Plans for the week

This past Saturday my sister and I went yard saleing and I found several things to aid in decorating the house. I plan to blog about those this week and get them in place. Eventually, I hope, to do a “home tour” for every one here on the blog.

Kenny (finally) made it back home this morning from the Conference in California at 2:45am. Although we didn’t talk much last night, I know Kenny is excited about the things he learned out there and has already been planning some changes for the choir and youth group. Should be really good from what he has told me already.

Also, this week we are getting ready to take the teens to camp in Georgia for a week. If you think about it please pray for us as Kenny and I will be counselors for the week and for all the teens, that their hearts would be open to God’s word.   - Along the same line Alton Beal was preaching at our church  yesterday. His message last night was about the four men who brought the man of the palsy to Jesus by lowering him through the roof. Alton was saved as a young boy through the bus ministry run by four men. His message was “What are you doing to bring people to Jesus?” I know I’ve mentioned praying for our teens a lot but it is an important way you can help bring people to Jesus.

Last thing I’d like to share here today is Your not JUST anything! I follow the blog “Not JUST A Housewife” Its a Do-It-Yourself decorating, organizing and anything else you can think of kind of blog on a budget. (just my style!) She did a really good post yesterday about being proud of what you do. I really enjoyed reading it and hope you will too!

Random Thoughts about: Decorating and Organizing

Here recently I’ve been gathering idea’s from decorating and organizing websites and blogs for our future home. However, most of the people who have such sites own their home so they can paint, wallpaper, nail, caulk, etc. without the worry of “damaging” someone else’s house.

Just the other day I ran across a website that specializes in helping renters with decorating and organizing a rented home, working with what you’ve got and giving tips for making the most out of your space without damage to the home.

Sounds perfect right?

Unfortunately, the woman who writes the blog uses so much slang language I felt like I was digging through a pile of mud to get the small gems at the bottom. This has happened with several blogs and websites I’ve found under this topic and I just think a person should be able to get the help they’re looking for without extra, unnecessary, foul language, innuendoes' and unrelated comments added.

So I’ve decided, I’m going to…

Wing it, and blog as I go, hopefully to be a help to others in the same position… hopefully :)

Here’s some thoughts and questions I have about this:

• Should I create a separate blog for this and keep Life in the Big City as my personal blog?
• or Should I leave it as is and create a separate tab for decorating?
• If I create a tab how do I go about it?
• If I do a separate blog what should I name it?
• Those of you who have more than one blog, how hard is it to keep up with?
• Do you face any major problems having two blogs instead of just one?
• Is this idea of mine something that my current readers would be interested in if I added it to this blog instead of creating a separate one?

I’m looking for any kind of feed back, if you have comments, suggestions, answers to any or all of my questions, Please leave me a comment or shoot me an email!

Random Information, Invitations and Recipes

I feel like everything I say right now is “Oh yeah, by the way…” I already had a post set up to go out this morning and then last night I found/did a couple of things I wanted to share so here’s for post #2 today :)

Last night Mom and I ordered our wedding Invitations! YAY!!!!! I wanted to share this because not only do I really like the ones I got but I got a pretty good deal on them too.

If anyone is reading this that needs to order invites of any kind in the near future check out Invitations by Dawn right now thru March 11, 2011 they are offering 15% off your entire order with the promotion code: semimar

I saved $26.00 on my order which more than paid for the shipping (you can get free shipping if your order is $175. or more, which mine wasn’t)

The other thing I wanted to share was a website I found. $5 Dinners – If your like me, constantly looking for a new, good, in-expensive recipe’, this just might be a sight you should check out. I’ll be honest and say its not my favorite layout for a recipe’ website. However, I do like the fact that they list the cost of each item(and give you coupons for different items) in the recipe’.

Probably my favorite recipe’ website is allrecipes.com I have this one on my iPod, you can say what your looking for, give them what ingredient you have on hand and want to use and choose your cooking time. For instance, Last night I wanted something quick and easy but different. I put in “Main Coarse” for the dish, “Chicken” for my ingredient and “20 minutes or less” cooktime. It came up with Romano Chicken! We all loved it, it was very good and with prep and cook time it took about 30 minutes from start to finish.

