fake christmas #2 December 24, 2008

on saturday night,
december 20th i had
fake christmas with
the cates
julia
and meghan

the boys were  playing on the
computer quietly, the girls were
already down for the night,
and we lounged lazily and happily
in the dimly lit living room of the
cates’ home laughing and telling
stories.

after giving nathan and henry a
frisbee/toss game, i thought to
myself, “i hope it’s not lame,
i hope it’s not lame, i hope it’s
not lame.”

for both boys’ gifts i fell victim to
the toy demonstrations at
f a o  schwartz.
if you know me,  this isn’t a suprise
to you.  i love infomercials
and demonstrations in stores.
i just get drawn in. thankfully every
demonstration and infomercial
i’ve given in to has been a good
purchase…

right, boys?
(this year’s christmas gifts)
right, dad?
(amazing beard trimmer/shaver)
right, julie?
(vitamix 5000)
right, super-tough version of julie and lisa?
(p90x…and other well used work out videos)

i have mentioned before how
much i love holly hobbie’s books.

toot and puddle

i get them for the cates’ children.
this christmas was no different.

after henry opened them he
chose to read one to us.
we were all super impressed
and entertained by his reading
skills.  he sweetly read it to us
and then showed us each picture.
that henry is precious!!!

me, julia, and meghan all got
kari jo and cory kitchen ware.
we did not shop together, but
somehow bought pieces that
all matched.

italian wine glasses (little juice glasses) from me 
pretty orange and blue dessert plates from julia
a blue gurgle pot from meghan

they overflowed with thanks.
so gracious are cory and kari jo.

they gave me a pillow that is 
perfect for my bed
and a lovely letter from cory.

we ate brownies and played
my new game until everyone
was falling asleep at the game
board.

as always it was a perfectly intimate
and sweet time with these friends
whom i love so dearly.

i will miss all my new york family
while i am gone to

O K L A H O M A

for the next two weeks.

fake christmas December 24, 2008

every year we have a fake christmas.
me, meghan, and brianne, often erica
and sean (but not this year) get together
to celebrate christmas together.

we cannot do it on christmas because
we are never all in the city.  you
know how it works…family stuff.

this year we had fake christmas
on wednesday, december 17th.

we always have a jolly time and
this year was no different.

christmas cookies

stockings stuffed to the brim
(and i mean stuffed)

presents

and fun…
games are often involved

brianne and meghan’s  apartment
is wonderfully decorated and
bursts with lovely christmas cheer.

we keep the lights low and enjoy
the glow of the tree while humming
with the christmas music playing  
in the background.

i found out this year that my
family tortured me growing
up by making me wait to open
gifts.

meghan said, “lets open presents!!”
i patiently said, “no, not yet.”
brianne agreed that presents always
come first.

then we began to compare our
family traditions.  my family spends
christmas eve with my grandparents,
and i (being an only child i did not
have power in numbers…ya know,
begging and whining to open gifts…it’s
less effective with one voice) had to
wait until after we ate dinner and did
whatever else the adults wanted to
do before opening gifts.

i will claim this as one of the reasons
why i am now such a patient adult.
(smile)

me, brianne, and meg opened
each others’ gifts.  i love giving
gifts!!!  we all did very well.
there were really good gifts all
around.  i thought that the
2009 ESPN almanac i got
brianne was going to be so lame,
but it was actually fantastic and
she LOVES it. 

i got some great DVDs from brianne
including prince caspian…i love
everything that has to do with
narnia.

and i got a beautiful wallet from
meghan as well as a fun game
we played later in the afternoon.
thanks to meg and brianne for all
the fantastic gifts!!

i just love fake christmas!!
it was a wonderful happy
afternoon.

meg and all her gifts…she scored this year!!

we each had a stocking FULL of goodies.

me, lying in the happy post present trash pile!
me, my gifts, and a plate of christmas cookies.

merry christmas adam December 23, 2008

rebekah sent me warm
christmas adam wishes this
morning in a text message.

i’d almost forgotten!

christmas adam is the day before
christmas eve.

remember?

if you don’t remember go to
christmas adam last year in
my archives.
there is an informative post
waiting for you.

there is much to tell you about.
and lots of pictures to show.

i’m a bit busy at the moment,
(my parents let the presents
pile up so i can help them
wrap.  you know i love that!!)
but plan to get writing and
blogging soon.

h a p p y    c h r i s t m a s    a d a m  
to you all!!

