Sunday Morning

This morning B and I were planning on continuing our church search in the area.  We are still trying to find the right church...it's a process.  However, much to my surprise, I woke up to a sick hubby.  So our church search has to be postponed again.  Tis the season of flu and colds..boo.  I could have gone to church on my own, but I think this is something we need to do together, so we're going to wait until Braedan is healthy and go together.
So, with the change of plans and Braedan sleeping, I had a quiet morning to myself.  I cleaned up some, ate a slow breakfast, uploaded way over-due pictures and then dragged myself to go work-out.  I thought that with our weekend full of family, festivities, and food, it was necessary.
But probably to much amazement...I have a few pictures from our wonderful holidays to share with you.  There are many more pictures on our shutterfly share account, leave us a message if you need the address for the page.   Hope you are all staying healthy!

Our first Christmas as a married couple :)

Our family Christmas at our apartment

yummy Christmas cookies

Thanksgiving in Aurora with Mimi

Braedan and his siblings

Let it Snow x3

It's been a bit of a wacky day here in the Garrett household. Miriam was all set to put on her sombrero, crank up the mariachi music, and be a Spanish sub today. Despite not being in a Spanish class for quite some time, she felt pretty confident going in. We woke up to a steady snow which progressively got worse as the day wore on. Miriam, having to travel on the interstate through downtown C.R. was a little skeptical on having to make the trip. Luckily, the principal informed her that with the school's early dismissal, she would not have to teach today. But Miriam, while going online to cancel her class, discovered they needed a sub for the SAME class tomorrow! So she's not quite out of the woods with Spanish class yet.
 We've been considering rearranging our living room, giving our apartment a new look for the new year. I'm sure pictures are to follow, so keep checking in!

Welcome New Year!

Well, for this household, 2011 started out with a bang and sickness came to our little nest!  So we can't say that this year started off too promising...but I think it will turn around pretty quickly.  Since last week was pretty much a lost week, we've spent this week cleaning, purging, condensing, merging, and organizing and welcoming in 2011.  I will put some updated holiday pictures up and maybe even some updated apartment pictures as well!
We know God has a lot of plans for this family and we are ready to face whatever adventures He places in our path in 2011.  Whether that means a full-time teaching job in the future for me (please!!) will be shown in due time.  Sometimes it's hard to wait and be patient though.

B and I just want to wish you all a Happy 2011!

“Another fresh new year is here . . .
Another year to live!
To banish worry, doubt, and fear,
To love and laugh and give!

This bright new year is given me
To live each day with zest . . .
To daily grow and try to be
My highest and my best!

I have the opportunity
Once more to right some wrongs,
To pray for peace, to plant a tree,
And sing more joyful songs!”

--William Arthur Ward

Wishes

A couple of weeks ago I managed to catch one last leaf on a tree for this year.  Winter is officially here and snow, cold weather, and bare trees seem to be out in full force.  
As this wonderful time of year begins as we wait for Christ's birth, we want to wish our friends and family many blessings and peace!

 Luke 2:9-12
And an angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were filled with fear. And the angel said to them, “Fear not, for behold, I bring you good news of a great joy that will be for all the people. For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord. And this will be a sign for you: you will find a baby wrapped in swaddling cloths and lying in a manger.”

Marketing standards at an all-time low!

I'm going to take a detour from the standard "updates on married life" course to geek out about college football. If you haven't already heard, Jim Delaney, Commissioner of the Big Ten Conference, recently unveiled the names of the two athletic divisions beginning in 2011, as well as the new conference logo. Yesterday, they were broadcast for all the world to see...and ridicule.
If you haven't seen it before, here's the new logo and the division names:

I'll start with the logo...bear with me.
 Aside from the powder blue and white scheme (since when did North Carolina join) one of my biggest gripes is its simplicity. Don't get me wrong, simplicity is not necessarily a bad thing, but the logo lacks any hint of creativity, inspiration, and just plain doesn't represent anything the Big Ten has come to signify over the decades of its existence. Give a two year old a box of crayons and five minutes and he would come up with something better than this. Many hoped the new logo would include a cleverly hidden number like the "11" in the old one, but they decided to go with a hidden "10" in the I and G. This was apparently an attempt to pay homage to the ten members before the addition of Penn State and Nebraska. The logo already acknowledges them because the name of the conference is the "Big TEN", what's the point of the hidden 10 then? Nothing! It makes no sense! Marketing companies get paid millions of dollars to come up with this!? Give me a break.
  Secondly, the division names also lack any logical reasoning. Sure, they tried to be creative with "Legends" and "Leaders" trying to portray the conference as a trailblazing pioneer both on the field and off. But much like the ACC's Coastal and Atlantic divisions, trying to place the schools in their respective divisions is like trying to draw the outline of Azerbaijan on a map with no key or reference points. I was a fan of the "Plains" and "Lakes" division names myself, heck even a straight up "East" and "West" scheme would have been fine. At least these ideas make sense and tie the conference together geographically. Instead, Delaney claimed geography was not important, and nit-picked at the little details in drawing division lines. Sure, Wisconsin and Michigan would have been kind of sore thumbs in an East/West split, but I thought we had given up on nit-picky details the day we continued calling it the Big Ten with 11 (soon to be 12) members.

Stupid names, stupid logo, and it will all help contribute to the current perception of the Big Ten: slow, stupid, stuck in the past, and just lacking ingenuity and inspiration. Jim, sorry but you dropped the ball big time on this one, and I truly hope somebody in Chicago slaps you back to your senses, and quick!

Hey, there's Jesus!

For the past twelve days, Braedan and I have opened a different window on our advent calendar.  Even though this calendar doesn't have chocolates or a little prize behind the windows, it's still a surprise to open the window and read the inspirational word or phrase for the day.  Sometimes it asks us to read a Bible verse and think about it, other times it asks us to think about how we've seen or lived Christian qualities during the day. Still other times it just gives us a bit of advice to live a better life.

Today, it asked how we saw examples of Christ's love within the past 24 hours. We had just happened to spend the weekend with our family in Washington. It was so much fun to be with everyone and celebrate Christmas, a birthday, and an anniversary all in one weekend! We saw examples of unconditional love that families have for each other, and that Christ has for us.

So now we're going to turn the tables on you!  Have you have seen Christ's love in your life lately?