The One with His Peace

Welcome the New Year while soaking in the words of the Savior.

------

As this year draws to a close,

receive My Peace.

This is still your deepest need,

and I, your Prince of Peace,

long to pour Myself into your neediness.

My abundance and your emptiness are a perfect match.

I designed you to have no sufficiency of your own.

I created you as a jar of clay,

set apart for sacred use.

I want you to be filled with My very Being,

permeated through and through with Peace.

Thank Me for My peaceful Presence,

regardless of your feelings.

Whisper My Name in loving tenderness.

My Peace, which lives continually in your spirt,

will gradually work its way through your entire being.

Isaiah 9:6

2 Corinthians 4:7

John 14:26-27

Taken from Sarah Young's Jesus Calling.

The One with the Different Sort of Christmas

There is never enough time.

Visits home always seem to fly by.

And time for relaxing and time for doing this that and the other thing seems to escape.

We left at 6:30am for my parents' house.

Well, their church actually.

We beat them to church.

Which really isn't unexpected if you know my mom.

:)

They had a 15 minute drive.

We drove 3 plus hours.

Funny?

I think yes.

It was wonderful to catch up with so many people I grew up loving.

Lynn, Erin and Corey.

Tabitha & Adam and her parents.

Sara & Kevin and her family.

And many more.

We got home and had lunch with our extended family.

Grams was there.

She's always there. ;)

Aunt Linda, Uncle Larry, Joe & Mike and Joe's lovely girlfriend.

I was glad to catch up with all them though it was just for a minute.

The rest of the evening was filled with a belated Christmas.

Leftovers.

And relaxing.

Mr. Phelps stopped by for our traditional exchange as well.

Love those mini Reese's and McDonald's gift cards.

Monday was full.

And wonderful.

I talked to Maria for an hour on the phone.

As our schedules never coordinated.

We visited Gramma Mary for a while.

She hadn't seen Kevin since last Christmas so she was quite thrilled.

And then we headed out to see Elizabeth & Owen.

We had a fabulous visit, though we missed Matt.

::what a ham! love this little guy!::

Matt & Elizabeth's Owen

::Elizabeth, Owen, and Mel::

I'm pretty sure I don't believe we're all grown up.

::Elizabeth, Owen, and Mel::

mmm, Apple Cinnamon Baby Snacks

::oh how time flies!::

Christmas 2008

::Our Owen Photo: Christmas 2009::

That evening, we went out for Covered Bridge Pizza.

Love it!

It was blizzardous conditions, but Lynn, Corey and Erin braved it.

They came to play a rousing game of "Things."

We always have such fun with them.

Laughter is never lacking.

We went to bed early to prepare for a night on the slopes.

Dad took Ash, Kevin and I to Holiday Valley.

It was part of our many wonderful Christmas gifts.

(One of which was a TomTom GPS!)

Kevin opted out of snowboarding lessons.

He decided he didn't want to feel guilty in case he didn't love it and thus "waste" dad's money.

He rather enjoy the day of lounging...reading and computering in the lodge.

He loved seeing me ski down Yodeler run and warming me up on my breaks.

This enabled me to spend the day with my dad.

Dad was on the board.

Ash was too.

I was skiing.

It had been two years but it came back quickly.

I'm pretty sure having the strength in my legs from running really made skiing easier.

I had a blast and didn't fall.

I was thankful.

Because when I go down.

I go down hard.

(Lyrics, anyone?)

There was just once that I found myself literally shaking in my boots.

Dad and I headed up Eagle chair.

Which serviced 3 black runs.

(In case you're not into ski slope lingo:

Black Diamond: most difficult

Blue: Intermediate

Green: Easiest

Granted, "Black" is all relative...)

We decided Eagle run would be icy so we headed to Falcon.

I peered over the edge.

This was a steeeeeeep slope.

It looked nearly vertical for the top half of the run.

But I could have handled that.

It was the ice that concerned me.

There weren't patches here and there.

The entire slope was a sheet of ice.

Glinting in the sun.

EEek.

My insides churn just recalling the memory.

But I had no option.

So instead of waiting till I was too scared to move, I took the plunge.

