Pictures to come!
************************************************************************
Pictures are here! Check them out at Something New!
Monday, November 29, 2010
#70
I met and took a picture with a celebrity and her family! Check out my progress over at Something New!
Pictures to come!
************************************************************************
Pictures are here! Check them out at Something New!
Pictures to come!
************************************************************************
Pictures are here! Check them out at Something New!
Sunday, November 28, 2010
That Love and Hate Tension
I don't know about you but I thrive off of schedules, consistency, structure. I like it. It keeps me balanced and it keeps me taking my vitamins. 5 days of vacation has thrown off my schedule and therefore my life! I am ready for structure again.
It's funny, because I know I just complained that I need a break, life is too crazy, I am too busy, yet here I am complaining about vacation! Ugh! I know.
Here's where I find myself though. I may not like my busy schedule, but I get things done when I have things to do. When I have nothing to do a whole lot of nothing gets done. I hate feeling lazy! I hate being on Facebook for hours on end, neglecting my bible study, watching Netflix for days, eating unhealthy things, being sluggish because the practice of vitamin taking has gone out the window. Hate it! Which I suppose is a good thing.
But as I told a friend today, I found relaxation this week turning into laziness, minutes turning into hours, and joy turning into GRUMPINESS as I thought of all the things I should have/ could have done! Too much of a good thing if you will.
So, I've decided that over the Christmas break I'll be making a schedule for each day. Not anything that is super binding, just something that will keep me focused, motivated, and not feeling sluggish. So in the spirit of Thanksgiving I am thankful for rest but I am also thankful for schedules and good habits and this life of mine that keeps me ever running!
It's funny, because I know I just complained that I need a break, life is too crazy, I am too busy, yet here I am complaining about vacation! Ugh! I know.
Here's where I find myself though. I may not like my busy schedule, but I get things done when I have things to do. When I have nothing to do a whole lot of nothing gets done. I hate feeling lazy! I hate being on Facebook for hours on end, neglecting my bible study, watching Netflix for days, eating unhealthy things, being sluggish because the practice of vitamin taking has gone out the window. Hate it! Which I suppose is a good thing.
But as I told a friend today, I found relaxation this week turning into laziness, minutes turning into hours, and joy turning into GRUMPINESS as I thought of all the things I should have/ could have done! Too much of a good thing if you will.
So, I've decided that over the Christmas break I'll be making a schedule for each day. Not anything that is super binding, just something that will keep me focused, motivated, and not feeling sluggish. So in the spirit of Thanksgiving I am thankful for rest but I am also thankful for schedules and good habits and this life of mine that keeps me ever running!
Saturday, November 27, 2010
He Sets The Lonely In Families
Hello there! I hope this Thanksgiving found you plenty thankful and endlessly counting your blessings. I know it did for me.
This has been an intense year. Coming to the end of ropes and finding grace to keep going, hopes continuously deferred, plans set to the side on a regular basis to follow that which God has called me to. Intense is the word I find. And yet blessed is what I feel.
I have known in the past year the depths God will go with you, the absolute resiliency of the human spirit (only by the Holy Spirit), and the love and support of family. I have had enough and I have gone without. I have been hurt by the imperfections of man and blessed by the generosity of friends. I feel, in this one year that I have truly lived. I began new endeavors with friends and quit some old habits and am none the worse for the wear. I am thankful for each defeat and each victory this year.
No better way was there to celebrate this victory than with family and friends. SO that is just what I did! Relaxing since Wednesday, I accepted the invitation to join a friends family for the weekend and feast with them. It was so much more than feasting. It was delighting in and enjoying! We baked, we ate, we talked, we ate, we laughed, we ate, we played! Oh it was fantastic!
My family is not big on traditions. I somehow got all of the desire for traditions genes and no one to help me express it. I love them. I kind of thrive off of them. So joining this beloved family, in all their craziness and traditions was the perfect topper to my already thankful heart.
How was your Thanksgiving? I hope it was just what you needed to get your heart into a place of thankfulness in this now Christmas season. Blessings!
This has been an intense year. Coming to the end of ropes and finding grace to keep going, hopes continuously deferred, plans set to the side on a regular basis to follow that which God has called me to. Intense is the word I find. And yet blessed is what I feel.
