Year in Review

Honestly I'm not sad to see 2011 go.  It has been quite a year, but I am ready for 2012.

Some good things:
I got hired on full time and am no longer a contractor at a job I love! I was going through old paperwork last night and it is hard to believe how far I have come since I started my career nine years ago. Less than three years ago I was laid-off from a job I was not happy at. It sucked!  I quickly found another job (that I really enjoyed) but it was at about a 30% pay cut from what I had been making. Now I have a job I honestly love at a company I love and am making almost double what I was making two years ago! I am so thankful for where I am career-wise. That lay-off ended up being one of the best things that has ever happened to me!

I quit smoking!

I took some awesome vacations- the epic Ski Trip 2011, the first crew beach trip, went white water rafting for my birthday and had three awesome girls weekends at the beach!

The bad:

Possibly the worst year ever in the love department.  I tried speed dating (3 times!) and hated it.  I made out with four guys this year and don't remember any of them because they were all on nights I had way too much to drink.  And one of them I REALLY should not have made out with.  Actually I probably shouldn't have made out with any of them.  I had no REAL "let me take you out because I really like you" dates.  No guys I was even really interested in this year.  I don't know where my freaking husband is, but if he is out there, I sure do hope we find each other soon because I am so over being single.

Last year at this time I made some goals instead of resolutions.  Three things to start doing, three things to stop, and three things to keep in my life.  Let's see how I did...


Start:

Getting to work by 9 am. - FAIL- I rarely make it to work before 9 am unless I have an early meeting that I have to be there for.  I usually get there sometime between 9-10am.  (I know, I am extremely lucky that I have flexible hours!)

If I go in to work between 8-9 am the traffic is double what it is if I go in after 9am.  But the downside is we have hired a ton more people and if you get there after 9am you have to park so freaking far away (if you can even find a spot!).  I need to get better at this though and just deal with the traffic or maybe even try going in way earlier because staying at work until 7pm (or even later) sucks.

Cooking more. - Semi-Success- I didn't make a new recipe every week but I definitely cooked more this year than I ever had before.

Wearing Make-up every day- Success- It is very rare for me to not wear any make-up whatsoever now.  I don't get crazy or anything, but makeup is now part of my daily routine.  (crazy it hadn't been before right?

Stop:

Neglecting my house- Success- I think I have the dog hair semi-under control now.  It is a lot of work, but I've developed a routine that works pretty well.

Drinking like I am in college- Semi-Success FAIL- I stopped drinking on the regular, but that made me have a very low tolerence.  So when special events would roll around I would get very drunk, very fast and ended up doing some pretty stupid things.  Now I have my 2 drink (or 4 if it is a long event) rule and so far so good...we shall see if I can keep it up.

Smoking- SUCCESS- I can't believe I was a smoker.  Even if it was just a few a day or week...I was still a smoker.  Yuck! I am sooo glad to have kicked that habit!

Keep:

Growing my faith- Success- I still go to church and b-study every week and I am head over heels in love with Jesus.  I don't want to sound like a crazy Christian, but God is the most important thing in my life and I wouldn't want it any other way.

My friends- Success- There was one little hiccup with my main group of friends, but I tell ya- you really know who your true friends are when they can love you and accept you after seeing you at your worst.  I do think I am going to skip the big New Year's party though because I am just so afraid that couple will be there and honestly I am terrified to face everyone else that I haven't seen in person since "the incident". (Gosh I did not even want to link to that post because I would like to erase it from my history, but any new readers might need some background on what happened.  Please don't judge me!)

I am still best friends with one of the very first friends I made back in college.  We have seen each other through a lot and to still have a close friendship where you talk almost daily with someone for almost 15 years is amazing.

I also have made a lot of new friends this year.  I have more friends at work and have some new best friends though my bible study- seriously have met some of the most awesome people in my life through that group!  And have also even developed some friendships through people I have met from blogging!

