Monday, December 7, 2009

Wassail, Tow-trucks, and Flying.

Advent day 6- "Here we come a wassailing!" Make wassail and watch "Little Women."
Scripture I John 1:5-22


Directions for Nana's Sweet Wassail-4 cups brewed tea (i use lipton).
4 cups cranberry juice
4 cups apple juice (not apple cider)
1 cup O.J.
3/4 cup sugar
4 cloves
1 tablespoon cinnamon (and/or cinnamon sticks)
(it is very sweet. i add 6 cups of brewed tea to lessen the sweetness).

Add ingredients together in a pot, heat, and serve. Let it simmer all day with a ladle and Christmas cups in close reach! Your home is guaranteed to smell Christmasilicious!

Little Women is by far my favorite childhood book. I became a part of the March family when I was 14. I'd escape to the park down the street from my home, find my way to the shade of a tree, and imagine I was Jo March.
I love to watch the movie each Christmas. Over the years I have discovered that In some way I am each one of the March girls- Meg, Jo, Beth, and Amy.
Have you read or watched Little Women? Which March girl are you most like?


In my last post I mentioned that Michael and I were going on a date.
Here's how the date turned out!vancollage
The van broke down.
Thankfully we had the camera (i always have my camera) and were able to occupy ourselves during the 45 min. wait for AAA towing to come rescue us. As you can see from this pic. we didn't go hungry! Thank you Rod (tow-truck guy) for chauffeuring us the 45 min. back up the hill to our town in your sweet ride.

The van is now awaiting surgery. It needs a new timing belt ($523). We are hoping (praying) that is the extent of it's injuries. If they're are more injuries it will have to undergo another surgery ($2,000+).
I was thinking it would be nice if the "medical expenses" for the van could be included in our other medical expenses from this year, since we have already met that deductible.
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On the bright side, the kids weren't with us when the van broke down, and we already had our other vehicle in town (can you imagine what a nightmare it would have been with kids, and then needing to get our other vehicle had it been at home, 30 miles from town. yikes! good timing God! - no pun intended).

And God, Thank you (as I mumble "bah hum bug" under my breath) for another opportunity for you to Provide, and show how You love us. We're counting on You again!

Finally, thank you to all of you who prayed for me! I did it, I played the guitar at church! I have a greater respect and admiration for the folks that get up there and lead both instrumentally and vocally each week. It's not easy.
I'm especially GRATEFUL for the individuals that lead with me-
Ross- who coached me through it saying, "just breath, you can do this, take your time" (i was SO nervous, so out of my comfortable element).
Susan- who whispered to me, "they're singing, your doing fine, they're singing (that was somewhere in the middle of song 3, when I was shaking so much I feared I would have what would appear to be an epileptic seizure).
Jeff- who had tears in his eyes, but don't tell him I told you, cause "grown men don't cry."
If your going to step out of your comfort zone, into something you've longed to do, but don't know if your capable of, make sure your surrounded by people who LOVE you, have your back, and want you to fly! Make sure your with people who want to fly with you.
Playing guitar was a blessing, but soaring with these individuals was a greater blessing!

8 comments:

  1. Aw! Yea, you, for such a big accomplishment. And yea for date nights gone awry. Sometimes they make the best memories. (But I'm sure you could have done without the car repair bills. Yuck.)

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  2. sorry about the van :o( i am praying that it is just the belt.

    i recognize that cute bag... do you always carry jelly bellies in your purse? remember when we were starving in portland and guess what you pulled out!!

    miss you!

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  3. Aw, man, I'm sorry about your van. What a bummer. Glad you guys were able to make the best of it. :)

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  4. So happy to hear about how Sunday went :)
    Now, you need to do a guitar playing vlog!

    p.s That picture of the two of you is just too cute.

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  5. Wow, Nana's wassail sounds amazing! I will definitely have to give it a try. So sorry to hear about your van...although those inopportune moments usually turn out to be fun memories.

    Thanks so much for the sweet comments!

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  6. ugh, i hate car trouble. but those pics totally rock.

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  7. Ahhh. Little Women, the next Christmas movie on the list.
    Van = evil
    Yea for candy when the car breaks down.

    Dear God,
    Bless Denise's guitar for not breaking down while playing like the car did on her date!!!! AMEN

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  8. I can totally see you as Jo March. I'm probably a little more like Amy (NOT my favorite character by the way). When I was growing up, I loved that book. Sadly, my older brothers teased me by calling it "Little Vermin" and the name has just stuck.

    It sounds like you had a memorable date. I love the visor mirror picture (and I'm thinking that your husband is a good sport.)

    Glad the worship went well!

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