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My daily reminder...

I found this on another blog (thank you kind over matter) and found it very helpful! It's the simple reminders that we often forget! As the new year approaches I thought this was very appropriate!

Christmas with the Kingma's

Christmas was pretty perfect! As most of you know my Mom & Keith have already flown south for the winter and had a great Christmas in Ft. Myers, and per my previous post, after their visit to Chicago, The Hall's also headed south for some warmer weather! So, I braved the freezing rain and snow with Jason and we headed to Grand Rapids, MI to spend the holiday's with his family!

Christmas Eve was filled with a candlelit church service followed by a wonderful home cooked meal courtesy of Nancy Kingma (Fillet Mignon, with asparagus, twice baked potatoes, and salad) it was delicious! We opened our stockings and then dove into the present portion of the evening! Santa was very good to us this year, we are very blessed and so thankful! After gifts, we had dessert and hit the hay!

Christmas breakfast was amazing, dutch babies, with oatmeal, grapefruit, and all the berries I could eat! The rest of Jason's family came over for the afternoon and we continued to eat , drink, and have fellowship! (I helped make the dessert above, we called it the Christmas surprise!) We played a gift game, and also did a couple rounds of Catch phrase! Jason's grandmother was cracking me up! What a great afternoon spent with family:) I am now obsessed with the game Apples to Apples, we played so many rounds that night!

Over the holiday we were able to see so many close friends that we do not get to see often enough so that was really special as well! There are a lot of exciting things happening for everyone and we're just glad we were able to be a part of them! Family and friends are everything to us and we love you all so much!

I hope everyone had a very happy holiday as well, and I hope the new year brings you peace and happiness as well!

Deck the Hall's

U-505 Submarine at the Museum

The Hall family + 1 Kingma :)

Huge Christmas tree at the Museum

Planes

Carley was so excited to ride CTA!

The plaid boys!

The weekend before Christmas my Dad, Kathy, and Carley came to visit! We spent time together as a family and did some touristy things during the day! We headed to Five Guys for lunch (anyone who has talked to Jason since that Saturday now knows what Five Guys is if they didn't before, I think he's obsessed!) Then drove down Lakeshore Dr. to the Museum of Science and Industry. I'd never been before so it was a great experience! We walked around for a couple of hours and saw the the U-505 (top pic) it was incredible! We saw planes, and a toy making machine, and the baby chicks in the genetics exhibit, and did the fighter jet simulator (which went upside down and made me a little sick to my stomach! haha) I'd love to go back and see everything we didn't get to see, so that's on the Chicago to-do list!

After the museum we headed back to rest a bit. We got some dinner, opened presents, and watched a movie! Dad got Jason his very first tool box! They were both like kinds in a candy store! I got a new coffee machine and it's amazing!!! We are so blessed, and thankful! Spending time together was the best present of all! We love you guys!!!

Have a holly jolly Christmas...

My grown up Christmas list is full of prayers and wishes that my family and friends are happy, healthy, and blessed with all that life has to offer them! I am so thankful for each and everyone of you and all that God has blessed me with this year!

For unto us a child is born, to us a son is given; and the government shall be upon his shoulder, and his name shall be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. Isaiah 9:6

So, what's it going to be?

Just 14 days until we ring in 2010, and that got me thinking about that annoying little thing we call "our new year's resolution." How many times have I said, "I'm going to...." or "I won't..." or "I will..." and then after a couple of weeks, or months when life has reared it's ugly head, the resolution turns out to be nothing other than an unkempt promise I've made to myself. I admit, I still don' t know what I want these resolutions to be exactly, but I have quite the long mental list that I'm sure I could start working off of! The next 2 weeks should be enough time to fixate on one idea and start there with a strong sense of commitment. I will just need to and hold myself accountable! I know I'll need support, so if you're reading this, I'm counting on you!

To be continued....

Something UP-lifting!

“Limitations live only in our minds. But if we use our imaginations, our possibilities become limitless.”

