Holiday.

My family is a jumbled up mixture of traditions that my parents grew up with and that they've made as traditions just for our family. We have a few Scandinavian foods and customs that we never go with out, and lefse is one of them.

Lefse (lef-suh) may be one of my favorite foods. It's basically just a potato tortilla, with butter and, for me, brown sugar spread all over the inside. Other people like cinnamon sugar or regular white sugar, but I'm a sucker for the brown sugar - and I cake it on. The crunch inside the smooth tortilla is so delicious, making it a  perfect thing to eat at any time of the day.

This delicious treat comes from the Norwegian side of me, but we also love our Danish and Swedish treats too. Tomorrow, I'm waking up to make aebleskivers with my mom - Danish little pancakes filled with deliciousness. My dad always enjoys his pickled herring and Lutefisk, which are also somehow Scandinavian, but I don't delight myself in those tasty treats - ever.

I'm excited for Christmas Eve tomorrow. This is our day of family-filled traditions, waking up to bake or get dinner ready, going to church, followed by driving through the Christmas lights on Douglas Drive. Then it's off to the house to get cozy and gorge ourselves with food and open presents.


My goal for this Christmas is to keep focused on the reason that we celebrate. Our neighbors came over the other day to bring us "Happy Birthday, Jesus cupcakes" and it was wonderful - and delicious. Traditions, food, and gifts are all fantastic, but may we remember that Christ is the one from whom all blessings flow, and he really is the source of our Joy during the holidays.

Merry Christmas,

Chels.

You Did It!

I finished my fifth semester of college today. That means that I only have 3 to go, and I'm a teacher. Holy Moly. I'm excited to start that chapter of my life, and see what God has planned for me; but, right now I'm going to live up this last year and a half I have to be a college student - to stay up late, eat whatever and whenever I want, spend money that I don't have, not shower for 2 or 3 days and get by, and to live with my best friends.
Tomorrow (or I guess today, since it's 1 AM), two of my roommates are graduating. I know that God planned our meeting and for events to unfold as they did. I have no doubt in my mind that the four of us who lived in 5001, #2 were supposed to be together. We have had the most laughs I think any apartment on campus could have between just the 4 roommates being together.

We chose - on many nights - to stay in on the weekends to be together rather than go out and see other people. My favorite place was sitting in our cozy living room or around the kitchen table just talking about life and laughing together. We truly had a perfect living situation.
As they graduate, I have bittersweet feelings. I know that they are such amazing nurses and so capable of going out into the real world and really affecting the lives of the people they help, but I don't want them to leave. One off to Cali (because she's "so Cali") and the other to the mountains of Washington (but she'll be back soon enough).
They're 2 of the best friends I've ever had, and I love them so much. So, B & E - this one's for you! Congratulations on graduating!  I love you and I hope for the very best in your future. Thanks for a semester that I'll never forget.
 

love,
chels.

Oh, and J - I love you, too, but you get to stick it out with me for these next 3 semesters. Good thing I'm the funny one. ;)

I'm Ready.

Accepted? Check.
Meet the team? Check.
Attend all day retreat? Check.
Go to Wednesday night meetings? Check.
Get passport? Check.
Tyler buys tickets? Check.
Visa gets denied and send it back? Check.
Visa and passport return in the mail? Check.
Raise $3,125? Check.
15 days until I go to Africa? Check.


The trip is coming up SO close. I can hardly believe that I'll be in Zambia in just a couple weeks. In case you didn't get that, I WILL BE IN AFRICA IN 15 DAYS. (oh. my. gosh!!!!!) Thank you all so much for your support and prayers. I'm feeling so blessed and the encouragement from all of you is amazing. Please continue to pray for our safety, and for those on the team still raising money.

love love.
Chels.

Christmas Lights.

Coldplay is by far my favorite band, and this year they decided to say "Merry Christmas, fans. We love you so much, so we wrote our very first Christmas song for you." Listen to it here. http://coldplay.com/
I've seen them twice in concert - both times my world was turned upside down. I don't think any concert of performance will ever top it. So, have a Coldplay kind of day today. And love them, because they are amazing.