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One of my new favorites this season...

This has been stuck in my head for the last few days and I love it! 
Merry Christmas!!

Why I Love Christmas!

I don't just love Christmas time....I BIG PUFFY HEART LOVE CHRISTMAS!!!

I don't know where my love for Christmas started, but I LOVE it! 

It is so incredibly magical, and there are so many wonderful reminders of what the season truly means.

A few reasons why I LOVE Christmas...

Christmas Eve Communion

This has always been a favorite tradition of mine.  My dad would serve communion in the church lit only by candles and Christmas lights, and we would go as a family and listen to the Christmas story.  Communion looks a little different on Christmas Eve for us, but it is still a huge part of my Christmas.

Christmas Music

I was fortunate enough to grow up with many different types of music in the house.  Christmas music is hands down the best around!  Christmas isn't complete without Bing Crosby singing with the Andrews Sisters, Mariah Carey singing "All I Want for Christmas", or the Boston Pops playing "Sleigh Ride".  I am just happy when I hear it.  There are many more songs that I absolutely love to hear at Christmas, but those three are the best!  

Christmas Lights

I love to drive around and look at displays of Christmas lights.  It just makes me feel like a little kid again waiting for the next surprise!  I love to see Nativity scenes on display!  It reminds me that the Light of the World is coming!!   So much fun to drive around and look at them!!  This year I am making Lou take me to look at lights :)  Sidebar:  I CANNOT stand the blow-up decorations.  I also love to see the candles in the windows.  My grandma always had them in her window and I love to see them in others. 

Christmas Cards

I LOVE to get them!  I love to see pictures of families!

Christmas Eve at My Parents

I can't even remember when we began doing finger foods on Christmas Eve, but we have kept on doing it and I love it!  We have a veggie tray, sausage balls, pinwheels, little smokies, rotel and chips, etc.  Just a low key dinner and it is enjoyable!  

My Stocking

I used to think that I was getting jipped because all of my friends got lots of stuff in their stockings, but once I got older, I realized that my parents were continuing on a tradition with me.  I only get an apple, an orange, and a few pieces of candy, in one of my dad's white socks.  And I look forward to it every year.  

I love it.   

The Christmas Tree

Just love to decorate it.  Love, love, love.  I have been collecting ball ornaments for years and this year Lou and Jake added their ornaments to our tree.  It is no longer my tree, it is ours :)

Christmas Trees in Church

 Seeing the Look on Braxton and Thatcher's Faces on Christmas Morning

Businesses closed on Christmas Day

Decorating the House

Hearing Merry Christmas

Christmas Movies

Watching Holiday Inn, Santa Clause the Movie, A Christmas Story

Singing Christmas Carols at Church

Smell of Cinnamon and Peppermint

Christmas Specials on TV

The list goes on forever...I just love this time of year!!

 

 

 

Long time...

I haven't written in a LONG time. 
I have had lots to say, just not sure how to say what I needed to. 
Good things are happening, wedding is coming along great!
I've got a few things to share that I just want to talk about.
One day I will get to them...

In other news...
This weekend we took Jake to the beach!
I loved just sitting there with my toes in the sand...
And....I got in the water!
I usually only go a little in the water, but I got brave!!

I want to keep up with my blog better and I need to. 
Hope things are great in your world!

Elizabeth

Elton John Concert

Last night, Friday, April 5, 2013, I finally checked off something from my bucket list!!  I got to see Elton John in concert!!!  Lou bought me tickets for my birthday, (and a friend also bought me tickets as a thank you gift).  I was SOOOOOOOO excited!!  And it was AMAZING!!!!  I was so giddy, just about coming out of my seat when he walked out on stage!!  He puts on a show, and of course there was no opening act because there is not one needed, and there were no special effects, because he is one!  We had excellent seats and I could see him perfectly!!  I had the best time!!!

We went to eat at one of our favorite restaurants and it was soooo good!  Of course I had my diet coke!!  

This was our view.  When we walked into the section I think I was in shock that we were so close to the stage and that I would get to see him so close.  I walked to my seat with my jaw on the floor.

The two of us.  I can't thank Lou enough for sitting through this with me.  It was not his cup of tea, but he was such a trooper.  

He wore a bright, sparkly red suit with blue eyeglasses.  It was perfect!!

 

We were so close to the screen which made for great close-ups!

 

A video of Elton John singing.  Fabulous!

Definitely a night I will remember forever, and so glad I got to spend with Lou!!

Skin and Sunscreen

So, I am not one to brag most of the time, but growing up and until recently, I have had really good skin.  I have very sensitive skin, and would have the occasional zit or two, but nothing major.  Nothing I couldn't handle.

