Hmm .. well Christmas is over, and the New Year will be arriving before we know it. Craziness!

Well, let's see ... I got some pretty cool stuff for Christmas .... nothing super fantastic, or anything to absolutely die, for .. but it was cool none-the-less. I got my Miami Dolphin's hoodie from Leslie .. woot woot ... too bad we didn't win. Oh well .. we're out of the standings anyway .. I just didn't want to see the J-E-T-S Jets win .. blah. Hmm what else did I get? Oh yes, a couple of necklaces (for the one who hardly wears jewelry!) .. a new dressy outfit I can wear to work or church ... money .. and some other stuff too, but yeah I'll be done with my list of stuff now.
it's been quite a few days since I've updated, so I guess I can do a quick run down on what life has been like since the 12th .. lol .. like I remember! Hmm .. well it was pretty boring .. just work, sleep, eat .. the basics.

The Friday before Christmas, Lissa and I went to see The Holiday we were the only two people in the theater.. it was pretty sweet. The move was pretty good ... if you want a good "chick flick" I'd recommend it!
Then I had Christmas with the Wolford's on Saturday ... wow what a time that was! I had fun playing with the kids, and loosing very badly at scrabble .. but in the end, I was glad to be back home!

I spent half of Christmas Eve with the Fennig family, and the other half with my family. We opened all of our gifts .. spent time with family ... watched football .. and ate yummy food! It was a good time! I was planning to go to the Christmas Eve service in Paulding to see Allie before the went to Michigan City .. BUT I was so caught up with family time, that I totally forgot to go. Bummer.

Then Christmas Day, my mom came over (amazing) along with the rest of my family ... we ate again. Then my sister and I went back up to Van Wert (after picking up Diesel ) and spent about an hour or so with the Fennig's before coming back home for the evening.

Other than that, nothing much has happened. Oh, and I'll be sharing my testimony at Melissa's church in Hamler New Years Eve ... so yeah .. pray for me! lol

So yeah .. so far things have been pretty good! Hoping to get to spend some quality time with friends and loved ones I haven't seen in a while (yes Liss this means you also! even though it's only been like a week) before having to go back to work ... and move my desk and office around to accommodatefor new people (oy!) I'm gonna enjoy the peace, happiness, and serenity of this Holiday Season while I can .. 'cause I have a feeling work is gonna be *note my sarcasm* quite fun these next few weeks or so..
Hope everyone had a very Merry CHRISTmas .. and wishing you all a Happy New Year!

Jackie

In the little town of Bethlehem, the most important birth in all of human history took place on what we now consider the first Christmas. It was sparsely attended by some bleating farm animals and a handful of shepherds who wouldn’t have been there had not the sky lit up with a multitude of heavenly hosts only minutes before, praising God and inviting the shepherds to the stable. What an invitation! With the exception of that outburst, however, no one else knew. Oh yes, there were some astrologers from the East who figured out what was going on by studying the stars and some ancient manuscripts, but they didn’t make it to town until at least a year or two later when the baby was a child. Why such an uneventful welcome for such an auspicious event?It’s God’s way. He’s always been quiet about his work on earth. “How silently, how silently, the wondrous gift was given/So God imparts to human hearts, the blessings of his heaven.” He’s even pretty quiet about the way he works in our lives. Silently, he came into the world; silently, he comes into our hearts. No fanfare. No welcoming committee. God has never been into self-promotion. He lets his work speak for itself.And that would be you and me. Believers are the result of Christ’s coming. It is all about good news and glad tidings for all people. A Savior has been born and he has been born for us. Or as the angel announced it: “The Savior -- yes, the Messiah, the Lord -- has been born tonight in Bethlehem, the city of David!” (Luke 2:11 NLT)It occurs to me there are two ways to take all the fanfare and glitter of this season. We can see it as the over-commercialism of Christmas, or we can take all the lights, and gifts, and decorations, and parties, and bells, and carols, and Christmas specials on TV -- even Santa and reindeer in the front yard -- and bank them all as celebrations of the birth of Christ. We can even take the conversion of old Scrooge as the joy of new life and forgiveness of sins.There’s no law against sanctifying the secularization of Christmas in your own heart and mind. It’s what we make of these things that count, anyway. Every single light can represent another soul secured in eternity as the result of what Christ has accomplished.There was no room available for the Son of God when he came the first time. Let’s make sure there’s room in our hearts this Christmas, and don’t let anyone take away what is good about the glad tidings of Christ’s birth!

Weirdness

Okay so in light of Amy's post about her weirdness, I thought I'd post some weird things about myself.

Weird Fact #1: I can't stand Christmas songs ... I don't like listening to them, I don’t' like signing them. I don't like Christmas trees, or lights, or bows ... I love the true meaning of Christmas (Christ being born etc) but other than that, I pretty much can't stand Christmas.
Weird Fact #2: I have kept every English and Social Studies/History paper that I ever completed in my JH/HS career. I also have my college papers.

Weird Fact #3: I can recite the states and their capitols at super fast speeds ... well I used to be able to anyway .. I'm not sure how fast I can do it now. I'm a little rusty!

Weird Fact #4: I hate getting out of bed in the mornings, and have been known to just lie there and calculate what I can take out of my morning in order to sleep more .. which is stupid b/c by the time I'm done calculating, it's time to wake up!

Weird Fact #5: I'm obsessive compulsive about organizing! My clothes are in alphabetical order by color and on the same color hanger as the color of the shirt. My sock and underwear drawer is also organized. I organize my binder clips and file folders at work. Which is really weird 'cause my car looks like I live in it and my room is a disaster zone.

Weird Fact #6: when I get tired I bust into snuggle mode. Yep that's right .. I like to snuggle! lol

Okay that's all I've got for now!

have a good day!

Jackie