The 7 Meme.....

I've been tagged by Sarah to complete the following meme.....

Here are the rules: Each player starts with 7 random facts/habits about themselves. People who are tagged need to write on their own blog about their seven things, as well as these rules. You need to choose 7 people to get tagged and list their names. Don’t forget to leave them a comment telling them that they have been tagged and to read your blog!

1. Habit -- I am a habitual snoozer.....seriously. I'll set my alarm 30-60 minutes ahead of when I really need to get up so that I can punch the snooze button repeatedly.

2. Fact -- I have my motorcycle license and plan to own a Harley-Davidson some day.

3. Habit -- I pop pretty much every joint possible - neck, back, knees, toes, and especially fingers.

4. Fact -- I do not have a green thumb. Though I enjoy live plants, I have a really hard time keeping them alive.

5. Habit -- I talk to myself .... often ..... out loud.

6. Fact -- I collect thimbles.....I have almost 200.

7. Habit -- I got sucked into soap opera watching in college - General Hospital in particular. I still record it every day (though I do skim through some storylines now).

So, here goes the tag....if you want to play, please do!!

Interesting.....

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Hi

Hi, y'all. Long time, no post. I know. Sorry. Busy at work + lingering yucky stomach ailments + low motivation = no blog posts.

Catching up on my Spring Reading Thing......since my last post, I've completed all the books on my list. My friend Sarah told me that when I finished Voice in the Wind I better have book 2, Echo in the Darkness on hand because I was going to want to dive right in. She was right. I finished Voice in the Wind one day last week on the train and drove straight to the library to get Echo in the Darkness. So good. I'd highly recommend them.

Now, I'm re-reading all 6 Harry Potter books in anticipation of Book 7, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows being released this summer. So far I've finished book 1 and am about halfway through book 2.

Not really anything else to tell....just living life, learning how to maintain a yard through the spring/summer (not loving it, but it's one of the burdens of home ownership, I guess).

In a few minutes I'm off to my small group bible study, then to pick my friend Kelly up at the airport. Have a great Sunday evening.

Curves

I really don't like to exercise. But, I like food -- a lot. And not the really good for you food. I like fried stuff and chocolate. So, if I'm going to get healthy, I decided that it was time to start a real, committed exercise program. And I just found out that my company will subsizide a 12 month gym membership at any fitness facility (previously, it was only at a certain chain).

So, I joined a gym today. I've never done that before by myself. Yes, I joined onto my friend Jenny's YMCA membership for a little while, but I've never walked in somewhere and joined. I've always been intimidated by gyms. It's either a class at a set time period or you have to figure out how to use all the equipment by yourself. Neither of which is very appealing to me or fits well into my schedule.

So, today I joined Curves. It is only women. It is a set circuit of resistance training with cardio between. Two times around the circuit is 30 minutes. And I got a pretty good workout for the first time. I think I'll be a little sore tomorrow.

My plan is to go straight from work. If I come home, I won't want to leave again - plus they close at 7:30. One reason I don't do well working out at home is that once I'm home, I don't want to change and workout. So, going on my way home is really the only way I'll do it.

Or I'll get up and be there when they open at 5:30 am. Which would put me back home around 6:15 - enough time to shower and get ready for work to still make it pretty much on time. I'd rather do this option, but I'm afraid my snooze button might continue to call my name. Plus, I'm not sure how well my body moves first thing in the morning.

I think I'll alternate the options for a while to see which really works best, then settle down to a routine. Some of you out there, please email me in a few weeks and ask me how it's going. I'm gonna need a little accountability to keep it up.

20/20

I went to the eye doctor today for my first regular exam since my LASIK surgery. Good news! I'm still at 20/20!! And besides the fact that I can still see great, the doc said that my eyes are healthy too. Whew. Glad to have that confirmed. Not that I was really worried - I'm still seeing just fine. It is just nice to have an authority tell me that.

Brrrr

It was SO cold over the weekend.....and it snowed!! I went home for Easter and the high was 30 all weekend long. Saturday it snowed lightly off and on all day. Fun weather to have, but not on Easter weekend!

