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Friday, December 11, 2009, 12:40 pm
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I don’t even like Christmas music that much (I’m trying real hard this year, though), but this is beautiful.
In the spirit of preparing for Christmas immediately after Thanksgiving is over…
SOUNDS LIKE SNOW by BE STILL: A Holiday Side Project from Lauren Zettler and Cameron Mizell
Track Listing:
1. I’ll Be Home for Christmas
2. Let It Snow
3. Sounds Like Snow
4. Silent Night
5. River
6. What Are You Doing New Year’s Eve?
7. Baby, It’s Cold Outside
8. Christmas Time is Here
9. That Spirit of Christmas
10. Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas
Click the photo to buy on iTunes or click here for CDBaby!
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COMING SOON: My first-ever Christmas mix tape
Be ready.
Thursday, December 10, 2009, 4:12 pm
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Umm, this is stinkin’ adorable.
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Thanks, Wednesday
At lunch yesterday, I was just boasting about how my workload was slowing down a little and my December looked relatively tranquil. Wednesday heard me and fought back with no retaliation.- Today, December 10 - My cousin may have her baby
- Saturday, December 12 - Cooking for Nik and his friends for his graduation
- Sunday, December 13 - Cooking for Laura and her friends as part of her graduation present
- Monday, December 14 - Have to meet my boss in Birmingham for an interview and photo shoot with The Birmingham News about an upcoming auction there
- Tuesday, December 15 - Jonathan’s birthday
- Wednesday, December 16 - If Lucy isn’t induced tomorrow, she’ll probably be induced on this day
- Thursday, December 17 - Leave to work an auction in Pensacola, Fla.
- Friday, December 18 - Work an auction in Pensacola, Fla., and, unfortunately, miss my sister-in-law’s college graduation :(
- Saturday, December 19 - Work an auction in Birmingham
- Monday, December 21 - Possible SURPRISE
- Wednesday, December 23 - Visit from Jonathan Bradford to eat at Bell’s
- Thursday, December 24 - Christmas with the Newberries (yes, I always spell it like that)
- Friday, December 25 - Christmas with Jonathan at our house, go to Gadsden to meet my parents, go to Anniston, Ala., for Christmas with the Pruetts
- Saturday, December 26 - Dad’s birthday and taking Jared to Chick-Fil-A in Leeds, Ala., for his “surprise” Christmas present from Jonathan and me
- Monday, December 28 - Stay with the Newberries at the Opryland Hotel
- Tuesday, December 29 - Christmas with the Englands in Columbia, Tenn.
Bye, December. See you next year!
I must admit, though, I love every minute of it.
Wednesday, December 9, 2009, 12:56 am
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Girls' night for the win!
Every month pretty much for the past two years, my two best friends from college, Jess and Jen, and I have met and spent endless hours catching up on the events of each month at Chick-Fil-A. It’s a tradition we began when we were freshmen at FHU (only then it was weekly, since we all lived within 100 yards of each other), and has only seen a brief hiatus when I moved to Alabama and Atlanta. I came back two years ago, and it’s been a monthly tradition ever since (it’s harder to get together than it used to be).
Jen moved back to Alabama a little over six months ago. Jess and I have continued to meet there every month, and had a blast, of course, but it’s just not the same without all three of us there.
Throughout most days, Jen and I chat here and there on Skype as we have time, and I told her she needed to come visit and that Jess and I were going on our girls’ night tonight.
Unlike our usual nights, though, Jess and I met at Target instead of Chick-Fil-A and did a little Christmas shopping before we ate. While we were in there, Jen called, asked what we were doing and informed us she was at Chick-Fil-A… in Jackson!! As usual, we sat in our booth in the back of the restaurant until they were ready to close.
She’s asleep in my guest bedroom right now, and I couldn’t be happier that she’s here.
Reunited and it feels so good! I’ve missed my roommate. :)
Tuesday, December 8, 2009, 1:21 am
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Redesign!
Because Jonathan was working all night and I was THAT bored.
Unfortunately, since I don’t know HTML well at all, it always takes me waaayyy longer than I mean for it to. It’s not perfect yet, but it’s as good as it’s going to get for tonight.
Redesign yes or no?
Monday, December 7, 2009, 9:48 pm
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Trouble is coming
“Life isn’t easy.”
I’ve heard that my whole life. I’ve had multiple friends and family members be struck with tragedies I couldn’t imagine facing. I’ve always been the one on the other side, doing my best to comfort them and sympathize with them but could rarely empathize with anyone’s trials in life. Life has always been good to me.
I grew up the daughter of an upper-middle class family, went to private schools my whole life and have been blessed with good jobs, wonderful people and good health in my life. I lost my job once… just to find a much better job two months later. I have an incurable disease, but it’s nothing compared to the health issues others face. With the right combination of medication (that I hope to master one day), I can still live a mostly-normal life. Life’s been a walk in the park so far.
