Sunday Musings

I love Valentine's Month. Have I mentioned that? Look what he handed me today. OK.....Dove chocolate. YUM. Then he also gives me little shiny scrapbooking heart stickers. I just love that I have a guy who will go shop in the scrapbook section for me and that he is able to actually pick out stuff I like. He is good.














Got out this bin of yarn last night so I could figure out if I had enough yarn on hand for a project. It's been quite some time since I've been in this bin so I was surprised to find no less than three projects that had been started but not finished. The funny thing? See the grey and black piece and then the brown and black piece? I think they are exactly the same thing. I have NO idea why I would have started making the same scarf twice and.... why would I have gotten like exactly the same amount done and then stopped? Even funnier... see the green and tan piece? Um I have no clue what that even is supposed to be..... HA! Possibly it started life intending to be a baby or toddler sweater. I have a very vague memory that it might have been intended for a nephew. OK... talking about that just now made me remember a dinosaur blanket I started for a nephew. It was all in afghan stitch with cross stitched dinosaurs. I never even got the afghan stitch squares done. Of course now this is sounding like a fun project to complete even though I have no clue who the blanket would be for.

Watching the show Hoarders. Have you seen this? It's like frightening and fascinating to me all at the same time. I could NOT live in the mess. It amazes me to look at the piles or the floors covered with stuff and try to figure out how on earth did it get that way and how did it start? I mean how do you end up with this mound of garbage and stuff in your living room?

Did I mention the washing machine broke? It of course broke on Thursday which is my laundry day. Yes... I have a day. There is just the two of us, so we tend to do fine if I do anywhere from 2-4 loads on Thursdays. It started making a very loud noise when it was supposed to be spinning... the noise of course was instead of the spinning. Darrel with the help of the internet was able to figure out the problem... after he figured out how the heck to get into the washing machine. Would you believe the whole outside shell lifts off rather than having a top that opens. He said he wanted to talk to the guy that designed that.... ha! The problem apparently is this small plastic piece called a direct drive gear. Gee... they have determined that because this piece is plastic it tends to break... Now they make it with a metal sleeve in the center. What a concept that the piece that causes the washing machine to spin should perhaps be metal.... We were able to order the new part via the Internet as well but of course it is like on a mountain top in Switzerland somewhere...ha ha ha... which means it takes several days to get to us. As the laundry piles up.... we wait. Hoping the part will make an appearance tomorrow. Very thankful for a husband that can fix these things. He has already saved us the cost of a service call and a couple hours of labor.

OK.. browsing the Internet last night. LOOK at these cupcakes. I mean chocolate cupcakes with ganache... what is not good about that? Plus they have a Hershey kiss in them. Must try those. I am also thinking I have to try this pound cake. I am not a fan of lemon though. Wondering if you could substitute vanilla? I'd also like to try her Italian Meatball Soup and this recipe for salsa. Just love her recipes, her photos and her humorous style of writing. Quite entertaining. :)

Have you seen this new site? I think this coffee cup mini album is very cute. This VIP album is also cool. They also have a journaling class that might be fun.

Terre Haute Crop for the Cure is scheduled for April 3rd. I would love to go... but not sure about the date. April 3rd is the day between Good Friday and Easter Sunday. On Good Friday we have our Carry the Cross which is a 12 mile walk I wanted to participate in again this year. Then there may be a Good Friday evening service as well. Then I'd have to be up early and off to the crop on Sat. Back home probably by 9 pm and then needing to get in bed to be up for sunrise service the next day... that may be too many long days with a lot of stuff too many days in a row. Trying to decide. Glad we are at least signed up for the Evansville Crop for the Cure for Feb 27th. My friend Lori and her niece (I think) are going and my friend Julia is going. Hoping some other friends will be going to. It is just too fun to go crop for the day with good friends! :) If you are attending that day please leave me a comment. Would love to see you there.

We are due for new cell phones within the next few months. YAY. Not loving my LG Dare. Not sure what we want to get though either. I have heard rumors that the iphone is going to no longer be exclusive to AT&T. If that is true and Verizon started offering it, I'd probably get that. However.. not loving needing the $30 data package on most of the nicer phones. Not sure we can or want to swing the additional $60 a month if that is needed for both our phones. Anyone have a phone they just love? I like the Blackberrys too and think I'd like something with an actual keyboard, not just the touchscreen. And yes... I am aware the iphone is touchscreen. From what I've seen its way better than my Dare touchscreen which drives me INSANE sometimes.

Wore this new shirt to church today. And I just have to say Stacy and Clinton are right about wearing things that are tailored and accenting the smallest part of you, etc. Do you watch them? I am realizing I learn so much from them. There was a time not all that long ago when there was NO WAY you would have caught me wearing something fitted. I wanted to hide in a tent and thought that was better. Yes I have lost weight, but I still have a lot to lose and yet, I am finding I can actually feel *gasp* attractive in something that fits well. So today I had on black jeans, my black heeled boots, black cami and then the purple shirt. I loved the look on my husband's face when he saw me this morning. I could live on that look for at least like 3 days... ha ha And then.... someone at church said I was looking "skinny" in that shirt. I could not keep the smile off my face and said to the room full of people (in my office) that um I never thought I'd hear my name and the word skinny all in the same sentence... I could definitely get used to that. :)

Almost time to head back to church for our annual business meeting. I am thinking I'd like it better if we could just all stay home and like have a video conference call.... sounds good to me. Blessings!

Snapshot of me...

I know, what an interesting picture right? Sitting here in my chair and looked over at the table next to me and thought about how all these things on the table tell a little story about me and what has been going on for the last few days. I mean first off... Little bit of pink stuff huh? Someone might think I like pink? It just tends to crack me up when it all ends up in one spot and I realize how much pink stuff I must have. Ha!

So first thing about the picture. It had that orangey look to it when I first pulled it up on the computer. Then I remembered that Lisa had shared with me how to correct that so I figured I'd give it a try. Oh my goodness, so cool. Went from orange to normal in like 2 clicks. Lisa has done great digi classes for both The Doodlebug and The Scrapbook Tree. I believe they have offered them a couple of times and I can certainly see why. She makes photoshop quick and easy. Thanks Lisa!

The candy collection there is from my husband over the last few days. I have had a very blah.. not happy with myself couple of days so be very impressed that I still have a collection! The candy has been from Valentines Month of course and I was telling him the other day I just love that not only did he get me chocolate, he got Dove, Ghirardelli and my fav Godiva. I mean do I like hershey, resses etc? Of course... but... if I am picking candy, the things he picked are what I would pick. Love good chocolate. I have decided that all candy should be chocolate. If you stood me in front of the candy counter and wondered if I might go for oh the lifesavers or maybe a lollipop or maybe even a nice nut roll or something.. um nope... In my head candy = chocolate. I rarely if ever would pick something without chocolate. Nothing wrong there right? Oh and in case you are wondering, the pink kisses in the background? Well those are on Darrel's side of the table and would be one of his Valentines month gifts.

