Christmas Link-up: Christmas Decor

I just have to say that I love these little snowmen globes, especially the texture of the "snow"!

Scavenger Hunt Sunday: November 27th

1. Waiting

This is just one of a series of similar photos that I took on Thursday morning while the Christmas decorations were going up and I was drinking my cup of Chai. I already shared this in a previous post, and another similar shot here. I still haven't gotten the perfect shot so I think I'll keep trying.

2. Foliage

3. Candid


We played the Paper Game with our friends who came over for dinner last night and although Ana needed some help with the writing part, she still had fun playing the game.

4. Knife, Fork, or Spoon

I love having homemade waffles and peanut butter for Saturday breakfast!

5. Rule of Thirds

My photos tend to follow the rule of thirds pretty closely. I'm not sure if this is the best example, but at least it's Christmas-y.

Friday Night Guests and the Paper Game.

There's never a dull night at my house! On Friday we had a family over for dinner. They're one of the families that I stayed with over the past summer and I hadn't seen them since, so it was great to catch up and rehash memories of our time together.

Dinner was my mom's homemade Manicotti, Spanish bread, broccoli, and salad. We had some kind of chocolate chip cheesecake bars for dessert with coffee, tea and hot chocolate. Someone started talking about games and then we decided to play one of our favorites, the Paper Game, because the other family had never played before. If you've never played, you're missing out. It is seriously one of the best laughing games ever!! My sentence was short but certainly not easy to draw...ha ha.

Jon's drawings were truly a work of art. He put a lot of effort into the details. Take this picture of a Christmas tree, for example.

Christopher, on the other hand, took a more stylized approach and created what Jon decided was a girl with a deer-in-the-headlights look. That just goes to show that there are innumerable ways to interpret art.

Following the game, Jon and I had a camera war. I handed him my Canon Powershot and the chase was on. We walked around shooting each other.

He was shooting in sepia and managed to capture this one of me:

Everyone had a great night, even if we got a little crazy towards the end.

Gratitude not just on this day but always.

Thanksgiving Day was a pleasant day. I slept in and woke up to my dad and brother putting up Christmas decorations. After eating a bowl full of cereal and vanilla yogurt, I had a cup of Chai and headed out to the living room to help them with the decorations. My mom wanted to help, but she was feeling sick, so she wasn't able to do much. After sitting on the couch taking photos for a while, my dad asked me to assist him in untangling several strands of lights so I joined him and we untangled the lights pretty quickly.

I wore my pajama pants until 3:30, right before we had to leave to go to my aunt and uncle's house for Thanksgiving dinner, just because I was feeling lazy. There was no need to change out of them until then because all I was doing was working on my 7-10 page paper for Old Testament on the book of Esther, which I still have not finished.

After driving over to my aunt and uncle's and arriving there a little after 4, we waited for almost two hours for dinner. Thankfully there were delightful hors d'oeuvres to much on. The turkey was a whopping 23 lbs (or maybe 28 lbs...according to my dad). I think my aunt and uncle will be eating turkey leftovers for a while!

Mom made her amazing Sweet Potato Casserole, which is my favorite Thanksgiving dish. It tasted delicious, as did all of the food. I am usually not a fan of Thanksgiving food, but this year the food was exceptionally good.

We played Apples to Apples for nearly two hours straight after finishing dinner and desserts. At first it was just Christopher, Jillian, Alyssa, Jon and I playing, but other people joined in as the night went on, and I think everyone enjoyed themselves thoroughly. Many of us were exhausted, which made the game even funnier.

God has given me much to be thankful for this year, and my heart is overflowing with gratitude.

The ABC's of Thanks

I already shared a few things that I'm thankful for yesterday, but why not share some more? I thought doing the ABC's of Thanks would be a great idea to make me really think about what I have to be thankful for.

A - Air. Simple but vital for life.

B - Brothers. Jon and Christopher make me laugh til my side hurts, sing loudly at the top of my lungs, and provide me with endless entertainment. They are a huge blessing in my life.

C - Curls. I love it when my hair curls naturally, and I love doing Bantu Curls sometimes, too.

D - Driving. Gets you places faster than walking.

E - Education. God has blessed me with an excellent education from elementary all the way through to college.

F - Friends. Too many to count. Each one a blessing, joy, and encouragement.

G - Guinea pigs. The years I spent raising guinea pigs and having them as pets were wonderful. Their unique personalities and adorable little features captivated my heart. I also loved spending time with my neighbor, Melanie, who raised guinea pigs, too.

H - Hot drinks. Not a day goes by that I don't drink a cup of coffee or tea.

I - Instruments. Playing flute and piccolo brings me such joy.

J - Joy.

K - Kindness. Every act of kindness, no matter how small, never goes unnoticed.

L - Laughter. It makes life more enjoyable.

M - Mu Kappa. An organization dedicated to loving missionary kids and internationals.

N - New earrings. My mom just gave me cute snowman earrings to wear all winter long.

O - Oatmeal. Yummy, nutritious, and multiple ways to fix it. 'nough said.

P - Planes. If it weren't for planes, travelling large distances would be much more difficult. I'm so thankful for the Wright brothers who decided to give their ideas a try, especially because I'm going somewhere special for Christmas this year! {More on that later...}

Q - Quiet. In the quiet is when I sense God's presence most clearly. I love taking time to reflect on life and remember how God is working.

R - Ruth. The book that shows what true friendship is like! I also love it because Ruth is my middle name.

S - Summer. My favorite time of year. Fleeting moments spent outside. Cool drinks. Bonfires. S'mores. Heat.

T - Twitter. Simple and never-changing. It's so easy to tweet and I adore hash tags. #tweet

U - Ukarumpa. The town I grew up in in Papua New Guinea. I grew up with people from many different countries and cultures.

V - Vacations. Taking a break, soaking up the sun, getting away from the normal routine. It's refreshing. My favorite vacation spot is Madang, Papua New Guinea.

W - Wisdom. Without it, I would only make faulty and foolish decisions.

X - Xenia. A city about half an hour away from Cedarville with a Walmart and many other stores and restaurants. I'm grateful for the Walmarts in Xenia, Beavercreek, and Dayton because Cedarville's too small of a town to have one itself and I often find myself needing groceries.

Y - Yogurt. One of my daily staples. So good and good for me. I eat a bowl of yogurt with a bit of granola poured on top just about every day.

Z - Zebra Mochas. Coffee with two different kinds of chocolate in it. I always get the frozen kind. Yum.

That took a little while but it was worth it!

Blessed and Thankful.

There's much to be thankful for this Thanksgiving. God's love for us and Christ's sacrifice on the cross are the most significant by far, but God has poured out countless other blessings on us. 

Today I'm thankful for...

• Christ rescuing me from my disaster-filled past and giving me a hope and future.
• Earthly possessions to use for His glory.
• An excellent education that integrates learning about Christ and developing a relationship with Him with all other areas of study.
• My experience as a missionary kid living in the beautiful country of Papua New Guinea. I wouldn't trade it for the world!
• The beauty that God created for us to enjoy.

What are you most thankful for?

Therefore, let us offer through Jesus a continual sacrifice of praise to God, proclaiming our allegiance to his name. And don’t forget to do good and to share with those in need. These are the sacrifices that please God. -Hebrews 13:15-16

Scavenger Hunt Sunday: November 22nd

1. Mainly One Colour

2. Around the Home

3. Reflection

4. Writing

5. Water