Jamie Paolinetti quotes

Over the Rainbow Association

Dare to reach out your hand into the darkness, to pull another hand into the light. ~Norman B. Rice

Annual Over The Rainbow Association Celebration. We drove over to On Sunday night, Jason and I joined my Aunt Kris, Grandma, and Kathy in seeing the 20thEvanston, IL and met them on Northwestern's campus. The celebration is a show put on by a list of well known performers in the world of opera. Now, I'm sure you're probably wondering how we came to be at this concert...well my Aunt Kris is a friend of Nancy Gustafson's and since this is something very close to Nancy's heart (her baby brother is deaf and has cerebral palsy, and lives in one of the apartments built by the association) she thought it would be great for her to see the show, and learn more about the organization. So, Nancy set everything up, and Aunt Kris invited us since we live to close! We actually went last year too, and it was a great time...but I have to say this year blew last year away! The performers were amazing, and the show was very heart warming! After the show Nancy invited us back to the hotel for the Association dinner. It was very elegant, and the cocktails and food were wonderful! We like to think we cultured ourselves a little bit!

For more information about OTRA or Nancy Gustafson please click on the following links! The information is very interesting!

OTRA

http://www.otrassn.org/

Nancy Gustafson

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pm099i0IneQ

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-nYFBnbjrpQ

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nancy_Gustafson

Just satisfying my sweet tooth!

This is chocolate chip french toast, with banana puree, sprinkled with fresh bananas, white chocolate shavings, and dark chocolate shavings!! This was absolutely amazing! Yesterday morning, Jason and I met our friend Karen for brunch at my new favorite place called The Bongo Room. Karen had suggested going to this place so long ago, but we never took advantage. The wait wasn't long, the restaurant itself was quite charming, and obviously the food received five stars from me! If you live in Chicago, or you're just visiting, I highly recommend The Bongo Room for Sunday brunch, you will not be sorry!!!

The Bongo Room

1470 N. Milwaukee Ave.

Chicago, IL 60622
Phone # 773-489-0690

Young Lives

Last night I met a new friend for coffee and had a great conversation about a new volunteer opportunity I'm interested in! I was online the other day and this specific add caught my attention. It's called Young Lives and it is a ministry of Young Life designed to focus on teen mothers and their babies. I was connected with a girl named Erin and she heads up the program and is in the works of putting together a group of mentors for Young Lives as it is new to the Chicagoland area. As our meeting was only an introduction, I'm very excited to learn more and volunteer my time to the program. Along with mentoring they do what's called "Club" where all the girls, children, and mentors all come together once a month as a time for fellowship with food, activities, and childcare. It gives the girls a chance to connect and build new friendships, and also to hear real life messages about God's love! I'm very excited to dive into this and not only help the girls, but also learn from them as well!

http://www.younglife.org/YoungLives/

http://www.younglife.org/us

As Christmas Day draws near I am reminded in so many ways of why I adore this holiday! As there are the 12 Days of Christmas in song, I chose to make a list of my 12 favorite things instead….

1. The birth of our Lord and Savior!
2. Spending time with family and friends…
3. Christmas cards
4. Bing Crosby singing “A White Christmas”
5. Christmas lights…preferably colored!
6. Watching “National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation”
7. Finishing Christmas shopping!
8. Decorating the Christmas tree, and looking at old homemade ornaments
9. Buying that perfect gift and watching it being opened!
10. Snow angels
11. O’Holy Night
12. Thanking God for another blessed and happy year!

19 days and counting...

Shades of Blue

...the world doesn't have to be perfect to be beautiful...and neither do we....

Send your own ElfYourself eCards

Beautifully Inspired

All of these pictures were found on a new blog that I am blown away by called "kind over matter" (Thanks Rachel for sharing this with me!) It amazes me how a simple piece of art can express so much. Whether it be drawing, photography, poetry, or music... art speaks to me, quietly, loudly, and spiritually. It evokes every emotion within me, and intensifies tiny motivations that I know I need to recognize and help mature. The questions is...with the canvas I have in front of me, what will I create?

Two years gone by...

"I love you, not only for who you are, but for who I am when I am with you."

Happy Anniversary Jason!!! The last 2 years have been more than I ever could have hoped for, and I thank God everyday that I have a man like you in my life to love and be loved by!

XOXO