Merry Christmas, baby!

It's a few days late, but Merry Christmas from our house to yours (ironically, neither of these pictures were taken at our house).


I am in awe that we will have a 9 month-old next Christmas. Oh, how different life will be! The nearness of this great life change is feeling very daunting to me. Not because of all that needs to be done, or because of the fear of labor, but just knowing that life will be massively different, I know I don't even know the ways in which it will be different.

My knees are shaking and my throat is a bit dry as I stare right in the face of an inevitable mysterious change, without knowing what it really is or means. Baby girl is due in 84 days. That means the delivery "window" is 70-98 days. Gulp.

This, I think, is one of the problems with waiting so long to have babies. Hubs and I are very used to us. To our marriage the way it is. To choosing what we do and when. To our house and the way we live in it. Every Sunday night, we have our church small-group over, which includes 20 people - half of which are kids. The kids ages range from 1.5 yrs to 18, and all but two of them are boys. They are loud, and very active. Their parents apologize for the chaos, but I am thankful. I think we need some chaos training in our home. We bought a home to fit a family, and I really want a big family, but that doesn't mean I'm used to the chaos it brings! Every Sunday we invite people over for chaos training.

Today, I painted my nails red to feel a bit prettier. I feel like a whale, and while I know that I have the pregnancy "glow" and am the picture of maternal beauty (or so they tell me!), I don't feel very pretty. To me, whale = fat = not pretty. Red nail polish always helps. At the same time, I finally took off my horribly chipped toe-nail polish that has been on since September. There was barely any left on anyway. I figured I'd better take it off while I can still reach my toes (barely).

So thankful

One of my greatest irritants on Thanksgiving is this. I LOVE to go around the table and share what we are thankful for. I could do this for hours. I am so thankful for so much. I also love to hear what other people are thankful for. Sometimes it surprises me, sometimes not. Either way, I always come away feeling more thankful for the person who shared. Yet, it never fails that every Thanksgiving there are many people in my family who groan at this tradition. They hate it. They have a hard time coming up with something. Of course, we do it anyway, but I hate that they don't want to do it. How can we NOT be thankful?

I am so thankful. I have been amazingly blessed... in abundance. Oh, how I don't deserve any of it. It's all a huge gift.

I am so thankful that I am pregnant, when I didn't think we'd be able to get pregnant easily. I am so thankful that we're having a little girl, when I really didn't think I'd ever get to mother a girl. This blesses my soul so deeply. I am thankful that she is healthy and growing well - she is a miracle. I am thankful that my body knew how to do this!

I am so thankful for my wonderful husband. He loves me so deeply, so tenderly, and without reservation. He has been taking amazing care of me without complaint. I feel guilty that I am so tired, and he does so much. He just smiles and tells me I'm busy climbing a mountain. I love him. We are also thankful that he got a new job recently and loves it. I'm thankful for how diligently he provides for our family in so many different ways.

I am so thankful that I have parents and an extended family I love. They are a joy to me. I wish we were all closer and saw each other more. I know many people who don't wish that of their family. I am blessed.

I am so thankful for my church and the families in it. I love our worship together. I love the relationships we've made. I love going to church, and again, I know many people that don't. Very, very blessed.

I am so thankful for our warm, cozy home. I do try to guard my thanksgivings against materialism, but I truly am. I recognize this is a gift - I know many people do not have a warm, cozy home to call their own. In recent days, I've spent a bit of time reading by the fire, under a blanket, drinking warm tea, listening to Christmas music. Ahhhh. I absolutely love it. Best of all, we've been in this house for about 9-11 months, depending on how you look at it, and it's finally feeling cozier. We've been putting pictures up, painting some walls, and making it ours. It makes these moments all the more cozier. I love our house. We hosted thanksgiving this year in our big dining room, everyone sitting around a big table. I LOVED it.

And of course, I am so thankful for the gift I've been given of salvation - eternity with the King. I have done nothing to deserve this, nor will I ever. I'm completely undeserving. It is truly a gift. He is the giver of all good things, and I can't hardly imagine an eternity enjoying His majesty. I'm so grateful that God wants relationship with me. It doesn't make sense to me, but I know He does. What a great, great gift.

