Try Not to be Intimidated...

Today is show off your tree day. Which makes me smile. When you see my tree...you will know why.

Our regular tree happened to be stored in our basement when tiny-town flooded...goodbye fancy flocked tree with pine cones.

Don't cry for me. I wasn't really a flocked tree kinda girl anyways.

I decided this year we would go to the tree farm and cut it down and haul it home, just like we did when I was growing up.

Then reality hit and I remembered I have a certain destructive three year old that I can barely keep up with. The kids and dog are lucky to be watered, I don't know if I can handle a high maintenance tree.

So instead...we went wild this year.

I give you our white tree.

Where are all your ornaments you ask?!? Two explanations.

1. There's a huge box of ornaments in the attic...I may have mentioned before that I'm not all that sentimental when it comes to that kind of stuff...which helps because...


2. they would just get ruined and broken around here. Jake has already pulled the tree over once when he cast is John Deere magnetic fishing pole into the tree and then "reeled" it in. Lucky for him his mama just had to set it back up. Done. I didn't even re-fluff it.

We're fancy around here...what can I say. ;)

If you'd like to link up and show off your tree head on over to Sara at Butterville! Unless, of course, I've totally intimidated you with my fancy tree *wink wink*

Happy Tuesday! (We have a snow day by the way, which is fun, because it's the first one. Don't talk to me about snow days come February, I will likely break into tears.)

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In a Nutshell...

This time of year is absolute craziness around here. Presents to buy, Cards to be sent out (which haven't been done yet), the church Christmas program (which I'm in charge of and have no skills/gifts/talents in this area what-so-ever...I am so not exaggerating), cleaning/regular household stuff, blogging ;),and just general fun stuff!

Usually, this overwhelms me a bit...shocking, I know. But this year, I'm trying to enjoy the madness of it all. Cramming in all the fun, and trying to savor every last second...not feeling guilty.

So what if I've averaged Starbucks three times a week for awhile, it's a precious treat/reward for all my running around. So what if I've put on a few pounds from eating lots of sugar...I've enjoyed every bite, I'll run it off later...hopefully...So what if it's a little more hurried and crazy...it's crazy fun, and this year...I'm choosing to love it.

Here's my festivities from the past weekend:

Friday night was dinner and shopping with some of my Bible study friends:

Kaya, Brenda, April & Trisha

Sarah, Me, Billie & Cecilia

Saturday was shopping & Starbucks with my sister Lindsey...let me tell you, the mall...it was a zoo!

After that was my nephew Gavin's 1st birthday party! Here's the birthday boy:

Apparently the love of sugar runs in the family...check out my niece Maddy ;)After the party we swung by Steve & Barry's because they are going out of business...which is sad...but I got some GREAT deals!Red puffy winter coat, black pencil skirt, boat neck, long-john jammies, 3 dress shirts for Ben, 2 t-shirt:Ben and 20 wooden hangers for $60...Merry Christmas to me, by the way ;)

Sunday night we all decorated the church...and then snacked...because that's what we do.

...and my handsome hubby. Turns out the rest of the pictures I took of people decorating were of their backsides...which I'll refrain from putting on the Internet, cause I'm nice like that.

Today: Cleaning...and hopefully those Christmas cards will address themselves.

Tomorrow: Big snow storm coming.

Life is good.

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Let's Pretend I'm Cinderella...

Can I just say....YAY FOR FRIDAY!

• Tonight I get to go to dinner and shopping with my Bible study ladies...it is sure to be entertaining. In January we will begin the Beth Moore series Living Beyond Yourself and I am so anxious to get started.


• Saturday we're leaving in the morning to travel a couple hours to my nephew Gavin's first birthday party and that trip will involve the same mall I went to back here (when you live in tiny town, you get all excited about going to a big mall...or a town that still has a gas station.) I'm thinking I'm gonna be able to knock out my Christmas list!