Notice the ipod among the pile there? Well I went walking outside on Thurs if you recall and about froze my hiney off. Had a good walk but cut it a bit shorter then normal because a) I was COLD and b) my legs were quite tired. Checked the nike+ to find out it was telling me I had done 3.9 miles. Um wrong. I did less than normal and I know my route so no way there was almost 4 miles. Because it calculated the miles wrong, but the time correctly, it then also calculated the pace per mile wrong. I have no idea why it was fine one day and then I think the next 2 days... wrong. You do have to calibrate a nike+ to have accurate readings but I did that when it was new. I used it today on the treadmill and re-calibrated it that way. Hopefully all will be well now.

The book on the bottom is a Bible Study Workbook on food and weight issues called The Weight of Grace. I purchased this from Amazon recently and hope to work my way thru it. I made a new friend this week and she is using one of Chantel Hobbs books which is helping her with weight loss. Apparently Chantel lost over 200 lbs and had been on Focus on the Family recently. I am thinking this would also be a good book to check out. I will take all the help I can get that is for sure. Anyone else familiar with Chantel's books? Looks like she talks about God's ability to transform lives and you know that has been my approach to weight loss as well. Might need that one on the ol Kindle2!

Speaking of the Kindle2, yes, that also is among the pile. I am liking this thing more and more. I tend to browse Amazon's site every few days checking for free books! Love free.. I find myself wondering how I could convert the rest of my book collection to Kindle books! Ha!!!

Notice the little black leather strap in the picture? Well that would be a piece of the lace from my fairly new Ugg Cove Boots. They came untied last night while we were on date night walking around the mall. My husband being the gentleman that he is, bent down to tie it for me and in his brute strength broke the lace.... No seriously. It was not his fault. The lace had a nic in it which I think made a weak spot that broke easily. I was NOT having a good day yesterday so this made me sad to have my new boots messed up. I remember it crossing my mind that I should have stayed in bed yesterday because it would have been easier... ha! I know.. much drama over a pair of boots. Well I got online with Ugg hoping maybe they sold replacement laces. I couldn't find any so I e-mailed them and asked if there was a way to buy a pair. Guess what? The promptly wrote me back and said they were sorry I had a problem with my lace and they would be sending out a FREE pair of replacement laces asap! Now how cool is that? I love a good company with good service that stands behind their product. I was already loving my boots enough that I was thinking a brown pair would be a great addition to the wardrobe for next year... Expensive yes. Quality and good customer service are good things though.

For date night last night we headed to the big city. I am doing another gift swap for Valentine's Day at The Scrapping Spot and I needed to get my gift so I can get it mailed this week. We headed to dinner first and decided on a Pizza at Turonis. It was pretty good as usual. The first table they took us to was on an enclosed porch. Oh my goodness.. I didn't even want to unzip my coat or remove my scarf! We saw another table indoors nearby and asked to move. They let us move while telling us how they had told them they need to turn the heat up out there. After dinner we headed to the Evansville Christian Life Center to drop off all those clothes I cleaned out of my closet last week. They were only like 5 minutes away so that was quick and easy. Next stop was Hobby Lobby for my gift and then we headed to the mall. I was wanting to stop at Trade Secret for some more Paul Mitchell spray and maybe check Old Navy for another pair of yoga pants. We also just enjoy walking the mall together and browsing. We might have enjoyed a cookie or a pretzel or two also... I am learning with Old Navy if you like something or want another pair of something you better snap it up quickly because things seem to disappear and be changed out quickly. I think one shirt I grabbed was practically free. It was $3.99 on clearance and then 30% more off. Liking those kinds or prices.

Today has been quiet. I walked on the treadmill for 45 minutes and then got on the exercise bike for um 30 minutes. I think my legs may fall off.... I just wish something would get the stinkin scale moving again. Struggling big time with the weight stuff but I. will. not. give. up!!! Glad I stayed indoors for working out. It is cold... Not to mention that there was apparently a mouse massacre on the porch... EWWWW do they have to leave me parts and pieces? I could do without the visual. Now I am going to go watch The Magic of Ordinary Days, the Hallmark movie tonight. I need to crochet something again too... maybe I'll go get myself some yarn from my storage bins. I think Darrel is FINALLY done working 24/7.... I hope so. I can't take much more. I don't think he can either. How long can a person work around the clock? He had 40 hours of overtime on his last check... wow. So thankful for the OT as far as pay goes, just needing life to slow down a bit. Hoping he will now be able to keep his regular OT.

Hope you are having an awesome weekend. We have church and meetings and lunch and we are greeters tomorrow and all kinds of other stuff.... hope to have some more quiet time too. My head is needing it. Blessings!

Is She Ready to Ski? (Also known as Thankful Thursday)

Or just going for a walk? Well since she has NEVER been on skis in her life and is NOT fond of heights um the answer to that question would be walking. I was thinking I'd be stuck indoors today because they kept trying to scare us into thinking we were having this big winter storm today. I figured it would be spitting snow or ice or something. Was very happy to find out that although it was COLD it was also calm and sunny outside. Now... getting ready to walk on a cold day, one begins to feel like the little boy in "A Christmas Story" who can't put his arms down! I do not own any of that expensive under armor type of clothes so I have to go with the layers. Long johns, fleece pants, t-shirt, polar fleece, scarf, head band... you get the idea. While getting um layered up here I was thinking of how you have to be thinking when you are putting your layers on. For instance one should put things on in the correct order. One must get their ipod on and in place before adding the ear/head band and then finally the all important sunglasses. It is also easier if one gets their scarf all wrapped and in place before adding the jacket. Then of course you get your pretty pink fuzzy muppet hands gloves on only to discover you cannot operate your ipod while wearing the gloves... so off come the gloves long enough to get the ipod operating before then struggling back into the gloves while now trying to walk briskly at the same time. See now wouldn't you already be tired just after that process? Of course then you start walking and work up a sweat and gradually begin to undo the whole process.... bwa ha ha ha

So this is my gratitude photo for this week. I am so thankful..... SO THANKFUL that God has changed me into this person that not only walks and exercises..... she also actually LIKES it. OK.. did others know this was possible because I sure didn't. I mean last night it was 11:45. I hadn't walked yesterday and at practically midnight I wanted to get on the exercise bike thing. I did a 1/2 hour until I was dripping sweat and my legs were very tired. I love that. The pounds are not and do not even approach just dropping off of me OK? So much of the time I am doing all of this and NOT seeing like daily moment by moment results. Yet God has shown me how exercise helps with stress, calms me down, clears my head and changes my body. Maybe someday I'll even get brave enough to share some measurements with you.... My DR has told me that if you stand 2 people next to each other who are the same size/weight and one exercises and one doesn't that there is a visible difference, that he could pick out the one who is working out. I feel good when I walk. Do I feel tired? Do my legs feel like I can't go another step? Do I want to quit sooner than I need to? YES. But, it also feels good. I have gotten to where I like the feeling in the back of my thighs as I am climbing that next hill. I LOVE that when I first started this walking it took me 15 minutes to make 4/10ths of a mile and now I can get to that same spot in just under 5 minutes. I love that its 27 degrees today and I wanted to put on 15 layers and go walk. I love that on warm days when you can feel spring in the air the first thought in my head is "oh it is perfect to go walk!" I still have a LONG way to go. I have not lost any weight since Christmas Eve. But God has changed me. I am determined. It may be slow, it may be hard, it may be frustrating and infuriating some days but it is WORTH IT. I do NOT want to go back. If I have to stay right where I am I would still be so thankful for how much better I look and feel and even more, for the change inside.

