Carol of the Bells. I also love Trans-Siberian Orchestra's rendition of it. Although this year I pretty much love everything, because both of my kids are really into Christmas carols. They both are getting so much joy out of them, it is contagious. I just revel in the fact that they never have to miss out on or hide any enjoyment they get from anything Christmas related.
Ilovebirthdays
JoinedPosts by Ilovebirthdays
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62
What's Your Favorite Christmas Song?
by sacolton inmine is "silent night".
never get tired of listening to that one..
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my first real birthday party
by SnakesInTheTower inwell, today is my birthday and i will be getting a real cake with a real candle - my dear bride-to-be promised not to put 43 candles on the cake.
it is just going to be me, her, and her 8 year old (and soon to be my step) son.
nothing fancy.
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Ilovebirthdays
Happy Birthday! I think a nice, small one is the way to go for your first.
Since you're only one, I guess your fiancee really can say she's robbing the cradle.
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To Brine or Not To Brine
by BlackSwan of Memphis inthat is the question.. the turkey that is.
i've brined for 2 years now, but am not sure if i want to do that this year.
anyone else brine their birds?.
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Ilovebirthdays
Absolutely brine. I have a Home Depot 5 gallon bucket that is used for nothing but that. It really helps keep it from drying out. I also wouldn't cook my turkey without a remote meat thermometer, so it won't overcook.
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The real harm done by the WTBTS
by HappyGuy inwhen i first realized that the wtbts was not teaching the truth, i thought "well, they are basically good people and teaching some morals, so what real harm is there?"..
then i started looking at the opportunity cost.
by this i mean all the things that a jw does not have access to if they believe the wtbts nonsense.
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Ilovebirthdays
What a beautiful, well-thought out post that really hits the mark, Happy Guy.
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In Total How Much $$$ Will You Spend On XMas Gifts?
by minimus inin total, the last few years, for family and a few friends, i spent over $2000.. this year, i expect to spend no more than $1000.. will you spend more or less this year?.
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Ilovebirthdays
We usually spend about $200 a person for the 4 of us and my husband's dad and stepmom. And I always get a present for my favorite aunt of my husband and her husband that is about $25-50, as they always think of my children on holidays and birthdays and send them presents since they know my family isn't going to. My best friend and I always give each other something, but it has a $10 limit. A bit OTT, I guess, but I love Christmas, and am still making up for all those I missed.
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Religious songs were not allowed to listen to
by Lady Lee inwell the holidays are coming and there all those songs that will be on the radio and tv that we weren't allowed to sing or even listen to.. but there are other songs that weren't holiday songs.. my favorite is hallelujah by k. d. lang.
i cannot get that one out of my head this morning.
i heard a different rendition the other day and kept hearing kd in my head thinking that is where the singer would go.
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Ilovebirthdays
Amazing Grace has always made the hair on the back of my neck stand up. I love it and am not the least bit religious.
I'm thoroughly excited, because I'm going to see Trans Siberian Orchestra this weekend. I will always remember the first time I heard Christmas Eve/Sarajevo, I was in a store with my JW roomate, and I wanted to just stop dead in my tracks and listen to it and enjoy it, but I couldn't. It made me want to cry, it was so beautiful.
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Volunteering
by BlackSwan of Memphis inwhen we were jw's we 'volunteered' our time to help others learn the 'truth'.. in what ways do you volunteer your time now that you are out and are free to help others as you see fit?.
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Ilovebirthdays
Right now my volunteering is limited to helping at my son's school. I have a preschooler and one in Kindergarten, so I don't have much time without them, and when I tried to look for places to volunteer, I couldn't bring them with me, which I understand. Once my youngest is in Kindy, I'm hoping to either volunteer for the local food bank or hospice. My MIL died of lung cancer, and hospice was an amazing resource and help, and I want to do something to help them in return.
Oh, I forgot my husband's work does Toys for Tots in conjunction with the Marines at Christmastime. I usually help out there for a bit.
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Ilovebirthdays
Yes, we had them. One of our pioneers whose husband got killed due to negligence on the job and got a huge payout because of it always had them at her house. We were quite the "working class" congregation, but those were very lavish dinners. We had around 20 pioneers each of the years I pioneered, and if you were married, you could bring your spouse, but if you were unmarried (like me) you only got a solo invite. There were 3 elders also invited, which I think composed the service committe at the time???? Ours had a dress code and everything was served on fancy china plates and crystal glasses. No booze allowed, though. If that wasn't a clique thing, I don't know what was. I was aware of it at the time, but it was nice actually being in the in group for the first time ever, and it didn't really bother me that others were left out. Everyone talked about them for weeks and months afterwards, even if they weren't there.
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They "can give gifts on any day of the year"... But do they?
by Albert Einstein inhow many times we had heard from jw (commenting on christmass, mothers day or bithdays) "they dont need a pecial day set to give gifts, because the can give it on any day" .... but whats your experience if you compare jw and non jw ... are they really giving?.
my sons (7) example:.
he has non jw grandparents: gets all kinds of gifts all the time, sweets, magazines, toys,.
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Ilovebirthdays
We had "Family Day" where my mom, dad, aunt, uncle, sisters, cousins and I all drew names and bought a present for whoever you drew. Then we were sold on this big, exciting day we were going to spend together as a family. The kids (including me) were so excited. The day wasn't as fun as promised, because before we had dinner and opened presents, we did a lot of studying and singing theocratic songs. But after all that it was really fun, and I can remember how excited I was to actually open a wrapped present. Lots of JW families in the congregation did this that year.
There must have been some sort of private counsel given, because I don't remember hearing anything about it, but nobody ever did it again after that one time, and I never saw a wrapped present again until I left.
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Freecycle
by mrsjones5 ini just joined this site.
folks post items that they don't need or request items that they want.
if you're the first to respond to an item that is posted you can get it for free.
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Ilovebirthdays
I'm glad it worked for you. I joined several years ago to get rid of a bunch of stuff when we moved, and it worked fine then, but slowly I started to get annoyed with all the requests coming in for laptop computers, video game systems, flat screen tvs, and even cars. And I got tired of having the same people swoop down as soon as I posted saying they "needed" it, but it turned out they had a perpetual garage sale where they sold what they got of Freecycle. I finally withdrew my membership from the group as it was just too aggrivating.