Friendship can be hard ya'll.  Especially when you get older and have more responsibilities.  You have to nuture and develop friendships all the time or you could end up losing some people who you once thought were very important to you or have no one to hang out with on a Friday night if you end up being single for an extended period of time!

This is one of the best blog posts I have ever read on developing friendship.  You should definitely go check it out!

Running- Semi-success- I ran 3 5Ks this year and started training for my 10K.  I start my half marathon training next week!  I'm going to run the Cooper River Bridge Run in March and then a half marathon in Raleigh in April.  (If everything goes according to plan!)  I got to where I could do 5 miles in under an hour (which still is kind of slow) but I haven't ran in almost 3 weeks now!  I am going for a run today but I have a feeling it is going to be tough after that long of a break!

Come back Monday to see my 2012 resolutions goals!

Carolina on my mind

I love being a Carolina girl (the state not the college).  I've lived in North Carolina my whole life and I may be a bit biased but I think this is one of the best places on earth to live. You've got Southern Hospitality. You've got the mountains and the beach just a short drive away.  Life couldn't get much better.

I love the Carolinas.

And I love boys.

And after watching this I think I love boys who can sing about Carolina!

Pinterest Inspired Wednesday- Christmas cooking

I've hosted Christmas at my house for the past couple years now.  It is just my mom, my uncle (her brother), and me.  This year they came up a few days early.  We were able to go to a hockey game and also go to Christmas Eve service at my church.

Having house guests also inspired me to try out some new recipes I've found on Pinterest.


First- Breakfast Casserole:

Source: kevinandamanda.com via ncsuz on Pinterest

So I tried to pull this recipe up on my phone using the Pinterest app that morning, but that stupid app sucks sometimes.  It would only show my last 15 pins I had on that board and breakfast casserole wasn't one of them.  I didn't want to boot up my computer, so I just googled "breakfast casserole" and used one that had all the ingredients I had bought- which were crescent rolls, eggs, cheese and sausage.

Here is what mine looked like:

I was not a fan of this.  It wasn't bad.  I'm just not a big hearty breakfast eater.  I thought it had way too much cheese and sausage.  I would have rather had something lighter.

Luckily I also tried this recipe I found on Pinterest which was a huge hit!

Source: thriftydecorchick.blogspot.com via ncsuz on Pinterest

I was so nervous making this because it seems a little weird when you are putting it together.  Here is the recipe:

2 Granny Smith apples
1 tsp vanilla
cinnamon
2 packages crescent rolls
1 1/2 cups sugar (see below for more on this)
2 sticks butter (just do it)
12 ounces Mountain Dew

(Like the blog I pulled this from, I just used half the recipe- 1 apple, 1 pkg crescent rolls, 3/4 cup sugar, 1 stick of butter, 1/2 a can of Mnt. Dew, a little bit of cinnamon and a little vanilla)

First you peel and slice the apples and then you wrap a crescent roll around them and put them in a baking dish.

Then you mix together the butter (melted), sugar and vanilla and then pour it over the apples. Then you pour 1/2 a can a Mnt. Dew over top and sprinkle them with cinnamon.  It will look weird but have faith.

Bake them in a 350 degree oven for 30-40 minutes.

When you take them out they will still look weird.  Mine had a pool of liquid in the bottom and they all smushed together in the tiny baking dish:

I served them with two small scoops of vanilla sugar free ice cream and OMG they were soooo good!  I will be making these again for sure!  I wonder if they would be just as good with Splenda and Diet Mnt. Dew?

What inspiring things have you tried from Pinterest lately?

Christmas Presents

I got a lot of great things for Christmas over the last few weeks!  Some of these are from my Black Friday shopping, some from the amazing Christmas sales (I couldn't help picking up a few things for myself since I was already there getting stuff for others!), and some of the gifts I received (or already bought with some Christmas cash I was given!)

New running shoes and some Bondibands!  I have either a huge or odd shaped head because regular headbands just pop off my head.  I am hoping these will work!