LOOK at these cute valentines. Saw that on scrap scene today. With my new love of sewing on layouts I am thinking I have to try this out. Have to. It is pretty handy that I just happened to have a piece of red/white polka dot felt too huh? That would make a cute little valentine for my husband that I could then add to a layout about our Valentine month fun huh? Speaking of Valentine month... he had me wandering around the house again today to see what he had left me. I could not find anything. No chocolate... little tear. :) I figured he forgot because he is still so busy with work. Until I went to brush my teeth. I opened the medicine cabinet to find a package of scrapbooking chipboard shapes. Is he good or what? Still making me smile.

Anyone have this book? 52 More Scrapbooking Challenges? I ordered a copy from Liz's blog and I really like it. I also really enjoyed the Willow Traders challenges last year and got a lot of scrapping done as a result. It has me wondering if I want to do my own little challenge this year and work my way thru that book?! Even if I just did one a week... well if I catch up with the few weeks that have passed, I would have 50+ layouts at the end of the year and 50 is my goal. Any other bloggers or FB friends out there liking that idea or want to play along? We could post on facebook or on our blogs or both.

I finished Dear John last night. Loved reading on the Kindle2. Loved it. So easy to hold and read on the bike or treadmill. The book was good. Did not have the happy fairy tale ending I was hoping for but still a good story. While I was perusing Amazon for more free Kindle books I came across this and this which are Janette Oke books! I love her and have missed her books. Not sure how I managed to miss these. They are now safely on my Kindle and I will be reading The Centurions Wife first. I liked the other series Janette did with T Davis Bunn so I am thinking these will be good!

My Coldwater Creek shirts showed up today. My gray boots... not so much. They are now showing on back order. I am sad....Since its an outlet/clearance order I am worried they will not be coming. Since they have not yet cancelled the order perhaps I have a chance. Although... it would be nice if they show up before June you think? The shirts are awesome. 2 fit perfectly leaning towards the snug side if I were to gain any weight. Well ain't no way that is happening. We are going the other way right? The 3rd shirt could use a little more room. This whole time I have been losing weight I have actually had a couple of different things I bought that were the next size smaller and then worked my way into them. That has never happened before in my life so I love that this shirt is a little um close.. something to work for and something to keep trying on so I can see the changes! There is also a denim and metallic jacket. I am in love with this jacket and the gray boots would look great with it! They have to come. It has metallic silver, copper and gold on the denim and some gold beads. It is also very tailored and I am thinking the cut is flattering. It fits perfectly, even the sleeve length, as if made for me. LOVE it. Oh my gosh... was just checking the boots to get the link for you and now it says "in the warehouse" yay!!!! You have to be quick with their outlet stuff. Was looking at some $9 t-shirts last night and the quantities were changing on what was available as I was browsing! They now have available some t-shirt scarves for $4.99! LOVE t-shirt scarves. So soft and comfy!

So before I close, for Thankful Thursday, here are things I have been thankful for this week:

• Reading. It is comforting and relaxing to me and helps me exercise. It also helps me to know God by reading my Bible.
• Shelter and a warm soft bed when its cold and wet outside.
• Our sweet cat Gracie who now makes it a daily thing to come attack the back door to let us know she is home and needs petting and attention immediately.
• Prayers for and with good friends.
• My weight loss journey, even though its been a bumpy road lately.
• God letting me reach out to and help others thru the weight loss.
• My sweet husband telling me he loves me and making me feel attractive.
• A quiet weekend at home with a good book, some good music and some scrapping.
• My job and the awesome people I get to work with.
• Warm comfy clothes and the enjoyment of fitting into and liking new things. Like yoga pants... Have you tried Old Navy yoga pants? How about Ugg boots? Old Navy tees and shirts.... all are new loves and so comfy.
• Date Night. Darrel has been working 24/7. I offered not to have date night last week because he needed to work so he could go to the Woodworking Show last week. He wanted to have date night. We had a awesome evening together. The memory is making me smile now.

And with that folks... it is 4:14 in the afternoon. Have I done the laundry yet? Cleaned? Dusted? Got dinner started? Um nope.... been sitting her blogging. Perhaps I should kick it into gear huh? Hope you are having an awesome day. Blessings!

Yes, She Can Walk & Chew Gum

I mean read... Ha! So either I am really brave, just don't care or seriously ill.. cause um here I am posting a picture of my sweaty self on the treadmill. I am sure I will regret it by morning. I will refrain from pointing out the things about myself that I see in this picture that I do NOT like... lets focus instead on the pretty pink Kindle 2. I am currently reading my first book on the Kindle and this was the first time I used it while walking on the treadmill. It was SO cool and way easier then an actual book. Much easier to hold and no pages to turn, just need to hit the conveniently located "next page" button. Very cool. I think I said that but it was! 46 minutes went right by and I LOVED that. Have you been on a treadmill before? Cause like 5 minutes into it you are sure you've been on it for like 30 minutes and are quite ready to get the heck off... It is much easier to stay on the thing if you can entertain yourself and manage to breath and not fall off or get shot off the back while doing so. I am happy to announce I manged to pull it all together quite nicely today.

So after walking, cleaning up, eating dinner, and sitting in my recliner... do you know what else I did? I picked up my kindle 2 and walked over to my pedal exerciser and did 21 minutes on that! Yay me!! My friend on facebook said I just needed to go have myself a swim in the bathtub and I'd have myself my own triathlon! Bwa ha ha ha too funny.... And yes... the Kindle 2 was also very conducive to bicycling.

What am I reading you ask? Dear John by Nicholas Sparks. I have loved Nicholas Sparks every since The Notebook but am way behind on reading his books. Since Dear John was only $4.39 for Kindle I figured I'd snap it up! Really liking the book so far and now, after the little jaunt on the treadmill.... I may now be officially in love with the Kindle 2.

Darrel and I are considering attending another Family Life Weekend to Remember. Have you heard of these? We attended them every year when we lived in IL and really enjoyed them. I think we've been to like 13? I lost track. It is a weekend all about your marriage with great conferences and individual projects to work on together. The first year we went, Darrel was willing but reluctant. He left that weekend completely sold on the idea and made sure we got there every year after that. We have not attended one since we moved to IN. After talking about the possibility of going again I decided to check out the web site and see when one was coming up. Then I figured... well since we'd have to drive at least to Indy to go... why not check out the Illinois one's too? Turns out, one of the IL ones is back at the hotel where we attended our very first one. LOVED that hotel and so many good memories of that weekend. It is at this hotel. These conferences are always held at nice hotels on purpose because its supposed to be a pampering, get away kind of weekend. I really enjoy getting to stay at nice hotels and I would LOVE to go to this one. Not sure about the budget though. They are not cheap by the time you pay for registration and then hotel and food. It would be so awesome to be able to afford it and go though... We used to look forward to these weekend's all year long. I've missed them. Guess we need to pray about it and see if God thinks we should go huh?

