SLACKER!

Okay, I know it's been a while since I have blogged. I can give you several excuses for this:
1. laziness
2. not having anything to say
3. busyness (which may not make sense paired with number 1, but trust me, it makes perfect sense)
4. craziness in life (see number 3)
5. i would have just complained a lot and was trying not to do that (and am glad I didn't after I read Katie's blog yesterday and gained some wisdom on the subject from her)

So, here I am now on the other side of the craziness for now (I think) to say that I am blessed in the Lord to have people who can pray for me, even when I go to them whining for them to do exactly that! I was able to hold a friend's three month old today and have a "conversation" with him, which always brings my heart joy. I was able to spend time with brothers/sisters in Christ at Bible study last night to discuss Ephesians 5:1-14, which has been my favorite chapter of this study so far. I am looking forward to meeting with a good friend next week to be encouraged and gain some accountability in memorizing some of God's Word. I've had some sunlight to rejuvenate me in ways I can't describe. I've been able to relax with a good book on several occasions this week. I've had some good conversations with my roommate, even though we've both been crazy busy and we haven't been able to watch the Cosby Show in almost a week! Oh, the list could go on about how blessed I am. I'll share more later, but I'm getting ready to eat dinner and see a movie with a friend. Have a great Friday evening!

I like to celebrate

As you know, it doesn't take much for me to find an excuse to celebrate, but today is a special day for me. Today I turn 12 in Lord. It is hard to believe that it has been 12 years of celebrating with the Lord my new life in Him. "Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come." I did not do anything to celebrate today. I was going to be at Bible study tonight, which would have been an apt way to celebrate, but poor Sarah is sick so we cancelled Bible study. I hope you feel better soon Sarah!

Deep Breath

It was one of "those" days. :) I'm glad it's over. Here was my itinerary in one long breath...

home to office for paperwork to East Peoria to office for lunch to Creve Coeur to office to Creve Coeur House A to Creve Coeur House B to office to Creve Coeur House B back to Creve Couer House A to McDonald's to Creve Couer House A to Pekin and home. 80 plus miles. 11 hours and 5 minutes. So much for having yesterday off :) I just need sunshine. That would make the next two days of long days and lots of appointments much more bearable. On the bright side, at least I'm billing hours!

Hmmm...

I just balanced my checkbook and have a lot more money than I thought I would. Don't get me wrong, it's much better than finding out you have less that you thought you should. But I just keep racking my brain to figure out if I forgot to pay a bill :) So far I'm coming up empty.

Hard to believe

I recently realized that at the end of January, I will have lived in Illinois for 4 years. That means that I have officially lived in Illinois longer than I lived in Texas (that actually happened about 6 months ago because I only lived in Texas for 3 1/2 years). It makes me feel happy and sad all at the same time (I recently discussed this in a therapy session with a client...how you feel pleasant and unpleasant feelings at the same time). It makes me feel happy because I love the life God has given me here in Peoria. I am close to family. I fellowship at a wonderful, Bible-teaching, God-honoring church. I have amazing friends that I get to spend time with and grow with. But it makes me sad because I had some of those things in Texas too. I have amazing friends. I had a job that I enjoyed. I loved the area. And now it seems like such a long time ago.

Just to be fair

and so that it doesn't get out of control and make people mad when they find out later than everyone else....

I joined Facebook.

out of protest, but I did it nonetheless. Everyone who knows me well knows that the stubborn streak will always end eventually. It becomes a game to see when. New Year's Day I caved. There were finally too many people that I wanted to contact that I had lost all other information for. So I did it. There. Now you can all rush over and friend me. :)

Random Ramblings

I wish I could watch my clothes actually go through the wash cycle in the washing machine. How is it that I can put a shirt into the washing machine right-side out and when it comes out of the washing machine it has turned completely inside-out? It fascinates me.

My first snowmobiling adventure!

Today was a perfect weather day! Well if you like temperatures close to zero and a lot of snow! Kari invited Kinsey and I over to snowmobile. I, for once in my life, decided that I could try something new even though I'm 30. I took it slow today and only rode on the back of a snowmobile with Kari, but still had a lot of fun. Here are the three of us all decked out and ready to go.
Here I am. As Kinsey was taking the picture, she said, "At least you don't have to smile." Afterward I told her I was smiling, it just comes natural.

