Sunday Stories // Give Thanks ~ Days 15-17

Happy Sunday =)

After our typically busy day, the three trays of buckeyes were remembered after prayer time this evening. We had planned to dip them tonight, but their storage location hadn't stayed as cool as needed. Due to our freezer layout, we have traditionally chilled the buckeyes in the backseat of our cars as this time of year usually has the garage at or below freezing. However we've had an unusually warm couple of days and the buckeyes were softer than needed :(

We pulled them out and decided to wait till tomorrow morning to complete the chocolate dipping stage. However that didn't stop all of us from consuming a few of the powdered sugar + peanut butter balls. From my typing vantage point of the kitchen table, I think I've counted at least a dozen balls disappear...

The tray that with a few new "holes"

Perhaps we'll make a second batch tomorrow to make up the lost-in-production difference ;)

Mom
::snow
::warm coats
::hot tea
::rolling backpacks
::sister talks
::clean desk
::salad
::Sunday mornings
::Sunday school
::Colossians
::drive to church
::last day of membership class
::warm clothes
::worship with my family
::productive Mondays
::wise spiritual counsel
::my daughters' voices
::walks in the rain
::tea
::vacuum cleaner
::washer and dryer (thanks, Kipp!)

Megan
::hot water
::Christmas music singing sessions
::ice skating trains
::friends who point me to Christ and whisper "I'm praying"
::doing a mall scavenger hunt (and winning!)
::Skype messages, texts, and emails from Mom encouraging me when I missed my family
::honesty
::new mornings each day
::radio dramas
::Mrs. Subra's awesome cooking :)
::going to church with the CP gang
::singing praise God in unconventional ways
::snow fights
::re-enacting memories from previous gatherings
::having friends who pull all-nighters with you
::getting a few extra minutes with Emily & Charity before they had to board their flight
::reviewing the whole gathering with Andrew
::talking and texting with Mom and girlfriends the whole way home
::Mom and Dad picking me up from the airport
::a safe arrival home
::selfie wars

Molly
::rain
::heaters
::cousins
::autumn evening chats with said cousins
::greek making sense
::elves (Tolkien ones that is ;))
::chocolate graham crackers
::mugs
::black and white
::restoration
::ribbon
::poems
::pain
::bookmarks
::snowmen
::whiteboards
::teapots
::pens
::Heaven
::coats
::pumpkins

Buckeyes // Give Thanks ~ Days 12-14

I think it's time to return ;) Thank you for your patience...coming home from a CP gathering involves exhaustion, some serious missing, and a stack of responsibilities to make me want to run for the hills :P But lest you all begin to wonder why I go to such events... they also result in some pretty amazing memories which I hope to share over the next couple days here on the blog =)

While I begin the process of catching up (not a one day deal), I'll enjoy eating some of these little holiday treasures...

Buckeyes awaiting the chocolate-dipping phase

Melissa & Dad, our awesome buckeye-rolling team!

And let's also get serious about our Give Thanks challenge...Today, we'll cover November 12-14 :)

Mom
::fun surprises
::laughter
::homemade cookies
::long-distance friends
::family connections
::health
::Megan's blog
::consignment sales
::frozen yogurt
::Friday nights
::completed to-do list
::God's peace
::organization
::help with shopping
::our pastors
::bar-b-que
::Skype calls
::cousins
::friends
::my family
::movie night

Megan
::helpful airline ticket agents
::that my delayed flight gave me a push to do some Bible study
::extra sleep on my flight
::Dad's transportation services (complete with lovely conversations!)
::teasing texts
::Melissa and Mom letting me raid their closets for this trip
::sunshine
::chats with Melissa to keep me updated on home life
::texts from Dad and Molly
::posing in the Des Moines sculpture park
::Mr. Subra's entertaining lesson on the 12 tenets of the Bible
::Josh's driving
::sharing a room with two of my dear CP friends
::talking listening to others talk about music and gaining a whole new playlist
::Catherine calling just to encourage me
::sharing hearts and feelings with the girls at the gathering
::getting to do more English Country Dancing (thank you, Emily!)
::Drew's willingness to share his swing knowledge
::the gift of friends who share memories, fun, and laughter
::the Subra's willingness to open up their home (and furniture!)
::sweet emails from Mom teaching on God's work in our lives

Molly
::His story
::language
::learning
::dishwashers
::time
::reasons
::hugs
::Skype
::conspiracies
::snow
::gloves
::new friends
::teachers
::volunteers
::trees
::walks
::church
::clearance
::babies
::jump rope
::(mostly) catching up on NaNoWriMo

Merry Christmas!

Every year the Christmas boxes come down and out come the nativity scenes, holiday tins, wreaths, ornaments, and more. One of my most memorable decorations is this box...

a musical matchbox

For Christmas 2008, my great-grandma sent me this musical matchbox. I stowed it away and planned to pull it out next Christmas and send her a picture and note. However, there wasn't a "next" Christmas. It was her last gift to me.

