Dragons, Elves, and Football. Oh My! (Boo, NBA)

Merry Christmas to you all and a Blessed 2012!

I can not believe that we are already at December 31st.  Where has 2011 gone?  I pray that you all are still letting CHRIST be the reason for this CHRISTmas season.  It is so sad that some stores have already put the Christmas things away...I saw that a store already had bathing suits out!!! :(  How depressing!

Christmas was spent here in Saginaw...but even then we still traveled in the car a lot the Christmas weekend.  Caleb and I went to pick my mom up from the airport on Thursday, 12/22 after school.  On Friday, my momma and I went to a pottery place near us ( It is called "You Do The Dishes") that I had never seen before.  We painted a piece of pottery for my cousin's new little baby!!  Friday night, we went to pick Hannah up from the airport.  On the way to the airport we had to stop on the road to help someone who had spun off the road into a ditch.  They didn't have a cell phone so we are glad we stopped and were able to stay with them until the police came.  Saturday, we all drove to Ludington so that we could spend some time with my Lil Grams.  She even made a casserole and garlic bread for lunch.  She is so feisty and I love her for it.  ON the way home, we met Aunt Mary JO (Grammy Jo now!!) and Malia for 10 minutes.  It was great. :)

Christmas Day was lovely.  We woke up and went to church.  Afterwards, I dressed the turkey and put it into the oven for our late lunch (along with mashed potatoes and green bean casserole).  We watched the first two LOTR films Saturday and Sunday.  We love re-watching those movies. :)  Bekah also called on Sunday afternoon but the poor thing was sick all weekend.  Not a fun way to spend Christmas.  It was good to hear her voice for a little while.  I can't wait til this mission thing is done so I can actually SEE her.  Then we had pie- strawberry & rhubarb!

  We spent the rest of Christmas opening gifts.  Caleb and I got a U of M and Detroit Tigers pillow pet from my momma.  Hilarious gift and yet awesome.

Monday morning, Hannah had to go home. :(  We dropped her off at the airport at 6am and continued to drive down to Detroit to meet little Coralyn!  She is the sweetest little thing.  Her name is Coralyn Grace Bartok.  (The "lyn" comes from her auntie, Taralyn, who goes by Tara).  Momma and Daddy Bartok are so proud. Little Cora is so small, sweet, and cuddly.  She also makes the cutest little gurgling/contented noises.  Ahhh....babies.  We also got to visit with the actual Tara, Tim, and Kari also. :)

We baked/frosted cookies when we got home and watched the third LOTR film.

Tuesday we went to visit Bronners for a short time before we took Momma to the airport.  It was fun and I forgot how I want to buy ALL the nativity sets there. Haha.  We dropped her off and then went back 5 minutes later because her flight was delayed.  Therefore, we went to grab a bite to eat at Qdoba.  Fat burrito=delight.

Since then, Caleb and I have been vegging at home, staying in our PJs all day, and watching all the football bowl games with our two tvs.  Caleb is keeping the new tv up til bowls are done. ha ha ha.  This free time also allowed me to finish the 3rd "Inheritance Cycle" book called "Brsinger."  It is the Eragon series about a boy (Eragon) who becomes a Dragon Rider.....long story short, it is a good series that is fun to read...if you like fantasy. :)

I finally had some time to see one of my bestest friends, Katelin Moquin on Thursday.  She stayed at the house for a while, chatted with Caleb and me, and then went shopping for Bri's bridal shower on the 30th.  It was lovely time spent catching up.  Eric then joined us for dinner of chicken noodle casserole, salad, and garlic bread.   Yesterday, Katelin and I met up again to drive down to Livonia to see our friend Bri be showered for her upcoming June wedding.  The lovely Alyssa Bornheimer was the hostess as well as Kimber R. and Rachael Q.  It was an invigorating time to spend with other girls who are your friends.  Female time is so wonderful.

To top the evening off, Christine and Jeff Wade show up!  So we spent another couple hours talking to them and came home to our husbands.  It has been a great week off so far and I look forward to the NYE bash this evening and getting my hair cut on Monday! :)

May you all have a lovely, amazing, and fantastic 2012!  See ya all then!  God's Blessings!

Nisu Bread and Prezi

My day today consisted of my lovely Oster bread machine.  We got reacquainted quickly and got to work right as I woke up.  I made lots of bread today for gifts and whatnot.  I love baking bread...or anything truly.  I wanted to tackle cookies today too but we ended up having a late lunch (which I also made) so I figured that I can handle the cookies tomorrow.  I caught up on (almost) all my grading last night, so I took the day off today. :)


I mentioned PREZI in the title because that is the program that Caleb is using for his final project for this last graduate class.  We both have become familiar with it and learned its finer...or lacking aspects.  (If you've never seen a presentation, you should look at a couple on the website.  It just looks like a cooler version of Powerpoint.) His presentation is up and available, if you are interested.  How-information-overload-is-affecting-our-students-minds-and-research-skills-and-what-teachers-can-do-to-help/

He has been working SO hard on it...that I am just as thrilled that this class is over.  He worked on it all day today....from 10am- 9pm.  I don't know if that says anything about the difficulty of this research project, or that Caleb is a slow and precise worker.  Haha.  Maybe both reasons?  I am so proud of him for sticking with it and also not getting behind on his school (job) work.

