Things I love.

I'm currently snuggled on the couch as the light fades away into night, perusing Amazon and Overstock.com for last-minute gifts that promise free shipping in time for Christmas morning. Diego is dutifully keeping my feet warm and the house is silent albeit the sound of my fingers tapping the keyboard.

I am content.

It surely helps to know I do not have to wake up at the crack of dawn to bravely tackle the youth of America. Tomorrow I will greet the day with the dentist and then press on towards finalizing Christmas gifts. I might attempt to be crafty and sew more gift bags like I did last year.

Anyways, the title of this post is "Things I love," so let's get to it.

I love spending time with my friends outside of school. I've said it before and I'll say it again: I'm so blessed to have the greatest friends and am lucky they also happen to be my coworkers (Kristin, you are still a coworker because we chat while we are working. the end.) Last night we celebrated our dear friend Ashley's day of birth around a fire downtown. We relaxed, we laughed our guts out. It was much needed!

I'm in love with this girl:

I swear my uterus ached when I drove away from the hospital after holding this precious baby. Danielle and Carl will be such wonderful parents; my heart goes out to them this week as they bring Harper home! All I can say is, "I swear, it's normal!" lol, sorry Danielle.

And finally, I heart the time before Christmas, when everyone is focused on giving and finding that perfect present to bring joy to someone she loves, when children anticipate the night of Santa's appearance, when our houses are full of lights and joy and tons of sweets.

Not to sound cliche, but it is easy to become wrapped up in Christmas as we search for that perfect .gift.christmaslights.hotchocolate.concerts.parties.music.movies to give us the warm-fuzzies. I'm all for seeking out any activity that involves "getting in the Christmas spirit," usually involving Santa and jingle bells.

But tomorrow, before I head out on my quest to finish the to-do list, I'm going to sit down with the Lord and my Bible, and spend some with Him remembering WHY we celebrate Christmas. Those events, the ice skating and white elephant gift exchanges, they provide joy for the moment, but truly we celebrate because our Earth was granted a sweet baby boy to be "God-with-us," to work alongside us and to teach us the 'unforced rhythms of grace.'

sigh. the hubs is home, the silence is gone.

I love this life.

a week in the life...

last week summed up in pictures:

the end. Now on to the good stuff. 

My heart is heavy this morning. It seems like everyone around me... students, teachers, friends.... are all dealing with family crisis (I can't figure out how to pluralize that, lol) that are beyond anything I could ever imagine. I mean, really crazy, awful stuff. And I feel so burdened with their situations that all I can do is pray to be used somehow beyond the obligatory, somewhat superficial response of, "Oh yeah, I'll pray for you." It's challenging to put on that game-face and be full of joy for the kiddos. But they're the ones that need it, cause they're some of the ones going through all this garbage.

BUT... good things that make my heart happy?

There are fifty 8th graders in the room next to me belting out "Go Tell it on a Mountain" at our school's new FCA club.

The kiddos are lined up for homeroom with their noses pressed against the windows, mouthing, "Can we come in?!" May I be filled with strength and compassion that prompts me to love with every fiber of my being today, because I certainly can't do this on my own.

There was something about yesterday that warmed my heart:

Maybe it was the crisp air that chilled my cheeks to a rosy pink

or the bonfire smell drifting from the yard of 

the guy that sells firewood down the road.

It could have been the soft colors of the weeds that tricked my mind into believing

they were golden fields of wheat 

and Diego and I were on some great American adventure 

with the waning sunlight and epic orchestra music in the background. 

All throughout the neighborhood

the sounds of children squealing could be heard

as they squeezed the life out of 

precious after-school winter sunlight.

We were ready to ride off into the sunset...