Holiday Happenings

It's been awhile since I've blogged; the holiday season sort of bulldozed us with moving to a new place, family and friend commitments, and other busy fun. It was a good month and a half, but I'm glad to be able to take life a little slower now. I would include pictures with my rambling, but our internet has been down with no real hope from the company (they are really starting to annoy me), so pictures will have to wait. I hope you bear with me though!

Thanksgiving was spent in the San Diego area with Cooper's parents and family. We had a really nice time while we were there, enjoying the mild weather. California really has that going for it. We attended a church service with Cooper's parents on Thanksgiving day, and then had a mid-afternoon meal with them and his brother Chad and his wife, Sarah. We spent the next day touring around the beautiful beach areas with Chad and Sarah, having good sandwiches at a little place right near the coast and then walking around on the piers. I was particularly fascinated by the old ship that was docked there and took far too many pictures. I just like old stuff, I guess. We also walked around on the beach where there were some tide pools, just slow hang-out time that we don't get much of. Another blessing we got was the opportunity to spend a couple of hours with our friends Ross and Jessica, who moved to the L.A. area this past fall and we have missed our regular game/dinner nights with them. They met us at Dana Point and we had a  nice catch-up chat over frozen yogurt (by the way, I'm officially a fan of these self-serve frozen yogurt places that are popping up. You get to pick your flavor and toppings and give yourself just the portion you want, which means I spend maybe $2 on the treat. Right on!) We also made a thrift store run (California thrift stores are better than ours), landed some nice lamps to replace the cheap garage sale ones that were quickly going downhill that we had before, but the trip turned into a car break down the day before we left. Praise the Lord, we found a mechanic that happened to be open on a Saturday on a holiday weekend, and we were set to leave on schedule as planned. Cooper's Dad helped us out a lot in getting us a tow and paying for the repair. We are certainly blessed with the family we have!

The weekend before Christmas, we moved out of our old tiny cramped apartment into a new not-so-cramped-with-lots-of-storage townhouse! I'm so happy with our new place! The move went off without a hitch; my parents helped, as well as our friends Blake, John, Alia, and Cooper's brother Caleb, so everything went really fast. The boys lifted all the heavy stuff, Alia got the rest, Caleb used his engineering skills to pack the truck just right, and my Mom and I were freed up to clean the apartment as everything got moved out. We were done by four in the afternoon! The one and only downside of our new place is that it is not close to the direct bus line to campus, so Cooper is now driving me to work (I'm boycotting NAU's ridiculous permit prices and lack of parking). But otherwise, I'm loving it and looking forward to getting everything organized. We even have a washer and drier inside the new place which wasn't something we were expecting. Praise the Lord!

Christmas Adam was spent with the Young/Vaughan/Lanting clan at the Kachina house. We had a nice dinner, read the Christmas story, sang carols, opened a couple gifts, and generally enjoyed each other's company. Kale'a took me for a lengthy walk around the house (me bent at the waist, holding her hands, while she toddled happily along; I'm crazy about my niece!), Peter beat me solidly at chess, and Anne had fun looking at Cooper's fancy touch phone. I was not brave enough to try eggnog and I don't imagine I ever will be (sorry Grace!). Christmas Eve we spent attempting to organize our apartment and running last minute errands, and then went to a Christmas Eve service at Christ Church of Flagstaff, where my brother and his wife attend. We then went to my sister-in-law's sister's house for dinner and visiting, and were entertained by the antics of her young nieces, Olivia and Claire. Christmas day we went to church (low turn-out, which was sad), then went to my parents' house, were we lounged around, opened gifts, tried to keep the dogs from getting into too much trouble, and ate a yummy dinner provided by my amazing Mommy.