OK someone talk to me about flat irons. I had never used one until the new hair recently and now I am finding out I like them! My sister loaned me one to try and it didn't take long to love it! Now... I've heard so much talk about these things. I mean they have the $20-$40 variety at walmart. That is what I got for myself. However I am told that nothing is like a CHI flat iron and even though they are $80+ they are so worth it. Now is this true? Can it really be that different to be worth that much more money? I spotted this um pink one... on zappos. Then there are ones like these for $120! Goodness. How on earth can the price range that much and how would one know which one to pick? I will be just fine with my $35 one from Walmart right? It's not like I have long curly hair I am trying to straighten.....

Well I need to go get Darrel's Valentine gift for tomorrow ready. I had to replenish my stash today so now I have more goodies to pick from. He handed me 4 ghirardelli chocolate caramel squares this evening. I told him I knew he was messing with me when he doesn't leave his valentine gift in the morning..... see you never know with him where he might have left it for me to find so when its not obvious I find myself wandering around the house thinking of places he might have chosen.... He of course thought this was quite hilarious.... I am not seeing the humor.. Ha! Blessings!

Goals for 2010

2, 4, 6, 8, 10.... What does that mean? Well, The Scrapping Spot has been having some January Challenges and this would be one of them. We were supposed to use 2 of something, 4 of something, etc., etc. So what you have here is 2 pieces of ribbon, 4 butterflies, 6 paper sunflowers, 8 different papers, 10 Lords a leaping...um err... that would be 10 jewels and a partridge in a pear tree. Did I do good? This was not a simple thing. Perhaps it is a good thing that I seem unable to complete a layout without flowers, swirls, butterflies and bling... I mean seriously I begin to wonder if they all look the same, the layouts that is. I know, I know, I have whined about this before. I am thinking I should just call it my signature and decide to be happy about it. What do you think?

A few years ago I started the tradition of doing a layout about my goals for the year. I am an organized, list maker, goal maker kind of person and seeing them all laid out on paper, well all the better! I rarely fulfill all the goals, but I usually meet some and make some progress on the others and its cool to me to look at it at the end of the year and see how I did. I also keep a list in my planner because on there... well there I get to actually cross things off the list and that would be the ultimate fun. Love crossing things off my list. I have actually been known to write things on my list just so I can cross it off.. Yes.. I know.. Its a sickness. I mean its no fun to get all happy that I can cross something off, only to find it was never on the list! So what is the logical thing to do? Well write it on the list and then cross it out of course... You may notice one line is smudged on my layout. That one was a little too personal for the Internet... However, should I reach that goal, which is a big one for me, well then you might hear me shouting about it from here. I made my 2 lists using MS Word. Just made a table, had the grid lines show, and then added a circle shape for my notebook punched holes. Cute huh?





















I also completed my week 2 page for Weekly Gratitude. As you may remember I had decided week 2 would be about Darrel. We had just finished 11 days of vacation together and I was missing him big time! I love, love this picture I took of him at Christmas time... Isn't he all handsome sitting there working? Almost 26 years together and he still makes me weak in the knees... .Sorry.. getting distracted. I went a little different this week and used a 7 gypsies card and transparency to scrap the top of the journaling card. I also added some stickers right on to my photo. The journaling reads: "You are my greatest blessing. The bond we share is just everything to me. I love how you love & understand me. You comfort me, care for me, complete me. I believe God made us for each other and I am so thankful." Yes, its mushy and personal but it is so how I feel and I want the world to know. :) Loving this weekly gratitude idea. It is making me think about the good things and positive things. I've had some stressful days since going back to work and its easy to dwell on that and think well today was a crummy day, what do I have to smile about? What a trap that is because I am reminded that stress and stuff is just that... stuff. God has blessed us so much. SO much and I am glad that this is reminding me to stop and think and keep things in perspective.

Yes. Valentine's Month continues. Look what he handed me today. PINK valentines socks. Just when did he do all this shopping? He must be really good because I am thinking it is not simple to just walk into one store and find pink socks and a pink flashlight in like 5 minutes! Not only that... today there was more Godiva. Yesterday there was Dove chocolate. See now I know he has a stash somewhere and there is Dove and Godiva! I am thinking it must be somewhere up high where my 5 ft 2" self couldn't see it.

The weekend has been good. Fairly quiet for which I am thankful. Had a great walk yesterday. Did 4 good miles with an excellent pace. The weather was warm and it felt good! I spent the rest of the day relaxing even though I should have been cleaning something. Instead I cleaned up from my walk and sat in my recliner and listened to The Notebook soundtrack and read The Carousel by Richard Paul Evans. Good book! Love his writing. He had such good stuff in this one I was folding down pages and underlining stuff I wanted to read to Darrel later. Darrel went to the Woodworking Show in Indy yesterday so see what I was really doing all day was waiting for him to get home. :) Did you know he (Richard Paul Evans) has a new book coming out called The Walk? Can't wait! Another favorite author, Francine Rivers has a new book coming out in March too, Her Mother's Hope. Looking forward to that! I also worked on my new blog banner yesterday. Today we had church and then lunch at La Caretta. Once we were home I worked on my scrapping and Darrel has been working again. We think things will let up a bit after Tuesday.

Do you ever shop with Coldwater Creek? They have some awesome mark downs right now in their outlet with up to 85% off! I have gotten a couple of shells and a sweater for really cheap! I also ordered a few shirts. After cleaning out my closet I discovered this was one thing I was lacking. Seriously. Lets hope things fit. Seems like shirts run a bit smaller on me than sweaters and pull over tops. I liked that the shirts are tailored since I have discovered this looks more flattering. Who knew? I used to think the bigger and baggier the better. Now I understand that just made me/makes me look bigger... duh. I had a little spending money left and they also had a pair of suede boots marked down. I was going to show you a link, but they are gone. They only had like 1 size left. Hoping they fit! I'll have to show you when they get here. I am LOVING having some boots after so many years without. It's amazing the things I didn't realize I gave up as I put the weight on. So glad its coming back off and how fun it is to enjoy those things again!

OK... I have REALLY been struggling with this weight stuff since Christmas. I mean discouraged and frustrated and wondering if I will ever go forward again. Been praying about it and trying to stay positive and do my best and wow.. today I have had 2 very nice, very encouraging things said to me that so helped. So along the lines of being thankful. Thank you Lord for sending those little positive encouragements just in the moments I need them the most. I am striving to go forward!

Hope you have a great week! Blessings!

I Did it Myself!

OK, we may have entered dangerous territory.... I did some digi (digital) scrapping... LOOK at my new blog header! This was my first attempt at making my own. I used some free downloads from Digi Scrap Depot. Very fun.... and I could see how it could become quite addicting. I mean you could spend hours just browsing the freebies! Ha! The ones used here are Antique by Kaccii (for the antique embellishments and elements and some of the papers and postcards) and then CU Creations did all the cool pink flowers, butterflies, buttons, etc. VERY fun... What do we think? As I usually say... only answers in the affirmative please because um I had fun and ignorance is bliss when you are already happy with something... HA! Hope to be back later with a layout for you and some more Valentine's details. Wait till you see what he handed me this morning. Blessings!