Let it snow…. December 19, 2008

it’s DUMPING snow!!

big
fluffy
white
flakes

oh my, it is beautiful.

i am about to put on my boots and
go for a walk/play in it.

here are some pics of my back yard.
other pics to come.

bummer…
flights are being canceled!!
mine CANNOT be!!!
i fly out sunday morning.
please pray.

lights and music December 17, 2008

a few of my favorite things at
christmas in new york are when
lights and music come together.

the columbus circle stars and music
are beautiful and entrancing.
remember these?
they are the ones that went up
early and i had to not look at them
until after thanksgiving.

the second one has some nice editing going on.

my all time favorite christmas
tradition is watching the snowflakes
on the side of saks fifth ave fall to a
pumped up version of carol of the
bells.  i’ve gone to see it twice so far.

meg took this video a couple of weeks ago.
i’m in the red coat enjoying the show.

this second video is farther away
and you can hear the music better.
thanks for finding this meg!!
(i pulled it from her bog)

oh, the joys of christmas!!

a grand way to start December 17, 2008

on december 1st we rung in the
christmas season with a trip to

radio city music hall

kari jo, nathan, henry,
caroline, me, and meghan
went to see the

r a d i o   c i t y   c h r i s t m a s   s p e c t a c u l a r

and boy, was it!!

    
this is the 12 days of christmas!                                          toy soldiers. 
i just love this number!

    
this bus number was new to me.  they get in this bus and “ride” it through the city.  the back drop
changes and it looks like the bus is moving.  it was so neat.  and the screen in the back looks so
real!

an ice skating rink comes up out of the floor.
they do lifts and jumps and everything on the
stage.  they are in central park.  isn’t the
skyline of the city in the park so beautiful?!!!

i hadn’t seen it in two years
and it was incredible.

incredibly
     cheesy
     sparkly
     colorful
     leggy
     beautiful
     grand

i would see it three times a season if
i could.  i love it so!

at the end there is a beautiful
presentation of the christmas
story with a living nativity
scene narrated by a soothing
yet powerful voice reading
the story straight from the book
of Luke. 
it’s amazing.

at the end a glorified show choir
lead the audience in
joy to the world.

i usually cry, but was dry
this evening. kari jo was not.

the rocketts…all the legs
flying in the air and tapping
on the stage,  it’s almost too
fabulous for me to handle.
did you know their feet have
microphones on them? 
they have a wire running up
the back of their tights. 

i learned this when rebekah
and i sat on the very front
row two years ago. 

and did you know that their
costume in the last number is
covered in swarovski crystals?
it’s incredible!

on our way to midtown we
had a small emergency:

we got ourselves and all
the children on the train

…and waited
…and waited
…and waited

no train.  there was a medical
emergency at a station a few
stops down.  so we and half the
other people on the train got
off to find other modes of
transportation.

i took meg, nathan and
caroline.
kj took the betsy and henry.
we raced each other to radio
city.

guess who won.
that’s right!!  we did!

kari jo didn’t hold out for a
cab and went with the bus.

i’ll just say we got there first
with enough time for caroline to
play in the fountain, cory to come
and meet us, and for nathan to
get lost in a subway station.

after a near catastrophe with the
tickets we got to our seats just in
time for the 3D sleigh ride through
new york city with santa.

yes, i said 3D!!  glasses and all!

radio city is really breathtaking.

all smiles after the show.
of course!!

christmas in new york is just magical.
you’ll hear me say that a few more times
before the season is up.

it’s SO TRUE!!

o come o come emmanuel December 15, 2008

this is my favorite christmas song.

it’s hard to get it wrong.
i love practically every version
i’ve ever heard.

right now i’m listening to shane and shane’s
version.

jami smith also has a fantastic version.

 

as does whitney houston.

i love this song because it’s such
a beautiful description of advent.
the people of israel longed desperately
for a savior. i try to put myself in
their shoes hoping and waiting and
looking…

then Jesus is born!!

