Christmas is finally here! I am so excited!

I think Christmas is my favorite holiday because of the anticipation and expectations. I don't mean for presents...I mean just the whole feeling of waiting for Christmas Day to arrive. That feeling is such a wonderful reminder of what the Jews (and the rest of the world, even if they didn't realize it) felt as they waited for their Messiah to come. And He did come, on Christmas!

I am in awe each year at how wonderful the whole story of Christmas is. We were promised a Savior, and He came as a baby. This year, I was struck again by Mary being a virgin and pregnant. I am sure everyone thought she was tricking Joseph, that she had slept with another man. But she was really carrying the son of God.

I want to share a couple of line from my favorite Christmas songs:

Come, thou long-expected Jesus,
born to set thy people free;
from our fears and sins release us,
let us find our rest in thee.

Israel's strength and consolation,

hope of all the earth thou art:
dear desire of every nation,
joy of every longing heart.

Sleep baby Jesus
My Father and my child
Beneath this broken cross of sin
Stained with men's denial
And though you now are breathless
With thorns upon your head
Your body has been broken
So your children can be fed

(this one is from a Bebo Norman song that I love, "Mary's Prayer."

Merry Christmas from Bech and me!

Last night, we had a bunch of people over for a game night. It was very impromptu, but it turned out to be very fun. Bech and I usually love to have people over. We had a good amount of people over while we were in Oxford. Then last year, we had people over all of the time. A lot of that was due to the fact that there is really nothing else to do in Malawi, but we really love to have guests over. We both like to cook for others and just try to create a fun experience.

Since we have been in Jackson, we haven't had very many people over. We have just been in a slump. I think part of it is that we made good friends last year then left them. So we aren't as energetic about making new friends. We also are just so busy. Last year, we could spend all afternoon getting dinner and our house ready. But I have so many MCF activities going on during the week so that makes having people over hard. I think, though, that we broke our slump last night. We played Taboo and Balderdash.

Bech is off work for the next two weeks, which we'll be fun. I still have work, but my First Pres job is only part time, so I will get to spend a lot of time with him. Last year, we worked together and got to spend lots of time together. Now, we have a lot less time together, and it's really hard. I am so excited to spend lots of time the next two weeks.

Christmas is almost here! I can't wait. I went to Brookhaven yesterday and wrapped presents all day. Only 6 more days!

p.s. Happy 27th Anniversary to my Parents :)

things i love

Since I have nothing exciting to talk/write about, I thought I would share a few items I really love right now. Maybe if any of you are still struggling to figure out what to buy for christmas gifts for others, this will give you a few ideas

1. OPI nail polish

This brand of nail polish is the best ever, seriously. It is pricier--about $8 per bottle--but it's totally worth it. The color below is "Dear Santa," from the 2009 Christmas Collection...I have it on my toes right now. I also love "Melon of Troy" and "Don't Socratease Me," and I know "Cajun Shrimp" is a really popular summer color. (The names are part of the fun!) You can buy OPI at specialty salon shops, nail salons, and even Kroger (at least in our town).

2. Uggs

I used to things Uggs were, well, a little ugly. Then Ugg came out with it's cardigan line, and I immediately fell in love. I finally bought a pair about 2 months ago, and I am hooked! If you have never tried on a pair of Uggs, you need to. They feel amazing. They are lined with wool and are so soft.

3. Glee

Ohmylanta...I love this show. It is amazing. If you haven't seen it, it's about a high school glee club. The storyline is hilarious and the singing and dancing is great. The show comes on Wednesdays at 8 on Fox, but you can watch in online at fox.com.

4. Bath and Body Works' Fresh Balsam scent

Because of my love for all things Christmas, I have often looked for Christmas scented candles. Usually the tree flavors aren't very realistic. This candle, however, is amazing. It smells like a live Christmas tree. I have bought a candle and soap, but I think Bath and Body Works makes various other things in this scent. You can buy at the store or online, but watch for deals. They always have tons, like free shipping, two for one, or percents off.

5. Urban Decay

I have a serious obsession with Urban Decay. It started my senior year of high school when I went to New York. I got an Urban Decay makeover in Bloomingdales. I love the eye shadow colors because they are just so fun.

This color is Midnight Cowboy Rides Again. It is a great neutral that has a ton of sparkle. If you want to try out Urban Decay eye shadows, its a good place to start.

A great gift for someone is an Urban Decay eye shadow palette. Urban Decay sells palettes with 6, 8, or even 16 different colors. I absolutely love these (I have three at home). This one pictured is the Book of Shadows, Volume II, and it is sold out everywhere but urbandecay.com. You can find Urban Decay via their website, the sephora website or stores, and the ulta website or stores. Again, watch for sales. Sephora and Ulta always have great sales.

