Christmas Carols. TwentyThirteen edition.

I once wrote about how I don’t really get Christmas Carols.

You might be happy to know that as I have grown (slightly) older I have also become less grinch like. Even relishing the yearly opportunity that Christmas provides to go hunting for new versions of timeless classics.

Here is what I’m listening to this year.

North Point Christmas

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Picks: Do you hear, He Has Come for Us (God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen) & Angels We Have Heard On High.

North Point Christmas: Let There Be Light

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Picks: Hallelujah, Unto Us & I Heard The Bells.

Evan Wickham: Christmas Music Vol. 1

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Picks: Angels We Have Heard on High, End of Exile & Hark! The Herald Angels Sing!

Josh Gilligan: Christmas EP

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Picks: O Holy Night.

Do you know of anything else that I should be listening to?

Lake Glenbawn [pics]

This past week K and I had a couple of days to get away for a short break. We decided to head into the wild (defined by any place with no mobile reception), 15kms east of Scone, NSW. It was excellent to spend time with friends, to build fires and to not be disturbed by email.

On holidays I usually like to set myself little challenges. This time I wanted to try out some new photo apps (mostly Average Camera Pro), along with my glif mount and a tripod. Here are some pics I took while experimenting with my new setup.

Glenbawn #1 Glenbawn #2 Glenbawn #3 Glenbawn #4

Time for something with meaning.

It has been a while since I posted anything of any real meaning on here. That is largely due to an almost non-stop summer of activity. Here are the quick highlights.

  • We finished up at family church in mid December.
  • Christmas happened.
  • Tyro has been mental. See some of the stuff we have been doing here.
  • We went on beach mission. We were the cooks. It was mental. Good mental, but still mental.
  • A bit of time was spent getting ready for college starting again.
  • Kirsty started a new job.
  • I started a new job as a student minister at an Anglican Church in Cammeray.
  • Australia dominated in the test series.

Pretty much sums it up. Normal service will now resume.

Go on. Take a break.

This week Kirsty and I went away for a few days to get a break, and to get some energy back after a particularly busy period of time. We went to the Hunter Valley.

Whenever we go away I am reminded of how important it is to take breaks from time to time to re-energise and re-focus. While this is hard to remember when we are busy, it is what we need. This is exactly what we did, and we are both all the better for it.

The place we were staying had an awesome view. This is a photo I took while we had afternoon tea on Tuesday.