I didn't fall.

And honestly I can't even remember the experience after I took that first turn.

Maybe that's for the best.

But the rest of the day was fabulous.

REALLY cold (10 degrees not counting wind chill).

But great!

::oh, daddio::

::Yodeler Chair::

::gearing up for a run down Mardi Gras hill. ash and dad::

::dad & ash overlooking the base of Holiday Valley::

::at the peak of Cindy's Run::

Thanks again, Mom and Dad for a great Christmas.

I know it's tough to let traditions be broken.

But memories are still treasured.

As was our time with you.

The One where We Try Out Our Traditions

It didn't feel like Christmas.

Not with all the cookie baking.

Or the present wrapping.

Or the holiday planning.

Or the wall of Christmas cards.

Not until Christmas Eve service did it "feel" like Christmas.

Now, obviously, it doesn't need to "feel" like Christmas to be Christmas.

To celebrate the greatest gift we could ever be given.

Jesus Christ.

No, for that celebration, I was totally in the mood.

More than I ever have been.

The Christmas "story" became real to me.

But with no snow and the sneak attack that December seemed to make, it just didn't "feel" like Christmas.

You know?

Then the service came.

I felt totally involved.

Which was an awesome feeling.

To be needed.

The first special on the program was Michaela's piano debut.

A duet of Silent Night with moi.

She did wonderfully.

Perfectly even.

I was so proud. so thrilled for her.

Can you tell?

Right after Michaela's song, the teens took the stage.

They presented a responsive reading.

A beautiful, worshipful compilation of Scripture depicting the Truth of Christ joining human kind.

I had encouraged them to be expressive.

Enthusiastic.

Excited.

To draw in the listeners.

Show the adults how great they (these teens) really are.

They far exceeded our expectations.

They were fantastic!!

I was beaming with pride.

"Those are my kids," I thought.

:::a few church kids. quite anxious to join youth group, I think. :D::

xavier. david. christian. kylie.

::[a few of] our teens::

Brittany. Michaela. Brittany. Chris. Chris. Rob.

::the teens' responsive reading::

Following the teens presentation, I ran to the back of the sanctuary.

Sheena and I entered to the music of "O Holy Night."

It was thrilling to have someone to sing with.

What a great feeling.

One I haven't had since college.

Many people encouraged us to keep up the duets.

I think we will. :)

And sometime in between all the running hither and thither, the congregation joined in song.

Christmas song, that is.

And I realized I was sitting in my pew.

Not at the piano.

And I didn't have my music.

What was I doing???!!

EEEk.

I ran out of the sanctuary to find my music.

Ran back to the piano.

And joined in with the keyboard.

Whew.

Where had my mind gone?

Pastor Dale shared a fantastic message.

A reminder of WHO our Jesus is.

The baby in a manger.

Our Strength.

Our Comfort.

Our Provider.

Our Salvation.

We closed with a candlelight singing of Silent Night.

Always my favorite part.

Kevin and I eagerly returned home.

We started a late dinner.

The second year of our tradition.

Kevin's secret ingredient Alfredo sauce.

I cooked up pasta and seasoned chicken.

It was great to work side by side.

And enjoy our meal beside the tree.

Beside one another.

Then we opened presents!

Yes, I let him have it 'his' way this year.

:)

We had such a wonderful time.

Enjoying one another's thoughtfulness.

And frugality.

And ingenuity.

And romance.

Thanks, Babe, for a great Christmas.

The next morning we awoke early.

But hit snooze for an hour.

It was glorious.

The rain deterred our original plans.

Kevin had promised to go on a Christmas morning run.

But he gave me a rain check for that.

I worked out with Jillian then we hit the road.

By 10:30am we had joined Kevin's family--parents, brother, grandparents, aunt, uncle and cousins at Grandparents' home.

We had a fantastic time together.

I had such great conversations with each of them.

We played an American Trivia game.

Opened great gifts.

Exchanged White Elephant presents.

Ate many foods of deliciousness.

And enjoyed the warmth of the fire.

::Brothers: Brian & Kevin::

And Elise expressing her feelings.

::cousins: Elise & Kevin::

::the boys anxiously awaiting gift opening::

Kevin. Brian. David. Grandpa.

