A Live Nativity

The Faith Church out here puts on a live nativity every Christmas season, and it is quite a hit.  They fill their expansive parking lot with scenes from the Bible, taking you from the creation all the way to Christ's resurrection.  You can walk along outside and listen to the audio recordings telling the story, or you can ride in your car and listen to a CD with the same recordings.  We opted for the latter option, as it is bitter cold.  Members of the congregation direct traffic, act in the scenes, and collect information from guests.  It is an impressive event.

Below are just a few of the scenes.  (I must apologize for my dirty window.)

The busy Bethlehem

Roman guards 

You can see a few sheep behind Mary, Joseph, and Baby Jesus   

The angel announcing the Savior's birth.  More live animals.

The wise men and their famous camels.  Wise Man Blue is enjoying the modern convenience of a cell phone. 

Once finished with the story, you are invited into the church for hot chocolate and cookies.  I've never seen anything quite like it, and I'm glad for the experience, as it helped both the husband and me get a little closer to that coveted Christmas spirit.

I hope that Christmas spirit of love, compassion, and hope has found you, wherever you are.

Kick-start your day with this stunner

For a lovely start to your day, enjoy {this} stunning time lapse video of my Chicago.

Happy weekend, friends.  Stay warm should cold weather find you.

~K

{DIY} Gift Wrap

Since it's now December, I can show you the gifts I wrapped like three weeks ago. Haha.  Wrapping paper is so expensive, especially since the stuff gets ripped apart anyway.  So instead of buying wrapping paper, I bought butcher paper on sale from Amazon, got ribbon from TJMaxx, pulled out my paint, and decorated the gifts myself.  I only have three gifts wrapped so far, and have plenty of ideas for my other gifts, but I wanted to show you all what I have done before Christmas gets too close in case you want to use the same ideas.  Each gift only took me a couple of minutes--since we are hauling these across the country with us, I wanted them simple and sturdy.

   

And there you have it!  Totally personalized and fun DIY gift wrap.

UPDATE:

I got two more gifts wrapped.  I took way too many pictures, but I want to remember what I did for future reference.

 

  

We don't have a tree since we'll be out of town for a month, so these are just sitting in my family room for us to enjoy before they get mangled on the airplane. ;) But really, let's hope not.

This holiday season has been a bit strange so far, for the husband and me.  Maybe it's the stress of school.  Maybe it's the fog.  Maybe it's being away from home.  We started listening to Christmas music a lot earlier than we usually do, I think because we wanted something familiar this time of year.  We're going to have to get used to the unfamiliar.  But we feel grateful for traditions, family, and holiday spirit that is alive and well wherever life takes us.

I hope you all have a Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays.  Here's to looking to a new beginning, a fresh start.  Can't wait to meet you, 2014.

Giving Thanks from Ann Arbor, MI

We were blessed to spend our Thanksgiving with dear friends who are also away from home working toward higher degrees.

We congregated in Ann Arbor, Michigan, representing the University of Michigan, Ohio State, and Purdue.  Don't worry, I don't think any friendships were compromised following Saturday's Michigan vs. Ohio State game.  All of us still bleed "T-Bird," our place of undergraduate bliss.  We sure enjoyed those times together, and were thrilled to relive the memories over turkey, candied yams, spiral cut ham, rolls, green beans, jello, stuffing, cranberry sauce, mashed potatoes, salad, ice cream, and four different pies.  (No need to worry that your kids are starving, Mom.  We were stuffed.)

We played a few rounds of Pirates Dice, again reliving old times, and again I'm still terrible at it.  We discussed family and higher education and our hopes and dreams.  Pres and I feel so blessed to have such good friends.  We hadn't seen these couples for nearly two years, but it was like we'd never missed a step.

Rather than writing a long list of all the things I'm thankful for (of which there is a lot), I'll just list one:

I'm thankful it's no longer "Movember."

I mean, check out that 'stache.  Don't get me wrong, he did well what he was supposed to do, but...

I'm loving his new clean look.

We stopped by Lake Michigan on our way home to enjoy the sunset.  This may be the first time I've done "beach" and "snow" together.  It's an experience.

We had a lovely holiday and our hearts are full as we reflect on the many blessings we experience daily.  We had our heat go out on us a week or so ago, facing bitter cold temperatures, and our gratitude renewed in everyday comforts, a dog who keeps our feet warm, and neighbors who know their stuff.

As this holiday season picks up speed, we're reminded of how important family is.  We can't wait to return home, introduce our dog, and curl up with some cider and a card game.  See you all in 14 days!!