Holiday Rewind

The 2011 holiday has been really amazing this year and I feel very blessed with the friends and family I have. This has really been a season to reflect on all that I have to be thankful for. Granted life is not where I had planned to be at 27, but also there have been so many blessings that I would have never expected. I have complete faith that God will bring me what I need when I need it.

Christmas turned out really good. I got to spend some quality time with my family. We got up Christmas morning and did our traditional gift opening. We had lots of fun cutting up as we opened gifts, took pictures, and just enjoyed being together. Then we went over to my Aunt and Uncles house for some more family time. I always love these times where we can prepare food, catch up and just be together.

The day after Christmas me, Mom and Gary ventured out and did a lil post Christmas shopping. We found a few good deals that we just couldn't pass up :) Then me and mom came home and got our technology fix. She worked on getting her new body bugg up and ready to go... and I updated some songs on my iPhone. Then me Kassi and Jess went to the movie with the intention of seeing "We bought a Zoo" only for the three people in front of us to buy the last three tickets :( So we went and saw Mission Impossible (which was pretty good).

Today I have spent my WHOLE day in my PJs... yup I have been in my PJs for almost 24 hours and I am not ashamed!! I slept in again, we watched the first two of the twilight movies (because I am in the middle of reading the third book), then I tried to finish the third book and decided that wasn't how I wanted to spend my last night here. So I then got all my stuff ready and loaded into my car so I could be ready to go back to Bowie once I get up in the morning. After enjoying some pizza for dinner I am not sitting here blogging and enjoying the last day of complete laziness!!

I am excited to go back home and launch Operation 2012. I have found some things that will help with the process and I am confident that I can make some of the changes that I want in this upcoming year. I hope that you all had a WONDERFUL holiday and I wish you great success in 2012!!

It's begining to look a lot like Christmas!

I can't believe that it is Christmas Eve... this time last year was quite a different story. I was having a hard time and acting like a brat because of it. I remember thinking that my family was really going to cancel Christmas because I was having such a hard time. But this year is so much different I am filled with so much hope for the new year and fond memories from the last year.

Yesterday I took my step dad for our annual Christmas shopping time and then me and Mom went and got goodies for Christmas and bought some last minute stocking stuffers. Last night we had two of my favorite people over (Jess and Cheriee) to play games with me and the parentals!

We had a blast playing spades and train... by the end of the night I was pretty delirious and acting in such a manner that Cheriee described me as a "little delirious firecracker". But I think we all had a good time cutting up and mostly making fun of me! Anything to entertain others.

Today we had a really good day as a family... First of all I slept in till 11!!!! Then we got up and me and the rents went and saw the new Sherlock Holmes... which was amazing! We then went and sat at Starbucks enjoying some festive beverages while we waited for the Christmas Eve service at Timber Ridge.

The service tonight was amazing! It is always a good spending time with other believers celebrating the birth of our Savior. Tonight Pastor Nic talked about the three trees of Christmas 1) The Christmas Tree-representing the traditions of Christmas 2) The manger- representing the birth of our Savior 3)The cross- representing Christ laying his life down for our sin. I love this time of year and what it represents. A mighty Savior leaving his thrown to enter the world in such a humble way to save us all. Something I love about Timber Ridge is the diversity of the congregation... a place where people can come and not be judged, just like Christ intended it!

To end the evening we went looked at the house with the lights that are set to "dance" with the music. Then we came home and put on our Christmas pjs and made some goodies to munch on tonight and tomorrow!

Last Minute Christmas Shopping

I am usually one of those people that get's most of my Christmas shopping done early, but that was not the case this year. I have kept my self pretty busy between church, teaching and basketball that I just haven't had the time or the energy to go out and buy Christmas presents.

So my mom graciously accepted an invitation to tackle shopping with me in the Fort Worth only a few days before Christmas. So we headed out this morning on our adventure and there were quite a few people out and about, but it wasn't as chaotic as I believed it would be.

We made a few stops at some of my favorite places including: JCPenney, Hobby Lobby, Pet Smart, Sam Moon, Kirkland's, Ulta, and Academy. I was very excited about some of the deals we found this day and I stayed within my planned budget (part of my Operation 2012).

I am very glad that we went out today since we had to put down my parent's dog Bandit yesterday. If Mom had stayed in today she would had too much time to sit and think about it all. Bandit at Thanksgiving was diagnosed with Congestive Heart Failure and was given six months to live. Well a few days before I came home for Christmas she stopped eating and then yesterday she was swollen with fluid and was having a lot of trouble getting around. It was a tough decision but we all decided that she didn't need to suffer any longer. So it won't quite be the same without our furry little family member and she will greatly be missed.

But me and Mom had a nice day getting to talk and shop and enjoy this BEAUTIFUL weather (not very December like weather, I might add). Also we ran into one of my favorite people (Patty Shumate) on the way home and had a really nice chat with her. God is good and I feel very blessed to have such good family and friends.

Gearing up for 2012

As some of you know 2011 was a year that started off with an unexpected twist. But I think 2011 was vital part of me knowing the person that I really want to be.

Now hear I sit a year later and feel like a much happier person than I was year ago. Don't get me wrong I have always loved and embraced life, but I think before the events of last year I had become comfortable where I was and I had stopped striving for goals like I used to. The last year I have taken time to re-evaluate some things and have decided that I am no longer going to sit on the sidelines of my life.

I have began to brainstorm about something that I am calling Operation 2012. In this I am setting a lot of goals for myself to help accomplish the total me that I have always wanted to be. This is kind of like a HUGE New Year's resolution, but hopefully with a much better outcome. Who knows I might be sitting here next year with the same wish for 2013, but I certainly hope not.

