A Pumpkin Christmas

You may have noticed in recent months that I have a new obsession with all things pumpkin. I have decided to keep the tradition alive and go with something like this on my front porch:


Okay...maybe not. I changed the front porch out yesterday...what do you think? It needs something else...any suggestions? I will just kill poinsettias and I don't want to spend a ton of money.

Black Friday Recap

My mom and I had a fairly relaxing Black Friday. Mike and I spent the night with Mike's dad (Mr. Bill if you will), and Mike drove me over to my mom's house at 7:00. I must give Mike credit, because he did go on one shopping expedition with me! We stopped at Walgreen's because they had a sale on their lighted "Christmas trees in a pot." That's a technical term. Two for 20! I'm going to set them up on the porch later today and see how they look.

Anyways, my mom and I met my aunt at the Galleria at 8:00. It was crowded this year, but nothing like I remember in the past. We got some great deals, but we didn't go after it with our normal gusto. I think old age is making us lazy. On the way home, we stopped for some hot chocolate and browsed through Crate and Barrel and The Container Store. Overall, a very productive day! (Plus later Mike schooled my whole family on the Wii). How did you spend your Black Friday? Are you a shopper or a lounger?

Black Friday

Tomorrow is Black Friday...one of the best days of my year. Usually it means getting up at 4:30 or so, standing in lines in the cold, and occasionally, getting a little crazy. I am not afraid to stake my claim on a DVD player and stare someone down until they let go of the other side. Oh, it's happened. When the stakes are high, you do what you gotta do.

Traditionally, my mom and I get the early morning out of the way and then our whole family (all 14 of us these days) goes to the Galleria for the weekend. We stay at the Westin hotel and have a good ol' time. This year, we aren't doing it, so we are calming down a little bit. So, instead of my alarm going off at 4:30 it will be going off at 6:30 this year. Look at me sleeping in! If you need me tomorrow, I'll be shopping, but at a more respectable time...like 8 a.m.

Watters Creek

If you live in the "North of Dallas" area, you need to check out Watters Creek. It's a new outdoor mall in Allen, and it is beautiful. I went yesterday with my mom and sister, and it was so fun! We'll have to go back soon if only for this store. I think angels started singing when we walked in...oh wait, that was me.



We also went to the Allen outlets...where I made my sister do this:

On Saturday our adult Bible fellowship class came over for a Girlaments and Guy Stuff party. Strange name, but lots of fun! The girls made Christmas ornaments and the guys did "guy stuff." I think that means they played washers and Wii. Here are some pictures! No...I didn't take pictures of the boys. They were all over the place.



All the girls.


Heather's very pretty ornament. She and Leah were on fire! (Hannah...you did a great job too. Now we know...glitter first!)




These are two of the ornaments I made. I was running low on ribbon by the end!

Glittering Christmas Trees

I decided that I needed some glittery Christmas trees to go above the TV, but they are expensive! So, I made them myself. The pictures don't do them justice...I promise they are a lot cuter in person. The glitter is much more bright and fun. Try making some today...it was SO easy!

1. Make sure you have Styrofoam trees, glue, paint, glitter, ribbon, or whatever else you want to make your trees pretty.


2. I started by painting my trees green and red so the white wouldn't show through. I let them dry for about 45 minutes.


3. Use a brush to add a thin layer of glue. I used Martha Stewart glittering glue from Michael's, but Elmer's School Glue works just fine. I did one tree at a time.


4. Start pouring on the glitter! Don't worry about wasting it. You can pour it back in the bottle when you are done.


5. Let them dry for at least an hour. You may need to go back in and fill in some little spots. Tie some ribbon on at the top and voila!


Like I said...these pictures make them look washed out and sad, but they are so fun in person!

Very Soon

If you don't know what I'm talking about, I can't help you. This picture should say it all.

Twitter

You may have noticed that there is a sidebar on my blog now called "The Daily Ramble." After much encouragement from Mike, I have finally signed up for a Twitter account. Twitter is fun, because you can update on the go through your cell phone, on the Internet, or whatever (whatever being whatever crazy media I don't know about). For instance, if you and your friends all signed up, you could send out a message about the guy with crazy hair that you just saw and everyone would get it and be able to respond.

I am mainly using it right now because I like to write random things without creating a whole new blog...I think it's great that Twitter can connect to your blog! When I get a fun new phone, I'll be able to take pictures and put them up right away if I just HAVE to post right then. Until then, enjoy my daily ramblings. Or don't, but if they annoy you just don't tell me.

Prayer

Please pray for Adrienne and her family. Adrienne, her husband Jim, and their adopted son Owen traveled to New Jersey this week to meet their new (to-be-adopted) daughter. She was born on Friday and Adrienne has spent the weekend at the hospital caring for the baby. The birth mother even asked to meet her yesterday. Adrienne and Jim decided to adopt again after losing their 5th baby to miscarriage last summer, and shortly after that someone contacted them about adopting this sweet baby girl.

