I have always thought of Christmas time as a good time; a kind, forgiving, charitable, pleasant time; the only time I know of in the long calendar of the year, when men and women seem by one consent to open their shut-up hearts freely.
-Charles Dickens

And the Grinch, with his Grinch-feet ice cold in the snow, stood puzzling and puzzling, how could it be so? It came without ribbons. It came without tags. It came without packages, boxes or bags. And he puzzled and puzzled 'till his puzzler was sore. Then the Grinch thought of something he hadn't before. What if Christmas, he thought, doesn't come from a store. What if Christmas, perhaps, means a little bit more.
- Dr. Seuss

With malice toward none; with charity for all.
-Abraham Lincoln

"Keep hope alive"
- Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

And the angel said unto them, "Fear not! For, behold, I bring you tidings of great joy, Which shall be to all people. "For unto you is born this day in the city of David A Saviour, which is Christ the Lord. And this shall be a sign unto you: Ye shall find the babe wrapped in swaddling clothes, Lying in a manger.
~ Luke 2:10-12

Charity is, perhaps, in many ways a misunderstood word. We often equate charity with visiting the sick, taking in casseroles to those in need, or sharing our excess with those who are less fortunate. But really, true charity is much, much more… Perhaps the greatest charity comes when we are kind to each other, when we don’t judge or categorize someone else, when we simply give each other the benefit of the doubt or remain quiet. Charity is accepting someone’s differences, weaknesses, and shortcomings; having patience with someone who has let us down; or resisting the impulse to become offended when someone doesn’t handle something the way we might have hoped. Charity is refusing to take advantage of another’s weakness and being willing to forgive someone who has hurt us. Charity is expecting the best of each other.
– Marvin J. Ashton

Okay so I've been tagged again and Andrea is the 3rd person to tag me on this, and I don't have anything better to do (okay I do but I don't want to) so I thought I would do it.

8 TV Shows I Watch
1. The Office
2. Futurama
3. Top Gear
4. Mike Rowe Dirty Jobs
5. Robin Mead - Morning Express
6. CNN
7. NBC
8. Discovery Channel

8 Restaurants I like to eat at
1. Cafe Rio
2. East Coast Subs
3. Abner's Cheesesteaks (Philly - only when I'm home)
4. Mimi's Cafe
5. Training Table
6. Ruth's Diner
7. 5 Guys Burgers and Fries
8. Villa Pizza (again only when I'm home)

8 Things I did today
1. Celebrated Thanksgiving
2. Talked to my family
3. Made mashed potatoes
4. Cleaned the house
5. Kicked Chris
6. Played with my dogs
7. Laughed
8. Updated my blog

8 Things I am looking forward to
1. SEEING TWILIGHT AGAIN
2. Going home to the east for the holidays
3. Christmas
4. Buying a home
5. Having tomorrow off!
6. Sleeping in (although my body is on an internal clock and this never happens)
7. Sleeping on clean sheets
8. Sales

8 Things on my Wish list
1. Buy a home
2. Have a family
3.Buy a home
4. Receive my masters
5. Buy a home
6. Wish for one day to have enough money to retire and enjoy my golden years with Brad
7. Buy a home
8. Oh, and BUY A HOME!!!

It's been awhile since Brad had to travel, but he traveling today. Today he is in

I'm awful at pranks and the "Y" fans here are work have been getting creamed by the "U" fans when it comes to the rivalry stunts. So I decided to try the suspended stapler/calculator in JELLO, you know the one that Jim always does on the Office? I tried to put them in blue JELLO, problem: there was no blue JELLO at the store! So I had to buy gelatin and dye it blue which I think I used too much of because you can't even see my floating stapler and calculator. Well, I have to say it's a lot harder to do than it looks. But here is my out come and I'm pretty proud of it.

Brad and I are enjoying our trip to sunny California. However, I apologize there will not be any pictures until we get home, it takes too long to upload photos on the blog. But we are loving our stay here. And I have to say, traveling with Brad is awesome! There are definite perks with his job other than miles, people bend over backwards for him!
Anyway, Sea World was fantastic, I love the killer whales and dolphins, and the seals oh I just love everything about that! And Disneyland is as magical as ever. However, today we are dealing with smoke, ash is in the air, and we even smell like a camp fire because LA is on fire, but even with that we couldn't be happier! And tonight we have reservations at the Blue Bayou, which I am thrilled for! Anyway now that I just rubbed that in your face we hope you are doing well too!

So how I got to this post, I'll explain:

Many of my friends and family that read my blog know I'm a strong member of my church. I have a fairly demanding calling within it, which is very rewarding. I work with the youth of our church, specifically the young women ages 12-18. I often tell people I have 2 counselors and an assistant, Brad being the assistant. He helps me with everything, and I mean everything; from picking out fabric, to chaperoning, to gathering and returning 9 (7 ft) artificial trees for decorations sake.
But getting to Brad's secret life. Brad likes to portray an image of a tough guy (mind you a nerdy tough guy) his secret: he is actually and secretly a softy. He helps others without needing or wanting validated or praised for doing it (in fact he hates attention on him), it is really quite impressive. In a world where people are motivated by self interest it is quite refreshing to have someone like Brad around.
Now getting to this picture of a chocolate cake. I had to bake a chocolate cake tonight for mutual with the youth. Problem: not enough time, so Brad baked the cake for me, and it was a darn good cake. Mind you not a real big deal right? But let me give you a little bit more information on Brad - if he is hungry (and he does not complain about this) but if he is hungry instead of taking the time to make a pb&j (because that's a lot of time) he would rather just down a half of gallon of milk to feel full, AND he is completely content with this. So anyway after this long post, that I'm sorry you have to read I'm just grateful I've got an awesome as well as, but not limited to, witty, charming, logical, and good looking assistant ; )

So I was running late for work, I didn't have time to grab my book or my ipod for the train, so I was stuck with nothing to keep me entertained but my own mind. Enjoy the randomness:

1. Why must teenagers claim that they are expressing their individuality when they dress like the rest of their friends - there is nothing individual about that.

2. While running late on the train, I was wondering if everyone else on the train are running late too.

3. Overhearing a conversation (remember no ipod) I heard a guy say, "slim chance" and that made me wonder: why does "fat chance" and "slim chance" mean the same thing?

4. Applying some Bath and Body Works lotion I noticed a label that said "This finished product is not tested on animals" - so what parts of the lotion are?

5. Why do some people try so hard to be different? You know, those people who just can't wait for a chance to tell you their peculiarity (honestly, who doesn't have something peculiar about them). But yet these same people don't realize how obvious it is, and you sit and wonder do you tell them its obvious, but realize that is rude and so you never do because it may embarrass them so you just go along with it, but then isn't a disservice to not tell them because at least then they know that people know it's obvious? You know the kind of disservice you feel when you don't tell a complete stranger that his/her fly is down. And then isn't this the same as the teenager thought - isn't trying to be different conforming in a "non-conformist" conformist way?

Barack Obama

So I'm a little late on the Halloween festivities. But at my work Halloween is huge! There are costume contests, lunch for the company and families are invited in to go trick and treating to all the different departments. Here was my costume for the holiday.