happy Christmas!

my fave ornament since I was a kid :)

our marvelously snowy street!

  

one of our first "married" ornaments - compliments of my sister, Jodi :)

He's nothing like me.

The other day I watched a video my friend Mary had posted from her mom's 50th birthday celebration a couple years ago.
The video was full of happy family moments and kind words about Mary's mom from each of the kids and their spouses.
One of the things said about her was "you have no enemies."
This line has stuck with me over the past couple days.
Could I say I have no enemies?

Rather than let this thought drive me mad wondering "what DO people think of me?!"  I want to use it as a reminder. A reminder of who I represent. For people who don't know the Lord (and even those who do), I'm what they know of Him. I'm His representative and I want to act like Him. I watched the movie "Blue Like Jazz". I'm not sure what I thought of the movie as a whole - but there was a line right at the end that cut me deep. He's apologizing to a friend for how he's acted, how he's misrepresented Jesus. And he says "He's nothing like me". He isn't prideful, He doesn't fall short as a friend, He doesn't struggle to be kind and on and on.

This same theme has been coming up a lot for me these past few weeks. I started a job with our church and one part of my job is cleaning the church. My pride sure made the first couple weeks of cleaning difficult. All I could think of was how I was too talented, too smart and really just too good to be cleaning the church. I thought the task was below me.

But Jesus never acted how He could have. He was (and is!) royalty, and not just earthly royalty, but heavenly, everlasting Kingdom royalty. He got down, on hands and knees, and washed the dusty feet of His disciples. I need His example. I need to look to Him and see how I should behave and spend my time here on earth.

I'm a visual learner/rememberer (nope, not a word). So while these aren't exactly Scripture truths - I think they're good reminders. All found via Pinterest.

work it

I don't like working out. I don't think many people really do.
But lately my workout has consisted of playing Wii Sports and Just Dance.
It's pretty awesome and way more fun than doing Pilates.

it's coming on Christmas

"It's coming on Christmas
They're cutting down trees
They're putting up reindeer
And singing songs of joy and peace
Oh I wish I had a river I could skate away on."
 -Joni Mitchell

I always think of Kathleen Kelly hanging her ornaments and talking about this song. 

My very favorite rendition.

welcome!

Hey friends!
A new blog. Oh the possibilities!
Follow along and we can talk about the goodness of God, photography that inspires us, how great thrifting is, husbands that make us smile and laugh, yummy food, getting crafty, darn good design, quotable quotes (expect many from Star Wars, You've Got Mail & Parks & Rec), home improvements, music and lots of life. I promise to not make my life seem perfect or more magical than it is. :) Let's be real, folks.
  
“We write to taste life twice, in the moment and in retrospect.” Anais Nin