A bodybugg!  They wear these on the Biggest Loser.  I also heard Valerie Burtonelli talk about hers in her book Finding It.  And my boss has one and loves it.  All of that and some internet reseach convinced me to get one!  You wear it and it tracks how many calories you burn.  You input what you eat and that way you can see if you are on track calorie-wise for the day.  So far I have just used it to see how many calories I am burning on average, but starting Sunday I will be tracking everything!

Some much needed new nail polish. I haven't bought any in forever (or painted my nails).  But last week I decided to add "painting my nails" to my weekly to-do list.  I went through my nail polish bag and over half of them were no good (too goopy or separated too much).  So I got these to kick off my new collection.

My mom gave me the money to get this sewing machine on Black Friday.  It was only $50!  I already signed up to take beginning sewing classes in a few weeks at our local Art Center.  I am hoping to make a few things for around the house but most importantly I am hoping I will be able to hem my own pants!  Being a shorty this has always been an issue for me and I will be so happy if I can do it myself!

These awesome new shoes!  I REALLY needed new shoes.  I find a pair I love and wear them down to nothing.  I had never heard of this brand before (Levity).  Apparently it is exclusive to DSW.  They are so comfortable and so cute!

This might be my most favorite of all!  This was another Black Friday buy- only $69! It has been forever since I rode a bike, but as a kid it was one of my most favorite things to do.  I got my first bike when I was five (I think) and I barely had the training wheels on for an hour before I was riding every freaking day throughout the neighborhood.  And just like they say "it was just like riding a bike"- it came right back to me!  I have a grocery store right down the street (with a Redbox!) and even a Target about a mile or so up the road if I am feeling really adventurous. I plan on getting a little basket for the front.  I also take Cam out at night when there aren't many cars out.  I ride and he runs beside me.  He LOVES it because he can run so fast!  It makes me a little nervous that he is going to jerk away or stop suddenly and cause me to crash, but so far no accidents!

Oh and I used some of my Christmas cash to buy tickets to see this when it comes back to the DPAC in May!  So excited!

What was your favorite gift this year?

Sunday Snippets- Merry Christmas!

I hope you guys all had a very Merry Christmas!

So this is more than a snippet...it is long, but well worth the watch (or just listen).  I was a little worried about what Christmas at the Summit was going to be like, but it was amazing!


Christmas at the Summit from The Summit Church on Vimeo.


I love the first song which is this really cool mix of O Come let us adore Him.

I also love the Matt Papa song Hope has Come!
"Hope has come! Let us adore Him! Born the king of ages!"

And check out the 23 minute mark where this adorable little girl recites the entire story of Jesus birth from Luke 2!

Merry Christmas everyone!

Pinterest Inspired Wednesday- Spinach Lasagna Rolls

Last week I had two of my closest friends over for dinner and to celebrate Christmas.  I used it as an opportunity to try out one of the recipes I had found on Pinterest.  Here is the pin that inspired me:

Source: skinnytaste.com via ncsuz on Pinterest

Here is how mine turned out:

Here is the recipe:

Spinach Lasagna Rolls

Servings: 9 • Serving Size: 1 roll


Ingredients:

    9 lasagna noodles, cooked
    10 oz frozen chopped spinach, thawed and completely drained
    15 oz fat free ricotta cheese (I like Polly-o)
    1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese
    1 egg
    salt and fresh pepper
    32 oz tomato sauce
    9 tbsp (about 3 oz) part skim mozzarella cheese, shredded


Directions:

Preheat oven to 350°. Combine spinach, ricotta, Parmesan, egg, salt and pepper in a medium bowl. Ladle about 1 cup sauce on the bottom of a 9 x 12 baking dish.

Place a piece of wax paper on the counter and lay out lasagna noodles. Make sure noodles are dry. Take 1/3 cup of ricotta mixture and spread evenly over noodle. Roll carefully and place seam side down onto the baking dish. Repeat with remaining noodles.

