My Ring

I took your advice, mom. I got out of the house and took a walk. I brought my camera along and took some pictures of my engagement ring. It was great to walk around outside and it was actually pretty nice out! I came out with some pretty good ring shots, despite not having a macro lens. Here are my favorites!

just a little love for tacori ;)

(yes, i would love to take shots of YOUR ring if you would like sometime! just ask :))

Soul Reminder

I think this is an appropriate post, since Christmas just happened. 

Jim Elliot journaled on Dec. 27, "The practice at Christmas has gotten to be such a commercialized hoax that I will be sincerely glad when all good Christians abandon it... Desire for the earth was increased and enlarged, still I recognized that were it sated I would not be at rest." 

Then, this is for all of those like me who are constantly longing for the next thing, like I have been looking at houses and puppies and vacations recently. "Let me read this page when I get to hungering after civilization's excitements and excesses in some lonely place. Take counsel, then, my soul, the whole of life is vanity and you would be no happier in brighter atmospheres. Woe and loneliness may be miserable, but hollow happiness and many in a crowd are much more so."

Take that, materialism! Thanks Jim :)

(Quotes taken from Shadow of the Almighty)

I Won!!!

A few months ago I started doing these online surveys. I don't remember how I found out about it, but I liked the system because it didn't seem like a scam. Each time you take a survey you get a certain amount of points, and then you enter the points into a drawing for a prize of your choice. I decided that every time I would do it I would choose one of the prizes that has the least number of points already put into it, and where the drawing only lasts one day, in order to have better odds of winning. 

Over Christmas break I collected 3 different surveys in my inbox - normally I only get about one per week. I don't like doing the surveys that much because they're about what you have purchased in the last week, month, or 3 months, and it's hard to remember slash gets repetitive. But I decided I might as well do all of them and accumulate a ton of points to enter into a drawing. I complained about doing them and Whit told me this should be the last time I do it if I don't win, since I came out with so many points. 

...and I ended up winning!! So in a few weeks I will get two movie tickets and a magazine subscription. I'm so excited!! It's nothing huge but totally worth doing a few surveys every now and then to get fun, free stuff! Yay :)

Random Facts I Feel Like Sharing

These things have either been on my mind for awhile, or I recently heard people wondering about them which makes me want to share.

Organic milk sounds gross if you don't know what it is, but it just means that the cows the milk comes from aren't pumped with hormones or eat grass laced with nasty pesticides. Try it, it tastes exactly the same.

Global Warming is a commonly misunderstood term that actually stands for Global Climate Change. When summers are excruciatingly hot and winters are scattered with freak snowstorms, that's Global Climate Change on course, doing its thing. (The science behind it is that the ozone layer heats up (hence the warming), causing weather to be more extreme - summers AND winters.) So there, everyone who says freakishly cold winters are a disproof for global warming, you're wrong - it actually supports it!

Anyone in need of a shampoo for damaged hair, you should try Arbonne. Being a blonde (I still adamantly claim to be a dark blonde) and a swimmer who used a straight iron, I was on the search for years for a shampoo that would transform my frazzled locks into normal soft hair. Arbonne has been the only thing to work on my hair, and I'm proud to say that it only took a few months for the metamorphosis to take place. Now that I've been using it for a few years my hair is soft and healthy. If you'd like to try some, let me know and I can get you a sample!

You might already know that I download my desktop backgrounds from Interfacelift.com. I was so proud of a picture I took this fall because it looked exactly like something you could download from the website! After taking awhile to figure out how to change my photo to the proper dimensions, I submitted it, but it didn't get enough votes to become available as a desktop. I'm still proud of it though, and obviously be willing to share it with anyone who is looking for a background next fall. :)

If I try to read in bed (and where else would I read?), I WILL fall asleep. It's not that random, but it is a fact.

I was super excited to blog every day for the 25 Days of Christmas, but it seemed my joy in that endeavor was only slightly more far-reaching than myself. I was hoping for more comments/following, but oh well, all the better to blog for myself and not for others. And thank you to all those who do read & comment! I appreciate it. :)

Since this is a random post, instead of wishing you a happy Monday, I'll wish you a happy Happy Lemur Day, for old times' sake.

Goals for January

These are simple, but hey, you're supposed to actually be able to accomplish your goals. Let's do it!

