My Christmas letter

This is kind of long.

I love Christmas but sadly this year has not felt much like Christmas. First I will blame the weather. The weather here in Boston has been unusually warm (I mean like 40s to almost 50s) which is great because I don't have to bundle up but it is sad because it doesn't have the feeling of Christmas in the air. No Jack Frost nipping at the nose and no real reason to climb under the blankets and drink hot coco. It is kind of sad because come February I will be complaining about the cold weather but now I kind of long for it to get the Christmas feeling. Second I will blame grad school/ full time job. I haven't had much energy to decorate my apartment and prepare for Christmas. But I have to say my office looks very Christmasy which feels nice and as finishing up the semester I am listening to Christmas music. So I get some Christmas feelings. I just wish I felt Christmasy on the inside.

One thing I love about Christmas is getting Christmas cards and sending Christmas cards. But I don't think this year I will get my Christmas cards out on time before Christmas is here so I am going to type a long post instead as if was a traditional Christmas card letter. This will be fun reflecting on the year past...

For me personally I don't feel like much has happened in my life (well I feel that no big event in my life has changed it). Last January I started my first semester in grad school. I took two classes one in Reference Library and one in Slave History. I only took two classes as I worked a full time job in Membership Accounting. In January my little nephew Jayden came into this world on January 14th, 2011.

During that semester I went to my first Boston Celtics game. It took me back to all basketball games I used to go to with my mom and step-dad when we cheered on the Seattle Sonics. I am happy to report the Celtics won. But I felt I spent most of the semester studying. So I will skip ahead to the summer.

In May, my month off before summer school. I went down to Cape Cod. I had only been there once before with my dad and step-mom but it was in November and I am sad I don't remember much of it. But this was a nice trip. Tried to dip my toe in the water but it was far too cold to get in any further than my toe. Also during May I celebrated my 25th birthday in a three day event. My birthday was on Thursday and originally I had nothing planned because it was on a work day, but then my co-worker had tickets to the Red Sox game he wasn't able to go to. So I bought them from him and went to the game. Red Sox won it was a great way to celebrate. Then on Friday night some of my co-workers and I went out for drinks to celebrate my birthday. Also almost all my co-workers wore pink for my birthday and threw me a little party with my favorite things (harvest cheddar sun chips, Dr. Pepper, and German chocolate cake) I love my co-workers. Then on Saturday as a gift to myself I got my hair cut and treated myself to a pedicure. My hair cut was a big deal because I had been growing it out since August for my younger sister's wedding but then she told me I could cut it. And I did really short. Also on Saturday my friends went out for Karaoke. I wanted to do something I had never done before for this big birthday and loved it. My friends and I sung "Baby" by Justin Beiber, attempted to sing "Telephone" by Lady Gaga and we did one Spice Girls song. It was lots of fun. I wonder how I will top it for my 26th. For other post on my birthday click here.

My friend and I singing.

Next on my fast pace moving May was a trip down to Atlanta to see one of my best friends. We didn't do anything too touristy as I kind of wanted to see her life. I had never really been to Atlanta so it was lots of fun getting away from Boston for the Memorial Day holiday and just hang out. I loved Atlanta and if I was to move south of the Mason Dixon line I could see myself living there. It had its southern charm but where my friend lived it had a good indie vibe. I am not indie but I like to pretend to be sometimes. I am happy to say I will be going back there soon when I watch my friend become a Mrs.

Sadly in June my grandma, on my dad's side passed away. It is sad but it is also really great now she is up in heaven. We pulled out all her photo albums and filled up a ping pong table and 2 card tables with all the photo albums she had. We were able to go through them and take the pictures we wanted. I got a lot of pics from my childhood that I didn't even knew existed. For other post on my grandma click here.

Then I had to start summer school where I took Technology for the Information Professional. I learned about HTML, CSS, and other geeky things. But June was also a good month as I watched my younger sister get married.  Weddings are another time I love. It is great watching two people who are so in love with each other commit their lives together. I also loved when my sister told her husband that he will always be her number 2 in her life as God is her number 1. And I loved when her husband put on chap stick before kissing her (it was so him). For other post on my sister's wedding click here.



My cat hiding

Most of July was spent at work and at school. I was writing more on this blog, which was nice then by August I was a full out blogger. I was also getting ready for my move. I grabbed boxes from my job or if I saw them sitting on the street. My cat was starting too get worried so she started hiding in the boxes.

