Batyah

Showing posts with label Christmas. Show all posts

Advent: December 5th

Before Christ’s birth, the angel Gabriel visited Mary.

“And in the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent from God unto a city of Galilee, named Nazareth, To a virgin espoused to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David; and the virgin’s name was Mary. And the angel came in unto her, and said, Hail, thou that art highly favoured, the Lord is with thee: blessed art thou among women...For thou hast found favour with God. And, behold, thou shalt conceive in thy womb, and bring forth a son, and shalt call his name Jesus.” (Luke 1:26–28, 30–31)

Dutch Dreams of a White Christmas

I was alerted to an absolute black hole of time - the national photographic archives of the Netherlands. I am in love. But also, incapable of ripping myself away from my computer. I searched for "sneeuw" (snow)...and here are my favorites of the 238 pages of pictures that popped up.

So beautiful, no?

Oh, and, by the way, I'm dreaming of a white (and gloriously black and white) Christmas.

The Downward Slope into the Holidays

You guys. I just finished drinking a cup of hot cocoa.

It.

Was.

Amazing.

I was talking with Mad this morning and all the sudden I realized that it's November. NOVEMBER! Doesn't that make it officially winter?! (Okay, with all these leaves on the trees, it's a little more like flinter or wintumn or something, but still... WINTER is involved.)

That being said, as I was talking with my mom tonight on the phone, little flurries started falling from the sky and I just felt the perfection of this world, of our God's creation. I just had to smile. (My mom on the other hand - who lives in Upstate New York - said, "Uh huh. You like it now, but you just wait until all you have seen in four months is white, white, white." To which I wanted to reply, but didn't, "Oh, mom, all I see in Utah every day is white, white, super white.")

With all this wintumn glory around me, I have started to scheme in my head:

Mason jars with candles hung all over the tree out front.

Fires in the fireplace as often as humanly possible (which will mean that I have to figure out how to start a fire without going through 2 whole boxes of matches and 6 newspapers).

Advent calendar, anyone?

Holiday decorations.

Baking.

Anyone else totally overjoyed with the change of season? (If not, please don't burst my joyful little bubble!) Want to scheme with me, my darlings?

Snow.

Over the past few days, I have seen all of my east coast friend's Facebook statuses change to "SNOW!" or "Snowmaggedon, Part 2!" or "The first flurries are falling!"

It has made me really excited. (Mainly because I'm coming to DC and fully expect to inundate myself with the Christmas spirit whilst there.)

We have had some snow here in the 'Tah. Not much, but sufficient to make me feel like an elf at the North Pole. Unfortunately (but, also fortunately), it hasn't been snowy here for a couple of weeks. In fact, it's probably in the upper 50's as I now write.

That being said, I have some photo documentation of our awesome snowiness that I thought I would share:

See the snowflakes?! Falling?! From the sky?!

Okay, so it's more...icy...grass. But still...pretty, non?

This is what makes me love Utah.

All the Who's in Whoville...

So the Maharajess and I decided to throw a soiree. But not just any soiree. A Parisian Christmas-themed soiree. (Oddly specific, non?)

So we decorated the house. It is a Christmas wonderland. I'm particularly proud at how warm and fuzzy it makes me feel. Here's some evidence:

A Cautionary Tale, or, How I Fell in Love with Pedaling

So, last summer I went to the Outer Banks with Fedge. We had a great time. Ate waaaaay too much food. Took naps on the beach (that's how I got that sunburn on the back of my knees). Took a bike ride to see some (lackluster) wild ponies.

Prior to said bike ride, I hadn't been on a bike in, literally, 5 or 6 years. And I didn't really like it. Too many hills. So, after Fedge and I sat in line in a car for an hour and a half and were told that it would be 4 more to get onto the ferry, we went back to the beach house and came up with a new plan. We would ferry over, ride our bikes the 6 miles to the pasture, then 6 miles back. Sounded wonderful to Fedge. She was giddy at the thought. I, however, was none too pleased.

This was some serious commitment to see some wild ponies.

As a swung my leg over the bike and started pedaling, Fedge warned me of the upcoming disaster. "You just wait," she said, "you are going to fall in love with riding bikes." Hmm...Right.

The ride actually turned out to be super fun, despite the fact that there were ridiculously strong headwinds on the way out there and by the time we got back, I was caked with an inch of sunblock all over my body because I was paranoid I was going to get a sunburn.

And now, all I have to say is: She was right. I fell in love. I've been out here in Provo–where everyone and their dog rides a bike–lusting over a bike of my very own to ride around town. To feel the breeze in my hair.

That being said, everyone, I would like you to meet Victor:

Not only is he a bike, he is a metallic mint green cruiser with a brown leather vintage stitched seat and pedal brakes. I am in l.o.v.e. with this bike. He's got so much gumption.

On the day I picked Victor up, close to a foot of snow fell, much of which is still on the ground. So, Victor has been garage bound as yet. (I have to admit that I rode him around the garage a few times, which was difficult to do, because my garage is the size of a sardine can.) Nonetheless, I'm having visions of throwing on some plaid, lacing up my oxfords and riding down to the park as soon as the weather allows.

(BIG thanks to my über awesome sister, for gifting Victor to me for Christmas!)

Best. Present. Ever.