Pictures Finally!!!

Well, after not posting photos for a very long time, I am finally putting up some photos on this blog! These ones are from Christmas time. Enjoy! Garr...I can't figure out how to rotate them...sorry!

Happy New Year!

Yippee! 2008 is here, and I can hardly believe it. We had a fun New Years Eve party in our new house with a bunch of friends. I made homemade macaroni & cheese, a huge Italian pasta salad, sweet & sour meatballs thanks to a recipe from my dear friend, and spinach & artichoke dip. Then people brought the rest of the food: salads, appetizers, desserts, beverages...it was great! We really enjoyed having such a group in our home and found it to be a nice way to make our home feel more "homey." Now this weekend we'll have my family over and next weekend Erik's family, so more entertaining is on the way. I really do enjoy having company. We also were able to get TONS of things put away before the company arrived for our New Years party which made a huge difference and lifted such a weight from my shoulders. There were boxes and stuff everywhere, and now most of it is at least more organized or else in its new home. I LOVE IKEA!!! We found some great bookshelves there to go with a stereo shelf we already had, and that really works well along a wall in our "music" room. It is fun to finally have a library spot set up!

I need to find some inspiration to write a Christmas/New Years letter. It seems that we always send ours in January, but that's fine with me. Christmas, well December, is such a busy time of year that I don't feel like I get to calm down until January comes.

I had the privilege of leading worship at church this past Sunday for "youth" week. It was really fun to help them learn their vocal parts and to play piano again for the service. I haven't played for a service in such a long time because I was recovering from some pretty yucky tendinitis. Thank GOD that it is healed now and I can play and do all my normal activities that my wimpy thumb wasn't able to do for over a year.

This is a really random post, but I'm just writing what comes to mind...

So take care, and have a wonderful start to your new year! I really want to post photos soon...

O my darlin...

"O my darlin', o my darlin', o my darlin' Clementine." Our little Kristiana says these words EVERY day lately, as she has completely fallen in love with Clementines. She has to eat one every day, and asks all day long to have one. When we first introduced Kristi to Clemmies earlier this month, we sang the song for her, and now she often asks for the fruit by just saying the words to the song. Or else she says, "Clementine. Want clementine. I like clementines." It is so funny and makes us giggle every time!

Kristiana has also been saying "thank you" very often, and it is so endearing. It melts my heart and I feel like all this etiquette I am trying to instill in her is starting to pay off!

I am off to grade final exams for my class...

Merry Christmas

Merry Christmas, friends and family! I hope that you have had a blessed Christmas time, indeed. We certainly have enjoyed being with our families, and we're grateful to live not far from them. That makes traveling to and from gatherings so much easier. It was so much fun to have Kristiana be more involved in Christmas this year. She has loved seeing Christmas trees and lights, reindeer, snowmen, Christmas stockings, presents, ribbons & bows. And we have been reading to her the Christmas story from various story books. She keeps talking about Baby Jesus, Mama Mary and Daddy Joseph. It is precious.

I sang at church on the 23rd - the Angel Recitatives from Handel's "Messiah" and a neat piece called "Rose of Bethlehem." It really helped me to begin to experience the true meaning of Christmas to have that chance to sing about my Savior and Lord, Jesus Christ. When I was in college, we had a Messiah sing-along every Christmas season. The students would audition and sing the solo portions, and the audience would sing-along. It was fantastic! My first solos for the Messiah sing-along were those Angel Recitatives, so anytime I get to sing them, I get really excited, as I have such fond memories of singing them in college. And for me, I really can visualize the whole scene layed out before me...I see the shepherds...I see the fields...and I see the angels! It is really awesome.

The text of the recits is as follows...may it help to bring you into the true meaning of Christmas...

"There were shepherds abiding in the fields, keeping watch over their flocks by night. And lo, the angel of the Lord came upon them, and the glory of the Lord shone round about them. And they were sore afraid. And the angel said unto them, 'fear not! For behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people. For unto you is born this day in the city of David, a Savior, which is Christ, the Lord.' And suddenly, there was with the angels, a multitude of the heavenly hosts, praising God, and saying..."

