t.i.r.e.d.

Don't you just hate it when you have just written a really long blog entry and then something happens and your browser crashes? Yah. Me too.
Garrr....stupid yahoo browser.
ANYWAY...back to my Christmasey entry. *sigh*
Christmas.
This morning we spent Christmas with Jamie's parents and sister and got loaded up with presents.


Me with my spiffy Napoleon Dynamite cards from Erin. *Flippin sweet!*

Then in the afternoon we went to my parent's house and got more presents. And had an incredible dinner. The only thing was that I was hoping to have more time to play games. I was surprised at how fast time flew by! But it's always fun to hang out with my family.


The Taylor Crew enjoying Christmas Dinner.

Shereen and I watched The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants. Good movie. If you like chick flicks. I read the book and I quite enjoyed both the book and movie.

But I am ridiculously sore from working out yesterday with Shereen. Whooboy. I've never been so sore in my WHOLE LIFE. I'm not kidding. I can't walk up or downstairs, I can't sit on the toilet, I can barely even walk without looking like I have wooden legs. It's quite preposterous.

To be honest, I'm not really looking forward to Winter Conference. Well, I am and I'm not. I am because I know it'll be a great time and good to see everyone. I'm not looking forward to how we just go right from Christmas into the conference. It's too crazy and I'm exhausted. And I know that it's work for me. It's not a conference FOR me, but I am taking part in running the conference. And sometimes that's kinda crazy. But I guess it makes sense because of the student's schedules.

Anyway, I'm pretty exhausted right now. I think I may read or do something really relaxing.

OH! And one more VERY exciting thing; I got a TON of scrapbooking stuff! I'm UBER excited to get scrapbookin' (and Tamsin, if you're reading this - we are SO on for the 1st week of January!) because now I'm all re-stocked and I'll have a ton to scrapbook! Hoorah!

Christmas eve and conversations with myself

It's Christmas eve! I can scarcely believe it! I even had a dialogue with myself this morning (since Jamie was still sleeping and I was getting up early).

"Self, can you believe it's Christmas eve?!? It's finally here!!!"

"I know. But why, oh why are we waking up so ridiculously early? After all, it's Christmas eve AND it's Saturday!"

"Well," I said to myself, "there's a little someone named Shereen who is waiting for you to pick her up so you both can go to Goodlife and do a workout class."

"Workout shmorkout! When was the last time we worked out? And look and how fabulous we look!"

"Yah, well...not quite. There's the issue of the 15 pounds you've put on since you've been married. Or did you forget about that?"

"Why do you keep saying "YOU" when it's you too?!?"

And then I actually got out of bed and ate some wheaties for breakfast.

But all in all, I'm thrilled that it's Christmas eve. It does seem odd, though that it's a Saturday and I'm not at work and neither is anyone else who does the usual 9-5 job. Strange. But nice. I had a lovely nap and quite enjoyed it.
Tonight will be church and then off to Lil's (aka, my mother) for some good eats and most likely some delightful games. I am looking forward to that, to be quite sure.
And then tomorrow will be full of family and presents.
We'll start off here with Jamie's family and then late morning we'll head over to my parent's house for the rest of the day and for Christmas dinner.
So merry Christmas to all, and I'm sure I will blog about it all on the morrow. (I've ALWAYS wanted to say that).

Friends & Family

Oh the anticipation. I feel like I've been waiting for Christmas for forever. I think it's because the Stricklands always buy all their presents and get ready so early. But I think I feel this way every year. Last Christmas was so different. This Christmas shall be just as different. No home of our own and yet 2 families just as eager to have us. It'll be a great time with both families and I'm really looking forward to it.
Last night Steve & Rebecca came home (or at least to TO) and we all went out with them to Kelseys. It was a really great time. I really miss those two. It'd be fantastic if they lived here but that's not what they want so we just have to accept that. I'm so glad we can stay in contact with them.
And that's what I also enjoy about this season. Friendship. It's great to have close, long-time friends.

Booyah!

