11th Day of Christmas....

Alright, I know that girls want us guys to not be very shallow, and to fall in love with a girl for her personality, for her smarts, etc – and I’ll talk about all of that later – but, let’s face it, she’s beautiful! This is one of the first pictures that I took of her, and its still one of my favorites. Straight hair or curly, dress up or casual, early morning or night on the twon, makeup or not, she is always beautiful!

12 Days of....Christmas...??

For those of you who don’t know, I’ve got a pretty impressive girlfriend. I decided that as part of her Christmas present this year. I would do a sort of “12 Days of Christmas” for her. But, of course, its going to have a few variants: First off, its going to be the “12 reasons I love her.” In addition, I decided that it would be a lot more fun to count down to the days until I get to see her again (Dec 15th). That probably has more to do with the fact that’s its gonna’ make these next couple of weeks a little more bearable. So, we start today. For those of you who aren’t Whitney, you may or may not enjoy this, but then again, I’m not writing it for you anyway

When I started to think about it, the first thing that popped into my head about Whitney was her smile. So it seems like it’s the best thing to start with, right? Whitney has the most beautiful smile. There are so many smiles out there that are tentative, forced, and insincere. Although Whitney does have one of those smiles (it mostly occurs when we’re having an awkward moment), her regular smile is something that spontaneously bursts out onto her face. Quite simply, it’s the result of her tendency to find joy in anything that is going on in her life. Which is really an accomplishment! If you really think about it, her life isn’t super exciting: she spends all day in a windowless office that is several stories underground dealing with books that are hundreds of years old. Then she gets to come home to a boyfriend who is four states away where sometimes her only contact with him is text messaging until 10:30 at night. But if you ever ask her how her day is going, you would think that she is living in the lap of luxury.

I remember asking her one day, “What makes you happy?” When most of us hear that question, we usually think of some specific situations that we love most. Whitney, on the other hand, has a whole list of things that make her happy. Some of the things on her list were complex, but so many of them were beautifully simple. She just knows how to be happy, even with the simplest of little things.

My favorite Christmas "Story"

So...for years I have loved the message "Yes, Virginia, There is a Santa Claus" simply because it says so much about what I think Christmas is really about. You can decide for yourself what he's really saying about Santa Claus, but it seems to be so very important, at least in my book. Even cooler is the fact that I found a digital image of the original publication! How cool is that?

And since none of you can read that...here it is typed out..at least the part I enjoy. Merry Christmas all! Yes, VIRGINIA, there is a Santa Claus. He exists as certainly as love and generosity and devotion exist, and you know that they abound and give to your life its highest beauty and joy. Alas! how dreary would be the world if there were no Santa Claus. It would be as dreary as if there were no VIRGINIAS. There would be no childlike faith then, no poetry, no romance to make tolerable this existence. We should have no enjoyment, except in sense and sight. The eternal light with which childhood fills the world would be extinguished. Not believe in Santa Claus! You might as well not believe in fairies! You might get your papa to hire men to watch in all the chimneys on Christmas Eve to catch Santa Claus, but even if they did not see Santa Claus coming down, what would that prove? Nobody sees Santa Claus, but that is no sign that there is no Santa Claus. The most real things in the world are those that neither children nor men can see. Did you ever see fairies dancing on the lawn? Of course not, but that's no proof that they are not there. Nobody can conceive or imagine all the wonders there are unseen and unseeable in the world. You may tear apart the baby's rattle and see what makes the noise inside, but there is a veil covering the unseen world which not the strongest man, nor even the united strength of all the strongest men that ever lived, could tear apart. Only faith, fancy, poetry, love, romance, can push aside that curtain and view and picture the supernal beauty and glory beyond. Is it all real? Ah, VIRGINIA, in all this world there is nothing else real and abiding. No Santa Claus! Thank God! he lives, and he lives forever. A thousand years from now, Virginia, nay, ten times ten thousand years from now, he will continue to make glad the heart of childhood.

Christmas Soup!

So...I've been trying to become more of a soup master of recent. I can make an alright chicken soup, and have a lot of success with that. I've also figured out some nice chilies and had a lot of success with those as well. But I wanted to try something different, something that at least looked like christmas, even if it didn't really taste like it. (A soup that tasted like christmas would have to be a dessert soup, although the wheels are turning now...) So, I figured I would make a soup that had a nice red base...what came to mind as I went into the store??

BEETS!!

