2012 Christmas Card.

 

Today I am linking up with Faith's annual Christmas Card Carousel.

 

 

One of my FAVORITE things about Christmas is giving and receiving Christmas cards! It's a thrill to go to the mailbox each day :)

 

My sis and I did a sister Christmas card this year. We just LOVE the way it turned out.

 

Here are my cards for:
2009
2010
2011
 

Hope everyone is having a wonderful Christmas season.

Thank you so much for stopping by! Make sure you go by Faith's blog and share your card and check out the others.

 

MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!!!



Salt and Light.

 

 

I was messing around on FB....Looking at the status updates, the pictures, yadda yadda.....

 

And I stumbled upon an interesting conversation thread on my newsfeed.

 

It was a video a guy I went to high school with had posted on evolution. It had over a hundred comments and so I was intrigued as to what people were saying. Didn't watch the video but started reading through the comments.

 

I'm not here to blog about evolution, so bear with me.

 

 

Y'all, and what I read written by this guy I went to high school with totally grieved my heart. There was absolutely no judgment on my part, but simply....my heart just hearts for him, especially as we go into this Christmas season and holiday which celebrates the birth of Jesus. The gift which was the ultimate gift we could ever receive.

 

Matthew 5:13-16

¹³ “You are the salt of the earth. But if the salt loses its saltiness, how can it be made salty again? It is no longer good for anything, except to be thrown out and trampled underfoot.

¹⁴ “You are the light of the world. A town built on a hill cannot be hidden. ¹⁵ Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house. ¹⁶ In the same way, let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven.

 

And I can only imagine how much that grieved God.

 

I don't know the circumstances of his life that caused him to turn his back on God and change his beliefs in everything he has ever known...but I know not for one second has God turned his back on him.

 

It got me to thinking... am I doing my part?

 

Am I being the salt and the light here on this earth? To each and every person that I come in contact with, day in and day out... Do they see me not just talking the talk, but walking the walk?

 

To the unbelievers, do they look at me and see me and want what I have .....The hope, peace, comfort, and relationship that comes with knowing Jesus Christ.

 

Or to the person who may have turned their back on God, do they see me, not just by words but also by actions, and realize that all of that is still there for them, God hasn't left them or forsaken them, but they have gone so far astray that they don't know how to get back to that place and  the enemy has them so deceived by the lies of this world.

 

This just was a smack in the face reminder..

 

Be the salt and be the light.

 



Weekend this and that!

 

Happy Monday to you friends!!

 

Why must the weekends going by so dang fast?!?!?! It was a pretty great weekend, if I do say so myself.

 

Woke up Saturday and it was December 1st, YIPPEE!!!!!!!!!! The countdown has begun!

 

 

No better time to start on the Christmas tree!

 

 

Got the tree up and the lights working. Cleaned up and there was an event going on nearby to promote pet adoption and Phil Phillips from American Idol was going to be there, so we decided to go check that out.

 

 

Is there anything cuter than this?? (You could technically be talking about Phil Phillps and the dogs...

Bwahaha!!!)

 

 

My sister with one of the pups!

 

 

Went to Mellow Mushroom (BEST PIZZA EVER!!!!) to eat and went back home to  get the rest of the Christmas tree done.

 

 

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas!! :)

 

 

How cute are these light up gifts bought from Kirkland's to go under the tree?

 

 

Christmas movies (Love me some ELF) by the Christmas tree lights. Doesn't get cozier than that!!

 

 

Sunday our church was decorated so beautifully for Christmas!

 

 

Went and ate lunch at Chipotle and of course no Sunday is complete without a trip to Target. Yes and Amen!!!!!

 

 

My sis and I had some picture fun!! :)

 

 

I love love love this one by the tree and love her!!! :)

 

 

How was YOUR weekend?????

 

I just love this time of year. Hope you are trying to soak it all up as much as I am!!  :)



Probability of a White Christmas!

 

 Christmas season is in full swing!
 

I had to laugh when I came across this because when you have grown up in Florida all your life, this pretty much sums it up. In fact, the State of Florida should be 0%. Where the heck does that 5% come from?? Nevertheless, this Florida girl will hold hope to that 5% or less, ha!

 

Holidays feel and look a little different here in the Sunshine State. Safe to say that 99% of the time you'll find us in flip flops on CHRISTMAS DAY.

 

Traditions are different here. I don't have memories that come with snowy places where you're bundling up to go play out in the snow. We really need no fire place going to keep us warm. And seriously, when it hits 50 degrees here we call that COLD, lol! I don't know anything different.

