Saturday, December 25, 2010

happy birthday, Jesus!

well, three days of working down and seven to go. i am just trying to face each day as it comes and then maybe i won't be overwhelmed by how much i am working.

despite all the working, we managed to have a great Christmas eve. we had some old friends over and went to the midnight candlelight service to celebrate the birth of our Lord Jesus.

On Thursday my friend Monica came to visit and we took the dogs to the park in their new sweaters.

Jude and Norah in their Christmas fleeces



NERTZ!


i can't believe it actually snowed on Christmas day! It would have been a lot nicer if i hadn't had to work. standing outside in the snow all afternoon was not very fun, and i'll have to do it again tomorrow. i just have to keep thinking about my nice Christmas paycheck!!

Thursday, December 23, 2010

christmas!

well, my Christmas vacation is now over. i had two wonderful days off and was able to spend some great time with my family (more or less).

yesterday, we had a non-traditional Christmas, and i loved it! First we went to the Flying Biscuit and ate a delicious breakfast. i am now hooked, thanks Kristina!
Then, we went to the High museum to see the Dali exhibit (his later work). i realized that i loved him when i was reading about one of his pieces and it said that he went to paint a copy of The Lacemaker and he realized that he had only painted four rhinoceros horns.

i am also fascinated by artists who are so closely tied to popular culture. It is so interesting to me the way that art and life are so closely tied and to see the way that modern life influences people as brilliant as Salvador Dali. i definitely recommend checking out the show if you get a chance.

but anyways, now is the moment you have all been waiting for:
christmas presents!!

first, i got this cute cute purse

(can anyone tell me how to flip this? i have no idea.)

i immediately transferred all of my things into it and have been carrying it around with me everywhere. i love it!

i also received this delightful assortment of items:


notice psych season four for hours of hilarious entertainment, and a chick-fil-a calender for lots of delicious eating (or drinking - four of the coupons are for drinks! that is 4/12 or 1/3 of the coupons- crazy!) i am pumped about these gifts.

but you may be asking yourself, with what are you taking these pictures, alyssa, since you have no camera?

well, i am so glad that you asked because i was just getting to my biggest christmas surprise:


so, no more pictureless (or worse webcam) blog posts!! i am more excited for all of you than for myself. goodness knows your poor eyes were probably so pained by the current state of things.

yay!

(more christmas pictures to come!)

Tuesday, December 21, 2010

ups and downs

this past weekend i had a lot of ups and downs. the good thing is that the ups outweighed the downs. but it was still an emotional weekend.

it started friday morning when we lost a dog at work (who was one of my favorites) the dog had medical complications and there was nothing we could have done, but it was heartbreaking that is for sure, add that to the fact that it had only been a week since i had lost my own dog and lets just say, i was a bit of a wreck.

friday evening though, i was invited to a Christmas dessert party (on a completely unrelated note, does anyone else have a fear of mixing up desert and dessert?) with by my friends the Randalls. i always enjoy their parties even though i seem to know less people every time i go. i had a great time and ate WAY too many desserts even though i was exhausted.

on my way home my low tire pressure light came on-this will come into play later in the story of my weekend.

On saturday morning i had to go back to work and apparently i was exhausted because i slept right through my alarm. i woke at the time that i am usually arriving. as i was rushing to get ready, i remembered that all my work clothes were in the dryer. as i reached in to grab them i realized that they were still damp. at this point i had no choice but to go to work with damp clothes. the day just keeps getting better. i got into my car and i had completely forgotten about the low tire pressure, but i figured that i should be able to drive to work then get some air in it after, but when i started to drive it started to thump like my tire was flat. i got out to look at it, but couldn't see anything because it was dark, so i drove to work anyways (probably not smart). overall, it was a good day at work, on saturdays i work with my favorite people and even though i was late and damp, it was a pretty good day, until i left and realized just how flat my tire was. yikes. cue fumbling around with the spare until i got some help.

that afternoon i knew i had to go get a new tire and there is a really long frustrating story here about actually trying to get one, but we will fast forward to the part where the guy told me that it was going to cost me $130. for one tire. sigh. there goes my bank account again.

ok, now lets skip ahead to the good part of the day because this is just depressing.
my good friend and roommate from college, Jamie drove up from Ft. Valley. we decorated some cookies, ate some ham and then she gave me one of the best christmas presents ever by taking me to see Cirque du Soleil: Ovo! The show was truly spectacular. i have been dreaming about going to cirque since i was young and i was totally blessed to go with Jamie. i can't count how many times my jaw dropped open in amazement. it was wonderful. i highly recommend.

