It's the most WONDERFUL time of the year!

Christmas day is almost here, only two more days of work this year. Many of you know that I have been going to school for my elementary teaching certificate. I have recently decided that one of the main reasons that I have chosen this as my next profession is for the vacations and holidays. Now don’t get me wrong, I’m excited about it for other reasons as well and have enjoyed my training thus far, but not having to worry about working on Christmas or Thanksgiving is a colossal plus in my book.
So, since it’s almost Christmas, I’ve decided list a few of my favorite things… you know, brown paper packages, whiskers on kittens, and whatnot.
1 – I love how nice people are at Christmastime. People generally are a little more giving and kind this time of year. Although there are still those crazies that trample each other in the store, but when there are people who really have the spirit of Christ in their hearts and their lives it’s almost tangible.
2 – The yummy treats! How many times a year do you get to make decorations out of candy?!?! We build gingerbread houses. We put candy canes on the tree. We give and receive plates of fudge and sugar cookies and homemade candies and everything else to inspire a diet related New Year’s resolution.
3 – Spending time with family. I love my family and now that we are all “grown-up” we don’t get to see each other very much. But this time of year we all try to make that extra special effort to get together…even if it’s only for a couple of days.
4 – Presents!!! Of course I like to receive gifts, but my favorite thing is trying to find or make something that I know will be perfect for someone else. This year I actually started my shopping in August (it seems a bit extreme, but it has really helped my finances this year).
5 – Christmas music. I know most people really enjoy Christmas music. There are even many of you out there who fanatically start the Christmas music the day after Halloween (I’m thinking of you my dear sister-in-law) or even listen year round. I am not one of those people. I do have a little rant about the “socially conscious” Christmas music. Don’t try to use the holiday to push your social cause on me! Although they are fine causes I’m sure…I just don’t particularly care for songs by “Band-aid” or about war and other social stuff. Maybe that is shallow, but I don’t want to hear about how there is no snow in Africa…is there ever snow in Africa?

Mostly I’m grateful for my Savior Jesus Christ. This is a great time to reflect on the greatest gift of all, the gift of our Heavenly Father’s son. I hope you all have an amazing Christmas full of miracles!
Happy Christmas to all and to all a good night!!!

Meet my arch nemesis...

So, after some confusion I’ve decided to post for you all to know why Mark Ronchetti is my arch nemesis. Okay, it really isn’t to that point yet…but in all actuality I do blame him for most everything. The animosity that exists between us goes back quite a long way…to at least a year ago. Let me begin by explaining that part of my genetic make up is not to be a morning person (I’m not actually a night person either…I’m more of a late morning/early afternoon person, with a second wind between 7-9 pm). Well last winter I grumpily rolled out of bed and headed to the bathroom for my normal shower routine. En route to the bathroom I usually pass by the big window in our front room…as was the case the morning of the first incident. Well, glancing out the window I noticed about seventeen feet of snow (It may have actually been anywhere from a light dusting to a couple of inches for all I knew in my befuddled morning brain…but for the sake of accuracy I will stick with my initial assessment of seventeen feet). My very first thought when I noticed Mother Nature’s wet wintery contribution was, “Stupid Mark Ronchetti…you ruin everything.” As soon as the thought passed through my mind, I laughed aloud realizing the fact that I couldn’t really blame the weatherman for the snowy day…or could I? Well, needless to say from that time forward I began to notice how much his rosy cheeked-guy smiley-grinning face annoys me. Honestly, whenever his face appears on the TV, I have to change the channel and the thought always comes…stupid Mark Ronchetti, making me change the channel…or stupid Mark Ronchetti, you don’t know...or something to that effect. Now it’s kind of an ongoing joke amongst many of my cohorts. In fact, last week we had two full days without power…I’m pretty sure that Mark Ronchetti was behind it. Okay, I suppose it’s a bit irrational. But if you have a scapegoat…why not use him?!
Anyway, we are surviving this week of snow just in time for Christmas. Other than the driving in it and freezing temperatures, it does put one in the Christmas spirit. It has taken awhile for me to really get into the swing of things but I now finally feel that familiar excitement for my favorite holiday. Our tree is up and decorated…although we decided to put it smack dab in the middle of the room this year…just because we can!!! On Sunday we took some young women and went over to an older lady’s house to decorate her tree. It was quite an experience…she wanted to put everything on a little tree. Her tree is definitely decorated now…in fact I don’t think there are any more branches left to decorate. That and the fact that her little dog peed on one of the girls made for an interesting afternoon. Oh the joys of Christmas. There are so many things I love about this time of year…what are some of yours?

My First 29th Birthday!!

No, I’m not dead…I was just in Utah. You draw your own conclusions. Shout out to all my Saltines!!! (That’s what I’ve decided to call you people from Salt Lake…I almost went for Lakers but it was a little overdone plus with the Saltines there’s a fun kind of cracker reference in there…it’s great on several levels) It was a blast and I got to see several of my good friends, my favorite big sister, my favorite brother and their families. Got to do the whole temple square light fun (we spent more time finding a place to park than actually at the lights but oh well) and several other Utah-type experiences. Way fun!!! Can’t wait to do it again in 3 short weeks!
Well, for those of you who don’t know….HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO ME!!!! Yep, it’s that time of year again! (I totally just had a drug rep guy come in and tell me that it is also some catholic immaculate conception day and explained the meaning of it, which I kinda already knew…it was a little strange and uncomfortable.) So I thought I would share some of my sage wisdom and things I’ve learned now that I’m at a ripe old age (I’ve shared some of these with you so if you’ve heard this before…I must really mean it)
- You can go a lot further than you think you can when your gas light comes on. (This is one I learned literally this weekend, but I think it also has figurative layers there too…I’ll let you dissect that one for yourselves)
- Adolescence should be termed a mental disorder (Seriously, the pre frontal lobes of the brain don’t fully develop until a person reaches their late teens/early twenties which causes all kinds of impulse control issues and other problems. Looking back at my teenage years from a distance now and having several teenage acquaintances, I have to think of it as a mental disorder in order to keep my own sanity….which is somewhat connected to my next point…)
- Even if someone else’s problem seems insignificant or stupid to you, it’s still a problem for them…which is probably why it’s their trial and not yours. I think we all come across this in teenagers (see above mentioned mental disorder) as well as in other people where they are going crazy over something stupid or insignificant (which everyone may know is stupid or insignificant and which the person may one day look back and think of as stupid) but it doesn’t make their anxiety/pain/stress/problem any less real. I think we all need to realize that a little bit more and have a little more compassion for each other’s trials (even if we think they are stupid).
- Life isn’t made of checklists (although it would probably be easier if it was). I think we have all heard the saying “if you want to make God laugh, tell him your plans”. Even though it’s painfully difficult sometimes, we don’t always get things in the order or at the time we think we should.
- When in doubt, blame Mark Ronchetti (This is one of those ones that most of you have heard me rant about before and I can pretty much pinpoint the decline of western civilization to him. He’s our local weather man…and he ruins everything).
So tell me some of the things you’ve learned so far…and go out and celebrate wherever you are!!!