what am i doing new years eve? i don't know yet. but this song makes me feel better about that. love them together.

this child would be like the star shining in the sky that night.

a light to light up the whole world,

chasing away darkness, fear and death.

a very MERRY CHRISTMAS to you and yours!!

some songs i'm especially enjoying right now. and adding to my joy on this wonderful Christmas eve (now Christmas), maybe tearing up a little and definitely wishing i was in church singing right now. thank you Lord for sending us the best gift of all and blessing us with your grace.

o holy night the stars are brightly shining.

this is the night of our dear savior's birth.

all the who's down in who-ville liked Christmas a lot.

a good family friend of ours who is a freshman at state walked onto the basketball team this year. he has only played in a few games and last night he got to play for 3 minutes. we had some other friends over for dinner last night and were all listening on the radio to see if Staats would get to in, everyone went crazy when we heard his name, then he scored a three pointer! its fun to be able to get so excited about him playing, ESPN recapped it by calling him the "hometown hero," its so fun when a friend gets to play, it really gets everyone excited!

i just love the teams reaction. they're so happy! how fun!

play this song and i guarantee you will start dancing around your room. love marc broussard.

the one pure light.

i am overwhelmed with joy by your gift.

swooning over karen carpenter's christmas music slash bing crosby and frank sinatra pandora station... makes me want to curl up on the couch, or better yet go out dancing!

i've been a stress basket the past few days here. not because of finals, and to make a long story short there's been mixups and delays on turning in an application dealing with my summer plans and my future. i've decided to my student teaching abroad during the summer. don't get me wrong i'm beyond excited! it was just a very quick decision and has all come together so quickly. i haven't really even had that much time to think about it. i've always thought i'd be back here for another semester and all of a sudden the end of school is getting much closer than expected. i mean i'll be in either south africa, new zealand or australia, i'm definitely not complaining. just a little nervous and anxious i think. i want to be adventurous but traveling to a foreign country all alone and learning a new school system seems a little daunting right now. but i'll be with kids, and i'll be challenging myself and learning so much. i think i need to give myself time to be excited about it. so let's go, bring it on! i know God wouldn't have put this absolutely amazing opportunity in front of me if he didn't want me to step up to the plate and take on his challenge.

"let yourself fall open to Advent, to anticipation, to the belief that what is empty will be filled, what is broken will be repaired, and what is lost can always be found, no matter how many times it's been lost."

-- shauna niequist

"there are the friends you meet for the occasional happy hour, and there are the friends with whom you have longstanding taco tuesdays. taco tuesday means a bottle of wine for each person and peeling back the business-casual mask of the weekday while relaying mortifying tales of performed adulthood to one another. you hit reply all. you cried at your desk. you said "i love you" when you were unprepared or drunk or sober. any day can be taco tuesday. these are the people who fill in your blanks. there are the right people."

-- what we have going for us, at the hairpin

ahhhhh it's here. HAPPY DECEMBER everyone!!!!