The Annual Infamous White Elephant Christmas Party, ala Redeemer

Last Saturday night was the annual adult Christmas party at my church. Or as it is better known, the white elephant gift exchange where the outside of the present is the best part. Not kidding. Not kidding at all. Seriously, the whole goal is to get a gift bag you can re-use and if you are lucky, a pretty ornament. And there really is a white elephant. Its a little ceramic thingy, about 6 inches tall. If you get it, you have to remember to stick it in your present for the next year. Good thing I have never gotten it or it would be lost forever.

Here are some scenes from the big event. First we all bring a "covered dish." Which means there are like 5 sides dishes and a gazillion desserts. We are Baptist. Enough said. This is a piece of the cake I had. It had crushed peppermint on top. That sold me right there, I didn't even care about the actual cake.

Then, after everyone is so stuffed we cannot move, we toddle around to the middle and make a big circle. This year they had one of the kids (at their own party down the hall) pick a number then someone else had all of us number off. The number the kid picked was the person who got to go first. It was me! I am usually on the end of things, so I was excited to go first. I picked a nice bag with a jingle bell snowman ornament on it. The next person in the circle could either steal my gift (unopened, we wait till the end for that part, all the fighting is based on the outside only) or take a new one from the pile. If your gift is stolen from you, you can steal it from someone else when your turn comes around again. But not from the one who took it from you. If you "get" a gift three times, its yours to keep and no one can steal it. Otherwise, we would be there all night.


We had some pretty good laughs all around and a lot of good natured teasing and present stealing. Then we went around and opened the presents, with each person fessing up to what they had brought right before it is opened. You get a brief few seconds to think, "whew, this is safe to open" or "dang, I better take cover." Let me just say that one of the rules for this party stipulates no live animals. You know about rules right? They exist because somebody tried it. And if didn't work out so well. Anyway. Lets see, there were a few old knick knacks, a couple of wallets, some candles, a set of 4 hubcaps, a sewing machine, oh and a riding lawn mower. A real one. That works. The giver was nice and just wrapped up the keys with a picture that said it looks like this, only not as nice.

Here are some of my friends from the party.

Josh and Danielle. I got Josh's present. The snowman ornament on the outside is cute. I have to admit the present inside was pretty clever. I will take a picture of it and post it. You have to see it to believe it.

My roomie, Louie, and Amy and Isaac

Our new friends, Greg and Melody. Greg played his guitar softly during most of the gift exchange. It was cool.

And this is Courtney with her dad, Curt. I asked her if they planned it. She rolled her eyes as any 17 year old would and he admitted he saw what she was wearing and chose his shirt accordingly. Poor Courtney.

Today was my Mom's Birthday. I miss her.

Mama and me

Mama and Chloe

And with Caden

A Belated Thanksgiving Post

I celebrated Thanksgiving this year at my sister's house. My contribution to the party was an apple pie. I think it tasted pretty darn good.

And it looked pretty too! Here's a close up of the leaves I made on top. Am I clever or what?

Ok so I totally stole the idea of making the little vein marks from some holiday show on the food network.

At one point, we were all hanging in the kitchen and my Dad pulled out his cell phone and asked Chloe if she had seen the picture on it yet. I am guessing she has seen it many times, cause this was her face

If this were video, you would see some outrageous eyeroll action. On Friday, Dad was telling me he pulled his phone out of his pocket and she didn't let him ask, she just looked at him and said "don't even"with all the exasperation a seven year old can muster.

And just because, here's my little sis and her clone

It's all seriousness around our house

The nephew was being camera shy for some reason but I managed to snatched this one

That is all. I ate too much, had a good weekend all around and oh, I can't believe I almost forgot! On Saturday I got a last minute invite to go with Missy Ryan and the kiddos to go see the Lion King. Yay Me! It was a good show that I recommend highly if you ever get a chance to see it on stage. The best part was seeing the kids' facees when the animals came marching in. And Caden singing Hakuna Matada during the intermission.

A fun night out

Because this week was Thanksgiving and there were no classes, our hours at the library changed. The two other girls who work in my department and myself were all working the same hours which is rare. We decided to go out to dinner on tuesday night a while back since we knew we would all be on the same schedule for once.



