A Christmas Carol

My favorite book of all time is A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens. It was originally published in 1843, but somehow this story has stood the test of time with a message that is as vital today as it was when it was first printed. I remember my dad reading this story to my mom, sister, and me when I was young. Since then I've read it at least 5 more times. I've seen most of the movie versions including animated, real, and puppet. They are all really good, but believe it or not I think my favorite version is the Muppet version with Kermit the frog.

My favorite part of the story is when Bob Cratchit has just returned home from church with tiny Tim, and his wife Martha asks him how Tim behaved.

"As good as gold," said Bob, "and better. Somehow he gets thoughtful, sitting by himself so much, and thinks the strangest things you ever heard. He told me, coming home, that he hoped the people saw him in church, because he was a cripple, and it might be pleasant to them to remember upon Christmas Day, who made lame beggars walk, and blind men see."

I'm sorry folks, it just doesn't get any better than that. No wonder Scrooge was so touched! How can anyone create a better character that so much embodies what we should be mindful of at Christmas and throughout the year!

Our family had a great Christmas, I hope yours did too.

Shoes Shoes & more Shoes

Like many of you I got so busy in December getting ready for Christmas, visiting with family, and work that I didn't have any time to read or write any blogs. I'm just going to pick up where my camera memory left off. At the first of December, or the 2nd night of Hanukkah Jon & I went to the Cable One advertising Christmas Party at The Ace of Clubs house downtown. Jon & I both remember going to the historic house as small kids on school field trips, but this was the first time we have gone back as adults. The house is built in the shape of a club because the man who built the house won the money to do it in a poker game. When I was little all of it's curved walls and funny nooks and crannies fascinated me. The thing I really enjoyed seeing was the enormous shoe collection that the lady of the house, whose name escapes me, had. I enjoyed taking pictures of them. I can't tell you how many pairs of Ferragamo shoes that woman had. The museum curators only recently put all of the shoes on display. Jon & I both remember them being in boxes stacked up to the ceiling when we were kids. The family also had a lot of railroad money, and wife had a serious shoe fetish. She used to sit in her bed, and Neiman Marcus would come to her house with models so she could shop while sipping her coffee & looking at the newspaper. I have a feeling she would have appreciated the invention of online shopping! These pictures are just a few of her collection.

6th Anniversary Weekend

I think that for our 6th wedding anniversary we did the most fun thing that we've ever done as far as anniversary celebrations go. We went to the Snoopy Ice show at the Gaylord Texan Resort in Grapevine, TX. Everything is made of ice that is hand carved by Chinese stone sculpture artists. The whole thing is in a tent turned freezer & they give you parkas to wear. Snoopy was one of mine & Jon's favorite cartoons when we were growing up (back when it was actually worth it to get up & watch cartoons on Saturday mornings!). What's funny is that both of our favorite was Garfield... you never know maybe they'll do a Garfield Ice show some Christmas, since they have a different theme every year. It was really fun, & we've already decided that one day when we have kids we are going to take them as many years as we are able to as a sort of family tradition.

Jon getting up from the big ice slide. He almost didn't do it, but I made him... you can tell from the look on his face I think he was glad I made him. I did it first, & being the kid at heart that I am I would have done it over & over if I could have :)

The Nativity made out of ice was enormous, and the pictures just don't do it justice! It was beautiful!



I thought the Christmas tree made out of wine bottles was really neat. It was so big!
The little house is actually made out of 800 sheets of real gingerbread baked by Duncan Donuts. It smelled so good, just standing near it!

Here we are eating our dessert at The Oak Room restaurant inside the Gaylord. I had a delicious creme brulee' and Jon had these little chocolate muffin things with raspberry and chocolate sauce.

We also got to visit the Dr. Pepper museum in Waco before we went to the OU vs. Baylor game!

What's going on in our neck of the woods?

