Jesus Calling

January's free audiobook book download is JESUS CALLING by Sarah Young ~ A daily devotional. You can read an excerpt here and a review here. Sounds like a great way to start 2010!

Pep Rally

Our wonderful Engineer has taken the whole week off from work and is spending lots of time playing with us! He took Kricket out to dinner and Avatar, Bridgette to the Science Museum and on Friday he's taking Shealyn to the Rose Bowl. Today he loaded us all in the van and headed up to the Santa Monica Pier where the Oregon Ducks were having their official Rose Bowl Pep Rally. Unfortunately, it was raining the whole time (more of a steady drizzle, but it adds up to almost the same thing when you stand in it for two hours), so we didn't hang around to do the roller coaster rides, etc.

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Did I mention that The Engineer and I are from Oregon? We are. Even though our daughters were born in SoCal, all of our family's still in Oregon so we get their regularly and they love it, too!

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The rally highlight was Supwitchugirl's performance of their creative masterpiece I LOVE MY DUCKS!

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Before getting back on the road, we warmed ourselves up at Starbucks. If you click on the photo, you can see ALL of their faces in the window reflection ... which is pretty much the only way I can ever get a picture of The Engineer. We love him, but cameras he does not.

From Blog To Book

If you're thinking about transforming your blog into a memory book, definitely check out Blurb.com! I looked into a couple of other sites, but Blurb has the best formatting & editing program - by far! Right now it's automatically uploading my 329 photos from 2008 ... okay, so I'm a year behind, but not for long!! Thinkin' it'll end up costing about $70 for a hardcover book, which is way cheaper than scrapbooking ever was!

Night Time Sneaking

The girls and I went for a late night walk -- taking pictures in our neighborhood with my new camera. The night time setting seems to work extremely well!*

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Needless to say, we're enjoying the extra free time our vacation is providing. Hope you are, too!

No Gift To Bring

I don't care whether he was at the manger or not.

He still sings my song.

"I have no gift to bring

that's fit to give the King."

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So I live my life for Him. I live my best for Him.

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Of the increase of His government and peace

in my life, there will be no end.

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Oh, Beautiful and Holy Lord, thank you for Your gift.

WITH US. EVERMORE.

I want to know You more.

After The Weekend

We Wintercreek ladies baked over 20 dozen cookies on Friday & Saturday!! Our new favorite "cookie" is Chocolate Pomegranate Tassies. Oh my! A triple layer of brownie bite shaped delicacy! They're all gone (to cookie exchanges and plates for neighbors) but our family keeps asking for more more more. Definitely a REPEAT! Our two recipe alterations were

• Pomegranate flavoring instead of raspberry
• Pomegranate frosting instead of chocolate - that little tufted of pink on top is much more visually inviting!

We also attended two Christmas parties this weekend. MUCH fun with friends and neighbors!!

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In-between all that, I've been taking Nyquil and/or Alka-Seltzer Cold Plus for three days now -- congestion and headache. I'm well enough to keep going, but am moving at a slower pace. That being said, the house is a mess. I don't want to look at it, much less take a picture of it. But - it'll all come together.

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For now, we're enjoying the quiet and stillness of our first official morning of vacation! Hope you are, as well.

Free Song Each Day!

Get yourself on over to Amazon! For each of the "25 Days of Christmas" there's a free song. #1 is Joy To The World by Casting Crowns! There's a wide variety - classical, christian, country, rock, some I've never heard of ... but I'm about too!!

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Happy listening!

Your Opinion, Please

I made this little video greeting on Smilebox. as well as the previous post's card (which, when printed, became our official "Christmas Photo Card"). They have a lot of great premade templates, but Picnik offers additional features and a more professional look. Do you have experience and preference?? If so, I'd like to hear it.

Joy To Your World

Just in case you're not on our mailing list ...
Merriest Christmas to you ALL!!

Arrival From South Africa

Jen, her husband Jeremy and their two children live & minister in South Africa ~ bringing HOPE and HOMES to orphans and vulnerable children. Though I've never "really" met Jen, she's invited me (and you!) to share her world via their I Believe In Love blog.

In September - on my birthday in fact! - I won these hand-knitted, by Jen, washcloths during a give-away at her blog. Though I am delayed in posting about the package's generous contents, it's not by as much as you might think. It took two months to get here!! THANK YOU, Jen, for making my time at the kitchen sink a sparkle more delightful ... if that were even possible (tongue in cheek, of course)!

Jen is incredibly creative and even has a storefront where you can not only find some handmade and local treasures, but also support their ministry at the same time!! Be sure to check it out ~ looking especially at her "Creativity Calendar" because you probably need one. You can thank me later!   Oh, Jen says the  coupon code: HOHOHO will get you 20% off if you order soon!

Full Disclosure

For many years the Engineer and I have worked to surprise each other with a Christmas gift. This year we've decide not to. Well, we're still exchanging gifts ~ they just won't be a surprise.

FOR HIM ~

Tickets to the Rose Bowl - January 1, 2010 - to see "his" Ducks play! Even more fun is the fact that he's taking our oldest daughter. It's a FIRST for both of them and she seems even more excited than he is!

FOR ME ~
Casio EX-FH20

I'm trying really hard not to be excited ... because it's already here ... and I'm not allowed to open it until you know when.

I'm thinking this full disclosure thing won't be so bad after all, and it sure does make getting the "right" thing a LOT easier!!

We've Got A BIG Thursday Coming

Our family is super giddy about Thursday!!

That beautiful young woman there in the middle is turning 15 on Thursday. We are MOST PROUD of the person she's already proved herself to be and is still becoming.

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Also on Thursday, Oregon State University and University Of Oregon are playing each other for the Rose Bowl! The Engineer and I both graduated from OSU, but his hometown is UofO, so we can comfortably root for both - it's a "win win" game for us ... which just might result in our own road trip to the Rose Bowl, since it's so close by. All that being said, at the moment we are a tiny bit preferencial about the Ducks (UofO) and are loving this video!