Things I Like Tuesday - Christmas Gift Edition

I feel so abundantly blessed. I got some wonderful Christmas gifts this year that are just such a blessing and a delight. It feels kind of weird to share them, but I love being able to share so much with my blogging friends, and since these are some things I'm happy about right now... you get to see what they are! :)

1.

My mom got me this L.L. Bean purse/shoulder bag. I absolutely LOVE it! It was perfect for the day she & I went shopping on Michigan Avenue. I look forward to using it on little day trips in the future. And since it's L.L. Bean, I trust it will last a long time! It's got a ton of pockets on the inside, and it's made so it puts little pressure on your shoulder and back. It can feel a little heavy when you lift it full of stuff, but once you put it on your shoulder, it's like it's almost weightless. I love this thing. Thank you mom!!! 

 2.

Another great gift from my mom! This Travis Cottrell CD has quickly become one of my all-time favorite Christmas music CD's. I had never heard of Travis before attending two Beth Moore live events the past two years. He's amazing and has an incredibly powerful voice. Mom & I were just in awe when we heard him live. His CD isn't quite the same effect as hearing him live, but still... it gives me chills. In particular, the song "In the First Light" is just insanely amazing and powerful. Love this!

 

 3. 

An array of Bath & Body Works products that I simply love. From two sister-in-laws. Cherry Blossom & Moonlight Path. Mmmmmmm!

4.

I got quite an incredible assortment of movies this year {pictured are just ones I grabbed, there are several more}, I always love a good movie! A couple of purchases hubster got me were made-for-TV movies from ABC Family. One of my favs is Holiday in Handcuffs with Melissa Joan Hart and Mario Lopez...sooo cute! And if you're at all familiar with the former TV show Ed {can I get a whoop whoop Mary?!?!?}, you'll love Snow and Snow 2 starring Ed's star, Tom Cavanagh. What a hilarious actor...he is such a nut. And of course, my new all-time favorite, Leap Year! Also in this mix is my very exciting Just Dance 2 Wii game. My friend Annemarie's love of this game got me to put it on my wish list. Now that I have it and am really excited to have it, I've actually been a little scared to try it! {Now, don't be deceived, just because I grew up Baptist doesn't mean I don't like to dance... usually to the beat of my own drum though, lol! ;)}

5.

A week before Christmas, hubster found out about Best Buy giving away for free their iPhone 3GS for that one day only. He quickly got over to the store and got me one. His phone was the one up for reactivation, but being the utter sweetheart that he is, he was able to switch it to my phone. We were already with AT&T and already had a data plan, so the only charge was the $18 reactivation fee. Wow, talk about a blessing!! So thankful. Given the changes in recent years to MACs and now that they are incredible, I'm totally a MAC girl now. So getting an iPhone was just like insanely great. Then comes Christmas and hubster got me my first ever iPod {apart from the one now available on my iPhone}. It's a little iPod shuffle, and I love it! I actually haven't had time yet to play with it or get it figured out, but I'm excited to once life slows down a bit! Call me a dweeb, but given my rather meager life growing up, the smallest things can thrill me to no end!

6. 

I have to of course show you the stuff I got for myself! So... even though I'm in the midst of reading about 4 books at once {cuz I'm a nut like that}, but when I saw this book on the shelf at Barnes & Noble {where I also had to load up on some of the awesome Peppermint Hot Chocolate at their Starbucks! ahem...}, I just had to have it. It's Radical by David Platt. It's powerful! I've heard Amber talking about it and that's what got me interested. Now that I've started, I am loving it! But it's definitely not for the faint of heart! Don't read this one before trying to fall asleep! It feels suddenly like the weight of the world is on your shoulders--it's a heart-stirrer for sure....

 Then for New Years I decided I needed to start the new year with a new look. So on Friday I spent several hours with my wonderful sister-in-law after driving the 1 hour 15 min southwest to her house in another suburb. She colored, highlighted, and cut my hair. I love it! Being the total goofball that I am,  and that I don't care really if I look like a complete idiot, included below of course is the pic of me with the foil in my hair awaiting the color! ;)

Whacha think? Other than the foil picture?!? ;) I know it's hard to tell from a picture, so just imagine dark brown hair going a tad darker and then highlighted with some sort of reddish/goldish/dark brownish stuff. Diana said coloring the base first helps the highlights pop more. I can't even really tell the base color is darker. I just love it and I feel like a new person. And 5 pounds lighter with getting a couple inches taken off! I'm just really glad it doesn't take as much prep in the morning since my fingertips are extremely sensitive.

Not pictured: I also love the GPS hubster got me and the earrings my sister-in-law got me, as well as everything else my very sweet and loving friends & family got me! However, there's a special post coming soon about my very favorite Christmas gift {aside from the obvious, best Christmas gift ever - the birth of our Savior!!!}.

Also coming soon, a post I've been working on for days about my 2010 in review, and what's now become a separate post {it was getting too long} on my goals for 2011. 

Oh... and yes, sorry I've been a bit MIA... I was working on a major freelance project all weekend and last night after work. But it was fun! I promise to be back into all your blogs soon too, sorry for my absence! Trust me I've been lurking, just not much time to post comments or read in-depthly these days. Now that the holidays are over, I promise, my life is going to be so much slower!!

Okay time to get my freshly baked chocolate chip cookies out of the oven, mmmm! Stay tuned! :)