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?

time flies...

Today is my oldest nephew's 4th birthday.  WOW.  Time flies, especially when it comes to kids growing up.  It definitely does not seem like four years ago when I was in college, waiting for the phone call to drive home for his birth.  Who knew - he waited to come until my finals were over and I was already there!

Two more days of work and then I head north.  Today my plan is to take something back to Wal-mart that I don't need for a Christmas present anymore... wrap a couple more things, and start packing.  Tomorrow I have church in the morning and we are going scavenger caroling tomorrow night.  That is a fun twist on caroling - they stop at each house (we are going to members' homes) and have to sing a song before asking for an item from their Christmas scavenger list.  We'll come back to the church and have hot chocolate if it's cold, which I think it's supposed to be.

Monday morning I'm just going to work 10ish-noon and then head on out.  Since there is supposed to be snow up north on Tuesday and Wednesday, I want to get there ahead of that.  I can't WAIT for the cold weather and the snow.  Bring it on!  I miss it so much.  Yesterday it was at least 65 degrees here and there was no air or heat on my apartment.  But the problem is that my apartment was a little warm.  I didn't really want to turn on the A/C in December just to cool it down, so I hung in there. :)

Maybe I'll watch Elf (again) today just to get a little more into the Christmas spirit.  And I'm going to make Mom's Christmas cookies at some point... probably tomorrow night, but I may do it tonight.  The Colts beat the Jags and clinched a playoff spot, so that helps everybody's Christmas spirit, right? ;)

I may not blog again before Christmas, or even New Year's, for that matter... so...

MERRY CHRISTMAS and HAPPY NEW YEAR!  I hope you have wonderful holiday celebrations with your family and friends.  Rejoice in the reason for this season!

so far, so good

Well, I've made it this far without getting sick.  I worked from home one afternoon this week to get away from the sicknessess that were going around church.  Now I'm "off" (at least out of the church building) until Sunday morning, so let's hope I can continue to avoid it.  I'm not usually this worried about germs and getting sick, but when I'm just a few days away from holding those babies, I don't want to be anything but a healthy aunt!

I went out to dinner tonight with a new friend at Taste of Thai.  I LOVE that place.  I hadn't met her before, but actually a friend of my mom's from home knew both of us and said that we should meet.  We had a good time and hopefully we'll go out again!

My Christmas shopping is one gift away from being complete.  It's even almost all wrapped - I still have two more things here that I need to wrap, and the rest is, or will be, at my parents' house.

I guess I should head to bed, since I really have nothing exciting at all to say.  I hope you have a great weekend and are looking forward to sharing the holiday with family and friends!  See you soon...

Sick?

Everybody around me is sick. It is absolutely going around at the office. At least 3 people have been sick on staff - there are only 8 of us! We also have a preschool in our church (although today was the last day for 2008) and it's been going around there, too. I had been in for about three hours today and I made a decision to head home and work from here. Thank goodness that I have that flexibility - I didn't want to get sick and could attempt to avoid it by staying away for a while. I came home and took a shower and changed my clothes. We'll see if it works.

My parents and Ian were here over the weekend. We had SUCH a great time. We did several "festive" things and Ian really enjoyed it. His birthday is this Saturday and I am going to miss the party, so I gave him his presents while he was here. It was a very, very fun weekend.

I'm looking forward to being home for the holidays. It will be nice to be there for just short of two weeks - and I get to spend time with great friends from growing up, high school, and college over New Year's. I can't WAIT to see them - some of them I haven't seen in 3.5 years or longer. Wow!

I am enjoying my Christmasey (I made that word up) apartment. I love laying on the couch with the tree lights turned on. I love my nativity (from AtHome America) and it all just looks so pretty!

I have something every evening until I head home, so hopefully the next days will go by quickly. I can't wait to see people on Christmas Eve and hopefully at other times during the break, too!

Enjoy the season of Advent as we look forward to the greatest gift of all...

'tis the season

'Tis the season for great football games... for staying inside and being warm when it's really cold outside... and for being just a little bit sick.

That sums up my weekend for you. I wasn't feeling the greatest on Thursday (sore throat), so I decided I would take it easy this weekend. I have spent a lot of time watching football and making my Christmas cards (which I definitely didn't think was going to happen this year!).

I'm happy to report that I'm feeling MUCH better. I will still nurse the throat with OJ for a few more days (because it helps and because I LOVE it), just to keep the upward swing.

Tomorrow night are the youth Christmas parties. One party for middle school, another for high school. Everybody is supposed to bring an appetizer to share (yum!) and a gift for the gift steal. It will be a fun night enjoyed by all. Then I'm "off" on Monday evening with no meetings, and then I have something almost every evening (except maybe the 18th and 20th) until I head home for Christmas. At least it will help the time to fly by!

Back to the football game...

I can't believe it...

Wow. I can't believe Thanksgiving is over. I can't believe Advent is upon us. And I can't believe it's DECEMBER. Yikes! Where does the time go? And why doesn't it feel like Christmastime?

When I went home for Thanksgiving break, I felt like I was in college again. I had a HUGE amount of things to do right up until the end, and then I was finished and didn't have to think about one single thing for work while I was on break. And it's nice because for December, I'm actually not on overload, so I might actually be able to enjoy most of it rather than be frantic about what all has to get done. Not that I don't enjoy it, anyway... I love what I do and I really do think being a youth director is the best job in the world. :)

My Christmas shopping is close to being finished. I have almost all of the adults in my family done... and then I just have to shop for the kids... which is the fun part anyway! Three weeks from today I head home for Christmas - I can't believe it's that close!

