Because the status is NOT quo.

Poinsettias? Check.
Grave blankets? Check.
Christmas shopping started? Check.

YAY! Christmas, Christmas time is here....

But first! Thanksgiving!

That's actually a pretty good sample of what my Thanksgiving looked like. :) It was full of kids, and that was awesome. I snagged a few pictures with some of them because I hate my camera and have very few new ones. So here's a flurry of Thanksgiving shots with the McBrides:

Seriously, can you believe that's Kylie? She's so grown up! What a beauty. 

Khloe loves to play with the iPad, so we got several shots in a row similar to these. Look at that smile. 
 

Awww....my boy!! So handsome. So sweet. I love this guy.

So we were sitting down to eat Thanksgiving lunch with the McBrides & Kimes, when suddenly I realized I was not at the kids table and that was sad. I don't think I've ever NOT eaten at the kids table (which, this year, was a picnic on the floor.) And then I realized there wasn't enough chairs for the adults so YAY! KIDS TABLE! 

While we were eating suddenly Kaden asked me if I could rap. And I said no. But would he rap for me?

I really wished I had filmed what happened next.
Not only did he rap, and pretty darn well I might add, but when he finished Khloe decided to join in. With a rap about zombies. And THEN two-year-old Lexie purposely stood up, grinned, and and made beat boxing noises while dancing. TWO YEARS OLD.

This is why you sit at the kids table. To help prevent duels to the death over deviled eggs and listen to impromptu rap sessions.

Sadly, I don't have Lexie & Brighton pictures this time around. But wait! I have to share their cuteness somehow!

Oooooooh! Those eyes! That baby face! They're so freaking cute! (Seriously, aren't those gorgeous pictures?) Lexie is so full of spunk & happiness. Love it.

Okay, one parting shot:

My cousin Sam, Kylie, & Khloe bug

And bedtime for me. I hope your Thanksgiving was full of family, friends and food and all the lovely laughter you could hope for. Mine sure was. :)

She thanks her Jesus for the daisies and the roses.

The perk of working in a flower shop: sometimes the beauty gets to follow you home. :)

Aren't these gorgeous? My boss said I should bring some home to grandma for Thanksgiving. :) This particular variety (High & Magic) has been incredibly lovely and have been very long lasting considering how open they are. The ones in the center are called Cinnamon and are a pretty peach on their own, but here the ones in front simply steal the show. We've really been enjoying them and I wanted to show them off.


God did pretty stellar with these, didn't He?

And hope still flies.

Shh.... I'm supposed to be sleeping.

Do you realize how much exciting entertainment news has occurred this week? (Okay, only two pieces, but they're extremely exciting to ME.)

First off, Dark Knight Rises announced a few amazing spoilers that I'm extremely excited about. (They're minor spoilers really, but since I've already spoiled it for one person, you're going to have to click on the link to see if you want to. Ha! :) Also, new photos on that link.) 

That first paragraph? That's what I'm excited about. I think its unexpected and brilliant. (Oh, it makes that trailer make SO much more sense now! How heartbreaking!) I have to admit: I was getting nervous and skeptical seeing some of the recently released pics and confused by the trailer. But this one piece of news has excited me so much I have to say: BRING ON THE GOGGLES, BABY.

Rumor has it an updated trailer will be released with Sherlock Holmes 2.

And then, my favorite dead band Five Iron Frenzy has been making noise for months now that they'll release huge news on the day of their break-up anniversary. And it's just been building and building hype and so tonight they finally announced it: they're not only getting back together, but they've already been working on a new album and have released one of the songs. (Hear it here.)

They were trying to raise $30,000 by January 21st, 2012 since they're doing all the releasing and recording themselves and avoiding a record label.

They reached their goal in 55 minutes total.

And as of now, four hours after the announcement? They're at $66,744.

I'm so excited for this, their new song sounds wonderful and those instruments are oh so crisp.

I'm supposed to sleep tonight, but that would mean I'd have to stop playing the new song and Batman trailer first.

