Mas Christ

One of my favorite parts about Christmas is the word itself. It says so much to me. First you've got Christ, there's no CHRISTmas without Christ. Plain and simple. People try to put an x instead of the Christ part, but apparently they have no idea the joy, love, and peace they are missing out on. No shortcuts, Christ is the reason we have this wonderful day full of family and fun and for most of us no work. The second part of the word, mas, well it takes me back to my Spanish days. Mas means more. So this leads to the question...

Are you making more room for Christ in your life, in this time where the holiday name itself screams of God's love for us?

A Thankful Heart

A thankful heart is something I hope I have. But then Thanksgiving rolls around and I realize how much I take for granted. How much I have and not only have, but have in abundance. I don't want to just stop and reflect and thank God for these things once a year, I need to do it more often. But you have to start somewhere, so here's a little bit of my list.

-God who loves me enough to save me.
-Family who is always there for me no matter what to give me love and support.
-Friends who choose to put up with me.
-A job that I can support myself with.
-A house that I can live comfortably in.
-Food in abundance, I never wonder when my next meal is coming.
-Washing machine, I can't imagine doing laundry by hand.
-A car that gets me where I need to go.
-My church where I can get involved.
-Nutcrackers because they make me smile.
-Ipod to wake me up so I don't have to have a beeping sound.

There are so many things I have been blessed with: people, places, things, and love. Thank you God for You make all thing possible.

A Name For a Nutcracker?

So I'm pretty good at stating the obvious, so that's what I'm going to do just now: It's been awhile since I last posted. Several months in fact. Leads me to wonder what I've been doing with my life. And maybe if you're reading this you are wondering too.
I recently went on a vacation with the parents and got to see some extended family in Wisconsin. Also my aunt gave me a huge nutcracker as pictured below:

Yes, I believe this is quite awesome, but am still trying to figure out a name for him. I feel it needs to be something regal.

In other news I have been helping at my church with a time called Alpha. I help with the kids. It has been a great and wearing experience for me. But in the end I do love kids. And one little thing can make it all worth it. Such as a kid asking you to sit by them during the story. Here's why this was so heartwarming for me...this is a kid who I am constantly telling no and trying to make behave, who always had trouble listening to me, and now he wants to play with me and sit by me and misses me when I'm gone. It's so amazing to see God working in such a way.

And recently I have been learning how to accept help from others, allowing God to use others to help me in my life and understanding I can't do everything on my own.

I am also excited about the recent start of basketball season. Rock Chalk!

i never thought...

so i never thought i would be so excited and so happy to go back to mac. but i did and i was, it was on of the best weekends ever.

two really amazing people got married...doug and staci jackson!

friends were reunited who hadn't seen each other in 3 years (this is what johnny calls the default pose)

people sang their hearts out on the way to hutch

a tradition of a trip to wichita was upheld

i caught the bouquet, and justin the garder, we all know what that means...

and of course...lizkhristinnoni

it was just like freshman year all over again.

Focus

Every once in awhile, believe it or not, I get serious. It doesn't happen often, I mean life is just too short and there's so much to do. So I try and find the humor and laughter and joyness in everything I do. And because of that, I do love life.

But for those of you who know me, you know that since about last October I have been dealing with a shoulder issue. One in which I have done physical therapy, gotten shots, and taken anti-inflammatories for. There was a short period of time where it was better and I was feeling good, not doing my exercises, simply because I forgot, and I thought it was all better. And then I overdid and my arm got yanked around a little bit and pain came back in full force.

So I've been takin it easy on the right side, and last Friday night I was with some friends at a worship event called Overflow in Topeka. It was awesome, but as we started singing my shoulder begin to hurt and I thought this isn't the time, I can't go take anything. And then I decided I was giving it to God, not just the "ok God it's yours," but the "I know You are God and can do anything, I'm taking my focus off of me and my arm and putting it on You." And my arm stopped hurting the way it had been, and I was able to fully focus on worshiping the Great Healer.

Now I'm not saying I still don't have to do my part and continue to strengthen my shoulder and take care of it, but I am saying, I know He's the one who Heals and I know He is working on me.

So praise God for answered prayer!

Bring Noni Cookies Day!

