best Christmas song you've ever heard

My sister had no idea I was filming this performance... she thought I was taking a picture. We were in the car, and I didn't think to turn the light on until the second half of the video... oh well.

2009 year in review

I'm a list person.
If I don't put every single thing that needs to get done on a list, it won't happen.
So, I'm once again posting my new years goals to hold me accountable to all of you and to record them for future reference.

But first, let's rewind to last year's goals, and see how we did...

2009 Goals

• Be healthier. (running, eating less junk, taking vitamins... baby steps, ok?)
• I take vitamins! Folic acid (because I'm in my "baby bearing years"), omega 3 fish oil (mostly for my "brain and mood", and because my mom suggested it) and a women's multi vitamin.
• Explore Chattanooga.
• How do you quantify this?? I feel like we know our way around better (cough:David:cough) and have learned more about our city.
• Get involved at Calvary.
• We're involved! We've been volunteering in the children's ministry, we did an 8-week book study, and we're scheduled to start a small group.
• Send birthday cards.
• Fail.
• Make pretty things.
• I made this! It was a lot of work, and I'm really proud of the result.
• Keep in touch.
• Mostly failed on this one too.
• Get a new camera.
• Got this camera on a crazy good deal (thanks, slickdeals.org).
• Talk less, listen more, love and forgive like Jesus.
• A work in progress, always.
• (I did, however, go through a counseling program at a local church. Counseling is awesome! No shame!)

The other goals (that weren't posted on the blog) included:

• Take a trip to Nashville.
• Fail.
• D- be more than halfway done with grad school
• PASS!
• Each of us read 12 books
• PASS! (and a whole blog post to come)
• E- Cook 12 new meals
• PASS!

And now, goals for 2010 (I still can't believe we're almost in 2010...)

• TRAVEL. We have 6 fun trips planned for this year (including our trip to Vegas- that we just got back from- it's not in 2010, but it's close so we're counting it)!!
• FURNITURE. Refinish all of the furniture in our guest room (we've already done the nightstand).
• E- SLALOM. Learn to slalom ski.
• D- GRADUATE. August 8, 2010 at 2pm.
• GET FIT. Join UTC's new Aquatic and Recreation Center. It's cheap for me and free for David.
• READ. D= 4 entire books (no pictures!), E= more than 2009 (!)
• GUESTS. Have 20 overnight house guests (D's idea. He loves guests as much as me.)

2010... bring it on!

12 days of Christmas: ONE

the only one that matters, Jesus.

For unto us a child is born,

to us a son is given;

and the government shall be upon his shoulder,

and his name shall be called

Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God,

Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.

Isaiah 9:6

12 days of Christmas: 2

2. David's version of Christmas

12 days of Christmas: 3

3. Christmas cards

2009

2008

2007

with roommate, Jamie

2006

with roommate, Kara

captain chubby face, Emily

(for some reason I printed approx 238 pictures too many for our cards that year... SO, Kara gets one in her Christmas card from us every year!)

circa 1996

all-around awesomeness.

12 days of Christmas: 4

4. Movies

National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation.

The end.

12 days of Christmas: 5

5. friends and family

no idea what year, babysitter Jeanette

2003, freshman year at Samford friends

2006, me and Greg at Fantasy in Lights

2008, CVP Christmas party

2009, tacky Christmas party

12 days of Christmas: 6

6. Countdowns

I love looking forward to things. I am constantly checking to see how many days until fillintheblank. Obviously, Christmas is the ultimate countdown holiday.

Growing up, I loved lighting the advent wreath at church and home.

This year, one of David's co-workers gave us a German countdown calendar. Fortunately for me, each day has a piece of German chocolate behind it! I LOVE German chocolate, apparently.

12 days of Christmas: 7

7. Presents

Of course, Christmas is about a lot more than what you get,  but come on... it is a fun part!

I have lots of memories of Christmas gifts from over the years, but here are a few that stick out:

I had been eyeing a Winnie the Pooh watch all year and really hoped to get it for Christmas. However, Christmas day came and... ASHLEY got my watch! I was so upset...

Another year, I desperately wanted a California roller skating doll (I found one on ebay!), and low and behold... Ashley got it again. Oh well.

Parents are always hard to shop for, but in 2006 we were on the ball. Ashley, Greg and I had pictures done all together so we could order them for mom & dad for Christmas. We gave them the first part of their gift at Thanksgiving-their Christmas cards printed and ready to mail! They thought that was the whole surprise, but we gave them 2 canvas prints for Christmas, and they were shocked!

It's always fun to find that perfect gift to give the hard-to-shop-for recipient. I'll give a full run-down of gifts from 2009 post-Christmas! I made several gifts this year, and I am so excited about them!

12 days of Christmas: 8

8. decorations


Everyone loves Christmas decorations, and I'm no exception!

2006

my parents' house, Columbus, GA

Currie Way

2007

my Birmingham house, and friends Dana and Sharon

Cincinnati Zoo

2008

my parents' house in Columbus, GA

our house, just getting started on the decor


2009

currently

12 days of Christmas: 9

9. Reading the Christmas story

Until David and I got married, Ashley, Greg and I always slept in the same room on Christmas Eve so we could wake up together and get the morning started. After we roused the parentals (we usually got started pretty early- even as grown-up kids), we all piled onto my parents' bed to read the story of Jesus' birth from Luke's account. Before one gift was opened, we were focused on the true meaning of this holiday. I am so thankful for parents who were determined to keep us mindful of Jesus over and above stockings and presents.

My favorite Christmas-morning-Scripture-reading memory was from 2004. I had just finished my first semester of Greek, and I has asked for a Greek Lexicon for Christmas (dork, I know). My parents gave it to me early that morning and asked me to read Luke 2... in Greek. It was hillarious. No one (including me) had any idea what I was saying, but we'll never forget it. Now every year someone pipes up with "Hey Emily, why don't you read it in Greek?" as a joke.

ha.ha.

12 days of Christmas: 10

10. waffles

Yes, waffles.

They have been a consistent theme in our family Christmas traditions for years now. When we celebrated at Roundhill (my grandparents' house in VA), we always had heart-shaped waffles for Christmas morning breakfast.

Now that we spend the holidays in Columbus, we've made Waffle House part of our events.

You heard me right, we eat dinner on Christmas Eve at the WaHo.

What can we say, the Bourkes love waffles!

12 days of Christmas: 11

11. Christmas Eve Service at Pierce Chapel

One of my favorite things about celebrating Christmas in Columbus is going to the Christmas Eve service at Pierce Chapel. We debate every year about if we should go to the 5 or 7pm service, but we usually go to the 5. Last year we all had the giggles and snickered our way through all of the reverent hymns, but it is so fun to be together. I still get to giddy about Christmas, and that service is the first official event of the holiday for me. We take family pictures in front of the Chrismon tree after we exit the service in "silence" (candles held high in the air, singing Silent Night and playing defense from my siblings who are trying to drip hot wax on each other [ok, I still do it too]).

Amy Grace slept through the whole service and started snoring! It was hillarious.

look who I got to talk to!

Wesley, Craig, stuffed puppy and Amy Grace!!

This totally made my night.

12 days of Christmas: 12

Beginning today, I am going to count down the beloved "12 days of Christmas" with 12 of my favorite things about Christmas!

PS- I learned the real history of the 12 days of Christmas from 2 friends blogs last week! Check them out here and here.

12. matching clothes

One of the Bourke family traditions has always been our Christmas pajamas. We grew up going to my paternal grandparents' house, and I suppose they began the tradition. All the grandkids would get to open one present on Christmas Eve- our matching nightgowns or pjs (some years we even got matching robes too!), and we'd line up on the stairs for a picture (that I wish I had...). SO, even though we are now 24, 22 and 18, my parents have carried on the pj tradition.

ALSO, my sister and I (like most kids our age) were always all decked out in matching, homemade apparel. Christmas-time seemed to be a prime opportunity for some awesome outfits. We had new painted sweatshirts just about every year!

seriously?!

While walking into work this morning (at 7:30), I realized that David and I had gotten our keys mixed up thus, leaving me without a key to my office. SO, I plopped myself on a step outside the building and checked my email, facebook, etc. while waiting for a co-worker to show up.

In the mean time, 2 birds pooped on me.

Proof:

...A lovely way to start my Monday.

reflections.

This is my 301st post. I've been in a bit of a blog rut lately, and in cogitating (today's dictionary.com word of the day) why that might be, I realized my problem.

Let me back up...
the main purpose of this blog is to answer this question:

What do I want to remember about this time in my life?

This blog is my journal/scrapbook all-in-one, and I want it to be worthwhile- for me. Obviously, I'm putting this on the world wide web, so I'm glad for anyone to peek into our lives here also, but this is an exercise in self-examination and remembrance.

One day (God-willing), we will have children, we will move, we will get new jobs, etc. and our lives will change.

So, what is special about now?

