time to catch up

December is more than half over, and my life is finally beginning to slow down! I've hardly had time to read, let alone blog recently. But I do have a few things I want to tell you about!

• Singing Christmas Tree is officially over for another year. It's crazy how quickly it goes once our concert season hits! I stood on the fourth row this year, the highest up I've ever been, where I experienced new levels of heat. Seriously, one night we were literally dripping sweat! But, despite the varying levels of discomfort this year, I truly enjoyed my time in the Tree. I'm so thankful I have the opportunity to be involved year after year!
  
  
• As you well know, it's The Most Wonderful Time of the Year ... which means loads of Christmas movies! I've already watched more than my fair share: the good, the bad, and the painful. I still have a few to watch, but I've picked out some of the best and worst to tell you about.
  
  The Best: Favorite New Movie: Matchmaker Santa. It's cute and romantic without being over the top or cheesy ... until the very end. It just kind of fizzles out. But overall, it's an enjoyable movie, and Lacey Chabert is adorable. Favorite New to Me Movie: Trading Christmas. This premiered on Hallmark last year, but as I had no access to cable, I missed it. It is completely delightful and actually comes across as semi-realistic! (Trust me, "semi-realistic" is one of the highest compliments you can pay to a Christmas movie.) Plus, Tom Cavanagh (I'll always remember him affectionately as Ed) is one of the stars. This is a great movie that I'd love to add to my ever-expanding Christmas movie collection.
  
  Now for the bad: Cheesiest, Most Unrealistic Movie: A Bride for Christmas. This is also a Hallmark movie, and it's all kinds of terrible! I almost didn't even watch it because I'm not a fan of the star. You know how sometimes you can't get past a role that an actor or actress had, even if it was years ago? That's how I feel about Arielle Kebbel. She's probably a really great person, but she was the much-despised Lindsay on Gilmore Girls, and I just haven't liked her ever since. Then you throw in McNab from Psych as an ex with a horrible haircut ... and it just gets worse from there! Basically, the plot is a cross between Runaway Bride and She's All That with a little How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days thrown in for good measure. It's really, really bad. But it's still not The Worst Movie I've Seen This Season. That honor goes to The March Sisters at Christmas. It's a horrible update of Little Women. Normally, I love adaptations of classic literature, but this is terrible! I could go on and on, but instead I'll just send you to this article that says practically everything I'm thinking. (Warning: There is some mild cursing in the article.) The movie does have one redeeming quality: Mark Famiglietti as Marcus Bhaer. But trust me, you do not want to watch this movie. (We have Lifetime to blame for this one, not Hallmark.)
  
  
• In an effort to be a responsible pet owner, I just dropped off my three—Isis, Skaara, and Hammond—at the local vet clinic, where they will be spayed or neutered. OK, so perhaps I did it not because I'm responsible, but because I'm selfish. In actuality, I couldn't care less if there are lots of cats roaming the earth ... I just don't want my cats roaming the earth, and I read that neutered cats are much more likely to stay close to home. And as for Isis, while I'm sure she'd be a great mother, my biggest fear surrounding her is that she'll have kittens in the dead of winter, which would then most likely die because my cats have to be outdoor cats.
  
  It was really hard to leave them at the clinic, and I can't wait to pick them up on Wednesday! (I'm also really thankful they spend the night before and the night after the procedure at the clinic.) In case you've forgotten how adorable they are, here's a refresher.
  
  
• I saved the best for last: I recently learned that I've been chosen to be part of author Tricia Goyer's 2013 Fiction Launch Team! There are about 100 bloggers that have been chosen, and we're starting by promoting Tricia's new novel Love Finds You in Glacier Bay, Alaska, which is co-written by Ocieanna Fleiss. There will be giveaways, author interviews, book reviews, and other promotions, so stay tuned! 

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the proof of your love

A while ago, a friend introduced me to the Christian band for KING & COUNTRY. Their music is great, and if you haven't heard them before, you really should check them out. As I thought about what to title this post, their song "The Proof of Your Love" kept running through my head. It's a song about wanting your life to reflect God's love to those around, which is really not the focus of this post ... but the title still applies!

One of the things we're supposed to be doing in my Beth Moore Bible study is writing down personal revelations for each week—ways God shows Himself to us. Honestly, I've been struggling with that part. September was a pretty terrible month for me health wise—nothing major, but I felt sick more often than not, and when I don't feel good, it's hard for me to take my eyes off myself and see how God is working.

