Enjoying A Busy Season!

Twelve days left until Christmas and boy has it been busy! I think I had something going on about everyday last week. In the midst of it all though, I am trying to be more mindful to take little moments to think about what we are really celebrating at this time of year. So here is a little run down of the past week or so...

Cookies! The week began with Christmas Chapel on Monday morning. What a blessing it is to be able to work at a place where we can take off an hour and go hear the wonderful message and music of the season! The following day was the annual cookie exchange at work. This year I made Pioneer Woman's Christmas Cherries and Martha's Rosemary Butter Cookies. Both turned out really yummy! About 10 ladies participated and I went home with a great assortment of cookies to mail off to the troops!

Food!

On Wednesday Biola held it's employee Christmas lunch. This year was a little more scaled down that in the past but it was good food and good fellowship time for us all as we all gathered in the gym. The president sang a funny rendition of "My Favorite Things" which I'm sure you can find on YouTube =)

Thursday I had lunch with the ladies from my Grace Group. It was a beautiful day outdoors and we had a nice time talking and watching their little Clara, Lena and Penny play by the fountain.

Parties!

Friday (I told you this had been a busy week!) was our office Christmas lunch & party. Instead of potluck this year we had it catered which relieved stress for everyone. The food was great and we had a fun time together playing "Pin the Red Nose on Rudolph" and playing "Christmas Pictionary" on the white board.

Babies!

That evening I babysat the two little Clarks (Kate & Savannah) so Mommy & Daddy could have an evening out. They are so cute!

More food!

Saturday after a lazy morning in my pj's it was time to get ready for my Grace Group Christmas party. I took PW's yummy Green Bean Casserole for the potluck. We had a ham dinner with all the delicious sides and dessert to go with it. For the gift exchange we had to bring something from our house we didn't want anymore. I found a 500 piece puzzle someone had given me a few years ago and happily passed it along to a new owner =) I ended up with a whiteboard calendar organizer... yay for getting organized this coming year!Church!

Sunday mornings in December have been great as we focus on the reason why Jesus came. Last week Erik preached and this week Dave continued the theme. What a blessing to hear them preach passionately from the Word! You can always find the messages online here if you want to take a listen. After the service I headed over to get my Christmas tree. Yes, it did seem a bit strange to be standing in line in 84 degree weather buying a tree, but I'm not complaining! I love warm, sunny weather! By the time it was time to go to the Christmas concert in the evening I had it all up and decorated. I love Christmas!

Music!

The Christmas concert at Grace was wonderful. We are so blessed to have amazing worship leaders, song writers and musicians who give us a beautiful gift each year. This year was no different. I left the evening feeling thankful and blessed to be a part of it all.