• I'm starting Christmas cards today. I've gotten totally lazy this year. Usually I send a short letter to just those people we don't see very often...but that was before blogging. Now...I'm just gonna insert a slip of paper with my blog address and tell them to check it out if they're interested in what's going on...I should probably warn them it's more information then they'd ever want to know ;)

• Don't worry imaginary bloggy friends...I will post the Christmas card picture for you as well...probably along with outtakes because that's what makes it interesting ;)

Isn't my life all fun and fuzzy?!? In case I've deceived you, you should know that before I get to do any of that fun stuff I need to first deal with this:

Oh...it gets better....

Take a wild guess who's responsible for these shenanigans..It's like Cinderella. Except, well....not really.

Cinderella = me

Prince=already married to him.

The ball = dinner with my friends

Evil step mother = 3 year old

Chubby mouse friend named Gus = chubby wiener dog named Odie

Fairy god-mother = vacuum and Mr. Clean magic eraser

You get my point...it's a hard life I lead in my fairytale ending *snicker and a wink*

Happy FRIDAY!!!

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*Insert Eye Roll*

Last night after Bible Club I came home and plopped myself on the couch...it's a routine I have going.

Flipped through the DVR and channels and...nothing. Bummer. So I resorted to the Guide menu to see if anything would be coming on soon...nothing, nothing...and THEN I found it.

It read: Victoria Secret Fashion Show
9-10 PM
PG-13

*Insert eye roll* I had to laugh...out loud. Because THIRTEEN is the precise age that I WOULD NOT want my new-to-testosterone-crazed boy or feeling-completely-awkward & insecure daughter to watch the Victoria Secret fashion show.

For real.

I think it should read: Victoria Secret Fashion Show
9-10 PM
Ages 2 and under.

Just a thought ;)

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My Review *cough*

Yesterday I mentioned that the Twilight series has got me thinking a lot about Heaven.



The books are not meant to do that. There's no hidden meanings or symbolism that I'm trying to draw out...I can barely pick out the symbolism in the Narnia series even though my husband has explained it to me countless times! I just want to share some of the things that have caused me to think about Heaven as I was reading these books. And if you've been reading this blog very long, you already know that pretty much any random thing can trigger another random thought for me ;)



Which reminds me, I need a disclaimer first. Here it is: The following post will in fact give away some of the plot of the Twilight series, if you are or will be reading this and do not want it given away you should leave now...right now. :)



So why on earth does reading about fictional vampires make me think of Heaven?!? Good question. Who knows the answer, I certainly have no idea. But my thoughts on Heaven come from Scripture...not just things I like to make up...which I should clarify, because somethings I do like to make up...like words...I digress.



Here's a few reasons.



There are certain qualities of the vampire characters that make me think about the new perfect bodies we'll be getting in Heaven. Those bodies will in fact be EVEN better than a vampires ;)

• beautiful, perfect, no sickness, no weakness.
• I imagine our senses will all be so much clearer. What we see, touch, taste, feel, hear etc will likely be 10,000x's greater.
• When Bella is changed, she looks different but her dad and Jacob still recognize her. Much like what will likely happen in Heaven.
• Bella, as a human, does her best to try to understand what being in a vampires body will be like...but nothing compares to her actually experiencing it for herself. I think we will be completely blown away at the perfectness of them, things we can't even begin to imagine or understand with our puny little minds.
• The devotion that Edward feels towards Bella, not being able to be away from her makes me think of how relationships will be in Heaven. So closely bonded. And with Jesus...I imagine the desire to be in His presence will be overwhelming.
• Understanding one anothers thoughts clearly.
• The eternal aspect of it. It's hard for me to wrap my mind around eternity. Priorities change when there's no time crunch.
• I think we'll be able to move here and there really quickly ;)
• The vampires have an amazing sense of style...deep, I know.
• And the Cullen's baseball game...I think that's what baseball will be like in Heaven.
• No need to sleep! No feeling tired and worn out.

