Ancient Paths

I recently had a status update that said I was "feeling disconnected". My dear friend, Sarah, commented that she had been "meaning to talk" to me about something like that. Uh-oh. Yes, uh-oh. Why? Well, because Sarah has the annoying, obnoxious ability been gifted with the ability to call me out on stuff that I need to handle. This...feeling disconnected...is something I need to handle. 


I've been off center. Sarah asked me how God and I were. Simply put, we're not. I'm not sure when it happened, but I haven't been centered in a long time. I've been overwhelmed, mostly with stuff that truly...doesn't matter. So, it's time to re-connect, to find my balance, to fulfill my daily purpose, to seek...ancient paths. 

This is what the LORD says:

   “Stand at the crossroads and look;
   ask for the ancient paths,
ask where the good way is, and walk in it,
   and you will find rest for your souls.

                    -Jeremiah 6:16

I'm not sure where these ancient paths with lead, but I know I must follow them. 

Parents of a Savior

This Christmas, thanks to Pandora, I was introduced to "Joseph's Lullaby" by Mercy Me (you may know them from their hit "I Can Only Imagine"). While there are other Christmas songs sung from the perspective of our Savior's earthly parents, this one struck me differently than others in the past.

In today's hustle and bustle of the "holiday season" (the surge of political correctness frustrates me more than I can tell you), it's easy to overlook the baby Jesus, let alone his parents. However this year, for the first time ever I started to grieve for Mary and Joseph. Maybe it's because the majority of my friends are currently "with child," or because my insides have been in knots wanting a child of my own, or because I'm nearly thirty and actually starting to feel like a grown-up, I don't know, but whatever it is, it's allowed me to ponder the reality of parenting the Son of God.

My best friend, Page, and I have literally spent HOURS discussing the inevitability of screwing up our future offspring. The prospect of how severely I will mess up my children is often the thing that keeps me childless. This season, though, thanks to the aforementioned song, I've thought about Jesus' parents, specifically Mary. In all reality, she was an unwed, teen mom with a reputation charged with raising mankind's Savior. How she got through nine--actually ten--months (thanks for the reminder, Becky)without being a hysterical mess, is beyond me. Yet, she embraced this "gift" from God with remarkable strength. Let me be clear that I believe ALL children are gifts, and yet, if I were Mary (or Joseph), it would be difficult to look past the fact that this gift, this child, my son, was being born to die. The implications of this gift would be impossible to overlook.

As I approach my 29th Christmas (remember that I had one Christmas before I turned 1!), I'm thankful not only for my Savior's birth, but also for his parents. After all, if Mary and Joseph hadn't been who they were, Jesus wouldn't have been who he was and is. And while I miss the Christmases of my childhood, I am equally as grateful to have these Christmases as an adult because the older I get the more able I am to "treasure all of these things and ponder them" in my heart.

Snow day=Play day

This morning at 5:26 am my phone rang. Usually, a call this early in the morning would be either frustrating or worrisome, today, however, I was elated for the wake up call. Although my caller ID didn't register the number, I knew who it was: our superintendent. I'd hoped for this call for hours. You see, this was our view from the car as we drove home from a Christmas party last night.

I told Mike that he should have watched the road through my phone because it actually made the blizzard conditions appear tame. The snow and wind continued through the rest of yesterday, into the night and through today. Because of the treachery, we got a snow day!


I made good use of the day by baking...all day. I tried a few new recipes, a cherry-chocolate cookie, a butter cookie a-la Martha Stewart, and a cranberry-almond biscotti from a new cookbook. 


I was pretty happy with the way the cherry-chocolate cookies turned out. One of my favorite Christmas cookie memories is making "Uncle Butch's cookies" each year. In reality, these were a coconut-Eagle Brand-cherry cookie, but because my Uncle Butch loved them so much, we referred to them as his. I saw a picture of these cookies and they reminded me so much of my uncle's cookies that I had to make them!

I did make a couple of changes to the recipe. Both of them were with the frosting, neither one of them was intentional. To begin with, I was somehow out of chocolate chips, so I used milk chocolate almond bark instead. Then, I incorrectly remembered how much cherry juice to put in the frosting. I compensated with a little powdered sugar, but will be sure to get the proportions right next time I make these. Regardless of the mistakes, they came out fudgey (sp?) and delicious!

