So Good to be Home

I don't even know how many weekends we've been gone from home, but I know it's been a lot. Maybe four in a row? I've lost count. Of course, it was all for good reasons: visits to family, baby showers, visiting friends we haven't seen in a while. But it really starts to be tough to keep things done around the house, especially when you're working. I find myself asking, how these women find time to do this:

Just a Girl

Or this:

Home and Harmony

Or this:

320 Sycamore

I mean, am I the only person who feels so overwhelmed and exhausted that I never have time to do anything? Maybe I am. Or maybe I just shouldn't put so much pressure on myself? Or maybe I just enjoy reading and watching TV too much. It's probably that one, come to think of it. Plus, I guess blogging just isn't that important to me (gasp!). It's not something I think about often, even though I'm always perusing others' blogs, and I never think to take pictures of important things that I could actually post. I barely have found time to weed the flower garden (which was pathetic, and I'm really glad that I didn't remember to take pictures of that, because I might have actually posted them), and I can't even tell you how long it has needed it.

So I've just decided that maybe I should post about my "favorite things", as I have seen others do. I definitely have lots to say about that. Right now, one of my fave things is this...

and this...

(Don't you love how he sits like a frog?)

JC came home and told me there was a "cutest dog" contest in the Atlanta area. Of course, I suggested that our dogs are by far the cutest, and JC reminded me that everyone thinks that about their dogs. Which is probably true. And really, our dogs are just pretty average. But that's okay--I love them anyway.

More Goals... and a Stomach Bug

If you know anything about me, you know I love a good list. A good to-do list or list of goals. I've got a couple more to add to my ever-growing, occasionally-achieved list. First, there is this "Read 100 Books in a Year" challenge going on here.

I love reading, I really do. And I'm a pretty fast reader. So I could read 100 books in a year. I promise. But if I stop two seconds and think, I know there are several more things I want to do this year, too. We want to do several (minor and major) renovations around the house, so there is only so much time I have to devote to this reading goal. I decided 52 books would be a much better goal. Before you ask "why 52?", remember that there are 52 weeks in a year, silly. To do this, I'll have to cut out some unnecessary things, like this...

No, not the snuggling part. The watching mindless TV part. I am the queen of sitting down for just a bit and then watching two hours of TV. Or of DVRing TV shows I would never usually watch, and then doing so because I can. That needs to stop. Pronto.

Additionally, because I get really frustrated when there are too many things on my plate (although I nearly always am the one who puts them there), we have assigned a month to each room in our house. For instance, our master bath is March. We are going to try to do anything that needs done in that room in March. That includes painting, new fixtures, hanging stuff on the walls, tiling, etc. It's a big job, so that one may extend a little over. But you get the point. Each room has a month. And I'm excited, because it makes it feel a little less stressed to focus on one thing at a time.

Now to the "stomach bug" part. On our way home Saturday, I started to feel really sick. Like, "pull over HERE!" sick. Not just once, but four times. It was not pretty. Sunday I was so dehydrated and weak that I could barely get out of bed. I told JC that death would have been a welcome friend at that point (okay, so I didn't really want to die, but the thought crossed my mind). Monday I didn't come to work, and I'm glad I didn't. I still felt really weak; Powerade can only work so fast. Monday night I felt much better, and I was excited to get back to work. (No, really.) But Tuesday morning, we woke up and poor JC had it. Unfortunately, his immune system must not work as well as mine, because he couldn't even keep water down. So that meant his medicine wasn't working. He was so dehydrated last night that we had to take him to the ER to get several bags of fluids through an IV. Four hours later, we were home. Thank goodness, he feels a bit better today! I hear this is going around... have any of you had the nasty stomach bug lately?

There's No Escape

Honestly, I think the snow is following us. If you remember, I told you about the blizzard that occurred when I was in NYC in December, resulting in a cancelled flight and a 20-hour drive through the blizzard. Well, now we are in DC for work, and this is happening.

Since it's too cold (I've heard single digits with the wind-chill) to be out and about, we decided to do something indoors and walked over to the Smithsonian. We heard we were only getting a couple of inches of snow, but I have my doubts about that number. I mean, you can barely even see the Washington Monument!

And by the time we left the Smithsonian and retraced our steps, it was snowing so hard the monument was totally obscured--you wouldn't have even known it was there! So now we are hoping that another one of our flights won't be cancelled. I'll be staying until Thursday, but JC is supposed to go back tomorrow. His first day at his new job is Monday, so missing his first day or having to drive back a long way is not a good way to start the week.

Word of the Year

I really am not the biggest fan of new year's resolutions; I think it sets you up for failure. People are always making these crazy "I'm going to lose 70 pounds in 3 days" type of resolutions, and then they are so disappointed and down on themselves for not doing it. Then it's almost like they are shot for the rest of the year. I know; I've done it.

Over the past couple of years, I've tried to make much more realistic "resolutions"; and they weren't really because of New Years, but because they were things I wanted to do anyway. This year, they were: stick to a budget and follow the Abs Diet more closely. I really like the Abs Diet because it promotes healthy eating (with a cheat meal once a week). No calorie counting, no eating super-processed stuff that is "low-fat"; just eating in a healthy manner. (Note: I am also a huge fan of Weight Watchers, which did help me lose 40 lbs in high school, but only if it's followed in conjunction with eating healthy; if all you are eating is 23 1-Point desserts all day, you may lose weight, but you're obviously not healthy.)

