Archive for December, 2009

Last 2009 post…

I was going to do my best to do a “Best Blogs of 2009″ that I’ve written… or reflect on the year somehow… unfortunately I really didn’t have time. In preparation for my trip to Albuquerque, I’ve been trying to clean up my house & office… and really just try to make sure that everything in life is in order so that when I return from vacation, I can simply just get back into “my routine”… whatever that is.

So instead of that… I am going to simply give you a link to my favotire blog of the year. I found this so funny — I bookmarked and saved it for an occcation such as this.

I hope you enjoy it as much as I did! Here is the link.

Blessings to you on this new years eve and into the new year!!

Thoughts of a 25k…

I know that this is the 2nd blog post of the day… but I didn’t blog this weekend, so I’m hoping that you all will forgive me and let me make it up to you. :)


I have a confession: I don’t start new “Labels” for my blog very often. In fact, recently I have been known to get re-”label” some of my posts as they don’t fit the categories as I would like them to. (And may still be doing this for the “life” and “weight loss” posts to define them a bit more & better.)

But I am starting a new category today. And to be perfectly honest, I am terrified to do it.

Let me back up a little…

A couple of weeks ago, a friend from the gym asked if I wanted to run the 25k Riverbank Run . My gut reaction was “HELL NO!!!” and laughter. (At least that’s what happened in my head… I think my actual reaction might have been more like “No way, Are you crazy?!?!” along with laughter on my part.) Well, after talking to a few people, I am further into this point. Further into saying (and almost committing)…
I am thinking about running a 25k.
Yeah, you read that right.

A 25k.
(That’s 15.53 miles for those who wonder… my co-worker was nice enough to point that out to me.)

So here I am 2 weeks later… ACTUALLY still considering this yet. And I just realized (after looking training program) that I am a month behind with it too.)

Twenty-five kilometers.

This bring me to the point that I am starting a “running” category/label. Meaning there might actually be posts about me running a zillion miles this spring all for this one {crazy} goal.

I am going to say publicly that *IF* I do this, I want…
1) …to have my immediate family’s full support… meaning they ALL BETTER BE THERE when I cross the finish line. (A bonus would be if some aunts/uncles/cousins would be there too!)
2) …to train with people… so that means that I’m actually going to commit to running with the training team at Gazelle Sports.
3) …to be guaranteed that I won’t die. :-)

I really can’t believe this. All I wanted to do this year was “tone up” and look great for my brother’s wedding. Well, I guess this might just be a way to do it.

I never thought that I’d even consider this…….

Now I might have just talked myself into it.

Monday Night Follow-up…

As a continuation from my post yesterday about my confessions, I thought I would follow up and let you all know that I had quite the productive evening… and SO happy about it. Here’s what I did. (And I took pictures, aren’t you proud?!?! Ha!)

Here is a picture of the bed in the “guest room” all made up. Even though I don’t have anyone staying with me right now… I feel better knowing that someone can.

After making up the “guest room”… I got the laundry done/folded/put away and the dishes put away (dishwasher & sink) and then moved on to the mess called my living room. While it’s not done yet… I have 3 bags of trash ready to go out, plus a box of clothes to give away to a local resale shop.

Here is a before/after packing pictures. I am all set for Albuquerque at the end of the week! YAY! Everything fits in my carry-on with a little room to spare at the moment (and yes, I have enough WARM clothes along… it’s supposed to be about 35-45 degrees while I am there. BALMY compared to Michigan!) Only 48 hours til I arrive… yay!!! SO EXCITED!

Finally… I am VERY VERY excited about tonight… I get to see my former roomie for the first time in almost a year — since she moved her {lucky} self to Texas (I’m so jealous of the warmer temperatures!) I can’t wait to see her and talk to her about everything. We do chat and text often, but it will be nice to see her and give her a hug!

Sorry for the {somewhat} mundane life post… I promise in the future to blog about more interesting things!

Confessions…

…I am not the perfect weight watcher. A look at the scale this morning tells me that. In fact, it was a number on the verge of me crying. This number should have pushed me into pulling out my Weight Watcher’s materials a few days prior to the new year, but instead I found myself at the Wendy’s drive thru for lunch.

In 2010… I will exercise at least 5 days a week for 60 minutes each day. I will track as best I can (I know it will not be perfect) and fulfill as many of the Weight Watchers healthy guidelines as possible. I will commit to attend the “Awesome Abs” class at my gym at least once per week to gain strength in that area (as my abs are still pretty weak.) I am also going to take on a challenge for 30 days following my return from vacation on January 5… I will not eat at a fast food restaurant during this time. I will plan my meals and stick to eating them to get myself back into plan.

