Tunes Tuesday :: Born is the King (It's Christmas!!)

I came and sat down to write this post quickly today, then realized it was Tuesday so it fit perfectly for a Tunes Tuesday post ;) 

Lots of Christmas baking and cookie-decorating going on in this house today! :) Have I mentioned before how much I looove the Christmas season???! Lots of Christmas music playing too, and I thought I would share this super fun Christmas song that will likely inspire much dancing, singing (it's praise, y'all!), and help us remember the reason we're celebrating :) (don't be afraid to turn it reeeeaaaal loud ;))

Take the time to enjoy your day - try not to be caught up in all of the to-dos, and miss the point of the season, and the joy it can bring. 

gingerbread house neighbourhood ;)

I promise you that even though these look like lumps of brownness they taste heavenly (double chocolate w/ candycane gooeyness)

Hillsong - Born is the King (It's Christmas) 

also? you should play it again and again until you're almost sick of it.

Born unto us this day a Saviour
Gifted from heaven to a manger
The hope of the world
A light for all mankind
All of the earth rejoice
It's Christmas time

So lift up your voice and sing out His praise
It's Christmas
Born is the King, rejoice in the day
It's Christmas
Make a joyful sound
It's Christmas
Let His praise resound
It's Christmas

Goodwill to all the earth
And peace divine
All of the earth rejoice
It's Christmas time
It's Christmas time

So lift up your voice and sing out His praise
It's Christmas
Born is the King, rejoice in the day
It's Christmas
Make a joyful sound
It's Christmas
Let His praise resound
It's Christmas

So lift up your voice and sing out His praise
It's Christmas
Born is the King, rejoice in the day
It's Christmas
Make a joyful sound
It's Christmas
Let His praise resound
It's Christmas

So lift up your voice and sing out His praise
It's Christmas
Born is the King, rejoice in the day
It's Christmas
Make a joyful sound
It's Christmas
Let His praise resound
It's Christmas

Praying that today and the rest of the days leading up to Christmas are a time of peace and joy for you and yours - it's a time of celebration!

blessings,

love Emma

Thoughts on Running

Sooo... I just signed up for my first half marathon last week (!!!!!). So excited and nervous. For the past few years I have run a 5K every spring, but this year I am running the half.

So today I thought I would share a few thoughts on running, some quirky things that work for me when I run, some quotes, and a couple songs that I always listen to during the hard sections of every run. Any thoughts or tips you might have for running a half would be much appreciated!

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I've always run the 5K with my friend, and this year when our race had its annual sale, I asked her if she was going to do it. She said she was going to race, and was thinking about the half. I will admit to being skeptical at first, thinking of the lack of training I had put in the last few winters and knowing there's no way I could run 21km right now!

But we figured out that the reason I haven't likely trained the last few years is because training in the winter requires motivation, and if I can just run a 5K anyways without doing much training, why go out in the cold or suffer on the treadmill?? So because I now have a goal that I currently can't achieve, and I signed up for this race I can't subconsciously excuse myself from training.

And I will admit to always having the desire to run a half somewhere in the back of my mind, but there was another part of me that knows it's totally crazy and I needed my awesome friend to help me make this commitment. :)

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So this is the training plan that we're doing. Even though we're both already runners we are doing a couch-to-half plan because then we can ease into it ;)

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A couple of super random kind of weird things about me and running:

• A piece of minty gum or a mint helps me to run better. I don't really know why, I think it has something to do with minty-ness making my breath feel fresher, making it easier to breathe or feel less yucky or something, and it gives me a really small easy jaw movement to half focus on. It's weird, I know.
• For me, when I feel like I'm running slow, I do less walking, even if I'm actually running faster than usual. And if I'm running slower than usual but it feels faster, the desire to walk is greater. So I usually try to run fast and make it feel slow. lol ;) 

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There are a few go-to songs that I put on when I feel like I need to walk, or right at the end to help me finish well, right now, the very best one is My Lighthouse, by Rend Collective. 

 And the live version is even longer so sometimes I like that one. lol

Another great one is Never Ending Love Song by Peter Furler, and Greater Is He, also Peter Furler. 

and Steven Curtis Chapman - You Are Being Loved

Other than that, I don't really think I have any particular songs that I like for running, I just listen to whatever music is currently my favourite. 

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And can I get an amen???!!!! ;)

 

I think I need these shirts ;)

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Anyone else have any tips for running? Any funny quirky things? 

 

blessings,

Emma

Tunes Thursday :: One Silent Night

I meant to share this song on Tuesday but the day kinda slipped away from me, and then yesterday too, so here it is today. 

It's one of my favourite Christmas songs, I love how it just feels so quiet and still, I can totally see the story happening. The song is so simple, so sweet, and has several lines that make you stop to think about them again. 