Here lately, though, I must admit, I’ve been getting a little nervous. The other night, I had a dream I was pregnant [don’t laugh!], and the very next night, in the book I’m reading, it talks about how dreaming you’re having a baby is a sign of troubles to come. I smirked to myself and didn’t think anything else of it.
Two days later, Tim Tebow had John 16:33 painted on his eye black during the SEC Championship game.
“These things I have spoken to you, so that in Me you may have peace. In the world you have tribulation, but take courage; I have overcome the world.”
And of course, the very next day at church, our video-series class by Louie Giglio teaches on the very same verse: that life isn’t all easy. We will have troubles. A good portion of the lesson on Sunday night taught the same principle.
Then, today, Jennifer Gerhardt posted this video of Matt Chandler, a preacher at The Village, a large church in Dallas, who had a major surgery to remove a tumor on Friday, and he considered is a blessing that God chose him to endure such things so that he can prove God’s faithfulness and that God was fulfilling His promise that we would endure trouble in this world. Powerful video, if you have 4:40 to watch it.
Perhaps I’m making too much of the thoughts that have run through my head, and I quite possibly am, but, if God is trying to prepare me for something, I hope I am able to glorify Him regardless.
We often talk about Hebrews 11 as the “Hall of Faith” and all the great things people like Abraham and Moses and Noah did. The chapter turns, as Chandler points out in his video, to a part we don’t discuss quite as much: to the trails and terrible abuse the faithful had to endure, and the chapter ends with this:
“They were stoned, they were sawn in two, they were tempted, they were put to death with the sword; they went about in sheepskins, in goatskins, being destitute, afflicted, ill-treated (men of whom the world was not worthy), wandering in deserts and mountains and caves and holes in the ground.
You don’t become a Christian and expect a perfect life, but God promises hope. The very last verse of Hebrews 11 says this:
“And all these, having gained approval through their faith, did not receive what was promised, because God had provided something better for us, so that apart from us they would not be made perfect.”
I don’t know what God has planned for me, whether it is pain and hardship or a continued cushy, simple, easy life, but regardless, I hope I do live it in such a way that I’m considered one “of whom the world was not worthy,” and I hope you are, too.
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I will never tire of songs with upbeat clapping. They make me smile every time.
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Let it snow
- Me: If I don't find an affordable way to get to Pasadena, I'm going to Alabama for the national championship game. Jonathan took all the fun out of [the SEC Championship] game.
- Jonathan Bradford: It's a good thing he wasn't watching with me. Towards the end, I was playing the Alabama fight song blaringly loud and throwing "Roll Tide snow" around my apartment.
- Me: Ha!
- Jonathan Bradford: (Roll Tide snow was just handfuls of napkins)
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This is one of my favorites
Saturday, December 5, 2009, 6:47 pm
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Oh my stars. Alabama is going to the National Championship game.
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Post Benefit Dinner trip to Waffle House at 1 this morning with Jonathan, Brad, Kristi and Jud. Please note the amount of gravy covering Jonathan’s biscuit (at least, we think there was a biscuit under there).
Also included: Kristi’s domination over Brad in a waffle-eating contest. “That just happened!”
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National Cookie Day
National Cookie Day was yesterday. So I made cookies. From scratch. Without a recipe. That’s not like me at all. The product of boredom more than anything, I think, but I was pleasantly surprised with how they turned out, except that I made waaaayyy too many of them. Thanks to Bryson, Susan, Nik, Leann, Dustin, Broderick, Brad and Kristi for taking them off my hands!
Also as a product of boredom, I took pictures of the cookies as I made them (rather than writing down a recipe as I went, like I should have…) Oh well.
Lesson one: When making chili and cookies, don’t keep the cinnamon and the chili powder beside each other. Fortunately, I only ended up with a shake of cinnamon in the chili (and no chili powder in the cookies), so you can’t tell I’m so cooking-challenged.
Flour, oil, sugar, eggs, vanilla, butter, etc.
I think you’re supposed to beat a cake mix, right?
More flour, some chocolate chips, peanut butter chips, and, umm, sure, why not? Some cinnamon.
It made about four times what I wanted it to.
But they were actually pretty good, especially when they were still warm!
Happy Cookie Day!
Friday, December 4, 2009, 2:52 pm
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How Now Temp's a Cow
This morning, Temp was driving me insane by going in and out the garage door (we’ve trained him to open it, but can’t get him to close it by himself), leaving the house freezing. Since he couldn’t make up his mind, I locked him outside and decided he could come back in after lunch, figuring he’d be tired by then and sleep the rest of the afternoon.
My plan has worked beautifully so far, and I sent this picture to Jonathan, who said I was mean for throwing him out in the 24-degree cold.
He Skyped me this picture, saying, “Whenever he sleeps like that, this is always what I think of.”
How Now… My cat’s a cow…
