Come Let Us Adore Him - Merry Christmas!

"For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord"

Luke 2:11

"For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, the mighty God, the everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace"

Isaiah 9:6

Christmas Eve, Chinese Curse, NyQuil Texts, Hay Truck, 500th Post

THIS IS MY 500TH POST!

Can you believe it?

Don't answer that. 

I can't even believe it's Christmas.  Work has literally sucked my life away. 

A couple weeks ago we had a free gift with purchase going on at my counter.  I had a Chinese woman come up to me and try to convince me that if she bought 2 things she deserved 3 gifts.  I went to 1st grade so I know that's not how things work.  Before she left she angrily said something to me in Chinese and then left.  I have since had the worst luck ever.  Now I'm no Chinese expert but I'm pretty convinced she cursed me.  

Some proof:

Saturday: Day of said curse- I work 2 hours over my shift after only having 1 1/2 hours of sleep and then proceed to have the strangest text conversation in my life that then lead to completely changing a friendship (not for the better).

Thursday: I don't get to close with my best friends

Saturday next: Find out some terrible information.  Terrible.  

Sunday: Colts, Peyton Manning, Interceptions, Sadness

My worst week of sales I've had in a long time.

Check my schedule for New Years Eve.  The store closes at 7pm.  I'm scheduled until 9:15.  Really?  Really!?

Sick with the flu the week before Christmas.  Really?  Really!?

Yep so there's that.  

My addiction to NyQuil has been back in full force and so has my need to send text messages.  Some examples.

To my friend Kathryn:

Me: Oh it's fine.  I just nurse complaubing as much as I CA.

Kathryn: Taken anything?

Me: Twag

Later....

Me: Or you know whatever....I hope your phone I'd on soleby so this doesn't bother you

Me again: Ok well one eye only stays ion so I girss ill just Talbot to you laater.  I live you!

To my friend Jenna:

Me: In siryh I an bot wirhyvd tonfight

Jenna: Whaaa?

Me: I went home early.  I've goes a fever.

Jenna: Ahh man you poor thing get some rest

Me: I will I Judy took nywyil.

To my friend Jack:

Me: Ah yes!  I want that so bad!  O could watch it NT feverish haze.

Me again: Sorry...that's didn't even make sense.

A&E......we have an intervention for you.

Also my friend Kathryn has this awesome truck that is so bad in snowy weather that they have to put hay in the bed to weigh it down.  We got ourselves quite the snowstorm on Monday.  I got to ride home in the hay truck.  We fishtailed.  I saw my life flash before my eyes.  It was awesome.  

Moving right along to preparing for Christmas!  I did some baking again this year. 

I don't know if you remember last year when I single handedly almost ruined Christmas.  Numerous times. 

We had no fatalities in the cookie department, no ruining of the Nativity, no house almost on fire (probably because I have a job this year so it kept me out of the house a lot.  The house is very grateful).  I did make some delicious treats and got to play in the snow with my dog.

Oh I almost forgot to tell you!

I was Mary in the Christmas program at church on Sunday.  It was pretty awesome.  

Whew.  The flu really took away from my posting time so I'm sorry this blog post is so long.  But it is my 500th!  Thanks for sticking around and maybe reading it?  I don't even know if there are any readers.  But whatever.  I'll post 500 more I'm sure.  

And if you don't like it...blame the Chinese curse.

MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!

Note to self

I should have gotten a flu shot.  Was in bed all day Monday and was sent home early from work Tuesday because of a delirium inducing fever.  Here's hoping that soup, NyQuil, my computer, and a movie marathon (consisting of Harry and the Hendersons, The Labyrinth, Sixteen Candles, and of course Breakfast At Tiffany's) will be the cure.
I do not want to be sick on Christmas.

*stay tuned for yet another post on why my phone privileges should be taken away from me when I've taken NyQuil.  It's a cautionary tale.

love....

‘And in the end, the love you get is equal to the love you give.’

‘And in the end, the love you take is equal to the love you make.’