Thankful Thursday...um Friday...

So if you've been a blog reader for awhile you knew he just wouldn't be outdone right? Apparently... now "we" are celebrating Valentine's month. I just hate that... yeah right. :) As I told you in my last post, I was trying to do Valentine's month for my husband since he had been so awesome in getting me my beautiful pink ring and.. a month early! Well the last two days.. Look what has been waiting for me. Today there was this cute little pink flashlight, 2 pieces of Godiva and a very sweet note. He just makes me smile. You know, the kind of smiling where you just can't stop smiling even if you try? That kind of smiling.














Yesterday there was a Reeses heart and this cute little Valentine's card. I have no clue what the card said when you scratch it off cause um... the scratch off parts didn't work! Ha! Too funny. We got completely cracked up trying to get it to work so it was still very fun. Now.. the way my brain works? I am wondering when on earth he bought stuff and how did he get Godiva? (and where is the rest? Ha!) Because to my knowledge the stores around here do not have it. Perhaps he has been planning this longer then I knew? Maybe he just has a Godiva stash somewhere? I am thinking I'd need to know where that is! Ha!





















So yesterday was Thankful Thursday and you may have noticed I did not post! I was knee deep in this! My closet. I have been putting this job off forever and yesterday I decided today is the day! I am normally a very organized, neat, orderly kind of person. So the fact that my closet and dressers have been a disaster which makes the bedroom also a disaster was making me a little nuts. I still had old clothes that were now too big taking up space. I had new stuff that had nowhere to go. So yesterday I dived in. First I went through the shoes. I have a hefty bag full that I am giving away. Um I still have shoes... how is this possible? Next I went thru all the sweaters... Another hefty bag full of sweaters is now out the door. On to the hanging clothes. OK... between the stuff in my dresser and the hanging stuff... 3 more bags. In case you are counting that is 5 bags of stuff. I still have a non empty closet. Shows you how blessed you are in a hurry doesn't it? I also now am no longer low on hangers................WHY is it so hard to get rid of things? I was beginning to wonder if I was in need of one of those Hoarder intervention shows when I saw in myself the urge to rescue a pair of sandals from the give away bag that I have not worn in easily 8 years.... Be very impressed that they are still in the bag.

This would be my Vera purse um I guess collection? I had them in various parts of the closet. They are now all nice and neatly arranged in one of those under the bed storage containers. Aren't they pretty? They make me smile.

In doing all this and thinking about Thankful Thursday I decided that this week's entry will be that I am thankful for being a smaller size and for new smaller clothes. Right along with that would be that I saw so clearly how blessed I am. There are people in need of clothes and here I am hoarding 5 bags of stuff I don't even need? Made me feel guilty. Also made me feel good to purge and to help someone else. My sister says the Evansville Christian Life Center is in need of clothes. I checked their web site and it says specifically they have a need for plus size clothes. So again, very glad I can help someone else out. I am going to use one of these pictures from the closet to make my Weekly Gratitude page. I plan to get caught up tomorrow. I still haven't made last week's page. Life is giving me a headache lately... what is up with that and can it please end?

Other things I've been thankful for in the past week:

• celebrating Valentines with my husband
• feeling Darrel's arms around me and hear him express concern about me after a long hard day
• smiling at pink things like my ring, my Kindle or the Kindle case that finally came
• getting an email today to participate in another Blogging for Books book tour
• my new Noel Mignon kit that came in yesterday's mail
• celebrating my nephew's birthday with family
• a good yearly review at work
• finding 100 calorie pack Nutty Bars! ;)
• 2 weight loss devotionals, "The Dieters Prayer Book" and "Faithfully Fit"
• um did I mention my husband? He deserves 2 spots
• an awesome God and Savior who is so patient with me and blesses me and provides for us so amazingly.

And now... it is time for date night. Another thing I am so thankful for. Darrel has pretty much been eating, sleeping and working since before Christmas. We are so thankful for the hours and the overtime but I am missing him. I am very thankful that he has been able to work from home or I might be forgetting what he looks like at this point... so YES I am very much looking forward to and ready for date night. I know we are going out for dinner. We may come back home for a movie after that. Sounds pretty perfect to me. I better go get ready! Blessings!

You've heard of birthday week?

If you've hung around here much you have... ha! Well welcome to Valentine's Month. Yes.. this is a Koontz tradition invented oh maybe 10 years ago. We do not do this every Valentine's Day but we have celebrated Valentine's Month maybe 3 times in those 10 years? Since I received my gift a month early, I figured what better month to resurrect the tradition then now right? And really more accurately I should say "I" am celebrating Valentine's Month. I am just feeling especially in love with my husband and wanted to attempt to be as sweet to him as he always is to me. I mean I get to wear and enjoy my ring a month ahead so this is a way I can make his month special too. He received his first note, etc. this morning and the picture there is the little gift and note waiting for him with his work he is taking to the office tomorrow morning. He does read my blog... but he will find that in the morning before he ever sees this. ;)

What is Valentine's month you ask? You did ask right? Well it is similar to birthday week. It just means for the month leading up to Valentine's day each day, or at least several times a week (when we think of it... ) leaving the other person a small gift, maybe a piece of candy, a valentine, a note, yes, *gasp* perhaps even a love letter.. .just something romantic to make the other person feel special and know you are thinking of them. Why did we start this? Well... back like 10 years ago we were having a little bit of a rough time. Yes.. .see.. we are not perfect... rough times visit us too. We were feeling kind of in a rut, not feeling very romantic, just one of those kind of blah dry times I would guess most couples have. In talking about that, and because it just happened to be in the month before Valentines (which we had always enjoyed and made special in the past) we came up with the idea of taking that next month to try to do little special romantic things for each other. Oh my gosh.. best idea ever. We had a blast! My husband came up with some pretty awesome notes and ideas. 2 in particular that stick out in my memory were coming out of our house to go to church one Sunday. He was helping me to the car and opened my door for me and there sat a cute little red stuffed bear in my seat. At the time red was my favorite color and I had a real thing for bears too.... The other thing was that we had a favorite ice cream place in town. Oberweiss. YUM. Best chocolate chip ice cream ever and homemade waffle cones to die for. They were maybe 20 minutes-1/2 hour from where we lived. Darrel was in town for something else and came home with a surprise of a 1/2 gallon of the favorite ice cream. OK but get this... not only the ice cream... he actually thought to ask if he could buy an empty waffle cone to bring home so I could have my favorite treat at home. Is he not the best ever? And SO smart.















So I have hit a few hallmark stores in the last 2 days and here is a peek at some of the surprises in store for my husband in the coming weeks. I am already having a blast. I love Valentines Day... have I mentioned that? And NO it is not just a Hallmark Holiday. You will NOT convince me of that. It is about being romantic and loving and mushy and sweet talk and passion and all that stuff I just love.... Pretty cool that God gave me a husband that likes all that stuff too huh?

It has been a long day. Had work, met Darrel for dinner and then we went to Walmart for groceries. It was nice to go together. While his work hours were different, he had often been stopping and getting groceries on his own on his way home form work. When we were loading stuff on the conveyor tonight... and he was stressing about where I was putting things I was unloading from the cart... I told him perhaps he had been grocery shopping on his own for too long and that I would just go stand quietly behind the cart like a good girl... bwa ha ha ha Kidding.. but he was cracking me up... I would pull something out that was from the refrig. case and he already had that stuff grouped together up further on the belt and he kept moving stuff so it was in the right group and would end up in the bag together.... Totally sounds like something I would do doesn't it? He is too cute. Got home and Gracie came running up to meet us. Now WHEN did I become this person that buys a special treat for her Cat? Cause um I might have brought home a tiny little pink can of salmon shrimp cat food for her... And yes, she was pretty happy about that too. It was too late to do any walking today but I did put in 30 minutes on the pedal exerciser while watching American Idol. yay me! And now... I am off to bed. Lots of stressful things going thru my head these past 2 weeks and it feels like it may explode at times... I am going to go do some praying about that, get some sleep and be positive for the rest of the week! I am determined to get some scrapping done and to do 2 pages for my weekly gratitude and be caught up with that too! Hope you will come back and check those out! Blessings!

feliz cumpleaños Twila!

So apparently when you go to La Fiesta on your birthday.. you get to wear a really big hat. :) Today was my friend Twila's birthday and we were invited to enjoy a birthday lunch with her. I have not been to La Fiesta in AGES, not since my new love for La Caretta which is just down the street. It was pretty good. I had the steak soft tacos. Since it was Twila's birthday she received a fried ice cream, a lovely sombrero and both an American and Spanish version of the Happy Birthday song. Now isn't she cute? I told her she made the hat look good. PLUS as you all know... well if you know me... I am a big fan of making birthdays FUN! My philoshophy is if you have to get older then you might as well have FUN! Thus... the now famous birthday week. See how that works right along with the whole fun theme? And um... just in case you are counting... official birthday week would be 6 months from now! Let the countdown begin.

Did you see the cool kit that Noel Mignon put up today? LOVE it... and yes... might have snagged one. ;) Glad I did because as you can see it is already sold out. I managed to do that while getting ready for work this morning.

Received an email from Fannie May today... oh my does their valentine candy look good. Plus.. did you know the favorite mint meltaways come in PINK?! Love mint meltaways. With a $30 order today you receive a free one lb. box of assorted chocolates. Sounds like a good deal to me! I thought the sweetheart tower was cool, not to mention the strawberries, and I love these pick your own assortment boxes so you can get all your favs!

I also visited the sephora.com web site today. I use Bare Escentuals make up and normally I order from QVC. Well we now have a Sephora in our mall and they carry Bare Escentuals so I decided to check out their web site. Turns out the prices for the make up are the same, and I ended up with free shipping where with QVC you pay shipping on each item! Way better deal at Sephora, especially when this was one of those times where you seem to run out of everything at once. Hate when that happens. I also picked up one of these compacts for my purse.

Have you seen the new spring colors for Vera Bradley? Check them out here. Gee can you guess which one might be catching my eye? I also noticed they have a new hard sunglasses case! Cool. Might need to check that out. Several new bag styles too!














Check out what came in the mail today. I was in need of a new calendar for my office. I am picky about said calendar because it hangs right next to my reception window so everyone sees it like first thing. Therefore I do not want like the latest bank calendar hanging there you know? I usually try to pick out something pretty from the Bible Book store that has scriptures too. Could not find anything that I liked this year. Then I got an email from Shutterfly with some offer on a photo book. I have never used their services but several of my friends have. They also have calendars which were buy one get one 1/2 price and Darrel also needed one so I spent a couple of hours one evening last week adding our photos to a calendar. And now, Viola! New calendar for my office and for Darrel's! Cool huh? They are very nice quality! Heavy stock on the paper and nice spiral binding. This may be my favorite page.... I used photos of Darrel from last year's Carry the Cross for April this year, which will be Resurrection Sunday Month! (also known as Easter...)

Picked up a few things at Hallmark today... since my husband has started Valentines a bit early this year by giving me my ring.. I have a few plans to make these days leading up to valentines fun... for both of us! Ha! Love flirting with my husband... one of my favorite pastimes....Perhaps I'll have a photo or two to share. ;)

Hope you have an awesome week! Blessings!

Can I Have A 3 Day Weekend?

I mean I know it's Sunday night but um is there maybe one more day before Monday morning? I could sure use it. No? Work in the morning I guess... no holding it off huh? Well it's been a busy weekend and this girl is tired. I got a short nap between lunch and going to my brother's house. It did not help. I need a big ol nap! I had to be at work/church at 8 AM on both Saturday and Sunday this weekend. When I was leaving the house Sat. I told Darrel something was way WRONG when I was heading to work on a Saturday no less while it was still dark! Ha! He seemed to find that entertaining. I had a meeting Sat. morning. It was for our yearly budget proposal and is important. It really went well though and was not nearly as long as normal since we did things a little differently this year and had a lot of our information turned in and calculated before the meeting. What a concept huh? I also got to go walk outside again on Sat. That was great! It has been much warmer so the snow and ice were gone so no more butt and thigh gripping exercises trying not to slide down the hills! Ha! Today we had church of course, but we were also scheduled to be in the sound booth. That makes for a busy morning. Then there were 19 other things happening and it just made for a long and somewhat stressful morning as well. After that we had lunch plans at La Caretta - which was YUMMY - plus we had our favorite waiter! I swear I am going to start asking to sit in his section. I love a waiter who knows what we want before we ask. From lunch we headed to my brother's house to celebrate Ethan's birthday. He is 9! Who can believe that? We had a yummy chocolate chip cookie cake and ice cream and also some cupcakes. He got some cool gifts including several movies, some playstation 2 games, clothes, and from Aunt Deanna and Uncle Darrel a nerf target game thingy... yes.. that is the technical name. He seemed to enjoy his gift and his party. We stayed and visited for awhile but then had to head home because my husband needed to work. This has been exhausting for both of us. He has been working just about non stop both at home and at the office.. .it is following him here lately. However I am not whining. We are very grateful for a good job and the overtime. Thank you Lord!















This... is a gift Darrel and I collaborated on for our friend Lori. It is Lori's birthday this week and Lori likes purple! Darrel made the purple pen for her and I crocheted a scarf for her like the one I made for myself with the recycled silk yarn. Mine was done in a shade they called mixed berry. I um picked that one for me since it looked more pink. I know.. you are shocked and could not have figured that out on your own. For Lori I got the classic mix of colors which I was hoping would be more purple and look! It was! I love when a plan comes together. Especially when one is relying on Internet colors! Ha! I did find this second batch of yarn easier to work with. Either I got better at working with it... or my first batch just had the one ball that wanted to twist. I probably just got good right? Of course that is the reason.














