-Olivia
Hey guys! I hope you're all enjoying the warmth of your families and friends right now, but I just wanted to wish you all a very Merry Christmas! Today a savior was born. <3 More post-Christmas posts later....enjoy your holiday!
-Olivia
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Hello all! It being Christmas Eve and all, today we're going to do something a little different...I want you all to take out your bibles. (If you don't have one, it's perfectly fine. Online bibles exist. Use them.) Now we're going to take a look at the real meaning of Christmas- Jesus' birth! I like to think of Christmas like a birthday party (which is kind of is). Sure, we like the presents and tree and countdowns and Santa- but they're like the games at a party. Pin-the-tail on the donkey and musical chairs are fun, but you shouldn't forget the reason why you're at the party at all- the birthday girl or boy. In this case, our birthday boy is Jesus. When blogging, I get caught up in all the decor and excitement, but I also need to remember the true reason for the season. So today we're going to fix that, by taking a look at the best book ever- the Bible! First of all, go to the New Testament. Though the Old Testament is pretty cool, it's more like all the stuff that happened years before Jesus- creation and things like that. Jesus isn't born yet there. She will give birth to a son, and you are to name him Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins. That's so cool, but imagine how frightening that could have been. But you can't ignore a message from God! The rest of the story of Jesus' birth in Matthew is pretty brief. It doesn't mention any of the journey to Bethlehem or anything. It sums it up by saying that Jesus is born. It goes into the story about King Herod and the wise men, but you have to read that to find out about it! And that was.... Next, if you were going in order of the four gospels, would be Mark. I don't think the story of Jesus' birth is mentioned in Mark, so we'll just skip right over to... Luke has always been my favorite gospel, for reasons unknown. Maybe because it gives more details of Jesus' birth...who knows? Anyway, it begins with a bang...Mary, a virgin who is going to be married to Joseph soon, has a vision where an angel tells her she's going to be having a baby...and he's going to be the son of God. The angel went to her and said, "Greetings, you who are highly favored! The Lord is with you." You know...just your average dream. Then, when Mary is nine months pregnant, she and Joseph have to go on an excruciatingly long journey. In those days Caesar Augustus issued a decree that a census should be taken of the entire Roman world. And everyone went to his own town to register. Back then, there wasn't any electronics, obviously. Joseph couldn't just send an email to Caesar Augustus: "Hey! Mary's about to have a baby, so we can't make the trip. But just wanted to let you know to count us!" Nope. They had to go there. While they were there, the time came for the baby to be born, and she gave birth to her firstborn, a son. She wrapped him in cloths and placed him in a manager, because there was no room for them in the inn. Summing up the story are the angels visiting the shepherds and the shepherds visiting Jesus (following the Star of David.) Jesus' birth isn't in John either, as far as I can tell. If you know otherwise, please let me know in the comments! I hope you guys enjoyed this post on what Christmas is really all about.... ENJOY YOUR CHRISTMAS DAY! ONE MORE DAY!!
-Olivia Hey guys! Countdown: 2 more days until Christmas! Today's Christmas post is going to be about my favorite Christmas songs...and there are many! If you want to listen to one, I suggest YouTube, as it seems to have everything. But please play this video as you read this post, because it includes almost all of my favorites, sung by my favorite Christmas singers!!! (They don't just sing Christmas, but it's what I listen to most by them.) If it doesn't keep playing the complete album, just search on YouTube "Pentatonix Christmas album" and you should be all set. :-) On to the songs! 1.) Mary, Did You Know This one is just BEAUTIFUL....especially the Pentatonix version. The lyrics are so pure and they always send shivers down my spine. It's haunting, but in a good way. Favorite lyric: When you kissed your little baby 2.) Walking in a Winter Wonderland Christmas wouldn't be Christmas if I didn't hear this song! I don't know if I can say specifically why I like it, it's just so icy and snowy and cozy. Favorite lyric: Sleigh bells ring 3.) Santa Baby I've heard of a lot of people that really dislike this song. I love it! My mom and I listen to the version by Eartha Kitt. I think it's funny- even though you shouldn't get as caught up in presents as the girl in the song is! Favorite lyric: A '54 convertible too 4.) Silver Bells I've always grown up listening to this one and it would feel wrong not to include it. I have this miniature movie of what the whole song looks like inside my head....Favorite lyric: City sidewalks, busy sidewalks 5.) Chestnuts Roasting On An Open Fire (The Christmas Song) This was one of the first Christmas song I learned to play on my guitar, so it has a special place for me. Favorite lyric: And every mother's child 6.) Silent Night There's something magical about this song. Every Christmas Eve, we sing it at church with candles. It's all dark, and we hold them up, and know that Jesus is coming soon. Favorite lyric: Silent night 7.) That's Christmas To Me I just heard of this one this year, on the Pentatonix album. It's completely and utterly gorgeous. Favorite lyric: I listen for the thud of reindeer 8.) O Come All Ye Faithful I just love the whole entirety of this song....Favorite lyric: O come all ye faithful 9.) Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer Just last night, I watched Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer for the first time, and I now have a whole new sympathy for Rudolph. THEY WERE SO MEAN TO HIM!! Favorite lyric: But then one foggy Christmas Eve 10.) Jingle Bells Seriously? How could I almost not mention the classic-est one ever? Favorite lyric: Over the hills we go Honestly, I probably left out so many good songs! But my fingers are tiring...and I must stop. :-) Hope you enjoyed!