I also attended another friend's wedding in August in upstate New York. I must say I like going to weddings where I am not busy doing other things so I can just kick off my shoes and just dance the night away. I did dance the night away and it was lots of fun. For other post on that wedding click here. (I love having this blog to sort of remind me what I did through out my year).



My cat blocking my reading

Then September 1st I moved. The move all went very well even with Hurricane Irene hitting the weekend before. I had some really good friends that came over in the storm and helped me pack. I spent labor day weekend unpacking and getting everything ready before school started this semester. This semester I am taking an Introduction to Cataloging and Historical Methods and still working my job. Next semester I will be going in as a full time student where I will be taking my last two core requirement Library Science classes (Evaluation and Management) and I will be taking my first Archiving class in which I will have an internship to do. It is not set up yet but I am really looking forward to being a full time student.

I am getting ahead of myself... back to this semester. I have tried to be better at juggling work and school but still remembering to take care of myself by taking naps even if they are for 20 minutes, hanging out with my friends even if all we do is crash on the couch and watch a movie. The big news of this semester is that my really close friends (practically family) had their little baby girl Brianna on Oct. 20th. I was so happy when I saw the first picture of her I began to cry. Then when I got to hold her I was over joyed. (If you haven't figured it our I love babies).

Some other big happenings in my life is if you have been following this blog you might have seen some changes in my life. In October I was kind of going through an identity crisis (more of a purpose crisis). I was wondering what I was suppose to be doing with my life. I have always wanted to be a wife and a mother and that felt so far away from me. That I honestly didn't know what to do. Of course this has a long back story of being upset at God. But some where in between my A Page from my Diary (Sept 28) to my Thought for Thursday (Oct. 20th) and even now my life has really changed. I still don't know what I am suppose to be doing but I lean a lot more on God to remind me to live in the moment and He has a beautiful future for me. I am also reminded on a constant basis that I have been blessed so much that I need not worry about the future for it too will be blessed. I am also letting go of my past (mostly my mistakes) so I can move on to a bright future.

I hope you all have a wonderful Christmas. I hope even with all the stress comes from this Christmas time that you are able to remember the real reason for the season. It is not about presents, decorations and parities. It is about getting together with loved ones (friends and family) and celebrating the greatest gift of all when God gave us his son to live and then die for our sins. I was just told about this article from the Huffington Post on the Real War on Christmas a good little reminder.

Linus explaining what Christmas is all about.

I was talking to a married couple in my bible study and the wife was telling me she was worried about her kids having a good Christmas. She wasn't worried about the gifts necessarily she just wanted he kids to have a great Christmas. It reminded me why I love Christmas so much. I can't tell you everything I have gotten. But the memories that stick out to me was spending the night at my Mema and Grangran's house waking up on Christmas morning with all my family there. Then after eating a huge meal my mema would ask if any of us wanted dessert but we were too stuffed to say anything. Then when I got older I remember two years I made my dad cry (good cry) over the gifts I gave him. One year it was picture of me sitting on his lap resting my head on his shoulder the other year was I wrote him a poem about how I needed him. Other Christmas memories are my uncles fighting over Oklahoma State and Oklahoma University football and my mema who was as mild as a mouse usually but when we played chicken foot she was the most competitive woman. None of these memories cost much money and have little to do with the gifts it is more about the time we have had together.

Now the one thing I am looking forward to is getting home and when I land I know my dad will be there and he will give me one of his big hugs all of which will tell me I am home and loved. (I guess I am getting a little homesick in eager anticipation for Christmas).

So there is my Christmas, year in review, letter. I hope you enjoyed.

-Blaire

My Friends are blogging



My friend Alicia and I

 My friend Alicia has started writing a blog. I love when ever my friends write blogs... when I learn about them I seek them out and begin following.  My friend Alicia's blog is called "Be Still" and she has a post called "Be still and know that I am God". A phrase that comes from Psalm 46:10 a great passage that gets over looked a lot.

Alicia writes in her post...

"A few years ago I sat in an Easter Service at St. Paul's Cathedral in Boston, and the worship leader chanted this line for a solid ten minutes. Maybe it was longer than ten minutes. Either way, it felt long. My mind wondered to things that needed to get done, bills that needed to be paid, work, what I wanted to eat for dinner, etc. The focus was on my needs in the moment. I wasn't paying attention to the commandment to be still, to give God His time and listen, really listen, to what He needed to say to me in that moment."


