Amazing season!

I heart Christmas. My family is amazing. We managed to do almost everything we wanted this season [except watch a few notable movies together... The Santa Clause... Muppets Christmas Carol... you know, the classics. ;o)] and still had time to fix a wonderful dinner and go to church last night *and* this morning.

Last night was our candlelight service; it's one of my favorite traditions. This morning we went to a friend's church and had another beautiful service.

And I got a gilded aspen leaf from Colorado from my Grandparents. Do they know me, or what? ;o)

Music

Sometimes the only way one can express oneself is through music. After all, it is, I believe, another form of poetry.

Sometimes when you dream,
Your dream is just a guess,
Sometimes, when you work really hard
You don’t know if you’ll ever find success...

I will not quit, I won’t be forgotten
I will shine, I’ll dazzle and more...
I’m ready to take a bow, I’ve taken a solemn vow,
My destiny here, and now, I’ll astonish the world...

Sometimes when you dream,
Your dreams com true
In extraordinary ways,
Suddenly a day can be so amazing...
And sometimes when you yearn, you burn the air
And someone else feels the flame
You always knew was there...

Only reading this does nothing; one needs to hear the harmonies and lilting chorus to feel the music.

This particular song is from the musical "Little Women." I can't tell you how much that book shaped me, growing up.

Art and Magic

To go off of Timo's post:

All the arts are a form of Magic. There is nothing quite like the enchantment woven by a well-written story, the thrill that stirs the heart by a moving piece of music, or the breathtaking skill used in creating a beautiful work of art. This Magic, however, truly comes to life when the art is to the Glory of God our Father.

The creator puts a bit of his soul into his creation, much like the Original Creator did so long ago, therefore recorded music can be glorifying to Him even though it isn't "live." It all comes back to that trite saying: "it's the thought that counts."

Memories

For some reason, or perhaps it's just delayed reaction to the time of the year, I have been really homesick for Colorado and the farm and my grandparents. So I'm going to share why I love it so.

Moments of stillness are necessary for the soul. You don't know rural peace until you've heard wind whispering through the corn rows. [Yes, all of that is my grandfather's.]



Little sis' and I, turning the chore of weeding into a contest to see who could get the biggest ones... Picking corn that we'd eat that evening at dinner... Grampa teaching me how to irrigate ditches... Going out at night to check for raccoons... Driving the tractor that planted and harvested these rows, year after year... Running along the lane with Lee... Hide and seek in the rows...



This is Colorado; the 'purple mountains' majesty' and the 'amber waves of corn/grain' ['course, that's behind me in the picture, so you can't see it...], the cow quietly grazing at sunset, the farm equipment in the field, the path leading into the mountains, ending with the snow-capped peaks in the distance. This is my other home. I love that place.



Edit: I grew up in the city; I'm not a "farm girl." We just visited my grandparents a lot. Yes, I got the best of both worlds.

Good music

Here is my song for the asking
Ask me and I will play
So sweetly, I'll make you smile

This is my tune for the taking
Take it, don't turn away
I've been waiting all my life

Thinking it over, I've been sad
Thinking it over, I'd be more than glad
To change my ways for the asking

Ask me and I will play
All the love that I hold inside

-S&G

They just don't make it like they used to.

Day

:o)

Good day. Not hectic, drive-me-crazy, run-around-and-do-a-bajillion-things day, but a slower, actually relaxed, being with Fun People day. It makes up for driving 370 miles on Thursday.

Pictures!



Babies make life happy.

Happiness

God painted the sky tonight.



He's quite the Artist.



Then it rained. I think He was having a wonderful day. It surely made mine much better.

Happiness is slipping and nearly falling on your face in the first puddles of the "rainy season."