christmas

santa was good to me - new pots & pans, a food processor, dishes (can you tell the theme this year?)

but i'm so glad i got to see my family (both sides) and celebrate the birth of my savior!

happy birthday jesus!

I want this outfit...

I fell in love with an outfit on another blog I read.  this one, actually.  (image from The Satorialist)

So I went to a site called Polyvore and recreated it for me!  Polyvore is great.  You can play with all kinds of clothes and accessories and not have to leave your house or lose any weight or anything! 
Here is what I came up with...


Find me on Polyvore
have a great day!

life gets in the way

did you know that? 

my life got in the way this week and distracted me from the basic things like cleaning my home and hanging up clothes.  i did laundry a week ago and still haven't folded it. 

i made a ROYAL mess in my kitchen today because i was making Christmas goodies!!  in the boxes this year, homemade graham crackers & homemade marshmallows.  i am also including small chocolate bars and hot chocolate packets! 

i made the marshmallows last year from this recipe.  the graham cracker recipe came from here. 

now, my kitchen is devoid of all the flour i used (and spilled), the dishwasher is loaded, and the baseboards are wiped down.  that last one is random, i know, but it has been bothering me and so i finally took care of it.

well, it's time for bed.  sweet dreams!

yesterday and today

i was worn out and a smidge grumpy last night so i didn't post about my day so i'm doubling up today!

wednesday was a short work day.  that morning, i put together more sewing kits.  i really enjoyed this more than i thought i would.  after lunch, we headed off to an adventure!  our group went to avery island to the tabasco bottling company.  i bought spicy mayonaise that i can't wait to try on a turkey sandwich.  from there we attempted to find a movie theatre to go see blindside (which was fantastic!!) and to find somewhere to eat.  needless to say, the GPS lead us astray and we ended up in lafayette, la.  all i need to say is that i was glad i wasn't driving!

this morning, i worked again at the depot putting together sewing kits.  i think we almost finished two pallets this week!  then after lunch, i headed to chez hope - the women's shelter.  we worked again in the clothes closet but this time, we made a serious dent in all the donations.  it looked much better after we finished.  that place touched my heart this week.  they do offer hope in so many ways to people who really need it. 

i'm still trying to figure out why the Lord wanted me to come on this trip.  i feel a little more at peace with myself and God though. 

one of my favorite moments of today comes from mrs. jewell.  she is hard of hearing and during the singing at the service this evening, she was singing as only she can.  her husband told her she was singing too loud.  so she sang louder!  i couldn't help the giggling after that!

today's distraction...3 yr olds & old clothes

today was a little different for me.  i went to the head start program in baldwin and hung out with the 3 year old class.  they were precious!  of all the names i heard this morning, my favorite was Le'zay'lon.  he has two apostrophes.  super cool! 

after lunch, i went with a small group to Chez Hope.  this is a battered women's shelter.  i had no idea about this kind of stuff.  i knew of shelters existing like this but had NEVER experienced anything like it.  this one is housed in a remodeled hotel.  it's fantastic.  they help lots of women and children.  what they needed us to do today was to sort through "my sister's closet."  this is a clothes closet where the women come and can get what they need at no cost to them.  we do this in psj but ours is the cadillac version of this one.  at least today we cleared a path from one door to the other.  it's a tangible way to see how we have helped. 

it was a good day. 

my quote today comes from the preschool teacher at head start (it's actually more of an experience).  they were going over their daily morning activities like what the date was and what day it was and after they recited all of this, she said, "you are so smart!  kiss your brain!"  then they kissed their little hands and pressed their hands to their heads.  it's was PRECIOUS!  i'm gonna use this one later! :-)

today's distraction...sewing kits (day 2)

today was a great day at sager brown!  we rose nice and early and had several orientations of what kind of work we would be doing this week.  then we headed over to the depot warehouse.  this place is impressive.  everything that comes into sager brown is sorted and all kinds of stuff get ready to head out to whomever needs it.

i worked at the sewing kit table.  at this table, we had to make sure that each bag had 3 yards of fabric, a matching spool of thread, a pack of needles, a pair of scissors, and at least 5-8 matching buttons.  i had a great time putting these together.  it was fun matching everything up and digging through massive amounts of thread and buttons.  many of the kits were already packed by the folks who sent them to sager brown but they all have to be checked.  i couldn't help thinking of who is going to receive each kit and what they were going to make with it.  i pray it blesses their life!  other kits that were being put together were school kits, layette kits, birthing kits, and health kits.

tomorrow, i am headed to the head start program in baldwin.  i believe i will be working with 3 and 4 year olds.  right up my alley!

today was also mary's birthday (68, i believe).  mac surprised her with a cake and candles and she clapped and grinned like a little girl.  pure joy!

quote of today...skip - (talking about planning the communion service on thursday) - well they argued about who was going to bless the condiments.  (he meant elements, as in communion elements)

today's distraction...travel

this morning i left with a group of 17 older folks on a mission trip.  we headed to baldwin, louisiana to the UMCOR sager brown depot.  it was a loooooong bus ride from psj to baldwin.  i think we stopped 5 times!  i sat in the back with the luggage so they wouldn't have to.  have i mentioned that i am the youngest person here by at least 30 years or more??  it's definitely going to be an experience!!

quote of the evening...mrs jewell - anybody got any scotch tape?  no?  well, i'll just find some chewing gum! (she was trying to hang up a small poster of some sort)

today's distraction - flooding parking lots

we have had one serious storm this morning and after hurricane season is over too!  the parking lot has been flooded.  the road on the other side of the church has been flooded.  the yard is still flooded.  it's completely fascinating me today.  i cancelled my programs for this afternoon because of the weather and i have done NO other work because of watching the water rise and fall.  i got soaked to the skin when i looked out the window and noticed the water was almost up to the doors of my car!  i took off my shoes and ran to move it!  i have never experienced anything like this!

this picture is from the drain that caused all the flooding in the first place.  someone finally came and cleared it!  it made a fantastic noise too!

this one is taken from the upstairs of the church.  the water here is much lower than it was.

closer view.  see the line of pine straw and pine cones - that's how high it was!