Either way it works John, misquoted or true to form. Thank you, Sir. Paul McCartney.

The holidays can be bittersweet. But the love that you give, will be the love that you get.

Act Normal

So I was having this conversation with my other half Jen. I was venting and I was really frustrated about things going on in my life. I didn't know what to do. I kept going back and forth and over-analyzing. And as I'm explaining this whole thing to Jenny she uttered the single most amazing and best advice I've ever been given.

"Just act normal"

Oh of course. Normal. Honestly. Best advice ever and can be applied to pretty much any conflict or problem you're having. Act normal. Be yourself. Go with the flow. I just wish I had been given this advice earlier.

So thank you Jen.
We were still the coolest ones there.

Dear Jay Cutler (with a note to Tom Brady)

This a portion of the blog I like to call "Dear Jay Cutler" where I will write a letter to the most whiny quarterback in the NFL...Jay Cutler.

Dear Jay Cutler,

I might actually dislike you more than Tom Brady. Yeah. I said it.



Sincerely,
Vanessa

Dear Tom Brady,

Don't get all cocky with this information. You still create in me the inexplicable urge to dry heave.



Sincerely,
Vanessa

New Challenge Day 29

Day 29- Something you could never get tired of doing

It would be a toss up between listening to music and

laughing.




I love to laugh. It's the greatest thing ever.

Unsaid

Real life is a funny thing, you know. In real life, saying the right thing at the right moment is beyond crucial. So crucial, in fact, that most of us start to hesitate, for fear of saying the wrong thing at the wrong time. And so I don't say anything.
And I am left to wonder what if? What if? No two words put together can haunt someone as much as those.

If they were to die tomorrow, wouldn't I have wanted them to know how I feel. I just wish it was still socially acceptable to just be honest and open with our feelings. Life would be so much easier.

(I know this post seems super random but....it's not.)

And thank you to The Fray for providing the perfect song for this feeling-

Happy Monday!

Bubble Girl

A reminder that only you can destroy your dreams.

You're welcome.

New Challenge Day 28

Day 28 - Your Favorite Movie

 No other movie in the world speaks to me more than "Breakfast At Tiffanys"

i'm not sure why. maybe it's the lead character Holly Golightly's (played by the amazing Audrey Hepburn) eccentric personality.


maybe it's Paul Varjak's (played by George Peppard) cynicism.



maybe its the way neither of them believe in love.



maybe it's the way they find it anyway.


 I really identify with the characters and I've always wanted to be exactly like Audrey Hepburn (as if you didn't already know that).

plus i feel the same way as Holly about Tiffanys.

It's filled with so many classic lines...

"I've got to do something about the way I look. I mean a girl just can't go to Sing Sing with a green face."

"The mean reds are horrible. Suddenly you're afraid and you don't know what you're afraid of. Do you ever get that feeling? Well, when I get it the only thing that does any good is to jump in a cab and go to Tiffany's. Calms me down right away. The quietness and the proud look of it; nothing very bad could happen to you there. If I could find a real-life place that'd make me feel like Tiffany's, then - then I'd buy some furniture and give the cat a name"

"You could always tell what kind of a person a man thinks you are by the earrings he gives you."

"You musn't give your heart to a wild thing. The more you do, the stronger they get, until they're strong enough to run into the woods or fly into a tree. And then to a higher tree and then to the sky."

"Certain shades of limelight will ruin a girls complexion"

I just absolutely am madly in love with this movie. It's a love story but a love story I can identify with. It's beautiful, sad, funny, magical.

please if you haven't seen this movie. do. immediately. you won't regret it.

(and if you're a regular blog reader...yes I did indeed copy and paste this old entry... )

100 Songs to Save Your Life

I was reading my cousin's blog and she had an entry about songs you listen to for different moods and things like that and so I thought, hey...I really like music. So I decided to share some of mine.  I have a playlist titled "100 songs to save your life".  These are the songs I listen to the most and mean the most to me.  Here are some of the ones that I could listen to no matter what mood I'm in.