My apartment is all decorated for Christmas - my tree is up, I have the nativity out, and I even bought a poinsettia from one of my kids (it was a fundraiser for a school sport). I'm feeling very festive. It's all ready for when my parents and my oldest nephew come to visit me in a couple of weeks! Speaking of poinsettia, I probably should get that out of the plastic bag if it has a chance of living until Christmas....... later, gators!

busy busy busy

Well, I think this weekend marks the beginning of a crazy holiday season!

We are serving at the FISH pantry tomorrow for a good chunk of the morning and early afternoon. Then we'll go out to lunch downtown... should be fun! Sunday is a Christmas festival at church in the afternoon (don't even get me started on how that's BEFORE THANKSGIVING) and then we have a multi-youth group event with lots of churches on Sunday evening.

Monday I have a few things to do and then Tuesday I head home for Thanksgiving. Woo hoo!

I'm going to get some time off at Christmas/New Year's, which will be nice. I'm going to use the rest of my vacation and will be able to go back to Illinois to visit friends from high school and college as well as visit with family and friends at home.

Guess I better get moving. I'm going to a dance thing for one of my youth tonight and I need to eat something before I go. Have a great weekend!

retreat

We had a FANTASTIC confirmation retreat this weekend. Everything went well and although the weather was VERY cold for Tennessee, it didn't rain while we were there (just on the trip there!). All eight of the confirmands were able to attend, and seven of the eight mentors went, too. My co-teacher for the class also was there. It's hard to get that kind of attendance at any youth event... let alone one that lasts for 24 or more hours! I was so pleased they were all there... and it was AWESOME to have the mentors be such an integral part of our time together.

The theme was "prayer" and we prayed in several different ways. In our prayer circle before we left on Saturday morning, I told the parents that I could almost guarantee that their son/daughter would come home knowing a new kind of prayer or a new way to pray. We had plenty of time to hang out, play games, do group building activities, and even played some full-court basketball, which I thoroughly enjoyed! :) The kids did high ropes and the zip line (which is huge) on Saturday afternoon.

Last night we packed 42 care packages for college students from our church. I mailed all but 4 of them today (I don't have addresses for those yet). It was a lot of fun to pack them and think about how happy those college students are going to be to open them!!!

I have something every night this week - which is good and not good. It's not good because then I'm worn out by the time I get to the weekend! But it's also good because that will make the week go by quickly... then it's a pretty busy weekend... and next Tuesday, I come home for Thanksgiving! I'm looking forward to spending time with family and seeing friends.

Time to be lazy and lay on the couch some more. I'm good at that when it's late at night. :) Hope you are doing well!

today

Wow, I haven't posted in a really long time. I am so sorry about that! Life has been hectic, but I'll try to be more consistent.

I woke up this morning disappointed and stressed. Disappointed because I had dreams during the wee hours of the morning that there was snow on the ground. I woke up to find none. This is not a very likely reality where I live, but I can always hope!

The stress was because tomorrow/Sunday is our fall confirmation retreat. I still had quite a few things to accomplish to feel like I was ready to go. Good thing that it only took approximately three hours at the office today to get it done. I only have a couple more things to cross off my list tonight and I'll be good to go. Oh yeah, and I need to pack a bag!

The retreat theme is "prayer" and I think it's going to be really great. The weather currently does not look like it will cooperate, so hopefully that will change. The kids are supposed to get to do high ropes tomorrow, and I don't really like the idea of them doing ropes in the rain. We'll see.

I have a busy day on Sunday when I get back, and then Sunday night after youth group I can just relax. Maybe you'll be lucky enough to get a blog post about the weekend. :)

The only other thing on my mind right now is that I REALLY want to break out my Christmas music. But I have a definite rule that I cannot listen to Christmas music until after Thanksgiving. I think the local Christian station is playing Christmas music this weekend, so I might have to break the rule and satisfy the "craving" for just a couple more weeks until I can listen full-time!!

Have a good one!!!

corn maze

We went to the haunted corn maze tonight and I thought I was going to be totally freaked out, but I wasn't scared at all. It was nice to be there with high school girls... because they scream every time a spook jumps out, and then the spook runs after them and leaves me alone because I'm not screaming. I just look them right in the face and keep on walking.

We did totally get lost. They have numbered posts inside the maze to help you stay on the right track. We found #1... then #2... then #5. Then we wandered around for a VERY LONG TIME before finding #2 again. Ahhhh! We had to ask to be shown out because we had been in there for almost an hour and were pretty much right by the beginning again. We needed to meet up with the rest of the group and get home! But a fun time was had by all. AND we got to cook hot dogs and s'mores over the fire! Mmmmm!

Now I smell like campfire and need to go wash my hair. Then I can check fantasy football scores and head to bed. I'll sleep well tonight, I'm exhausted!

Christmas?

I had a weird feeling tonight. I was in Hobby Lobby, trying to get some motivation for what my Christmas cards might look like this year (I found none so far). There were aisles and aisles filled with Christmas decorations. And I was thinking before I even went into the store that it felt like the Christmas season, since it's cold and rainy. And it doesn't really snow down here, so cold and rainy is about as close as it gets. Too bad it's not even Halloween yet, and we still have Thanksgiving to go! I wouldn't wish away the holidays for anything... I love spending time with my family. I just wish my mind weren't so confused as to what time of year it actually is. :)