Partner in Christmas Crime

It was a cold rainy day in the town of Morgantown. Having arrived so sleepily at 2 AM I -awakened at 10 AM local time and alas! I spotted it. The desire of my heart...frog-eyed salad. Toada Lynn (aka my sister Brittany) and I tip-toed through the kitchen for it was a well-known fact that our mother would not like us to sample the goodie prematurely.

Suddenly, concern croweded my thoughts. NO SPOONS! Luckily, Toada whipped them out of her hoodie sweatshirt like a true partner in crime. Stealthily, we opened the lid to the treasure and dipped the spoons in the whipped goodness. Words cannot express the true joy we found in those stolen minutes in time. But it was not meant to last. We heard steady footsteps approaching that could only belong to our mother, the guardian of the frog-eyed salad. In a great frenzy, we snapped the lid on and Toada took it to the far corner in desperate hope that the guardian would only be passing through. In one quick motion that could only belong to a seasoned veteren, she slowly slid toward the fridge door. In a true stroke of genius I managed to deflect our mother's eyes and thoughts toward Christmas and peanut butter fudge. Knowing our mother's sweet tooth, we knew she would take the bait.
The fridge door closed with the frog-eyed salad in tact and we declared a silent victory to be celebrated later.

Written by Toada Lynn as narrated to Amy (aka M)

Colorado in all it's magical glory

I like to think of this as our snowy entrance into Narnia. In reality, it's just the plowed snow and a lamppost.

The little red car that couldn't...get out that is!

I love the mountains when they are coated with snow! Here's a view about 3 miles from my condo.

Sunset on Woodmoor and the Lake of Shining Waters :)

The Frightful Weather Outside

The last few days have been interesting ones for me...and for the state of Colorado. Snow started to fall on Tuesday night and didn't stop until just recently. I was snowed in on Wednesday and Thursday...without internet and the ability to do my job from home and later on without the news or weather updates (our cable went out too). I suppose there is strength in numbers, though...here's a few things that happened in lieu of the snow.

- The wind was blowing in some areas at 50 mph, and vehicles were stranded in white out conditions. My area of Colorado was declared to be in a state of emergency and they dispatched the National Guard to help rescue the stranded people on the roads.
- Most of the local businesses and schools closed on Wednesday and later on all business were urged to close down.
- Most local roads and the major interstates were closed down for a solid day making sure we stayed put
- Both the Colorado Springs and Denver airports closed, trapping countless holiday travelers and relegating yours truly to a flight on 12/25 instead of 12/21.
- My roommate and I logged in a total of 3 movies in one day

I won't lie...Thursday was a dark day for me. I was so looking forward to being in West Virginia with my family and finally being with people (namely my parents) that have known me from birth. There's something about the holidays that doesn't seem complete without the fam. That with a few other emotional upheavals made it for a hard day.

Nevertheless, the Lord knew the snow would come...even more than that he created it! So here are a few pictures for your enjoyment in the following post. Wild, wonderful Colorado!

Hope you all have a very Merry Christmas!

A little holiday mirth and merriment

Magical Colorado Trees

I don't know what they put in the water here, but Paul and Melanie went and cut their tree down in typical Colorado fashion and got this ginormous tree (for those of you that have not seen 'Elf', that means REALLY BIG!). It looked normal sized in the back of Paul's truck, but when I they put it in their dining room I realized that there was something very different about this tree. I'm not going to mess with it...it could take me!

By contrast, my roommate and I decide to forgo the tree-cutting-down adventure for several reasons. First of all, we don't own a hand saw. Secondly, we would have to carry it. Thirdly, we barely have an iota of space for the 4' tree that we got at Wal-Mart. And this tree that we decided on has it's advantages in that we can keep it year round....that is, providing we don't kill it first.

Reflections on Christmas

Most of you that know me well know how much I love the holiday season of which we are now a part. I think given the extravagant window displays, the innundation with products via commercials and insane amounts of Chistmas trees losing life and limb to the holiday season shows that I am not alone in this sentiment.

However, there are many people out there (you know who you are) that not only don't get into the holidays but are opposed to Christmas music and all decorations and pretty much only care about the fact that Christmas gives them a vacation off of work. I want all of you out there to know that although I am on the other side of this misguided feeling, I can understand where you are coming from.

While driving on ice to work a few days this week, I was prompted to reflect on why I love Christmas so much. Being the overly analytical person that I am, I proceeded to categorize my feelings on this season of yule into 2 categories. (I just lost about half of you, didn't I?)

Category 1 - I Love Christmas as a Remembrance of Christ's Birth
Reading through the Christmas story this year, one thing stood out to me more than it has in years past...the fact that so much of what happened required a deep and rooted trust in the Lord. Joseph flew in the face of public opinion and took Mary as his wife just because God told him too. Mary accepted her role as the mother of Jesus and trusted that God would work things all out for the good of mankind. The wise men took a VERY long trek trusting that they would see the Messiah and be able to worship Him...it all just goes on and on.

It prompted me to think that in order for Mary, Joseph and all involved to respond in the way they did to some PRETTY UNUSUAL circumstances, their faith and trust in the Lord was ALREADY grounded. Every small step in their life and their committment to God was leading up to the point where they would be used more than any other humans in history to accomplish his plans.

Category 2 - I Love Christmas as a Themed Holiday
I love that everything turns magical (the house lights and decorations, the general feeling of a merriment that encompasses everything). I love pulling out the decorations that only come out once a year and working on projects like Christmas cookies and cards.

It is possibly the only time of year that the "fun" mail in my mailbox outweighs the bills and pointless flyers for someone who lives in an apartment. I get to 'catch up' with people that I haven't seen in eons.

But mostly, I love the fact that only at Christmas can you hear 17 thousand versions of the same timeless Christmas songs. It's like a mix CD!

And then there is the fact that I get to fly out of whatever state I reside in and visit my family, eat the typical Christmas delicacies like frog-eyed salad and spritz cookies and peanut butter fudge.

However, I must say, that after New Year's comes a depression that is only worsened when I realize that I can no longer write the date on auto-pilot. But for today I'm going to enjoy the season that is flying by.