REJOICE REJOICE EMMANUEL
SHALL COME TO THEE, O ISRAEL!!!

that never loses it’s power for
me.

here are the words.
(i’m just giving you my four
favorite verses)
read through them with
hope
anticipation
celebration

o come, o come, Emmanuel
and random captive Israel
that mourns in lonely exile here
until the Son of God appears
rejoice! rejoice! Emmanuel
shall come to thee, o Israel.

o come, thou Rod of Jesse, free
thine own from satan’s tyranny
from depths of hell thy people save
and give them victory o’er the grave
rejoice! rejoice! Emmanuel
shall come to thee, o Israel.

o come, though Day-Spring, come and cheer
our spirits by thine advent here
disperse the gloomy clouds of night
and death’s dark shadows put to flight.
rejoice! rejoice! Emmanuel
shall come to thee, o Israel.

o come, desire of nations, bind
in one the hearts of all mankind;
bid thou our sad divisions cease,
and be thyself our King of Peace.
rejoice! rejoice! emmanuel
shall come to thee, o Israel.

dreams coming true December 13, 2008

thank you to everyone trying so
hard to make our christmas dreams
come true by getting us (me and julie)
things from the list.

julie posted the list on her facebook
page first and a friend of hers put
this link to help us with

#8  the beatboxing skills

this video is a dream come true
for all of us who dream about
beatboxing during the last few
musicless seconds of a really
sick song.  you with the dream
know exactly what i’m talkin’ bout.

enjoy this video.

the clems are really picking up the
slack for lots of you who are unable to
get out for your christmas shopping.

tim clem (i hear ) is going to be my staff
ukulele player and jenny clem is going
to write me and julie’s memoirs herself
in L.M. Montgomery style.  thanks so
much!! 

and rebekah says she’s working hard on
the wax figure of will rogers from last
year’s list. 

keep up the good work everybody.

i appreciate it.

philly December 12, 2008

gibson and julie largent live
in/really really close to

philadelphia

i went to see them the weekend
after thanksgiving.

they are so precious.

julie was on staff at my church
in oklahoma when i was in high
school. julie was also influential
in choosing obu (GO BISON!)
so we go way back. she and gib have
been married 10 years.

happy anniversary

and happy birthday julie!!

i love thier family.

kennedy-8 yr
ellie-5 yr
grayson-2 yr

they are obedient, fun and smart
children who are delightful to
be around. and they can quote
kung fu panda with the best of ‘em.

they call me

misslisabrown

the trip is only a 90-ish minute
train ride from nyc. i talked to
julie repass for most of my ride
while a small child attempted to
blow both of our ear drums.

the trip was fun and relaxing.

here are a few highlights:

*decorating their christmas tree
with them. we had to do a slight
redistribution of the ornaments after
the kids went to bed.

sweet ellie in her princes pajamas.
*a rousing game of life with julie
and gibby after the kids went to
sleep.
*kennedy displaying her amazing
(i’m not even kidding!!!) hula hooping
skills.

*late night viewing of the very funny
brian regan
*an afternoon in downtown phili
*the L I B E R T Y   B E L L
(it was my first time) did you
know the bell was cracked during
testing shortly after it was received
in 1752?

it took me about 15 tries to get this
with no tourists throwing up peace
signs.
tourists!!!
…oh, wait….
*my first real philly cheese steak
ummmm, yeah.

i studied the sign at pat’s so i wouldn’t
make a fool out of myself when i ordered.
the guy behind the counter called me
baby or sweetie about 25 times…
okay not 25, but more than i expected
form a man working a crowded
cheese steak joint.
*going on an emergency gift-run for
a party ellie was already at.
yikes!!! we executed things quite well
and the girl squealed with excitement
upon opening her gift.
well done,
well done.
*2.6 wonderful days with nothing
but largen love!!!

grayson is potty training, so i brought
him some undies. that’s julie laughing
in the back. i heard, “grayson, do you
need to sprinkle???” about 100 times.
he did very very well!
gray is SOOOO CUTE!!
*watching the sooners spank
osu with gibson, one of the top
5 biggest ou fans i know.

side note: you want the list of the
top 5?? here it is in no particular
order.
1. stever hammontree
2. carol hammontree (mr. and mrs. mayo, carol’s parents)
3. julie repass
4. gibson largent
5. dan morgan

honorable mention-popi, my grandfather

(if you want to make the list too just
send me an essay of 500 words or less
arguing why you believe yourself to
be the biggest ou fan alive.
note: non-ou fans, i’ll just call you poopers,
please do not respond.
sincerely, the management)

so, back to the largents.
gibson is on staff at a growing
church plant. i got to attend
church with them sunday morning ,
have a yummy mexican lunch,
and make it back to the city on time
for the 5pm service at redeemer.

