I would like to go to San Francisco so I can see this tree in person and take pictures standing next to it.

I know this is gonna look extremely stalkerish, but I feel like my blog isn't THAT popular so it wont be a problem to the few people that read this. Basically, when I saw this, I nearly peed my pants. My friends are TOO funny. I just couldn't resist taking a screen shot!

I'm a punctuation person. So naturally, when there is an exclamation point in the Bible, it catches my attention.

Some Christians are getting so hyphy this year. They make us all look like crazy people. Bart Millard (of the band MercyMe) posted a quick facebook status and wrote "Xmas" instead of Christmas and it was as if he dropped a bomb on the church—people were FRANTIC. The feedback made me hysterical. I hiiiiiiighly doubt he meant anything by it. He was just typing a quick facebook status.

On a similar note, at work a couple weeks ago, I had been working on Christmas Eve Service Invitation Postcards. Look at that long, five word title. The printing company is very specific about their file names and it can't be more than 20 characters long. Naturally, my file name turned into xmasevefront.jpg and xmaseveback.jpg. Am I taking Christ out of Christmas? No, I am not. I am simply changing a file name. And Bart Millard merely posted a quick mobile status update. CALM DOWN, CHRISTIANS. Don't give us all a bad name. Christianity is so much more than that.

Pastor Chuck talked about this yesterday morning at church. The celebration of Christmas itself has become hypocritical, regardless of the name you give the holiday. It is supposed to be a celebration of the coming of Christ, but has become this vast commercial holiday where the focus is receiving and giving gifts to each other. How about Christ? Where is He in that picture?

Rather than go crazy and ridicule people for saying "Happy Holidays" and "Merry Xmas," we should be celebrating that Christ is still here in the midst of our commercialism. Notice that the very same people who refuse to say the word "Christmas" are confessing, "Christ, by highest heaven adored, Christ the everlasting Lord, late in time behold Him come, offspring of a virgin's womb. Veiled in flesh, the Godhead see; hail the incarnate Diety. Pleased as man with men to dwell, Jesus, our Immanuel. Hark the herald angels sing, 'Glory to the new born King.'"

That's a LOT of doctrine in one song. Praise God that the name (and deity) of Christ is being spread through mere Christmas jingles.

I thought I'd help some people out. There are no answers on google and now there will be!

If you own a Pocket Square digital camera and don't read Japanese (the instructions don't come in English) you will thank me for this blog post.

There is no "normal" aka "00" mode. The three modes are P1, P2, and P3. And of course, the photojojo site defines them backwards. I've tested it over and over...here are what the modes are.

P1 - monochrome
P2 - noise
P3 - vivid

They are in alphabetical order so that should make it easy to remember! Same way with the videos! Have fun! :P

Hilda Grahnat, one of my favorite bloggers, posted a blog on her favorite holiday snack. I, along with several others, requested her recipe and she was kind enough to share it! I did a little bit of altering, since ingredients are a little different in Sweden than they are in America so here is my final recipe! (Decimal measurements might be a little awkward too, but they will suffice!) Enjoy! :)

.6 cup golden honey
1 cup brown sugar
7 oz butter
3/4 tbsp ground ginger
1/2 tbsp ground cloves
3 tbsp ground cinnamon
.6 cup heavy cream
1 tsp baking soda
5 cups flour

Stir honey, brown sugar, butter and spices to a batter. This is easiest if the butter is either melted or room temperature. Whip cream into foam and mix it in with the batter. Mix baking soda with flour and add flour to batter little by little. Make a "dough loaf" and let cool in the refrigerator over night, covered in aluminum foil.

Use rolling pin to make a thin layer of the dough. Use extra flour on the roller if the dough too sticky, but not too much! Use baking shapes and lift the shaped cookies onto a baking pan covered in foil. Bake at 395˚F for 6-10 minutes or until brown enough. Careful, they burn easily! Move onto a cooling rack. Serve when cool and store leftovers in a closed metal or glass (not plastic) jar.

By the way, this recipe makes approximately 7 dozen cookies. Yes, SEVEN dozen, aka 84 cookies. A lot, I know. Perfect for family gatherings for the holidays.

(Photo Credit: Yours Truly—had to give myself some credit since I'm pleased with the way this photo came out!)