Oh no! Kinsey is falling off the snow mobile! :(

After awhile, we decided to pull out the sled. Kari pulled Kinsey and I around the yard. These are Kinsey's feet. They went by too fast and my camera was too slow!

Here's Kinsey again.

Here I am getting ready to go. The funniest part is that the helmet was a little to big, so it kept falling low on my face and I couldn't see where we were going. Sometimes we were going slow enough that I could reach up and adjust it, but other times I had to hang on.

Here I am again. Thanks Kari for a great time!

Turning over a new leaf

So, I've been waking up earlier on a regular basis. While I don't necessarily like it, I have attempted to embrace it. Today I woke up at 8. I actually woke up at 8 (normally I wake up earlier and then fall back to sleep, wake up, fall back to sleep...). I was out of bed by 8:20. It is now 12:40 and here is what I've done:
1. showered and gotten ready.
2. spent about an hour with the Lord!
3. made my to do list.
4. paid my car payment.
5. returned something to Target.
6. grocery shopped at Walmart.
7. went to the atm to deposit a couple of checks.
8. cooked myself lunch. and by cooked i mean, made spaghetti...an actual meal!

Now, I won't hesitate to say that I may end up wasting the rest of the day away! :) But just look how productive I was!

Lost Mittens

Three little kittens have lost their mittens and they began to cry...

That's me. I don't lose things very often, so when I do it's even more irritating. But when I lose things, I do it at the most opportune time. Like when it's zero degrees or less. That's a good time to lose one glove in the warmest pair you own. At least when I got home I realized I have the same pair in a different color. I don't like that color nearly as much, but I'll definitely go with function over fashion...at least until we get back into the 20s. :)

Some snow pictures from today

Here is the view from the sliding glass door of the apartment. I realized that this is the first snow upon snow that I have seen since I moved to Illinois. Usually one snow melts before the other comes. So, it's hard to say how much snow we got today (I think I heard about four inches).

This is the view from outside the front door of my apartment. At least the sidewalk had been cleared by the time I ventured out! I forgot to take pictures of my car before I shoveled it out. But, here's a funny story...I had cleared my car off, but because I left so late, the snow plows had plowed snow behind my car, and I had stupidly pulled up pretty far last night, so I had to shovel behind my car. While I was shoveling, this Indian couple were walking down the road and stopped to watch me. Then the woman starts walking toward me. I just kept shoveling. But she stood next to me while her husband TOOK A PICTURE OF THE TWO OF US! I tried really hard not to laugh. I had to refrain from not asking for a copy. I finished shoveling and then left.

The main roads were well plowed by 3:00 this afternoon, but the side roads were still a little sketchy. My original plan was to visit a friend, but I realized that there would probably be no where for me to park on her street because it probably wouldn't be plowed, so I headed straight over to Dad and Amy's to play some Wii with the kids. While I was there, we were able to watch three deer frolic up and down the street. At one point in time, the buck stopped right in front of the house in the middle of the street. I sent Josh for the camera, but before he got back, he had already run off, so no deer pictures :(

When I got home this evening, and much to Emily's dismay, I requested her assistance outside to take a few pictures. This is not a true representation of how tall the snow is, but it is the pile of snow from the plow plowing out each parking spot. I am standing directly behind the snow pile. I do believe this might be the most snow I've seen since I've lived in Illinois. But I could be wrong.

This is how deep the snow is from the other side. My boots had totally sunk into the snow. My back foot may truly be in the snow as it has fallen, not from the snowplow.

I have discovered that I really don't mind driving in the snow. It was kind of fun slip sliding on the side streets. Snow is fairly predictable. As long as you go slow and steady, you aren't likely to have an accident. Plus, my dad has a four wheel drive truck, so I knew he could come save me. It's the ice I don't like. So, even though you guys might think I was being a wimp for not going to work today, it wasn't so much that I was afraid to drive in the snow, it was just that I didn't think going to work was necessary when I could do the work from home and take the rest of the day off :)!

