Catching up

I just realized that I haven't blogged on here for about 2 months and then the last post was advertising for a friend's book!! :-o The truth is I've been busy and blogging has simply been pushed to the back burner. :(

Hmm... let's see, where should I start?

Six months ago yesterday was the day that changed the lives of the citizens of Joplin forever. Buildings and homes are being rebuilt but still, driving through town is strange, as I look out over empty lots all over the place! Wal-Mart is rebuilt and open, as are Aldi's, and several other restaurants and businesses. Academy Sports seems to have gone up overnight! There are changes every day I pass it, as the workers rebuild. The Extreme Makeover: Home Edition came about a month ago and built seven houses... in seven days and houses are going up elsewhere as well. But even now, six months later, here and there you'll see a house or business as it left after the tornado. Joplin Highschool is practically untouched, while the students that would have attended there this school here are divided between two different locations in town. But there is progress. God protected thousands of people in that devastating tornado, and now He is helping us rebuild. Guiding many as they work to start their lives over.

Thanksgiving day has come and gone and the busy season of our year is begun.

Well... so much for getting THIS posted!!! Here it is, half a month later and it's still not posted! :-o But, as I said, we're in the middle of our busiest time of the year: Christmas time.

As many of you may know, this time of year I work with my Dad in the shipping warehouse of 3000toys.com where we stay busy almost constantly from about Thanksgiving till Christmas.

Along with work I've been busy with making/buying Christmas gifts for my family and close friends, and working on a Christmas cantata with our church choir. Since September Abbie, Daniel, Luke and I have been going once a week to practice the cantata. Our program was this last Sunday and went pretty well. Amber got some videos but they haven't been taken off the camera yet (shows you how busy most of us have been).

A while back I made a video of myself playing "O Come, O Come, Emmanuel" on my violin. I've got to work on remembering to smile when I'm playing. I usually do smile but for some reason when I'm playing my violin it's harder to remember. :-/

The main dress color for the cantata was black with some white and/or red. But I had a problem: I had red shirts and black skirts but I needed more black. I wished I had a black dress but I didn't so on Saturday I set out (with Abbie) to do some Christmas shopping and see if I could find either a black dress or a cute black jacket/sweater for a good price. I came home feeling quite successful. After getting the main Christmas gifts I didn't have yet we headed to the mall. Y'know, I think many times I have more success when looking at girl's clothes than I do when I decide to see what is in the ladies' or even juniors' clothes. After going through the ladies' clothes in JCPenny's and finding nothing I was browsing through the younger girls' clothes and... voilà!!!! My new toggle sweater! That's not the best picture but at this point I don't have a picture of it on me. I'll TRY to get one soon. ;) Also, the original price was $34... but I only paid about $11!!! Talk about triumph!!! It was perfect! That, a red t-shirt, black skirt, black shoes and a red necklace completed my outfit and I must say, I loved it! I think that sweater is going to become one of my favorite pieces of clothing this winter! Not only does it go well with skirts but it looks cute with slacks as well! :)

In parting, here's a reminder of the reason to celebrate Christmas. I know I shared this song last year (though a different video and artist) but I love it just as much (if not more) this year! I've listened to it over and over again already!



Hopefully my next post won't take so long to finish as this one did. :)