2006 Christmas Card...

2006 has been quite a year for us. The Lord has blessed us so much this year, and we are so thankful for each and every blessing! “Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows.” James 1:17 NIV

Together we watched …
*Lacey’s dear cousin, Alyssa, marry Josh (and spent a lot of time planning this blessed event!).
*Lacey’s sister Amanda and her husband, Dave, move into a new house.
*Friend Melanie move to Peru for two years as a missionary with the International Missionary Board.
*Friend Dayna move to Indonesia for five months as an Intern with Samaritan’s Purse.
*Friends David & Breann prepare for their first baby, Anika Rose (born November 27th).
*Teen Community Bible Study (TCBS) move from a little town to a church where we meet on the third floor of a brand new building!
*As hundreds of people celebrated the life of Bonnie Hobratsch, a woman always filled with the joy of the Lord, who went to be with Him after a long battle with cancer.

Together …
*We finished two more semesters of college and are looking forward to graduating together in May.
*Worked another year together the fireplace shop.
*In June, we took a trip to Chicago to the Outdoor Furniture Pre-Market for work.
*The same month we went on a mission trip to Nuevo Laredo with Grace Baptist Church and fell in love with a lot of beautiful children.
*We ate a lot of free Chick-Fil-A. :)
*We studied the book of Revelation at TCBS.
*We said goodbye to Barry, our Sunday school teacher of many years, who moved into a different area of ministry. We miss him but still get to see him every now and then.
*We are looking forward to God’s future plans for us!

Lacey …
*Took a trip to Colorado for four days in November to be trained for her new role as Coordinator of TCBS (and missed Brad a ton!). While she loves her new role, she misses not having her own group of girls!
*Was so blessed to be able to go to Creating Keepsakes University—when it was in Houston in mid-September—to take scrapbooking classes from a lot of famous scrapbookers and get a degree in Scrapbooking Arts J
*Served the Lord for a week of Vacation Bible School at church.
*Started working in the nursery at church with her sister Vicki…working with the toddler class is never boring!
*Made the Design Team at her local scrapbook store for a second time and enjoys getting new products once a month to make pages with!
*Took a black & white photography class at school where she learned to develop film and print her own photos.
*Took a lot of photos throughout the year – including some engagement photos & wedding photos. :)

Brad …
*Works really hard!!
*Has installed many, many sets of gas logs in the evenings.
*Leads a group of seven boys at TCBS and is working on getting a campout together at the first of the year.
*Took three summer school classes (Team Management, Finance and Christian Principles).
*Bought a brand new red 4x4 Jeep Liberty CRD (Diesel) in August that he loves. It has now become his work Jeep!
*Sold his blue Chevrolet 1500 truck leaving us with four vehicles - Brad’s Jeep, Lacey’s white Malibu, and the two Thunderbirds that we house in our garage.

We pray that you all have a safe and happy new year!!

Merry Christmas!

In case you need a good laugh today...

check out this and this and this and, last but not least, this and vote for your favorite :) They had us laughing out loud last night...

I hope everyone has a wonderful Christmas and gets to spend lots of time with loved ones!! And if you get a chance, go see The Nativity Story. We went to see it this morning. Excellent movie.

BVOTD: "But the angel said to them, 'Do not be afraid. I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; He is Christ the Lord.'" Luke 2:12 NIV

A Christmas Quiz Just for Fun...

1. Eggnog or Hot Chocolate? Hot chocolate...definitely!! Eggnog is GROSS!

2. Does Santa wrap presents or just sit them under the tree? Wrap...he used to ring the doorbell and deliver them to the front door...

3. Colored lights on tree/house or white? White icicle lights on the outside (according to mom, we lack pizzazz!) and white garland lights on the tree! Multi-colored lights on the tv...

4. Do you hang mistletoe? Nope, never have! Wouldn't mind having some, though!

5. When do you put your decorations up? Well, the tree is up all year but we decorated it for Christmas at the beginning of December...