Ladle sauce over the noodles in the baking dish and top each one with 1 tbsp mozzarella cheese. Put foil over baking dish and bake for 40 minutes, or until cheese melts. Makes 9 rolls.

To serve, ladle a little sauce on the plate and top with lasagna roll.

The girls loved it!  And I even forgot an ingredient...I forgot to add the Parmesan cheese!  Oh well.  It didn't matter.  Everyone cleaned their plates!

The recipe is healthy too!  It is from skinnytaste.com and I have a feeling I am going to try a lot more recipes from that site!

The reason why I really started this Pinterest Inspired Wednesday series was because I want to see what you guys have made, bought, baked, been inspired to DO based on a pin you pinned on pinterest!  Sometimes they turn out good and sometimes not so good.  Was it all you ever hoped for or did it let you down?  Was it as easy as they say or incredibly hard?  Come on!  Share your experiences too! 

And as always so I can get more ideas of things to DO!

Jimmy Kimmel inspires hilarity

You guys this is hilarious!  If you saw the Halloween candy Jimmy Kimmel video, this is similar but I think this one might be even better! 


I love the little girl that tries to reason with her mom about the sandwich and I love that her mom's good cooking includes Hot Pockets because that may be me some day!

And the boy that says "You stinking parents!"  priceless!  Kids are freaking funny!

And just in case you didn't see it, here is the Halloween one:


My favorites from that one are "Dad you're ugly!" and "2 + 2 is 5...you were so close" and "you sneaky mom!"

Question to those of you with kids...would you do this to your kids?

Christmas at the Summit

If you are going to be in the Raleigh/Durham area this week you should check out Christmas at the Summit:


christmas at the summit from The Summit Church on Vimeo.


There are five services:
Thursday 12/22 @ 6pm
Friday 12/23 @ noon
Friday 12/23 @ 6 pm
Saturday 12/24 @ 4 pm
Saturday 12/25 @ 6 pm

I have no idea what they have planned but I'm sure it will be awesome!

Do you go to any Christmas pageants/musicals/plays?  One of my friends is Moravian and tells me about something they have called a "Love Feast".  I would love to go to that!  Outside of church activities, I would also love to go see The Nutcracker someday!

Christmas Cards

I said I would never do this.  I always had a little thing against photo Christmas cards.  For some reason to me they just seemed more about you than the person you are sending them to.  I mean it is just a picture of your pretty family for someone to hang on their refrigerator with a one line greeting like "Merry Christmas".  You can't even write a personal note or anything really.  I just was never a huge fan. 

But it is just so darn cute to have personalized stuff and I fell for it this year.  I took the cutest picture of Cam last Christmas and made some photo Christmas cards with it this year:

I still like traditional cards better and writing something personal.  I only sent out 20 this year because photo cards are expensive but I usually send out many more and I felt bad editing my list (but I did better than last year when I didn't send out any because I was too immersed in the Great Cat Hunt of '10- BTW yesterday was the one year anniversary of when I found Bailey, my cat, after he had been missing for 15 long, cold days!!). 

One year I made a Christmas CD and sent out a CD of Christmas carols to everyone on my list.  I got a Facebook message from a friend this weekend saying she still listens to that CD at Christmas and thinks of me.  That was probably my favorite Christmas card year.

This year I have only received three Christmas cards though.  Are Christmas cards out of fashion or is it just all my friends that are boycotting the tradition?  Or does nobody love me?  Who knows, but my cute new Christmas card holder looks really sad.

Do you send out Christmas cards?  Do you like getting Christmas cards?  Or do you think it is time to retire the tradition?

Sunday Snippets- Suffering

This week's sermon was on 1 Peter 5:6-11.  It was about suffering.  Here are my notes/thoughts:

- Most of the time we confuse suffering with inconvenience.  We have a lot of first world problems.  We like to play the victim.  We like to complain.  I do this all the time.  I was already thinking of making one of my New Year's resolutions to complain less.  I want to increase joy in my life.  Instead of focusing on the bad I need to focus on the good more.  I want to find joy no matter what the situation, not something to complain about no matter what the situation is.