When I got home today, it was 53 degrees in my house. Brrrr!!

~~~~~~~~~~~~

I finished a couple more books:

Heartburn Nora Ephron -- decent book, but I do prefer her screenplays. I was on the elevator one day as I was finishing this one up and a lady in my building just was so excited that I was reading it and told me how "outstanding" the book was. I wouldn't agree with her assessment - it was only passable. But I did finish it.

The Pocket Muse: Endless Inspiration Monica Wood -- I got this thinking that it might provide some blog ideas....alas, it was more for the "real" writer. So, I really just skimmed on through.

Alexandria & The Morning Star Nick Bantock -- continuation of the series. Excellent. Will definitely need to put these two on my list to own and re-read the whole series several more times.

Trip to the Library

When I was younger one of the highlights of summertime was trips to the library. I remember sometimes leaving with 20+ books. I feel like I'm reverting to a younger me.....

Dropped off the last three library books this afternoon and came home with 8 more:

currently reading:
Heartburn Nora Ephron

on tap:
Voice in the Wind Francine Rivers
Where is Joe Merchant? Jimmy Buffett
The Pocket Muse: Endless Inspiration Monica Wood
The Forgetting Room Nick Bantock
The Museum at Purgatory Nick Bantock
Alexandria Nick Bantock (book 5!)
The Morning Star Nick Bantock (book 6!)

If you aren't familiar with Nick Bantock, he wrote a wonderful unique series about Griffin and Sabine, two people who exchange letters and illustrated postcards. I was introduced to this series in high school and was astonished to find there are two more books!! Plus he wrote several other things, which I decided to explore also. I'd recommend the whole Griffin and Sabine series to anyone. It's definitely a stretch for your imagination.....

Reading update.....

Finished:

Lord John and the Private Matter -- I absolutely love Diana Gabaldon's Outlander series. This book carries forward the character of Lord John Grey from those books. Sad to say, I really didn't like this book. If you've read the Outlander series you know the particulars of Lord John and his lifestyle preferences. This book explored that part of life much more than I really enjoyed. Plus, the book just didn't draw me in. So, I wouldn't recommend it and I don't think I'll be reading any more in this series.

The Accidental Bride -- decent modern romantic fiction. Wouldn't read it again, nor would I really recommend it, but it was okay.


Currently reading:

A Salty Piece of Land by Jimmy Buffett. So far so good - different than what I "normally" read, but I'm enjoying it so far. Not quite as quick a book to read, though. We'll see how it ends up.

The Gun

Since I know many of you will be curious, here's the story behind the gun that is the focal point for the decoration scheme in my guestroom.....


It is a 16 gauge double-barrel shotgun that belonged to Joseph Smith - my great-grandfather. He passed it down to his son, Howard Smith (my granddaddy). When my grandparents moved from their home to assisted living in Abilene, Granddaddy passed down one of his guns to each grandchild. Granddaddy estimated that the gun is about 100 years old (my granddaddy just turned 94 last August)


I was showing it to a policeman friend a few months ago and he was agog at the age and how good of shape it is in. So, I decided that it would be cool to somehow display the gun in my house. Thus began the idea for decorating the guest room.


I've got several photos from my granddaddy of his dad and friends with their guns - even one on a hunting trip (which I can't seem to find to post right now - update: thanks Mom for sending me the picture!!). My great-grandfather is center back in the first photo, and far left in the second - and I'm not exactly sure which one he is in the last photo.

Finished!

The headboard and guest room are (for all intents and purposes) FINISHED!!! I still need to hang some photos, but the majority of the work is done! Here are some photos....























Pickets in the trunk of my car.....

















In progress on the driveway.....




























Ready for paint......

































Headboard in place......

The complete package!

Weekend Recap

Busy, busy weekend. Wait, let me back up.

Busy, busy last week. Monthly staff / board meetings at work, plus babysitting auditors, trying to help them learn our business --- kinda difficult when they have a hard time asking a question. Quite frustrating, actually. I get the distinct impression that because they don't understand what I do, they assume that I am trying to hide something or lie to them. Maybe that is a little harsh, but it is the feeling from across the desk. I'm so hoping they wrap up this week on schedule and are out of my hair.

Friday after work I ran several errands, including a long overdue trip to Target. When Wal-Mart wasn't convenient I started shopping exclusively at Target. Now that Wal-Mart is literally across the street, I haven't been in Target in a few months. I've missed it. Got a new front door mat, linens for guest bed, and bedside lamps for new guest bed, and a new cabinet for some of my seweing supplies. Very productive trip. Then came home and put the cabinet together - my arms are still sore.....