That's right, today was another famous Bring Noni Cookies Day. It all started one day when I was at work talking to my friend at the front desk. And I flipped her calendar to the next day and said "Hey, guess what tomorrow is." And I literally made her guess and then I said, "it's Bring Noni Cookies Day!" And wrote it on the calendar. This first, second, and third ventures went much this way and were unsuccessful. So the next time I tried I went up to a couple other people I work with and said, "hey guess what tomorrow is." I made them guess and and then told them it was Bring Noni Cookies Day. And then Pat (the orange note) brought me cookies that next day. It made me smile. And yes I did share my cookies. So I tried it again with Erin (the one with the calendar at the front desk). And that was yesterday. I said, "hey guess what tomorrow is" and she knew this time and said, "Bring Noni Cookies Day." And I was impressed, she had me pegged. And so I got cookies today. Both were delicious.

There are a few unspoken rules to Bring Noni Cookies Day. The first is that I have to tell them, make sure it's known. Also it has to be after payday so the cookies/ingredients can be bought. Also you have to make sure you remind those people who are to bring the cookies that Bring Noni Cookies Day is coming up, making sure they put it in their phone/iPod touch/calendar. And then we all enjoy the cookies.

And so you know for the next Bring Noni Cookies Day, which is to be determined, I like all cookies except oatmeal raisin and ones with coconut.

It's been almost a month

That's 1/12 of the year.

Currently I am eating a bag of baby carrots. For some reason they just taste really good. And I like them a lot, hopefully I don't turn orange. haha

Also it is lawn mowing season once again. Oh the joy of being woken up on Saturday and Sunday mornings to lawn mowers. And getting to hear them all day long. But the yards do look good. And in mine I have some random flowers, apparently the lady who lived here before my bro planted some random flowers. And upon discussing this with other people I have learned that maybe there was some sort of a reason where they were planted, but moles like to take bulbs and move them. So maybe that's why they seem random. But I do kinda like to think of an old lady living here and just deciding to plan those flowers right where they are, and probably with a big ol' smile on her face.

I have recently honed my painting skills, or maybe actually developed some painting skills. What I did learn is that primer is harder to get off your skin than the actual paint. It also does not go on as well as the actual paint. And the second coat makes the room look way better.

I also learned what a growler is. It's 64 oz of fresh brewed goodness. I've never had such good root beer. I got it from the Blind Tiger in Topeka, good stuff.

And since the dryer just finished I'm actually going to fold the laundry so it doesn't sit there for the next week or two.

daylight savings time....boo

so i've decided i don't like daylight savings. it just makes people tired and cranky. and when i wake up to get ready for work it's still dark out. i'd rather have light in the morning and dark at night, the way it was meant to be.

on a happier note...
i did make a grocery list tonight. i haven't done this for awhile. so hopefully my grocery shopping tomorrow will be more productive than when i just wander through the store buying what appeals to me at the time. for example last time i went grocery shopping, two weeks ago, i bought some asparagus, it's still in my fridge, i think it's still good, but i've never bought or made fresh asparagus so i really don't know.

also i recently got a wii fit. so fun. i really like ski jumping. and i think it would be hilarious to watch someone else play it.

other exciting news...
i have been counted. i filled out my census form despite the annoying letter they sent me the week before telling me to. anybody else get that letter, that's funny stuff. a piece of mail telling me they're sending me a piece of mail.

wonderful weekend

saturday i had some of my cousins over for lunch. then we hung out and played some wii. bowling went pretty well...but not so much the golf.










sunday morning i missed a call. upon checking the voicemail it was someone speaking to me in spanish. listening a little more i found that is was spanish prof from college, her ministry team, the wadi walkers, were performing in manhattan at 11. so i went. it brought back some good college memories. and i got to see one of the girls i often hung out with last year. it was a small but friendly church and the performance was great. yay central!



then i went ice skating with some people from my life group. it had been awhile since i last went, but i did pretty well. didn't fall. i think my favorite part was a kid who kept skating full speed into the sides. he looked up and said, "i can't stop very well".

lights meeting on the road

for several days now i've been wanting to write about this.

when i first started driving i particularly enjoyed driving at night uphill approaching someone. because when i did sometimes i would see what i call the lights meeting on the road. this is when you can clearly see where your lights end on the road and where the approaching cars lights end on the road. and between these two points there is darkness. and suddenly you can see the lights come together. the darkness disappears. i find this so cool.

i tell many people about this while riding with them, but few actually see it. so next time you're driving at night uphill and approaching a car see if you can see it. it's pretty cool. and i hope the small things in life bring you joy.

ground hog day

so every year on this day people look to a little furry animal to find out if spring will soon arrive. a ground hog has everyone's attention. however, if ya think about it, we're in kansas, and it's febraury, that means spring isn't coming soon. it doesn't matter what the ground hog sees or doesn't see, the weather will never be predictable here. but i'm glad we have a ground hog to tell us, aren't you?

the laundry process

so i've come to find that laundry is a several step process for me. so here are the steps i go through, which can take up to a week to get completely through.