Here’s the recipe’ just in case you’d like to give it a try:

• 4 skinless, boneless chicken breast halves - pounded to 1/4 inch thickness
• 1/4 pound Swiss cheese, sliced – I didn’t actually measure this and the ham, I did one slice of cheese and two slices of meat per chicken breast.
• 1/4 pound ham, sliced thin
• 2 tablespoons grated Parmesan cheese
• 1 1/2 teaspoons paprika
• 1/2 teaspoon garlic salt
• 1/2 teaspoon dried tarragon
• 1/2 teaspoon dried basil leaves
• 1 tablespoon butter, melted
• 1/3 cup dry bread crumbs

Directions

1. Place chicken breasts on a pan. Place Swiss cheese and ham slices on top and roll up, securing with toothpicks if necessary.
2. In a small bowl combine the Parmesan cheese, paprika, garlic salt, tarragon, basil and bread crumbs. Mix together and dip rollups in mixture to coat.
3. Drizzle with melted butter and cook on High in microwave for 4 minutes, or until chicken is cooked through and juices run clear. – This took 8 minutes in our microwave.

I didn’t have ham, Swiss cheese or Tarragon. What I did instead was Roast beef slices, Provolone cheese in two of them and Mozzarella cheese in the other three, and left out the Tarragon and it turned out just fine, so its an adaptable recipe’ as well.

I hope you’ll check some of these things out for dinner tonight!

Thanksgiving...On Monday

Ok, I know its not Thursday but I believe that we should be thankful all the time.

I Chronicles 16:8 Give thanks unto the LORD; for he is good; for his mercy endureth forever.

I Corinthians 15:57 But thanks be to God, which giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.

To make a longing a story short my Dad thinks my car threw a rod. Now for all the ladies out there who, like me, don’t know what that means, it costs a lot to get it fixed! Anyways I’ll be honest and say that I’ve been a little bummed about it, not knowing what to do, should I try to get it fixed or put the money into a buying a different car? If I go for a different car, how much can I afford to spend? You know how it goes, a million and one questions are going through my mind.

The thankful part: I was reading some of the blogs I’m following this morning and came across Mrs. Lockhart’s blog A Home is a House Full of Love and read Monday's Manna. She did a little piece about following God’s leading. It just got me thinking about these verses in Psalms:

Psalms 139:1-10,14 –

1. O LORD, thou hast searched me, and known me.

2. Thou knowest my downsitting and mine uprising, thou understandest my thought afar off.

3. Thou compassest my path and my lying down, and art acquainted with all my ways.

4. For there is not a word in my tongue, but, lo, O LORD, thou knowest it altogether.

5. Thou has beset me behind and before, and laid thine hand upon me.

6. Such knowledge is too wonderful for me; it is high, I cannot attain unto it.

7. Whither shall I go from thy spirit? or whither shall I flee from thy presence?

8. If I ascend up into heaven, thou art there: if I make my bed in hell, behold, thou art there.

9. If I take the wings of the morning, and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea;

10. Even there shall thy hand lead me, and thy right hand shall hold me.

14. I will praise thee; for I am fearfully and wonderfully made: marvelous are thy works; and that my soul knoweth right well.

I’m so glad that I am a Christian and that my Heavenly Father doesn’t forget about me, He knows where I am, He knows my problems, and verse 10 says that his hand will lead me and his right hand will hold me.

Thankful Thursday

Today I’m very thankful for our youth group!

 Sorry I didn’t actually get a picture of our teens :s

Working with the teens has been fun, exciting, and challenging both physically (you try keeping up with sugar high 12-17 year olds and let me know your physical state afterward) and Spiritually.

If you ever get the chance, volunteer to help with the youth group at your church, then just listen to the questions, problems and idea’s they have. I promise you will laugh, be astounded, get stumped by questions, cry, and pray so much harder about the circumstances they face daily. I love our teens and am thankful for the encouragement they are and the challenges they bring.

Coffee Time!

After yesterday’s post about how beautiful and warm the weather has been lately, today, its still beautiful but the temperature on my way to work was way too cold for the short sleeved shirt I had planned on wearing! So what better way to warm up than a cup of coffee.

I bought my first, fan club coffee mug!

What was the purpose you might ask…

• 16oz of coffee for the price of 12oz – Like I really need the extra caffeine.
• A punch on my card, with 6 punches I get a free cup of Joe. – I didn’t get punches before unless I paid for a larger size coffee.
• A free cup of regular coffee just for purchasing a mug.
• Special deals that only fan club mug holders can get :)

More coffee for less $$$ always sounds like a good deal to me!