ABBA - S.O.S
Kate Nash - Foundations
The Fray- Look After You
Guns 'N Roses - Sweet Child 'O Mine
Three Days Grace - Let It Die
Owl City - If My Heart Was a House
Jose Gonzalez - Heartbeats
The Killers - A Dustland Fairytale
Jewel - Foolish Games
Britney Spears - Toxic
Whitesnake - Here I Go Again
Fleetwood Mac- Bleed to Love Her
The Fray - How To Save a Life
Pat Benatar - We Belong
Deana Carter- Strawberry Wine
The S.O.S Band - Take Your Time (Do It Right)
Backstreet Boys - Show Me The Meaning of Being Lonely
Heart- Alone
Keane - Somewhere Only We Know
Jackson 5 - I Want You Back
Acceptance - So Contagious
OneRepublic & Sara Bareilles - Come Home
John Mayer- Half Of My Heart
Michael Jackson- Give In To Me
Jeff Buckley- Hallelujah
Kings of Leon- Use Somebody
Eagles- Hotel California
Chris Brown - Forever
Snow Patrol - Run
Joni Mitchell - A Case of You
Justin Timberlake - Losing My Way
Strays Don't Sleep- For Blue Skies
Salt N Pepa - Shoop
Otis Redding - Sittin On the Dock Of The Bay
Florence + The Machine - Dog Days Are Over
Sublime - Santeria
Dashboard Confessional - The Places You Have Come to Fear the Most
Patty Griffin- Forgiveness
Sara McLachlan - Building a Mystery
The Cure - To Wish Impossible Things
Paolo Nutini - Last Request
The Beatles - Blackbird
Journey - Don't Stop Believin
Hellogoodbye - Here In Your Arms
Charlie Daniels Band- The Devil Went Down to Georgia
Damien Rice - 9 Crimes
50 Cent - What Up Gangsta
Marjorie Fair - Empty Room
Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeroes- Home
Better Than Ezra - Breathless
Big & Rich - Holy Water
Feist - Mushaboom
Hannah Montana - If We Were a Movie
The Wreckers - Stand Still Look Pretty
'NSync- I Want You Back
T.I. - Dead and Gone
The Verve - Bittersweet Sympony
Elton John - Tiny Dancer
Tracy Chapman - Fast Car
Nada Surf - Always Love
Concrete Blonde - Joey
Adele - Melt My Heart to Stone
Jimmy Eat World - Disintegration
Mother Love Bone - Chloe Dancer/Crown of Thorns
Tori Amos - Silent All These Years
Cake - Love You Madly
Eagles - Desperado
Tommy James & The Shondells - Crimson and Clover
La Rocca - Non-Believer
Starship - Nothings Gonna Stop Us Now
Third Eye Blind - Forget Myself
Johnny Cash - Hurt
Led Zeppelin - Babe I'm Gonna Leave you
Bob Marley - Is This Love
Band of Horses - No One's Gonna Love You
The Kooks - Naive
George Michael - Father Figure
Bob Marley & Lauryn Hill - Turn Your Lights Down Low
The Replacements - Here Comes A Regular
Eric Clapton - Tears In Heaven
Miley Cyrus - See You Again
Coldplay - Fix You
Nina Simone - Feeling Good
The Weepies - World Spins Madly On
Dixie Chicks - Easy Silence
Jimmy Eat World - Hear You Me
John Mayer - Slow Dancing In a Burning Room
Sugarcult - Pretty Girl
Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers - Mary Jane's Last Dance
The Kinks - Lola
Roberta Flack - The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face
Tyler Hilton - You'll Ask For Me
Matt Morris - Bloodline
Paramore - The Only Exception
Josh Groban - Awake
Ray LaMontagne - Empty
Sugarland - We Run
Shawn Mullins - Lullabye
Soft Cell - Tainted Love
Braid Paisley feat. Allison Krause - Whiskey Lullaby
Scissor Sisters - I Don't Feel Like Dancing
OMC - How Bizarre
Cat Power - I've Been Loving You Too Long
Justin Bieber - One Time
Depeche Mode - Personal Jesus
Michael Buble - At This Moment
James Morrison - Love Is Hard
Ingrid Michaelson - Be Ok
The Verve Pipe - Freshmen
Bon Jovi - You Give Love a Bad Name
Tori Amos - A Sorta Fairytale
David Bowie - Golden Years
Kanye West - Jesus Walks
The Eurythmics - Sweet Dreams
Placebo - Post Blue
Feeder - Feeling a Moment
8mm - Forever and Ever Amen

