My first...

...speeding ticket. It's true. On the way home, I got a speeding ticket. In a town about the size of my little neighborhood in Dallas. A notorious speed trap. I had been driving for about 5 hours already and was getting to the point that I was VERY ready to be out of the car. I had the music up, singing at the top of my lungs. Confession - I'm pretty sure it was *NSync's Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays song that I was singing at that exact moment when I just didn't notice the speed limit sign telling me to slow down. I wish now, that I had the blogging foresight to take a picture of myself with the cop car lights in the background while he was writing up my ticket, but I didn't. He was a cute old man. I couldn't get mad at him. He reminded me of my great uncle Bobby. So, there it is. I made it almost 27 years without a ticket. Now that record is broken. I hope I don't start breaking more of my records, like no cavities, I would be sad. SO, defensive driving here I come!!

Going Home...

I'm headed home in a couple of hours...and I am so excited to be there. Rebekah arrived from Philly on Saturday and Deborah got home last night. I am the missing piece. My car is loaded, filled up with gas, and has a fresh oil change. I will be hitting the road as soon as I get off work today. The last time we were all together was in Santa Fe over Labor Day weekend before Rebekah left for Mission Year. I'm excited to spend time with the whole family, be out of Dallas, and just relax a little.

Next Monday night/early, early Tuesday morning, I will meet a bus full of high school students at a truck stop in Amarillo and head to Copper Mountain. I can't wait to be skiing down the mountain - oh how I love it!

And just because I like to have pictures in my posts...here's one from our small group Christmas party. I love these girls!

ICE!

My roommate Julie organized a big group of people to go see ICE! at the Gaylord Texan on Friday night. It was tons of fun to walk through the 2 million pounds of ice in the -9 degree temperatures! Good thing they gave us parkas, because it was REALLY cold! There was an ice gingerbread house, an ice Santa, an ice slide, and most importantly an ice baby Jesus! The only non-fun part of the evening was the parking - it took about 45 minutes or something absurd like that. I think Laura has some pictures of that on her camera, but for now here's some pictures from the fun part of the evening.

Roommates!

Student Ministries friends!

me & Laura

Laura, Karla, Sarah & Jen

me & Shawn

And ice baby Jesus!

My Favorite Things...

Here are a few of my favorite things right now. I'm not sure why...I just felt like sharing them with you!

1. My Sewing Machine - I'm making a lot of my Christmas gifts this year. Me and the sewing machine are spending a lot of quality time together at the kitchen table!! I'll share what I've been making after people get their gifts...I don't want to spoil any surprises!

2. Point of Grace: A Christmas Story - every Christmas I spend countless hours listening to this CD. It's my all time favorite Christmas CD. Mock me if you will, but I LOVE it!

3. My new boots - I've been wanting real cowboy boots for a while now, but have never been able to justify spending the money on them. On Friday, I was checking our message board at work where people post things they want to sell. Low & behold there was a pair of size 9 Justin cowboy boots. The girl had only worn them twice. I rushed over to her building at tried them on and wrote her a check on the spot. And they were a deal!!! I'm wearing them today, and they are fantastic!

4. My Camelbak water bottle - I've always been a Nalgene girl. For some reason, a couple of weeks ago, I decided I wanted a bottle with a straw. I bought this adorable thing, and I don't think I'll ever go back. It's just the right size. It doesn't spill, even when the straw is open. And I just think it's cute!

5. The Pioneer Woman - This website is great. This woman is a hilarious story teller in the "Confessions" portion of her blog. But, what I'm enjoying most is the "Cooking" section. This weekend I made the Pasta alla Vodka and it was SO good. I've been enjoying the leftovers ever since. In the cooking section, she takes pictures of the whole process and makes it really easy to follow her instructions. If you like that kind of thing, you should try making the Chocolate Sheet Cake, it's fantastic! And I really want to try the Cinnamon Rolls...they look absolutely delicious!

Christmas

I know that pretty much everyone has posted this video on their blog. And, honestly, I've stopped watching the videos that people post because I'm just kind of tired of them. But, I finally sat down and watched this one, and I honestly can't get it out of my head. I spent some time on www.adventconspiracy.org and I'm actually inspired by it. Their slogan, if you will, is simple.

Worship Fully

Spend Less

Give More

Love All

Sounds fairly simple, but I know I get so caught up in the giving and receiving at Christmas. And I don't think the giving and receiving is bad, but I'm working on stepping a little out of my comfort zone this year. I'm making some of my gifts in an effort to spend less. It sounds small, but for me, it's a step. I know there are so many more things I can do, and I want to figure out what that looks like for me. BUT, what it boils down to, is this video challenged me, and I think it will do the same for you if you give it a chance.

Jury Duty

Tomorrow I will fulfill my civic duty and report for jury duty. I’ve never been to jury duty. I have to admit, although hesitantly, that I have been summoned before. I misplaced the paper and when I finally found it realized that the date had passed. Oops! I hope I didn’t just incriminate myself!

Anyhow, since I received my most recent summons, I have received many suggestions for how to not get chosen for the jury. Some of them are quite hilarious. Some just normal, but here they are for your entertainment:

• Act like you actually want to be picked for the jury.
• Say that you have a family member who's been killed by a drunk driver. (Seriously!?)
• Call the Dallas police the Dallas Gestapo.
• Tell them you love Jesus.
• Have a seizure. Yes, someone really suggested it.
• And just act flat out insane.

I'm thinking I will stay away from all the above tactics. Not that I want to be chosen, because I don't, but I'm just going to let the system take it's course. I'm praying I don't get picked, because my coworker just went maternity leave, and if I get chosen Amy will be left to fend for herself, which would definitely not be good for her mental state.

I'll let you know how my jury duty experience is. Should be interesting for sure!

Celebrating Laura

So, I realize there has already been a birthday related post for my dear friend Laura, but I thought I should post about her celebration we had Tuesday night. And I needed an excuse to step back into the blogging world after my little break from the month of craziness posting!

Anyway, we went to Mattito's for dinner to celebrate Laura. Lots of laughs, good conversation, and of course Bob Armstrong Queso filled our evening. It was a fun night with lots of fun girls!

Ann, Birthday Girl, and Jen

Cutest community group ever (behind ours, of course!)

Britni, Stacy, Laura, & Ashley

Kristie, me & Stacy

Laura with her birthday present from me

So, Laura's present from me, if it had a title, would be "The Road to the Cupcake Tree". She has been wanting one of these for a while. I told her she probably needed to know how to make cupcakes first. SO, my present is all about equipping her to master the baking of cupcakes, so that she can someday have a cupcake tree. I made the apron with way cute fabric I got in a store in Granbury over Thanksgiving. And then I gave her a coupon for a free cooking lesson and Sprinkles cupcake mix so that we could start with a little help. I'll let you know how the cooking lesson goes whenever we get there!