MERRY CHRISTMAS!!

Merry Christmas everyone! I am over at the Douglas household, enjoying a day of relaxing...well, kind of. I had to take my exam for continuing education for my insurance license. I am a BIT of a procrastinator and if I hadn't taken it today, I probably would have had to take my license exam over again - which is an awful test, so no thank you. After passing that... (yippee) my day will go wonderfully!

This morning, I got to do a VTC with JD and Storm. However, Storm ditched us. It was fantastic getting to see JD, though. As usual, he looks great. So, without Storm, Kelly and I got to spend 20 minutes talking to JD. He's doing well. He was about to go get some Christmas dinner. Apparently, they were having lobster, shrimp, steak, ham, and all the fixings. It sounded pretty good, actually. They're having a rough week out there, so please keep them in your prayers. Other than a little stress, though, they're all in good spirits. Can't wait for them to get home - wish we could start counting the days!

After that, we went to do a VTC with Rob. That was fun. Kelly's aunt, uncle and dad had never seen anything like it, so they were ALL about it! Kelly brought the pooches, too, so we had fun.

So, I had a great visit in St. Louis (I know, I'm kind of going backwards, but at least I'm blogging!) for a couple days. Wish I could have stayed longer, and I also wish I would have taken more pictures! I got a BANJO, folks! I'm SO excited! My dad bought it for me. He apparently read my blog and how I said I wanted to play a musical instrument and for some reason, the banjo appealed to me. I'm having so much fun with it! I've never played a string instrument, so it's all new to me. I'm okay when it comes to wind instruments, but the whole string thing is crazy weird! I have that addictive personality, though, so my fingers are really hurting from trying to play it every chance I get. I opened it up at 10am on Saturday and had to leave STL at 11am, so I only had an hour to play around. I took up that hour by just learning how to tune the darn thing. I've had a couple other opportunities in the last 24 hours and I'm to the point where I am practicing chords. I would love to be perfect already, but I have to remember to be patient and go page by page, lesson by lesson. It's so much fun! I'm SO bringing the banjo back into style. I don't care how long it takes! Once I get a little better, I'll record my progress and let you all listen to it.

So, now I hear the buzzer going off in the kitchen - the ham is done for dinner. I guess I should get off this computer and go help. After that, I think I'll go shopping online for a case for the banjo and maybe some finger picks. Is it "piks" or "picks?" I don't know! I guess I'll have to figure that out soon.

I hope everyone is enjoying the day with their families! What a great day to reflect on the blessings we have because of our Savior. Peaceful.

Love, Rachel