Hot Chocolate Backgrounds and other random comments

I was in Target Monday night and saw a package of letterhead for Christmas letters. Now, I can't even manage to send out regular Christmas cards, let alone send out a letter. But the background was so cute. The saddest thing is, my first thought was "I wish that was a background for a blog." It fit me so well. It was cups of steaming hot chocolate in muted colors. It was so cute, I almost bought it. That would have added to the $75 I spent when I went into Target for ONE thing (that did not cost $75!). How does Target suck me in like that?! Anyhoo...I refrained from buying the letterhead, knowing full well that I would not have done anything with it.

Speaking of Christmas cards, I decided that next year, since I don't have a pet or child, I am going to take random pictures of things to put on a picture card. For instance, here is the picture of my Christmas socks. Here is a picture of the five red sweaters I own, and here is a picture of my Christmas tree. Then I will send it to everyone. I won't include a picture of myself, because that would be too simplistic.

And speaking of thermostats...I forgot to tell you guys the thermostat story. Last week on the night before the coldest day of the winter, our thermostat battery light began to blink. I went in search of batteries and realized that I did not have any. When Emily got home, she gave me two batteries. I put them in the thermostat, and TA-DA! Nothing. I quickly realized that the connection was bad. The batteries worked but were not hitting the sensors at the end. The next day, Emily called the apartment and when I got home, we had a new thermostat. Most of you would think, "great! They have a thermostat that works now." Well, you would be correct, but that doesn't make us happy. I live in an apartment that has all the basics. Stove with no timer on it. Freezer with no ice maker. Sink with no spray nozzle-thingy. I'm used to this. But our thermostat was digital so we could always tell exactly what the temperature is. This has worked well for two roommates with very different body temperatures. But the replacement thermostat is not digital. We have driven ourselves crazy this last week because it is so hard to read what the temperature is. And a degree makes a huge difference. I have friend who works in the front office, so I went in and asked if I could buy my own thermostat and have maintenance put it in. She said she would leave a note and see if they could just replace it. I saw her Monday and she told me that the maintenance guy was in a bad mood but she would try again in a few days. Stay tuned to see if we get a digital thermostat put in. I know it's just a little thing, but it has been driving me crazy. The space between 70 and 80 degrees is maybe half an inch. I just want to know the exact temperature! And it has to be more cost effective for me to know the exact temperature. Okay, I'm done venting now! :)

Nothing Profound

I wanted to blog about something profound. Some sort of wise words that I have for those who read my blog. But I've got nothin'.

I've had two long days at work and wanted nothing other than to come home and relax. So I've been doing a lot of that. Even though I have other things to do.

I've also had a lot of things on my mind. Again, probably not profound things. But things that are occupying my time and energy. Not things I can share for all the world (or my few readers) to read. I've learned that prayer is a good thing!

Okay, so I just read that paragraph and it sounds really morose. I'm not really even feeling that melancholy. Just tired. Tomorrow is another day. And the sun will be out! :)

Tree with presents

Here is a picture of our tree with the presents underneath. My mom really doesn't like a tree without presents. I can remember years that Christmas afternoon she was taking the tree down because she did not want to see the tree without presents.

This is the Christmas present I got from Amy. She loves to scrapbook and has started making these floating frames. This is a collage of pictures of me with Josh and Daynah. I LOVE IT! Now, some of the pictures I can look at and think, what was I thinking when I got dressed that day, but I can overlook it for the cute babies in the pictures!

You'll never guess what Teresa is doing...

She's putting songs on her iPod. The iPod that she has had since JULY that she hasn't been able to use because her computer was too old to recognize the iPod. :) Teresa is very excited. So excited that she is talking in third person!

In other news...I'm excited to be celebrating Christmas #1 this evening. Josh has a program at church that the family is going to and then we're going to come home and open presents. Dad, Amy, and the kids are going to be out of town for Christmas and so am I, so tonight was the only night we all had free to exchange presents. I took a picture of my tree with all the presents under it, since some of them will not be there after this evening. I'll post that later. One thing at a time with the new computer!

HOORAY!

I am posting from my brand new computer. It's pretty and shiny and new! Did I mention it's new :). I had Bible study tonight, so I haven't had a lot of time to play with it and figure things out, but I got Internet set up, which I thought would be difficult to do. Now, I should be fast asleep and I'm still playing, so I need to go and clean up some food stuff, get ready for bed, and sleep. But maybe I'll dream about my new computer...

