The most wonderful time of the year...

• It's Sunday evening, and so far today, I've made two batches of microwave candy, two batches of white chocolate covered pretzel rods (with peppermint bark), the homemade party mix is in the oven and Love Actually is in the DVD player (one of my top 3 favorite Christmas movies of the modern era - Elf and Christmas Vacation being the other two). This is on the heels of baking pecan balls, microwave candy, and peanut butter cups for a cookie exchange last week. Holiday baking is a lot of work, but luckily I really enjoy it.
• There's a lot to get done this week at the office to get ready to be out for a few days for Christmas. Tomorrow night, a few coworkers and I are going out for our Christmas celebration (instead of exchanging gifts). I'm really excited about it - it will be great company and I get to try a local restaurant I haven't been to yet that I've been wanting to try.
• Between Christmas and New Year's, I'll get to see three of my best girlfriends (and their families) that I don't get to see nearly enough the rest of the year. So blessed to have to have them in my life.
• Saw this on a friend's Facebook page a few weeks ago. I hope I remember this when I have children and get to explain the magic of Santa. On a somewhat related note, I've seen a couple posts on blogs I read about 'justifying' Santa - as if incorporating Santa into your Christmas is not appropriate if you're a Christian. FWIW, totally disagree - just keep him in the proper perspective.
• Last, but most certainly not least, this morning was Christ Church's first Sunday back on Johnson Square in four years. I have followed their story as they have worked through the legal process to reclaim their church home, and have watched the transition unfold this week from the comfort of my office. As a member of a fellow church in the Diocese of Georgia, I am THRILLED for CCE-Savannah - and it was incredible to watch congregants in tears this morning at the joy and relief of being back in their old home. But, if this whole process has taught us anything, it is that, as Father Michael stated this morning, we are called to worship in word and sacrament as the Body of Christ wherever we may find ourselves.

Wishing you a most blessed fourth week of Advent as you await the hope, joy, wonder, mystery and love of Christmas. 

"People look east and sing today; Love the Guest is on the way."

Happy New Year!

It really is the most wonderful time of the year! I spent the weekend before Thanksgiving decorating for Christmas. It was wonderful to come back up to Savannah from Florida and walk in the door on the first Sunday of Advent and have everything gold, glittery and cozy. I'm ready for hot cider, enjoying a lit Christmas tree, and everything that comes with the season. But, it's also important to remember that Christmas isn't quite here yet. Here is Father Sam's sermon from this past Sunday. I'd encourage you to listen to it (takes less then 10 minutes) and remember keep watch and not get so caught up in Christmas that you forget the wonderful season of anticipation and preparation.

In the same breath, I thought I'd share Holly Anderson's astute response to 'holiday vs. Christmas' outrage she wrote last year on her blog:

"Holiday means "Holy Day." It's a religious word.

Middle English, from Old English haligdaeg, from halig (holy) + daeg (day)First Known Use: before 12th century

It even used to be spelled that way; it became "holiday" as a contraction, like saying "guvna" for governor. So when you say "Happy Holidays", you're wishing someone peace and prosperity in their holy days, whatever those are. But that's too Christian an act, it seems, for those who would rather trumpet their beliefs than live them.

The prevalence of a non-issue like this on talk radio and in op-ed columns is emblematic of everything that's wrong with America, and I say this without the barest trace of irony. Those who profess sincere outrage might do well to remember their Matthew 6:5 ... "And when thou prayest, thou shalt not be as the hypocrites [are]: for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and in the corners of the streets, that they may be seen of men. Verily I say unto you, They have their reward."

Now, I say "Merry Christmas" wherever I go, because that's how I got raised, but will I get offended at hearing "Happy Holidays" from a cashier? Please. We've all got bigger problems, and if you honestly believe a 2,000-year old religion that's killed and saved so many in its name can be brought low by some municipal signage wishing everyone passing by happy holy days, you might ought to go back to Sunday school. A total stranger is wishing me happiness, instead of just throwing my change at me and hollering "next"? A little human kindness, whatever the form? That's something to be truly thankful for. God (all of them) bless us (all of us), every one."