Sunday morning, we slept in because i was exhausted from the weekend. then jamie and i got up and met our other friend and also former college roommate Sarah and her husband Adam who were in town from Athens. we enjoyed a great church service then went for a delicious lunch at a local diner. Jamie had to get back, but Sarah and Adam treated me by taking me to go see the next Narnia movie "The Voyage of the Dawn Treader" it was wonderful to see one of my favorite books brought to life. Even if they did change major elements of the plot. Overall, i enjoyed it.

so, that was my crazy weekend. i worked yesterday and then had my cell group christmas party (which included a very competitive game of pictionary) and i have today and tomorrow off to spend time with my family. we are celebrating christmas tomorrow, so get ready for an early christmas recap and a list of all my loot!

love you guys!

Thursday, December 16, 2010

goodbye old friend.

when i was young we had a beagle. she was a typical beagle and we loved her. so, my mom decided that we would get another one. when i was 10 years old, she came home one day with a brand new "beagle" puppy. she was cute and cuddly and we named her copper after the hound dog in Disney's the fox and the hound. the strange thing was that once she started growing, she didn't stop. she grew to typical beagle size and beyond until she became a medium size dog. in fact, she began to look more like a shepherd than a beagle. but that was ok, because we loved her even with sketchy breeding.

she did have one trait that did indicate that she had a fair amount of beagle in her: she was obsessed with food. she spent just about her whole life on the hunt for food. especially if it was intended for cats.


from left to right: our lab mix Jude, my brother's dog Norah, and Copper, waiting at the back door to be let in

even though she was 17 years old, copper was still getting around and getting into the trash can and trying her best to get at the cat food- even if she fell down while doing it. She ate heartily until last week when she stopped eating and drinking and was no longer able to get around anymore. it broke our hearts to have to say goodbye to someone who had been a part of our family for so many years.

Copper never really cared for other dogs, or for playing, or for most things that typical dogs like. But she did love being with her family, laying in the dirt under our front porch on hot days, sleeping outside on cool nights, being snug in her crate, belly rubs, cat food, scraps from the trash, licking dirty plates in the dishwasher, and sitting at the back door making us feel bad for her.

our house won't be the same without her.

Monday, December 13, 2010

catching up

so, i had fully intended to use my break from school to catch up on blogging.

as you can tell, that has not happened.

but, i am trying!

the thing is, i hate writing those blogs that are like: here is a list of everything that i have done in the past three months. then there is no depth, no insight, just lists. not that i have anything against lists (i am actually quite fond of them), but i am usually looking for something more to put in here.

anyways, since we last talked, i finished up the semester at school. While my finals were not as rough as they could have been, it was still a relief to be finished with them. now i feel self-conscious when i am laying around, watching tv, reading the Chronicles of Narnia (LOVE), and writing blogs, because i feel like there is something else i should be doing.

not that there isn't something else i should be doing, like working on scholarship applications. i hope to have those all ready by the end of break, with the exception of those that require FAFSA (i don't really know what this stands for, it is like federal application for student aid or something) because i have to get all my tax information before i can fill that out.

anyways, i think my finals went pretty well, but i won't get my grades until the school receives my final payment for the semester which i just sent. which also means that i am BROKE. like really broke, as in, i have nine dollars in both bank accounts and i am about to have to use it for gas so that i can go to work kind of broke. but that is ok because i am in good with the Provider.

this weekend i actually took a couple days off of work at took a mini vacation. i went up to Charlotte, NC to visit my beloved friend Kristina and her beautiful daughter Adoration Joy.



amazingly, she suits her name perfectly. i just LOVED getting to spend some quality time with Kristina and cuddling with her sweet baby who i know is going to be growing so much between the times that i get to see her. it is a shame that the people that i love can't all live nearer to each other.

speaking of people living far away, another beloved friend of mine had a birthday this weekend. i love for people to feel special on their birthdays, so i always feel sad when i can't go spend time with them. But erika, i am so glad that you had a great gift of snow on your birthday, know that you are loved and my heart was with you on sunday, even if my body was not.

i am pretty excited about the rest of this winter break because even though i will be working a good bit, i also have lots of fun things planned with my family and with friends that i do not get to see much. i will try to keep you updated as they come. But i will let you in on one thing that i am SUPER excited about:

OVO!!!!
 

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