MERRY CHRISTMAS TO ALL!
I PRAY THAT BOTH YOUR HOLIDAY SEASON, AND THE YEAR TO COME WILL BE BLESSED.
I PRAY THAT BOTH YOUR HOLIDAY SEASON, AND THE YEAR TO COME WILL BE BLESSED.
(and yes Amy, these are the Santa hats that I made.)
Sunday, December 28, 2008
Merry Christmas
I know it is a few days late, but here is the official Christmas greetings from our family to yours...
Wednesday, December 24, 2008
Happy Christmas Eve
It is a cold, wet, and dreary day in Tennessee. However, it is cheerful inside because Matt and I are at his parents house getting ready for Christmas.
We some how were able to get a vacation over the Christmas time where we were able to spend 12 days visiting and relaxing with Steve and Sue. The vacation is now half way over, but it has been wonderful and I can not thank our wonderful "hosts" enough.
In part, this was a blog to say why I have not been blogging recently, to let you know where we are, and to say.....
MERRY CHRISTMAS TO ALL!!!!
We some how were able to get a vacation over the Christmas time where we were able to spend 12 days visiting and relaxing with Steve and Sue. The vacation is now half way over, but it has been wonderful and I can not thank our wonderful "hosts" enough.
In part, this was a blog to say why I have not been blogging recently, to let you know where we are, and to say.....
MERRY CHRISTMAS TO ALL!!!!
Tuesday, December 16, 2008
Busy
Tell you what...GE is keeping Matt and I hopping!
Christmas at GE is a busy time.
On Saturday we got up early and went to a warehouse in Salem to do "food" "baskets." All of the quotations are because more than food was put into them, and they were not baskets, they were large boxes. It was fun, and here is a bit more of an explanation of it. There is a long assembly line, each person or "stop" has to put an item in the box. The bottom of the box was filled with bags of flour, sugar, and canned goods. Then noodles, spices, bread, and produce went on top. Matt and I were in charge of the Olay body spray and the toy train engine that was also to be included. It was a wonderful way to spend 2-3 hours of a Saturday morning. I hear that next year we should sign up to deliver some of these 90 lb boxes and see where and who they are going to.
On Monday we had the GE Christmas party. This party or dinner was in the Hotel Roanoke. The food was wonderful and the company was good. We stayed for quite awhile just chatting with the people at our table (which we did not know very well before we sat down). Before leaving for the dinner I mentioned to Matt that I remember going to this thing last year. I was thinking...wow, this guy really must be serious about me to want to introduce me to all of the people that he works with...and now we are married! That still amazes me :)
Monday night after we left the party we quickly drove to Walmart to buy some gifts for a four year old boy that was part of a family that GE decided to provide Christmas gifts for. I am glad that I had Matt with me, because we were to buy action figures for this boy....I would have been fairly clueless.
Tonight (Tuesday) Matt came home and soon we were off once again. This time we went to the Salvation Army Warehouse and we helped many other GE staff and family to build little red wagons and trikes for the Salvation Army to hand out as they wish. These wagons and trikes were so cool. They all had all-terrain, air-filled wheels, and the trike had a little hitch. Certainly not the wagon or trike I grew up with. Matt, another man, and I built five trikes and fixed two wagons. It was quite fun, but over too quickly. All of the volunteers had finished all of the building in about 1- 1 1/2 hours.
It is great to see a company give back to the community as this. I look forward to, when we have children, continuing to do these charity events to have one way of reminding them that not everyone has as much as we do.
Christmas at GE is a busy time.
On Saturday we got up early and went to a warehouse in Salem to do "food" "baskets." All of the quotations are because more than food was put into them, and they were not baskets, they were large boxes. It was fun, and here is a bit more of an explanation of it. There is a long assembly line, each person or "stop" has to put an item in the box. The bottom of the box was filled with bags of flour, sugar, and canned goods. Then noodles, spices, bread, and produce went on top. Matt and I were in charge of the Olay body spray and the toy train engine that was also to be included. It was a wonderful way to spend 2-3 hours of a Saturday morning. I hear that next year we should sign up to deliver some of these 90 lb boxes and see where and who they are going to.
On Monday we had the GE Christmas party. This party or dinner was in the Hotel Roanoke. The food was wonderful and the company was good. We stayed for quite awhile just chatting with the people at our table (which we did not know very well before we sat down). Before leaving for the dinner I mentioned to Matt that I remember going to this thing last year. I was thinking...wow, this guy really must be serious about me to want to introduce me to all of the people that he works with...and now we are married! That still amazes me :)
Monday night after we left the party we quickly drove to Walmart to buy some gifts for a four year old boy that was part of a family that GE decided to provide Christmas gifts for. I am glad that I had Matt with me, because we were to buy action figures for this boy....I would have been fairly clueless.
Tonight (Tuesday) Matt came home and soon we were off once again. This time we went to the Salvation Army Warehouse and we helped many other GE staff and family to build little red wagons and trikes for the Salvation Army to hand out as they wish. These wagons and trikes were so cool. They all had all-terrain, air-filled wheels, and the trike had a little hitch. Certainly not the wagon or trike I grew up with. Matt, another man, and I built five trikes and fixed two wagons. It was quite fun, but over too quickly. All of the volunteers had finished all of the building in about 1- 1 1/2 hours.