FIF Freak Out!

Just a few more days and all will be revealed....

So much anticipation you're building! Please, FIF, let all this hype lead up to something awesome. I'm trusting you!

Tis the Season!

I'M SO EXCITED.

Christmas, Christmas time is here....

Why yes, that is my Christmas tree. Already up. In my room. Bwahahahaha, SO HAPPY.

That is also where my desk used to be. So that's obviously gone now too. Which was a process in itself, ha. Anytime grandma and I say something like "Yeah, I'll go get the hammer!," you can already know hijinks are going to ensue.

But my tree is up and I'm super pleased with it. I recently remembered that we have a massive amount of bright blue ornaments that we no longer use, so I think I'll pair those with some other bright colors  and just go for whimsy fun. I'm excited.
 
Also, a word to the wise: toothpaste in the eye HURTS. Don't do it.

Oh Cecilla, you're breaking my heart...

In the middle of running out the door this morning I suddenly realized this song was playing on repeat in the back of my mind. Not that I mind since it's certainly catchy but what a random choice, brain. Also, did not know it was written by Simon & Garfunkel until just now. The more you know.

Yesterday we wrapped up another open house at the shop. These past few weeks at the shop have just been a little stressful at times, so we struggled to get this one up on its feet. (Though admittedly, that's pretty typical.)  In fact, to give you some idea of how our mindset has been, I can tell you that for this very open house we almost sent out flyers to businesses without our name on them anywhere. No name, no address, no phone number, ha. Just a flyer proclaiming an open house somewhere! Good luck! Special prizes for those who find it!

Four of us proofread it and didn't catch it until the very last minute. Ha.

Then I sent out a rushed mass email Thursday night with all the information, sales, prizes, blah blah blah. Only to receive several replies the next morning reading "Sounds great! But when is it?" and "Did I miss the date & time?"

.... oh yes, my friends. I had sent out this mass email without the date or time mentioned anywhere. I laughed a little hysterically, responded to the individuals, and somehow despite all of our apparent attempts to fail our own open house it went off, I think, pretty successfully. Plus, they did very little advertising this time. So yay! Done!

It's certainly not a huge event, but it is something we start considering and developing in August. So while its a nice kickoff to the holidays it's always a small relief when its over too. Now onto poinsettias, grave blankets and Thanksgiving.

As for life outside of work, well... that's pretty much what I've been wrapped up with lately. I'm on disc 3 of season 5 of LOST, putting me about halfway through the season and almost finished with the series. (There's six seasons total.) It's currently getting pretty convoluted. I will certainly finish it out - I mean, I'm so close - but I can certainly see why the fans started calling foul at this point.

I did see Brigadoon recently for the first time. Man, that's a dumb show! How did that ever become a classic? (Apologies to all fans of the miracle island.)

A little Q&A.

Why you no blog as much?
Work has been very...challenging lately. That's a good word for it. Stressful isn't the right word and neither is bad (although there have been days). Challenging is about right. And so I've pretty much been coming home humdrum and going to bed early in order to survive the next day intact.
In fact, I should be in bed right now.
We have, however, hired a new girl! And I'm very excited about this. I think this will work out well. And if it does, it will help a lot. She began training with us today.

So what's been going on?
EARTHQUAKES. Crazy EARTHQUAKES. We had one Friday night at 2:00 AM that legitimately scared me - it was the largest one I had ever felt, and it was late at night and suddenly the whole house was shaking. However, the next night was when we had the record setting one for the state (5.6) and since we were in the city I guess we didn't feel it at all. Bizarre. Another 4.7 one happened tonight and wasn't that bad, but the phenomena still feels strange.
Oh, and there were tornadoes everywhere in the southwest part of the state, and we're in a tornado watch until 4:00 am. Welcome to Oklahoma!

Also, I would like to know the power of that wind gust that just passed by my window, because it sounded like a train was trying to come through. 