In search for a good spritz recipe, I stumbled upon this Martha Stewart recipe which triples for three different types of cookies. I ended up using them for a spritz cookie (below) and a cut out cookie (not pictured). Both turned out well, and I will be adding this recipe to my arsenal. My only frustration was that Martha was right. The recipe is suppose to be blended in a food processor. I thought that I could surely get the same result with my KitchenAid. No dice. I ended up putting my crumbly mess into the food processor (in small quantities because I have a small food processor) and wouldn't you know it? It turned into dough! Apparently Martha DOES know what she's talking about! 

All in all, it was a productive and domestic day. Hopefully you'll try these recipes on your own. If you do, let me know how they turn out! :)

Confessions of a Blog-aholic

While I may still be working on posting daily to my own blog, I have become fully and completely addicted to reading others on a regular basis. I'm kind of crazy about it. It's a recent obsession. It started when I found Make-it and Love-it. While perusing through this amazing blog, I found yet ANOTHER amazing blog...MADE! The obvious theme here is design and crafting. (You can check out my current project, a gorgeous blanket for my soon-to-be here nephew!)


These blogs have taken me to dozens others that I love! I'm grateful for these blogs for several reasons. First of all, I have been craving ways to create. My insides have been aching for the opportunity to let the world see what's going on with me. Who I am, what I love, and what I can do. I've also loved finding these blogs because so many of them are done by stay-at-home-moms (SAHM-- aren't you impressed that I'm picking up the slang?!) who are doing these really great wholesome, innovative, economical, creative, and responsible things with their kids, families and lives. I don't know if I'll actually get to be a SAHM or if I'll even want to once we have kids, but right now, it's my dream...another thing that makes my insides hurt. 


So, keep an eye out for some pretty great blogs from some pretty astounding women, and maybe one day I'll be a SAHM with a rockin' blog of my own with thousands of readers. For now though, I'm happy to be doing a blanket here and a craft there and writing for the twelve of you who follow me (although I'm pretty sure only three of you read regularly). ;)

I'm dreaming of a white Christmas...

We had our first real snow of the Christmas season this past weekend. To say it was wonderful is an understatement. While I love the tingle of sunshine on my skin, the older I get the more I long for the crisp smell of winter. There is something so magical about a snowy Christmas season, and the fact that we got it the first weekend of December was an absolute thrill!

Many of my all time favorite childhood memories come from the Christmas season. When I was little, before my Aunt Lillian moved to live next door to us, she would visit over Thanksgiving. The Friday after gorging ourselves on turkey was spent preparing for "Lillian's Christmas" that Saturday. Even though Aunt Lil has been home for the past eighteen years or so, the tradition of decorating the day after Thanksgiving has remained.

I'm posting pictures from my phone. A point I want to make clear in case my amazing husband actually reads today's post. The truth is I'm getting better shots with my phone these days than with my camera. THAT is why all I want for Christmas is a fairly descent camera! (Michael, if you read this, please note the urgency!)

Our upstairs tree is pictured here. It's pretty much as themed of a tree as I will ever have. I stuck with traditional Christmas colors: red, green, silver, and gold. While I love the eclectic trees I grew up with (so much so, that our downstairs tree has multi-color lights with eclectic ornaments), I always wanted to have a tree that matched. Hello, Type-A personality!

I bought this ornament last year from Things Remembered for our first Christmas together. Not only does it have my favorite picture from our wedding in it, but it also has "For ever. For always." (the inscription in our wedding rings) with our initials inscribed on the opposite side. I love, love, love, LOVE it!

 Knowing how much of a sucker I am for anything monogrammed, my mom got this "S" ornament for us last year. It proudly sparkles at the top of our tree.

 It's a Wonderful Life is one of my all time favorite movies. In fact, if you told me I could only watch two movies for the rest of my life I would choose White Christmas and It's a Wonderful Life. The fact that "Every time a bell rings an angel gets his wings" makes each bell at Christmas a little bit more special for me. This ornament was from my parents as well. A few years ago we went as a family to the Music Box Theater in Wrigleyville to see the White Christmas and It's a Wonderful Life double feature, complete with an organist and sing-a-long. Mom found these ornaments that year and gave them to the three of us to complete the memory.

I am sure to have many more Christmas posts as the season continues. Some of the highlights for this Christmas include holiday shows, parties, and cookie baking. I can't wait to document (with my phone until I hopefully get a new camera) and share this Christmas with you!

May your days be merry and bright, and may all your Christmases be white!

Blessings & Thankfulness

When we were children and couldn't sleep, my mother would have us count our blessings. While I know that her prompting came from a spiritual place, when I grew older I realized that Bing Crosby crooned about this method of evoking slumber in our family's favorite move White Christmas. 

