Merry Chistmas! WARNING: Soapbox ahead!

Thanksgiving has come and gone, but hopefully we are all still finding many things to be thankful for.
I am always so excited for Christmas to arrive. One highlight for me is going to buy a beautiful Christmas tree and decorating it with beautiful angels and roses and white lights (things that remind me of the gift of Jesus and God's love for his people). I love thinking about my loved ones and dear friends and considering who they are and what they love and finding special gifts for each of them (of course sometimes the perfect gift is hard to find and you just have to settle for the list).
The obvious is that I love cooking and baking, hence "The Sweet Spot," and I am just gearing up to make some wonderful cookies and treats for neighbors and friends.
I will say that over the past few years Christmas has begun to bring some bitter with the sweet. Let me explain. As I listen to the news reporting how "Merry Christmas" must become, "Happy Holidays" and school music programs are changing the words to songs like "Silent Night" to sing a message of holiday materialism rather than the birth of our Savior; I just can't help but have a few thoughts I'd like to throw up on a Soapbox.
So here they are....
If you don't want to celebrate the Birth of Christ...then don't; however don't go changing our holiday! Get your own holiday and celebrate it at a different time or at least don't call it Christmas. If Saint Nicolas was around to see what has become of his name and his story I think he would rip his clothes off, put on a sack cloth and weep. Most people don't even know the real story of St. Nick. His mission and his passion for God and serving others have been reduced to a Jolly fat man with elves giving gifts to children on a works basis. What about the real story? St. Nick was a man who wanted to remain anonymous as he met the needs of needy people in his community. He was so grateful for the blessings he had received that he wanted others to know the blessings and love of God. St. Nick is a saint because he wanted life to be about worshiping God not the blasphemy of worshiping Santa or any other manmade idol.
Now, I am not saying pull "Santa" from Christmas, I am saying let's return to what Christmas is really all about and put Santa back in a position of reminding people about giving and not receiving and reminding people to worship the True God in awe and adoration, love and gratefulness.

You may be wondering WOW, where did ALL that come from, "that" meaning my rantings about Christmas.

Answer: Oh, it's been building a little more every year, but this year it seems to have climaxed, with the news stories, all the stupid (and may I add, hideous) inflatable 25 foot yard art Santa's, snowmen, snow globes, etc. My neighbor actually has the following items displayed in his yard: The huge Santa, a giant bear wearing a Santa suit, a huge snowman and hoisted on the shoulder of the snowman and matching baby snowman...all these things inflatable. And to top all these my attitude was spurred to writing when I drove by a house whose Christmas decorations were a string of lights and on their rooftop an inflatable Sponge Bob Square Pants in a Santa hat. And this is what the Celebration of our Lord Jesus Christ, the ultimate gift of life, love, grace and forgiveness has been reduced to.

I think next year I may just decide to celebrate Christmas in late January when all the fuss is over. When people ask why I still have my decorations up I can tell them that most of the World never even celebrated Christmas but rather celebrated Santa and Sponge Bob and in order to remind my own heart of the true meaning of Christmas I decided to separate myself from the distractions and demise of what is becoming of the "holiday season."
There are still families who read the Christmas story, reflect as they light their advent candles, have the reminder of their Nativity scene and give time and money to helping the less fortunate. And even for those of us who are a part of these traditions there are times we get caught up in the "hoildayness" of it all, we are giving gifts and making lists, but hopefully we are exchanging gifts to express our love for others, and as a symbol and reminder of the amazing day God blessed us with the greatest gift of all - Jesus.

I do love Christmas but my heart is grieved for people who are missing its meaning, and I earnestly desire that my heart will never be distracted and miss it. The story of Jesus is too wonderful and amazing to ignore.
Please Lord, may I never lose sight of that!

Because of the true meaning of Christmas; "Merry Christmas to each of you!"

A Must See

I have a new favorite movie...check it out (sorry I am technology challanged and don't know how to make a button for the link so you have to see the whole long thing)

http://switchboard.real.com/player/email.html?PV=6.0.12&&title=Tribute&link=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.hockersmith.net.nyud.net%3A8090%2FTribute.wmv

It's only a couple of minutes long but it still touches my heart.

Enjoy!

Soon to be a sweet memory...

You should know that for years (maybe 14 years) I have been a K-State football fan. I love it! In my heart the cats are always the best, they always have the potential to win, if they could only believe in themselves and play the game like I see them in my head, we would be National Champs every year! In my heart they are unstoppable.

Also in my heart, I cannot think of my fondness of K-State Football or even K-State as a whole without thinking of Bill Snyder. He is core, he is reigning hero, he is K-State. When I talk about K-State football or Coach Snyder, I usually say, "Bill." I talk as if I just got off the phone with Bill, as if he is my uncle, a dear friend, someone I really know. Yes, Bill and his family are dream friends of mine. Not really just to talk football with and know all the details that the public doesn't know, but also just to talk about life and events of the day and the Big 12 in general. From observing Bill, I see dedication, excellence, an unwavering commitment, a confidence, a security. He sticks to his guns, and doesn't seem to care what others think. He is a believer and has convinced so many others to believe.