So thankful.

Christmas in May

I'm home. Finally. The flight from Lisbon is painfully long. Flying west, wherein I'm graced with an extra eight hours in my day, is the best cure for the days when I long for more hours in my day. I really do not want more hours in the day.

My only complaint with being home is that it is COLD. We're expecting a high today of 62, but it's currently raining and 48. Thankfully, it's supposed to be 75 by Friday, but then cool off again a bit. (How boring is my blog if I've gotten to the point of discussing the weather with people who don't even live here???) My problem is that I'm used to 80. Hot. Sun. Warm. Sandals. I really, really need some sunshine people.

The best part of coming home was that I received a belated Christmas from hubs. It was an IOU present - a "we'll shop for it together" present. Then, some financial analysis decided that perhaps my Christmas present should wait. I knew that I would receive my gift when hubs was ready and comfortable....even if it was a few years from now, and I was content to wait until the time was right.

I'm so happy that it's NOW!! Yay! And what is it, you ask? It's my very own, very pretty piano. I barely know how to play, which makes this gift even sweeter. It's a gift to honor my desire to make music. I am so thankful that his response wasn't "you can have a piano once you can play better" but that he is investing in my dreams instead.


And, if nothing else, it's just really pretty in our front room. :)

Cool Christmas Gift

As a Christmas gift for hub's, I got him an unframed (we'll get it framed ourselves) leaf from a 400 year old Geneva Bible. (I clicked thru Shannon's site, to support this new business to get it.)

I really didn't know the history of the Geneva Bible, but it's really cool - all goes back to my rebellious Puritan ancestors. The Geneva Bible was written and used before the King James version; it was what Calvin and Knox would have used, John Bunyan, Shakespeare, and what would have been brought to America on the Mayflower. An unframed leaf was only $25, which I thought was a great price for something so cool.

I checked with the site owners to see if there was a way to select (even from a list of options) which passage we would be getting. I really didn't want to end up with a 400 year old page of the begots. It would still be cool, for just being a leaf from a Geneva Bible, but not nearly so cool as Jesus' birth, Jesus' death, the resurrection, any one of my favorite stories in Genesis or Exodus, a section of very cool writing by Paul - preferably one with a sarcastic comment included. As I was informed that there was no way to pick my selection, I ordered it anyway, trusting that the Lord was in charge of this too, and He would send the Word that was meant for Hub's and I.

When my leaf came, I couldn't figure out at first which section of the Bible it was from - there was nothing in the packaging that clarified. At first I thought it was Genesis (and I was very excited!) because it kept talking about Lot. Hubs loved the gift - thought it was as cool as I did. After all our breakfast was eaten and presents had been opened, we hoped on an Internet Bible search tool to figure out what Bible passage we had received.

It turned out that "lot" was referring to land, not the person. Oops. We got a section from Joshua, talking about the distribution of land. I don't even think I'd read this section before. As I read it online, I was disappointed. Who gets which piece of land is pretty close on the boredom-scale with who begot who. But then I kept reading and realized that this passage was meant for us and a big smile spread across my face.

On our leaf contains Joshua 21:43-45:

So the LORD gave Israel all the land he had sworn to give their forefathers, and they took possession of it and settled there. The LORD gave them rest on every side, just as he had sworn to their forefathers. Not one of their enemies withstood them; the LORD handed all their enemies over to them. Not one of all the LORD's good promises to the house of Israel failed; every one was fulfilled.

I especially love verse 45: Not one of the Lord's promises to the house of Israel failed; every one was fulfilled.

What a beautiful promise from our Lord. He is trustworthy.

Merry Christmas to us!

Happy Birthday

Happy Birthday to me (yesterday)!

I am now 28. Please no comments about how that is SO young because I've definitely met people that think it is SO old, and either way, it just is what it is, without apology or boast. I am what I am: 28.

I'm 28. I'm very happily married - in love with my husband more than I can express, and loved even more in return. I am being prepared by the Lord to be a mother someday. I have a family who loves me and calls to sing happy birthday. I have been blessed materially, and even own one too many houses at the moment. Over the last year or two, the Lord has been answering my prayer for dear girlfriends, and now have an abundance of woman who I care about deeply.



