Goodbye 2009

Another year has passed. Wow.
We are enjoying a wonderful visit to Michigan to celebrate Christmas and to do some visiting. I don't think I can really express how awesome it is to be visiting everyone. A whole new appreciation for every encounter. The girls are on their third consecutive sleepover. Lots of fun. But, I'll be honest. The goodbyes suck. I knew they would. I hate goodbyes.
Deep down at the core of my personality is a strong desire to avoid any kind of hurt or disappointment associated with relationships with others. I guess we all have that to some extent. But, for some reason mine is strong. So strong that I tried to break up with Timm when we started dating because I didn't want to risk getting too close and then having the fear of losing him some day. So, when I have to say goodbye to people who I love with every fiber of my being, it is hard.
Well, anyways, I have learned to embrace the truth that is is better to have loved and lost than to never have loved at all. And, instead of dreading goodbyes and focusing on the distance between me and loved ones, I have learned to truly appreciate time that I DO have with them. Geez, that's pretty brilliant, aye?
So, I'm not normally one for new year's resolutions, but for 2010, perhaps I have a resolution to pursue. To love without reservation. To embrace the present and to love others deeply, regardless of the potential pain it could cause me. I admire people who are so good at this.
If I seem a little melancholy, it might have something to do with some news about some friends back here in MI. Cancer. Husband, father of 3, 39 years old. Not a good prognosis. As I lift them up in prayer, my heart breaks for them. A breaking heart hurts. I don't like it. And, I think that God has been softening my heart lately, and it hurts. A hard heart it much less likely to hurt.....but it is also much less likely to love and have the peace and joy that surpasses understanding.
On a lighter note, let me just do a QUICK update. Wonderful week. Celebrated Christmas with all sides of the family, spoiled with tons of gifts for us and the girls, santa brought a keyboard for the girls, which was a fun surprise. It was great to share with my sister and her family how we chose to spend the money we used to spend on gifts to bless others who are less fortunate. That's been an awesome new tradition. Did some shopping, arranged three consecutive sleepovers for the girls to enjoy with friends, had a couple of dates set up with my closest friends (one was a 3 hour gabfest over coffee, another was a 4 hour gabfest over beer and dinner...ahhhh...I LOVE MY FRIENDS AND I MISS THEM). Took the kids to pine knob for their first time skiing! Very cool.
OK, life is good. 2009 has been a ridiculous avalanche of blessings for me. Jesus is in the driver's seat of this ride I'm on, and it is crazy being a passenger. Much more exciting, but unnerving to not be the one in control. If I were driving, I might have a tendency to speed, but I would have everything mapped out, no unexpected twists in the road, and a clear destination and timeline in front of me. With Jesus driving, He just looks over at me and smiles as I have the map out on my lap, fretting over which turn will be taken next, how we will make it, if we have enough gas, where exactly we will stop next, etc. But, the peace is indescribable. I am not the one in control. So, when people ask me things that are projections into the future "what are you doing this summer?" "How long will you live in New york?" "Are you going to be able to come back to Michigan next year for Thanksgiving and Christmas again?" I just smile and say "I'm really not sure". Because, not long ago, I thought I could figure all things out ahead of time. Jesus has shown me that I need to be able to take things as they come.
I'm ready for 2010.

My girl's club

This is for my girl's club.

"ding dong" my doorbell rings at 7pm. Who could that be? It's the UPS guy, with a package for me. For me? Smile, smile.

I open it up to find some sweet and thoughtful items, including tissue because we NEVER made it through a girl's club without crying, usually from laughing so hard that tears were inevitable. Sometimes real tears of sentiment. As I was pulling out each item, Olivia said "Oh your girl's club sure knows you well!"

I must admit though, I know you guys well too! So, my girls' will confirm that I was suspicious from the MOMENT I SAW THE BOX! I swear, I was! I just KNEW what was coming. Lurking in the bottom of my package.....there it was.....the PEPPER GRINDER!!!!

