12.12.12 & Other Stories -

This post is a collection of short stories out of my life this past week. Enjoy! 

12.12.12.

So today I woke up blissfully unaware that today was the laaaast daaaaay of the century that would have the numbering exactly the same. Hence - 12.12.12. I was skeptical (of my brain working) that it was true, until Molly reminded me that the next one would be January 1, 3001. Or 2101. Which, she said, she doubted we would be here for. In which case, I was like "YES. HEAVEN.", because pretty much everything leads to Heaven in my head. haha. 

But then I began to feel sad that it was going to be over, like "Oh, that's sad! I'll miss it!!" and then I was like "What am I saying!? I won't miss it! Life goes on!" HAHahaha. So silly. ;) But then I figured I would have a little tribute on the blog and that would be enough. 

Shopping 

Today Momma and I were at Park Avenue in Winter Park Christmas shopping, and we went into the delicious smelling Williams Sonoma to look at things. We were wandering around together when their aprons packages caught my eye. Look at it here to know what I'm talking about. The aprons were in these cute matching bags, and I was looking at them, and I am thinking that the person in the red jacket to my right (slightly behind me) is my Mother. So I start saying, "Oh look! The aprons are in a package, and they re-did them! How pretty they...." and then I turn, and it is NOT my Mother; it is a lady in a red sweater and she's looking at me like "Either you are really friendly or this is awkward.", and then so I don't just trail off the conversation and look stupid, I just continue on talking: "..... are so pretty! How NICE.". I had the strongest urge to burst out laughing in the mostly quiet store, but I suppressed it. HAHAHAhahaha. I knew I had to run home and tell Delaney S, but then I thought it was good enough to share on here too. :) 

Reminder

When we were driving home today through the rain and the sunshine (simultaneously, we live in the sub-tropics, y'all), Mom and I saw a gorgeous double rainbow. Because of where the sun was, we saw it for about 15 minutes, and could see the whole thing!!! It was amazing, and just stunning. And because I was recently reading a lot of Genesis for my college paper, I was reminded of why I loved rainbows so much. Because not only did God give the rainbow to us as a reminder that He would never again destroy the world with a flood, but it also says that HE shall remember. The God that never needs to be reminded of anything says that HE shall remember what He has promised to US. Wow, right? 

"The rainbow shall be in the cloud, and I will look on it to remember the everlasting covenant between God and every living creature of all flesh that is on the earth." ~ Genesis 9:16 

College 

There is a lot I could say about college. But that's another post on it's own. ;) A secret. muwahhaha. Anyways - I finished the paper I was working on......in.......22 hours. Yes, I did a research paper in 22 hours. From Friday to Sunday. It usually takes me 2 weeks. And then I collapsed in exhaustion (almost literally). That Sunday night I went to bed at 7. SEVEN O' Clock at night. I wrote it on God preserving His people through the ages, and I cried several times while writing it because every single verse or quote that I read was exactly what I needed to hear. It was so amazing! It was a sweet gift for me, and I love how it turned out. Also - it was 1900 words over the lowest limit. Hahahaahaha!! I can never ever  write near the low limit. And I just got the grade back: A- ! Considering I was going to be happy with a B, I'm happy with an A- . :D So now I'm on Christmas break!! YAY! I'm so excited about that.

Cards

We did Christmas cards this year!! After not being able to do them for one reason or another for the past 4 years, we finally did them this year, and I just couldn't be more ecstatic about it. :) We got them from Mpix, and they are gorgeous. I hyperventilated over the paper to print them on for an hour, until Lauren helped me out (Heart-saver, that girl is), and we decided together which one I wanted. They look amazing, and we all just think they are the bees knees. 

Y'all won't get to see the picture until nearer Christmas, but it is coming. :) I took the pictures of us with my remote & tripod one Sunday evening, and you would not think it would be so hard to get only 4 adults and 1 dog to look in the same direction and smile and look normal at the same time, but let me tell you, Susie ......... IT IS. It makes me laugh hysterically because everyone always says "Kids are so hard to get to focus!".... try adding in 1 dog and our family, apparently. We got home with 250 photos, and we had 5 that passed. Let's just say it's 1,000 times easier when I'm behind the camera. 

But we found one we all liked. And the rest are good for laughs.
And Lucy Mae looked adorable in her red harness. See? :) 

I spent 6 hours yesterday addressing envelopes and enjoyed (almost) every minute of it. But oh, my back was aching last night!! It was fun though, Mom and I did it together! And we aren't even done with them all yet. haha. 

Trees

We have a Christmas tree. We had another one, and we gave it to the yard trash men. Because they are nice. Ok, that's not why...but that makes us sound like saints, so I'm going with that one. Believe me. Our Christmas tree saga is a long, hysterical story. That will be accompanied by picture proof. Dad keeps saying he wouldn't even have believed it could be such a great story. Hahahaha. 

Blog 

I have recently discovered that on short posts that I don't need to write about the photos, that I can just pop the pictures in afterwards, and it saves me some time! Haha. I'm probably the last person to realize that. 

And my dearest friend, Audra, has started a blog! You can see it on the sidebar - 

"My Sock Monkey Life".... if you go to the "Why Sock Monkeys?" section, you can read about why she started the blog, and follow along with her. I'm so excited she is writing about life so we can share in it! Love you, Audra! 

Boots

Simply because this is the other photo from the Christmas photoshoot that I can show you. haha. I was scouting for locations, and thought this looked lovely. I'm a sucker for boot photos. Seriously.

Laughter 

I love Pinterest. Pretty much all I use it for is laughter, recipes, and photography ideas. And creative ideas that I'm sure I will mess up, because Craft Queen I am not. There is this pin that has me laughing every single time I look at it. In fact, when I first found it, I laughed so hard I was crying, and I was hysterical when I showed it to my family. I had to explain how funny it was about 14 times to my Mom, and she still doesn't understand how funny it is. Whatever. I think it's great. And it consistently makes me laugh, so that's the best thing. See it here. You have to read it aloud to get the real kick out of it. HAhahahahahaa. *slaps knee* Look at the price tag at the top. HAHAHAHAHAA. I even just pull the line out in conversation and start laughing at myself.

Movies
On Friday night, Daddy and I are going with a huge crowd of people to an IMAX theater to see The Hobbit. I'm beyond excited. I've watched every production video multiple times, and sit there grinning like an idiot through all of them. hahaha. I'm just soooo excited about it, and so is Daddy!

And then Les Miserables comes out this month too!! I rarely go to the movies, but these two are just so high on my list, that I'm super stoked!! Every time I watch the trailer for Les Mis, I start crying. hahaha. 

Okay. That's probably enough for tonight. HAhaha. But this was fun! I love just writing down little, simple things, and it's fun to look back on as well. Hope you enjoyed stopping by! You know you can leave a comment about anything, right? I always love hearing from you, whoever you are, and wherever you are. :)

Have a wonderful rest of the week! 13 days until Christmas!
With love,
~ Jean Marie ~