Whew!

I've survived Christmas! It was a close one this year-and I'm glad to have a couple of quiet days to regroup. For some reason it was harder to work on during the Holiday-probably because Micaela is old enough to be excited about it and I didn't want to miss fun activities like cookie decorating....oh, well!

So, I'm really sad to not be seeing any of you this Holiday season and I've been thinking about some alternative ideas....let me know what you think about this thoughts:

1. We get a couple of extended stay rooms in the Twin Cities for a weekend in Feb-March. Its easy to have kids there and more room than your average hotel room. My Dad and I did this for an Oct. wedding and it was affordable and really nice (full kitchen, pool). I bet with advance planning we could find a weekend that would work!

2. Do Bible camps rent out cabins/rooms during the winter? Would Luther Crest or GLBC (?) have some options for us? Maybe alumns could pull some strings?

3. You all trek up to EGF to stay at the Damico family resort :)

Lindsey and I are traveling to WI in a couple weeks to see Mandy :) maybe that could be a 4th option for anyone that wants to join us (if that's okay with Mandy....guess I shouldn't invite a party to someone else's house....he he he)

Well, I'm going to knit and watch a movie tonight---another hot Friday night! :) Love you all!

Elizabeth

Merry Christmas!

Hi everyone....
Well, we were going to get together on Saturday night/ Sunday morning. However, that is probably not going to work for people. So, maybe we should just call it off for now and wait until all people can get together.
What do you think?
Elizabeth has to work on Sunday and I haven't heard from Mandy yet.
Let me know.
Love,
Breanna

I would be available any of those days. Christmas with the Becthold family has been scheduled for the 23rd, which is when we will be in Walker, so that weekend is free. I also got a Christmas card from my grandma that says "Have your friends decided if they are meeting here? Fine with me :)"
How cute is she. I would like to see her anyway since we are not going to be able to make it to Osakis for Christmas this year :(.
Or, anyplace would work for me. Just let me know so I check on availability of Grandma's house, etc. I would love to see you all.
Happy almost Christmas!

I swear that deep down I am a Grinch

Hello all -

Christmas/Hanukkah/Kwanzaa (or whatever might be your taste) Greetings to ALL! I was just chatting with Seth about the last weekend in December (we unfortunately/fortunately have family Xmas' stuff going on until then), and we determined that we are probably going to be around the Twin Cities area for that weekend! If anyone else is around/available, I have a family Christmas in Fairmont on Saturday the 29th, but would be available Sunday to get together for at least a little while somewhere around Minneapolis driving distance. Unfortunately (and I really mean UNFORTUNATELY) other than that I am completely unavailable for the next few weeks/weekends due to both family things and WORK. Yay for Corporate America once again. (I just had this conversation with Scanders earlier this evening!) This is by far our busiest time of the year, so even THINKING about asking for time off would be rather ridiculous. The thing is, sometimes I just think that seriously, honestly, from the bottom of my HEART, deep down I am truly a Grinch. Well, maybe not a GRINCH, but I am not a big Christmas person. I just get tired of the whole "I deserve this! I want THIS!" or the pressure to buy certain gifts for people (namely me!). I just think the whole concept is rather ridiculous. I would rather that people spend their money on things that are FAR more important than me, especially those people who are spending too much money around this time of year anyway. It's just not really my thing. Ok, I am done venting about how I truly feel about Christmas...I hope I haven't been too much of a Debbie-Downer for the evening.
Let me know what y'all think about the last weekend in December (which other people have mentioned as well! :)) and we'll try and get something planned!!

Love and hugs,
Sarah

I saw this on a man's shirt

Chess:

Proof that one woman can do

more damage than 13 men...

and two horses

Maybe you should stay home

Yikes. Maybe you should stay home for awhile, Sarah. Sounds like a bummer of a day! :) I think things will get better.
Being around after the 27th will be tough for me. Possible, but tough. David and I are planning on driving back to WI on New Year's Eve morning so we have one full day of "recovery" at home before we have to go back to work on the 2nd. The 28th, 29th, and 30th could work, but I will be in Iowa with that part of my family for the weekend. I could leave them to come and see you, and I might even get the "go ahead, you deserve it!" card, so if that works out, I'm there. :) Anything after that will not work for me, though.
Does this help? As for Breanna's suggestion about a weekend later, we could try that, too, although I'm POSITIVE I'll have to bring Julia with because David has a recital and series of concerts coming up for the next two months, and I KNOW that getting away just to pee will be a challenge. :) Fun times.
There's my two cents!

Love you lovely ladies!!
Fa la la la la la la la la.

Mandola

A 2nd option

Hello friends,

Yikes-stress, sadness and car troubles...we really need to get together so we can spread peace, joy and of course, Mandy will fix any car troubles you have! :)

So, if option one isn't working out...what about Dec. 29th or 30th or New Year's eve? Mandy, are you still around? I could take that Sunday off (the 30th) and be pretty available that weekend, I think!

