12 Good Months.

Now that we're 5 days into the new year, I can hardly remember 2011 at all. Oh kidding. I remember what I wore to school in 1984. Of course I remember last year.

I will remember 2011 as being a good year. It was quiet. It was calm. After the roller coaster of 2009 and the chaos that was 2010, the quiet and calm was welcomed. I know that it sounds very trite to say that I am completely different person now than I was when this year began, but to some degree I am a changed person. I feel like that I have learned more this year than I can remember learning in several years combined during my adult life. The lessons have not been easy, but they have been good.

I'm a worrier by nature. I can slip into worry mode in about 4 seconds flat. I've tried to put some perspective on that worry. Did you know that the phone company will not stop your phone service if you forget to pay your phone bill for a couple of weeks? Two years ago I would have come unhinged if that had happened. When daddy died though, I realized that there are some things in life that we cannot control and there are some things in life that aren't worth the stress and lost sleep. Need another example? Being the girl who rushed puppy to the Emergency Vet when he fell asleep in his water bowl, naturally he always got his heartworm prevention on the 10th of each month come hail or high water. Always. Now? Eh, he gets it within a week or so of the 10th. I hesitate to say that I've completely mellowed out [hello, DNA is DNA], but compared to where I was at on the spectrum, I can say that I am more mellow.

There were times throughout the year when I had to purposely distance myself from my comfort zone. It was tough and a little lonely at times, but I learned that the cattiness and gossip and pessimism that we all by nature have the tendency to thrive on is really not worth it. It's always at the expense of someone else. And words, they really do hurt. I have by no means mastered this, but I hope that I'm doing better. Never fear, my trademark eyerolls are still an innate component of my sunny disposition.

This is the year that I finally began to understand what I've always known: this life, while it's mine to live, it's not all about me. Another huge step outside of my comfort zone included me beginning to volunteer at church. When it comes to church, I am a champ at holding down the pew. But gravity does that job well enough, so now I am a greeter. I didn't think I was quite up to the pressure of teaching big concepts to little minds [I mean elementary school kiddos, not narrow-minded adults], but I can certainly smile and hand out bulletins to folks. Except for that Sunday when I dropped a whole stack of them right in the doorway as the masses were piling into the auditorium. It's how I roll.

Until 2011, I would have been perfectly content completely erasing the two previous years from my memory. But this was the year that I began to make some meaning from the chaotic roller coaster ride. Parts of those years will never make sense, but I've discovered that meaning can still be made from senselessness. It is not always the circumstance that shapes up, but our response to the circumstance.

Speaking of making sense and meaning, one thing [of many things] that I know that I will never understand is how much God loves me. It doesn't make sense that he loves me because hello, have you been around me at 1:00 in the afternoon on the days when I didn't eat my mid-morning snack? Queen Cranky-Pants. But he loves me nonetheless. Even when I betray him, he still loves me. Once upon a time long ago when I had a single gray hair instead of the 3 that I have now, I still loved someone for a little while in the immediate aftermath of discovering I had been betrayed. From that experience, I was finally able to connect the dots many moons later and realize that daily I sin and betray God. Daily he loves me. Even when I'm at my crankiest. Truly, it makes no sense. It doesn't make sense to us because humans do not have the capacity to love as God does -even though we're commanded to do so. If catching even a small glimpse of God's love for me was the primary outcome of the event that over time has transformed from something so big to simply a blip in my life story, then I am glad that we do not have the ability to completely erase our memory or periods in life.

All years link together and our past is the foundation to our future. I really do look at 2011 as a critical link in the story that is Just Me...HP. It has helped me to see where I've been while shaping and preparing me for where I'm headed. While we are all different and we all have different lives, our lives are all very much the same. We have mountain top moments and experiences. We trudge through the pit of despair. We have calm in the middle. It's in the quiet that we hear most clearly. Don't fill these moments with empty noise. It's in the calm that we can see even the smallest movement. Keep your head up and your eyes open.

