New Year's Transformations

2007 is already on the brink of being over. Yikes! Can't believe it has flown by so fast. The typical thing for most folks to do on this day is to make New Year Resolutions. However, my pastor yesterday morning talked about instead of making resolutions, to ask God for a 'transformation.'

By this, he means that instead of focusing on all the do's and don'ts we want to accomplish for next year, that our main goal should be to fix our eyes on Jesus... to allow him to transform our minds, hearts, attitudes, etc. Then all the "other" stuff will be worked on naturally, as our soul, heart, and mind are filled with Jesus and his word. That was the message I needed to hear. I had been thinking about and setting many goals for next year, however, I think instead of setting those goals and then being disappointed in myself when I might not meet them, I am going to fix my eyes, heart, mind and soul on Jesus and ask Him to help me do the rest.

I pray that in 2008, you too will fix your eyes, heart, soul and mind on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith. May He bless you and may you serve him this next year with all of your being.

Christmas Surprise

Oh, how we've had fun this Christmas! We had fun Christmas Eve surprising my mom and dad by showing up on their doorstep. When we orginially made plans for Christmas, Kevin was going to have to work right before and right after Christmas day, thus not allowing much time to travel. So, I was going to drive up with Stone (without Kevin) the day after Christmas. Well, a few weeks before Christmas, Kevin got news from his company that they were shutting down the week of Christmas. I took this opportunity to plan a little surprise for my parents.

After my endoscopy Christmas Eve morning, we drove up and ended up at their house around 7:30pm. The look on my mom's face when we walked in the door was priceless (too bad I didn't get to catch it on tape!). So, we got to spend some of Christmas Eve, Christmas day and a few days afterwards with my family. On Friday morning, (today) we left and drove to Greensboro, NC to visit with K's uncle Rob and Aunt Martha's home to spend the night and visit with some of the Hallquist clan. We've had a ball so far and Stone and Mercy were glad to be reunited! Ha! They are so funny.....when they see each other, even if it's only been 1 day, they act like they haven't seen each other in years.

Anyway, that's where we are presently and pictures of the festivities will be posted soon. As far as the endoscopy, it proved to show that I didn't have any ulcers (good news) but that my small intestine was a little irritated. Not sure what that's going to mean, but will find out in a few weeks, as they took a biopsy. Thanks to all who prayed!

Christmases Past and Present

Merry Christmas to all our friends and family. We pray you have a wonderful time celebrating Christ's birth! For fun, here are some pics of our Christmases since Kevin and I have been married...

Our very first Christmas together (2004). We spent our first Christmas together in Memphis instead of visiting either family. Reason: we just got married the September before and took a wonderful honeymoon to London/Scotland, so we were poor broke! It was a sweet time even though we missed our families. We spent it with friends there in Memphis and had a fun time opening packages from our folks and siblings.



Christmas 2005, with the addition of Stone...look how cute he is! This Christmas was a little crazy! Not only did we have Stone just 2 months before, but we flew to WV (yeah, with a 2 month old!) to visit my folks and then moved to Alabama just 1 day after we got back. Uh, what WERE we thinking? Don't know, but we were on some kind of crazy adventure.




Christmas 2006, just after Stone turned 1. (Yep, Stone is still cute!) This was our first Christmas in Greenville. We were still living with K's folks so since we got to spend lots of time with them, we decided to visit my folks again in WV. It was our last Christmas in the house where I grew up, so it was very special. This Christmas also brings back the memory of how on the day we were to leave to go to WV, K's temp job called him and told him he was "laid off" cause the job was over. Great. Merry Christmas. Then, on the way to WV, just 5 hours later after that call, the HR lady at the company he's currently with called him and offered him a full-time job! Yeah, Merry Christmas!!




