It's almost gone

Hello, all.

I am, unfortunately, feeling rather under the weather right now, so this post is going to be short, sweet and to the point.

Happy New Year!

And yes, I know I'm jumping the gun a little bit, but there's  no way I'm going to be awake at midnight tonight to do it right. *Wink*

I just wanted to be sure to say, Thank you! to all my lovely followers. To be honest, it's rather a surprise to me that there are people out there who actually enjoying reading the random posts that I produce. But it's so very nice to know you're there and I wish I could invite you all over for a tea party, complete with scones and crumpets. You are the best!

I'm mulling over some ideas for my posting in general next year. Just to mix things up, you know. I like the idea of being a scheduled person. I am, alas, not so very scheduled. I am a last minute, 'get it done!' sort of person.

I am still eyeballing 2014 in some surprise. Sneaky little fellow, isn't he? I rather like the looks of him though. He seems happy. I think I shall name him Loki.
On second thought, naming 2014 after the god of mischief might be rather silly of me.

I shall call him Harry the Happy New Year! That seems fitting. *Sprinkles water over 2014*    AMEN!

When I'm sick I apparently ramble on about pointless things...

Well. Here's to the new year! *Raises glass for a solemn cyber toast* 

Slightly off-topic, Treskie go me a lovely little journal for Christmas and it sort of hit home for me.

I got all teary-eyed and emotional on her (There was also a lovely little bookmark that she made to accompany it which I have not photographed as of yet, so you'll just have to take my word for it.) I love it muchly.

It sort of fits the way I feel about this upcoming year. 

I got some very lovely, quirky, and awesome things for Christmas. Maybe I'll get myself together and do a little post on that. Though, those sorts of posts feel a little bit braggy to me. I don't mean that those sorts of posts feel braggy...just the ones I do. When I'm the one going, "Check out all my awesome stuff!" 

You guys should totally show me what you all got for Christmas. *Grin*

I really should stop. I need tea and medicine and a nap. 

I'll end with this thought, because I think it's lovely.

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God Bless, everybody! Let's make Harry the best year ever!

They say, He's here this night.

They say, there shines a star above tonight.

Here's the post where I basically unload all my pictures on you guys. I didn't want it to be like this! I wanted to do little Christmas-y/Advent-y posts throughout the last week or two, but work has been rather annoyingly busy and I've been working more (a lot more) than I was originally scheduled.

Yeah.

It was one of those weeks. *Sigh*

But it's Christmas Eve and it's been lovely. With lots of baking, and cooking and music. What with the pine and all that food being prepared, the house smelled like Christmas.

Anyway, pictures!

I wrapped presents on Saturday. All my presents.

And I made lots of pine garland. :) Pine garland is the best!

And a couple of arrangements for home and for friends and for Church tomorrow.

I've got to say, I've done a lot of arranging over the last few weeks. It's been fun.

Baby Jesus's crib. 

Pine, pine, and more pine.

The Church arrangements are my favorite.

And the poinsettias are lovely.

A bit ago, we painted the windows.

And we all rallied round and learned a new Mass for Christmas.

How many girls does it take to hang garland? 

It takes teamwork! And Skills!

 And our pretty creche.

They say to follow the light

They say it's gonna be bright 

tonight

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He lays in a manger tight

They say His birth will make things right 

tonight

That's all I've got. Except;

Merry Christmas!

God Bless!

Amy

In which I realize today's date.

Hello, Peoples.

It's one week till Christmas . One Week! This is both joyous news and a bit startling. I mean...one week!

And I haven't posted any of the stuff I've been up to. I haven't posted anything in a while. This week is looking rather alarmingly busy to boot...

But I like a bit of happy, hectic chaos. *Nods uncertainly*

I'll probably end up posting all the decorating pictures in one massive clump. :) Like, "There! It is done!"
That's how most everything in my life is. Carefully planned out--then; heck with all the plans! Now's the time to wing it! I seem to work the best under a bit of pressure. Deadlines really do motivate a person.


But enough about what I haven't done.

Sunday was a bright, clear sort of day, so Treskie and I went out into the meadow/forest to cut some pine boughs for decorating and to snap some pictures. It was rather jolly.

We found this beautiful, secluded spot where a stream had frozen over and everything was just a blinding mixture of glittering snow and sky.

It was just nice. 

I remembered to bring 'props' but didn't remember to pose with them, so I just clumped them together in a picture. It would have been a shame to have lugged them along and not use them at all! So, two ornaments, a candy cane, a pine cone and a scarf randomly stuck in the snow. Its't it lovely? lol. 

Later on Sunday, some of us went out to watch The Desolation of Smaug.

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It was great fun.

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There was not nearly enough of Bilbo.*Grin*

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Martin Freeman absolutely nails his role. The scene with he and Smaug? Teriffic!

I really loved Bard too.

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I felt there was a bit too much of the elves. :) And I didn't understand the whole Tauriel and Kili thing. That was odd. Though Kili is a very cool dwarf. 

Swords.

Dragon.

Bilbo.

It was much fun.

But I have things to do and places to go, so I'm going to leave you all now. 

God Bless!

Amy

In the Bleak Midwinter

In the bleak mid-winter Frosty wind made moan, 

Earth stood hard as iron,  Water like a stone;

 Snow had fallen, snow on snow, Snow on snow, 

 In the bleak mid-winter, Long ago.

