So it's cold.....VERY, VERY cold....

-1F. to be exact......bitter, stinking cold. And it is only mid-November. I have a feeling this winter is going to be a doosey. Such is life in the "Great Land." Yeah, whomever dubbed Alaska the "Great Land" definitely here in the summertime. Seriously.....

And if it isn't cold enough here in the Valley, tomorrow my mom and little R. are flying north for 4 days to Fairbanks. Yep.....they are choosing to go where it's even colder. Crazy, if you ask me! However, their trip has great purpose. Can you guess why anyone in their right mind would go to Fairbanks in the winter (hey, right now I myself am wondering why anyone would live in the Valley in the winter *wink*)? Well, the nightlife of Fairbanks is NOT the reason for this visit. In fact their reason for going is much more special...................

They are going to visit Santa Claus. At THE Santa Claus House. In the town of North Pole. Every little kid's dream. My mom took D. a few years ago & now it's R.'s turn to go. I love that my mom does this with my kids........it is one of those special things in one's childhood that will stay with them for a lifetime.

So while they head north, D & I will be hanging here at home. School (for the kids) is out for the remainder of the week & we are just going to enjoy the down time. Translated= D. will probably have a few sleepovers with her little tween friends while I have my face buried in textbooks.

On another note, I totally forgot to blog about something that happened here a few weeks ago......the Sunday after the election, I sat church and was totally blown away by the week's sermon. I am really bummed that I didn't blog right away because I intended to provide a link to the audio of the sermon....but now it's gone. Anyway......the message that week was from Romans and references government and leaders in relation to our responsibility as Christians. There is no way I can fully summarize the pastor's message but the piece that struck me above all was this (paraphrased)-

It doesn't matter at this point if we are happy with the election results or whether we like our future leaders or not .... at this point, God expects us to be prayerful.....to pray for our future leaders....all of them. To pray that they will act in the best interest of their nation and that the Lord will continue to work in their lives, as we should pray for all people.

It was very moving.....very, very moving. The entire congregation was touched (no matter where their stood before or after the election). And while the message of God was the most significant part of the morning, as I sat with my friend Aleisha (both of our hubbies were away at work), we noticed across the aisle to our left sat an older couple with tears streaming down their faces....yet they weren't really tears of sadness....instead you could see on their faces acceptance and agreement with the pastor's message. The couple was Chuck & Sally Heath.....Sarah Palin's parents. It was moving to see that these people who were so close to the election process were willing to accept God's task for them with open & willing hearts.

Okay...enough about that...I think you get my message.........

So....before I go for today, I once again want to ask for your recommendations for good books......nothing heavy....beach reads.....yep....there is some beach time in my future. More about that later :)