6. What is your favorite holiday dish (excluding dessert)? oh goodness...lots! Probably mom & dad's ham and my MIL's dressing

7. Favorite Holiday memory as a child: Being sooo excited that it was finally Christmas!! I remember getting a lil kitchen oven and being so excited...and a microphone. I thought that thing was the coolest ever. I got really cool toys when I was little! Mom and dad always made the holidays really special!

8. What is your favorite Christmas movie? I can't pick just one...Elf, Home Alone, and It's a Wonderful Life

9. Do you open a gift on Christmas Eve? My side of the family opens all of our gifts on Christmas Eve...and with Brad's side we always open on Christmas Day early afternoon...Brad and I open ours on Christmas morning...

10. How do you decorate your Christmas Tree? Snowman fabric, white ribbon, white cluster lights, rust crosses, and some assorted ornaments we have received over our last four Christmases together.

11. Snow! Love it or Dread it? Love it, just wish we got it more!

12. Can you ice skate? Not well...last time I went I bit it bad and ended up with a large bruise on my behind.

13. Do you remember your favorite gift? There are so many things that I've loved...my engagement ring was a really awesome Christmas day present! Growing up, all my toys were so cool!

14. What's the most important thing about the Holidays for you? I love being with family...love the food...giving gifts...doing nice things for others...

15. What is your favorite Holiday Dessert? I love all the Christmas baking...too many to pick just one!

16. What is your favorite holiday tradition? I have a ton! We attend many Christmas outings to see Christmas lights, pageants, etc. We bake Christmas goodies and spend time shopping and wrapping. Oh, and we watch a lot of Christmas movies!

17. What tops your tree? Just a bow...I need to get a tree topper!!

18. Which do you prefer giving or receiving? Definitely giving...I love shopping for other people.

19. What is your favorite Christmas Song? I love the Hippotpotamous song, "Baby It's Cold Outside", and almost all of the songs on the Third Day Christmas CD!!

20. What is your favorite Christmas story? Luke 2:1-20!

Gotta Love Christmas Cookies...

Had a lot of fun with my boy tonight decorating some Christmas cookies...he is quite the creative cookie decorator if I may so say myself. Love that I got to spend the whole night with him tonight...he didn't have any jobs after work today!!

We made a deal - if I made him Tomato Basil Squares for dinner, he would go to the grocery store with me (I HATE going alone!) and decorate Christmas cookies with me. We didn't get to start the cookies till around 10:00 but we are both quite happy...he has a full belly and I have a lot of pretty cookies to share tomorrow!

I thought I would share the recipe in case anyone is looking for a really simple (and yummy!) sugar cookie recipe...

Mrs. Field's Christmas Sugar Cookies

2 cups all-purpose flour

1/4 teaspoon salt

1 1/2 sticks (3/4 cup) salted butter, softened

3/4 cup granulated sugar

1 large egg

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Colored sugars or sprinkles

Yield: About 3 dozen

*Preheat oven to 325 degrees.

*In a medium bowl, comine the flour and salt with a wire whisk.

*In a large bowl, cream the butter and sugar with an electric mixer on medium speed. Add the egg and vanilla, and beat until well mixed. Scrape down sides of the bowl, then add the flour mixture. Blend on low speed just until combined. Do not overmix.

*Gather dough into a ball. Flatten the ball into a disk and wrap tightly in plastic wrap or a plastic bag. Refrigerate one hour or until firm.

*On a floured surface, roll out dough to a 1/4-inch thickness. With cookie cutters, cut dough into desired shapes and place on ungreased cookie sheets. Decorate with colored sugars or sprinkles.

*Bake for 13 to 15 minutes, being careful not to brown. Immediately transfer cookies with a spatula to a cool, flat surface.