Well said. Happy Advent, y'all.

In all kinds of weather...

Aside from a dismal performance on the gridiron, the weather was fantastic this weekend on the Bayou. I made my first road trip to New Orleans/Baton Rouge this weekend (despite wanting to chicken out around 10 pm the Saturday before). I've now been to LSU, Auburn, South Carolina and Tennessee, leaving only 8 more SEC stadiums to cross off my bucket list (including Texas A&M) - still not quite sure how I'll work in a trip to Athens, though.

I must say, excluding the football game, it was probably my favorite SEC trip. We had a great time in New Orleans Friday night and Sunday. Saturday, there were 3 buses of Gators that made the day trip to Baton Rouge with the NOLA Gator Club. The Baton Rouge Gator Club hosted a great tailgate, and the LSU fans for the most part, we're genuinely hospitable and one of the nicest fan bases I've encountered. I even tried fried alligator (!)

For all the hype surrounding Death Valley, I didn't find it that intimidating. Perhaps it was that our seats were 3 inches from the sun, or maybe that it was a day game, but Ben Hill Griffin a week before seemed much louder to me. It wasn't a great game, but was a great weekend overall with great friends.

September 12th

"Americans long to be united. After 9/11, we all just wanted to be one nation. Not a single American on September the 12th, 2001, cared who won the next presidential election. All we wanted to do was to be one country, strong in the fight against terror, helping to heal those who were wounded and the families of those who lost their loved ones, reaching out to the rest of the world so we could meet these new challenges and go on with our democratic way of life." - President Bill Clinton

I miss that country. Could I have it back, please?

Trying to reason with hurricane season

This past week started off with me losing sleep Sunday night worrying about Irene. Sometime between last Sunday's 5 p.m. and 11 p.m. update from the NHC, Irene's track shifted from skirting South Florida to making landfall around St. Augustine. By early Monday morning, expected landfall was around Brunswick. Needless to say, I panicked. Mildly. Yes, I was raised in Florida. Yes, hurricane season has been an inconvenient reality for my entire life. However, I have never lived in one of those pesky mandatory evacuation zones.

I live on a barrier island, which on most days, is lovely and pleasant. I'm only 15 minutes from the beach. I get to experience the psychological shift that takes place, however faint, every time I cross the Intracoastal. But that loveliness and pleasantness takes on a different form when you check the handy dandy chart put out by Chatham County and realize that, even with just a tropical storm, you have to evacuate.

Blessedly for those of us in coastal GA, Irene turned north and we were spared. The forecast had Irene off our coast late afternoon/early Friday evening. Our biggest worry here was coastal flooding - especially at high tide, which was at 6:25 Friday night. Local authorities were warning folks to stay off of Highway 80 heading out to Tybee if possible, and while I had planned on heeding that warning all day, I just couldn't help myself. So, I came home, changed clothes and headed out to the beach.

 

The water along the causeway was certainly the highest I'd ever seen it, and once I got out to the beach, water came up to just about the end of the ramps across the dunes. The waves were fairly rough, and technically the water was closed to swimmers and surfers, but inevitably there were some daredevils who couldn't stay out. So, enjoy the pictures from the perspective of my iPhone (with a little help from Instagram), and say a prayer for all those impacted by Irene.

Ad astra, per aspera

I walked into our Monday morning sales meeting today and asked to turn the t.v. on so we could watch Endeavour's final launch. No one else seemed terribly interested in it, but having grown up near KSC, I am a bit invested in the goings on of the space program.

Our old house in Oviedo provided great views for numerous liftoffs. You could walk out into the middle of the cul-de-sac and watch the shuttle come up behind the house at the end of the street. Our windows would rattle when the shuttle would re-enter the atmosphere and you could hear the sonic boom. I remember where I was when I found out Columbia exploded (Century Tower - working the Newbie Cicerone scavenger hunt), and where I was when Discovery - the first shuttle to go up after Columbia - safely landed (in our cabin at Kanuga getting ready for breakfast).