My 50th Blog Post

I just thought you all should know that I finally made it to 50 Posts! I am just going to be writing about random things today: Things I’m thankful for, favorite quotes, verses, and random thoughts. I hope you enjoy!

1. This is my Nephew Austin and my niece Mikaela.
2. The number one thing I am thankful for is my salvation but after that it is that I was able to grow up in a godly environment with Parents and Grandparents who encouraged me to serve the Lord with my life.
3. I have always wanted to work with teenagers in some way, I guess its a good thing that God brought me a Youth Pastor to marry.
4.  I dislike working in the church nursery, at the same time, my favorite age group for Sunday School is the 2~3 class. Some people think this is strange.
5.  If its going to be cold it should snow and if its not going to snow it should be 78~80 degrees, is that too much to ask?
6. My two best friends… pondering something important I’m sure!
7. Psalm 57:7 – My heart is fixed, O God, my heart is fixed: I will sing and give praise.
8. I have developed road rage since dating Kenny. Let me explain, southern drivers do things like stopping at yield signs, or pulling into a parking space that is on the opposite side of the road. I never paid attention to these things until Kenny pointed them out. Now I find myself yelling through the windshield at the idiot in front of me!
9. Peach is the best flavor for a sucker or slushy.
10. When Kenny and I first met we didn’t like each other at all! I thought he was hot on himself and he says that I was a spoiled teenager.
11. My Grandparents along with my mom, on the left and my aunt, on the right. It was my Grandparents 60 something wedding anniversary! (I do know the exact amount of years they’ve been married, I just can’t post it because they just don’t want anyone to know how old they are!)
12. Pastor Camp did a series on Ruth several years ago, after he read Ruth 1:17~18 he made the statement that those two verses would make great marriage vows. Ever since then I’ve wanted to say them to the man I was going to marry in my vows to him.
13. Romans 8:39 – Nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Jesus Christ our Lord.
14. I love my job as a barber. When Dad had his hot dog stand he would ask people if they could figure out what I did for a living, I don't think anyone ever guessed right.
15. In my job, I run into people from all over the place, Ireland, London, Cuba, New York, Pennsylvania, Florida. Its quite an education!
16. My brother Stephen, I think he’s adopted. 
17. Bowl cuts look cute on little boys but when your 27 with one its not cute anymore. At the same time, Mohawks and mullets never look good on anyone!
18. Why is it we drive on a Parkway and park on a Driveway?
19. I don’t have a favorite color, only favorite patterns – polka~dots and certain plaids.
20. The name of my blog, “Life in the Big City,” is just a sarcastic way of saying that I live in a small town that tries to do big things. Sometimes they succeed: Hot Nights and Cool Rides is one of the largest car shows in the Southeast; however, sometimes they fail: Dairy Goat Festival and Parade…. what is that?!?!?!?
21. Kenny and Austin playing “Twister.”
22. Vanilla scented candles and a rainy day go hand in hand.
23. Random facts, quotes, and corny jokes are the greatest!
24. Esther is my favorite book of the Bible. God’s name is never mentioned but you can see Him working throughout the story. That idea reminds me of unsaved people, they may not have God in their life yet but you can see Him working so don’t give up!
25. “God grant me the serenity to accept the people I can not change, the courage to change the one I can, and the wisdom to know its me.” ~Author unknown, variation of an excerpt from “The Serenity Prayer” by Reinhold Neibuhr

I hope you got some enjoyment out of my ramblings for today. Maybe I’ll have something exciting to post later this week.

Blogging

Ok so I’m defiantly one of those people who thinks half the fun of having a blog is decorating it! I kind of feel bad for Kenny because I have the same philosophy about a house! I love the change in seasons and holidays because it gives a good reason to re-decorate. Having said this I just remembered we need to take down the Christmas decor at Kenny’s… :)

I don’t really have anything major to blog about today just random happenings.