11 Shows I Love.

Today's post was not my original idea for day 11. However, I decided that since I'm "recapping" 2011 in a sense, I would be remiss if I didn't include some television shows. It's a thousand wonders I maintain a 40-hour/week job with the intense reading, television viewing, and napping schedule that I keep. DVR is one of the greatest things that's ever happened to me. Yet at the same time, it's one of the worst thing that's ever happened to me because it serves as my enabler. If stranded on a desert island, one of my 5 items would definitely be television equipped with DVR. At least I have a clear perspective on my first-world problems.

So here's what I watched and loved last year:

1. Friday Night Lights. I miss Tim Riggins. And Coach and Tami Taylor. Single tear.

2. The Closer. When I grow up, I want to be like Deputy Chief Brenda Leigh Johnson. And on a serious note, I hope my arms look like Kyra Sedgwick's do when I'm her age. I wonder if tone and definition comes with age? Hmm.

3. How I Met Your Mother. Oh for the love, Ted Mosby, meet your wife already.

4. Parks and Recreation. It is li-tri-ly the best show on television right now.

5. Modern Family. This one runs a close second to Parks & Rec. I giggle and giggle and giggle for 30 minutes every Wednesday.

6. Parenthood. Love the Braverman family. Love them. Except it's super weird for me that Lauren Graham and Peter Krause are dating in real life and are brother and sister on the show. Eww. Yuck. Grody.

7. Suits. I found this show on USA Network this year and I love it. I have an unrealistic crush on Harvey Specter. As in, I'm planning to marry him. Except he's a television character.

8. Castle. This show is kind of like Ed, but not really at all. Actually it's only like Ed in the sense that when Castle and Detective Beckett finally become an "item" [as my dear mama likes to say] the next scene will be of them jumping a shark together.

9.Happy Endings. Kind of like wine, this show gets better with age. It started out kind of Boone's Farm-sy and now it's totally up to Trader Joe's Two Buck Chuck.

10. Blue Bloods. Donnie Wahlberg + Tom Selleck = Be still my heart.

11. SNL. This season's episode hosted by Jimmy Fallon was one of the best ones in a long time. I hope that when we all get to heaven that I live in the same cul-de-sac as Jimmy Fallon and Justin Timberlake.

If stranded on a desert island, what shows would you have on your DVR? Or would you only read books and listen to classical music?

10 Years with TRS.

Have I ever told the story of how I graduated from college on a Wednesday night and went to work bright and early the very next morning? Well, on December 19, 2001, I graduated from college. On the morning of Thursday, December 20, 2001, I reported for duty at my very first real job that was going to earn me real money. [You know, as opposed to the fake money that I had been earning at part-time jobs since the age of 15.] The end.

Why did I start working the very next day after graduation as opposed to setting off on some post-graduation European backpacking adventure? Primarily because all of my friends had been working for 6 months already or still had 6 months of school left so I was making my grand entrance into the "real world" a bit tardy or prematurely, I suppose. The other reason was because I worked for all of two days and then had two weeks PTO for the holidays. Pretty sweet gig because I never had to worry about things like gaps in insurance coverage or income or those other things that are completely incomprehensible until faced with the dead end that is inevitable along the road of college life freedom.

Also on that day a decade ago, a clock started ticking toward my retirement earnings. At the green age of 22, retirement was the absolute farthest thing from my mind. I learned that it would take TEN! WHOLE! YEARS! of working within the University System before I would even be vested in retirement. My plan certainly did not include me working for 10 years. I would surely be busy with things like car pool and cookie baking and lounging on the sofa watching daytime television by the time I reached the ancient old age of 30.

Oh I just love these subtle reminders that my plans are not always written in stone. Just as I never predicted the end of daytime soap operas (Ha!), I certainly never predicted that I would be vested in retirement. But I am. While I am thankful for this unplanned accomplishment now, I am sure that I will be even more thankful in my 50s when my future children continue to suck the life out of my bank account.

