Five on Friday: Christmas Edition!

I'm linking up with April, Natasha, Christina and Darci for the last Five on Friday for 2013! I will keep it short and sweet today because...

{one} ...We're driving to NC today!!!!!!!! I am so, so excited to head south for Christmas and to see family and friends! We're even going to watch our Panthers play Sunday, which is an added bonus. This will be a time filled with relaxing, movie watching, good-food eating, baking, playing with our nieces and celebrating what Christmas is all about. I hope the dogs are okay with coming back to the big city after 10 days of being spoiled with SPACE and a YARD! :)

{two} My wish for snow was granted twice this week! On Saturday, it snowed and snowed. We took the dogs to the park and then we strolled around the city looking at all of the lights and windows. Then, we made our way to THE tree! It was pretty spectacular to see.

                            

 

 

 

{three} We went to our first TV show taping last night, and it was quite an experience! The show is called What We Wasted Our Year On, and it's a look back on the events, stories, videos we were watching this year. Willie Geist was the host (Today Show, anyone?) and there were four comedians that co-hosted. I am a loyal Today Show fan, so seeing Willie in person was exciting enough for me. (It's the little things!) The process was so interesting to see behind the scenes and what goes into taping a show. We showed up at NBC studios around 5:15 and didn't leave until 10:00--whew! All I could think about what how tired Willie must be, as he put in a longer day than anyone! I digress. The security was tight and having phones on was not an option. We did snap a picture in line before we went in. It will air on December 27th at 9:00 (I think) and we are sitting on the end of the front row in the middle section. Maybe we will have half a second of fame?

 

{four} This is my 99th post on Find Your Spark! A little idea popped in my head that I wanted to do a little giveaway (my first) to celebrate the 100th post. Stay tuned!!!

 

{five} Finally, since this is the last post before Christmas, I wanted to give a little holiday home tour of our apartment. It is small, folks, but we tried to make it festive!

                                           

 

 

Thank you so much for stopping by! I hope your holidays are filled with joy, hope and health.



 

 

Christmas Card~2013

Merry Christmas, from our family to yours!

I am linking up with Faith to share our Christmas card today!

We haven't sent out a card the last two years, because, well, we just didn't feel up to it. We figured with a new home in a new city, the time had come to send another out. I just love the way it turned out and even more love seeing all of the sweet cards others have sent!

We should remember that holidays are not always merry and our hearts are not always light, so hang onto your loved ones and think of those who may struggle through the holiday season. I am very thankful for the blessing of being joyful in the now, wherever that may be, whatever that may mean. I always remember the ones whom we wish were here but are not, and for some reason these feelings grow stronger during the holidays. Through the tears and the laughter, too, we'll make the best of it and will find joy in the journey.

Wishing you and yours a very Merry Christmas and a Healthy and Happy New Year!

We Remember

Today, we remember the senseless tragedy that took place one year ago. We remember where we were, what we were doing and how helpless we felt. We cried with the families whose lives will never, ever be the same. We came together. We prayed. 

I was in the classroom with 28 fourth graders. Life as teacher has not been the same since that day. From then on, I prayed each day while pulling into school, "please watch over all of the children, teachers and staff at our school and schools everywhere. Please let school be a safe haven, and allow us to not be gripped by fear. Please protect us all from harm." This year, I was blessed with the privilege of teaching first grade, if only for a short time. The innocence of those precious children affected me more than ever, as I could not help but think of the first graders whose lives were taken from them last year. I cannot imagine the horror that they felt and the strength that was shown on that day, and beyond.

If you haven't already, please take a moment to visit www.mysandyhookfamily.org to read about the 26 people who lost their lives, as well as find out about ways to help support the families and organizations dear to their hearts. Let's celebrate their lives by demonstrating acts of kindness today and in the future. 

When will the violence stop? It has to stop. 

Praying for all those directly affected by the Sandy Hook tragedy.

Five on Friday

TGIF! (I'm not sure I can really say that since I'm not currently "working outside the home",  however, I do love the weekends especially for downtime with my hubby).  I'm linking up again today with April, Darci, Natasha, and Christina for Five on Friday. Thanks for stopping by!

 

This week my Erin Condren Life Planner arrived and I am super excited. I know I'm a little late to the party, but  OH MY! I just love it. You can custom order everything, and it includes all sorts of goodies like birthday/event stickers, inspirational quotes, gift tags and more. I love how colorful it is and feel like I'm really going to "keep it together" in 2014. Here's what I'm talking about:

Are you all ready for Christmas? As far as gifts go, I am a little behind, for some reason. I've loved looking at all of the gift guides out now and thought I'd share a few items on my wish list. These are all "would love to have" but obviously not "need to have" items.

 

1 / 2 / 3 / 4 / 5

 

Confession: I do believe these would have made it to the Christmas list, as well, but when I saw that they went on sale thanks to Pinterest Told Me To , I might have hit 'add to cart' in a panic.

 Sorry, Santa.

 

I'm so thankful I live in a safe apartment and neighborhood where I can leave my keys in the door (outside of the door, mind you) all night. What's wrong with me!?

Sidenote: this is not the first time that has happened.

We're expecting snow tomorrow--four to six inches in NYC! We had a little bit on Tuesday, but I think we're supposed to have more tomorrow. Is it wrong that I am excited about this? I feel like people who have lived through a winter here are ready for it to be over and done with, but part of me still hopes we have some snow here and there. Ask me if I feel this way in February! We are still planning to do lots of Christmasy things this weekend because next weekend we make our trek to NC!!

 

I hope your weekend is wonderful!