…I have much higher aspirations for my writing than I follow through with. At the beginning of the weekend, I wanted to write the next part of this story – with more of a focus on the elderly woman and her part in the story. But as with lots of aspirations that I had this weekend, this one did not come to fruition either.

In 2010… I will set aside time once per week dedicated to writing off the blog. I will continue to develop both my fiction stories as well as my own personal weight loss story. When I feel comfortable with what I am writing (or have written), I will publish it on the blog.

…I don’t have a clean house. Again. Or maybe I should say still. My kitchen is somewhat clean (although I should get out my handy-dandy mop thingy to clean the floors.) My living room looks like a recycling center threw up in it. It’s so bad that I’m keeping my blinds closed for fear my neighbors might be able to see in as they drive past. My laundry (I think) is still sitting in the dryer and needs to be folded. Not to mention that I don’t remember the last time I vacuumed well. Oh yeah, and there’s trash duty too.

In 2010… I am going to clean up the little things as I go. I will organize room by room to make sure that nothing is missed. This week yet, I will take down my Christmas tree and re-organize the living room a little. When I return from vacation, I will make up the guest bed (just to make it look a little more “appealing” in that room, instead of “storage like”) and then vacuum the whole house — moving furniture and everything!

…I have credit card debt. This one is really hard for me to admit because of what I do for a living, but it is common among many so I wanted to put it out there. I did it to myself through a couple of trips in 2008 and 2009 and to pay for some things that I would have not normally had to pay for if the economy didn’t have such a tumble.

In 2010… I will pay off this credit card debt and will celebrate it here on my blog. It will be lots of little steps, but I think it is manageable as long as I follow a budget that I am working to set up. I’m hoping that with the economy and stock markets back to higher levels and showing strength that some of my benefits will be returned to make this a little less stressful on me.

…I want to learn more about web design and html code. I tried earlier this year, but failed miserably at it. If I can learn this stuff, I can make my blog a bit more “fun” and creative – a true reflection of me.

In 2010… I will read a couple of books on HTML and try my best to learn it. I will also try my hand at Wordpress once again and try to find a way to make their templates work with what I want.

…I haven’t ever gone to a movie by myself. I think it’s the fear of being judged. I think it’s a fear of always being by myself, of feeling alone. I should have done that earlier this year when I went to Julie & Julia — or I should say essentially I did as the person I went with slept through the whole movie. I haven’t seen or done anything with her since. Not sure if that’s a coincidence or not.

In 2010… I will find a movie that I want to go to — and I will go to it by myself. And not be ashamed that I am there alone.

…I want to take a road trip to nowhere. Maybe even stay overnight or something. How fun would that be to just take off for a weekend without any plans to do anything except just hit the open road.

In 2010… I will take a road trip to nowhere, on a budget of course. I really should see another new state or two to mark off my lifelist.

The Hallelujah Monks…

Happy Christmas Eve everyone! I hope that today, tomorrow and the remainder of this weekend – you can spend time with family & friends… enjoying their company, enjoying the food around you (although not in a “I have to scarf it all down at once” kind of way) and most of all enjoying the memories that you are creating.

Tonight I will be with my family, going to my parents church then opening gifts and spending time with them. I already know that I will be incredibly blessed tonight. I truly have a very special family and I am so glad to be surrounded by them.

Over the last couple of days, I’ve done some blog stalking and have run into this video a couple of times. I thought it was invaluably cute… and just plain cool. I hope you enjoy.

Have a blessed Christmas eve… and maybe I’ll be back tomorrow to report any significant going’s on that happened at tonight’s party. (I’m really not expecting anything… but you never know!)

A Toddler blog…

It’s the 2nd birthday of my blog. As my sister-in-law so wisely pointed out… it’s now a toddler. Since I don’t have kids (or furbabies), I guess that’s what this is. My baby.

And if you didn’t know this about me… I like to celebrate. And because this blog is all about me, I decided to celebrate by giving my “About Me” pages a make-over. You can now know more about me than what you ever thought… or maybe even dreamed of knowing.

You can read about me here… or you can read some of how I described myself with senses in a writing class… or you can take a journey to learn about where I live… or maybe even find out who the real me is.

Where do I see this blog going in the next year? Well, I have a couple of new ideas I might start writing about (recipes and book reviews are among them) but I am also excited about some new adventures that might be unfolding.

