Happy Day of the 12!

Yesterday was filled or not filled.  It was one of those days where I did work and was productive, but I felt like I didn’t finish anything.

I started a book that I am loving.  A Portrait of Integrity which is about the life of Ray Stedman.  I grew up in a church plant of the original church he pastored Peninsula Bible Church.  It is interesting to read about these men that he impacted or that impacted him and to have heard about them my whole life, or know them personally.  God really made this world small.  And he made us relational which means it seems to get smaller quickly!

She's the only one whose gift is purchased and under the tree...

I have work to do!

 

I am working on Christmas shopping.  I haven’t gotten very far.  And I found that when making my Christmas list {I’ve been asked about to make one, don’t worry I’m not that interested in getting gifts}, I am pretty picky.  I am grateful for whatever, but I have specific styles or trends that I either really like…or really don’t!

I got to have dinner with my mom and a sweet friend.  She is engaged and getting married in February.  We haven’t seen her since she got engaged and it was so fun to hear about the exciting things going on with planning, but to also hear about life.  It was a lingering dinner.  It was supposed to only be an hour, but we stretched it to 2 hours.  There always seemed to be another question to ask or another hug to give.  I am so thankful for friendships like that!

Christmas Break {1}

It is Christmas break.  I have expectations for this break and what I want to happen.  Every break I come up with this list of projects or of things I want to do.  I want to share what I am doing with my break and I am hoping that this will be a good outlet. 

Here is what has happened so far, because we have to start documenting somewhere.

 

When I got home from school on Saturday I walked into a decorated house and a lit tree.   The house smells so beautiful.  Back during thanksgiving weekend my family went to go get a Christmas tree.  We have a tradition to go up the mountain and saw down our tree.

 

Saturday night I went to a dinner in celebration of Christmas.  It was in a nearby town at an Italian restaurant.  I tried things I had never had and some I had never thought of.  Did you know that there is such a thing as eating marrow?  Yes I tried it and it was good.  I also had boeuf bourguignon {which is French} and exactly how I hoped it would taste.  The company was the best part.  I finally got to meet some people I’ve been hearing about for months.  I also got to say a few phrases in Italian and watch an older man light up with surprise and delight.  I think I need to start practicing my Italian again...

On Sunday night our church hosted the annual Christmas open house complete with a hayride around the neighborhood.  I grew up in the suburbs and it is quite comical to see people’s faces when Clydesdale horses go clomping past their houses with a wagon of singing carolers . 

Monday I had the pleasure of helping {ok I stood and watched} my mom and a friend sell lunch to middle schoolers.  I was also present to consult on the baking of peanut butter m&m bar cookies.  And then me and a rather adorable 4 year old spent part of the afternoon playing tag and laughing on the front lawn.  I forget how much energy a 4 year old can have.  We don’t have many 4 year olds around my house at school!

So though there are things that haven’t been done that should have been done already, there is still more time.  I am so excited to enjoy it

Sneaking an Opportunity

I love blogging…really I do.  But you know what I love more, living life.  And I’ve been living and going a little crazy.  It was “dead week” and now finals are going on around these parts.  My head feels like it’s ready to explode and everything is scheduled so that it all gets finished. 

Dead week means that you have regular classes and all the extra tests, projects, and papers that go along with the end of a term.  Unfortunately, we don’t have cancelled classes for a week.  Our dead week means the library is buzzing, the coffee is chugging, and the daylight is coming.  The joke is that dead week is that you will be dead at the end of the week.

To make the craziness a little more tangible, I am getting around to doing my chores.  I finally unpacked my bag from thanksgiving on Friday…sort of.  There’s clean clothes on my bed, dirty laundry to be washed sitting by my closet and books sitting next to my book shelf {nope, not on it}. 

It’s also been raining here.  I like rain, especially if I can stay inside.  Let’s be real for a moment.  As much as I would like to tell you that I am not a typical California girl when it comes to rain, I am {which was reaffirmed during this last ‘storm’}. 

To tell you how much I’ve been studying, I ordered food today at one of my favorite coffee shops and the freshness of the salad caught me off guard. I’ve been eating leftovers and cleaning out the frig before break and I’m low on veggies.  So low that I have a lemon, celery and rotting tomatoes.  Who knew eating out would get me my much needed fresh food!

I’ll be back when this is all over