'Tis the Season

It has been such a long time since I have blogged! Just thought I would write a quick one, before the craziness of Christmas Season sets in..oh wait, it already has!!! =) Life has been crazy lately, ups and downs, but it has been eventful and exciting. Sometimes you have to remember it is okay to slow down and breathe for a minute, which is much needed, so you can remember why this season even exists at all.

If you really sit down to think about the Christmas Story, THE One and Only CHRISTMAS STORY, it is fascinating and miraculous. First, there is a virgin who is named Mary, who loves this guy Joseph. So you can imagine in our days, a woman being a virgin....
noun
1. a person who has never had sexual intercourse.
2. an unmarried girl or woman.
3. the virgin Mary, mother of Christ
Adj

4.being a virgin: a virgin martyr.

5.of, pertaining to, or characteristic of a virgin: virgin modesty.

6. pure; unsullied; undefiled: virgin snow.

7. first: the senator's virgin speech.

8. without admixture, alloy, or modification: virgin gold.

Sadly, comes rare and few and far between, and even if a woman truely is a virgin, many people would not or could not even believe that. Second, this virgin Mary ends up becoming with child with the Lord's baby!!!! Seriously, can you imagine if this was on the news a virgin girl getting pregnant, by the Holy Spirit himself???!!?!? Yeah right, every person would be dying to get their hands on the "real story" and they would be slandering that woman and insulting her....that would be rough. I mean, I couldn't imagine how the guy, Joseph, felt either! Your girlfriend, who you love so very much, who you thought and believed to be a virgin, is telling you she is with child, and it is the Lord's child??  And thirdly, after going through all of that, having to travel to Bethleham on a donkey, a pregnant woman on a donkey....YIKES! Then, to top it all off, going through labor, pure, straight out, no meds, no special doctors labor IN A BARN!??!?!?!? WHAT!? That may be considered child or woman abuse now-a-days! I don't know anything about labor pains, but I can tell you I have heard many many stories, which just by those I know I would not want to go through that.

If you really sit down and think about the Christmas Story, and why we even have Christmas, it. is. Amazing. Indescribable. I don't see how people could know this story, and not believe in Jesus. Thanks to Him, we can live!

People go through this holiday, and many times will say "oh, if we can just get through the holidays", or "I am ready for this all to be over." It is as if this season is a burdon. Don't say that! If this season is a burdon, you are not seeing it for what it needs to be.

..Do not be afraid. I bring to you good news of great joy that will be for all the poeple. Today in the town of David, a Savior has been born to you; he is Christ the Lord. Luke 2:10-11

Savior:

1. a person who saves, rescues, or delivers.

Nothing negative is in that verse, or in the entire story told of Jesus. Even though many worldly people were not on Mary and Joseph's side, God was. They stayed true to God, and trusted that He would take care of them along the way, and Jesus was what they got from obeying! How Amazing!! We do not need to try to "get through" the Christmas season, but embrace and rejoice for the very day we have been blessed with, and thank the Lord for sending his Son to us. Imagine the possibilities of what blessings we could recieve, if we just chose to obey and follow God's word to it's greatest potential.

I just hope everyone does not get caught up in the presents and the hustle and craziness of the Christmas Season, but instead, embraces and enjoys their times spent with families and friends. But after the holiday, don't let it stop. We should always be living this way. God loves us so much, he sacrificed his one and only son, and he wants us to fully surrender our life to Him.

For we don't live for ourselves or die for ourselves. If we live it's to honor the Lord. And if we die, it's to honor the Lord. So whether we live or die, we belong to the Lord. Romans 14:7-8

I hope you all have a Merry Merry Christmas and all remember the meaning of the day and season. And remember to be thankful for your families and friends that you get to spend time with. There are many people that do not even get to celebrate with anyone or who have no families. Love your family while you have them :)

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!!! Love you all!!!!

History Repeats Itself

To all of you who believe blogging is a new fad, I do have news for you. I came accross an old blog I, and everyone else in college, had, but this was before the facebook fad, so it was harder to creep on people, but only your real friends cared enough to read and follow you. It was fun to go back to see what things I wrote about. To see what people meant the most to me, and to compare to the present. The Xanga blog was a little nicer and filled with more love than Facebook by letting people give you Hugs and Kisses, rather than just Likes.Click here to visit..... UrbabydollQT17 Xanga Blog

This post was written Sept 1, 2005:

Things I miss....