 

I used to be jealous of those places that get snow and their White Christmas.... And if I'm being honest, I'm kind of still am. A part of me always felt like I was being deprived of those fun memories that can be made. We're the land of palm trees and I'm learning that I live in a wonderful place. (HELLO, Mickey???)  Florida has so much to offer. I don't think I could ever leave a place where basically anywhere in the State of Florida you are within easy access to the coast and the Florida beaches.

 

It's a great place.

 

I think Santa thinks so too :)
 

So chime in. Where are you from? Do you get your White Christmas???



Disney fun.

 

One of the greatest gifts this blog has given me are the wonderful friendships I have made.

 

I truly am blessed to have found Courtney through the blog world and she has become one of my dearest friends. One of the great things is Courtney and her family make frequent trips to Disney and it's right in my neck of the woods.

 

I never got around to blogging about our visit a couple of weeks ago and wanted to document it. The Friday she came in she invited me to join her family. That night she set up a boat ride around Disney to see the light show on the water and to see the Christmas fireworks show over Cinderella's castle. I don't care how old you are, Disney will never lose it's magic and it always makes me feel like a little kid again. I think I take for granted all the wonderful perks the Orlando area has to offer. I love this place I call home! It was a great time. I just adore Courtney and her sweet family and kiddos.

 

Courtney's daughter and I on the boat. The two Lauren's :)

 

Gorgeous Fireworks.

 



 

 

Another picture of sweet Lauren and I at the end of the night.

 

Soooo blessed by Courtney's friendship!!!

Didn't get a picture of Courtney's cute son Connor and her husband and other family :(

It was such a fun night. Thanks for inviting me Courtney. Come back SOON!!! 

 



Family dynamics.

 

 

Family dynamics, it’s an interesting thing.

Holidays are all about friends and family and family togetherness and it kind of makes you reflect.

When you’re born, you don’t get to pick and choose your family. You’re born and you just hope you fall into a good one, ha!! I kid.

Absolutely no family is perfect, despite what TV portrays half the time.

On my Mom’s side it's not big at all. She’s the only child. And there’s my granny and my grandpa has passed away.

On my Dad’s side there’s my grandma (my grandpa passed away when I was a baby), two aunts, and two cousins. It was a huge tug of war in my heart but eventually I decided that I needed to cut ties where my Dad’s family was concerned, except with my cousin who I grew up with and we're best friends. My relationship with this side is pretty much non-existent, including with my Dad. It’s just a toxic group of people. They are negative and have no sense of what family is truly all about.  I just couldn’t surround myself with that anymore. I love them because they are my family and God calls us to love, but it doesn’t mean you have to like them. There’s a major difference.

It really saddens me that it is the way it is. But I’ve come to learn that family runs so much deeper than just blood.

Every year, like clockwork, around Christmas that card with the check comes in from my dad and it’s just simply signed “Love, Dad.” I replace that with “Hi, I don’t talk to you the other 364 days out of the year, but here’s your check.” If only he knew that it wasn’t his money I wanted, but just simply some measure, just a teeny tiny fraction of what you would call a relationship.

Anyway, going on a tangent here, lol.

I know nothing about any of this surprises God. I’ve learned that I’m truly blessed in so many incredible ways with my wonderful Mom, great sister and brother and the amazing sister-in-law and nieces he gave me. Not to mention the incredible family he gave us when my Mom married Larry and will remain long after his passing earlier this year.

As I celebrated Thanksgiving with my family, the people I do life with on a daily basis, the people who live up to the word, I’m so so thankful. Again, major fail on the picture taking but here is what I did get over Thanksgiving. Good looking group if I do say so myself!! :)

 

My gorgeous mom and I.

 

 

My sister, granny, mom, and I heading to my brother's house for Thanksgiving.

 

My adorable niece.

 

My mom and brother.

 

I'm a blessed and lucky girl!

 

Happy Thanksgiving!

 

I'm a lover of all things Christmas, don't get me wrong. But it makes my heart sad that Christmas has become so much about the almighty dollar that Thanksgiving tends to get overlooked. It's actually my favorite holiday. The simplicity I love, there's no hustle and bustle. It's about good food, family, and taking the time to slow down and reflect on all that we have to be thankful for.

 

Tomorrow as I'm surrounded by my family my heart will be so full. We will be spending it with my brother's family at his house out in the country. The peace and quiet I so love out there. Hopefully I can sneak away for even just a few minutes to take some time to be still in the quiet, where the country can meet my thankful heart and I can just reflect on all that's good in my life, be in the moment, and soak up the time with my family.

 

Wherever you're at tomorrow, hopefully you can take the time to do the same.

 

So much to be thankful for. Happy Thanksgiving!

 

Be back next week.