Happy Birthday Jesus!

The Birth of Jesus

 ¹ In those days Caesar Augustus issued a decree that a census should be taken of the entire Roman world. ² (This was the first census that took place while^[a] Quirinius was governor of Syria.) ³ And everyone went to their own town to register.
 
 ⁴ So Joseph also went up from the town of Nazareth in Galilee to Judea, to Bethlehem the town of David, because he belonged to the house and line of David. ⁵ He went there to register with Mary, who was pledged to be married to him and was expecting a child. ⁶ While they were there, the time came for the baby to be born, ⁷ and she gave birth to her firstborn, a son. She wrapped him in cloths and placed him in a manger, because there was no guest room available for them. ⁸ And there were shepherds living out in the fields nearby, keeping watch over their flocks at night. ⁹ An angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified. ¹⁰ But the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid. I bring you good news that will cause great joy for all the people. ¹¹ Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is the Messiah, the Lord. ¹² This will be a sign to you: You will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger.”
 
 ¹³ Suddenly a great company of the heavenly host appeared with the angel, praising God and saying,

¹⁴ “Glory to God in the highest heaven, and on earth peace to those on whom his favor rests.”
 
¹⁵ When the angels had left them and gone into heaven, the shepherds said to one another, “Let’s go to Bethlehem and see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has told us about.”

¹⁶ So they hurried off and found Mary and Joseph, and the baby, who was lying in the manger. ¹⁷ When they had seen him, they spread the word concerning what had been told them about this child, ¹⁸ and all who heard it were amazed at what the shepherds said to them. ¹⁹ But Mary treasured up all these things and pondered them in her heart. ²⁰ The shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all the things they had heard and seen, which were just as they had been told. (Luke 2:1-20)

Merry Christmas to you and your family!

Solo Christmas Home Tour

I missed all the excitement with Nesting Place Christmas home tour but all the houses were so beautiful and welcoming that it motivated me to get a few more decorations out and organized.  Most of my decorations are located in one room but in various spots.  But the highlights are:

Stocking on the "mantle" with coffee filter wreath. (ignore the thermostat, I do)

Coffee filter wreath. Thank you Nesting Place for the tutorial.

Side table with background of kitchen. The picture in the frame is from last years Christmas card.  This spot is also where new Christmas cards are collecting. 

Frames just hung, adorned with ornaments.

Ornaments that normally would be hanging on the tree.  But this year an executive decision was made to spend money and time organizing from the move instead of a tree.  I will enjoy my Mom's tree when I get to her house.

The ornaments one picture up and this sign are Glory Haus products, LOVE them!

Fitz and Floyd Frosty Friends pitcher and cookie jar, these guys always make an appearance through the holiday season and usually stay out until the end of January.

The Reason for the Season!

 Merry Christmas!  

2010 Christmas Card Picture

Nacho Cheeeese

Yesterday, in the car on the way to the Decker Challenge, Neal asked me what my mantra was going to be on the hills of the course and guess what came out....Nacho Cheeeese.  The conversation was sort of like this:

Neal: what is going to be your mantra for the hills
me: ignoring the question thinking in my head, I will just run them no big deal.  At this point I was also feeling uneasy towards the race.
Neal: you need a mantra to get you up the hills
me: ignore
Neal: Shit we didn't get your bib out of the other car
20 minutes later after back tracking to get bib and Neal is not fuming anymore

Neal: so have you come up with a mantra
me: NACHO CHEEEESEE (at this point, I am feeling more at ease and getting PUMPED UP)
Neal: is that really your mantra?
me: NACHO CHEEESEE

My reasoning for choosing nacho cheese is not real clear even to me but it worked.   I said it over and over and over and am thankful for Neal's persistence.   If I had taken the time to look at the elevation map before the gun went off I might have talked myself out of this challenge, there were rolling hills, long steady inclining hills and short steep hills.  Nacho cheese was repeated, repeated, and repeated.

When I saw Neal close to the end of mile 11, I yelled out Nacho Cheese!  I was so happy to see him and receive encouragement.  It was a tough run and my quads are screaming today but I was pleased with my time and will leave you with our pump up song that is played in the car on the way to all races!

First Day at TDA!

After a long nine months today is Neal's first day of full time employment at Texas Department of Agriculture.  We have been challenged, tested and shown incredible generosity through this year.  The Lord is awesome with his timing and we could not be more grateful that he has answered our prayers.  We were patient, specific and had an army of faithful servants praying joining us in prayer. 

Rejoice in hope, be patient in tribulation, be constant in prayer.

—Romans 12:12

 

I waited patiently for the Lord;
he inclined to me and heard my cry.  

—Psalm 40:1

 

But if we hope for what we do not see, we wait for it with patience.

