Grand Lakes December 2017

Have a great
Engagement Story
you want to share?
We want to feature your engagement
stories in the February newsletters!
It can be funny, sentimental,
or just plain embarassing.
Just keep it clean!
Send us a paragraph about your
engagement along with a photo to
lorie@krenekprinting.com no later than
December 20, 2017.
All photos and stories will be published (with approval).
GET INTO THE HOLIDAY SPIRIT!
Feeling a little bah-humbug? Want to be the Grinch and stay that way?
It is OKAY! Not everyone can get into the holiday mood, but you can at
least try! Here are 10 ways to get into the holiday spirit!
1. Reach out to family and friends. Make phone calls to parents, siblings,
aunts and uncles, cousins, whomever you can reach. Ask how they’re
doing, exchange news and feelings and express your love for them.
2. Decorate the house. Hang up lights in front of your house, put up
decorations, do everything! Hang wreaths on your front door and put
up flashy lights to show off your spirit! The more decorations you have,
the more festive you’ll feel!
3. Listen to holiday music. Listening to holiday music will pump you up
for the holidays! Play holiday music in the car, at home or just when
you have free time. As you listen, think of all the exciting things that
come with the holidays!
4. Volunteer. You will immediately see, feel and soak in how blessed
YOU ARE.
5. Throw a party! Have a get together with people you haven’t seen in
a long time and express yourself as much as you want. After all, it’s the
holidays, a period of celebration.
6. Go see some holiday lights. If you have nothing better to do, go to
your nearest festival to look at the beautiful holiday lights. During
the nighttime, let yourself be mesmerized by the illuminating lights
wrapped around trees and ornaments.
7. Watch some holiday movies. What better way to get into the holiday
spirit than by watching the classics? If movies don’t cut it or you simply
don’t have the time, take a few minutes to watch some holiday videos.
There are plenty online that will lift your mood and get you all pepped
up for the holidays!
8. Eat seasonal food (with healthy ingredients!) Bake holiday cookies
shaped like turkeys, Christmas trees, Santa, elves, presents, anything!
After all, a baker’s imagination is endless. If you want to be fancier, cook
some holiday food that your parents used to make you.
9. Gift kindness, in all forms. It has become a tradition to buy presents
and gift them to your loved ones during the holiday season.
The holidays are a time of appreciation and love. Don’t forget about
those random acts of kindness to whomever, just because.
10. Have fun! It’s alright if everything isn’t perfect and in fact, that just
proves you’re human. In a couple of years, you’ll all be laughing about
disastrous moments during the holiday season and it’ll all be fine!
Courtesy of:
www.theodysseyonline.com/10-ways-get-into-the-holiday-spirit
KINDNESS MATTERS
From: http://www.glgc.com/kindness/why.html
Why Be Kind? Kindness leads to many of the virtues to which we value
and desire and can lead us wherever we want to go: to a happier life,
to being more Christ-like, to enlightenment, to making a difference in
this world, to raising loving and kind children. The reasons for being
kind are innumerable. Here are just a few:
• Being kind feels good. Doing something for someone else really does
make us feel good. Just as running releases endorphins, so does kindness.
Make someone smile and you’ll feel better for having done so.
• God smiles on kindness. Whether we are Christian, Jewish, Muslim
or Buddhist, kindness is an important part of the exhortations of all
these religions. Both Buddha and Christ were kind and encouraged
their followers to be likewise.
• Kindness broadens our perspective. In order to be kind, we have to
pay attention to what is happening around us. As we notice more things
and help others, we get a glimpse of other ways of looking at things. A
broader perspective helps us to keep things in context.
• Kindness softens our heart. When we look for kind deeds, beauty and
the opportunity for kindness, we’ll find that we are more compassionate
and more tolerant. As we practice empathy, it opens our heart to others.
• Kindness brightens our world. When we are kind to people, it makes
them happy. The more people who experience kindness from us, the
more happy people will be in our lives. When those around us are
happier, our world becomes a brighter, lighter place to live.
6 December 2017 | Community Newsletter