Mmmm Mmmm Christmas.

Siblings in the hottub. Christmas Night

Pumpkin Pie! oh, and Liesa!

Family Portrait:  

Those hats we are wearing come from family British tradition.  "Christmas Poppers"

Top to Bottom, Left to Right, Daddy, Uncle Eric, Brooke, Liesa, Sylvia, Me, Shaw

Christmas Day in Palm Springs.  So much fun to have a spontaneous family adventure.  We opened presents, ate wonderful food, enjoyed the jacuzzi,  played the traditional family game of Taboo.  My dad played!!! When my sister told me my dad said he would play, i asked her if she had him sign a contract.  And she had tried! 

On Boxing day, we all went to Cabazon and went on a 7 person family shopping extravaganza.  Our family moves like molasses.  No one makes any decisions.  And then we had lunch at BJs.  It was great.

Craaazy

Weird People. But they're my people.

Tomorrow. Scratch that. Tonight, we expect snow in Lake Arrowhead.
Some might say, what divine timing! What providence!
A white Christmas!

Not the Tuch household.
Today, Christmas Eve, I got a call on my way home.
"We've decided to use our timeshare, we're going to do Christmas in Palm Dessert"

That's right. We're fleeing the white Christmas.

Truth is, I'm cool with that. I'm excited. We get to do a family vacation of sorts for Christmas! and we haven't had one of those since the Family Vacation Catastrophe of '99. I trust this one will be wonderful. How could it not be! It's Christmas! I love it when plans change in a "spontaneous adventure" sort of way.

Life is what we make it. Make it joyful. Live in the moment.

Merry Christmas Peeps.

creatings nothing new it's just recycling

 

Relient K's New Album 

"The Bird and the BeeSides"

Time and time again, God uses their witty lyrics to speak into my life, to encourage me forward.

---

Where do I go
Where do I stand
Where can I find myself again
Where do I go
If not disappear
Where do I go from here

Tracin'  My steps right back to you
Racin'  The clock to save an hour or two
Facin'  The fact I can't feel a thing
Dealin' With what I can't control
Feelin' Confused 'cause I don't know
If healing Is when you don't feel a thing
------

We all, we all wear dignity
It covers the strong, the weak
We all, we all wear dignity
Even the last, the lost, the least

Step into a spacious place
Where pride and right will give way
To the least of these
To know the face
Of who a man can be

We all, we all wear dignity
God help the blind like me
Finding at last a voice we cry
And see with clear unblinking eyes

-----

Well I found a list of flaws,
That I saw in myself and other people,
And I threw it away because... Bon Voyage

When it all falls apart,
And you can't see the forest for the symmetries.

Isn't it nice to know, that the lining is silver.
Isn't it nice to know, that we're golden.
Yeah we're golden, oh!

-----

Clinging to the remnants of perfection
Like most do after they break it
Not knowing which directions the correct one
Do I discard or remake it


Cause if I don’t know then I don’t know
But I may know someone that knows me more than I
And if I somehow could rest this soul
Maybe control could find its way back to my life

-----

Alright
I'm a human being
Being happy and sane
All human beings
We are made to quit being inhumane

-----

Yesterday was not quite what it could've been
As were most of all the days before
But I swear today with every breath I'm breathing in
I'll be trying to make it so much more

Cause it seems I get so hung up on
The history of what's gone wrong
That the hope of a new day is sometimes hard to see
But I'm finally catching on to it
Yeah the past is just a conduit
And the light there at the end is where I'll be

Now there's nothing left to prove
Cause I'm just trying to be
A better version of me for you

Now I have, all that I could ever need
The confidence of knowing there's still time
Time to make amends and try to build a better me
And to take the right steps as this road unwinds

-----

I've given up on acting like I'm perfect
I advise you all to do the same
Perfection's rare
So the last time I checked
We've all been introduced to feeling ashamed

Let's talk about the way things were
Let's talk about the way things should be
I think I'm certain but I'm not so sure
If I'll turn my back as soon as God lets me

(When me and You, subtract the latter
Equals nothing really matters)

You make me sure, in the midst
Of heartbreak and turbulence
That my spirit soars becacuse its Yours
------

I'm sorry for the person I became
I'm sorry that it took so long for me to change
I'm ready to make sure I never become that way again
Cause who I am hates who I've been
Who I am hates who I've been

-----

You stole so much from me and there is nothing left to take
Save a heart, learn a lesson on how to not make the same mistake
And you may be delirious but that is something that will fade
After you confess that this mess is all something that you made


SOOOO GOOD!

Work sum mo'

Sitting here at work... messy hair and all, waiting for the motion project to export. What fun.

Last night, I decided it would be good to take a break from work.. like a half day sabbath.  But, would you guess? My sleeping schedule is wiggedy wack.  So I stayed up listening to my new music. Best of 2008 (thanks Darin), Jon Troast (thanks Nathan), and Relient K! (thank you God).  A whole post dedicated to Relient K will be soon coming.  I just need ample time to sit through the album.  

Oh look! The Video is done!

Peas.

Luv.

Happynus.

Long Overdue Pictures...

1. Do I even have to mention how cool Kyle and I are?

At Disneyland.

Over Thanksgiving.

2. Beauty.

Union Square.

San Francisco.

3.In an elevator.

What fun.

Too bad about the elevator bouncers.

Hopefully.  Be full of hope.  My blogs will soon be less boring. and more Picturesque.

Christmas Lights

Tonight I walked home from work in the wee hours of the morning...

and at 2am. the stars are brilliant. quite brilliant.  

and  it came to me: they are the true Christmas Lights and God the true decorator.

and it made me grateful: grateful for this place, for my God, for the blessings of my surroundings.

What a clear, beautiful night. 

Better

I've been better.
But today I've been better than I've been.

In the words of Relient K: Who I am hates who I've been.

I know where I've been and look forward to be better days ahead.

I learn to trust that He who began a good work is faithful to complete.  I only wish to be a better me.  Because I haven't felt like me at all.

There's nothing that makes me happier..

--than realizing just how far God has taken me, and just how much He loves me

--than seeing a child's face light up--

--than seeing a need and meeting it--

--than spending an evening in good company--

--than learning more and more of who people really are--

--than hearing the perfect song at the perfect moment--

--than wanting to dance, and feeling like it's okay--

--than acting like a fool and having people enjoy it--

--than feeling like me, and liking it--

----and while I suppose these contradict themselves--some probably make me happier than others--in the moment, absolutely nothing could make me happier----