-ays!!

Hello one and all, the Christmas celebrations have come and gone, another season has passed. I am so thankful for the time the Lord gave me to enjoy the Christmas songs on the radio, shopping with and for my sisters (and family) and playing games and eating good eats w/ the fam.

There were a few holiday parties that I attended-the first at the Waltz's for a post-high school/pre-30s party. We wanted a chance for people in college, out of college, to get together and reconnect over break. The fun started w/ good eats, a few of the main courses centered around the lovely chocolate fountain

and some yummy "graduation punch," as I like to call it.

As you'll notice, I didn't take any pics at the party, so these generic ones will have to do :)

The food was followed by sweet sharing of how the Lord has been moving in all our lives in the last year. It is always such a blessing to confess and witness how God is stretching, changing, growing, teaching, disciplining, and revealing Himself in your life and in others' lives. I was very thankful for the fact that people shared and were open and real.

You can't have a holiday party w/out a little white elephant gift exchange. And some of the gifts were pretty sweet-for example, a homemade sock puppet, Denise Austin's Buns of Steel (which I wish I had stolen!), not to mention some sweet Mac and Cheese (which was the gift I won). Too bad I left it at the Waltz's!

If you know me at all, you know that Spirals are my favorite!!

But the coolest gift was this little plastic mini-frisbee shooter thing. It was the one gift I think people were waiting to steal...however, when little 3-year old Jonah stole it from Mikael, it was over. Who can steal a toy from a 3 year old?? Especially one as cute as this:

Needless to say, the fun continued w/ some catch phrase and a sweet round of Guesstures, which I won the tie-breaker round by getting my team to guess the word "Sexy"......who knew?? :)

Anyway, there were more fun times on Christmas w/ my family, but this post is getting long and I'm almost done w/ work, so maybe next time! Until then, I plan to keep celebrating the reason for Christmas-Jesus Christ, and look forward to New Year's with the ladies in Illinois (and Drew and Eli). Looking forward to it!

Later all!

This one I recommend.....

My sisters and I just saw the greatest new movie last night:

There was just something real, something true, and so beautiful about the stories told in this film. I laughed out loud; felt the emotions of the characters; related to a few of their experiences-the realizations of a broken relationship and the pain of moving on. It's probably my favorite film of all time-tops the chick flicks of the past FOR SURE.

I recommend you see it; would love to hear your responses when you do!!

Will I ever fully know?

Micah 7:18-20

Who is a God like you,

who pardons sin and forgives the transgression of the remnant of his inheritance?

You do not stay angry forever but delight to show mercy.

You will again have compassion on us;

you will tread our sins underfoot and hurl all our iniquities into the depths of the sea.

You will be true to Jacob,

and show mercy to Abraham,

as you pledged on oath to our fathers in days long ago.

Trading one for the other??

Hello blog world, I've discovered that I've become a spy on people that I used to be friends w/ through Facebook. That's horrible, and I "stay in contact" w/ people I hardly ever really spent much time w/ in person. It's ridiculous. I read facts about people's lives, which, granted, is very interesting, and exactly what I'm doing here, but it's so informal. It's lists of little info, not real communication.

I hope I don't just substitute all that time into my new blog, but I do hope that this may instigate more real conversations w/ those of you reading this, even if it is just by you posting a comment or response. At least I'm really expressing myself, not just listing a bunch of trivial facts. If you are interested in them, just ask!

Hope this opens up a new way to communicate w/ some of you! Send me an email, post a reply, give me a call! I'd love to spend some real time with you.

Yay for Christmas music!!

I'm one of those people who used to hate when radio stations would play Christmas music before Thanksgiving. I think it's because I was in school and was always distracted by papers and classes and finals, that I never really was exposed to the Christmas spirit, or at least was never ready for it.

But this year, being away from school, it brought such joy to my heart the first time I heard the radio, and yes, it was a couple of days before Thanksgiving!! But I think that I've been missing what Christmas was really about for the last couple of years. It is a time to celebrate Jesus, what Christ is doing in all of our lives, and to be w/ those you love.

Cliches are so annoying, but I find myself realizing they are usually true!! One is how much faster time seems to pass each year. Being out of college definitly sped up that feeling. A semester used to seem to take such a long time, but I'm realizing that another one has passed-and I can't remember where all that time went! It's weird to grow up, to move on to new phases of life......and it will only continue to happen.


Anyway, hope you all have a very Merry Christmas! Good luck w/ finals everyone!!

Should I start blogging??

Hello one and all, I know it's been some time since I have played on here. In fact, very few people are even aware of my little website. I'm not usually one for writing all my thoughts for all to see. However, if you have a blog and I know about it, odds are I read it &/or check it on a daily or weekly basis. I love hearing what's new in your lives!! Maybe you're as curious as me....so maybe I'll give it a try. I'm not really good at writing my thoughts. I usually have so much to say, that when I sit down to do it, I get distracted by some other train of thought, and usually never end up writing about what I initially intended to. So who knows how effective this will be....maybe I'll give it a try for a while!

PS-if you have you're own blog and are reading this, send me your link and I'll come visit you often! Or come visit me in person if you're ever in the Boone/Ames/Des Moines area!!


I just added this one for fun....this summer we played Hide & Seek at home, and this was the last and BEST hiding spot of the day-I really got myself closed up in this tub w/ the lid on and everything! And if you'll notice the light switch by my head, it wasn't on the floor! I was stacked on top of 2 other bins!


August=hot=tiny space=mucho de sweat!