I Wrapped It Up and Sent It

     We had a very merry Christmas over here at the Peterson house.  I didn't take as many pictures as usual (except for a few brief moments where I tried to make up for my lack of pictures).  Also, I hope you enjoy the throw back to the '80's as much as I did.  I recently found out that one of my favorite Christmas songs is originally from the 1980's and written by George Michael, who also wrote another of my favorites, "Faith"--a song that can put me in an extremely good mood no matter what the situation might be.

Title: "Last Christmas" by WHAM! (aka George Michael and Andrew Ridgeley)

Do You Recognize Me?

     MERRY CHRISTMAS EVE!!! Hope you're getting to spend your day with your loved ones.  I'm super excited about people opening their gifts from me.  This year, I think I might be more excited about giving gifts than receiving them.

Title: "Home for the Season" by Neil Halstead

Decorations of Red

     It's tradition in my family to make a Red Velvet Cake during the Christmas holidays.  Either it's for the Peterson-Cox family get together that usually happens before Christmas or my dad's birthday on New Year's Eve.  This year was no exception.  My parents made one for Christmas and after assembling the layers, these little guys were left out.

Title: "Blue Christmas" by A Fine Frenzy

Santa's Coming to Town With Sequins in His Hair

     We had a visitor at the office today.  Adorable Miss Tuesday spent the day being loved on, sneaking treats, and just generally bringing joy (and the Christmas spirit) to the office.  She even had a Christmas themed collar.

Title: "The Christmas Song" by The Ravonettes

I Never Wanna Go Back Again

     When I was younger, I was some what of a selective snob.  What is a selective snob you ask?  Someone who has a very high opinion of their own opinion about certain subjects.  My particular selective snobbery revolved around two things, the two essential m's of life:  movies and music.  I did not like old movies.  I refused to watch the original three Star Wars because of the horrible technology (keep in mind this was in the '90's, so it wasn't like the technology I was completely believable either, but I had my standards).  For some reason, the newer the movie the better I assumed it would be.  Same with music, especially Christmas music.  I'm not sure when I decided I did not like traditional Christmas songs, but somewhere in grade school I decided that the only songs I'd listen to that talked about Christmas had to be original or at least non-traditional.  I blame the O.C.'s Chrismukkah mix (Mix 3, in case you want to look it up).  I even wrote a MySpace note/blurb/blog or whatever you want to call it about how I'd listen to this non-traditional Christmas music all year long.  I might have been a little obsessed, but in my defense it was a spectacular mix.
     While I have a newfound respect for the classics, in both the movie and music category, my pulse races when I find a wonderful new and original Christmas song.  I want to share it with the world or listen to it over and over again (I usually end up doing both).  You've already heard/seen some of these songs in the videos I post every day, but I thought I'd share the whole playlist now.  I created this playlist for Click's blog, but I wanted to share it with you on here as well.  I've been singing these songs all month long or at least they've been either stuck in my head or playing downstairs in the kitchen.  As my mom pointed out, they're all upbeat and peppy (or at least the tunes are), which is nice when you're trying to get into the Christmas spirit.  (This is the first time I've had a job during the holidays.  It's been weird that I'm still working and it's so close to Christmas.  It makes Christmas seem that much further away.)

Listen here or on Spotify.

Title: "Maybe Next Year (Xmas Song)" by Meiko

A Long Road into a Long December

     I've been knitting my poor little hands into a freak-out (aka they're now feverish, a little swollen, and angry at me).  While I know I probably should give them some rest, I can't help but enjoy knitting (and crocheting which seems to be a little easier on my joints).  Yesterday, I ran into a snag after I had completed a good amount of work--I was using the wrong stitch.  Instead of knitting, I was purling.   I know you wouldn't think that it would make that big of a difference, but you could obviously see a line where I had been doing it right and then when I switched stitches.  Plus upon further inspection, I had dropped at least one crucial stitch that could possibly have unraveled down the whole length of the scarf.  I'm not sure what I did wrong, but obviously it was something.  So I "frogged" which just means that I took the whole thing apart and then picked up a row like 50-60 rows down (maybe that's an exaggeration, maybe it's not; there was a ton of yarn).  I've tried this before and not done so well.  The tricky part is picking the stitches back up and the scarf pattern included a yarn over after every stitch so I had to not only pick up the loop it made I had to make sure to pick up the correct extra yarn.  This time I did really well.  I'll post a picture of the completed scarf once I'm finished.  It's not perfect, but it's the thought that counts, right?

