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