I promise I'm organized

Last night I was sad because I had to set my alarm clock so that I could get to the dentist this morning before work. I woke up to my alarm clock beeping really fast from what seemed like a really far distance. Really fast beeping is my alarm clock's way of saying, "Ummm, hello, can you hear me?" Which means it was going off for awhile. Got ready and out the door on time. Walked into the dentist just in time. Stood in a long line of people to get to the front desk, getting what I felt were strange looks from the staff. Finally, one of the ladies said, "Teresa?" My answer, obviously, was "Yes." Then she said my favorite sentence of the day: "Your appointment is tomorrow." Very, very sad. Now, when I get the card with my appointment, I enter into my day timer and throw the card away. I did get a postcard last week, but I didn't really look at it because I already knew when my appointment was. :) I would like to give the dentist's office the benefit of the doubt that I was the one who messed up, but when I went in for my appointment 6 months ago, they told me they didn't have an appointment anywhere near the time I came in and they fit me right in. So, part of me thinks that this was their mistake also. Who knows? All I know is that I get to get up early again tomorrow, trek through the "blizzard" we are supposed to get, and go back to the dentist. Yippee!

Stolen Pictures

Mom was in Georgia for Thanksgiving, so there were a lot of pictures taken. And memories I missed, but fortunately Ann and Mom took lots of pictures so I could see the memories that were made and I wanted to share them with you too! The fun part of having your own blog is that you can add commentary to pictures, even if you weren't there! :)
John LOVES ZuZu!
Making cookies with Grandma and Mom. The real reason I posted this picture was so that you can see the tree in the background....this is where the obsession with lights began!

In awe of all the Christmas trees!

At the Christmas tree on the square in Covington. John can see himself in the ornament!

Ann's caption was "Get your groove on!" If one of his feet wasn't in the air, I would have said, "Get your poop on!" Who knows what was really going on :)

Awwww! Group hug. John's looking a little claustrophobic.

More fun at the Christmas tree farm. How tall is this tree, John?

Scripture Saturday

I was reading a commentary this morning that goes along with Ephesians, which we are studying in Bible Study still. Here is a statement that really struck me:



"Spiritual growth does not always involve learning something new. Our most important growth often is in regard to truth we have already heard but have not fully applied." So often we want broader knowledge instead of deeper knowledge. The commentary writer gave this Scripture reference to further his point. 1 Peter 1:12,-13, 15 says, "So I will always remind you of these things, even though you know them and are firmly established in the truth you now have. I think it is right to refresh your memory...And I will make every effort to see that after my departure you will always be able to remember these things." It also made me think of Philippians 1:9, "And this is my prayer: that your love may abound more and more in knowledge and depth of insight."



When I sit down to read a passage of Scripture that is familiar to me, I often pray that God would give me fresh eyes and new insight into that familiar passage. I think that is what MacArthur's statement means. I am basically praying that if I've missed something in the past that I should be applying that God would make me aware of it this time and help me to apply it in the future.

See! That wasn't so bad!

Thanks to everyone who posted comments on my blog yesterday. But really...do I only get comments when I beg you to post them?!

It's Community Christmas time at Bethany! That means practice, practice, and more practice! But not for me. I don't sing, at least not on stage for all to hear. :) Every year, Pastor Fred tries to get me to join Christmas Choir. Every year I tell him, "Fred, if everyone joined choir, there would be no one to sit in the audience and listen." That has never been a good enough excuse for him. But today I realized a more important role that I have. This is the second year I have babysat for the same family the two nights before the performance. Dress rehearsal starts tonight which means that Helen is practicing and Mike is helping with sound. If I were in the choir, who would watch Isaac and Anna? The funny thing is, Helen knows how hard it is to find a babysitter for these few nights, so she already called dibs on me for next year! See, I do serve a purpose during this time of year! I wonder if Pastor Fred will think it's a good enough excuse...

Come on Already!

I KNOW that there are people who read my blog who don't leave comments--I've heard it from their very mouths. So, in light of that information, I'm asking very nicely and sweetly for people to comment on my blog. People besides my mom (no offense, Mom). Of the last 15 blog posts, only 3 have a comment from someone other than my mom, and one of them has 2 comments from my mom! Because, really, if only my mom is reading, I could just email her instead of posting for all the world to see!