Yesterday I headed out to Forney to a strip of antique/junk stores along Hwy 80 hoping to find some recycled white picket fence for a headboard for my guest bed. Had called my sis and bro-in-law to see if I found something if one of their vehicles might be free to help me cart it home and they decided to come along. It was fun to just wander and hang out for a few hours. Came home after a trip to Blockbuster and watched movies all night. Saw The Departed and Come Early Morning. Two very different movies. The Departed was very harsh, but intriguing. And I love all the actors, so somehow it made the blood, guts and language easier to bear. Come Early Morning just looked interesting - I hadn't heard anything about it. Wouldn't necessarily recommend it, but it wasn't horrible.

Today after church, I headed to Home Depot. Since I hadn't found the fence in a recycled format, I decided to just build it. Getting kinda anxious to finish up this room and I'm tired of looking. So, bought pickets and braces - had them cut to size and came home to construct the headboard. Didn't take very long, thankfully. Now, I just need to paint it and I'm done!

Reading

I saw reference to this at Karen's site. Intriguing. The problem is, I don't know what I want to read! Now that I am riding the train every day, I'm flying through books. (Seriously, I read Angels and Demons in 2.5 days - just in 25 minutes each way on the train and at lunch.) Just for kicks, I'm gonna try to document all the books I read in 2007. I'm not sure I can remember everything I've read so far this spring, but we'll take what we can get and go from here.

Any book suggestions that you want to make would be welcomed. I enjoy fiction with a romantic or mysterious turn. Don't go for much that is really deep - I read (like I watch movies) to escape reality. And yes, I have a library card, so I should be able to get anything I want.

I am one of those people that can re-read, so I may fill in with some of that. I probably could use to re-read the Harry Potter series before book 7 comes out this summer

Here's the list so far for 2007 -- I'll keep a word doc and update you all periodically with a grand total recap at year end.

Pride and Prejudice Jane Austen
The Color of Law Mark Gimenez
Deception Point Dan Brown
Digital Fortress Dan Brown
Da Vinci Code Dan Brown
Outlander Diana Gabaldon (quick note: this was a re-read....for like the 4th or 5th time -- I've read the whole series and it is one I pick back up when I have nothing else to read)
Angels and Demons Dan Brown
Primrose Past Caroline Rose Hunt

Currently reading:
Lord John and the Private Matter Diana Gabldon

On tap:
The Accidental Bride Janice Harayda
A Salty Piece of Land Jimmy Buffett

Tired

Whew.....another Saturday come and gone....and I'm beat....and SORE! Who knew owning a home would be so much work?!

I got up this morning after sleeping in until about 9:00, courtesy of my wonderful eyeshades! (my bedroom is the sunniest room in the house....ugh). I got dressed to work outside, even though I had NO desire to do so. I've just learned that is one task you really shouldn't procrastinate.

I spent a couple of hours pulling stuff out of my gutter grates that fell from the oak tree as it blossomed, raking dried out balls from my sweet gum tree that covered the front yard, trying to pull out dead stuff that I'd killed with Roundup, and last but not least, mowing. I don't think yard work will ever be something I look forward to, but it wasn't too bad today (except for the soreness factor). Of course, it was at most in the 60s this morning.....come summer when it is at least 80 overnight, no amount of yard work will be fun. I also met another neighbor .... from across the street this time .... she was out working in her yard too, and came across to say hello. Of course, I can't remember her name now! But at least we've met.

After I got cleaned up, I went and bought a mattress for my guest room bed. As soon as I get sheets, the official guest room will be open for business. And for the first time in about 5 years, my parents will be able to sleep in the same bed when they come for a visit, as opposed to the twin trundle bed they sleep on now. Hopefully, they'll like the mattress I picked out.

Ran a few more errands, then came home to wait for the delivery guys. Unloaded the dishwasher, unpacked a few more boxes, including the contents of my sewing machine cabinet, remembered how to attach the sewing machine to the cabinet, watched a little TV, and now I'm off to bed!

New phone.....

My old cell phone was dying.....so I got a new one today......isn't it pretty??






I'm looking forward to playing with all the new stuff I can do!!

Personality

Your Personality is the Most Common (ISTJ)

Your personality type is disciplined, realistic, predictable, and honest. About 14% of all people have your personality, including 9% of all women and 17% of all menYou are Introverted, Sensing, Thinking, and Judging.

How Rare Is Your Personality?

CAKE

You Are a Chocolate Cake

Fun, comforting, and friendly.You are a true classic, and while you're not super cutting edge, you're high quality.People love your company - and have even been known to get addicted to you.

What Kind of Cake Are You?

Saturday

Whew. What a Saturday!

I woke up with the sunlight about 7:00 this morning - but stayed in bed until about 8:00. Got up - ate a banana and then headed outside. I spent about two hours outside - raking leaves (it would probably have been 3 or 4 big bags full) and mowing/mulching the leaves with the grass and weeds. Filled the bird bath and trimmed some plants. My body is hurting now - will probably hurt more tomorrow - but it is a good feeling to have that done. And now I officially have yard shoes - my tennies were SO dirty when I got done. I've gotta go buy a new pair now!

Came in and talked with my friend Kelly for about an hour on the phone. We've seen each other several times this week, but didn't have focused time just the two of us to talk and really catch up. I ate a quick PB&J sandwich, then cleaned up and ran errands.