~Kenny and I picked out our invitations, wording, font, colors…. He was doing a really good job at pretending to be interested, I like that he is so involved in all of the planning because its not my wedding its ours :)

~Have any of you ever read some of the wording you can chose from for reply cards? I laughed so hard at this one:

Let's hear back from you
on or before MONTH DAY, YEAR
Name__________________________
___Shoot yes, we'll be there with spurs on!
___Dangnabbit, we can't make it!
I tried to talk Kenny into this wording but he just wasn’t going for it :) *just kidding*

~Saturday I went for my wedding dress fitting, a couple more minor adjustments and I think it will be just right!

~Pastor has started a series on marriage on Sunday nights. This past Sunday evening he picked on Kenny a lot! He asked this question of several people,“How’s your love life?” meaning how is your relationship with your spouse, or future spouse in our case. As he was doing this Kenny leaned over and asked me what to say when he asked him, I just laughed and said “Well I don’t know, how is your love life?” The point of the message was that your love life with people, namely those closest to you, will only be as good as your relationship or love life with God. It was a very good message, one that has caused me to ask myself several times “How is my love life with my Savior?”

~Tax season has just gone into full swing which means the Shahan family basically drops off the face of the earth for 3 months – don’t worry we’re not tax evaders who go into hiding! My mom, Sandy, owns a tax preparing business, and my two brothers and I help her out through the busy time. Pretty much, we all go to work and come home and occasionally show up at the grocery store or fast food restaurant but only when food is a necessity. :)

~I’ve been doing fairly well with getting things organized and de-cluttered. My only major issue is knowing that I’ll be moving in a couple months and will have to re-organize it all, this is a little discouraging but exciting at the same time because of the reason I’m moving.

I hope you don’t mind but everything in this post, except taxes, has had something to do with Kenny and/or marriage…is that normal?

Year in Reveiw

Last week I started Blogging about Blogs because I like to learn about other blogs that I might be interested in following and thought maybe you would too… maybe not but I’m enjoying doing this anyways!

This week I was reading Casual Blogger Caroline, the writer for Casual Blogger, also blogs about blogs, and does “Good News Minute” on Sunday mornings where anyone can post some good news they want to share on her Blog. She did this survey about herself on her blog for “All about me Monday” I thought it would be fun to do this myself so these are my answers to the questions not hers.

1. What did you do in 2010 that you’d never done before?

I did a lot this year that I’ve never done, I went to Africa and Colorado, two places I’d never been before and I’ve eaten more weird things that I can mention! I also got to go to a Broadway Musical – I guess that’s what you call it -

2. Did you keep your new year’s resolutions, and will you make more for next year?

I don’t even remember making any resolutions last year, so…. I’m thinking the answer to this one is a no! I made the resolutions to read more, serve more, and get more organized. So far the organization one is going well!

3. Did anyone close to you give birth?

Yes my friend Lara had a beautiful little girl this year and then two ladies I work with also had little girls…. Oh! and my sister-in-law Jessica had a little girl as well! she just started crawling on Christmas Eve so we all got to watch her!

4. Did anyone close to you die?

Well, I wasn’t so close to her necessarily other than the fact that I know she prayed for me as a student in her husbands classes. Mrs. Childs, AKA: Tiger. She passed away just before Christmas to be with the Savior she loved so dearly. 


5. What countries did you visit?

Ghana, West Africa!


6. What would you like to have in 2011 that you lacked in 2010?

A Husband! That will happen June 4th for those of you who didn’t know!


7. What dates from 2010 will remain etched upon your memory, and why?

May 7th – The day my work threw me a party because I was finally done with school but they were going to miss me because I was moving to the new Barbershop instead of staying with them.

July 22nd – The day we got to Africa.

September 3rd – The day Kenny proposed.

8. What was your biggest achievement of the year?

Paying off my car was pretty big!

9. What was your biggest failure? 

Almost not being allowed to travel with the Ensemble for spring tour because of having too many demerits :( I’m so glad Doc took the time to reprimand me and give me a second chance even when I didn’t deserve it.

10. Did you suffer illness or injury?

I’ve always been pretty fortunate in the health area except for some minor back troubles because of my job I can’t think of anything.

11. What was the best thing you bought? 

My ipod touch, I bought it during the after Christmas sales but technically still in 2010! I’ve been able to get so many things done a lot faster and more efficiently with it. 


12. Where did most of your money go? 

Bills and Walmart…. I hate walmart. 


13. What did you get really excited about? 

Getting engaged, the musical and going to Africa are at the very top of my list.


