A Must-See Christmas Movie

I just watched "The Nativity Story" last night.. wow, it was fabulous! If you haven't seen it then I encourage you - check it out! It is the story of Mary and Joseph in the two years before Jesus' birth. They did a great job keeping to the text and was historically accurate. It really makes the whole story come alive... My sister Carrie found it and kept saying wow this is an excellent history-teacher! So go watch it! It's on HBO thru December (and on Comcast's On-Demand for HBO), and I'm sure it's available at video rental places
http://www.newline.com/properties/nativitystorythe.html

I'm Getting A Brother!

Being the eldest of 4 girls I always wanted a brother.. with each pregnancy we'd wonder would this be when we get a brother? And since my dad's name is Ernie and we were brought up on Sesame Street we always thought if there was a boy that naturally he'd be named Bert! :) (for some reason Dad never got as much of a kick out of that as we did!).

So it is with great excitement that I announce I'll be getting a brother.. no, my parents aren't having a child - my sister Sarah is going to marry Mike, so he'll become our brother (in-law)... She was down in Orlando over the weekend and he proposed at sunset (after they had watched sunrise on the east coast of Florida, gone ice skating in Orlando and sunset on the west!) and she said yes! Get this - in his proposal he said the day captured what he hoped for: to spend sunrises and sunsets with her and to live through seasons of warmth and sand and seasons of cold and snow and ice - wow, what a cool thoughtful guy! So yeah! They are planning an end of March wedding in Orlando.

We really like Mike, and just hope he realizes that not only is he getting a wife but 3 sisters as well! This is going to be fun!

Anticipation and Advent

What is it about Christmas that is so fabulous? The Christian answer is Jesus, of course (interesting how He is the answer to just about everything!!)... to the average American it's about Santa Claus, gifts and a season of being with family and friends - of snow and carols.

One of my friends is great about celebrating Advent. I wish I did. I wish I had an advent wreath that I lit every week as a reminder of the 4 weeks before Christmas. Because I think it's the anticipation, the excitement before the event that makes Christmas. I mean you know you're going to be happy on Christmas Day, but then there's that let down, the "rats it's over" time right afterwards when it's time to take the tree down, put the decorations away, and get on with real life.

My birthday falls at the end of the month and I have sort of declared the entire month of April as my "birthday month". I love it when holidays and special events happen at the end of the month because it gives me all month to look forward to it. The 4th of July always catches me by surprise because I never think about it until July and then it's the 4th already! I love it that Thanksgiving (my favorite holiday) and Christmas both happen at the end of their months, and that they are back to back - so then in my mind the holidays start Nov 1.

I think anticipation is a gift. But in our culture we're always in a hurry and we don't anticipate. We rush. We hurry. We (I!) speed. We fly through life instead of just relaxing and enjoying it. We take short-cuts to get what we want, when we want it.

So this Christmas season, before the 2nd advent-wreath candle is lit, I am going to make a stand.

This will be the Christmas that I revel in anticipation.

That I enjoy the waiting,
without having.

Because I am not waiting in vain. The One I hope in is faithful. He will come through - He will deliver. When we anticipate something that God has promised, there isn't the let-down when it happens... because with Him the anticipation is not as good as the real thing!! It's not like microwave popcorn that smells better than it tastes (especially since I eat the 97% fat free kind!). No! The Lord God is all-mighty. All powerful. He created sunrises to color the sky in brilliant colors before the sunlight shatters the darkness. And He loves it when we trust Him. When we believe that He will come through for us.

Blessed is she who has believed that what the Lord has said to her will be accomplished! - Luke 1:45

May you believe and be blessed.

Christmastime in New York!