::Uncle Larry. Aunt Ruth. Dad. Mom::

::typical bros::

::my side of the room::

Yay, estrogen.

::Grandma and Grandpa::

The sleepy time was spent at Mom & Dad's and we were soon back with the rest of the family.

After lunch we all headed out for an afternoon of bowling.

Our lane pretty much hated us.

No lie.

But it worked out alright.

I had the worst game I ever remember bowling.

And then did "ok" on game two.

The 12 of us had a blast cheering one another on.

kevin.

::mom. dad. gma. gpa. elise. marlene's arm.::

::david::

dad.

pitiful, Mel.

mom. she won both games!

::moi::

Now.

We unpacked.

Repacked.

Relaxed.

And will head out to my parents' tomorrow morning.

Bring on the fun!

The One with the Homemade Candy & Splints

What a lovely day before the eve of Christmas.

Having Kevin home this year (as opposed to working late in lab last year) was a blessing.

We had a blast.

I did my workout thing.

Of course.

We had breakfast.

Eggs & toast.

And for the first time in months I believe I have mastered the "eggs over easy."

Yes, can you believe it?

I can bake almost anything, but give me two eggs and it's Failure City.

No longer!

Check these babies out (ouch...no pun intended):

We then headed to Amanda's to pick up Kevin's most favorite Christmas gift.

He now has a cute little albino mouse.

He named her Bianca and calls her "B."

It's adorable how much he loves her actually.

Yesterday we battled over this issue.

Quite extensively.

It wasn't an angry battle like the other day, though.

But it was a bit serious.

He's been talking about getting a hamster or something along those lines for quite a while now.

I've never once led him to believe I would say anything other than "no."

But apparently he had his mind set on changing mine.

*sigh*

If you know Kevin at all, you know when he sets his mind on something he will stop at nothing to see it through.

This is a great quality.

And also rather annoying when you're the one debating with him.

I simply don't like small rodents.

They creep me out.

Just like birds.

There small and sneaky and unpredictable.

And they just plain freak me out.

But he persisted.

Sending me messages with links on "how to care for your hamster."

Setting my desktop background to a picture of a Pika.

Asking and asking and asking.

And I kept saying, "No. NO. NO. NO!"

But alas here is Bianca.

Amanda was looking to give her away.

As her dog was a little too interested.

She gave us all the supplies and everything.

Kevin knew it'd be hard for me to keep saying no to something that is completely free.

He knows me too well.

Meet B.

Kevin's new best friend.

She's growing on me.

But shhhhh.

Don't tell him.

After we picked up Bianca, we hit a few drugstores to find a wrist splint.

For moi.

I have been battling some severe carpal tunnel this past week.

My dad has struggled with this syndrome ever since I can remember.

And I never really understood it.

Until I experienced it.

It first occurred in high school.

It was bad. But not terrible.

I made a conscious effort to sleep without bending my wrists up as I curled up into a ball.

That seemed to work.

It's been at least 8 years since I dealt with this.

But the other morning, as I was jolted from my sleep with numbness and pain, I remembered it all too clearly.

Carpal Tunnel Syndrome just so happens to be genetic.

So thanks, Daddio.

This morning was the worst yet.

The burning and tingling and numbness and pain woke me up hard and fast at 6am.

It was running up and down my right arm...from my hand to my shoulder.

TERRIBLE.

The worst feeling ever.

And there's nothing you can do about it.

It took around 30 minutes for the feeling to subside.

But even then it was a good 3 hours before all sensation had left.

That's why we stopped at Walmart.

And Rite Aid.

And Walgreens.

To find a splint for my wrist.

To wear at night.

To keep this syndrome from torturing me.

*cringe*

When we returned home, we set to work.

Kevin started making homemade hard candy.

Watermelon flavored.

He bought me a candy thermometer for Christmas.

(After my failed attempts at peanut brittle, he thought I'd appreciate this tool of accuracy.)

We decided to christen it immediately.

We bought a few more flavor oils for later on.

Spearmint.

And other "minty" flavors.

He did a great job too.

Well until he spilled half of it on the floor.