Originally we were going to go to Steak and Shake to check out a waiter named Tim. Long story, but someone I work with has a crush :) Anyway, that didn't work out (SNS, not the crush) so we had to think of a new destination. The last time we went out, we went to the Cheesecake Factory and it was good. We considered it, but then thought we should try someplace else. We ended up deciding to go to BD's Mongolian BBQ. It is basically a create your own stir fry place. It was delicious and we finished off our meal with brownie ice cream sundaes. Mary and I had mint while Marcy stuck with Vanilla. The chunks of brownie were still warm as was the hot fudge. YUM!

I think the added in tiaras are a nice touch :)

More pictures of the reunion

Here are some pictures from last week.

This is on the way to the airport early Wednesday morning. My Dad drove Missy's car and she jumped in the back seat with the kids. I got in the front and asked if they were excited and got a resounding YES!!!





Isn't this bench cool? It is down in baggage claim where we first came into the airport.



After breakfast in the concourse area, the kids could hardly contain themselves, they were so excited. Feel the love!

This is where I started tearing up, sniff

Do ya think they missed their Daddy?

Word is a party/reception is coming up on Saturday the 22nd from 2-5 at their church.

Welcome Home!

Welcome home to the 76th Brigade Infantry Combat Team! Scroll down to the very bottom of this page to view a slideshow of photos from The Indianapolis Star covering yesterday's homecoming. Caden is featured in photo number 19.

Its too early

I got up at 4 am! The sacrifices I make people. Not really, but I am gonna be snoozing at my desk this afternoon, if I ever get to work. And here I was worried the flight would be bunped up earlier and they would miss the chance to see Daddy. It didn't occur to me that it might be bumped to later. As of right now, 10ish.



While I was on the phone with my sister this morning, Chloe came out of her room and said "is it time yet?" This is better than Christmas for her. Thank God for aunties too. Since it was V-day yesterday, veterans came to her school and talked to the kids. Chloe and one of her classmates whose Mom is due in today also both started crying. But I am glad her Aunt Twila helps out at the school and was there.



Gonna go hit the road now and maybe get in a nap at Dad's house before we go up to the airport.

Veteran's Day

Thank you to all of you who have served our country over the years. Both of my grandfathers, Ray and Max, served during WWII. I am proud to be their granddaughter. My brother in law, Ryan, is on his way home from Iraq right now. I am proud to be his sister.

I know that there are mixed opinions to say the least concerning the military and our current conflicts. And I know that in the past, veterans haven't always been treated with the dignity and respect they deserve. I have been pleased to see that our troops are recieving much more respect and appreciation these days. Even by some of those who do not support the wars in Iraq or Afgahnistan.

I was talking to an older woman a few weeks ago about this very thing. She recalled her first husband coming home from Vietnam. She and his parents were meeting him in the airport. As they were all approaching each other, a stranger ran up to her husband, shouted something obscence and spit on him. She said if her father in law hadn't held her back, she would have been in jail for what she wanted to do to that person.

I can't say I blame her.

So welcome home to the 76th Infantry Brigade Combat Team. There will be many happy families this holiday season.

Spirit of the 76th

PS...I am hearing rumors of a welcome home party on the Saturday the 22nd. More details to follow.

Stolen pictures

I totally swipped these pictures from my sister.

First up is Caden, my nephew

He found his pumpkin!

Next is Chloe

I think this picture is awesome! She took it in front of the mirror in her room. Yes, that is a real picket fence on the wall.

And finally, Veteran's Day is going to be extra special this year. I get to go to some ceremony thing for some guy thats been gone for 8 months somewhere. I cannot share more than that because I do not know more than that, but I will post more on Tuesday's events, well, on tuesday I guess :)

The boys

Here are my boys Max and Sadie

They love to snuggle and sleep cuddled up like that.

Max is about a year younger than Sadie

This was taken by Louie's sister who we got Max from. Isn't he adorable? Yeah, he grew up. Kidding, he is still adorable, which keeps him alive since he is also a brat. He loves to knock stuff off cabinets, stick his paw in drinks and then freak out when it gets wet, and scoop his food out of his bowl with his paw to eat.

This is Sadie. Yes I know it is a girls name. His name was Darla when he was picked out at the shelter. Yes, that's right, they thought he was a girl. They were wrong, but it was too late to change his name to something more manly. Poor thing, no wonder why he loves my purse.

