merry christmas...

Crazy to think another Christmas is almost over... There's always a ton of crazy chaos leading up to the big day and then we try (or at least my family does) to slow down and actually enjoy the holiday. I'm not sure we ever really grasp the true "reason for the season." We talk about Jesus and we make time for church... but how do you really comprehend the fact that a baby was born to a teenage virgin... let alone the fact he spent 33 years "growing up" all to die on a cross after doing nothing wrong, but to cover all of our wrong? If anyone publicized a story like that today we would laugh and accuse them of starting a cult. Today we have the bible and biblical scholars to support Jesus' birth, life and death but it will always come down to faith.

I hope you've had an amazing Christmas... I've had a great day with my family and hoping to see some more tomorrow assuming this snow doesn't keep everyone away.

"Christmas is a necessity. There has to be at least one day of the year to remind us that we're here for something else besides ourselves." - Eric Sevareid

deja vu shuffle...

"Déjà vu (meaning "already seen") is the experience of feeling sure that one has already witnessed or experienced a current situation, even though the exact circumstances of the previous encounter are uncertain and were perhaps imagined." (wikipedia)

Have you ever experienced déjà vu? Whenever I feel déjà vu, it seems it's usually experiences coming to life from a dream. I can't always finish the episode, but everything feels familiar.

Lately, my feelings of déjà vu are more like life imitating life... in other words... I keep trying the same things and making the same mistakes. Or maybe not even mistakes... but watching situations not turn out the way I want them to. What's the quote about insanity... "doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results?" At some point during an experience I look around and realize I'm heading toward the same ending.

Here's to trying different things to get different results... I want to take my life off of repeat and put it on shuffle.

big week...

It has been a big week... maybe not your definition of big but it felt big and I have a feeling this week will be more of the same bigness.

1. One of my friends got engaged this week... I love engagements... I love proposal stories... and most of all I love seeing (or hearing) my giddy friends after they become engaged.

Some proposals I like (in no particular order)...
Chris and Ali... mostly because I love FCA... and also because she is legit surprised and her mom was in on it
Luke and Drew... mostly because Drew has a unisex name like me... and also because it was simple but centered around something that meant a lot to them
Zachary and Alaina (sp?)... mostly because of the creativity... nothing flashy in the speech, but I love the use of so many people to make her feel special

If I had a lot of blog readers I'd ask you for your faves... or maybe your fave is your own?!

2. The Sing-Off started! Three years ago NBC did Clash of the Choirs to fill the holiday season and last year they came out with the acapella competition, The Sing-Off. I was a tad too busy this week to catch any of it live, but spending my Saturday night jamming to acapella has been perfect. Wednesday's intro to "Use Somebody" is one of my new faves. If only I had made the cut. :)

3. College drama is not usually a good thing, but Wednesday night a student called to help figure out a bad situation. It had nothing to do with me, but someone suggested she call me for advice. A lot of people complain about sucky roommates, but when most of us think back to the different situations they probably weren't as bad as they seemed at the time. Thankfully I have never had to deal with a roommate conducting illegal behavior that could get me in trouble too... Being told you can't go back to your room can be a little disconcerting, but in a weird way it was rewarding to be there for someone in need. I just hope I made the night a little less disastrous.

4. Fourteen days until like Christmas!! I still have way too much shopping to do and I'm running out of time if I want to stick to my online shopping plan. My favorite part about Christmas is obviously the birth of Christ... so many people go on and on about the commercialization of the holiday taking away from the true "reason for the season" so I won't belabor the point... but not only am I grateful for dear baby Jesus... but I'm anxious to see some family and friends I haven't seen in what feels like forever.

5. I recently finished another semester of teaching. I'm still processing my thoughts... trying to debrief from the fall and still leave myself time to prepare for the spring. Here goes nothing!

humor...

I have this thing where I'm not sure my sense of humor always goes over so well. Most of the time I probably think I'm more funny than I actually am.

Last night I was traveling with our women's basketball team and our coach's six year old daughter had to pee. I thought it was funny to ask if she had ever peed outside before. She then started to cry afraid I was going to make her pee outside. Fifteen minutes later we had stopped to pee and she was subsequently puking in the seat next to me. Who's laughing now?

Most people my age have been entertained by movies like Austin Powers, Napoleon Dynamite and the Hangover. Ever since my distaste for Austin Powers, I've put my little sister in charge of determining what kind of television and movies fit my sense of humor. I've never even seen Napoleon Dynamite, the Hangover or half of Will Ferrell's movies. I prefer Friends, Notting Hill and my current favorite What I Like About You... the show most people over 21 have never even heard of starring Amanda Bynes. I know it's funny when I consistently laugh out loud. Stupid? Yes... but after a long week of 10 basketball games in seven days I'm allowed to be stupid.