Elizabeth

short end of the stick

Do you know anyone who always seems to have some sort of drama happening to them, either self-incured or not? Well, the last week and a half, I feel like I have had some mini-drama taking place. Here's the scoop:
Okay, so yes, I was hit on Thanksgiving on the interstate and thankful for that, but it has made me a bit more cautious in driving, especially in construction zones. Well, the day after Thanksgiving I had some work done on my car that ended up costing me quite a bit more than I expected. One of the maintenance repairs was balancing my tires, which was needed badly. A week later, I was driving on the interstate and there was a crash that had just taken place and the cars were on the shoulder. Well, when I realized what was going on, there was no time to swerve into the other lanes because they were full and I had to drive over a bunch of glass. Along comes Monday night when I had to pick up someone from the airport and lo and behold I've got a flat tire. The tire got changed last night, and of course the spare was low, but I hobbled to the repair shop this morning. Thankfully I didn't need a new tire and the expense was minimal. However, upon going to my car in the lot, I did not notice a metal piece sticking out of the car next to me. So my thigh met the metal and ripped a favorite pair of my jeans and cut my leg. Lastly, as I was driving home, it occured to me that the steering wheel was not centered so I'm thinking I'll have to get my tires balanced once again. Short end of the stick. Thanks for reading about my drama. :)

Howdy

How are we all doing today? Well, I know that the holidays can be a crazy busy time. Should we do a gathering some other time on a weekend when we can all be there? I mean, honestly, I would love to see all of you, but I am already stressed out about the traveling and stuff that are involved with the holidays. However, if the few of us that can get together want to, that is fine too.
Just a thought.
I love the new blog. I think it is very pretty and feminine.
Talk later.

Hello Girlies!

Hello, hello! I do have to admit that it's been a little while since I checked the blog (I am unable to access it at work and we've just gotten everything set up and worked out with our cable/internet provider in Cottonwood) and I was quite aghast at the new design! (HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA In a GOOD way, of course!!!) I seriously think it's VERY cool - it just threw me off when I first got into it - I thought I had maybe made a mistake or something! Anyway, first of all, please know that I am alive and well, and although these past few months have been very difficult for me, also know that I still love each and every one of you. For those of you who don't know, Seth and I went through a very, very, VERY rough time this summer/fall. It's a very long story to tell it all, but to update you all, we are doing much, much better. It FINALLY feels like we are back to normal and back to "us," if that makes any sense! :) I also want to apologize to all of you for not staying in touch..for some reason that still doesn't QUITE make sense to me: through all of the difficult times, I didn't want to talk to ANYONE. It was so strange for me because as you all know I very much am an open book when it comes to my emotions. Anyway, for some reason, the things we were going through were too difficult for me to talk to anyone about. And I truly mean that: anyone. Please do not think that I care less about any of you or that any of you seems somehow to mean less to me: that's not it AT ALL. I don't really know how to explain it - I just hope you can all try to understand and still love me! :) Ok, so beyond that: Seth and I are now living in Cottonwood and really enjoying it. The snow this weekend was an awesome excuse to stay in our house all day on Saturday and do absolutely NOTHING! :) HOW FUN! (Sometimes it's just necessary for me to have an excuse to do nothing!) Other than that, there has not really been a whole lot new here...life goes on day by day..I got another promotion at the bank so I am now a Service Manager 2 (one step higher than I was before). That was a fun and unexpected surprise! Ok, stop blabbing, Sarah..the last week in December is, of course, one of our busiest weeks at the bank - I work that whole week (besides the 25th) and will be unavailable until that weekend (meaning Friday evening). Let me know what final plans are and I will see what I can do, ok? I hope you're all doing well. I am so incredibly thankful for all of you. There isn't a single day that goes by that I don't think of each of you!!!! I LOVE YOU!!! SBooms

a quick note

Regrettably, I will be unable to meet during that week in December. I'm going to be in St. Louis from the 22-29ish, having fun hanging out with Katherine. Oh, and Matt and Sarah. Sorry.

Elizabeth- I received some good advice when I felt on the fence about MA or MDiv. Go for the MDiv from the beginning as it is easier to switch tracks later on. Of course that might not be quite the same for MSM, but I can still see some validity. I'd love to talk more about it with you - I'll try to call soon.

On another note - does anybody like the different look? There has been no response so I'm inclined to think you're just wimpy and not willing to share your thoughts, or you're indifferent. Take care!

Yay!

Ms. Severtson-do I get extra credit for responding early and doing my homework on the weekend? The proposal sounds PERFECT-I can make it any of those nights, if I had to choose I first pick I'd say Thursday the 27th would be the best for me. I'm so glad you all said after Christmas, because I work everyday between now and Dec. 25th @ noon. Then I'm free as a bird!

Scanders-seriously I am so thankful you are alright, this might be the first time we're all thankful you follow the speed limit. :)

I went to the Concordia concert on Friday night with a group from my church-it was surreal to be back there and seeing everything. I cut through the music building on my hike from the car and got to see Dr. Clausen...then I watch the flurry of the robes and black dresses in the cabinent room for a second. The smell of Memorial alone brought back so many great memories. Then I walked past our house-which is painted an ugly color, but it looks in better shape than it did 2 years ago. Mandy-do you remember how much time you spent sitting in front of the mirror taking out your nose ring for the recorded concert? Ouch.

So, these past 2 weeks have been filled with confusing thoughts for me! I've had a few important people in my life encourage me to consider the MDiv program at Seminary (so I can be more like Scanders!). I have thought about ordained ministry since Concordia and am wondering if I should change courses. The Sacred music program is still very appealing to me, but something isn't sitting right...and whenI think about the big picture of my life, I think that ordination might be in the future. Wow. So-this week I will begin moving on these thoughts and see what happens. I'd appreciate any prayers because thinking about all of this and moving and being Micaela's mom and being single and divorced...its a lot to think about.

We have our first blizzard over the weekend and I'm not even crabby about it. I think it was nice of God to give us a whole month off from winter, no snow until December is pretty crazy! So, I'm welcoming it so far...give me a week and I'm sure I'll be crabby about it.

I'm excited to see you all soon! :)

Elizabeth