—Romans 8:25

WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO for Neal!

Praise the Lord!

Jingle Jangle

That sound is the new keys to my new townhouse.  EXCITED does not even begin to describe my feelings right now.  Since January my home has been one room and bath in a friend of a friends townhouse (room featured here) with half my stuff sitting hap-hazard in a storage unit.  When my main man mover and I unpack all the stuff that I haven't seen since January it will be like Christmas came early. 

My main man mover is experienced, this will be the third time he has moved me in the almost two years that we have been together.  He is awesome and always helps suggests insists getting rid of items that I no longer wear or he no longer wants to see.  Thank you Dude for your moving expertise! 

Leaving Washington D.C for Texas in January 2010

Graduate and Hostess with the Mostess

Finally after five years I am a graduate of The Economic Development Institute.  Typically it does not take five years to accomplish this goal but with my job hopping and then two and half years out of the professional, five years to complete three sessions is the result. The highlight of the butt numbing (literally after sitting in a room from 8-5:30 for days in row, the tush is numb) weeks is always the networking.

This year my EDI friends were all from the dirty South: AL, LA, TN, AR, KY, TX and MS.  There was a lone WY representative that stumbled into our group, but we didn't hold that against him.  As for Kansas City, I am not sure it is the same with 150 economic developers let loose in the city.

The next step in this whole education theme is to study and sit to be a Certified Economic Developer better known at CeCD .  The rumor is you need 6-8 months to study, ohhh so much fun!  BUT at least I have this to put on my resume for now.

After the week in KC, I was off to Cincinnati for the week of Thanksgiving.  Two weeks off work was BLISS!

This year since I was the head cook we incorporated a few new items to the menu.  The bible for Thanksgiving dinner was a special edition Southern Living Easy Entertaining, it got names the book of magic (BOM) because the recipes are that good.  The pages are already worn from all the times this magazine has been flipped through.  BOM features the Pioneer Woman too, it doesn't get any better than PW.

My sister and I were the hostess' this year, well she was the host and I was the head cook/decorator.  It was so much fun to spend all day Tuesday and Wednesday cooking with her (we ate on Wednesday to accommodate travel schedules).  We were so blessed and fortunate to be able to gather as a family even for a short time.  Baby Will even joined us at the big peoples table!

Sister and I only had a few moments when we both were staring at the BOM, asking umm what do you think that means? Let's just do this......  We have one member of the fam with a sensitivity to gluten so we tweaked some of the recipes or choose items that are already gluten free (gf).

Book of Magic 2010 Hits

Brie with Grape Chutney (gf)

Rich Chocolate Tart 

*we made the tarts in a cupcake pan for individual servings and with gluten free gingersnaps

Twice Bake Potatoes(gf)

We also made Cowboy Nachos (gf) on Friday using leftover turkey instead of beef brisket, OH YUM YUM YUM YUM!

 Happy Thanksgiving four days late and hope you survived Monday back to work but at least it was CyberMonday!

The Fabric of my Life.

http://hawthornethreads.com/home

Cut me off!  Hawthornes Threads consumes hours at a time.  All the pretty colors, all the possibilities.  

Pillows, shower curtain, reupholstering, window dressings.

My favorite thing about this site is the color grid.  

I ordered yards of the Henna Garden in Persimmon.

But was also eying  Daisies in Bloom and Large Whimsy Doozie in Aqua.

The hunt for a new condo is in full force so my ideas for decorating are taking over!

I leave in eight hours for a week trip and

things

are

a mess.

Complete with half packed suitcase, overflowing trash can, stacked up mail, half empty (smaller) suite case from previous trip, laundry drying, and stripped bed with clean sheets stacked on the bed.  You do not even want to see what I look like...FRIGHT FULL!

*For the record all was in order before leaving, no one likes to come home to a mess. 

Lizard

Beware if you name your sweet little girl Elizabeth, she might be called lizard or lizard breath....think about it.

Song of the Hour 3: Mumford And Sons - Awake My Soul

Song of the hour: The Band Perry - If I Die Young

Song of the Hour 2: Brooke Fraser - Something In The Water (Official Video)

Sidetracked

 Bill Bryson's A Walk in the Woods,  is still my next book to read as mentioned here, but I have gotten sidetracked with Have a Little Faith by Mitch Albom and Nora Roberts Happy Ever After (book four in the bride quartet).  Yes, I have read the prior three.  Yes, I read them in public and Neal gets embarrassed in the airport, making me hide the front cover.  A-N-D.  Yes, I will be taking a hiatus from Nora for a long time.

Have a Little Faith on the complete opposite end of the book spectrum is an inspiring true story about faith, commitment and struggles.  A couple of excerpts that especially touched me were:

      

Page 144

Remember the only difference between marital and martial is where you put the i.

