Christmas Confessions

I haven't blogged in weeks -- mostly because my household has been fighting off cold after cold this month, we went on vacation, and little boy is getting his molars, nursing like a newborn, and waking up 4-5 times a night. As I sit here blowing my chaffed nose and sucking on a cough drop, I thought I might write a little blog post. I admit, I have nothing profound to say today, so it's time for some confessions...and to keep with the festive season...let's make them Christmas themed! :)

This photo has nothing to do with the post; I just wanted to share! :) We had a "most spirited holiday attire" contest at a work event and Scott and I went all out! We decorated tacky shirts, mine said CLASS (College of Liberal Arts and Social Sciences) and Scott's said COBA (College of Business Administration). Those are the colleges we each work for. Scott won the contest...I think b/c he went all out with a homemade elf hat, green pants (though it's hard to see that in this picture), and he even shaped his beard into something a little more elf-like (again, hard to see in this picture).

 I wrote a similar post back in 2011 where I shared some confessions as well as traditions, if you want to read more!

+ I've never seen It's a Wonderful Life.

I'll let that sink in for a minute.

We DID buy it this year for only $7 

and I WILL be watching it this weekend!!

+ I can quote large portions of Christmas Vacation.

You can see what kind of family I was brought up in. ;)

+ I've never been to church on Christmas day. 

I have been on Christmas Eve a handful of times,

but only at Scott's parents' Catholic church.

I'm not Catholic, so it hardly even counts for me!

I didn't go to church growing up, and we've always been traveling

for the holidays, so we aren't home for the services at our church.

This year I'm super excited that we're doing our annual service day

on the Sunday before Christmas. It's not our official Christmas service, but it's

a time where we go out and deliver food and gifts to those in the community who otherwise wouldn't have anything. I've never been able to participate due to travel plans, so I'm thrilled to do it this year with my husband and son by my side. :)

+ My Christmas lists look almost identical every year. 

In fact, I almost get a little annoyed that people still request one from me.

With the exception of a few specific things each year, I basically just ask for gift cards, candles, makeup, and PJs. Scott wants guitar strings and PJs. Every.single.year. 

+ I'm still torn on the whole topic of Santa. 

Grayson is still little enough that we haven't had to make a firm decision how we will handle it. 

I do know that we want to forge new traditions, probably starting next year, where we have Christmas at home, do some community service, read Luke 2, and strive to keep it fun, yet simple. I like the fun traditions of Santa, but not so much what he represents nor the idea of lying to our kids. I personally felt pretty embarrassed and deceived when I finally discovered my parents had gone to such lengths to fabricate the whole thing for so many years. I think we'll probably still do Santa, but just make it clear that he's make-believe. A tradition, something that's fun to pretend, but make it clear from the start that the Jesus part of the holiday is REAL and the Santa part is NOT. But again, we're not fully decided on this!

+ I've barely given any thought at all to Christmas gifts this year. Our entire Christmas shopping experience happened in about 1 hour and 2 stores. We are scaling WAY back and only doing one small gift for each set of parents and a couple small things for Grayson. We're done going into debt trying to buy something for everyone in our families...especially when we can never afford really nice gifts anyway. We're keeping it sentimental and keeping the importance of love and family central in our gift-giving. We opted out of buying gifts for each other this year and went on a vacation to Gatlinburg, TN instead. It's all very different for us, but I LOVE it!!

+ I'm not going to do Elf on the Shelf. Like, ever. Not because I'm morally against it. It's just the very thought of it makes me tired. 

+ I don't like Love, Actually.

I watched it for the first time last year and I thought it was incredibly boring.

I sort of feel like it's one of those things that people don't really like, but they like to talk about how they like it because they think it's cool to like it. Am I wrong? Sorry if you loved the movie. I just don't see the appeal!

+ "Baby, It's Cold Outside" may not be the most fitting song for the Christmas holiday, but I actually get pretty annoyed when people call it the "date rape song." They're reading way more into it than was intended! "Hey, what's in this drink?" is not implying that he was drugging her! The girl is clearly being coy throughout the song and she's using the alcohol in the drink as an excuse for her not-so-lady-like behavior that will clearly be happening that night. I get it, she's saying "no" and the guy is being persistent and no means no and we need to stop sending the message that girls just need a little convincing (and maybe some alcohol). But I think it's pretty clear in the song that they are flirting and her excuses are half-hearted attempted to say "she tried" but still ultimately end up staying the night. Okay, rant over. Y'all find something new to complain about! :)

I think that's it for now, folks! Hope you're all gearing up for a great Christmas! :) What are some of YOUR confessions?

