So it is less than two weeks before Christmas and the only decorations up in our house are those that my wonderful husband has lovingly dug out and put up.  He wanted to start a new tradition this year, one that his family did for as long as he could remember and that was celebrating St. Nick's Day.  If you know me or my family, we have a ton of Christmas traditions and I LOVE 'EM!  I think traditions are so important... they can bring memories of happier times, create lasting memories of current times, and give you something to look forward to in years yet to come.  Anyways, so we started the tradition of celebrating St. Nick this year.  On December 5, Sean masterfully hung our stockings by the fireplace (our first Christmas in a house with a real fireplace!!!  No mantel this year.... but read on!  We're gonna work on that...) and when I woke up the morning of the 6th, "St. Nick" had filled my stocking with candy, some earrings and a movie!!  (SATC~ Thx ST Nick!)  I'm looking forward to continuing this tradition when we have kids.  But for this year, Duke and Seal each got a treat.  :-)  Duke got a new toy and Seal got some snacks.  

Another tradition that we have (and have had since I can remember, too!) is that we all open ONE gift on Christmas eve.  We all know what that gift is- it is always pajamas!!  Some years they were matching PJs other years they are fuzzy comfy jammies.  The year I got married it was sexy lingerie.  But the Christmas eve gift is always pj's.  I told Sean that I was thinking about not doing that tradition this year, since we have SO MANY pajamas.  I thought we should start a new tradition of opening a new game each Christmas eve.   However, when I told him that, he was genuinely disappointed!  So we will most definitely continue that wonderful tradition.  (And since I already bought us a new board game, we will start a new tradition this year!)

Each year on Christmas eve, my family does a reenactment of the Nativity story.  We all get to play different parts.  I was usually the narrator (reading the story from the Bible) or the angel.  My sister and I would (when we were in the spirit of christmas) find costumes and gather props for the pageant.  Some years it was just my family (and it was especially great when I was 8, because that was the year my brother was born and he was so tiny- our first and only year so far to have an actual baby as baby Jesus!), other years it was a whole clan of us- friends, family, whoever happened to be at the house on Christmas eve!  One year, at my grandparent's house, my grandpa decided to be a sheep and my grandma wanted to be a donkey... it was hillarious!  See the great memories that can be created with a tradition!?  Yes, I love tradition.

One more- when we were kids, my parents would make a big, elaborate scavenger hunt for all of us kids.  It would take us down in the basement and out in the snow, and inevitably the end prize we had been searching for all along was a new Christmas movie.  We'd all go change into our new Christmas pajamas then watch the movie.  My family has always watched this movie called "Miracle Down Under."  It is an old-ish movie (meaning we watched it when I was little, so that makes it only old-ISH) and we used to have it, but lost it somewhere along the way.  One very special year (not too long ago), my Mom found that movie again!  You can imagine all of our delight when we found THAT movie!!!  We got a lot of the classics; one of my favorites was the McGee and Me "Twas the Fight Before Christmas."  Truth be told, I had a crush on the kid that played Nick in those movies.  There are always great new and old Christmas movies to be seen, and in my opinion, you can never own too many Christmas movies.  You never know when a good Christmas movie will come in handy throughout the rest of the year (like during those LONG, hot, California summers!).

We have a lot more traditions in my family, and I'll probably write more about them later, but that's enough for now.  I love being married because we get to combine two lifetimes of tradition and make up our own new ones!  Its so much fun!

Traditions are fun, and I love them.  I am all about adding new ones as we have kids and add to our family and as our lives change.  I think its fun!  So now its your turn... what traditions do you have?  Do you know where the traditions started?  What is your favorite tradition?  

Of course it was disappointing.  I have yet to see a movie that is as good as the book it is based off of.  With that obvious stated, I'll continue on to the movie itself.  Here's my take:

 - I like/almost love Bella

 - Edward is ok... not exactly what I was thinking, but then again, I can't think of a better replacement.  So Rob Patterson as Edward gets a hesitant thumbs up from me.  