The recipe is from the "Mrs. Fields Best Ever Cookie Book!" and the title is no lie. It really is the best cookie book ever! Lots of yummy recipes in there. I should share the Blue Ribbon Chocolate Chip Cookie recipe sometime...I use Andes mints instead of regular chocolate chips and it is so good!

For the sugar cookie recipe I doubled it and it made over 50 cookies. I didn't cool them for an hour...I popped them into the freezer for like 10 minutes and they were good to go. I more than doubled the amount of vanilla the recipe calls for.

Hope you are all getting to spend time with your loved ones! I get to spend the whole day tomorrow with my mommy! We are going Christmas shopping, probably to Chilis for lunch (her fave) and I may even drag her to Starbucks. Have a fabulous Friday! I LOVE days off!!!! I hope to have everyone crossed off of my Christmas list and have all of my presents wrapped by tomorrow! :)

BVOTD: "Knowledge puffs up, but love builds up." 1 Corinthians 8:1b NIV

Simply Having a Wonderful Christmastime...

I simply love Christmas. Love it. I have so many things that I love to during the holidays...

Old Mill Pizza & the Christmas Stroll (usually twice a year),

the Christmas play at church,

going to a reenactment of Bethlehem,

Great Hills Church play,

riding around looking at lights,

eating Stoll candy (yummy, homemade goodies that one of the vendors at work ships us every Christmas...it just came in today and it is heaven!!!)

making Divinity with mom and dad,

drinking hot cocoa with friends,

making gifts for family and friends,

watching as many Christmas movies as is feasibly possible,

creating the annual "Christmas card" (I have big plans to have a large display of them with every year represented that goes from our wedding photo of just the two of us to our family throughout the years...I got the idea from Dayna's parents...I just loved it!),

shopping for the "perfect" presents for loved ones,

wrapping presents like a crazy person,

making a gingerbread house (a new tradition this year!),

the annual shopping trip to the outlet mall with the gals (P.S. can you guys go this year??),

the annual CBS Christmas party,

and many, many more!!

A photo from our annual Christmas card photo shoot this year (not the one we picked this year, though!)

Me and my Aunt Newlyn taken at the Christmas Stroll 12.9.06

At the Christmas Stroll...we really didn't want to sit on Santa's lap but he made us!!

Me and two of my fave CBS gals...Brooklyn & Aimee!

With MAM and Perez after the Christmas Stroll!

Strolling with pretty angels :)

A nativity scene in town...we came across it on Saturday night while driving around looking at Christmas lights.

Perez with the Christmas ornament I made her :)

Me & Vick at the Stroll...amongst really cute Christmas trees

Beginning the gingerbread house tradition!!

I hope you are all enjoying this wonderful season and spending lots of time with family and friends...may you have peace in your hearts and quiet in your household as you celebrate the birth of Jesus!!!

The Birth of Jesus - Luke 2:1-20 NIV
1 In those days Caesar Augustus issued a decree that a census should be taken of the entire Roman world. 2 (This was the first census that took place while Quirinius was governor of Syria.) 3 And everyone went to his own town to register.
4 So Joseph also went up from the town of Nazareth in Galilee to Judea, to Bethlehem the town of David, because he belonged to the house and line of David. 5 He went there to register with Mary, who was pledged to be married to him and was expecting a child. 6 While they were there, the time came for the baby to be born, 7 and she gave birth to her firstborn, a son. She wrapped him in cloths and placed him in a manger, because there was no room for them in the inn.

8 And there were shepherds living out in the fields nearby, keeping watch over their flocks at night. 9 An angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified. 10 But the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid. I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. 11 Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is Christ* the Lord. 12 This will be a sign to you: You will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger.”
13 Suddenly a great company of the heavenly host appeared with the angel, praising God and saying,

14 “Glory to God in the highest,
and on earth peace to men on whom his favor rests.”