14. What song will always remind you of 2010? 

What Wondrous Love Is This. I learned to play this song on the hand bells and my melodica while in Africa. 


15. Compared to this time last year, are you:

• happier or sadder? Happier.
• thinner or fatter? No change.
• richer or poorer? Richer but not financially, more in family, friends and experiances 

16. What do you wish you’d done more of? 

Taken more pictures, made more out of the everyday things 


17. What do you wish you’d done less of? 

Less being lazy and procrastinating. 


18. How did you spend Christmas? 

Kenny and I had two Christmas’ that were both special, we spent the week before Christmas with his parents in CO and had a great time and then we spent real Christmas with my family. I learned a lot about him being home in CO and hopefully he enjoyed my family as much as I did his. 

19. What was your favorite TV program? 

I try not to watch a lot of TV because I already don’t have enough time in my day but I do enjoy watching CHUCK, He is a civilian spy for the CIA its hilarious!

20. What were your favorite books of the year? 

The Three Mrs. Judson's – its about Adiniram Judson’s three wives that he had during his ministry. You very rarely get a good look at the missionaries wife, this book includes some of their diary entries so you can see where they struggled with everyday life just like we do. Sometimes I think we lift these people up like they never had doubts about going to the mission field or troubles once they got there I guess that’s why I like this one so much.

21. What was your favorite music from this year? 

Kenny is always listening to sound tracks from different movies I really like “The Man From Snowy River” after falling in love with the music I got to see the film while we were in CO and loved it as well!

22. What were your favorite films of the year? 

The Princess and the Pea – Disney

The Man From Snowy River

Knight and Day 


23. What did you do on your birthday, and how old were you?

I turned 23, we were in Arkansas on the way to my cousins wedding and spent that particular day going to flea markets and thrift stores (which I love doing!) I also got my first free birthday Starbucks coffee! 


24. What one thing would have made your year immeasurably more satisfying? 

I can’t say that I would change much other than my attitude about certain situations which would have made things go smoother. I had a pretty good year as a whole!

25. How would you describe your personal fashion concept in 2010? 

I just like to be comfortable, defiantly jeans and a nice shirt are my “Go To” outfit of choice. I typically don’t wear a lot of jewelry as a matter of fact I’m wearing the necklace that Kenny got me for Christmas and I have been since he gave it to me :)

26. What kept you sane? 

My parents keep my feet on the ground and Kenny always has my back.

27. Tell us a valuable life lesson you learned in 2010. 

To trust in the Lord and give Him glory for everything! He knows my needs and He cares about my wants too.

Fun Stuff

This morning I woke up to a winter wonderland, and not just on my blog. So I’m sitting at home (I love living in an area where everything shuts down for snow!) blogging about our weekend. First, this is downtown Forest City today

Friday, Kenny and I went to Concord Mills Mall so he could get some things from Bass Pro ©. As we were walking around Kenny spotted a Lego Store ©! We went in just to look around and ended up sitting down at one of the tables to build something. :) Anytime we start doing something “kiddish” Kenny and I look at each other and say something along these lines; “This is why we’re in youth ministry, so we can still play with toys and no one thinks anything of it!”

How do you like our Groom and Bride?

Saturday after I got off work Mom and I worked on cleaning and taking down the Christmas decorations that evening I started working on some things for church.

Our youth group gets “Ninja Points” for bringing their Bibles, handing out tracts, doing devotions, bringing a friend to church or a youth activity, and other such stuff. We break the year down into 4 month sections and Emily won the last section (that’s why she has a star next to her name). In this picture, left to right: Elizabeth playing with her hair, Dakota peeking out from behind the wall, Brock looking over the top of the wall, and Emily throwing Ninja stars at the boys. I had a lot of fun with this project.

Sunday I was supposed to start teaching the children’s Sunday School class every other Sunday but I was sick and the weather was bad but I’m looking forward to getting back into children’s ministry!

That pretty much wraps up our weekend. I hope you had a great weekend yourself!

Blogging about Blogs

I’ve been wanting to do this for a little while Blogging about other blogs that I’ve been reading. Who knows maybe its someone you know or maybe you’ll find a blog that sounds interesting to you. I’m constantly on the look out for interesting blog reading and new idea’s for my blog.

