Gud Jul (2007)

Our Christmas in photos. It's amazing how it can go from frenzied preparation, to calm enjoyment in 24 hours. I delivered my last local orders on the 23rd, finished shopping amidst a blizzard, then settled in to celebrate God's greatest gift to man, his Son. Each year I am undone at the magnitude of this gift. To imagine Emmanuel, fully God, fully man, is beyond my grasp. I hope you all enjoyed time with your family and friends and were able to take a moment to appreciate how blessed we are here in America.

Here is our Christmas weekend, in photos:
My favorite Christmas decoration, a gift from a Norwegian friend,

Christmas Eve sledding and snowboarding with Papa



Who could that be at the door?

Gift Highlights

And last but not least, my new baby


I thought I would never, ever, ever want an iPOD, but now the gym has announced that the new sound system will be ipod compatible I thought it was a great time. Since I've been out of the music scene for so long, I was a little hard pressed to find music. So like any good gymrat, I chose some of my favorite songs from my Les Mills Body Pump classes! I managed to download 11 songs and one game from itunes. I felt so accomplished. I am very excited to hit the gym with my new equipment. I would love song suggestions though so please drop me a note!

I Call This the Albert Einstein Phase

I have now entered the Albert Einstein phase. What is this, you might ask? This is the time before a major deadline (like a show, Christmas, etc) when I begin to look like Albert Einstein, or some such mad scientist. You will find me sans make-up, wild haired and perhaps wearing some form of yesterday's clothes. I still have two or three orders to mail tomorrow, as well as a few last minute local orders to fulfill. Then I am hitting the stores! (And don't even ask about the Christmas tree!)

~Blessings to you

Baby, It's Cold Outside (Snow Day)

We had our first official Snow Day of the year today. Thankfully, what could have been a horrific storm, just slightly missed us so we were only left with this gorgeous sheath of ice. The temperatures were just above freezing so the kids still wanted to play outside. I thought it was absolutely breathtaking and had I not been working on holiday orders I would have taken more photos. It was still fun to play with the camera because it was that perfect "cloudy bright" light.

Luckily for mommy, everyone should be back in school tomorrow! :)

Just Keep Swimming, Just Keep Swimming

First let me just sincerely thank all of you who either commented, emailed me or *gasp* called me to check in after my last post. I really feel loved.

I am feeling better, now mostly just trying to keep my head above water. Which leads to the title of my post. When I run I often use self-talk for motivation. I will do silly things like "you can do it!" Two years ago I ran my first 1/2 marathon. It was so hard to wrap my mind around 13 miles on race day that I found myself singing in my head "just keep running, just keep running, running, running WOOHOO" just like in Finding Nemo. My training has all but disappeared the last few weeks. I've been squeezing in two workouts a week, but nothing like what I want to be doing. It's hard to believe how close Christmas is! I have literally two gifts purchased with no more in sight. Anyhoo, enough tired ramblings for one night. It's time for a bed time snack, TV and bed.

The photo is from our first snow a week or so ago. We awoke to a beautiful white surprise that morning.

~Blessings to you and a restful Sunday.

And the Hits Just Keep on Comin'

Ever have one of those days? I'm having one of those weeks! I'm just praying for strength, wisdom and endurance. (and for it to be over soon)

Wish~Now on ebay

This whimsical necklace is now available on ebay. Click the title to be taken to the listing.

~I will post tomorrow about the wonderful time I had at the Holiday Art Fair. It was a great success!