yay, it works!! rock out, everybody!! this is off of Mates of State's latest album... they're a husband and wife duo that are new to me, but I have a link to Kori's blog over there with other things that interest, band on the diaper run...
following our Soup Bible (that's really what it's called, I'm not trying to be sacrilegious), husband made chicken stock from scratch the other night. he took this gorgeous picture of the ingredients:
food is pretty. :)
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our new year looked like this:
US WATCHING THE ABOVE:
I MADE A CAKE WITH YELLOW CAKE MIX, LIGHT COOL WHIP, YOGURT, AND STRAWBERRIES, AND GOT TO USE MY YAYA'S CAKE STAND FOR THE FIRST TIME:
So, we ate cake, watched 24, and drank apple juice and ginger ale mocktails (which is a delectable combination, by the way). We're sooooo edgy.
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a picture from Christmas I found that I look at most days:
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I got the paperwork affirming my second mortgage paid-in-full... at the top of the document it reads as follows:
DATE OF NOTE: DEC 12... BORROWER: ROCK A LAMP , AN UNMARRIED WOMAN
LOL!!! Just like that, my name and defining characteristic (at the time)! So weird... and untrue, now.
this past Sunday, church was chock-full of interesting and challenging ideas for me. our Bible class discussion centered around this article from Times Online ("As an athiest, I truly believe Africa needs God" by Matthew Parris). after listening to some interesting comments and opinions, I left the class considering the term 'evangelism' and what that means, how we use it, what we intend it to mean, etc. one of the views expressed noted how different evangelistic efforts are when they're accomplished by persons actually committed to living in the areas they're trying to reach over a period of time and are accompanied by quality of life improvements... building infrastructure, educating, feeding and clothing, etc. when we speak of evangelistic efforts stateside, my mind tends to jump to stranger-focused goals of special events and tracts, structuring of churches to appeal to seekers, etc. in speaking with husband later, however, I decided that maybe that's my issue - my view of evangelism might be way too myopic. evangelism isn't just funding someone else to fly across the ocean to teach people about Jesus, or having a huge rally, or hiring someone to deliver persuasive sermons and plan events, or an event to feed the community twice a year, or fish symbols on my car, or... insert whatever images pop into your head. evangelism is telling about what God has done... not just what He did once, back in the day, but what He's done in me and in my community, and what He's continuing to do and what I hope He does, and we all have ample opportunity to talk about such things every day, with all of the people we already know in and out of our faith communities. and we should probably be sharing God's work and the mystery and wonder and victory and struggle of it all with both sets of people, right? I think that's the real trick... just living as though you're a believer of what you believe, and that it has great, life-changing value, and talking about it as we attempt to walk humbly with our God. that maybe sharing the gospel with people includes the necessity of my learning to communicate what God has done and continues to do in me to the people who already know me, as though it is important to me. as though I'm dependent on Him, and curious about Him, and grateful to Him. maybe that's where it starts, actually. I hope to reflect more of this sentiment as I journey through this next year.
which leads into Mike Mc's sermon about praise, which convicted me in my guts. to paraphrase, his simple premise was something like, 'we praise things all the time... we praise the things we value.' it's true - as this blog proves, we can't wait to tell people about movies, or books, or recipes, or this beauty product we love, or our favorite sports team. we praise these things because they have value to us that is intrinsically personal, and it makes up the fun, multi-colored collage of "me" and the things I choose. I confess that I tend to view God more as either my conscience or my inmost-wish-granter, and I spend very little time in real praise of Him. which is honestly embarrassing, considering I have so much to be outrageously thankful for. don't misread me... I'm laughing ruefully on my end, not brow-beating, because along with the embarrassment comes a gratefulness for the patience of my Father, who doesn't need my praise, but would certainly like to bless and communicate with me through it. Mike also pointed out more than a few examples in the new testament where Jesus did something incredible, wonderful... and the response of those around Him was to criticize and look for fault rather than praise the extraordinary and miraculous. the point being that perhaps the problem with malcontents is faulty perspective - that through eyes looking to praise and search out God at work in the world, it becomes more difficult to remain a critical jerk. I think this is why gratitude is a regular topic at meetings... when you're busy concentrating on things you're grateful for and progress made thus far, the list of things that are bothering you almost pales to nothing.