Today was supposed to be the day that they got to take her home, and at last word the birth mother is having second thoughts. I know that she has this right, but I can't imagine how Adrienne and Jim feel right now. Please pray that no matter what happens God will sustain them with His strength and remind them of His faithfulness!

The Final Verdict

You can see which side of me won out. Once I realized that I would be gone for a week in December, the decision was pretty much made for me.

It's Beginning to Look A Lot Like Christmas

I have a dilemma. I am getting the itch to go ahead and decorate for Christmas. I mean, my fall stuff has been out for two months now. I feel like I have given the fall season the proper respect that it deserves. If the malls and the restaurants can do it, can't I? And I think it's sad that Christmas only gets a few weeks of pretty. I'm not one to leave my Christmas stuff up until New Years (I get that from my mother who starts taking our tree down pretty much as soon as the presents are open), so I figure if I start now Christmas will get a bit of extra time.

The one thing I won't do, though, is put my Christmas stuff up outside until after Thanksgiving. So...if you come to my house before Thanksgiving, you may get a little fall on the outside and Christmas on the inside. I like to think of myself as an equal opportunity holiday decorator. How about you? Are you a strict after Thanksgiving person or a do whatever you want kinda person? Although if you are a keep your lights up year-round person, I'm sorry. I cannot support that. Even I have limits.

Amanda the Librarian

As many of you probably know, I am a school librarian. I love my job! It is never boring, and I feel like I am finally where I should be. It's kind of funny to be a 26-year-old librarian. People come in all the time asking for the librarian, and I have to say...um...that would be me! As much as I love being in the library, there are definitely some things I miss about the classroom. As I was driving to work this morning, though, I was thinking about some of the reasons I'm glad to be the librarian. To all my teacher friends out there, you are the best and nobody will EVER understand how hard you work until they walk a day in your shoes! So here it is...I do love a good list.

Reasons I miss the classroom
1. I miss having 22 sweet faces come through my door every morning ready to learn.
2. I miss having my own class to "manage." I feel less in control in the library.
3. I miss those moments when it all makes sense and they can tell me what they learned.
4. I miss the random moments...like when my sweet little red headed Nicholas would walk around all day singing "Bom chicka wa wa."


Reasons I don't miss the classroom
1. I have 500 sweet faces walk through my door ready to read.
2. No outside recess during the winter...whoo hoo!
3. No grades...or grading.
4. Because all kids love the library...or at least they tell me they do.

Shower Stuff

Today we had a shower at my house for my best friend Katie. It was so fun, Katie was adorable, and I can't wait to meet Ms. Anne Grace very soon. The shower went really well, and even though we had over 30 women crammed in our house it all ran smoothly. My mom and I found a new shower game to play, and it is now definitely our favorite. So easy and less awkward that some. Basically, you set a timer and every once in a while it goes off (we did every 3 to 5 minutes). When the timer goes off, whoever's present is being opened gets a small prize (a candle, lotion, etc.). The way we played, Katie got a prize every time, too. It was really fun. Here's some pictures of the day.

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The first picture is of the Big Six. These are the girls I lived with my senior year of college. They were all bridesmaids in our wedding, and I love them. The other picture is of Kristin, Katie, and me. And p.s.: I think it's so funny that the "C" is right over Katie's stomach in that first picture. So cute.


I used my mom's Cricut to make the centerpiece and the banner. That little guy could change your life.

Chiliopoly

Every year the Frisco Education Foundation sponsers a chili cook-off and all of the schools compete. Some schools get REALLY into it and take it quite seriously. If you went to Baylor, then think of it as a smaller version of float. If you didn't, think of it as a MUCH smaller version of the rose parade. Ha! Our school's theme was Chiliopoly...like Monopoly...but with chili.

I'm not going to lie, I got a little stressed out yesterday when I had 12 gallons of chili heating up in my office and no idea how we were going to get them there without turning my car into a crockpot. But we did it, and I think it turned out pretty good. Here are some pics from last night.

Being Used by God

I copied this post from one of my friends, because I thought it was great...

"If you are going to be used by God, He will take you through a multitude of experiences that are not meant for you at all, they are meant to make you useful in His hands, and to enable you to understand what transpires in other souls so that you will never be surprised at what you come across." -Oswald Chambers, My Utmost for His Highest: Nov. 5

It's the Small Things

We have been on a paper ration at our school. Now I know that it isn't as crazy as a food ration or a gas ration and so on and so forth. I have to say, though, that when I got four new reems of paper today, I was pumped! It was like Christmas morning.