One Solitary Life

He was born in an obscure village, the child of a peasant woman. He grew up in another obscure village, where He worked in a carpenter shop until He was thirty. Then for three years He was an itinerant preacher. He never had a family or owned a home. He never set foot inside a big city. He never traveled two hundred miles from the place He was born. He never wrote a book, or held an office. He did none of the things that usually accompany greatness. While He was still a young man, the tide of popular opinion turned against Him. His friends deserted Him. He was turned over to His enemies, and went through the mockery of a trial. He was nailed to a cross between two thieves. While He was dying, His executioners gambled for the only piece of property He had - His coat. When He was dead, He was taken down and laid in a borrowed grave. Two thousand years have come and gone, and today He is the central figure for much of the human race. All the armies that ever marched and all the navies that ever sailed and all the parliaments that ever sat and all the kings that ever reigned, put together, have not affected the life of man upon this earth as powerfully as the "One Solitary Life."

My Cleveland Visit - Christmas 2012

I just had a wonderful whirlwind trip to see my Mom in Cleveland for our annual Mother/Daughter Christmas-do-something-together-somewhere time. I was in the middle of finals so could only do a 3 day weekend so we decided to spend time in Cleveland this year.
I flew in early Friday so we had the whole day to bomb around. Mom's got a new little black jeep that I wanted to see anyway :)
She took me to her flight school (yes, she is taking flight lessons) and I met some of the people that work there and see the little planes they learn to fly in. They had a Women in Flight museum and, as you can see, a NASA exhibit.
We then went to the Cleveland Museum of Art which is newly remodeled and a very cool museum. It's a FREE museum, which is really rare. We went across the street to the Botanical Garden and it was all lit up for Christmas. It was gorgeous.
We grabbed a little dinner at a restuarant that was built into an old bank building. I've never seen anything like it. After that we went to a one man show (the name of which escapes me right now) but was the true tellings of a mall elf. It was cute.
Saturday we shopped and shopped and shopped and shopped. We didn't buy much, but we rarely ever do.
We did a little more noshing and drinking and talking until we both fell into our beds.
We had a little time on Sunday so she took me up to her new office so I can see where she spends her days. It's always nice to be able to picture someone sitting at home or at work when you live far away.
At any rate, it was a really fun weekend and I miss her already.

Our Christmas Tree

I had to spend $2.50 in order to upload more pictures, but whatever.

Here is our REAL tree that my hubs chopped down like a real lumberjack. We put it in the porch this year and it looks so pretty and smells so good.

Every year one of the girls gets to put the angel on top. This year my brown eyed girl got to do it.

I am getting super excited for Christmas!!!

Darn It

Google won't let me post pictures today because I used my 1 GB of storage? Anyone else ever experience this? I can buy more GB but do I really need to do that?

Help!

Thankfulness - Wayne Dyer

"Stay in a state of gratitude, and let the awesome yet unexplainable Tao proceed to do nothing and yet leave nothing undone. Rather than asking for more—which implies shortages and, therefore, creates a vibrational match to more shortages—focus on what you have and how thankful you are for everything that has shown up in your life.
To that end, keep in mind a “happiness index” that was recently taken for different countries around the world. It turns out that Nigeria, which is one of the poorest of nations, with the least modern of conveniences, came in at number one for reports of happiness among the people there. The U.S. ranked 46 out of 50, despite having one of the highest standards of living in the world. Apparently, the emphasis in Nigeria isn’t on the mantra of the ego, which demands more, more, more. Emphasizing needing more has built within it the idea of shortage, lack, and I don’t have enough. Consequently, when you think more, you become a vibrational match to experiencing more shortage in your life . . . like it or not!
Affirm: I am aligned with my Source in all of my thoughts, and with God, all things are possible."

Haven't done one of these in a while

Describe your self. What do you think about yourself and do you think people perceive you in the same way?  Sociable, stubborn, hard working, sensitive....judging by the way people treat me I don't think others see me as sensitive.
Which is your most favorite book ever?  Angela's Ashes..The Help
Which is the one television character that you simply adore?  Jennifer Aniston
What kind of music do you like? All kinds, I am a music junkie. I know the words to just about every song ever made.
Which is your favorite genre of movies? (Comedy/Romance/Suspense/Action/Horror) Suspense
What do you do when you feel very sad or depressed?  Keep to myself
What makes you angry? Are you short-tempered? How do you overcome your anger? Lots of things make me angry. I can be short-tempered, but not necessarily all the time. My fuse burns fast and I tend to get over my anger quickly.
Which is the best vacation you've ever had? We all know I love DisneyWorld, but my honeymoon in Hawaii was amazing, and the mother/daughter trips I've done with my Mom are also on the top of my list (New York, Chicago, Miami..and soon Cleveland again)
If you could have a luncheon with any three people (real or fictitious/from any time period/dead or alive), which three people would you choose and why?  Lincoln (I've been obsessively reading up on him lately) Oprah (do I need to say why?) Jesus
Which is your most cherished childhood memory? What kind of kid were you, naughty or nice? Just spending time with my brothers meant a lot to me. I was probably a mix of naughty and nice - kind of like every kid. Considering the fact that I had one parent who was naughty and one that was nice that isn't much of a suprise. I was very responsible growing up.
If given complete freedom to start afresh, what profession would you choose and why? I would be a lawyer. I don't have the time or energy for law school at this point in my life. Sign language is also a passion so I'm going that route.
What is your idea of fun? If given a chance to skip work for a day, how would you spend the entire day? Go to the beach, then out to eat, then shop, then a movie.
Which is your favorite time of the day? Morning, but not the first few minutes when I have to get up.
Are you a morning person or a night person? Morning - I am solar powered. Besides, when your days are as busy and draining as mine are bed is awfully inviting at the end of the day.
What is the craziest thing you've ever done? I seriously can't tell you. Seriously. But, I did jump out of a plane a couple times.
Name one person you love the most and one person you hate the most. Since I can only name 1 I will say I love my husband. Who do I hate? Rush Limbaugh?
If we were a couple and we had a fight, how would you try to patch things up?  If we were fighting I probably wouldn't want to patch things up. Saying sorry and a hug usually does the trick though.
What is the funniest prank played on you or played by you? I had a co-worker  run a fake mouse over my foot one time and I jumped on the table. He also pretended to be an old guy having a heart attack and I dialed 9-1-1....it was funnier in person.
If given a choice, which animal would you want to be? Why? An elephant because they're big and gentle and smart and kind.
Who was your first crush? Did you ever tell him/her about your feelings?  This kid named Ryan and I'm pretty sure he knew about it.
Which is your most favorite place in this earth? Home
If you were stranded on a lonely beach, what are the five things that you would want to survive?
If I can't choose people then I'd choose: food, water, lotion, books, pictures

Rewind: Halloween 'Season'

I totally forgot to post about Halloween!! We dressed up SO MANY times this year!!

I let the girls throw their own costume party for their friends the weekend before Halloween. We went to another party the next day and the day after that they dressed up for their Nanny and Papa Heer.

Of course we dressed up for Halloween day and for school.

The weekend after Halloween we had an adult only costume party/birthday party for yours truly and my birthday buddy/Bill's best friend Mike (the sadistic clown:)

I loooooove Halloween Season!!!!