My birthday comes right in between Christmas and new years, a time when I get overly reflective and sometimes a bit glum as the Christmas glow has left the masses and they fully swarm the local merchants to consume more than can be consumed of clearance finds and somehow fulfill vacation day boredom. It was a good day though, although busy. I cleaned a bit, got a great gift from hubs (more in a sec), had a long visit to the fabric store, and had our traditional kel's birthday dinner. What I really long for on my birthday is either a party with my friends, which is hard to do (and has been since the day I was born; my party was always in January) since so many people are still out of town from the holidays, OR go away for a couple days to Leavenworth or Whistler to go skiing with hubs. This year that wasn't possible due to all the house projects still being done (at both houses, thanks to the windstorm). It was lovely though and, aside from going on a mini-holiday, I wouldn't have changed a thing.

One of the gifts I longed for this year was a mini trampoline. There is a great infomercial out (FYI - I'm an infomercial junky) for "urban rebounding" which is basically workout DVDs for jumping on a little trampoline. I think it looks like fun! (Note: they charge WAY too much for the trampoline and DVDs - I'm not endorsing their products at all!) Anyway, for Christmas/birthday, I really wanted a trampoline and workout DVD. When we arrived at my parent's house for Christmas dinner, there was a huge roundish box next to the tree. I was so excited: I was actually going to go get the trampoline! I looked at the label on the huge gift to confirm my suspicions...and hope was dashed! My dear trampoline was for my three year old nephew. (Does it mean anything bad that me and the nephew wanted the same thing?) He loved it!

On birthday morning, after I pestered to the limit, hubs sent me on a treasure hunt for my present (unwrapped and behind two closed doors), which I found on the first try - HA! I was SO excited to find a huge, roundish box; this time, all for me! I am so excited.

Then, I spent the afternoon at the fabric store, since my mom gave me a sewing machine for my birthday (which I got a few days ago). A friend of mine had a baby girl two days ago, and I'm going to make her a baby wrap-thing. I'm hoping I can figure it out. The fabric is all a soft flannel - nice and cozy. Here's what it looks like so far: (the red in the bias tape really does match the fabric. By the way, I'm not sure yet how to use bias tape.)

And the pattern:

Then we went to the restaurant we go to for my birthday dinner every year: Jak's Steakhouse. Yummy! They are super good, less money than other local high-end steak houses, but don't take reservations. We put our name on the list, with a 2.5 hour wait, then went to some local stores. The food is superb. Truly.

I really need to go do some jumping on that trampoline now.

Christmas 2006

The Verdict
This was a good Christmas, although I think it still could have been better. I wish we had been able to relax more this past month, focus on advent (for our advent wreath never made it out of the box), do more for others, and make more homemade gifts. I have vowed that next year, my Christmas cards and shopping will be done by 12/10. I'm aiming for November, but hubs thinks my deadline should be 12/10 to get some of those post-Thanksgiving sales. We'll see. Really... as Christmas nears, I want to be making goodies, making gifts, visiting with family and friends, going to concerts and holiday events... making memories, not "scheduling" a shopping trip to finish up, and not "scheduling" evenings to wrap presents.

However, once Christmas eve and Christmas day came, our celebrations were joyful and peaceful. Our Christmas morning devotional time was very nice. Hubs and I had a great time Christmas morning together. Our family events were just...really nice. Often I leave with one thing to complain about or another, and this year... not really. It was just a lovely, peaceful time. (Or maybe...just maybe...those things were all there and I am changing enough that I just didn't bother complaining about them. Hmmm.)

Reflection
God has been asking me to wait for children, and while I've struggled to appreciate or enjoy the wait, I do appreciate that I have time to learn from others and form opinions about child-rearing before I get there.