Poor guy.

But seriously, it's delicious.

Perfect.

Meanwhile I was sharing the kitchen with him.

I rolled out four pie crusts.

Froze two of them for later.

And cut up 16 cups of apples.

For two Christmas pies.

I went with the streusal topping this time.

Mmmm, I can't wait.

The two of us had a wonderful time working together.

We were singing to some great tunes.

Dancing around and enjoying one another's company as we worked.

I loved that.

Time is gift enough for me.

And now we are off to prepare for the Evenings festivities.

Our second year of Kevin's homemade Alfredo for dinner.

An 8pm Christmas Eve Candlelight service.

My piano student, Michaela, is playing Silent Night as a duet with me!

And I'm singing Point of Grace's version of O Holy Night with a friend, Sheena.

I'm so excited!

I think we'll film it for my parents to enjoy.

Afterwards, the two of us will open our presents.

(Yes, I'm giving him "his" way this year.)

Then, in the morning, it's off to his grandparents' for a day and night with family!

Sunday we'll head to my home church.

And spend a few nights with my parents.

Then it's back and we take off again.

For a night in Chicago at our Karina & Michael's new home.

Praying for safety.

Praying for snow.

Thanking our Father for providing us with his Son--Our only means of Salvation.

Praise Jesus!

Merry Christmas!!

The One with the Christmas Preparations

So much.

Today.

Good feelings.

I love when I surprise myself by how much I accomplish.

There are some days that I seem to get nothing done.

And then suddenly I'm climbing back into bed.

But then there are the days when I have a long checklist.

And I'm assuming I'll get a couple of the items crossed out.

But then there are days when I have a long checklist AND I get way way way more done than I thought possible.

Come to think of it, though, I can't really remember what I did.

Let me think.

I read a fabulous word from Jesus.

I worked out with my pal, Jill.

I started setting out my clothes for the next week's worth of travels.

(Kevin thought I was crazy.

But I just don't want to wear the items I will want to pack, you know?

Of course you do.)

I ate a delicious over medium egg and slice of homemade toast.

I pulled the dozens of cookies I've been baking out of the freezer.

I decided to make up adorable little packages for our neighbors.

Snickerdoodles.

Peanut butter.

Molasses Sugar.

Chocolate Chip.

And a mini loaf of Pumpkin Nut bread.

I ran to the store to pick up two more items for my Christmas gift crafts.

(Don't worry. I have a post ready to share the details.

After Christmas of course.

You're welcome.)

Kevin arrived home seconds before me from his half day subbing job.

We had leftover Unstuffed Pepper Soup for lunch.

I watched a recorded episode of Ellen.

And get this.

One of the pictures sent in was from my little bity hometown!

I was crazy stoked!

I felt famous.

I'm not.

I put the finishing touches on our crafty Christmas gifts.

Wrapped them.

Had Kevin help me carry in our "new" dining room table.

There's actually room for people to enjoy dinner around the table.

With plates and everything! :)

I love our little table though so that has been relocated to the empty spare bedroom.

That reminded me I had been wanting to move the dresser into the actual spare bedroom.

That required emptying the dresser of it's miscellaneous contents.

Then I vacuumed.

Post party.

It was necessary.

With 45 minutes remaining before my 4pm piano student, Kevin and I threw on our shoes and headed out of doors.

We delivered four tins of cookies (seen here).

Along with a Christmas card.

And an invitation to our church's Christmas Eve service.

And 2 new AVON campaigns.

(I couldn't not do that. Does that make me a bad person?)

One of our neighbors had evidently moved.

I had no idea.

And I really liked Veronica. And her 3 little girls.

Sad.

We left one package on Stephanie & Joe's doorstep.

And we talked to Polly for a few minutes.

She was thrilled.

Then I stopped by another house and finally met the "mom."

I had met her daughter a while back.

Turns out we have a lot in common.

She invited me in and we exchanged information.

It was a really great conversation.

Yay, neighbors!

I made one more stop and then came home.

Michaela came for her piano lesson.

We worked on Silent Night over and over again.

She wants to play it Christmas Eve.

I'm so proud of her!

We might even do it as a duet.