Yesterday, my mom and I went to Omaha to visit Blendy and go to the symphony. But on the way, I started feeling sick again, and we ended up leaving Omaha before the symphony. This morning, I still wasn't feeling well, but I'd made plans with someone after church, and Singing Christmas Tree practices started today, so I decided to go ahead and go to church. Right before leaving for church, I found out my friend needed to cancel our lunch plans, and I almost just stayed home. I'm so glad I didn't!

As I was walking toward the church building, I bumped into my new friend Julie. Julie and I went to college together, but we never met. We connected over facebook during the Nebraska-Wisconsin game last week; we have a mutual college friend who asked a question about Bo Pelini, we both responded, and we discovered we both live in the Grand Island area. (This is big because there aren't many Grace alums in the area. At all.) Then on Thursday night, we met for coffee at The Chocolate Bar. Anyway, it was a nice surprise to run into Julie this morning and to meet her husband and son.

Then when I walked into the sanctuary, I spotted Stephany and her boyfriend. Steph and I are rarely in church on the same Sundays, and it was so nice to sit with her and catch up a bit. On the way out of church, I chatted with one of my VBS kids, last year's Bible study leader Carol, and former student Jess.

I decided to go hang out at Barista's for a while, as practice didn't start until 3. And who should walk in but Jamie, a friend I hadn't spent any time with since the end of May! We didn't have long to talk, but it was so nice to see her.

As I drove to Singing Christmas Tree practice, it hit me that my day was the proof of God's love for me. He used people to make my day better and take my eyes off my own problems. (And if you're wondering, Singing Christmas Tree practice was wonderful—our director said it was like a family reunion as we all got back together for the first time since last December, and she was right!)

I'm sure that if I would just keep my eyes open, I would see so many more proofs of God's love for me. What about you? How is God showing you His love?

while you were sleeping

Another year of Singing Christmas Tree is over. (You can read an article about it here.) It's such a huge part of my life from October (when rehearsals begin) through mid-December that it's a strange feeling when it ends. I'm already looking forward to next October!

The title of this year's program was "While You Were Sleeping"—and we sang the Casting Crowns song of the same name during the program.While I enjoyed the song when I first heard it a couple years ago, it was my least favorite song to sing during the program—and we had to sing parts of it at two different times! Each time we sang it, my mind wandered to another While You Were Sleeping ... the movie.

While You Were Sleeping has been my favorite movie ever since I saw it in the 8th grade. (Not coincidentally, that's also the time that Sandra Bullock became my favorite actress.) I've probably watched it more than 20 times over the years, and I could quote practically the entire thing. (That in itself is quite a feat ... my siblings always make fun of me because I can never get movie quotes!)

While I thought about WYWS every time we sang the song, and I often promised myself I would watch it when I got home, I never did—until tonight. I came home from Singing Christmas Tree absolutely exhausted but not really ready to go to bed. So I popped WYWS into the DVD player. I enjoyed every minute of it! I hadn't watched it in probably a year, and absence definitely made the heart grow fonder. I quoted my favorite parts. I laughed. I once again marveled at Peter Gallagher's eyebrows. I yelled at Jack when he didn't step up and tell Lucy how he felt. And I took great pleasure in the bike scene, which I've embedded below.



Watching While You Were Sleeping was the perfect wrap-up to the "While You Were Sleeping" season of the Singing Christmas Tree. And the movie even fits in with the season, as it takes place basically from Christmas through the first couple weeks of January. (I have never considered it to be a Christmas movie, but I guess it would qualify.) Here's a link to the trailer to remind you just how great the movie is ... and if, heaven forbid, you've never seen the movie, maybe it'll make you curious enough to watch it. It's so cute!