The 3 main points from the sermon were:

1. Humble submission points us to the authority of God.  Who is the author of your life?  Do you really trust Him even when things are bad or not the way you want them to be?  Not all suffering is from God- we live in a fallen world.  And even if your suffering is discipline it is not punishment- the punishment for your sin was on the cross.

2. We always submit to something- either sin or authority.  We follow our desires instead of His direction.  What do you turn to for comfort?  Every idol in our life must be identified and destroyed.  He should be what we turn to for comfort.

3. Our struggle is not forever.  Even the entirety of your life is just a short time compared to eternity.

I went to church on Saturday night and when I came home I watched the movie Soul Surfer.  It was such a good movie!  But I cried almost the whole way through it because it really emphasized what suffering is and what it is not and what our reaction to it should be.

Then today I got word that my friend's mother passed away.  She had been battling cancer for a while.  It just made this whole suffering thing come in to perspective. 

Everyone experiences suffering in this life.  Everyone.  The point is not to compare yours to others.  The point is recognizing the difference between inconvenience and suffering and how you react to both.


"Not only so, but we also rejoice in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope."  Romans 5:3-4

I will wait for Him

A girl in my Bible study shared this on Facebook and I just had to post it here because it is so good and I can relate so much.  It's a little long, but well worth watching!



I need to watch this everyday to remind me of the TRUTH.

Here are some of my favorite quotes from it:

"I was going to make him The One"  (oh yes, that was/is totally me)

"Arteries so clogged with my will it blocks His will from flowing through me."

"The bad thing is, I knew he wasn't you from the beginning.  Because in the beginning was the Word and he didn't even sound or shine like Your Son."

"Cause I have thoughts I've "saved as" in a file that God has only equipped you to open."

"I will no longer get weighted down from the so-called friends and family talks about the concern for my biological clock when I serve the Author of Time."

At the end of the day, I'm single and THAT'S OK.  Whether "he" (AKA "The One") is out there or not, I will be ok because He is the author of my life, not me.  And He works for the good of all those who love him!

Pinterest Inspired Wednesday

The world needs dreamers and the world needs doers.  But above all, the world needs dreamers who do.  ~Sarah Ban Breathnach

I think this new Pinterest Inspired Wednesday feature will be the perfect chance to take that quote to heart.  Pinterest is all about dreams.  Things you aspire to, things you want, things you think are beautiful, things you want to make, dreams you have for the future, things that make you laugh, things that are ingeniously useful.  Now we just need to DO something with all those dreams.

I chose a pretty easy one for the first week.

Here is my inspiration pin from pinterest:

Source: athoughtfulplaceblog.com via ncsuz on Pinterest

Here is my version.  don't judge me

I still like the original better, but at least I tried and I worked with what I had and actually did (or tried to do) something that inspired me. My cookie jar I had in the kitchen was a different shape than the jar used in the picture and my "colors" are red and sliver and white at Christmas around my house.  I still like it though!  I also think the angle of the shot and the quality of the camera helped hers- yet ANOTHER reason I need to get a real big girl camera and take some photography lessons!

So the reason why I really started this was because I want to see what you guys have made, bought, baked, been inspired to DO based on a pin you pinned on pinterest!  Was it all you ever hoped for or did it let you down?  Was it as easy as they say or incredibly hard?  Come on!  Share your experiences too!  Link up below to your blog post about what inspired you to DO on Pinterest this week!

And as always so I can get more ideas of things to DO!

Let's extend the weekend

So what did I do this weekend?  Most if it involved a lot of ball rolling.  And dipping balls in chocolate.  (get your minds our of the gutters!)  I was making Oreo truffles for a Cookie Exchange party I went to.  I made 72 (actually 80 because I kept (ate) a few but needed 72 for the party.