I spent a bit of time this weekend thinking about teaching theology to kids. My nephew (age 3), kept saying it was God's birthday. This disturbed my soul - I couldn't laugh about it like the others. He sat on my lap and I told him it was Jesus' birthday, not God's, for God has no beginning or no end. I thought about this further, I decided that I don't like it when the focus is on Christmas as Jesus' birthday either. I think this cheapens it. It is SO much more than a birthday. The BIG deal isn't that it's Jesus' birthday. The BIG deal is that it's the anniversary of when God became man in order to fulfill His plan for our salvation. Emmanuel - God with us, God Incarnate - God became man.... these should be our celebration. It's so much more than a birthday party.

Hubs and I discussed this on Christmas eve, and we spent our Christmas morning devotion time talking about how we were so grateful, not just for the birth of Christ, but for God as man, for God with us, for God's plan of salvation fulfilled in this infant child. (Aside... I tried to teach the nephew to say "God Incarnate" and got a bit roll of the eyes from everyone because apparently a three year old is too young to say in-car-nut.)

I grew up in a church that did not teach theology. It was emotions-based, as are so many other churches in the evangelical Church in the US today. We didn't learn what we believed and why. It is just about how worship makes you feel, how your faith makes you feel, what God does for you. I've spent the last 5 years trying to un-do some of that teaching and am learning for the first time what I believe and why. I've learned that kernels of un-truth can be very destructive. When I have children, I want to be intentional that the kernels planted in them are truth, so they are given every advantage for truth to grow on truth.

Is it really too much to teach a three year old to say in-car-nut, and teach him what it means? Why do we not attempt it?

Christmas Tour

I was so sad that I had to miss BooMama's Christmas Tour of Homes because of our power outage. But now, our power is back, I have finally been able to vacuum (it's amazing how dirty we are when we're unable to see the dirt!), the Christmas lights are back on, and I finally finished my Christmas cards. It's time for my Christmas tour!

I will preface this by reminding everyone that we just moved a couple weeks ago. All standard house decorations (and furniture) are still at the little house for staging. So...there is no picture or mirror on the wall above the mantle, my nativity set is still in the box because there is no where to set it, and same with my advent wreath... still in its box. Oh well...more to come next year!

And so, we shall commence the tour...

My Christmas wreath...

brought to the house in the first carload (with the dog),

and put directly on the door.

Snowmen in the kitchen window. An early Christmas present this year.

Another early Christmas present...

a pretty Santa table runner. I don't have a table yet (part of the furniture at the little house), but I really enjoy it hanging over the door.

A porcelain nativity also in the kitchen window.

This is a little nativity scene that is usually under the tree.

We still need to trim the bottom tree branches,

so it's currently sitting on the TV. I bought it on Novica.com.

This year's ornament is from Hub's location of education (that rhymes!),

which we visited this year.

And now for the tree and mantle. Hub's stocking is a bit sad. Until now, he has refused to let me make him a prettier one, but this year he has agreed that it is time. So... this year I hope to make matching stockings and a tree skirt. Presents have yet to be wrapped, although I'm working on it.

Last but not least... a look at our outdoor decoration. I still haven't had a chance to post a picture of our storm damage, so here you go.

Seattle windstorm 2006.

We were so blessed that our house and health were protected.

Also, we have really gotten to know our neighbors - they have blessed us greatly in helping us clean up this mess!

