Family fun and more

I traveled to Atlanta on Saturday to visit my cousin Cole, Carole, and the kids. I had a smooth ride down, no major traffic snafoos. I jammed out to some Rob Thomas on the way there and the weather was beautiful so it was all good. Trey had a soccer game that morning that I missed because I just couldn't bring myself to wake up early enough to drive down and get there by 10 am. But I was informed that he scored a goal so he obviously did fine without me being present. :-) I got there around 12:30 and we headed to O'Charley's for lunch and then made a quick stop for me and Carole at the scrap book store. I needed to look for paper for my upcoming calligraphy assignment. But, I had no luck, they didn't carry the paper size that I needed. After that we hung out at the house the rest of the day and enjoyed the beautiful weather. We played a little bit of soccer - Trey, Grace, and myself defeated Cole's solo team. That's right, it only took 3 of us to take him down. After that I played with Grace and William on the playground. William was scaling the playset like a pro so I mentioned to Grace that he was like a little monkey. Grace quickly corrected me stating SHE was the monkey. (Doh...how could I make such a careless mistake. She is all about the monkeys right now.) I asked what else we could call him and she answered with of course, the SLOTH. What? hahaha. I told her that he was cuter than a sloth, right!? She informed me that sloths have to climb a lot... and Willam does sleep all the time! Which makes complete sense. (She is gifted by the way. Yeah. Probably smarter than me.) I suggested a squirrel and she okayed that. :-) After a great day spending time with 5 of my favorite people in the world, I left about 7:30 to head home. I love those little boogers. The big ones to.

The sea monkeys that I gave Trey for Christmas. They are crazy looking little creatures!

Their dog, Colonel Buzz, who is obsessed with feet and latched on to mine as often as he could.

I haven't had the priveledge of spending as much time with little William as I did with Grace and Trey by the time they were his age, so I got to catch up and take him in while I was there. He's awesome. Of course.

Cute little William - probably on a pacifier high in this picture. (He loves his passies!)

See...holding on for dear life. :-)

Who couldn't adore this face??


He loves being flipped around like a little rag doll


More acrobatics with Daddy


Picture of mommy (Carole) taken by William (sort of...)


Picture of daddy (Cole), also taken by William (sort of...)



William's bedroom is a surfer theme and it is amazing. Here are a few pictures of the awesomness.

Grass roof window treatment and bamboo wall covering


Used surf boards gifted by one of their CA friends


Shelf with matching grass roof



I did get to spend time with Grace and Trey too. They are getting so big!

Monkey girl and Soccer star


Trey likes to wrestle with his dad too. He isn't defending himself very well here though.

Me and Grace

Me and Trey...he totally left me hanging. He was making a silly face too and turned before the picture was finished. Crazy kid. :-)

On Sunday after church I went over to my mom's to visit with her and my grandmother. As luck would have it, my aunt Jeannie and cousin, Joe came over too so I got some time with them as well. Yay! I was hoping to see Joe during my break so it worked out beautifully.

Me and my Nannie


To set up this next picture...I was having trouble (as usual) getting a good self pic with both me and mom in the frame. So she graciously took over to "help me out". This is what we got...

Yep. Much better.


Here's one that finally came out decent. It only took us about 15 tries.

Joe writing a scene for us to act out. He is seriously going to be the next Hollywood genious.

Joe and I with our matching smiles.

Today I went running/walking downtown with Dana. I have not been running since the beginning of February when I blogged it on here. Nor have I done any other exercise since then. Therefore, my workout session today was not as awesome as I had hoped. I don't know why I expected greatness when I have been non-active for the last month and a half, but I did. I was very disappointed at the overwhelming exhaustion that I felt after running for just a few minutes. Ugh. I need to get myself in gear and get in shape PRONTO! It was an absolutely gorgeous day though, so it was worth the pain. We did get A LOT of walking in so we still got a very good workout.

Before leaving for the big workout. Grrrr! (By the way...I should really reconsider wearing white until I actually have some color. Geez.)

After the workout. Zzzzzzzzz.......

Vacation has officially begun!