I pull it out each year and display it in my room :) This year I discovered that it would no longer play music, but having it out still reminds me of Grandma Alice -- her sweet smile when we would visit, the cards she would send every holiday without fail, and her thoughtful gifts.

It is this memory that makes me so grateful for Christmas. Not the presents, or the delicious food (although both were a part of the day), but the fact that "...there is born to you this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord" (Luke 2:11). I don't know where my grandma's heart was before the Lord Jesus Christ, but I do treasure the reminder that our lives on earth are short and that one day I will stand before my Creator.

Christmas is the celebration of the birth of my Savior. I once heard a pastor say that Christmas is important because of Easter. The baby in the manager, while sweet and seemingly-innocent, is worth celebrating because 30 years later, He would voluntarily submit to death on a cross to pay the price for the sins of anyone who would "...confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved" (Romans 10:9).

The greatest gift of Christmas is the gift of Jesus's sacrifice to live as a man and to die a horrible death to offer the gift of salvation. I'm grateful for the assurance that Christ is my Savior and love having a day to celebrate His birth, made important by His death and subsequent resurrection =)

Merry Christmas!

"And she will bring forth a Son, and you shall call His name Jesus, for He will save His people from their sins." ~Matthew 1:21

Let It Snow...

Snow has been in the forecast and as a result I haven't seen the grass in over a week!

8" fell last Sunday making it an "at-home" day. I was flying home from a CollegePlus retreat in Dallas, TX so I missed seeing the beautiful snow fall, but Dad took these pictures in the afternoon as he worked with Melissa and Molly to clear the driveway...

Melissa with a shovel full of snow

Molly with her own version of a "shovel"

While I will do a separate post soon sharing memories and pictures from the CollegePlus Dallas retreat, I just have to mention this... Mom and Dad worked very hard to get me home on Sunday. Due to an ice storm in Dallas and the snow in the DC area, flights that actually got from one place to another were hard to come by. Mom and Dad spent most of the weekend finding me a flight and Dad also drove to DC in the snowy and rainy weather to get me when my flight got in at 9:45pm. They are awesome parents, just sayin' =)

Tuesday brought another 4" and this was on top of Sunday's 8" as the weather stayed beneath freezing. To get out of the house, Melissa and Molly headed outside and I followed with the camera...

Melissa with her snow shovel and Molly with a snowball

While Melissa shoveled, Molly made some lovely snow creations.

a heart made out of footprints

a smiley face - with Molly's smiling face

The temperature has stayed around or below freezing for the rest of the week meaning that the snow is sticking around longer than it usually does... It snowed on and off today totaling around 2" on top of 8" left over from the last two storms =) 

No snowmen yet, but maybe one will be produced this week as Melissa is now done with her community college classes. I am still busy with school and have three midterms this week. But once those are done, I will have a bit of free time. If one is made, I will be sure and post some pictures on here!

Give Thanks ~ Day 24

As you'll see on our lists down below, the day's sights have signaled that winter is once again upon us...

Dad posing with his warm fire

On our way to church this morning, we oohed and aahed at the snow flurries that were blowing around. The "high" around here was 34* and the low was/is somewhere in the teens. Thus it was determined that an afternoon fire would be a great way to keep the main level a bit more comfortable =)

With seeing the snow flurries this morning, I thought back to my first sighting of snow flurries... When we first moved to Maryland three years ago, Melissa, Molly, and I were eagerly awaiting the first snow. We'd never lived in a city where it would snow, so this was going to be a whole new experience. Well, one day in mid-November on our way home from the library, we noticed some ice-like things landing on the windshield --and it looked like these things were melting! We all started eagerly proclaiming that "It was finally snowing!!!!"

We all decided it was a good thing that we were close to home because we'd hate to get caught on a blizzard! Confident that we would soon have a stack of snow (we were expecting feet upon feet of snow :P), we raced inside to inform Mom of the weather conditions outside. She took one look out the window and promptly informed us that there is a difference between snow flurries and snow showers.

Sure enough when we got up the next morning, instead of a winter wonderland, I saw a wet driveway and lawn full of green... Just one of the many things I'd learn and adjust to in that first year on the east coast :P

Our 'Give Thanks' Challenge lists...

Megan:
~Google Drive
~Swagbucks
~the first fire of the season
~seeing snow flurries
~Thanksgiving cards
~a beautiful bedroom
~my parents pushing me outside of my comfort zone

Molly:
~My iPod ;)
~Mysteries
~Faith
~Encouragement
~Warm fires when it is (literally!) FREEZING outside *chattering teeth*
~Green lights from God
~the Amy Grant Christmas cd (if you haven't heard it, then look it up RIGHT NOW ;))