- An much as I LOVED Carlisle and Esmee in the books, I was NOT a fan of Carlisle's horrible bottle blonde dye job.  Esmee is cute enough, though... and they had good chemistry together, which almost makes up for the questionable styling.

 - Jasper just looked stupid thru the whole movie

 - Alice was probably the closest to what I imagined in my head...  I really liked here.  But I still think they should have cast Rachel Leigh Cook to play Alice.

 - Emmett was much more of a screw ball in the movie than I'd imagined from the books, but it kinda works

 - The jury's still out on Rosalie.... she's cute and snobby enough, so we'll see how she does in the forthcoming movies.

 - James was great, for the small part he played and I really liked Laurent.  Victoria was pretty decent and she was really the only one who's styling I liked.  

- For the most part, Edward WAY over did it.  As a somewhat seasoned actor, I have no doubt that this was more due to the directing that to his skill as an actor.  I read the other day that the next movie will have a new actor.  That might help.

- Bella was pretty good, though a lot more fidgety and unsure and hurried than I thought she should have been.  

- Everyone else was pretty much in the same boat... I felt like they were kinda amateur and poorly directed.

- I found myself laughing a couple of times in places that were not meant to be funny.  Case in point:  the crux of the movie when Edward is sucking James' deadly venom from Bella's veins... I seriously laughed out loud at the look on his face.  

 - I'm nervous about Jacob... if they don't get that boy some serious acting lessons, movie Two will SUCK.... since its all about him.  

- This was horrible! I know its not easy to work a 500 page book into a 2 hour movie... but the scene where they're in the woods was ridiculous... in a 3 minute time span, Bella acknowledged Edward was a vampire, Edward told her she was his "personal brand of heroin" and said the famous lines "So the Lion fell in love with the lamb."  That was so ridiculous!

- There needs to be loads more in way of character development... why does Jasper look so retarded all the time?  What's up with the painful faces Edward is making all the time?  Why is Carlisle so fatherly to everyone?  What's the deal with Jasper and Alice?  Emmett and Rosalie?  How does Rosalie feel towards Bella?  I could go on and on.

LOVED IT LOVED IT LOVED IT... some day, Sean and I want to take a train up north and go to Forks and First Beach and those places.  It was gorgeous and the videography of it all was great, too.

I liked the movie and will go see the next one merely because I am a die-hard fan of the books and Stephanie Meyers.  However, if I were in charge of the copyright and making the movie, here's what I would do:  fire the director (already done- well, as they say in LA... she has prior commitments that will prevent her from working on the next film), the stylist, and the casting director (even though you can't really change who's been cast already-- I'm curious as to who will play the upcoming Volturi).  Get acting coaches for the whole cast and get Hollywood's best screenwriter to re-write what has already been written... maybe even go back to the first book and do some of the character development that the first movie failed to do.  Keep the overall "feel" of the movie somewhat the same, the same setting, etc.  I will definitely see the second movie and will probably buy the box set when/if it ever comes out.  The next books have great potential in them, so I just hope to see a little more quality and depth in them than was in the frist one.  I really don't think that the team behind this movie thought it would be the big hit that it was... and it showed in the movie.  But, now that they know how deep and wide the fan base is, hopefully they will invest more time and effort into the second (and third and fourth) films.

Oh, yeah... and my whole point in all of this?  My husband is a million times better than Edward.  He took me to the movie, but before that, he actually read the book because he knew it meant so much to me.  He endured the screaming, swooning teenage girls beside us in the theatre and even bought me a $9 pretzel combo for my palette's

 pleasure during the movie.  You need more?  Last night when I woke up at 4 am unable to breathe because of my stupid allergies (cats), he went out today and bought

 this huge HEPA filter.  I *heart* him.  Yes, he is my favorite.  And he's better than Edward.  

* My mind just went blank... really.... i had like 15 bullets, then it just went away.... ever have days like that? .... hum deee dum.... oh yes, its coming back....

* I wonder if I turned off the tv or shut off the internet, would my creativity return?

