I am a bit of a contradiction. When it comes to certain areas of life, there’s nothing I love better than trying something new. But when it comes to other areas, I cling to traditions.

I love trying new recipes, finding new songs, writers and artists. I especially love new ways of worshiping – anything that is different from tradition (but rooted in Biblical truth) is fascinating to me in worship. I love worship songwriters who take an old hymn and make it new by adding a bridge or by setting it to a different tune. I love preachers who can take a passage I’ve heard a million times before and bring out a meaning or an emphasis I hadn’t heard before. In these arenas I thrive on discovering the new (or at least the new-to-me).

But I also love a tradition. A few examples: it is tradition that my folks and I must watch the Muppet Christmas carol every year during the Advent season; when I get some time away and spend it with my folks, it is tradition that my Mom and I drive down to Prince Edward County and visit some of my favorite shops in Bloomfield and Picton.

Today, my Mother and I did that very thing. I came home with some new knitting needles and new lace yarn. Sadly, no new silver earrings this time.

I haven’t figured out yet why I love the cutting edge in certain arenas and the dyed-in-the-wool (if you’ll pardon the pun) traditions in others. I guess, as I said – I am just a contradiction!

I love it when people interact with my blog. My friend Sue responded to yesterday’s post and pointed me towards a website called skinnytaste.com. It has all kinds of wonderful recipes AND it lists them by Weight Watchers pointsplus values. Which for me is completely awesome. It is SO helpful to be able to know exactly how any recipe will impact my daily points values.

There are some really fun, really interesting ideas on this site. Even if you’re not interested in doing Weight Watchers, it’s a great resource for some tasty, healthy recipes.

Check it out and enjoy! (And I will do my best to blog about something other than food tomorrow!)

 

In April 2010 I began a weight loss journey. I put it off as long as I possibly could, and then finally started Weight Watchers when I couldn’t stand how I felt and looked anymore. One of my biggest fears about a weight loss program was the thought that I would have to give up all my favourite foods and eat only things that were bland and dull.

This is why I love Weight Watchers. There is literally NOTHING that is NOT on the WW diet. As long as you work your points, you can eat anything. I’ve been out to The Keg and managed to stay within my daily points. I eat chocolate every single day (because, really, a day without chocolate is kind of a waste!).

I have also discovered that there are things I love that I never knew I loved. I have drastically cut down the amount of processed foods I eat, and I think that this has changed my taste buds. 9 months ago I hated sweet bell peppers. Now I’m a total sweet bell pepper addict. It’s a strange day if I don’t eat some pepper…I have even been known to chow down on them the way one would eat an apple.

I have a healthier relationship to food than I did 9 months ago. But just like anyone, I have foods I turn to for comfort. Right now, one of my favourite comfort foods is vegetarian chili. I love the taste and the texture. I love that I can put 1/3 cup of Kraft Tex Mex shredded cheese on top of it.

Today is a cold and somewhat gloomy day in Belleville, and My Mom has come down with a cold. Definitely time for some comfort food. So tonite was a veggie chili night in the Mitchell household.

People often ask me what my recipe is, but I don’t really have one. I buy a bunch of tins of beans (red kidney, chick peas, black eyed peas, black beans – whatever you like), a big bottle of salsa, a tin of refried beans, a packet of chili seasoning, a packet of fajita seasoning, a couple of tins of tomatoes (often the flavoured ones – garlic or black pepper or sweet onion). If I have some on hand, I chop up a couple of sweet peppers and and onion. Throw all of that into a crock pot and turn it on high for about 8 hrs (though you can probably eat it after 4 or 5).

That’s it. Best comfort food ever!

It is the end of a long, and very good day. Today I woke up amongst friends, lead worship with someone I trust, embraced friends I hadn’t seen in a long time, gathered at a table with more friends, spent time driving in the rain, was welcomed home by my puppy who was thrilled to see me, ate with my folks, and spent an evening laughing with even more friends.

It was a very good day, and I am suddenly struck by how very blessed I am.

I read a quote on Pinterest the other day which said “Imagine if you woke up today with only the things that you had thanked God for yesterday.”  The point, of course, being that we don’t thank God enough for the good stuff He brings our way.

So tonite I just want to take a moment to say to God: Thank you for my many blessings. I know that even in listing here the ones I have encountered today, I have only scratched the surface of all I have to thank You for. So thank you, thank you, thank you.