Updates and a Declaration!

I've been conflicted about the blog lately. I don't have time to devote to it the way that many other bloggers do. I honestly just don't feel like making a fancy page, getting sponsors, creating tabs, and having a blog that's worthy of hundreds of followers. But when I try to participate in this blogging world, I feel pressured to do those things. I get jealous of the bloggers I follow. I feel like I need to be traveling to fabulous places, wearing the most trendy outfits, and snapping breathtaking pictures with an outrageously expensive camera. But that's not my life. And I don't want to feel bad about my life because the fact is...my life is pretty darn wonderful as it is!! I am blessed beyond words. So I don't want to get caught up in something that makes me feel otherwise. And it's no one's fault but my own.

I will probably still read blogs of all types, and I'm not saying I won't EVER post a fluff piece, but I am going to rededicate my blog to God. That may seem strange, but that was the original intent of this blog. I wanted to share what God had been doing in my life and all the lessons I was learning through my time with Him. And I've gotten so far away from that. So now it's time for me to declare that I am going back to the basics. You will be seeing a lot more of what I meant for this blog to be about. Probably still some other things every now and then, but not as a majority. If you quit reading, I understand. But I hope you don't. Because I hope that you can be inspired or learn or grow with me in this journey.

Now...I feel like I can't move forward without at least doing a quick update from where I left off back in December. So, here it is...in pictures! Enjoy the recap, and check back tomorrow for the beginning of my posts of substance! Thanks, friends! :)

I turned 27, and Scott bought me these cute boots and a Joyce Meyer devotional :)

Pictures of all the pretty things around my yard...

We decorated for Christmas

I graduated with my Master's! Whoop!

We celebrated Christmas...this is my niece Kyli and her mom.

My other niece Keirra

Me and my sister in our new PJ's! 

Me and my Daddy

We redecorated our master bathroom...new paint, light fixture, shower curtain, mats, soap dispensers, waste basket, tooth brush holder, and towels! 

And we painted our master bedroom...more work still to be done in this room!

Happy Tuesday!
~Christy~

Merry Christmas Eve Eve! :)

Just so you know, I'm actually writing this on Thursday...really bored at work because I'm one of three people still working. I just figured in my boredom I would schedule a post, on the off-chance that someone will be checking blogs this close to Christmas. Hey--what do I know? You may need a break from your nagging in-laws or obnoxious uncles...who's to say?

So, I thought I would share with you some Christmas traditions as well as CRAZY things I used to think when it comes to this holiday. Enjoy! :)

* For the longest time I thought the song went, "We three kings from Orientar..." I thought there was some country named Orientar. Sounds like a country of dragons!

* I always think that Christmas is on the 26th. I made Scott & his sister calendars last year for Christmas, and I realized this year that I definitely put Christmas as being on the 26th! ha! Maybe I'll confuse them and I won't be the only one who can't get it together!

* I believed in Santa until 5th grade. 5TH GRADE! My parents had done such a terrific job making him believable...taking bites out of the cookies, writing me letters, even calling me on the phone...I thought I had ironclad proof that he was real. I insisted to all my friends at school who laughed at me about it. I remember proudly showing my neighbor something Santa had brought me and she was like, "You're kidding, right?" Nope. I finally asked my mom about it, begging her not to lie to me, and she beat around the bush with some crap about Santa being the equivalent of Christmas spirit. I know it's all part of the fun, but I felt so deceived.

* Around 3rd or 4th grade I decided I wanted to buy everyone in my family gifts for Christmas (or rather, my mom would buy them for me). Since there are so many cousins, uncles, aunts, grandmas, etc...we had to do our shopping at the Dollar Tree. I remember some of those first gifts... coffee mugs, cigarette lighters, I even got my dad a pack of door stoppers (you know, the rubber wedges that hold doors open). He still laughs about how no gift has ever compared!

