the holiday

because I wait to watch all the "good ole" christmas movies until i'm with my parents(i know,kinda nerdy)-i've been watching all the newer ones and tonite I watched 'the holiday' as I packed to head back to memphis. gosh-i love that movie. i highly recommend everyone seeing it! but, this is just a little snippit from it-i thought you guys might enjoy. i kind of remember talking about this with cas last year at christmas? oh, what a difference a year can make...right?

"I understand feeling as small and as insignificant as humanly possible. And how it can actually ache in places you didn't know you had inside you. And it doesn't matter how many new haircuts you get, or gyms you join, or how many glasses of chardonnay you drink with your girlfriends... you still go to bed every night going over every detail and wonder what you did wrong or how you could have misunderstood. And how in the hell for that brief moment you could think that you were that happy. And sometimes you can even convince yourself that he'll see the light and show up at your door. And after all that, however long all that may be, you'll go somewhere new. And you'll meet people who make you feel worthwhile again. And little pieces of your soul will finally come back. And all that fuzzy stuff, those years of your life that you wasted, that will eventually begin to fade"

Yes,Virginia...

As for me and my family, we believe. Especially the Virginias.

Dear Editor—

I am 8 years old. Some of my little friends say there is no Santa Claus. Papa says, “If you see it in The Sun, it’s so.” Please tell me the truth, is there a Santa Claus?

Virginia O’Hanlon

Virginia, your little friends are wrong. They have been affected by the skepticism of a skeptical age. They do not believe except they see. They think that nothing can be which is not comprehensible by their little minds. All minds, Virginia, whether they be men’s or children’s, are little. In this great universe of ours, man is a mere insect, an ant, in his intellect as compared with the boundless world about him, as measured by the intelligence capable of grasping the whole of truth and knowledge.

Yes, Virginia, there is a Santa Claus. He exists as certainly as love and generosity and devotion exist, and you know that they abound and give to your life its highest beauty and joy. Alas! how dreary would be the world if there were no Santa Claus! It would be as dreary as if there were no Virginias. There would be no childlike faith then, no poetry, no romance to make tolerable this existence. We should have no enjoyment, except in sense and sight. The external light with which childhood fills the world would be extinguished.

Not believe in Santa Claus! You might as well not believe in fairies. You might get your papa to hire men to watch in all the chimneys on Christmas eve to catch Santa Claus, but even if you did not see Santa Claus coming down, what would that prove? Nobody sees Santa Claus, but that is no sign that there is no Santa Claus. The most real things in the world are those that neither children nor men can see. Did you ever see fairies dancing on the lawn? Of course not, but that’s no proof that they are not there. Nobody can conceive or imagine all the wonders there are unseen and unseeable in the world.

You tear apart the baby’s rattle and see what makes the noise inside, but there is a veil covering the unseen world which not the strongest man, nor even the united strength of all the strongest men that ever lived could tear apart. Only faith, poetry, love, romance, can push aside that curtain and view and picture the supernal beauty and glory beyond. Is it all real? Ah, Virginia, in all this world there is nothing else real and abiding.

No Santa Claus! Thank God! he lives and lives forever. A thousand years from now, Virginia, nay 10 times 10,000 years from now, he will continue to make glad the heart of childhood.

tracking packages

i love to track packages. mostly,i love to track the ones that I send-but right now-i'm tracking an incoming one...my bridesmaid dress for katies wedding. I don't know why this makes me happy or why i'm so compulsive about it-but I am. Like, I check the computer every second second. clearly,i need a life. must go check.

Fun in Fredericksburg!

Haley and I headed to Fredericksburg today to do some Christmas shopping! It was lots and lots of fun! We accomplished our missions and ate fudge...which means it was a good day! I had to call dad and report that no, I did not eat German food-and I probably never will! But here are some pics from today and a couple from a few months ago when Mom,Dad, and I went there!(and although I look pregnant in that top from the day with my parents...i'm not...it was just a poor choice in shirts!and yes, bubs...today I had on my robin hood outfit!)

mmmmm

delicious night. i'm snuggled in my christmas pajamas reading an excellent book AND it's raining outside. i love to read in the rain. AND i'm about to watch It's a Wonderful LIfe...mmmm.the only thing that would make it better is a big fire(and someone to share it with if i'm being HONEST)oh, and except for the fact that a major part of my heart is in Memph with my sissy and auntie sissy,the fam(including my little diva, Ali. and another major part is in California with my bubs,and in Rochester with Rob... . but all things considered...i'm cozy and content.


to my bubs...
as scarlett said, "after all,tomorrow is another day"
and my advice for the bad day...go sample the pumpkin pie at costco-it's not moms-but close. oh, and don't ever forget...i love you lots and lots!(ps. please send the address STAT)

our christmas party

We had a special Christmas pajama party and our activities included baking Christmas cookies,eating icing,eating sprinkles,then eating more icing. It was a great time. Oh,how I love this little girl and if I can ever convince Rob and Ash to move down here then I will arrange a marriage for she and my sweets!

What a face...

Okay-I PROMISE I am super super pumped about Jen and Trotter tying the knot! This picture doesn't so much tell that story-but it's worth a laugh. I mean this is a more heinous face than the face I make when I try to make a heinous face...it's looks like a shot dad would have taken-but he wasn't even there. not so much a fan of the candids when they turn out like this...anyways-all of the bridesmaids at her engagement party...it will be a fun bachelorette weekend!!

Jenny's ENGAGED!!!!!!!

YAY!!!!! Congrats to Jenny(my auntie-sis)! She and Robert are engaged and going to be married this summer. I'm so excited for them, but sad that our days "dialing and talking" on the bathroom floor of silky's are over. Those were good times-but we know she'll be super happy with Robert. How weird that two sisters both marry boys named Robert. Wait, kind of like Chase and Chase...:)right cas? anyways-here's the picture from the infamous night...with Julia there for support? I don't have a pic of the two of them or I'd post it! Congrats to Jenny and Robert! This means that by summers end-4 of my best friends will be married. CRAZY!