And in my randomness of Tuesday I remembered to snap a photo of our First Christmas ornament.

My mom found it for us.

I was so thrilled!

I love s'mores.

And I love the s'mores ornaments even more.

And I can hardly believe this will be our second Christmas as a family.

Our 6th together. :D

And on our front door hangs a wreath.

Hand made by moi.

It was our post Thanksgiving family project.

For the women-folk at least.

I made the bow myself too.

:D

I appreciate its simple rustic character.

The One with the Confession(s)

Tonight's the night.

The BIG night.

Well, it's big for us anyway.

Tonight is the 2nd Annual Pastors' Christmas Open House.

At our place.

Hosted by Pastor & his family and Kevin & I.

It's a ton of fun.

And little work too.

But totally worth it.

I just have to stop eating all the cookies.

This is not the end of the world for cookies, Mel.

You don't have to eat them all before they become extinct.

Seriously.

(And now, just updated at 9:55pm Monday night more than 12 hours after it's original posting is the confessional-turned-not-me-Sunday-Monday. Just believe me when I say every account that follows certainly has nothing to do with moi. Bon Appetite, MckMama.)

The week of preparing for this party brought many interesting happenings.

And by "interesting" I mean "epic Mel failures."

Yes, I am a bit hard on myself.

But still.

So far I have:

Lost my diamond earring.

(It can't be gone forever can it be?)

Lost my lipstick.

Found my lipstick.

Lost the lid to my lipstick.

Undercooked a tray of cookies.

Burnt that same tray of cookies after trying to finish baking them.

Completely completely failed at peanut brittle.

Washed off the peanuts from the peanut brittle catastrophe.

(Plan on using those recycled peanuts in "Peanut Brittle: Take Two" soon.)

Spilled granulated sugar all over the place.

Snapped at my husband within 2 seconds of arriving home after 3 days away.

Burnt a bag of microwave popcorn.

MICROWAVE popcorn, people!

yeah.

All that and I'm pretty sure I'm forgetting some things.

Oh yes.

The time I failed to hold my temper in check.

Completely.

I blew it.

Actually, I blew up.

But let's not argue semantics.

It all started like this.

We were going to wake up early Saturday morning.

To go running.

Or so I thought.

(Assumed, really.)

But we decided to sleep in.

It was glorious.

I love morning snuggles.

(And no that's not code for anything.)

I got up to use the restroom at 8 and noticed the light streaming in the windows.

It looked different.

It was "snow light."

Our first SNOW!

We jumped up and enjoyed the sight.

Once we were out of bed I assumed we would get ready for a late morning run.

Since, after all, he had said he would run on the weekends.

I assumed that meant every day that is not a week day.

I was wrong.

I had been asking him if he was going to go running with me Saturday morning since Friday night.

He never responded so I assumed he was still arguing with himself and trying to decide whether or not he should/wanted to go.

Apparently that was him trying to tell me "no" without throwing me into the tizzy that audibly saying "no" has done to me in the past.

Three (yes THREE) hours later we were still arguing.

I was heated.

Very heated.

Angry.

It was quite terrible on my part.

I have been known (by only those "privileged" to be closest to me) to have a temper.

And boy I haven't let it roar in a long while.

I'm sorry, darling.

It was totally inappropriate.

Uncalled for.

I left the house at noon after showering and having been too angry to focus on a workout.

(That just made me MORE angry.)

I went to run the bazillion errands I had on my list.

I came back 3 hours later.

I was still ticked.

But I couldn't remember why.

So I chose to get over it.

We hugged.

All was well.

The worst part is, the point of the fight wasn't even that "good."

There really was no point.

At least not that a calm, ten minute conversation couldn't have handled.

Geez, Mel.

PULL YOURSELF TOGETHER, WOMAN!

It's after moments (or hours) like this that make me truly wonder at my husband's love for me.

That love is utterly unconditional.

He lives out Jesus to me.

The One with the Merry Wishes

The One with the Love Notes

Home was nice.

I wish I could have stayed much longer.

But only if I wouldn't have to be away from my husband.

Then I'd have the best of both worlds.

That guy missed me.

A lot.

He's become so much softer.

