It's CHRISTMAS TIME!!! I always love this time of year and not just because it includes my birthday, which is enough reason to celebrate in and of itself. It's time to pull out the decorations and deck the halls with all sorts of shiny sparkley pretties and more nativity scenes then there are gospels describing them. But we can't do this decorating thing without music to dance to. So what do we listen to? While I adore my Owl City, it's time for him to take a backseat to three of the best Christmas albums ever.
Skidding into third place on my list of Christmas must-haves is the "Christmas Offerings" album by Third Day. Maybe I'm a little biased because I'm currently on a Third Day kick with the recent download of the new album "Move". So loving it. Taking a holiday spin on their occasional worshipful "Offerings" albums, Mac Powell and his homies give a selection of Christmas carols the southern rock treatment. They surprised me with a few live concert recordings that actually came out quite well when stacked against all the other studio recordings. And nearly every song makes me want to dance. Or at the very least sway a little. Right now, it's on sale at Amazon for 5 bucks. I suggest you take advantage of the deal while you can.
Second place in my list belongs to my beloved Josh Groban with the album "Noel". I love that cd so much that I'm known to occasionally play it in the middle of the summer. Josh has such an outstanding voice, and he makes me melt when paired with Brian McKnight for "Angels We Have Heard on High" and Faith Hill for "The First Noel". I have absolutely no idea what he's saying in the Latin songs like "Ave Maria", but it is enchanting. Honestly, the man could be singing a string of expletives and I would still find it beautiful. Oh, and he'll be part of the Rockefeller Center Christmas Tree Lighting Concert tomorrow night on NBC, and I will be watching just for him.
And finally, my Christmas would not be complete without listening to my first place winner, Mannheim Steamroller's 1988 album "Fresh Aire Christmas". During long road trips each Christmas to see grandparents, we would play this album several times through. While I would protest the seemingly billionth time mom played some of her old favorite cd's, I always enjoyed listening to Mannheim Steamroller's interesting versions of Christmas songs. Coming up soon we'll be making a trip to Virginia to see my grandfather, and I'll gladly turn off my mp3 player and take off my headphones to enjoy the album with my family. The music now seems little strange because it's undoubtedly from the 80s as it mixes horns and synthesizers, but it never fails to happify me.
I could go on and on about other Christmas classics, like the single "Carol of the Fryers", the soundtrack to "Charlie Brown Christmas" or the singing vegetables of Veggietales, but my list was long enough and I'm sure there's a character limit on blogger. But anyways, don't forget to pop in your favorite Christmas cd in December and dance like it's nobody's business. And if you do it again in July when it's 100+ degrees outside, I won't look down on you for it.
Monday, November 29, 2010
Sunday, November 28, 2010
Redecorating!
I have lived in the same little room full of all my stuffage for nearly eight years. Every now and again I find myself bored with the decor. But instead of emptying my room to paint and rearrange furniture, I replace pretties and pictures on my shelves and walls and clean out some of the stuff I don't use anymore. I would rearrange the furniture, but I know there's absolutely no other way to could get all my stuff to fit within these four walls.
So this weekend, I barricaded myself in my room to redecorate as opposed to getting up way before dawn and suffering from social claustrophobia while fighting people for toys and electronics. The spirit of creativity and cleansing came upon me and I proceeded to make a huge mess of my room before throwing things out and prettifying the place again. With papers, candles, and stuffed animals tossed about my quarters, I shifted all my books and DVDs around and infused a cutesy thing here and there. And ta-da!! I have a new looking room!
My already significantly reduced cd collection had been filling up needed space on my shelves, so I donated most of them to our church youth group. Since I have all those discs ripped to my hard drive and I download (legally) most of the music I have, there's really no need to keep them. However, I am holding on to a few cds for sentimental reasons. Like two of them have autographed pamphlets and remind me of great concerts. I absolutely cannot let go of Josh Groban's "Noel" album. And another is a gift from one of my favorite teachers at my old high school. That's particularly funny because we would often get in debates with him about how Christian rock is good while he said it was an oxymoron. But then the cd he gave me was rocked out praise and worship music. His wife probably purchased it, but I like thinking that maybe I did win those debates after all.
For the longest time, I've been wanting to put large pictures from my trip to Charleston SC from about three years ago. I'm not very artistic, but I know a pretty picture when I see it. And so yesterday I took the plunge, got three of my favorite photos printed off as 8x10's, and bought three matching frames. Here are the pics:
This one makes me feel like I'm spying a little because it's somebody's personal balcony. But it's in the historic district so they know their place is gonna be looked at and they shouldn't mind, haha! But I adore the wrought iron decorations and the overflowing flower pot in the middle. And those iron plates at the top and left side of the picture have their own special story. While taking a carriage tourist ride, they explained that bombs rocked the city during the Civil War and the buildings became structurally unsound. So to keep the walls from falling off, they ran long iron rods through the house and secured them with the plates on the outer walls.