Dearest God, I praise you today for your wisdom and goodness, for your patience and character, for correction and blessing, and for your constant Help.
aside from last week's grody and annoying sickness, one of the things I will remember about this holiday are the mini-addictions that took over my life and sleep schedule... namely:
and
we barreled through and watched the whole first season of 24, and have begun the second. I hate to speak ill of my sex, but why are the women on 24 so stupid?! ack, I wanted to strangle Kim Bauer myself!
as for the Twilight series... um, yeah, I know. vampires. vampire love in high school. mm-hmm. I feel your judgement. and yet I - dare I say it? yes, I think I shall - I DEVOURED them, staying up all hours of the night to finish the stories. M took me to see the movie yesterday afternoon, and I was predictably let down. books turned into movies are a tricky thing, aren't they? the things I liked about the 2 Twilight books I've read - the overall eloquence and thoughtful quality of the books, the sweeping and all-encompassing 'forever' love between Bella and Edward, the concept of restraint between lovers - all of that takes time to set and develop, to hook you in and help you believe, and it's hard to achieve that in a couple of hours. I was also not appreciative of some of the liberties taken with the story and dialogue, but what can you do. C. Hardwicke directed, and she directed Thirteen, which was horrifying and something probably every parent would do well to watch, but I couldn't help but wish it wasn't such a... teen movie. silly, I know, since that's it's primary audience... but still. the setting looked like I imagined it would, though. another series that I think has had a good visual jump to the big screen are the Harry Potter books... it all looks as I thought it would, and they've done a fairly decent job of concentrating on the major plot points in the films and faithfully rendering them. probably my all time favorite book-to-screen experience is this one:
the novels by L. Alcott are my favorite of all time. for me, this film wins for being very very true to the book. all of the girls were wonderful... special mention must obviously be made of K. Hepburn as Jo. it's affecting and has the feel of the book... sweet and fun and earnest and home-spun in the best way.
don't talk to me about the newest version.... w. ryder as Jo is just... no. and s. sarandon is not Marmee.
any books you think made great movies? or wretched movies?
before I go further, the first present I got from my husband this year was terribly cool and extremely useful for a girl like me, who likes to carry her camera around in her bag at all times:
this bendy baby tripod, the Gorillapod, is a GREAT gift... for example, it was perfect for taking this studio pic last Tuesday:
and this one of husband and I giving ourselves facials that night:
*snicker.*
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and now, CHRISTMAS 2.0!
we hit Sagemont for their candlelight service Wednesday evening, and then headed over to the Bell's for holiday goodtimes. we had so much fun - here are some of our favorite pics (you can copy them from here, LB, but I'll email 'em to you, too!):
Judging from this pic, one might think I was in need of the loo. nope, just showing off my new footwear, courtesy of Husby (who completely blew my mind this holiday):
at some point during the morning, I opened another gift from M, which turned out to be this amazing little beauty:
I did NOT anticipate getting a new camera, but I'm so thankful for it! most people who know me are aware that I generally always have my camera with me, and my Canon SD400 Digital Elph has definitely been around the block. now, the old Elph has moved into the position of Honorable Backup Snapper while this baby and I are getting to know each other. I'm so glad Husby chose to stay with the Canon... I bought my first Elph about 6 or 7 years ago, I think, and in my opinion their point-and-clicks are just awesome, user-friendly, high-quality cameras. anyhoo, here are more pics shot w/ the new guy:
M making out with his new Hello Saferide LP:
M's brother's face slays me in this pic... hey M, why so sad?!
this was my Christmas dinner that day, and it was flipping awesome! I was in love with everything on my plate:
to recap, First Married Christmas at the Bell's was wonderful. here's to my new family:
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since then, we've been setting up, putting away, and playing with our new things. in the reconfiguration of our media stuffs to accommodate new and fun toys, I got M to hook up my PS2 and had a little round of DDR, which he so obligingly snapped:
yes, I'm wearing reindeer antlers. what, like you don't have a pair?!
