I have a guilty pleasure.

Darryl: I told her Santa would be here.
Michael: Yeah well I was told Holly would be here, single and ready to date, and we all got misled. 
Pam: Who told you that?
Michael: Nora Ephron...in every romantic comedy ever made!

I laughed so hard at that last line while watching The Office the other night because of the truth embedded in those words. In a romantic comedy the guy always gets the girl or vice versa, and they live happily ever after. Now, in my head, I know that is not how relationships operate in the real world. Life is much more complicated or so much more simple than in the movies. 

However...

My romantic-loving heart sighs when the music swells at the end of the move and true love conquers all obstacles. I can't help it. No matter how sappy the story may be, I love to snuggle up on the couch and treat myself to a good dose of romance every once in awhile. My favorite movies consist of stories about the journey people take on the road to love. The storytelling side of my brain creates imaginary romantic plots all the time. Nothing fancy, mind you, but they make me smile. Pride and Prejudice, Ever After and While You Were Sleeping are my favs with strong female leads who are not afraid to be intelligent, humor sprinkled throughout, interesting plotlines, and, of course, happy endings. What more could you ask for in a romantic comedy?

I don't know if this romantic side of me comes as a surprise to some; it's not something I advertise to the world. It is simple another facet to a multi-faceted human being. Besides, even those who realize the practicality of keeping their feet firmly on the ground like to occasionally dream with their heads in the clouds.

My nails are pretty weak.

My hands have never been my favorite feature - they are too short and stubby. So, I try to keep my nails looking nice to somehow compensate. It makes sense in my head. However, this is not an easy task to accomplish. It seems that when my fingernails grow to a certain point they then start to chip and break off fairly easily. I have tried to use the nail strengthening polish, but my nails just scoff at that tactic. Also, I tend to pick at them when I'm nervous. I will go into a theater to see a movie and if there was any tension or scary scenes, I walk out with far shorter fingernails. The thing is I don't even realize I'm doing it. My subconscious seems to take my uncertain/nervous/scared/anxious feelings out on my nails without my express permission. I wish I could have a few words with my subconscious mind, but that is pretty much impossible. The subconscious by definition is what happens mentally while an individual is not aware. How can I talk with a part of myself that I am unaware of?

Anyway...I think I have found a semi-solution. My nails stay pretty/longer when they have some sort of polish on them. Of course it has to be a light shade or else they show chippage way too easily, and that would defeat the purpose of perpetual prettiness. (If you want to know how much you use your hands during a regular day, paint your nails a dark shade of red. Trust me.) Thus having nail polish on my nails helps me feel better about my hands. There is also a lingering suspicion in the back of my mind from my childhood. When I was a little girl, I thought that if I chewed my nails while they had nail polish on them, then I could be poisoned by  it if I happened to swallow some. Like I said earlier, it made sense in my head at the time. Therefore, my subconscious is less likely to fiddle with my nails if they have polish on them because it might bring harm to me. It may seem silly, but hey, whatever works. Having pretty-looking fingernails helps me feel pretty. It's the little things in life, ya know?

I took a vacation.

I took a vacation from my job and from this blog for a while. My brain needed a break. And I had a lot to occupy my time and attention while the SoCal Risingers were visiting during the holidays. I figured they deserved most of my attention. Okay, let me rephrase that: Amelie deserved all my attention.  I had to fit a lot of Auntie time into one week! Though it was a lot of fun, I think I need a vacation from my vacation now. I was talking to Mom, and we figured out that we have pretty much been going nonstop since Thanksgiving. Looking back on all the various activities and work projects that have filled my days for the last month or so, I realized why my body, mind and soul are tired. It's a good thing I had all my lists to keep me organized or I would never have survived the holidays. Now, I'm slowly but surely getting back into my normal routine, which is nice. A week in a cozy house in Ireland would be even nicer :)

It's the most wonderful time of the year.

For as long as I can remember, I have been able to picture my calendar in my head. It's usually just the current week or month, but I can visualize each day and what I have planned. Then I have lists to help me remember the details of the things I need to accomplish those days, especially when it comes to work and household chores. The last couple weeks my inner calendar and my outer to do lists have been a little crazy. That is why when it came to writing blog posts, my brain has been too tired to compose coherent and semi-interesting paragraphs. Now, I just have one more day until I am on vacation for a whole week! Soooo looking forward to this break. I have definitely earned some rest and relaxation. What makes this vacation great is that I will be spending it with my whole family. Jon, Kat, and little Amelie are arriving by jet plane tomorrow evening. So excited to see them! I've missed my brother and sister and new little niece. I think it will be a race for us Georgia Risingers to see who gets to hold Amelie first. I may be nice and let Dad and Micah go first or at least have a head start, but I can't promise anything. Anyway, all that t say that I'm tired but looking forward with great anticipation to this holiday season when my family will all be together for the first time in a very long time. Having my family with me during the holidays is one of my favorite things...and hot chocolate. 

I'm sitting here listening to one of my favorite singers.

My mom is singing Breath of Heaven at the Family Lord's Supper tonight. She always says she doesn't like to sing solos. She'd rather sing with someone else if she has to sing at all. She's awesome though. Some of my earliest memories are of sitting on the front row at some venue gazing up at one or both of my parents while they sing. I was usually singing along with them, too, since I knew all the words to just about every song they would sing. Mom and Dad are singing another oldie but goodie this Sunday. It's called More Than Wonderful. I know all the words to that one so if you happen to be in the Crosspoint service this Sunday, look back at the soundboard because the audio tech will be singing along with them. One of my favorite things is listening to my parents sing. They are both gifted individually as singers, and when they come together in a duet, it's magical. Their voices blend in perfect harmony. A lot like their relationship. They perform so well together because they love each other and understand each other and neither acts like a diva, which a lot of people do when they are as talented as my parents and even when they are nowhere near as talented as my parents.

I also love that my super-talented parents never pushed us Risinger kids to pursue music. Granted, we all participated in various plays and musicals throughout our childhood, but that was just for fun. Then, as we got older, we all decided to enjoy music in our own ways. I took piano and voice lessons for a few months before deciding I didn't care enough to put in the time or effort to do well. I sang worship songs in youth group and at the Porch in college but that's pretty much the extent of my musical abilities.

Jon is good at rhythms so he can play some percussion instruments. He also taught himself how to play the piano, mostly chords but he does pretty well. He's also started singing more and is the master of memorization. Jon has also been the one to introduce me to new and interesting artists.

Music comes naturally to Micah. He started playing piano, then mastered the guitar and decided to pick up the bass guitar and drums. His voice has really blossomed since moving to Georgia. There are times when he and Dad are singing that I cannot tell them apart. He is constantly writing songs and arranging others. I cannot wait to see how God uses his immense musical talent in the future.

Another one of my favorite things is to get the whole family together to sing something. I think it's pretty awesome that music is something we can do together as a family. Just call us the vonRisinger Family Singers!