One of my absolute favorite pictures, this was taken from the wall of the city that overlooks Charleston Harbor and Fort Sumter. I love these lamps that dot the walkway surrounded by mountains of giant azaleas. Maybe it reminds me of Narnia, thus flinging me into my own fantasy world of kings and fauns, except here it would be southern gentlemen and smelly horses. Ok, maybe it's not that fantastical, haha! And then I also love the old historic homes and buildings in the background.
And finally, I spent half an afternoon at this place. The Waterfront Park is filled with benches, flowers, and the occasional college student taking a nap in the grassy spots. For a second I considered going to school there just so I could act like a hobo like these other people. When Sam and I weren't sitting next to the pineapple fountain, we relaxing on the pier in the back of the photo. If you look closely, you can see a battleship to the right. I love how this picture is taken in the shade under a tree and looks out on the sunbathed plants surrounding my favorite fountain.
I'm not even completely done redecorating my room, but I hope it's a while before I feel the need to do this again because it's exhausting. Now please excuse me while I take much needed nap.
So this weekend, I barricaded myself in my room to redecorate as opposed to getting up way before dawn and suffering from social claustrophobia while fighting people for toys and electronics. The spirit of creativity and cleansing came upon me and I proceeded to make a huge mess of my room before throwing things out and prettifying the place again. With papers, candles, and stuffed animals tossed about my quarters, I shifted all my books and DVDs around and infused a cutesy thing here and there. And ta-da!! I have a new looking room!
My already significantly reduced cd collection had been filling up needed space on my shelves, so I donated most of them to our church youth group. Since I have all those discs ripped to my hard drive and I download (legally) most of the music I have, there's really no need to keep them. However, I am holding on to a few cds for sentimental reasons. Like two of them have autographed pamphlets and remind me of great concerts. I absolutely cannot let go of Josh Groban's "Noel" album. And another is a gift from one of my favorite teachers at my old high school. That's particularly funny because we would often get in debates with him about how Christian rock is good while he said it was an oxymoron. But then the cd he gave me was rocked out praise and worship music. His wife probably purchased it, but I like thinking that maybe I did win those debates after all.
For the longest time, I've been wanting to put large pictures from my trip to Charleston SC from about three years ago. I'm not very artistic, but I know a pretty picture when I see it. And so yesterday I took the plunge, got three of my favorite photos printed off as 8x10's, and bought three matching frames. Here are the pics:
This one makes me feel like I'm spying a little because it's somebody's personal balcony. But it's in the historic district so they know their place is gonna be looked at and they shouldn't mind, haha! But I adore the wrought iron decorations and the overflowing flower pot in the middle. And those iron plates at the top and left side of the picture have their own special story. While taking a carriage tourist ride, they explained that bombs rocked the city during the Civil War and the buildings became structurally unsound. So to keep the walls from falling off, they ran long iron rods through the house and secured them with the plates on the outer walls.
One of my absolute favorite pictures, this was taken from the wall of the city that overlooks Charleston Harbor and Fort Sumter. I love these lamps that dot the walkway surrounded by mountains of giant azaleas. Maybe it reminds me of Narnia, thus flinging me into my own fantasy world of kings and fauns, except here it would be southern gentlemen and smelly horses. Ok, maybe it's not that fantastical, haha! And then I also love the old historic homes and buildings in the background.
And finally, I spent half an afternoon at this place. The Waterfront Park is filled with benches, flowers, and the occasional college student taking a nap in the grassy spots. For a second I considered going to school there just so I could act like a hobo like these other people. When Sam and I weren't sitting next to the pineapple fountain, we relaxing on the pier in the back of the photo. If you look closely, you can see a battleship to the right. I love how this picture is taken in the shade under a tree and looks out on the sunbathed plants surrounding my favorite fountain.
I'm not even completely done redecorating my room, but I hope it's a while before I feel the need to do this again because it's exhausting. Now please excuse me while I take much needed nap.
Wednesday, November 24, 2010
Thanksgiving!
It's almost THANKSGIVING!!! I cannot tell you how much I am looking forward to the days off work and the great feast of which I will soon partake. Oh, the turkey, stuffing, and freshly mashed potatoes covered in lakes of gravy! And the nap that follows such a feast will be heavenly. I'm giddy just thinking about it.
Often amidst the gigantic meal of pure deliciousness, I fear that the purpose of Thanksgiving is forgotten. It's supposed to be a time of thanks to God for all of His blessings. But this nearly nonexistent time of thanks shouldn't be on just one day a year, it should be a constant attitude for those who love Him. First Thessalonians's 5:18 says " Give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus." This isn't just a suggestion, it's His will for us! This is an attitude that His people need to be portraying always.