2 MORE DAYS UNTIL CHRISTMAS! -Olivia Everyone knows that moment when you suddenly realize that all your friends are out of town, except for you. And then you also realize you're not sure where your phone charger is, and your parents are busy, so they can't take you to the library. I've definitely been in that situation, and then I usually either watch a TV show that I really don't want to be watching, or I annoy my sister to death, or just lie on my bed and try count how many seconds it is before the smoke detector flashes the green light. (It's 30 seconds, by the way.) NEVER FEAR, WRITER'S DIGEST IS HERE! (Hmmm...that was pretty cheesy.) Don't bore yourself into oblivion. Instead, take a look at the suggestions I have below, and maybe you'll find something worthwhile to do. AND IT"S CHRISTMASY. CAN YOU TELL ME SOMETHING THAT ISN"T AWESOME. 1.) Make a collection of cards or DIY gifts. Have you ever had that awkward moment when someone brings you a holiday gift and you have nothing for them? You can solve this easily by having pre-made but still personal gifts on hand. You could make a card, like one that just says "happy holidays to a great person!" Or if that's too corny for you, which it probably is, then you can do a little gift instead. A good example is something one of my friends did. She had a lot of mason jars (any jar will do) and then filled them with homemade hot chocolate mix. That way, when someone gave her a present, she could give them a jar of hot chocolate, and they wouldn't have their feelings hurt by not getting a present back. 2.) Clean out your closet. No, I'm not insane. It can actually be fun! There's just something different about doing something because you want to, not because you have to. Sure, maybe it's cause for a temper tantrum when your mom is yelling at you to do it OR ELSE, but when you get the idea, it can be enjoyable. You can sort out your clothes and give some to charity, which always makes a person feel good, or you can just reorganize the floor part. In fact, I'm thinking about doing a closet cleaning out post..... 3.) Entertain yourself by taking either time-lapse or slow motion videos. I know this is an option on the normal camera of an iPhone, but if you have another brand of phone, there probably is an app that you can get to do it with. Sometimes I take time-lapse videos of myself doing something like cleaning my room, eating, or braiding hair. It's also fun to do slow-motion videos of yourself jumping off something, such as the ground or your bed, and then screenshotting the moment where you reach the apex of your jump. You'll be amazed at how high you can get! 4.) Winter-ify or Christmas-up your room! This can be done with no more than paper- seriously! Make paper snowflakes to hang on your wall. Or you can do as I did, and make a paper chain. You tear off one everyday until Christmas, so you know how many days are left until then. If you want to go beyond paper, use pretty ribbon and string it around things, or put lights on your furniture. (Hint: bookshelves are good places to string lights.) Also, a suggestion given by an anonymous benefactor: put scarves and hats on your stuffed animals to add a chill in the air. 5.) Make a reading nook. This one goes hand-in-hand with cleaning out your closet. Just yesterday, my mom made me clean out my closet. After I got rid of all the clothes that didn't fit, and moved some boxes up to the top of the closet, I realized there was enough room for a reading nook! In fact, I'm typing this in there right now. I took this picture to prove it: That's me, the writer behind the blog! (Actually, those are my legs...) I'm wearing shorts because it's like 70 degrees where I live! It's supposed to be 80 on Christmas. AGHHHHHHHHHHHH! Feel my pain. I'm envying all those people who live where they get a white Christmas. Anyway, more photos of the nook: Isn't it gorgeous? Anna helped me out with it a bunch.... Anyway, I hope these 5 tips helped you out! Nobody likes to be bored out of their mind! Don't forget to check my blog tomorrow.