What did we end our evening with?  As previously "blogged"....none other than "A Charlie Brown Christmas."  Next, "White Christmas."  Sing to me Bing and Danny!

Tomorrow:  Making lunch for extended family for my day-before-birthday celebration! :)

Decorated and Fatigued

We finally have caught up with the Christmas season and have our tree and house decorations up.  Once we have a weekend to ourselves (will that ever happen????), we can put up lights OUTside the house. :)  I love getting out all of our nativity sets and putting them around our new home.

My favorite two Christmas movies I still have yet to watch because we have been so busy, but I am making it a point to talk about "A Charlie Brown Christmas" and "White Christmas" in my class this year.  I love "White Christmas" sooooo much.  Every song is good, catchy, and makes me want to dance like Vera-Ellen....maybe even shape up my legs to look like hers! haha

There is something so special about Charlie Brown, a secular cartoon, that points its viewers to the true meaning of the Christmas season.  I give Charles Schulz a lot of credit for allowing that to be made.  I think it is a pretty popular movie too, whether people like the movie for its true message or not.  I also just love watching Schroeder tear it up on that piano.

"White Christmas" is a childhood favorite.  We always watched it with Lil Grams as we grew up on Christmas Eve...and we continued to do it with our mom when we moved away from Lil Grams.  It was our tradition to watch it before we went to the Candlelight/11pm service at church.  My sisters and I always loved to sing "Sisters, Sisters."  It makes me smile to think about how we always sang along to EVERY song.  It is sad that we can't all still do that.

In trying to fend off a cold before Christmas, Caleb and I went to bed on Friday at 6:30pm.  It was the best sleep I had gotten in ages.  Still, it was almost to no avail because as of an hour or two ago, my voice keeps getting hoarser and hoarser. (Are those words??) More hoarse?  It is awesome. We still have to move all our things back into our now dried up basement, clean our dirty home before my mom and sister come, get Christmas cards into the mail, and somehow celebrate my birthday and finish grad classes before then?!?

We. Can. Make. It.

Did I mention that I also just want to finish re-reading the first 3 Eragon books so I can read "Inheritance"???  "Eldest" just seems to drag on! :P

I also....still want a baby.  Maybe for Christmas next year?

Mannheim Steamroller = Christmas

Since the day after Thanksgiving, I have been listening to Mannheim Steamroller on Pandora.  It is such a nostalgic channel for me.  I grew up listening to the lovely music of Chip Davis.  I always think about how funny it is when certain songs, composers/artists, genres remind you of a time past.  I guess that is the continual beauty of music.  It does things that pictures and words can not do.  I played my flute last night for our middle school Christmas program and even then, I was transported in just my accompaniment alone.  I still sway when I play too.  Music is such a joy to me. 

Caleb and I recently have taken to watching/listening to music channels on tv rather than watch actual programs.  It makes grading more bearable because I get distracted at home frequently.  These music stations play pieces I do not know well, so I can't always hum along. :)  It has also been convenient to our work schedules...which have been insane as of late.

Thanksgiving was the first break we have had since school started and still, we spent 26 hours in the car going to and from Nebraska.  I loved going to Nebraska, seeing Caleb's family, eating a lot of really good food, and watching tons of great football.  Even since then, school has seemed like a huge burden.  I wish I could shake off the tired, exhausted feeling that I've had since before Thanksgiving.  I don't know if this is the work, the kids, the parents.  I've been so worn out lately...and I can only imagine how Caleb has been.

I helped him edit a paper the whole way down to Nebraska.  He's been working as much as me but doing double the work with school and grad school.  I really enjoy learning along with him.  He is always sharing with me the things that his classes are addressing.  His latest paper had to address how the internet is slowing down our thinking processes, how multitasking is actually not a true concept, etc.  I know that he is finding a lot of relevant research from these classes and I realize too how it has made me more aware in my classroom.

With this upcoming Christmas so quickly now upon us, I realize there is SO much more to do and I can feel the load building up.  Especially since I did not do much for school over Thanksgiving.  Sometimes, I honestly do not feel like I should be a teacher.  I get so overwhelmed and tired.  I have been praying about my vocation a lot lately because I don't know if that is actually true...or I just am restless.  My desire for change often leads me to be unusually anxious for change.  I love change...but sometimes I think I love it too much, thus leading me to question what I want to do with my life.  meh...........

I am looking forward to singing my heart out at Boar's Head at CUAA on Saturday night and seeing some lovely people. :)  I'm sorry that I just completely word vomited in this post.  I've just been needing to get some things off my chest.  Blessings to you all as you prepare for this Christmas season. ( I honestly can not wait to do Christmas cards this year!)