Greg and I took Friday off work and headed up to New York City for a fabulous weekend of getting in the holiday spirit. I was shocked to learn that he had never been to NYC over the holidays... I have been blessed to be able to travel a lot and have enjoyed seeing how different cities "dress up" for Christmas - Paris is gorgeous, Geneva Switzerland is beautiful, Budapest has a cool holiday market, but New York just seems the most quintessential Christmas city to me.. perhaps it's all the movies and TV shows - but something about standing in Rockefeller Center and looking up at that big ole tree and seeing the ice skaters swishing along below.. sigh... it's magical!

We had a fun mix of different activities - Friday we walked A LOT around Midtown, just enjoying the sights and sounds. We had lunch and walked through MoMA (the Museum of Modern Art). Greg is more of a fine arts vs. modern arts fan, so as he said if it wasn't for the Impressionists paintings it would have been waste of time! Now yes, there are some strange things called art, but it was interesting to play the game - which in this room would you want to hang on your wall.. some rooms were harder than others! We stumbled upon a cool Italian wine bar/restaurant by Columbus Circle that had a cozy wood-paneled bar area where we enjoyed wine and hot cocoa (can you guess who had what?!?!). Then we went to Time Square Church for their Friday evening service. Unbeknownst to me the normal service had been replaced with a Young Adult service (I think it had started in the past month) - so us over 30s were ushered upstairs - which was fine. The service was amazing! We loved the worship - the music was loud, the songs high energy and the heartfelt passion on the multitude of different colored faces in the building was beautiful. They did a drama and the sermon was inspiring. Thankfully they did about a half hour of worship after the service, but when they finally ended we were like no we don't want to leave... Greg said to me wow, that was great - we HAVE to come back here again! Yeah God! Thanks! So if you're in NYC make sure you check out services at Times Square Church, or Brooklyn Tabernacle, or Redeemer - there are a number of really cool churches in the area that will bless your socks off!

One of the most exciting parts of our whole weekend was going to dinner - at 10:30pm! Greg was all bummed that we didn't get a picture of the clock as we were leaving for dinner! I was all excited because we changed - I got to get all dressed up for dinner - like being on the cruise! We walked to a little Italian restaurant just a block from the hotel, and were tickled when we saw that they had live music - some soft jazz with a big ole bass and a few other instruments - very cool! The picture of us at the table was taken after dinner - it was 12:30am!

On Saturday we went over to Tavern on the Green to see if we could have breakfast - let me tell you, that is one place you don't just walk-in without a reservation - oh well!.. so we left and headed west, enjoying a stroll through Central Park.. there was a race going on - perhaps a 5K or 10K, so it was fun seeing the runners go by - and others were out exercising, walking their dogs, or just enjoying the beautiful day... I was especially pleased to see so many leaves still on the trees - and delighted when a breeze blew some of them off - looked like confetti! We were headed to the Frick Museum, which is a museum in Mr Frick's home that was built in the 1910s - what an amazing house complete with an atrium! The art collection was extensive with a wide variety of things, but I just enjoyed looking at the house - some rooms reminded me of Versailles (smaller, of course!). Then we walked down Madison Avenue gawking at the high-end stores and wondering who in the world shops there on a regular basis... realizing we were out of our element we jumped on the subway and headed to Macy's where I wanted to do some shopping. Greg was gracious enough to find something to do, things to look at, and after about an hour we met up and walked down to Bryant Park where they have ice skating and a Christmas bazaar/holiday market with shops set up. Picked up some pretty cashmere scarves for just $10 and then decided we'd had a great time but that it was time to head home... so we took the subway back to the hotel, picked up the car and by 5pm were on the NJTPK, and back home by 7 - can't beat that!

The timing of everything this weekend seemed so "ordered" - so smooth - the Lord placed some wonderful boundary lines for us and He ordered our steps beautifully. We had such a great time that we hope to make this an annual tradition!

Mascara

Mascara. Most females over the age of 13 put this on every day. I have had over 25 years experience applying mascara, and I have yet to find a brand that doesn't end up under my eyes, making me look like a raccoon! I have tried waterproof, smudge-proof, high-end brands, drugstore type, black, brown, even clear, those with undercoats or overcoats - but alas, all end up under my eyes.