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and then I got sort of sick. coughing and whatnot. grrrr. when I don't feel good, I generally just want to stay in bed and sleep a lot. M took me out for my favorite chicken and veg soup at The Black Lab:
I really do love their soup.
M also used our Soup Bible we bought the other day at Marshall's to make me a chickpea/bacon/onion soup tonight that was sooo tasty. what did I do when I didn't have a husband to take care of me when I got sick?? oh yeah, Progresso and cable. ;) which is still good, don't get me wrong. I'm just sayin.
there are more photos to come. christmas 2.0 and all. oh yes. some taken with MY NEW CAMERA THANK YOU HUSBIN WHO KNEW I NEEDED 10 MEGAPIXELS BUT IT TURNS OUT I SERIOUSLY DO. okay, maybe I don't NEED 10 megapixels... it's just super really really nice and pretty for pitcher-taking, which is a sport I like a lot.
for the moment, however, we've played with our toys. and read directions. and tinkered. and shared eureka 'look what it can do/I love that!/I gotta go get another cable to get it to work right' moments. and removed tags. and tried on. and ecstatically re-discovered gifts we'd forgotten about. and did laundry and dishes and gave the leftover delicious cheesecake to our neighbors because I have reached maximum capacity and my body needs a major sugar detox. the animals are passed out and I will be very soon. but it should be said that we're very blessed. very blessed indeed.
holy smokes. my christmas blend and I have just gotten caught up with my friends' blogs, and am so glad to see everyone having such a wonderful holiday! we got in last night from a whirlwind christmas bonanza, if you will. I left last tuesday night to go work in Dallas, M joined me later in the week, and we drove to my parent's house from there. as soon as I was outta the studio, I popped the Vince Guaraldi Trio in the cd player and we scooted through Ft. Worth traffic listening to A Charlie Brown Christmas. which I love... then the new Mates of State album, then This American Life. perhaps as you peruse the rest of the post, you would like to partake of some soothing sounds:
we celebrated YaYa's Christmas saturday night. this was the first year we hosted it at our house, and everything went really well... dinner was baked potatoes with the fixin's and chili, plus my aunt's awesome homemade buns, ham, dessert, and cranberry relish thing that we were flipping over and my grandma's homemade fudge and candy. my grandparents on my father's side are living in a health care facility now, which is a pretty major change for them. this holiday gathering has always been at their house, and these huge life events all transpired pretty suddenly the past few months. I know my grandparents - especially my YaYa - really struggle with loss of freedom and identity, but the facility is nice, the people there are very good to them, and it really is a burden lifted regarding daily living and health care for my PaPa. here are some pics snapped that night:
ME WITH MORGAN AND MY COUSIN M's PRECIOUS TWINS, RHETT AND TRITON:
MY COUSIN J'S AWESOME GIRLS... LAUREN & TAYLOR AND THEIR BIG SISTER, ALYSSA:
J & 'LYSSA:
MARMEE & MOMO:
DADDY & I:
MO TOOK THIS SUPAHFLY PIC OF HER MAMA AND AUNT LULU:
SANTA HATS AND DIGITAL CAMERAS ABOUND:
YAYA & L WITH THE REINDEER BABIES:
soooo good to see all of these people (and the ones not pictured here), and we missed those who couldn't be with us. we hope next year to get started earlier in the day, because the truth is we want more time with everyone. life is so nutty that it's easy to go a year and not really talk, and when you've got quality people like this in your life, you start wanting for more of their company.