So, I decided I'd try to find a place to put my gift. Hmmm, this counter is pretty much full.

Maybe over here? Ummm, I don't think so.

On top of the stove? Definitely not. I'm running out of ideas in my kitchen/dining room/living room.

Wait, I do have tall ceilings....what if.....

There. Perfect new home for the infamous pepper grinder.

THANK YOU MY FOREVER FRIENDS. MY SISTERS. I LOVE YOU AND MISS YOU SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO MUCH. YOU MAKE ME LAUGH AND CRY ALL AT ONCE. THANK YOU FOR BEING THE BEST FRIENDS EVERRRRRRR.

And, just so you know, I think the grinder is out of circulation for a while. I really like it up there. And, it will remind me of you idiots every day.

Thanks for the other stuff too. Not sure if the toothpaste is a hint about my breath? If so, sorry for whoever has been offended. Love it all, and will be using my mug and my cards and my lists very soon.

Thank you and Merry Christmas.

job update

Just a quick update on the job possibility for me.
We did decide that it appears to be an opportunity worth pursuing. So, I contacted the principal and she asked if we could meet, along with some PTA members, the first week back to school.
So, I have not officially been offered the job, nor officially given a start date.....but......it looks very probable that I will be a full time working mom in the near future!
Thanks for prayers. Will be sure to keep you posted as things unfold.

Couldn't figure out a way to load my video clips, and couldn't figure out how to create a link so you could view my whole album of pics, so I'll just have to post some.

Not very deep

I'm not referring to the snow of course, which happens to be very deep here in Brooklyn. I think we got aobut 13 inches! But, I realize that my blog doesn't really have lots of deep thoughts. It seems a better forum for just sharing with people what our family is up to in NY. I keep a daily journal, as well as a family journal and one for each girl. I guess those tend to contain my deep thoughts. Anyways, not very deep. Oh well.

Winter Fun

Well, Timm was able to post a cute video clip on his blog last month featuring our family fun (the girls putting on a production in the living room).
If I can figure out how to post a video, I will too. LOTS of fun winter activities this week.
Thursday night Liv and her class sang at the school holiday celebration. It was SO CUTE to see her proudly belting out those songs on stage! As a mom, I live for that stuff!
Friday night we may have started a new Christmas tradition. We baked Christmas cookies. Sugar cookies with icing. It was SO fun. What a mess! We didn't have cookie cutters, but had lots of creative designs and lots of colorful icing.
Then, we got cozy and watched "The Nativity" movie. Very nice.
Saturday we went ice skating. We went to Prospect park, which is very close to our place. But, man does that hurt your feet. So, after about an hour, we were done. The girls really enjoyed it.
Saturday night, our friend came over to babysit. She hung out with the girls for junk food and movie night, while TImm and I headed out to celebrate the Christmas season with a few people from church. We met at a very cute restaurant in Manhattan. Enjoyed candlelight, wine, food, and lots of laughter and sharing. Such a nice evening. By the time we left, the BLIZZARD was in FULL FORCE!
We were schlepping through a foot of snow, while it was still coming down strong and blowing in our faces. But, it was SO BEAUTIFUL! Nothing like seeing the city all lit up, and covered in white!
Our friend spent the night, and we planned to drive to church, and pick up some friends on the way. Well, that didn't work out. The van was very much SNOWED IN. No way we were going anywhere in the van. So, on to the train we went.
After a very sweet Christmas celebration together at church where we honored the celebration of advent, shared communion, sang by candlelight, and listened to the girls lead us in a song, we hung out for a snowball fight outside and watched a jeep get un-buried from the snow.
Then, as soon as we got home, we changed into snow clothes and headed to the park with the neighbors to do some SLEDDING!
Cookie baking, Nativity movie, ice skating, junk food and movie night, dinner out with Timm and friends, singing by candlelight, and sledding. Sounds like the Holiday season is here!
What a GREAT weekend!
Now we get ready to watch the season premiere of Survivor. Wish it didn't go so late. I don't think any of us will make it through the whole thing. But, in case I haven't GUSHED about it lately, we have DVR now....so...WHO CARES? We can watch it whenever we want.
More fun to some this week, 3 more days of school, then off to Michigan we go for a week of visiting! YAY!!!! The girls have a countdown chart on their bedroom wall.
Dang, I can't seem to do the video clip thing. Maybe some day.
Picture it all in your mind.
And, Michigan peeps, SEE YOU THIS WEEK. YAAAHOOOO.

