Merry Christmas!

I hope that God bless each of you today and throughout the new year. Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

In those days Caesar Augustus issued a decree that a census should be taken of the entire Roman world. (This was the first census that took place while Quirinius was governor of Syria.) And everyone went to his own town to register.

So Joseph also went up from the town of Nazareth in Galilee to Judea, to Bethlehem the town of David, because he belonged to the house and line of David. He went there to register with Mary, who was pledged to be married to him and was expecting a child. While they were there, the time came for the baby to be born, 7and she gave birth to her firstborn, a son. She wrapped him in cloths and placed him in a manger, because there was no room for them in the inn.

The Shepherds and the Angels And there were shepherds living out in the fields nearby, keeping watch over their flocks at night. An angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified. But the angel said to them, "Do not be afraid. I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is Christ the Lord.

This will be a sign to you: You will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger."
Suddenly a great company of the heavenly host appeared with the angel, praising God and saying, "Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace to men on whom his favor rests."
When the angels had left them and gone into heaven, the shepherds said to one another, "Let's go to Bethlehem and see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has told us about."

So they hurried off and found Mary and Joseph, and the baby, who was lying in the manger. When they had seen him, they spread the word concerning what had been told them about this child, and all who heard it were amazed at what the shepherds said to them. But Mary treasured up all these things and pondered them in her heart. The shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all the things they had heard and seen, which were just as they had been told.

Luke 2:1-20

Merry Christmas Eve!

Watch out for those reindeer tonight!

Let It Hail! Let It Hail! Let It Hail!

(I won't be needing this coat from Land's End anytime soon, but I still love it!)


So maybe I'll get a white Christmas after all, just with hail instead! It is actually supposed to get colder this evening, which is why we are having storms, but man it is just warm and muggy out today. Hunky Law Student and I spent a couple of hours last night cleaning out our small one car garage so we could at least get the new car covered in case of hail. Ella, the Element, has already experienced hail before and is older so she has to brave it outside!

Of course, after all of our hard work, no storms developed last night, but I know they would have if we left the car out. Isn't that life? Better safe than sorry though!



I can't promise that I'll post much over the next few days because I don't blog much during holidays. I have little time with my family throughout the year, so we try to get the most out of our time together. I might pop on a bit next week, but I'm taking off so I can get some things done around the house!

So I want to say a very Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

Winter Wonderland?

Not so much here! I have to say I'm slightly jealous of all of you getting snow. Honestly, I have been "Texafied" and now I'm easily cold, but I still love snow. I am loving our mild winter right now, though (highs in the upper 50's and low 60's and even sometimes a little warmer), but it just doesn't feel like Christmas. My stockings are hung, and the tree is decorated, and our lights twinkle each night, but it just hasn't felt like the season yet. I can't even count the number of cheesy Christmas movies I have recorded from TV and watched, but it doesn't matter, I'm still happy it is Christmas!



In fact, my hubby and I opened gifts on Thursday night (a little early, but we wanted to celebrate him being done with finals). He knew what he was getting, a new cell phone, but he has to pick it out. I also gave him a subscription to a wood working magazine because that has become a hobby for him. Sadly, he doesn't have a ton of time to work on it right now, but hopefully in the future.

Now, I feel I need to explain that I have a love/hate relationship with surprises. I like the idea of them, but I want to know the surprise before I'm supposed to. I was awful to some friends back in high school that were trying to surprise me with a Birthday party. I hate not knowing something, and I had an inkling, so I pretty much made it impossible for them to plan. What was wrong with me?!

My hubby loves to surprise me, and wanted to so much when he proposed that he had me thinking we would never get married. He might have pushed a little too far in the other direction, but he definitely surprised me! He basically has taken to telling me lies to keep things a surprise. I guess that is okay if it achieves a greater good and isn't harming me? (haha)



Anyway, this year for Christmas I was sure I was getting a digital SLR camera from him. He hinted at that many times, and almost outright said it. He talked about getting such a good deal, and seeing the same one at an electronics store for more so I just figured he was super excited about it. Well, it hit me right before we went to dinner on Thursday that he was probably outright lying to me again, and in the very end I was right! However, I had no idea what the real gift was so he definitely surprised me.

