Do You Hear What I Hear?....Yes? Christmas Music!

Christmas season is in full swing! Most radio stations and TV channels have already been playing Christmas music and movies for a good 2-2 and a half weeks now. Is it only ridiculous to me??? I admit I did listen to smidge of Christmas music on the radio a few weeks back, but thats because I was so shocked it was really on the radio so I had to listen for a minute or two...or ten, to know if I was hearing right. And I was...


Anywho...I normally don't start listening to Christmas music until the day after Thanksgiving and thats pretty much all I listen to until the 25th...except when there's a commercial I'll switch back to Air 1, my favorite station!


I know you're just dying to see what my favorite Christmas hymns and songs are or else you wouldn't have kept reading...because you knew this was coming, right?


Christmas Hymns


1. Do You Hear What I Hear?
2. O Come, O Come Emmanuel
3. O Holy Night
4. What Child is This?
5. Go Tell It on The Mountain (NeedtoBreathe version)
6. It Came Upon a Midnight Clear
7. O Little Town of Bethlehem
8. God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen
9. O Come All Ye Faithful
10. The First Noel


I'm not exactly sure if #1 is considered a "hymn" but in my book, any Christmas song that sings about Jesus' birth is a "hymn". So there...


Christmas songs


1. What Christmas Means to Me
2. Carol of the Bells
3. ChristmasTime is Here
4. Rockin' Around the Christmas Tree
5.Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas
6. Jingle Bell Rock
7. Let it Snow (Michael Buble version....*sigh*)
8. Believe (sung by Josh Groban in the movie "The Polar Express)
9. When Christmas Comes to Town (another song in the "The Polar Express)
10. Baby, It's Cold Outside

If there's any Christmas album I'd suggest, it's Michael Buble's....I don't have it, but I've heard many of the songs on the radio, and every one is amazing! Frank Sinatra, you'd be proud!


Enjoy the tunes this Christmas season!

ERW

Categories: Christmas music

Turkeys can trot?

First thing on the agenda every Thanksgiving morning now since 2007 is the annual Troy Turkey Trot! Are you all wondering if I ran it??

*Laughs uncontrollably for a few seconds*

No way! But every year I go to it to cheer on my brothers and brother-in-law, I always say I want to run it next year. Who knows, maybe one of these Thanksgivings I will, then I won't feel so guilty about eating a big turkey dinner!

Here's the crew! This is before the race. That's why they're so happy! You can see how high my brothers number is for the 5k (3.1 miles). We saw numbers up near the 7,000s! and there was also a 1 mile fun walk before the 5k and a 10k (6.2 miles) after the 5k, so I'm guessing there was close to 10,000 people who participated in the walk and races and thousands more who cheered on the runners! It took almost 5 minutes for all the runners to get across the starting line! That's how packed it was!

I was only able to find my younger brother, Dave as he made it to the finish line. He's right in the middle with the gray shirt and blue pants. He ran the 5k in a tad over 28 minutes! He thought it took him 4 minutes longer! Nice surprise for him! :) 

ERW

Song of the day: Every Christmas-y song!

Categories: exercise, holidays, Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving Prayer--Dr. Quinn style

I figured I'd get on my blog here tonight to wish you all a Happy Thanksgiving because I won't have any time tomorrow! It's gonna be busy, busy, and did I mention, busy? 

I'm pretty sure I mentioned in my last post that one of the shows I like is Dr. Quinn, Medicine Woman. I know to most it's just a sappy romance-y show, but it also depicts the Wild West after the Civil War very well. (I know I mentioned in my last post how I like the post-Civil War era, too). The show also holds nothing back when it comes to race. On more than one occasion, it is brought up because there are two freed slaves that live in the town. In this era, women doctors were very rare, it was interesting to see how Dr. Quinn handled a town that wasn't all too enthusiastic to accept her. The progression of medicine is cool to see too when treatments that are used today were just in their developmental stages in the post-Civil War era. And I love seeing anything with Indian nations involved, and in this show, the Cherokee are often a part of the show.



Michaela Quinn, M.D. played by Jane Seymour

 It's also, for the most part, a family-friendly show. It has its moments with cussing and sensuality, but every show teaches you a lesson, a moral to the story.