Sigh.. what's a girl to do? I can't just skip the vital step - I'd feel naked. So each morning I apply the mascara knowing it's going to eventually end up under my eyes.. I have asked Greg to let me know when it's making circles under my eyes, but bless his heart he never seems to notice.. isn't that funny how something so obvious to me (and everyone else!) is not to him - another proof that love is blind!

It makes me wonder what are some things that I do, thoughts I have, habits I live with that are like my mascara - things that I do thinking they are helping, but in reality are just making me look bad and are causing me more work/headache later. In the physical sense I can point to things like chocolate, skipping exercise for sleep, not flossing my teeth (I have a dentist appt on Monday so I've started my "ooh I'd better start flossing now so I don't get in trouble" routine)... but from a spiritual perspective those things are harder to see - the effects or consequences of decisions made today are less obvious, but the outcome can be so much more costly.

So what spiritual-mascara am I applying now that will end up under my eyes later? Pride? Putting on the Sunday morning happy-church face? Reading my Bible "religiously" but not really applying what it says? Busy-ness - keeping my calendar packed with "good" things so I don't have time to invest in relationships?

Hmm... I'd better get my spiritual mirror out and check for those circles!

Land Ho!

We returned yesterday from our family Caribbean Thanksgiving cruise and it was great! We left out of Baltimore and the setup was great - drive by the trolleys where longshoremen take your luggage out of your car onto the trucks, then park, and get in line with your paperwork... we were on the ship within an hour of arriving in Baltimore - not bad! The other good news was that we all "approved" of this pic they snapped in the waiting area - so that took the pressure off having to get a group shot we all liked.. whew!

Aren't we a cute family with our matching leis on!??! Carrie surprised us all with the leis before our drive down - how fun! Please note - I am standing in the back and leaning forward which is why I appear to be shorter than Carrie (I am NOT shrinking, as she would suggest!).

Here's a brief review of where we went and what we did:

• Friday, 11/16 - drove to Baltimore, got on our "home away from home", unpacked and started exploring the ship

• Saturday, 11/17 - day at sea, and our first formal night - got all dolled up, Pops was in his tux! :) Was chilly outside, so not a pool day.
  

• Sunday, 11/18 - day at sea - I camped out on a lounge chair on the top deck, listened to my ipod, read my book and got some sun... aaahh.. relaxing!
  

• Monday, 11/19 - San Juan, Puerto Rico - Carrie and I were really bummed to learn that our "Snuba" excursion (like snorkeling but you can swim deeper) was cancelled.. as we didn't like any of the other options, we opted to just go ashore and explore on our own - so Sarah, Carrie and I hopped on a free trolley that took us around Old San Juan - we stopped off at 2 forts and met Mom & Dad at the restaurant Kiril (our waiter from Bulgaria) told us invented the pina coladas.. we tested them and they were GOOD!

• Tuesday, 11/20 - St. Thomas, U.S. Virgin Island - Sarah, Carrie and I went on a snorkeling excursion to the island of St. John, so we hopped on a boat and in 30 minutes were in beautiful St John - then bussed over to Trunk Bay, the 2nd most beautiful beach in the world (according to whom I can't recall, #1 was in Australia) - saw some cool fish and coral - hope the underwater camera pics come out ok

• Wednesday, 11/21 - Dominican Republic - Chrissie, Sarah and I went on a Jeep excursion where we got to drive our own 4-wheel drive Jeep through the mud and dirt roads of the DR - ours was the last in the line of 7 Jeeps - we saw men working on a road, farm animals, learned about Dominican produce (bananas, coffee), hiked to a waterfall, and went to a beach - unfortunately the surf was too rough to swim.. the best part was when we passed the ATV tour group and I hit a puddle that splashed them - how FUN! :)

• Thanksgiving Day, 11/22 - Labadee, Haiti - went to Royal Caribbean's private beach - think Disney does a beach. All 7 of us took the tender boat and set up "camp" for the day - Elizabeth really loved playing in the sand - we tried to take her swimming but she wasn't loving that.. came back to the ship, showered and had a lovely turkey dinner that none of us had to cook!

