Things I love.

I'm currently snuggled on the couch as the light fades away into night, perusing Amazon and Overstock.com for last-minute gifts that promise free shipping in time for Christmas morning. Diego is dutifully keeping my feet warm and the house is silent albeit the sound of my fingers tapping the keyboard.

I am content.

It surely helps to know I do not have to wake up at the crack of dawn to bravely tackle the youth of America. Tomorrow I will greet the day with the dentist and then press on towards finalizing Christmas gifts. I might attempt to be crafty and sew more gift bags like I did last year.

Anyways, the title of this post is "Things I love," so let's get to it.

I love spending time with my friends outside of school. I've said it before and I'll say it again: I'm so blessed to have the greatest friends and am lucky they also happen to be my coworkers (Kristin, you are still a coworker because we chat while we are working. the end.) Last night we celebrated our dear friend Ashley's day of birth around a fire downtown. We relaxed, we laughed our guts out. It was much needed!

I'm in love with this girl:

I swear my uterus ached when I drove away from the hospital after holding this precious baby. Danielle and Carl will be such wonderful parents; my heart goes out to them this week as they bring Harper home! All I can say is, "I swear, it's normal!" lol, sorry Danielle.

And finally, I heart the time before Christmas, when everyone is focused on giving and finding that perfect present to bring joy to someone she loves, when children anticipate the night of Santa's appearance, when our houses are full of lights and joy and tons of sweets.

Not to sound cliche, but it is easy to become wrapped up in Christmas as we search for that perfect .gift.christmaslights.hotchocolate.concerts.parties.music.movies to give us the warm-fuzzies. I'm all for seeking out any activity that involves "getting in the Christmas spirit," usually involving Santa and jingle bells.

But tomorrow, before I head out on my quest to finish the to-do list, I'm going to sit down with the Lord and my Bible, and spend some with Him remembering WHY we celebrate Christmas. Those events, the ice skating and white elephant gift exchanges, they provide joy for the moment, but truly we celebrate because our Earth was granted a sweet baby boy to be "God-with-us," to work alongside us and to teach us the 'unforced rhythms of grace.'

sigh. the hubs is home, the silence is gone.

I love this life.