Christmas happy.

I'm pretty excited. If you haven't already noticed.

Tell me about your favorite Christmas memory, or your favorite thing about Christmas time!

Give thanks.

So what if everyone posted their Thanksgiving posts on Thursday, and those punctual bloggers on Wednesday? Normally I'd probably apologize for being late and get on with it. But, I'm not. Anyway, Thanksgiving: We ought to stop and look around and give thanks for family, friends, home, so, so many things. I think of my wonderful church and the fellowship I can have there with other believers. A church where God is glorfied. I go to a "school" where I have the opportunity to learn so much from a Christian perspective. It seems crazy right now since tomorrow happens to be Monday and I happen to have a busload of homework, reading, and test prep to do, but I am thankful for the opportunity to learn. Not to be spoonfed a bunch of politically correct lies, but to learn truth, to delve deeply. I'm thankful for that. And most importantly, I'm thankful for the God who has loved sinners and sent His only Son to die for an ungrateful people. How can I not be grateful? How can I not love Him? Give all for Him?

No, it's not Thanksgiving day. That doesn't matter. Every day, every single day, we need to stop even in the midst of our busy days to just think of all our blessings and give thanks. Do you realize what has been given you? How much has been poured out? God has given us grace. Be thankful.

I'm also very thankful that it's Christmas time. I can listen to Christmas music without people hating on me. Yay!

Be still, my heart.

1. It's Thanksgiving week.

I don't have school. I get to see my family, play intense games of Risk, Cadillac, Ultimate frisbee, hike, sleep in, eat good food - and most importantly, Aunt Carla's cookies. I swear I have dreamed about those cookies. Once a year, my aunt makes about 250 delicious, addicting, sweet and chocolatey, Hershey kisses cookies. And once a year, those cookies are gone in about two days.

2. Crazy hair day:

A New Excelsior Tradition. Lots of fun. I got to wear pigtails wrapped in ribbons and bows of all different colors. I had fun. . .even if, yes, I happened to be the only high-schooler who participated. Well, I had fun. But really, come on, guys.

3. So Katie and I watched a special on William and Kate's engagement.

The weird part is, neither of us ever watch TV. The other weird part is, well, isn't it obvious?

4. The Excelsior Westward Ho party.  
It was real. It was great. It was really great.

My favorite, best friends: the Parson and the Bandit.

Cowboy-Dad

The Fam: Cowboys, Indians, and a Parson. I love them.


5. I'm making lists like Ree, 'cause she's awesome.

Yes, we're on a first-name basis now.

6. Now I'm going to go watch a movie and clean my room

 and pretend like I'm not missing out on an awesome game of Ultimate because I have no car. . .

Roden's and some rustic loveliness.

Cookie dough must be good for the soul (since it sure ain't for the body).

The local music store makes my heart happy. It smells of sheets of music I've yet to play and lovely, shiny, enchanting pianos with perfectly white and black keys just waiting to be handled. I would live there if I could. And if I had 20,000 for a baby grand. Which I don't. So that would be a no. . .

Also, I'm in love with this rustic wedding from OnceWed. I love all the wood, her gorgeous red hair, and the unique bridesmaid dresses. So warm and lovely.

Portrait of a sunset.

I didn't have my camera, but I do have words.

As I lay upon my back, the grass as my pillow, the sky as my ceiling,
I saw a sunset
Not of passionate streaks of violent reds and burning oranges.
'Twas a quiet, wintry sunset of pale yellows,
Soft blues and violets, each blending
Hand in hand,
One with another,
Sweetly, gently singing a story of forgotten winter eves.

downtown.

Some random and completely unrelated thoughts.

I live next door to a U.S. Congressman. This makes me famous.

Toy Story 3. Watch and weep. For real.

Synecdohes are my favorite figures of speech.

I'm listenin' to my Christmas music. Thank you, Caroline, for the lovely vintage Christmas playlist. Who cares about the after Thanksgiving rule? Besides, they're already decorating with lights and trees all throughout the mall and outlet stores. . .and basically everywhere else. So, I know we haven't even had Thanksgiving but 1) who wants to decorate with turkeys and pioneer people? That doesn't make me want to buy anything. Sorry. 2) Christmas decor transforms ordinary shops into magical places. Makes you feel happy. And buy more - which is a brilliant marketing strategy, just not so great for us consumers. Well, the heck with the After Thanksgiving Rule. It's a free country.

As you may have already figured out, I kind of love messing around with this blog and changing little things a lot. Well, I just went through one of those phases today. Check out the pages! (Which would mean the 'home,' 'de moi,' etc. buttons, for you "technologically challenged" readers. ;) I also added links to some awesome blogs - check them out!

Why is it so cold? What happened to Fall?

I have to wear make up every day this week. Way too much effort.

You may have already, unlike me, jumped on the Pioneer Bandwagon, but if not, check out Confessions of a Pioneer Woman. She never fails to crack me up. The woman is hilarious. Now I'm gonna lose hours of my life flipping through page after page.

Dear November,

Thanks for a wonderful week at Katie's.

1. Katie's lovely home.

2. Chair-painting.

3. Drawing outside on the lawn.

4. My buddy, Isaiah posing in his sparkly purple hat.

You brought cold weather, golden trees, and fallen leaves. And you look so pretty and inviting. So I guess I can forgive you for swallowing up October.

Quoth the raven, "Nevermore."

On Saturday, Katie, Kelley, Jonathan, Savannah, and I took a road trip to Memphis to see Wicked! We listened to Wicked on the way up, had the "best meal on Beale," (or so they say), and walked down to the Orpheum to see the play! It was. . .well, wicked. Even better the second time. On the way home, we definitely would have listened to the soundtrack and re-hashed every detail of the play, had Savannah not convinced us it was "overkill."

When we drove back into the neighborhood (good ol' Woodside), I was delightfully reminded that it was Halloween Eve, given that there was a 7-car traffic jam, hay rides, golf carts draped in twinkly lights, more people than usual walking outdoors, oh yeah, and they were all dressed as cats, superheros, witches, movie characters, inanimate objects (personally, I think those are the funniest), etc. That kinda tipped me off. We pulled up to our house. The one with the lights off full of people pretending not to be home. Yeah, that one. We (and our whole street) happen to be the Scrooges of Halloween, you see. Trick-or-treaters just love us.

Well, in the back of the house (for the front was blacked out), we ate homemade pizza, sipped on hot cider, talked, laughed, ate ice cream, and talked some more. Afterward, Daddy and I read Poe by candlelight. It was delightful.