Hey y'all...

Just wanted to let you know that I haven't forgotten about you.  I am heading into a whirlwind of youth events the next week or so, and I'll come back to you after that and fill you in!

Have a great week!

YEAH SPARTANS!

WOOHOO!  GO GREEN!  Spartans are in the national championship game!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Um, hi

Yep, still here.  The last time I blogged, it was near the beginning of Lent.  And this Sunday is Palm Sunday.  Go figure!  Where does the time go??

I just returned from a 3-day trip to PA for my Gram's 89th birthday.  It was a great time and the whole family was there.  Gram only knew that my parents were coming... so all of her grandchildren and great-grandchildren (2 little ones she had not met yet!) being there, too, was a very special surprise!

In other news, Michigan State is in the Final Four.  Woo hoo!  I wore MSU shirts on both days that I was traveling and was in airports... and got many comments from airport employees.  They all seemed excited for the Spartans - let's hope they show up tomorrow night.

I'm looking to have a great week this week of getting things done... Youth Sunday is not far off on April 26.

See - really, I have not-a-whole-lot to tell you.  Maybe this is why I never blog?

Hope you're enjoying the start to your weekend. :-D

Lent

I am giving up desserts for Lent.  Maybe I should say "sweets."  Either way, it's going to be hard.  Three days down (almost), 37 to go.  I think I can, I think I can, I think I can...

In high school, I remember giving up pop once.  That was pretty difficult for me to do, because at that time, I drank it pretty often.  Now I almost never drink pop (only sometimes when I'm out for dinner) and instead drink a lot of water.  I wanted to choose something that would truly be a daily struggle for me... so desserts it is.

February has been a bit of a nice "break" for me.  Yes, I've still been working everyday, but there has been a lack of retreats/trips/etc.  January was super busy, and it picks back up again in March and April.  Then of course the summer is go, go, go! :)  I thrive on busy days, though, so it's all good!

I think I started typing this post at about 8:30 and now it's after 10:00.  I just spent the last hour and a half catching up with a college friend - so great!  I miss all of my friends (high school, college, and beyond) and love the time we get to spend catching up from time to time.

I think now it's movie time... 

81 Things You Didn't Care About Until Now

1. What color is your toothbrush?

Lime green and white

2. Name one person that made you smile today.
So far, nobody.  I just woke up.

3. What were you doing at 8 am this morning?
sleeping

4. What were you doing 45 minutes ago?
sleeping... give me a break, it's only 9:45 a.m.

5. What is your favorite candy?
Swedish Fish

7. What is the last thing you said aloud?
probably talking on the phone to my mom last night... so I guess it would have been "love you, bye"

8. What is the best ice cream flavor?
Mint Chocolate Chip

9. What was the last thing you had to drink?
Water

10. What is the longest you have gone without sleeping?
I'm gonna go with 27 hours.  I'm guessing that based on my lock-in schedule in my high school youth group.  The good news about lock-ins at my church now is that the kids usually go to sleep by about 2.

11. Have you ever made a promise you'd die to keep?
Ummmm... not sure about that one.

12. Have you bought any new clothing items this week?
No.

13. The last sporting event you watched?
I watched some of the MSU/Wisconsin basketball game on ESPN yesterday afternoon.

14. What is your favorite flavor of popcorn?
Kettle Korn - YUM

15. Who is the last person who sent you a message on facebook?
my mom - she's getting into this facebook thing

16. Ever go camping?
Nope.  

17. Do you take vitamins daily?
I have a bottle of them.  I'll take one now - thanks for the reminder.

18. Do you go to church regularly?
Yes

19. Do you have a tan?
No.

20. Do you like Chinese food over pizza?
Yeah, I think so.  I never used to like Chinese, but I've grown to like it.  I actually tried to get my sister to pull in there the other day at lunch when we were on our way to our parents' house.  No such luck.