After I got home, I decided it was time to hang some things on the walls - so my chiming clock is up, as are three new thimble cases. I unpacked all my thimbles and got them situated also. Feels so good to be getting even closer to being settled!!

Now, I'm gonna sit and watch a little TV before crawling back into my bed.

Texas Independence Day

Happy Texas Independence Day!!

Three-Way Birthday

Last night I got to host a three-way birthday celebration in my home. Sarah's bday was Feb 25, and Katie's was Feb 27. When we were in college we would often share one big party for the three of us -- and we were able to resurrect that tradition last night. It was a simple meal, but so fun to each invite a couple of friends and see those worlds mesh around the table. We told stories and talked and laughed for several hours. So fun. Thanks girls for having birthdays and agreeing to celebrate us all together!

March 1

Happy Birthday to me!

Hope you all have a great first day of March!!

Game of the Day

http://tinyurl.com/56t9u

Click on the above link...my brother in law forwarded this to me this morning.....it's supposdly used in the Air Force for fighter pilots and they are expecetd to last 3 minutes on it...but who knows!

It is addicting, that's for sure. The object is to move the red square around the box but not touch the sides or get hit or touched by the blue boxes either. I made it up to 13.25 seconds......the longer you go, the harder it is.

Dreams

Do you ever wake up from a dream and wonder how all that came out of your subconscious? I got to sleep in a little more than usual this morning and woke at the end of a very strange dream. Lots of people from very different parts of my life meshed together in a bizarre storyline -- not bad, just weird. Maybe it was watching Grey's Anatomy last night that triggered it. I don't know.....

Lent

Growing up in the church of Christ, we didn't follow the "Christian" calendar.....that includes things like Ash Wednesday and Lent. In the past few years, as I've been around more and more people who are Christian (but not church of Christ), I've tried to incorporate some aspects of the season. I haven't done nearly as good a job at spending focused time in prayer and study, but when I've chosen to give something up for Lent, it has at least forced me to be mindful when I am craving whatever it is that I've given up.

This Lenten season, I'm not giving up anything specific -- but I am focused on doing better with what I use to fuel my body. Which means there are lots of things that I won't eat. I also intend to try to exercise at least a few times a week -- which is a huge step for me, since I don't exercise at all now. And hopefully, I won't throw it all out the window after Easter.

Home Blessing

When I moved to the metroplex almost 8 years ago, I started attending Crosstrainers, a singles bible study through my church hosted in the Clifton’s home. Over the years, Crosstrainers moved with the Cliftons through several homes. On the first Wednesday night meeting in each new house, we blessed the home and the family by praying throughout the home for specific things in various rooms.

Last night, I was blessed to have such a “prayer walk” through my home. Jim led our Crosstrainers bible study and he facilitated last night. We started in the living room with admonitions from scripture on blessing and consecrating a home to the glory of God and His service. And then we moved around from room to room and began the blessing of my home – the living room, office, guest room, my bedroom, yard, and kitchen. The Cliftons were there, as were some of my elders, our preacher and other close friends. I was moved to tears several times by the sweet words that were prayed over those rooms and my life.

I do truly hope to use the blessings the Lord has heaped upon me to bless others. And I love to entertain and make my home open and inviting to friends and family. I’ve been told that I have a gift of hospitality and desire to use this home to cultivate that gift and share warmth, love and welcome to everyone that stops by.

Bookshelves!!!

I'm so excited. My living room is almost finished! After searching and searching with limited success for a bookshelf that fit the style, shape and color that I wanted, I FINALLY found an unfinished furniture store shortly after Christmas. While I have been anxious for the shelves to come live at my house, paying the store to stain them was worth the wait! Sunday afternoon, my sister and bro-in-law came helped me pick them up!

Here are a few pictures..... (more to come of the whole house soon!)






EMPTY!
















EMPTY, but with shelves!!



















FULL!!

Pampered Chef

I had a great turnout for my Pampered Chef party this morning. It was so fun to show off my house to more people that hadn't seen it, help Whitney earn a little extra money -- and of course the free products that I get to pick out are a great bonus!!

If, by chance, any of you blog-friends are in need of some great Pampered Chef products, we will be holding the show open for a few days -- so email me and I'll give you the info on how you can order online and even have it shipped directly to you!! (The guest special this month is 20% off stoneware, so it's a great deal!!)

I'm off to finish washing dishes, then to run some errands and enjoy a great Saturday afternoon!

ACU Endowment fund sets records

Wow! $250 million is a lot of money....congrats to the finance team at ACU for their hard work!

Endowment fund sets records in Texas, nation - News

Tired and frustrated

I'm tired. I'm frustrated.