Read 400 pages of Atlas Shrugged so I'll be halfway done (this one is pushing it, but we'll see)

Read the Hunger Games (don't think it's actually going to happen unless I set AS aside)

Play piano every day (do the exercises in the Funk Keyboard book I have...oh yeah)

Get a bass!!

Get to 85% (just have to trust the Lord on this one)

Finish the book I'm reading for training

Do a quiet time EVERY day and pray

Listen better to Whit & do more fun things together where we are actually interacting

Run once a week, do sit-ups & push-ups another time during the week, and stretch often

Take one kind of vitamin every day

Be relaxed, don't stress

New Year, New Resolutions

I was debating whether to post this or not, but I figured I might as well. It's easier to accomplish goals after clearly laying them out. When I started thinking about my "resolutions" for 2012, it ended up being more of trends of who I want to be and what I want my life to look like. So below are the things I want to work towards, not necessarily change, but at least work on or continue doing. I think 2012 will be a great year. It just sounds like it will be. :) I am also appreciating my life more and realizing how blessed I am, and trying to be thankful for everything God has given me.

Here's what I want this year to look like:

Better attitude - about marriage (work hard on focusing on Whit instead of myself, patience, respect, be sacrificial, listen well) and about life (be THANKFUL instead of complaining, don't get stressed out! there's no need to worry or be angry)

Live a worthwhile life - aka be productive and not waste so much time on the internet or sleeping (continue to pursue hobbies - photography, reading, and blogging, and pursue ones I'm not currently trying hard at - music, learning languages)

Grow spiritually - I feel like I've just been doing the minimum. My relationship with God certainly exists, but it's not always awesome (daily quiet time, PRAY daily, journal thoughts/prayers, make an effort to give myself to the Spirit and change)

Becoming an adult - I'm feeling more confident in my adulthood as I enter my second year of marriage (being a loving wife, being responsible, eating healthy, taking more risks in fashion to look more age and style appropriate)

Being healthy - exercise, stretch, eat healthy, take vitamins, etc.

And some other practical things I want to see happen this year:

Finish raising support!! Party!

Travel - vacation and weddings

See Phish - hopefully at Hampton or a festival

Get a sweet apartment that Whit and I both love

Read (aka finish) about 1 book per month - including fiction, spiritual, investing, and politics/environment

2011

I liked reading other people's posts like these, so if you like reading them too, here is my 2011 list.

Travel:

-Drove cross-country from Baltimore, MD to Fort Collins, CO – visited 6 new states along the way (Indiana, Iowa, Nebraska, Wyoming, Kansas, Missouri)

-Went to NYC for the first time

-Went to New Jersey for the first time

-Took our first regular vacation married (after honeymoon) to Saint Marys, GA

-Had our first weekend getaway (for our anniversary – Richmond)

Events:

-Saw 7 Phish shows – Holmdel, NJ; Columbia, MD; Camden, NJ; NY, NY

-Attended 9 weddings in 7 cities

-Saw Brian Regan & Cirque du Soleil

-Went to BG Christmas Town & Kings Dominion

-Hiked three trails in the Rocky Mountains

Learned:

-Survived and learned to rely on the Lord during a trip where I felt more unsafe that I had ever felt before in my life (spring break trip to Charleston, WV)

-Learned that I can run if I try – trained for a 5k

-Learned how to manage and spend our money wisely (Dave Ramsey: Financial Peace & Matt Bell: Money Purpose Joy)

-Bought my first interchangeable lens camera & learned about photography & how to shoot manually

-Learned to play chess

Work:

-Interned at Virginia Tech

-Decided to join staff and work at the regional office

-Joined staff & started raising support

-Got to 74 percent of our support raised

Accomplishments:

-Finished the longest book I’ve ever read besides the Bible (Count of Monte Cristo)

-Completed three seminary classes (New Testament Survey, Bible Study Methods, & Intro to Christian Theology)

-Became an aunt and uncle for the first time! (I am including Whit in this one if you couldn't tell, haha)

-Baked a pie & tart for the first time

-Made whipped cream from scratch (it was delicious!)

Other:

-Realized that my favorite instrument is the bass

-Swam again, albeit for only a few times

-Started playing piano again

-Read fiction on my own for the first time in many years

-Enjoyed our first full year married!

Praise the Lord for all that He helped me do, all credit and thanks for a great year go to Him!!