Christmas is officially over, but I will continue to blare my Christmas CDs until the heat waves of next August set in & continue to praise God for sending his Son in the form a baby to save all of us from our sins.
A few weeks ago, Jake & I watched the Star of Bethlehem to get into the Christmas season. For those who have never heard of this presentation, Rick Larsen, a lawyer & professor at Texas A&M (of all places) took up an interest a few years ago in the legendary Bethlehem star from the Bible as he was decorating his yard for Christmas. He wondered if there was possibly some event that happened 2,000 years ago that could have been what the Bible was referring to. Studying the Bible’s description of the star, he came up with nine defining points that this astronomical event had to satisfy in order to be THE star. Purchasing some astronomy software, Rick began studying the sky & spent hours every night doing research. What he found, was positively astounding. Even though I had seen the presentation once, my jaw still dropped at some of the things he discovered. I believe the website provides the written version of the presentation. It is definitely worth the read.
Other great reads (& gifts) that I was given this Christmas season included Heaven is For Real. I had heard about this story of a 3-year-old little boy who underwent an emergency surgery, & throughout the next few years of his life, the story of his trip to heaven & back unfolded. Naturally, I was slightly skeptical at first, but I have to remind myself that God works in the most mysterious of ways & that things like this happened all the time in the Bible, so why couldn’t it happen today? If God chose a toddler to proclaim His glory, then so be it. I received the book for Christmas (after I picked it out at the bookstore with mom), & I was so intrigued by the story that I read it in one sitting, wishing I had a box of tissues next to me the whole time. And who says a 24-year-old is too old to receive VeggieTales movies??? I absolutely CANNOT wait to watch these two. When I opened this Glee ‘graphic novel’ I busted out laughing. It left me speechless. I haven’t ‘read’ it yet, though. 
An extremely fat Bible with a ton of study materials just waiting to be read! For those who don’t know, I read the Bible cover to cover earlier this year. (I squeezed a 3 month journey into 9 months.) I plan on starting again, this time with a lot more endnotes to read. I’m expecting this to be a year long adventure.
“If you’re going to drink soft drinks, you might as well do it cheaply,” says my mom. I didn’t know about this, but Chick-Fil-A has this super awesome thermos/mug that is 50¢ refills. It works in the drive-thru or dining room. Just hand it to them along with 50¢ & you’ve got yourself a large glass of cold beverage. If you sit in the dining room, you get free refills on it too. Apparently they don’t really advertise this sucker, that’s why I hadn’t heard about it.
What stocking is complete without a candy cane filled with candy?
I am told that a jar of this stuff lasts forever. Therefore, Jeff got me two of them. Makes sense…? I was going to try a glass tonight, but alas. No milk to be found in mi casa.
One of the more interesting gifts I’ve ever received, my brother delighted me with my very own deviled eggs dish (in the shape of an egg, of course.) I absolutely LOVE deviled eggs & my mom has learned to make them WITHOUT pickles just for me. She always announces which ones have pickles & which ones don’t, as if any one besides me & my parents eat them. (However, apparently Grandma stole a few of mine…)
In case I haven’t announced this yet, I am moving. My sister & I are going to get an apartment somewhere in Houston & we are both extremely thrilled to be living together again. We have an unusually strong friendship & I cannot express how grateful I am for it. (Plus, my closet will double in size when we move in.) During the 2 years that we lived together in college, we had MAYBE 3 arguments, & I was the source problem for two of them. Thankfully, we know how to argue, yell & scream, then forgive & forget before the day is over. THAT BEING SAID, she went out & bought me the girliest kitchen supplies she could find. She also bought the ugliest & most boring oven mitts for my brother, who is excited to no longer be living with a girl (aka me.)
Isn’t my lint roller to die for? Reminds me of Babette from Beauty & the Beast.
Finally, my hints paid off. I have been saying for the past few months that I needed some sort of jewelry carrier for when I go on trips, I unwrapped this little beauty. If the Kiel girls are known for anything, it’s Chick-Fil-A & Vera Bradley. I seriously walked into CFA one day & a girl working asked me if I was a Kiel. She recognized me by my Vera purse. For the record, I don’t collect any particular pattern. Of all things Vera that I own, I have a purse with a matching lunch box & another purse with matching lipstick pouch & coin pouch. One day I will take a photo of all my Vera.
Hm, now what shall I put in my new jewelry box? How about some simply divine pieces from Premier jewelry? (Note: it is NOT an engagement ring, nor are the pieces real pearls or diamonds. They are just the really pretty copies.) I think I shall wear these for New Years.
And a fabulous new white coat! This is so incredibly comfortable & fits so well. My sister has it in black, & when I saw it on the sale rack, I insisted to my mom that I needed it. She talked me out of it, “Really? It’s going to get makeup on it.” She won & I put it back. Only to find it gift wrapped on Christmas morning afternoon. I had even pointed out the lady in front of us in church that morning & her white coat. If only I had known what was waiting for me under the tree!
I got some other wonderful gifts such as Insanity, gift cards to some of my favorite places, & some Bath & Body Works (can NEVER have too much of that.) But what was even more fun was watching the family open the gifts that I had gotten them. I had thought long & hard for what I should get my brother. After all, his favorite girl roommate is FINALLY moving out & he can have the bachelor pad (watch out, ladies, he’s taken) he thinks he needs. I gave him my parking pass, a sponge brush to paint the lime green wall back to white (see photo above), & a empty box with a note explaining that the box was filled with his new wall decorations. My sister got him a new coffee table. (See photo below.)
I am so grateful for the friends & family that I got to spend time with & I’m even more excited that I don’t have to go back to school after all of this!
What did YOU get this season? What the favorite gift you GAVE? Leave a comment below, I’d love to know!
