Christmas Wish List..

Happy Thanksgiving! Today I am starting to defrost my turkey and plan my Thanksgiving menu! While I am excited about Thanksgiving this year, I am even more excited for Christmas! Mark and I are going back east to visit his family for two weeks over Christmas, and it is going to be so much fun! Not only am I looking forward to meeting his family, but there are so many exciting historical sites in Pennsylvania. I have been reading up on the state's history and making a wish list of places I would like to visit. Here is my wish list so far: - Independence Hall, I MUST see this place! After all the reading I've done on the revolutionary war, this will be a real treat! - Liberty Bell - Gettysburg, famous for the civil war battle fought there - Brandywine, site of a bloody revolutionary battle - Ft Mifflin - called "the fort that saved America" is one of the oldest forts in the country and was indispensible in holding the British off from taking the Delaware river. Originally built in 1771!!! Its also supposedly haunted....oooh! - The Betsy Ross house, I just finished a biography on this women, and can't wait to see the house!! - Christ Church - considered one of the nation's most beautiful surviving 18th-century structures, a monument to colonial craftsmanship. Its congregation has included 15 of the signers of the Declaration of Independence. (George Washington, Robert Morris, Bejamin Franklin, Betsy Ross!) Just the thought gets me super excited! - Franklin Institute Museum - Philadelphia City Hall - Germantown, PA - Hershey's, PA....CHOCOLATE! - Lancaster county, famous for the Amish that live there - Fels Planetarium - Man Full of Trouble Tavern, is the only surviving tavern/inn building from pre-Revolutionary Philadelphia. Who knows if I will be able to see all of these exciting old places, but I have really enjoyed researching them and learning more about Pennsylvania history!!

What's That Smell?

This morning I was reading my Bible and came across a verse that really made an impression on me. 2 Corinthians 2:14-15 says, "But thanks be to God, who always leads us in triumphal procession to Christ and through us spreads everywhere the fragrance of the knowledge of Him. For we are to God the aroma of Christ among those who are being saved and those who are perishing." After reading these verses, I was hit with the thought, what aroma does my life spread? What kind of a fragrance do I give off? Some days, I will confess, I give off the aroma of a rotten tuna fish sandwich with my bad attitudes and grumblings! That is not a pleasant smell to anyone and instead of attracting people to Christ, has them running in the opposite direction. My heart's desire, and what I am constantly working towards, is to give off a sweet smell of peace and contentment, of joy and love. Just like the smell of a fresh apple pie hot out of the oven. It omits a wonderful smell that comforts, draws people in and makes them hungry for a piece!