• Sleeping IN
• 3rd floor hottest girls
• Our circle of friends prayer
• Easy Freshman classes
• Having Money!
• No Homework
• Mac N Cheese Thursdays
• Bachelor Night
• Long naps
• Stayin up talking and procrastinating till all hours of the night
• Yucky Shower wars
• Prank videos
• Breaking quiet hour rules
• Dancing in the basement
• Girlz Night Out
• Eating tons of snacks
• Worrying about extensions
• Having a curfew so we all make our own fun together
• Funny Jesus Videos
• Enrichment credits in Rm 318!
• Being so loud the RD has to call us on it cuz of complaints
• Kendra Imel
• Open dorms when it was a BIG deal
• Dance parties
• STOMP
• Crazy pics taken in the car while driving
• Gay clubs.... nuff said!! lol
• Spring Break '05

Reading this made me go BACK. IN. TIME. ! It is amazing how quick we are to forget how far we have come in life and the journey that got us to where we are now. I noticed that most of who I am has stayed the same, such as, I still like the same type of music..Britney Spears.. I still like the same funny movies..Achorman, Wedding Crashers, and anything that will make me laugh like crazy.. I still love my family and enjoy spending time with them...and I still love making memories with my closest friends and love to laugh and be crazy.

This picture is from my high school Senior Trip in 2004. Also on my Xanga page.

This past weekend I was talking with my mom about ancestry.com. She was telling me she joined for free and has tried to track down our family history. After my grandparents (her parents) passed away two years ago, she realized she did not want them to get lost. Not to just be forgotten, like most people are after they pass away, so that is why she wanted to try to track back our family and where we come from. It didn't really make sense to me at the time, but now...I get it.

Everybody wants to be somebody. We want to make a difference, make an impact, make a name. Blogging is not new. People write books, make videos, blog, sing, act, educate, speak, become, because they want to not be forgotten. Our online society is becoming who we are and a new way to tell our story...to not be forgotten. Facebook is even coming out with the new Timeline, which is a new layout of the website, which lays out your life in a Timeline fashion, starting from the date you were born to present. They pull out a person's most memorable moments in time for "friends" to easily see and comment. Facebook wants to replicate like an online scrapbook for people to attain throughout the years of their life.

It makes sense.

What are you doing today that you will be remembered by. What is something you are doing, saying, writing, or taping that younger generations can look back on and be inspired? I'm not saying you have to express yourself for all of Facebook or Google to see, but think about what you can do to leave your mark and your legacy.

Table Rock Lake

This past weekend, I got the wonderful opportunity to join Cooper (Aka. Nicholas, aka. my boyfriend, aka love of my life! =)  ) and his sweet parents on a road trip to the great Table Rock Lake in Missouri. Several months ago Cooper got suckered into buying a timeshare special advertising trip at Bass Pro (they talked him into it by giving him a Bass Pro Gift Card on the spot, and saying he would get even more when he actually gets out there, which was perfect, since he loves that store and everything it, why not get a trip out of 'em too?? Right!? ) Anyways, we got a chance to go stay at the Big Cedar Lodge, which was absolutely gorgeous. I forgot how beautiful Missouri is! The trees were on the verge of changing towards the Fall colors, and the weather was perfectly in the 70s. Our lodge that we stayed in was decorated in a log cabin theme and we had a beautiful view of the lake and trees outside our windows, with a balcony to go out and sit and enjoy the lovely weather and scenery. It was also furnished with a full kitchen and even had a washer and dryer. It would be the perfect place to go to, to spend a week or so. The camp grounds of Big Cedar Lodge had several pools and hot tubs, and a sand volleyball court for all guests to use. They even had a lazy river that is opened in the summer months.

We got to Missouri on Friday, and we to Branson to eat and walk around downtown. They have several outside shops, and the set up of downtown was very cute. There were many people walking around, and people carried lawn chairs down to a stage to listen to artists perform. We also made it to a 5 and 10 Store. I didn't even know what this was until we got there. It is an old store filled with pointless stuff. Pretty much everything from your childhood and from your grandparents house is in there! It was a sight to see for sure though!