I could get used to this

I only worked for 2 1/2 hours today doing paperwork. It's 1:00 and I'm still in my pj's. Well, sort of. I actually showered and then put clean pj's on. It's beautiful outside. Lots and lots of fluffy snow. It's so light that when I had to go out to my car this morning to get something, it fell right off when I opened the door, even though there is a lot there. It almost makes me want to go out and play in it. Almost. I might venture over to my dad's house in a while to play Wii with Daynah and Josh. Or I might stay in and work on a puzzle. Both sound really good. What to do, what to do...

A Little Late

So, after I got back from Georgia on the 27th, this is what I found. My car had been buried in snow. I had to lug my suitcase through the snow and then over this pile that had been plowed behind my car. I survived the clearing of the car but it was not a very "Welcome Home." Now we're anticipating lots of snow through the evening. I've already decided to not rush to work...I might even reschedule my one appointment for the day and declare it a self-proclaimed snow day. We'll see.

When at first you don't succeed

Try, try again.

I started re-reading the book "Idols of the Heart." I decided that there were some things that I still needed to apply and it couldn't hurt to reread. Hopefully I won't post the same lessons as I did the last time. The chapter I read today was about obeying the first commandment, "You shall have no other gods before me." The author included a quote from a Puritan catechism that helps define what that commandment means. I had to read it several times and am still not sure that even a quarter of it has sunk in.

"The duties required in the first commandment are, the knowing and acknowledging of God to be the only true God, and our God; and to worship and glorify him accordingly, by thinking, meditating, remembering, highly esteeming, honoring, adoring, choosing, loving, desiring, fearing of him; believing him; trusting, hoping, delighting, rejoicing in him; being zealous for him; calling upon him, giving all praise and thanks, and yielding all obedience and submission to him with the whole man; being careful in all things to please him, and sorrowful when in anything he is offended; and walking humbly with him."

I am humbled tonight that God chooses to love me, even when I continually place other things above and before Him. Lord, I thank You for Your grace!

Guess what today is????

My Half Birthday! Let the countdown begin....

Yesterday I had a client ask me how old I was. I told her to guess. Her first guess was 22. She could not believe I was actually 30. I wanted to hug her, but didn't. :)

I survived...

My first day back to work. Barely. But I survived :).

Actually, it wasn't as bad as I was anticipating. It was long. And I was tired. But it was good to see people again after being gone so long. I got a lot of random stuff done. Like changing all my calendar information over.

De-decorating

Today Emily and I de-Christmased our apartment. Sad.

I am learning that maybe I need to go back to work. I think I am losing my ability to multitask. I can't count anymore the amount of times that I have said, "Oh my gosh, I forgot that I needed to be doing this..." and fill in the blank with whatever you want
...switch the laundry over.
...do the dishes.
...fold my clothes.
...put a new case of Dr. Pepper in the fridge.

It has literally taken me ALL. DAY. LONG. to do my laundry. That rarely happens. Even Emily said that I have seemed a little off today. That's what happens when you're lazy for a week and a half.

Happy New Year!

I can't believe another year is behind me. As I lay in bed this morning, I began to think and pray about what 2010 would bring for me. New Year's are always interesting. Many people make New Year's resolutions. I steer clear of them, personally, because I don't want to have to admit defeat when I don't accomplish them! However, I do like to reflect on what the old year brought and what the new year may bring. Last night I went to a New Year's Eve party at a friend's house. I am blessed with a wonderful church family and was very happy to ring in the New Year with me friends. Around 11 last night, we all gathered from playing games to take time to reflect on what the Lord has done in our lives. What a great way to end the year! To bad I didn't have my camera so you could see the really cool 2010 glasses I wore to ring in the new year :)!

I hope everyone has a blessed day! I am off soon to a movie marathon...Here are the movies that are being shown:
Tommy Boy (which I am currently missing)
Patriot Games
Oceans 11
Braveheart
The Fugitive

I might be in and out all day. I'm not sure how many of these movies I want to see. But fun to have the opportunity!