Unplanned accomplishments. Anybody else out there have them? I'm sure we all do. It's just a matter of recognizing them instead of focusing on all the other things that we planned on yet haven't quite completed. Glass half full, or half empty? The choice lies within each of us.

With endings like that, I think I have a future in retirement options with the DaySpring or Hallmark corporations.

9 Noteworthy Novels.

Let me start today's post by publicly acknowledging that not all of my picks are novels and the argument can even be made that they aren't exactly noteworthy, but some occasions call for alliteration over accuracy. I think most political campaigns are founded on this notion.

As long as I can remember, I have been a bookworm. I vividly remember one night when I was just a little bitty thing getting so frustrated that I could not read the words in a book myself that my dear old dad stayed up with me until I essentially memorized the words so that I could "read". I was 12. Oh, kidding. By the time I reached 12 I had progressed to that uber cool phase in life when I read books at the dinner table because I could not put the latest Sweet Valley High read down long enough to actually carry on a conversation with my family. I blame the tortoise shell glasses for ushering in that socially awkward stage of my life.

Sometimes I read because it forces me to think more deeply. For example, John Piper's Don't Waste Your Life. Other times I read because I need an outlet that requires minimal brain activity. For example, that two week period when I read all four books in the Twilight Saga. [I like to make sure that my low points in life are really low.]

I have read and read and read and then read some more this year. In fact, all of this guilt-free recreational reading has been one of the biggest perks of post-graduate school life. None of my selected reads that I am about to share with you will be found on the New York Times 100 Best Novels list, but I did just read the entire list so I'm sure that counts as something intellectual.

1. Plan B by Pete Wilson. No, this is not a book about an alternative and controversial form of contraception. I accidentally stumbled upon this book when the local Borders was going out of business. It's quite extreme to say that a book changed my life, but it certainly changed my attitude and perspective. We all have plans for our lives. Very rarely do those plans unfold exactly as we anticipate and expect. When those plans disintegrate and we are left living in our unwelcome reality, it can be a rude awakening. So this is about our response and coming to the realization that maybe, just maybe God's plan is actually much greater.

2. The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins. I read this book on Christmas night. As in started it around 6:00 and finished it around 2:30 in the morning. So the next day I read Catching Fire. Then I kind of lost steam because it took me from Tuesday until Friday to read Mockingjay. Reading this trilogy confirmed two things: I can read at a middle school reading level and I'm still about as cool as I was 20 years ago. However, these books were fantastic. Read them if you haven't already. Seriously.

3. The Help by Kathryn Stockett. Nothing like showing up two years late to a party, huh? I am confident that I was the absolute last thirty-something female born and raised South of the Mason-Dixon and East of the Mississippi to read this book. I cried. I laughed. I cringed. "You is kind. You is smart. You is important." If only every little girl could grow up hearing this message from someone who loves them because maybe, just maybe, one day we all would believe it.

4. The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo by Stieg Larsson. I decided to read this to see if it was worth all the hype. I fought heavy eyelids and sleep to get through the first 150 pages or so before I began to understand. Upon finishing it, I immediately went to my local bookseller and purchased The Girl Who Played with Fire which took me all of three days to finish. I haven't read the third one yet, but I'll get around to it when it's released in paperback. Pure smut? Eh, not really, but they certainly aren't Karen Kingsbury classics either. I read them the week that I had a double ear-infection, pink eye, and no voice. That was also the week that Prince William and Kate Middleton got married. In case you were wondering.

5. Girls in White Dresses by Jennifer Close. This is a must-read for any girl who has ever been in more weddings than she has the fingers to count them on or has navigated her mid-to-late 20s and early 30s feeling like everyone else has their acts together and somehow she missed the memo on how getting said act together actually happens. I read this upon the recommendation from a pal who I defer to for all political, food, music, and literary insight. I'm surprised she hasn't started billing me yet.

