Thursday, December 18, 2014

Song of the Week.

Hello, All!

IT'S ONLY A WEEK UNTIL CHRISTMAS!

To commemorate how freakin' exciting this is, I am going to post a song............

I suppose you probably guessed that from the title of the post. 

It was fairly obvious.

*Shrug*

This song has been a lot more a favorite of mine this year than it's been before. Isn't it funny how you can know a song for ages, and then suddenly you relate to it more, or for whatever reason you appreciate it more, and then it's like hearing it for the first time. I love that about music. It always manages to grow up with you.

 It's not a super Christmas-y song, I suppose. It's pretty much a sadder, prettier version of I'll be Home for Chrismtas. It makes me feel all nostalgic and fluttery inside. Happy and sad, you know what I mean?



~All With You~
On the wind the snow is drifting
Dances 'round my weary feet
Faraway a bell is ringing
Echoes through the empty streets
Oh, I can see you
I can still play make believe
Oh, I can feel you near me
I'll be sending a thousand kisses
I am far but I am all with you




On the night the air is bracing
Lights are gracing every street
I can hear the children singing
Midnight bringing hopes of peace

Oh, I can see you
I can still play make believe
Oh, I can feel you near me

I'll be sending you a thousand kisses
I am far but I am all with
I'll be sending a thousand wishes
Know on Christmas I am all with you

I'll be sending you a thousand kisses
I am far but I am all with
I'll be sending a thousand wishes

Know on Christmas I am all with you.


Well, there's that. Isn't it pretty? 

God Bless!
Amy

Friday, December 12, 2014

Christmas Tag!

Good to my word, I'm back! You didn't think I was gonna do it, did you? Well, that's what you get for being a doubting Thomas. *Smirk*

I got a very unexpected afternoon off yesterday. 
We had wind. Impressive, I-do-what-I-want wind.
It knocked the power out of most of the town and thus, I got to leave work three hours early.

It was Da Bomb. 

And since there was no power most places, my sister also got off early from her job. So we took full advantage of this freedom and put up our Christmas tree which we've been wanting to put up but haven't had time to do.

Amazingly, our little house still had power! Yay for us!

It was quite possibly the nicest day I've had in a months. 



`This is also the fourth tree I've decorated this year! 

I did two at my job, helped with my parents, and finally got around to my own. And you know what? They've all been fun!



Okay. A tag from Bella. A tag especially designed by Bella. Bella's tag.

That tag.

The Rules are: *Drum roll please*

1.) Link back to the person who tagged you----Bella!

2.) Answer the Questions

3.)Tag five (or more) people.----Not gonna happen! lol.

1.) When does the Christmas season officially 'start' in your house?
I tend to split hairs over this question. The Advent season starts four weeks before Christmas and right around the 6-8th of December is when some decorations start to sneak in and Christmas music begins to take over. 

2.) What is your earliest memory of Christmas?
Getting up at some ridiculous hour on Christmas morning (Like...2am) to watch the Christmas tree blink. 
That sounded kind of creepy. 
All us kid would wake up and move out to the living room with a pile of blankets and spend most of the night dozing on and off on the couch. There was always Christmas music playing gently in the background, and the only thing lighting the house was the tree. It was so beautifully magical and peaceful. 

3.) What is something that is iconic-ally Christmas for you or your family?
A mad-house of cooking and baking on Christmas Eve. Seriously, stuff gets real on Christmas Eve! Everybody has one or two cookie/something-sweet recipes that they're working on, not to mention all the prep-work for our Christmas dinner. 
The house smells Ah-Maz-Ing.

4.) What are some of your Christmas Traditions? 
There are really too many to talk about. *Eyeballs list of traditions*

5.) What is one of the traditions that you want to carry on even after you're married?
This is going to start off sounding really depressing, but it isn't.
My Grandpa died very near Christmas when I was just a baby, so Mom and baby-me weren't home for Christmas that year.
So Dad had everyone save a present for the Epiphany so that Mom could still have a 'little Christmas' with the family.
And we've done that every year since. It's my favorite of the traditions we have. 


6.) What if your favorite thing when preparing for Christmas? The Baking, decorating or cleaning?
I'd have to say....All of the above. Is that an answer? They go hand in hand...in hand. 

