We are off to Chicago for Christmas!
Merry Christmas to everyone! May you have a blessed New Year!
Thursday, December 20, 2007
Tuesday, December 18, 2007
Christmas Shopping
In a few minutes I will venture out in the pouring rain (big surprise here in Seattle) to do the last of my Christmas shopping! Over the weekend Rick and I went to the Seattle Premium Outlets to do some shopping and the people were like vultures there!! I picked up a sweater in Banana Republic only to find that it was a large when I needed a medium, as soon as I went to lay it back down on the table a lady came up from behind me and grabbed it! I guess that's what happens seven days before Christmas!
Well we leave for Chicago on Friday morning....two more days left in the countdown! The thing I am most excited about over Christmas is seeing my friends and family that I have not seen in awhile. I miss my Mom more than ever, and I miss all of the wonderful friends that I have in the Chicagoland area. It will be fun to just relax and hang out with people I'm close to!
Well...I'm off to fight the crowds at the mall, but first I must make a much needed stop at Starbucks!!
Well we leave for Chicago on Friday morning....two more days left in the countdown! The thing I am most excited about over Christmas is seeing my friends and family that I have not seen in awhile. I miss my Mom more than ever, and I miss all of the wonderful friends that I have in the Chicagoland area. It will be fun to just relax and hang out with people I'm close to!
Well...I'm off to fight the crowds at the mall, but first I must make a much needed stop at Starbucks!!
Monday, December 17, 2007
Waiting
Waiting is so hard at times!! Okay, so maybe it's hard all of the time. Right now I'm pretty tired of waiting. Hopefully someday I will look back and be thankful for the waiting that I have had to do this year. All I can do now is to keep waiting with hope and faith that the waiting will soon be over and the blessing will be given!
Friday, December 14, 2007
A Boy's Wise Words!
This morning when I got to work I did my daily routine of turning on my computer and checking my email. As I scrolled down my email I came upon a forward that was sent from my sister in law Liz. I clicked on the link that she sent to listen to a little boys conversation with a man on the radio. I began to cry listening to this boy's understanding and heart for God!! Matthew 18:2-4 came to my mind as I listened.
"He called a little child and had him stand among them. And he said: "I tell you the truth, unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. Therefore, whoever humbles himself like this child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven."
Please take a moment and watch this clip. Hopefully it will touch your heart the way it did mine!
http://www.ksbj.org/eblogs/morningShow/
"He called a little child and had him stand among them. And he said: "I tell you the truth, unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. Therefore, whoever humbles himself like this child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven."
Please take a moment and watch this clip. Hopefully it will touch your heart the way it did mine!
http://www.ksbj.org/eblogs/morningShow/
Tuesday, December 11, 2007
PRAYER
Last night and this morning I have been reflecting on prayer. I know many of us at one point in our lives have felt like our prayers were not being heard. My thoughts go to David as he wrote Psalm 28:1-2;
"To you I call, O'Lord my Rock; do not turn a deaf ear to me.
For if you remain silent, I will be like those who have gone down to the pit.
Hear my cry for mercy as I call to you for help, as I lift up my hands toward your most holy place."
I feel as though this verse has been my hearts cry over the past eight months! Where are you God? Do you hear me? I will worship him regardless of him answering my prayers, and he has answered my prayers, but maybe just not the way I had hoped he would. His thoughts are not my thoughts, neither are my ways his ways, but as the heavens are higher than the earth so are HIS ways higher than my ways and his thoughts than my thoughts! It comes down to this, God knows what is best for his children and he surely does bless all of us far beyond all we could think or imagine!!
I think it would be great to start praying for one another daily! I know this may sound cheesy, but what if over the next 30 days we would commit to pray for each other's needs every single day! I will make that commitment to each one of you reading my blog today. If you want to post a comment with your need I will promise to pray every day for that need. If your request is personal than I will just pray that God would meet the needs that you have b/c HE knows all of our requests before we even ask! The amazing part of this will be that we can all celebrate and praise God together when those requests have been answered!!
"Though one may be overpowered, two can defend themselves. A cord of three strands in not quickly broken." Ecclesiastes 4:12
"If God is for us, who can be against us? He who did not spare his own son, but gave him up for us all-how will he not also, along with him, graciously give us all things?"
Romans 8:31-32
"To you I call, O'Lord my Rock; do not turn a deaf ear to me.
For if you remain silent, I will be like those who have gone down to the pit.
Hear my cry for mercy as I call to you for help, as I lift up my hands toward your most holy place."
I feel as though this verse has been my hearts cry over the past eight months! Where are you God? Do you hear me? I will worship him regardless of him answering my prayers, and he has answered my prayers, but maybe just not the way I had hoped he would. His thoughts are not my thoughts, neither are my ways his ways, but as the heavens are higher than the earth so are HIS ways higher than my ways and his thoughts than my thoughts! It comes down to this, God knows what is best for his children and he surely does bless all of us far beyond all we could think or imagine!!
I think it would be great to start praying for one another daily! I know this may sound cheesy, but what if over the next 30 days we would commit to pray for each other's needs every single day! I will make that commitment to each one of you reading my blog today. If you want to post a comment with your need I will promise to pray every day for that need. If your request is personal than I will just pray that God would meet the needs that you have b/c HE knows all of our requests before we even ask! The amazing part of this will be that we can all celebrate and praise God together when those requests have been answered!!
"Though one may be overpowered, two can defend themselves. A cord of three strands in not quickly broken." Ecclesiastes 4:12
"If God is for us, who can be against us? He who did not spare his own son, but gave him up for us all-how will he not also, along with him, graciously give us all things?"
Romans 8:31-32
Saturday, December 8, 2007
Denver Pictures
Here are some of my pictures from our trip to Colorado. I will post more on my facebook & myspace account later.
