First Day of Christmas

On the first day of Christmas I'm truly grateful for:

One promised King born in a manger. The Savior of the World.  Jesus Christ.

Most people know that Thanksgiving has always been my favorite holiday.  Because of this, I'm a pretty big stickler on not wanting anyone around me singing Christmas music until December.  I get kind of Grinchy if I hear deck the halls before we've let the turkey cool.  But this year?  For some reason this year, I've been wanting to sing Christmas music since March.  My mind has been a broken record of one simple phrase since last Christmas.  In May, in July, in September.  All year I've heard it playing over and over in my head; it's the "O Holy Night" lyric:

Fall on your knees!

Fall on your knees.  When you think about the love, the sacrifice, the willingness, the miracle that is the atonement, that is Christ's life and death, how can you not be in awe?  How poignant to imagine the meager shepherds next to the dignified kings, all of them not just kneeling but falling to their knees, overcome with the wonder and gratitude that must have struck them at the sight of the precious newborn.

How would a person, once burdened and suffocated by heartache and misery, who has felt the peace and joy of a Savior who knows and loves and lifts away sadness and dries tears, how could a person who has felt that relief and hope for his or herself, not collapse in worship and gratitude at the sight of her King and Advocate? It seems impossible to imagine being able to stop oneself.  And not only at the sight of Jesus Christ, but also at the thought of meeting the Father who allowed his Son to be bruised and beaten for the world's sake.

The thoughts are too much for me most days.  I can't really dwell too much on these ideas or I turn into a weepy mess.  But today, it's important that I share these feelings.  Because these ideas and feelings have been on my mind too heavily this year not to express them.

So, as a person who has tried to keep this blog as light and diversity-friendly as possible, I want those who read this to know how grateful I am for my Savior, Jesus Christ and the atonement that he performed in my behalf.  He has saved me in every sense of the word. And I look forward to the day when I am given the opportunity to fall on my knees in His presence and thank Him for truly everything.

O Holy Night! The stars are brightly shining,
It is the night of the dear Saviour's birth.
Long lay the world in sin and error pining.
Till He appeared and the Spirit felt its worth.
A thrill of hope the weary world rejoices,
For yonder breaks a new and glorious morn.
Fall on your knees! Oh, hear the angel voices!
O night divine, the night when Christ was born;
O night, O Holy Night , O night divine!
O night, O Holy Night , O night divine!

Led by the light of faith serenely beaming,
With glowing hearts by His cradle we stand.
O'er the world a star is sweetly gleaming,
Now come the wisemen from out of the Orient land.
The King of kings lay thus lowly manger;
In all our trials born to be our friends.
He knows our need, our weakness is no stranger,
Behold your King! Before him lowly bend!
Behold your King! Before him lowly bend!

Truly He taught us to love one another,
His law is love and His gospel is peace.
Chains he shall break, for the slave is our brother.
And in his name all oppression shall cease.
Sweet hymns of joy in grateful chorus raise we,
With all our hearts we praise His holy name.
Christ is the Lord! Then ever, ever praise we,
His power and glory ever more proclaim!
His power and glory ever more proclaim!

AJ, the Greatest Roommate

To save money and to get to know my dad's side better, I've moved in with my great aunt. For security purposes, we'll call her AJ. I say "security purposes" for two reasons:
     A) She's very particular about who knows what about her
     B) She keeps a gun in the house

AJ is one of the coolest people I've ever met. She's basically Bea Arthur

but much prettier. And as evidenced in this previous post I'm pretty much living a dream so wonderful that I never even dared to dream it in thinking it could never come true.

There are numerous wonderful things about living with a real-life Golden Girl. Here's just a few:
     A) We both keep our own hours and never get in each other's hair about it. I get up and go to bed whenever I want and she's not the typical aunt that would worry and call my mom if I wasn't home by midnight. In fact, about half the time I'll get home for the night and AJ's car is still gone. And we're talking 1 or 2 in the morning. Where is she? No idea. But I'm not going to go call her kids if she doesn't call my parents for the same thing.
     B) Her house is really awesome. She and her husband traveled all over the place before he died. There's souvenirs on every bookshelf from places like Thailand and Paris and everywhere in between. And the walls are COVERED in pictures of her family. My grandpa (AJ's brother) and my grandma divorced years before I was born. It's surreal to look at pictures that not only have my grandpa as a young man in them, but that also have my grandma standing next to him with my dad and their other children. It's neat to see my grandparents together. I've never seen that in real life. Another thing about seeing pictures of my grandpa is realizing how much of the Nelson side we kids have in us. I think I've always seen Pinegar in me because that's the side I know better, but there's this picture

that's right outside my bathroom and every time I pass it I have to do a double-take because it looks so much like a young version of my brother Derek.