May God be glorified in your home this Christmas.

~~~

Merry Christmas to all, and to all a good night!

First post in the new house

I honestly don't know what I have to say today, but I can't believe my blog has a week's worth of dust on it...so it's time for a post!

We are in our new house. I still want hold my breathe a little when I say that - in excited shock that seems too good to be true.

I am overwhelmed with the mess... the fact that every single room has half empty boxes scattered about, piles of papers that don't have a home, and decorative items that seem too pretty to put up in a cupboard. I like order and cleanliness, at least in most rooms. This stage of moving is hard for me.

I am trying my darndest to not let that overwhelming feeling overtake the joy of being in our home. I love it - not only because it's beautiful, but because it is OUR home that God has appointed for us. I walk around trying to picture what it will be like to see this same room, but with kids running through it. I'm sitting on my couch looking into the messy kitchen, and try to imagine myself much older... looking into the same messy kitchen. I chase my dog in circles around the house and try to imagine when it will be kids chasing the dog instead of me.

I'm still mourning the Christmas things that aren't going to happen "right" this year. We have yet to even bought a Christmas tree (hopefully this weekend) or put out my advent wreath...I don't have anywhere to put it. There are no homemade presents or homemade cards. In the end, I suppose we will have a VERY simple and quiet Christmas - more simple and quiet than it would have even been if I had had time for homemade lovies... for there might just be more time walking to see the Christmas lights in our new neighborhood, watching Christmas movies, listening to Christmas music, and opening our presents while we sit on our one piece of furtniture.

I am grateful for today... I have today and tomorrow off work. I have a few things to return at the store, then come home and working on putting our clothes away in our closet, and hopefully finish the kitchen.

Good day to you!
kel

new house

As of this afternoon, we officially own our new house, and we get the keys tomorrow. I AM SO EXCITED!! Sometimes I get so giddy-excited, that I really remind myself of a 12 year old or something. I don't know if that's good, bad, normal, or weird. I suppose I'm getting older in that even though I just want jump up and down in glee, I also want to cry in response to God's goodness. Great...an adulthood filled with gleeful crying. That's me. =)

On another note... My hopes and wishes for a simpler, slower, (looking for an 's' word but can't find one) more home-made Christmas have vanished. I really was hoping to make more gifts, be better at spending less money, etc. this year. I've come to my senses. Between packing, moving, doing house projects on our little house, and getting it ready for sale in early January, I'm hoping to just find time to mail the Christmas cards I've already had printed (it's just that I want to send a Christmas letter with them and I need to print that and get copies made...and that's the hold up). I'm also not sure when we're going to buy a tree, let alone put it up. I wanted to make a few sweet gifts for a few friends that are even sweeter. At this point, I have no idea when I'd make those gifts, or even get together with those friends. So, if I'm REALLY good, I'll buy them something sweet, and maybe put them in the mail (for friends that live 3o minutes away). I suppose it's better than nothing. At the end of the day, I want a great Christmas day at home with my husband focusing on God's gift to us, and that can still happen even if all that other STUFF didn't go quite like I had envisioned. All of my decorating and buying have moved into the fast and easy planning mode, rather than drawn-out and homemade. Perhaps next year. It makes me sad though. I feel like home-made things show love, but I'm trying to remember that it's the thought that counts and purchased things can be appreciated to. For example, my Bible Study is having a fellowship time next week and I wantned to make some Christmas cookies for my group (I lead the discussion for a group of ladies) for them to enjoy with their dinner. However, this is no way that will be possible - to make Christmas cookies. I will likely purchase cookies for them to enjoy and need to trust that they will recognize the effort and enjoy the cookies, evevn if they aren't homemade.

Ok... my husband is barking at me (trying to get the dog to bark at me) to get me to get off the blog and into bed. I think I'd better go - this is a little alarming. =)

Good night!
kel

WFMW - Christmas #2

Is it bad to have two Works for me Wednesday postings? I hope not! I just thought of another things I'd like to share.


This is a tip that I've thought of but have never actually done. If it sounds interesting to you, and you do it, would you write me back and let me know how it went?


No matter how much I try to keep Christmas focused on Christ, and keep it a peaceful family time, I'm always a little saddened during the gift-opening time. It goes by so quickly and it's just about what am I going to get next.


I think it would be fun to open presents in a way (this would work for birthdays too) where the focus is on the giver instead of the recipient. Currently, we go in a circle of recipients - when it's your turn, you get to open a present. Instead, I think it would be fun to go in a circle and each person gets to give one of their presents to someone else. They could say who it's for, and why they thought of them, and personally give them their gift. To say, "I knew this would make you smile, so I shopped for months to find one" sounds so much sweeter than just picking the next present from under the tree.


