It is almost Christmas!
This morning I was thinking about the words of this carol...

I heard the bells on Christmas Day
Their old, familiar carols play,
And wild and sweet the words repeat
Of peace on earth, good-will to men!

And thought how, as the day had come,
The belfries of all Christendom
Had rolled along the unbroken song
Of peace on earth, good-will to men!

Till, ringing, singing on its way
The world revolved from night to day,
A voice, a chime, a chant sublime
Of peace on earth, good-will to men!

Then from each black, accursed mouth
The cannon thundered in the South,
And with the sound the Carols drowned
Of peace on earth, good-will to men!

And in despair I bowed my head;
‘There is no peace on earth,’ I said;
‘For hate is strong, and mocks the song
Of peace on earth, good-will to men!’

Then pealed the bells more loud and deep:
‘God is not dead; nor doth he sleep!
The Wrong shall fail, the Right prevail,
With peace on earth, good-will to men!’

by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

I love the last verse. Amen!

Last night I attended the Fountain Valley High School Christmas concert "Sounds of the Season". The five choirs and 40+ piece orchestra were directed by my friend Kevin Tison, who is an amazing musician. He has been working with the school program for several years. They were very good and sang both traditional, classical and contemporary pieces. His top chamber ensemble, The Troubadours will be traveling to France next June and will get to sing at the Notre Dame cathedral in Paris.
Kevin, you did a great job!

Today I attended the wedding of my sweet dear friend Graciela Perez to Samuel Boruszko. It was a small, simple and very beautiful ceremony at Calvary Chapel on the Biola campus. There were several original music selections (Samuel is a musician). Also Scripture readings in Russian, Spanish and English. Emilio Nunez officiated the ceremony in both English and Spanish. The bouquet and headpiece Graciela wore was made by the Shipibo Indians using bird feathers from the Peruvian rain forest. The Perez family had the privilege of ministering in Peru for many years. It was wonderful to share this happy time with her and her family.

Wishing my dear friend Graciela best wishes and many blessings!

See the wedding shower pictures here:

http://chiarapics.spaces.live.com/

A couple of fun days with Mom. Yesterday after the cookie exchange I took off work to come back home and go with Mom to pick out my Christmas tree. We picked it out almost right away and loaded it up in the truck and brought it home. Sara and Grace came by for dinner and I finished decorating the tree around midnight. It looked so pretty! I missed not having a tree last year. Today I took a vacation day to spend time with Mom. After a slow relaxing start to the day we drove over to Fullerton to pick up Grace and then headed down to old town Orange. Ate lunch at Cafe Lucca's and then spent the afternoon browsing around the antique shops there. Got home around 4 and then it was time to decorate the cake for Graciela's wedding shower tomorrow. I really enjoyed making the cake and it turned out really pretty. Grace also baked some gingerbread cookies. It was really nice to spend time together!

A busy, busy weekend!
Saturday was bright and sunny. Woke up early, finished up cleaning and doing some laundry. I had invited some of the girls from work to come over for a "baking day". After having some lunch with Jeri we got down to baking! Jeri made Molasses cookies and an Italian cheese cake dessert. I made Peppermint Crescents and Orange Date Pecan cookies. Megan made Chocolate Waffle cookies. Mmmmm.... the kitchen smelled wonderful and we had a great time together baking, talking and listening to Christmas music. Mom arrived later that evening. We were up bright and early on Sunday setting up the refreshments at church as I normally do every Sunday. The service was great and the Christmas music was beautiful too. After church we met up with Grace and Jon for lunch and then did a little shopping. The mountains all around us were sparkling white full of snow. An amazing sight and a little unusual for us Californians! So we drove around trying to find the best place to take pictures. It was quite windy and freezing! (Well, not really freezing... I'm just a wimp for cold weather!!) In the evening, Mom and I went to the Christmas program at church. Can I have another day added to my weekend to catch up on a little rest??!!

Today we celebrated the two December birthdays in our office, Naomi and Holly.

The celebration actually began yesterday with a party in the office. Cake and goodies were enjoyed by all especially the elusive gnome who insisted on having some cake too!
We wrapped up the celebration today with lunch at Chilis. It was a beautiful, blustery, fall day!

Tonight we all went to the Biola employee Christmas party at The Grove in Anaheim. Abby, Michael, Laura, Amy, Ryan and I rode in the Clark's new car. We all had a really fun time together taking pictures before dinner. Speaking of dinner, it was pretty good... filet mignon, shrimp, asparagus and risotto...mmmm! After dinner President Corey recited a poem/song he had written for the occasion and then there was wonderful music by the group Selah. They did an amazing rendition of O Holy Night, my all time favorite Christmas song. After it was all over we took some more pics. It's always a fun time when you hang around us Registrarians! More pics here: http://chiarapics.spaces.live.com/

"It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas..." I really like to keep my Christmas focus on spending happy memorable times with family and friends instead of stressing over all the busyness. Yes, there are lots of activities, concerts, lunches, dinners, etc. but I am learning to enjoy those moments. Today I attended the Talbot Christmas chapel and also went to the BBW (Biola Business Women) Christmas Tea Luncheon. We had a wonderful time eating, singing carols together, and hearing a dramatic monologue by Dr. Sunukjian. He interpreted the story of the shepherd who was the first to received the Good News that night in Bethlehem. Pictured here are some of the Registrar gals that went to the lunch: Ginger, Cyndi, Susan, Aida, Me, Betty Ann, Naomi, Jeri and Holly.