How many times does that happen in our lives? For me a lot. I get so wrapped up in my problems or the things I have to do and I forget to remember He is God and He will take care of everything. Reading Psalm 46  really reminds me how much God has been there for us and will be there for us.
 

God is our refuge and strength,

an ever-present help in trouble.

Therefore we will not fear, though the earth give way

and the mountains fall into the heart of the sea,
though its waters roar and foam
and the mountains quake with their surging....
Come and see what the LORD has done,

the desolation he has brought on the earth.
He makes wars cease
to the ends of the earth.
He breaks the bow and shatters the spear;
he burns the shields[d] with fire.
“Be still, and know that I am God;
I will be exalted among the nations,
I will be exalted in the earth.”
The LORD Almighty is with us;
the God of Jacob is our fortress.

Psalm 46:1-3 & 8-11
Alicia ends her post saying...

"Be still and know that I am God.

Be still and know that I am taking care of you.
Be still and know that I am with you.
Be still and know that you are loved unconditionally.
Be still and listen, really listen, to Me.
Be still and chill out. "
I know I personally need to be reminded of that daily.

I really hope lovely readers you will check out Alicia's blog. She is new to the blogging world and I want to wish her the best of luck.

Happy Thanksgiving

HAPPY THANKSGIVING LOVELY READERS

Favorite Traditions...

1. Watching the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade

It was after Santa came into the square that we could really begin celebrating Christmas.

This year I put my Christmas music on after the parade... it was great.

2.Watching The National Dog Show... I am not sure how we started this tradition but my mom and I have watched it for years. (I guess my step dad watched football some place else.) A lot of people don't know what this is but it comes on right after the parade... how can you miss it.

3. After Thanksgiving sitting around watching White Christmas and eating Pecan Pie.

I know how this tradition as my mom as told me. When my Nana cancer was bad and we couldn't go out to the out door mall in Tulsa, OK to kick off the Christmas season we watched this movie. This year my first Christmas movie was Elf.

Favorite Memories...

One year when my mom and step dad were living in Huntsville, Alabama we went to a Christmas tree farm to chop down our own Christmas tree. Well there was a good group of us and my step dad was chopping down the tree and my sister was holding it up as is coming down, the rest of us were taking pictures. Then she sweetly yelled "can one of you come help me", I ran around and grabbed the top of tree. I don't know if I was much help I was mostly laughing.

Another one is that my mom didn't really like the idea of cooking on Thanksgiving because it was hours of prep for 15 minutes of eating and she wanted to go to a restaurant and my step dad wasn't very happy with that so he decided to make the meal. For weeks he recorded Emeril and other cooking shows to get prepared for the big day. I remember my mom and I sitting on the sofa watching TV and he came into the living room and asked "should I boil the potatoes now?" we asked "have you put the turkey in the oven?" he said "no" we told him to put the turkey in the oven before you do anything else. Now we all kind of do things for the feast.

Now I am happy to have wonderful friends that make Boston feel more and more like home and I get to spend time with them. Hope you all had a good Thanksgiving.

I am also happy to boast that I had another successful year of Pecan Pie making.

Thankful for...

Hello lovely readers,

Thanksgiving is upon us, I know one of my traditions at Thanksgiving is to say what we are thankful for. There is usually so much it is hard to come up with a short sweet answer. So I am working on my list here.

1.My family... I know its cheesy to say but no matter how far I roam away from home and no matter how long I am away from them they always welcome me back in and love me.

I have a large mixed family so it is lots of fun.

2. My friends... I have some friends that are as close as family to me. They always encourage me and push me to be the best I can be. They listen to me and all my craziness and when I am tired and worn out they relax with me.

3. My faith...sometimes I don't know where I would be with out it.

4. I always have clean water to drink and a warm place to sleep... and I have the resources to try to help people who don't.

5. And soon I will get to watch Christmas movies and sing Christmas songs...



I had to throw in something for laughs.



But in all seriousness I have lots of things to be thankful that I could not list them all.

Hope everyone has a wonderful Thanksgiving and we remember why we celebrate this time of year. We have all been given so much and we should take time to celebrate the blessings. 

As we express our gratitude,
we must never forget that the highest appreciation is not to utter words,
but to live them.-JFK

I enjoy being a girl

Okay minus all the drama, that just seems to happen because we are girls, and girls just have drama... if you are thinking "nu'uh" you have been lying to yourself.

This will be my only mention of the show Gossip Girls on this Blog.