I am also one to not wear a lot of sunscreen on my face because I was afraid it would cause break outs and it would always burn my face.  So I just opted to get burnt.  I have always been so incredibly pale, that I wanted a little color on my skin.  And I have even gone to the tanning bed.  I thought if I got some color on my skin before I went to the beach, I wouldn't get burned as bad.  Now I am paying for it.  

Before I was a teenager, it was hard to find a cleanser that would not cause whelps on my face.  Even walking through the perfume section at a department store would cause whelps.  I still can't use fragranced hand lotions because my hands will turn red and swell.  Not like huge swelling, but noticeable.  My sister and friend did not believe me, so I took them to Bath and Body Works and put some lotion on my hands to prove it.  Yeah, redness and swelling.  Fun times!!

I have always been complimented on my skin, one because I am pale, and the other because I rarely have problems.  Well, that was until about three years ago.

I started showing signs of Rosacea.  Red patches on my cheeks and small bumps, but not pimples.  My dad has had it for years, and I was hoping I would not have to deal with it, but I do.  It comes and goes, but lately it has gotten worse.  I was not wearing any foundation, thinking it was possibly making it worse, but I would wear it for special occasions. 

I also had a bump show up on my nose over a year ago.  I kept meaning to make an appointment to a dermatologist, which would have been the smart thing since I had insurance at the time.  The bump would show up, really red, make me look like Rudolph, and then go away.  I was only putting foundation on the bump because powder was not covering it.

After finding out a friend had a skin cancer removed, I knew I needed to get this bump checked out.  I made an appointment with a dermatologist here in Murfreesboro, and went this past Thursday.  As soon as she walked in she could tell I had Rosacea.  I had only put on eye makeup that day. 

Can you see all the redness?  And of course my bump on my nose. 

After we talked about my rosacea, she looked at the bump on my nose and immediately said it was a precancerous spot.  I was actually relieved it wasn't full blown skin cancer.  So she said they would do a small treatment that would get rid of it and it was like a small chemical peel.  All I could think about was the Sex and the City episode where Samantha gets a full face chemical peel and it was AWFUL!!  So they did the procedure and it wasn't that bad at all!  They said it would turn a few colors and then the skin would fall off.  So looking forward to that!  HA!

So back to the rosacea.  I'll be honest, I rarely wash my face at night, and sleep in my make-up.  I always found that when I did wash my face before bed, I would get a small break out.  So I just didn't wash it.  Well, I go from not washing it at night, to a full blown night time face cleansing routine. 

I have to take an antibiotic, which I had to shop around for the lowest price because it is EXPENSIVE.  Then I had to get two different face cream medicines.  One they graciously had a sample, and the other one cost $217.  BUT, they gave me a prescription card and it only cost me $60!!  They saved me some serious cash.  I also have to switch my moisturizer and foundation, but they gave me a sample of a moisturizer/foundation/sunscreen combo which again is expensive, but I need to start taking better care of my skin because I am not getting any younger, and I have been in denial about getting closer to 40.  I still have 7 years.  One plus of the moisturizer is that it smells like sunscreen and I LOVE the smell of sunscreen. 

So now I am an advocate for wearing sunscreen and taking better care of my skin.  I can't change what I did to my skin in the past, and I can't change that rosacea seems to be hereditary, she even asked me if I looked like my dad, meaning that must have something to do with me having rosacea.  But, I can start taking better care of myself.  So I must go start my nightly routine.  And then repeat in the morning.  It will be worth it!! 

This is day one of meds and new foundation/moisturizer/sunscreen.

Have a great night!

Old Photos...

I LOVE old photos.  

I love the black and white prints, and the clothes, and the expressions, and the styles of everything.  My family has a lot of old photos and I have taken a few of my grandparents and framed them.  

I have had these for years, but I have more at my parents house that I want to print and frame.  

I think it is so important to remember my family history, 

and I like to be reminded of them when I look at their pictures. 

 

 This is my dad's mother.  I have had this picture in my room for a long time and I love it!!

These are my mom's parents.  I think they look like Hollywood stars!!

My mom has many pictures of them on the beach and they are just amazing!

This is one of my favorite pictures ever - just love it!!

This is my dad's dad.  He died in 1947.

Funny story about this picture - it always sat on the dresser in the extra bedroom at my grandparents house.  One day when I was 11 or 12, I asked who it was and my mom said it was my grandfather.  I then asked who the guy in the living room was.  I didn't know my grandpa Doc was actually my step-grandfather, but of course he was always my grandfather.  

This is my Grandpa Doc.  He was in the Army and fought in WWII.

 This is a picture of my dad, and we always say that my nephew B looks like him, or really looked like him when he was more a baby/toddler.

This is a picture of my mom, her sisters, and her parents in the 70's or early 80's.  

One day I hope to have built in shelves and plenty of room to display old family photos.

A few years ago my sister put together a photo album for my mom and my dad each of family photos, and I enjoy going through them, so one day I will go through them, pick some, and show them off.