I celebrate the day...

Seeing as it is less than a month till Christmas, I feel like now is the time to begin the preparation for the festivities. I already had my staff Christmas party...which was a pajama party this year! It was a hoot!! I laughed so hard I was crying! I am very thankful for the people I work with. They make going to work a lot of fun! I am very fortunate to be able to work in such a positive environment!

I also did some Christmas decorating this week. First at my house...then my youth girls and I decorated the Hut. We had a blast...we cranked up the Christmas tunes, untangled some lights, climbed up on dangerously high stacks of chairs, and transformed the look of the hut!

I love Christmas! I love the lights! I love the joy and hope that is felt at this time of year! I love Christmas music! Right now I'm listening to Relient K "I celebrate the day". My favorite part is:

"And the first time
That You opened Your eyes
Did You realize that You would be my Savior?
And the first breath that left Your lips
Did You know that it would change this world forever?

...And I, I celebrate the day
That You were born to die
So I could one day pray for You to save my life"

Ever since I started working on the maternity ward, my view on Christmas has drastically changed. I wonder how Mary's birth experience was. Was she already in labour while she was riding on the donkey on the way to Bethlehem? How long was her labour? Who helped her through her labour? Did she have a midwife? What was Joseph's role? Did he hold her hand, rub her back, and coach her through it? Or in that culture was it taboo for him to be in on the delivery? Was Jesus born breech? I could go on and on with all the things that I think about. I made some comment to my youth girls about Mary wishing she had an epidural...and they made fun of me for thinking about things like that...so I'm probably the only one that thinks about these types of things at Christmas...but to me, imagining this part of the story makes it more real and exciting! In the last couple of weeks I've been reminded over and over again that EVERY baby is a miracle from God! I've seen how things can go wrong so quickly, without warning...I know that every time a baby is born healthy it's a miracle! Jesus's birth is even more miraculous! I wonder if those present in that delivery realized the importance of the baby? Did the midwife (if there was one) think that this was "just another baby"? Or did this delivery stand out to her for years to come? I'd like to think that this delivery was a special one. I would have liked to have been there!

Read this book...

If you're like me, you'll literally laugh out loud as you read this book...so maybe don't read it in public, unless you like to randomly laugh out loud to yourself in public. I've done that on airplanes before because of books or movies...and then I get slightly embarrassed...not quite as embarrassed as when I start crying on the plane because of a movie...*ahem* not that I've ever done that... ;)
Anyway...as I was saying/typing...read this book, you won't want to stop talking about it!

Bringing back some Kelly

Breakaway - Kelly Clarkson

Grew up in a small town
And when the rain would fall down
I'd just stare out my window

Dreaming of what could be
And if I'd end up happy
I would pray

Trying hard to reach out
But when I'd try to speak out
Felt like no one could hear me

Wanted to belong here
But something felt so wrong here
So I pray
I could breakaway

I'll spread my wings and I'll learn how to fly
I'll do what it takes til I touch the sky
And I'll make a wish, take a chance, make a change
And breakaway

Out of the darkness and into the sun
But I won't forget all the ones that I loved
I'll take a risk, take a chance, make a change
And breakaway

Wanna feel the warm breeze
Sleep under a palm tree
Feel the rush of the ocean

Get onboard a fast train
Travel on a jet plane, far away
And breakaway

I'm craving an adventure...

and the curtain closed...

Pink Panther is done. I never expected to have so much fun! I thought I'd be super nervous about everything...but I was more nervous about the audition than I was at the actual performances. I will miss being Margot...though I'm using my "Margot charm" to try to get my dad to buy me a new car for Christmas...lol! (it's not going to happen!) He just laughs at me. I won't miss my outfits, especially the pantyhose!! I will miss the seeing the cast and crew, and all the laughs we had!! Now it's back to the 'real world'...my calendar suddenly seems so empty, what to do...

Memory Lane

Oh Wow! I was listening to some of my favorite songs from a while ago...and I just remembered one of my favorite songs from last summer. "Country Man" by Luke Bryan. I don't think I've heard it in a year...and I forgot how much the music video makes me laugh!! This video gets extra stars for best use of piglets and port-a-potties in a music video!!
(Holly you may want to get your earplugs if you watch this lol!!)