I haven't really had any time to blog lately because we have been so busy. This morning Jon & I were up bright and early to be one of the first church groups to drop off our Operation Christmas Child boxes at the Rose Hill Regional Collection Center. We are so excited that Trinity Presbyterian has gotten on board with this wonderful outreach ministry. Last year was our little church's first year to put together boxes, and we had 82. This year was our second time to do it, and we had 128 boxes! I just can't tell you how pleased I am that it has been such a success!
This was my 10th year to be involved with filling shoe boxes. It has been a wonderful tradition in mine and Jon's house that we have been doing together since we first got married. Jon & I got married November 19, 2004, just a week before our church at the time collected the boxes. Like most newlyweds who are still in school, we didn't have a lot of money, but as soon as we got back from our honeymoon, we went out & bought our first Christmas Tree & 4 plastic boxes, 2 we filled with boy toys & the other 2 with girl toys.
Speaking of our wedding date, you might have noticed that Jon & I are just a few days away from our 6th anniversary. How does it happen so fast? WOW!
So, in honor of our upcoming anniversary I will tell you the best part of our marriage is the way we always have something to laugh about with each other. These are 6 of our all time funniest moments!
1. A few years ago on our way back from South Padre we had a flat tire & Jon got so sweaty putting the donut on that he took his shirt off. We get down the road about 10 miles, & come to a US citizen check point. Lots of the cars are just being waved through, but we got asked to stop. The border patrol looks at us & asks Jon if he is an American citizen (yes I know that my Italian husband looks Mexican when he is tan). Jon's immediate response, "Si!" Oh my goodness! I almost killed him! I think the officer could tell by my face that someone was about to get it, so he waved us on through. It wasn't funny at the time, but now it is one of those things we crack up about.
2. In the middle of a conversation about kid names I had a blonde moment & said, "If you're going to call a boy Dick, then don't name him Robert!" (I don't think that one needs any further explanation)
3. On that same previously mentioned trip to South Padre we were riding along, and out of no where Jon just blurts out, "Ocean fish have teeth."
4. One day I decided to take up the tile in Jon's bathroom. Without having a clue what I was doing I took a hammer & went to pounding the old porcelain tile up to dust! I had gotten about 3 square feet done when Jon came in to find me in a cloud of dust with a really bad hurting elbow. I soon learned there was a much easier way to get up tile that didn't even create a lot of dust.
5. We were looking at Christmas trees in Target, & Jon said, "I like this one, look it has Coney Maronies on it!" (pine cones)
6. On the 4th of July just after we moved in our house & we hadn't gotten the carpet up. I had the "Brilliant" idea to light a sparkler in the living room.... I'd seen it in a movie OK!! Well one of the sparks hit my hand, and I dropped the Sparkler & singed the Carpet right in front of the fireplace. Jon was watching the whole episode completely stunned because he couldn't believe what his pyro wife was doing!
& 1 to grow on...
Last night I had to stop Jon in his tracks because he was about to spray his toothbrush with Lysol! He thought that since he's been sick he needed to disinfect it. Luckily I got to him just in time & introduced him to my bottle of Listerine that I use to soak my retainer in.
We may not have it all together, but together we have it all!

Christmas in July

I painted this pail of candy canes for fun last Christmas.

Christmas is my favorite time of year. Every where you go things are bright, shiny, and festive. This year I'm starting to think about it a bit earlier than I usually do for a very special reason. I'm talking about Operation Christmas Child! I have actively participated in operation Christmas child for almost 10 years. A couple of years ago we felt we called to leave the church I grew up in (Beech Street First Baptist- Mike Huckabee used to be the minister there, and he is the one who baptized me when I was almost 9). We are now members of Trinity Presbyterian which is a much smaller church, but last year I was able to help introduce Operation Christmas Child and we were astounded by the response. Everyone I know has gotten involved. Next Sunday our church is going to be having Happy Meal lunches so we can all put the toys into our collection pile to get it all kicked off. Operation Christmas Child is an awesome ministry. If you aren't familiar with it, you pack shoe boxes with toys, toiletries, and school supplies. Each shoe box is delivered to a child living in the poorest parts of the world, and they are given a book in their own language that shares the story of Jesus. For most of these children it is the only gift they've ever received. I've heard stories about children whose entire families get excited about a bar of soap and a tooth brush. Operation Christmas Child has been able to go places that no one else can go. Even North Korea has allowed this ministry to enter their country. If you've never been apart of Operation Christmas Child I encourage you to. It is such a blessing to be able to reach out and make a difference in someone's life with a simple gift!