6. The Proper Care and Maintenance of Friendship by Lisa Verge Higgins. Another Borders going-out-of-business find, but I loved this book because in it I saw my own friendships with my own group of girls who I treasure so very much. Maybe I'll write a book one day and my friendships with them will be the topic. I'm sure they'll all just love that.

7. Savannah Blues by Mary Kay Andrews. I read this at the beach back in the summer, and it is the perfect beach read. Especially if Savannah happens to be one of your favorite cities in your home state.

8. Winter Garden by Kristin Hannah. I've read a couple of her books, and while I do not categorize her as being another Danielle Steel or Jodi Picoult, she reminds me of them in the sense that just as it's a guarantee that a Danielle Steel book is going to be about some woman who lost everything and then with the help of a dashing gentleman rebuilds her life or that a Jodi Picoult book is going to be about some tragedy involving a child or teenager, Hannah's books are about the dynamic of family relationships. Specifically, the females in a family. Predictable and easy to read...a great cure for the television rerun season blahs.

9. John, Chapters 1-10 from The B-I-B-L-E. Confession: I am terrible at reading The Bible. BUT, lately I've discovered that the more you read it, the easier it becomes to understand. Also, I've learned that turning off the VH1 Top 20 countdown during reading time minimizes the opportunity for distractions. [It's appropriate to roll your eyes now because I would certainly roll my eyes at such a "realization".] Anywho, a couple of months ago, I discovered a series that Louie Giglio is in the middle of at his church called "Word". Essentially, he's going through the entire book of John one chapter at a time and sums up each chapter in one word. During the summer he did the first six chapters, and he just did four more last month. I like it because he offers clear explanations of the scripture while keeping my attention through his wit and humor. But you don't have to take my word for it. I recommend that you check it out for yourself from this link. [You'll have to scroll through the messages to get to them. Series: Word. First one is back in June.]

Enough with reading this blog of mine. Get out there and read some books! And let me know what you're reading because my "to-read" list is getting a little slim. Incidentally that's the only thing in my life that gets slim this time of year. Well, other than my checking account.

8 Achievable Ambitions.

Happy New Year!

I like resolutions. However, I rarely make them unless I think that I can keep them pretty easily. Perhaps it's that component in my personality that causes me to never even attempt something unless I'm sure that I can achieve it. What? You think of me as a person who has had limited experiences due to my lack of attempt?

So in the spirit of the New Year, here are 8 things that I plan to do in 2012:

1. Run a half-marathon. I'm long overdue. The last one that I did was in November 2009.
2. Write more. In my journal. Here in the blogosphere. Notes and cards to my people.
3. Resume my multi-vitamin regiment. Why did I ever stop taking vitamins in the first place? No clue.
4. Eliminate using my debit card. I was cash only from January to April in 2011. It's time to make Dave proud again.
5. Plane trip to a place I've never been. [Duh.]
6. Work harder at work. Fact: I'm a taskmaster when I need to be. But there are some pretty big projects on my to-do list that I want to complete.
7. Clean out my coat closet. Y'all. This closet is so full and cluttered that the skeletons can't even fit in it.
8. Get a passport.

So. Who here makes resolutions or sets goals? What do you hope that 2012 brings? A new calendar is as exciting as new notebooks at the beginning of the school year. Clean, fresh, and waiting for us to leave marks on them. What kind of mark do you want to leave on 2012? Make it count just in case the Mayans are right. That way when they are proven wrong, we can all look back on the great memories that we made!

7 Songs for Singing.

I do love a good song, and I am of the belief that most songs are better when performed live. One exception being Taylor Swift songs because y'all...painful. PTL, the one time I did hear her live she was only singing a couple of songs and Snoop Dogg quickly came to the rescue of our bleeding ears. However, I'm not here to bash a young girl who made more money in the first 15 minutes of her career than I will ever make in my entire 51 year career as an indentured servant.