I'm tired from work. I'm stressed from the year-end hoopla. Thankfully we have a couple of new folks since this time last year which have drastically cut down my hours (see here and here). But, the stress has still been pretty high and I'm tired.

I'm frustrated at the place where I am in my life. I'm sure most of it is just cyclical emotions, but I've had some good time the past few weeks with my new little friend Charlie (my friend Heather's 2 month old precious boy) and I'm so ready for that part of my life! I know I'm not supposed to wish away the "now," but I can't help it. The fact that there really aren't any prospects for moving things along makes it even harder. And it didn't help that today I found out that an invitation that I was issued is good for "me and family" or "me and guest." Read: one guest. If I had a husband and 7 children, we would ALL be invited. But since I am single, I only get one guest. How does that work?

Migrated!

Well, I finally migrated my blog to the "new blogger." I can't tell all that many new features -- actually it is a little less intuitive than the "old blogger" -- at least to me. But, I figured they would have forced it sooner or later, so I choose sooner.

Hope you all have had a good Tuesday.

Finished!

Well, I finally finished reading Pride and Prejudice last night. It was good, but I can almost definitively say that I'll never read another Jane Austen book. Whew. My brain is really tired from figuring out all the antiquated language. But, I'm so glad I read it -- and stuck through to the end, since I almost put it down several times!

In other news, it has been a chilly rainy day here today. Nothing resembling ice, but just a dreary day. I ran a few errands, worked for a few hours, now am enjoying just relaxing for the evening.

Hope you all had a great Saturday!

p.s. this is post #400 -- how in the world have I written 400 posts?!?! thanks for reading!!

AT&T History

My sister sent this to me last week....it's pretty funny.

book tag

My friends Elaine and Jenny tagged me. So, here we go.

The tag instructions...
1) Grab the book closest to you
2) Open to page 123, go down to the fourth sentence
3) Post the text of the following 3 sentences
4) Name the author and book title
5) Tag three people to do the same


"Mrs. Bennet had so carefully provided for the entertainment of her brother and sister that they did not once sit down to a family dinner. When the engagement was for home, some of the officers always made part of it, of which officers Mr. Wickham was sure to be one; and on these occasions, Mrs. Gardiner, rendered suspicious by Elizabeth's warm commendation of him, narrowly observed them both. Without supposing them, from what she saw, to be very seriously in love, their preference of each other was plain enough to make her a little uneasy; and she resolved to speak to Elizabeth on the subject before she left Hertfordshire, and represent to her the imprudence of encouraging such an attachment."


Now, I'm supposed to give you the author and title, but I think we'll make this a little game today. Anyone know what book this is?

I can tell you that I've enjoyed reading it, but will not soon pick up another of this author's books. It is just far too much work for my little brain to comprehend the antiquated language to follow the story.

And consider yourself tagged.....post a comment and let me know if you're playing along.

Update: you all got it right! Why am I not surprised? The quote is from Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen. I'm not quite finished with it yet, but bound and determined to do so. Then, maybe I'll watch one of the movie versions!

COLD

Baby, it's cold outside!!!

If you ask my mother, she will tell you that I don't wear coats often -- and I usually make her cold by not wearing socks or enough clothes.

Well, the past few days I've been wearing plenty of clothes, wrapping up in blankets, and wearing my coat, scarf AND gloves! It has been downright bitterly cold here. Brrrr! But, I love the smell of cold. It is so hard to describe, but I love it!

Lurkers

I've read several blogs this past week or so regarding so-called "lurkers." The gist was that this is "de-lurking week" and there were opinions on both sides of the fence as to whether it was good, right, preferred, etc to ask our lurking readers to come clean.

Personally I don't care how many of you are out there. Yes, it is fun to find out someone new reads my blog. But ultimately, I write this blog for me. A place for me to put down some of my thoughts and feelings and what is going on in my world. Because I do know some of my readers, that means that I'm kinda vague about some things and never even talk about others. But, I've come to realize that because "what you read is what you get," my meetings with blogfriends in person are instantaneously fun. I love that.

So, lurkers -- if you have any desire to let me know you are reading, please do. If you want to read and remain anonymous, that's fine with me too.

Staying In.....

So far it is just cold and rainy.....but as the temp drops this afternoon, it will start to be slick and icy. So, I'm staying in today. Hot cider, down blanket, couch and movies will make for a nice afternoon!

Saturday Quiz

Your Personality Cluster is Introverted Sensing

You are: Responsible, ethical, and trustworthyLoyal, with a sense of roots in your communitySomeone who treasures and remembers the pastAdverse to surprises and the unknown

What's Your Personality Cluster?

Better Day

Yes, it was a Monday. A busy, hectic stressful Monday. But it was a fairly good day anyway - better than yesterday. Some tears have still been simmering, but I think the worst is over.

