Happy Christmas

I went to a lovely Christmas service at St. Mary RedCliffe in Bristol tonight. I just love cathedrals, whether Catholic, Church of England or Episcopal. This church has beautiful sounding bells that ring and ring and ring. The inside of the church is beautiful, the huge vaulted ceilings and everything, and for much of the service the lights were off, except for a few free-standing candles, and then everyone holds their own candle. (it's a good idea really, you can't fall asleep in church with a candle-first there's the safety issue, plus fire is just too interesting) The candles are kind of magical and the whole thing has an aura that is different than when lights are at full bright, even when they turned them up so everyone could sing, it was still very soft and nice. The choir was amazing. There were lots of sing along moments, which I loved, because I love to sing. But did you know that a lot of the Christmas carols have the same words, but different tunes in England than in America? It's true. I had to be very careful. Fortunately Miss Jarman taught me how to sing like a British person back in high school (never thought I would thank her), so I fit in pretty good pronunciation-wise, except when they sang Beth-LE-hem.

they are winning

don't ever say i am not creative. it is 2:30 am, and i just fashioned a window screen out of kleenex and paper tape. i think it is one of my stupider ideas. i imagine it will hold up for all of 10 minutes. sadly it keeps all the cold air outside (opposite of what i was going for), lets all the noise in (fine, i don't really care one way or they other), and i am pretty sure will do nothing about the DAMN flies!

Crab, Key Lime and Fondue

Visiting Allina and Brianne this past weekend in Seattle. Here we are at the Crab Cracker. YUM!

Brianne was a really good sport going out with us, even though she was due to have her baby ANY minute. We figured crab could be her last meal (before she delivered). We tried to get her to go clubbing (ha!) and told her we could get her a baby doll dress, but she wasn't really into that idea. Okay, neither were we.


This is not a flattering picture of me. Allina really wanted to feed me chocolate fondue. I can't really explain it. You had to be there.
If you ever need reindeer antlers, they sell them at Pottery Barn.
Here is a cute pic of me and my nephew Riley. We were waiting for Brianne to have her baby. I had to take a flight in 2 hours. I told Brianne she had 2 hours to have baby Kaleb. She did not deliver. :( She did have him yesterday morning and they are both doing well. I can't believe I missed him by 20 hours!

someday i will unpack

have just returned from a couple FABULOUS days in seattle with my cousins, one of whom i BARELY missed her giving birth to her first child. i have not even had 24 hours here in new york. now i am off to manchester. leaving behind me still boxes all over my apartment. i don't know where to put everything, where the nearest laundry is, or where to put the garbage or recycle-ables. i am fairly sure i better figure out all of those things pretty quick.
cheerio!

"don't be mad at me"

i parked my car today. a little more in the ghetto, because let's face it, i live in a little shadier of a neighborhood. a guy came over to me, right up to my car, while i was still in it, and asked me for 20 or 30 cents. i told him i didn't have any money. which is the exact truth. i have the opposite of money. debt. i didn't go into all MY financial woes with him, because the poor man is probably living on the street, but i didn't give him anything either, just talked to him through the glass. "no i don't have any money" i said, "don't be mad, okay?" he said. "i'm not mad," says me. i thought, hey, as long as you're just asking me for some change, as opposed to actually robbing me or something, i'm not mad. "have a good day." i told him. "you too." he said.

home sweet home

i have moved into new apartment. it is lovely. interesting (in a very good way). i have partially unpacked. at least to the point that i was able to set up my bed. and put my food away on very very high shelves. i have no idea what i'm doing up. it has almost been 24 hours. my 2nd wind has come and gone, and i have had another 10 winds. one which involved singing michael michlean and total eclipse of the heart with my new roommates. and the wind beneath my wings. i really hate that song. i am ready for bed. tomorrow: home shopping spree at target.

commitment issues

whenever i have dreams of getting married (and they don't happen very often), i am always terrified, and i always am wondering why i am going through with it, although i have a pretty good idea. i never really know the guy, and i feel this momentum leading up to it and then i am like "oh crap."
this post has nothing to do with marriage. i am moving into a new apartment on saturday. we found it on monday, i think, and decided on tuesday. it's a great apartment, but this really freaked me out. not really my normal style of decision making. i like to see a lot of options, think about them, ask lots of questions, explore pros and cons, and then decide on something. okay, maybe this post has something to do with marriage. (or reasons why i am not. ha.) but against my normal way of doing things, and my perfectionist instinct that wants everything that i want, i have decided to go for it anyway. mostly because i know i can't have everything i want. and it's just an apartment, not a lifetime commitment, right?

first snow of the season

when i woke up this morning it was snowing. i looked out the window and it was so beautiful i let out an audible sigh. it was the perfect powdery kind, that is easy to brush off your car.

someone at church today said that must be why everyone decided it was "super cute" sunday, because new york was so pretty, so they decided they wanted to be too.

i joined the choir for what will probably be my only rehearsal (i could make it to the performance, but who knows, probably not). but i love singing christmas songs. music does something all the talks in the world can't do.