We watched this morning's launch on Headline News, which cut straight to commercial after launch. I commented that I was disappointed we weren't going to get to see the separation of the solid rocket boosters - which quickly earned me the title of 'nerd' for the day. I may be a nerd - maybe it had something to do with growing up in Central Florida; maybe it had something to do with Dr. Carol Denicole (my space-obsessed 6th grade math teacher); maybe it's because I think that space exploration (even though it never appealed to me) is a really cool thing. But, whatever the reason, I pray that those on Endeavour have a successful mission and return safely to solid ground. Godspeed, Endeavour.

Royal Wedding Redux...

{people.com}

...about three weeks late, but better late than never. Yes, I did get up at 4:45 a.m. to watch the Royal Wedding. Yes, I did get up and bake scones at 5 a.m. to have with the entire pot of coffee that was consumed - necessary to make it through a full work day. And while I was excited to see the hats, pageantry, and Kate's dress (verdict: gorgeous, but the Madonna business in the chest was a bit much), I was more excited about the actual wedding itself. I'm of the belief, however biased, that Anglicans (and Episcopalians in the US) do weddings the best - and this wedding was no different. 

I loved that the opening hymn, Guide Me O Thou Great Jehovah, was a tribute to Diana (it was the hymn sung as the closing processional at her funeral). It is sung to the Welsh tune Cwm Rhondda - homage to the Prince's 'territorial designation'. I loved that they sung Love Divine, All Loves Excelling - on my list of wedding hymns - even if it was sung to a different tune. John Rutter, one of my favorite composers, composed a lovely anthem as a gift to the couple.

And, I loved the liturgy. I loved that, as the Archbishop pronounced them husband and wife, he wrapped his stole over their hands (the Anglican version of the unity candle). I loved that they said the traditional vows written in the Prayer Book. I found it rather incredulous that a People.com article before the wedding seemed disappointed - even a bit let down - that Will and Kate weren't writing their own vows. But, most of all, I loved the Bishop of London's sermon. It was the quintessential wedding sermon - including a charge to all who witnessed their vows to support and uphold them in their new life together. For all the wonderful music, liturgy, pomp and circumstance, the wedding was, at its core, a wonderful celebration of two people's love of one another.

Little bit o' everything

Have you missed me? It's been forever and a day since I last blogged - so there's a lot to catch up on. I'll try to be brief, but be prepared for a lot. I got to go home for President's Day weekend for Dana's shower. It was so exciting to be able to celebrate with her as she and Dan get ready for sweet Caroline's arrival!

The last weekend of February, a good friend from grad school was in town for work and stayed the weekend. We had a great time catching up - and I'm sure she enjoyed escaping the frozen tundra of Minneapolis.

March started off with a bang - Mardi Gras in New Orleans. Not quite your typical Mardi Gras weekend - David, James, and their friend, Charlie, were all riding with the Krewe of Endymion this year. Mom, Dad and I flew in early Friday morning to join in the fun. Our group (including Ashley and a couple friends and their parents of David) had lunch at Emeril's to kick the weekend off - so delish! Since there were so many of us, we got to eat in the wine room.

We spent the rest of Friday and most of Saturday wandering around the French Market and the French Quarter. Despite the rain (and its postponement of the Endymion parade Saturday afternoon), we had a great time. The signature event - the Endymion Extravaganza - was a blast! The floats rode through the convention center, and it's fun to get all dressed up with somewhere to go! Anderson Cooper and Kelly Ripa were the parade's grand marshals, and Train put on a great show!

And last, but not least, last Thursday was St. Patrick's Day. James came up from Jacksonville to see it for himself. One of my favorite things about St. Pat's in Savannah is listening to all the bagpipers all over downtown. Green fountains, bagpipers, and a great parade - I'm not sure how many more St. Pat's I'll have as a Sav'h resident, but it's definitely been fun!

