Wednesdays Words of Wisdom

And there were in the same country shepherds abiding in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night. And lo, the angel of the Lord came upon them, and the glory of the Lord shone round about them; and they were so afraid. And the angel said unto them, "Fear not; for behold I bring unto you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people. For unto you is born this day in the City of David a Savior which is Christ the Lord. And this shall be a sign unto you; You shall find the babe wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in a manager. And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host, praising God, and saying, "Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will to men."

Merry Christmas To Me....And Ben

Ben and  I celebrated Christmas last night.  I got him a new North Face coat, and I got a new sweater and sweet new snowshoes!  It was a great Christmas!!

Friday Funny

Wednesday's Words of Wisdom

And the Grinch, with his Grinch-feet ice cold in the snow, stood puzzling and puzzling, how could it be so?  It came without ribbons.  It came without tags.  It came without packages, boxes, or bags.  And he puzzled and puzzled 'till his puzzler was sore.  Then the Grinch thought of something he hadn't before.  What if Christmas, he thought, doesn't come from a store.  What if Christmas, perhaps, means a little bit more. 

A Wonderful Weekend

What a weekend!  I had my first annual ugly sweater party!  It was so much fun.  We broke out MAD GAB and had some great laughs!  Saturday, Ben and I headed up to Vail for Snow Daze.  It was the kickoff weekend for the ski season, and The Fray was playing.  The concert was outside, and of course it snowed the entire time!  It was freezing cold, but so much fun!!  My concert pictures didn't turn out very well, so I stole these from the Post.  

Sorry, the pics are in reverse order...

The Fray

Please look at how hard it's snowing in the background!  

I made my peanut butter treats for my party.  They were a pain in the butt to make, but they tasted delicious!

Probably the ugliest sweater I've ever seen.  He got it from the Starbucks lady!

Ben's alfalfa hair, and Collin showing his American pride.

Friday Funny

Wednesday's Words of Wisdom

Ahh smell those Christmas trees. You can keep your "Channel" Number 5, just give me a whiff of the old lonesome pine. That symbol of brotherly love, that centerpiece that all mankind gathers around to share the cranberry sauce shaped like a can.

A Charlie Brown Christmas

I love the movie A Charlie Brown Christmas.  It's such a great movie!  This year, I got my very own Charlie Brown tree.  One little ornament and all.  It's fabulous!

Who Am I?

I got this an email this morning and thought it was interesting. And so true!

Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness that most frightens us. We ask ourselves, WHO AM I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, fabulous? Actually, who are you not to be? You are a child of God. Your playing small does not serve the world. There is nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people won't feel insecure around you. We are all meant to shine. We were born to make manifest the glory of God that is within us. It's not just in some of us; it's in everyone. And as we let our light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same. As we are liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others.

Winter Wonderland

We finally had our first big snow, just in time to get in the Christmas spirit!  These pics are from my favorite new park.  Happy December!

One of my favorite thing about Christmas is the lights.  Here's a shot of the 16th street mall...

Thanksgiving Cake

I love Thanksgiving.  I love all the family getting together, the football, the naps, the games that are played, and the food.  I love the tradition of my grandma cooking turkeys all night, and the several last minute trips to the grocery store.  My all time favorite thing about Thanksgiving is my Aunt Julie's banana cake.  It's absolutely unbelievable, and the best dessert imaginable.  So thanks Aunt Jules for another delicious year!

It's been awhile

It's been awhile since my last update. Here's a quick update of last several weeks....

The first snow of the year. Not very much!

I worked my first ski expo the first weekend of November. Colorado Ski & Golf, one of the stores my companies owns has a huge sale on tons of merchandise. I worked 27 hours in 2 days. I was completely exhausted! I was amazed at how many people were arrested for shop lifting.

Ben and I had tickets for the Augustana show. They're one of my favorite bands of all times. 3 bands later, and still no Augustana. They didn't even play!! Apparently, the lead singer had a broken pelvis or something. No excuse. I was so bummed.