• Friday, 11/23 - Chrissie and I got sick this morning, so we call this day "Black Friday", but not for the shopping... we saw on the tv that if we got sick we should go to Medical.. well unbeknownst to us if you have certain symptoms you end up in ISOLATION for 48 hours.. yep... we were confined to our cabin for the duration of the cruise! Big bummer! Elizabeth was moved into Sarah and Carrie's room, the connecting door was locked :( and our isolation began.. they had a special cleaning crew come into our cabin to change the linen and sanitize the room.. kinda made us feel like lepers! Even the room service people delivered our trays wearing gloves, and they weren't allowed in the room.. sigh.. so today was busy getting better and sleeping.. VERY glad we had a balcony!

• Saturday, 11/24 - Isolation day #2 - by this time Chrissie and I were feeling much better and were hopeful that because we didn't have any symptoms in the past 24 hours (oddly enough, no symptoms since before going to Medical!) that we could be released.. but no - the CDC was involved (yep, the Centers for Disease Control) - we had to fill out certain forms, so there was no getting out of our "detention".. the positive side of this is that we were able to rest and watch Oceans 13 about 4 times (it kept playing on the cruise tv). When the ship started to turn into the Chesapeake Bay it was cool watching the pilot boat come alongside the ship and drop off the "pilot", the guy who "drives" the ship over the Chesapeake Bay Bridge Tunnel..

• Sunday, 11/25 - arrived back in Baltimore -Chrissie and I were released from isolation and able to mingle with the rest of the cruise folk just in time for breakfast. We were off the ship and in our cars by 9:30am, home by 11am!
  

When I got home I was sufficiently rested (thanks to the isolation) and full of energy, so I unpacked, did my laundry and started decorating the house for Christmas! By 2pm I was falling asleep on the couch to the classic holiday movie White Christmas.. sigh.. perfection - a Sunday snooze! :)

Last minute details...

You can really learn a lot about people by watching them deal with stress, or plan for a trip... my friend Laura is amused by the way I HAVE to get on the airplane as soon as I can - I just like to get settled, in my seat and all situated - guess I don't like a lot of surprises... my father, ever the be-prepared navy man, likes to check on things like tire pressure, adequate room in the car for luggage (pre-packing the car the night before is preferred) and the weather.. so he has e-mailed all of us this important bit o' info:

There are no tropical storms in the Atlantic or Caribbean. The forecast on Saturday for San Juan is temps in the mid-80s with a 30% chance of showers. Pretty much the same forecast for St. Thomas on Sunday.

In the WWJD-vein, how did Jesus prepare for trips? Well, before His big trip back Home He had quite a week - the Palm Sunday Triumphal Entry, teaching, and then the Last Supper, and spent His last night praying with His 3 best friends close by (ok, they fell asleep, but they were there).. I'm not seeing where Jesus was worried about packing, or the weather or if the donkey was up for the trip.. what He was interested in was relationships - people... a good reminder to focus on people - they are what's important, they are eternal, they can't be replaced....

but I'm still going to double-check my packing list -I can't calm the seas if it gets bumpy, so being able to pull the windbreaker on will be handy!! (and what's the point of getting all dressed up for formal night if you don't have your sparkley earrings or hair straightener, or should the hair be fluffy with curls?? hmm.. better pack both!)

Bon Voyage!

Extended family togetherness is on the agenda - my "original" family will be hopping on a cruise ship out of Baltimore on Friday for a Caribbean adventure that will last for 9 nights - we arrive back on Sunday after Thanksgiving...