Now! After saying all that, down below is a Thanksgiving prayer that is said in the season 6 episode: "A Time to Heal". It is a two-part-er where Colorado Springs is victim to a diptheria epidemic right before Thanksgiving. I don't want to give anything away if you haven't seen it before, but there are many people who die from it, even some of the regular cast. In the end, the epidemic is stopped, but many tears and sorrows remain with those still alive. The end scene is the best part when the Reverand and Dr. Quinn offer up a prayer of thanks after such a difficult and worrysome time for the town.

And here it is: 

"Dear Lord,

Let us give thanks to God our Father,

For all of His gifts so freely bestowed upon us,

For the beauty and wonder of Your Creation

And earth and sky and sea,

For our daily food and drink,

Our homes and family and friends,

For minds to think,

 And hearts to love,

And hands to serve,

For health and strength to work,

And leisure to rest and to play,

For the brave and courageous,

Who are patient in suffering

And faithful in adversity,

And for all valiant seekers

After truth, liberty, and justice.

Thank you, dear Lord.

Amen."

It's such a beautiful prayer that I made it into a little sign a few years back to put on the table for Thanksgiving as well as the Thanksgiving prayer Tillie Bassett says in "An Old-Fashioned Thanksgiving" (see previous post).

I love it, and so I just thought I'd share it with you.

I pray God blesses you mightly this coming year and that you can look back on this year and find many things you are thankful for.

If you're reading this, I'm thankful for YOU!

Enjoy your family and your feasts!

ERW

If you'd like to watch the two-part-er, here they are!

Categories: Civil War era, country life, Jane Seymour, prayers, Thanksgiving, TV, Westerns, Youtube videos

An Old-Fashioned Thanksgiving

This short story by Louisa May Alcott was transformed into a Hallmark Channel Movie in 2008. One of the channels my family frequents is Hallmark. They have a lot of our favorite shows: The Waltons, Little House on the Prairie, Dr. Quinn, Medicine Woman and so on...

Around the holidays (Thanksgiving and Christmas) they always play some great Hallmark original movies. There are a ton of Christmas movies (one being the sequel to "An Old-Fashioned Thanksgiving" called quite appropriately "An Old-Fashioned Christmas") and a few Thanksgiving movies, and "An Old-Fashioned Thanksgiving" is by far, my favorite Hallmark movie...so far. :) "An Old-Fashioned Christmas comes a close second, and in third, "Love's Christmas Journey" (part of the "Love Comes Softly" movies)

AOFT is the story of a widow and her three children in post-Civil War New Hampshire. The mother, Mary Bassett, does her best to provide food and home for her family: the oldest, Mathilda "Tillie", the middle child Prudence "Prue", and the youngest Solomon. Even with Tillie working as well, food is almost non-existent in the Bassett farmhouse.

Tillie concocts a plan to bring her rumored wealthy grandmother to their home in New Hampshire in hopes she might be able to help her family financially. She, being an avid writer, scripts a preposterous letter telling her grandmother of starvation, capturings, and gypsies.

All the while, Tillie is writing a book of her life, family, and friends in New Hampshire. I think she just wanted to spice up her book a bit by coming up with this plan.

Her lifelong friend, Gideon "Gad" Hopkins, was the one she entrusted the letter to to give to her supposed grandmother. He's finally home from college, and when she visits him, he sadly informs Tillie that she took one look and just ripped it up.

Tillie is crushed by the news, but happy that Gad is back. Gad is happy to be back as well because it will give him a chance to win Tillie's heart and show her it's okay to be open to love.

Just when Tillie thought the whole scheme was a bust, none other than Isabella Caldwell, her grandmother's full name, shows up in their town unexpectedly!

What Tillie thought was a great idea ended up blowing up in her face. She soon realizes that her mother and grandmother didn't part on the best of terms.

Tension is high in the Bassett household, and their guest isn't making things any better once she tries to take Tillie under her wing and fills her head of traveling the world and experiencing different cultures.

Tillie begins to soften towards her grandmother and lets her take her shopping and borrow exquisite dresses for Gad's welcome home party. Gad is practically struck dumb when he sees Tillie in her dress, and while they dance, he hints that he wants more than just her friendship.

Things go from bad to worse when Mary, a nurse, contracts scarlett fever when she's taking care of children with the same illness. The children do their best to run the household as their grandmother cares for her daughter.

Solomon refuses to give up on having a Thanksgiving dinner while Tillie and Prudence try their best to keep Solomon's hopes up.

 Thanksgiving Eve and the Bassett children don't think their mother will make it, but with their grandmother's care, Mary's fever breaks in the middle of the night.

With the help of the Hopkins family, the Bassett's are able to have their Thanksgiving feast after all--with much to be thankful for: food, family, friends, warmth, health, Mary's recovery, and Tillie's engagement to Gad! :)

My favorite quote in this movie is above in the picture. It is Tillie's prayer of thanks over their Thanksgiving Day. You can definitely tell she's a writer by the way she speaks.

I hope you can get your hands on a copy of this movie this Thanksgiving season. I hate that Christmas stuff is already overtaken the Thanksgiving season--my favorite season. I'm so thankful for this movie that reminds us of the things that matter and we should be thankful for: loving families and friends, the power of forgiveness, prayer, and hope, a chance to eat 3 meals a day, and a roof over our heads and beds to sleep in.

I find this era--1850-1900--so fascinating. I think thats one of the other reasons why I love this movie.

Anyway, before you get in Christmas mode, please just soak in the Thanksgiving season first. You won't regret it. :)

ERW

PS- thanks Abe Lincoln for making Thanksgiving a national holiday! :) 

Categories: Civil War era, country life, family, Food, holidays, movies, Thanksgiving

To serve, to protect, to honor -- Happy Veteran's Day

11/11/11

Otherwise known as Veteran's Day/Armistice Day/Remembrance Day.

There's a lot of couples getting married today, but obviously, the more important thing to be dwelling on today is those who served our country and those who came back and those who didn't. I'm thankful today that both of my Grandpas and Dad have done their service and had no harm come to them. I'm also so proud of my two brothers, Mike and Dave, who are actively serving in the Air National Guard. As a matter of fact, Mike will be leaving for Afghanistan in May of 2012. Please keep him in your prayers. He will be missed.

As I was scanning through Facebook today I found some good pictures people had posted about Veteran's Day...

^ This one is my favorite.

These pictures say all that I want to say, especially this last one!

Thank you just doesn't seem like enough...

ERW

Song of the day: "Letters From War" - Mark Schultz



I dare you not to cry while watching this.

Categories: Mark Schultz, music video, song of the day, U.S. Military, Veteran's Day

Yo Ho, Yo Ho, a pirate's life for me!

"Yo ho, yo ho, a pirate's life for me.
We pillage plunder, we rifle and loot.
Drink up me 'earties, yo ho.
We kidnap and ravage and don't give a hoot.
Drink up me 'earties, yo ho.

Yo ho, yo ho, a pirate's life for me.
We extort and pilfer, we filch and sack.
Drink up me 'earties, yo ho.
Maraud and embezzle and even highjack.
Drink up me 'earties, yo ho.

Yo ho, yo ho, a pirate's life for me.
We kindle and char and in flame and ignite.
Drink up me 'earties, yo ho.
We burn up the city, we're really a fright.
Drink up me 'earties, yo ho.

We're rascals and scoundrels, we're villians and knaves.
Drink up me 'earties, yo ho.
We're devils and black sheep, we're really bad eggs.
Drink up me 'earties, yo ho.

We're beggars and blighters and ne'er do-well cads,
Drink up me 'earties, yo ho.
Aye, but we're loved by our mommies and dads,
Drink up me 'earties, yo ho.
Yo ho, yo ho, a pirate's life for me."

Geez Louis, I didn't know that the Pirate song was *that* long!
Anyway, on Halloween, my church hosted their 2nd annual "Trunk or Treat" event, and this year I dressed up as a pirate and had chocolate "coins" to hand out to a lot of the kids! they loved taking the candy from the treasure chest!