I've heard of people doing something similar to this for kids birthday parties where the birthday child sits in a special chair to open their present, and the friends take turns sitting in a chair right next to the birthday child. Each friend gets to personally give their gift, the birthday child gets to say thank you, and it's easier to take pictures.


Anyway, I haven't done this yet, but I would love to change the focus from gift-getting to gift-giving.


- kel

Works for me Wednesday - Christmas!

I don't have any one big tip to share, so I thought I'd just offer up a few things I've done that worked pretty well for me.

• Cheap decoration: holly! My mother-in-law has a huge holly bush in her yard. When we were first married, I found that holly clippings on the mantle were the best Christmas decoration, and free!
• Christ in Christmas: I often don't have gifts wrapped until pretty close before Christmas (I buy them earlier, but don't get around to wrapping). I bought a small nativity scene (one where all the pieces are connected) and put it under the tree. It is a good reminder that Jesus is the REAL gift... and it doesn't look so sad to have a gift-less tree.
• Family time: The first year hubs and I were married, we had been asked to do a Christmas morning breakfast with hubs' family, and we had Christmas evening plans with my family (they live an hour apart). We aren't morning people anyday of the year, let alone Christmas morning! It was horrible to have to open our stockings quickly and hurry though our first Christmas morning. No more. We decided it was important to have time for OUR family (no matter how small our family is at the moment). I have also realized that "Christmas to me" is NOT driving around to lots of places. When I was little, we often lived far away from our extended family. Therefore, we stayed home. Christmas was a very quiet, private time. Sometimes we had a family member visit us, but they just stayed with us the whole time. I hate driving around a lot and being super busy on Christmas day. We decided that hubs' family gets Christmas eve, OUR time is Christmas morning, and my family gets Christmas night.

Merry Christmas to all!

Christmas is coming

Our family Christmas picture from 2004. We had JUST moved into our new house; the only thing moved in was the tree. Literally - we had it up at the last place for a family Christmas party, took down the tree, moved it, and set it back up. We adopted our dog just a couple days before this picture was taken. This was probably her first Christmas picture ever! I am currently unable to find any Christmas pictures from last year and I'm very nervous about that!

Christmas is coming, and I am so excited. In my world right now, I'm just sort of skipping over Thanksgiving this year. Don't get me wrong - I love Thanksgiving. I almost went to a college very far away, and one of my reasons for staying local was because of not wanting to miss Thanksgiving with my family. I have a big extended family (6 grandparents, my mom was one of 4 kids, my dad was one of 5), and I LOVE big family gatherings. I love all my cousins. Love it, love it, love it. I actually am very sad that my kids won't be able to enjoy the big family gatherings that I have. I have one sister and hubs has one brother. At most, my kids will have 2 aunts and 2 uncles. That is so weird to me.

Last year, I hosted my first Thanksgiving. It was just for hubs' immediate family, so there were 5 of us (hubs' brother isn't married yet...we're praying... my kids will need all the aunts and uncles they can get). I loved hosting and thanks to all my spreadsheets and planning, I think I actually did a pretty good job on the food, and getting it all ready on time. I love Thanksgiving.

This year, we are moving between December 5-10... that whole week. Well, we won't have a truck until the 9th/10th, but I refuse to let my new house sit empty from the 5th-9th. As soon as we have the keys, I'm in! So, with that timing, my mind has just sped through Thanksgiving, plowed right over it, has gone straight to planning for the move, and Christmas in our new home. I will thoroughly enjoy Thanksgiving at our parents' homes this year.

So...my head is all into Christmas. As much as I love Thanksgiving, I ADORE Christmas. Not only are we dealing with the move this year, but this is the first time I'm really trying to hold to a Christmas budget and tighten this belt a little this year.

I need ideas! I need ideas for decorating our new house, for semi-homemade gift ideas that are still nice, and ideas for just ushering the Christmas spirit into our home.

• I can't list my gift ideas here, incase the recipient sees this.
• We celebrate Advent and have an advent wreath that I made last year - we
  will celebrate Advent every night. (I made an advent wreath for my sister too for her gift last year - she loved it.)
• I have been thinking (today) about hosting a cookie exchange and cookie decorating party at our house for friends.

Any decorating ideas? Gift ideas? Does anybody still go Christmas caroling?

Merry Christmas!

- kel

Christian Pumpkins

Being a Christian is like being a pumpkin.

God lifts you up, takes you in, and washes all the dirt off of you.

He opens you up, touches you deep inside and scoops out all the yucky stuff--

including the seeds of doubt, hate, greed, etc.

Then He carves you a new smiling face and puts His light inside you

to shine for all the world to see.

(Source unnknown)