Advent 11-30-15: Prepare

See, I am sending my messenger to prepare the way before me, and the Lord whom you seek will suddenly come to his temple. The messenger of the covenant in whom you delight–indeed, he is coming, says the LORD of hosts. Malachi 3:1 2015 is the year of being prepared for Christmas. Not just that…

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Advent Season 2015

I like the holidays. Not as much as some, more than others. But I always find the lack of Christ in Christmas disturbing. It seems no matter how hard I’ve tried over the last several years, the Christmas season has been more secular than holy. I get sucked into the business of decorating, cooking, purchasing,…

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On the Third Day of Christmas…

I sat outside and read. And took pictures like this and texted them to friends who were complaining about a 2-hour snow delay and the unexpected extra snow this morning. I know what you’re thinking. My lack of compassion is as glaring as the bright and warm sun that’s shining through the trees in this…

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How Many Days of Christmas?

The Jenster Clan ditched the winter wonderland of the East Coast and hopped a plane (or two) for SoCal to spend Christmas with Mr. Jenster’s side of the family. Since every day is an adventure when you’re West side it should make for some fairly decent blog fodder. “Fairly decent” meaning same mundane but with…

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Anniversary Trip – Part 3

[Written Thursday, April 18] When last I typed we were sitting in Starbuck’s and contemplating another try at the park we couldn’t find to see waterfalls. We found our way to the park. It was the same one we’d stopped at, but maintenance crews were in front of the trail entrance so we didn’t see…

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Anniversary Trip – Part 2

[Written Wednesday, April 17] I’m currently writing from Starbucks in Canandaiga. It has wifi. We needed a fix. That and some Starbucks goodness. So we didn’t hit any antique stores yesterday. Oh, we saw them. They’re everywhere. It was overwhelming. I felt like a kid at Disneyland with no E tickets. Which won’t make a…

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Anniversary Trip – Part 1

Todd and I went away last month and I wrote a little something for the blog each day with the intent of posting when we got home. As you can see from the date of the entry, I didn’t do it. Better late than never? [Written Tuesday, April 16] Todd and I are off celebrating…

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Pretty Multiplied

There’s this great travel blog I started following a couple of months ago. Alisa of Where’s My Backpack writes a wistful travelogue full of vibrant pictures and eloquent descriptions of the amazing places she goes.  I say wistful because that’s always how I feel when I read it.  I’m a lot little jealous. Alisa also does a…

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Mud and Flowers and Christmas Trees

Todd’s folks are visiting from California so we took them to Longwood Gardens yesterday. I had very carefully chosen the day based on the weather and the kids’ busy schedules and bought our tickets ahead of time. While Tuesday was cool and rainy, yesterday was clear. And cold. And windy. We drove an hour south…

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Photography Lessons Learned

I shot a wedding with my friend, Gail, yesterday. Every time I take pictures with her I learn something and yesterday was no exception. Here’s what I learned: Lesson Number One When you try on more than one size of the same shoe at a “self-serve” shoe store, make sure you put the correct shoes…

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