In other exciting news.... LOOK... my Kindle has magically become PINK. Would you believe I actually hesitated and wondered if I would want to do this? Serious.... This is a retro pink flower skin made for the Kindle 2. The reason I hesitated is because in reading about the Kindle online, some other Kindle owners had mentioned the skins being distracting when you are reading. That made sense to me. The whole idea and design behind the Kindle is that you are supposed to forget you are using an electronic reading device so that it just kind of disappears in your hand. So I wondered.. OK.. would the pink be distracting? (of course... I have that whole liking to be distracted by pink thing going on...) I had considered a few others such as this one, this one, and this one. Especially that last one. Darrel thought that one looked the most like me. However I liked this flower one the best because it had the brightest pink with the fuchsia! Plus.. on the other 3 with all the swirls, etc. I thought maybe it would actually be distracting. I finally decided to give this one a try when I realized that other than right at the bottom, this one has the solid pink all the way around the reading screen. Not to busy that way right? So I ordered it and then.. um since I am patience challenged... especially on very detailed things that must be straight.... Darrel um installed the skin (he is your guy on small detailed things that must be straight..trust me...) and now I LOVE IT! I looked at it tonight and said OK.... why would I have heistated because um I am loving the pink!

I continue to fight hard in this weight loss battle! I am having quite a struggle getting back to where I was before the holiday. I did not go up all that much, but each pound and 1/2 a pound just comes off soooo stinkin slow in the first place. I have done much better this past week both with my eating and with my activity. Got my walking in and I started using that pedal exerciser I showed you the other day. I want to do more of that and also add in some hand weight exercises. Sure couldn't hurt right? I have also got back in touch with my Weighting On Him weight loss group that I had been emailing with and started a group on facebook. I feel like if God is helping me do this, He can help others and usually, in my experience when He is changing and working in us, He wants us to share that with others. So I am trying to do that. Honestly... that part scares me a bit. Why? Because I do NOT have this all figured out and I am fighting it every day. I struggle to get the scale to move at all some weeks and all of that can sure make you so aware that you are certainly no expert in this. I mean doesn't it make sense to feel like well who am I to tell anyone how to do this when I am struggling myself? I am learning though that maybe I need to look at it another way. Maybe its just about us all being in this together and letting God work and doing the best we can? I am weak and fail so often but I am determined to keep going forward. Since I've been browsing Kindle books here lately I have found some new resources that I am excited about. The Dieters Prayer Book, Faithfully Fit and The Weight of Grace. The first 2 I have on my Kindle 2 and the last one is not a Kindle book so I am waiting for it to arrive. Weight loss from a spiritual perspective soooo speaks to me and I am finding a lot of help and inspiration in these books. If you'd like to be a part of the Weighting On Him facebook group, let me know and I'll get you a link/invite.

Well I am determined to have a better week, busy or not. I hope it will include some scrapping, reading and crocheting as well as all that fun stuff like um work.. laundry.. cleaning... and I desperately need to put in some time cleaning out my dressers and closet. I have old stuff that doesn't fit taking up all the space and no room to put away the new stuff that does fit... duh... Hope you have an awesome week as well. Blessings.

Thankful Thursday

LOOK what arrived at our house today. I was glad I was home because Mr UPS was needing a signature... which I gave him after he felt the need to give me a tutorial on how to sign for a package... yes... little weird...I'm just sayin... I someohow managed to restrain myself and did NOT open this pretty little box until Darrel got home. I volunteered to wait.. ha ha ha.. and he said that was good because he'd like to be there when I opened it.. .which I figured.
















No, he did not make me wait until Valentine's Day. Hasn't anyone ever heard of getting your gift early? Everyone seems to think this is a strange idea. Thankfully my husband does not think that. I think he figured since I knew what I was getting and its here.. why wait? Maybe he knows waiting is not my best thing? I love how tall this ring is! Here it is from the side.















I love that he was able to order it in my correct size so right out of the box it fits perfectly. They did the package with the larger box lined with burgandy tissue paper and then under the tissue paper was the little box with the ribbon tied around it. Did they know I like nice packaging? I am thinking Helzberg just always does a nice job with that.
















I now have the urge to keep gazing at my hand as I type... It's almost as fun as when you first get your engagement ring. Almost. Nothing will ever top that for me. Of course I have my favorite Pompeii Purple from OPI on my nails. Makes a nice match huh? Pompeii purple must mean PINK cause um there is nothing purple about it that I can see. Ha!



So week 2 of Thankful Thursday. Sadly I did not get a chance to do my photo or layout. I swear this first week after vacation has felt like being thrown into the deep end... or another analogy I used this week was that it was like all the people and stuff were just waiting outside our door and the minute we walked out the door, post vacation, there was a call for everyone to pile on! Ha! Even though I didn't get my page done, I absolutely know what my subject will be.. My husband. I am so grateful for my husband. That is true all the time but I am especially aware of it this week. Why? Because we were just together pretty much 24/7 for 11 days and then this week... I miss him! See we weren't sick of each other after 11 days.. we enjoyed every minute. And yes.. I swear to you he would tell you the same thing and mean it. I would have gladly tacked on another 11 days. I have been married to this man for going on 23 years and yet I am continually amazed at the love he has for me. He just gets me.. He knows me inside and out. He knows how I tick. He knows what I enjoy and what makes me happy. He knows what hurts me and makes me sad. He as at my side thru all those things. There is nothing else like the bond and connection I have with my husband. I am grateful for him every day, every minute... Ok I'm done being sappy now.. you can stop gagging. I love you Honey... sorry.. had to throw one more in there.



Other things I am grateful for this week have been:

• my beautiful pink ring
• despite my whining... I am very grateful for my job. Honest.
• my cat Gracie
• getting outside to walk today
• seeing Darrel at the end of the work day
• singing!
• doing crafty things like crocheting
• my kindle
• the ladies that agreed to join my weight loss group on facebook
• the ladies that have been in my core weight loss group
• good friends
• getting to sign up for a 12 hour crop coming up in Feb!
• having a home we love
• safety and shelter and a warm comfy bed to sleep in

Ok... I could go on for days. Those things quickly came to mind. We are so blessed. Thank you Lord.

Before I go, the crop I mentioned is the Crop for the Cure in Evansville on Feb. 27th. So far me and 2 friends are going. Anyone else signing up? Any Doodlebug girls? SISF girls? Lisa? Heather? Kim? The more the merrier!

