Thanksgiving 2010

Thanksgiving 2010 was a weekend to be remembered! I got to spend the weekend at my parents house, sleep in my old bed, cook tasty food, chat with my sister in law, pet a yellow lab, ride my bike, sleep, rub sister in law's pregnant belly, watch National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation, hang out with 2 of my 3 brothers, eat yummy food, ride in the golf cart, learn about the art of meat smoking, visit a meat market, put up a Christmas tree, hold a squirrle and play with my niece! It was glorious! Here are some photos:
Golf cart rides for the G Rowe family
Naps for Uncle Brad, Willow & Ava Claire

A trip to the meat market so Greg could pick out fancy meats for his new BBQ pit & smoker. Ava loved looking at all the different meats!

The feast... Plus a little sister time!

Karo and Ava read magazines, did some online shopping, etc etc.

Dad & I put out the log reindeer while Greg and Brad cooked meat and corn on the smoker!

Brothers cookin' meat...manly man stuff!
Me & Brad with the chickens pre-smoker. They were cuddly birds!
Greg & me, and Laura & me. Plenty of family time this Thanksgiving!
Meeting Sammy the squirrel! She's Uncle Mark's pet, and Ava LOVED this little critter!

It wasn't a traditional Rowe Thanksgiving, but I loved stepping outside of our traditions and trying new things! As long as we're together we have a great time!

Tacky Sweater Christmas

Our singles ministry had a tacky sweater Christmas party this year! I had always wanted to do one of these, and had dreams of finding a perfectly tacky sweater at a thrift store. Turns out these things are hot items, there wasn't a single sweater to be found!

So, as a last minute effort I borrowed some Christmas garb from my mom, although I wish I had taken the creativity route like my roommate. Jennifer made a sweatshirt two hours before

the party and it turned out awesome!!

Lisa wore another sweater from my mom's closet, one I remember well from childhood holidays! We even borrowed some of her festive socks to complete the look!


Above is our small group, below are the roommates. Love these girls!

Merry Tacky Christmas!

Merry Christmas!

"She will give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins." Matthew 1:21

Celebrating the birth of our Savior, and the eternal life He brings!
Merry Christmas!
Love, Sarah & Willow

Chris Sligh

This past Sunday our church had a Christmas worship service instead of a normal Sunday morning worship hour. The worship ministry did an amazing job of getting everyone in the Christmas spirit, refocusing our excitement on Jesus' birth! We had help from a special guest as well, 2007 American Idol Contestant turned Christian Artist Chris Sligh!

Jenni and I got to help Chris' brother Alan run the merchandise table during and between services and if the CD sales from Sunday morning are any indication, this man will go far! Here's a few pictures from the morning!

Above is Brian Stone, our Singles Pastor, Jenni, Chris Sligh & Me! I'll work later on getting a YouTube link for the songs from service. We even got free signed copies of Chris' new CD for volunteering to help at his table!

It was just what I needed, because the past week or two I've been feeling the stress that comes with a worldly Christmas. (I even had to turn off KSBJ's Christmas music and switch back to worship music to help me feel at peace!) This Sunday helped me realize it's not about all the earthly celebrations, it's about the life we have to look forward to in heaven with our Savior who lives forever!!!

Thanksgiving Tree

This year I couldn't wait to put up the Christmas tree! My family tradition is to put up the tree on Thanksgiving night, while drinking egg nog. This year mid November I was just itchin' to have that tree up so I could enjoy the twinkling lights at night. I didn't want to take away from Thanksgiving, so we found a way to put up the tree without moving straight into Christmas. Saturday morning Jenni, Lisa & I were home enjoying coffee and muffins and we decided to make a roommate bonding experience out of the Thanksgiving Tree. Here's the how to:

Each person gets several paper strips (in Thanksgiving colors of course) to record the things

they are thankful for. Next we stapled them together in paper rings and shared with each other what it was we were thankful for.

After we had shared we hung them on the tree, and made sure to leave extra papers out on the table for any guests who stopped by and had things to be thankful for.

It was a great reminder that we are incredibly blessed and that the things written on our paper rings were gifts from God! Happy Thanksgiving!!!

Cookie Exchange

Each month the women in my Sunday morning Adult Bible Fellowship get together and have a ladies social. Usually it's something casual, with coffee and dessert so we can talk and get to know other women in the class. For our December social event we decided to have a cookie exchange!

This was my first ever cookie exchange, so I was excited to participate! The idea is that everyone makes 3-4 dozen of one recipe (along with copies of the recipe), plus an extra empty platter, and everyone tastes, then takes home a few of the cookies you made! Everyone left with big platters full of tasty treats, and new recipes!

I took the Balls of Heaven (aka Oreo Balls) that I usually take when dessert is required, but this time I added a little bit of crushed peppermint candy to the tops for a festive look.

We came home with all these goodies, and if we're going to eat them all there better be some serious exercising going on!

I'm working my way around the plate, but so far my favorites have been the Buckeyes that my roommate makes, the Butterfinger Fudge, and the cute ornament themed sugar cookies!

Quitter

So, you may have noticed I quit on the National Blog Posting Month 30 Posts in 30 Days Challenge. I realized the challenge was quickly consuming me, and while it was fun last year, it felt like a chore this year.

This fall my small group did a study called No Other Gods, and it really helped me realize how many things in my life have become gods, and thus have taken time and space in my life where I should be allowing God to be. Things like tv, facebook, shopping, eating, sleeping, blogging.... I could go on and on. Sure some of these things are necessary parts of life, but when you sleep too long, or you shop to fulfill selfish desires....they can turn into things that we turn to for satisfaction. Ultimately I need to turn to God for satisfaction, therefore things are changing!

So, back to blogging when I feel like blogging! I assure you this has saved you from reading random obligatory posts with little meaning. I'm back, and I'm bringing you the good stuff!