Picture #1: A few weeks ago I started reading The Hunger Games book one. At first it was hard to get into it, but once things got rolling I could not put the book down! Turns out there are three books in this series...and after extensive searching to borrow the second book (I searched for like 3 days), I decided to just buy it. I am leaving on a jet plane tomorrow heading to see my awesome familia...and I need some good books to get me through the layovers. As you can see, I also gave in and purchased Ellen DeGeneres' book. Why? Um...because she is hilarious. I mean come on, the title is "Seriously...I'm Kidding." That alone made me want to read it. Long flights and layovers...here I come! Oh...and the mug in the middle is a Christmas gift from one of my students. How sweet is that?? In case you can't see it, it has a stack of books in the middle, and underneath it says, "Ms. Kleinsasser The Caring." Did you notice I am no longer "Miss" Kleinsasser? Yeah...when I got my new job I decided to step it up in the world and go with "Ms" to sound a bit more professional. Do you think it's working?
Picture number 2: The Christmas tree in my home. I have never owned a real Christmas tree in my entire life. My mom and dad have this cute fake tree in MN, and when I lived with roommates in my old house, they always bought a tree, but it was never really MINE. This year, I purchased this one all on my own...from a kid at church who was selling them for a fundraiser. I am always a sucker for a good cause (in this case, High School Boys Wrestling and Girls Basketball) My roommate and I don't have a ton of ornaments...but we made due. Merry Christmas!
Picture #3: One of my favorite speakers in the world: Jeff Manion. Whenever I clean my house, grade papers, or accidentally sleep in on a Sunday morning and don't quite make it to my own church (read: this morning!) I just tune into adabible.org. This morning I listened to "What We Need Most" in a series Pastor Jeff did a long time ago, but it is SO good that I had to re-listen. Before this post, I had grand ideas that I would attempt to re-tell the sermon so you could all experience what I experience when I listen to Jeff. BUT....that's not gonna happen. So just go listen to it, and have your Bible open to Ephesians 3. Or if you don't have time because you are busy Christmas shopping or chasing kids around the house, hear this: "Now to Him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to His power that is at work within us, to Him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen." -Ephesians 3:20-21
OK....so I don't have pictures of these last few stories, but I want to share them anyway. Yesterday some ladies in my small group and I met at church for a Dutch baking day. DUTCH baking. Yes. For 5.5 hours, we slaved over these treats called (I'm not looking up the spelling here) Stroopwaffles, Almond Roca, Ollibollen, Almond log/stick thing, and one other thing...with graham crackers on the bottom, and melted chocolate and white chocolate drizzled on top. Pictures of the baking extravaganza will come soon...my friend Kay took all the pics, so I'll get my hands on those asap. Anyway...it was a FANTASTIC afternoon of listening to Christmas carols on Grooveshark, telling and listening to ridiculous stories, burning our hands on the stroopwaffle iron and the ridiculously hot water in the kitchen, using 2 or 3 recipes that will NOT be used again, and TONS of laughter with some pretty amazing ladies. (this is a plug for the power of small groups at church in case you aren't in one...JOIN ONE. They are the best)
Lastly...I got to see my one of my favorite people last night...Abby Zwier. She is one of my best pal's sisters, and we have spent a lot of time together over the years. She is super cool, super smart, and hilarious. Check out her musings on life here.
OK.....time to get packing for Michigan and Boston!
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