• Mom just sent an e-mail that she has purchased a "Cruise Journal" for us all to write our thoughts in - this is similar to our "Holiday Journal" and "Montauk Journal" that has proved to be a source of a lot of funny "remember when" stories.
• When I first signed up for this and thought about sharing a cabin with Chrissie and the baby I was thinking no problem, babies are little.. umm, correction - babies are little, but they come with a LOT of stuff.. last night Chrissie was looking at a schematic of the cabin and trying to figure out where they were going to put the pack-n-play... and Elizabeth gets up EARLY.. but Aunt Jenny likes to sleep in.. uh oh, we could have our first issue! :)
  

Life Changes!

Well, I was going to start a whole new blog but then the thought of coming up with a catchy title and color theme was overwhelming, so I'm going to just catch up here!

Wow - 2007 has been a year of changes in my family:

• My parents relocated from new england to this area - so now the 6 of us live within 15 miles of each other for the first time since we were all under the same roof!

• My sister Chrissie brought home her daughter from Guatemala in May, giving my parents their first grandchild, and making her 3 sisters fabulous aunts! (there's a whole 'nother blog about this - see link to the right)
  

• I started dating Greg!

• My sister Sarah started dating Mike!

Yep! I have a boyfriend. I almost want to type that sentence again because it's so fun to say. Kinda like that Seinfield episode when Jerry had the fake wife (Courtney Cox) to get a discount on drycleaning - he was telling Kramer it was just so fun to start a sentence with "My wife..".. well Jerry, it's equally wonderful starting a sentence with "My boyfriend...". and it's a fun word to just throw into a conversation.. for a 30-something woman who had pretty much given up on a future of anything other than singleness it is a very great blessing to have this man in my life!

Hope deferred makes the heart sick,
but a longing fulfilled is a tree of life.
- Proverbs 13:12

So what's life been like with Greg? In a word - fabulous! My palm pilot now has a calendar, memo and task category of Greg, to record things like dates and trips, cute e-mails and ideas on where to go next. Here are some of the fun things we've done so far:

• been to a bunch of museums and gardens - Greg LOVES them - and if you think I'm slow in a museum you ain't seen nuttin' yet! Greg likes to get all the info he can! :)
• day trips to Annapolis (actually got to walk thru the house I lived in from 7th to 9th grades! it was empty and unlocked!), Chesapeake City, Avalon (got off the beach literally moments before the downpour started!), New York City (went to see the opera Carmen at Lincoln Center!)
  
• took up cycling! but not with the flashy shirts - we just like riding around on the bikes, looking at pretty houses or parks
• taught Greg how to rollerblade.. I won't say it was his favorite thing, but he was a good sport about it!
• went canoing
  
• enjoyed the Scottish Games - watched a dog heard sheep - amazing you can train a dog to do that! Greg even found my family tartan - I didn't even know we had one - go figure!
  
• went to a horse show! Greg grew up riding, competing in horse shows and even worked as a cowboy out west one summer - cool guy!
• in June we traveled to North Carolina where I met Greg's fabulous mother and spent a lovely weekend in their beautiful town
• in July we drove to Va Beach where I got to meet Greg's brother, sister-in-law and nephew. We stopped in Chincoteague for lunch, but didn't see any wild horses...
• in August it was a short drive to New Jersey to meet Greg's sister and her husband - they took us to their friend's restaurant that has THE BEST steamed mussels - it was all Greg could do to not pick up the bowl and drink the melted butter/garlic juice.. yum!
• in September I took Greg out to experience Montauk - we had a wonderful time - Dad cooked some great meals, we had perfect beach weather and it was fun to introduce him to all the fun traditions of our summer "condo"
• in October we completed Greg's "meet my family" tour by flying out to Arizona to meet Greg's other sister and her husband. We had a great time shopping in Mexico (where thankfully the dollar still has some strength!), touring Frank Lloyd Wright's winter place and looking at cactus (or is it cacti?).
  
• in November we're going to NYC for a weekend of Christmas festivities
  

As you can see it's been quite an exciting ride! :)