I have known in the past year the depths God will go with you, the absolute resiliency of the human spirit (only by the Holy Spirit), and the love and support of family. I have had enough and I have gone without. I have been hurt by the imperfections of man and blessed by the generosity of friends. I feel, in this one year that I have truly lived. I began new endeavors with friends and quit some old habits and am none the worse for the wear. I am thankful for each defeat and each victory this year.
No better way was there to celebrate this victory than with family and friends. SO that is just what I did! Relaxing since Wednesday, I accepted the invitation to join a friends family for the weekend and feast with them. It was so much more than feasting. It was delighting in and enjoying! We baked, we ate, we talked, we ate, we laughed, we ate, we played! Oh it was fantastic!
My family is not big on traditions. I somehow got all of the desire for traditions genes and no one to help me express it. I love them. I kind of thrive off of them. So joining this beloved family, in all their craziness and traditions was the perfect topper to my already thankful heart.
How was your Thanksgiving? I hope it was just what you needed to get your heart into a place of thankfulness in this now Christmas season. Blessings!
Overactive Imagination
Written 11/20/10 @ 11:45 pm
Fighting Peonies
I just finished “chat and chow” at Cheesecake Factory with some friends. Had Vietnamese Tacos, if you haven’t had them- you need to try ‘em. Yum! But there was even yummier conversation. I love chatting with people who come from all different stages of life and yet finding we have this common thread among us. Simply lovely.
What’s not so lovely however is coming home from that time of sweet sharing to a scratching at your window. That’s right, I came home to scratching at my window!
First of all, can I tell you how weak I feel right now? Walking from the restaurant across the parking lot (Galleria uhg! Awful parking!) to my car was the most nerve racking thing. I was freezing, thank you Missouri weather, and tired and just wanted to be here, at home, but instead I’m hiking across that parking lot ALONE! Lord knows I know having a husband won’t solve these fears I have but goodnight, it would be nice to have a man protecting me from the cool weather and possible lurkers. But I digress. I felt slightly panicked walking to my car. I don’t frequent the mall often, especially not during holiday times, for fear of being robbed. So walking alone had my little imagination creating tons of scenarios where some beastly man came at me and I, a) startled and fainted like these guys, b) gauged them with my key that was clenched in my fist, or c) screamed like mad with nothing coming out. Oh the imagination! So thankfully this little imagination of mine kept me preoccupied and I made it to my car safely releasing the clutch I had on my beloved FREE Coach bag (thanks Michelle).
Listening to my bluegrass music on the way home (my new love!), I felt relieved and no longer stressed over potential lurkers. Pulling up to my house though, my new fear (click here for that story) of popping a tire kicked into over drive and I anxiously parked and headed for bed. Fears behind me, I started taking out my earrings when I heard a scratch on my window. All the adrenaline that was not far removed from previous incidents now rushed back. The sound came again, this time seeming far more amplified. Someone was turning the lock on my window slowly. Except, there is no lock on my window, at least not from the outside. SO, at that point I was pretty grateful I lived with my parents as I rushed upstairs to tell my dad. He sprang out of his sleep saying “That sounds like a challenge.” (How great is that. Ugh I love men being heroes!) SO he skulked around the house looking for a weapon for the potential intruder, while my freshly awakened mom and I cowered inside. He left into the dark to fight returning moments later with a burp. “Peonies”, he said. I’m confused. “It’s the peonies stems scratching against your window.”
Whoops. That over active imagination will get you every time!
Fighting Peonies
I just finished “chat and chow” at Cheesecake Factory with some friends. Had Vietnamese Tacos, if you haven’t had them- you need to try ‘em. Yum! But there was even yummier conversation. I love chatting with people who come from all different stages of life and yet finding we have this common thread among us. Simply lovely.
What’s not so lovely however is coming home from that time of sweet sharing to a scratching at your window. That’s right, I came home to scratching at my window!
