A Christmas break montage (of sorts)

It's hard to believe that Christmas break has come and gone already! I'm back in Chicago after being in Colorado for 3 weeks. It was a really great break filled with tons of downtime...maybe to much downtime! But downtime with family and friends is something that I can never get enough of. Some of the highlights were Bob and Rachel's wedding, Sophie's birthday, the "Blue Hair" Family Christmas party, Christmas Eve at Ben and Michele's, a White Christmas day, and some New Years puzzle making. I've heard that a picture says a million words, so here are some pics (ok maybe a lot of pictures) from the break...

BOB AND RACHEL'S WEDDING...

The Happy Couple

Me and Ben...and rachel's flowers, I'm not sure how Ben ended up with those

BLUE HAIR FAMILY CHRISTMAS...

3/4 of the "Blue Hairs" (missing Teri)...love these ladies!
Robin, Gloria, and my Mom

Laura and I...she is the only one that Bill could talk into wearing the antlers

Dave looks like Harry Potter

CHRISTMAS EVE...

The Fam

Making Dinner...soup and mini grilled cheese, awesome!

A WHITE CHRISTMAS DAY...

On a walk with Soph and Dad

Digging in

Mom and Grandma

NEW YEARS...

We headed up to the very cold mountains as soon as they reopened I-70...you don't even want to know how many times I tried to take this picture

Waiting at the weird stoplight at the tunnel...I like these ladies a lot!

Group pic...Cav and Ev are there behind the balloon

And then this is what we did the rest of the time, a puzzle...it was awesome

Well congratulations, you made it through all the pictures. Christmas really was great, I feel very rested and it was so good to be with good friends and my family. There is just something about going home that feels so safe and familiar. That said, I am very thankful for my life in Chicago too. I was realizing that it is unusual to feel so at home in two different places but for right now I'm thankful that I have a foot in Chicago and Colorado. This year has flown by and I have learned way to much to put into words, but I do know that I am thankful for what has happened and I'm excited about what will happen. At a church service that I went to last weekend the pastor talked about approaching the new year standing still for awhile and reflecting on what you just did...take a breath...what just happened?...then using that to help you move forward. I like the image of taking a breath while standing between last year and the coming year, that's what I hope I can do in this month that I still have before classes start. Yea for long breaks...!

Sophie's Sweet 16

Sophie turned 16 yesterday!
So we had a party!

Even Chloe showed up for the party...
Here we are recreating a picture that was taken on her 2nd birthday (the part of Loye Don Williams III was played by Amanda Tate)
My mom sat down once...here it is...
Sophie is such a blessing to our family and to her friends, I think she had fun!

Happy Birthday Sofa Girl!

Light of the World

Tonight was one of my favorite College Life services, the candlelight one. And then this morning at church they also had a candlelight service. I always get choked up and candle light services, I usually think it's because I'm home for Christmas and I'm just emotional. But this year I've have felt different about advent and these services today helped me make some sense of it I think. I have always loved advent, I like the anticipation that builds when we light candles one by one and wait for Christmas day and ultimately wait for the coming of Christ. There has always been something inside of me that just loved that feeling but this year I think I'm starting to understand that I don't fully get what Christ's birth means to the world. I wait for Christmas because it is such a joyful time for me to be home and such. But I'm realizing that our world longs for Christmas because they long for Christ, they long for Hope.

In a staff mtg that I was in last week we all reflected on the line from O Little town of Bethlehem that say "The hopes and fears of all the years, are met in they tonight". Do I really get what it means for all of my hopes and all of my fears to be met in Christ? I can honestly say that I have never felt completely hopeless but I am aware of many people around me who are hopeless and who need to anticipate the birth of Christ.

Another line that has been in my head this week is from O Holy Night and says " Long lay the world in sin and error pining, till He appeared and the souls felt its worth. A thrill of hope, the weary soul rejoices, for yonder breaks a new and glorious morn." There are people everywhere who are weary in the depth of their souls, not just a weariness that a week on the beach would cure. But a weariness that only Christ can break into. I think that I just feel overwhelmed by all of the hopeless and weary things that I know of in people's lives today but in the midst of that I can't help but feel the weight of what it means that the light of Christ broke into a dark world. This Christmas is no different, we still desperately need the light of Christ to break into situations and people.