How was Halloween?
When I celebrated the actual holiday itself, it was good. I saw most of my kiddos the Saturday night before and enjoyed dinner with them as well, so that was wonderful. Actual Halloween night however was...bad. We were slammed at work, I actually had to go back in and finish something up and I loathe driving on Halloween night due to all the kids running around. And I was exhausted. So... I was glad when that was over.

Wait! Speaking of holidays! I bought my first Christmas tree!
I had mentioned to grandma that I would like a tree in my room this year, but they're always so expensive it just didn't seem like a good idea. But she kept an eye out and this past weekend Big Lots had a 7 foot tree, pre-lit on sale for $50, which was too good a deal to pass up, so I splurged and I'm very excited about this. Now the decision of how to decorate it arises. Since we do the front tree in traditional greens, reds & golds I'm looking for something different. Usually my room is decorated in brighter colors with lots of penguins at Christmas, so that may be a guiding factor.
My grandma is awesome.

Now it is certainly bedtime. You should pray no trains come through my window.

Eight Years Gone

Eight years ago last night - sometime around midnight - I sat on the bench between Raley Chapel & the cross and agreed to pray with no strings attached.
Just pray. Just talk.

And somewhere in the midst of that everything changed. I opened the door and Christ came swiftly running in, the blood immediately covering my sins, the relationship immediately beginning to take root.

I forget often, even now, that Christ was waiting on me. I forget that truly, He was right there, waiting, knowing, for the moment He could sweep in. Not a pause. Not a meander. Done. Finished. You're Mine. Not Satan's. Not the world's. You're Mine and as soon as you will hear My knocking, as soon as you will open the door I will be there. No waiting. No second guessing. 

Indeed, this is my favorite birthday. For this is the day I was brought back to life.

 

I came across this passage tonight in my reading and it wraps everything up.

"But you have come to Mount Zion, to the heavenly Jerusalem, the city of the living God. You have come to thousands upon thousands of angels in joyful assembly, to the church of the firstborn, whose names are written in heaven. You have come to God, the judge of all men, to the spirits of righteous men made perfect, to Jesus the mediator of a new covenant, and to the sprinkled blood that speaks a better word than the blood of Abel." 

- Hebrews 12:22-24

Amen. He is good.

Love to all and sweet dreams. 

"This is why we don't attack people with guns."

Tonight I was keeping Brad company when he offered me the chance to play Arkham City for the first time. Yay!

Also: Ahahaha! Oh dear. 

Listen, I'm just terrible at these games. I grew up on all the Nintendo sidescrollers. I never played Final Fantasy or, well, anything else. I did play Link to the Past. That's the only one I can currently think of where you actually go out and explore. Oh, and SMRPG. But Players Guides were my best friends. So the first time someone tried to teach me Kingdom Hearts it was a disaster. I didn't make it OFF THE BEACH. Y'know, that intro section?

"You have to find eggs. Where would eggs be?"
"I have no idea! I'm on a beach!"
"....how about a tree?"
"...."

That's pretty much how it goes most of the time. It's kind of sad.

This is my method for these types of games: Wander around. Eventually something will trigger the new scenario.

And it's not that I don't like those games! You just have to be very patient with me. Which Brad is. And so, even medicated, we sat there and he would calmly say "Sherri, didn't you just come from that direction?" And I would affirm that and he would reply "Then that's probably not the direction you should be going."

Also, I was learning the controls. So when I would go to "silent takedown" someone, I would actually leap up and attack them causing gunfire to come from everywhere. Batman died. A lot. Because I did that exact same button confusion. A lot. AT THE SAME FIGHT. It was awesome.

(I did, for the record, eventually manage to get past it, but it certainly wasn't because I completed any silent takedowns there.)

That being said, it's a really, really incredible game. (Even if you're lost and just grappling from platform to platform for awhile for fun.) The design elements are perfect, the storyline looks like an absolutely fantastic setup, and I feel like once I got used to the controller the controls would be a lot more intuitive. And gliding?! Gliding is the best.

Hm...maybe if I got an X Box....