on my birthday...

some of my most favorite gifts came from here. check it out. you won't be disappointed.

i love my sweet students & their happy birthday messages all over my whiteboard.

and one particular student psyched out of his mind that we share the same birthday.

and i cannot even wait one more second until my husband gets home to take me out on our hot date.

and i'm just so happy it's finally here - the most wonderful, best, fantasticalist week of the year.

amen and amen.

a cozy (almost) christmas weekend

on our agenda:
watch 'elf' (check)
sleep in (check)
eat pancakes (check)
tidy up our little apt.
make a grocery run
sweat our little buns off at the y
head off to the movies to see 'hugo' (have you read this book? it's great!)
church
christmas carols
appetizers with some of my favorite people

sometimes i get so excited just looking over a list - knowing the possibilities of how great each little thing could be/is/was.

for example, is anything sexier than watching your husband mop the kitchen floor? i think, no.

this is my favorite week of the whole entire year. i sway between wanting christmas to be here right this second and then remembering how much i love the anticipation, the waiting, the dreaming, the wrapping, the twinkling lights, the carols. waiting for that wonderful day is just as much fun as when it actually comes (in my book).

things to do this week:
read 'two from galilee'
finalize plans for the last week of my first semester teaching
celebrate my 25th birthday
celebrate two beautiful years of marriage
head home for the first time since july
celebrate the birth of my savior

(doesn't that sound like the best week ever?! i think, yes.)

also...

can i just say that there is absolutely nothing better than coming home, filling the tub with hot, bubbly water & diving in up to my ears.

it was a long one.

my kids at school are getting just a bit antsy (understatement).
as am i, really.

i think we're all ready for some time spent sleeping in, cuddling, sipping cocoa & gazing at twinkle lights.

at least that's what i'm ready for.

words to live by:

optimism isn't always dumb.

pessimism isn't always deep.

amen.

print found here

it's been a long time...

but i've been thinking.

and i think i need a little light and a little love spread out into the world.

so, that is my new goal.

light and love.

because we all have rainy days and crabby kids and burnt toast and crummy chores to do and bills to pay and bad news and broken coffee makers.

but who wants to dwell on that?

not me.

when i lay my head down at night, i want to remember the light. and the love.

here's to you. and to me.

may this season be full of the goodness god has given. the joy always surrounding us sometimes unseen. the love in my heart from me to you.