Music Meme

Found this little meme over at Karen's. Some of the answers fit strangely well....others, not so much.

The Rules
1. Put your music player on shuffle.
2. Press forward for each question.
3. Use the song title as the answer to the question.
4. NO CHEATING.


Q: What does next year have in store for you?
A: I Give You My Heart / Michael W. Smith

Q: What does your love life look like next year?
A: Love Means So Much / Chris Rice

Q: What do you say when life gets hard?
A: The Apostle Song

Q: Song that reminds you of good times?
A: Flood / Jars of Clay

Q: What do you think when you get up in the morning?
A: All My Only Dreams / The Wonders

Q: What song will you dance to at your wedding?
A: Total Praise / Steve Greene

Q: Song that reminds you of your first kiss?
A: Oh How the Years Go By / Amy Grant

Q: Your favorite saying?
A: Mr Right / Garth Brooks

Q: Favorite place?
A: Alla Luce Dal Sole / Josh Groban

Q: Most Missed Memory?
A: Your Love / Jim Brickman

Q: What song describes your best friend?
A: Little Suite, “Chorale” / Bach

Q: What song describes your ex?
A: Love Without End, Amen / George Strait

Q: Where would you go on a first date?
A: Misty Blue / Dorothy Moore

Q: Drug of choice?
A: I Want To Know You More / Cornerstone

Q: What song describes yourself?
A: The Wildest Times of The World / Vonda Shepard

Q: What is the thing you like doing most?
A: Live By Faith / Chris Rice

Q: The song that best describes the president?
A: Let’s Go Fly a Kite / Dick Van Dyke

Q: Where will you be in 10 years?
A: Monday / Eleventh Hour

Q: Your love life right now?
A: Do You Believe in Magic? / The Lovin’ Spoonful

Q: What is your state of mind like at the moment?
A: Bridge Over Troubled Water / Michael W. Smith

Q: How will you die?
A: Treasure of Jesus / Steven Curtis Chapman

501

Apparently today is post # 501. Wow. Who knew that I would write 500 entries about such a seemingly boring and normal single gal's life? Thanks for coming along for the ride.

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I read a post on Katrina's blog today that is really good. Go check it out. This sentence resonates completely with me:

I am too independent for my own good. I try to shoulder every responsibility myself, I shy away from asking for help, and I even apologize for asking people to pray for me.

I am trying very hard to not hold myself back from my community quite so much, but it is very hard. Without diving deeper than I want the whole internets to know, things are tough for me right now. I'm trying to let my friends help support me, but I too have a very hard time asking for help. I'm trying to do better. Katrina's post just helped remind me that I need to use the support system that I am a part of -- just as I try to provide support for others.

Question Answers pt 3

Donna asked
Did you become an accountant on purpose or did you just happen into it?

A little of both.....my grandmother had an accounting degree and my granddaddy was a bank auditor, so I'm at least somewhat wired for dealing with money. I took accounting as an elective in high school and it just clicked with my brain. Competing in UIL and taking an advanced accounting course in high school cemented the gift. I started college with accounting as my major and never looked back.


Amy asked
What is the next major project for your house?

Next major project is re-doing my master bathroom. I bet it was redone sometime late 80s-early 90s. Gold and shell shaped fixtures, mauvy-pink and white tile. Ick. Thinking along the lines of white subway tile in the shower and larger white (travertine?) tile on the floor. New pedestal sink, light fixture, toilet, etc. Probably will be a late spring/early summer project.



If you could go anywhere on your next vacation, where would you go?

I love vacations.....so if I could choose anywhere, it would be England/Scotland. I think Italy is actually higher on my list, but I think I would rather experience that with a love interest, rather than just a solo (or even family) vacation.....



Terri asked
What was the first record (cassette, cd... you're so young) that you bought?

I can't even remember! I've recently been transferring old cassette tapes to mp3 files and ran across a couple of New Kids on the Block tapes....that was probably some of the first of a band that I was really interested in!


