Looking Back & Moving Forward

2016 Recap Flipagram:

Thanks for being a part of life this year, friends and fam!! :)

My Top 10 Favorite Blog Posts from 2016:

1.  Wrestling With God - Part 2

2.  Finally Summer!!

3.  Memorial Weekend Quotables!

4.  Christmas Cuteness & Quotes!

5.  Today is a Gift!

6.  Memory Monday ~ 1812

7.  Top Ten Tuesday!

8.  35 Years!

9.  Very Difficult Times

10.  MM ~ Big Cedar 2016!

I didn't hit every resolution, but I'm thankful for what I did. I completed going through the New Testament and Proverbs 7 times this year!  (There are 260 chapters in the New Testament and 31 in Proverbs, which left several break days and time for other reading. I read through one chapter per day, going over it 7 times, reading it at least twice, and sometimes listening to it on YouVersion the other 5 times, using NLT, NIV, ESV, and MSG. And I wrote down the verse that stood out to me most from each chapter. I randomly mixed the books up at the beginning of the year so it wouldn't be all the gospels at once. I ended with Romans, and I found the last verse - pictured below - to be very appropriate!)

I read over 12 books, so mission accomplished on that one! :) And I would say there was less gossip and more noticing the beauty in little daily things and more resting in God's grace. I didn't get 25 new recipes, but I made progress on that one also. I did well on it, but didn't stick with Weight Watchers, but I did go to counseling and talk through some of my very tangled issues there, and I'm practicing better body language and more self-affirming thoughts, and praying and doing all I can to choose life and build and sustain and strengthen my desire and will to live, which is so KEY for me in moving toward lasting physical health!

I'm feeling hesitant to write out any grandiose goals for 2017. Weekly prayer journaling and choosing life in daily things is all I'm going to say here for now. I have some more specific goals in mind for my "Jesus year" that I'll share in February...

Finally, here is another Flipagram celebrating 10 years in Tulsa. I moved into my apartment at The Mansions exactly 10 years ago today (hooray for On This Day on Facebook!!).

(DELETED WITHOUT NOTICE BY VIGO VIDEO APP!) =(

Choose Life!

"I have set before you life and death,

Blessings and curses.

Now CHOOSE LIFE,

So that you and your children may live

And that you may love the Lord your God,

Listen to His voice,

And hold fast to Him.

For the Lord is your life..."

~Deuteronomy 30:19-20

"In Him was life, and that life was the light of all mankind... In Him we live and move and have our being... I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life... The power of life and death is in the tongue, and those who love to talk will eat the fruit of it... Yes, I am the bread of life... Listen carefully to My words, for they are life to those who find them and health to all their body... Wisdom is a tree of life to those who embrace her... When the Holy Spirit controls your mind, there is life and peace... Whoever has the Son has life... Guard your heart above all else, for it determines the course of your life... Your unfailing love is better than life itself... For You are the fountain of life, the light by which we see."

This will be my sixth year to do this focus word for the year thing (which means I have to do it at least one more). ;-)  It was TRUST for 2012, HOPE for 2013, LIGHT for 2014, BALANCE for 2015 (and later it became STRONG for 2015), and BEAUTY for 2016.

This year, as you probably guessed, I'm focusing on the phrase, "CHOOSE LIFE."

I think most Christians hear those words and their minds go to abortion and choosing life for the unborn. I'm certainly an advocate for that, but those words are much more personal for me. I have been doing well for a while, but I know what it is to be deep in the valley, to feel the "shadow of death" pressing you on all sides. To feel so much inner pain that you slowly become numb - the emotional equivalent of passing out from extreme physical pain. I know what it feels like to want to die... There is a healthy place of longing for the kingdom of Christ and acknowledging that everything on earth is partial and incomplete, and there is an unhealthy place of feeling desperate to escape the pain and uncertainty and earthly "bondage to death and decay" as the Bible calls it. I'm very familiar with both, and very aware of how quickly everything can shift, like a sudden car wreck that leaves you fighting for life when you were cruising down the road singing along to the music just minutes before. It almost makes me want a tattoo of this one for a constant reminder: Choose Life.