People expect too much from marriage today. They expect perfection. Every moment should be bliss.  That's TV or movie. But that is not the human experience.

(good thing I balanced out Nora with a reality check by Mitch)

Page 198

The same things in life can be good and evil, depending on what, with free will, we do with them.  Speech can bless or curse. Money can save or destroy.  Science can heal or kill.  Even nature can work for you or against you: fire can warm or burn; water can sustain life or flood it away.

But nowhere in the story of Creation, do we read the word 'bad'.  God did not create bad things.

So God leaves it to us?

I could recite more but I will leave some for you to read.  My recommendation is skip no skim Nora and read/study/memorize Mitch, now back to Bill page 36 to be exact.

Job ramblings..

Today I want to be a machinist but over the years I have wanted to be a:

1.teacher
2. physcial therapy assistant
3. electrician or plumber
4.missionary
5.event planner
6. interior designer
7. real estate agent (i have taken most of the classes)
8. masseuse
9. guidance counselor
10. speech pathologist
11. photographer

Maybe just 10 11 for now, but I have new ideas ALL THE TIME, just ask my Mom or Neal. I see, hear and read about new training and interesting jobs as I visit with different companies in my real job, not fantasy. I think this has something to do with it. 

Today, I met with companies that need technical employees, specifically machinists, hence the first sentence.   It was shocking to hear that companies are not able to find the skilled people that they need to fill position locally and are having to recruit from other states.  Technical schools and community colleges are  "filling the gap" to create new programs and training according to industry needs.  Austin Community College in the next three years will surpass University of Texas-Austin in registered students.  WOW.  If I wasn't a proponent of community colleges before (which I was) I definitely am now.

I think I might just look into ACC machinist program!

Fried+Fair+Football

  In 1952, the Fair’s Mascot “Big Tex” made his debut at The State Fair of Texas.

 

Which runs from September 24-October 17th and has been held yearly in Dallas since 1886.

 

Corn Dogs were invented at the State Fair of Texas in 1942, along with other fried fair, the carnies fry anything and everything.  This year the winner was Fried Frito Pie.

 

(picture from caplanmiller)

The fair mixed with a Texas Tech W-I-N

equals a perfect weekend! 

 Until next year.

*Full Disclosure: The grand total of caloric intake was somewhere around well we lost count around the third corn dog and chicken sandwich and fried cookie dough and beer and nachos and pizza and salad (for good measure)! 

 

 

 

Movies and Popcorn..Kettle Corn

 Josh Duhamel.

I will sing "My Old Kentucky Home"

 Not by myself.

 Don't judge

  Never got around to reading the book.

Most likely not to be seen, but looks interesting.

Who's that sleeping in my teepee?

It's him, it's him.  Pooh bear.  He is an adorable Yorkie who snores and has a small weight problem.  His brother Smokey is also here for the week but he is being bashful.  Happy dogsitting!

Disturbia

Wowza The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo is not joking around with its genre description of crime/mystery novel. It was disturbing! I wanted to stop reading but couldn't put it down. The circles under my eyes are
evidence of the late night reading.  There are two more books in "The Girl" series but I am not ready. I need a break and sleep. I need to go back to reading Nora Roberts at least I am not traumatized by scenes of sadists and woman abuse..geeze. Not want I need to ready before going to bed.  At least there was only one night had to stop reading because I got scared, such a big girl now! The movies are out.of.the.question.  It is debatable if I  read the other two in the series, Lisabeth Salander is quite intriguing though.   I found myself praying for her, she is a fictitious character, yes, I know, but there are girls that have experienced similar things in their life and it breaks my heart.  Really sad.

On a light note: What I really want to know is do Sweds really eat so many sandwiches and Pâté sandwiches at that? Gross me out.  No wonder Miss Salander is though to be anorexic.

On to the next read: It is light and humorous and about hiking the Appalachian Trail.   A Walk in the Woods by Bill Bryson, I see ZZZZZZ's in my future. 

Ole Miss Rebel Black Bear...LAME.

                                             image from The Washington Post


This controversy has been going on for years, I use to answer calls from upset alumni when I worked in the Media and Public Relations office (2001-2004).  Today is a sad day.  Colonel Reb will always be Ole Miss to me.

Black bear and all, I still support The University of Mississippi. You know I can't write about Ole Miss without at least one HOTTY TODDY!

Training for it AGAIN

For the past couple of months I have been wavering on whether or not to go long. Run the distance. Chariots of fire. 26 miles and 385 yards (42.195 kilometers those of you on the metric system). I'm talking about THE FULL MARATHON.