I believe in this shot he is either trying to cover his face because the room is too bright or else he is embarassed to be caught napping on a purse.

DST and other things.

Yay for daylight savings time and the extra hour of snoozing last night. And Boo! to all you Hoosier voters who plan to vote against Mitch Daniels cause he brought it. First, its about time we caught up to the rest of the country. Second, to vote against someone for that reason alone is just plain dumb. And third, Jill Long Thompson is the recipient of all those votes against Mitch.

What. Are. You. People. Thinking!?! Any time she has been interviewed, the majority of her comments have been to bash Mitch. The few and far between times she has actually said what she would do as governor has not even made sense. I listened to an interview she gave to 93.1 WIBC radio and she said the solution to the loss of jobs in Indiana was to bring back manufacturing jobs because that's what makes Indiana strong. Then, when asked about the "brain drain" of Indiana college grads leaving the state for better jobs, she said we need to stop it. Oh, and bring back manufacturing to the state. That'll keep those college kids here. Um, what? Again, lets try looking forward. Manufacturing jobs are a step backward not forwards. And um, that's not what those college kids are going to school for. And what percent of those manufacturing jobs require a college degree anyway? Management positions maybe? Even if every position required a basic degree, what are we going to do with all those MBA"S that our colleges are spitting out. Don't say you haven't heard the commercials cause you have. They are almost as frequent as the election commercials. Speaking of which. I don't care if you agree with me or my politics, go vote! I am.

BTW, Have you seen the stories about flyers/email circulating info saying that because of the large expected turnout, repubs. are voting on Tuesday and Dems. on Wednesday? (or vice versa) Despicable. Doesn't matter if you don't agree with the other party, we ALL have the RIGHT to vote. On Tuesday. That is all.

A tale of sweatshirts and songs. Or how God can use anything!

I had to work today, and being a Saturday that started cold and damp added to the fact that I was the only staff person on duty, I chose to wear a sweatshirt. I am also wearing cute tan cords if you want all the details. Anyway, the sweatshirt in question is a big huge hoodie that has song lyrics printed on the front. Song lyrics that say the name Jesus. So what? you ask. I debated this morning whether to actually wear it or not. The old religion in the workplace drama. In the end, I decided that if I have to listen to endless liberal political crap, then why can't I wear my sweatshirt. And I am glad I did.

No, not because it was freezing this morning.

But because it started a conversation with a patron who sometimes can be annoying. She is a grad student who is working on her thesis (a musical score) and boy can she talk your ear off. I found out she goes to a Bible believing, Jesus saves kinda church and does not think Southern Baptists are a cult. But it gets better. My student worker came back to the circ desk and heard us talking about religion and joined in. Turns out he is a Christian but has been overwhelmed by how live out his faith in a semi hostile environment away from home. Plus the idea of being shunned by your peers for being a "goody-goody" and not knowing how to approach talking about Jesus with people in a culture where believing in God is looked down on. Don't think college campuses are like that? Have you seen the documentary Expelled? Go see it. Now. I am going to rent it sometime soon, maybe I will have a viewing party. But back to my story. They proceded to talk for almost an hour (40 mins of which were after his shift was over) about being a Christian on campus and she gave him some good resources including the location of the Campus Crusade building which I didn't even know we had.

I piped in now and again in the course of the conversation, however, I let her do most of the talking. Why? Because she is his peer and I am his boss. And she was doing a darn good job of it.
I have a new found appreciation for her and probably a bit more patience too. I will also be praying for my student. By the way, she at one point said "I'm not surprised" regarding finding out I am a Christian. Good to know I am giving off the right vibe so to speak.

"Bring me joy bring me peace, bring the chance to be free, bring me anything that brings you glory. Jesus bring the rain." That's what my sweatshirt says. Mercy Me rocks! But God reigns!

Happy Birthday!

Wednesday was my birthday. I'm getting old. Am I too old to say I'm 29? It was a good day with greetings from facebook, emails, phone calls, cards and in person. I went to lunch with a co-worker (Qdoba, yum!) and on the way back, we passed a store that sells cupcakes. Cupcakes and ice cream. That's all. It required turning around in a busy neighborhood and parallel parking and knowing we would really be late getting back to work. But come on. It. was. my. birhtday. We conquered all the obstacles and I enjoyed a carrot cake cupcake with cream cheese frosting piled on higher than the cupcake itself. It was delicious. I had dinner with friends that night and still have a piece of coconut cream pie to eat that I was too full to consume.