It's not just about choosing to physically stay alive rather than die. It's choosing to embrace things that lead to life over things that lead to death... in my food choices, music and entertainment, friendships, work, thoughts about myself and my future, words to others, daily attitudes, etc. Being vigilant to guard my heart against the arrows of Satan that lead to death, despair, and discouragement. Stopping my thoughts before they spiral out of control, praying before I say or write something I would regret, choosing to forgive rather than hold on to anger, having grace and encouragement for others rather than heavy frustration. Sometimes it's seeking counseling or other help when you need it. It is choosing to seek and follow Jesus daily. 

There are a thousand different ways that we can choose life in the little things, and making those daily choices will make it much easier to choose life when the big things arrive... When someone you love leaves you or passes away, when you lose something that cuts you right to the core, when there is an unexpected diagnosis, when your suffering feels chronic and unshakable... you will recognize that people and earthly things cannot bring you life, and instead, you will hold tightly to Jesus. And put your hope and identity and security in Him as much as humanly possible. We can choose to honor Him and really live out the full number of days God wants to give us, to trust His timing and will rather than trying to control what no longer belongs to us because it was purchased by Christ.

I want to make the daily small choices that strengthen me and lead to life (body, soul, and spirit), and to remember to cry out for more of God and more of His life whenever I feel the shadow of death creeping in...

This quote rings so true:

"When our souls feel crushed and overwhelmed, we believe ourselves to be tired of life; but it is death, not life, that wearies us.  In all our troubles, let us remember that what we lack is life – what we need is more life, more of God’s powerful presence in us that makes us more alive and whole!  When we feel broken and tired of life, let us recognize that it is actually the presence of death in this world that we are tired of.  When we feel most inclined to give up, let us rouse ourselves to live.  Of all things, let us avoid the false refuge of a weary collapse, a hopeless yielding to things as they are.  The dissatisfied ache we experience is caused by the life of God in us is crying out for more life (more beauty, freedom, restoration, love, and healing).  We are victorious when, in the midst of our pain and weakness, we cry out  -- not for death or numbness  – but for the strength to fight; for more power, more understanding, more of God in us!"

~George MacDonald (paraphrased)

MM - Christmas Week

Happy Monday (even more this week and next since we're off work for the holidays!)

Here's my last Christmas Flipagram for this year - pics from Christmas Eve and Christmas. lol  Only 2 minutes long, and I love it!!

Here's a Christmas Eve selfie with Kyndal Faith that didn't get included in the other pics since it was taken on my phone. :)

I got to have lunch on Friday with Kristin, Frankie, and Diesel at Oliveto!! I failed yet again to get a pic of me and Kristin, but I did manage to get one of Diesel sharing his fries with Frankie. :)

Backing up a little further, here is Jenna with the red velvet cheesecake for our movie night dessert!

And here's me and Chet taking Sammers and Bellsy on their first official walk outside! lol  I love that you can tell Ella Belle is pulling against me!

Watching Pitch Perfect 2 with the Wilsons, Tiffany, and Tyler. There was a lot of singing along by me and Chet, and a lot of chatting and ignoring the movie by Jenna and Tyler. lol There was also round 2 of Match searching, so that was entertaining!

Bellsy fighting against going back into the garage... so weird! lol I'm hoping the girlfranz will eventually warm up to the idea of taking walks.

Chet and Karli getting them ready. (These are in a weird order here, but I didn't bother trying to rearrange them.)

Anyway, hope it's been a good Monday. Next week we'll be in 2017!!

Christmas Cuteness & Quotes!

Two Days, 500+ pictures... yeah, that sounds about right! lol  Merry Christmas, dear blog readers! Here are a few of my favorite pics and quotes and such from this Christmas Eve and Christmas Day!!

Yesterday, I went to take a few things back to the Parrishes, and Rach asked if I wanted to stay for the gingerbread houses!  I was happy to stay and watch and help document that!  (Josh helped Kyndal and Rach helped Jace.)  Jace would suck on a peppermint for a few seconds, then stick it to the icing as decoration. lol

T-Man had the only house that was not pre-assembled. He was working hard on it, but it kept falling apart, so Rach busted out the hot glue gun for the win! lol  Miss K was in a fussy mood at the end, so we got a pic of just the three boys and their houses!

They took naps after that, then we met for dinner at Santa Fe with Mom's side of the family! Here are a few fun pics from dinner!

And here's a collage of the Jaceman - he's so animated and enthusiastic telling stories or reacting to other people. It's pretty precious!