The Blog I’m going to talk about today is : The Missus Smarty Pants Blog

Her name is Leslie and she is a 40 something that is in love with

Clothes,Shoes, and Jewelry

 

 

and how they should be put together properly! She also has a lot to say about what shouldn’t be worn, it makes me laugh that she makes fun of those people the world can’t get enough of.  I can’t say that I’m trying to be the “height of fashion,” or that I really would want to be, by following her blog but she does have some interesting tips about wearing the right clothes.

Some of her recent posts are “Another Way to Tie a Scarf”  “Divine Style = Simplicity” – This is one of my favorites  “Shop the Sales, but with a Plan” and “Quick Tips to Dressing Well.”

I love that there is a SALE sign in the background! (It would be better if it was clearance but I’ll take what I can get!)

I hope you’ll check out her blog if this sounds interesting to you!

My New Years Objectives

Serve More

Stress Less

More Fun & Games

                  Less Perfectionism

                                                                                Read More

Waste Time Less

Trying New Things More

“I Can’t” Attitude Less

These are just a few things I’ve decided to do this year among the yearly “clean out my closet, organize my books…” basically things I never get done! Happy New Year!

What are some things your going to work on this year?

Thankful Thursday

I always enjoy looking at the mountains as I’m driving to church on Sunday’s and Wednesdays. The North Carolina mountains were named well as the Blue-Ridge Mountains! But I have to confess, yesterday as I was driving thru them I thought to myself, “These aren’t mountains.” :S I used to get so mad at Kenny and Wesley when they would say that but now, after spending a week surrounded by the Colorado mountains, NC mountains don’t even compare!

These are CO mountains if you can’t tell!

Today I’m thankful for where God has me right now. I’m in NC, living at home with my Mom and Dad, preparing to marry Kenny, and working at, to me, the best place in town. I have great bosses, a great church, a wonderful family, and a loving future family. I feel very fortunate to be right where God has me, even if the mountains aren’t as great as Colorado’s!

Snow!!!!!

I absolutely LOVE snow! I love seeing it fall, I love having it on the ground, and I love living in a part of NC that shuts down when it snows so I don’t have to go anywhere! This year I got to have snow for Christmas Day. It started falling mid-morning and just kept right on coming down all day long. Here are some pictures Mom and I took.

This is my Grandma’s house 

“Don’t knock the weather; nine-tenths of the people couldn’t start a conversation if it didn’t change once in a while.” ~ Kin Hubbard

  This is our house

“To be interested in the changing seasons is a happier state of mind than to be hopelessly in love with Spring.” ~ George Santayana

  Our backyard

“The first fall of snow is not only an event, it is a magical event. You go to bed in one kind of world and wake up in another quite different, and if this is not enchantment then where is it to be found?” ~ J.B. Priestly

  Out the Front door

“Snowmen fall from Heaven unassembled.”

Down the street

“There’s one good thing about snow, it makes your lawn look just as good as your neighbors.” ~ Clyde Moore

Random Information

I just wanted to pass along a random piece of useless information that I thought was pretty neat!

December 23 is called:

 Christmas Eve, eve -or- Christmas Adam...

because Adam was created before Eve!

HAHAHA!!!! :)

Merry Christmas everyone!

Thankful Thursdays – The Real Christmas Story

 

A lot of times you hear about families reading Luke 2 from the Bible for Christmas; the story of Christ’s birth. But the story doesn’t stop there! I am Thankful today that Christ came to earth to die for the sins of mankind, more specifically for me!

 

When I was 12 I accepted Jesus Christ as my personal Savior. It was the best decision I ever made. God loved us so much that He sent his son, Jesus, to come to earth as a baby (Luke 2). He did this with the single purpose of dying on the cross of Calvary for our sins. This was a gift that Christ gave willingly to each one of us, all we need to do is accept it, just like a Christmas present.

I would like to wish everyone a Merry Christmas on this Thankful Thursday.

Accept Christ’s gift of salvation today and enjoy

“the real reason for the season!”

Did you know?

I was listening to WAGY, Forest City’s radio station this morning at work because they have an interesting talk radio. They’ll cover sports, poltics, happenings in Forest City, and Swap-n-shop. Well this mornings topic was:

What is a “White Christmas?”

Did you know there is an actual, meteorologist, definition of the term “White Christmas?” Well there is! This is what they said:

The official definition of a white Christmas is: "1 inch of snow on the ground during December 25th". The snow does not have to fall on December 25th.

