The Perfect Two

Everybody... meet Trisha. Trish is awesome! And i apparently have somehow failed to mention her on my blog... so this is a blog all about her! =)

this was us in Guatemala while we were riding in the back of a pick up truck. it's the only way to travel! =)

this is us wearing plaid and standing in front of a cornfield. proving that we are not hick. even if we like the "if i die young" song.

sometimes we let other people hang out with us! and we even have lots of fun with them!

and we have tons of fun together on airplanes! we're so good at flying together! we can find a million ways to entertain ourselves!!! and we find things like "beverages" hilarious! i don't even really remember why we laughed so hard about beverages... lol possibly cause we were completely exhausted!

we also have fun making chocobananos (chocobananas??? i have no clue how to spell it. or say it. it seemed like no matter how i said it, some spanish-speaking person would laugh at me...) together! in fact, we have fun doing lots of stuff together! things like making honey garlic meatballs! and watching trish's family play hockey (lol picking out a husband for me! it's harder than you'd think to find an actual Kraemer in the Kraemer family...) and walking around orchards at night, completely freaked out because there was possibly a cougar loose.

this is us driving in the back of another pick up truck together. for two people who are very against pick up trucks, we sure did have a lot of fun in them!

so we have lots of good memories... like doing quizzes on trish's ipod and learning very valuable information about ourselves.... and watching movies and cuddling up with couches and blankets on rainy days... and watching star wars (lol we're still working on that one!)... and talking about living together sometime... and having lots of sleepovers... and going to youth together... and sitting together in church... and staying together in guatamala (remember the bathroom wall?? and how we went to great measures to make sure that we weren't using too much water?) ... and planning our trip with joy to visit clari... and how we just have generally awesome conversations (like the one we had recently where we listed the pros and cons of giraffes! everyone, giraffes are totally overrated. there are way more cons than pros!)... and how we have short attention spans (like when we decided that we wanted to watch a movie and so we went into the lounge and pulled all the movies out, and talked about them for awhile, and then decided that we didn't actually feel like watching a movie, and then we laid on the floor for awhile, and eventually ended up talking about giraffes...)....

we've had so many good times! and i'm so excited about all the good times that we're gonna have in the future!!! we are the perfect two! =)

I love you, trish! =)

p.s. "may i have this dance?" lol it takes you back to our High School Musical Days, doesn't it? =)

Christmas isn't Christmas, 'Til It Happens In Your Heart, Somewhere Deep Inside You.... haha... do i even have any friends left after doing that?

So now that you all have a certain song running through your head, we can begin. =) Christmas 2011 was really really awesome for me! Christmas completely caught me off-guard this year... I was so focused on school and all the stuff that i had to get done that i didn't even really realize that Christmas was so close... and then all of a sudden, it was December 23. i bounded out of bed filled with christmas cheer (i'm not even being sarcastic... that is literally what happened. and okay, so maybe this bounding happened at like, 11:00 in the morning, but still... i felt happy and relaxed for the first time in a long time!) i spent the afternoon driving all over waterloo buying christmas presents and feeling happy! there was a point when i did lose my

good mood... but that is completely justifiable, because my van like, completely stopped working,

and i was kind of in a bad spot for it to just stop. it actually said the word "done" on that little rectangular screen that normally has a number on it. DONE. i looked at it and i was like, "no, no,

no, baby, you can't be done. please don't be done. not here. not now. in the tim hortons parking

lot, half in and half out of a parking space. don't be done. you have so much left to live for." and after several more tries and some very desperate praying, the word "done" disappeared, the number came back, and the van turned on again. it was a truly awesome moment. and then,

once the 23rd was over, it was the 24th, and i was sitting around a table with my family, eating

pizza and veggies and dip (okay, so maybe i didn't actually eat any veggies. but i did pass the

plate when it came around the table. i even looked at the carrots and considered taking one. that counts for something, right? and the only dip that i ate was what i dipped my pizza in.). so once my christmas spirit kicked in, it hit pretty hard. i had been so worried about my self