After dinner, we went to Mom and Dad's and the first present to be revealed was the shark! It's a huge inflatable remote-controlled shark that moves up and down, back and forth, and swishes its tail!! Needless to say, it was a hit!!

*A mini-tragedy:  When the shark was in the room, I got video on my iPhone and Mom took pics with her camera. We were both snapping pictures all night, and after I asked her to take one of me and Rach at the very end of the night, I went to check it and it said, "No Card in Camera." So we have zero pictures from her camera, and I had to take screenshots of the video to get the pics above. Still, there were over 500 pictures through the last two days, so we're probably okay without the extra set! lol

Mom wrapped a treasure hunt gift series for the Parrish kids... wrapping a note with a clue inside a tiny little box then wrapping that in a bigger box then that one in a bigger box, etc. There were 16 sets of presents to unwrap (4 per child), and each one had at least 3 boxes (some had 10 or 11). So obviously, that took a while!  The clues told them where the next gift was hidden, and everyone in the family participated at one point or another going with one of the kids to help find the presents! Hiding spots included the oven, the grill out back, the golf cart, shower, bathroom cabinets, closets, etc. They were all into it when it was their turn to unwrap, but lost patience quickly when it wasn't. It was fun, but if ever that happens again, I say 2 per child would be plenty! lol In the end, their Fire 7 Tablet presents were in the trunk of Grandpa's Mustang, and they were all pretty excited about them!!

So much Christmas cuteness with my precious niece and nephews!! :) The pic of them in their PJs with the walkie talkies and Jace's binoculars - get out already - so adorable!

The biggest hit of the night was undoubtedly Jace's new walkie talkies! We wrapped one and kept the other out so Mom would call him as he was unwrapping it. lol He was SO EXCITED!  Then all the kids wanted a turn and it was all pretty entertaining! (J&K were terrible at remembering to hold the button down, so basically just holding them and yelling. T&C were much better at it. We thought they might think that was too young for them, but we ended up ordering two more last night. lol)

Lots of randomness here... Miss K trying in vain to read her clue. Jace with the tiniest box I've ever seen! :) Rach reading the Ten Princesses book to Kyndal. Rach and Babah. Rach and K-Faith with her new Tablet. Chas tickling the Jaceman. Blake holding Sammers. Kyndal and Carter in their hats from Babah. Carter with his cash from JoBug. Kyndal wearing her knee and elbow pads, talking on the walkie talkie! lol Babah excited about her Chia pet. lol Mom and her OSU plate. T-man counting his $. Miss K with her Mom in her new mittens. Carterman with his football!

Jace and his walkie talkie. Miss K and Pete (finally a softer one Jenna picked up in Stillwater that reverses into a football). Carter and the Fire Tablet. T-Man and his BrainQuest book (he was much more excited than he looks here). Then all of them in their new hats from Babah!!

JoBug brought some fun photobooth stuff, so here's a few pics with that!

It was a weirdly foggy Christmas Eve, and thinking about that put Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer in my head. :) 

This morning (Christmas day 2016), we went over to the Parrishes for breakfast and a few more presents!  Jace and Kyndal were excited to show us their scooters. Jace was psyched about his new T-Rex dinosaur, and Kyndal was excited about her princess Barbies and cash register!

Rach made her usual pancakes and Josh made bacon, eggs, biscuits, gravy, and French toast. In spite of all that work, Jace and Kyndal had Pringles and orange Fanta. lol Breakfast of champions.  Here's a few candids of them all soft and cuddly at the table this morning, followed by a gif of them playing air drums and guitar to a song they like! lol  (Yay google photos for creating gifs for me!!)

Rockin' out! lol

I went with Dad and Charlene to see a movie, whilst Mom and Jaceman learned that the walkie talkies can communicate between their two houses, so she took one home and they had a fun chat telling each other to watch out for T-Rexes. (Mom is Park Ranger OB and Jace is Park Ranger Aaron - that's from a show he's into now - it's pretty cute.)