Title: "Carry Me Home" by Hey Rosetta!

Every Single Time That You Shake It You'll Make It So Beautiful

5 things I'm thankful for:

Got my blood work back, I'm pretty much normal

(well, my tests came back normal)

Willy's HOME
Which also means that we got to finally finish our Christmas card
(here's an outtake from the first "photo shoot")

Over the weekend, I got to visit with my Grandmother down in Oxford
(and my Aunt and Uncle who are not pictured)

Oscar is starting to somewhat get along with the Kitty
(He keeps trying to play with Dante by nipping and barking at him, but Dante mostly ignores him)

Finding a little something to distract me from everything
(pass the time and just something I love to do in general)

Title: "Snow Globe" by Matt Wertz

I'm Waiting on a Sign

     Through a complete accident today (aka Twitter) I found this amazing NEW CD that was released TODAY (well, yesterday) of Christmas songs that are either original compositions or new versions of older hits.  Basically, Paste Magazine took a bunch of amazing artists and got them to record songs of their own for Christmas and released a new CD.  You can read more about the specifics here.  But you also get a super awesome, super FREE Christmas mix as a result.  You can listen to the whole CD before you download (to download all you have to do is enter your email address and your postal code).  Feel free to leave a tip for the artist, if you'd like.
     This evening a good many of the ladies from the church came over for some fellowship, good food, and some much needed words.  I was reminded that God uses everything for good which is a really nice thing to hear someone else say.  It's one thing to tell yourself that over and over and it's another to hear someone else say it.  Somewhat like it's one it's one thing to tell yourself that you can cook well and it's another to hear someone else say it.  Validation.  We all need a little validation now and then.  And a reminder that most of the emotions and desires we have aren't just our desires, they're human emotion and desires.  There's nothing new under the sun.  Nothing I have felt that you haven't. Most importantly there is nothing that either of us have felt that Jesus didn't feel while he was on Earth.

Title: "Tell Him I'm Not Ready" by Brettan Cox

These Moments Are the Only Gifts We Need...

     ... But just in case, you need tangible gifts here are some ideas.

1. ASOS Fur Ears Cossack Hat, $21 (for the Foxy Lady)
2. Royal Flush Heart Hair Pins, $12 each (for the Queen of Hearts)
3. Daiene Velvet Bow Belt in Light Coral, $25 (for the Dainty Missus)
4. Drinking Buddy Wine Charms and Stopper Set, $12 (for everyone because no one like to drink alone)
5. Guitar Pick Punch, $30 (for the Rock God who tends to lose everything)
6. ASOS Double Buckle Retro Satchel, $44 (for the businessman, or woman, who enjoys nerdy chic)

Title: "In the Morning" by Jack Johnson

Do We Ever Really Know?

5 things I'm thankful for this week

My parents.

They are always there for me, especially when I'm not feeling so well.

(And they listen to me whine and complain about my ills, plus are way more patient than I would be.)

Christmas.

It's in the air.

(It's even got the puppies excited! I'm especially grateful I'm not having to decorate my own place with my own tree.)

Christmas parties.
Good friends, good food, good fellowship.
(Do I need to say more?)

(Photo Credit Clockwise from Top: One, Two, Three, Four)

Christmas songs.
Finding new Christmas songs to listen to is challenging and rewarding because you can listen to them over and over again the whole season long.
(Did I mention I somewhat liked Christmas?)

Strength.
I'm thankful that God has given me the strength to carry on because he and I both know if I had to rely on myself alone I would not be able to get out of the bed in the morning.