It really is a shame that I have zilcho musical talent, but for those of us who aren't athletes, we can be athletic supporters, right? [Name that movie.] There's a lot of pressure to list just 7 songs in a blog post when it's supposed to be a capstone post of sorts for the entire year. So I narrowed down my selections based on the fact that I had to have heard these songs performed live this year. Here goes:

1. The Once and Future Carpenter - The Avett Brothers

2. Ten Thousand Words - The Avett Brothers

Have I mentioned that I saw the Avetts perform for the third time this year just last night? [Well, I am actually writing this in advance but the plan is to see them on the 30th.] Love them. Their energy is crazy good.

3. Barton Hollow - The Civil Wars

4. Poison and Wine - The Civil Wars

I saw them just a couple of weeks ago, and I was absolutely entranced the entire time. Awesome. Even if Joy's weird awkward hand motions made me uncomfortable. She needs a guitar in her hands or something. Yet, they performed in a chapel so I feel like we were a tough crowd for them. The behavior of the audience was like people behave in church [you know, really quiet and reserved] so these two were getting zero reaction during the show. I felt the need to write a written apology afterwards.

5. No Means No - Striking Matches

The group formerly known as Common Thread. Their closest friends call them Justin and Sarah. I'm entitled because I endlessly humored half of this duo for hours when he was a mere toddler and I was a way too cool for school 4th grader. Y'all. If you haven't made it to one of their shows yet, GET THERE. I suspect that soon I will no longer be able to afford tickets to their shows so I feel the need to see them as often as possible. Because they really are THAT awesome.

6. Colder Weather - Zac Brown Band

I technically saw them on NYE, but the show continued into the wee small hours of January 1 so technically I saw them this year. I love a good technicality as much as I love a good song.

7. Waiting Here For You - Christy Nockels

She has the voice of an angel. Well, maybe not because I suspect that the angel Gabriel's voice is loud and booming and all sorts of intimidating. Why else would he preface all of his remarks with "Fear not!"?

If only I had been able to score tickets to Mumford & Sons when they played at The Fox in Atlanta this year, my year in music would have been complete. Darn those scalpers. Darn them all! I'll see them eventually though. Mark my word.

6 is for Saturday.

Do you know how I know that I'm old? It happened this year so I feel that it's necessary for me to document this milestone for the sake of posterity. I started waking up early on Saturday. On purpose. Because I enjoy it.

Now for those of you who know my family and how I was raised, this is kind of a big shift for me. By nature, we're night people. I always tell folks that I didn't have a bed time whenever I was a kid, and well honestly, I didn't really have a strict bed time. What? You mean it's not normal for a 6 year-old to stay up and watch 20/20 and then Friday night videos? Anywho...

Saturday morning is my time to recharge after a long work week. Previously that meant sleeping until oh, 11 or so. Now it means waking up by 6:45 or 7:00, walking the dog, making some coffee, and then spending a couple of hours reading and drinking said coffee. I love it. My inner introvert is coming out by talking about this. The sixth day of the week has definitely become my favorite for this very reason. And yes, I realize some of you are laughing at me because the definition of "early" pre-parenthood is much different than the definition of early when there are kiddos in the house. Unless it was my house because when you put your kids to bed late, they tend to sleep late!

So, what do you all do to recharge? Can you think of the last time that you've spent time doing this? We all need it. I think that not only do we feel better, we treat others better when we are feeling our finest. If you currently don't have a routine to restore your energy, then perhaps 2012 will be the year you find one. There's still time to make your resolutions!

5 Words Make a Handful.

Throughout this year, I've spent a great deal of time thinking about and determining what these words mean to me. While words are flat and one-dimensional, the meanings behind them are anything but flat. One of the reasons why I used the Christmas card design that I did is that I truly hope is that each and everyone of you has a year filled with love, joy, and peace.




