"God Bless Us, Every One!" - Tiny Tim

Merry Christmas my loved ones!!  I hope its a special and happy time for all of you and your families! My family and I always celebrate our Christmas on Christmas Eve and every year I find myself more excited!  But this year especially has been a special one.  For the first time in yeeaarrsss my whole family was together.  My brother John and his little family moved back home to California recently and were present for our special evening last night.  

The evening started with the usual Christmas Eve church service at Mariners.  Each year the lights and the music and the message is more beautiful!  I can't help but notice how every time I walk into church and find my seat among the crowd I'm always surprised at how appropriate the sermon is for whatever is presently happening in my own life.  This year the pastor talked about how even when life throws us surprises, God isn't surprised.  He discussed how we all have these plans for our life; get into the right college, get a degree, get the right job, meet the right person, buy a house, have kids, etc etc etc.  But it doesn't matter what our plans are because our plan for ourselves isn't good enough because the plan God has is so much bigger and better.  And that we don't get to choose when or if we meet the right person and when or if we get the job we want because sometimes what we want isn't always whats best for us.  God brings people into our lives and takes them away sometimes for a reason.  Whether its so we realize how much we appreciate them and run after them or realize they came into our lives to teach us something and we move on to the next chapter.  This was a message that I needed to hear because I have a plan for myself too.  And I'm always working towards the goals simultaneously placed in the plan.  But sometimes I'm overwhelmed and I just need to remember that if I am meant to have something I will have it.  I think this is a good lesson for everyone to keep in mind.  Sometimes it just takes hearing it from someone else and having it laid out plain and simple for us to remember this message's importance.  

So after the service ended we headed back to the house for a big family dinner and gifts!  Every year we light the fireplace and candles, turn on the Christmas music, cook up a storm and enjoy each other's company!  The kids ran around like wild animals squirming with anticipation for unwrapping all their gifts.  I think we were all relieved when they finally got to open them, haha.  Mom made a big italian dinner this year and it was soooo yummy.  Not to mention the table looked beautiful as always. So after dinner we relocated to the living room where all our beautifully wrapped gifts sat in our designated spots around the living room (we all sit in the same place every year).  The kids loved their gifts and ran around playing with them while the grown ups got to open :)  This year I was toooooo spoiled! I got the perfume and watch I wanted!  I'm SO excited! Now I'll smell and look fantastic! haha I also got a few dvd's that I have been enjoying watching all day today including "Life As We Know It", "Friends With Benefits", and "View from the Rear Window" (one of my favorite old Hitchcock films)! hehe and then the grand finale... my mama surprised me with Photoshop CS5. Oh my goodness! such a special gift.  A few months ago my computer hard drive crashed and the apple "geniouses" lost my photoshop and for the last few months my mom has secretly been bugging them about it and they finally helped us get it back.  But not only did they get photoshop back for me, they got me the brand new extended version. What an awesome gift!  

I feel so blessed this Christmas and I hope all of you are having a special holiday too.  Cherish the ones you love and enjoy every moment with them!  <3

Infinite X's and O's, 

Dee