I would like to blog about my results so I can see how far I have come in the year. I have also created a notebook that states my plan for the year and is divided into four sections. These four sections represent areas of my life that I wish to make some changes in this year.

The first area is GOD... he is the most important thing in my life and the thing that many times we take for granted or put on the back burner. Well I am tired of this mentality, so I am putting together a plan to help me get around this. In the coming year I am making a schedule for myself and hoping to be better at things like: my quiet time, scripture memorization, journaling, spiritual disciplines, discipleship, stewartship, etc.

The second area is FITNESS... and I don't just mean excercise, even thought that is a part of this. I want to accomplish overall fitness. I want to be eating better again, working out, and other things that care for myself. Some of these things include: good ways to handle stress, cleaning my face more regularly, and other self pampering ideas.

The third area is FINANCES... I want to not only get my self physically fit, but also my debt needs to go on a diet. I am not a big spender by any means, but I did have some times in college when I depended on my credit cards a lil too much. I want to start following the Dave Ramsay plan and start living on a budget, paying for things with cash, pay off my debts, and do other things to help me save my money.

The fourth and last area is PERSONAL... this area covers a lot of different things in my life. Some of the things I would like to accomplish is better organization in my home, classroom, and life in general. I also want to become a better and more thoughtful family member and friend. I want to look outside of my life and do some things to show my friends and family that I care about them and that I am thinking of them.

I know this looks like a lot and it is... but I really think that this is something that I can accomplish in the upcoming year. I am going to pace myself and over the year I am going to make small acheivable goals to help me reach these long term goals. I am also going to need people to hold me accountable or laugh at me next year when I am sitting in the same place... so I hope that some people are willing to take this journey with me!! Let's get geared up for 2012!!

Now I am going to work toward one of my goals and go get a new hair style!!

Jess' TSU pictures

Well one of my new year resolution's was to become a better photographer. I have always loved photography and now I am hoping to pursue it as a hobby.

A couple weeks ago my friend Jess asked me to take some TSU pics of her because she is graduting in just a few weeks!! CONGRATS JESS...

Well last week we went to good ole TSU and took some shots of her. I thought I would post some of these shots to show how it turned out.

It was a lot of fun rolling around in the grass and getting to do this... Thanks Jess!!

Well there is a look of my favorite shots... Jess is so beautiful, inside and out... and a lot of fun to take pictures of! I love ya girl!!

p90X here we come...

So me and mom have really been working to get our selves thin and in shape. We first did a 30 day workout challenge and finished that only losing a few pounds, but mom lost nearly 7 inches and I lost a little more than 8 inches.

We then decided we wanted to continue, so we bought a 30 day workout DVD. It seems really good, but after doing it a few times me and mom were both convinced that we needed something a little more intense.

So I FINALLY convinced her that we could do p90x. She might still be a little nervous about doing it, but I think we are both excited to be moving to a more extreme workout. I have really noticed I have had a lot more energy. So we should get p90x this week sometime. We are hoping to start on Sunday. I am hoping to blog and tell you how my journey with p90x is. I think I will even be brave and post some pics... if you promise not to be disgusted with the beginning pics!!

I wanna watch 80's movies!!

So I was watching the Academy Awards and they did a tribute to John Hughes and that inspired me to watch some movies from the 80s. Only the best decade ever!! Well I might be a little biased because I was born in the 80s..lol. Well today we were watching TV and St. Elmo's Fire came on and I didn't watch it all(even though I did DVR it so I could watch it later)... and re-inspired me to watch some movies from the 80s. So I have compiled a list of propective movies and me and my friend Kassi are going to go on a quest to round up some of these flicks!!


I thought I would also give an update on how I am doing with my 2010 goals. Here are the results:

1.To build a better relationship with Christ.
Working on that still… trying to get back to more consistent with being more God focused throughout my day (Still need a lot of work)
2.To be a better girlfriend
I am trying to be better at “going with the flow”:which I am HORRIBLE at… I like having a plan and I think that drives Matthew crazy… lol I have my good and bad days!
3.I want to try and blog for the next year as a way of keeping up with my progress and changes in 2010.
Well OBVIOUSLY I haven’t been doing good at blogging… I just plain forget to log on and update it… I will continue to work on this.
4.I want to drop 30 more lbs (I have currently lost 9 lbs by doing WW)
Continuing to work on this I am at about 15 lbs… yay!! Fitting into a lot of my clothes a lot better… I have been kind of at a standstill the last month… been trying to think about how to get over the HUMP… been contemplating trying P90X… I don’t know yet!
5.I want to run a 5k
Still wanting to do that… but haven’t started running  We will see
6. I want to become a decent photographer (I recently bought a Cannon Rebel XS)
I did purchase Photoshop Elements and have been playing with some of my photos to see what I can do.
7. I want to put a dent in my current debt
I have paid off one credit card… yay!! And I am about to pay off another one this week!... now moving on to the next one…
8. I want to be a better relative and friend to those around me
I have been trying to call my friends and try to hang out with them more consistently
9. I want to put a HUGE dent in my LPC hours
I have made some progress I have 600+ hours down… I only have to get to 1500 eek!
10. I want to do iTeach Texas and become a teacher... so I can become a school counselor
I have started the iTeach process and I take the 4-8 Generalist in a week in a half!! We will see!
11. I want to be able to wear a swim suit and not be embarrassed
Def. not there yet!
12. I want to learn to be better at dealing with the unknown... aka my future
I feel like I am making progress towards this one… more of that trying to just go with the flow!