Christmas or Xmas??

Ok, I'm taking a deep breath right now before diving into this subject.

This year I've seen blog posts and gotten emails about "Xmas." Both saying "Don't take Christ out of Christmas!! It's CHRISTMAS not XMAS." I realize that some people, while reading this at their computers, might scrunch up there face, do the whole "whatever girlfriend", or just plain not read it, but I beg to differ that saying "Xmas" is taking Christ out of Christmas.

I found this while looking up the origin of "Xmas." It comes from crivoice.org in their article about Xmas NOT taking Christ from Christmas.
You’ve heard the classic story about the little boy who noticed the huge red-and-green sign spray-painted on a department story: "Happy Xmas." And he wondered aloud about the X. Why was it X-mas? And finally, in a forlorn voice, he asked his dad: "Did they cross Christ out of Christmas, Daddy?" And the father had never thought of it that way before, but finally nodded. "Yes, Son, I guess they did." And it makes you think.

According to dictionary.com, Xmas means "The abbreviation Xmas for Christmas dates from the mid 16th century. The X is the Greek letter chi, the initial in the word Χριστός ( Christos ) “Christ.” In spite of a long and respectable history, today Xmas is offensive to many, perhaps because of its associations with advertising."

So technically, those who say "Xmas" in lieu of "Christmas" because it's politcally incorrect, are actually putting Christ in Christmas either way:) For myself, I prefer Christmas because there is no mistaking Christ being the main part of Christmas, but those who say Xmas are NOT "crossing out Christ in Christmas"

Man!!

Ok ya'll!! I am a terrible friend!! First I missed mentioning my dear friend Erin, and that she is one of my very dearest friends! Now---:'( I missed Miss Meagan's birthday!! I feel so bad for missing it so I decided I would post about it and try to make up for it! She turned sweet 16 yesterday!! If you all wanna help me make it better, stop over by her blog, www.meaganrowell.blogspot.com, and wish her a happy 16th birthday!!

I met Meagan through her blog and we have become fast and good friends! Meagan is one awesome teenage girl! She doesn't bend to the rules of what a teenager should be. She has a successful and really awesome blog, she has a desire to see the lost saved, and she has a dream in her heart to be a missionary in Ireland. Most teenagers are worried about having the latest techno toys, latest fashions, and finding a boyfriend. Not Meagan=D So yeah, she's an awesome girl! I love you Meagan!!

Uh-oh....

My dear blog readers, I have made a terrible "oopsie." In my Thanksgiving post I named off the people who keep me sane...I forgot a VERY important and dear friend....Miss Erin!! Erin is an amazing girl...she has gone through a LOT in her life. As of right now, she is pretty much raising her 7 year old sister, and she is taking care of her teenage brother as well. She is going to medical school on top of all the things she does at home. And if you ever needed someone to talk to....Erin's your girl. The Lord has blessed her greatly with an anointed voice that she uses for Him. Erin is a prayer warrior. If I have something I need or am worried about, I know that Erin will be praying. She is connected to the Holy Ghost, and is basically just one awesome child of God. She is another one of my very best friends....we are so much alike that it's almost scary sometimes:-/ I'm just kidding...it's not scary at all....well for us it isn't. But with the way our minds work, if you get the two of us together it might be scary for anyone around us;-) Which brings me to my next little subpoint about her....she is most likely coming to visit me in March!! If everything goes as planned she'll be here for one wonderful, fun, and AWESOME week!!!! Watch out T-ville here comes the evil duo!!;-)

Procrastination

A couple of weeks ago my pastor was preaching about Joseph. When Joseph was in Egypt his brothers came to him asking for food because there was a huge famine. Obviously his brothers didn't know who he was, maybe from all the make up and Egyptian clothes, because Joseph finally revealed who he was. He told his brothers, "Draw near to me." That's what Pastor preached about:) Our church family drawing close to one another. He said that as a family, we should draw together. And we shouldn't have a mask on with our family and hide our faults. I'm going to confess one of my faults to the whole wide world...well everyone who reads my blog :-D

I'm a terrible procrastinator!!! Hence, not a lot of blogs. Also, I've been falling farther behind in my school work. I know usually people get their "new beginning" after New Year's day, but my school work cannot wait that long. So, my new beginning started today, after the little Thanksgiving break we had. I'm going to be a better student, a better blogger, and a better room cleaner:-D So does anyone feel like commenting and telling me their faults so I don't feel all alone?? :-p I'm just kidding!:-) Thanks for bearing with me through all of the "few-and-far-between" posts. I am going to try to do a LOT better!:-)

Thanksgiving

Well ya'll I found something to post about--THANKSGIVING!! *Duh me!!* I'm gonna ramble a little bit, so please bear with me:-D First, I'd like to tell you all some of the things I'm thankful for. 1. I'm thankful for the grace and mercy of the Lord!! I don't know what I would be without it! 2. I'm thankful for my parents! They are THE BEST!! 3. I'm thankful for my sister and brother:-D 4. For my grandparents, which also happen to be my pastor and pastor's wife:-) 5. I'm sooo thankful for all of my friends!! Specifically Laura, Jonah, Monique, Anita, and Brittany! Those are the people that keep me sane;-) 6. For a WARM house!! Ahh! It's wonderful!! When it's 30 degrees outside, you can count on it being 70 degrees inside! (That is if Dad isn't here;) When Dad's here it's about 68:-p) 

I have to say, Thanksgiving is my very favorite day of the year! A lot of people have said, "What about Christmas?" when I've stated that. Well, in my family, Thanksgiving is the "big day." My aunt and uncle and their two kids from Indiana come home for Thanksgiving every year. We we used to have the dinners at different places-my aunt Alicia's, my grandparents' house, our old house, and now we've started having it here at our new house because it's the right size for all of us to get together.