3 MORE DAYS UNTIL CHRISTMAS! -Olivia Aloha! FOUR DAYS UNTIL CHRISTMAS EVERYBODY! In honor of that, I have exciting news! Each day, starting today and ending on Christmas, you'll have a post full of Christmas happiness! Half to make up for all the times I don't post, half because I just feel like it! Today, the post is about... MY FAVORITE CHRISTMAS BOOKS! It was inspired by a frequent commenter (shoutout!) who suggested I do a favorite books and favorite genre post. I'll definitely be doing that once we're into 2016, but that got me to thinking....how about a Christmas book favorite post? (By the way, these are all picture books.) Without further ado or ada... OLIVIA'S TOP 5 CHRISTMAS BOOKS! (You guys have no idea how much work I go through for you. I had to highlight each letter individually and change its color.) ANYWAY. ONTO THE BOOKS! 1.) Cherubim, by Dolly Biehl Evans This has for the longest time, been one of my favorites. Just look at the gorgeous illustrations! This was published in 1983, so it's not a recent book, but the story never goes out of style. (Comment if you get my little joke.) The whole book is about a treetop angel, Cherubim, that belongs to a family called the Wellingtons. The main characters are twins, Wendy and Whitney. They have two younger siblings, Patrick and Penny. The twins get too caught up in the decorating and presents, and they forget about the true meaning of Christmas, which is to give to others and love. Cherubim disappears from the tree and the twins must desperately try to regain the true spirit of Christmas, before Christmas morning. That way, Cherubim can come back to them. You MUST READ THIS! 2.) The Polar Express, by Chris Van Allsburg I'm sure most of you have either read this book or seen the amazing movie. Yes, I do think the movie is pretty cool, but the book is even better. (Especially the illustrations.) In case you haven't heard of it, it's about a boy (whose name I don't think you ever learn...do you?) who gets to ride on this train called the Polar Express. It is a story about believing- yes, about in Santa, but also, I think, in yourself. 3.) The Queen of Christmas, by Mary Engelbreit This book will never fail to make me smile- the illustrations are hilariously beautiful, the writing is awesome, and the plot is adorable. It's about a little girl, Ann Estelle, who has this incredibly long list of what she wants for Christmas. She's been adding to it all year. As the book progresses, it gets closer and closer to Christmas, and she stresses out more about The List. Is it perfect? Her vision is that Christmas will only be perfect if all her presents are perfect. There's a good lesson at the end, too- on Christmas Day, when she goes to sleep, she realizes she hasn't even begun The List for the next year yet. But then she realizes Christmas isn't just about the presents. 4.) Olive, The Other Reindeer, by J. Otto Seifold and Vivian Walsh Ever messed up the lyric of a song? Well, this is exactly what happens to Olive the dog...only she messes it up BIG TIME. While wrapping presents and listening to the radio, "Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer" comes on. During the lyric, "all of the other reindeer," Olive thinks it says "Olive the other reindeer." Could Santa be talking to her? Worried that she won't make it in time, she quickly sets off for the North Pole, certain she's destined to fly Santa's sleigh on Christmas. This book is hilarious and Christmassy! 5.) Snowmen at Christmas, by Caralyn Buehner My absolute favorite part about this one is definitely the pictures. They capture everything so perfectly! (I also like the snowmen snowcones.) This story tells the tale of what happens when you're asleep and have snowmen in your front yard. They can't be expected to sit there all night, can they? No way. Instead, they slip away to the town square, where they dance, eat, and get visited by Santa in snowmen form. A must read for everyone! Hope you enjoyed those top 5! Do you have any of your own to add? I'd love to hear about them in the comments! Don't forget to check back, because tomorrow I'll be posting again. :-)
-Olivia |
welcome!Hey! I'm Olivia. I'm glad you stopped by Writer's Digest! I post every Monday and would love to see you in the comments. categories
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recommendations~The Matched Trilogy, by Ally Condie |