When we got back from the movie, the Parrish fam came over for dinner. We planned on pizza, but everything was closed, so we had a lovely Christmas dinner of Mac n' Cheese, chicken soup, leftover broccoli rice casserole, McDonald's fries for Jace, and sugar cookies by Rach! :)

The top left pic is mom and I cooking together, then Jace stirring his soup, then me and Rach's  awesomesauce Kraft mac n' cheese dinners, then Kyndal with her Barbie and Jace with his walkie talkie (I love the rainboots on both of them). We watched Beauty and the Beast on TV and played with SnapChat with Kyndal. :) And we got the shark out again at the end of the night, and Jace and Kyndal took turns "saving his life" by pushing him back high in the air when he floated down to them! :)

All in all, it's been a pretty perfect holiday season from Thanksgiving to Christmas. I know that's not always the case and that the holidays can be very difficult and magnify hard emotions, so I'm holding it loosely, but I am very thankful for all the joy and beauty and lightheartedness we've had this year!!

QUOTABLES:

Me: "Your mom might not like that." (Rach was grabbing the glue gun right then)

Jace: "Well, I'm not gonna tell her!" lol 

"Do you think it'll get as hot as you are?" -T-man, talking to Rach, waiting for the hot glue gun to heat up! (She and I both started laughing at the awkwardness of that question, so I'm still not sure what he was actually trying to ask)

"Now I feel like a failure." ~T-man being dramatically funny when his gingerbread house all fell apart

"That looks so good, Miss!" ~Me, on Kyndal's gingerbread house

"Mine is even gooder than yours, Kyndal!!" ~Jaceman, always competitive lol

"But they might gimme money for requesting something lots of people want!!" ~T-man at Santa Fe, arguing why he should be able to hand in his survey card, filled out in Josh's name. lol

"You know, if Kyndal could take Chas from Emily, she probably would!" -Triston again, cracking me up with his random thoughts on life

"What is taking them so long!?  If they knew that I didn't have lunch today..." ~T-man getting hangry at dinner :)

"You had lunch!" ~Rach lol

"Hey, Mom, I told Babah and Grandad they stink like beef and cheese!" ~Jace

"Oh gosh, guys, that's from Elf!!" ~Rach

"Can I see your phone, the one where Jace laughs at the fart machine? I'm just gonna show it to Emily and Chas -- it'll be so funny! ...And Blake. And Babah. And JoBug and Uncle Mike." ~Kyndal Faith, (wanting to show every person at the table the video on my phone of Jace laughing at the whoopee cushion!) lol

"I want your phone!" ~Kyndal

"My phone's out of battery; it's not working right now." -Rach

"Gib it to meee! I will MAKE it to work!! -K Faith 

Rach and I laughed at her sassiness and imagination... then she took it right over to Mamaw's phone charger hidden inside the armrest of her recliner and plugged it in and we were both briefly stunned. lol Smart girl. And precious. :)

"Here, Chas, be a reindeer!" ~Emily, totally deadpan, handing Chas the antlers for a pic

"Well, it's not $10,000, but it'll do! ...Just sayin'." ~Emily, saying what we were all thinking, upon getting the annual De-Icer and a $100 bill from Babah and Grandad! lol

"Saaaay noooo!!!" -Carter whispering in my ear when Mom suggested to me that we get everyone together for a group pic! LOL

(No such luck, kid.)

Congrats if you made it through this whole post!!

Hope you had a Merry Christmas, as well! =)

Delightfully Random

In the delightfully random news department, today, someone coming in to pay a traffic fine brought a baby kangaroo with them. What!?  Only in Creek County.  Here is Roxy, the baby kangaroo wearing a pink polka dot onesie and a diaper. The Clerk's Office called Laura to come down and she assumed they were playing some sort of joke, but no, 'twas a real live kangaroo just hopping all around the office! lol  The bottom right pic is Doris, my favorite Court Clerk employee - always so nice. :)

I came in late, so I missed all that fun, but I've been working super hard writing Christmas cards and eating some cheesecake and PB fudge different law firms brought us. :)

Speaking of lovely Christmas gifts, this was dropped off yesterday - they "hid" it under my desk, so LB and Judge had a mock carefrontation with me today! lol  #somuchwhisky

Here's a pretty pic of the courthouse. I shan't be here again until next Wednesday! :)

 A random collage with some of my work life people... Judges Parish, Vassar, Golden, and Ihrig. Then the courthouse again. Then Special Judges Woolery and Hammers (starting in January - I'm so happy for her!) Then Max and Mike (DA and Assistant DA) looking super studious. Then LB filling out the calendar and having a courtroom freakout. Then me on the news for a tiny second during one of our more high profile cases. Then the Stinnett attorneys, looking fierce and intense! :)

In other delightfully random news, I realized today that this is my 1800th blog post - craziness.  I'll have to make number 2000 something special!