Oreo Truffles

What You need

1 pkg. (8 oz.) PHILADELPHIA Cream Cheese, softened

1 pkg.  (16.6 oz.) OREO Cookies, finely crushed (about 4-1/4 cups), divided 

1 pkg. Kandy Kwic in Vanilla

Make It

MIX cream cheese and 3 cups cookie crumbs until well blended.
SHAPE into 48 (1-inch) balls. Dip in melted chocolate; place on waxed paper-covered baking sheet. Sprinkle with remaining cookie crumbs.
REFRIGERATE 1 hour or until firm. Store in tightly covered container in refrigerator.

Kitchens Tips

How to Easily Dip Truffles

To easily coat truffles with the melted chocolate, add truffles, in batches, to bowl of melted chocolate. Use 2 forks to roll truffles in chocolate until evenly coated. Remove truffles with forks, letting excess chocolate drip back into bowl. (oh yeah it is just sooo easy miss. recipe writer)  

Place truffles on prepared baking sheet; let stand until firm.

How to Store-  Store in tightly covered container in refrigerator. 

Notes from the imperfect baker (ME): This did not give me 48 balls because I made mine too big.  I also wanted to make different varieties so I made some with the Peanut Butter Oreos and some with the Mint Oreos. These two packages had way less that the regular oreo pack (even though they looked the same).  I would recommend doing only half the pack of cream cheese if you do that.  And they will make about 24 balls each.  (Keep in mind I like big balls) But between trying to do all 3 I did end up with enough cookies for the party, and some left over mixture that I ended up trowing away because I was so sick of making balls!

If you want to read all about (and see) the party and the other cookies exchanged, please read my amazing friend's blog:

Buon Appetito, Ya'll!- Cookie Exchange 2011

After all the cookie craziness was over it was Sunday night (my favorite TV night!)  I missed the Amazing Race because stupid football pushed it back too far and my DVR didn't record it!  Who won!?!

But I did get to stay up late and watch my three most favorite shows- Dexter, Homeland, and Spartacus!

I think it was the finale of Spartacus- gods of the arena and I am so freaking excited Gannicus lives!  He can come stay with me if he needs a place to stay.  So now that I have watched the prequel, I need to watch the first season to get caught up and prepare for Gannicus to return! So excited.

And guess what?  today was part of my weekend too.  I took a vacation day because if I don't use them I lose them!

This morning I got to sleep in late, try to figure out what to make for the girls this Friday that is yummy but healthy too before we hit the town to look at Christmas lights and hopefully have a few drinks too.  I also need to figure out what to make while my family is in town next Friday through Sunday for Christmas!  So I researched a lot of recipes on line. Any suggestions out there?

I also went out shopping trying to find gifts for people and I can not find crap.  I am totally uninspired.  I have no idea.  I also worked on my Christmas cards too (I promise to show them to you as soon as I mail them out!)

Oh and I had to take one of my black friday purchases back to the store to be assembled.  It wasn't as easy as we though it would be!  I may end up having to group all these black Friday purchases into a "What I got for Christmas" post!

Back to the grind tomorrow.  Hope you guys are having a fabulous start to the week!

Sunday Snippets

Sunday Snippets is where I share a little bit from what God is teaching me in my life- it could be through life experiences, the Sunday (or in my case Saturday this week) sermon at church, what I've been reading, or what we are studying in my small group.

This week it's a little bit of all the above.  We are working our way through first Peter at church and the big thing that stuck out from the sermon this week was how the church is a body of believers and just like the human body, we all have different roles.  He used the example that if you have an itch on your right elbow, a message has to be sent to your brain to feel the itch, the brain sends a message to the left hand to scratch the itch and the left hand takes action to relieve the itch on the right elbow.

I have definitely experienced this "body of believers" concept.  I was trying to describe to a friend that my small group was like this living, evolving thing that everyone contributes a little something different to.  It isn't a group of girls that are all exactly alike, but that is part of what makes it function because we all bring different things to the whole group dynamic.