cause i didn't even feel excited about christmas. i apparently had nothing to worry about. =)

but even though i felt insanely happy and content, i did have moments where my heart ached. because there are people out there who did not at all have a good christmas. People who spent Christmas day planning their son's funeral. people who were mourning the loss of their child, brother, relative, or friend. Everything about this boy's death seemed so very unfair to me, and it was always kind of hanging in the back of my mind, even while i was

laughing and having fun with my own family. i guess that i was just kind of wondering why exactly this boy had to die. it seemed so unnecessary! and it seemed like his family deserved a

miracle instead of more pain. but when i was chatting with jason, he reminded me that God

knows exactly what he's doing. (btw, if you want to read a good blog, you should check out

jason's- it's called Cranial Puffs).

so anyways... back to my Christmas (yeah, i know everyone is just dying to hear about it... lol)...

this is me and my siblings on Christmas Eve. The expression on Kenton's face probably means that he's really really happy. But it's hard to tell with that boy. =)

these are the elves that we apparently couldn't have christmas without. and the candy canes that have been set out with the elves since i was, like, a baby. or maybe longer. i guess i don't know. cause i wasn't around before i was, um, born. anyways, the point is, when i told my mom and grandma that i couldn't find the elves, they sent me down into the dark, musty, low-ceilinged corners of the cellar to find the elves. oh wait... it wasn't me they sent into the cellar to pull out stuff.. it was kenton! =)

this is wendy... waiting to open gifts... poor kid! (try to look past the red eye... i was too lazy to fix it.)

Just what Dad always wanted! a pink, plastic camera! =) (it's actually wendy's gift...)

There are those who love their gifts, but contain their excitement... (they're the same people who refuse to smile for the camera... someday, kenton, i will catch you off-guard!)

and then there are those who let the excitement show.... gotta love renee's expression. =) (again... ignore the red eye.)

this is dad in the shirt i got him. i think he liked it, cause he went and put it on right away and wore it for the rest of the afternoon. phew. the family gift exchange

is over for another year. =)

must... get... lalaloopsy... dolls... out... of... box....

i'm serious... it's like our family was not even complete before these babies came along. they have gotta be the cutest, awesomest things around! i don't know why i like them so much, but i think they're the greatest thing since ranch chip dip!! (just so everyone knows, wendy got the dolls for Christmas. not me. i just kind of fell in love with them when i saw them. don't know why... they're not even soft or cuddly. they just look happy! freakishly happy... with big, black, blank eyes. kinda creepy, come to think of it...)

so that is some bits and pieces of my Christmas day... which brings us to now: boxing day. which i normally dislike, but it has been pretty good this year.

i cleaned my room. and now it looks messier than ever. but you've gotta trust me on this... all the places that you can't see (like my drawers and desk and under my bed) are clean. my christmas gift this year was a bed, so i thought i'd better get my room all ready for it. sometime i'll post pix of all the stuff i pulled out from under the bed... lol there sure were a lot of empty kleenex boxes under there. apparently that's where i put my empty kleenex boxes.

so the main thing that i learned this Christmas was that i am extremely blessed. i have a family and friends, and we're all relatively healthy. and alive. i was reminded that i serve a God who has a plan for this world and the things that happen. i was reminded that even though it wasn't fair that an 11-year-old boy took his last breath here on earth on christmas eve, it also wasn't fair that Jesus came to earth for us. I was reminded that as much pain as we feel as we hear about the seemingly unjust things that happen around us, there is Someone who hurts even more. Because i'm convinced that Jesus does ache for us when he sees us hurting. i'm also convinced that even as he hurts with us, He is the one who gives us hope and strength. And i know that He has a purpose for everything that happens, and that instead of questioning what He has carefully chosen to allow, He wants us to search for His will and the peace that comes from following it. (oh jason, i feel like i'm plagiarizing or something... everyone, the credit for what i just wrote goes to jason, cause he is the one who directed my thoughts in that direction and reminded me that what Jesus did for us wasn't fair either.)

okay.. i'm gonna stop now. but i'll be back! cause i want to write about my new bed. which i haven't even bought yet. but i will. i'm so excited! =)

Merry Christmas!

