The lines have fallen to me in pleasant places; Indeed, my heritage is beautiful to me. ~ Psalm 16:6 nasb

Monday, December 26, 2016

He is Born

Christmas Day.

Our day of celebration was spent at Jeff's townhome.




A few of us brought gifts, even though we never did an official grab bag or anything.  Jake bought Thomas a pack of Monster--and wrapped it in baby shower wrapping paper...





We got Mom a pair of (hopefully) comfy and warm slippers.


I bought Mom and Char a few goodies from work.


Mom got Dad this weird contraption that we all had fun talking about until she told us what it was--a finger massager.





Our traditional family Christmas picture! 

Merry Christmas to you!


Back to life,
Christine

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Saturday, December 24, 2016

December in Photos

Here's the entire month of December up until Christmas...

Thomas and I went to Trader Joe's to stock up for Christmas prep, and we found a chocolate bar.  A really huge chocolate bar.  Two kilos, to be exact.  Of course I bought it.  It was, after all, just one chocolate bar.


For my work Christmas party at the beginning of December, I had promised on multiple occasions to bake my cake.  So I did. Here's the recipe, in case you wanted it.


December 4 -- our first snow!  The first snow is always the most exciting.  (The last snow is the second-most exciting.)


Fernando left for Knoxville, Kentucky on December 5.  He spent two weeks there in training to be a full-fledged field service technician.  No-- is really loving him so far, and I know Fernando will quickly pick up the technology in the high-speed lamination industry.  He has such a big, sexy brain!

I brought home the rest of my cake from our work Christmas party.  Yeah, my co-workers complained.  But my guys were complaining more loudly, and I have to live with them.


December 9 -- Manicotti Day!  Mom and I kept things simple and made a beautiful batch of Christmas dinner manicotti.


December 11 -- at a Christmas party that I attended where my parents and my younger brother were also invited.  I missed Fernando, but we had a blast together with the other guests.  Two piano guys (Duelling Pianos) played music all night, and dancing broke out; I got Dad and Mom to dance together!  It was awesome.


Random photos of me while Fernando was gone.  I like to have the guys take my picture so I can text them to Fernando so he doesn't forget what I look like.  Or that he has a wife.  :)



I throw some goofy ones in for good measure.


December 18 -- Once Fernando was home, we really just wanted to relax together, because we knew he was flying right back out on Monday.  But, friends invited us to a restaurant for dinner and they wouldn't accept a no, so we ended up having a great meal with them.  It was bitter cold that Sunday, too, and I ended up taking a picture of our frozen car, dirt-spattered and icicle-hanging, in the restaurant parking lot.


December 19 -- At an ungodly hour, I drove Fernando to O'Hare for his next trip.  On the way home, I saw, in person and for the first time, a sun dog!  I took an exit before my usual exit (and one that saves time--Fernando's trick!), since it goes by/through a forest preserve.  I pulled over in a parking lot, positioned the tree in the sun's line of sight, and got this beautiful image of my very first sun dog.  They generally occur shortly after sunrise and at super cold temperatures--it was about 11 below when I took this, I think--and they are much more magnificent in real life than in a photo.


December 21 -- New hair style day!  I got my hair cut, colored, and styled by the daughter of our beauty specialist.  I had it done in the morning, then drove up the street to work in the afternoon.  Andrea (our beauty specialist) took these pictures of me.


A lady gushed over my hair, so I gave her Ali's number and she made an appointment on the spot!


December 22 -- Fernando came home from his most recent trip, and Thomas and I drove to pick him up.  Thomas forgot to fill the gas tank, and we ended up circling around and around and around...  So once we picked up Fernando, we drove to the O'Hare Oasis on I-294 and filled up the tank.  It's so good to have Fernando home for just a little bit at Christmastime!


December 23 -- Fernando was coming to pick me up from work when Arabelle (my BMW) had a radiator burst and overheated.  The night ended up being a time of me shopping in my store while Danny and Thomas drove to meet Fernando, then Danny driving to my work to pick me up and bring me back to the parking lot of Our Lady of the Woods where Fernando pulled in.  Then, it was a tow truck pick-up and driving home, and trying to figure out how to get our BMW repaired.