What topic would you like to study about in Bible study?

how to find contentment and trust completely in God's power, plan and love

Question Answers pt 2

Donna asked:
If you had to live in another country which country would you chose...and why?

Probably somewhere that speaks english (only because I don't have a head for languages).....anywhere in Europe so that I could easily traipse across history. Or maybe Australia - that accent really makes me warm and fuzzy.




Amy asked:
What is your favorite comfort food?

Depends on how you define comfort food -- I can always anytime eat breakfast. So, I would probably consider that my comfort food -- eggs, bacon, biscuts, gravy, pancakes, waffles etc.


As far as warm filling cozy comfort food....mom's potato soup will always hit the spot.



Terri asked:
Who was your favorite teacher?

I have several ones that I might call favorite, but probably my high school accounting teacher, Mrs. Damron and my college accounting chair, Mr. Fowler -- both had significant impact on my career choice and were just very supportive encouraging teachers



When you were much younger, what did you want to grow up to be?

My mom had a "school book" where she put photos and information about each school year along the way....one of the pieces of information was what I wanted to be when I grew up. From my rememberance of the book, I wanted to be everything -- teacher, fireman, astronaut, etc. But mostly, I just wanted to grow up and be a mom. I still do.

Question Answers pt 1

Quick easy post....Whitney asked me to answer the following, so here goes.

Two names you go by:
1. Jenni
2. (soon to be) aunt Jenni

Two things you are wearing right now
1. tshirt and yoga pants
2. slippers

Two of your favorite things to do
1. reading
2. entertaining

Two things you want very badly at the moment
1. To find my prince charming
2. To have less stress at work

Two favorite pets you have/had
1. not a pet person
2. not a pet person

Two things you ate today
1. mac-n-cheese
2. yummy strawberry pretzel salad

Two people you last talked to
1. Heather
2. parents

Two things you're doing tomorrow
1. work
2. working out (I hope!!)

Two longest car rides
1. Tennessee road trip last summer
2. Germany road trip the summer before last

Two favorite holidays
1. Christmas
2. birthdays

Two favorite beverages
1. diet Coke
2. pineapple juice

Two favorite TV shows (not hard because most shows are in repeats with the strike
1. Grey's Anatomy
2. One Tree Hill

questions

I've read several blogs the past few days where the author invited the readers to ask questions....any question at all.....and answers would be posted.

I'm not having any blog inspiration right now, so here is hoping that questions from you might bring me back into writing. (plus, I'm tired of you having to see that depressing post about my torpedoed friendship....)

So, what do you want to know?

I messed up

I realized today that I have completely messed up a friendship. I did something really stupid and found out today just how badly that stupid act damaged our friendship.

I've apologized to my friend without trying to make excuses. I don't know if forgiveness will be forthcoming or if the friendship can be salvaged or repaired.

My heart aches and my stomach is churning over this.

Any words of wisdom?

January Dinner Party

Well, the January dinner party is over! Saturday night I entertained several guests.....Kelly & Adrian helped me to celebrate with Jack & Colton as Jenny turned 30.


Kelly is the consummate decorator, so I asked her to handle the tablescape .... here's a glimpse of her handiwork:

she even used Scrabble letters as placecards.....isn't that fun?!?

here is a photo of the fully loaded table:

menu for the evening: Cracker Crumb Chicken Cordon Bleu, Sauteed Broccoli w/Corn, Salad, Rolls, and Grasshopper Torte for dessert.

Happy Birthday Jenny! It was so fun to celebrate with you!

Piano

When I was little, I took piano lessons. I hated the lessons, but did enjoy playing. I still occasionally would sit and pick out songs as I was growing up, but didn't really play all that much.

Recently, I decided that hobby is one I'd like to pick back up again. And so the search began for a piano - not that I really have space for it, but I wanted to play a real piano rather than a keyboard.

I put some feelers out with friends from church and found a lady who was willing to give me a piano that she had been given! Best information I have is that it is from the 1930s and originally was a player piano. Today, piano movers brought me the piano!! Now, this heavy oak piano resides in the corner of my room. I need to have it tuned and a few minor repairs made, but I am very excited about picking up my new hobby!