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Our God, Heaven cannot hold Him, Nor earth sustain; 

Heaven and earth shall flee away, When He comes to reign: 

In the bleak mid-winter,  A stable-place sufficed 

The Lord God Almighty,  Jesus Christ.

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Angels and archangels,  May have gathered there, 

Cherubim and seraphim  Thronged the air, 

But only His mother  In her maiden bliss, 

 Worshipped the Beloved  with a kiss.

What can I give Him, Poor as I am? 

If I were a shepherd, I would bring a lamb, 

 If I were a wise man  I would do my part, 

Yet what I can I give Him, Give my heart.

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It's 15 days till Christmas! *La-lala-lala!* Which is basically just two weeks! *Gaaaah!* Just thinking about it makes me so happy! Hence the Christmas-y pictures and this song. :)

Anyway. In the Bleak Midwinter is one of my favorite Christmas songs and I was just in the mood to post something so here you go. Seriously, who doesn't like Julie Andrews voice? 

And I found this quote by Fulton J. Sheen and I think it's just beautiful. 

"Why is the human heart shaped as it is?
The human heart is not shaped like a valentine heart, perfect and regular in contour; it is slightly irregular in shape as if a small piece of it were missing out of its side. That missing part may very well symbolize a piece that a spear tore out of the Universal Heart of Humanity on the Cross, but it probably symbolizes something more. It may very well mean that when God created each human heart, He kept a small sample of it in heaven, and sent the rest of it into the world of time, where it would each day learn the lesson that it could never be really happy, that it could never be really wholly in love, that it could never be really whole-hearted until it rested with the Risen Christ in an eternal Easter, until it went back to the Timeless to recover the sample which God had kept for it from all eternity."

And with that profound thought, I leave you! 

God Bless!

Amy

Life lately~

It's St. Nicholas' Day! I love St. Nicholas Day. 

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I always feel like St. Nicholas' Day starts the preparation for Christmas in my house. That's when the CD player starts to sneak in some Christmas music and the decorating begins--sneakily. 

I really love spreading the decorating stuff out for most of the month. I'm lucky to live in a place with lots of pine trees, and I can make wreaths, runners and other pine-y stuff with no trouble at all. 

Lights in the windows.

Garland in the doorways.

The Nativity scene painted on the window.

And pine boughs everywhere. 

*Sigh*

There will probably be an abundance of decorating pictures on this blog over the next few weeks. It makes me so unbelievably happy! 

So yes. Happy St. Nicholas Day! If you've never read much about St. Nicholas, check this out. :)

Candy in the shoes! That's a St. Nicholas day tradition. 

I love the Advent wreath. 

And this is an adorable version of Baby it's Cold Outside. 

I've listened to it a lot over the last few days. I just stuck it on repeat until I memorized all they lyrics. It's one of those songs that gets stuck in your head for days anyway. As long as it's in my head, I might as well be able to sing all the correct words. *Grin*

And then there's this. 

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I was going to have this post up so much earlier. I had plans of a organized, amazing blogger. *Snicker-snort*

I was going have it up after lunch. Then I promised I'd do it right after dinner. And hear I am squeezing it in before I head off to bed. 

Well, it's my blog and I can procrastinate if I want to! So there. 

Tomorrow, if the weather stays clear, a few of my sisters and myself are going to head out and do some Christmas shopping! *Jazz Hands* I am looking forward to that muchly. A day out on the town is fun now and then. Especially when there's music in the car to sing along to, a packed lunch for when we're getting the hunger crankies, and possibly (Probably) a stop and Barns & Noble. 

See you all later!

God Bless

Amy

Thanksgiving, Advent and me just being me.

I hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving. All my American followers, that is. :) All you that don't celebrate Thanksgiving, I hope your Thursday was pleasant all the same.

Thanksgiving is just a fun, cozy sort of holiday. I mean, food, music, family, (not necessarily in that order) make for a very enjoyable day. Here's a little peek at our day.

No. We weren't even having a funny face competition.

We just do it by accident. And capture it forever on film.

And then I blog about it.

And then the clean-up. 

Because "all magic comes with a price. "

We actually have a pretty good time, even with clean-up. We're all fed and happy and usually we start singing. Loudly and passionately. We are Italian. :) Plus, once we finish cleaning, there's dessert, coffee, and a movie so we are properly motivated. 

Today is the first Sunday of Advent. I always love Advent. Now I feel like I can start really looking forward to Christmas! I try to hold off on the whole Christmas music thing until St. Nicholas' feast day on December 6th. But usually a few Christmas songs sneak their way in before that.

I might do some of this challenge.

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Don't worry. I'm not going to make you look at my photography every day again. I'm just going to use the list to get some picture ideas. Some of them are pretty fun. The good pictures I might post. We'll see. 

I'm in a really happy mood today. You know when you just feel completely happy inside for no apparent reason? The whole world is beautiful you love everybody? That's me right now. 

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And one last thing. I really wish season 7 of Psych would make it to netflix already! I want to watch those again quite a lot. A lot, a lot.
I don't know if any of you are Psych fans.  (Well, I don know a few of you are.) but season eight is doing something epic.

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Psych the Musical!

And here I am. Still stuck on season 7. *Sigh*
I guess it's nice to have something to look forward to.
I'm going to have to wait a long time.

Right, well. You all have a lovely Sunday. I am going to grab my book, and settle down for a nice long read. 

God Bless!

Amy