I feel like I've been spinning my wheels a lot recently - all of the above has certainly be fun and a welcome diversion from stress in other parts of my life. I don't want to go into a whole lot of detail, but would welcome prayers for peace and guidance. My mom has been frequently reminding me of Jeremiah 29:11 - it was the verse my parents' selected for my senior dedication page in my yearbook, and it's a verse I would do well to remember, pray on, and live into. 

"For I know the plans I have for you," declares the LORD, 

"plans to prosper you and not to harm you, 

plans to give you hope and a future."

Ad-dictive

Football season is officially over. Absent of any real rooting interest in the game, commercials took the lead this year. Here is USA Today's list of best ads from last night's Super Bowl. I however, must disagree with Volkswagen's #3 ranking. I love it - by far, my favorite. The full version is below {in case you missed it online last week}. What were your favorites?

Gridiron Grub

In case you didn't catch the link to the right, here is the ultimate Super Bowl party food recipe guide from Sarah Sprague - whether you're hosting a party, attending one, or just hanging out at home to enjoy commercials. Dig in & enjoy! Go Steelers!

{courtesy of quotable cards}

Praying that I can do a better job of living this this week than I have been.

Newsworthy

I'm stuck down in southern Georgia this week for work, so I figured I could hammer out at least one blog post while I'm down here. I've thought about making this post's theme more of a regular occurrence, so we'll see. As most of you know, I'm a news junkie. I even have the t-shirt from The Newseum. {As a side note, next time you're in the Nation's capital, go. Totally worth it.} I would love to have the time to sit down every morning, drink a pot of coffee and cull through multiple hard-copy newspapers. Alas, my life right now doesn't exactly allow for that, so I rely on various internet sources for my fix. I'm a big fan of The Daily Beast's Cheat Sheet. Not that I'm too lazy to hunt the stories down, but having it in one concise list with links is super helpful. I also count on my quite-varied Twitter feed too. One thing I've recently discovered is Vanity Fair's VF Daily. What more could I ask for than topics that interest me written by {usually} great writers.

This kind of brings me back to what was the original premise of this post: things that have caught my eye this week that I thought I'd pass along.

• Sargent Shriver passed away yesterday. Both Sargent, and his wife Eunice, have left behind wonderful legacies in the Peace Corp and Special Olympics, respectively. I thought this piece by Maureen Orth (Tim Russert's wife) was lovely and tender. I was in the car when she was on Morning Joe talking about Sarge, and what a wonderful testament she gave to his life.
• This clip from The Colbert Show is funny because it's true. I'm with Mika - I definitely have Palin fatigue! 

The Colbert Report	Mon - Thurs 11:30pm / 10:30c
Mika Brzezinski Experiences Palin Fatigue
www.colbertnation.com
Colbert Report Full Episodes Political Humor & Satire Blog Video Archive

Hope you're having a good week!

"Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that."

{Martin Luther King, Jr.}

Happy New Year!

2010 has come and gone, and 2011 is here. There certainly was a lot of good that happened last year (friends got married, had babies (or found out they're expecting babies), I got to go on a wonderful trip to Italy with a fabulous group of young kids), but I must say, for the most part, I'm happy to close the book on last year. For all its good, it definitely was tough and challenging at times too.

I must say, this was one of the best New Year's weekends that I can recall. It was relatively low-key and filled with good friends. Great dinner out at one of my favorite restaurants with a best friend from college, ringing in the new year with a champagne toast and Ryan Seacrest at one of my favorite bars downtown, and a Gator win to send Urban off into his early retirement yesterday. Hopefully that peacefulness will carry over for the next 12 months.

I haven't really decided on my 'resolutions' yet, but there are things that I would like to accomplish in 2011. My big one is to take better care of myself - not only physically, but emotionally and spiritually. I let stress dominate my life for the better half of 2010 - mostly related to work. I need to learn to let go of that - or at least learn to manage it better. Whatever you resolve to do - or not do - in the new year, I wish you the best of luck in accomplishing what you set out to do. This quote came across my Twitter feed yesterday, and I loved its sentiment: "May 2011 be your best year yet, but your worst to come."