Christmas Odds and Ends

First item of business, I must apologize. I feel like a jerk. In my post about spending time, I totally forgot to mention some of my readers who do a ton of that for me! (Hi Aunt Kristi! Hi Aunt Kristen! Hi Aunt Carrissa! Hi Aunt Jody!) I love when they show up at our house because it means I can go collect all my dance pictures they haven't seen yet and all my poems or claymations or whatever and they will sit there and compliment me and smile at me and just make me feel like I really am something.

So, again, sorry for not returning the favor and forgetting!!!

Okay, so I know that Christmas is technically over, but too me it goes until New Years. So just bear with me as I stick to the Holly Jolly theme here, on December 26th.

If you've read my Mom's blog, you already know of the tree in my room that me and her have been working on this year.

It's been fun! And it's all been my brilliant mother's idea! It's amazing what a few pipecleaners can do to a room. But I think the funnest part was the Whoville we created this year. It became a process. I glued papers together, and my mother made it into something with sparkles, pipecleaners, stickers, you name it! And it must've been fun because even my little brother Nic joined in. His house (the one with the gingerbread man) though the smallest, was probably the heaviest. The thing was loaded with hot glue. I love that that kid! (In fact, I tell him so every night even though he suddenly acts like I don't exist :)

I plan on eventually adding the Grinch's mountain and a bunch of Whos, but that's next years' goal.

Usually on Christmas Eve night I can't fall asleep. But I'll confess, I was out in about ten minutes after hitting my bed. I did however, wake up at 4:30 that morning for two reasons: I forgot to eat dinner and was hungry, and pure, childish excitement! That and Nic , also unable to sleep, turned on the T.V. in the other room and I thought it was my parents were coming to wake us up to open presents. When I found out what it really was, I fell back on my pillow. There was no way I was going to fall asleep now. Not after that rush of excitement. And then I remembered that I usually read my scriptures in the morning.

I've been commanded my the prophet, the general young women's president, my bishop, my seminary teacher, and my stake president to read my scriptures daily. I replayed the busy events that were about to unfold that day and decided if I didn't read now, they'd never get read.

So, by the light of my cell phone, I decided to read of Christ's birth, determined to find something I hadn't noticed before. And you know what? With the help of prayer, I did.

I always wondered: If there was a big, shiny, new star in the sky, concourses of singing angels, and shepards up and leaving their flocks, how come virtually no one in Bethlehem noticed? The place wasn't that big. And yet, the only people besides the shephards who were aware were the wisemen, who lived in the East.

Then, after a moment of pondering, it clicked. They weren't paying attention. It was a busy time with Ceaser's proclomation, and they were too caught up in their own affairs. I quickly surveyed my own life. Was I the same way? Was I too caught up my own affairs to not notice the miracles? The angels in my life? The bright, guiding stars? The savior?

I determined to be like the wisemen: searching, expecting, and focused no matter how far away I seemed.

A spiritual lesson at 4:30 a.m. in my own bedroom. Maybe those leaders of mine know a thing or two about what they're talking about.