"May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit." -Romans 15:13

4 Years in Athens.

How in the world have I managed to live in Athens for 4 (actually 4.5) years?!?! It's the town that I never really wanted to live in in the first place. When I left my little mountain town of Dahlonega for the big city in July 2007, I was only going to live there until I finished graduate school. Well, that whole ordeal ended up taking longer than I had planned for it to. Now that I've been done with school for a whole year though, what's my excuse for still being there? [Other than being gainfully employed in a job that I happen to enjoy, of course.]

As it turns out, I really sort of like Athens. In fact, I would go so far as to say now that I love it. What? Me? It's amazing how attitudes and perspectives can change when one isn't so bull-headed for no apparent reason. During this last year of not "having" to be there for school, I've done things like started volunteering at church. Which I happen to really enjoy. I've dropped the "as soon as I'm done with school, I'm out of here" mentality. And now given recent and exciting developments with my job effective January 1, it looks like that I will definitely be here awhile longer. How much longer? Oh, I don't know but there are certainly worst places to be.

Hmmmm..."to be". No worries I'm not going all Shakespearean here, but this year I think I've really begun to understand the value in just being. By that, I mean being completely there wherever I am instead of being so focused on where I'm not or where I think that I would rather be. A couple of months ago I was sought out by a company and had a couple of calls with the hiring folks. The opportunity sounded really exciting and really good and would have been pretty great. Except for I wasn't so on board with the location. I didn't even know there were states in the lower 48 with only a total of 3 Target stores in them, did y'all? Crazy. So that opportunity wasn't to be. In the meantime I'll stay in my little town of Athens with a Target store less than 2 miles from my home and all of those other creature comforts that I've come to really love in the place that I currently call home.

3 Orange Balls.

This is the year that Cash, the Wonder Lab, celebrated his third year of life. Throughout these three years it has been visual reminders like this:
...that has kept me from selling him to the lowest bidder in moments like this:
Had I read all the books that I read about raising Chocolate Labs prior to getting him, there's a 92% chance I would have gotten a hermit crab instead. Who knew that male Chocolate Labs tend to have the most energy of all the Labrador Retrievers in the land? "They" say that age three is when male Chocolates calm down and are usually okay to be left uncrated for long periods of time. My shoes and throw pillows would disagree with them.

He really is the greatest dog in the world though, and he has taught me so much about discipline, patience, and loyalty. As in, I need to exhibit more of all three of those traits. He is quite loyal to me, but sometimes I wonder if it's because he sees me as his source for three meals a day and the essential ingredient for seemingly never ending games of fetch. 2011 though was the year that he abandoned his first love, the tennis ball, for a new and improved model:

See that poor, dejected tennis ball off to his right? Once he was introduced to the greatness that is the orange Chuck-It ball, tennis balls were so last season. He "acquired" his first orange ball at the dog park. He's pretty much a thief. Thank goodness the original owners are friends and they were kind enough to let him have it. I can't say that I blame them though since it was covered in dog slobber and prying it out of his mouth would have been akin to prying it from a piranha. He did not put this ball down for days. Literally. I had to trick him at bedtime to get it away from him. [No comments about who is the alpha in our master/canine relationship, please.] Speaking of bedtime, they also function as a breadcrumb trail of sorts just in case he forgets his way:
The way the other two made their way into his life was at Thanksgiving when I had all sorts of baking to do. I needed him to be entertained and distracted because no one likes it when dogs serve as taste-testers for baked goods. Bleh.

Sometimes I feel guilty that he does not spend his days duck-hunting or swimming and all of the other things that his breed was bred to do. [Remind me to one day tell you all about the time he killed my mom's neighbor's chicken. It was quite possibly his proudest moment.] But as far as he's concerned, he's living his purpose each and every day. Sure, it's a simple purpose: chasing orange balls and carrying them around wherever he goes, but he does it with the energy and devotion of a Lab who spends hours on end hunting and swimming. Hmmm...that's one more thing that he has brought to my attention that I need to improve upon: living out my purpose with energy and devotion even if it's not the most "glamorous" purpose out there. However, if I forget my own agenda, then my purpose does contribute to something grand. And that is a good thing.

