After Christmas Reflection

So Christmas has come and gone; the wrapping paper, bows and empty packages have finally all been picked up and thrown away or recycled. The house feels a little bigger today.

What to do now?

I like to take the week after Christmas to reflect on my life. Am I where I want to be? As a mom and a wife, but most importantly as a follower of God?

The usual answer is no. Of course not. There is always room for improvement. Every year of course I say I am going to make a change in my life to be a better mom, wife and Christian.

And every year I fail. But thankfully, oh I am so thankful for this... My God doesn't.

It is impossible for God to fail. SO every year when I ask His help to "make me better" I spend every minute of the first week of January trying MY hardest while God just seems to sit back and relax waiting for me to let go and let HIM take over.

Then, and only then do I begin to change.

I seldom notice it, but here and there I really feel like a better person in one aspect of another.

I begin to think wiser thoughts, I begin to focus more on God, I find more teachable moments, I love my husband a little more, I spend more time with my Lord.

So by the end of the year when I take this time to reflect, I look at my spiritual mirror and I see less of myself and more of My Holy Loyal Savior. And I love what I see a lot more every year!

Merry Christmas

So it's been 10 days since my last post. Note to self if you're going to start a new habit don't try to start it right before Christmas next time. I was doing pretty well there for a few days, wasn't I?

Well the good news is we finally got that stinkin' truck dismantled and out of our driveway last Thursday! WHEW! Guess what happened the very next day... It rained! Off an on all day drizzle, followed by days of rain rain rain coming down down down (picture Winnie the Pooh and Piglet here) I do believe we can no long be labeled a desert climate over here in Nevada after this long weekend of RAIN!

So my MIA status has been due to the completion of that truck, followed by days of shopping and wrapping and shopping and wrapping. As of tonight I have only 2 more gifts to wrap. Woo-hoo! I thought I was done yesterday and then realized after cleaning up everything that I laid two more items on my couch and completely forgot they were there.

Also in all of this I seemed to have lost a gift. One of the first ones I bought. I am praying that I wrapped it already and just forgot about it and hopefully it is safely nestled under the Christmas tree and I just forgot what it looks like.

So before I go for the night I want to wish my readers( no I don't really have any as of yet, but just in case one should pop in before I return) a VERY MERRY CHRISTmas.

I know without a shadow of a doubt that I will not be returning to the blogging world until at least Monday, if not Wednesday evening.

If you come by to read while I am gone, please introduce yourself in a comment someplace. I'd love to say hi!

TTFN

1st Crystallization!

In my intro to my blog I explained that my family came up with the term Crystalized to explain the way I think about every day things. I can take a normal every day subject, item, or experience and give it pop, flare, make it more interesting or my favorite just plain silly!

This all came about during my family's favorite card game Apples to Apples. Which if you have never played it you have to go out and get yourself one for Christmas, you will love it! It is a very funny game. Before you say you don't enjoy playing games, let me tell you, my baby sister hated playing games with us until we got this game, now it's her favorite,in fact I am getting her a new version for Christmas this year, she loves it so much!

So during this game I will choose my favorite answers according to my "Crystalizational" way of thinking, also referred to as being "in my bubble" or "in the loop". Whenever I want my sister to choose my answer I warn her she has to "think loopy" with me in order to understand which way I am thinking about this particular subject/answer combination. She is the only one in the family who has the "loopy" capabilities. :)

Here is my first Crystalization since starting this blog... I told you about the tearing apart of the Bronco we bought from my sister. Well the first day my kids were inside with me taking apart the interior. Across the top was an aluminum "bar" so to speak, that my daughter was unbolting. Meanwhile I am in the front seat with the seat reclined all the way back removing bolts from above the seat belt holder. So picture it, she is removing a piece directly above my head. The parent in me failed to pint out to her that she should keep her hand on it at all times so as not to drop it on my head when the last bolt comes out.

Suddenly BAM! the piece she was removing fell right on my nose. It didn't hit anything else but my nose. It was quite painful but thankfully didn't hurt me to badly or leave a mark.

That night, oh, around midnight or so my husband woke me up from a dead sleep as his elbow poked me right in the nose, dead on, as if it were intentional!

Now instead of my thoughts going how a normal person might think "Is my nose really so big that it is getting in the way?"

My immediate thought is "I have been hit in the nose twice in the same day! I think that is a sign that I should be planning a trip to the Poconos.

Hmmm? Wonder if that'll fly with my husband??

Had a great day today! I actually was able to START my Christmas shopping TODAY!

Yea, I really haven't started until now. I do have a few things put away here and there from over the year picking up a thing or two but as for officially going out of the house with the intent on buying CHRISTMAS GIFTS, yea.. that started at 12:45 this afternoon.

