Handsome Santa

So what did Jimmy do on his first day of break this Christmas? Play video games? Do all my errands? Sleep all day long? NOPE. He played Santa at this local Assisted Living Center where he volunteers. He brought Christmas cheer and presents to all these cute oldies.

She was so happy!
Ho Ho Ho (no I'm not talking about the women)

This lady told Jimmy "if you're gonna take a picture, you better not try to kiss me!" He said, "uhh--ok I promise!"

The only man there other than Jimmy I think!

My hubby is so cute and a pretty handsome Santa.

Christmas!

Due to our misfortune of last year's adventure getting a Christmas Tree, we decided not to get one this year (also--there was no room). But we decorated like we've never decorated before. Over Thanksgiving, my aunt Pam and uncle Kevin came up with all these cool crafts for us to do. My mom also took me shopping to Home Goods (who loves that store?) and we ended up finding tons of cute treasures including 7 stockings for Jimmy and I and our 5 future children. YUP! Here are a few of the crafts we made and treasures we found!

I love these "Believe" blocks that we made. Thanks Aunt Pam and Uncle Kevin!

Jimmy with all our stockings, presents, and decorations.

This is our bar that we treated like a fireplace and shoved all our presents under.
Here are some of the decorations we made (Santas and Ho Ho Ho's)

Our Dominican Nativity Scene (I love how Jesus is black)

Our Hawaiian Nativity Scene in a coconut

The Santas on wood planks. Love decopauge

One of my favorite things we made. My uncle Kevin put these wires together and we just arranged these pieces of glass on the wires and painted the base and star. It's about 9 inches tall. He made those candy canes out of glass!

Giving Light

In the Dominican Republic where I served my mission the electricity would leave and come back sporadically. Sometimes there would be no electricity for hours, days, and sometimes weeks. The Dominicans referred to the electricity as “light.” In fact no one knew the word for electricity. When the “light” would leave, the streets and alleys were pitch black! Everyone operated by candle-light at night. The missionaries taught and studied by candle-light. There was always a sense of discouragement when the “light” was gone. But when the “light” would come back, no matter what time it was, there would always be whooping and cheering heard through the little neighborhoods. Kids would shout and jump around, adults would look to the heavens in thanks. They would say “Vino la luz” meaning “the light has come!”

Symbolic? One more thing.

In Spanish they don’t say “when is your baby due?” or “did she have her baby?” They say (directly translated) “did she give light?” or “when will she give light?” The birth of a baby is referred to as “giving light.”

The Latinos must have had it right because Mary, in a humble stable, “gave light” that crisp, cool night. The LIGHT OF THE WORLD was born and just as the Dominicans do when light comes after so much darkness, there was celebrating and whooping and cheering heard throughout all the heavens and the earth because the light had come.

Tag--I'm it

So I saw this on a friend's blog and loved it! Tag--you're it!
4 Joys:
* When someone from the Dominican Republic calls/writes me.
* Being held by my husband.
* Finding out my mom is cancer free!
* Giving Daniel dating advice.
4 Fears:
* Shark Attack
* Rape
* The Dark
* Safety of my family
4 Goals:
* Get into dental school (my hubby)
* Travel to another country (hopefully a cruise)
* Have our first baby (no I'm not pregnant...yet)
* Start my own business (someday)
(yes, in that order)
4 Current Obsessions/Collections:
* The show 24
* Purses and shoes (always and forever)
* Keeping in touch
* Saturday mornings with Jimmy
4 Random Surprising Facts About Yourself:
* I love trying new things (foods, adventures, crafts, talents, etc).
* I read about 2 books/week.
* I throw up at least once a week and don't know why. And p.s. I hate it!
* I think about my mission everyday and try to dream about it at night.

Quote

"And forget not that the earth delights to feel your bare feet and the winds long to play with your hair." --Kahlil Gibran Kurt Vonnegut From his book "Timequake"

Simplify

Amazing!

Smells Like Christmas

Quick and cheap way to make your house smell like Christmas! (Thanks mom! It feels like home)

In a small sauce pan put:
- Nutmeg
- Cinnamon (you can even go buy those big sticks of it)
- Cloves (these are key!)
- Orange peels
- Water

Turn it on low and allow the aroma to smell up your home. Make sure you keep filling it up with water and adding these ingredients all December long! (It turns a nasty brown color but the smell is worth it!)