What's your favorite movie? Why do you like it? Do you share my affection for Sandra Bullock? Sound off in the comments! 

a quick update

Life has been so busy lately! I keep thinking of things to write about, but then I don't get around to it. So, here's another of my famous "bullet" updates:

• Mom and I are seeing Straight No Chaser in Omaha tomorrow night! I bought the tickets for her birthday--in May--and it's crazy to think the day is almost here. I'm sure I'll have more to say after the fact. Too bad our tickets aren't as amazing as they were last December!
• I've started a blog for my advanced reading class. As of now, it's private, meaning only the class members and I can read or post to it. We may go public later. For now, though, here's a look at the class (at the top of the page). I absolutely love teaching them!
• My dreadfully neglected other blog lives again! (Well, there's one new post ... it's a start!)
• Blendy and I just signed up for the Singing Christmas Tree. Practices start in just over a week. I love Christmas!
• Speaking of Christmas, how's this for a gimmick? One of our radio stations, Star 97.3, has been playing Christmas music non-stop since Sunday afternoon. Apparently the station is switching formats--listeners are about to receive the "gift" of a new radio station ... hence the Christmas music in the meantime. I listened off and on for about a day--now I wish they'd just get on with it and play whatever it is they're going to play. At least I haven't heard the Christmas song that makes me want to drive over a cliff ... (Another station switched formats almost exactly a year ago. They had their own annoying gimmick to go with the switch.)
• I've signed up for my first 5K! Val's going to run it, and Blendy and I will walk it together. Wish us luck!
• I just found a new "favorite" movie. It's called Perfect Romance, and you can watch it on Hulu for a few more days. Starring LOST's Desmond (Henry Ian Cusick), it's a cute little romance ... and it's incredibly clean, especially considering it's a Lifetime movie. If you're a sucker for romance, you'll like it!

remy zero said it best ...

... when they sang "Somebody save me!"

That's how I've felt over the last two days--like I needed someone to save me from the insanity that surrounds this last week of school. If I had made a "to do" list yesterday, it would have looked a little something like this:

• write ESL final
• do powerpoint for Awana Christmas program
• enter grades
• proof/edit yearbook pages
• read Saving Cicadas (my book review blogger book--I really want to finish it because they now have a book available that I'd love to read--I can't remember the name, but it has to do with Lost!)
• practice Singing Christmas Tree music
• attend Awana Christmas program
  
• practice Festival of Lessons & Carols music (this practice will be with the conductor--and he's going to be able to tell that I don't know my music at all!)
• meet with speech kids
• figure out what StuCo is doing for Christmas
• clean my apartment
• go to Festival practice (all day Friday)
• go to the last four SCT concerts
• call the chiropractor
• submit 16 yearbook pages (due next Wed!)

I honestly can't remember the last time I've been so stressed out (but I bet it involved yearbook!), and I really let the stress get to me. I was not fun to be around at supper last night, that much I'm sure of! This morning, I was on track to be just as stressed ... I had overslept, probably largely due to my inability to get to sleep last night as I continued focusing on everything I needed to do, I got to work late, and I was just plain grumpy. Then I read Jen's blog. She wrote about all the things she was looking forward to this Christmas season. She has had a lot of stress in her life, yet she was choosing to focus on the good things. 

Now I'm choosing to do the same. This week will undoubtedly continue to be stressful, but I can choose how I respond to the stress. I may have a zillion things to do this week, but I can be joyful while I do them, and I don't need to panic when things happen that are beyond my control. Before I know it, this week will be over, and it will be Christmas!

christmas is coming!

Yes, I know it's only the second week of October, but for me, the Christmas season starts when we start practicing for the Singing Christmas Tree. Our first practice was this afternoon. It's nice to be doing it for the second consecutive year--when I went back last year after being away for several years, I recognized a few people, but not too many. But this year, I remembered so many of the altos, and they remembered me! In a church of our size, it's hard to get to know people, and SCT is a great way to do that! Plus, Steph is singing this year, so it will be fun to share the experience with her.

I was pleasantly surprised to see that one of our songs is "The Majesty and Glory of Your Name." I wrote about that song once before. We sang it my high school choir, and I loathed it then. We sang it with a taped accompaniment, and I thought is was just ... lame. Wow, was I immature. First of all, the song comes directly from Scripture--Psalm 8. Second of all, it's just beautiful poetry! So I'm very excited that we'll be singing this song.

The other reason it feels like Christmas is coming is ... we had our first snow early Saturday morning! I'm not that thrilled about snow--it is only the beginning of October, after all--but it certainly makes me think about Christmas!

i'm excited about ...

• my next book review blogger book: Green by Ted Dekker! I would have bought the book anyway ... but now I get it for free!
• taking my yearbook staff to the fall yearbook conference in Kearney tomorrow.
  