I am FINALLY on Spring Break! No work or school for 9 days!! I didn't think I was going to make it. Seriously. It was touch and go for a little while. I have been so grouchy this week and I know some of it had to do with needing this break so bad. I also have a lot that I want to do during this time off so I feel like I may be even more exhausted when it's all over. Ugh... I'm not complaining though. I am ECSTATIC to have the time to spend time with friends and family, work on projects, get things done that I've been putting off, etc... I'm loving it! :-D

This is me trying desperately to survive the long and painful days at work leading up to Spring Break. Woe is me...


Ahh...but alas! God loves me and sends me flavored tootsie rolls when I need them most!! (Seriously, these things appear out of nowhere when I am having the crappiest day ever and there is always just ONE random piece in the candy dish. God is good. So so good.)

So here's an update since my Lent posting. The no TV thing has been a little difficult. But that's the point. It's not supposed to be easy. The sad thing is, I almost caved and watched The Bachelor finale. I've only seen one stinkin show, but they previewed the finale a few weeks ago and sucked me right in to the drama. And THEN everyone has been buzzing about it and I am dying to know what happened. Why? I don't know these people. I don't care about their life. But dang it, I recorded it anyway on my DVR so after Easter it is ON. I want to see what the dealio is! Don't judge me.

The no snooze button thing has been difficult too, but so worth it. It is completely sad how much I use it. I realize now all the time I waste by hitting the snooze repeatedly. Not that I didn't before, but actually using that time to get things done makes it really stand out. I give up the snooze button every year for Lent and every year I think that "THIS is the year" that it will stick. And that MAYBE when Lent is over I will actually continue to get up and grab hold of the day first thing instead of hunkering down further in the gloriousness of my oh so comfortable and cozy bed. So again I say...I think this is the year.

I also said in my decisions for Lent that I wanted to do more things for other people. It sounds simple enough, but I can get so busy and so consumed with all the things that I need to get done for my life that I can neglect the simple task of doing for others. So this is something that I really do plan on continuing and being more conscious of. Last Saturday I participated in a work day with my church at Bess T. Shepard elementary school. I helped do some random things and mainly started a mural project that they will put outside in a courtyard type area. It was fun and I got to know some fellow Ethos peeps a little better so that's always a good thing.

Getting ready to head to the school for some painting.

Preparing for the painting of the mural.

Sunday we started a new series at church called "Compelled to Love". We're discussing how Love is what it's about. God is love and that is what we are called to do. Showing God's love is so important and it helps to shape our heart in an awesome way. We had a really great discussion about it on Wednesday in our small group. One of the girls talked about what she does to have more love and compassion towards others. She said that she tries to visualize everyone she meets as a family member. We tend to have way more patience with our family members and show them much more compassion and love than we might show to someone we briefly encounter. But everyone is important to God and we should try to extend that love to all people. I'm really working on having a patient heart. Because my road rage can severely interfere with that sentiment. It is a for real struggle to not want to strangle people on the road sometimes. So yeah... I'm definitely going to try and envision my sweet little Nannie next time some little old lady pulls a crazy nut move on the road and makes me so mad I want to lose it! I think there will have to be prayers and deep breathing to accompany this change over.

Tomorrow I am heading to Atlanta to visit with my cousin, his wife, and the kids. Yay!! I've been looking forward to it for weeks so I can't wait to see everyone. It will be good times for sure. :-)

Lent

Tomorrow is the first day of Lent. For those that aren't familiar, sundayschoollessons.com gives a brief description: Lent is the 40 weekdays from Ash Wednesday until Easter observed by Christians as a season of fasting and penitence in preparation for Easter. This time follows Jesus from his adult ministry through His suffering during Holy Week to His crucifixion and death on Good Friday. Holy Week begins with Palm Sunday and continues through Holy Thursday (when Holy Communion was instituted at the Last Supper) and Good Friday, when Jesus was tried, crucified, and buried.
Lent is a time of stripping down to essentials, as each Christian focuses on his or her individual relationship with God. It is a time when Christians remember our baptisms, when Jesus washed away our sins, giving us newness of life to celebrate in the triumph of Palm Sunday and the glory of Easter, so Lent became a special time of study and prayer in preparation for their baptisms.

