CHRISTMAS!

Merry Christmas!  As most of you are beginning your Christmas day, we are ending ours  (it is still weird to me the time difference between here and America).  Our Christmas Day and then to the countdown.
I set my alarm for this morning.  I had high hopes of getting my long run in this morning.  FAIL.  I think sleeping in was a better option.  I was really tired.   Anywho, after we got up, we ate some delicious cinnamon rolls for breakfast (Thank you Paris Baguette for making cinnamon rolls).  My amazing husband and I try to read the Bible for a little bit after breakfast each day and pray for our friends and family.  We do not do this everyday, but we try to.  Today my amazing  husband read the first two chapters of Luke while sipped on my coffee.  Then we opened presents!   I looked at my watch and started running around like a chicken with my head cut off.  I dipped the cookie dough and mocha truffles that I whipped up last night, organized everything for our Christmas potluck, went for a quick short COLD run (It was 1 degree farenheit this morning), took a shower, cleaned up the kitchen a bit, and packed our stuff for the potluck.  We went across town to eat and hang out with some friends.  We had a delicious lunch!  Chicken, mashed potatoes, corn, walnut-cranberry-salad, and too many desserts.  We even had hot chocolate to drink!  Everything was so good!  We spent the afternoon talking and playing Apples to Apples.
I thought that I would be super homesick today and really miss everyone a lot.  I was a little sad that I could not be home, but Christmas is not a big deal here.  It does not feel like Christmas.  No snow, no Christmas tree, no time off, no cookie trays, no commercialization (okay well a little, but not much), no stockings.  It just feels different. I can not really describe beyond that.  I am really looking forward to my first Christmas back in the States.  I think I might gain 20 lbs though :)

Onward:
Christmas Carol Countdown #1: Heirlooms
This is my absolute favorite Christmas song ever of all time!  I love this song by Amy Grant.  I used play this song on the piano during the Christmas season.  I think it is the key of F and I would always miss those b flats.  Essentially the song is about how Jesus is more than a precious antique to pass down through the generations.  As the song says, "time never changes the memory, the moment his loved first pierced through me, telling all the I come from, and all that I live for, and all that I am going to be.  My precious Savior is more than a heirloom to me."  Can you remember that first time that God became real to you?  I always think of that moment in my own life when I hear this song.   

I have enjoyed sharing my favorite Christmas music with you!  Merry Christmas!