This is the projected snow fall for Christmas weekend… Carolina is in the grey but that is still 20-50% chance!

Can I just say that “I’m dreaming of a White Christmas!”

Christmas Traditions

There were a lot of things I wanted to share about how my family celebrates Christmas but I kind of let it sneak up on me. So for my last “Christmas Traditions” post for this year I’m just going to give a summary of what we do on Christmas Eve.

My Grandpa was born on Christmas Eve so my Grandma tries very hard to keep his birthday special but separate from Christmas celebrations. So, Christmas Eve dinner(supper, depending on where your from) is his birthday part of the day.

 

Grandpa blows out his candle (its a grave stone that says, “Over the Hill, too OLD to count!”) and opens his birthday presents. After cake is done and the dishes washed, only then does Christmas begin.

My Dad always tells Grandpa that he is the only man he knows older than Jesus!

 

My Grandparents give each of the un-married, grandkids “Christmas Clothes Money” to pick out a new Sunday outfit for Christmas. So once dinner is cleaned up we all go change into our Christmas clothes and take way too many pictures.

We’ve been doing this for a long time! When we were little they only lined us up by age, now its done by age and then height to see how we’ve changed and grown over the years.

 

This picture (taken in 1988) from left to right:

Robbie Shahan, Missy Shahan-Hutchins, Ben Heffernan, Stephen Shahan, Abby Heffernan-Townsend, Becky Shahan

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The picture on the left is all of us in 2008 (the last year everyone was at Grandma’s for Christmas) lined up by age and the one on the right is us lined up by height. :)

 

This is just my family Right to Left: Dad, Mom, Robbie, Jessica,(sis-in-law) Matt, (bro-in-law) Missy, Stephen, Christina,(sis-in-law) Me, Austin(the only grandchild at the time, Missy was expecting Jonathan!)

 

 

This is my Mom’s sisters family Right to Left: Dale, Jody, Ben, Elizabeth,(Ben’s wife) Candace, Abby, Marcus

 

 

After all the pictures we have what my Grandma calls a candle light service. Christmas is so commercial and this is a good way to get your focus off of the presents and on thanking the Lord for what he’s done in our lives through the year. We always start with my grandpa (since he’s the oldest) and everyone shares what they are thankful for in the past year. This picture is of Austin, he was still pretty young when this was taken, but he said he was thankful for Mommy and Daddy :)

One year Grandma decided not to do our candle-light service anymore, she said she thought that none of the grandkids would miss it (and I’m sure it made a mess). The next year my oldest brother, Robbie, I think he was 16 at the time, came to her and said, “we’re doing a candle-light service aren’t we?” She immediately started breaking out the candles! I don’t think we’ve missed doing it since. Its always been my favorite part of Christmas.

Well that’s pretty much it for the Christmas Traditions I hope you’ve enjoyed a peek into our family and maybe you’ll use some of these idea’s with your own families.

Merry Christmas!

Colorado Here We Come!

 

Tomorrow afternoon Kenny and I will be flying out to Colorado to spend a week with his family before Christmas. 

I can’t wait to get out there, If only the clock would move a little faster! I’m really looking forward to spending time with his family. I went to the Godby Family Reunion this past summer in Arkansas and had a lot of fun with them. This trip sounds like it will be a little slower paced so hopefully I’ll have a chance to get to know them even better! (except Wesley, I already know him.)

I’ll be taking my camera and computer along for the ride so watch for blog updates! (Have I mentioned recently how much I love blogging?)

Thankful Thursday

Is it really Thursday already!?!?!? This past week has flown by! Today I am Thankful for bad days.  BAD DAYS??? you might say; yes, bad days.

Today has just been one of those days, nothing really major wrong, just a bad day. God is always faithful to bring to my memory a verse of encouragement on days like this and today is no different. I’ve been thinking of :

2 Corinthians 12:9   And he said unto me, My grace is sufficient for thee: for my strength is made perfect in weakness. Most gladly therefore will I rather glory in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me.

I’m not dealing with any kind of physical ailment like Paul was in this passage of scripture but it is always a comforting thought that God remembers that I’m human and I struggle with the day to day life of living in a sin filled world. He is always faithful to give me the grace I need so that His strength will be made perfect in my weak, human life. So that I hopefully will be grateful for the trials so that Christ can be seen in me.