This Mortal Must Put On Immortality

Last night i went to hear Handel's Messiah for the very fourth time in my life. And i've been saying that it gets better each time that i go. i think that it may have possibly reached its peak this year. See, the first year i went, it dragged on and on. and on. and on. and on. and.... yeah.... you get the point. The second year i went, i was more interested in talking to the people that i went with than the the performance. my apologies to the people who were sitting around us. The third year- i actually don't remember much about it. which probably means that i was not very moved by it. but this year.... i anticipated it for weeks. i even listened to it on CD as i cut out snowmen with Joy. i went into it wanting- desperately needing to hear something. Anything. I didn't know what exactly i was looking for, or expecting to hear. all i knew was that i couldn't stand to come away from the performance without experiencing some kind of revelation. i was prepared to sit in that auditorium alone all night if i had to. but what i heard this year went above and beyond my highest expectations, and for the first time in my life, i was sad when the performance was over. and all the clapping that i did at the end... well, it was genuine. and slightly painful.

Things that God pointed out to me as i listened to Handel's Messiah:

• The very first thing that caught my attention was... well, the very first solo. "Comfort ye, comfort ye my people, saith your God". Seriously, this Handel guy knew what he was doing. he begins his work of art by recognizing that we, as humans, need comfort! Bad things happen to us... things that make our hearts ache and our eyes sting with tears. Things that we think we will never get over. And God saw this. He saw that we feel pain and that we need consolation. In fact, he created us that way. And He sent his son, the Comforter, to console us. To hold us up when we feel like we have screwed up so badly that nothing will ever be okay again. To lift us up when we fall. To remind us that we're not alone, and that we are not unforgivable.
• "Every valley shall be exalted, and every mountain and hill made low, the crooked straight and the rough places plain." So this was exactly what i needed to hear. because to put it bluntly, i feel very crooked right now. and i'm not just talking about being slightly bent out of shape. i feel completely crooked. like i have sharp, pointy edges that protrude in all direction. i feel so crooked that if i got any more crooked, i would be straight. which may or may not make sense. But God can straighten the crooked! and he can smooth out the rough places. Is there anything more comforting than remembering that you haven't wandered too far to find your way back to where you belong?
• "Then shall the eyes of the blind be opened, and the ears of the deaf unstopped; then shall the lame man leap as an hart, and the tongue of the dumb shall sing." i guess that i don't have a whole lot to say about this one... because it says everything!!! it shows how Jesus can completely renew something (or someone) that seemed to be beyond help.
• And there were so many lines in Part II that stood out to me. I guess that i've never really paid attention to Part II before, because i always kind of zoned out after the intermission. But the second part is so amazing! even more amazing than the first. especially the parts that talked about Jesus' death and how man rejected him. There were times that i was sitting there, and i would feel tears coming to my eyes and then i would furiously blink them away, because seriously... what seventeen year old cries at the Messiah? Yes, this is me being affected by what other people would think of me for crying at the Messiah. "All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way". So that sounds familiar enough. but have you ever really thought about what comes after those words? (At this point, not only were my eyes tearing up, but my lip was quivering. i thought i was a goner...) "And the Lord has laid on Him the iniquity of us all". And the way it's phrased makes it sound like this is logical... we've all sinned and followed our desires and ignored God, so God chose to send us a Redeemer. But it's not logical!!!! not at all!!! We've sinned. We've chosen to ignore God. We've given ourselves, our desires priority over God. GOD SHOULD NOT HAVE LAID ALL OF OUR SINS ON JESUS!!!!!!! in no way could this be construed as logical. or fair. i think it was just the simple way that Handel puts it that got to me. And then there was these lines: "Thy rebuke hath broken His heart; He is full of heaviness. He looked for some to have pity on Him, but there was no man, neither found he any to comfort Him. Behold, and see if there be any sorrow like unto His sorrow. He was cut off out of the land of the living; for the transgression of Thy people was He stricken." So does it strike anyone else as incredibly sad that Jesus, the ultimate Comforter, the one who came to console us (like the first solo said), desperately needed someone to comfort Him, but couldn't find anyone???? and the fact the sorrow He felt was greater than any sorrow that has ever been felt? i know that there's times when I know that i've done something wrong, and disappointed God, or someone that i look up to, and i can hardly stand myself because of what i've done. And this is what Jesus was feeling. Except that His heart was full of the sorrow, the regret, the pain that every single person had ever felt, ever will feel, or is presently feeling. "He is full of heaviness". Yeah... understatement much?