I capped off the day hanging out with friends watching the BCS Championship game at Brad's house. So far the team I picked isn't doing so well, but it's not the end of the world.

Tears

I really hate crying.....I'm not one of those girls that cries prettily. It's actually pretty messy. Which is one reason that I really hate crying. But, please don't ask why I am crying tonight - if you don't know already, then I haven't told you and, at least for now, you won't know. And that's okay with me. Just know that I hate to cry ..... but I am.

Healthy? Probably not!

A favorite memory from trips to visit my grandparents.....


Healthy? Probably not. But a yummy (and cheap!!) occasional treat!

One word quiz....version two

Changes in red from the first time I did this quiz....

1. Yourself: headachey
2. Your spouse: future
3. Your hair: soft
4. Your mother: lovely
5. Your father: guru
6. Your favorite item: house
7. Your dream last night: crazy
8. Your favorite drink: dietcoke
9. Your dream car: owned
10. The room you are in: office
11. Your ex: nonexistent
12. Your fear: loneliness
13. What you want to be in 10 years: mommy
14. Who you hung out with last night: girlfriends
15. What you're not: angry
16. Muffins: yum
17: One of your wish list items: husband
18: Time: speeding
19. The last thing you did: phonecall
20. What you are wearing: tshirt-n-jeans
21. Your favorite weather: stormy
22. Your favorite book: fiction
23. The last thing you ate: dip
24. Your life: busy
25. Your mood: frustrated
26. Your best friend: traveling
27. What you're thinking about right now: why?
28. Your car: dirty
29. What you are doing at the moment: relaxing
30. Your summer: vacation
31. Your relationship status: waiting
32. What is on your TV: football
33. What is the weather like: windy
34. When was the last time you laughed: yesterday

See here for version one.

Saturday morning productivity

I got up this morning - earlier than I would have preferred, but I did go to bed early last night so I got a good solid night's sleep - and finished cleaning/organizing my garage!! I put all the empty boxes I wanted to keep up in the attic (that my daddy cleaned out for me when they were here after Christmas). I reorganized the shelves that I have and got everything in a good workable place (I think). I still need to figure out how I want to store my rakes, shovel, etc. But overall, I think my garage is done! Yay!!!

Now I'm gonna eat a little breakfast, then work on moving all my 2006 files to the filing cabinet, shredding the year 2000 and rolling forward all my files for 2007.

Tonight I get to hang out with Kelly and Jenny to celebrate Jenny's birthday today!!

Birthday

Today my grandmommy would have been 92. I really miss her.

2006 In Review

Ok, quick recap of 2006.....

Jan-Mar -- I worked more that I've worked in several years.....it was a CRAZY time for my business, but I came out of it with a lot of new knowledge and a promotion!

In early February, I was honored to be one of several speakers at my church ladies' retreat. It was scary, but such a good experience. If you want to read my talk, go here.

In March I passed that all important age marker.....the 30th birthday. I know, many of you will say that it really isn't that big of a deal....and you are right. BUT, it is pretty monumental to pass that decade marker. I had lots of fun celebrations with family and friends.

At the end of May, I spent a really fun long weekend with my friends Kelly and Jenny in New York City. We took in a performance of Drumstruck, wandered around and saw lots of touristy things and in general, just had a great fun weekend together!

July brought another trip -- my family's trip to Germany. It was a great trip (you can read more here) and was an overall fabulous vacation.

edit: October brought another trip to Zoe.....and meeting so many new blogfriends! This internet phenomenon has brought me so many blessings in the form of all y'all. (that's Texan for all of you) You truly are extended family to me and I am blessed to have you all in my life.

The huge excitement of the fall was my home purchase! I'm almost finally settled, had a great Christmas party to inaugurate my house, and enjoyed hosting our family Christmas celebration here last week. Now, I'm ready to get undecorated and back to "normal" -- whatever that is!

Hope you all have a fabulous 2007!

Quote

Just read this quote in a comment on my friend Terri's blog.....

“We must be willing to get rid of the life we have planned, so as to have the life that is awaiting us.” —Joseph Campbell

So true.....need to let go of MY plans and let GOD's plans come to life.

Parents....and holiday wrap-up

My parents are the greatest. They love to come and visit....and they love to help me do projects! Well, at least they tolerate doing projects. I really appreciate that they will come to my house and work, work, work!

After a very laid back Christmas weekend at home, we made the trek back to my house on Tuesday. Wednesday we started bright and early by cleaning out the attic! The previous owners left a bunch of junk -- some of it might have even been left over from the owner before them because it was buried under blown insulation! There was enough scrap plywood that we were able to "floor" the attic without really having to do that project. So now, I'll be able to put empty boxes up there for storage. Thanks Daddy for enduring the dust and mess in the attic!

After the attic project, we set the bird bath that I inherited from my parents and got it filled with water. I haven't seen any birds playing in the water yet, but come spring it should be fun to watch. A few more little projects and watching the repairman not fix my refrigerator rounded out the day.

