Don't Stop Believing - Watch GLEE

I finally caught the Pilot Episode of the new Fox Series, GLEE. I Love, Love, Loved it. I don't watch much TV, but I plan to catch this series when it resumes this Wednesday at 8:00 my time.

Yeah, it's about Glee Club in High School - yeah, I see the parallels between it and High School Musical. But it portrays more than the "don't be defined by the cliques you belong to in High School" - OK - maybe there's a heavy dose of that, plus a bunch of funny characters that draw you in. And there's the music. Who doesn't love Journey's Don't Stop Believing, sung by performers who love to sing?

If you didn't catch it the first go around, you can watch it as I did, on hulu.com. I've even embedded the video here:


And a sneak peak from the coming episode - it's only 1 minute long, so you have time to watch now!

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More Joy, Beauty and Gratitude

Some beautiful water lilies

After increasing my post frequency in November and December, I feel compelled to post every day. A bit of an OCD reaction, I am sure, which may or may not pass as time goes on. Or it could be that magical 28 day thing - you know, it takes 28 days to solidify an task into a habit, so the habit of blogging every day is now formed in the recesses of my brain.

Enough rambling - I did have a purpose today - to share the Joy, Beauty and Gratefulness I have experienced over the past several days.

Joy - snuggling with my kids right before bedtime - a ritual we started when they moved to their big kid beds. Erica doesn't allow me to snuggle with her every night, so every chance I get is so nice.

Beauty - The sunrise across the winter prairie - I've got to find a time / place to capture this on my camera. The best views are along the highway into work, but it's not that safe to stop, even in the breakdown lane.

Gratefulness - The days are getting longer - I didn't have to drive Erica to Horse riding in the dark!

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Choosing Joy - New Year's Eve Shin-Dig

My friend, Jill, never ceases to amaze me with her hospitality - I received a call from her yesterday afternoon as I was trying to concentrate on work (somewhat challenging around the Holidays). She was coordinating an impromptu New Year's Eve get together with friends.
It turned out to be quite the Shin Dig - food, streamers, balloons, champagne, sparkling juice, noise makers and games. Each person had to write down a New Year's Resolution and place it in the basket. Jill then read off each paper and we had to guess who had written it. Brian's was "Play more Wii games and skip school". What a goof-ball!

Jill reads off one of the New Year's Resolutions and Will starts to make some noise:


Brian is coiled and excited to ring in the New Year:


The kids are poised with their noisemakers as we count down to the New Year - in Santiago, Chile (that's 9pm Central Standard Time).


And it didn't bother the kids that it wasn't "our" New Year - they had a blast making noise, throwing streamers and drinking their "bubbly".

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Family Joy - Illini Basketball!

Scott bought tickets for all of us to see the Illini basketball team play Eastern Michigan this afternoon at Assembly Hall. We were in Section C, but it was a fun game and best of all, the Illini won! Last year, the beloved Orange had a rough season, but so far this year, their record is 12-1. Hopefully, we'll be able to attend more games (and I'll be able to take a real picture).

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Today's Joy - Fun and Games with the Kids

Today I took some time away from blogging, cooking, cleaning, baking to have some fun - playing the Wii with the kids. I haven't played since June, and it showed. My Mii was on page 3 of the list of Mii's, and I had a hard time remembering the basics of the Wii-Mote.

I played tennis against Brian and promptly realized how bad I was! He whupped my tushie. I didn't fare much better against Erica in Baseball. I slightly redeemed myself in boxing by orchestrating a brilliant KO win against Erica.

We had lots of fun and wore ourselves out - boxing can be quite strenuous!

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Joyful Find - Pandora Radio

About a month ago, I was given the link to Pandora Radio from a fellow scrapbooker at ScrapShare. I just now took the time to navigate to the site and set up a custom radio station, based on Sara Bareilles' music style. I have been itching to discover some new artists and music, as I have tired a bit of the 15GB of music currently stored on my iPod (I know what you are thinking - sheesh - what is she complaining about?).

So far, I have decided to check out these artists and their albums
Missy Higgins - On a Clear Night
Rachael Yamagata - Happenstance
Jack Jackson - In Between Dreams

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Joy to the World - Beaker Style

Something to warm you all up this frigid first day of Winter.
The mercury dipped down to 0 degrees F this morning and hasn't increased by much during the day - the temperature is now a whopping 2 degrees F and the wind is whipping out on the prairie at 25mph.

My college friend, Armando posted this on his Facebook account, and I found it on YouTube. It reminds me of another college friend, Chris (we called him Beaker).

