Adieu My Good Friend the Camera

My camera died on Christmas morning :( I have since replaced it but I didn't expect the feeling of grief I had over losing this camera. That camera was a gift to me by my sweet husband about 5 years ago. That camera was carried around with me and took pictures I wanted my heart to capture. It turns out it was my friend, my eyes, my heart. Who knew something could have such sentimental value? Looking through that lens I caught the beauty of my daughter's ballet recital, my son's birthdays and cub scout adventures, the birth of my youngest son, and so many many more of life's moments. My life. My story. My journey. I've decided that from here on out my life will not be complete unless I have a handy memory capturer with me. Ode to Mr.Cannon. I replaced him with an upgraded one but, I think I'll tuck the other one away. You had a good run old sport.

Our Blue Bell Pilgrimage

We did it. We finally made our pilgrimage to Brenham,TX, home of "The best ice cream in the country." Yes, I speak of none other than Blue Bell. I don't know who was more excited the kids or my husband! My husband loves Blue Bell ice cream and come rain, shine, or diet in the making, we are going to be stocked with some Blue Bell in the freezer.

Did you know that Blue Bell is only sold in 19 states?! How can that be? The madness! That's like saying only 19 states have running and clean water in the U.S. Ok..so a bit of an exaggeration. If we had it our way in this family we'd have Blue Bell and a Taco Bueno in every city in the U.S.A.

We enjoyed the tour, ice cream, and visit to the country store. Another highlight was going to the Southern Flyer diner at the municipal airport in Brenham. A quaint place with some personality and the waitresses wear poodle skirts. The small private planes can be seen from the diner and we enjoyed watching them take off. Great service and very affordable.

If you go to Brenham in hopes of finding these places make sure you look them up before you get there as there are no signs directing you to the Blue Bell factory or the Southern Flyer diner. It's worth the trip. Hope anyone that goes has as much quality fun, family, and friend time as we did. Great day!

Torn Between Two Christmas Meanings

My daughter asked me what my favorite holiday was last night. Always without hesitation I say Thanksgiving. I admit I've gone a little overboard on Halloween but, turkey day is by far the one. "Why not Christmas," she asked. I had to take a long deep breath before I answered that.
The irony of it all is that I'm a believer. I believe Jesus was born and is my saviour. I believe that Mary was a Virgin and that our King was born in a manger. So, what is it that gets me all flustered when I think of Christmas?
Well, quite frankly, I despise the commercialism of it all. I think it's a huge slap in the face of a day of celebration that really belongs to Jesus. Yes, I buy the gifts, I hang the decorations, I hang the stockings and even get giddy about making cookies for Santa with the kids. So, I guess you can say I'm a hypocrite when it comes to my Jekyl and Hyde feelings over this holiday. I love the sights, sounds, and smells of the holiday. To say that it's my favorite holiday would just a baahumbug moment for me. It's self reflecting. It's actually quite stressful. The Christmas I yearn for is the Christmas I had as a child. It went a little something like...we only got one or two presents each under the tree. We visited family without the pressure of buying or giving gifts to any adults. We didn't have much but we had love and occasionally tamales. We had the Christmas story. We even had a real Christmas tree, though small, its smell still brings back warm memories. My hope is that one day I can lay down the burden at the cross when it comes to this holiday that in reality has me pulled in both directions. I think I'm almost there. Each year the burden of having to please everyone gets a little lighter. My husband said he didn't want cookies for "Santa" this year. There's just too many. Ok, well I guess he'll have some birthday cake for Jesus that we leave out for "Santa" instead. I'm guessing "Santa" might like German Chocolate ;) The candle lit being the one that is lit at midnight services. For once I'd like to just be a graceful receiver. I'd like to just kneal before a manger and graciously acknowledge the ultimate gift that has already been given to me and leave it at that. To walk away feeling a bit like the "drummer boy." "I have no gift to bring, that's fit to give a King....pa rum pum pum pum!"