“oh, what a beautiful morning!
oh, what a beautiful day!
i have a beautiful feeling,
everything’s goin’ my way.”

mutant lemon December 12, 2008

have you ever seen one of these?

i haven’t.

when i saw it in fairway this evening
my skin got all crawly for just a
moment. it looks a little scary,
doesn’t it?

like it should be gobbled up by
big giant beasts who turn into
scary things at night.

or like it should transform into
a tiny monster with very
poisonous venom.

it’s called a fingered citron.
i’m not sure how you eat it
or what it tastes like, and i
will never know because it
costs $8.99

way to be brave and bold
fairway, i’m sure the new
trader joe’s won’t be selling
“fruit” like this.

christmas list 2008 December 10, 2008

it’s back!!

julie and lisa’s christmas list

remember last year’s?
well if you don’t go to this
link for a refresher.  you should
go back and have a look.  it’s a
pretty strong list.  and you might
pick up on a couple of themes.

we’d love to have anything on that
list as well. we didn’t get a thing
from it! not a thing!

here is 2008’s list:

1. a Teleport Machine
(this is most important, the rest are in no particular order)
2. a Ski Lodge
3. our own clothing line
4. a tamed pet lion (rideable and not prone to eating people)
5. 365 pairs of sweat capris (one for every day of the year – we’ll rewear on leap day)
6. a soft serve ice cream machine that is operated by “the clapper”
7. the Cosby Show – performed live by the Cosby cast
8. beat boxing lessons
9. a life-size pinata of Beyonce
10. shrub sculptures of us on the lawn of the Oklahoma state capital
11. a personal home concert by Chicago
12. our memoirs written by Francine Rivers
13. an underground swimming pool filled with Guava Rockstar
14. a set of workout videos by Jeff Repass in conjunction with Kirk Franklin
15. a lighthouse for our respective backyards
16. a Cheeto Factory
17. a staff ukulele player/choreographer

Also, we’re still interested in getting the
doppler 5000
which was on last year’s list
(it might be on clearance now)

thanksgiving part 2 December 9, 2008

so i left brianne’s apartment
and headed for kari jo and
cory’s place, thankfully just
five short blocks away.

(we’re talking thanksgiving afternoon.
are you with me?)

there i found kari jo, cory, the kids
and the table beautifully dressed and
ready for a flood of friends.

jacob, cory’s younger brother was
in town. he’s a senior at the naval
academy. we drilled him with
questions at lunch.

the friends in attendance were as follows:

justin and annita (justin went to obu… GO BISON!)
paula, ryan, and baby lucy (upstairs neighbors of the cates)
nick and sarah (in our fellowship group)
nicky (paula’s sister)
the cates family + jacob
wei wei (a colleague of cory’s)

i might have overdosed on eggnog.
i really really like eggnog…a lot!!

as we sat down to eat
kari jo handed us a silver polka dotted
sheet of paper.

printed at the top was…

psalm 138:1-3,8

“i will praise you, O Lord, with all my heart;
before the gods, i will sing your praise.
i will bow down toward your holy temple
and will praise your name
for your love and your faithfulness,
for you have exalted above all things
your name and your word.
when i called, you answered me,
you made me bold and stouthearted.
the Lord will fulfill his purposes for me;
your love, O Lord, endures forever-
do not abandon the works of your hands.”

cory read this aloud, then we read the
prayer on the sheet aloud together and
sang a sweet hymn.

it was a lovely and appropriate way to
begin a meal and holiday set aside
for giving thanks.

the meal was wonderful. my favorite
new dish was justin’s garlic spinach.
it was the tastiest spinach i’ve ever put
in my mouth. all the food was delicious!!
shhhh…..
don’t tell, but cory made a good deal of
the food provided by the cates household.
i heard they brined the turkey in the kids’
toy bucket. don’t tell that either.

over pie we all shared what we are
thankful for. it was a tender and sincere
time with these friends. when friends
get to share the overflow of their
hearts in gratitude it is always sweet.

from here i made an exit back to
thanksgiving #1

thank you kari jo and cory for always
inviting me into your family.

here the men are in control of everything                 kari jo, nicky, and paula…. soooo pretty!
in the kitchen.                                                                         i could listen to them talk all day!!!

betsy with quigly,         ryan and baby lucy            justin stealing a smooch       the kid’s table
nick and sarah’s                                                                 from his loving wife
fluffy white pooch.