Christmas 2007....(nothing has changed, Stone is still a cutie!!) This is our 2nd Christmas in Greenville and we are celebrating in our own house, and then of course with family as well. Last year, we and K's parents both put up our trees, but we left the rest of our decorations in storage. This year, even though we're in our own place, our house is still so small that most of our decorations are still in storage! We don't care, we decorated what we could and make the most of what we have. Another job story goes with this Christmas as well. K had an interview just this past Friday for a job at a local bank for a credit analyst position. Even though we won't know the outcome until after Christmas, we are praying this is the door God will open for us. If not, we know He has something else in store. Also, I have an upper endoscopy scheduled for the morning (Christmas Eve). Kind of a weird thing to have done on Christmas Eve but it turned out to be the best day to have it. Life continues to be an adventure.. we just try to take one day at a time!

Christmas Fun

Welcome to the Christmas edition of getting to know your friends. Okay, here's what you're supposed to do, and try not to be a SCROOGE!!! Just copy this entire post and paste it into your own post. Change all the answers so that they apply to you. Then tag someone else!

I tag Gini, Meredith, Beth, Miriam, Marie, Kendra!!!

1. Wrapping paper or gift bags? Both

2. Real or artificial tree? Just a few years ago, I would have said real, cause we grew up with real trees. However, after using an artificial one for the past few years, it's the only way to go!

3. When do you put up the tree? Whenever we have time to. This year, it happened to fall on Thanksgiving.

4. When do you take the tree down? Again, whenever we can get to it.

5. Do you like eggnog? No, but Kevin loves it!

6. Favorite gift received as a child? This is a tough one---I honestly can't remember what my favorite gift as a child was! My parents were so great and spoiled us, so it's hard to say.

7. Do you have a nativity scene? Yes, many. The one I'd love to put out but have NO where to put it is one that I received as a wedding gift from my former roommate/friend's mom. It's gorgeous and ceramic, but again, I have no place to display it. I also have several smaller ones and a couple of ornaments.

8. Hardest person to buy for? My hubby Kevin. You'd think he'd be easy to buy for, but wrong! Also, my brother, cause he never tells me what he wants.

10. Worst Christmas gift you ever received? Uh, again, not sure on this one.

11. Mail or email Christmas cards? Mail

12. Favorite Christmas Movie? I have several here, but "While You Were Sleeping" still holds#1. My newest fav is probably "The Holiday" with Jack Black, Kate Winslet, Cameron Diaz and Jude Law. And thanks to my former roommate and friend Jenny, "Christmas Vacation." And then there is the classic: "Charlie Brown Christmas" who doesn't like that one?

13. When do you start shopping for Christmas? Apparently, not soon enough, as I'm still not finished! I usually like to start early, which means around Sept.

14. Have you ever recycled a Christmas present? I think so, but I sometimes get scared that I gave it back to the person who gave it to me!

15. Favorite thing to eat at Christmas? My mom's ham and the fixin's and dad's world-famous peanut butter balls!

16. Clear lights or colored on the tree? Clear/white

17. Favorite Christmas song? Just about all of them. This question should be divided into "Christmas carols" and "Holiday classics that have nothing to do with the real meaning of Christmas." So, if it's a Christmas Carol, "Angels We Have Heard On High" & "Joy to the World." If it's the latter category, "It's the Most Wonderful Time of the Year" & "Sleigh Ride/Jingle Bells."

18. Travel at Christmas or stay home? We've done both. I love being with my family at Christmas and on Christmas day, but Kevin eventually wants to start our own traditions, so I don't know how much longer we will continue to travel.

19. Can you name all of Santa's reindeer? Comet, Cupid, Donner, Blitzen, Vixen, Dasher, Rudolph, ????

20. What's on the tree top? A rusty star that has lights in it.

21. Open the presents Christmas Eve or Christmas morning? Christmas morning. Although growing up, if we wanted to, we could choose to open one present Christmas Eve night.

22. Most annoying thing about this time of year? I have a list: People trying to take Christ out of Christmas; People refusing to be jolly about Christmas-- It is the best time of year ever; TRAFFIC and trying to shop; People being rude

23. Do you decorate your tree in any specific theme or color? Nope, it's very eclectic right now.. mostly of ornaments that I have collected over the years from growing up. My parents always gave us at least one ornament every year (most of the time we got more than one). So, I have all of them plus ones I collected such as snowmen and Noah's Ark (used to collect both).