1. motivate myself to do laundry.
2. start running out of clean clothes.
3. find a free night and put clothes in the washer.
4. then put them in the dryer, doing approximately 3 loads total.
5. motivate myself to fold the clothes.
6. fold clothes
7. actually put the clothes away when i can't stand to look at them any more.

i realize this is not the most efficient process, but of all the things i dislike doing, laundry tops the list.
and so tonight i'm hoping to accomplish steps 5-7. step 1 started sometime last week so i'm right on schedule.

fog

now usually i don't mind the weather, especially when it's winter. but this fog is crazy! i got up this morning and drove to work in the fog. then drove to clay in the fog after i got off work. then drove home after a haircut and supper with the parents, you guessed it, in the fog.

and what did i learn...well it's kinda stressful to drive in the fog for an hour at night. also i can't imagine driving in thick fog on a road i'm not familiar with, by thick i mean i solely relied on watching the white line beside me to drive and maintain my lane, no looking ahead. that would be very intense to drive on unfamiliar roads at night in the thick fog.

but praise be to God, i made it home safely.

also i've heard it said that snow comes 90 days after fog. so let's find out if this is true. 90 days from today is april 18th. bring on the snow!

shallots and capers

so i decided that this afternoon i'd cook something for supper. so i pulled out the new cookbook and started looking. found a recipe for lemon chicken pasta toss. i decided to make it, but unlike the last time i tried to cook something i would make sure i had all the ingredients i needed and use them.

and so i wrote out my list of what i needed thinking i was pretty sure i knew what everything was or at least had a general idea of where i could find what was on my list.

i was at wal-mart, thinking that shallots were some sort of mushroom type thing. come to find out, i was wrong, so very wrong. i had no idea what shallots or capers were. so as any young person would do, i called my mom. i'm sure i gave the fam quite the laugh.

so i found out they didn't have what i wanted and moved on to hyvee. there i see a sign that says garlic (another ingredient i needed, but of course i knew what this was). and what do you know, right beside the garlic is a sign that says shallots. so one ingredient down, one to go.

i searched the store and found pickled capers, but wanted to know if there were regular ones, cuz as we all know pickled stuff tastes a lot different than regular stuff. so i called my mom again. while on the phone i must have been speaking fairly loudly cuz a hyvee employee comes up to me with a bottle of capers. so i tell mom i'll call her back. and ask the guy if these are the only capers they have. they are and so i buy them, successful in my mission.

and so i now know what shallots and capers are, and where to find them in hyvee. it was an exciting day.

mail

so today was the first day i checked my mail all week due to the extreme cold temperatures. and apparently this was the week everyone decided to send me stuff, cuz there was a lot crammed in there. as i was heading back to my car a little was heading to check her families mail and she got wide eyed when she saw my stack and said, "you got a lot of mail." i chuckled and said, "yeah, it's the first time this weeks i've checked it."

oh to be young again and enjoy the simple things in life, like getting mail. and so i enjoyed opening every single piece of mail i got(even the ones from sallie mae, the bank, and insurance companies), smiling the entire time.

so remember the excitement of getting mail as a child, and try to find that same joy once again in your life!

snow packed

one of my favorite things ever is getting in my car with all the windows covered by snow. it's almost magical. it's so peaceful.

also i discovered the greatness of hot wing pizza. it is delish.

and last but not least i found out that snow on leather shoes makes for really cold toes, in fact they were nearly blue.

thank you God for warmth. i am blessed.

a word of advice

ever wonder what your finger would feel like the morning after you accidentally touch the hot glass your candle is burning in? well let me tell you from experience it was hot. so don't do it. all day my finger has felt like it has super glue on it. super glue that you can't get off. also it's slightly swollen and the skin is kinda cracked.

so my advice to you: don't touch hot glass.

3,000 lbs of Confetti

3,000 lbs of confetti would be wonderful, wouldn't it? NYC sure thought so. And I think they were right!

On another note, if I wait til March to take down my Christmas tree I may as well not take it down. So therefore I think February is the best time to take down the tree.

Also if you've never been to a little kid wrestling tournament, you should go, it's an experience.