Speaking of Gracie.. do you know what her newest thing is? She likes to go off and hunt for awhile and generally comes back with a mouse. I have seen her with 2 today. Well now when she comes back she either wants attention or wants to go in the garage and eat and lay on her blanket. Do you know what she does? She has been climbing the screen on the back screen door until she is high enough to peer in the window. I heard her today and looked over and she is staring at me like "hey.. I'm out here!" I figured she wanted in the garage, but no, apparently she just needed to be hugged and petted. Then she set out for some more hunting. The other night I had called her and whistled for her several times but she didn't come. I was just about to get into bed when I hear a ruckus at the back door. When she is not in the mood to climb she rubs against it loudly..... and yep.. there she was waiting for me to come get her. I asked Darrel today is she my cat or am I her person cause um I don't think I'd be going across the yard in my walking shorts, tank top, winter coat and um Darrel's slippers to let anyone else in the garage. Do other people have cats that practically knock on the door when they want attention? Have you ever read the Dog & Cat diary that goes around on e-mail? It is posted here... Cracks me up... When I told Darrel that Gracie had climbed the screen and wanted in the garge he said that apparently she did not think this was day 983 of her captivity... bwa ha ha ha

And yes, I did get to walk outside today. I wanted to try and get in my full 4 miles but only managed 3.5. A lot of the hills over at the park were still snow and ice covered. I discovered this is a good work out for your thigh muscles... evidently when you are trying not to fall on your behind... you give those muscles a good work out! I am wondering if there is a video for this or if perhaps I have found an untaped workout market? Ha!!

I better head for bed. Lots to do at work tomorrow and then date night! We may be heading for the big city. Logan's has been advertising lately that they have added things to their 2 meals for 13.99 special. We enjoyed it before so that sounds yummy! We may have to check that out. Not sure what else is on the agenda. Hope you have an awesome Friday! Blessings!

Can Anyone Think of a Clever Title?

Cause um I've got nothing here... So does this look like a person who is happy to be back at work? Well let's put that another way. She is happy to be back at work because she loves her job and knows she is very blessed to have a good job. What you are seeing in this picture is a girl (yes, I can still be a girl at 43...) who is happy to be at and have her job but is not quite on her best game yet. I am having trouble this week people. My sleeping schedule is all out of whack... I am like having vacation lag and having all kinds of trouble getting motivated and diving in and um... then there is that PMS thing.... sound like a good week to you?















Here is the girl's desk. She got a new calendar during vacation and was trying to get all her notes from the old one transferred to the new one so that she would have some hope of getting her head straight. I need my to do lists.... It's like a hereditary thing. See the pile on the left there... that was waiting for me this week and it's like Wednesday.. or perhaps Thurs. by now and I still haven't gotten thru that. I have looked thru it so I know there is nothing urgent sitting there, but still need to address it besides that.

I e-mailed that first picture to Darrel yesterday when I took it and said something private to him... (yes... we tend to flirt with one another via e-mail.. I admit it... ) and he e-mailed me back about what I said but then also said that my hair looked good today. Now is he like good or what? I mean always compliment a girl on her hair right? He gets an A+ in husband classes.














Look what finally arrived today! I say finally like its been weeks. It's been days.. I am just impatient remember? Look how cool this was packaged! When you opened the box the kindle was on top, then it pulled up with a little tab and the user guide was next, then the cord in the cool little kraft sleeve. Love that.















It took minutes to get it ready to use and LOOK this is one of the free books I downloaded during shipment. When I turned it on today, there it was! It is very cool how clear the screen is don't you think? We had choir rehearsal tonight but I had some time to play and the Kindle is a very cool device. I like it. Not sure if I love it yet. I think perhaps there is a learning curve and some getting used to it time. At first I wasn't sure if I liked the weight of it in my hands. By the end of the evening though I found I wasn't noticing it so much. And really, it is pretty light. The other thing is that I am still finding it a little awkward because I am not familiar with how everything works just yet so I think once I am more versed on that it will be more comfortable. I also noticed when I was reading a devotional and a weight loss book tonight that I felt a little bit like my hands were tied when I was wanting to highlight something or make a note. Now, the Kindle 2 has features that allow you to underline and make notes.. and it may be fine once I am used to it.. but it just felt weird not to be able to flip thru pages and underline and write notes like I always do. I'm thinking will I like it when I want to go back and look at notes? It does have a feature where they should be easy to find. So.. the moral of this story? I think I need some more time to get used to it and play... AND I do like it!














Look what else came today? My pedal exerciser. I do not have room for an actual exercise bike. I saw Ruby using one of these on her show and I thought it might be cool to have. I was thinking I might use it while watching TV in the evenings. Seemed like it would be something you could do without a lot of planning or effort or even necessarily needing a shower when you were done. I had a smidgen of time before choir and did 15 minutes on it. I did determine that you need to use like a dining room chair cause its too tall for my regular chair. It also is wanting to move forward but I solved that problem by butting it up against my hutch. I sat and pedaled for those 15 minutes and I could tell my heart rate was up, I was sweating and um now I can feel it in the back of my thighs and um my rear.... hoping those are good signs!















Since I have restrained myself from being unkind to someone on facebook this evening... perhaps I can vent a bit here.... If you are a facebook person, you may have noticed in the last few days there was a thing going around about posting "retro" pictures of yourself. You were supposed to make it your profile photo. This was fun, especially with friends Darrel and I grew up with in church youth group. My friend Christy had said any of her friends had permission to post an 80's picture of her so I knew just the picture to grab. This is Christy and I at my house back in 1984. I was 18 years old... Can you even believe it? This was my room. You know the pink thing? Well I used to like purple. Yes.. Lori, it's true. Red was a fav. at one point too, although none of those likes came even close to the love I have for pink.... Go figure... Anyway, Christy and I had fun with the old memories and I even went on to post a handful of pics of Darrel and I from 84-87 (the ones I shared here on my blog back when I was telling our story before our anniversary)(Those posts would be in the archives for June 09). Our friends seemed to enjoy those pics and so did some of Darrel's co-workers. So again. Fun. Well tonight, after Darrel was in bed I spot an old picture of him in my "newsfeed" on facebook. It is him from high school, 1981. He is not alone. It's a picture of him with the girl he dated pretty seriously in high school. I find myself annoyed about this. Let's try to sort out why. I mean first.. I have no doubts or insecurities about my husband's love for me. I know he loves me, married me, and picked me. There is just something about it that seems inappropriate. I think you should ask permission first of all before posting someones pic. Especially if you are not like a close friend at this point. As far as I know, Darrel just knows this person(that posted the pic) from high school and had no contact until facebook. The other thing that bugged me... the caption they put on the picture says "Tracy & Darrel Koontz" I do NOT like the way that looks or sounds. Why would you put his last name but not hers? The only Darrel and anybody Koontz is ME OK? To add further insult to injury.. since this person is Darrel's friend and not mine, I cannot even post a comment.... however that may be a good thing... HA! Many responses, thoughts went thru my head and I considered posting on his wall about it... but for the moment I am trying to have some class and some maturity and am leaving it alone... except of course for whining here... um does that cancel out the class and maturity? Ha ha ha ha... I am probably making something out of nothing right? Darrel like I said is asleep... so haven't gotten to talk to him about it yet. We tend to feel the same about these kinds of things though and he is always understanding.

Aren't you just so glad you waded thru all of that? I am going to go and either a) go to bed or b) crochet or c) scrapbook... I think choice a is in the lead at this point. Lots of things I should get done tomorrow. Looking forward to my regular day at home! I intend to get my walk outside tomorrow! The weather should be nice enough finally and I am looking forward to being out! Tune in tomorrow for Thankful Thursday! Blessings!