Lincolnites, you are invited to an open house celebrating Chelsea Tredway’s new line of jewelry. (Chelsea is my very talented, very creative sister-in-law.) The open house is this Saturday, December 3rd, from 1-5pm. There will be a large variety of semi-precious stone earrings, bracelets and necklaces, mother/grandmother bracelets with swarovski crystals and sterling silver, large shell necklaces, pendants, and a large variety of hemp jewelry. Items will be available for purchase that day, though you may also order (and special order) jewelry for delivery by Christmas Day.

Chelsea’s creations are both beautiful and affordable. I own several pieces she has made (matching necklace and earrings, bracelets, a mother’s bracelet featuring Livia’s birthstone) and I wear them frequently. If you’d like to add something new and unique to your jewelry collection, or if you’re searching for the perfect gift for a family member or friend, we’d love to see you this Saturday.

If you’re interesting in attending, email or call me for the location and directions.

Thank you, Jeremy, for the iTunes gift certificate! Normally I spend extensive amounts of time pondering what I should purchase, but for some reason I spent the money quickly this morning.

And right now I’m thoroughly enjoying my first Over the Rhine album.

My friend Julie is kicking my behind into gear these days. She’s leading my women’s bible study and has determined that we each are responsible for memorizing a new verse or set of verses each week. We’re working through the book of James and must memorize something from each chapter. Not too hard, right? Afterall, I spent years of my life performing in plays and musicals—I can memorize with the best of them.

But here’s the clincher. Each week you have to recite all the verses you’ve memorized from previous weeks. So simple cramming doesn’t do the job. I’ve got to actually learn and, gasp!, remember this stuff (“stuff” meaning the Word of God). So in preparation for tonight I’ve recorded my chosen verses below. The last is a little sketchy, but there you have it, I’m trying. At least we’re only doing James (at this point). Don’t think I could make it through Psalms quite yet. ; )

James 1:2-3

Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds for you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance.

James 2:12-13

Speak and act as those who are going to be judged by the law that gives freedom, because judgment without mercy will be given to anyone who is not merciful. Mercy triumphs over judgment!

James 3:10-11

With the tongue we praise our God and Father and curse men, who are made in God’s likeness. Out of the same mouth come blessing and cursing. My brothers this should not be.

To Do List:

• make green bean dish
• make sweet potato dish
• concoct chip and dip yumminess
• make sweets if I feel up to it
• be thankful

Here’s wishing all of you a very thankful holiday. God is good.

Leaving a comment on a blog, only to realize moments too late that you’ve spelled something wrong or that your subject and verb are not in agreement. Argh! Then you have to decide whether to post another comment correcting yourself (thereby proving that you’re not a total dunce) or just leave it alone and hope the blog owner understands you were typing too quickly.

Maybe this is an English major-type pet peeve.

I don’t know why Time constructed this list in particular (since 1923? why?), but it’s a very interesting list indeed. (Thanks to Jason for the link.) I’ve only read ten out of 100. And those only because I had fabulous English teachers throughout my life. In fact, at least eight out of ten novels were read between junior and senior high school—and none in college. I think the teachers from my younger years (I can’t recall all their names or else I’d list them here) far exceeded, both in classroom expectations and general excellence, the professors at the college I graduated from. Sad, huh? The main reason I’m blogging about this is so that I don’t lose this list of books… I’m always wondering what to pick up from the library and this is a decent place to start.

**The logic for the list is explained here.

“They say Aslan is on the move—perhaps has already landed.”

And now a very curious thing happened. None of the children knew who Aslan was any more than you do; but the moment the Beaver had spoken these words everyone felt quite different. Perhaps it has sometimes happened to you in a dream that someone says something which you don’t understand but in the dream it feels as if it has enormous meaning—either a terrifying one which turns the whole dream into a nightmare or else a lovely meaning too lovely to put into words, which makes the dream so beautiful that you remember it all your life and are always wishing you could get into that dream again. It was like that now. At the name of Aslan each one of the children felt something jump in its inside.

From The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe by C.S. Lewis

I’ve been spurred on to reread this wonderful book, and to actually complete The Chronicles of Narnia, due to the release of the movie next month. I never truly engaged in the books as a child, I think I was a little scared of fantasy (that’s another post altogether), but I am loving, LOVING, the books now and would curl up on the couch with a mug of hot chocolate and read all day long if I could.

Lewis’s writing style is one of the reasons these books are so delightful. I find his sentences very practical, logical like I imagine a proper Englishman’s should be, and yet so insightul. I particularly enjoyed the quoted paragraph above because it perfectly states the way I feel about dreams. I tend to intensely feel my dreams and nightmares, and yet when I awake I can’t explain the magnitude of what occurred in them. I love it that Lewis captured this universal sentiment in a few simple, well-placed words.

At 4am this morning I peeked out the bathroom window and noticed the streets were slick with rain. But sometime between 4 and 8, it happened… It snowed! I’m one of those people who, though fully grown, will always have a childlike fascination for the first snow of the season. There’s just something magical about waking up in the morning to a world covered in white.

Jeremy was the first to get to Livia and he got to show her the snow out front. A certain neighbor happened to be scraping his car and Jeremy mentioned his name to the baby. And for that certain neighbor I will proudly proclaim that Livia said JAY-JAY! at least two more times while watching him in the street. It seemed to take Livia several more peeks to get comfortable with the thick white covering outside, but she when she finally exclaimed, “Snow!” I knew she was in on the fun.

As for us, we’re going to enjoy a cozy day at home. I’ve got plenty of hot tea and hot cocoa to keep us warm, plenty of clothes that need to be folded and dishes that need to be put away. Praise God for His many blessings, including the joy of life on this snowy Tuesday.

Me: Cadence, you need to share the toys. Who says it’s good for you to share?

Cadence: Mommy.

Me: And God.

Cadence: And Santa.

Me: Um…Yeah…

Go to the Cookie Company in the lower level of Gateway Mall (or Gateway Westfield Shopping Town or whatever you want to call it). The cookies are one dollar each and are huge. Iced ginger is my favorite.

I’ve been to the newly renovated mall twice in two days—a record for me! Our family met Grandma Tredway and Auntie Bean there last night for part of the grand opening festivities. Despite the chaotic, shoving crowds of the Friday night opener, Sunday night proved more peaceful and definitely less crowded due, in no small part I’m sure, to a $5 entry fee (given to charity). We entered contests for shopping sprees, picked up free Cokes for sampling, listened to the very fun, very talented String Beans (more on them later), ate in the new foodcourt, and did some very serious shopping. The special sales were unbelievable; one lucky family member of mine will be the Christmas recepient of a $44 shirt marked down to $19—beautiful.