I like how that verse says "in all circumstances." We've all gone through times where thanking God is the very last thing on our minds. But I think it's in these moments where thanking God has the most power. Back in May of 2009, I was going through a time where nothing was going as I wished and I often complained to God about it in my journal. After our Sunday School lesson on thankfulness, I decided to make a list of things I was thankful for. This small list turned into multiple pages of things I was glad to have, ranging from serious to frivolous. But by the end of that list, God had pointed out countless things that I often take for granted. It totally changed my perspective from a whiny girl unhappy with her circumstances to a very thankful girl in awe of how Father in Heaven had so sweetly blessed her.
Just for fun, here's part of that list:
- My awesome cell phone (which isn't near as awesome as the Android phone I have now!)
- My Godly family
- School
- Blankets (I like being warm, but I probably have too many)
- Coffee
- Movie theaters
- Brownies
- My CAR!! (Although the Corolla is much nicer than the one I had then)
- Mountain Dew :)
- Flip flops
- My country (Sometimes it annoys me, but as written in this post, I'd rather be here than anywhere else)
This is what I wrote after the multi-page list:
"God, you've given me so many things. Please help me to be thankful for all these things I listed instead of sad about the things that aren't a part of this list. I don't deserve any of it, but you give it to me anyways. Father, help me to be overflowing in thankfulness."
My prayer above that I would always be thankful is the same one I have today. While it's deliciously great to have that giant meal, I don't want to be thankful just one day a year. God requires and deserves so much more than that.
Sunday, November 21, 2010
God Giggles
I am convinced that God likes humor. I know He often looks down on me and calls His angel buds over, saying "Look at my girl! Right there! She's absolutely ridiculous! I made her that way!" I'd like to think I bring God a giggle every now and then, maybe with my spontaneous singing of Disney Channel songs, my clumsiness that causes me to run into unsuspecting family members in the house hallway, or my awesome dancing to Owl City tunes (New single drops Tuesday! So excited!) as I'm driving down the highway at possibly higher-than-legal speeds. Well He probably doesn't laugh at the law breaking, but let's change the subject, shall we?
So why do I think God has a sense of humor? Well other than the fact that He made my dad, I think it shows up tons throughout the Bible but we don't take the time to notice it. For instance, check out Matthew chapter 7, particularly verses 39 and 40. A pharisee was complaining about Jesus under his breath, knowing that He wouldn't hear. Just imagine for a moment the look on the man's face when Jesus answered his muttered, incomprehensible complaint. I picture it as shock with his eyes wide and jaw dropped, wondering if maybe he'd gone crazy. This is one of those times when I wish I'd been a fly on the wall to see this man's attempt to regain composure after such a zing from Jesus.
Another part of the Bible that makes me laugh is Numbers 22:1-35. Balaam is traveling when his donkey notices an armed angel on the path before them. The donkey tries several tactics to stop Balaam, first by turning off the path, then running him into a wall, and finally by lying on the ground. Now, Balaam is walking with many officials of the region who are probably looking at him like he's an idiot. What kind of Bible time dude can't control his own donkey?! But then it gets even better. In verse 28, God opened the donkey's mouth and it begins talking to Balaam. Do you read of any shock or even a confused pause of the prophet? No! He carries on a whole conversation with a talking animal without a single stop to check his sanity! It absolutely cracks me up that this entire ordeal would not give him the least bit of alarm. Even though God was angry with Balaam at the moment, I've no doubt that He must have let out a laugh when He saw how his boy couldn't take a hint.
I also think God shows humor in nature. I mean, why else would He create the platypus? (You've no idea how hard I'm fighting to not burst out with the Perry the Platypus theme song right now) It's so weird, a mammal with a duck bill and beaver tail that lays eggs. My guess is the He made it just for fun and to give Himself a giggle. Which makes me wonder, what does a God giggle sound like?! Imma have to find that out eventually, because that has got to be absolutely epic.
So why do I think God has a sense of humor? Well other than the fact that He made my dad, I think it shows up tons throughout the Bible but we don't take the time to notice it. For instance, check out Matthew chapter 7, particularly verses 39 and 40. A pharisee was complaining about Jesus under his breath, knowing that He wouldn't hear. Just imagine for a moment the look on the man's face when Jesus answered his muttered, incomprehensible complaint. I picture it as shock with his eyes wide and jaw dropped, wondering if maybe he'd gone crazy. This is one of those times when I wish I'd been a fly on the wall to see this man's attempt to regain composure after such a zing from Jesus.