21. Do you drink your pop with a straw?
Only at a restaurant

22. What did your last text message say?
Last one sent: "Very cool :) Guess you will have to see it now, huh?"
Last one received: "yep...nite"

23. What are you doing tomorrow?
Working... and senior high Bible study

24. Where's your dad?
probably at home

25. Look to your left, what do you see?
a pillow, an afghan, a table with a lamp and some picture frames on it

26. What color is your watch?
silver

27. What are you thinking about?
how I want this super sore throat to go away NOW

28. What do you want to be doing right now?
laying on the couch under an afghan and watching a movie

29, Do you go in at a fast food place or just hit the drive thru?
Drive-thru unless the line is way too long

30. What is your favorite number?
My favorite is 30.  That was Jamie Wesley (MSU women's basketball)'s number and also mine while I played in junior high and freshman year of high school.

31. Who's the last person you talked to on the phone?
my mom

32. Any plans today?
work - staff meeting this afternoon, Session meeting tonight

34. Biggest annoyance in your life right now?
trying to find time to work, work out, learn to play the guitar, and still relax...

35. Last song listened to?
I have no idea - something on the Oscars - does that count?

36. Can you say the alphabet backwards?
yeah, I think I could do it, but not too fast

37. Do you have a maid service clean your house?
Ha!  I wish.

38. Favorite pair of shoes you wear all the time?
recently it's my tennis shoes - boring, I know.  I need to get some new "cute shoes."  But that's not in the budget right now!

39. Are you jealous of anyone?
People who can lose weight and stay in shape without much effort.

40. Is anyone jealous of you?
Not that I know of.

41. Do you love anyone?
yep

42. Do any of your friends have children?
Yes

43. What do you usually do during the day?
go to work, hang out with youth

44. Do you hate anyone that you know right now?
Nope

45. Do you use the word 'hello' daily?
Yes, when I answer the phone.

46. What color is your car?
Silver

47. Do you like cats?
NO.  Not even a little.

49. Have you ever been to Six Flags?
I don't think I have.

50. How did you get your worst scar?
Falling down in the gravel parking lot of the high school in our town when we were going to see my brother play tennis.  I have three scars on my knee from where gravel was in it.  Our doctor was a friend of ours and he made a house call because I didn't want to go to the dr. or emergency room (too afraid).  Luckily no stitches were needed!

51. Last cigarette?
Never

52. Last CD played?
Chris Tomlin - "Arriving"

54. Last time you cried?
a few weeks ago.  This question must be much easier for people who cry often.

54. Last meal?
Cereal (w/milk) and a banana

55. Have you ever dated someone twice?
No

58. Have you ever lost someone you loved?
Yes

59. have you ever slept until 1pm?
Yeah - I am a champion sleeper - well, I used to be!

61. List FIVE people you can tell pretty much anything to.
my family, my best friend, a couple friends from high school

62. List three favorite colors.
Green, Blue, that's all I got.

63. Laughed until you cried?
Oh yes - I did that ALL THE TIME in college.  Especially if I was telling a funny story and I couldn't get through telling it because I was laughing so hard that I had tears.  

70. Do you believe in love at first sight?
Not sure

71. Is there something you want to tell someone?
Yes

72. What brand of shirt are you wearing?
It's a blue long-sleeved t-shirt from our small group my freshman year at MU

75. Do you want to change your name?
When I get married, yes

76. Last time you saw your father?
Saturday morning

77. What time did you wake up today?
9:25

76. How old are you?
I'm 25.  But less than two months until I'm 26.  Whoa.

79. What were you doing at midnight last night:
Getting into bed, reading my devotion.

80. What is your favorite thing in your room?
The cool shelves on the wall above my bed.

81. Where is your best friend right now?
in Indiana - she lives there

lazy days

Yesterday and today take the cake for lazy days.  Yesterday I didn't do a whole lot (until going out to dinner and a movie with friends).  Today, the only thing I've done since I woke up is watch 24.  I hadn't watched it yet all season, so I watched one episode yesterday and FIVE today.  The show is intense no matter when you watch it.  But five hours in a row?  I'm ready for a shower and some sunshine!  Tonight's plans are up in the air.  I may meet up with the friends I was with last night... or I might just hang out here and relax.  This is the first weekend since October when I've had nothing going on!  Have a great weekend!

