Music Advent Calendar - Merry Christmas Darling

Merry Christmas Darling.../dreamy sigh. This song is dedicated to all of those friends and family that I can't be with this Christmas. I want to wish my Mom and Dad, Alex, Bailey, and Michael, Aunt Beth, as well as all of my in-laws, a very Merry Christmas. I can't spend Christmas with any of you this year and I just want to say that I love you all and I miss you.

There are also so many friends that I wish I was spending time with too. I am not going to name names because I don't want to forget anyone. lol You all know who you are. :) I would love to have one year when I could gather all of my family, and my friends (who are my extended family), to have Christmas with Andrew and I; I guess I have to start playing the lottery. That would be the most awesome Christmas ever. /let down sigh...Until then just know that I love you; I wish you a very Merry Christmas and a blessed New Year.

Sending Christmas Wishes,
Jessy <3

A Day of Silence

Today is the blogger day of silence for the victims of Newtown so I will only post once but I have a song that I want to share. I had a different song picked out for today's Music Advent Calendar, but this one seemed more fitting for a day of silence. Casting Crowns takes a classic song and makes it truly beautiful.

Peace on Earth is something that we strive for but like recent events prove, the Earth may never attain real peace. This song says, "There is no peace on earth...For hate is strong and mocks the song of peace on earth, good will to men."

Even though there may be no peace on Earth this song also holds a promise that says, "God is not dead, nor doth He sleep. The wrong shall fail, the right prevail with peace on earth, good will to men." Only God is strong enough to give the peace that passes all understanding. I don't know why such horrendous things happen but one thing is for sure, God always uses everything for good. Even in the darkest hour, He gives us a glimmer of hope and love.

Today I pray for the people of Newtown, I pray that God will give peace to those families that are without their children this Christmas. My prayer is that God will take this horrible situation and use it for good and my hope for you is that you will remember what Christmas is really about. Put the Christ back in Christmas this year; hold your family tighter, show love to others, and open your heart and mind to what God has to show you.

 Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. 
Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid.
John 14:27

With Love, 
Jessy <3 
 

101 Progress - August 2012

Here's what I did in August 2012

~ Blogged about my 101 progress, obviously! ;) 
~ Wrote a letter to a friend/a different friend.
~ Finished Reading the following book(s):
       The Host

~ Things fell apart with the book club meeting this month but I did create a blog for us and have already started next month's book. :) Hopefully I'll finish this month's book quickly so I can read more than one book this month. :)

~ Still writing in my journal albeit not as much this month but still writing.
~ Counted my pencils/pens; I'm at 269 - 16 more than last month! I bought 12 (they were Muppets and Icee pencils; too cute to pass up) and I found a few around my house. Some them were pens too.
         Funny story for one of the pens. Andy and I went out to lunch and the pen that the guy gave us to sign with said "The Pen has been stolen from: Douglas Pest Control Inc." Now I know that it was prolly one of those pens that was made to look like it was stolen, but it was still fun to "steal" a "stolen" pen. But if anyone asks, just tell them that I accidentally forgot and walked away with it. ;)

~ Counted my nail polish; I'm at 77!! - 5 new ones and I got all of them for FREE!!! I got a magnetic one from my mom (YAY for packages!!), I got 2 bottles of Essie as Klout perks and I got 2 for .033 cents a piece (which is free in my book) from Julep. I'm not sure how long this is going on but if you sign up to be a Julep Maven and enter in the code PENNY you will get your first Julep Maven box for one penny. If you don't want to continue receiving Julep boxes just cancel your account after you receive your first box. :) Click HERE to learn more and sign up. :)

~ Found jewelry. I don't know if I'll ever find it all. But I found some and once it's all organized and in my jewelry box I'll count this one as completed. lol
~ Pedicure of the Month - It was the Olympics so of course I had to do something fun for that! ;)

~ Song of the month: I haven't found a specific song for me this month, so I think I will dedicate this month's song to my Grandma (Mom-mom) who passed away on August 1st 2007. There are two songs that remind me of her: Alexander's Ragtime Band and Flight of the Bumblebee. I found a really good video for Flight of the Bumblebee so we'll go with that one. :)

Oh Blogger, How I Love You

Oh Blogger, How I love you. 

You always to listen to my woes;

But you also never seem to mind if I talk about my toes. 

You never get upset with me when I don't blog as often as I should;

Even if you asked me to leave, you know I never I would.

Oh Blogger, How I love you. 

You always hear me out;

You patiently listen to me, even when I shout.