“A person can learn a lot from a dog, even a loopy one like ours. Marley taught me about living each day with unbridled exuberance and joy, about seizing the moment and following your heart. He taught me to appreciate the simple things-a walk in the woods, a fresh snowfall, a nap in a shaft of winter sunlight. And as he grew old and achy, he taught me about optimism in the face of adversity. Mostly, he taught me about friendship and selflessness and, above all else, unwavering loyalty.” -John Grogan

2 Plane Trips.

It's no secret that I love airplanes and airports and all of the things that come with both of those things. [Look, I never guaranteed new information in my 12 Days of Christmas blogging.] A decade ago when I took my very first flight as a college senior on a mission trip to Mexico, I decided that I would fly somewhere new very year. And I have managed to do so with the only exception being the year that I got Cash. His arrival resulted in a depleted cash flow between the puppy shots, crates, treats, and excessive trips to the after hours emergency vet when he would do things like fall asleep in his water bowl and swallow dog chews whole. [God bless my future children.]

When 2011 began I wasn't sure if and when I would be flying the friendly skies, but glory be, I took not just one but two plane trips this year. First stop - Ft. Lauderdale. I don't consider myself a beach person, but after this trip, I think I'm a beach person. I remembered to reapply sunscreen. I allowed myself to do nothing by sit and read. Or sit and nap. This relaxation mode was just what the doctor ordered because in the days and weeks leading up to the trip, my left shoulder blade hurt so badly that I seriously considered having it removed. Ok, that's extreme, but my left shoulder blade is the spot in my body where I carry all of my stress. So it's never a good sign when I wake up in the morning and my left shoulder blade is already hurting. I digress. To summarize...

I enjoyed green palm trees, blue skies and really blue water.
I made new friends who gave me great fashion advice.
I chased boys on the beach.
And I drank.
Just a typical week in July.

In November, I had the opportunity to head to Chicago to present at a conference for work. My initial thought was "Chicago in November...I'm going to be one big hive." [Because I'm so awesome that I break out into hives when I get cold as opposed to hot like the normal population of weirdos with unsightly skin conditions.]However, it was a great opportunity because I got to actually use my research from graduate school. It wasn't all work though as we did manage to make a little time for sightseeing.
It was really cool to see the downtown Macy's all decorated for Christmas.This is the only photo evidence that I was in fact there. I promise that I went beyond this one block in the city. If only I had thought to get someone to take a candid of me stuffing my face full of some yummy deep dish pizza. Y'all. That stuff is filling. Cold temps and deep dish pizza would be an inevitable lifetime membership to Jenny Craig for me if I lived in that town.
Now accepting recommendations for trips to take in 2012. Maybe NYC. I think it's kind of weird that I haven't made it there yet. That's probably why Lorne Michaels hasn't called to offer me a job yet. How can I live and work in a city that I've never actually visited?

1 Gift for All People.

Merry Christmas! I suspect that by the time you read this, all the gifts that you have spent days, weeks and for the over-achievers out there, months shopping for and wrapping will have been opened. Isn't it a little bit crazy that we spend so much time looking for just the right gift(s) for our loved ones which leads to us spend even more time wrapping it up nicely and adorning the package with ribbons and bows, only to have them rip the paper to shreds and tear open the box to see what's inside in a matter of about 30 seconds flat before moving on to the next gift? Why do we do that? Because we love our people, that's why!

I've never really been a person who shows excessive amounts of emotion over anything. Even as a kiddo, I can remember numerous times when my mama would plead with me to yell because I was frustrated or jump up and down because I was excited, etc. I can't confirm, but I suspect that my only response was an eye roll. One Christmas in particular though I can remember being SO! EXCITED! I could not sleep because the anticipation over what Santa was going to leave for me in the living room was too great. Finally after mom and dad made countless trips into my room warning me that if I didn't actually go to sleep, Santa wouldn't deliver, I somehow managed to drift off because suddenly it was Christmas morning. And I was wide awake! I can't confirm, but I suspect that my poor parents had slept all of zero minutes thanks to little ol' me.

