The Voyage of the Dawn Treader

I am a HUGE fan of all seven of The Chronicles of Narnia. I love each book, have cried through each book, and learned from each book. If you have not read the series (or have not read them since childhood) I recommend reading them. C.S. Lewis paints such a wonderful picture of God's love for his people and the sacrifices that he makes for us.

If you think you are too "old" to read these books, I present to you one of my favorite C.S. Lewis quotes: "Some day you will be old enough to start reading fairy tales again." These books are wonderful for any Christian who desires to see God in a new and fresh light. After re-reading the series again in my early 20's, I felt my relationship with the Lord grow stronger because I began to understand that God is a God of mystery, but all of his ways are higher (and better) than ours. I began to see God as a fierce protector and lover of my soul. I reconfirmed my knowledge that he loved me like a daughter.

If you aren't ready to dive into the books (I promise they are quick, easy, fun, PERFECT holiday reads) go and see The Voyage of the Dawn Treader--it is coming out on December 10th. This is the fourth book in the series and if I had to pick my favorite, the Dawn Treader might be it!

A New York Birthday Party

I had been beggingbeggingbegging Kern to go to New York with me for months and we finally agreed to go to celebrate my 25th birthday. We left DC at 4am, drove to Princeton, New Jersey, caught the 7:45am train into Penn Station and arrived in the heart of the Big Apple at 8:52am. It was a wonderful day!

We started the day with breakfast at Sarabeth's. I had pumpkin waffles with sour cream, honey, raisins and pumpkins seeds--fantastic!

We went to Sarabeth's East, which is only a block from Central Park, we walked almost the entire length of the Park...and of course rode the carousel!

Quarter life crisis?

It was cold, but sunny!

Christmas tree at the Plaza Hotel

Experiencing the mania of Times Square

The tree at Rockefellar Center

The view from Top of the Rock at dusk

Empire state of mind

It felt like 10 degrees!

The tree at night!

We took the 7pm train back to Princeton and then drove 3 1/2 more hours home. At that point, I had been up almost 24 hours (since I woke up at 3am to shower) but it was so worth it. Experiencing New York at Christmas was magical--even though we had to wait in line to even get into FAO Schwartz! It was a perfect day--just walking, seeing and observing the city.

I can't wait to go back again!

Birthday Festivities

For those who know me, you know I love to stretch my birthday celebration out as long as possible. This year was no different, and because I was home a few days before my actual birthday, my parents were nice enough to host a birthday lunch for me!

Yummy chocolate cake with cream cheese and chocolate frosting!

25 candles were hard to blow out

Kern and me

Opening gifts--my favorite part!

Being home was so special

Back in DC...Kern let me open my gift from him the night before we left for New York

He did a superb job wrapping!

Awesome gift!

These boots were made for...ME

For my 25th birthday, Kern got me these Ariat cowboy boots!

Brown oiled rowdy and scarlet full grain leather western boot with a decorative yellow, blue, and purple topstitching detail and circular cutout accents at top of shaft

Plenty of details and photos from our New York trip coming soon!

Meditation by J.C. Ryle

Let this be an encouragement to you as we enter the holiday season and think about Jesus who was born to die for our sins. Because of Him, we have life!

"There is a resurrection after death. Let this never be forgotten. ... Let us strive to live like men who believe in a resurrection and a life to come, and desire to be always ready for another world. ... So living, we shall take patiently all that we have to bear in this world. Trial, losses, disappointments, ingratitude, will affect us little. We shall not look for our reward here. We shall feel that all will be rectified one day, and that the Judge of all the earth will do right. (Genesis 18:25).

But how can we bear the thought of a resurrection? What shall enable us to look forward to a world to come without alarm? Nothing can do it, but faith in Christ. Believing on Him, we have nothing to fear. Our sins will not appear against us. The demands of God's law will be found completely satisfied. We shall stand firm in the great day, and none shall lay anything to our charge. (Romans 8:33) Worldly men...may well tremble when they think of a resurrection. But believers, like Paul, may rejoice."

Amen!