It came. It finally came! Our new digital camera came. Oh the joy. Oh the hilarity!
I anticipate mucho picture taking as soon as that silly battery charges. It's got a ton of fantastic modes (including underwater and panoramic) and I'm giddy with excitement.
Merry Christmas to me (& Jamie)!
It's an Olympus Stylus 500 and I love it. *girlish giddiness*

peace in the midst of madness

For the past...maybe month I have been feeling that the timing issue in our lives and regarding a STINT in Tanzania may be off. I felt that and understood the position that our superiors are taking by saying that they want everything to be the best that it can to send in a STINT team. I had been feeling that waiting a year might not be so bad. I began to see a lot of positives. Like more training for me. And more time as a couple together in our own place (after 6 months of "rooming" with the in-laws). Whew. It will be nice to have our own place. The thought just sends shivers down my spine.
But I digress.
Anyway, so on Sunday night on the way home from Kitchener Jamie and I prayed about our future, about Tanzania and all the people thinking of doing STINT there right now. I prayed for clarity and wisdom and direction in what to do with support raising and time on campus and whether or not we were to go to Tanzania in '06.
Yesterday we heard back from HR. They said that it's better if we wait a year. And just like that, God has given us clarity and direction. It may be disappointing, but we KNOW from His promises that He has given us a hope and a plan for a good future. We can rest in that.
Still...it's a bit sad to let go of that dream.

i'm getting a new digital camera. wahoo! anticipate more pics to come on http://jellybellypics.blogspot.com We ordered it on ebay so I hope we get it before Christmas.
Just picture Burl Ives as if he's just eaten the entire Christmas turkey. That's what it sounds like when he sings. Mwuah haha. RANDOM.

high in the sky, apple pie hopes...

Things I want to do:
1. go to a U2 concert
2. go to a Coldplay concert
3. make a FULL OUT gourmet meal
4. go bungee jumping
5. experience the wonder of carrying another human being within your own body
6. run a 1/2 marathon
7. start playing guitar again
8. start playing piano again
9. write a really good song
10. make an entire Thanksgiving/Christmas meal for my very own family
11. visit every continent
12. take another photography course
13. eloquently express myself
14. take hip hop dance lessons
15. paint a picture
16. own my own home
17. learn another language fluently
18. be used by God to change lives in whatever situation I am in
19. start exercising on a regular basis
20. eat healthier

I anticipate additions to this list as time goes by.

Baker Extraordinaire

I'm so tired. I just spent from 11am-8pm today baking my little heart out. I'm absolutely exhausted. But I have these cookies to show for it:
Mocha Nut Biscotti
Mini Chocolate Chip Shortbread Cookies
Glazed Chocolate stars (those were a headache and a half!)
& some other glazed sugar cookies.
Whew. That was ridiculous. OH YEAH! And my infamous Cheese Stars. Yum.
But yeah...I'm down right exhausted.
Tomorrow's the cookie swap...so I'm really looking forward to that with the ladies. :D
Yay for lady nights.

Tea and Theatre

I wanted to blog about a few things.
First and foremost - well, maybe not foremost - I love tea. I love all kinds of tea. And I have come to realize that there is literally a plethora of teas to choose from. Ultimately tea comes down to 3 categories. Black tea (ie. orange pekoe, earl grey, etc.), Green tea (that speaks for itself) and a third and very rare type of tea called White tea. The rest of teas that you see (ie. blueberry, cranberry, cherry cheesecake - what the?) are actually not teas at all. Because they are not made from tea leaves.
Now that that history on tea is finished - - -
I love tea. I just bought two new teas today. One is Orange Tangerine Zinger. It's delicious. I tried it last weekend and knew that I had to buy it to sip on a regular basis. The other tea is Vanilla Hazelnut. That's right, folks. Vanilla. Hazelnut. Exactly. I was pretty pumped when I saw it. Thank you to Celestial Seasonings for fulfilling my every tea desire. They literally have kajillions of different flavours such as: (and these were my favourites - from the sounds of the name) Almond Sunset, Morning Thunder, Country Peach Passion, Grandma's Tummy Mint and Honey Vanilla Chamomile...the list goes on and on!