“Every good and perfect gift is from above,
coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights,
who does not change like shifting shadows.”
James 1:17 NIV

So a while back – like, in October – I noticed a post on facebook that said someone had “pinned” something that I had posted using “Pinterest.” I decided to investigate. Turns out, there is a website called Pinterest.com which allows you to ‘pin’ things from all over the internet. The idea is that you make different ‘boards’ according to different subjects (pets, crafts, recipes, etc.) and when you see something you like, you ‘pin’ it to these ‘boards.’

That way, when you sign in to Pinterest, you can see the things that you pinned. Typically your board will have a picture of your choosing and when you click on that picture it will lead you through to the original website (so if you had pinned, for example, an idea of a holiday wreath, clicking on the image of said wreath would take you to either the tutorial to make the wreath, or the place you might buy the wreath, depending on the source).

For the longest time, I didn’t do anything with Pinterest, but then a week or two ago, I got sick. And I was feeling rather grumpy and a little cabin-fever-ish, since I hadn’t been outside very much. I decided to spend some time exploring on Pinterest. So began my obsession.

You see, other pinners can follow you and you can follow them. You can also go to the main page, or pages based on categories and see the sort of things that other pinners have pinned. I have found a tonne of recipes I want to try, knitting patterns I long to knit, ideas for gifts, ideas for Christmas decorating, inspiring quotations/sayings, and the list goes on.

I spent one evening while I was sick looking at Wedding boards that people had put together. I’m not in a relationship, no where near getting married, but my goodness, I itched to make a wedding board. Just because there were SUCH beautiful things to see and imagine.

If you are interested in an invite to Pinterest, just send me a message with your email address. I’d be happy to send one along. Happy pinning, y’all!

I’m not in the mood to write too much tonight, so I thought I would share some photos of my Christmas instead…

 

The shepherds went back to their flocks,
glorifying and praising God for all they had heard and seen.
It was just as the angel had told them.

Luke 2:19

I had every intention of blogging this on Christmas day, but somehow the day got away from me. And then the same thing happened on Boxing Day (which was kind of Christmas Pt. 2 around here with our extended family in town for dinner and gifts).

So here I am, on the 27th of December finally blogging the final blog of my Advent Calendar.

I think this final verse of the Shepherd’s story is so appropriate as Christmas 2011 wraps up. Because of that line “glorifying and praising God for all they had heard and seen.” You see, the Shepherds took this experience with them into the rest of their lives. I like to imagine them sitting on a hill watching over the flocks years later, telling the story again because what they had seen and heard was so beautiful they just couldn’t stop glorifying and praising God.

That’s my hope for me and for you each Christmas. That as we have encountered the birth of Christ once again, as we have sung the songs and heard the stories, we would be changed by it. That what we have heard and seen would be so beautiful that it becomes part of our daily lives – that we go about glorifying and praising God because of it.

Then maybe Christmas 2011 wouldn’t be over. It would instead dwell within us and travel with us each day throughout the year to come until this season rolls round again. That is my prayer for each of us as the days continue to pass by.

They hurried to the village and found Mary and Joseph.
And there was the baby, lying in the manger.
After seeing him, the shepherds told everyone what had happened
and what the angel had said to them about this child.
All who heard the shepherds’ story were astonished,
but Mary kept all these things in her heart and thought about them often.

Luke 2:16-19 NLT

This passage contains my favorite line in the story of Jesus birth. I know it by heart in a different version: “But Mary treasured these things in her heart and thought deeply about them.” It’s such a quiet line. So easily missed. I wonder how much of the story of Jesus’ life, death and Resurrection Mary had figured out. Or did she only have suspicions?

Whatever the case, it’s a great thing to stop and think deeply about Jesus and what his birth means to us. It is such a noisy time of year. I have just lead the first of 3 services that I will take part in tonite. Tomorrow, Christmas Day, is Sunday and so I will lead a service in the morning, too. It is so important to me at this time of year, in the midst of all the noise and bustle, to stop and think deeply about Jesus.

So with that I leave you, to spend some time doing exactly what I have just described. May your Christmas be filled with joy and love. May you be surrounded by those who care most about you. May you be touched by the birth of the tiny baby. And may you find some quiet time to think deeply about these things.

Merry Christmas!