15 When the angels had left them and gone into heaven, the shepherds said to one another, “Let's go to Bethlehem and see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has told us about.”
16 So they hurried off and found Mary and Joseph, and the baby, who was lying in the manger. 17 When they had seen him, they spread the word concerning what had been told them about this child, 18 and all who heard it were amazed at what the shepherds said to them. 19 But Mary treasured up all these things and pondered them in her heart. 20 The shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all the things they had heard and seen, which were just as they had been told.

An Emotional Rollercoaster...

Was a very emotional last couple of days. I had a bummer of a semester...I found out that not only was I cheated out of an A in my Human Resources class (I made a 90.3% and the school considers a 90% a B) I was also cheated out of a B in Advertising and Promotion. I ended up with 2 As, 1 B, and 1 C (YES! I SAID A C!!!).

Now if you know me, you know that I am not a C student. I was completely shocked when I looked up my grade and saw a C for Advertising and Promotion. I had no earthly idea how he came to that grade. My first thought was that he confused me with another student. Then I looked up Brad's grades. He got a C too.

This is the class that I spent hours and hours and hours on. We did a project on Godiva chocolate and the paper was over 30 pages. The presentation followed his guidelines almost to a T. I knew I had a low test average but the tests were worth 400 of the 1000 (with 400 for the project/presentation, 100 for participation, and 100 for our status reports/homework).

I said I would edit and print the paper and have it bound but they told me they were going to do it. They said they would send me a copy of what they turned in but they never did.

The teacher just sent us a copy of the paper that they turned and it is just embarassing. They spelled the word Christmas wrong! There were so many mistakes I just could not believe it!! They even used contractions in the paper!

We are not surprised that he gave us such a bad grade on our paper now. The paper was really bad.

I told my group members that I could print all of the posters and cards and could laminate it at home. Instead, I got an email stating that we all had to bring $20 to pay for the printing because they printed our posters at some kind of printing shop.

Hindsight is 20/20...Brad and I should have fired them (or ourselves, I don't care) and done our own project. We would have saved ourselves from a lot of heartache and would have made a better grade.

As for the teacher...Brad spoke to him today and he said that our presentation was the worst of all the groups. Our presentation followed his requirements page more closely than any other group. I just don't get it.

He gave us Cs on participation when Brad didn't miss any classes and was awake for all of the classes (we had at least 2 different people sleep in class every day because it was an hour and twenty minutes of Powerpoint at 8:00 in the morning every day). Brad even added to the discussion the few times that the teacher involved the students in the class. He told Brad that it wasn't based on attendance, it is just whatever number he wanted to assign (i.e. he does not like us!).

He told Brad that we had a C on the project before group evaluations. That means our group members lied and gave us a poor evaluation and we got a D and an F on our project instead of a C.

What teacher puts that much weight on group evaluations? Doesn't he know some people are not honest in their evaluations?! We did not even get the chance to defend ourselves. Had we known that they were going to give us a low rating for no reason we would have split the 100 points between the two of us and not given an honest rating. We should have made group contracts at the very beginning and then we would have been judged fairly!!

Because of their evaluations, I ended up with a 62% and Brad ended up with a 59% on the project. Seriously. What is that?!?!??! We spent hours on that project. We just hope we don't have to be in a group with them again.

Brad is going to talk to the department chair and we may have to contest our grade (which I have never done before and really don't want to deal with but that grade is not in the least bit fair).

It is good to finally have a break from school...even if I keep thinking about that class and trying to fix this crazy mistake.

This semester went by fast but I was more ancy about getting out than I usually am. I'm sure part of that is just because it is December and I am ready to focus on Christmasy things. I LOVE CHRISTMAS!!! I just want to sit at home all day and make presents, decorate the house, watch Christmas movies, drink hot cocoa (even if it is 70 degrees outside!), and wrap presents.

Was blessed to be able to spend time with MAM and Dayne last night and then got a surprise visit from Alyssa and Josh (which is always welcomed!).