On the 27th, we got up at the crack of dawn and headed to Phoenix to fly out to Baltimore with my parents to see my extended family. We barely caught the flight on time, which made the airport kind of stressful. Airports stress me out to begin with, and being rushed didn't help. Flying was smooth from there though, and I officially appreciate the flight attendants on Southwest; they made all sorts of jokes during their safety lecture, like, "If you would like to smoke, we have a smoking section the wings, where we will also show the feature film, 'Gone with the Wind'" and "If the cabin pressure drops, stop screaming, let go of the passenger next to you, and pull down on the oxygen masks...". Good times. The trip was generally a lot of driving around to get to various people and sitting around talking to various people, but highlights included a visit to Fort McHenry, where a battle was fought that inspired Francis Scott Key to write The Star Spangled Banner, lunch with my cousin Erin who is four years younger than me and her new husband, Ben (they are both professional musicians and love Jesus so it was delightful to sit and chat with them), a walk around my childhood favorite, Rehoboth Beach on New Years, a New Years party family get-together, and thanking God my sick Grandma made it to one more year and seeing her with my mom's step-siblings. All in all, I love my family, am grateful for them, and always leave wishing we lived closer.

I just celebrated my birthday yesterday (26...what a boring age to turn). It was a lovely day, filled with not working (I took the day off), watching Pride and Prejudice (I did this before Cooper woke up so he wouldn't make fun of me too much), having a nice slow cup of morning coffee, and then we drove out to go buy a kitty! We ended up getting her from the Humane Society. Yes, we now have a new addition to our family of the feline variety. She came with the name Tuna but we thought that was horribly generic and boring so after some deliberation we renamed her Narnia. She's kind of tortoise shell in color with a black face, and she's very lovey dovey, which is exactly the kind of cat I wanted. For additional birthday celebrations, we went to my favorite restaurant, Oreganos, and then we went to see the new Sherlock Holmes movie, which was really good. So it was a fantastic day, especially spending it with the bestest hubby in the world. :-)

I'm excited to see what God will do with us in the year to come. It's never dull.

Merry Christmas!

"Humans have been shouting their question for millennia: Why in God's name won't you show up? They say it when the moment seems to demand a force to do good: If you are God, then do something. But to show up in those moments would be to come in your name, not Mine. My ways are not your ways. ... She was brave. Only Joseph by her side, a cramped place to give birth, noise everywhere. And more. As she screamed out in pain, the Deceiver stood ready to devour My Son. The heavens shook with war. Michael and his angels reeled. Mighty One, do something!

I AM."

~John Blase, "Touching Wonder"

Merry Christmas, everyone.

Chilling Words

http://www.dennyburk.com/is-it-a-child-or-a-fetus/

This website confirmed an intention of mine that I'm already adamant about: if and when I ever become pregnant, I will not let a doctor or nurse call my baby a fetus. Baby, child, infant, whatever...those are fine. But not fetus. I will correct them until I am obnoxious about it. I know it medically IS a fetus, but in our culture, it's a word people use to dehumanize what is definitely human. It's amazing--and chilling--how language reflects and influences culture. We should be careful how we use it, particularly when innocent lives are at stake.

Calvinism vs. Armenism

Nanowrimo update: 13,821 words. I'm not sure I'm going to make 50,000 by the end of the month!

And this article is fantastic. Short sweet, and answers a great question about Calvinism. http://www.whitehorseinn.org/blog/2011/11/16/does-calvinism-make-god-a-moral-monster/

Keyboard Abuse and Jane Austen murder (?!)

Nanowrimo update: 12,127 words.

Bangs head against keyboard.

I have a great setting and an interesting premise, but my characters are just boring. Seriously. If I met these people on the street, I think I'd listen politely to their stories and suppress multiple yawns. And then invent a lame excuse to leave.

I really just need to pound out the 50,000 words and not worry so much about this. I can make my characters interesting later when I'm not under a time-crunch challenge. But it's utter tedium at the moment.

