Almost Christmas

Well it's the 23rd and as of last night, and my Christmas shopping is officially done! Today is the last day I'm working until next week and I cannot wait to have a few days to relax and to see family. Tomorrow Nolan and I get to see our friends Abbie and Kyle, who both live far away and hardly ever come to Pittsburgh. Merry Christmas everyone! :-)

Movies and Books

Two of my favorite things are reading and movies, so even in this busy time of life I often make time for both. Nolan recently read the book the The Blindside, and when he was done we went to see the movie. This is definitely one of my favorite movies now. The story of Michael Ohrer, who is currently playing for the Baltimore Ravens is truly an incredible one. I have always had great respect for individuals and families who open their homes and lives to those in need, and the family in this story take a risk and open their home to a young boy they barely even know. They show Michael what it means to be in a loving family, and make him a full fledge member of their family. I always love Sandra Bullock, but her portrayal of this character is my favorite yet! She is excellent, and sassy which I love! If you haven't seen this movie, go tonight! It's a great movie for all ages. I have to admit I have been pretty mad at the Steelers lately, but losing to the Ravens was a little easier after seeing this movie...just a little though!

I have also recently read the book My Sister's Keeper by Jodi Picoult (also made into a movie that I haven't seen yet). This is an excellent book about a little girl who was born for the sole purpose of keeping her sick sister alive by donating various parts of her body. She decides to sue her parents for rights to her own body. This book raises some serious ethical questions, and really forces readers to consider them. My favorite part of the book was the unique way that it was written. Each chapter switched back and forth between different characters perspective, each one in the first person. This allowed the reader to read about the same situations from all different points of view, therefore really getting to know each character and how they are feeling. I loved this book and can't wait to see the movie!

Nolan's on the Blogging Scene

My husband has decided to follow in my footsteps and be a more frequent blogger. I decided I should give a plug to the crowds and crowds of people who read my blog. His new web address is: nolanpat.blogspot.com Check it out! :-)

Thanksgiving with Florida Family

This Thanksgiving, we headed down to Florida to visit Nolan's parents and also some more of his family. I missed my family in Pittsburgh and all of our Thanksgiving traditions, but it was really great getting to spend some time with Nolan's family and for us to have a getaway from the busyness of life!

One of our favorite foods is sushi, but we don't get to eat it very often. Nolan's parents took us out to a delicious sushi restaurant in Gainesville.

We also spent some time visiting with Nolan's Grams at her apartment in a place called The Village.

During our visit we were very excited to go to a Florida Gator football game! It was really crazy being senior night and Tim Tebow's last home game. We went to the Gator Crawl. This is a tradition of fans gathering to greet the players as they make their way from the buses to the stadium, it was absolutely insane! Those gator fans are crazy!!

Thanksgiving with Friends

I have learned that growing up and moving away from home makes it a lot more important to have a close group of really good friends. Nolan and I both feel so blessed to have gone to Geneva and have some of the friends that we have. Many of these people have become our family, and we love them! A few years ago our group of friends started a tradition of getting together for a Christmas party, getting dressed up, and cooking a big meal. Over the years, the group of people grew and changed and the past two we have gotten together for a Thanksgiving dinner instead. This year, our friend Scotty hosted all of us at his house. Some of our closest friends were there and also some new people that we have recently gotten to know. We had a ton of fun and the cooks did an incredible job! Everyone brought a little something but it was especially relaxing for me because I am usually in charge of more, but this time I just helped out. Here are some pictures from our night:

Meg was one of the wonderful cooks, and Jammin on the right

was Nolan's other roommate at Geneva

Ally is our neighbor in Sewickley and is dating one of our college friends! Tyler and Noah are from college and Tyler lives in Sewickley now too! Grubby was Nolan's roommate last year, with Scott and Dodd Nolan with the host Scotty and Bacon

Operation Christmas Child

This is the second year that the youth group has done Operation Christmas Child, with the help of the rest of the church. People have been very generous in their donations and the youth have worked hard wrapping, sorting, and packing all of the presents. These gifts go to children around the world who won't get other gifts. Operation Christmas Child is run by a Christian organization called Samaritan's Purse. This is a really great organization and one which I have truly enjoyed participating in. Thanks to all who helped with this project! We were able to deliver 63 completed gifts! Since the high school students didn't have youth group, the middle school students did the final work for this project and we filled Nolan's jeep with all the gifts!

Jumonville Retreat

The past few weeks have been a whirlwind and we have done so many things, I have a lot of catching up to do when it comes to blogging. Two weeekends ago, I went on a high school retreat to Jumonville and it was a wonderful weekend! The weather was beautiful and I really enjoyed getting to know some of the students better. It's amazing that I have been here long enough to see how much some students have grown in their faith over the past two and half years. The girls kept a Mt. Carmel tradition alive by dressing in crazy outfits for the Saturday night activities (that should explain the weird clothes in one of the pictures). Here are some pictures from the weekend: