oh the possibilities.

you know what makes me tick? organization. if i'm living in the midst of a mess, my creativity level plummets. i love shelves- drawers- boxes- baskets- especially if they are cute! one of the most relaxing things i can do is to alphabetize a huge stack of papers [or anything else alphabetizable]. my mind likes to clean things up and then move on to the next project.

currently i'm planning a room makeover.. it's been 5 or 6 years since my last one, and while it's livable, there are so many ideas i'd like to implement! i've already cleaned out the majority of old clothes and shoes that are no longer allowed to take up valuable space.. and made a sizable pile of clothes-to-be-remade. i'm looking forward to a creative and productive winter!

i've got my eyes on a delightful yellow cabinet from ikea... but i think i'll be using ingenuity and a paintbrush to create a lookalike. it's cheaper and 100% original. i love using imagination and creative resources to turn something old into something 'new' and amazing.

it's been snowing since last night and shall continue on.. we're all snug and cozy inside our little house and enjoying christmas. tomorrow's agenda: build a sled run in the backyard with all of our amazing powder. pictures hopefully to follow!

lots of love and happy christmas.

a.

christmas favourites.

3 days of rest, family, and peace.
a great big snowstorm!
white mohair slippers.
rose-scented candles.
clean room.
"dear-friend" books: currently, A Little Princess.
good music. latest favourite: Kathryn Scott's "I Belong"

yes, this holiday season is lovely. happy birthday Jesus!

Yours the life that transformed history

Yours the truth that sets us free

We stand before You now on holy ground

Overshadowed by Your glory

Held in everlasting arms

Your life and death turned everything around

Thank you thank you

For Your love that saved us Jesus

Thank You thank You for the cross

With our hearts on fire and our hands raised high

We’re singing thank You thank You for the cross

Thank You thank You for the cross

-Kathryn Scott, "Thank You For the Cross"

a favorite christmas carol.

..i never really could figure out these words from watching Little Women.. so here they are!

Ding dong merrily on high,
In heav'n the bells are ringing:
Ding dong! verily the sky
Is riv'n with angel singing.
Gloria, Hosanna in excelsis!

E'en so here below, below,
Let steeple bells be swungen,
And "Io, io, io!"
By priest and people sungen.
Gloria, Hosanna in excelsis!

Pray you, dutifully prime
Your matin chime, ye ringers;
May you beautifully rime
Your evetime song, ye singers.
Gloria, Hosanna in excelsis!

24 hours of traveling fun

goodbyes i've said: three hundred and one

it's been 3 and a half years

and i've cried lots of tears

cause this place is just like home.

so now to my other american home i go

where it's a foot deep in snow and it's 15 below!

don't really know what's ahead

but that's where i'm led

and it'll be amazing fo sho.

[disclaimer: i love dr seuss, and i rarely use slang.]

goodbye germany and all of my dear dear dear friends!!! i'll miss you so much. xoxoxo

dear home.

Today marks the beginning of the final week of the semester; it also marks the the beginning of my final week at Bible College.

I knew someday this day would come, when I would move on to other things; and finally it's here. It is exciting, but it's also sad to say good-bye. I will so dearly miss the people I've come to know over the past 4+ years. My year in Murrieta seems like it happened ages ago, and it feels as though Germany is my second home. I've made such dear friends here, and been so blessed being involved with the Bible College and Calvary Chapel Siegen for over 3 years. I never would have dreamed that I'd live in Germany for 3 years, or be on staff at a Bible College, or lead worship all over Europe! I am so thankful for the work that the Lord has done in my life, and the things He has already enabled me to do.

My future plans are in His hands too! I leave Siegen next Wednesday, the 16th of December, and head home to lovely Minnesota just in time for Christmas. I am so excited to see my family and my home and to enjoy a cozy snowy Christmas with lots of relatives. After that, I'm going to spend a season at home, working at the restaurant and helping out at the church. I'm looking forward to spending longer than 6 or 8 weeks at a time at home!! I'm going to enjoy being home and being with my family, and also be praying about some different options. I've received a few offers to come out to different churches, and I want to consider them well and see if maybe I can head any of those directions. Or, maybe the Lord will send me in an entirely different direction. I'm excited to see what's ahead, and I'll enjoy every day I get.

So for now, I'm finishing up things here at the school. I taught my last class on Friday, which went really well. We spent the majority of our times split up into three songwriting teams! It was great, and I think the students really enjoyed and benefited from it.

I'm sad to say goodbye to my friends here, but I've got 9 more days to spend with them! There will be lots of coffee dates and get-togethers, as each semester ending always has, but these will be especially treasured. On top of those, there's the normal weekly tasks to attend to, as well as packing and cleaning up all my stuff- the accumulation of 2 years on staff! It'll be nice to clean out the old things I haven't been using.

I have some pictures [piles of them from this semester] that I'd like to share- yet I never have sufficient patience to edit, upload, and reorder them online. So, here's a really big present I found at IKEA the other night; the rest will have to come later.

Love love love, and happy Christmas! God is so very good to us all, especially in sending His only Son to save us!