Holidays

I think Madonna really hit the nail on the head with this one:

If we took a holiday

Took some time to celebrate

Just one day out of life

It would be, it would be so nice

Everybody spread the word

We're gonna have a celebration

All across the world

In every nation

It's time for the good times

Forget about the bad times, oh yeah

One day to come together

To release the pressure

We need a holiday

You can turn this world around

And bring back all of those happy days

Put your troubles down

It's time to celebrate

Let love shine

And we will find

A way to come together

And make things better

We need a holiday

Holiday Celebrate

Madonna lyrics aside - I had one of the most wonderful and enjoyable holiday seasons in a long, long time. Marc and I got to spend two WONDERFUL weeks together. I love, love, LOVE spending time with Marc. I'd spend time with Marc as my full time job if I could (and if he could stand me for that long!).

We went over to Nazareth and picked up Grammy Rose on December 23 for a trip down to Princeton, NJ to see Marc's Uncle Frank, Aunt Maureen, and his two cousins Frankie and Charlie (hi guys!). We spent the day just hanging out with them and listening to Grammy tell stories (I now know that cyber bullying occurs on Facebook and her daily routine down to the minute). We got to go to squash practice at Princeton University with Frankie and enjoyed two delicious meals with them. Time with family is always too short!

We got back to our place on Christmas Eve and  Erin, Jay, and the kids  had arrived safely.  Marc played in the worship band at the 5pm service so we loaded everyone into cars and went to church. I got to hold and snuggle David all through the service. It was wonderful spending Christmas Eve with the most handsome guy in the room. He and I also made it through the candle lighting and singing Silent Night with nothing going wrong (I was pleased about this, I didn't want to get in trouble with Erin, she's very intimidating). I held him on my hip and he just casually wiggled his legs every now and then.

We went back to my parents house and had a late dinner. Then we celebrated Jesus's birthday with a cake and much singing. Ironically, it was a devils food cake. That Jesus - what a sense of humor.

Christmas morning Marc and I woke up super early to meet our good friends Jessica and Aaron in Boalsburg to deliver Christmas presents to the family our Life Group had adopted. It was a mom and her 13 month old son - she was so pleased to have us do this. I was able to be part of delivering gifts to three different families this year - I like that heart swelling feeling that happens as you're taking your blessings from God and blessing others. I like seeing love in action.

Then we headed back to get the Pensyl family festivities started -

 The Christmas Tree

 Marc opening up one of his gifts

 My favorite gift (Marc always gets me the best gifts). He took an old window frame and put in pictures from our engagement photo shoot and our wedding. I love it! We hung it on the wall in our bedroom!

The aftermath. Lil and Tuck were enjoying rawhides Santa Paws had left in their stockings.

The fun didn't stop there though - then we headed over to my parents house where we go to hang out with Abigail and David:

 Christmas morning was a wee bit overwhelming for Abigail, but she had a blast anyway!

We had LOTS of tea parties!

David smiled and bounced up and down the whole day. Taking time out to eat and take a nap every now and then. I'll tell you, he really knows how it's done!

 

 

Dad's birthday is December 29, but we celebrated it on December 26 so all of the kids could be there. He turned 60 (I think he's so handsome for 60, don't you?) and had a Summer BBQ themed birthday (being born in December he's never gotten to have an outdoor birthday picnic celebration).

 

 For some reason, still unknown to me, Dad insisted on being photographed with a beer. Dad drinks like one beer a year. I guess this was it. Oh the fashionable garb he's wearing? Marc and I took it on ourselves to purchase the party decorations...

 In this photo he's instructing (yelling) at me to not put these photos on Facebook. Good thing this is a blog.

 Marc and I bought moustaches for everyone to wear. Ok, ok, so it didn't fit in perfectly with the Summer BBQ theme, but they were still a hit!

Erin REALLY enjoyed her moustache. It really is the simple things she enjoys. Additionally for those who have never met Erin in person - she really is quite beautiful under that moustache - please don't let this be your lasting impression of her! 

We all thought David looked the best in his moustache though!

 

Backstory - I had debated sticking a moustache on David earlier in the day, but in case he started to cry I didn't want Erin to yell at me so I resisted. She was out of the room later and I couldn't resist the temptation any longer as I was holding him so I just stuck it on him. He loved it! Once I saw he wasn't going to tell on me I ran down to show Erin how cute he looked! He just smiled the whole time!

 

It was cherished time with family which, with the exception of Jesus, is what it's all about right?