In other news, saw a cool article on Yahoo that there is a new theory surfacing that Jane Austen died not of cancer or Addison's disease, but by arsenic poisoning. It is not likely that she was murdered, the article says, since arsenic was typically used in medicines at the time, but that is not stopping a crime novelist who stumbled upon this interesting development from writing a historical thriller about Jane Austen being murdered. And if and when said book surfaces, you can bet I'll be waiting in line for that one.

See, why can't I come up with a cool idea like that??

Favorite Christmas Songs

NaNoWriMo Update: 10,846 words.

Okay, so I know we haven't even hit Thanksgiving yet, but I just love Christmas music, and I wanted to share my three favorite Christmas songs. I was originally going to have two, one secular and one about Jesus, but then I realized I had two favorite songs about Jesus that I couldn't choose between. So there are three.

O Holy Night

O Holy Night! The stars are brightly shining,
It is the night of the dear Saviour's birth.
Long lay the world in sin and error pining.
Till He appeared and the soul felt its worth.
A thrill of hope the weary world rejoices,
For yonder breaks a new and glorious morn.
Fall on your knees! Oh, hear the angel voices!
O night divine, the night when Christ was born;
O night, O Holy Night , O night divine!
O night, O Holy Night , O night divine!

Led by the light of faith serenely beaming,
With glowing hearts by His cradle we stand.
O'er the world a star is sweetly gleaming,
Now come the wisemen from out of the Orient land.
The King of kings lay thus lowly manger;
In all our trials born to be our friends.
He knows our need, our weakness is no stranger,
Behold your King! Before him lowly bend!
Behold your King! Before him lowly bend!

Truly He taught us to love one another,
His law is love and His gospel is peace.
Chains he shall break, for the slave is our brother.
And in his name all oppression shall cease.
Sweet hymns of joy in grateful chorus raise we,
With all our hearts we praise His holy name.
Christ is the Lord! Then ever, ever praise we,
His power and glory ever more proclaim!
His power and glory ever more proclaim!

I think this song is easily overdone, and can get really annoying because a lot of people who couldn't care less about Jesus sing it for its high notes and a chance to show off vocal ability. In fact, I distinctly remember when I was in University Singers, a vocal performance student sang this as a solo for the holiday concert. She did it well as far as musicality, but I was sort of angry about it because during rehearsals, all I heard her do was complain about the rehearsals, brag about how wonderful she was, and swear a lot. It just seemed almost blasphemous for her to sing it. It's a very difficult song to sing, and while we've done it the last couple years at Christmas, I always feel a little bad inflicting it on the congregation for singing because of its long phrases (however beautiful) and its high notes (however moving). But the words are just wonderful. I love this song because of its strong message of why Jesus came into the world in the first place. It's a good one for reminding me of the real reason Christmas is celebrated and for getting my mind focused on the right things.

O Little Town of Bethlehem

O little town of Bethlehem
How still we see thee lie
Above thy deep and dreamless sleep
The silent stars go by
Yet in thy dark streets shineth
The everlasting Light
The hopes and fears of all the years
Are met in thee tonight

For Christ is born of Mary
And gathered all above
While mortals sleep, the angels keep
Their watch of wondering love
O morning stars together
Proclaim the holy birth
And praises sing to God the King
And Peace to men on earth

How silently, how silently
The wondrous gift is given!
So God imparts to human hearts
The blessings of His heaven.
No ear may his His coming,
But in this world of sin,
Where meek souls will receive him still,
The dear Christ enters in.

O holy Child of Bethlehem
Descend to us, we pray
Cast out our sin and enter in
Be born to us today
We hear the Christmas angels
The great glad tidings tell
O come to us, abide with us
Our Lord Emmanuel  

I've always thought this song was beautiful, but didn't catch on to the meaning until Casting Crowns came out with their version that highlighted how little people noticed the greatest thing that was happening, God coming down in human flesh. And obviously, that's still something people miss about Christmas, or God in general. I mean, people who wouldn't dream of setting foot inside a church celebrate Christmas because it's an excuse to indulge greed and materialism. But it's really about Emmanuel, God with us. Seriously. How cool is that? Almighty God gets born in a barn so that He could bring us back to Him. All the presents in the world can't compare to that.

Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas

Have yourself a merry little Christmas,
Let your heart be light
From now on,
our troubles will be out of sight

Have yourself a merry little Christmas,
Make the Yule-tide gay,
From now on,
our troubles will be miles away.

Here we are as in olden days,
Happy golden days of yore.
Faithful friends who are dear to us
Gather near to us once more.

Through the years
We all will be together,
If the Fates allow
Hang a shining star upon the highest bough.
And have yourself A merry little Christmas now.  

There are a couple reasons I like this song. One, it reminds me of World War II, and I love World War II era stuff. It seems to be a time when people actually cared about getting rid of evil. Second, it debuted in Meet Me in St. Louis, and that's just a fun musical. Third, I have memories of my dad and I singing it in the car together while driving up from Phoenix after holiday shopping. But mostly, I think it's a good song to remind us that not everyone is happy on Christmas, and that the season can really mean pain for a lot of people, and we should be God's instruments in bringing them comfort. And that the world isn't perfect, and Christmas won't make it so. We'll have to wait for Jesus' return for that. 

A couple songs that almost made the list, "Silent Night" (my dad used to sing it as a lullaby to me, year-round), "God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen" (It's very British and I always imagine Dickens-like characters singing it in top hats and coats, and has a good message), and O Come O Come Emmanuel (it sort of sounds Jewish and feels like something you can sing all the time to pray for Jesus' return).

What are your favorite Christmas songs?

 

Fun in the Fall

So, although our lives mostly consist of work and crashing at home, Cooper and I have still managed to get out and have some fun these last couple weeks.

Cooper surprised me a couple months ago with a gift that caters to my nerdy passion (I firmly believe everyone has one, whether they admit it or not): Harry Potter! He got us school robes and wands and then to complete the costume, I ordered Gryffindor scarves. Except when we got them, we got a Gryffindor scarf and a Slytherin scarf, which I was just very offended by so I had to send  it back. How dare they think I'd want to associate myself with Slytherin?! :-P

So that was our Halloween costume, which we completed with British-style school uniforms and we wore them to a low-key party at the Lighthouse. See the pictures after the post (and thanks David for taking the pictures!)

(And if you are offended by Harry Potter, please see my post here before you comment on that! I've thought it through carefully!)

And it's nearly official...we are moving! In town, so no big exoduses away from here. We're moving two a 2 bedroom, 1 1/2 bath town home close to where we are now, though not nearly as convenient for the bus system, so I am going to have to get more creative with my commute to work. I'm excited for the extra space and a more house-like quality. Cooper's job is ending on the 19th, and he's searching for a new one. PLEASE PRAY. We're moving in December, so Christmas this year is going to be interesting. I will have to enjoy family and friends' decorations and not put up my own, I'm afraid. Oh well.

I love Christmas, and I'm starting to hear those silver bells. I keep wanting to play Christmas music but I'm holding back a bit because I don't want to be sick of it by the end of December. And we've already had our first snow; nothing catastrophic, but enough to stick and be cold and look wintery. I'm not really a fan of snow at all, but this one wasn't too bad, and it happened on the weekend so I didn't have to trudge to the bus stop in it. If only I would be so lucky all winter!

As far as for NaNoWriMo (or as Cooper calls it, Tiny Rhinoceros) ...I'm up to 8182 words. The goal is 50,000 by the end of the month, so I've got a loooooong way to go. I sort of cheated and am doing a novel I already started rather than from scratch, but I'm sort of okay with that. Now maybe I should go pound out a page or two rather than procrastinate here.

Cooper and I, with John in the middle.

Goofing off with Rob, aka Captain Jack Sparrow

Expelliarmus!!