* Growing up I got 3 stockings. We always went to my aunt and uncle's for Christmas Eve dinner, and they always bought us lots of presents and a stocking, bursting with fun little toys and candies. I got a stocking Christmas morning from my mom and step-dad (aka Santa), and then Christmas night I got yet another stocking from my dad and step-mom. [Funny that I never questioned why everyone else had to shop but my mom could sit back and let Santa do all the work!] Now I get 2 stockings. One from my husband and one from the rest of his family. No one in my family does stockings anymore.

* Secular things that are Christmas to me: light shows, my step-mom's Christmas goodies (bon-bons, haystacks, chocolate covered pretzels, sausage cheese balls, and decorated cookies), National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation...and quoting as many lines as possible with my dad and step-mom, all those old classic specials: Rudolph, The Grinch, and Frosty, the smell of department stores, hot chocolate, driving all over creation to see as many people as possible, cramming about 50 people into my great-grandma's den while one or two people walk around trying to hand out presents while tripping over toddlers and discarded wrapping and boxes, and waking up way earlier than I would ever choose to on a day that I don't have to work...just to open up presents that will be there all day anyway. :)

* Jesus, Jesus, Jesus...he didn't mean that much to me growing up, but now Christmas is a time to praise God for the birth of His son who came to die and save the worst of us. :)

* I'm bummed that I won't be able to spend much time with my sister this Christmas. Last year I didn't see my brother at all for Christmas. It's hard not having things the way they always were growing up. But things change, and I'm learning to make the best of how they are now. I'm excited to see the ones who I will see and I just hope that next year brings more happiness and fun times with all of them.

Merry Christmas, everyone! If you have crazy Christmas stories or fun traditions, please share!

More randomness

*I feel like I'm the only person working today. Although I suppose I should count my blessings that I get all next week off.
*I hate Christmas cards with glitter on them. As much as I love the thought, they drive me crazy! On the other hand, I suppose it's the gift that keeps on giving. Scrub as you may, that glitter ain't coming off your hands, clothes, and face for a least a month!

* My Christmas plans consist of: driving to Atlanta tonight to stay with Scott's parents. Tomorrow--going w/ Scott's mom to get my hair cut and colored (an early Christmas present). Saturday--We're celebrating Christmas on Christmas Eve with Scott's family. Waking up early to open presents, making monkey bread, drinking hot chocolate and maybe some Baileys, etc... Sunday--Going to my grandparents' for lunch, where we will also see my dad, then to my great-grandma's for dinner. Then I'm not entirely sure where we'll be staying that night. Probably back at Scott's parents' again. Monday--picking up my sister and driving down to Tampa to stay with my mom until the day before NYE. New Years Eve--partying it up in Orlando with Scott's sister and her husband, as well as her friend from out of town who we all love! Yes, we will be BUSY! But not as bad as previous years when we also drove down to South Florida to see 3 sets of grandparents.

*We were going to use Christmas money to buy a fancy camera like all you super bloggers use. Then I realized those suckers are like hundreds and HUNDREDS of dollars! You are out of your minds! (But if I had the money I would TOTALLY join you!) So, since we don't have enough for that, we'll hopefully have enough to buy a new TV. We figured it's time to join the rest of the world and get a flat screen, plasma type situation. And hopefully we can also plug our computer into it so our Hulu times can be seen in all the big screen glory. PS--without the fancy camera, I realize I'm still way out of touch with the rest of blog-land. I guess people will have to just read my blog for content alone. Boring, I know.

*A question for my Christian readers with children-- how do you handle the Santa situation? Do you let your kids believe in him? Do you take your kids to see him in the mall? I'm still really torn on the issue. I don't think Santa is "bad" or anything, and I have no problem with kids believing in him. But I want to make sure they know what Christmas is really about, and don't get caught up in all the Santa business. I don't know. What are your thoughts? What does Christmas look like for your family? How do you keep Christ in it for the children?

*I can't wait to share with you some of the homemade gifts I made this year. But I can't do it now. Some of the intended recipients read this blog. And you will just have to wait, intended recipients! And so will the rest of you. I realize it would be helpful to share ahead of time so you can do it too. But let's just say...Pinterest is my friend. :)

*My weight has been fluctuating like crazy lately. Probably because I keep eating junk. Nothing but junk. And I take stomach medicine almost daily b/c of it. Yesterday I gorged on chocolate covered pretzels and cookies until I felt ill. When I finally recovered that night, I had hot chocolate and monkey bread. And then I was ill again. Fool! But I've resolved that there is no sense in worrying about weight during Christmas. I will just drive myself crazy or feel guilty for enjoying the treats that are so much a part of the season. I have no intentions of passing up on desserts and homemade candies. That's part of the joy of Christmas. (Well, that and Jesus, of course!) So, I'll worry about it after New Years. You know, I'll make a resolution like the rest of the world. :)

*I may be MIA for the next week or so. But what else is new? I'm sure the rest of you will be too busy with your own Christmas plans to keep up with reading blogs anyway.