My mother knew that we would run out of sheep to count much faster than we would blessings because my family has always had countless blessings. There are so many things for which I am thankful. This holiday season hi-lighted some of the biggest blessings in my life.

My husband: It makes sense that I would start with Michael. I thank God for him daily, in fact sometimes I thank Him hourly. One of the greatest blessings the Lord has given me is the love of a man on whom I can rely and depend. With Michael in my life, I laugh daily; I continue to grow into the best version of myself; and I have a new family. A family that, for now, is Michael, me, and our sweet puppies. I wake up knowing that I did not settle to be married for the sake of being married. I chose to spend my life with this man because I believe he is the best person for me. Our marriage is not perfect. We work hard to communicate and compromise, but our marriage is happy, loving, and one of the most significant blessings in my life.

My families: Not only was I born into a wonderful, loving family, but I was also tremendously blessed to marry into a family with the same qualities. My brother fell in love with one of my best friends, and now, Becky has been a part of our lives longer than she hasn't been. I have a second sister, and soon, I will have the most wonderful nephew. In the midst of the holiday stress, I am reminded that while so many are alone, I must sometimes choose between all the people who love me. We have our issues, but we move forward and overcome them. 

My friends: There are so many people who have come in and out of my life. While it is hard at times to allow people to leave, I am learning more and more that the ones who stay are truly becoming the family I choose. There have been times that like sisters, we have fought and been petty, yet we have overcome those trials and become stronger as a result. We support one another, and we love one another.

My puppies: It's hard to articulate how much I love my dogs. They are in so many ways my children at this point in my life. When life is frustrating, when times get hard, Bentley and Bruce are always there with wet noses and kisses. They listen when no one else does, and they are ALWAYS happy to see me. 

There are so many other blessings in my life that it's impossible to blog about them all. I have been given more than I deserve so many times in this life. I pray that the life I live is a tribute to the gifts God has give me. I hope others are blessed by me and that there life is better because I am in it and that I am always thankful for all that has been given to me.

 

Apologies...I've been MIA

While I'm sure the only person who is truly sad when I take a hiatus from blogging is me, I'll pretend that more of you are affected by my absence from the cyber writing world. A quick recap of the last few weeks.

5K-The 5K I had been writing about with so much anticipation went well. While I know Michael would have like to run faster, I was happy because I had my best time on 3.1 miles. I know there are more races in my future, but they will not be longer than MAYBE a 10K. I'm not opposed to running more than that in general, but I just don't know how much I really enjoy the race feeling. I could eat my words, but I doubt it. 

Other updates:

Mom is doing as well as can be expected given the situation. Thank you to those of you who have been praying. So often I think we discount that act, but in earnest, I know that it makes a difference. Continued prayers would be appreciated. It's a hard time for my parents right now, and I am constantly convinced that prayer has brought them this far.

My job has been a weird combination of wonderful realizations and scary things to come. For those of you who I talk to on a regular basis, you know that teaching has been a struggle for the past few years. Adjusting to LC was harder than I thought it would be, and I don't think I even really understood it had been difficult for me until recently. Maybe it's finally having my own room, maybe it's the fact that I'm finally feeling secure with the content for my courses, or maybe it's because my first year was an adjustment and my second year was heartbreaking because we watched our beloved principal succumb to cancer. Whatever the reason(s), I didn't feel like me. 

This year has been different. I have relationship with my kids again. I joke with them like I used to. They come to me for regular high school issues (formal dates and too much homework), but also for big, important, scary things ("I'm gay, and I'm scared to tell my mom"). We talk about things that matter to them. I share things with them I wish someone had told me. For the first time in years, I feel like my job matters. And yet...

For the first time ever, I really wonder if my job matters. So much has been happening in the educational politics of my state. The gist of it is  that the state is demanding high results for teachers and kids while neglecting to include parents into the equation. The result is inevitable: standards will be lowered statewide in order to present the illusion of success. With all of these changes, teachers are being encouraged to sacrifice their desire and obligation to foster good study habits, organizational skills, and basic responsibility to decrease their "failure rates." My belief is that while the push is to decrease these failure rates, we're actually failing our kids. We will be producing generations of people who, unless they have parents who foster responsibility, will go into the world as adults expecting information to be spoon-fed to them. It's scary and sad, and I wonder how long I can be a part of the destruction of our children.

Wasn't THAT an uplifting post?! (insert eye roll here) I'll try to be more consistent (even if it's just for you, Bex). With Christmas coming, you may be getting some cooking/crafty posts. Get excited!