Here is my latest Flipagram - such a great app!! ❤

I'm headed home for a fun movie night with friends, then off to Mom and Dad's for Christmas!  Also, I'm super excited to get to see and catch up with Kristin tomorrow! =)

"To Making It Count!"

A few fun things about the Titanic Museum in Branson... it makes me happy just seeing the ship from the street. In my head, I can hear the music from when they first show the ship in the movie! :)

There are great photo ops and it provides a very interesting and interactive history lesson!

The gift shop is full of Titanic memorabilia, including White Star Line china, and these happy sailor hats. lol  "That's White Star Line property!"  

"SHUT UP!!"

If you set your phone to silent and turn off the flash before you go in, you can sneak in some great pictures. lol  They built an exact replica of the grand staircase and clock. (Jenna read everything, and there is A LOT to read, so Tiffany and I got to this spot about 15 minutes before she did and got to hear the museum speech several times.) The carved pineapple at the top of the stairs is the international symbol for hospitality. And the floors in this part of the ship were linoleum -- a new product in the early 1900s which was more expensive and admired and fancy than marble at that time! So interesting.

The chandelier above was lit by the sun during the day, but backlit at night so that the dome was never dark. There are usually museum staff in here, but we were able to sneak in a couple pics while they were gone.

There are all kinds of interactive things, including this where you time how long you can keep your hand/finger in the 28 degree water.

There is an adult audio tour and a youth audio tour, as well as these "test your knowledge" things all over the museum. (I only got one wrong. lol) I had to snap a pic of this one because it made me laugh!

They have a replica lifeboat where you can get in and listen to audio from survivors about what they saw that night.

This shows you what it feels like at different angles as the boat began to tip forward. Jenna is on the middle one. The last one is impossible to walk on without holding tight to something!

You can type out an SOS message in Morse Code (or write your name or whatever). :)

There is a back deck where you walk into cold, windy air and a starry background - another good place to sneak in a picture! lol

Captain Lindsey... there's a very memorable, dramatic movie scene in the Captain's Room, but being behind this wheel made me think of Dwight on the Booze Cruise episode of The Office! lol

So many lines from the movie spring to mind!  "Allll ahead fuuuull!"

I also appreciate that they played music from the movie in certain sections.

This was the First Class cabin replica.

This made me smile. I'm guessing James Cameron knew this and chose the Pom for old Rose's dog very deliberately.

"Okay, this is Falls Creek!" -Tiffany, seeing the close quarters of the Third Class Cabin

There were two bathtubs for over 700 people in Third Class. Craziness!!

This is silly but fun. :)

This is one of the smartest things they do:  When you enter the museum, they give you a boarding pass with a passenger's name, class, and a bit of their story on it. You go through the museum thinking about things from their perspective, then at the end, there is a wall where you find out if your passenger lived or died, and if they survived, what they went on to do!

Me - Margaret Graham, 19, First Class, daughter of Dixie Cup co-founder, there with Mom and Governess

Jenna - Anna Hamalainen, 23, Second Class, traveling with her 8-month old son to join her husband in Michigan

Tiffany -  Augusta Goodwin, 43, Third Class, mother of 6, borrowed money from family to come to America for better work opportunities

My passenger survived (in Lifeboat #3 with her mother), lived to be 83, and worked for the American Red Cross during World War II.

Jenna's passenger and her baby also survived, but her husband was a jerk, and her son died in his early 20s in World War II.

We also lost Tiffany... her passenger and the entire family died in the sinking. Sadness.  It's crazy how much the class system ruled things then. :(

(We got to the wall, and she said, "Mmhmm, died. Died, died, died, died, died. All died!" lol As soon as she read her story on the card, she said - "Yeaaaah, I'm not gonna make it.")

Anyway, I didn't get pictures of it all, but there are so many other cool things to see there! I highly recommend visiting if you find yourself in Branson. 

Speaking of Pomeranians and ice, Bellsybell has been super weird coming up to the water bowl lately, stretching out as far as she can and looking at it for a minute before she takes a drink. We think she got her tongue stuck to the ice in the bowl outside a few days back. Sad, but also a little funny! And I'm being more careful about that now.

Okay, happy Thursday!  Last day of work before Christmas!!