First of all, can I tell you how weak I feel right now? Walking from the restaurant across the parking lot (Galleria uhg! Awful parking!) to my car was the most nerve racking thing. I was freezing, thank you Missouri weather, and tired and just wanted to be here, at home, but instead I’m hiking across that parking lot ALONE! Lord knows I know having a husband won’t solve these fears I have but goodnight, it would be nice to have a man protecting me from the cool weather and possible lurkers. But I digress. I felt slightly panicked walking to my car. I don’t frequent the mall often, especially not during holiday times, for fear of being robbed. So walking alone had my little imagination creating tons of scenarios where some beastly man came at me and I, a) startled and fainted like these guys, b) gauged them with my key that was clenched in my fist, or c) screamed like mad with nothing coming out. Oh the imagination! So thankfully this little imagination of mine kept me preoccupied and I made it to my car safely releasing the clutch I had on my beloved FREE Coach bag (thanks Michelle).
Listening to my bluegrass music on the way home (my new love!), I felt relieved and no longer stressed over potential lurkers. Pulling up to my house though, my new fear (click here for that story) of popping a tire kicked into over drive and I anxiously parked and headed for bed. Fears behind me, I started taking out my earrings when I heard a scratch on my window. All the adrenaline that was not far removed from previous incidents now rushed back. The sound came again, this time seeming far more amplified. Someone was turning the lock on my window slowly. Except, there is no lock on my window, at least not from the outside. SO, at that point I was pretty grateful I lived with my parents as I rushed upstairs to tell my dad. He sprang out of his sleep saying “That sounds like a challenge.” (How great is that. Ugh I love men being heroes!) SO he skulked around the house looking for a weapon for the potential intruder, while my freshly awakened mom and I cowered inside. He left into the dark to fight returning moments later with a burp. “Peonies”, he said. I’m confused. “It’s the peonies stems scratching against your window.”
Whoops. That over active imagination will get you every time!
Saturday, November 20, 2010
Metal Tubes and Hummingbirds
Written 11/19/10 @ 12:55
I have not done much research on elephants. To be completely honest, I’ve done zero research on elephants. So I cannot be certain that the old saying of someone having the memory of an elephant is totally verifiable. If however this is true and their memory capacity is correlated to their size, then I have the memory of let’s say a squirrel. If I write things down, that is a different story, but simply remembering things such as birthdays, event times, dates, where I placed things, etc….. it’s in one ear and out the other rarely stopping to make a mental note.
Today for example doing homiletics for BSF I wrote an “r” to represent a word in my 10 word sentence. 10 words, that’s all I had to remember. I wanted to mull over this sentence so I moved on to other things I had yet to work on. Literally about 5 minutes later I came back to this sentence resolved that indeed I wanted to use the “r” word. But, as luck would have it, I forgot what the “r” represented. Pondering, pondering, reconcile…no, restore…no, return…no, recompense… no! Ah!!! So frustrating. Time ticking I had to scurry out the door to make it to BSF on time and get dinner. So I freshen up the makeup finding a lip gloss I hadn’t used in while. I wanted to remember to take it with me, and knowing me if I put it down I’d forget it and I had no pockets in my dress. So I did what any scrambling, busty women would do and tossed it in my cleavage. Surely I’d remember a nestled metal tube. So, “packed” and ready to go I run upstairs remembering that I’d been wanting to find that word. So I tossed the challenge to my mom and grabbed a dictionary, explaining that I couldn’t just change my sentence or use different words that got the same message across because I had only 1 allotted space left in my subject sentence. (Any BSFers understand my dilemma!) RECIPROCATING! Found it! Now much later and having no time to stop for dinner I race to BSF! Literally 1 minute to spare. Substitute leader, visitor, lots of catching up to do equals negative memory retention for Angie. So, anything I was hoping to remember is now booted as I have to get into BSF mode and adjust to a different routine. 2 hours of BSF, chatting, then dinner with friends and I’m racing home at 11:30. Luckily, I remember this weekend of all weekends I don’t want to make a pit stop in the morning on my way to breakfast with Beckyboo at the grocery store to be with those Thanksgiving shoppers! Yikes. SO I swing by the store to pick up stuff to make pumpkin muffins. It’s only God’s grace that I remembered that. Getting home around midnight I change into my pj’s and what falls to my feet? Oh yeah, that lip gloss I wanted to make sure I remembered.
Oh and I forgot to tell you when I pulled up to my house I forget how close I can get to the road ties we have. So I realized I got too close this time when it pulled the plastic guard for my wheel well off my car. Awesome!
My little squirrel memory may not be any sort of competition in memory games with an elephant but I’ll take on a hummingbird any day!
I have not done much research on elephants. To be completely honest, I’ve done zero research on elephants. So I cannot be certain that the old saying of someone having the memory of an elephant is totally verifiable. If however this is true and their memory capacity is correlated to their size, then I have the memory of let’s say a squirrel. If I write things down, that is a different story, but simply remembering things such as birthdays, event times, dates, where I placed things, etc….. it’s in one ear and out the other rarely stopping to make a mental note.
Today for example doing homiletics for BSF I wrote an “r” to represent a word in my 10 word sentence. 10 words, that’s all I had to remember. I wanted to mull over this sentence so I moved on to other things I had yet to work on. Literally about 5 minutes later I came back to this sentence resolved that indeed I wanted to use the “r” word. But, as luck would have it, I forgot what the “r” represented. Pondering, pondering, reconcile…no, restore…no, return…no, recompense… no! Ah!!! So frustrating. Time ticking I had to scurry out the door to make it to BSF on time and get dinner. So I freshen up the makeup finding a lip gloss I hadn’t used in while. I wanted to remember to take it with me, and knowing me if I put it down I’d forget it and I had no pockets in my dress. So I did what any scrambling, busty women would do and tossed it in my cleavage. Surely I’d remember a nestled metal tube. So, “packed” and ready to go I run upstairs remembering that I’d been wanting to find that word. So I tossed the challenge to my mom and grabbed a dictionary, explaining that I couldn’t just change my sentence or use different words that got the same message across because I had only 1 allotted space left in my subject sentence. (Any BSFers understand my dilemma!) RECIPROCATING! Found it! Now much later and having no time to stop for dinner I race to BSF! Literally 1 minute to spare. Substitute leader, visitor, lots of catching up to do equals negative memory retention for Angie. So, anything I was hoping to remember is now booted as I have to get into BSF mode and adjust to a different routine. 2 hours of BSF, chatting, then dinner with friends and I’m racing home at 11:30. Luckily, I remember this weekend of all weekends I don’t want to make a pit stop in the morning on my way to breakfast with Beckyboo at the grocery store to be with those Thanksgiving shoppers! Yikes. SO I swing by the store to pick up stuff to make pumpkin muffins. It’s only God’s grace that I remembered that. Getting home around midnight I change into my pj’s and what falls to my feet? Oh yeah, that lip gloss I wanted to make sure I remembered.
Oh and I forgot to tell you when I pulled up to my house I forget how close I can get to the road ties we have. So I realized I got too close this time when it pulled the plastic guard for my wheel well off my car. Awesome!
My little squirrel memory may not be any sort of competition in memory games with an elephant but I’ll take on a hummingbird any day!
Arm Holes and Such
Written 11/9/10 9:10
This evening in preparing for bed, doing my evening routine, I found my arms searching for a hole to slide through in my strapless nightgown. The thought occurred to me “Arms searching for holes in strapless dresses is as senseless as “he” and me trying “we” AGAIN.” Little bits of confirmation go a long way for me.
This evening in preparing for bed, doing my evening routine, I found my arms searching for a hole to slide through in my strapless nightgown. The thought occurred to me “Arms searching for holes in strapless dresses is as senseless as “he” and me trying “we” AGAIN.” Little bits of confirmation go a long way for me.
Tuesday, November 16, 2010
A Quick Visit
Hi. I've missed you and those seem to be the only words I can seem to find to say what I've been feeling these last few weeks without you. I'm not ready to come back full fledged, still pulling a balancing act but I'm learning, and shifting, reprioritizing, and hoping someday soon, I can slip this back into the mix without completely losing balance again.
I do want to share with you, in the short time I have, some thoughts I've been having, some completely random, others a little to real.