One of my closest friends, Bethany and her hubby came as Cosmo and Wanda from the Fairly Odd Parents! As you can see, she went all out in the hair department! Love ya sis!

Aaaand there's Cosmo (aka Michael)! They decorated their car as Timmy's room. You can kind of see Timmy in there. Bethany drew him, and I say, bravo! looks just like him! I should've taken a picture of the other side of the trunk because she drew Cosmo and Wanda as their goldfish doubles and tape them on the outside of a fish bowl, and had the candy in the fishbowl! so creative!

There's meself...Arrgh!

This was the best pirate face I could muster. You'd think I'd have a better one after watching the Pirates movies 27 zillion times...oh well. Don'tcha just love those pirate boots though? I have black boots and borrowed a pair of pirate boot extensions, and voila! Instantly made me feel like Jack Sparrow...sorry, sorry...*Captain* Jack Sparrow. :D

Belle, Cinderella, Pocahontas, and the mysterious pirate! Notice Cinderella is wearing jogging shoes. She finally realized it's easier to run in shoes that aren't made of glass! ;)

A pirate and her trunk.
Like my skull and crossbones pumpkin?
And on the left is an old-fashioned lantern my family got in Gettysburg. It seemed to fit perfect with my theme! Everyone else thought so too! They all kept asking me where I got it!

My sister dressed up as and old man and dressed up Elise as the cutest butterfly I've ever seen! :)

My second cousins, Brendan (on the right) and Connor (on the left) were firefighter, and Madeline was Little Red Riding Hood! They are so cute! Love 'em!







I wish I had taken more pictures but I was so busy making sure the kids didn't take two handfuls of candy!

There was an amazing turnout this year! And I was so blessed to be a part of it! If your church is thinking about hosting a trunk of treat event, just google it! there's tons of info online! and great trunk decorating ideas too!

ERW

Song of the day: "Perfect" by Hedley

Prayer Requests: Mary and the rest of the Guiltbeault family

Categories: church, Halloween, pirates, prayer request, song of the day

"Aww! You didn't tell me you were gonna kill it!"

Woohoo! It's pumpkin carving time again! Time to transform these colorful gourd-like squashes into funny, scary, or gruesome faces or images of Halloween. Nowadays, they have Thanksgiving themed carvings or just general Fall ones. Most of the time I usually do a face....

Before

After!

Still lookin' cute, even in the dark!

I'm also going to carve a skull and crossbones pumpkin for my church's "Trunk or Treat/Harvest Festival" cuz I'll be dressed up as a pirate and decorating my trunk all pirate-y, so I thought a skull and crossbones pumpkin would be fun! 

Guess what's on ABC this Thursday @ 8pm?!?!

"It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown!" One of my all-time favs...actually, all the Peanuts movies are my favs :) and I love that they are always shown around the appropiate holiday every year :) We have the DVD so I could watch it right now if I wanted to but there's something about watching it on a TV channel...











Linus kicks up a pile of leaves as he and Lucy head to the pumpkin patch.

  

poor Linus!





"I got a rock." -Charlie Brown.

Have a safe and fun Halloween...and make sure your kiddos are warm cuz it's suppose to be pretty cold!

ERW

Song of the day: "Thriller" by Michael Jackson

Categories: art, Autumn, Halloween, pumpkins, song of the day, TV

It's Funny Every Time Dick Van Dyke Trips Over the Ottoman.

The Dick Van Dyke Show

Dick Van Dyke does his unforgettable stumble over the ottoman.

One of my favorite TV shows.

Whenever we watch it, my Dad says, "Now here's a good show that you could actually watch."

Me and my family like a lot of the older TV shows: Andy Griffith Show, Leave It to Beaver, The Honeymooners, Emergency, Star Trek (the original show), Bonanza, The Rifleman, Gunsmoke, The Big Valley, The Waltons, Little House on the Prairie.

There's something about TDVDS that tops all of them. Well, one of them is Dick Van Dyke, himself. He's one of my favorite actors. Mary Tyler Moore also stood out because she was the first woman to wear pants on a TV show. You go, Mary!

Another thing that makes it so funny is that you barely see their son, Ritchie. He's either in his room or over at the neighbor's house! haha...its like they don't have a son at all!

I love the witty banter between DVD's character Rob's co-workers, Sally and Buddy, how Buddy always insults Mel, one of their bosses, and how the big wig boss Alan tells Mel to always "Shut up, Mel!" no matter what he says!

What gets me every time is when he trips over the ottoman in the opening credits. I laugh. Every. Time. Without fail.

Favorite episodes (so far): It May Look Like A Walnut, That's My Boy?

from "It May Look Like A Walnut"

from "It May Look Like A Walnut"

Mary Tyler Moore, Dick Van Dyke, and Larry Matthews

"The Petrie's"

Richard Deacon (Mel), Rose Marie (Sally), Morey Amsterdam (Buddy),

Mary Tyler Moore (Laura), Dick Van Dyke (Rob)

One of these days, you have to sit down and watch an episode of the Dick Van Dyke Show...

...and I dare you to watch just one episode ;) it's that funny!

ERW

Song of the day: Mayberry by Rascal Flatts

Categories: old school, song of the day, TV

Black Cats and Fallen Leaves




This is my absolute favorite picture ever of my cat, Barkley. I took it in November of 2009. 1st day of November, actually. Our yard looked so cool with all the fallen yellow leaves, and I still can't believe she actually looked up and kept looking up so I could take this beauty of a picture!

  Here's a better shot of all the leaves. This is probably my 2nd favorite picture with my cat in it. At our house, the leaves don't hit their peak until the end of October. I'm kinda glad, though. Most people's trees in their yards have already passed their peak a few weeks back and have already raked and bagged the leaves up, while on 103 East Street we're just getting a taste of Autumn's amazing colors. Now, Barkley is getting way up there in age. She's 16 now, and even though 16 is only the beginning of life for humans, it's been a good long life for a cat. She doesn't do too much walking anymore because a few years back, she came home with a terrible limp after being gone for almost 2 days. Not sure how it happened either. It could've been that she got clipped by a car, got in a fight with another animal, or got stuck while climbing a tree. We had to bring the poor thing to the animal hospital and everything. So it was pretty much a miracle that she was actually walking around our backyard! Kudos to Homestead Animal Hospital for taking care of Barkley! If you have pets who may need medical or surgical attention and live in my area, check out their website >>>HERE<<<



I love my backyard. :)

Song of the day: "Raise Your Glass" -from the "Glee Presents: the Warblers" CD

ERW

P.S.- If you want to see that 1st picture and 2 others of mine at a photo fair, then come to Oakwood Christian School on November 18th from 5pm-7pm. There's a talent show that starts at 7pm, if you feel like sticking around :) it's always a hilarious seeing what the students will do. Every time I go, I always laugh.

here's the link if you want to visit the school website...OCS



Categories: animals, Autumn, cats, music, nature, outdoors, pets, photography, song of the day

Hockey players and Fall camping

hey y'all!

Sorry about the huge gap I left you hanging!

Since my last post, I've met some hockey players of the AHL team here in Albany. Don't know if any of you follow hockey or know who Brian Gionta is (he's the Captain on the Montreal Canadiens), but his little brother, Stephen Gionta is on the Albany Devils. What's cool is that Brian started out in the AHL in Albany back when the team was the Albany River Rats, and now his younger brother is getting his shot (no pun intended haha) in Albany. Anyway, I was able to get a picture with Stephen. He's one of my favs on the team this year.

Columbus Day weekend was their first few games of the season. Unfortunately, they lost both, but I'm trying to stay optimistic here. It's only the beginning of the season, right? Plenty of time to improve. :)

That same weekend, myself and my little brother Dave joined my parents up at Paradox Lake in the Adirondacks for some camping. We weren't there long, but we were there long enough to get some good pictures of the colors. It is so beautiful up there right now!

Hope you guys can get out at some point to see the amazing fall colors!

I recommend taking the back roads! :)

ERW

P.S. --- my iPod shuffle is still up for grabs! if you want it or know someone who wants it, click >>>HERE<<< to contact me. :)

Categories: Autumn, camping, Hockey, outdoor activities, outdoors