I am feeling a little better now about having a really great Christmas. I was a little worried there for a bit but God provides for His children who strive to do His will and He is proving He will keep his promises. We see and feel His blessings all around us lately.

So tonight I get to start wrapping! Do I love wrapping? NOPE! I kind of highly dislike it with a strong passion. Sure I love it when its all done, pretty under the tree. But I don't like wrapping AT ALL! My mom on the other hand LOOOOVES it! I wish she would have passed on just 1/2 of her love for wrapping to me.

But I will press on, tonight I will hide in my bedroom watching Christmas movies or listening to my favorite Christmas CD's, not sure which yet. And I will wrap wrap wrap until I fall asleep.

My favorite CD's you ask. Well you might get a chuckle out of my list. Here they are in order from most favorite to least, but still a favorite don't forget.

1) Transiberian Orchestra

2) New Kids On The Block Christmas album

3) Disney Jingle Jamz

4) Kenny G

So tell me your favorites. I am curious to know if there is one I should go out and get for my collection.

Wife, mom, daughter, sister, friend, MECHANIC???

Who knew??

Yes I can add "mechanic" to my list of duties these days, well sort of.

A couple years ago I replaced the alternator in my husband's Nissan Sentra, while he replaced the same part in my Mazda. Both vehicles side by side in the driveway hoods wide opened! Must have been quite a sight for the neighbors!

Mine was super easy, despite the couple of times my my husband had to break a bolt loose for me. My job was done in about an hour. Unfortunately 5 hours later my husband was finally finishing up his job. The Mazda required tearing apart the entire front end of the vehicle! Jeesh! Not fun, BUT I will give credit to Mazda, because we have had the car almost 6 years now and really have found it to be pretty dependable. Not too many crippling complications so far. (Praise God!)

Fast forward to this month. My sister recently got married. Of course both were struggling to stay afloat financially due to some unforeseen circumstances involving new marriage and a job loss all at once. Her new husband owned a Ford Bronco that was having problem after problem for the past 6 months. Finally breaking down without hope of being fixed anytime soon on their budget. We decided to rescue them and buy the Bronco off of them to help them get afloat financially, my husband guaranteeing me he could turn around and resell it quickly and get our money back, if not more. OR he could part the car out and make even more money.

Long story short, neither of those really came into existence. We never took into account the economy and the fact that we were only 5 weeks away from Christmas. No one wants to used what little money they have buying a truck that doesn't run, and any part buying for already owned cars is probably on hold until after the holidays. So this past week we have spent every possible second tearing the Bronco down bolt by bolt, screw by screw.

I must admit I am having a blast! Working side by side with my husband, getting greasy and dirty and taking frustrations out on stubborn bolts. It has been an incredible experience. I now know much more about the inside of an engine than I ever wanted to!

SO now you can see why I have been MIA for a few days. And we have yet a few more days of this going on. So I promise (at least I am going to do my VERY best) I will be much more fun to hang out with very, very soon. VROOM VROOM!

Didn't forget.

Well just checking in tonight before going to bed. It's been a very long day.

I will explain why I can't post anything interesting today, on Thursday, because no doubt I won't make it to the computer at all tomorrow because of the continuation of todays project. Story to come on Thursday. Good night all! God Bless you!

Just testing phone to blog post. :) thanks for your patience!

Was it really that long ago?

May 29th?? 2009??? I can't believe I did it again! I started something, put it down for a minute and then realized I never finished, yet another project! Sheesh! Will it ever end?

We're about to find out.

Okay so here is the story... I secretly wish I was a writer. But I don't have the drive to see if I could be one. So I keep hearing about bloggers. At first when blogging just started I didn't think much of it. I thought it was nothing special. But it has grown into a HUGE thing!

So I decided to get my writing fix and see if I can jump on, and stay on, this blogging wagon.

Now there are people who are famous for their blogs! Unimaginable! But I think it's super cool.

DO I want to be famous for my blogging. No. Not really. I just want to write for fun, if anyone comes along to say hi and decide to stay a while, I welcome them with open arms! If not, then so be it. No harm no foul. If nothing else I'll become a better typist. :)

So, where to begin? Oh, my introduction. Yea... um... I am a procrastinator. I also seem to have some kind of short term memory thing where if I don't see something I will completely forget about it. You know "Outta sight, Outta mind" Hence me starting a blog and not coming back for over a year and a half! I didn't have any "BLOGGER" icon on my desktop to remind me to comeback here. So now I'm learning, in order to not forget something, I better write it down. (pausing to write it down.)

"Don't forget your blog"

There, let's see if that works.

Now there is so much I would like to start out with to get the ball rolling but I think I better take things slow. Not a year and a half slow! I heard what you were thinking! But one subject at a time slow. Pray for me!