I think the ball is in my court

Well, it appears that the ball is now in my court.
Do I want to accept a job?
Doing lots of praying. Feel free to join me :) I'd love prayer support.
When you don't believe in "coincendence" it really makes you think about things that come your way, ya know?

It's Christmas time...in the city

Wow, where did the week go?
Been busy.

Agreed to do some Christmas shopping for my parents, which was fun, but took some time. Volunteered at the holiday sale at school. Went on another school tour with Alli. Was presented with a job possibility which completely threw me for a loop!!!! It was open school week at the dance studio, so we got to observe during dance class for both girls. Friday night we went to Carnegie Hall and out to dinner. Saturday Timm took Alli to a test for 3 hours while Liv and I went to a birthday party. Then, we met up and sorted out coats from our church's coat drive, then we walked around Manhattan, shopped a little, and enjoyed the Christmas decorations and craziness of Rockefeller Center, Bryant Park, 5th Avenue shoppers, etc. It was so FUN!

So, just to elaborate, most of you know that I am considering a job. WHAT? I know, how strange. It is a parent coordinator position at a middle school. Without rambling for 10 hours, I will just say that after fasting and praying, we feel much peace that I should take the next step towards pursuing the possibility. So, I meet with the principal tomorrow. I'll keep ya posted.

Carnegie Hall was really cool. We were able to get FREE tickets. It was fun to get dressed up with the girls and go out as a family to the city on a chilly evening. It felt very festive.

The birthday party was for Sarah, the only other young child at church right now. She turned 3. And, Alli was SO AWESOME. She never complained once about missing the party so she could take her test. It is a test that she has to take in order to apply for a scholarship to a private Christian school. Liv and I had fun at the party.

Then, the sorting of the coats. WOW. Kensington church did a coat drive to support Communitas. ANd, the outpouring was staggering. I do not have a count, but a group of us spent several hours sorting coats by sizes and gender into bags and praying for those who will receive them, hopefully with dignity and hope.

Alli and Liv mostly playing on the rocks and drank hot cocoa. But, they helped a little too, and were there to cheer us on. This is Olivia showing me that this rock is her apartment and this is her bedroom, where she sleeps.

Finally, our night in the city. Here is a pic of the girls in front of the tree at Rockefeller center. After this, my camera batteries died. So, I can stop posting now :)

I will just say, we have so much to be thankful for this Christmas season. Praise God!

four words

I have four words for you:
sixty three and sunny
Hooooooyahhhhhhhhhhhh! (that doesn't count as a word)

Deck the halls

Deck the halls.... fa la la la la!!! We had a wonderful evening setting up our pre-lit 6 foot artificial tree. I was proud of myself when I pulled out the treasures that we saved. It was one of the most difficult things for me to do, going through all of our wonderful Christmas decorations and purging until we were down to two small rubbermaid tubs. One with tree decorations, the other with stockings and a few other indispensable items. And, let me just say that it is much more enjoyable for me to decorate with simplicity. We had christmas songs and hot cocoa and many memories from each ornament we pulled out.

We're ready for a "very merry New York Christmas".

Cute haircut alert

OK, so I tried to do a "before" picutre of Alli with her long hair. Then, there are some "after" pictures of her great new haircut! She loves it! Thanks to our friend for the haircut, you are awesome!!!