Finally, the day before Christmas came and I found myself baking bread!  I had made a double batch of cinnamon rolls, which also means making two loaves of bread (my recipe makes enough dough for the equivalent of four loaves of bread).  Mmmm, warm bread with butter, all melty and delicious!


That's my December!  It has flown by in a flash, I can't believe it's Christmas, and the coming of a new year!!


Back to life,
Christine

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Wednesday, November 30, 2016

Celebration

The Lord's lovingkindnesses indeed never cease,
For His compassions never fail.
They are new every morning;
Great is Your faithfulness.

Lamentations 3:22-23 NASB


Christmas is a time of longing, and waiting--with the sure knowledge that it is coming and nothing will stop it.  It's not faith, because we know it will happen.  We celebrate the waiting and longing for a Savior, knowing it has already happened and we'll get to celebrate soon, on that designated day.  In light of this knowing it will happen, I post this Our Journey post.

Celebration

Several weeks ago, Fernando went on a job interview, then got in the Suburban and started driving home.  As soon as he was on the highway, his mobile phone rang.  He answered (Bluetooth), and a perky lady started talking to him about how she was in possession of his resume, forwarded to her from another company he had applied for but wasn't quite a match.  That human resources manager had forwarded it to her, thinking he may be a good match for that company.  So she called.

Fernando scheduled, then held, a phone interview with her.  And then, a face-to-face interview at No-- in Schaumburg.  Everyone seemed to really like him!  They gave him a tour of the building and each department, had him talk to human resources about benefits, and introduced him to lots of people.  They scheduled a follow-up phone interview, then a background check and drug test.  And then Fernando waited.  And waited.

He called/emailed back once or twice, but didn't hear.  Then, finally, the HR lady got back to him--they were waiting to hear back from Fernando's references!  We thought he'd have this job, but oh, the waiting was interminable.

Finally, on a Friday, he received a phone call from J.  She scheduled a phone call on Monday at 1pm, at which they would formally present their offer to Fernando.  We knew no matter the terms, we would accept.  There was no other choice.

On the same Friday, Thomas received a phone call.  FF-- was looking for a diesel mechanic apprentice, and could he come in for an interview at 1pm on Monday?  So now there were two things to look forward to on Monday at 1pm.

Monday came, 1pm came, and Fernando received his offer.  It was a solid, good offer, and he accepted it. 

Then we waited to hear from Thomas; we waited all afternoon.  My parents arrived; we were going out to dinner with them.  We told them that this dinner would now be a celebration, with Fernando's new job.

Still no word from Thomas.  So we went to dinner.  I finally texted him, and found out that he finally came home.  This could be a good thing, I thought.

Upon returning home, Thomas told us the reason he was gone all afternoon--he accepted their job offer and was busy filling out forms and driving to get a physical and a drug test.

Our celebration was doubled; it was almost too much to handle in one day.  Almost.

I'll leave this story here, short and simple.

As we approach the celebration of our Savior Jesus, come to save us from our sin, our hearts are full.


Back to life,
Christine

Read previous segments here:

The Beginning
The Injury
The Furnace
The Waiting
Employment
The House
The Phone Call
The Truck
The Car
The Business
Nightfall
The Gift
Eight Days
Broken Path


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Sunday, November 27, 2016

Christmas is Coming

November 27.

On a cold, spitting-rain afternoon, the guys indulged my desire for a Christmas tree.











It's a beautiful tree, and once its branches settle down I'll decorate it.  Now to wait...


Back to life,
Christine

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Friday, November 25, 2016

Thanksgiving

Our Thanksgiving, from prep to celebration, in pictures.

Making pie.

Cutting bread for stuffing.
 
Joe helps, too!

All the pie!!



Fernando is the Master Carver.

There's Dad, doing his thing--helping out by tasting the turkey!


I had Mom press the shutter release this year.

This happens a lot.

Pie, pie, pie.


Back to life,
Christine

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