The Alvino Family
This is a picture from the train.
This is us on the Cog train on our way up Pike's Peak.
This is Rick and I on Pike's Peak. I think I am squinting in every picture b/c I am not used to it being so sunny. I live in Seattle now so I have been used to gray skies!
These are the Alvino girl's. Becky, Abby, Lisa, and Andrea (and Andrea's dog Lucy).
The Alvino Family
This is a picture from the train.
This is us on the Cog train on our way up Pike's Peak.
This is Rick and I on Pike's Peak. I think I am squinting in every picture b/c I am not used to it being so sunny. I live in Seattle now so I have been used to gray skies!
Beautiful Colorado Scenery!
Thursday, December 6, 2007
Denver
Our trip to Denver was amazing!! I feel so refreshed and rested!! I am really bummed b/c last night I downloaded all of our pictures to a CD (I thought) so that I could bring them to work and upload them to my blog. Well I downloaded them on to a blank DVD instead of a CD so they won't open at my work computer!! :( I will try and post the pictures tonight on my home computer. As for our trip here is a brief summary:
Thursday: Flew out from Seattle to Denver at 7:00 pm. We landed in Denver at 11:00 pm and after we got our bags and our rental car we headed to a very beautiful hotel. We arrived at the hotel at about 1:00 am and we were both exhausted and excited all at the same time so we stayed up another hour and a half and watched TV in bed together.
Friday: We went over to Pastor Gene and Rhonda Roncone's home. They took us out to lunch at PF Chang's (my favorite!!). After lunch we went sight seeing and shopping around town. In the evening we went to see my second family in Denver...the Alvino's. It's funny most of my second families in life have been Italian. The Elton's and the Alvino's. :) We had fun at Andrea's house who is now not an Alvino anymore, she is Andrea Kissler. It was so wonderful to see everyone!
Saturday: We planned on heading to Breckenridge for the day, but due to some really heavy snow fall the night before most of the roads were not safe to drive on in the mountains. Instead we went to Park Meadows mall with Pastor Gene and Rhonda and did some Christmas shopping. That evening Rick and I went out for a nice dinner and then headed to the theaters to see the movie August Rush, which by the way was an incredible movie!! It's a must see!!
Sunday: It was time to see everyone at the church I where I used to be Outreach Pastor. It was a fun reunion with lots of old friends!! It felt like I had never left Denver. Oh, how I miss those days!! That afternoon we had lunch with some friends and then headed over to the Alvino's to watch the Bears and the Broncos both get beat! Not a good day in the NFL for either of us!
Monday: Our day in the mountains. We headed to Pike's Peak in the morning to ride the Cog Rail up to the top. Unfortunately, we only made it 12,500 feet above sea level b/c once again there was too much snow and wind at the top. I think it is 14,000 feet at the top. Anyway...it was still a gorgeous train ride. After Pike's Peak we headed to Breckenridge to eat dinner and do some shopping. Breckenridge was breathtaking!! I can't wait to post my pictures. There was lots of snow and Christmas lights everywhere! It looked like a painting I would hang on my wall!
Tuesday: We headed to the airport to fly back to Seattle. I dreaded this day! I didn't want to leave. I love Denver and I hope someday before the end of my life I can live there again!!
That's our trip in a nutshell. Now we are getting ready to leave in two weeks for Chicago. I am really excited to see all of my family and friends over Christmas!
Thursday: Flew out from Seattle to Denver at 7:00 pm. We landed in Denver at 11:00 pm and after we got our bags and our rental car we headed to a very beautiful hotel. We arrived at the hotel at about 1:00 am and we were both exhausted and excited all at the same time so we stayed up another hour and a half and watched TV in bed together.
Friday: We went over to Pastor Gene and Rhonda Roncone's home. They took us out to lunch at PF Chang's (my favorite!!). After lunch we went sight seeing and shopping around town. In the evening we went to see my second family in Denver...the Alvino's. It's funny most of my second families in life have been Italian. The Elton's and the Alvino's. :) We had fun at Andrea's house who is now not an Alvino anymore, she is Andrea Kissler. It was so wonderful to see everyone!
Saturday: We planned on heading to Breckenridge for the day, but due to some really heavy snow fall the night before most of the roads were not safe to drive on in the mountains. Instead we went to Park Meadows mall with Pastor Gene and Rhonda and did some Christmas shopping. That evening Rick and I went out for a nice dinner and then headed to the theaters to see the movie August Rush, which by the way was an incredible movie!! It's a must see!!
Sunday: It was time to see everyone at the church I where I used to be Outreach Pastor. It was a fun reunion with lots of old friends!! It felt like I had never left Denver. Oh, how I miss those days!! That afternoon we had lunch with some friends and then headed over to the Alvino's to watch the Bears and the Broncos both get beat! Not a good day in the NFL for either of us!
Monday: Our day in the mountains. We headed to Pike's Peak in the morning to ride the Cog Rail up to the top. Unfortunately, we only made it 12,500 feet above sea level b/c once again there was too much snow and wind at the top. I think it is 14,000 feet at the top. Anyway...it was still a gorgeous train ride. After Pike's Peak we headed to Breckenridge to eat dinner and do some shopping. Breckenridge was breathtaking!! I can't wait to post my pictures. There was lots of snow and Christmas lights everywhere! It looked like a painting I would hang on my wall!
Tuesday: We headed to the airport to fly back to Seattle. I dreaded this day! I didn't want to leave. I love Denver and I hope someday before the end of my life I can live there again!!
That's our trip in a nutshell. Now we are getting ready to leave in two weeks for Chicago. I am really excited to see all of my family and friends over Christmas!
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