     C) Possibly the most awesome thing about living with AJ is her doors and windows. I mentioned earlier that AJ has a gun in the house. She has one because she's been burgled (real word) twice in the last little while. So, her son had her go out and buy a gun and learn how to shoot it. To scare off potential theives, she has one of these

or one of these



on the outside of every door and window in her house. And she's a great shot. When I first moved in with her I was afraid she'd forget that I would be coming in late at night and accidentally shoot me. So we worked out a system where I can let her know its me. Our conversation went something like this:
     AJ: I'm going to have to get used to you coming in at night.
     Me: Oh?
     AJ: Cause I sleep with a gun in my room.
     Me: Right. The targets.
     AJ: And I don't want to get burglarized again.
     Me: Well, I could maybe do a bird call when I come in so you know it's me. Like this, "Caw!"
     AJ: ... or I could just say, "Who's there?" and you could say, "Brooke."
     Me: That would work, too.

I told you AJ is like Bea Arthur. That's because not only is she a tall, powerful woman, but she has sarcasm that's as dry and sharp as you can find. Every time we have a conversation I make mental notes about the genius of her humor and delivery. She's hilarious but in such a non-chalant and "serious" way that you're not sure whether or not she's "serious" or serious. She keeps me guessing, laughing and a little afraid for my life all at the same time, all the time.

My roommate is cooler than yours.

NRA, PNA and Hopefully an ME(N)A

My sister is getting married!

HOORAY!

I couldn't be happier with Paige's pick: Nick. He is a fantastic guy who adores my sister and treats her like a princess. He's a hard worker, loves his family, gets along with and has found approval from (miracle of all miracles) the whole Nelson crew, plays the piano and guitar, sings, has a good sense of humor and has a slight southern twang in his accent. But the main thing is:

He makes Paige happy; which makes me happy.

Congratulations to my sis and my bro-ancé (AKA Paige's fiancé AKA my future bro AKA my bro-ancé)!

OH MY GOSH! I almost forgot the best part about Paige and Nick getting married: Nick's grandpa's name is Merlin. MERLIN. As in

or

and

Yeah. Merlin.

So, while this post is a happy post, it is also a warning that I have already given Sis and Bro-ancé in person, but am reiterating here for the whole world to see: If Paige and Nick don't take advantage of the gift of being able to name one of their children Merlin: I will never forgive them. Seriously. Where else will you find an opportunity like this? Can't you just imagine it?

Merlin Erven Anderson

or if they want to get really fancy with it they can name him

Merlin Erven Nelson Anderson

Four names. Two from each side of the family. It's perfect!

Paige, I'm serious. Please, Please, PLEASE! Don't screw this up. I promise not to love any of my nieces or nephews as much as Merlin Erven.

Promise.

Twofer

I'm sorry I've been so bad about blogging lately. I'm taking a break from studying for finals to give you a quick twofer (two for the price of one, JSYK).

First of all, today is Day 30 of P90X. While I haven't seen the results I would like to see so far in regards to the way my clothes fit, I have seen a change in my energy levels. I'm happier (I think) than I was a month ago (though the temperature has changed quite a bit as well in the last thirty days so it could also have something to do with that). It's a little easier for me to get out of bed and get stuff done when my alarm goes off (sometimes). I'm also a lot more flexible which is something I wasn't expecting so quickly. I'm finding some stretches too easy now and am looking for more ways to actually feel a pull or stretch, so that's cool. Oh yeah, and Tony Horton, you crazy/weird man:
I hate you, but I love you.





Speaking of crazy/weird love, my second part of this post (putting the "two" in twofer) is about Chinese people and how I miss them:

I love and miss Chinese people.

And here's a video to help you see why. Also, the music during his final trick reminds me of Land Before Time which only adds to its greatness.



中国, 我 约定 近义词!

Long Overdue

For a refresher on what we look like when we aren't dressed up as LOST characters, refer to the Premier Post.

What are we going to do with ourselves once this whole saga is over?

Project P90(se)X(...y)

Tomorrow Cami, Kiera, Shannon, Michael and I are starting P90X. I normally wouldn't post about something this personal and self-conscious, but I'm breaking my rule because I want some accountability on this. Kubo thinks that we'll only last three days. I'm committing to last three months. We're taking before and after pictures and writing out a schedule and eating healthy and everything. I'm going to do a check-in on Day 30, Day 60 and Day 90. Sorry, none of my pictures are going up on here. I'm willing to lower my blogging humility a little bit, but not THAT much. I am, however, more than happy to exploit others:

Excited? Me too! See you in thirty days!

My Constant

Chris Harrison,

you are my Constant.

(For those of you sad people who don't watch LOST, you may need to click this link.)