for you?

borrowed from Finding Tara 

The first Seven (7) people to respond to this post will get something made by me. This offer does have some restrictions and limitations:

- I make no guarantees that you will like what I make.
- What I create will be just for you.
- It'll be done this year (2009).
- You have no clue what it's going to be. It may be a mix CD. It may be a poem. I may draw or paint something. I might bake you something and mail it to you. Who knows? Not you, that's for sure!
- I reserve the right to do something extremely strange.

The catch? Oh, the catch is that you have to put this in your journal as well, if you expect me to do something for you!

life

It has been an exhausting couple of weeks.  It started two weeks ago (tomorrow) with three days of continuing ed. for me.... then home for 24 hours before taking some youth to a youth conference in Orlando.  Got home late Monday night and had a retreat this weekend.  I think it finally hit me today once I got home - I was dragging for sure.  But after an evening to myself and some much needed down time, I'm feeling much better.  And after a good night's sleep tonight, I'll really be doing well.

A few things:

-I'm totally into salads these days.  I eat one at almost every meal (or it may BE my meal).

-I've started working out and so far, I've worked out twice (Thursday and Friday) - I'm aiming for three days a week.  How many times do I have to do it before it becomes a habit?

-My neighbors still have their Christmas wreath on their door.  At least the lights aren't turned on, but REALLY?  Come on, people.

-I'm really far behind on TV.  It was something like 12 hours behind, but I think it's down to 8.

-I just remembered that I promised myself I'd play guitar and finally get around to organizing those accessories tonight.  Later, gators!

resolution update

So I'm really not doing too well with my resolutions thus far... I figured I better tell you, because it's helps to keep me accountable...

1. Learn to play the guitar (that I got for Christmas!)  I'm working on it, but I'm slow.  I have yet to practice everyday straight through for a week.  I'm going to try to start it up again tonight.

2. Lose 15 pounds and maintain a healthy diet.  I'm getting there.  I had a DELICIOUS salad with my dinner tonight.  But I have trouble removing the desserts from my diet. :)

3. Start/continue exercising!  Yep, I went and worked out tonight, and I LOVED it!

4. Find a new book for my daily devotional and stick with it (I jump around a lot, and I'd like to keep the same book for a while...)  Not yet.  I haven't been to the bookstore to look.  Maybe tomorrow!

5. Accessorize more often.  I have lots of jewelry, I just forget to put it on.  (And yes, I realize this is a dorky resolution!)  Also not yet.  I haven't had a lot of free time lately, so I haven't gone through all of my jewelry.  Actually, I think it's still packed up in boxes from when I moved here over a year ago.  Maybe I can do that tonight or tomorrow as well.

On another note, I have 11.5 hours of TV to catch up on.  Eight hours of 24 (I haven't been able to watch it at ALL so far this season) and 3.5 hours of The Bachelor.  Good news (not) for me is that they are both on on Monday nights and I'm busy again this Monday.  Guess I better get around to laying on the couch!

resolutions...

Happy New Year!  I don't usually make New Year's resolutions, but this year I have things that I really do want to accomplish, so we'll see how it goes.

1. Learn to play the guitar (that I got for Christmas!)

2. Lose 15 pounds and maintain a healthy diet

3. Start/continue exercising!

4. Find a new book for my daily devotional and stick with it (I jump around a lot, and I'd like to keep the same book for a while...)

5. Accessorize more often.  I have lots of jewelry, I just forget to put it on.  (And yes, I realize this is a dorky resolution!)

There you go.  Think I can keep them?