That was like...the ultimate play list.  Sorry for the length.  Listen to one a day.  They are awesome!

New Challenge Day 25-27

Day 25- What's in your purse?

Just the usual I guess. My new Guess wallet that I purchased the other night (originally $38, I got it for $15), my antibacterial hand gel (Twisted Peppermint from Bath and Body Works), my phone, the best lip gloss in the entire world- Lancome's La Laque Fever in Pink Dimension, some random receipts, gum, and a pen.


Day 26- A photo of somewhere you've been to

Nashville Tennessee

My favorite place on earth...

Day 27- A picture of you last year and now and how have you changed since then?
Then

Almost exactly a year ago. I don't know how I've changed. I would say I had changed more in the year before than I have in the last year.

Now

I guess in the last year I've learned to not put up with so much. When people mistreat or use me I'm way more apt to just cut it out and let it go rather than take it and feel bad about myself. Life is too short to have people who drag you down.

Just lovely.

New Challenge Day 24

Day 24- A picture of something that means a lot to you

He is my world.

New Challenge Day 23

Day 23- 15 Facts About You

1. Clowns are my absolute biggest and worst fear.
2. I'm obsessed with photography.  I want desperately to take a photography class.
3. I bite my nails and my inner lip.  It's more out of habit than anything else.  But I bite my inner lip when I'm nervous or thinking.
4. I tie my shoelaces differently than anyone I've ever met
5. I was absolutely convinced that I would marry Zack Morris.  He was my first love.

6. I cry every single time I hear the song "Tears In Heaven" by Eric Clapton
7. I like to read up on weird medical problems and conditions.  So if someone complaints of some ailment I will probably spout off 15 things that could be wrong with them.

8. I've always wanted to be Audrey Hepburn.  I adore everything about her.
(and we all know Breakfast At Tiffany's is my absolute favorite movie of all time)

9. I can't whistle
10. I like cold things better than hot things.  Cake, cookies, pop-tarts, etc....they have to be cold rather than hot or warm.  I don't like soup or hot chocolate.  Everything needs to be cold.
11. I love to read.  I love to read anything and everything.  And I always read the last page of a book to decide if I really do want to read it or not.
12. I know pretty much every song ever...and most of the lyrics.  I just retain it and I seriously listen to everything
13.  I'm horrible at crafts or artsy things.  I like to think I'm good at it and then I open my scrapbook or try to hem pajama pants and am faced with the horrible reality that I will just never be that girl. 
14. I like kids better than anyone else on the planet.  They are smarter than adults and usually funnier than adults too.  They hang on every word you say and they are so sweet and pure.  I love kids.
15. I have very vivid dreams and I always remember what I've dreamt about.  I still remember some from like 8th grade....(I guess I should add that I also have an impeccable memory)

New Challenge Day 22

Day 22- A letter to someone who has hurt you recently

I just don't have the right words so I will borrow them from Taylor Swift.  The feelings are the same and they are the words I would say if given the chance. (the name would however be changed from John to...someone else.)