• Freedom. Yeah, we have jobs and D has school, but outside of those obligations, we are pretty much free to do whatever we feel like doing when enver we feel like doing it. Honestly, this isn't something I love about our stage in life right now because I get bored very easily. I cannot just sit around watching tv or doing nothing for long periods of time (more than about 1 hr). I like to be busy and productive, but I know I will miss this freedom later in life.
• David being in school. I've said it before, but it's worth repeating- I am so proud of him. He just finished another semester and two more classes, and he's so close to being done (August!). Just so you know, David hates school. He isn't one of those people who just enjoys going to class, but he has SO graciously worked on his MBA. He was unfaltering in his decision to get this degree, because he knows how beneficial it will be for our family down the road. I don't think I'll miss him being gone 2+ nights a week, but I do love the pride I get from seeing him excel.
• Playing with our dog. We love that little guy! Even if he does stay in his cage for the majority of his life, he's one happy pooch. We've heard it from everyone- dogs get the back seat when kids come along (as they should!), so we're enjoying playing with him as much as we can (and no, this is not a pregnancy announcement).
• Eating at Amigos for taco night- and any night. This isn't something that is likely to change any time soon, but when I asked David what he wanted to remember about this time in our lives, he said Amigos. So there.
• Being a part of a new [to us] church. Again, I've said it before, but we love our church. The one part about moving to Chattanooga that was probably the hardest for me was the church bit. I grew up in a wonderful church family, and not having that through college was hard. Part of my "settling down" process was to find a new church family to be a part of. Calvary is becoming that. Granted, there is nothing like going to church where you know everyone- and everyone knows you (and your mom, dad, siblings, etc...)- but the amazing part about starting over is establishing that family for ourselves. We've really been praying for ways to get connected and to meet people at Calvary, and God is answering those prayers!!
• Housekeeping. I bought my first house a couple of months before I graduated from college (a townhouse in Birmingham that we still rent out), but being married and owning a home is a different ball game. We are still learning about how to efficiently and effectively get the chores done and keep our home in good condition. We always will have things to learn, but our next big step is landscaping! Our yard (though now lush with grass) needs some TLC that we plan on paying attention to in the spring.
• Newness. We are still learning so much- about each other, about the Lord, about marriage, about ourselves- and though that will never change, we're relishing in this time of new discovery.

Because of the Lord's great love, we are not consumed, for his compassions never fail. They are new every morning, great is your faithfulness. Lamentations 3:22-23

...And who knows whether you have not come to the kingdom for such a time as this? Esther 4:14

These verses have been on my mind as I consider this time in our lives. God give us exactly what we need for each day, and He has us where he wants us right now.

so many great things!

prepare yourself... this is going to be a long one!

We woke up Saturday morning to a winter wonderland!

I freaked out couldn't wait to get in it, but my midwestern-born husband was less than amused.

(yeah, we are early birds... it was still dark outside when we got up)

beautiful snow!

Saturday morning we [David] drove to Birmingham for the day! We were SO excited that it worked out for us to go to John Lewis' birthday party! We hadn't seen the Barbers since our wedding (remember, the cutest ring bearers ever?)

and it was so refreshing to spend some time with them. These boys are growing like weeds!

John Lewis has always had a heart for the Lord and for other people. One time while I was babysitting for them, Lawson (the middle child) was in trouble for something, but JL asked me "Do you know the story of Jonah?". I was a little taken aback, but I replied that I did know the story. He proceeded with "I think you should forgive Lawson and give him another chance, just like God forgave Jonah."

...crickets...

How could I NOT??

So, for his birthday party (his birthday was actually in August), John Lewis decided he didn't want any presents, but he wanted people to give money to a little boy named Excellence in Cork, Africa. Mindy (the mom) went on a mission trip to Cork earlier this year and met this little boy who needs money to buy his school uniform so he can get food at school. John Lewis sincerely wanted other people to help Excellence instead of buy him any presents. Wow. I just pray that David and I can be parents like Mindy and Joel who raise their kids to be so kingdom-minded! It was such a blessing to babysit them while I was in college (especially since their mom, Mindy babysat for my family as I was growing up!).

It was impossible to take a picture with Fischer (who isn't so much of a baby anymore...).

Lawson

John Lewis (oh, and now Fischer wants to be in a picture!)

Love these boys!

We also got to hang out with Ash, though definitely not for long enough! And later Saturday, we headed to the main event- the purpose for our trip to B'ham was for Matt Francisco and Erin Eades' beautiful wedding! Lucky for us, their wedding was the perfect opportunity for a reunion of many wonderful people. It was so great to see and catch up with so many sweet friends from college. It was particularly special because Kristen had just gotten back from 2 years in Ethiopia last week, and I hadn't seen her since she left! Jenn also just got back from Uganda, so we genuinely had a reunion!

my beautiful friends- and Currie Way housemates (we missed you, Brit!!).

all of us, spring of 2007

David, again, drove us home

proof

to Chatty Saturday night! We wanted to be sure we'd be home, so I could go see the Jenkins girls in the Nutcracker!! Laney was a soldier and Ellie was an angel and bonbon child, and they were positively the cutest kids ever. I told David it is worth every minute of watching them perform, just to see their excited little faces after the show! I say it all of the time, but I LOVE these girls and this family.

Living in Chattanooga has lots of perks, but one of the biggest is being a part of these little lives.

David spent his free time this weekend (when he wasn't driving...) working on a paper, a presentation and studying for a final. Tomorrow he'll be done with another semester of grad school, and enjoying nearly a month off! He is getting so close to being done- he can taste it (so can I)! I am so proud of him for pushing through and getting it done as quickly as possible, especially while working more than full time.

You're the best, babe.

And now, the countdown begins:

17 days until Columbus

18 days until Christmas

20 days until Vegas