valentine's

Currently Listening Grey's Anatomy, Vol. 2 By Original Soundtrack universe and u (kt tungstall) see related

:) :) :) :)

i have a new niece....

alexis suzanne gross was born on january 17th, she was 8 lbs, 3 oz, and beautiful.  i am happy.

Currently Listening Rent (2005 Movie Soundtrack) Love Heals (bonus track) see related

nostalgia

ten things i loved when i was 10:

1. "the little mermaid". no kidding. my best friend kylee and i would playing the rocks by my house. we were dang good mermaids. and i watched the movie about 100 times.

2. softball. granted, i was only 10 and had no real talent to speak of, but i loved going out and actually playing. and you got a free ice cream at the 'dairy isle' afterwards. dipped in butterscotch. who could resist?

3. projects. whenever i decided that i was going to do something new, i would deem it as a "project" and make the biggest mess possible. it was fun. i never really finished anything, but i got good and dirty, which is what really mattered. my family still teases me about it.

4. piano. playing piano was still fun for me at this age. i hadn't been whipped by a teacher who only let me play classical music, and i wasn't defiant enough to do otherwise. i was learning that music really was the love of my life, describing the way i feel, the way i move, the way i think.

5. singing. i was a singing fool. whether i sang myself to sleep, sang at church with my sister, in the school christmas program, or in the shower, i sang all the time. not much has changed.

6. eating. food. good. all food good. and then cti ruined "hot dish" for me and life would never be the same. i will never look at a cassarole without thinking "oofda". but i still love food, except vegtables. they don't count.

7. reading. reading is something that has stayed with me throughout the years, whether it was beverly cleary or robin gunn, i was reading a lot at that age. i will always remember "ramona quimby, age 8".

8. motorcycling. my dad has had a motorcycle for as long as i can remember. and i have always been able to ride on it. i remember going to my little league games with my mom, and my dad would meet us there, and then i'd get to ride back with him on the motorcycle.

9. family vacations. every year, since i was adopted, my family has gone up to the same town every summer. since then, we've purchased a house up there and we go to our cabin more often than not, but it all started with my parents tradition of taking us on family vacations. and as much as we argued and wrestled, my brother and sister and i are all closer because of it. a week of forced togetherness can really make a difference.

10. my sister. yes, i love the other members of my family, but when i was 10, my sister was 14 and way cooler than me. she was the girl that i looked up to for fashion advice, school advice, "how-to-deal-with-parents" advice and so forth. she and i are much closer now that we're both out of school and older, but i still go to her for all those things. and i'm glad to know that i can be there for my sister too... :)

Currently Listening Final Straw By Snow Patrol chasing cars see related

Hail!

Hail! to the victors valiant
Hail! to the conqu'ring heroes
Hail! Hail! to Michigan
the leaders and best
Hail! to the victors valiant
Hail! to the conqu'ring heroes
Hail! Hail! to Michigan,
the champions of the West!

Michigan vs. USC

Rose Bowl

4:30 EST

1-1-07

Currently Listening Inside Wants Out By John Mayer comfortable see related

deck the halls...

life has been quite busy since the start of december. christmas is my second favorite holiday, and therefore draining me of most of my free time. i've been involved in my church's christmas program, read the polar express to 6 different groups of children, seen "how the grinch stole christmas" 4 times, and have made an entire gross of chocolate chip cookies. and i am officially done with my holiday shopping and won't have to step foot into another place of retail until after december 25th.

can life get any better? i submit that it cannot!

but my best memory of this holiday season? i'm rereading the harry potter series. ok, i'll admit, it's not as good as a fun day out sledding (no snow, makes it kind of difficult) and it wasn't nearly as eventful as decorating our tree (though my mother and i have decided that pre-lighted trees are not the bee's-knees, as was suggested last year). but, it does cause me to think about the ultimate fight of good versus evil, which is what christmas is all about anyway, right? christmas, in essence, was the biggest step that God took towards fighting the "good fight" for the whole of humanity. yes, people celebrate it in december, when most of us know that the birth of Christ didn't actually take place during the winter months. and there are always those fanatical parents on television who would seriously draw blood for the last "guitar hero" on the self, but i digress.

God set up the nativity story to destroy evil at its very core. had we not had the brave mary, the chivalrous joseph, and the three wise man, not to mention the innkeeper, we would not have the peace of mind of eternal security in heaven, with the One and the Only. i often think of what our world would look like sans Jesus Christ. i envision looking at life as though through a dirty glass window, everything and everyone downtrodden at the mere thought of hope. we would walk around with blank looks and have no joyous thoughts or happy moments. in book 3, the prisoner of azkaban, harry describes dementors as "beings who suck the happiness right out of you, and you fear that it may never return". i think that's what a world without God, without Jesus Christ, would feel like.

at the end of book 5 (bear with me, this is another harry potter reference), a prophecy is told to harry about how the dark lord and the "chosen one" were to always be against each other. neither could live while the other lived. and so, one fateful night, lord voldemort goes after harry, as he thinks that harry is his only downfall, therefore making harry is biggest downfall. satan is like that. he knows that God is his downfall, God will be his end, and in knowing that, he goes after us, those who can make or break him. we have the power to defy satan because we have God in us, with us, surrounding us. we have the hope of everlasting love and life. and it all started with one fateful night...

so, while many of us sip hot chocolate by the fire, open gifts that were (hopefully) picked with love and care, and have yet another evening full of our families, may we remember that life is so much more than that coveted gift, so much more than having snow on christmas morning, so much more than stuffing and pies. it is the very reason that we seek truth, happiness, joy, love, and peace.

merry christmas...