happy new year!

yikes! only three days til john and i leave for mexico! how crazy is that?

for those of you who don't know...john and i are taking a very extended vacation to mexico for the month of january. yes...you read that right. the entire month! kinda crazy i know...but no one ever accused us of being boring and typical right? heh. i guess when we planned this vacation we didn't really think about how long a month really is...i mean a TON of stuff goes on in a month! hello...who's gonna pay the bills? get the mail? pick up the paper? take out the trash? (well...since we're not home i guess there won't be any trash to take out...but that's besides the point). plus i have the christmas present for my brother and his wife that i've been trying to finish for about a month that i really need to get in the mail before we leave...but i'm not sure the post office is even open on monday! yikes...guess i'd better find that out.

so. it's new year's eve. anybody got any big plans? john and i are headed over to some friends house for a little shindig...the boys just wanted an excuse to play poker i think...not quite sure what the girls are gonna do. oh well. i can't stay very long anyways since i havta be at church early on sunday morning. i'm singing in the worship service. thankfully...the pastors decided to just have one service (thanks pastor mike!) at 10.45am...so instead of having to be at church at 6.30am...i don't havta be there until 8.30am! yay! so i guess i can stay up to ring in the new year...shout HAPPY 2006! and then head to bed. that's sounds like a good plan...

anyways...i'm totally wasting time here. i've got to get packing!

have a safe and fun new year's eve celebration!!!

the saddest day of the year...

today is officially the saddest day of the year...i'm putting away christmas decorations! waaaaaahhhhh! even the sky is crying with me...it's raining cats and dogs at the moment. the house just seems so bare and empty without the festive fun christmas decorations bring. i get so sad putting away the ornaments we got this year...the month of december just went by way too fast!

anyways...i've gotta get back to it...i was just taking a quick break from all the melancholy-ness around here...

bethlehem town...

wow...christmas is over. so much anticipation for a day that comes so slowly but ends so quickly. i'm working on putting all our christmas decorations away over the next couple days...i've gotta get them all taken down before john and i head to mexico. we leave on the third...so i have a few more days. it's so sad putting all the decorations away...knowing a whole 'nother year will go by until i see them again. the house seems so empty now...

but anyways...i was listening to one of my favorite christmas cds one last time before i put it away last night (although they never really go away since i do have a terrible habit of listening to my christmas music year round...haha!)...and i wanted to share the lyrics to one of the songs on it with you...it's by jars of clay (of course it is!)...and it's called bethlehem town...

oh mary, joseph, rest your eyes/try not to think of the ending/world full of empty, He will die/but tonight He is still just a child.

the silent night drifts all away/and the angels are dancing around you/there's the joy of knowing He'll save the world/overshadowing the pain that He'll go through

have you cursed at the wind?/have you cried to the heavens?/have you fought with this mercy you don't understand?/when the wise men kneel down/to kiss the hand of this king they found/in bethlehem town...

will you hold back the years awhile?/will you dream that this man could always be a child/and never carry the weight/of the dirt and the distance and the company we keep?/and did the stars shine much brighter that night/"you gave birth to the death that would bring us to life?"/and did the mystery keep you awake?/or was the sound of His little heart too much to take?

oh...i don't understand/when the wise men kneel down/to kiss the hand of this king they found...

have you cursed at the wind?/have you cried to the heavens?/have you fought with this mercy you don't understand?/when the wise men kneel down/to kiss the hand of this king they found/in bethlehem town...

i love that line in quotes..."you gave birth to the death that would bring us to life..." hmmm...wow. what a bittersweet experience mary and joseph had. i wonder if they knew what was gonna happen...or if they just tried not to think about it...or if they ever shook their fist at God and asked why???? did they understand? i can't wait to get to heaven and ask mary all about it.......

happy birthday to me?

hmm...

i'm 25 today. i'm really having a hard time wrapping my head around that...25 seems so old! quarter of a century right? sheesh.

i opened all my presents up this morning...my mum spoiled me something rotten! it's funny to me...cuz i wasn't really expecting much this year...i mean i just got married and i'm not exactly a kid anymore. ya know what i mean? i guess i just kinda figured that once i hit the 25 mark...things like tons of presents from my parents would kinda taper off. not that i'm complaining or anything...

anyways...john's taking me to the movies tonight in honor of my special day...and i get to pick the movie! so...we're going to go see chronicles of narnia. from what i've heard...i'll definitely havta take along a box of kleenex! i really wanna read the books again...just cuz i haven't read them in so long (prolly since middle school) but wouldn't ya know...since the movie came out the library can't keep them on the shelves! maybe i'll go buy the set for my own library...no late fees there! haha...

alrighty then...i guess i'm off...

only three more days til christmas...can i get a woot?

i feel like singing...

