Happy New Year!

It's the start of a new decade! What will this new year bring? I am hopeful and excited for good things. What are you all hoping for?

Glory to God in highest Heaven,

Who unto man his son hath given;

While angels sing with tender mirth,

A glad New Year to all the earth. -Martin Luther

The Frozen Tundra

The Monday before Christmas we left this:

for the frozen, cold west.

It was even colder than what we left, but we were excited to be with some cuteness!

This cuteness:

And that pink cuteness were so fun to visit and spend the holidays with!

I hope everyone had a fun Christmas holiday with the ones they love!

Happy Christmas

Luke 2:14

Glory to God in the highest, and on earth, peace, goodwill toward men.

Happy Christmas to all!

Merry Christmas, god-daughter!

We had our Christmas celebration with our god-daughter and her parents (who are special, dear friends of ours) yesterday. Is it any wonder that I love this precious child so?

Dear sweet Sofia, I know we are not related through blood. I know I am just your godmother. But I have something important to tell you! Very important, and I hope you remember it for the rest of your life.

You are a child of God.

You have been wonderfully and carefully made. Your Father is the creator of joy, and love, and all the beautiful and wonderful things that you love.

Your Father is watching you, loving you, preparing for you. I cannot wait to see the wonderful, wonderful plans he has for you!

And your godmother, your Nana, is here whenever you need her. And, If she wasn't afraid of being struck by lightning, she would say that she loves you more. But you know what? I'm pretty sure your Nana loves you just as much!

Love, your Nana

And Presents Under The Tree!

We had our annual Christmas wrapping get-together last night, and I love seeing all the presents wrapped and under the tree! I did red and white paper to match the red and white theme of the tree. Bows are my favorite part of the wrapping, I love them!

Nineteen

Nineteen months down, who knows how many more to go...

The Table

For the table centerpiece this year, I went with something simple and easy, and tried to use things I already had around the house. I took three table runners, and laid them cross-wise (instead of length-wise) on the table. Over that, I added a fake pine garland I think I used in the basement last year. I used my three beaded red trees, and put the middle one onto my glass cake stand, and covered the base of the stand with red ornaments, and white-tipped pine cones. Done!

Resting In Peace

I often struggle to find peace. I long for it. I want to rest in it, and bask in it, but it seems so illusive. I want to have complete faith and trust in God, knowing that He will work all things together for my good, but the peace can be so illusive.

I remember reading the story of Brazil's Archbishop Dom Helder Camara, who was speaking in 1999 at a crowded church in Berkeley, California. He was asked by someone in the crowd, "After facing death squads, would-be assassins, violent government opposition, and even hostile forces within your own church, who do you consider your most difficult opponent?"

Dom Helder didn't say a word, but pointed his hand into the air, then slowly arched it around, until it turned on himself, his finger pointing at his heart. "I am my own worst enemy," he said, "my most difficult adversary. Here I have the greatest struggle for peace."

Am I destined to forever struggle with myself for peace? Probably. I know that, for myself, my heart, my own traitorous heart, can be an emotional yo-yo, full of confidence and trust one moment, and fearful and disbelieving the next moment, when I truly long to just be content.

Does anyone else struggle with this? Ever?

What Christmas is About

And there were shepherds living out in the fields nearby, keeping watch over their flocks at night. An angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified. But the angel said to them, "do not be afraid. I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all people. Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is Christ the Lord." ~Luke 2:8-11

I love having nativities about. They remind me what Christmas really means, and they keep me focused on something besides the craziness and the bustle. (Although I am quite fond of the craziness) They remind me to keep my eyes focused on what Christmas is about.

The Table Needs Something...

I took the side table and lamp away from this end of the sofa because it was crowding the space around the tree, but the table then needed something special.

So I took a large clear vase, and filled it with white and red ornaments, and white tipped pinecones, added a candleholder for some height, and put an ornament on the candleholder. One of my nativities, and I think it's good!

Oh, Christmas tree!

We went with the red and white again this year. I don't care if it's unoriginal, I love it too much to change!

Places, Everyone!

You know how I love a unique place card. I found these cute tiny trees at AC Moore, and I found these cardboard tags at Target. I put a cute sticker on the tag, and tied it to my little trees, and voila! Place cards!

The Ornaments!

I'm participating in an ornament party at Centsational girl's blog! Click here to check it out; We have, of course, the ornaments on the tree:

I love these glittery white snowflakes, I love that they give a little texture and interest to the tree. You can make these out of the cheap plastic snowflakes you buy at the dollar store, or even out of cardboard. I bought mine at Target, spread glue on them, and put glitter on them!

These bows are from Martha Stewart's Christmas line. How cute is the little white pom-pom trim?

These little glittery red balls remind me of The Wizard of Oz. So fun!

A fun metal ornament added to my garland wreath makes it less simple and more fun.

Some cute red balls added to my white garland wreath gives it some fun color. For the garland wreath tutorial, go here.

This little set of ornaments is so special we use it as a little decorative item next to a candle on a stack of Christmas books. It is a little Chinese girl and her little pagoda. We got it the Christmas we decided to adopt from China.

Ornaments on a cake plate give interest to my table centerpiece!

It is Here!

Christmas is upon us, and our house shows it. We are fully enjoying this holiday season, and I am loving the peace of having shopping done!

The Ribbon Wreath

I saw a tutorial for this on the DIY Showoff's blog, and it was so cute! I used a larger cardboard circle, and started tying on wired ribbon. How festive! I love it against my white window on the mantle!

Some More Christmas Art

So I put my red garland wreath on my giant chalkboard, and hung a red and white ornament on it. A cute quote from Dr. Seuss, and we're good to go! The hohoho canvas I just painted white, and free-handed hohoho in red.