We drove up to Massachusetts to visit my grandparents - we had a great time with them. Grandma informed us that "uno" is not Spanish (don't ask) and Grandpa was a riot. Real life conversation during a wild game of Uno (where Grandpa and I beat Marc and Grandma):

Grandma (in a warning tone to Grandpa): You know Roy Powers...
Grandpa: I sure do. He's a great guy!

Hahaha - it was probably a "had to be there" moment, but it was funny (and brave of him to sass Grandma like that!).

We spent New Years Eve with the Sublett family. We love spending time with them. We went out to dinner with them and Delma at Red Lobster where we got to see Paul and Jared. Then after they went downtown and we went home to feed the dogs we met back at their house. We ate food even though we weren't hungry and placed a few rounds of the Name Game. Lilly kicked our butts - she killed us in like every round. Josie didn't quite get the concept, but it made the game more interesting (category: cartoon characters, Josie: football) - luckily she laughed along with us over it. And you know what? Princess is a tough word to spell even if English is your first language! I was able to spend time talking (...listening...) to Josie tell me about her life in China. Marc informed Kim that the reason I could understand Josie so well is because Marc is a mumbler AND a fast talker. He was sure I'd have no problem understanding Josie! Marc and Kim whipped up a cheesecake from scratch and then Marc played Webkins with Annabelle. Sadie looked beautiful in her new "fancy clothes".

At midnight the ball dropped and Marc and I kissed. Annabelle apparently missed this kiss in all the hub bub and marched over to us at about 12:00:30 and said "You. Kiss" while first pointing to us with her index fingers and then touching the tips of her index fingers together. I said "We did!", but she wasn't having it. So we kissed again, but Stac walked in between the kiss and Annabelle so she made us kiss again, then Stac just starting being goofy so Annabelle couldn't see. We ended up kissing about 47 times before Annabelle was satisfied!

Then we headed outside for Silly String time - Marc and I covertly hid our cans until the kids ran out of their silly string and posed for a picture - then we struck. Ahhhh it was great! They fell for it last year too!

Levi just stood there with his mouth slightly open and let us get him. He's such a lovable weirdo.

And that's a wrap.

T- Five Months

In exactly five months from now I will be at my favorite place on Earth. I'll probably be sweaty, have bug bites, and be kicking myself for not paying closer attention during my Spanish classes at Penn State.

I'll be in the Dominican Republic at the Rose of Sharon Orphanage with the boys and girls that live there. They'll all be talking to me (in Espanol to boot) at once and wanting me to look in 15 different directions at what each of them is doing. They'll be laughing and taking pictures with my camera. I might get run over by a bike. Whatever happens - it's going to be good. And it's going to be God.

My heart literally overflows when I'm there. This is because my two love languages are supplied in a big way there (quality time and acts of service).

I'm looking forward to talking to Juan Carlos and Bernardo. To poking David's nose. To wondering when Usher, or someone of the like, will discover Christofer and turn him into the budding rap artist that is was meant to me (watch him turn out to be a pastor or something). And most of all to hugging Jalin and trying to convey everything I can't say (literally and figuratively) to him through hugs and short amount of time I'll get to spend with him.

Five months is still too long...

Thoughts

Did you know that 49 out of 50 states have snow on the ground right now? Florida is the lucky winner with no snow on the ground.

The past year or two I kept thinking I wanted a mondo storm like 1993 again, but now I don't wish that. On days it snows Marc has to leave real early and is gone all day to plow. Snow days are no fun when you're home alone with no one to shovel, drink hot chocolate, and watch bad TV shows with! And Lily and Tucker are like two lumps who just snooze the day away so they're not that fun either on snow days!

My friend Paul said something that really struck a chord in me last night. We were at life group reading "Doctrine" by Mark Driscoll and Gerry Breshears and discussing what the term "covenant" really means and the various covenants God has made with His creation throughout history. We were talking about how God creates us from Himself, cares for us, and loves us. Paul said, "God calls me His creation even if I am just the booger He picked out of His nose". We laughed, but what Paul said is so true and a good reminder. I'm proud to be one of God's boogers!

My Marc is so good to me. I sent him a text message from work last night while I was on a call that was going longer than I had planned. The message said, "Probably can't leave for another 15 mins...star. ving." When I got home 45 minutes later he had made me my favorite dinner (Nature burgers) and had it ready to go. Some may argue that he only does this because he fears for his own life (I'm, uh, not the nicest person to be around when I'm hungry), and while that may be true, I know that there is a tiny part of him that does it because he loves me. I am lucky to be loved by a man that likes taking care of me. It's also a good lesson for me, Miss I Don't Need Anyone To Take Care Of Me, to be reminded of.