"it's the most wonderful time of the year"...!!!

i'm just kickin' it after dinner with a nice glass of vino (for the non-spanish speakers among us...that's WINE) listening to trace bundy (despite the questionable name...he is a must listen! check out his dvd clips online at http://www.acousticninja.com. and a big thank you to luke for turning me onto him...great stuff!)...and just generally reveling in the fact that my birthday AND christmas are less than a week away! yippee! for those who are unaware...or maybe have just forgotten...i am a christmas freak! i'm one of those people that listens to christmas music all year round...and actually gets excited when the inflatable santas show up at costo before labor day (not that i approve of inflatable santa in any way. quite the contrary actually...i think they're not only tacky but a huge waste of space. still...they are the first signifier that christmas is on its way!!!) pathetic...yes...and i'll be the first to admit it. but i think a lot of my love of christmas stems from being born so close to the darn holiday! i have a very special story to share about my love of christmas...and i hope luke doesn't mind. i talked with my mom on sunday and she told me that luke (who is now home) told her that "christmas just won't be christmas without katie here". awww...isn't that sweet! it brought tears to my eyes...literally! partly because i love how sweet my youngest brother is (something the other one never specialized in...sorry pete...your strengths lie elsewhere! and that's a good thing!!!) but also because i'm slightly disappointed that i won't be able to be with my family on christmas. i know i've said it before...and i'm thoroughly excited to have christmas with just john and i...this being our first christmas as a married couple and all...it's just that i really will miss waking up to celebrate christmas in the tegeler household. i guess it's only appropriate though since technically i am no longer a tegeler. still...i will be missing my family on christmas day that is for sure!

after i finished talking with my mom...i talked with luke for a bit and he elaborated on his statement about christmas not being the same without me...he clarified that the reason it won't be christmas is because i'm the only one who actually squeals at the opening of gifts. yes it's true...i squeal. so i guess what luke was really saying is that christmas won't be nearly as ENTERTAINING as it has been in the past without me squealing at the knowledge that i just unwrapped a pack of lifesavers.

now...for a truly heartwrenching story...there was a christmas when i wasn't quite so cheerful. my mother actually shared this story at church last sunday...and since she already put it so nicely into words...i think i'll just copy and paste it right here...

"The next memory I’d like to share is a little more recent. My daughter, Katie, was 6 or 7 (i'm pretty sure i was eight...but anyways) and had been asking for a kitten the previous year. I told her she had to be old enough to take care of it, which might happen when she reached the magic double-digit age of 10 (a tragically long time away!!). That, of course, was a lifetime away and totally unacceptable to her. So, Christmas morning came and I carefully handed her a box to open. You’ve got it…there inside the box was a beautiful white…stuffed cat! Oh my! The look of total disappointment. She was crushed! (it's true.) I wish you could see the video I was taking at the time…the look on her face is enough to make Scrooge tear-up. No, I didn’t run out and bring in a real kitty…she was stuck with the stuffed cat for at least another year! Katie still has horrible thoughts about that Christmas. As she said, “It was the worst Christmas ever!” (you know what's funny...i have more memories from that christmas that all the others...kinda sad actually...)

Two Christmases with a common theme--disappointment. (i didn't include the first memory my mom had...but it was similar to the first with the exception of my mom as the protagonist) I know these are not the only ones…you can probably come up with some of your own and not only from childhood, either. The thought I’d like to leave you with is one you probably can come up with on your own. Christmas isn’t about the gifts we receive or even the gifts we give. It’s about God coming to earth for us…not with a lot of fanfare (o.k., a bunch of angels singing in the sky can be considered fanfare, however that was only to a few unimportant shepherds)…not with anyone noticing (o.k., some kingly wise men had some idea about it and showed up a couple years later). Jesus came to add meaning to our disappointments. We will have many disappointments in our lives…many a lot more important that these I’ve described. Jesus wants us to give him those disappointments, to trust him to bring something good out of them, and to have them draw us closer to him. So, when you are disappointed at Christmas or anytime, remember to go to the One who overcomes all disappointments with His love."

isn't she so wise??? way to go mum! and it's true...i did learn my lesson after that christmas not to put your hope in the material boxes under the tree...cuz really...where your treasure is...that's where your heart is right? as much as i love christmas...i really don't want my treasure stuck under a dying evergreen tree for one month a year...