My faith life would look completely different if I didn't see how God was working in their lives each week and be able to share my journey and get their feedback.  I used to think God didn't speak audibly to us anymore and get so jealous of those people in the Old Testament that got the hear God actually speaking to them or those who got to live with Jesus and have Him speak directly to them.  But God does speak to you.  He speaks to you through other believers who are a part of your life.  I have had conversations where it felt like God had taken control of my friends words and was speaking directly to me.  And some Sundays I am sitting there at church wondering if the pastor has been spying on me that week because it seems he is speaking directly to me and what is going on in my life.

You need to be a part of a community of others who share your faith so God can use them to speak to you and use you to speak to them.

1 Peter 4:11- "If anyone speaks, they should do so as one who speaks the very words of God. If anyone serves, they should do so with the strength God provides, so that in all things God may be praised through Jesus Christ.  To him be the glory and power for ever and ever. Amen."

The Lucky One

I just saw this trailer for a new Nicholas Sparks movie.  I love movie love!  And the snippet of the make out scene!?  Looks almost as good as Noah and Allie in the rain in The Notebook!

What I've been reading

Here's what I've been reading over the last few months.  

Check out my Bookshelf Blog for the full reviews!

Finding It by Valerie Bertinelli- 3.5 out of 5 stars

Mistaken Identity by the Van Ryns and Ceraks- 4 out of 5 stars

Same Kind of Different as Me by Ron Hall & Denver Moore- 4.5 out of 5 stars

The Art of Racing in the Rain by Garth Stein- 5 out of 5 stars!

Best Friends Forever by Jennifer Weiner- 4 out of 5 stars

Heaven is for Real by Colton Burpo- 2 out of 5 stars

Run at Destruction by Lynda Drews- 3 out of 5 stars

What are you reading??  any must read books I need to put on my list?? 

Random Wednesday

Sorry for the lack of posts since I announced "I'm back!".  Guess it is going to take a while for me to get back into the routine of blogging.

While I was taking my "break from blogging", I thought about a new idea for a regular segment here on the blog.  You know I am obsessed with Pinterest.  I participated A LOT in "Oh How Pinteresting Wednesdays".  But I don't want Pinterest to be just another time suck, I want to actually do things and use the ideas I see on there.  So I am going to try to feature something I've actually done, made, and/or bought as a result of something I have pinned on Pinterest. I'm calling it-

Some of this idea was inspired by the new marketing campaign at work.  Our whole culture at my work has shifted.  I work for Lenovo (we make computers).  Our new tag line is "Lenovo- for those who DO".  The "DO" culture has taken over.  We are all DOers and we make machines for those who DO.  It is everywhere you look from the elevators, to the break room, to our TV commercials, to even the stairwells:

I also recently read this quote:

The world needs dreamers and the world needs doers.  But above all, the world needs dreamers who do.  ~Sarah Ban Breathnach, Simple Abundance: A Daybook of Comfort and Joy, 1996

I think this new feature will be the perfect chance to take that quote to heart.  Pinterest is all about dreams.  Things you aspire to, things you want, things you think are beautiful, things you want to make, dreams you have for the future, things that make you laugh, things that are ingeniously useful.

So look for this weekly feature next Wednesday.  I'm going to have a little link up on the blog.  So pick a pin you love on Pinterest this week and DO something with it.  Next week come back here and share what you did!

In the meantime ...


Also one other random peek into my day- Remember how I was obsessed with the Nancy Cooper trial?  Well, I am about to become obsessed with another trial  Today the trial for the murder of Eve Carson started.  Eve was a student at UNC that was shot and killed in the early morning hours on March 5, 2008.  She was student body president and apparently a wonderful young lady full of such promise.  When she was murdered a few years ago I was very interested in the story because she wasn't that much younger than me and I was just so interested in how and why she was killed.  I got obsessed with finding out more about local gangs because there was talk about a gang connection.  It is just so sad and so frustrating to have lost such a promising young individual for such stupid reasons.  Word to the wise- gangs are stupid.  Crimes like this are stupid.  I really wonder if these guys realize that and will ever feel the conviction and remorse in their heart for what they did.