All these things will soon be a sweet memory. Bill retired this week. It's funny because I have often joked that I think I will cry when Bill retires, because I just can't imagine KSU Football without him. The time has come, I am in shock! I wish we could have one more year with you Bill! Thanks for all the good times, thanks for hanging in there when the team was struggling, thanks to you and your family for all the sacrifices you have made over the years to invest in a football program and in a community. Even though in reality I don't know you, Snyder family, you are always welcome in my family. You will always be this Wildcat's hero!

I feel like getting to know the new coach will be somewhat like getting to know a step-dad. He maybe the smartest greatest nicest guy in the whole world but he is going to have to prove it and even if he does, we'll still love Bill more.

Saturday is our last game of the season, our last game coached by Bill, the end of 17 years. I do know that life and football will go on without Bill. Just in case anyone thought in my sadness I have lost perspective. :)

What's your city?

I found this silly quiz through another blog and thought it looked fun. Although nothing real can be decided from a 10 question magazine quiz, we all fall into the curiosity and take 'em. Evidently I belong in Rome, personally I think I would choose a tropical city or village.
Check out the link below, there are other quizes there as well, it's kind of fun.
I would love for you to leave a comment in my box letting me know what your city is. :)
Ciao!

You Belong in Rome

You're a big city girl with a small town heart Which is why you're attracted to the romance of Rome Strolling down picture perfect streets, cappuccino in hand And gorgeous Italian men - could life get any better?

What City Do You Belong In?

The Arts

Did I drop off the face of the planet or what?! It's been almost a month since I took the time to write something. Thanks for sticking with me.

This week has been too cool for words and it's only Tuesday night! On Sunday night my roommates and I went to see a production called Barrage. I had no idea what to expect but when the lights turned down and the curtain opened it was like the child inside me burst into life, I was on the edge of my seat just waiting to see what would happen next. I wanted to skip and dance all over the place. The colors, the lights, the music, the magic, it was too much! I may sound crazy or cheesy but I had forgotten how much I love live theatre. You should check out the website for Barrage, www.barrage.org. To write about it would not do it justice, but on their website you can look at pictures, listen to the music and even download a clip or two (I think). Basically it is the story of a band of gypsies, and a mixture of fast playin' fiddles and stomp moves, if you can't have fun watching this, I'm not sure you like fun.
Thanks roommie for gifting your housemates with a night at the theatre. What a treat!

That was Sunday, today is Tuesday and another friend asked me to go and see the local high school musical, Seussical the Musical. First off the gal who played the Kangaroo is AMAZING! I teared up when she was singing, she wasn't even singing something sad, her voice just brought me to tears of amazement. The Cat in the Hat was great and my other favorite was Gertrude the bird with the one feather tail. Gertrude, you too can sing and I can't believe you're only a high school student!

And finally today, before actually making it to the high school musical another good friend of mine asked it I would go home with her this weekend to see her niece in the high school musical, The Wizard of Oz. So I thought, why not, it seems to be a week for the arts!

Here's wishing everyday could have a little make believe in it,
Where's the kid in you? Have you seen 'em lately??

I think I need to play more.
To all my friends who keep dreaming of our infamous "Musical" theme party, I am more up for it than ever! Bring on the tunes and pull out a costume. :)

2 scoops of sugar!

Two very sweet things in my life are my two little cousins, who actually - aren't little anymore. The girls, Renee and Rain, use to come and stay with me when I was in college and we would see football games or basketball games and then have a sleepover. We love laughing together. I snapped this picture just after scaring them b/c they were up talking when they were suppose to be sleeping.
I am pretty sure this is the same night we had gone to a basketball game and the mascots got in a fight, a Gorilla and a Lion, the Lion lost his head...it was funny and a little bit scary.
This picture pretty much captures most of the time we're together -laughing our heads off!
I hope when you girls are in college it won't be too uncool to have an old lady like me come and stay with you. :)
I miss you!

Something Sweet...

These are some cheesecakes I made for an auction in April. They are my two favorite cheesecake recipes currently. On the left is a Chocolate-peanut butter cup cheescake, and on the right is a very rich and creamy mint-chocolate cheesecake. I have so enjoyed perfecting my cheesecakes over the past few years. I have successfully learned to bake them all the way through and keep them from cracking on the top! I now enjoy making cheesecakes for friends and the occasional freelance catering gig. Usually I find recipes I like and them tweak them to suite my taste and style. This summer I finally invented a recipe of my own for Caramel Apple Cheesecake...Surprisingly it was very good - a hit at friends 4th of July party. I could use a piece of yummy cheesecake right now.

The Sweet Spot

I'm new to this whole Blog culture, but I look forward to figuring it out and someday being a part of the "Old School" Blogger's club! :)
I hope to use this page to share with you, and to reflect for myself, the sweet things in life (metaphorically and litterally) and to share my joy of baking.

May you uncover the sweet things in life,
Correnta