Ok, I'll stop BUT I do have to say...I'm not big into vampires or vampire stories (although I did go to that one movie with Tom Cruise and Brad Pitt back when I was in High school because seriously those were Brad Pitt's glory days) but this series really does just pull ya in and it's really quite fun to read.

I've heard different critiques of the authors writing style, but I for one, am so not a writer that I can't tell ya anything about what she does or does not do well. All I know is that I just read four big books because...I liked the story and loved the characters. Book #2 got a little long for me...and the 4th one is my favorite. That's all I know :)

PS...

• I do not think we will drink blood...for the record.
• And I hope we're not all pale. This pasty-white-Iowan would like some color...I'm hoping Jesus agrees. *smiles*

This just exceeded my own personal limit on blog post length...I had to skim my own writing. So sad.

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Not Logical...

When I was shopping the other day I ran across a bunch of different notepads. My heart skipped a beat...they were adorable...and for a list lover, they were nearly perfect. I flipped through to find just the right one, which took about half a second.

PRO/CON List it read at the top. Which in my head means, "How to make a logical/rational/responsible decision." Man I love a pro/con list, and the idea of being able to buy a little notepad that already had those two words so cutely typed on it made me giddy! (seriously, that's how easy it is)

There is a pro/con list running through my head pretty much all the time. The advantages/disadvantages of everything I encounter. From the itty bitty decisions to the life altering.

As I reached to pick of one two of those little tablets that I was SURE were created JUST for me I heard a faint whisper in my head.



It went something like this: Seriously?!? You have me, The God of the Universe, who knows every second of your life, from before you were born until the day you take your last breath...and then some, and yet you resort to the pro/con list?!? That's really the best you can do?



Oh the Holy Spirit...He gets me every time...speaking truth, straight to my heart, in a language I understand. Reminding me that my humanness...it slays me. Big time.



I put that cute little notepad down...and walked away.



Just last night I had a situation come up that caught me off guard. I immediately began the list...and then stopped. It didn't matter what the list said. It didn't matter that logically the cons outnumbered the pros, I knew in my heart what my decision should be. It should be yes even though the list says no.



God's power and plans shatter my lists...always. My humanness craves logic and reason...tangible evidence. But my heart...it longs for faith. The kind of faith that steps out of the boat, and onto the crashing waves simply because Jesus said to. It doesn't have to make sense to me. In fact, most of the time it makes NO sense to me...because my mind limits Him time and time again.



Today I'm praying for a bigger vision. Bigger expectations for what God is doing...because He's doing them whether I see it or not...and I don't wanna miss it by being an idiot ;)



...also praying He helps me to miraculously stop making those dumb lists in my head...seriously, A MIRACLE!





*on a completely unrelated note: The Twilight series I've been reading has really got me thinking about Heaven...so more on that tomorrow. I know, I know you're wondering how a book about vampires has me thinking about Heaven and so I must remind you that I am in fact a pastor's wife, which gives me the ability to make ANYTHING into a spiritual lesson...it's a gift, what can I say? ;)

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Dare to Wear is Here

Two little words...skinny jeans.

*gasp* I wasn't quite sure that girls with my curves should wear skinny jeans...but after looking at a few magazines I realized it was totally do-able as long as the proportions were right.

Apparently the key is either long cardigans or something bulkier on top to help balance the butt/thigh region.

Also, and this is key, skinny jeans are NOT (and I repeat NOT) the same as tapered leg jeans. Skinny are skinny all the way down...tapered are just evil and unflattering...all baggy at the thighs and knees and then BAM tight at the ankles. *shudder*

So, here goes.

Skinny jeans with flats:

Skinny jeans with my favorite favorite boots:

*I need to get a full length mirror in an area of the house that

1. has better lighting
2. is void of the gold shag carpeting

To play along (and you know you want to) go to Mama Belle's and link up!!

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