Well, Christmas Day is finally here. I went to a wonderful Christmas Eve Service last night at the Puyallup CofC Congregation. Afterwards my mom and I drove down to have Christmas at the Hergert home in Ethel, WA. We will be here until tomorrow morning. Then tomorrow afternoon I will be having a Christmas dinner with my dad and brothers at my dad’s home.
I am happy to say that I finished all my Christmas shopping last Sunday! With 4 days to spare! LOL!
Here are my two most favorite Christmas Songs:
“Mary, Did You Know?”
I love both of these versions of the song:
Kathy Mattea version
Kenny Rogers/Wynonna version
“It Wasn’t His Child”
Skip Ewing version
One of my other favorite Christmas Songs is “Baby, It’s Cold Outside”. This year Lady Antebellum recorded a version of it that the radio has just been eating up! This is them singing it on the Today show yesterday.
Just a few more days until Christmas. I am still not done with shopping. Oh well I mean I still have 5 whole days to go, right? PLENTY OF TIME! LOL!
So, for some of my favorites for this week’s Christmas music:
“Joy To the World” - Michael Bolton
This is my favorite version of this song. I think Michael gets a lot of undeserved flack is one of the most undervalued singers out there.
“Oh Holy Night” – Martina McBride
She is one of my favorite female vocalists of all time and shows us why on this song! Absolutely Wonderful!
“A Baby Changes Everything” – Faith Hill
This is the first Christmas single from Faith’s new Christmas CD. I already love this song and think it is sure to become a Christmas classic!
“This is the Time” – Michael Bolton and Wynonna
This song can be found on the same CD as his version of “Joy to the World. I love Christmas love songs! Adds to the magic of the season. I think it is a great Christmas love song!
We are getting closer! Have you purchased all your gifts yet? Yeah, me neither!
So, this week I have another two Christmas songs. The first one is “I’ll be home for Christmas”. This version is by Rascal Flatts. It’s not that I have always been a fan of this song but this version has changed that. I LOVE it! It is done acapella. The second is my favorite Christmas Song. That would be “Go Tell It On The Mountain”. This version is from Toby Keith and Jewel.
Rascal Flatts – “I’ll be home for Christmas”
Toby Keith and Jewel – “Go Tell It On The Mountain”
Hard to believe it but there is only 19 days until Christmas! I have purchased some gifts but still have some more to do. Some years I am really good and get most of my gifts in October and November and then some years I shop on Christmas Eve! Hopefully I will be done before Christmas Eve. We shall see!
So, this week I choose “The Secret of Giving” by Reba McEntire as one of my favorite Christmas Songs. It is from one of my Christmas CD’s, “Secret of Giving: A Christmas Collection” by Reba McEntire. The song coincided with a made for TV movie of the same name that Reba starred in. One of my favorite made for TV Christmas movies.
Here is a video for the song:
Additionally, one of my favorite Christmas movies of all time is “The Preacher’s Wife”. Part of that is because of Whitney’s voice on such songs such as this great version of “Joy to the World”:
So, for this week’s Holiday song in preparation for Christmas I choose one of my favorites. It is by Garth Brooks and is called “Baby Jesus Is Born”. You will find it on his “The Magic of Christmas” CD. I just love this Christmas song and have always wanted to hear a choir sing it during a worship service at church. Hope this Holiday Season is treating you well so far!
So, before today I had yet to get in to the Holiday Spirit! I have actually been dreading it because I am not prepared. Every year I say I am going to start shopping early but do I? NO! Well, I have actually been doing a lot of Christmas shopping lately. Part of my job is working for our Guardianship department and therefore I have to get Christmas gifts for all 26 of my Guardianship clients. I think I have finished with like 20 of them so far. Event hat hasn’t gotten me in the Holiday Spirit though.
It sure hit me today though! I had to run to the store to get some wrapping paper, bows, and tags so I could have my co-worker wrap the gifts I have purchased thus far. As soon as I started looking at the paper, I got in the Christmas mood! I think it was a combination of seeing everything there as well as the smell that was in the air. You know, the smell of peppermint, pine, etc. All of a sudden, I wanted to listen to Christmas music!
On my way to purchase the Christmas accessories I stopped by the Holiday Candy aisle. I bought two thins from that aisle! Bad, I know! The first was peppermint white chocolate Hershey’s kisses. The second was a bag of those little Hershey’s chocolate miniatures. Though, this one was a limited edition mint chocolates. It had White Creme with Peppermint, Mint Milk Chocolate and a Dark Chocolate with Mint. My co-workers and I loved these new found chocolate goodies.