7.) What is a special/unique Christmas memory?
When I was six years old, my Mummy made me a beautiful cloth doll. For whatever reason, that doll became my bff. I kid you not. Ask any of my sisters. My doll and I were tight. She was probably the best present I ever received.

9.) What are some of your favorite Christmas cartoons?
I love Mickey's Christmas Carol. In fact, that might be my favorite version of the Christmas Carol.
The Grinch...just because.
The First Christmas, which is an adorable puppet cartoon about a little shepherd boy that goes blind...But it has a beautiful, happy ending. 

11.) Do you have a real Christmas tree or an artificial tree?
It's a fake. *le sigh*....I really love real trees,so this is a source of a little sadness for me. But not too much. It's a nice little tree and it doesn't shed needles. 

12.) Do you have a favorite Christmas book/story?
Several, actually. There's a book called, The Long Winter, which is a collection of short stories that I read every Christmas. It's awesome.
I LOVE The Gift of the Magi. It's a wonderful story that makes me cry the happiest of tears. :) If you're going to read it, try to find the version illustrated by P.J. Lynch. 
I mean, look at his illustrations!





13.) What is your favorite Christmas song?
*Muses long and hard.* That question is pretty much impossible. I have more 'favorite' Christmas songs than my family has traditions!
But this version of Angels we have Heard on High was just released on youtube and it's awesome! The live nativity at the end of the video broke the Guinness Book of World Records as the biggest ever! Which sort of gives me chills. :) It's gorgeous!


All done. 

I'm quite done-in from all those question! Time for Doctor Who Christmas Special, I think.

Good night and God Bless!
Amy







Thursday, December 11, 2014

In which I do stuff.

Hello.

It's been over a week since my last post.

I feel ashamed.

But I have news!

1.) It's coming on Christmas...They're cutting down treeeeees! They're putting up Reindeer and singing songs of Joy and Peeeace!.....I wish I had a river.....
No. Sorry. Got a bit carried away there.
I simply meant, Christmas is coming and I have been shopping (and I really need to start wrapping!) and  work is busy with Christmas-y floral arrangements. And thus far I've decorated three Christmas Trees and I will be soon decorating a fourth. So I haven't had time to blog.

2.) My boss has decided to get me the education to be a real floral designer, so I have now found myself enrolled in an online design class. Which I can complete in as little as six months.
And as awesome and terrifying as that is, I have even less time now than before. So.....

3.) In my free time, instead of blogging or wrapping presents, I've been watching Flashpoint. And you guys should watch that show! So so good. I've got five episodes left. Which makes me very sad. Five seasons of awesome, and I'm almost done! *Weeps*

I will probably do a real review of that show sometime soon. Soon-ish. January-ish?

4.) I am reading Raven Boys and I love them. I'm only on book two, but I'm having trouble putting it down. Which is a bad thing because of aforementioned business. *Le sigh*



Whatever.

I have a couple of tags, so I shall do one of them today.

I was nominated by Hilda to do Five Fictional Places I'd like to visit.

1.) Middle Earth. 
All of it. Why doesn't Gandalf show up at my place and hustle me off on an adventure? ......Scratch that. I have a fair idea why. And I don't like it.
I would love to consider myself a good fit for Rohan. But I think we all know I'd be a hobbit. Family, Food and comfort.


2.) Redwall. 
I'm not exaggerating one tiny bit when I say I was obsessed with all of the Redwall books. I lived in Mossflower Woods for a good three years of my life.
It was my first and probably most consuming  fandom.



3.) Eddis. From the UNBELIEVABLY AWESOME ATTOLIA SERIES!
Reason number one--Eugenides. He is wonderful and amazing and I'd like to meet him. He is my favorite fictional character right now. *Grin* I luf him.
Reason number two. The land sounds beautiful, full of hills and olive trees and ocean and cliffs.
Reason number three. It reminds me of ancient Greece.



4.) Ingary--Which is where Howl is from. You know,  Howl's Moving Castle.




I feel like a terrible person! This is hard for me!....The first three came like, BAM!  Four took a little though and five is....really hard.

5.) AH! Asgard! I'd totally visit Asgard. Sign me up for that!

Right. I'm off.

I have some pictures to post and that sort of thing, so I PROMISE I shall return soon. Tomorrow, most likely.

Take care, you all!
Amy