For the last few weeks, I’ve been really bad at getting online. I’ve found that I only get on during the day for work purposes, and then on the weekends it’s never that appealing… So I apologize for my lack of posting and my lack of commenting.

To top all that off, I’m not really sure I have much to write about. It seems like my life is so day to day, that nothing super exciting happens which makes me “just have to blog”. But, I’ve decided that perhaps I’ll simply write about loads of random things, and thus produce a relatively long (hopefully not boring) blog. Here goes:

Holidays:

It’s not yet Thanksgiving, and my tree is going up, lights are coming on and Christmas baking has commenced. Yes, yes, laugh at me. Mock me and tell me that “It’s not even Thanksgiving… Christmas is a month away…”. But you know what, I don’t care. Do you mock someone when they form a countdown for their wedding, graduation or birthday? Most likely not. So why mock me? Perhaps Christmas isn’t as important as say, a wedding or a birth, but you know what, it’s just as important, or more, than my birthday. And I’d say it was more so than graduation, but since I graduated in December, I looked at that as a pre-Christmas celebration, so it ran together. 😉

So for all you Scrooges out there waiting to deflate the holiday joy, please get over yourselves. Seriously. Stop being so adult, and remember what it was like to be 10 at this time of year. Sure, as you get older there are more people to shop for, more errands to run, more food to cook, but so what? Isn’t this suppose to be about friends and family? If things really are so hectic, downsize. Tell you family and friends, “This year I’m not giving gifts, just cookies.” That’s what Jonathan and I are doing. We’re buying something for one another (well, and Grandma) and then nothing else. Christmas shouldn’t be intended to spend your life savings, but to enjoy the people and things in your life. Look back on what it was like growing up, and focus on the sweet and not the bad. The anxiousness of waking up to the smell of gingerbread, cinnamon, and seeing a field of snow. (If you don’t have any good memories of Christmas, you can have some of mine… I have plenty).

My parents divorced when I was 2, so I never had a traditional “Christmas”. However, every year I went to my father’s on Christmas Eve, ate spaghetti, my dad read part of Matthew 1 and 2, then we sang carols and opened presents. There was continual laughter, and ‘A Christmas Story’ was being shown in the background. Then well past midnight, we would drive back to my mother’s. Christmas morning we would wake up early, help my mom make breakfast, sit around the table and feast. After breakfast we would begin opening presents. When all the gifts were unwrapped, my mom would clean up as the kids scurried around with their new toys. In the afternoon my mom would head off to work (she’s a nurse) and then my brothers and I would go to a movie. The day would end with such delight.

With that being said; I will always love Christmas. And if you don’t, please don’t tell me. Please don’t complain that the music is irritating, that there’s too much to do, that you don’t want to see santas any sooner than December 1st. Please just realize that some of us enjoy this holiday, not because we’re nutty, but because we haven’t succumb to acting like stuffy adults.

Homes:

We are officially settled into our home. Our garage still has some work, but that’s Jonathan’s chore, not mine. 🙂 We (and by we, I mean Jonathan) wired our speakers for surround sound. Now, for the first time ever, I have speakers in my bedroom. I can clean throughout the house and hear the music everywhere. It’s really quite cool.

John and Joni moved in just over two weeks ago. It’s been some of the most fun I’ve ever had with them living with us. We take turns cooking and the house seems to always be abuzz. I’ve realized that Jonathan and I really need to have tons of babies. We really like a full house (so long as it’s clean…) and having kids seems the best way to keep it full (although not so clean…). To top things off, Joni and I have started working out together. We’ve just begun this week, but it’s way fun. I had a coupon for me and a friend to join Ladies Express Fitness in North Liberty for one month free. We didn’t even have to commit to staying after the time is up! It’s a super place to exercise because it’s all women. And everyone is friendly. So, I’m pretty excited about it all.

Holiness:

For just over a month now, God’s really been teaching me some good lessons on selflessness. I’ve come to realize that I’m a pretty self absorbed person. I like being best at everything, having tons of attention and making sure everyone knows that I’m the best. And, what’s really strange is that for a few years, God’s really broken me off a lot of those things… except for a major one. My speech. I’ve realize that when someone says something nice to me, or about me, I take it as my turn to make sure they know how amazing I really am. When I first became truly aware of this fact, I started listening to myself. I talk about myself ALL THE TIME! Geez… how do I have friends? God’s been showing me some pretty amazing verses from Proverbs about speech, and He’s teaching me ways to hold my tongue. I’m way not good at this. And if I have come across to any of you as completely selfish and uncaring, I deeply apologize. I am sorry if I have made any of you feel less important, less special, less loved because I was too absorbed to take time to show you how awesome you all are. Please know, that I have, do and will still stumble over this issue. I am far from being where I know God wants me to be. So in advance I ask for your grace when I’m acting like a snot, and being too selfish. And if I stop talking midconversation, please know it’s just the Spirit nudging me. And if I stop talking all together… know that I’ve simply taken a vow of silence. Which, actually, might not be a bad idea.