* Who really has time to be creative these days?  I mean really... if you are a person who works a typical 8-5 office job, and you still have time/energy/inspiration to be creative, PLEASE tell me how.  I'm DYING to know... this seems to be the consistent pull in my life.

* I am sick (sore throat- not pregnant) for the 2nd time in less than 2 weeks. Ugh.  It sucks.

* But the California weather we are having is GREAT!  Its unseasonably chilly and foggy... usually it isn't like this til January (from what I gather).  Every morning I hold my breath that it will be foggy and cold again.....

* My husband loves me so much... and most of the time I don't even deserve how good he is to me.  I love him!

* Like most things, sushi is best after a long period of not having it.  

* This bullet list is not going anything like I had planned in my head.  

* Today, I was delivering a report to a client at a business in town... it was dark and chilly and kinda drizzly...the only light I had was from the christmas bulbs on the building... there was a guy smoking outside, so the air stunk of smoke... but then I inhaled a deep breath of something sweet and nostalgic... I looked up and saw I was standing under a beautifully trimmed magnolia tree.  It was beautiful and smelled delicious.  I really missed North Carolina.

* I'm really allergic to my cats and it makes me really sad.  Seriously, though... i,.... *gasp* can't *gasp* breathe.  I'm hoping the 4 shots that I get each week will start to kick in so I don't have to find a new home for my babies.

* I finally saw Twilight.  I'm glad I read the books first, because the movie would not make me want to read the book.  But I also don't think they expected the movie/book to be so huge.  So I'm hoping the studio invests in some acting lessons for bella and edward and the rest of the cullen gang, as their skills just weren't cutting it in the first one.

* Ah, teenage angst.  Is there any hope for our youth?  (I'm watching Gossip Girl right now... hence, the randomness)

*um, k.... that's it for now................. christmas tree to put up sometime this week, presents to finish, photo cards to make, so much to do so much to do.....

The Missionary Convention was so great for getting to see old friends... college, high school, and even before that.  It seemed like everywhere I turned, there was a new/old familiar face, and we'd spend an hour catching up on life.... talking about their ministries, heartaches, families, successes, joys and failures.  In my simple human brain, I imagine that is what a little bit of heaven will be like.  But then it got me thinking.... there were lots of friends I enjoyed catching up with the past few weeks, but there were so many more friends who weren't there... and even beyond that, there are a few special friends who, at this moment, I don't think I'd see in heaven.  Oh, how I want all my loved ones to know the Way, and spend forever catching up on life with them and praising our Creator together.  My uncle (ok, he's not really my uncle, but we've known him forever... more than 20 years... and he's better than family) was just diagnosed with pancreatic cancer.  He has always had a great outlook on life... truly the life of the party.  He's been sick for months, losing a lot of weight and finally, only at his insistence did the doctors do the right tests to figure out his diagnosis.  Uncle Bill came over on Monday, and after talking for a while, he said to us "you know, I'm pretty much ok with all of this."  And I know he is.  And so are those of us who love him.  It sucks and doesn't seem fair that his life will end shorter than we would want, but his assurance rests in knowing where his true future lies.  There are so many people from this life that I look forward to seeing in heaven... first and most of all, my mother-in-law.  But for every person I am anxious to see again there is one who I am not sure I will see again.... does that make sense?  Anyways... all that to say, the past few weeks have been filled with sweet reunions, a dull shadow of what I imagine heaven will hold.  But its also got me praying for and thinking harder than ever about my friends who I am not sure will be there... and looking for the open doors to talk with them.

The missionary convention was full of people with amazing testimonies of what God is doing all over the world.  Too often, I am numbed by the "Western Anesthetic"... you know, the tendency to resist God's working in supernatural, powerful ways.  I become skeptical of how God can work, or just get so blinded by life happening that I don't take time to listen to how God wants to move ME.  All that to say, it was nice to have a reminder that God is a God of all nations, boundless and unlimited by my human thoughts.  I wonder what amazing things God wants to show me or how he wants to use me... but I am just not listening, seeking, or open to.