Holland

Jordan posted this article today. I agree with her assessment that this article speaks to life in general and it hit me square in the gut as I continue to struggle with how my life is supposed to look now.....'cause it sure doesn't look how I thought it would and desperately wanted it to.


WELCOME TO HOLLAND
by Emily Perl Kingsley.

c1987 by Emily Perl Kingsley. All rights reserved

I am often asked to describe the experience of raising a child with a disability - to try to help people who have not shared that unique experience to understand it, to imagine how it would feel. It's like this......

When you're going to have a baby, it's like planning a fabulous vacation trip - to Italy. You buy a bunch of guide books and make your wonderful plans. The Coliseum. The Michelangelo David. The gondolas in Venice. You may learn some handy phrases in Italian. It's all very exciting.

After months of eager anticipation, the day finally arrives. You pack your bags and off you go. Several hours later, the plane lands. The stewardess comes in and says, "Welcome to Holland."

"Holland?!?" you say. "What do you mean Holland?? I signed up for Italy! I'm supposed to be in Italy. All my life I've dreamed of going to Italy."

But there's been a change in the flight plan. They've landed in Holland and there you must stay.

The important thing is that they haven't taken you to a horrible, disgusting, filthy place, full of pestilence, famine and disease. It's just a different place.

So you must go out and buy new guide books. And you must learn a whole new language. And you will meet a whole new group of people you would never have met.

It's just a different place. It's slower-paced than Italy, less flashy than Italy. But after you've been there for a while and you catch your breath, you look around.... and you begin to notice that Holland has windmills....and Holland has tulips. Holland even has Rembrandts.

But everyone you know is busy coming and going from Italy... and they're all bragging about what a wonderful time they had there. And for the rest of your life, you will say "Yes, that's where I was supposed to go. That's what I had planned."

And the pain of that will never, ever, ever, ever go away... because the loss of that dream is a very very significant loss.

But... if you spend your life mourning the fact that you didn't get to Italy, you may never be free to enjoy the very special, the very lovely things ... about Holland.

Quotes

two quotes I recently rediscovered....posting them here for posterity:

Insist upon yourself. Be original. ~Ralph Waldo Emerson (American lecturer, poet and essayist, 1803-1882)

Everything you want is out there waiting for you to ask. Everything you want also wants you. But you have to take action to get it. ~Jules Renard (French writer, 1804-1910)

Christmas Party Cookbook

Because I am a geek like that, I have created a cookbook with all the recipes from my Christmas party ..... much easier to share with everyone than sending recipes piecemeal.

I'm happy to send a pdf to anyone that is interested.....just leave me a comment with your email or send me an email directly -- my email address is the same as this blog url at gmail.

Dinner Party

One of the things I love to do is host friends and family in my home. As such, I am making a resolution of sorts to have more people into my home in 2008. To this end, I am committing to myself to have at least one full table dinner party (6 or more people) every month this year. I will try to take photos, post menus, etc each month.

Plans are in the works for January ...... stay tuned.

Happy New Year!

Well, here we are again.....January 1 of a new year! It is really hard to believe how fast 2007 flew by. There was really nothing earth shattering about the year, but there were a few highlights.

I'm still hoping and praying that God will reveal His will more clearly for my life as I enter 2008. And that along the way, He will draw me closer to Him and will extinguish any doubts or fears I may have about the paths along which He is leading me.

Merry Christmas!

One more day....

Only one more day til Christmas vacation. This week has been truly crazy:

• Staff meeting - where I unexpectedly had to make 3 presentations, rather than just 1.


• Revenue distribution - 1,000 checks generated, 1,500 pages of owner detail to print, fold, stuff and mail.


• Board meeting - presentation of budget and constant tweaks and changes over the past two days to get the slides exactly perfect. Not unexpected, just a little stressful.

