ieee... long time eh?

I discovered (or realized) yesterday, that it's been an (embarrassingly) long time since I've written anything on here.

Um... sorry.

I guess my existence can be summed up in one word.

BUSY.

Busy with school, busy with friends, busy with church, busy, busy, busy.

not bad busy, though. It's been good. (except for some of the school stuff. that's not always good. but whatever. The point remains.)

I also realized that I am behind on wedding announcements, and SO, without further adieu,

Congratulations to Colleen & Barrett, who are getting married in June. And also to Jeff & Kristy, who got engaged last weekend, and are getting married in the summer. I'm super excited for all of you guys.

Life... what can I say about life? The school term is coming to a close. In fact, I had an oral final in my French class this morning. We lit the first candle of advent at church this weekend, and it made me realize that Christmas is close. Closer than I think. Next week, I will start to write finals. And then there will be a week and a half before I have to have all my Christmas shopping done.
I hope that I don't lose sight of the most important part of Christmas. That might be what I miss the most about spending the pre-Christmas season overseas. Without the pressure of Santa and the persistent advertising of malls, it's easier to remember that Christmas is Jesus.

When I taught kindergarten, we had an advent calender. But instead of counting down to Christmas (equating with Santa and presents and stuff) we counted down to Jesus' birthday. And then we had a big birthday party for him on the last day of class: complete with a big cake, and the song. Being unfamiliar with North American hype, the kids thought that Christmas was ENTIRELY about Jesus, and it was easier for me to be reminded of the same thing. (if you want, see the DEC2004 archives, because i wrote something about this when i was there)

Perhaps I need to count down to Jesus' birthday.

Anyone want cake?