Then it was time for Christmas! I had cooked a roast and Heather & Phillip came over for dinner and to open packages. It was so fun -- I got lots of things I asked for -- one of my favorites is a flag that I'll be able to put out front of my house. My other favorite is a footstool that is upholstered from a rug that was in our living room all growing up. When my parents remodeled and recarpeted, they retired the rug (it was wearing very thin in places) and they were able to find several places that could be salvaged for stools.

Thursday we ran some errands -- finally found a bookcase for my living room, yay hooray!!!! -- and saw a move (The Holiday).

After meeting my aunt and uncle for lunch yesterday, and a trip to Home Depot in the rain to buy me a ladder, mom & daddy retired to Heather & Phillip's house for the weekend. We met this afternoon for a movie (The Pursuit of Happyness) and dinner after I bought my first grown-up pair of cowboy boots! Such a fun Christmas present to myself. Trying to break them in before we head to the Ft. Worth Stock Show & Rodeo in a few weeks.

Now the rest of my time off will be spent trying to get my Christmas decorations packed up and enjoy ringing in the new year with my good friend Sarah tomorrow night. I might even watch some football on Monday......

Happy New Year, blogfriends!!

Merry Christmas!

Not surprising at all.....

You Are the Furthest Thing From Grinch

You love and live for the holidays. You even love the Grinch!You're in the holiday spirit year round... because you're all about celebrating and giving.

Are You a Grinch?

Party Pics......

Xmas decor pics.....

Front door mat















Tin Snowman Head - front porch decor

Another successful party.....

and the headcount this year......36! Not quite what I had last year, but there were quite a few "regulars" who were out of town or otherwise occupied. I also had several new faces -- folks that are "neighbors" now - since we live closer together. So, I am very pleased overall with the turnout. Everyone loved the house....and as usual raved about the food. Now, all the leftovers are put away and the dishes are drying. I'm too tired to deal with getting photos out of my camera, so that will have to wait for tomorrow....or the weekend. But, I do promise there will be pics! Now, off to bed with my tired feet!

Today's the Day!

Tonight's the big night......T-150 minutes till party time!

I've got my camera out to take "before" photos and final decor photos. I'm going to try and remember to take photos during.....never can quite remember to do this! I'll post an update after the party..... and watch for photos to come!

That'll teach me.....

....to try new things! I think my Sugar Krisp Chex Mix might be salvageable. But maybe not. My finger is slightly burned and my house definitely smells like smoke. Too bad it's not windy tonight....that would help!

So, I decided to try a new recipe for the party this year......a twist on the classic Chex Mix. A couple of issues:

1) my pan wasn't big enough....made stirring along the way VERY difficult

2) multi-tasking -- stirring while talking on the phone....not a good idea. tipped the baking sheet that my roaster was sitting on and dumped cereal, pretzels and nuts into the crevices of my bottom oven door

3) moved roaster to top oven -- turned it on.....somehow, managed to burn top layer of Chex Mix -- even though oven had barely been on tonight! Yikes!!!

So, now, both back doors are open.....fans are blowing full blast.....vent-a-hood is running at full steam and my house is still smoky. Blech.

I scraped off the layer of burnt into the disposal.....we'll see if the remainder is worth saving. May need to do another recipe of the juice to get it all coated -- and split it into a couple of pans. Oh, and another project for tomorrow -- pull out the vacuum cleaner + attachments to suck all the cereal out of the crevices of my oven door!

Is it time to go to bed yet?!?!

Party Progress

Progress made on the party tonight.....

Salsa.....check!
Strawberry Nut Bread......check!
Almond Tea concentrate.....check!
Puppy Chow......check! (p.s. that is chocolate-peanut butter soaked Crispix dredged in powdered sugar)

And I finished all that by 9:00 -- in time to sit down and watch Men in Trees. Now, off to bed.

Riding the Train

Today I had quite the dramatic commute home.....apparently a woman was crossing the DART tracks mid-afternoon and was hit by a train and killed. Of course, I had no idea. I just got on the train at my normal stop and found out that I had to get off at the next stop. Then we headed up to street-level to wait for shuttles to the station two stops north. After waiting for a few minutes, a DART engineer let us know that the trains were back on schedule. So, we headed back down to the platform and cram jammed on the train. At the stop where they were shuttling people, there were crowds probably 6 people deep the whole length of the train to get on. Yikes!

Even with the delays and the reroutes it only took me about 15 minutes longer than usual to get home. I just pray for the family of the woman who was killed.

It's coming......

If you are in my area, send me a message - you're invited too!

Christmas Decorating....Snow....and Canton!

Here are some photos of my Christmas decorating, in progress:












































Thursday, we had some winter weather -- the forecasters were calling it an "Arctic Blast" -- it did go from the mid-70s on Wed to the mid 30s on Thurs. Rain, sleet, snow - we had it all....here's a few photos of my new backyard....with snow!













































I spent today shopping in Canton at First Monday with my good friends Sarah and Sara.....girls - it was great fun. Thanks for helping me carry out my purchases!!