Wednesday's Words of Wisdom

A true friend is someone who lets you have total freedom to be yourself- and especially to feel.  Or not feel.  Whatever you happen to be feeling at the moment is fine with them.  That's what real love amounts to- letting a person be what he really is.  

Happy Halloween

Wednesday's Words of Wisdom

I'm so optimistic, I'd go after Moby Dick in a row boat and take the tartar sauce with me.

Fall Photography

Since I moved downtown, one of my favorite places to go is Wash Park.  It has great running and bike trails, tennis and basketball courts, a rec center, a lake, and tons of open space where people play volleyball, catch or cookout.  The fall trees there have been absolutely gorgeous!  Here are a couple of pictures I took.  The first 2 are of my apartment building and the rest are at the park.  Happy Fall!

Friday Funny

The Good Samaritan:

A man and his wife are awaken at 3:00 AM by a loud pounding on the door.  The man drags himself out of his warm bed and answers the door.  A drunken stranger is standing at the door in the pouring rain and is asking for a push.  "Not a chance, it's 3:00 AM and it's raining," exclaimed the man as he slams the door and heads back to his warm bed.  

"Who was that?" asked his wife.  

"Just some drunk guy asking for a push."

"Did you help him?" she asked.

"NO!  It's 3 in the morning and pouring rain out there!"

"Well, you certainly have a short memory.  Do you not remember about 2 months ago when we broke down and a nice gentleman helped us?  I think you ought to be ashamed of yourself and you should go help him!"

The man does as he is told and goes out on a cold rainy night to help the man.  He calls out in the dark, "Is anyone out there?"

"Yes." The man answers.

"Do you still need a push?"

"Yes!  Please."  Comes the reply from the dark.

"Where are you?"  The man called back.

"Over here, on the SWING,"  replied the drunk.

Wednesday's Words of Wisdom

Four things to learn in life: To think clearly without hurry or confusion; to love everybody sincerely; to act in everything with the highest motives; to trust God unhesitatingly.

  

Things I love lately

The changing leaves

Crisp Fall air

Football Season (and CU's new qb....finally!)

Weekly morning coffee dates with Ben

Good books

My family

Not dealing with traffic to and from work

Good smelling candles

Snuggling under the blankets at night

The gym at work

Having a budget

My hair now fits in a ponytail

Riding my bike around wash park

A Little Encouragement

Sometimes life throws you for a loop.  Things don't work out quite as you expected or planned.  You're going through a rough patch and you just want to give up.  I'm reading a book about embracing your life's purpose and seeing what matters for eternity.  

Here's a few blurbs I read recently that encouraged me so I thought I would pass them on...

"Your Creator has amazing plans that still lie in front of you.  No matter what has come to you, the disappointments you have known, the consequences you have received, or the wounds that have kept you down.  Even in you have truly failed or wasted a lot of precious time.  ear me shout this life-giving truth:  It is never too late with God!  Jesus said, I came to give life- life in all its fullness (John 10:10), and no woman who makes her life in Christ has to live empty."

"You cannot give up.  Evidently, you woke up this morning still breathing.  And everyday you are left of this earth is a day that God intended for your life to matter.  I do not believe that God means for any of us to live an unfulfilled life."

"Consult not your fears but your hopes and your dreams.  Think not about your frustration, but about your unfulfilled potential.  Concern yourself not with what you tried and failed in, but what is still possible for you to do."

My Birthday!!

I love birthdays. It’s a day that is all about you, celebrating how great you are. I love the mail and the presents. The phone calls and text messages. Yesterday was my 25th birthday and it was great. Ben and I took my new bike for a ride around Wash Park. It was great! And we tracked down the important traditional birthday donut! Here’s a few pics of the day. 25….it’s going to be a great year!

My sister got me a cute work out top and a picture of me running in my first half marathon. Great gift!!

Showing off my new running shoes from Ben. I think they’ll make me faster.

My new bike! She’s so pretty.

Ben looking forward to carrying my bike down the stairs for me

Out for a spin around Wash Park and loving every second!

Some creative photography.

A birthday isn’t a birthday without a chocolate donut!