Title: "How Long" by Julia Stone

Doing the Best We Can

     I'm worn down and exhausted.  I fell asleep Tuesday night with my light on (the one right beside my bed and in my eyes) and reading (at a ridiculously early hour).  Tuesday I also went to the doctor where it was confirmed that I am probably having some kind of auto-immune flare up.  The only official diagnosis I have as of right now is Raynaud's phenomenon (basically my toes turn a purple/blue color a good bit of the time and are freezing!), but we're waiting on the results of my blood tests to see if it is caused by something else.  Scary fact, test results for things such as Lupus and arthritis can come back negative until they don't.  The scariest part about that is I had just figured that if they tested me for those things and they came back negative it meant I didn't have it period.  (And if I'm exhibiting the same symptoms as before then it doesn't quite make sense to me that I would test negative one time and positive the next, but I think all of the autoimmune diseases are kind of wishy-washy at best.)  So if I miss a few posts now and then, I apologize ahead of time.  I'll try my best post every day,  but I never want this to become a place where I gripe and complain and right now that about all I feel like doing--either gripe or sleep (I won't turn that down either).  

     I'm listening to new Christmas music right now (picking out my favorite for a December playlist) which is putting me in a better mood.  Speaking of Christmas, I got to go shopping for a little girl in Old Navy and they have the cutest clothes!  They even have skinny cords.  I'm pretty sure if I have kids they are going to be just a little mini-me.  It's going to be awesome.

Title: "By the Horns" by Julia Stone

We Can Sleep When January's Here

     Weird fact number one about myself.  I don't like Thanksgiving.  Don't get me wrong, I love the idea behind Thanksgiving, the whole counting-your-blessings thing not the forefathers-and-indians-first-meal thing.  Don't even get me started about how things were always and will be always an us versus them mindset.  It's part of the sinful world, but the "settlers" of North America weren't exactly kind to the existing inhabitance to the land.  (Because "we" know better than "them.")  From this day and age we look back on the "glory years" but they're only glorious because they didn't happen to us (or even if they did, we only see the good parts not the good parts with the bad mixed in).   Sin didn't just stop happening because America was founded.  Okay, so done with my political, not so political rant.  Back to the original topic.
     I'm not a fan of Thanksgiving because of the food.  Any side dish you might think to make for a typical Thanksgiving feast, I don't like it.  I don't like the smell, the texture, anything about it.  I'm not going to make it for you, but I will suffer through cleaning it up--you just might owe me something big.  I love the decorations and the idea of it, but just not the actual meal itself.  When I grow up and have my own house/family, I'm going to figure out a way to have Thanksgiving without a tradition meal.  I've been thinking through some ideas but I haven't come up with anything solid as of yet, but I will.
     For Christmas dinner we have steaks--and I get to have my little piece of meat wrapped in bacon--so I love Christmas.  Plus the whole giving and receiving presents--giving is just as much fun, especially planning out what you're going to give people (because it's never about them, it's about you).  I love Christmas music.  I would say that it's my favorite kind of music, but really it's just my favorite kind of seasonal music, as opposed to Easter music, St. Patrick's Day music (though St. Patty's music is a close second), Halloween music and Valentine's Day music. Anyway, I could have sworn I had already written a blog about it because I'm partial to "contemporary" Christmas music (or just original songs).  I have a newfound affection towards the oldies, but I love the songs that I've never heard of before.  It's strangely hard to find.  Jack Johnson's record company (Brushfire Records) has released two compilations of original Christmas songs from their recording artists (one in 2008 and one in 2011).  Once I find a CD I play it over and over again because I love each song.  We'll see what new ones I can find this year.  If you know of any I'd love to hear any helpful tips.
     Basically this whole post was just so I could get to the simple reason why I'm already posting Christmas songs as my song of the day.  It's because I want to like Thanksgiving, but I'm already so over November in general so Christmas here we come!

Title: "I Bet On Flying High" by Matt Costa

(off This Warm December, a Brushfire Holiday, Vol. 2)