I've been listening to the trial in the background while working today and her roommate and best friend was on the stand.  The prosecutor asked her what kinds of things her and Eve liked to do together.  She started talking about how they liked to do silly things, read similar books, and were obsessed with their flag football team and she started crying.  It just made me think how horrible it would be to have something like this happen to your best friend.  It is just all so sad.

One guy has already plead guilty and will spend the rest of his life in prison.  The guy on trial now was supposedly his accomplice.  He was underage at the time so he can not face the death penalty.  He is also linked to the murder of a Duke University student.  There seems to be a lot of evidence against him so I don't know how he is going to show he is innocent.  But I am very interested to see what happens.  It is such a sad and infuriating story.

Coming soon...bookshelf bog update, an update on my 30 Before 30 list progress, Black Friday buys, Christmas decorations and more!

Blogging Break is over!

I'm back from my blogging break!  It was a good break.  Sometimes you need to stop some of the noise and business in your life to really hear God.  I am feeling much better. I've been able to accept what happened and God's forgiveness.  And just in case you were wondering I saw on Facebook that the couple involved seems to be doing great, so forgiveness all around!  Not to say I'm not nervous for the next time I will see everyone (I've only hung out with my two closest friends from that group since then.)  But I am putting it behind me for now and moving on.

During the month of November I stopped to think about all I have to be thankful for.  Each day I listed a specific thing I was particularly thankful for that day.  Here is my list:

1- Jesus
2- my mom
3- my job
4- my bible study
5- my dog Cam
6- Being able to drive to the beach
7- catchphrase
8- holiday sales
9- the beauty of fall
11- ability to work from home
12- smart phones
13- my church
14- my hardwood floors
15- a short work commute
16- great coworkers
17- good tv
18- my cat bailey being home
19- my me-time and freedom of singleness
20- my friends
21- DVR
22- blogs
23- Facebook
24- sidewalks so I can run safely
25- my black Friday shopping partner Mere
26- warm weather
27- time to catch up with old friends
28- free classes at the gym at work
29- biff coming to bible study with me
30- Christmas lights

Other exciting things that happened last month:

that's not me...it's the professionals :)

- I went indoor skydiving as a team building activity at work.  It was kind of cool...made me want to do the real thing though!  I just think someone would have to blind fold me and push me out of the plane!

- I went to the beach for a retreat with my bible study girls.  It is amazing how far our group has come and I was so thankful for the bonding time!  We have had a lot of new girls in the last few weeks.  When I walked in to study on Tuesday it was overwhelming seeing that many girls!  I can't decide if it is a good thing or not.  I think I'm going to miss the intimacy and safety I felt in a smaller group.  If you are in a bible study- how many people are in your group?  do you prefer big groups or small?

- I found a favorite new running spot and only have two weeks left on my 10K training plan.  It has helped that the weather has been so nice!  but this week it turned cold- boo!  I guess I will have to start training on the treadmill or bundle up.  I think some of my friends and I might go to Charleston and do the Cooper River Bridge Run in March.

- I went Black Friday shopping at Wal-Mart for the first time.  I've gone to Target the past two years on Black Friday and let me tell you it is like night and day.  Target is all welcoming and organized and gives you maps to help you find the doorbusters you have on your list.  Wal-Mart is hostile and disorganized and there were people with entire shopping carts full of waffle makers and such.  Seriously what are you going to do with all those $3 waffle makers?  I will never go back to Wal-Mart for Black Friday just like i will never go back to the outlet malls on Black Friday after last year's shopping experience.  Some things are just not worth it.

ok, I will stop there for now.  But I am going to try to catch up on my Bookshelf Blog tomorrow and my list progress.  I also can't wait to tell you about some of my Black Friday purchases, Christmas decorations and more! 

I've missed you all and it feels good to be back!