So I combined Beets (3 Medium sized) with Sweet Potatoes (2 large ones) and boiled them in Chicken Broth until soft (The beets take a lot longer, so put them in first). Then I used my handy blender and smoothed it all out. Added a little more chicken broth, added some leeks (for the green part of my christmas soup) and let that simmer for awhile. Salt to taste. Then add some buttermilk. It tastes pretty dang good!

So, as I was reheating it for round two today. I realized a different kind of red soup that I would have a LOT more success with....Tomato! We'll see where it goes!

MORE SNOW!!

I still haven't found the time to take a picture of it...maybe tomorrow. But this particular snowfall is absolutely beautiful. It started last night around 7 and continued all through the night and until after 1 this afternoon!

This weather creates the necessity to share my personal feelings about driving in the winter. There is, of course such a thing as driving too fast. But lets remember folks that there is such a thing as driving too slow! ESPECIALLY if there isn't that much snow under your tires!

Also, it means that its really time to start thinking about Christmas. I have the christmas music (classical christmas music, of course) running through the house, and my DVR is set to record all of the good ABC 25 days of christmas! What a great season!

100 Things I've done/ Haven't Done

I saw this on Cherie's blog, and it seemed a lot of fun to do. I'm usually not one to copy blogs from others, but this one seemed worth it. The idea is that you Bold the things you've done.

1. Started your own blog
2. Slept under the stars
3. Played in a band
4. Visited Hawaii
5. Watched a meteor shower
6. Given more than you can afford to charity
7. Been to Disneyland
8. Climbed a mountain
9. Held a praying mantis
10. Sang a solo
11. Bungee jumped
12. Visited Paris
13. Watched a lightning storm at sea
14. Taught yourself an art from scratch
15. Adopted a child
16. Had food poisoning
17. Walked to the top of the Statue of Liberty
18. Grown your own vegetables
19. Seen the Mona Lisa in France
20. Slept on an overnight train
21. Had a pillow fight
22. Hitch hiked
23. Taken a sick day when you’re not ill
24. Built a snow fort
25. Held a lamb
26. Gone skinny dipping
27. Run a Marathon
28. Ridden in a gondola in Venice
29. Seen a total eclipse
30. Watched a sunrise or sunset
31. Hit a home run
32. Been on a cruise
33. Seen Niagara Falls in person
34. Visited the birthplace of your ancestors
35. Seen an Amish community
36. Taught yourself a new language
37. Had enough money to be truly satisfied
38. Seen the Leaning Tower of Pisa in person
39. Gone rock climbing
40. Seen Michelangelo’s David
41. Sung karaoke
42. Seen Old Faithful geyser erupt
43. Bought a stranger a meal at a restaurant
44. Visited Africa
45. Walked on a beach by moonlight
46. Been transported in an ambulance
47. Had your portrait painted
48. Gone deep sea fishing
49. Seen the Sistine Chapel in person
50. Been to the top of the Eiffel Tower in Paris
51. Gone scuba diving or snorkeling
52. Kissed in the rain
53. Played in the mud
54. Gone to a drive-in theater
55. Been in a movie
56. Visited the Great Wall of China
57. Started a business
58. Taken a martial arts class
59. Visited Russia
60. Served at a soup kitchen
61. Sold Girl Scout Cookies
62. Gone whale watching
63. Got flowers for no reason
64. Donated blood, platelets or plasma
65. Gone sky diving
66. Visited a Nazi Concentration Camp
67. Bounced a check
68. Flown in a helicopter
69. Saved a favorite childhood toy
70. Visited the Lincoln Memorial
71. Eaten Caviar
72. Pieced a quilt
73. Stood in Times Square
74. Toured the Everglades
75. Been fired from a job
76. Seen the Changing of the Guards in London
77. Broken a bone
78. Been on a speeding motorcycle
79. Seen the Grand Canyon in person
80. Published a book
81. Visited the Vatican
82. Bought a brand new car
83. Walked in Jerusalem
84. Had your picture in the newspaper
85. Read the entire Bible
86. Visited the White House
87. Killed and prepared an animal for eating
88. Had chickenpox
89. Saved someone’s life
90. Sat on a jury
91. Met someone famous
92. Joined a book club
93. Lost a loved one
94. Had a baby
95. Seen the Alamo in person
96. Swam in the Great Salt Lake
97. Been involved in a law suit
98. Owned a cell phone
99. Been stung by a bee
100. Totally copied a post from someone else's blog to your own

Snow!

Its a beautiful day! I absolutely love it when it snows like this! Its the first snow of the season (at least here in Illinois) and its so wonderful to see all of the trees covered with just a little bit of snow. What beautiful weather we have!