There are two exciting things I need to share about. The first, and by far the most important, is the news that Josh and Emily Ketchum, two of my favorite people in the world, are going to have a baby!!!!!! Oh-My-Lanta! I am very excited for them :)

The second exciting thing is that it snowed last Friday night. Now, for some people, snow is not a big deal. Courtney would actually probably love to have a winter without snow, after her two years in Laramie (by the way, Courtney, I just almost linked to you, but alas, you have your blog blocked to the general public). I, however, think snow is a big deal, a VERY big deal. And so I curled up in front of the fire (and by fire, I mean gas heater, but it has a similar effect), turned on the Christmas tree lights, and made Bech watch White Christmas. He fell asleep pretty quickly, but I enjoyed it. So here are some pictures of the snow and of our tree!

my first tag!

I got tagged for a blog post by Catherine Carter. Here are the rules:

Rules for the award:
1. Must thank the person who gave you the award and list their blog and link it.
2. Share "10 Honest things" about yourself.
3. Present this award to 7 others whose blogs you find brilliant in content and/or design, or those who have encouraged you.
4. Tell those 7 people they've been awarded HONEST SCRAP and inform them of these guidelines in receiving the award.

After such a depressing last post, I figure I need a good lighthearted post. So I will try to keep all/most of my answers like that.

1. I hate to spend money on gas...like I absolutely hate it! And I love to find the cheapest gas around to buy. Right now, Murphy's express on County Line is the cheapest. My family has been known to call me before and tell me they found cheap gas somewhere...it makes my day.

2. Bech and I both miss Malawi a lot more than we usually tell people. We are very homesick for Malawi and sometimes feel pretty dissatisfied with American culture.

3. I would really like to name a little girl Rilla. Anne (from Anne of Green Gables) named her youngest daughter Bertha Marilla, and called her Rilla. Bech has nixed this plan from the beginning, claiming people will call her "Gorilla," so I don't think I will have a little Rilla. But I still think it's a beautiful name.

4. On the subject of Anne, I was obsessed with those books when I was young. I used to actually make my mother call me Anne. Weird, I know. I still like to reread those books every year or two.

5. I love to reread my favorite books. I don't like to rewatch movies that much, but I can reread a book I love 20 or 30 times. My favorite books to read: anything by Chaim Potok, The Fountainhead, Atlas Shrugged, Chronicles of Narnia, and many many more. I also reread Agatha Christie books once I have forgotten who the murderer is.

6. I once ate almost nothing but ice cream for 3 weeks. I went to a program called Governors school, in which rising 11th and 12th graders live on a college campus and take some classes. We were living at the Mississippi University for Women and the food there was disgusting (although they did have an ice cream station). I would usually eat an apple and yogurt for breakfast and then ice cream for lunch and dinner. I think I ate two real meals the entire time I was there.

7. I love glitter and sparkle. This urge is really crazy right now because of all of my fun sparkly Christmas ribbon, ornaments, and decoration. Bech is going crazy because he hates glitter. Well he doesn't hate it...he just hates glitter on our floor. But I hate when he leaves random socks on the floor, so I think we are even.

Okay, that was not 10 things. But I am tired of doing this, and the Mustard Seed is having an open house today that I really want to go to. Plus I think I just broke my phone...yay! Not really.

I tag Courtney, Katy, Emily Ketchum, Emily O'Dell, and Liz.

First of all, its now December!!! Yay! Bech and I got our tree Saturday from the fairgrounds. Half of the proceeds from the trees there are going to Blair E. Batson Children's Hospital. We got it up and decorated and it looks pretty cute.

Other than that, this past week was kind of rough. Ansley, my little sister who was diagnosed with Chrone's disease about two months ago, w

as not responding to her medicine well. So she was in the hospital for 3 days last week. She was able to come home for Thanksgiving dinner. But because mom was with her at the hospital for most of the time, Katy and I were in charge of Thanksgiving dinner. It turned out really good, I think. I guess you'll have to poll the rest of my family for an unbiased opinion.

Plus, we had some surprise guests for Thanksgiving, but not for a good reason. Wednesday night, my great uncle fell and was flown via helicopter from Brookhaven to Jackson. He is my grandmother's oldest brother, and he's 91 (we just celebrated his 90th birthday party last year). My grandparents got in the car in Florida on Wednesday night and drove all night. They got to Jackson at about 5 or 6 in the morning. But that did mean they were able to eat Thanksgiving dinner with us. My uncle is still alive and fighting, although I don't think the long term outlook is too good.

To top it all off, Saturday night I spilled a drink onto my laptop. Needless to say, it doesn't work anymore. We took it in Sunday night to get it checked out, and left with a new desktop. We had really wanted to buy a desktop in the near future, just not right now. But they were able to transfer all of our files off of the laptop and onto the new computer, which was my big concern. We had all of our Africa pictures on the laptop, and I was so worried we had lost them forever.

So now we own one of these. I will keep all liquids away from it, and it should last us a good long time (I hope!).

Finally, I went out on my first Black Friday ever. Katy, Dad, and I left Brookhaven a little before 4 to head to the Jackson stores. We hit up Target, Best Buy, Belk, Gap, and Wal-Mart. It was fun, but very tiring.

I will try to put a picture soon of our christmas tree...it's so cute!