Marc gets frustrated because he says I don't ask for help when I need it (pffft.). We joke around about this, but it is something I am trying to work on. Marc is also teaching me the point where I ask for help (apparently it's somewhere prior to when I'm all ticked of and have thrown something across the room). Over Christmas my mom (hi Mom!) had our baby books out and Marc and I were looking through mine. Guess what my first sentence was? "I do all by myself" Sigh. I have a long road ahead of me.

Bart visited last weekend - I hardly got to see him, but even if I had been around I'm not sure if I could have wiggled my way into the bromance. We are SO THANKFUL that Bart is back here safe and sound. Please still be praying for him as he is figuring out what life after the Air Force will look like.

Slip of the tongue or true feelings? An actual conversation between Marc and myself:
Sara: Marc! Marc! Marc!
Marc: What?
Sara: Uh...
Marc: Hurry up, you're a waste of time
Sara: *shocked look*
Marc: I mean you're wasting time! That's what I meant!

We laughed about it. I love this guy.

Leadership Advance was this past weekend - what a ride. I love when I go into something with a "worldly" heart and God just messes me up and pushes me and makes it so much better than I could have imagined. I posted some pictures on Facebook. We had five of the HSM senior girls and five of the HSM senior guys - this group was a trip (I guess I'm 76 since I just used the word "trip" in that context). My group two years ago was a lot of "S" - this group still had a lot of "S", but nearly every single one of us had "I" - it made for a really fun group! As a coach I was supposed to keep my mouth closed and let the participants problem solve together and observe them interacting. Many thanks to Jake Nold who asked me what I was thinking every now and then when he noticed I was nearing a point of explosion from keeping all my thoughts inside. Jake is very good to me like that. And, for the record, I didn't break any rules by anything I said. It was funny to see our personalities change throughout the day based on meal times, amount of sleep, etc. Also, for the record, I hate that PVC pipe activity as well (although it does work, I've seen it). I had a really big moment with one person in the group - they may not know it - but God was very present. I pray that He continues working in that relationship. I also got to know one of the other girls better - I had been praying for an opening in that relationship and God provided it - I pray that He guides me as I seek more time with this individual!

Marc and I just drove from Harvest Fields to Subway and back again. We hit every yellow light in between. Every. Single. One. Marc said they were "soft yellows" and drove through them.

I still owe you a post about the holidays...

Blog Update

Hi Friends!
I know my blogging lately has been non-existant and I apologize for that...I actually really hate technology though and try to not use it when I get home from work. Additionally, they've added key stroke tracking software to our PCs at work so I don't want to post from there anymore (not saying I won't...). It's like they want me to be productive at work...how terribly inconvenient for me...

I'll post a Pensyl Family Holiday Update soon, I promise. Leadership Advance is this weekend so I'll be focused on that and probably won't get to another update until next week!

A Glimpse Inside

Last night after I shut off the light and snuggled down into bed I regaled Marc with a tale of a bloody nose I had the year before (it related to the topic at hand, I promise). After adding, perhaps, a bit too much detail to the story there was a brief pause before Marc says, "Wow. You really know how to talk to a man."

Marc sometimes thinks I sing too much around the house. I told him that I only sing when I'm happy and I'm happy when I'm around him so I really only sing at home when he's present. I then said, "I don't sing at all at work or when I'm by myself at home." Marc responds with, "I still make goofy faces in the mirror when you're not home." (I actually believe this to be true!)

Another thought - why is it that when I get a meeting invitation in my email at work - a meeting I have absolutely zero interest in being part of - and I click on the "Check Availability" button  that I am ALWAYS available? Seriously, I lead a semi-busy life at work most days, why am I never busy when there is a meeting I don't want to attend?

Holly is coming for a visit this weekend - pretty excited! We have no real plans, we'll lolly gag our way through the weekend, but I'm looking forward to catching up!

I stopped to get gas this morning and mindlessly watched the snow flakes fall lazily to the ground, in no real rush to be anywhere. It was nice to just stop for those few moments and watch them. There is something so peaceful and quiet about the world when it snows and for a few minutes this morning I got to be part of it.

The guy in the cubicle next to me is using a typewriter. Honestly? I didn't know those were anywhere besides museums...