it got COLD that night, and with the fire ROARING (sis-in-law!) in the fireplace, we started to wind down:
sunday after church we headed to Stephenville to do a little more shopping, and had a good round of Nertz that night in front of the fire. before I go further, here's a pic of my brother, his wife, and my niece that I just love, totally stolen from their camera (we got all the grandparents digital photo frames this year, and my mac was the lucky recipient of all the pics to upload):
christmas morning 1.0 dawned with hot coffee, L's monkey bread, and cheese and sausage quesadillas... plus fun things under the tree for Mo:
she got all sorts of fun things from Santa... a Little Mermaid tricyle-thing that blows bubbles and makes all sorts of sounds, an Elmo backpack, a cabbage patch baby wrapped in an afghan G'ma made for her (G'ma also crocheted her a larger one to match), a Sesame Street dinnerware set, an Elmo dvd, and a bath puppet. this pic cracks me up... check out PAWPAW IN THE BACKGROUND HOLDING HER BABY:
SHE GOT COWGIRL GEAR:
AND SOME CLASSIC CONVERSE FROM HER AUNT L & UNCLE M (you can also see her first necklace w/ a kitty and her name engraved on it, given to her by Marmee, in this pic):
this girl got all sorts of cool stuff, and she loved all of her toys. in fact, she liked them so much that to have to abandon one to open another was kind of a bummer. eventually, SHE LEFT THE ROOM FOR A MID-MORNING NAP, SO THE ADULTS TOOK TEN, TOO:
MY HUSBIN COULDN'T WAIT TO PERUSE THE GRAPHIC NOVEL I GOT HIM:
HE ACTUALLY GOT TONS OF COOL READING AND WAS VERY VERY HAPPY... THIS GORY-LOOKING JOKER NOVEL WAS A PRETTY BIG HIT. THE LOOK ON DADDY'S FACE WHEN HE ACCIDENTALLY OPENED IT WAS HILARIOUS:
FINALLY, DADDY WENT TO WAKE UP MO FROM HER NAP... HERE THEY ARE WRAPPED IN THE AFGHAN G'MA MADE HER:
AND THE PARTY PICKED UP AGAIN...
THE BELLS HAD A LOVELY FIRST MARRIED CHRISTMAS IN HICO:
AND WE LOVE THESE PEOPLE SO MUCH.
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CS posted the fourth photo in the fourth file on her computer, so I went to see which one mine would be... this was from some gathering I went to near Brenham years ago:
and I got tagged by JT (loved your holiday post, girl!), so here's my 8 THINGS:
8 things I did today:
1. woke up in my own bed! 2. drank coffee 3. caught up w/ friends' blogs 4. blogged about the holidays IT'S EARLY IN THE DAY, SO STILL TO COME IS: 5. narrating for a few hours 6. going to see M's folks and pick up the pets 7. putting away Christmas gifts 8. relaxing w/ the hubby
8 Favorite restaurants 1. Mambo 2. Pho Tan Loc on Bellaire 3. Niko-Niko's 4. Kam's 5. Michaelangelo's 6. Cafe Express 7. The Dot Shop 8. Backstreet Cafe
8 Shows I watch 1. The Office (word, JT) 2. Biggest Loser (double word!) 3. Top Chef 4. Morning Express w/ Robin Meade 5. Intervention 6. the BBC channel 7. various shows on TLC 8. Food Network
8 things I wish for 1. health and safety for us and people we care about. 2. to be debt-free (we're on our way) 3. to have a bigger kitchen 4. in the house we own. 5. to have a baby Bell. 6. a shift in my work life. 7. spiritual strengthening. 8. a bullet train to Dallas.
8 things I look forward to 1. being debt-free and the freedoms that will afford us to live and give. 2. being a mom 3. fewer commutes to Dallas 4. Christmas w/ the Bells 5. dinners w/ my husbin 6. being w/ family 7. this next year 8. change
8 new people I tag: B2, Tricia, Chels, Boy's Mom, Whit, Ellery's Mom, and whomever else would like to play. ;)
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time to go read - must go throw on some going-out-into-the-world clothes and a hat to cover my uncombed hair. that's the lovely thing about studio work... you'd never know that authoritative, warm, educated voice is wearing sweat pants and a toboggan. I'll be back in a few days with christmas o8 round two!
