Christmas time's a-comin!

It is definitely feeling like Christmas around here! I love everything about Christmas- the lights, music, parties and of course, celebrating Jesus' birth! It's an all-around good time. Here's some pics of the Plaza Christmas lights:

Really wish my camera worked better for these pictures. Because in person, the lights are so beautiful and I love getting to drive by them every day! Makes me want to just start singing some Christmas carols!

The Old Westport wagon gets a Christmas makeover! Love the reindeer!

 I got to try a new restaurant on the Plaza this week. (New to me, that is). It's pretty much the only dive bar on the plaza! Fred P. Ott's was an awesome little hole in the wall. One of the coolest things was just learning about who Fred P. Ott was. Ott was the FIRST ACTOR in the FIRST MOVIE EVER!! That's pretty cool! Appartently, he was friends with Thomas Edison and he had quite an impressionable sneeze. (Hey, that sounds like me!) So Edison filmed him sneezing in "Edison Kinetoscopic Record of a Sneeze " in 1894.

The special that night was steak sandwich.

 Another new place this week was Smuggler's Inn, off I-435 N, close to World's of Fun. I've seen this place as I've driven by ever since I was little and yes, it had sparked my curiosity because of the name. So, a friend of mine also had that same curiosity and we decided to try it out. I figured it would be a quiet, dark, somewhat shady steakhouse. It's in a terrible location, surrounded by warehouses and industrial offices. We show up and got it partly right; it was dark and it was shady but it wasn't quiet, it was a freakin' dance club! There were lights and a dj and a huge dance floor! There was a table of people in a back corner (probably the mafia) and three guys at the bar and that was it. And, this was at 8:30 pm on a Friday night. Well, the food ended up being really good.  But it didn't quite have the smugglers/piratey atmosphere that I was expecting!

It was too dark in there to get any good pictures.

 Saturday morning, my church small group did a service project at a food pantry in the West Bottoms. Afterwards, we had brunch at Jerry's Woodsweather Cafe. This place was awesome! The decor hadn't been touched in decades!

 We learned that Woodweather's had a food challenge. If you could eat their double cheeseburger, fries and drink, you got to write your name on the wall. This isn't the most difficult challenge out there by any means but it was a challenge and I thought I would give it a go! Jason decided to try it too. I was thinking, oh, I've had a double cheeseburger before, no problem! That was before I saw the size of the burger.

Objects are larger in real life! Over a pound of beef!

Jason working on his meal.

This was all I could do. Pathetic I know!

But J did it!

And here's how he felt when he was done.

And what he chose to write on the wall!

 Food challenges are not my strength!

Last night, it snowed for the first time this winter!

Winter Wonderland in KC

I am blessed because I know I will have a wonderful Christmas with family and friends. However, thanks to my new job, I am faced everyday with people that are struggling and those struggles don't break for Christmas. It's been very difficult knowing that a lot of people feel forced to spend money on Christmas gifts or other related expenses and end up making poor financial decisions. So, please make a plan before you spend money on Christmas gifts. It's fun to give gifts, especially when you find something that is perfect for a loved one. But, really, the gift-giving part of Christmas is second to why there is even a holiday in the first place. And no gift that you can find in a store or online will be worth going into debt.

I think people feel forced to buy their families and children gifts for Christmas because that is what society tells us to do. But if it means debt or financial stress, you don't have to do it! Kids may get excited for presents, but I guarantee that they would rather just have your time and love!

December 25 may not be the actual day  Jesus was born. But it is the day that Christians choose to honor that occasion and that's where our focus needs to be. Let's just all make this a season of celebration and a season to love one another!

Til next time...Laura