Another part of the Bible that makes me laugh is Numbers 22:1-35. Balaam is traveling when his donkey notices an armed angel on the path before them. The donkey tries several tactics to stop Balaam, first by turning off the path, then running him into a wall, and finally by lying on the ground. Now, Balaam is walking with many officials of the region who are probably looking at him like he's an idiot. What kind of Bible time dude can't control his own donkey?! But then it gets even better. In verse 28, God opened the donkey's mouth and it begins talking to Balaam. Do you read of any shock or even a confused pause of the prophet? No! He carries on a whole conversation with a talking animal without a single stop to check his sanity! It absolutely cracks me up that this entire ordeal would not give him the least bit of alarm. Even though God was angry with Balaam at the moment, I've no doubt that He must have let out a laugh when He saw how his boy couldn't take a hint.
I also think God shows humor in nature. I mean, why else would He create the platypus? (You've no idea how hard I'm fighting to not burst out with the Perry the Platypus theme song right now) It's so weird, a mammal with a duck bill and beaver tail that lays eggs. My guess is the He made it just for fun and to give Himself a giggle. Which makes me wonder, what does a God giggle sound like?! Imma have to find that out eventually, because that has got to be absolutely epic.
Friday, November 19, 2010
Imagination > Animation
It has been way too long since I last posted anything. I would blame my lack of posting on the fact that I've been super busy, but I know my mom would disagree and cite all the tv shows I've spent time watching recently. (Psych and Burn Notice just came back, so I've been absolutely giddy. Totally loving Shules, but Jesse not so much) So I'm not gonna even bother trying to excuse myself and move on to the topic that's been bouncing around in my head all week.
*Ahem*
This week, my friend Katrina and I spent an hour in Walmart shopping for an Operation Christmas Child box. We spent more than half of the time walking down each aisle of the toy department pushing buttons and being thoroughly creeped out by the animated toys. When I was little, we didn't have these toys with moving body parts which hilariously fail to imitate real animals. We had to use our... wait for iiiiit... imaginations!!
Really, I think animation significantly limits the toy's usefulness. Sure, moving arms and legs may be sorta cool in that you don't have to waste allllll that energy to move them yourself. But stuffed kitties with mechanical insides are absolutely no good for cuddling. You can't squeeze their plushy lower half into your Barbie Corvette so they can drag race against the beanie baby on the next shelf. Just give me a toy that does absolutely nothing so that I can make it do whatever I want! Confused? Let Phineas and Ferb explain it:
Genius, right? My favorite Disney boys totally get it. And my favorite Disney toys from Toy Story get it too. Yes, Buzz Lightyear had the wings that pop out and the voice box that apparently has an epic Spanish setting. But practically all the other toys in Andy's room were simple and therefore able to do absolutely anything. At the very end of Toy Story 3 as Andy drops off his toys to the little girl down the street, he hands each one to her while describing just how awesome these individual toys were. He didn't describe their high-tech animations, but rather the characters they played in his imagination which made them a special part of his childhood. *sniffle* I may need a tissue.
Anyways, Katrina and I picked out a little stuffed monkey with no mechanical qualities whatsoever so that the little girl who receives it can make it do whatever she wants. I even tested its cuddliness before putting in the box to be sent to another country. It passed with flying colors. I liked it so much that I may have to buy myself another one. Yes I am almost 22 years old, and I may be purchasing a stuffed critter for myself. As if I didn't have enough already.
*Ahem*
This week, my friend Katrina and I spent an hour in Walmart shopping for an Operation Christmas Child box. We spent more than half of the time walking down each aisle of the toy department pushing buttons and being thoroughly creeped out by the animated toys. When I was little, we didn't have these toys with moving body parts which hilariously fail to imitate real animals. We had to use our... wait for iiiiit... imaginations!!
Really, I think animation significantly limits the toy's usefulness. Sure, moving arms and legs may be sorta cool in that you don't have to waste allllll that energy to move them yourself. But stuffed kitties with mechanical insides are absolutely no good for cuddling. You can't squeeze their plushy lower half into your Barbie Corvette so they can drag race against the beanie baby on the next shelf. Just give me a toy that does absolutely nothing so that I can make it do whatever I want! Confused? Let Phineas and Ferb explain it:
Genius, right? My favorite Disney boys totally get it. And my favorite Disney toys from Toy Story get it too. Yes, Buzz Lightyear had the wings that pop out and the voice box that apparently has an epic Spanish setting. But practically all the other toys in Andy's room were simple and therefore able to do absolutely anything. At the very end of Toy Story 3 as Andy drops off his toys to the little girl down the street, he hands each one to her while describing just how awesome these individual toys were. He didn't describe their high-tech animations, but rather the characters they played in his imagination which made them a special part of his childhood. *sniffle* I may need a tissue.
Anyways, Katrina and I picked out a little stuffed monkey with no mechanical qualities whatsoever so that the little girl who receives it can make it do whatever she wants. I even tested its cuddliness before putting in the box to be sent to another country. It passed with flying colors. I liked it so much that I may have to buy myself another one. Yes I am almost 22 years old, and I may be purchasing a stuffed critter for myself. As if I didn't have enough already.
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