Love you all! And MERRY CHRISTMAS! :)

~Christy~

Just some notes...

1. Christmas is SO close! Christmas CDs--CHECK! Watch Rudolph, The Grinch, Frosty, Elf, and Christmas Vacation--CHECK! Decorate the house and burn seasonal candles--CHECK! Buy presents--CHECK! Wrap presents--CHECK! See Christmas lights--CHECK! Drink hot chocolate and make Christmas cookies--CHECK! Gingerbread houses--CHECK! I would say we're ready for the big day! :)

Our awesome, handcrafted Christmas cookies.
They were bland and not very tasty (I don't like sugar cookies).
But they were fun and look good on our Christmas dish in the kitchen! :)

2. Last night there were candlelight vigils in Statesboro and Atlanta, as well as people all over the world burning candles from home for this family. Scott & I couldn't make it, but we gathered all the candles in our house and burned them in the living room. We spent about 45 minutes in prayer and worship. It was such a powerful experience. I hope that the family could feel our love and support. 

3. I know I was feeling frustrated and confused with God about how things are turning out for this family. But God reminded me of something yesterday, as I was singing Christmas songs in my car. I've been asking for a Christmas miracle, but God already gave us the best and only Christmas miracle we'll ever need: Jesus Christ. Because of that one miracle, we don't need anymore miracles for our whole lives. Because of that miracle we can have peace and joy despite the circumstances of life. Because of that miracle, even in death we have eternal life. Even if Brian doesn't make it, he gets to be with Jesus in Heaven, and THAT is miracle enough. It was such a wonderful reminder of the true meaning of Christmas, and gave me such peace. I admit, I still pray that Brian will recover, but I feel much more at peace with the reality that he probably won't. And that doesn't mean God has failed us. He is still worthy of our praise. We sang these songs last night during our prayer time and I meant every word.

4. I got my first Christmas present from Scott yesterday, and it was SUCH a good one! I've been wanting some artwork to go on the wall, over the bed, in our guestroom. I've had a really hard time picking something that I like that's also in our price range. Scott had an art student who works with him at The University Store paint me something! He sent her pictures of things he knew I liked, told her what colors we wanted, and she painted something original from that! It was so awesome! And it looks perfect in the room! I'll have to take a picture to post b/c I haven't done that yet (bad blogger!!).

5. This is my favorite Christmas song this year. It's so beautiful and such a moving portrayal of the Christmas story. Sometimes it's easy to take it for granted and not think about the wonderful fact that Mary was faithful in trusting God as she brought a baby into the world as a virgin, Joseph staying by her side despite how it looked to others, Jesus being born in a BARN next to animals, and men and kings coming to bow to him. Beautiful! It brings tears to my eyes when I really think about it and sing this song.

Merry Christmas, bloggers! Love you all! :)

~Christy~

Recap in Pictures!

First of all, thank you SO much to those who have been praying for the family I shared about.  Brian is still recovering, but it's a slow process and they have set-backs nearly every day. Nothing is certain. They could still use all the prayers they can get. The prayer map literally has pins in every state of the US and every continent of the world! If you are praying outside of the US, or will be during the holidays, let me know from what country so I can share with the family. :)

Anyway, I have about 15 minutes before I need to head to my internship site to meet everyone. Next semester will be BUSY...what else is new? So I figured I would toss in a bunch of pictures from the past several weeks instead of talking about it all in depth. Sorry! Oh, and there is a severe lack of pictures of me. :( Oh well, here goes! :)

We made some "gingerbread" creations with friends.
Houses? No! International landmarks, please! :)
That's Big Ben, The Great Wall of China, and the Pyramids of Giza. 

Pyramid! :)

We had Scott's family at our house for Thanksgiving and we had lots of bonfires! :)

We celebrated my 26th birthday. That's my delicious Rainbow Chip cake he's making there. YUM!