So I think I'm starting to get it, I think I understand why something in me is always stirred by the visual sight of a congregation lighting each others candles and singing "Light of the world, Light of the world, Light of the world you shine upon us..."

Thanksgiving and more

Well I haven't been doing to well at keeping things up to date on here so sorry about that. Things are going well and I'm looking at just one more full week of classes and then finals left to this semester...yea! That said I have also officially switched my degree from a MACF (Masters of Christian Formation) to an MDIV (Masters of Divinity). What this means is that I will not be graduating this may but instead I will be wearing that lovely hat in May of '09. There are several things that led to this switch for me but I feel pretty good about it. I will be able to have my same internship working with the undergrad students here next year and the thought of being with the same students 2 years in a row is really exciting. And it will be pretty sweet to be able to have my MDIV! Now I'm just praying that they extend my scholarship!

I was also able to be home for Thanksgiving a few weeks ago and got some pretty relaxing (maybe to relaxing) time with the Fam. My Aunt from Louisiana and Cousin from Texas came out to and it was great to see them as well. Here are some pics from the weekend...

The Whole Fam (minus Tate who is taking the picture)

The Wysocki Clan...including the most doted on dog ever

The Gerber clan... chloe is not cooperating

Kristen, Laura, Tate, and I on our downtown Christmas light adventure

Nothing says Merry Christmas like some free Salvation Army hot chocolate!

A glimpse of restoration

In 10th grade I transfered schools and making friends didn't happen overnight. But a few weeks into school I auditioned for and got a part doing a duet with this girl named Lori. That was 12 years ago and Lori and I have been friends ever since. Our friendship has seen some pretty rough things but it has been so great to grow up together and to watch each other learn how to do life. Last week I had the honor of standing for her at her wedding. This event held so much significance because she and Andy were engaged 2 years ago and their wedding got called off. The easy thing would have been for them run but I'm proud of the way that they worked hard to make their relationship work and worked hard to learn new things about themselves. They fought to restore their relationships and I'm so proud of them. All of these things combined with the absolute beautiful setting of Cancun made it such a wonderful day. It was so moving to see them finally take their vows and be finally be Andy and Lori Plucker...

A few tears at the sight of it all

Here comes the bride

Finally...

Lori, Andy, wedding party, and parents

We love Andy and Lori!

Fall Break in Cali

Last week was my fall break so Sheri took work off and we headed to northern California. The idea was to have a fun trip (obviously) and Sheri had never been to San Fran. But we also have people that we both really love who now live in that area. So this trip ended up being a perfect combination of amazing sights and refreshing adventures exploring the area and the chance to be with some amazing people and have great conversations. We stayed with the Mazzariello's in Marin for a few nights, had dinner with the Greco's, and got one night with the Josephson's in Sacramento. Couldn't really have asked for anything better for a fall "break". We took way to many pictures but some of our favorites are below.

Our Adventures in San Fran included...

A Ferry Ride
Amazing views
Cable Cars...is there any other way?
China Town and $4 t-shirts
And shopping

The next day found us in Sonoma and Napa Valley exploring some vineyards, eating an amazing lunch of brie and bread, and ending up in some tasting rooms that were for members only...oops! How were we to know?

Poetry in a bottle, huh?

The colors were beautiful

Grapes don't smell...don't know why I was tryingThe cellars at Schug Winery
Robert Mondavi Vineyards...pretty ugly huh
At V. Sattui Winery...pretty sure that the people who took this picture had been wine tasting for a few hours already, it's amazing it turned out really!

This trip also marked my first visit to Lake Tahoe and my first visit to a Casino.

Lake Tahoe
So cold but loving the view

Our tour guides
And the beginning of my addiction (just kidding, I walked away)

So a few more days around here in classes and such and then I head to Mexico for Lori and Andy's wedding and then on to St. Louis for part of the Youth Specialties conference and to see my Colorado peeps. I Can't wait! I'm just wondering when I'm supposed to do homework this month...?