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Friday's Joy

These are as pretty as they are tasty. Pomegranates - tart-sweet and juicy. Not a fruit you get to eat every day, but I have been enjoying them since they showed up in the stores this fall. Somehow, I feel "healthier" after eating the juicy arils (that's the ruby red seed-like nodules).

That was part one of today's joy. Part two is the news I received from my friend Mark, announcing the arrival of his new bundle joy, Priti, baby girl, born on Wednesday. Priti (pronounced "preethee") is the first baby for Mark and his wife, Anita. What a joyous event, even more special during the holiday season.

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Ice Storm Joy?

This week's Joy theme is "Glitter and Shine". I think these picture qualify:





Now, if only I could weave these pictures into some sort of Joy post! Ice storms don't normally sound very joyous and yesterday's drive home with the Defrost cranked all the way up, barely keeping the windshield from icing over certainly does not qualify as an exception. Then there was the accident on the highway which resulted in a motor boat in the median - off its trailer and splayed on the grass. But I didn't read about any serious injuries in the paper, and the ice glittering in the sun this morning was beautiful.

I did receive our annual Kringle from my boss, John, who makes these buttery, tender pastries every Christmas season. He gives away one for each of his direct reports. As the Tech Manager at our plant, he is making a LOT of Kringles!

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Back with Some Joy - Cookie Give aways

I have been so busy these past days I haven't had any time to blog. But I have been thinking about Joy, and I have been taking pictures, so I will try to catch up.

Sunday - I finished off the cookies.
First, I made the sandwich cookies:
1. My original standby - Raspberry and Chocolate. (shown below)
2. New this year - mint chocolate - melted Nestle semi-sweet morsels with mint extract. Wow, these were to die for.


Then my ribbon cookies (aka my signature cookies). Here are the ribbon cookies before I dipped them melted chocolate and then chopped pecans.



Finally, the lemon cookies were finished with a drizzle of lemon icing.

A picture of the fruits of my labor:


The best part? Packing up these up into tins and giving them to our friends. I also sent two containers out to my parents, as my sisters' families will be spending the holidays with them.

Yeah, we keep enough for us to enjoy. I think the troops would mutiny if I gave them ALL away!

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Joy - Packages Under the Tree

I received a surprise this afternoon when I got home - Erica announcing that she had dragged in the big package that had been delivered to our house. It was the Christmas present I had purchased for Scott (no reveals - you'll have to wait for Christmas!). I was surprised because I had been given an estimated delivery date of 12/23, and because the package was HUGE. Erica and I had a fun time wrapping the monster - we used an entire roll of wrapping paper on it and then tucked it under the tree.

That's today's Joy that falls into the Red Category AND today's Picture of the Day.

Hope you have a joyous evening!

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Joy - Our Family, Elf Style

These have been making the rounds not only in the blog world, but at work. Scott wanted me to make ours and he specifically requested that I add one of our cats, Hannah.

We were rolling on the floor laughing.

Send your own ElfYourself eCards

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Bonus Joy - Jingle All the Way

Scott and Erica are enjoying tonight's ABC Family feature, Jingle All the Way. Watching Arnold Schwarzenegger run around, getting pummeled as he tries to procure a Turbo Man Doll has both of them laughing hysterically. Scott does a good Arnold impersonation as well.

Just too funny and joyful that I had to share.

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Joy - Icy Roads Manuvered Safely

Not an actual picture of this morning's icy roads, but pretty indicative. But in our case, you couldn't see the white ice on the roads - it was all clear, due to a system of freezing rain that passed through before daylight. Of course, none of the streets had been salted before we headed out to school and work. It was literally an ice rink in our subdivision. I also learned the hard way that the Corolla does not have anti-lock brakes, as I almost skidded into a major roadway. Even 5 mph seems fast when you have no control and are staring at cars coming at you. Fortunately, I hit a non-ice patch, which stopped the car sideways.

So, where's the joy? Well, I got the kids to school and myself to work safely. A little late, but still in one piece. And with temperatures climbing into the 40s this afternoon, there was no ice on the way home.

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Joy - Found in Singing - Join Me?

Most of you who read my blog know I love music and singing.
Today is Sunday, and most Sunday mornings I get a nice fill of singing at church. Today was a little different - I am singing in a small ensemble at church and instead of being in service, I attended a rehearsal. Still got to sing though, and I always feel joy when I sing.