Last night through a conversation I remembered why I love being a girl

1. We can wear dresses/skirts/ carpi's or pants to the office and still be good...

guys can only wear pants no matter how hot it is outside.

2. We can cry and everyone ask if we are all right...

guys need to be tough and if they cry we are confused.

(though for some odd reason I love when my dad cries... he shows me he is sensitive).

3. We can be sensitive...

guys have sensitive sides but hide them.

4. We can also be tough...

guys are sadly told to only be tough.

5. We can dance stupidly...

guys have to be cool.

(Come on we have all seen the movie Hitch).

But my favorite reason...

6. We can like girly things, for example Jane Austen

and still like boyish things, for example football...

Guys are told to only like boyish thing and if they do like girl things

eye brows are raised, or they have to hide it.

 I know there are more reasons but this is what I thought of.

My love of escapism

Okay guys, I don't think its a secret that most of my pleasure reading and watching movies and TV, I use as escapism. I thought I would blog about what I use to escape when the world is just too much for me to handle.

1. Books- most of my favorite books take place in the 19th century though some of them take place from the Roman Empire to WWII.

If I am not reading something for fun I think I will collapse. I need it as away to think about other things besides school. Though I am not reading fast.

2. TV/Movies- My newest obsession with TV is Downton Abbey. I can watch and dream what it would be like to wear fancy gowns and have gourmet dinners served nightly and always have my hair perfectly in place.

3. My own writing- Though it is hard to get the energy to write, when I get the time (really when I make the time) I still love to write. Fortunately I am a very big journal writer and I try to work on this blog but I wish I got more of my story done. Oh well can't do everything at once.

4. My friends- I know it might sound silly but I do have to remember to hang out with friends and when I am with them no matter how stressed I am they can always make me laugh. Plus they remind me to keep my priorities in check (I love that about them).







The Civil Wars

5. Music- I am not any where close to being a musician but I have finally jumped on to the idea of how cool spotify is and I love listening to music. My favorite types are country (nothing too twangy)/ folk/ and a little bit of Blue Grass. I have discovered Sarah Darling, Sarah Jarosz, and Sara Groves (I guess I really like the Sara(h)s). I have also discovered The Civil Wars and I have let my once quiet love for country not to be quiet anymore. I always take suggestions for music so let me know if you have any bands I must listen to. So while I may not be a musician and I know nothing about chords or a melody there is something nice about having music on in the back ground that calms me down and lets me escape.

6. My faith- though it is not really escapism I feel I must include it here as one of the main things that keeps me going. All the things above are good at letting me escape sometimes my over worked under slept life but my faith this semester has really gotten me through some rough patches. Earlier this year I was very down about the question "what am I doing with my life?" "what I am here for?" and actually I still don't have the answers to that I know that the Lord does and I just have to keep leaning on him. (Even as I write that it sounds totally cheesey but its true).

What do you like to do?

Yes I am still here, just haven't really had the energy to have creative writing time (grad-school) but I did want to post something.

When I am not in school or work I have tried really hard this semester to hang out with friends. So a couple of Thursdays ago I went over to my friend's house as she was having a house warming party. And I struck up conversation with one of her new roommates. We went through the typical first questions, like what do you do? and then he asked me what do you do when your not in grad-school? I couldn't think. I feel like my life revolves around grad school. So I said something stupid I said "I watch movies." I think I said because watching movies takes like no mental energy and I use it as a total escapism from everything. For some reason that stupid answer has been playing over and over in my mind... I really over think things.

So to answer it correctly, and more interestingly I am writing this post. So what do I do when I am not in school and I am not working (excluding homework)



1. Hang out with my friends, I love all my friendships and they have blessed me so much. And yes we do watch movies.

I loved that show





2. I am also trying to read "North and South", people think I am crazy to do any fun reading but I feel I have to or I will collapse. Plus I have seen the mini series so I know what going to happen.

3. I also volunteer with my church helping coordinate the services and I help in the nursery. I love working with the babies. Holding babies actually makes me very calm and I love seeing them as they grow up into toddlers experiencing the world and full of questions and imagination.

4. I still try to write, rather it be this blog or still working on my story but sometimes my mental energy is gone and I can't think of good things to say.

5. And I love taking naps, I don't think as a kid I understood the beauty of naps but now I love them and look forward to naps.

So I guess this is what I do when I am not at school or thinking about school, or at work or doing homework. Okay I feel better not having a stupid answer out there in the universe.

I have learned one thing this semester know what you love and cling to it because it's what we love that keeps us sane.