Christmas Time's a comin'

Well now that Thanksgiving is over we can officially move on to more Christmasy things. Wait, what? Christmas already? Good gracious time really does fly. 

Here's some of the Christmasy things we've been doing around here the last few days:

Building fires (Nope it's not really cold enough for a fire, but who cares?) 

Decorating the Christmas tree

Hanging the stockings 

Drinking hot chocolate and cider 

and of course.....

Listening to Christmas music. 

Some of my favorites:

Michael Buble's Christmas album. 

Carol of the Bells/ Sing We Now of Christmas by Barlowgirl. it's uhhmazing. 

Little Drummer Boy by Josh Groban. mmmhhhmmm. 

What are your favorite Christmas artists/albums/songs? Because I need suggestions.

And now, becuase I'm pretty much addicted to Pinterest, I'll post some wintry photos. 

The country.

The City. 

Give me a choice between the country and the city and 9 out of 10 I'd pick country. But there's just something delightfully wonderful about the city at christmastime. Or at least my idea of it. Window shopping, people, carolers on the corner, buying gifts, stopping for a cup of cider. 

But then again, an old country cabin, with quilts that great great grandmothers knitted long ago, and lots of pies and cookies. Where a fire never seemed quite so delightful....

I just can't decide which I like better. What about you? Which would you rather? (Vote on the left side of the page!)

Enjoying your break? Well in case you get bored and have nothing to do....

That's my lovely friend Mikayla. And she's got a blog worth checking out:

http://passionatewhistler.blogspot.com/

What About Thanksgiving?

Sometimes I feel like Thanksgiving is an endangered holiday. It's halloween and people go all out. They hang spiderwebs from the trees, put skeletons on the front porch. Kids get dressed up.... And that's all fun and everything, But what happens after Halloween? Well, in Walmart and my neighborhood, up go the Christmas decorations. But wait, aren't we skipping something here. Isn't there like some holiday in between those two? Oh, yeah, Thanksgiving. That's it.  A whole day is set apart to eat and thank God, and our culture just completely skips over it? Something's got to be wrong with that.  I mean, I love eating--like, a lot. But last time I checked there was plenty I could thank God for too. And I think a specific day set apart to do just that is a pretty good idea. 

     I went to Starbucks the other day and when the guy handed me my drink he said "Merry Christmas!" (At least it wasn't "happy holidays") But I can't remember the last time someone told me "Happy Thanksgiving" and I think that's just kinda wrong. 

   

     Maybe it's just that the year goes by fast enough without getting into Christmas-time too early. But I think Thanksgiving should be a bigger deal than it is. Don't you?

Well, I guess I'm done with all my complaining. Go enjoy your Thanksgiving, and don't rush Christmas! 

Tennessee

Once upon a time, I took a trip to Tennessee. And saw some of the most amazing people ever. We explored old houses, went on walks, rode in tractors, hid from cars, looked through old books, played dress-up... and had an outrageously grand time.

Allyn, Julia, Mikayla, Me, Hannah

Hannah, Mikayla

Hannah, Julia, Mikayla, me

Allyn, me

Julia, Hannah

     

Aren't they just amazing? I love them to death. 

California Trip Post #2

(If you haven't already you might want to read the California Trip Post #1. ) 

We drove back to San Francisco. 

On Sunday we went to Muir woods. If there is a place in this world where elves and fairies live, I'm pretty sure it's in these woods. They named it after the guy who discovered it (or something like that, I wasn't really paying attention the tour guide...) but I think it's a pretty awful name for a such an enchanting place like that. I didn't really take any pictures of it because I knew that a photograph couldn't do it justice. But here is a picture of me in one of the trees. 

Yes, it's huge. But I wasn't really that captivated by the massive trees. There was just something mysteriously enchanting about the place. Anyway, I'll move on. I could talk about it all day and you'd probably still not understand. So you'll just have to go there someday for yourself. 

The rest of the trip can be summed up by mostly pictures. 

One of the Cable Cars you hear so much about.
Notice it's number 16, and this trip was for my 16 birthday.  Kinda cool. :-) 

  

 

The Golden Gate Bridge. It's not really golden, and I was pretty disappointed about that. 

Alcatraz.  

All the windows in this building were filled with really old sewing machines. Awesome right?

And that concludes it. I had a wonderful time, but have decided that the city is not for me. It's fun for a little while, but in the end "there's no place like home." Yes, that phrase is totally cliche, but it's true. 

More blog post soon! I've got some pretty fun stuff to talk about. Like an amazing trip to Tennessee and a really awesome birthday present.

California Trip #1

I'm finally getting around to telling you about my trip. Yeah, yeah, I know... took me long enough, huh? But better late than never, right?

Day 1: 

We flew in to San Francisco, and drove as far as we could in the direction of Yosemite National park before night came upon us.

 

Day 2:

We woke up and drove the rest of the way to Yosemite. The drive was delightful. We passed orchards and vineyards and lovely countryside. After a while the road started ascending and getting pretty windy, and the scenery even more interesting. I was on the edge of my seat anxious to see what was around the next corner. Once we came around a curve and we saw this:

It was a beautiful lake with blue mountains behind it. I've never completely understood why mountains are sometimes described as "blue", but I do now. 

And then we finally came to Yosemite:

 It was amazing, beautiful, exquisite, breathtaking... 

One thing that I found rather interesting was this:

An enormous rock. It's called El Captitan. It's 3,000 feet high, and a favorite challenge for experienced climbers. It would take one of these experienced climbers about 5 to 7 days to climb it. 

Do you see that little white spot to the right of the shadow? Well, that's a person climbing. 

Sometimes, I'd look around me, listening to a tour guide tell me that it all just appeared by chance, and wonder who could actually think that. All that majestic beauty, mountains that made me feel smaller than the tiniest ant, even the little things like how beautiful the sound of water racing over rocks can sound. And this all just happened? I don't think so. 

That's all for now, folks. 

Coming soon: Sarah in the City. 

It's coming, I promise.

Well, you've probably figured out I haven't posted about my trip yet. It's because I left my camera charger at a hotel in San Francisco. :( I did call the hotel and they told me they would send it to me, but I haven't gotten it yet. I will call them today and see what's up.