Long were the nights when my days once revolved around you
Counting my footsteps praying the floor won't fall through again
You paint me a blue sky and go back and turn it to rain
And I lived in your chess game
But you changed the rules everyday
Wondering which version of you I might get on the phone tonight
Well I stopped picking up and this song is to let you know why

Dear John, I see it all now that you're gone
Don't you think I was too young to be messed with
The girl in the dress cried the whole way home
I should've known

Well maybe it's me and my blind optimism to blame
Or maybe it's you and your sick need to give love then take it away
And you'll add my name to your long list of traitors who don't understand
And I'll look back and regret how I ignored when they said
Run as fast as you can

You are an expert at sorry
And keeping lines blurry
Never impressed by me acing your tests
All the girls that you've run dry
Have tired, lifeless eyes
Cause you burned them out
But I took your matches before fire could catch me
So don't look now
I'm shining like fireworks
Over your sad empty town

Dear John, I see it all now that you're gone
Don't you think I was too young to be messed with
The girl in the dress cried the whole way home
I see it all now that you're gone
Don't you think I was too young to be messed with
The girl in the dress wrote you a song
You should've known

Dear John: Taylor Swift

New Challenge Day 17-21

And......back to the challenge.  To be honest I was waiting for us to get our family pictures because Day 17 just happened to be......

A photo of you and your family

I adore my family.  They are funny and smart.  They give (mostly) great advice.  They listen to me and laugh at my stupid jokes.  They make me happy.

Day 18- Something you crave a lot

 Fresh Mozzarella cheese....I love.  

Day 19- Another picture of yourself

This is what I do with a lot of my free time.  And I have....a lot of free time.  When I'm not writing letters to Tom Brady.

Day 20 - The meaning behind your blog name

Umm...well I was trying to come up with something and then I happened to hear the song (Absolutely) Story of a Girl by Nine Days and I was like....well....my blog is a story of a girl.  And voila!

Day 21- A photo of something that makes you happy

Yes I work there.  Yes that man on that ladder is my boyfriend.  But it's not work necessarily that makes me happy.  It's the people I work with.  I have met my best friends at work.  I just adore them and couldn't ask for better people to call friends.  Especially my 3 bestest best friends.  I just love them!

Top Model (s)

One day we went and took family pictures.  These are the result.

 (no one has ever looked this handsome casually leaning against a wall)

We are currently being chased by paparazzi and signing multiple autographs a day.  It's so tough being professionally good-looking.

Question of the Day

I posed this question today on Facebook -

What is the one CD that you could listen to beginning to end straight through over and over?  

I got so many different answers and surprisingly no repeats...isn't it funny how different music speaks to people?  No one asked me what mine was so I thought I would post it here

Patty Griffin - Living With Ghosts

From the very first day I listened to this album....I was smitten.  I fell completely and hopelessly in love.  It is flawless and no matter what mood I'm in....I could listen to this album.  The lyrics and Patty's voice just...do something to me.
You should check it out.  I guess the odds of the same album speaking the same way to 2 different people aren't very high.  I love that about music.  The way that it affects us all as human beings.  It's so incredible.

25 Christmas Challenges

Went and checked out one of my favorite blogs and she had posted a 25 day leading up to Christmas challenge.  I loved it and thought I would share it with you all as well

25 christmas challenges...

• go out of your way-- befriend someone today that needs a friend and follow through to christmas
• tell someone you love them
• make a tree decoration that will remind you of Christ
• in your prayers today, give thanks for every blessing without asking for anything
• try to be as kind as possible to others today
• try not to quarrel with family members today
• do a good deed anonymously
• make goals for yourself-- seal a copy in an envelope to be opened in a year
• visit someone sick or lonely or sad
• do volunteer work for some worthy cause
• do something fun for a child or younger sibling
• try to forgive someone who has wronged you, be reconciled
• make a "give list" instead of a list of gifts you'd like
• improve yourself in some way to please the Savior
  
• quietly reflect and choose uplifting activities vs shopping
• phone or send a card to an old friend or family member
• listen to Handel's Messiah
• make a christmas treat for someone else
• be a calming influence today and control your temper
• accept the gift of forgiveness-- pray for some weakness and ask for help in repenting of it
• look at christmas lights... where does all light come from?
• sing carols
• do something nice for someone without their knowing it was you
• be the first to say hello to people all day
• ask someone to tell you about a past christmas

Good luck!