This year I have decided to give up television. This is huge for me because I have it on a lot. I live alone and even if I'm not watching I like the background noise. It's also nice to just zone out in front of the tv after working on school stuff and thinking thinking thinking all the time. To balance out my no tv, I am also limiting Facebook/MySpace, etc... to 30 minutes a day. This will keep me from replacing the tv with computer fun. Which would totally happen. And the final thing on my Lent list is NO SNOOZE BUTTON allowed. It might sound silly but I am embarassed to say how many times this button is pushed on some mornings. It is utterly ridiculous. So all these things combined are going to give me a lot more time to pray, read, get things accomplished for school, and anything else that needs to be done. I'm actually looking forward to this time very much. I know it will be really hard some days, especially on the weekends, but I know that it will be an amazing time with God. I also want to incorporate a day each week that I take time and do something for someone else. Whether for someone I know or don't know. I just need to reprioritize things and tune into what God is wanting for me. And not just for what His plans are for me, but what I need to be doing for Him. This time of year is a great reminder of all He did for me and for you. I want to really soak in these 40 days leading up to Easter in a way I never have before. I pray that you are blessed during this time as well.

Valentine Shmalentine

I celebrated Valentine's Day (aka-Single Awareness Day) with my friend, Dana. We decided to make tacos and watch a movie. You know...really live it up. Ha. We did some pre-dinner grocery shopping and decided on Corn tortillas over Flour tortillas in an effort to be more healthy. We learned later that we should have gambled a little and indulged in the good stuff. So we bought our food and headed to the house to begin our culinary endeavor.

Dana chopping tomatoes

Me - browning the turkey meat

BEFORE we knew how the corn tortillas actually tasted.

My big mouth. Geez. I look like an idiot. :-)

The finished product. (minus the blue corn tortilla chips)

After eating the corn tortillas... Gross.

We decided to order a movie from On Demand and settled on Nights In Rodanthe. We thought it would be really good given the awesomeness of The Notebook. We were wrong. So wrong.

My review of Nights in Rodanthe

End of the night. Me and Dana = Good times

Also, my mom came by earlier in the day and brought me flowers, because that's what good moms do for their valentine-less children. haha. The roses are very pretty though. I'm blessed.

My week in review...

To update everyone on my last blog, because I KNOW that you have been wondering, I stayed up until 4 am Monday night finishing my project. It wasn't pleasant. Not one bit.

Tuesday was a long day. After work I went to the funeral home to pay my respects to a wonderful lady. My friend Tabitha's great grandmother passed away and she was definitely one of a kind and will be missed dearly. Her pastor told a story of her (in her late 80s/early 90s mind you) participating in a potato sack race with all the kids at church! Love it!

Wednesday after work I went to the first meeting with our small groups from church. We had a really great discussion and bible study. We are reading Habakkuk. We're talking about when God seems unfair and how we handle it. What do you do when you are in the valley and God seems far away? It was really interesting hearing everyone's points of view. I can't wait until next week.

Thursday was just one of those days. I was late to work (no surprise), had an explosion in the kitchen with a package of raisins (nothing like crawling around on the floor picking up raisins at 8:30 in the morning), and various other frustrations that were all a result of my current stress level from feeling overwhelmed by life. To de-stress afterwards, I completely ignored all school responsibilities and enjoyed watching Ugly Betty, Grey's Anatomy, etc.., talking on the phone, and spending way too much time on Facebook. I also got my hair cut and colored. Yay! The gray hair was definitely winning the battle on my head so it was nice to see them disappear.

(SwoooOoShhh...I'm ready for my shampoo commercial now.)

Today I discovered that (and sorry if everyone else but me knew this already) they have BAKED CHEETOS! Now of course I know this doesn't make them the healthiest of snack choices, but they are BAKED and that makes me feel a little bit better about my decision to eat them.

Chester Cheetah is the man.

