Sunday, January 04, 2009

The Christmas Letter (2008 Edition)

Okay, so I know it is past Christmas, but the annual Christmas letter is a good summary of everything that went down in our house this past year, so think of it more as a Year-End Report than a Christmas letter. Most of you who read this blog probably already got this in the mail, anyway, but humor me. It's late, I've done nothing the last few days except piddle with one scrapbook layout, take really long naps, and breeze through the first four Harry Potter books. I don't have any new material for you. So you'll take this recycled Christmas letter AND YOU'LL LIKE IT. Ahem. Where was I? Oh yes, the letter. Here we go!

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Hello friends & family!

2008 has been a busy but blessed year in our little house here in Nashville. In an effort to inform you of all the fascinating stuff we’ve been up to, I created this original acrostic “poem” to describe all the best from our year. And they said my English major would never come in handy!

M is for Movies! We are still huge movie fans, as our ever-growing DVD collection can confirm. In 2008 we loved The Dark Knight, Iron Man, Be Kind Rewind, Once, Quantum of Solace, Wall-E, Get Smart, and many many more...

E is for Estes Park! This August was GMA’s final Music in the Rockies event in lovely EP, Colorado. I was there for about two weeks, and my parents and Ben came up for part of the time to celebrate my 25th birthday on 08-08-08.

R is for Running on Empty! We survived the Great Nashville Gas Shortage of Fall 2008. It was beyond weird... For days, no stations had gas, and people would wait in lines for hours to fill up their tanks. Crazy!

R is for Recreational Activities! Aside from everything else I’ve mentioned we’ve enjoyed watching our favorite shows, rooting for Orange Bowl-bound Oklahoma, scrapbooking (me), playing guitar and learning piano (Ben).

Y is for Yamaha! Ben is still working there and spent a good amount of the year travelling for them – LA, NYC, Phoenix, Vancouver, LA, LA, LA, Chicago, Atlanta, LA, LA, and San Diego. Also LA.

C is for Customs Authorities! This is who detained Ben for over an hour when he was re-entering the country from a trip to Vancouver. He had to be cleared by the feds before he was released... turns out they were looking for a different Ben James. Sca-ry!

H is for Horticulture! For the first time this spring I planted some flowers in our yard. Spoiler alert: they all died. To make room for said (now dead) flowers, I yanked up five ugly bushes, the act of which left me with chronic back pain for the past eight months. Yaaaaaaay. Thus ends my fleeting interest in gardening.

R is for Read My Blog! Shameless plug... I keep a blog which I update fairly often with my thoughts and funny things that happen in our lives. Come read along!

I is for Italy! I went to visit Ashley there after her semester abroad, and it was awesome. We went to Rome and the Amalfi Coast region.

S is for STL! We found time to get back home a few times this year, including an awesome 4th of July weekend. We scored tickets to the Cubs-Cards game downtown and had a hot but awesome time watching the Redbirds win!

T is for Twilight! The series of books and ensuing movies are my new obsession. Me and about 75% of other women I know. Hey, I had to have something to occupy me while Ben is out of town all the time!

M is for Music! We enjoyed lots of great concerts this year. Ben made his seventh annual trip to the Bonnaroo festival. We also enjoyed Sleeping at Last, Needtobreathe, Jason Mraz, Rufus Wainwright, She & Him, and more.

A is for Adventure! We took up kayaking this year, and it has been quite the challenge... our normal trips are just easy paddle trips, but for Ben’s birthday I took him (and my parents) white-water kayaking in Colorado. Definitely the craziest thing I’ve ever done!

S is for Scruffy! Our sweet pup is just as precious as ever. He totally owns us. And our couch.

We love you all so much! May the wonder of Christmas – Jesus, born to be our rescue, to satisfy God’s absolute justice, to display God’s infinite mercy – infuse your hearts with joy and every blessing of the season.

Love,
Ben & Amy James

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