One Word Quiz

From Udge and Little Light

You can only answer with one word. No explanations.

1. Yourself: constant
2. Your spouse: future
3. Your hair: straight
4. Your mother: lovely
5. Your father: guru
6. Your favorite item: house
7. Your dream last night: invisible
8. Your favorite drink: water
9. Your dream car: owned
10. The room you are in: office
11. Your ex: nonexistent
12. Your fear: loneliness
13. What you want to be in 10 years: mommy
14. Who you hung out with last night: myself
15. What you're not: mean
16. Muffins: yum
17: One of your wish list items: husband
18: Time: speeding
19. The last thing you did: drove
20. What you are wearing: flipflops
21. Your favorite weather: stormy
22. Your favorite book: fiction
23. The last thing you ate: stromboli
24. Your life: busy
25. Your mood: peaceful
26. Your best friend: stressed
27. What you're thinking about right now: decorating
28. Your car: shiny
29. What you are doing at the moment: thinking
30. Your summer: vacation
31. Your relationship status: waiting
32. What is on your TV: kleenex
33. What is the weather like: mild
34. When was the last time you laughed: tonight

Home Again.....

Well, just so you all know that I'm still here...... ;-) sorry for the lack of posts lately -- just kinda busy and not really anything blog-worthy going on!

I spent a great long weekend at home with my family for Thanksgiving. We had the gang over for lunch on Thursday, shopped a little (definitely NOT early) and saw a movie (Happy Feet) on Friday. My sis and bro-in-law left to spend the weekend with his family, so it was just me and the folks shopping and another movie (Casino Royale) on Saturday.

Church today, then the drive back.....which was horrible due to wrecks and construction. What should have been about 3 hours, was almost 4! Yuck. But, I'm home now.....my house is still standing (it was a little nerve-wracking to leave it unattended!)......and I'm ready to finish unpacking and crawl into bed!

Retreat

Why is that I almost always come back tired from a retreat?

This past weekend was our singles retreat at church -- totally planned and executed by folks in our group -- and for the first time in a long, long time, I was able to go and just participate! No planning, no worrying, no constant working. It was wonderful. But I'm still really tired!

We drove up in shifts after work on Friday to Turner Falls near Davis, OK. Visited and played mafia for a while on Friday night. Proved that it was truly not a youth group or college group trip when we were all up and about before 8 am on Saturday! After breakfast, we piled into the back of Brad's truck and drove into the park. Climbed up to some ruins and walked back to see the falls, then headed back to the cabin. We had our first session on missional living -- basically reforming our idea of "evangelism" to just learning how to impact every person that we come in contact with by sharing our lives with them and in turn being able to show the love of God.

After lunch, we all went outside and played a great round of Capture the Flag. I don't think I've played that since a week at camp in middle school! It was so much fun, but my legs are screaming at me today! We came back in and played a few inside games, then had the last session. After a yummy hamburger dinner, we made a campfire, cooked s'mores and worshiped by firelight.

This morning, we cleaned up the cabin and headed back in time to make it for the end of church because one of our friends was getting baptized! It truly was a great weekend!

This afternoon I spent resting a little -- but more straightening and getting ready to host Dinner Club for the first time in my new house tomorrow night!

Now, I'm off to bed......

Cold weather?

The past few weeks it has gotten pretty chilly at night. So, rather than risk blowing myself and my new house to the moon, I decided it prudent to have a licensed HVAC company come and check my furnace out before I shifted it over for the winter. They came this morning (in the 9-12 appointment slot -- they made it to my house about 10:40) and officially pronounced my heater in good shape and ready to go.

Now it is going to be in the 80s this week..... oh well, maybe winter will come anyway.

Letting go

I will admit -- Sunday morning sermons don't usually stick with me throughout the week. But the one from this past Sunday has and probably will for a while. Maybe it is just the spot that I'm in right now, but what Scott talked about really hit me.

He started off showing a clip from Finding Nemo where Marlin and Dory are trapped in the whale. The scene is showing Marlin and Dory arguing about letting go -- not letting fear and what-ifs get in the way of possibility. Scott brought it around to us asking, what do we need to let go of in order to have the relationship with God that he desires??

I know that God put dreams and desires in my heart for a reason. I believe that he might even bless me enough to make some of them come true. But I also know that he wants me to rely on Him first and foremost. And I will confess, that is something that I don't do very well. So, I must work to make him first in my life -- and not believe that his love is conditional when things in my life don't work out the way that I plan.

So, no, I'm not letting go of the dreams and wishes. I'm trying to let go of letting those dreams become barriers to my relationship with God.

Torture.....

Why do I torture myself? On the one hand I love the happily ever after of so many movies..... on the other hand it is a reminder that my life is not fairy tale with a prince on the horizon.

I wonder, when do I need to let go of the dream?