We went to the beach for sunset. Too bad the sun set on the opposite side of the beach! haha! It was crazy windy!

Went to Fort Pulaski with some friends

Scott surprised me with this on my birthday, after already giving me two presents over the weekend. :)

We decorated for Christmas

Our friends and their amazing baby at the beach. :)

And we painted our sunroom...Gus helped... :)

WWell, I better run! I hope everyone is enjoying the season! I for one and so excited about Christmas and have been thoroughly enjoying having our house decorated, listening to Christmas music, and attending parties. :) Can't wait to see all my family in just a little over a week!

Merry Christmas!

~Christy~

Santa or Jesus?

I was doing some Christmas shopping the other day and "Santa Claus is Coming to Town" played over the intercom. As I listened to this familiar Christmas song I thought about who Santa is and who Jesus is. Both represent Christmas in some way, but it would seem that Santa is more popular than Jesus. People stand in lines at the mall for hours so their children can sit on Santa's lap, we sing about him, he's everywhere you look in Christmas decor. Some of our most cherished Christmas stories have to do with Santa. How much of that time and energy is spent on celebrating and recognizing Jesus? I would venture to say not nearly as much.

So as I thought about this, I thought about the characteristics and roles of both Santa and Jesus. Santa is a happy, jolly, man who brings toys to children once a year. He watches them all year long to make sure they've been good. If they have been good, they get lots of presents. Supposedly, if they have been naughty, they don't get anything, or maybe a lump of coal. Now, most little kids get presents from "Santa" anyway, even when they've been naughty, but the idea is to convince them to be as good as possible so they can get the presents that they want from Santa. It's all dependent on their behavior for the whole year. Think about the lyrics to that song:

You better watch out
You better not cry
Better not pout
I'm telling you why
Santa Claus is coming to town
He's making a list
And checking it twice;
Gonna find out Who's naughty and nice
Santa Claus is coming to town
He sees you when you're sleeping
He knows when you're awake
He knows if you've been bad or good
So be good for goodness sake!


It's really kind of weird if you think about it. It's almost like instead of teaching your kids to be good because it's the right thing to do, you teach them to be good because otherwise Santa won't bring them presents. I know most parents don't see it this way; they're just going along with a fun tradition. But if you really think about who Santa is...well he's not very forgiving, he shows favoritism, and he doesn't provide any real joy, only superficial happiness from possessions.

What's interesting is this is actually how a lot of people think about God. They think He's up there watching them all the time to make sure they're being good to see if they will be able to get into Heaven or not. They think if they're good enough, He'll answer their prayers or bless them with money and possessions. Much like Santa, they think He watches for a really long time only to make one decision--Santa decides what presents you get on one day based on a year's worth of behavior, and God decides if you get into Heaven based on a lifetime's worth of behavior.

But that's not at all true! God sent us Jesus on Christmas (technically it wasn't on Dec. 25th, but that's beside the point) as a substitute for His wrath. Jesus paid the price for our sins and poor behavior. Because of Jesus, we can not only be forgiven for our sins, but we get new hearts with the Holy Spirit living in us. He doesn't just forgive us, he SAVES us. And that doesn't just mean saving us from Hell, it means saving us from the bondage of sin that we live in while on Earth. Our new hearts change us to give us strength and goodness to defeat Satan and his powers of evil. That is totally and completely different than anything Santa does. Santa doesn't forgive us, he doesn't provide any assistance on doing the right thing, and he certainly doesn't provide any type of substitute to bear our mistakes. Um, so why is he more popular?

Just read some of the lyrics of another familiar Christmas song... "God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen." And you tell me--who would you rather celebrate?

God rest ye merry, gentlemen
Let nothing you dismay
Remember, Christ, our Saviour
Was born on Christmas day
To save us all from Satan's power
When we were gone astray
O tidings of comfort and joy,
Comfort and joy
O tidings of comfort and joy

......
"Fear not then," said the Angel,
"Let nothing you affright,
This day is born a Saviour
Of a pure Virgin bright,
To free all those who trust in Him
From Satan's power and might."
O tidings of comfort and joy,
Comfort and joy
O tidings of comfort and joy

.....
Now to the Lord sing praises,
All you within this place,
And with true love and brotherhood
Each other now embrace;
This holy tide of Christmas
All other doth deface.
O tidings of comfort and joy,
Comfort and joy
O tidings of comfort and joy