This was the year I often chose life over blogging. So many things happened, but I didn't feel each one warranted its own blog post. The predominant highlight was theatre, but plenty of other things happened, many worth celebrating, some more somber. I certainly can't complain.

January

February

March

April

May 

June

July

August

September

October

November

December

Of course, Christmas itself is a tradition: the tradition of thanking God for sending His Son to earth among us, of pausing to remember and celebrate His human birth. While a nativity set somewhere in our home reflects this, our tree does not. Until this year.



I received a stunning boxed set of Adorenaments® from Ever Thine Home, His Christmas Names pronouncing seven names of Jesus in gold metal form. I'm partial to this set and was thrilled to receive it, but Ever Thine does offer an additional two sets of Adorenaments®:  His Savior Names and His Royal Names, featuring additional names of Christ in different silver ornament designs.


I was especially thrilled with the presentation of each set as they come beautifully boxed (what can I say, I'm easy to please!) with a book highlighting the importance of each name.

Our tree had already been decorated, but I was thrilled to "prepare Him room," if you will, and add all 7 names. This set will definitely be part of our ornament tradition for years to come.

Ever Thine Home sent along an additional set to gift to one of you this season. Enter below!

Dear Mindy Kaling,

Last night, my husband and I caught up on season 4 of The Mindy Project from episode 11 through the mid-season finale.

As Sam Smith began to sing towards the finale's end, my husband reached for my hand, assuming I was sad. Maybe even crying. He didn't realize that despite looking somber, I was actually rejoicing.



When I was 18, I dated a boy. Everything was perfect: I'd never met someone so sweet and we were surely in love. Three months later, he drove me home from work while giving me the cold shoulder. He didn't say a word until he pulled into my driveway and then he exploded. My "offense"? I did my job.

No, really. I was in college and waiting tables. He showed up shortly after 7 to pick me up from a shift ending at 8 pm. When a table came in at 7:30, my boss assigned the table to me, I waited it, and I was off by 8. Nothing incomprehensible to me.

To him, I was a selfish, horrible, inconsiderate person. How dare I waste his time? I should grovel for his forgiveness. He shouldn't even consider giving me a second chance.

I'm not making any of this up or exaggerating. This was the start of a emotionally abusive relationship. He would frequently react this way if I did anything insane like make a trip to the grocery store or pick up an extra shift at work without calling and telling him first.

What's that? I dared to label the relationship "abuse" when he never violently touched me? Some people will call that exaggeration, and that is where we have a problem. Emotional abuse is real, and it's a devastating problem that can turn a competent, strong, independent woman into a passive, fearful shell of her formal self.

I was that former shell for nearly a year, and I've seen Dr. Mindy Lahiri become that shell throughout season 4. This season has been frustrating; I've wanted to reach through the TV and scream at Dr. L—even though I know she won't listen. Women in this situation rarely do. If they're lucky, they reach a point where they wake up and take the first step towards moving on.

I took that step 11 months into our so-called "relationship". 11 months too late, but better late than never. Seeing Dr. L take her first step in the mid-season finale was both relieving and empowering.

The comment threads on Facebook are filled with devastated fans who just want Mindy and Danny to "work it out," but this is more than just sitting down and having a talk. There are huge personal issues to tackle that may or may not ever be resolved. The romantic in me always loves a happy ending, but this ending, disappointing to some as it may be, is happy to me, and more importantly, could ultimately bring happiness to Mindy Lahiri. Whether or not they reconcile, I'm proud of her decision.

Thank you, Mindy Kaling. Emotionally abusive relationships are everywhere but rarely discussed and almost never represented in the media. Thank you for the truthful presentation of what these relationships are really like, and thank you for making Mindy Lahiri a role model. That's not a word I often use to describe the character, but the best example she can set in this situation is to get out of it. You've encouraged me through this very real writing, and more importantly, I hope you've encouraged other women who haven't yet woken up to do follow in Dr. L's lead.

This post is featured on Sverve today!

There are a plethora of blog posts giving advice to new and prospective bloggers. The tips may vary, but most every post will include "the golden rule" in some way, shape or form. You know the one: do unto others as you want done unto you. If you're serious about blogging, this is the #1 rule:

Want your blog to be read? Read other blogs.
Want to receive comments? Leave comments.
Want your blog to be noticed? Notice other blogs.

Starting a blog? Growing your blog? Involve other bloggers—blogging is a community!



It can be easy to get independent or competitive, but I've found blogging is best when done together. In fact, the person I text most these days (aside from my husband) is another blogger who I haven't even met in person.

The blogging community is very large, yet can still feel small at times. Just like being the new kid in school, there are many groups to explore, and at least one is certain to "fit." I've found that in blogging terms, the best groups, or communities, are found on Facebook.

Facebook communities for bloggers tend to fall under 1 of 2 categories. Many do a bit of both:

1. Networking and advice. These groups are for bloggers to meet one another, bounce ideas around, ask questions, and troubleshoot. A great example of this is a group I'm in that's exclusively for bloggers who use the blogger platform (vs. WordPress). Having this in common ensures we are able to help one another.
2. Promotion and growth. These groups are full of threads with a "quid pro quo" attitude towards blog (and associated social media) growth. Want comments? Leave a blog post in the thread and you'll receive them—and return the favor to those who did. Threads can range from blog traffic to social media follows to increased interaction. The best groups regularly monitor activity and "clean up" members who don't follow rules to ensure fairness for participants.

My first "real" job was at age 15 at an Arby's in our local mall where most of my high school jobs would be. Restaurant and retail jobs mean evenings, weekends, and listening to the same loop of music over and over and over again (mercifully, the loop changed monthly). Aerosmith's Jaded still takes me back to my sophomore year of high school in the mall's food court.

It also means Christmas music in a loop...over and over and over again. I came to hate any and all Christmas music.

I've since gotten over that (except for The Christmas Song, which I'm pretty sure I'll hate for life. Why must everybody cover that song!?). Case in point? Chris Tomlin just released a Christmas CD-Adore: Christmas Songs Of Worship . It arrived in my office for review on November 18, a good week and a half before Thanksgiving.



You know what I did?

I ripped that sucker out of the bubble mailer and popped it into my work laptop. Thanks to headphones, no one need know I was listening to Christmas tunes so early.



It's an interesting album; the subtitle turns out to be perfectly fitting as the first few songs felt more like songs of worship than songs of Christmas, though those appear later in the track list. All the songs, of course, have Tomlin's mellow, soothing tone. If you love Christmas music, you'll appreciate the uniqueness of this album, If you hate it, you'll appreciate that this isn't another cliche collection of upbeat covers; this might be the one Christmas album you'll be willing to tolerate.

Either way, Flyby promotions kindly sent me this CD for review and agreed to let me give another copy away. Plus, I'm throwing in another $10 to Amazon for any last minute Christmas shopping! Simply enter below, then keep scrolling for a list of more giveaways!