And now this Thursday evening I fondly say goodbye to Aberdeen! Because yes, I will soon be on my way to Tampa, what!! Flying out tomorrow night, staying a night in London and then flying across the sea to America on Saturday! It’s going to be oh so good to be home, yo. But as I eagerly look forward to being home and delighting in the love of my family – I’ve realized this week how much I will miss everyone here! Truly, how blessed am I to have such good friends!! As I said goodbye to so many people at Gilc this past Sunday evening, I got ridiculously sad(Seriously – I’m only going to be gone three weeks!).

And then this past week I’ve been having some pretty sweet evenings with dear friends…Tuesday dinner with Graham(Handmade Burger at the mall, mmm..) and as always, oh so encouraging! Last night, went over to Chris and Jo’s and enjoyed delicious sweets and lovely tea as we enjoyed watching first half of Fellowship of the Ring together! (Side note – Me and Chris were having a discussion about the make-up of the Fellowship, wondering why the party was so obviously overbalanced with an abundance of fairly useless hobbits. Really, only one wizard? And *four* hobbits!?! And then Jo pointed out how well this matches up to our lives in Christ….thank goodness our Lord didn’t choose all wizards or skilled swordsmen to make up his followers! He also chose people like me…simple hobbits(hairy feet and all!). Thank God.) And yes, that was a fairly long digression. Oops.

And now, as busy and nerve-wracking as this week has been at work, I can still be comforted in the fact that my Lord watches over my paths and my Father holds me in His arms. Amen!!

And this night I was blessed yet again as I decided to go over to Ruth and Zara’s to drop off their Christmas cards. I meant to stay for only a minute…definitely stayed over an hour! But enjoyed some lovely chat and tea with Ruth and was reminded for the thousandth time this week how blessed I am to have such dear friends!! I walked back home in the cool night air, relishing this one last night I have in Aberdeen and enjoying the good gifts that our Father has given me.

And now these are many more words than I meant to write. It is time for me to sleep. Tomorrow night at this time, I will be in London! Sleep well, my friends!

Just had a brief and oh so sweet talk with Dad…thousands of miles away we may be, but that makes no difference!! Oh how wonderful it is!

And now I’m going to eat my frozen pizza(don’t worry, it’s not frozen anymore!) and spinach salad. And later tonight, Christmas cookie time! Yes, it is that time of year! Young adult group social tomorrow night and I’ve been requested to bring my Christmas cookies…so thus it shall be. I may have to test a few tonight too after I’m done baking. Of course.

And really, I just wanted to post here to say again how good our God is. Despite our troubles and weariness and sorrows of heart, we can be at peace in the knowledge of knowing Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

And December is upon us, y’all!! I’m enjoying a lovely and surprisingly productive morning here at Books and Beans. Already had a delicious peppermint mocha, finished my taxes and uploaded a bunch of Hungary pictures to facebook! Ok, maybe only that second item actually counts as being productive, but still. I feel oh so content and at peace this Saturday morning. God is good, y’all.

And it snowed last night! Only a little bit, and I think it will probably be melted by the end of the day, but I’m pleased at such a beginning to December. I feel as if I should write something a bit more thoughtful or philosophical this morning, but I’m a bit hungry and think I may just go downstairs and get myself a ham and cheese sandwich before returning to my reading here. Then soon enough, off to Marks and Spencer for a bit of Christmas shopping, oh noes!

Also, I am currently listening to Star Wars music on iTunes…making me a bit nostalgic, I must say. Think maybe me and the sisters will have to watch some classic Skywalker awesomeness when I’m home! Oh and about that. Florida. Two weeks. Oh yes.

Now, lunch time! May this day be full of joy and hope and wonder for you, my friends.

Happy Monday evening, y’all! I’m cozily ensconced on the sofa right now, enjoying the warmth of the flat as the temperature continues to drop outside. I got a couple of potatoes baking in the oven to go with my leftover turkey and stuffing, so yes, a good dinner is at hand! Tonight is my only free night this week, so I decided an evening of rest was called for. I’m looking forward to a mug of coffee and some sweet reading(Most likely Jordan’s Lord of Chaos followed by some Matthew, methinks…loving reading about Jesus just now!!). Most of all, I am just ever so grateful for being blessed ever so much. As I drove home this night from work and looked out my car window to see the witness of the moon hanging in the coal-black sky…I couldn’t help but smile at the wonder of our Lord’s creation. Stars and seas and love so faithful.

Have a most awesome night, my dear friends.