It helps me to feel quiet and still before the LORD, to think about how 'heaven came down and changed everything', and how there was 'no one to kneel, and no one to sing'.  

FFH - One Silent Night

Quiet and still was the whole world that night
The stars and the land and the sea
All were enjoying the quiet moonlight
Spinning so effortlessly
And the wind blew tender and sweet
Through the manger stall
Over one new tiny heartbeat
That would save us all
One silent night, one holy night
When all was calm, when all was bright
With no one to kneel, and no one to sing
Heaven came down and changed everything
Let all the earth receive her King
His mother there holding Him close to her chest
Rocking the Savior to sleep
Sleep, baby Jesus, You need all the rest
You can get, there are people in need
For a moment Heaven stood still
As the midnight watch was kept
As on that Bethlehem hill
The savior slept
One silent night, one holy night
When all was calm, when all was bright
With no one to kneel, and no one to sing
Heaven came down and changed everything
Let all the earth receive her King
One silent night, one holy night
(Oh, come let us adore Him)
When all was calm, when all was bright
(Oh, come let us adore Him)
With no one to kneel, and no one to sing
Heaven came down and changed everything
Let all the earth receive her King
Oh, come let us adore Him
Oh, come let us adore Him
Come let us adore Him
Oh, come let us adore Him
Come let us adore Him
(Silent night, holy night)
Oh, come let us adore Him
(Silent night, holy night)

May you be blessed today and during this advent season, this time of preparing our hearts to receive the King who has come for us. May we not be too busy with all of the things to do and miss what is really important. 

Anyone else have any favourite Christmas songs? Please let me know, I'd love to check them out! {I loooove Christmas music!}

blessings,

love Emma

Lots of Things

 I took quite a break from blogging {obviously....} but there have been so many times the last week or so that I've been like, oh I should post about that. But then I would be like, oh wait I should really post about that first. But I have also been finding myself very much lacking in energy and time, and so none of those posts have been written. Today I decided to write one post with little bits of them all so that I can't use any unwritten posts to keep me from posting anymore. {make sense? lol}

photo taken by my brother :)

First off, just this week my grandfather who had heart surgery  was moved out of ICU. Praise God! So many weeks of ups and downs, and finally he seems to improving. Thank you to all who prayed, and please continue to keep him (& my grandmother) in your prayers. 

 But partially as a result of all that, this past month has been so exhausting. My parents have been back and forth to the hospital (in a different city) regularly, and my mom has stayed with my grandmother a lot. Resulting in a large load being put onto my shoulders. And I am so thankful - thankful that we are currently in a stage of life where my mother was able to go be with her, thankful that the kids are all old enough to let her go, thankful that I have had this experience of running a household, thankful I don't have a full school load right now. I'm thankful for the great training I've had which allowed me to be capable of doing this. 

And I realized something. Running a household is not easy. I mean, I didn't really think it was, but I just didn't think it would be quite so hard. So thank-you Mum. Thanks for all that you do for us. Because I see more of it now :) And also, I see why you were always ragging on us to take initiative to see something needs to be done and do it. lol

Next order of business, this year I am doing Dressember. The group of people that I'm doing it with this year is raising awareness (and money) against abortion. 

I wear dresses all the time, and I thought I wouldn't get tired of it until the end, but whadduya know, I already am. Hopefully I'll get a second wind or something lol. And why on earth did they choose such a cold month for it??! Why not sometime in the spring or summer when you don't have to wear leggings (especially fleece lined ones) every day? I mean, sure Dressember is a catchy name that doesn't really work with any other month, but still. haha

I read these posts this week:
This post, by Bri. "But I long for a fall on your knees in awe and gratitude because God has sent a Savior, His own son to save me." Amen amen amen!!
And this one, by Marian. this was juuust what I needed to read this week. because it's true... when we're all messy and needy that's when we can best receive him, and that's why He came.

And lastly,
November Goals.
-run/exercise 5 days/week. The sun keeps rising later and later leaving me with less and less time to run, so I may need to start doing my indoor workouts soon. My goal is to do it most mornings. 
//hahahahahahaha. newp. I think I still ran once a week though.
-count blessings. I've been counting gifts for a couple of years now. I find that some times I count regularly, habitually and other times more sporadically. Right now it's sporadic but I hope to change that because I can really notice the difference.
// yes this did happen. :)
-goal #3. of course I had thought of another goal that I planned to make but forgot to write it down, so I will update this when I think of it. :P
//and of course, this month I didn't even remember or make up another goal. 

December Goals
-quiet for advent. try and remember that this is not just another 'to-do' for this season, but rather a time to bow humbly before the King who was born to save the world. 
 And ya know what? That's actually all I've got right now. :P 

So there we are. I'm so tired right now that most of the probably doesn't make sense but if you got something out of the mumbo jumbo then I'm so glad! ;) 

Blessings,
Emma