Now I am off to get some work done! I have an Advocacy poster due on Monday and I have yet to start on it. At least it's not the night before...

Rainy Procrastination SUPER STAR

Just to preface this...I have a project due tomorrow that I have barely worked on. YET, I have decided to write a blog and I have absolutely nothing exciting to talk about. This is a problem, right? The blog newness is like a shiny toy that I want to play with and learn more about. Blah Blah... and I'm a big stinkin procrastinator.
I had all weekend to work on this project. I don't know why I couldn't motivate to do ANYTHING before now, but that's where I'm at. Maybe it's the weather? Sounds like a potentially good reason to blame this on? Maybe? The real problem is feeling completely overwhelmed. I just shut down when I feel that way. Like my brain short circuits because I have too many things going on. I hate it. I wish I was one of those overachievers that did everything way ahead of time. That would be so nice and stress free. But I'm not that way and I've been me for a long time and that's hard to change overnight. But maybe one day...

The rainy mess I had to battle on the way to school this afternoon. Boo Hiss.

"Rainy days and Mondays always get meee down..."

This was the turning point of my day. A little surprise of goodness in the candy dish at work.
I LOVE flavored tootsie rolls. Thank you tootsie roll. You are my hero.

Beautiful day and an iPod that won't play

Never lose an opportunity to see anything that is beautiful.
It is God's handwriting - a wayside sacrament. Welcome
it in every fair face, every fair sky, every fair flower.
- Ralph Waldo Emerson

Here is what I am a fan of... Beautiful days with gorgeous skies and lots of sunshine, walking and running on the Riverwalk, and good music. Here is what I am NOT a fan of... Small bladders, broken iPods, and being out of shape. Just in case there is any confusion. :-) Anyway...
So my day has been okay today with a few bumps here and there. I went to bed way too late last night as a result of taking a long nap yesterday afternoon. That made it hard for me to get up this morning and I ended up not going to church. :-( I made a real effort, but the clothes beat me in the end. I need to do laundry in a bad way and I haven't put up the clothes from the last time, so basically...it was past time to go and I was having real issues with the clothing situation. So I accepted defeat and put pajamas back on. BUT, I had already made the decision to get out and run today so I did. The weather was incredible and I love being outside on days like today. And I love to run but haven't done it in ages. So yeah, I was pumped. I got dressed, drove downtown, and was ready to breathe the fresh air! I parked at UTC and got my iPod all set up and clipped on me. However, when I flipped the switch to ON and hit PLAY...it did not agree. Nothing happened. Nothing. I hit the button over and over, hoping it would figure out that it was Play time, but alas, still nothing. The light was green, it was fully charged, just broken. BOO! I cannot tell you how much I hate walking or running without music. Listening to my heavy breathing and sneakers hitting the pavement is not a good time. But I pressed on anyway. I'm so dedicated.
On top of the iPod issue, I was dealing with the very great need to find a restroom pronto. Even though I used the bathroom TWICE in a 15 minute period before I left my house (just in case), I STILL felt like the dam was about to burst as soon as I parked my car. What the... GEEZ! And of course I was parked in a fabulous in between spot so that either way I went it was about a mile to a restroom. So I was forced to walk the first mile to avoid any accidents on the sidewalk. Once I got that taken care of, I was off! I did better than expected for the first half mile, then I started to feel the lack of gym time I have put in lately. My hip joints started to feel stiff and so I switched to a boring walk again. Aparently God was really wanting me to slow down, enjoy this wonderful day, and not have any distractions. *sigh* Not that this is a bad thing, but I wanted a nice run with cool music flooding my ears. Oh well, it was still a great work out. I really do live for days like today.

Ahhh.. Refreshing!


I took this as a very good sign that it was time to quit for the day...


Mission Accomplished!

After the Riverwalk fun, I had to go to Walmart and grocery shop. Ugh. I HATE grocery shopping...especially at Walmart on a busy Sunday afternoon. But what are you gonna do. No food = No choice. So I battled the crowd and came out alive. Yay for that. I did however walk in the door and find this as soon as I got home...

Seriously?