Like I said.... EVERYTHING from your childhood.. =)

We then, grabbed some yummy ice cream cones and a phosphate drink...yes, I said PHOSPHATE...and NO I had no idea what in the heck that was until I tried one! Ha ha I guess this is what they had before actual sodas? I am still confused about it, but I assume this is how my own future children will react when I mention cassette player one day.. =(   . That night we went back to our lodge to enjoy fun conversation and each others company.
Saturday came, and we all got up and ate a huge breakfast at a restaurant on the campgrounds there at Big Cedar, then Cooper and I had to go to hear the salesmen give their sales pitch about buying into a timeshare.. bleh.. But don't worry guys... we said no..then we said no again..then again..and one more time again we said...NO, so we could get on with our day!
We headed to the lake to rent a boat, Cooper got lucky that the water was cold, or else we would have been on a ski-boat, but with the water being cold he somehow managed to rent a bass fishin' boat for us. We spent a few hours fishing, then rode around the lake some soakin' in the breathtaking beauty of God's country.

Cooper caught the only fish we caught of the day.. haha

This was my only catch of the day..

Cooper's sweet parents Karen and Kevin

Saturday night we went to Old Chicago for the first half of the OU vs. Missouri game. Surprisingly, there seemed to be almost more OU fans there than Missouri! Then, we went back to Big Cedar to watch the rest of the game. Sunday we got up and went to Branson for breakfast at Cracker Barrel, then headed back to reality, back to our stompin' roots in Oklahoma.

Overall it was a great trip. It was nice to get away for a while and get brought back down to remember to soak in the beauty of this land. Table Rock lake is beautiful! I would definitely recommend taking a trip there, if you have not yet been. I really enjoyed spending time with Cooper and his parents. They are extremely fun and it is always good times with them. I am so blessed to have gotten to take this trip with them. God is so great, giving me opportunities such as these, to enjoy travel and explorations, while making sweet memories with others.

"I know the Lord is always with me. I will not be shaken, for he is right beside me. No wonder my heart it glad, and I rejoice. My body rests in safety. For you will not leave my soul among this dead or allow your holy one to rot in the grave. You will show me the way of life, granting me the joy of your presence and the pleasures of living with you forever," Psalm 16: 8-11

California Dreams Tour 2011

So last night my sister and I went to Katy Perry's California Dreams tour in Tulsa at the BOK center. We had such a fun evening, it is always good times when we get together. We started out the night by going to eat at this restaurant called Casa Laredo. It has started to become a tradition to eat there, if we are going to the BOK center for a concert. They have amazing margaritas at a decent price, the salsa is amazing, the food is delicious, and it is within walking distance of the BOK center. Plus, if you get down there early, you can park in front of the restaurant and not have to pay for parking, if it is the weekend! We had dinner and a few margaritas, and enjoyed good conversation before the concert started.

Then, it was time to head to the concert! The BOK center was packed!! Drinks and food were completely overpriced (as always), luckily we already had dinner, but we just HAD to get a cotton candy stick....I mean it is KATY PERRY.. you can't go to her concert without the Cotton Candy! Unfortunately that was overpriced as well at $10 a stick! But that did not stop us from splurging for a great pic opportunity.

The concert was great. Katy Perry rocked out the BOK center and it was LOUD. We stood for most of the concert, 5% standing 95% dancing. Her set up was really cute, full of candy and bright colors, as were all of her outfits.

After the concert was over, our feet, by that time, were killing us so we  took off our shoes to fight through the crazy blue-haired crowd to the exit doors. When we made it to the exits, we saw that it was pouring outside. Thank goodness for already having our shoes off! This made the ending of our night very fun running through the rain barefoot to our car!

Overall it was a fun filled night and I am very thankful to have a sister that I get along with to be able to enjoy fun memories with, and to be silly with....Brings me back to my roots of who I am and where I come from. Plus, a night of dancing ridiculously and playing in the rain definitely reminded me to live freely and not to have a care in the world about anything else. 

New to Blogging!

So, my sweet boyfriend decided he would buy my name as my website name domain so I could blog, therefore now, I guess I must enter into the blogging world! I am not sure what exactly this will turn into. Please just note that anything said or posted is simply my own opinion. I know not everyone has the same views on life, and I am merely learning and constantly growing and changing, which means sometimes my views may change, some things I may be greatly passionate about, but may not totally understand, and some topics I may need more knowledge and education on. I am on this great journey of life, not sure where I am headed. If you insist on tagging along, please follow with me. Any comments, concerns, or criticism is greatly appreciated. Thank you loves.