Looking forward to Saturday night when I am going to my Uncle's house. My cousin Trevor and his wife Tiffany are coming in from Kansas to go to the colts game on Sunday so we are gonna have dinner when they get in. I hinted to my Dad that an ice cream cake from DQ would be a good addition to the evening, so he said he would see what he could do. Afterall, what are birthday's for if not for the sweets (and the excuse to eat them).

Oh and colds suck! Apparently that was my birthday present. Boo! A sore throat that has progressed to a cough and we are rapidly approaching the sneezing stage. As long as I can still swallow and my coughs remain just that, I will survive.

scrapbooking

Its only a year later, but I am finally getting all the stuff together to create a scrapbook for some friends of mine that got married last October. That's right, I said October. I am slow. I have special stamps, paper, have the pictures printed, and the book. So here goes. I just need to get off the computer now :)

In other news, I had a job interview two weeks ago today and they said it would be "2 to 3 weeks" before I heard anything so every time the phone rings I jump. This job would be a good opportunity and presumably a decent pay raise which would really help with rising gas prices and such. But, God knows where He wants me and how much it costs to drive to Indy, so I am trusting Him either way.

Yay for Free Concerts!

Last night, Amy Louie and I went to see the Music Builds tour for free! Free is always good right? We got comp tickets from a friend of mine from work (Thanks Sara!) and didn't even have to pay for parking or anything. We enjoyed ourselves and even got upgraded. When we got there, we had to go to guest services and present my ID because we were on "the list." Then we got our hand stamped, not a ticket. Louie overheard a ticket taker tell someone coming in that people with lawn seats could sit in the back of the pavilion. That's what our seats were so when we got close to the seating, Amy asked an usher what was up and it was true! So we got to sit in the back of the pavilion but still it was a chair and it was shady (till the sun started to set)

We got there just as Jars of Clay was getting started. They were followed by Robet Randolph and the Family Band and then Switchfoot. The main event was Third Day. All the bands were good and reminded me of why I enjoy live music so much. My favorite part of the show had to be when Third Day had everyone join hands and Mac led us in prayer! My second favorite part was the ending. Third Day did their encore, then they were joined by Robert Randolph and Jars of Clay for some more and finally, all the bands took part in a rockin' cover of U2's "When Love Comes to Town." You rarely get collaborations like that except for live shows. It was great!

And then we got a golf cart ride to the parking lot.

That is all.

I has a sad :(

Friday was the last day of work for Angela, the best student worker we have ever had at the library. She is hilarious. Mary and I always look forward to hearing her adventures from over the weekend and the latest drama in her life. She technically graduted in May and continued to work for us this summer, while finishing up a summer class that she needed to make everyhting official. But Friday was the last day she could work. She is looking for a real job while contemplating a move to San Diego.





She will be missed! She was a hard worker, always looking for something to do and willing to do whatever crazy thing we threw her way, She picked up extra shifts during breaks and subbed for people all the time. We always half listen when the students answer questions just in case we need to interject and with Angela, most of the time we think, "wow, that was a good answer!"

She has promised to stop in and keep us updated on how things are going, She is a pretty determined gal, so I have no doubt she will do ok. Afterall, she navigates the city bus system with ease which I could never do.





Here she is getting ready to go shelve books for the last time.

Rare Saurday Off

Today is a very rare occasion that I look forward too. It is Saturday and I am not at work. Of course this means, I have to be at work on Monday, but I can deal with that. I work most Saturday's during the academic year and as a result miss out on many outings etc... with family and friends. It is weird to be home right now. My sister called me and was surprised I was not at work.



I have a couple more things I want to get done and then it will be time for Robin Hood! The last show of this season. No more until next year. That makes me sad. I am sure I will find a new obsession though, I usually do.



Totally unrelated to any of the above. I got a new ring tone for my cell phone the other day. It is the Sugarland song, Settlin'. The chorus is:



I ain't settling for just getting by

I've had enough so so for the rest of my life

Tired of shooting too low, so raise the bar high

Just enough ain't enough this time

I ain't settling for anything less than everything, yeah



I have decided that this is my new theme song. I need a new job, that pays me enough to pay some bills and enjoy life too. I need a job that is challenging and allows me to think, not just respond. I am tired of just letting life pass me by and it is time to do something about it.



