Christmas Fun and 'other' accomplishments

Matthew said that this was the best Christmas ever, and I must say that I completely agree!! I took the whole week off, and we spent tons of good quality time together. Now he is off with his dad, but this has given me a chance to clean up the house and finally finish this post that I actually started before Christmas.

Well, on Tuesday I took care of my first thing on the list. Yay me!! Actually I kind of cheated:

I knew that me and Matthew were going to the Georgia Aquarium prior to posting my list. I needed some things on the list that I knew were going to be accomplished and soon so that I would have some encouragement on the other things-- I know myself people!

The Georgia Aquarium was so beautiful. We touched live shrimp, bonnet head sharks, sting rays, star fish, and sea anemones. Fun!!!

I hope you all had a very blessed Christmas with your families.

30 Things to do before I'm 30 (in no particular order)

I didn't know what a realist I was until I started working on this list. I have though always known that I fear not finishing what I start so much of the time I don't start anything at all. Well, I would like to be a dreamer and definitely would like to be more goal oriented then I currently am. This list is to inspire me to do that. Now I will state that these are 'goals' meaning my goal is to accomplish them by the time I'm 30, but I'm going to give myself grace on this and what I don't finish I guess will be carried on to the next list.
I figured this post would be a good inspiration to complete the things on my list by giving me something interesting to post about periodically, and by allowing you good people to cheer me on and hold me accountable to finish what I started.
So, here it is:

1. Go to a beach I have not been to before.
2. Buy a new couch. DONE February 10, 2009
3. Get my passport.
4. Post this list in my bedroom were I can see it everyday.
5. Play with bubbles with my nephew and nieces.
6. Go to the Atlanta Aquarium DONE Dec. 23, 2008
7. Excavate dinosaur bones with Matthew.
8. Make an art journal.
9 Cook something new.
10. Visit and photograph 2 waterfalls in one day.
11. Travel outside of the USA.
12.Explore a castle I have never been to before.
13. Go to the Fish House.
14. Photograph 10 random red things.
15. Find a horny toad with Matthew.
16. Pick strawberries at Washington Farms.
17. Go on a date. Done: Dec 28, 2008(none ya business)
18.Run a 5K.
19. Ride on a hot air balloon.
20.Learn a new skill.
21.Read the entire Bible.
22. Meet one of my blog readers that I have never met before.
23. Sew curtains for Matthew's bedroom.
24. Go to Cumberland Island.
25. Sponsor a child overseas.
26. Give away gifts to strangers.
27. Rent, and vacation, at a beach house.
28. Go sledding with Matthew.
29. Visit my family in Utah.
30. Paint, and give away, 3 paintings.

'How long do you have?' you ask.
Well I have until April 28, 2010. Should be plenty of time.......... God willing.

The Masterpiece

Here it is for your viewing pleasure. This, my friends, is what a Ginger Bread House looks like when 3 boys are the constructors. Matthew had two of his neighborhood friends come over and help. They sure did have a lot of fun!!

I honestly think they could have done better, but they were more interested in eating the candy. I might have felt the same way at nine.




Now that the Ginger Bread House is done, the tree is decorated, and the presents are wrapped and strategically placed under the tree, the only thing left is to try to get a descent picture of Matthew to send out for cards. This, so far, is the kind of picture my son is posing for--yes, that is an ornament in his nose! I don't know what I'm going to do!
Oh well, I guess we all could use a good jolly laugh!!

Favorite Christmas Traditions

Today Kim is having us tell our favorite Christmas traditions.
I'll be honest: I feel like me and Matthew need to work on that. I mean every year we take our traditional drive to look at Christmas lights, Christmas Eve he gets to open one present of my choosing, and every Christmas morning stockings are stuffed to full (and sometimes overflowing) capasity, but this year I want to start some new things:
Matthew and I read a story in a book the other day about a family that does a treasure hunt on Christmas morning and we decided to try that this year. I will hide one of his and leave a letter to the first clue under the tree and he's going to do the same. Knowing Matthew he will get SO excited that he will tell me right where mine is at-- we shall see.
We also plan to make a Ginger Bread House together which is something my mom usually did when we were kids. Matthew is so concerned about sitting it out and not being able to eat any of it. I've promised him that there will be extra for munching.
I've also always wanted us to make a sign that says:
You've Won This Year's Starr & Matthew Best Lights Award!!
and post it in someones yard with a gift card or something while looking at Christmas lights. This is a tradition that I hope to start this year.
Mainly though my hope this year is for me and Matthew to glorify God - to not let The Reason for The Season be missed in all this businesses and create memories that also remind us of the Goodness of Jesus.

Go over and check out some other Favorite Traditions on Kim's Blog and post one of your own!

Hoping for a pearl

For those of us that have experienced a loss before, whether that be from a loved one dieing, a divorce, or someone special moving away, I think there is always that point were reality hits and you finally realize that that person is gone and is not coming back. Honestly, I had to go through quit a few of those times during the process of my divorce. Allowing those times to come, along with the pain, made room for healing and a final excitement about the future.

One of those realization times has been coming to mind lately. About two and a half years ago I was with a friend and in need of some encouragement. She prayed for me and then felt lead to tell me this story:

Once upon a time there was a little girl who had a fake pair of pearls. She loved these pearls and wore them everyday, but one day her Daddy came to her and asked her if she would give him the pearls. She of course said no. She loved her pearls and couldn't bare to part with them. Her Daddy continued day after day to ask her for them, but she continued to say 'No!' Her Dad had told her that if she gave him those pearls that he had something very special he wanted to give to her. One evening the little girl began to think about how much she loved her pearls, but also about how much she loved and trusted her Father. The very next day she gave those fake pearls to her Dad and immediately he handed her the most beautiful pearl necklace she had ever seen, but there was something other then it's beauty that was different about this these pearls ---- they were REAL.

I have been thinking a lot lately about the 'real' pearls God has blessed me with. How through this I have come to have more intimacy with a 'real' God who, in the process, has taught me how to be the 'real' me.
There is, though, a pearl I have not yet gained. A pearl that I hope will some day be a husband that God has orchestrated in my life the 'real' way God has called love and marriage to be, but I'm okay with the wait (well, not always, but today I am) because I know that 'real' pearls take a while to form. They require a lot of time and friction to develop into something lovely, and during that time the pearl is completely hidden from view. So, when I look around and see nothing, or no one, I try to remember this about 'real' pearls. I also try to remember that it really must take an act of God to find a pearl-- I mean the oceans pretty dang big! So, that leaves me just trusting the Daddy that has always been trustworthy, and I bet, if He knows the number of hairs on my head that He also knows right where my pearl is and He'll bring it to me right on time.

All I Want for Christmas is My Two Front Teeth--- or....

....one of these very stylish aprons made by Kim. Check out what she's got going on. You know you'll be spending some time in the kitchen around Christmas-- may as well look good in there, and hey, if you feel the urge you can buy me the Ruffly one.

I think I'll go back....... someday

My mom took the four of us kids to the grand canyon when I was a teenager. I don't think I appreciated it as much as I should have as a teen, but I do remember thinking that it's, well, grand. I absolutely love roadtrips, but wasn't sure that I would ever make my way back to the Grand Canyon until I saw this:

I've pretty much decided that me and my son must have pictures of us walking on this skyline! This is so super cool!!
Unfortunately this post is not to announce that we are jumping on a plane this week to fly to Arizona, but I simply just wanted to let you know so that if in 10 years you see me you can ask-- 'have you went back to the Grand Canyon yet?' and if I say no-- you can remind me that this is a place that I need to go and hopefully in 10 years I will have no excuses!