Wednesday, November 30, 2011

Simplicity

This year Christmas for Chris and I is not about ribbons or bows.
It is not about lights, fancy wrapping papers, or big presents.

This year it is all about Simplicity.

Getting back to the roots of Christmas.

Before Chris and I left Southside Baptist Church, some of the sweet older ladies gave me a most precious gift.

At the time, I did not know just how precious it was.
Not long after I opened it, one of the sweet ladies passed away.
I still have a card that she gave me for my birthday, the last time she was ever at church, stuck in my Bible.

They gave me a Willowtree Nativity Scene.

It is the only Christmas decoration that I brought to New Orleans.
Partly because it is the most special, and partly because none of our other decorations would fit in the back of the car with the rest of our stuff.

The simplicity is just a perfect image of Christ.
His love is simple.
It never changes and never ends.

All one has to do is ask.

Just ask for it, ask to receive it!
Sweet Simplicity it is!

On my Willowtree people there are no faces.

I imagine that Mary's face is smiling and joyful. Maybe some soft tears of emotion rolling down her cheeks.

I imagine Joseph's face showing bewilderment and amazement, for he most likely did not fully grasp who that precious boy was going to become.

I imagine the scene was silent. With no sounds made at all.
Maybe an occasional soft cry of the sweet baby and a rare puff of approval from the animals around.

I imagine that they all stared in awe for quite some time at those sweet tiny fingers and toes.

Just as the famous lines stand true for Christmas from the movie the Grinch, it stands true for the true meaning of Christmas,

"It came without ribbons. It came without tags. It came without packages, boxes or bags. And he puzzled and puzzled 'till his puzzler was sore. Then the Grinch thought of something he hadn't before. What if Christmas, he thought, doesn't come from a store? What if Christmas, perhaps, means a little bit more?"

Thursday, November 24, 2011

What We've been up to

So the last couple of days we have been in good o' Georgia.

It was nice riding up 400 and spotin' all the familiar signs and spots.
Rodes that Chris and I have traveled on many times.

We have been busy busy busy.

We got in Ga on Saturday mornin' bout 1 o'clock
and went to bed.


Since we woke up on Saturday afternoon we have been goin, goin, gone!!

It has been such a blast to spend such good time with our greatest blessings, Our families!

On Tuesday my mom and I went to the mart in Atlanta. The mart in HOTlanta is
a magical place filled with unicorns, rainbows, and cotton candy!!

Naww..... it is 14 stories of amazing jewelry, purses,
 nick-nacks, clothing, to sum it up,
it is a magical wonderland....
for girls!!

Outside the mart was the Atlanta Peachtree Christmas Tree all set up.


We went and took our picture by it.

Of course if you know my mom and I, we gonna have some fun:)

On Turkey day we spend great time with Chris's side of the family,
The Bagleys!



We played corn hole and washers.


Having a blast in GA! I don't want to leave on Saturday:(


Thursday, November 17, 2011

Coupon Diva

OK ok, so my hubs thinks I am a little crazy!

But I just LOVE free stuff!!

I have really REALLY gotten pretty good at coupons!!

The picture of my toothpaste above doesn't count the two tubes that Chris and I have open in the bathroom right now, or the 3 tubes that I have in my car to pass out to the homeless people on the streets.

So in all I have gotten 13 tubes of cheap or free toothpaste!
Most of them have been free, but I did spend 35 cents on some of the Crest proheaths!

I WILL only get toothpaste if it is free:)

I just recently stocked up on toilet paper:)

Did really good on these. I think it was something like $1.50 per pack!?

not bad, not bad!
I would love to be able to get FREE toilet paper to pass out to the homeless people with my toothpaste as well, but haven't seen a good free deal for it yet:(

I only have a little stock pile up of laundry detergent! I want to really get more, but again I WILL only buy this stuff when it is REALLY really cheep!


I also have gotten numerous body washes, lotions, shampoos, conditioners, tooth brushes, razors, medicines,
and on and on for FREE or almost free!

I know it might sound just plain silly to be passing out toothpaste to the homeless, but as I drive home from work everyday, I always see someone standing out on the street somewhere holding a sign for money.

Now, just personally Chris and I don't have the money to be passing out every time we see someone, and sometimes I wonder if their money is going toward drugs or such.

So I just feel just fine and dandy passing out a free tube of toothpaste!


Sunday, November 13, 2011

Chinese Church

This morning Chris preached at the English Service at
New Orleans Chinese Baptist Church.

He did great and I was one very proud wifie:)

Everyone at the church was so sweet!

Every Sunday after church they all eat lunch together.

I did not take a picture of the actual food that we ate because that would be rude, but I found a picture on google that is exactly like what we ate.


Yepp, that is tofu and ground beef!

It was so SPICY that it looked like I was crying while I was eating:)

We also had white rice and raspberry tea.

They called the raspberry tea, sweet tea, and it was definitely not like what I was used too!

It was such a wonderful experience! I learned a lot about Chinese customs and I love seeing the children!

Chinese babies are just so cute and I loved seeing them running around.

I even played a little ball with one of the little cuties:)

Had a great time and a wonderful experience!


Saturday, November 5, 2011

Let's Go Pioneers!

CCS
is the best!!

Went last night to our homecoming football game!

It was so neat seeing some of my firsties outside of class!

It was also sooooo funny seeing some of their reactions to
Mr. Bagley!!
Soooo FUNNY!!!

Some of my kids got so embarrassed, while one just goes,
"So THAT'S Mr. Bagley!! ohhhhhhh"


The mind of a 6 year old!! haha


Some of my girls from my class are cheerleaders. They let them go out on the field with the big cheerleaders during half time.
In this picture one of my girls is in the back. You can tell she is mine because she is in the middle, back row, and is the shortest one out there!

They were soooo cute!!




IT was COOLD!! I took my Georgia Bulldog fleece blanket!

Not that I am ashamed of being a GA girl, but I did keep the blanket with the inside part out.

I DO NOT want to get SHOT!!

People down here take their LSU tigers sooooooo Seriously!
People get killed over it!

We had a great time!

Wednesday, November 2, 2011

Yahweh!! Yahweh!!


I love this song!!!

When it somes on the radio I totally turn it up and shout out God's beloved name!!

Yahweh!!!

 I have started uncovering some research on the name Yahweh for God.

Yahweh is a holy name for the Lord, that many people won't even say.
Some believe it is only to be written, not spoken!

This just amazes me!
Now...

I have not fully researched this topic but I like to speak to God and represnt him as a Holy being.

Calling him Yahweh, to me,
just helps me to realize just how HOLY he is!