You've helped me learn to use my voice;

You've also given me friends who listen, because they have no choice. ;)

Oh Blogger, How I love you.

You've been with me through thick and thin;

But you also let my friends comment and bring their sunshine in.

You are always there to hear me, to celebrate and cheer;

I can't believe that today I can celebrate you being in my life for a year.

Happy Blogaversary!!!

Your Corney Little Poet,

Jessy <3

P.S. This little poem is really about all of you! Thank you for listening to me. This blog has given me an outlet to express some of my emotions that otherwise would've been bottled up. I want to thank my friends that encouraged me to start a blog. I had always thought about writing a blog, but never considered my life something worthy enough to write about. So thank you for the encouragement. Here's to the next year, I can't wait to see what life has in store! :)

In Memory of Michael Elm

No, Michael Elm is not a family member, a friend, or even an acquaintance; he is a stranger to me. I never met him and I didn't even know his name before October 17th, 2011. Michael was a soldier in the US Army and he gave his life for his country on October 14th, 2011.

I have the privilege of knowing Michael's aunt and uncle, both of whom are very dear to my heart. I went to Michael's Celebration of Life on Sunday to give them my condolences and my support. I have found that you can learn a lot about someone who you've never met just by hearing all of the stories about their life through their friends and family.

Michael was very loved. He was funny and witty and did extraordinary things with his life. He was very close to his family. He knew how to have a good time. He loved Peanut M&M's. He stood for what he thought was right and never wavered. He died at the age of 25 but he lived far beyond his years. He was a true solider to the end and from what I've heard, Michael wouldn't have had it any other way.

Early last week, I found myself frustrated with the fact that our soldiers are still over in Afghanistan. I thought about how this could've been avoided if he were here on American soil instead of over seas. But after hearing about how much he loved the Army and about how joining shaped Michael's life and made him the man that he was, somehow I'm not as frustrated as I was a week ago.

I have a lot of respect for all of our soldiers and their families. I can't imagine what it would be like to live with the "what if" scenarios that they all have to live with on a daily basis. It takes a lot for parents and loved ones to let their soldiers go and fight for our freedom; knowing that they might not return. But our world is a changed world, a better world, because our soldiers are willing to fight and stand for what they believe.

Michael may be fallen but he will not be forgotten. His life, his stories and his humor will continue to be lived out in everyone's memory of him. I may not have known Michael personally, but I can tell you one thing, I will never look at bag of Peanut M&M's the same way ever again.

RIP Spc. Michael Davis Elm (1985 - 2011) ~ Fallen but not Forgotten

Channel 12 News Story

Channel 15 News Report w/ Video

Memories, Memories, Memories

This post is dedicated to two extraordinary women. Both of whom touch many lives and will be remembered for all that they did, how they lived and by all of the memories that they gave to us.

Today is a sad day for the Pearmain family. I was told that my great grandmother, on my mom's side, passed away last night. Beth Walters was a great woman who was very sweet and spunky and she will be very missed. She just celebrated her 90th birthday in April. I really wish I had been able to go and see her on her birthday but was unable to go to her birthday party. I really hate living so far away from my family. Even though she was 90, Grandma Walters was very sharp until just within the past few days.

There was another woman who also touched so many lives, and we are remembering her today because it was 4 years ago today that she passed away. That woman was Mom-mom (Sandie Gerber, my mom's mom). She had diabetes and suffered from many ailments in her last year. She passed away at the age of 62.

Both of these women did great things in their lives. And I have so many memories with both of them. I would like to share one about each of them.

My memories about my Grandma Walters always consisted of food and fun. I remember as a young girl we would always go over to her house on Christmas morning. She lived way up in SLC, Utah and would have everyone from the family over for a Christmas breakfast. I especially remember the smell of bacon and eggs and got to see all of my extended family on Christmas morning. Unfortunately I didn't know Grandma Walters as well as I knew Mom-mom. But Grandma Walters will always hold a special place in my heart.

Mom-mom was very dear to me. (I coined her with the name Mom-mom when I was very young, since she was my mom's mom. The name stuck, and I think over the years all the grand-kids ended up calling her Mom-mom)  I did know her better because she lived closer to me and my family. I have very simple memories of Mom-mom. I remember spending afternoons and weekends at her house playing with her cats, watching movies and playing on her piano. She had a player piano and we would sit and play the rolls and sing all the old songs. I did end up with the player piano and it is a joy to have in my house. It brings back a lot of memories.

So today I want to reflect on the past, the fun times that I have shared over the years with both of these very special women. They will never be forgotten. And they will always hold a very special place in my heart. <3