• And then there is this amazing moment, when we stop focusing on the pain that Jesus endured, and our thoughts are directed to the fact that His story doesn't end with pain and death. In fact, He was completely triumphant!! "Thou art gone up on high; thou hast led captivity captive". How in the world did i miss that amazing amazing line the past three years??? How could such an amazing line not pop out at me?? think about it... Jesus has led captivity captive. Sin and fear held us captive. But then God captured captivity.... and all of a sudden, we are free!! God has bound sin and fear, and with God's power, they are incapable of controlling us. Is this not amazing??? And did Handel not choose an amazing way to express such an amazing concept??
• "Behold, i tell you a mystery; we shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet." So i thought that the bass did a particularly good job with this part. when he sang the first line, "behold i tell you a mystery", his expression was so hopeful, that you knew that the "mystery" was one of those things that you don't understand (hence the use of the word "mystery". have i mentioned that I have a whole new respect for Handel?), but is wonderful anyways. Too wonderful for our tiny brains to comprehend. and i love the promise that "we shall be changed". Right now, we're not ready to meet God. But when the time comes.... we will be changed. and we will be ready to stand before God.
• "The trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed. For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality." again... "we shall be changed". and i love how it states the change that will take place in us... "this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality".
• "If God be for us, who can be against us? Who shall lay anything to the charge of God's elect? It is God that justifieth, who is he that condemneth? It is Christ that died, yea, rather that is risen again, who is at the right hand of God, who makes intercession for us." Christ is not known as the one who died. He is the one that is risen again!! Handel draws our attention to the triumph of Jesus' entire story.
• "Amen" The program ends with this one word. four letters. and as the choir was singing it over and over again, i realized that i did not even know exactly what "amen" means. the definition that was floating through my head was "so be it", but i wasn't sure whether i had made that up or if it was right. but i verified with a friend and with a dictionary, and that is what it means. "so be it." what a perfect way to end. by reminding us that all the things that we just heard are so true. they are the truest things that anyone could possibly hear. And they're not difficult to understand. It's just that sometimes i forget. i forget how amazing Jesus' story is, and i forget what He did for me. But the word "amen", the last word in the last chorus, is repeated over and over again, calling us to never forget what has been done for us.

so that is it. my evaluation of Handel's Messiah. it is truly brilliant.

in which i have a moment of brilliance and end up taking over 200 pictures of my sisters and christmas tree ornaments...

so today we only had half a day of school, which meant that i had a whole half day of spare time (also known as time that i should have spent working on electives- but i have the whole night ahead of me to do that). anyways... everything outside is so pretty right now, and so i decided to take a bunch of pictures. it started out just being me and my one christmas tree ornament out there....but then i had one of those moments. one of those moments where you have a purely awesome idea, and all you can think about is carrying through with your idea. before i knew what was happening, i was tearing across the lawn, into the house, and up the stairs, and collecting more christmas tree ornaments in a box. it never occurred to me that Mom might not want all of her christmas decorations outside in the snow..... but i'm sure that when she sees how awesome my pictures turned out, she won't mind. she prolly won't even notice that the tree ornaments are not as sparkly as they used to be, since they got wet and some of the sparkles came off when i dried them. i tried to be gentle.... i really did.

so anyways... these are pictures of me, my seven tree ornaments, and my two sisters.

this is me.... looking loving at my christmas tree ornaments.

these are my lovely christmas tree ornaments. and the kid behind them is Wendy. She is also lovely. =)