So, in preparation for the Holiday Season and to help me further get in the mood, here are some Christmas Music Video’s. They are both from SheDaisy and are from their Christmas CD, which just happens to be my favorite Christmas CD of all time!
Just a quick Happy Mother’s Day to all of my blog readers who is a mother, grandmother, aunt, or played a motherly role in the life of another. You Rock!
Here is my favorite picture of me with my mother:
Also, here is a video that I made for a Worship Service that I presided over on Mother’s Day two years ago. It is of the mother’s in my congregation. The elderly lady on the couch at the very end of the video is my grandmother one and half months before she died of cancer.
In celebration of April Fool’s Day I post the following video’s. They are done by the group, Improv Everywhere.
Frozen Grand Central:
Food Court Musical:
Also, as I was driving North on I-5 on Sunday I saw this billboard and just had to take a picture! Eventhough, I like Al Gore and believe that Global Warming is a major issue that we need to deal with, I still found it to be funny. Nick, this is for you! (eventhough you’ll hate it!)
In honor of today being St. Patrick’s Day I am posting this neat picture that I found. Apparantly every year the Chicago river is died green on St. Patrick’s Day. I have always wanted to travel to Ireland and hope to be able to some day.
Also, here is a link to a song called “Ireland” . It is one of my favorite songs that Garth Brooks sings!
Often times we get caught up in the other parts of St. Patrick’s Day. Such as everything green, pinch someone not wearing green, leprechauns, shamrocks, beer, partying, etc. Though we must not forget the true story behind St. Patrick’s Day. It is a holiday obeserved to honor St. Patrick, who was a Christian Missionary and is a patron saint of Ireland. Wikipedia gives us this brief history, “When he was about sixteen he was captured by Irish raiders and taken as a slave to Ireland, where he lived for six years before escaping and returning to his family. He entered the church, as his father and grandfather had before him, becoming a deacon and a bishop. He later returned to Ireland as a missionary in the north and west of the island, but little is known about the places where he worked and no link can be made between Patrick and any church. By the eighth century he had become the patron saint of Ireland.” . While doing some research today I found a quote from St. Patrick that stated, “I saw a man coming, as it were from Ireland. His name was Victoricus, and he carried many letters, and he gave me one of them. I read the heading: “The Voice of the Irish”. As I began the letter, I imagined in that moment that I heard the voice of those very people who were near the wood of Foclut, which is beside the western sea—and they cried out, as with one voice: “We appeal to you, holy servant boy, to come and walk among us.”". Missionaries are called to walk among the people that they witness to. As ministers we are called to be with the people, not above the people. St. Patrick was a great example for us all.
So may you all remember the true meaning of this day and do your part to honor St. Patrick respectfully.
So, yesterday, February 12th, was my birthday. I turned 23. I spent the day running errands. Last night I went to AA China Buffet in Everett, WA, with my mom and then went to the Tulalip Casino with my brother, Christian, and my mom. I played the penny slot machines and lost. Oh well!
I already know that I share a birthday with former President Abraham Lincoln but I thought I would do a little research to find out who else shares the same birthday as me and here is who I found: Judy Blume (Author), Michael McDonald (Singer), Arsenio Hall (Actor), Josh Brolin (Actor), Charles Darwin (Scientist), and Christina Ricci (Actress).
I also researched newsworthy events that happened on February 12th and here is what I found:
> 1909 – The NAACP (National Association for the Advancement of Colored People) was Founded.
> 1983 – The Michael Jackson “Thriller” CD is released
> 1999 – President Bill Clinton is acquitted by the US Senate in his Impeachment Trial.
> 2004 – Mattel announced that Barbie and Ken were breaking up.
Ok, so not a lot happened has on my birthday!
Though, yesterday, I was not only reminded of my life birthday but also a religious birthday of sorts. Two years ago on my birthday I was ordained a minister in the Community of Christ faith movement. This has become a very important part of my life and has helped shape who I am as a person.
This past April the leader of my the faith movement I belong to, Stephen Veazey, presented the church with counsel that included a portion pertaining to priesthood. In it we read from D&C 163:6a, “Priesthood is a sacred covenant involving the highest form of stewardship of body, mind, spirit, and relationships. The priesthood shall be composed of people of humility and integrity who are willing to extend themselves in service for others and for the well-being of the faith community.”. As I celebrate my life birthday I am also reminded of my religious birthday and pray that I do my best to live up to this holy counsel.
In honor of today being St. Patrick’s Day I am posting this neat picture that I found. Apparantly every year the Chicago river is died green on St. Patrick’s Day. I have always wanted to travel to Ireland and hope to be able to some day.