Secondly, is that my baby brother (well, he's not really a baby at 15 and taller than me) has the lead role in his highschool play. They're doing The Outsiders. I've never seen the movie, but I will probably go out and rent it now. I went to see them on their opening night tonight. I was really impressed as Curtis has so many lines! He did a really great job and I was really proud of him.
Actually, it's something I've noticed about myself. I enjoy seeing plays and musicals but every time I do I always get this feeling inside of me. Like I wish I could be on that stage acting my little heart out. I always loved being in plays/musicals growing up. I think maybe I will get involved in some kind of Christmas play or Easter play or community theater when I can. I really do love being involved in that kind of stuff.
Lastly, it's supposed to snow a lot over the next 24 hours. You know you're getting old when your very first thought isn't "Yay!". I love the snow, I really do, but my first thought was about driving conditions...and then I thought "yay". :D

time flies when you get older

.It's unbelieveably cold out.
Today I went to a funeral. I was freezing the whole time. I wore a skirt with no nylons. I hate nylons. They suck. I swear they must have been invented by someone who enjoys being uncomfortable. Weird.
I got to see people I hadn't seen in a very long time (probably 10 or more years). It was crazy. I forgot that when I grow up, other people grow up too. The guy who I had my very first kiss with was there. It was weird. He's not a little kid anymore. In fact, he HAS a kid. Very weird. And all these little boys that I used to know are not so little anymore. They are definitely closing in on being men. MAKE IT STOP!
Growing up happens so fast. How many times have I heard friends of mine say lately that time is just flying by now. It's so true.
So this has been a pondersome email.
The end.

Treat pic o' the month

With Christmas upon us and so many different holiday editions of candies this month's pic is hard. So I've decided to go with an entire line of holiday chocolates. December's treat pic 'o the month is Terry's Chocolate Oranges. They come in a delicious assortment of milk chocolate, dark chocolate, white chocolate (the snowball) and mint chocolate (which I have not tried yet, but I MUST.). If you don't like orange or chocolate...what kind of treatster are you?!?

Searching for God knows what

I'm currently reading Searching for God knows what by Donald Miller - the same dude who wrote Blue Like Jazz. While I do find his writing entertaining, it is usually light reading. Once you follow your way through all the rabbit trails he goes off on, he often makes some great observations. And I appreciate his dry humour. I really liked this paragraph in Chapter 3 called Feet of Trees;

If you ask me, the real way to tell if a person knows God for real, I mean knows the real God, is that they will fear Him. They wouldn't go around making absurb political assertions and drop God's name like an ace card, and they wouldn't be making absurd statements about how God wants you to be rich and how if you send in some money to the ministry God will bless you. And for that matter, they wouldn't be standing on a beach shouting about how they are God, twirling around in the waves.* It seems like, if you really knew the God who understands the physics of our existence, you would operate a little more cautiously, a little more compassionately, and a little less like you are the center of the universe.

*Donald is referring to a comment earlier talking about Shirley Maclain in a made for tv miniseries called Out on a Limb.

I agree. Our God is not safe. He is to be feared.

A movie not worth your time

Late last night I had the unfortunate occurance to view the remade Dukes of Hazzard featuring Johnny Knoxville, Seann William Scott and among others, Jessica Simpson.
Despite being a regular dude who chooses to hurt himself and do foolish things, Johnny Knoxville looked like an Oscar winner beside Jessica Simpson. Yes, she's got a goregeous body and kudos to her for working really hard to get it. But when I say her acting was brutal, I mean it. It was B-R-U-T-A-L.
And what's with the PG rating? There were numerous scenes with bare breasts and the F bomb being dropped occasionally as if it were just a pound of sugar (leave that one alone). There's no WAY I'd sit by while my children (if I had any) sat through that!

My mother the mobster

Mom: I was thinking, that someone should smash Alfredsson's knees.