Today I took the whole day off work and slept till 10:00 (had a really hard time sleeping that late...I kept waking up thinking I was late for school or work). I love sleeping in...I rarely get to do it so it was really nice. I woke up and got right down to my task for the day...cleaning the very dirty house. I hate it when the house is dirty & disorganized and I actually really love to clean but I haven't had the chance to clean much since we haven't been home very often.

I made some good progress on the house. I did 6 loads of laundry (and the sad part is I still have more that I need to wash!), sorted some items to take to the Caring Place & to recycle, did the dishes, completely cleaned the bathroom (including the shower curtain), cleaned out the drain (ew!), sorted through some stuff and actually threw things away (I am such a pack rat that is hard for me to do!), and hung up a ton of clothes. Literally. The rod in my closet broke after I hung some of it up! lol Bummer, man. I have to wait for Bradley to come home to fix it.

I ran around the neighborhood...felt good to get out and run. I haven't in so long. I don't like running alone when it is dark outside...I hate that it is already dark when I get out of work. Bradley doesn't get home till late so I just end up not exercising. :(

I got a bubble bath in today which is always nice...FYI Amanda...those cherry fizzy balls are really nice but stained my new shower curtain :(

We used our ::sniff sniff:: last Chick-Fil-A combo coupon today at lunch. I have to pay for my own food from now on :( I did browse the new Chick calendar and it is a lot better than last years...so at least I will have that.

I must head to bed. I am an old lady and I need my rest. Sorry this post is so random and kinda a downer...here is the Bible verse of the day to end on a better note...

BVOTD: "I have forgiven in the sight of Christ for your sake, in order that Satan might not outwit us. For we are not unaware of his schemes." 2 Corinthians 2:10b-11 NIV

Camilla Seabolt (Executive Director of CBS) spoke about this verse at training 11.4.06. She said we are to walk in love because people are watching us walk around fully clothed in the armor of God. - I hope to always walk around fully clothed in God's armor!!! Some days it is easier than others...

Just Checking In...

to say that I am alive and I believe I will survive finals. The last three days have been crazy with two big group papers being due, the CBS Christmas party on Monday night (that was fabulously fun - I will try to post pics that MAM took soon!), and my Human Resources final tonight. I have been typing for most of the day and, in general, am sick of school right now. Can't wait till next December when I can totally enjoy the season without having to worry about papers, presentations, tests, and finals!!!

I did get a nice break today when I went to eat lunch with Mary Anna and Dayna...it just feels so good to laugh so hard (especially when MAM was backing out of her parking spot, noticed that a woman was backing out right behind her, exclaimed "UH OH! UH OH!", and then proceeded to honk the horn like crazy! Apparently her horn is not very loud and the woman did not hear it...she backed up and hit MAM's car. There weren't any marks on either vehicle though. We laughed about it most of the way back to school!!). Those girls are so much fun! Thank the Lord for good friends!! :)

Many of you will be shocked to hear this...but my tree is not even decorated yet! ::GASP:: Of course I kept the tree up all year and then when it is finally Christmastime, the tree base breaks! Brad got me a broken umbrella base (one of the perks of working at a patio store!) to fix the problem. I didn't want to decorate the poor tree while it was leaning against the wall for stability. I have big plans to decorate it soon, though...can't wait! :)

Hope you are enjoying this wonderful season. I know I will definitely be enjoying it more after next Tuesday (my last presentation!).

Side note: A couple of weeks ago, Brad brought up the idea of posting a Bible verse on my blog...I really liked that idea so here is the Bible verse of the day (which may actually have to cover a few days depending on when I post again!)

BVOTD: "And let the peace that comes from Christ rule in your hearts. For as members of one body you are all called to live in peace. And always be thankful." Colossians 3:15 NLT

A Little Cuteness for Your Day...

David and Breann (remember the cutest pregnant gal ever?) welcomed Anika Rose on November 27th at 2:37 in the morning. She was 8 lbs 4 ozs and 21.5 inches long. Can't wait to photograph that little baby!!! :)