And then the choir bursts in with this most amazing angelic moment, "Glory to God! Glory to God in the highest! And peace on earth."

What I think I love most about all of that music is that it is so scripturally based, and God makes the words new every time. It is as though they jump off of that score and come alive in the minds and mouths of those singing, and hopefully in those listening to. Handel was so brilliant. I'm glad that God blessed him with such gifts, and that his works are still being performed all over the world today.

New House

Hello there! I'm writing to you from our new house where we've been busily putting away our belongings and trying to figure out where to place everything. It has been a fun adventure so far. Erik has been painting a lot, and things are starting to appear brighter around here! This morning, he started painting our dining room a lovely golden yellow, and it made me smile so big when I saw that beautiful, sunny color! I don't know about you, but I'm really affected by my surroundings. Bright or soothing colors do something huge for my immediate mood. Our bedroom has been painted a similar shade of sky blue as what we had in our old house, and I love it! It helps me to feel calm when I'm ready to sleep. And we're thinking about painting our kitchen red, which I would love. I keep saying "we," but the reality is, my dear Erik is the one doing the painting jobs. AND, we were VERY VERY blessed to have the help of our parents and other family and friends in this process of moving, ripping down old wallpaper & cornice boards, and unpacking things. There is still a lot to do, but this morning I really woke up feeling like there is a light at the end of the tunnel and we're going to get all of these boxes and projects taken care of in due time.

I hope that you all had a Happy Thanksgiving! I made my cranberry cherry relish to share with my family for yesterday's meal and with Erik's family for today's meal. It is always so good along with the turkey!

May God give you His perfect peace today.

Sad...

I just rocked Kristi and sang to her one last time in our home...and I'm so sad! I will miss this house so much. Erik bought our home just after we started dating. I was living away in the south for graduate school and came home over Thanksgiving to see his new house, and that was five years ago! I liked it then, but I really fell in love with it after we got married and I moved everything into our house. Then it started to become "our" place instead of just a bachelor pad with only Campbell's Chunky soups, pizzas, Healthy Choice "microwaveables" (that's what Erik called them), and ice cream to be found. It took him awhile, but eventually Erik started to like my home-cooking instead of just the microwave dinners he was used to. :) On our two year anniversary, we came home from the hospital with our precious Kristiana Joy. And now she is almost 18 months old! She has grown to know and like her house and to feel comfortable here, just as we do. And now, tomorrow night, we will uproot ourselves from this place that we call home...we will go and stay temporarily with family and then move into our new home...which won't feel like our home for awhile. And I am so sad. I will miss this place that holds so many wonderful "first" memories for us...Erik's first home, our first home as a married couple, the first place we celebrated holidays together, the first home for our daughter...such wonderful memories indeed! This home will always hold a special place in our hearts and we will miss it dearly. I'm sure that our next home will also hold special memories...memories that are yet to be made. So, we anticipate that now with joy and yet mixed emotions of leaving this current home behind. I've been praying that this house will be a blessing for the next family that will live here, and that God will use our next home as a place of blessing everyone who enters. For it is He who has provided for us. I have a hard time with change, but I'm learning that "this world is not my home, I'm just a passin' through."

Lots to do!

This is a busy week for us as we move this coming weekend. We loaded a pod this past weekend, and we'll still need to load another pod or a truck this next weekend! I can't believe how much stuff we have, even after we cleaned out a ton of things before putting the house on the market. I'm hoping that we can go through it again as we get settled in our new house, and maybe we can get rid of even more. Erik keeps telling me that just because we're moving to another home doesn't mean I can fill it up with more stuff! Of course the reality is, even if I try to not collect a lot, there will be stuff...kids just seem to attract stuff...big toys, small toys, clothes in every imaginable size, diapers, wipes, blankets, cribs...it is neverending. I try to keep on top of things and go through the clothes every month or so to store the clothes that no longer fit and bring in the new sizes that fit.

Well, back to being a pod person. I need to do some more packing for the pod!