Majestic December 5, 2008

i’m standing at the bus stop
on 86th and madison ave.

my shift at ashley’s just ended.

i looked to the right and saw a
beautiful glowing color on a sliver
of a building.

when I looked left to catch a
glimpse of the source of the
glow…

B
R
E
A
T
H
L
E
S
S

it was the rising sun!!
firey, hot-orange, and
m a j e s t i c

after i snapped these pics it was
gone, still glowing, but ever fading.
that which is majestic, splendid…
beautiful never lingers in front of
our eye long enough, does it?
there is often a short burst of heavenly
beauty before us,  then it is gone,
leaving us with a tinge of pain at the
loss.

look at these pictures and try
to imagine.

for a moment,
just a moment,
sit breathless with me.

“…my soul makes it boast in the Lord…”

p.s. i wrote and posted this from my
iphone. 
whose your daddy, now?!
morpheus, my iphone, that’s who!!
all of you thinking of getting an
iphone, just do it. 
really.

thanksgiving part 1 December 4, 2008

i know this is a week late,
but it’s better late than never.

right?

thanksgiving fun started for me
the wednesday before.

i spent it with brianne and associates:

*brianne
*maren-sister
*jeff-brother in law
*john-college friend
*zak-friend since jr. high, used to live
in their loft here in nyc.

the night before thanksgiving all the
balloons for the Macy’s parade are
filled near the museum of natural history
and people can watch.

ezra’s family (the pt that brianne and i
do home care for) lives on the seventh
floor above the street where the balloons
were prepared for the parade.

so we flashed our invitation for the fuzz
guarding the street and we were allowed
in. 

we saw rondald mcdonald, hello kitty,
dora, and lots of other balloons.

ezra had families of his classmates over
and other friends and family members.
i’m pretty sure i ate my weight in hummus.

after the party we circled to block to see
shrek, kermit the frog, and sponge bob
balloons, as well as several others.

 

 

 

 oh! on the way around the block
we saw cathrine zeta jones.
brianne LOVES her…who doesn’t.
here’s the picture.
do you see her under the black hat
with the buckle?  she is so beautiful!

we went home for food and games
and a thanksgiving slumber party.

i mean, without the girly movie and
nail polish, of course.  
but we did have:

food
pictionary
wii

that’s enough for hours of fun.

 

the apron that maren is wearing in these
pictures was crafted sometime last year
when i was in hawaii. there is some sort o
f straw creation taped to it so that the
person wearing the apron and put a
drink in the front pocket and sip on it
as he/she cooks.
warning: this should only be attempted
when standing.  only standing!!  no sitting!!
do you hear me?! no sitting.

doesn’t zak look a little scared of jeff’s
gummy snake. jeff had a big bag of
assorted gummy candy that he chewed
on throughout the holiday.

jeff+gummy candy=happiness

side story: they put me and jeff on the
same team for pictionary. initially i
thought it was because jeff was so
good ( that’s what jeff told me)
and i need a balance because
i am so bad. well that was a lie!! 
jeff is just as bad, maybe worse,
than i am!!  so to defy the odds
brianne joined our team and we
C R U S H E D  
them to pieces!!
ha! ha!

next morning (and by morning i
mean noon) we got up and watch
a portion of the parade.

then i left for thanksgiving part 2
(which you will read about in the
next post.)

i returned to brianne’s later and had
my second thanksgiving meal.

everything that should be made for
a thanksgiving meal was there.
turkey
stuffing
gravy (2 kinds!)
green bean casserole
sweet potatoes
mashed potatoes
cranberry relish
and it was all delicious!
soon we were all in our pjs.
(the half of us that weren’t already
in our jammies when i returned)
and we watch home alone (a genow
family tradition) while devouring
our delicious homemade meal.

we later played another game and
watched football.  it was fantastic!!!

i missed my dad’s fried turkey
and my mom’s rolls, but was so
very thankful for the two thanksgiving
celebrations i was privileged to attend.