Now, I can relax a little and try to wrap up a few more loose ends tomorrow....then I'm off til January 2!! My parents are coming in tomorrow and we'll spend the next several days hanging out as a family - doing a lot of nothing much, but spending good quality time together. A quick trip thrown in to visit a good friend and some down time to un-decorate my house before heading back to work to start the true craziness....closing December and preparing for the audit!

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Another photo (in the sunshine!) of my new toy

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And a Fall Into Reading update - my original post here listed 18 books. My list has been somewhat rearranged as I've looked closer at the some of books. Several of them I tried to read, but just couldn't get into. I've also added several others along the way. So, here is the wrap up:

done:
The Last Disciple...Hank Hanegraaff/Sigmund Brouwer
Cocktails for Three...Madeleine Wickham
Emily Ever After...Anne Dayton & May Vanderbilt

done - not on the original list:
The Last Sacrifice...Hank Hanegraaff/Sigmund Brouwer
Finding the Love of your Life....Neil Clark Warren
Skin...Ted Dekker
Fast Women...Jennifer Crusie
Map of Bones...James Rollins
Cosmic Christmas...Max Lucado
Unafraid...Francine Rivers

started, couldn't get into it, abandoned:
The Historian...Elizabeth Kostova
Cold Sassy Tree...Olive Ann Burns
The Thief Lord...Cornelia Funke
The Navigator of New York...Wayne Johnston
Red House...Sarah Messer
Valley of the Dolls...Jacqueline Susann
Shopaholic & Baby...Sophie Kinsella
Bergdorf Blondes...Plum Sykes
Family Trust...Amanda Brown
Everyone Worth Knowing...Lauren Weisberger

still to go:
Over Her Head...Shelley Bates
Hope of Glory...Nicole Petrino-Salter
Tuesdays With Morrie...Mitch Albom
A Bend in the Road...Nicholas Sparks
Walden and other writings...Henry David Thoreau

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I may not make it to post much over the holidays, so from my home to yours, hope you have a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

Welcome to My Home!

>

BooMama is hosting a holiday tour of homes today......




























my living room:



















close-up of the snowmen on top of the TV:



















some favorite ornaments through the years:

























I'm more of a snowman girl, but I've got a collection of Santa's also - these are on the desk in my office. Several of these came from my grandma -- see the santa in green? The writing on his pedestal is 1908 Germany. Don't know if he is really that old (probably not) or a representation of Santa from the turn of the century.




















Some Christmas books I've enjoyed my whole life! Feel Santa's Beard is from my first or second Christmas and is falling apart because it has been "loved on" for so many years!


















my guest room - Santa's comin!



















my favorite Christmas blanket: a snuggly down snowflake throw from Target several years ago

























of course - the Texas flag stays in place....decorated with a metal snowflake/jingle bell garland




















This photo didn't turn out the best -- it reads "Flakey Friends Welcome" and hangs in my guest room. Thanks for visiting my home decked out in holiday style!

Party Pics + an early Christmas present

Sorry it's been so long.....crazy week. So, as promised....here are party pics.

at the beginning:

and the leftovers:

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my Phillip-in-law went with me today and I got myself an early Christmas present - a new Dodge Durango! I actually got a really good deal on a fully loaded 2007 -- the owner's wife had driven it a bit, so there are a few more miles than were on my Mazda 626 when I bought it in 2000, but it is still new (and did I mention fully loaded?) and I made a pretty good deal, so I'm happy.

Another success!

Another Christmas party come and gone....I'm too tired to try and upload photos tonight, so that will come tomorrow.....just wanted to give the headcount.....

To recap past years:

2001 = 5
2002 = 15
2003 = 29
2004 = 30
2005 = 43
2006 = 36

and drumroll, please......

2007 = 52

The crazy thing is that I can think of about 20 others who have come in recent years past who didn't make it this year and at least a handful of others who I expected but didn't make it. The numbers are getting crazy high (helped along by the 12 kids this year - whew, that was nuts), but it is sooo fun.

Dishes are washed and drying....the few leftovers are put away, and I'm headed to bed.

Today is the day!!

It's finally here!! Today is party day!! I'll post some photos later tonight.....