I still remember that feeling of walking into the living room and seeing all of my loot laid out before my eyes. Not one, but TWO Cabbage Patch Clown Kids! A stroller for my baby dolls! A million color stick crayon in my stocking! [Weird, I know, but that crazy crayon was one of my favorite things ever.] I could go on and on, but I won't. Let's just say that it was crazy insane and my expectations had been exceeded. I really could not grasp the concept that Santa had left all of that stuff just for me even after I had been such a pain by not going to sleep in a timely manner so he could get on with his Santa Claus business. I'm sure that there were other things on my list that I had requested that I did not get. [Let's be honest, I combed through the JCPenney's and Sears Wishbooks each year with the precision of a neurosurgeon in order to make Santa's job easy.] Yet, on that morning, and still to this day, I cannot recall those things. I can only remember the things that I did get. Why? Because those things surpassed my expectations. Santa knew best.

So let's look at this story from a grown-up perspective. Don't get me wrong, I love Santa, and I believe that he absolutely has a place in the magic and wonderment of Christmas. Let's replace Cabbage Patch Clown Kids with experiences, opportunities, and relationships and Santa with Christ though. After all, He is the reason why we are all gathered around our decorated pine trees that we annually bring inside for the sake of fighting a losing battle against falling needles. Aren't our expectations surpassed? Doesn't Christ know best? Yes, and yes.

The older I get, the more I appreciate the gift of salvation through Christ. Yet, just as I could not understand why oh why Santa chose to leave all of that stuff for me on that Christmas morning, I will never be able to fully understand and grasp why oh why God sent his one and only Son for all of my sins. But I do believe that it's important not to get hung up on the understanding of it because there are some things we are not meant to fully understand. As children, did we take the time to think "Now I really need to know why this toy was given me" before we started playing with it? Nope. We received those toys willingly. Why is it so hard for us to willingly receive the greatest gift of all?

There are people who are much more gifted at communicating this than I am so I would encourage you to check out Andy Stanley's series called "An Unexpected Christmas" here or Louie Giglio's series called "Anticipation" here. Don't get me wrong, they are people just like we are so it's not their word but God's word. But don't just take my word for it.

Merry Christmas.

"...I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people." -Luke 2:10

A Dozen Days of Blogging.

Call it a temporary lapse of sound judgment, or perhaps, it was a momentary bout of ambition, but it seems that I have committed to blogging for 12 days straight. This is what happens when I let myself get caught up in the Christmas spirit: I order printed Christmas cards in which I encourage people to read my blog between December 25 and January 5 for HP's 12 Days of Christmas and I devote 20 minutes of each day to Jillian Michaels mocking me through the television as I shred away all the pumpkin cake and cookies that I consumed over Thanksgiving in order to make room for all the red velvet cake and Oreo balls that I plan to consume over Christmas. [I should have shredded that sentence down a bit.]

For those of you keeping score at home [first of all: if you're keeping score about this kind of stuff at home, for the love of Pete, get a hobby] I have blogged a total of 12 times since July. This means that while I've set the bar high, I am also setting the bar pretty low as to the actual content of these pending posts. Hopefully though the 12 days will be a little encouraging, a little inspiring, somewhat informative, and a little bit of a look back at this most recent trip around the sun. Hopefully. But don't get your hopes up.

So. All of that to say "Merry Christmas!" "I hope you are enjoying this season!" and "I'll be back here in a couple of weeks!" In the meantime, if you need me I'll be in Santa's Workshop hammering out a dozen or so posts. ...Or maybe I'll be tied up in traction once I finally work up the nerve to advance to Level 2 of The 30 Day Shred.