More considerate.

More helpful.

More romantic.

In just the last few months.

Must have something to do with him being just plain happy doing what he loves in life.

I came home and immediately starting finding little slips of paper.

Here and there.

Under a computer keyboard.

In the q-tips.

In my dresser.

With the silverware.

In the closet.

And he says there are more.

Twenty-five total.

An early yet ongoing Christmas gift.

I love him.

And he knows how much I love words.

Words of love. of affirmation. of thoughtfulness.

I don't even need presents.

But I'm pretty sure he loves buying me special things.

In other Christmas news, I just baked four dozen chocolate chip cookies.

Five dozen snickerdoodles.

Three dozen spicy molasses.

Adding to my frozen cookies.

Four dozen peanut butter.

Four dozen oatmeal chocolate chip.

And two dozen molasses.

All this in an effort to be fully (if not overly) prepared for the Christmas open house.

Hosted by Kevin and myself along with Pastor Dale & Pam.

At our home.

Sunday.

The second annual, actually.

Should be wonderful.

Another thing that would be wonderful?

Winning Adobe Photoshop Lightroom 2.

From MckMama.

*squeal*

And now for something completely different.

Listen to the words of Jesus Calling.

"When you are plagued by a persistent problem-

one that goes on and on-

view it as a rich opportunity.

An ongoing problem is like a tutor who is always by your side.

The learning possibilities are limited only by your willingness to be teachable.

In faith, thank Me for your problem.

Ask Me to open your eyes and your heart to all that I am accomplishing through this difficulty.

Once you have become grateful for a problem, it loses it power to drag you down.

On the contrary,

your thankful attitude will lift you up into heavenly places with Me.

From this perspective,

your difficulty can be seen as a slight, temporary distress

that is producing for you a transcendent Glory never to cease!"

The One with a Spontaneous Prayer

For the first time in nine months.

I drove "home" today.

My parents' house will always be referred to as "home" I believe.

Well, I could be wrong about the "always" part.

But nonetheless, I still say I'm going "home."  

Lucky for me, mom and dad had made frequent trips to visit us.

Otherwise the nine months thing would just be ridiculous.

But still it's good to be back.

Thanks to a second car!

Mom needed an extra set of hands to help with final holiday decorating touches. 

I'm pretty much a speedy gonzales when it comes to stuff like that.

Thus, her request was put in to me. 

I was also commissioned to bring loads of cookies for her to serve at various holiday festivities. 

Chocolate chip.

Oatmeal.

Peanut Butter Blossoms.

Molasses Sugar.

Cinnamon Snaps.

All amazing.

And I brought the ingredients to make 7 Layer Bars.

Probably tomorrow.

Thanks to my darling husband, 

(he really is darling)

I was able to leave at 11am.

Rather than the predicted 5pm.

After my scheduled 4pm piano student. 

But he opted to teach the lesson for me so I could get on the road sooner.

I am grateful.

Mom and I had plenty of time to catch up.

Eat cookies. 

And do a little decorating.

Then head to Steak 'n Shake for a dinner date.

MMmm.

I then decorated the Christmas tree in the company of my Grams and Chuck.

While Mom was at work and Dad was at the Y. 

Oh, and I watched A Charlie Brown Christmas.

Perfection. 

Quick side story on Steak 'n Shake.

Our waitress was quite lovely.

Near the end of our dining experience she came to refill our waters just as mom was holding up her glass to ask for some.

She apologized for being off her game.

Then proceeded to tell us that her best friend had just passed away two hours before that.

Thirty one years old.

Died from leukemia.

Left a 10 year old son.

How devastating.

It's really difficult to know what to do or say when someone share such heavy information with you.

We talked for just a minute as she was walking away, I felt the Lord give me a strength beyond my own.

I quickly asked if she would like me to pray with her.

She didn't hesitate.

Yes, please, she said. 

I held her hand and prayed over her. 

And the friends' family and that little boy she left behind. 

We were all three moved to tears.

It was such a beautiful moment.

I was truly thankful that God prodded and gave me courage to obey. 

The waitress stopped by a few more times and thanked me repeatedly.

I think I was the one who was blessed.