and then there was a party : : kids these days

I hope everyone's having a great Christmas Eve so far!  Mine's been pretty ordinary--I just cleaned up the house.  Tonight we're having a Christmas Eve service that I'm really looking forward to.  I really enjoy gathering as a church family for these special events.  It helps focus my mind on the real meaning of holidays and what is taking place.

I found this retelling of the Christmas story today and love it!  It's so cute.  I hope you enjoy it. :)

Merry Christmas!

John Piper reads "The Innkeeper"

John Piper reads "The Innkeeper" from Desiring God on Vimeo.

The Story of Ian & Larissa

I found this video today, and thought it was really interesting.  These people were really courageous.  I hope you enjoy it!

Everyday's Thanksgiving, Part #37

* photos from weheartit.com

I'm thankful for:

0721. people who smile genuinely

0722. being SO close to being done with my freshman year of college!

0723. going to the botanic gardens with my family on Wednesday

0724. Reese's

0725. cubic art; it's weird, but interesting

0726. salad

0727. smores

0728. finding new, fun places to shop at

0729. a take-home math exam!

0730. this quote:

Do not regret growing older.  It is a privilege denied to many.

-- Unknown

 0731. "How to Win Friends and Influence People" by Dale Carnegie.  I'm going through this book right now, and I think it's just so interesting.  It's really gotten me thinking about how I treat people, and I like what I've read so far!

0731. reading other people's blogs.  I have such a great time.

0732. hashbrowns

0733. journaling

0734. duct tape roses and wallets

0735. Bill Crosby talking about dentists. ;D

0736. getting to visit with my aunt and her mom this week

0737. cleaning out and getting rid of junk

0738. Chloe's artwork...

0739. ...especially the art she makes for me

0740. laughter

weekdate #002

1. Saturday was Chloe's first soccer game!  It was freezing and so windy, but she had a blast, and so did we!  I already posted a bunch of pictures, so I wanted to do some video now.  Chloe's the one in the green with the pigtail braids. :)

2. So often I forget what a huge blessing my church family is, but I was really reminded of it today as some of the women gathered together to pray for a woman having surgery this week.  What a blessing the body of Christ is!

3. My dad's sermon yesterday was amazing.  I always enjoy hearing him preach, but yesterday he was talking about joy (one of my favorite topics), and also about how envy and discontent can steal your joy away.  I was really convicted, but also really encouraged as I was reminded of God's sovereignty and how we find our joy in it.

4. On Tuesday Rachel and I went to see Titanic in 3D with some friends.  I personally don't like the movie--it's sad and also completely based on infatuation--but I had a good time hanging out with Morgan and Corey.

On this first pic I accidentally totally cut Morgan off, but we got it right on the second one. :)

5. Today I've been listening to Piano and Rain.  Goodness gracious, is there anything more relaxing?

6. Friday night my family and I went to the birthday party of a man at our church.  It was so much fun!  We laughed so much.

7. I've been taking Chloe on a bunch of walks because the weather's been so nice.  We get to talking about a wide range of subjects.

8. I have my first finals next week, and soon I'll be done with my first year of college!  It's honestly unbelievable.  It's gone by so fast.

These last two are killing me...can't think of anything!

9. Saturday night I went to a classical concert with Rachel for her school assignment.  I had to go to one with her before and it was awful because I almost fell asleep (classical music can be really exhausting).  However, this concert was a lot better because they didn't dim the lights and it was shorter.  I actually enjoyed some of the music!  Although I still think the best thing about classical concerts is when they're tuning their instruments; I think that sounds better than the actual songs.

10. This week I made the decision to sponsor another child through Compassion.  Her name is Majoie, and she's five years old.  I'll try to do a complete post about her and Djamsel once I get her information packet.  I'm just so excited to learn more about her!

weekdate #001

weekly + update = weekdate!

I always have things happen throughout the week that I want to blog about, but they're just too little to make a post about.  So I've decided to start doing these "weekdates" every Monday, if possible, talking briefly about 10 things that happened over the week.  I think it'll be fun!

1. This week Rachel and I went to Garcia's for dinner after school.  ^ this is what I had ^.  It was so good!

2. Work has been really great these past few weeks.  We have new crew that are being trained, and it's more fun with new people.  I'm trying to be as welcoming as possible; I know how scary it is to be new!

3. I've been giving Titus (my beta fish) a hard time lately.   Whenever I feed him he gets really excited, so I decided to try and see if he would follow my finger around his bowl.  Well, he did, but I think he thinks I'm an enemy because he gets all puffed up and tries to make himself as big as possible.  It's pretty funny.  I tried to take a video of him doing it, but it's terrible quality.  Hope you can still see it okay!

4. I've been going on a lot more walks lately, and trying to jog some.  On Saturday I jogged farther than I ever have before!  I almost died, but I'm so proud that I could do it!

5. Easter yesterday was great.  We didn't have a sunrise service, but the regular service was great.  Afterwards we had our first Seder Supper (it's like the Passover meal) and then a big potluck.  It was so much fun!  Then we came home and almost all of us took naps before we did Easter baskets and had an Easter egg hunt for Chloe.

6. I took my 4th Spanish exam--my last one before the final--and did tons better than I expected.  I also got a math test back and did really great.

7. The weather's been iffy this past week.  On Sunday it was around 70 degrees, and then Monday night we got a foot of snow.  It was all melted by Tuesday afternoon, and since then it been a lot warmer, but still a bit chillier than it was before.

8. I've actually been making friends at school, which is a lot different from last semester when I would just talk to people once and then never speak to them again.  This semester is a lot better!

9. Only four more weeks of school!

10. I love clearance. :)