Crystal Cathedral for Christmas Eve Service

Crystal Cathedral. i haven't been to this church since college when our praise band from OKC was honored with leading praise for some special service. But this year, with my in-laws visiting from georgia, my father-in-law decided that we would go to Christmas eve service on Sunday. We decided that 3:00 PM was a good service time for us all so that i could leave eric with michael napping. we arrived at the church at 3:00 sharp, only to find out that the parking lot was refusing cars b/c it was at full capacity and there was an unbelievable line waiting outside the church doors. i was flabbergasted! we could not go to the 3:00 service even if we WANTED to! and the lines outside were for those already waiting for the next service at 4:30PM!

so here we are, my sister-in-law karen and i, standing near ONE (there were 2 lines!) of the lines at the front entrance of the church thinking we had to go home b/c the lines were so long!

well, my father-in-law decided we MUST stay for service, so we accordingly got into one of the lines and prepared to wait an hour-and-a-half for the next service to start. karen and i decided we needed to use the loo while we waited, and we were both stunned at the restrooms! i have to say that these were the nicest outdoor restrooms i have ever been in. and to think they are outside of a church!

we waited...and waited...and we finally got into the church for the 4:30 service. it was a little "showy" for me personally, but still, it was memorable. i don't think i can ever remember a time i had to wait for an hour-and-a-half just to go to church service! but when we got outside the lighted tree and church grounds were just beautiful in the night. we took a family pic in front of the huge Christmas tree. the lights were so bright and so dense, that it literally tripped out my eyes to look at the tree directly!
here's that beautiful, enormous tree from afar. it certainly was beautiful...!

Uncle Tanna and Auntie Karen!

Over Christmas week, while we were all spending quality time together in close quarters, eric got to have some nice, quality time with uncle tanna and auntie karen. since they live so far away, it was nice to see him bond so quickly with them.

while uncle tanna researched for work on his computer, eric studies his videonow. two men, keeping each other company...

as auntie karen does some internet surfing or checking email (not sure which), eric decides that he can use his big sister's barbie laptop "computer" to occupy himself as well!
a classic eric smile, he poses with uncle tanna and auntie karen outside of chuck-e-cheeses.

all in good fun, three cousins decide to take on uncle tanna and see if they can bring him down by the legs. it was a good fight, but uncle tanna prevailed! until next time!

Christmas week at Newport Beach condos

so, as some of you know, michael is from the suburbs of atlanta, georgia, and his parents along with his younger brother tanna and his wife still live there. michael's sister and her family live in LA. well, this Christmas, we decided to do something a little different. we used our newport beach timeshare and got 2 condos for a the week of Christmas so that we could all celebrate a Lim family Christmas together. It was a little strange to not be at home for Christmas, but overall, it was really fun! Here are some pics of the kids during our stay.


here, grandma Lim peels eric his beloved tangerines! that boy could eat tangerines till he bursts! don'tcha just love his idea of smiling?? hee hee! where are those big eyes, boy?!

ahhh, and thanks to auntie kymber (prego here and about to POP!), maddie, kylie and kaitlyn got to decorate the most giant gingerbread cookies EVER! tasty!

ok, only in california could it be the end of december, and still warm enough to take a SWIM! the girls had such a blast swimming, it was hard to get them out of the pool! cousin maddie said she couldn't wait for it to get warm again so that she could swim more.

wonderful place, that newport beach timeshare! not only beautiful, but they had a wading pool just for the little ones! heated up and nice and shallow. eric and his cousin kaitlyn enjoyed hanging out in this pool while the "big" girls swam in the adult pool.

these two...sigh...what can i say about them?? they were a love-hate relationship all through the trip. here, i managed to catch them in a rare, "loving" moment as they looked for wild bunnies down below while enjoying the ocean view.

it's not often that the whole entire Lim family clan gets to get together. so, despite the chaos at times, it really was enjoyable for me to see the kids hang out with grandma and grandpa. also, it was fun to watch the cousins play (kylie and maddie do great together!) and fight (eric and kaitlyn are still figuring each other out). as holidays go, it was a memorable one! hope y'all had a great Christmas too!

SOY CANDLES!!!

ok, so as you can tell, i haven't been as "on top of things" with the website b/c i've been ridiculously busy! i finally started my own little business, and am LOVING it! not only am i doing something good for the environment, but i'm enjoying the process and using some of my creativity too.
i really never realized how horrible scented candles are for our environment, and quality of our air in our homes! but recently, after being turned onto soy candles, i started to research and find out that there is absolutely NO reason to burn anything else! a few reasons why, i will share with you, and that will be it, or else i may never stop! hehehe...
REASONS:
1. the American Lung Association came out with a statement that the most common toxin in the home is parrafin candles, and 95% of the candles out there are parrafin!
2. Soy candles burn clean and have no added chemicals to make them emit their scent. even when they're not burning they smell GREAT!
3. parrafin is essentially the "bottom of the barrel" in the refining process of petroleum, AFTER asphalt is taken out!!! you don't stand at the gas station and inhale the fumes...so WHY would you burn parrafin in your home????
4. soy candles also burn up to 50% LONGER than parrafin candles
5. soy candles burn cooler and are water soluble...you can literally burn my soy candles and dip your hands in them and rub the wax into your skin b/c it has essential oils in it and is good for your skin! you could even massage with it!

How great is all that?! i am loving the soy! and hope that you will too!

here are a couple of glass container candles...i've been amazed at the response over these!

Here are some italian glass espresso cups in the mocha chino scent...i also make these in a chocolate scent for those hot chocolate lovers.

more coffee scented candles...these are just a few examples. the coffee cups sold like hotcakes this holiday season! definitely a bestseller for me!

these are travel tins and are wonderful for hotel rooms, bathrooms, etc.... personally, i prefer the simplicity of these, but everyone has different taste!