I ain't settling!





BTW: while typing this post, I was fighting a lazy cat you wanted more than anything to be laying across the keyboard. If there are any typos, blame it on Max.

Wii

Do you Wii? I first played Wii back in February on vacation. We started playing bowling a lot out at Phil and Pat's house and for someone who does not play many video games, I don't do too bad. Most of what we play is just the basic wii sports. I suck at the baseball and tennis. Haven't tried the golf. Give me bowling and boxing. That's right, I said boxing. Among my circle of friends, I am the wii boxing champion. I even knocked out Danielle's husband, Josh. twice. in the first round.

We also tried another sports set. I hated the curling, but the motocross and snowboarding were really fun.

Christmas in July

We got a new fax machine at the library this week. It came with a BIG RED BOW on it. Seriously. I will post a picture later.

EDIT: here it is

They must be confused by what holiday it is.

Oh. Happy Independence Day! I have a 4 day weekend :) Slept in today, gonna catch some fireworks tonight, maybe a movie (I've heard Wall-E is good) on Saturday and catch up with family on Sunday. Who knows what else the weekend holds.

Robin Hood on BBC America

I love this show, cheesy and so not historically accurate as it can be at times. Think Hercules or Xena, only better. Robin Hood is my new saturday night passion. We have to watch it at Phil and Pat's house because we don't get BBC America at home. They have a dvr, so we usually wait a bit before we watch it so we can rewind and watch minus the commercials. even. better.

Here's a trailer for the show from you tube

Robin, being the good guy he, is pretty cute










Sir Guy of Gisborne may be a villian, but he sure looks good!

















Now you know why I really watch, eye candy ;)

Ryan's photo exhibit

My brother in law is serving in Iraq right now but last year when he won the county fair photo contest, they made arrangements for him to have an exhibit at the public library this year. My sister was contacted about it while back and was able to set it up for him. She was interviewed this week for the local paper about the whole thing
Got her picture in the paper and everything :)


See the story here

Three Day Weekend

The library was closed on Saturday so I have had a relaxing three day weekend. Next weekend I only get one day off, but I will only have a four day work week because of Independence Day so it all balances out. Saturday I got some laundry done and I will finish it today. I lounged around in PJs until 3pm, then got ready and went to the mall. I met up with Amy and Isaac and we went to see Get Smart. It was pretty funny. A few times I laughed so hard that I couldn't breath. Louie got home from the church mission trip and I met up with her and we went out the Phil and Pat's house for dinner and Robin Hood, followed by Wii bowling. Sunday afternoon was a lazy day of more Wii, naps and church. Gonna go finish the laundry now, clean my room and play with dog.

So what have I been up to in the last year or so?

In May of 2007, I graduated from IUPUI with a Master's Degree in Library Science. Yes, I am a real live librarian! I still work at Butler University, but I am actively searching for a new job. Gas prices are killing me! I would like to stay in Indiana, but time will tell if that is going to work out or not.

I have spent a lot of time with friends and family. I learned to bowl Wii style, my highest score is 200 and I am 80 points from pro status, meaning I get pretty stars on my bowling ball. I have seen three friends get married and was a bridesmaid in one of the weddings.

I went on two vacations this year, both spontaneous to some extent. In February, I went with Louie, my housemate, to French Lick, Indiana and stayed in a villa with some friends from church. It was a nice relaxing time that ended all too soon. I March, I went with my sister and her kids to Savannah/Tybee Island, Georgia to spend a few days with her husband before he shipped out to serve with the 76th Brigade. We had a blast hanging at the beach and going on a dolphin cruise.



More recently, I got really sick. Sicker than I can ever remember being. I lost my voice, had no strength, and lost 17 pounds. I was out of it for almost three weeks. I am finally feeling normal again. Today I am home, celebrating a rare Saturday off of work. I am watching the food network and getting hungry. Time for lunch!

Has it really been that long?

Has it really been a year and half since I have posted anything? Its been a crazy year and a half that's for sure. Lots of changes, some good, some bad. I plan to try to post more and to keep up better with what is going on around me. I think I am coming out of a fog so to speak. Time to get moving!