I hope that you enjoy my blog… and what I reveal from my life, my faith, my weight loss journey and my many other adventures that continue to unfold.

photo credit: Rob J Brooks @ flickr

A Christmas Creative Writing…

This week I am participating in a Christmas creative writing swap… and I have had soooo much fun with it!!!

I was paired up with Pam from Reflections of a Neurotic Writer. I love her poem below… and when you are done reading it — go check out my creative piece.

Portrait

~Pam

Lights shining
Snow lightly falling
Wishes made
List created
Hopes given
Lives fully lived

Carols singing
Dreams lifting high
Possibilities seem endless
Chances Taken
Risks don’t seem so bad

Presents beautifully wrapped
Tree lovingly decorated
Stockings hung with care
Smell of food wafting through the air

Family sitting closely by
Love pouring all around
Silent moments

Christmas memories
Lasting forever

One star shining brightly

A knock in the night…

I’m a little out of sorts this morning… had quite a night. Let me start from the beginning…

I went to bed a little later than usual for a Sunday night, a little after 11pm. I fell asleep relatively well as I had not (thank goodness) taken a nap yesterday afternoon/evening. (Unlike Saturday night, when I woke up from my “nap” at 6:30pm. And then was up until about 2am. Oops.)

Shortly after 1AM, I was startled… er, more like scared to the brink of a heart attack… by someone pounding on my bedroom window. Not once. TWICE. And the second time is what sent my mind reeling. It was louder. More determined. Then it stopped and I heard the sound of crunching snow. Walking.

For the next while, I laid in bed wishing I had a roommate, a boyfriend, a spouse. Or anyone that I could call. Someone to talk some re-assuring sense into me. Because I was coming up with every conceivable notion of what would or could happen.

And without having anything REALLY happen (outside of losing a few hours of sleep), I still feel like my safety has been compromised. I feel like I am at risk. A single girl living alone on the first floor… not to mention that the cell phone was on the other side of the bedroom charging.

I did end up calling the police a while later… but by then who ever it was had left or walked somewhere else. The very nice officer called when he arrived and assured me that no one was around the building any longer but to make sure to call right away the next time. (Note: I wasn’t exactly coherant at 1 in the morning to call… it was only after messages from friends saying that I should do that when it really occurred to me. I’m telling ya… I would be great the hour after an emergency.)

The police officer did ask if I had anyone that would come only to my window – deliberately to MY window – you can see the tracks in the snow… and I honestly can’t think of anyone. Or a reason why anyone would want to do that to me. I try my best to live an upstanding life… many of my friends (and some family) know the complex that I live in, but don’t know what building. I have a feeling the same goes for the crazy person that came a wandering today. We have security entrances… why he/they didn’t just buzz the person they were looking for is beyond me. Unless it was for something illegal. Which I don’t even want to think about. Well… not think about any more than I already have.

I laid awake between my living room and bedroom, jumping at every tiny noise (and the television in my bedroom makes a lot of “creaking/cracking” noises in the night), until about 5am when I finally fell back to sleep. Fast forward to my alarm going off at 6:45am (yeah, I moved my alarm back from it’s original 6:00am wake up call) and me hitting “snooze”. Except that I didn’t hit “snooze”. I turned my alarm off. Yeah, I’m that smooth on a total of 3 hours of sleep. So I ended up sleeping until 8am and being a 1/2 hour late for work. Good times.

At least my boss understood (as I am still pretty shook up about this) as I recounted the story of the night to him. That’s a good thing for working at a small company I guess. There really aren’t a lot of perks right now (mainly due to the economy), but that’s one of them. Understanding. And I’m very thankful for that.

Today we have our company “Christmas Lunch”… and I have to admit that I’m pretty excited about it. I’m not sure what they are doing as far as gifts… but over the years this firm has been very generous to me.

I’m sorry if this post doesn’t make sense on the 4 hours of sleep I got. It is what it is. :)

And for those of you waiting for the creative writing swap, it should be posted later today. I really can’t wait for all of you to read my poem/story/adaptation of “The Night before Christmas.” :)

Flick photo credit: yuan2003 @ flickr

Sand Art…

So I’m sitting around the other night looking at Twitter (follow me here) when I see that Ashton Kutcher (yeah, I follow him…) puts up a post about something do to with Sand Art. Because that piqued my curiousity… I went to see it.

This is what I found… take a look — very cool.

Straight No Chaser…

I know that other bloggers out there have posted this… but I’m dedicating this to my mom. :) I told her about this one day after hearing it and immediately after she heard it, she went out and bought their album (and LOVES it.)

Enjoy Everyone!

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