This is what we do at work when the servers are down

I taught Darlene & Miriam the gratitude dance! Admit it, it makes you smile!

Miriam trying to act like she knows how to play that "thing" (I don't even know what it's called - baby guitar?)

Mimi & I raided Kristi's desk and had an impromptu concert. I think we were singing Jingle Bells. Oh my, what a day! (Look at her face!)

Very unimpressive post but lots of fun!!!

This is why I brought a stack of work home with me tonight.

New Mini Album & Lunch

Last night I stayed up late making a paper bag mini album for Nicole's pregnancy. I titled it "GREAT EXPECTATIONS". I am pleased with the way it came out & I think she liked it. I tried to get over to give it to her early but Darlene & Jesse were in meetings until noon & I couldn't leave. Poor Nicole was so hungry and wanted to eat. Jesse got a rare and fabulous idea to take Darlene & I to lunch so we suggested Nicole come along. Darlene & I swung around the front and picked Nicole up - she looked so cute with her little belly starting to pooch out I had to take a picture of her.

Here is the album I made with 4 paper lunch bags. I staggered them and cut them to size. There are 3 pockets for pictures and journaling. I set up several spots for pitures.

I made a calendar and circled her due date and titled it. "Coming soon to a hospital near you!"

One of my favorite pages is for her to put a sonogram picture on. The caption says

"There's love in my belly!"

She was so sweet and posed for a photo for me. Isn't she a pretty girl?

Jesse being a total goof ball. He is such a great boss - I am so blessed!

LUNCH WITH GOOD FRIENDS

Miriam left for Brazil today so we decided to get together with Kelly for lunch to say good bye. We don't get to see Kelly much so it is always a treat when we get together. We laughed so hard that I am sure people were wondering what we were drinking! Miriam was a little nervous about being gone for a whole month without Ely and is also concerned that she may get sick while traveling. We prayed for safe travel and fun times for her and her family.

Mimi & her buddy Darlene

Good Friends

This is a straw but looks like I disconnected my oxygen tube.

Christmas Sock Tuesday

Working at a church, it is easy to get so busy making sure everything is done for those we minister to that we sometimes forget to stop, catch our breath and enjoy the season. So, I declared this past Tuesday "Christmas Sock Tuesday" at work. I sent out an email and told everyone to wear their best Christmas socks to our meeting on Tuesday and if they didn't have any to go out and buy some. I sweetened the pot with the promise that prizes would be awarded. There were a few party poopers but for the most part we had a great turn out. TJ & John were the 2 brave men who strutted their stuff with some mighty festive socks. (loved the toe socks Teej!) Rachel, who works from home sent in her entry via email as you can see from the picture above. We won't even talk about Mary's socks!

Pastor & Greg were running late to the meeting so we started the fun after we confirmed neither of them were participating (big surprise!). It took about 15 minutes to model our socks, talk a little trash about whose were the best and give 3 prizes away. (to be fair and avoid hurt foot feelings, we had a drawing for the prizes)

When I pulled the first name out of the hat, I saw John was written on the paper. I just started to say "John", Joy thought I was saying her name and started screaming! I had to disappoint her and tell her it wasn't her. Oddly enough, the next name I pulled out of the hat was Joy! I said her name and she just sat there with a blank look on her face. It was too funny. As you can see we had a good laugh over it.

Concordia's New Sanctuary

For the past 13 months or so I have patiently watched as our beautiful new sanctuary has been built. The staff had a tour in July while I was on vacation. I haven't had any other opportunities to tour the church until today. Blake Lavender, a friend of Matthew's is interning with Joeris Contractors and he told me a few weeks ago he would love to take me on a tour. What a sweet boy! I gathered up my girlfriends Darlene & Miriam and headed over after lunch today. We were wowed with it all. They were installing the carpet and finishing up the concrete work. The concrete will be stained this weekend and the pews are arriving on Monday. It is really looking like a church! The photo below is of the 2500 pound steel cross that is hanging over the massive alter area. the workers at the bottom of the picture give you an idea of just how big the area is. There are automatic black out shades above the cross and around the upper windows that can be closed for presentations. The stained glass windows are from the original church on Basse Rd. They are so beautiful.

The glass company is finishing up the final window work. This picture is a view of the narthex from our court yard. It will be so nice to have a narthex again & it is BIG. Mike is looking forward to it from an usher's perspective. He won't have to stand out in the cold breezeway on wet, windy, January mornings.

I took a lot of other great photos but I'm not sure how Pastor Tucker would feel about me showing them so I will have to keep them a secret for now.

Last night they lit the cross for a short while for troubleshooting and training. It was causing quite a specticle along 1604. You could tell people were stopping to look at it. I got goose bumps when I saw it. Not the best picture ......

Thanks Blake! We had a great tour. WHO is that man???

I'm a little disappointed i didnt get to wear a hard hat though!

What's missing in this picture?

Today I was out of the office running an errand up to the admin building when I saw that Tiny Tots had their pumpkin patch set up where they take pictures of all the kids. I have always loved the set up that they create for the photos and decided this year I was going to get my buddies in the business office to join me for a photo. By the time everyone got a spare minute and we went over there all the pumpkins were gone! There were 4 lonely bales of hay and that was it. The parents and kids were leaving for the day and each of them was leaving with one of "our" pumpkins. So needless to say, our pumpkin patch photo is missing the very important pumpkins. Darlene, Miriam and myself smiled for the camera anyway. Next year we will get an earlier start. Snow day is in December!

Thursdays are looong days!

Thursday is a day that I usually dread but ends up being so fulfilling for me. Mike and I try to start Thursday by meeting for a cup of coffee in the morning. Since he works nights we don't get to see each other as much as we would like to so our short mornings together are a great way to start my day. He works so hard these days that I sometimes wonder if he is trying to kill himself before retirement! He has worked for HEB for almost 37 years and we both look forward to the day that he can say "so-long" to driving a truck and we can call the mountains of Colorado home.

After our coffee date I head to work for a full day at Concordia, then at 5:00 I start my volunteer work for Celebrate Recovery. CR is my very favorite ministry. It is a Christ centered 12-step program for anyone with a hurt, habit or hang up. Many people have the misconception that CR is only for people with addictions. It is that and so much more! There is something in this program for everybody and I pray it continues to grow at Concordia. I have met some true friends at CR and we are a family. We open the kitchen for dinner at 5:45 (tonight we had a cookout). It is a great time to fellowship. At 7:00 we have large group worship in the Sanctuary with great music and teaching by one of our gifted pastors. We then break up into small share groups for an hour and then all meet back for coffee at Solid Rock Cafe afterwards. I don't get home until almost 10:00 but I always feel so good after an evening at CR. I am closer to God than I have ever been and I have learned so much about forgiveness. I have also learned that "recovery" is a life long process and I won't be finished until the day I face Jesus Christ. If you'd like to come sometime, just let me know!