But I kept reading other people who wrote about their "word for the year". I thought that was a pretty good idea because it was fairly simple but could be pretty tough. Simple in that you only focused on that one thing for a whole year, but tough because if you're doing it right, it's something that you probably find difficult to do. I wanted to pick something that had to do with my spiritual life and things I struggle with. I threw around a lot of words--kindness, compassion, mercy (all things I have a hard time with) and deliberate. I want to be very deliberate about each thing I say and do. I want each thing to have purpose and have meaning. As I said, I struggle with having kindness and compassion toward certain people. Not most, but a few. Doesn't everyone? But I think those are qualities that God calls us to develop in order to be more like Christ.

However, JC and I were talking today, and I was telling him about it. He immediately said, "Service." And I thought, what a great word! It encompasses all of the ones I was thinking of. When you are trying to serve others as Christ would, you are obviously kind, compassionate, and merciful toward them. You are deliberate in everything you say, trying to edify others and help them in any way possible. In addition, it requires you to have humility, which is another one I struggle with. Not trying to drop all of my faults on you at once... just trying to keep it real here. (By the way, don't you just love it when you start to think, "Man, I'm getting pretty humble." Here's a hint: if you ever get to the point where you think you are humble, you probably aren't. :-) )

So that is going to be my word of the year. I am going to try to be a servant to others--to be kind and compassionate, to forgive even when I don't want to, to be deliberate in all my speech and actions, and not to expect anything in return. Will I fail? Absolutely. Probably a thousand times. But I know our life in Christ is a journey and I'll never be perfect.

What's your word of the year?

Roll Tide!

For all those of who you don't know, JC and I went to the University of Alabama. While we were there, the football team was only so-so, but last year and this year (after Nick Saban become the head coach), things have really started to look up. We were fortunate enough to get tickets to the SEC championship game tonight, and it was a GREAT game! We stayed about an hour after it was over just to watch the trophy presentation and chat with other fans. It was even more important because the winner was going to the BCS National Championship in Pasadena. Obviously, that is us! Too exciting. So, even though I swore I never would spend that much on football tickets, we are now seriously considering  taking a trip to Pasadena and purchasing tickets. Are they outrageously expensive? Of course. But with my Skymiles and Marriott points, the rest of the trip should be nearly free. So... be on the lookout for (hopefully an exciting) update about our championship travels. ROLL TIDE!

Sickly Chicken and Twilight

Yes, I am the sickly chicken I am referring to. Am I really sick? I don't know. But I sure feel like it. I haven't had an appetite for a few days. And for me, that's extremely strange, since I usually want to eat everything in sight.

And today, whilst paying a visit to T.J. Maxx, I had some kind of spell. (Not a crazy spell--I'm always crazy. No spells needed.) I got really hot, felt like I couldn't breath, and suddenly felt very tired. I just had to leave. Which was pretty disappointing, because they had some good Christmas items.

Before anyone says it, no--I do NOT have mono. JC had it right before our wedding (I won't get into the fact that he was playing at a middle school World Changers event.... hmmmm....) and I never got it then. With that kind of exposure, if I were ever going to get it, that would have been the time.

But... something good has come from this. I recently (read: yesterday) decided I would finally get with the program and read the Twilight books. Since I felt like I couldn't do anything else, I read that book all day. And I do mean all day. I thought it was going to be ridiculous, high school-ish and a huge waste of time until I remembered that I also read Harry Potter and loved it. And isn't that kind of... ridiculous.... and geared toward high schoolers? Kthanks. So I decided to read Twilight. And oh. My. Gosh. It is ridiculous. And it is high-schoolish. But do I love it? As Sarah Palin would say, "You betcha." I read the entire 400+ page book yesterday, and am now about half-way through with New Moon today. Just to throw my two cents in there, this is a toughie for me. Does Bella love Edward more than life itself? Obviously. But geez--Jacob is just so sweet. Ugh. And unfortunately for me, I already know how it ends--at least who she picks. Thanks to my sister for telling me (at two different points in time) how much she loved a certain character and then later how she hated the last book. I may be no genius, but I can put two and two together (= 5). Obviously Bella doesn't end up with.... ha! I won't ruin it for you. :-) But I must admit that I do love the books, and I wish Stephenie Meyer would get over her crying phase ("Wah! They leaked my book and now I'm so hurt I'll never be able to write again!"--I guess we know where Bella's character gets her flare for the dramatic...) and write some more books. Sheesh.

Okay, sorry about that lapse back into high-school-hood. But for real--if you haven't read them and have a five-day weekend (as I do) and nothing else to do because you can't / won't / don't want to get out of the recliner, read Twilight!

P.S. If you wonder about the post title--"Sickly Chicken"--it comes from the show Shark Tank which I have become obsessed with recently. I think it's now in between seasons, but one of the investors on the show is pretty rude and calls everyone a "crazy chicken". As in, "Take the money, you crazy chickens!" Hilarious. So now the word "chicken" has found its way back into my vocab. Another trip back to high-school days.