Today, you also get an opportunity to sing, as I have embedded a karaoke version of one of my favorite artists' song, Bottle it Up, by Sara Bareilles. It serves two purposes - it follows the "Love" theme for the first week of the Choose Joy and maybe you will find some joy in singing along.

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Finding Joy - Running in the Snow

We woke this morning to find a fresh layer of snow on the ground. Not very much, maybe an inch, but with the cloudy skies and air temperatures right around freezing, one could feel more snow was on its way. I debated skipping my normal Saturday morning run, but remembered how much I ate at last night's Holiday party, so I laced up my running shoes.

Running in the snow forces you to slow down, to take care in your footing. You notice the other tracks in the snow alongside your footprints - the other crazy joggers (yes, I will admit, it was a little crazy for me to go out in this weather), the dog owners walking/running their dogs and the bunny and squirrel tracks.

After two miles, I ran onto a street nestled amongst large trees, which blocked much of the prairie wind. The snow started to come down, in big flakes that you can catch on your tongue. An amazing peaceful scene that I had the privilege to run through, all by myself. That's the joy I found today.

[which, unfortunately, was short lived. As I emerged from the protection of the trees, the softly falling snow suddenly became a whirling blizzard of sharp, icy snow, carried by the gusting wind. I cut my run short and headed home, which required running directly into the blowing snow. This is when I realized that I was crazy and the cars passing me on the streets certainly thought the same of me. I obviously survived and got home safely, although a little windblown and snow covered.]

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Finding Joy - The Elvis Band (Blue Suede Crew)

No, I don't profess to be an Elvis fan, but these guys truly enjoy performing and have an infectious joy for music.

They were the band at last night's work-sponsored Holiday party, and while I did find the Elvis bit annoying (he's just too flamboyant for me), I found joy in watching the musicians, especially the guitarist.

They performed several Johnny Cash and Stevie Ray Vaughn blues numbers which I enjoyed - good blues always puts a smile on my face.

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Joy - Awesome Christmas Cards

This is the second year I have created custom Christmas / Holiday cards to send to our friends and family. Ever since 1999, when Brian was born, I have taken a family picture, had reprints made, bought photo greeting cards, etc, etc. At some point, I added a update letter to the mix.

With the advent of digital cameras, one could add pictures to various templates provided by the on-line developer. I did that one year with Kodak Gallery. But after I learned the basics of Photoshop, I was free to create our own custom card.

Last Sunday, I spent several hours putting together the front, back and body of the cards. I uploaded the card design to mpix.com. I was surprised to receive a package today containing the printed cards - a 4 day turnaround - rather impressive.

Wow, they turned out great. Last year, I had them printed on Linen Paper. This year I chose their Stock Paper, with Gloss. So far, Scott wants one for his office, Erica wants to keep one, and I always keep one to display every Christmas. Here is the jpg version of the card's front:

Receiving the cards made my day - and now I need to get them mailed out!

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Joy of the Season

Today marks the start of December's Joy Challenge, and today I choose to find joy in this holiday season - really, an easy thing, with all the festive lights, snow and Christmas music surrounding us.

Scott wrapped the first presents and placed them under the tree last night, which caused Brian all sorts of excitement this morning. When Brian heard the news, he snapped out of his morning grogginess and ran downstairs to check things out.

I took this picture of Erica and Hannah this afternoon - I even dragged out the tripod. I love Hannah's expression.

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Choosing Joy - December's Challenge

Sherry, who initiated November's Gratitude Challenge has issued a new challenge for December, and I am excited because it is such a great concept. She also added a twist that dovetails perfectly into my "Photo of the Day (POTD)" endeavor.

Here are the details, copied directly from Sherry's Blog Post:

1. This will officially start on December 3rd and will end on December 31.
2. The challenge of this blog will be similar to our Gratitude Blog idea. Look for JOY each day and blog about it. It might be something as big as attending a wedding or as small as how cozy your slippers feel...it's up to you. CHOOSE to find joy.each.day.
3. There are a few extra challenges for this one too...don't worry - don't stress....have fun! Those that complete the journaling AND the photos will be able to be have their name in the drawing for the prize TWICE.
Each week, you must post at least 3 photos based on the themes below.
Week 1 (Dec. 1 - 6) - LOVE
Week 2 (Dec. 7 - 13) - RED
Week 3 (Dec. 14 - 20) -GLITTER/SHINE
Week 4 (Dec. 21 - 27) - FAMILY
Week 5 (Dec. 28 - 31) - PEACE

I hope you will join me or at least stop by once in a while to see what Joy we find this holiday season.

Peace and Blessings!

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