It is great to see a company give back to the community as this. I look forward to, when we have children, continuing to do these charity events to have one way of reminding them that not everyone has as much as we do.
Sunday, December 14, 2008
Realization
Yesterday I came to the painful realization that Matt and I need to once again go church shopping.
About three months ago Matt and I went to a church and found it to be wonderful and exactly what we needed at the time. But slowly over the months I have been having my concerns about different parts of the church that are vital for me, that I have not been seeing or getting. Let me explain:
1. Matt and I are the only young married couple that regularly attends. For Sunday school they did not know whether to put us with a Sunday school class for marrieds that have children ages 5 and older or to put us with the college students. Yes, those are the only two options... We chose the one for the married couples, but still did not feel like we fit in. The pastor was considering trying to get us to move to the college area, but we do not see that we would fit in there either.
2. One very important area that I am looking for is a good childrens program at church. When beginning to attend I saw that the pastor's and the music director's families made up most of the childrens program. That made me happy since I could see that with the children belonging to those who are "highest" in the church, it would not go away. However, that also means that there are only about 10 children in the youth program from the ages of 2-12. All in all, that is ok, but since there are no young married couples and no real evident source for children that would eventually be the same age as ours, our child would not have any peers their own age.
Don't get me wrong...
I love being in handbells.
The church is nice.
The pastor is wonderful.
We enjoy the services.
But, I see myself as part of the handbell choir and not part of the church (since we do not truly have fellowship there). And since I do not work at a particular job (I am a substitute teacher at the moment) church would be the best place for me to find friends and fellowship, and this church is not providing it.
We have met a few really good people at this church, and we will miss them. But between the age differences, and where they are in life - they really seemed to be more like aunts and uncles, rather than close friends. Happy to bring us a cake or a good word when we're in trouble, but not close enough to stay and chat.
So off we go to another church-hunting expedition. It is painful since we have really enjoyed this place so much, but I think that in the long run...we may eventually find what we need somewhere else.
About three months ago Matt and I went to a church and found it to be wonderful and exactly what we needed at the time. But slowly over the months I have been having my concerns about different parts of the church that are vital for me, that I have not been seeing or getting. Let me explain:
1. Matt and I are the only young married couple that regularly attends. For Sunday school they did not know whether to put us with a Sunday school class for marrieds that have children ages 5 and older or to put us with the college students. Yes, those are the only two options... We chose the one for the married couples, but still did not feel like we fit in. The pastor was considering trying to get us to move to the college area, but we do not see that we would fit in there either.
2. One very important area that I am looking for is a good childrens program at church. When beginning to attend I saw that the pastor's and the music director's families made up most of the childrens program. That made me happy since I could see that with the children belonging to those who are "highest" in the church, it would not go away. However, that also means that there are only about 10 children in the youth program from the ages of 2-12. All in all, that is ok, but since there are no young married couples and no real evident source for children that would eventually be the same age as ours, our child would not have any peers their own age.
Don't get me wrong...
I love being in handbells.
The church is nice.
The pastor is wonderful.
We enjoy the services.
But, I see myself as part of the handbell choir and not part of the church (since we do not truly have fellowship there). And since I do not work at a particular job (I am a substitute teacher at the moment) church would be the best place for me to find friends and fellowship, and this church is not providing it.
We have met a few really good people at this church, and we will miss them. But between the age differences, and where they are in life - they really seemed to be more like aunts and uncles, rather than close friends. Happy to bring us a cake or a good word when we're in trouble, but not close enough to stay and chat.
So off we go to another church-hunting expedition. It is painful since we have really enjoyed this place so much, but I think that in the long run...we may eventually find what we need somewhere else.
Thursday, December 11, 2008
So Long...
is something that I had to say to our TV service today. Matt and I have not had TV service for quite awhile. We decided to get cable service installed for the month of November/December so that our parents (mostly our dads) could watch TV as they spent their holiday here.
I am not ashamed to say that, yes I did get hooked to having TV. But I think that it is a good thing that it is gone.
Now...
more things will be done around the house
more music will be listened to
more books will be read
etc.
So, Good Bye TV.
I am not ashamed to say that, yes I did get hooked to having TV. But I think that it is a good thing that it is gone.
Now...
more things will be done around the house
more music will be listened to
more books will be read
etc.
So, Good Bye TV.
Tuesday, December 9, 2008
Cookies
Orange cookies, Snickerdoodles, Asbury Cookies, Chocolate Covered Peanutbutter Balls, and more....
Above is a picture of last Saturday at my parents' house. The "Kiser" (in quotations since only one of us is really technically a Kiser) women got together for our annual cookie day.
Cookie day has been happening in our family for about 10 years (I think). It is a day between Thanksgiving and Christmas where all of us get together for a weekend and bake, and bake, and bake, and bake,..... And the cookies are supposed to last through the holiday seasons....hmmmm, note the word SUPPOSED.
Usually we start on Friday night and make up the dough. That chills for the night, then around 8:00 or 9:00 am we are up and starting to get the cookies and candies made. The boys (my four nephews) are sometimes wanting to be little helpers in making the cookies, but more than anything they are wanting to be taste testers (well I guess that also goes for the big boys of the family...my father, my brother-in-law, and my husband).
It is a great day of stories, Christmas music, lots of sugar, and many laughs. I am glad that we have this tradition. I think I will now go and get an Orange Cookie, YUM!
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