• Homecoming Week, during which I get to wear jeans to work every day. (I usually have to stretch things a bit in order to make jeans fit into each day's theme--for crazy footwear day a couple years ago, I pinned socks to my jean capris--but this year, each day naturally lends itself to jeans!)
• the start of Singing Christmas Tree practices! (October, I think?)
• watching more Fringe. I watched the pilot last fall, got bored, and didn't even finish the episode. A couple months ago, a friend who knows I love LOST asked me if I was into Fringe. I told her I wasn't, then she proceeded to tell me why I'd love it. So, I gave it a chance, getting the first disk from Netflix last week. She was right--and I have absolutely no idea why it bored me last fall!
• hanging with my family tonight, watching Friday's Psych and drinking delicious Sleepy Monk coffee.
• having my cousin claim my spare bedroom in a couple months.
• going to Indiana in less than two weeks!!!
  

snow day

Last night, I stayed late to work on yearbook. I drove home in one of the craziest snow/ice/lightning storms I've ever seen. I had to stop a quarter of a mile down the road and rescrape my windshield because the windshield wasn't yet warm enough to melt the ice--instead, it froze to the windshield on contact. It took me 25 minutes to drive the two-ish miles to my apartment. By late evening, I knew we had a 10 a.m. start; at 9 a.m., school was cancelled. At 9:30, I learned I'd need to go cover phones in the office for a few hours this morning. So here I am. I could be grading papers, but I don't feel like it. Anyway, here are a few tidbits to catch you up on what's going on with me:

• My first yearbook deadline is the 24th, which means I have to get everything sent off on Monday. I'm so thankful we had our yearbook final test block yesterday--if it had been scheduled for today, I would have had about 10 pages to finish up on my own!
• Yes, I'm obsessed with amazon--with good reason! For the first 16 days of December, they offered complete sets of TV series, one per day, at severely discounted prices. My day was Dec. 11, when Dr. Quinn, Medicine Woman: The Complete Series Megasetwas on sale for $89.99! Dr. Quinn was one of my favorite shows in junior high and high school, so I said, "Merry Christmas, Becky," and clicked the button to buy it.
• I'm also obsessed with Straight No Chaser. So here's some more info for you:
  
• You can get a free download of "What Child Is This" by signing up for their mailing list at www.sncmusic.com.
• iTunes has the bonus tracks "White Christmas" and "Africa" for $.99 each. Since "Africa" is adapted for part of "12 Days of Christmas" (and since I've loved "Africa" ever since the commercials for Cool Rockin the 90's), I was very excited to find it.
• Poor Val is stuck in Indiana . . . or Michigan . . . or Illinois. Her phone died just as she was going to tell me where. I really hope she can make it home tomorrow, although I hear the weather might be bad again.
• Speaking of bad weather, I hope it doesn't keep me away from the Singing Christmas Tree! We have our final four concerts this weekend, and I'll be sad when it's over.
• I have this project I've been working on for several months. I started with great gusto, but now it's like a chore to work on it. Val bet me that I wouldn't have it finished before Ritta Christmas (which is Jan. 11), so that should be motivation, as I'd love to prove Val wrong. It's not.
• I've sucessfully burned about 2 hours, and I'm now leaving. Steph's making homemade pizza for lunch!
  

in the news

I've been too busy to blog much lately . . . but one of our local TV stations has made it easy to show you what I've been up to!

Singing Christmas Tree
It's the 35th year for the SCT, and a reporter came to one of Saturday's performances. We've done eight shows, and we have four to go! Being in the tree is so much fun--I'm so grateful to have the opportunity to do this. Go here to read the story and watch the video. Look for me at 1:03! I'm the 4th person from the right on the bottom row.

Festival of Lessons and Carols
Last night was the 4th Annual Festival of Lessons and Carols at NC. I've been part of the choir for the past three years. The day is absolutely exhausting, but I really enjoy it! This year, we had a guest organist, Mark Thallander. You can watch Channel 5's video here. And, again, if you look really hard you can see me, sort of: At 0:58, count three people to the right from the conductor's (Eric Dale Knapp) head. That's me! My cousin Nate is two people to the left of me. My mom got to sing a solo, Steph sang in a quartet, and Nate sang in the quartet and played his trumpet for one of the orchestra's songs. I wish I had videos of those things to post, too!