Well, I would build the suspense up for y'all, but I'm relatively certain no one will understand why I am so super excited about my gift. He surprised me with a trip to:

(Photo from: http://www.blog.automotiveaddicts.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/01/dodge-challenger-barret-jackson-wide.jpg)

That's right, we're going to the Barrett-Jackson car auction!!! I know y'all probably think I'm crazy, but I have loved cars since I was little and I LOVE this auction. I watch it every time it is on (used to be 3 times a year now it is 4) the Speed channel. I record all days of it (hours at a time) and watch it all! I love seeing the restored cars, rare cars, celebrity cars, learning about them, and seeing how much they sell for it. It will be AWESOME! We are going to road-trip it because I also LOVE road trips and stopping at unique places on the way. I am beyond excited. My husband did good!!!

I can't believe I will get to see the cars in person and feel the excitement. It really is an amazing event. If you have a free minute you should check it out in January when it is on the TV. I promise you will get addicted to the bidding fun :)

I know it probably seems crazy to drive over a thousand miles for a car auction that we will just be watching (not bidding) but it is a great event for car lovers, and I hope to someday maybe even buy a car from there. Just thinking about it right now is making me so super excited. I'll be sure to share pictures later so you can see just how fun it is (even celebrities go to sell and buy cars - Patrick Demps*y was there once, and I love me some McDreamy!) But in all seriousness, it is just full of beautiful cars with interesting stories. I can't wait!

The "C" word

Yes, I'm talking about cancer. I don't have it, but I was thinking about it the other day. Let me explain.

Did I ever tell y'all how I started blogging? I don't think I have so let me give you the quick story (haha, me quick?!) Anyway, at my college graduation two years ago, a degree was given to a graduate student that had recently undergone a bilateral lung transplant for lung cancer (he had both lungs transplanted). He was young, healthy, and not a smoker. His story struck me, and I found his blog through our school website and started reading. You can read his story here.

From his blog I started reading other blogs of people with similar stories - all battling lung cancer. I got so wrapped up in their stories that I prayed for them daily and couldn't wait to read the next post to see how a test result came back or if they had heard word on a new pair of lungs. My introduction into blogging was somewhat solemn but also so inspiring.

One blog that I started reading was this one. He recently lost his battle. I didn't know him other than through his blog, but I prayed often for him and his young family. He was definitely a man of faith that affected those in his life in a positive way.

The other blog I started reading faithfully too was this one. This is the story of wife and mother that found out she had lung cancer, and a year later found out her husband had liver cancer. You can read about their battle and their desire to dream big and live life to the fullest.

As I read these stories I thought about how fortunate and blessed I felt to not have ever been affected by cancer. Then I realized that I had more than I thought. My Dad has had multiple cancers at this point, however, he has always been lucky to have the kinds that are fairly curable. He was diagnosed with thyroid cancer earlier in the year and often has to be treated for different skin cancers. But that is all. It was a bit frightening at first, but they operate, remove it, and he goes home. I still have my loving and fairly healthy father around. I even have had a pre-cancerous spot removed from my back (I got those genes from my dad I guess), but I can only imagine what it would be like to live with any horrible disease, cancer or the like.

I can't insure that I never get cancer, but this made me remember something I heard during the last season of Biggest Loser. Suze Orman was talking about the cost of being obese. I believe she said people should be more afraid of the "o" word than the "c" word because obesity related sicknesses kill more people each year than cancer. You know what, most of them are fairly preventable (maybe all but I'm no doctor). That was something that really stuck out at me. I read stories about people stricken with a disease they can't control, yet I don't always have the willpower to not eat an extra cookie or run the extra mile. That was something that has really helped me be motivated to be healthier. Why not do something if I can?

I know I'm not obese, but that doesn't mean I can't make healthier choices because I have heard a lot of people (on Biggest Loser and elsewhere) say they weren't always bigger. Life happens, and I have decided that I need to be aware of my health starting now. As for the "c" word and other life threatening illnesses, I will continue to pray that God heal and give them all the strength to fight.

Sing-Off

I'm in love with this show! Maybe it is because I grew up in the Church of Christ with acappella music, but this show rocks my socks. I never want it to be over, and I can't wait for the next episode. Only one left! :(

Anyway, this is mine (and my hubby's) favorite group. Enjoy!

Blogger Block

I'm feeling low on inspiration today so I decided to pimp out my nephew because who doesn't love pictures of a cute little baby?! I also finally uploaded some to my Kodak account so why not share a few?

This isn't the best picture of me (we were about to hit the road to come back to TX after Thanksgiving so I'm not super glamorous!):


Isn't he just adorable? I can only imagine what he just heard - haha!

Mom & Son - what a cute picture:

The annual family picture (we took this at a Christmas tree farm):

Just for fun, here is the picture going in our Christmas card this year. It isn't awesome because it was dark out, but the flash washed out the background. We were at a Christmas lighting, and it was very pretty (and very cold)!