24. What do/did you leave for Santa? Cookies and milk.

25. What were any traditions you had growing up? Any that you do as an adult now? On Christmas Eve, we would always go to a Christmas Eve service at the church. Afterwards, we'd come home and invite anyone over who wanted to come and just have a few snacks. We'd then sit by the fireplace and read the TRUE Christmas story and then open 1 gift if we wanted to. Christmas morning, we'd dive into presents first thing, eat a big breakfast and then play with toys or watch videos until time to eat dinner (mom always made a great Christmas dinner). Another tradition that we did and still do is to have our extended family come over and we'd have another big meal and exchange gifts and just hang out. As for traditions now: Kevin and I are still figuring all that out and deciding what we would like to do. We're just having fun with Stone and enjoying everything we can. Stone particularly likes it when we just drive around to look at lights, so I'm sure that will become a tradition we stick with. I'd like to make a special "Happy Birthday Jesus" cake and eat that on Christmas too. I'm sure we'll come up with some other ideas.

Stolen!

I have been seething over this since Friday afternoon. As most of you know, I have been serving at a local church where I work part-time as the Preschool Minister. To set the background to my story, it's necessary to include some details. As it was the end of the year, and our classrooms desperately needed new toys (some of those toys had been there since dirt), I have been on several shopping sprees. In order to store all these toys, so that I could later come back and un-pack them to put in the rooms, I had to put them in our "resource room." This room is located on the Preschool Hall but has windows to it. However, I keep it locked at all times and I had all the toys still in bags, not just laying out. The only people that has keys to it are the staff and cleaning crew.

Friday, I had arranged for Gini to keep Stone for a few hours so I could specifically go in and put out all these toys. Mind you, it takes time to "undo" all this stuff, which is why it had been just sitting in the resource room for about 2 weeks. Well, as I sort through things, I start noticing that some things are missing!! I get further into things and realize several things are gone. I then go to each room to see if someone (like a week-day teacher) put some of those toys out in the rooms. None are found. I then talk with our maintenance guy, Keith, who happened to be walking down the hall. Hating to point fingers, I ask him if he thought it was possible that the cleaning crew might have taken some things. He also hated to point fingers, but we tried ruling out everyone else, or the possibility that someone just walked in and took them out. I didn't think that was possible, since these toys were in big boxes and not easily concealed. Well, we left it at that for the time being, and I was still MAD cause someone STOLE from God and these little kids!!!!!

So, I left about 5 toys in the room Friday afternoon, as I ran out of time and needed to leave. I put these toys in garbage bags and put them in the furthest corner of the room. When I came in Sunday morning, I noticed one of the bags was opened. After further investigation, I then discovered that ANOTHER toy had disappeared!!! UGH!! So, I reported that too and we're pretty sure it's either the cleaning crew or someone connected to them.

I can't tell you how this has totally bummed me. I really feel for anyone who has been stolen from... nobody likes it when someone has just taken something from you. But I guess I'm even more mad cause someone took from all these kids and had the attitude that it was theirs to take. So, Saturday, I went shopping again, but this time for curtains to hang in the windows of the resource room. I put those up today and the lock is also going to be changed so it will be more secure.

Just needed to vent about all this....ba hum-bah!

Pics with Santa

Last year's picture....

This year's picture....

See any similarities? Obviously, he doesn't like men with big, long, white beards. I can't say that I blame him though.. I didn't either when I was a kid (although I sure did like getting presents from Santa, even though I didn't enjoy sitting on his lap!) Both of these pictures were taken at my fav fast food place, c*hic*fil*a. Last year, we went with Cuz Mercy, who did just great. This year, we went solo and he did fine, even standing up beside him, until I went to put him on his lap. I told the lady taking the pictures, "Just get ready to snap a picture, cause he's probably going to scream." Yeah, I called that one right! Well, at least we have it documented on film for the memory!

Forget Something???

Uh, Stone? Did you forget something? It's a little too cold to be going outside without any pants on!!

Body Art....

The pictures are pretty self-explanatory. However, I will say this: NEVER leave your 2 year old unattended with markers, even for just 5 seconds to answer the phone. Otherwise, you might end up with this! (Thankfully, the markers didn't make it to the couch!) So, do you think orange is a good color for Stone???