That Time of Year...

I absolutely love this time of year around Thanksgiving and Christmas. Clint and I had a great week off of work relaxing, decorating, doing some much needed cleaning and most importantly spending some good time together. We both coach fall sports, so it was much needed, well deserved, and thoroughly enjoyed. I was also able to go to the State Volleyball Tournament and do some fun Christmas shopping with my mom. I absolutely loved having her in Grand Prairie for a few days. No matter how old you get or how far away you are…you always need your mom. I am truly blessed to believe that anyway. I made a short trip to Austin to see my sweet sister in law, brother, and new niece Margot. It was a trip full of naps and baby staring.

This is Margot in all her goodness and glory-now you understand the baby-staring.

Clint and I made a short trip to Ardmore for Thanksgiving to see his family. His parents are so gracious and giving, it is a humbling experience just to be around them. Last Christmas Glen (Clint's Father) saw what terrible shape my boots were in, and spent the next hour cleaning and shining them for me. Almost a year has passed, and again he insisted on fixing them up for me. I continue to be amazed at how well I am loved and taken care of by his family. Something as simple as boot shining means an incredible amount…even though if you know Glen you would know he doesn't cut any corners and the shining job he gave my boots and what they looked like beforehand you would know it was no simple feat. We had a great meal with his parents, brother and sister in law, and their baby Elizabeth (EJ). Our "boys" had to make camp outside and perfected their "pitiful looks" at the door.

This is the "after" shot of my freshly shined boots... 

The boys (Rooster and Owen) begging to come in and join in on Thanksgiving with the Burns'.

I spent most of the week Christmas shopping and decorating the house. It is our first Christmas married and my first in a house, so it was exciting to be able to decorate the house! With two dogs I am just hoping it makes it to Christmas that way. I know that none of the plants in the backyard have survived their terror, so I may build a fence around our tree :) Here are some decorations of the house,…

 Yes those are dog stockings. Stop judging. 

 I got these little measuring hedgehogs from a dear friend as a wedding present…so happy to have them hanging out on the counter with my gold trees!

 I painted the Joy to the World on a cheap piece of wood from Home Depot. The letters were found at Joann's and I simply spray painted them with metallic spray paint…attaching a nativity scene ornament with a ribbon in the center of the "O". 

 I am loving this vintage nativity scene my mom gave us this Christmas. I painted the black canvas with a white paint pen to give it the "chalkboard look". 

 This tree was almost the death of me. I decided to try and save money by getting a non-lit tree, but I think the frustration more than made up for the money saved…according to me. If you ask Clint, any saved money was worth it :) At the end of it all, I really love it and glad I did the lights myself. The star is from Target, and I love how it all came together. Big thanks to my mom for helping me get the majority of it done! 

 The "wreath" my mom and I made for our front door. I am loving driving up to this door and wreath everyday! 

 I decided to use old books as our stocking hangers by writing our names on the binding of each book…and yes that is one for Owen and Rooster, even though Rooster's was cut out of the shot. We are officially "those people". But if you ever met them you'd understand. 

This is hanging over our bed. I really like how it turned out. To really irritate Clint I often use my "West Texas" voice when I say things…which could also be called "Texas football coach voice". I'm pretty proud of it and use it as much as possible, so when I came up with "Merry Freakin' Christmas",…just imagine it in that voice. It makes it much better…believe me. 

I have a few more final touches and other things not seen here, but I've really enjoyed the house decorations and can't wait to have my family over for Christmas. I am a covenant member at The Village in Dallas, and on Sunday Matt spoke on the season and basically not buying in too much into the "feeling" this time of year brings. He spoke of the Christmas blues, which occurs once Christmas is over and all that spending and good feeling is gone…and we are just as unfulfilled as we were beforehand. I hope we stay mindful of the meaning, and what God did for us. He provided a way for us to be with Him…which was His perfect son. Otherwise, we would have been separated forever from his love. He loved us and continues to love us that much. It's huge…it makes the miraculous birth of Christ that much more beautiful. The birth and the cross are the perfect image of his unfailing love. It is the perfect image that He is Faithful to Finish. One message from Matt that I love and listen to time and time again is when he mentions that sometimes we get lost in this belief that "if God knew what I would struggle with, my pain, the disappointment, the reoccurring sin, that maybe He wouldn't have gone to the cross…but our ugliness, struggles, sin, it's not a surprise to Him. Instead, He says I won't leave you, I won't give up on you…you are MINE." That's why the birth and the cross mean so much, there is no larger picture of unfailing love and redemption. I hope you take in this season. I hope you make sweet moments with those that are important to you. I also pray for those of you that this time is difficult for you and yours year after year. But hold on and find hope in the love that God has for you,…and no matter what season you are going through I hope you find a chance to "shine someone's boots" in a way,…and never forget that He is Faithful to Finish.