Something I've always liked about our dinners is that we usually have a friend or family of friends over. We used to have a woman in our church that was all alone and we would have her over every year. Now, she's married with her own family, but we have a single mother and her family over. It's always very enjoyable, especially since her daughter is one of my very best friends!

Back to the Christmas thing, we usually don't do anything special for Christmas. I don't know why, but usually we just stay home, open gifts and eat regular food. This year we will probably be having a big meal at my other aunt and uncle's house, so it will change this year:-)

So this year, we had so much fun again! We ate around 1:30, and then sat around giving my baby cousin all kinds of attention:-p We played Liar's Dice-Anthony's are great at it;)-which is sooo much fun!! Then we ate again, (yes we eat a LOT) and did the same thing. We don't have like another sit down meal, but go back and forth from the kitchen:-D So yeah, I think that pretty much describes my day. Eating, playing Liar's Dice, and laughing a TON!


How was your Thanksgiving Day? What are you thankful for?

Saturday 9

My dear faithful blog readers, PLEASE forgive me for my lack of posts lately, and for trying to make up for it with little surveys! I do apologize, but once again I'm posting a little "get-to-know-me" survey. Sorry!:D I'll try to get some different posts next week!:)


1. Tell us about your very favorite (yes we know that's redundant) Thanksgiving.
My favorite Thanksgiving would probably have to be last year's. We had quite a few friends over, but also had our family here. My aunt and uncle from Indiana stayed with us for a while.

2. What are you doing for Turkey Day this year?
The family is coming to our house again this year and we may have a few friends here, too.

3. If you were to go to somebody else’s house, what would be your favorite dish to bring?
I would definitely take apple pie!:D

4. Tell us about the funniest person that you'll be with this Thanksgiving.
Um...that's a hard one!! The men in my family are all hilarious! It's a toss-up between my dad, my uncle, and my grandpa.

5. What would surprise us to know about your Thanksgivings?
Umm....two years ago we finally ended the "tradition" of burning bread sticks! The only reason that it ended is because my uncle got married to a woman from Kansas who is an AMAZING cook! We all pale in comparison to her, so we did our very best and paid close attention to the time the bread sticks cooked;-) (We all just LOVE her! Tim couldn't have married a better coo...er, woman!)
6. Does your usual mix of guests result in drama, or is it a group you’re happy to see?
It's my familia!! Of course I'm happy to see them! Thanksgiving is the only time we're all together!:) We all love each other, so we don't have petty, dramatic arguments:)

7. What did your family do for Thanksgiving when you were a kid? Do you still do it?
Well, considering that I'm still a kid, we still do it:D We always get together and eat a big dinner with the family, and sometimes a single mother from the church, every year:)

8. We know you've been asked this probably 15 times this week. But share with us in 2010, what are you most thankful for?
I would have to say I'm most thankful for my trip to Colorado...if I were to pick one specific thing it would be the wonderful friendships that I have. I have amazing friends that are always there for me:)

9. Okay, the big question: are you going to 'attend' any of the "Black Friday" sales? ...and if you are, are you hard core serious like the 5 am "be there" crowd? Well here's the thing...my mom doesn't like crowds. And since I don't have my license, I won't be shopping on Black Friday.

Confessions of a Two-faced Blogger

Well everyone, after reading my mom's confession post, I decided that I should come clean with all of my lovely blog readers. If you all remember, I posted the day before my birthday about the knowledge I have gained in the past 16 years. One of things I said I have learned was to never wear heels to the mall. Weeellll, I went against my own advice.

Last Friday, my wonderful mother had a surprise birthday party for me. I got some money, and my parents gave me a gift certificate to the Label Shopper, which had a dress that was super cute and I really wanted. Well on Saturday my sister took me to Cranberry to the mall, and we met up with my aunt and uncle. Since my mom's car is in the shop right now, I have no flats to wear. I didn't have the flats on Saturday either, so I decided to wear these really cute, almost flat shoes. They were toeless and backless, so they were kind of like a flip flop.

Long, agonizing story short, my feet were in soooooo much pain by the end of the night!! It was the balls of my feet that were really hurting. I don't know why, but something about those kind of shoes are just extremely painful. I cannot express the amount of pain I was in for about 2 or 3 days. Even in my barefeet I didn't want to walk because of it. So take my first-hand advice for the second time. {[(<"'NEVER'">)]} wear heels to the mall!! (Sorry for all the punctuation....I was trying to emphasize the seriousness of that word:D)