I have been longing for heaven recently. In a way I haven't ever before. What that means is, well that finally maybe my emphasis is being put in the right place. Recently, people I've known from a distance have parted this world and I've found myself mourning with their families and friends but internally completely joyful for them as they were believers. I was having a conversation with a friend the other day and teared up with her in her description of heaven, of her longing for heaven, of our longing for a simpler life with God. But with that longing has come a new sense of determination to live each moment, to delight in my life, and to share this delight with others. Deep I know, but it's where I'm at.
For something a little lighter, losing weight is a CHALLENGE (not the word I wanted to say, but let's keep it classy!) You may know I've started taking a Zumba toning class. I hated it for the first few weeks and now I find myself actually looking forward to my Tuesday routine. What! I like food, it's brought me comfort over the years but daggum, like many other things I've held on to it for too long and the Lord is breaking those unhealthy bonds. So, you know I rebel, my body rebels, but in the end God is continuously gracious is helping me to overcome this addiction. HONESTY, yikes!
Lastly, y'all this is true victory for me. Sleep is an idol for me. I mean a real idol. I'd much rather sleep than most anything else, but as God is dethroning these other idols in my life, He's not leaving this one standing either. I have been waking up early for....... 8 days in a row now! HEY!!!!! This may seem like a trivial thing for you but sister, or brother, I would love nothing more to stay in my cozy little bed, with those pillows and warm sheets for hours. But with God's help I have been able to get up in the morning, do my bible study, eat breakfast, have my little Honey Lemon, get ready and be at work on time without stress! This is huge for me because usually I'm rushing around the house, spilling hot Honey Lemon on me on my way out the door and totally frazzled by the time I get to work, where I then have to work with 7th graders with special needs. WHAT! If there were ever a job for me that I need to come to work as peaceful as possible it is this!
So there's my little bit of life right now. Little victory, after little victory. Now, I have a 10k to start training for that I've been saying I'm going to start training for for about a month now. Running and I have a love/hate relationship and the thought of even training for this thing keeps me on the hate side. Maybe someday, but today is still one of those "nu-ugh" days. Little by, little friends. ;)
Miss you all!
I do want to share with you, in the short time I have, some thoughts I've been having, some completely random, others a little to real.
I have been longing for heaven recently. In a way I haven't ever before. What that means is, well that finally maybe my emphasis is being put in the right place. Recently, people I've known from a distance have parted this world and I've found myself mourning with their families and friends but internally completely joyful for them as they were believers. I was having a conversation with a friend the other day and teared up with her in her description of heaven, of her longing for heaven, of our longing for a simpler life with God. But with that longing has come a new sense of determination to live each moment, to delight in my life, and to share this delight with others. Deep I know, but it's where I'm at.
For something a little lighter, losing weight is a CHALLENGE (not the word I wanted to say, but let's keep it classy!) You may know I've started taking a Zumba toning class. I hated it for the first few weeks and now I find myself actually looking forward to my Tuesday routine. What! I like food, it's brought me comfort over the years but daggum, like many other things I've held on to it for too long and the Lord is breaking those unhealthy bonds. So, you know I rebel, my body rebels, but in the end God is continuously gracious is helping me to overcome this addiction. HONESTY, yikes!
Lastly, y'all this is true victory for me. Sleep is an idol for me. I mean a real idol. I'd much rather sleep than most anything else, but as God is dethroning these other idols in my life, He's not leaving this one standing either. I have been waking up early for....... 8 days in a row now! HEY!!!!! This may seem like a trivial thing for you but sister, or brother, I would love nothing more to stay in my cozy little bed, with those pillows and warm sheets for hours. But with God's help I have been able to get up in the morning, do my bible study, eat breakfast, have my little Honey Lemon, get ready and be at work on time without stress! This is huge for me because usually I'm rushing around the house, spilling hot Honey Lemon on me on my way out the door and totally frazzled by the time I get to work, where I then have to work with 7th graders with special needs. WHAT! If there were ever a job for me that I need to come to work as peaceful as possible it is this!
So there's my little bit of life right now. Little victory, after little victory. Now, I have a 10k to start training for that I've been saying I'm going to start training for for about a month now. Running and I have a love/hate relationship and the thought of even training for this thing keeps me on the hate side. Maybe someday, but today is still one of those "nu-ugh" days. Little by, little friends. ;)
Miss you all!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)