My relationship with marathons in the past has been a bit abusive. 'Twas I, the abused. Full of fun times in the beginning; we were sooooo in LOVE! I just wanted to run, man! A few months into the relationship things began to change, I started feeling some pain. The first time, just in my left knee, the second time a little worse in my left and right knees. Before I know it I am laid up on the coach with two broken bones in my foot and hurt knees. BUT I am back for more. Oprah ran a marathon. P Diddy ran a marathon. Why can't I?

I've signed up for a marathon. Trained for 2 marathons. Finished 7 half-marathons. This time it's different. It's going to take discipline and focus. Early mornings and early bed times. Ice, ibuprofen and lots foam rollering (ouch). I'm determined. The marathon shall be mine.

Now I need to figure out what race to do.

All About Hair

This is the goal "look" for the fall, winter, spring...however long it takes. Let the vitamin popping, milk drinking and ugly middle stages begin!

Counting Sheep

Sanctuary

Lord prepare me
To be a sanctuary
Pure and holy
Tried and true
With thanksgiving
I'll be a living
Sanctuary, for you

When I can't sleep instead of counting sheep, I sing this and repeat.

Dancing's just a conversation between two people. Talk to me

I am channeling my inner Birdee Calvert and breaking in my boots. My Justice Matisse is taking me dancing.

Steals and Deals

Boyfriend tee shirt from Target, must have, only$8 and worth $28. I bought two: black and purple, but I think the white is in my future.

This is the perfect replacement for the Hanes v-neck I run around in and so incredible soft.

In the same trip I scored this water bottle, this is my attempt to be "green." It was $2.50. Hydrate, Hydrate, Hydrate!

Perusing Targe' is one of my favorite past times,
especially for good deals. There are about 100 more items
on my list.

Hello Blogspot.com

Since I write imaginary blog post in my head, I think it is about time to create a blog, write tangible posts and publish for the two guests who visit the site.

Neal aka Duder, will be a guest blogger sporadically, his post will be much more entertaining than mine.

Thank you for reading!

Church #4

Duder and I have been on a journey to find a new church here in Austin. Since making the trek to the Lone Star State, we have visited a number of churches and have liked all of them for various reasons, but we're still searching for that elusive church home. We have been praying and visiting, visiting and praying, even gorging ourselves on Luby’s post-church to discuss our experiences. If you don't know about Luby's, it's kind of a big deal in Texas. Neal will tell you about how anyone who grew up going to church in Texas, you usually went to Luby's (or Furr's) after church. This past weekend we visited Grace360. It's on some prime real estate near 183 and Mopac and we see it often driving around town. It was described to us as "very sweet worship" (emphasis added) and the pastor “brings it” during the message.

Such an accurate description, during the first song I, of course, got teary. It is such an amazing feeling to be among a family of worshipers singing in praise to the Father, releasing the worldly pressure and stress.

The message focused on Trials and Temptations from James 1:2, “Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance.” It was an encouraging message and put a new perspective on trials as it is difficult during hard times to take a step back and recognize joy or the lessons that we are being taught. Moving to Austin has created trails but dude and I know that we are here for a purpose and we are willing to be used in whatever way the Lord has planned for us.

Side note: The pastor referred to the one of the stanzas of the Lord’s Prayer: "And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil."

He said God has created two layers of protection for us, first, deliver us from evil but as humans we are prone to give into temptation, therefore the Lord has a second defense to deliver from evil. If we still put ourselves into tempting situations, the Lord loves us so much he will still be there to prevent evil. Amen. I am so thankful, because I am weak.

The REAL Friday Night Lights (and other football)

High school football in Texas taken SERIOUSLY. Exhibit A. Exhibit B.

We are going to cheer on Duder’s alma mater, Georgetown High School. Eagle Fight NEVER Dies! In the glory days, Duder painted his face blue, wore a big curly haired blue wig and ran the school flag around the field after a TD - needless to say, this is dear and near to his heart. There are even a couple pictures of him all school spirited up on the wall at the Chili's in Georgetown where they have all the "local flare" decor. I thought I would have to restrain him from taking the field, but he behaved very well.

Mental picture for you: It was pageant parents on steroids. Just think intense dad chopping on his gum like it is his job and Mom in a bedazzled Georgetown Eagles shirt who stills thinks she is on the cheerleading team. All this next to the uber proud band parents who furiously waved at their kids as they were about to take the field at halftime.

Downer: Eagles lost a close one.

Upper: We had fun.

V-I-C-T-O-R-Y!

It was a victorious college football weekend! Hotty Toddy and Guns Up! The Red Raiders handled the New Mexico Lobos and the Rebels stomped the Tulane Green Wave.

C-H-O-K-E!

NOT so much for Romo and the Cowboys against the hated Redskins, even with my best attempt at being a cowboy cheerleader - yes I have my own choreographed cheer that is reserved only for my living room.