Dead People Moving

Some of you may know that my only fear is moving dead people. Yes, I know. An irrational fear because dead people shouldn't be moving. This fear stems from an ill fated trip to Gettysburg when I was 7.

AMC has a show out called "The Walking Dead". It premiered on Halloween and the season finale is next Sunday. In a nutshell, there has been an apocalypse and now there are dead zombie-like creatures roaming  - "Walkers" - and then the remaining humans who somehow survived and are trying to evade the Walkers and find safety. If you get bit by a Walker (they eat flesh to survive) you die and then soon there after come back to life as a Walker yourself. Walkers can only be stopped by shooting them in the head (or damaging their head in some way).

 Everything about this screams to me "Sara you hate this show! Don't watch it!", but alas I sit and have watched it the past two weekends with Marc. Honestly, minus the moving dead people it's not that bad of a show. After watching it I'm always a little creeped out.

Last Sunday night I was back in the bathroom getting ready for bed and I hear the bathroom door knob wiggle. I say "What?" knowing it was Marc, but thinking it was weird he was wiggling the door knob. The door knob wiggles again. I open the door and a zombiesque version of Marc was standing outside the bathroom door. He had smeared ketchup all over his face and neck to really help the gross half-decayed zombie point be driven home. After a mild heart attack I laughed and laughed and laughed!

Here is what happened after watching the show last night:
Sara: Will you come outside with me to turn off the Christmas lights?
Marc: No.
Sara: What if Walkers attack me? How would that make you feel?
Marc: Sara, there are no such things as Walkers. It's just a show.
(author's note: In my head he rolls his eyes right here, but I can't say for sure if he did in real life)
Sara: Ok, ok

Sara heads outside to unplug the Christmas lights, before heading outside she turned on every light between her and the front door. She dashes outside, unplugs the master cord for the outside lights and rests it on the outlet cover. It falls down. Marc, being hilarious, turns off the outside light so now Sara is outside in the dark, she yells "Marc! Don't you...oooh (trails off)". She picks up the cord again - glances around for Walkers - and puts it back on the outlet cover. It falls again. "Blast!" she yells and decides that her life is more important than her OCD desire to have the cord on top of the outlet cover. Sara sprints across the garden to the front door and bursts through slamming it behind her. She hardly has time to revel in her victory of not getting attacked by Walkers when Marc leaps out from the corner behind the front door and screams. Sara screams. Everyone is screaming. Arms are flailing (Sara's). Arms are getting punched (Marc's). There was a lot of "That's not funny!" "Why would you do that" sprinkled in amongst Marc's uproariously laughter. I think my heart slowed to a normal rhythm 40 minutes later.

Secretly, I think both events were really funny, but since I don't want to encourage this torture to my heart I won't ever tell Marc that I think it was funny...

Clean

Marc and I like a clean house. We like tidy. We like organized.

I may have gone a tad overboard. Marc thinks I vacuumed entirely too many times while I was home for Thanksgiving break. He's probably right. I'll retype that. He's right.

I lost count of how many times I vacuumed, but in my defense setting up the Christmas tree was quite an ordeal and required multiple vacuumings.

On Friday morning I organized all the cupboards in the kitchen. Dang they look nice. I bought a little organizer unit thing to hold the saran wrap, aluminum foil, etc. Marc was nice enough to hang it up as soon as he got home from work. Most normal people would have been ok to wait until the next day, but Marc knows that I can't fully relax until everything is "done" - whether that be cleaned, put away, started, etc. He knew I'd be a mess all evening if I didn't get the aluminum foil and wax paper properly organized right then. These are the little ways that Marc shows his love to me and it reminds me how much he cares. No big showy gestures needed here, seeing that he will postpone his own relaxing to hang up my organizing unit says it all!

Took a big trip to Goodwill on Friday as well. We had gone through our closets a few weeks ago and had two big bags of clothes to donate and we also donated kitchen items - we may finally be rid of all the doubles of things from when we moved in together.

Speaking of doubles, while organizing the spice cupboard we had doubles of a variety of spices. Now that it's nice and neat and organized by spice type, finding what you need in a flash should be no problem! Marc also discovered we owned a pepper grinder - he was quite ecstatic about this! I also cleaned out the fridge and freezer. After all of this it's safe to say we have a lot of garbage for garbage day this week.

Yesterday I swept out the garage and did some minor tidying up. Luckily I had to go back to work on Monday because I think I ran out of places to clean.

I'm going to try to slow it down in the cleaning department though. I don't want Marc to think I'm weird or anything...