...it had an uncanny resemblance to water...
...and yet it had a solid consistency...
...I seem to remember it from my days in Michigan...
...but here, in the South, it inspires both awe and fear...
This morning, I came across this quote by Henry David Thoreau:
This really struck a chord with me, because I have been feeling a little bogged down by the "petty" little things that make up a typical day for me. Sometimes it's good to be reminded that there is more to life than the "lather, rinse, repeat" type of schedule that so many of us follow. Not to say that it's bad to have a routine, but sometimes I just want to take a day off, sleep in and do absolutely nothing on a Wednesday. Know what I mean?
So here's a challenge for the day: Try to pinpoint a few of the "great and worthy" things that fill your life with purpose. Try not to focus on the little details, but instead keep your sights on the big picture.
See that nifty little button over there on the right, with the lovely copy-and-paste-able text box underneath it? (That took me way too long to figure out, by the way!) That's right, readers. I have decided to start my very own blog carnival. Look for my first Thankful Thursday post on.. well, Thursday!
I hope you all are having a fabulous week!
Guess who ate three pieces of pizza and several breadsticks in one sitting over the weekend? And guess who indulged in some Mrs. Fields' white chocolate macadamia nut cookies that same day? Not me! It was also not me who justified those bad eating habits by working out on the Wii. Surely the two cancel each other out, right?
I certainly did not roll out of bed extremely late on Sunday and almost miss church because of it. I would never do that! My internal body clock always wakes me up in time, and I always remember to set an alarm, just in case it doesn't.
What have you not been up to lately? Write your own Not Me Monday post and go show it off at MckMama's blog!
Today my husband and I watched two movies together.
Pan's Labyrinth.
Visually interesting, but.. strange.
And sometimes a little confusing.
The Invention of Lying.
Funny, but not really my style.
We also ate pizza and played the
I did my
I got my hair cut at a local salon.
Tried a new stylist.
She's the third I've been to at this particular place.
Sweet girl, but went a bit shorter than I asked her to.
I'm really liking the cut, though.
It's growing on me. (No pun intended)
***
Change of subject: Let's talk Conan.
O'Brien, that is.
I love that man. I really do. I am "Team CoCo" all the way.
Even though NBC screwed him, I'm sure he'll be just fine.
I expect to see him on a new channel (Fox, perhaps?) sometime in the next year.
***
Things I'm loving today:
My husband.
Sleeping in.
Mrs. Fields' White Chunk Macadamia cookies.
Snuggly puppies.
Laughter.
More to come...
Confession time: Lately I have become a message board nerd. I joined the boards at The Nest quite some time ago, and just recently I went back to see what was going on. I may have gotten a little addicted. :)
Last night, I was particularly bored and wandered over to the Baby Names board at The Nest's companion site, The Bump. I wrote a post entitled "Let me name your baby." I offered to follow any rules, stipulations, and must-haves, and provide a first and middle name to each mommy or mommy-to-be who asked.
Over the past couple days, I have come up with names for about 30 women, and unless they were just being nice, all of them had great reactions to the names I chose! One lady even said, "You should start a blog or something and charge people a buck a pop." Wow, what a compliment!
So, apparently I have this special skill for naming other peoples' babies (or phantom babies, as the case may be). Just a fun little tidbit I thought I'd share. If any of my readers out there are looking for baby names, feel free to post and I'd be glad to offer my services. ha!
And 4 hours isn't that long, right?
Especially considering the fact that I spend approximately 11 hours each day doing something work related (when you factor in the 1 hour commute each way, that is).
Phew. It's exhausting!
You know what else is exhausting?
Loneliness.
My Justin is away for work. He left Monday and will return late Friday night.
I don't know what it is, but when I'm by myself for extended periods of time, I just feel...
unmotivated.
bored.
blah.
I guess you could say I'm a people person.
I'm at my best when I'm around people I love.
I think I hear the sink dripping.
Better go check it out before I leave for work.
Oh, Thursday. Will you just hurry up already?
Tonight, I had a refreshingly wonderful dinner out with a good friend. It was the perfect end to a nice, long, weekend (thanks to the fact that I had today off). In the past few days, I have spent some great quality time with my very own Prince Charming, painted my nails a fabulous red, gotten the camera back out and got some pretty good shots (at least in my newbie opinion), and caught up on some much needed sleep. My poor hubby was attacked mid-weekend with a sinus infection, so we had to make the most of our days inside, but it turned out to be pretty fun!
Today we celebrated my sister-in-law, Shannon's birthday. It was great fun! We had a big, delicious family lunch at Olive Garden in Columbia, and then rode over to Royal Z lanes for a game of bowling. I was the only one to break 100; I think my final score was 115. (Well, my mother-in-law, Brenda, also got a high score, but she was on the lane with bumpers.) Emily (the cutest niece in the world) even got to bowl, too. A nice man from the lane next to us, who was obviously a league bowler, and a regular at this particular alley, brought over a little ramp thingie so that Emily could push her ball down it and onto the lane. She *loved* said ramp thingie, and it was fun to watch her jump up and down and giggle after she took each turn.
After lunch and bowling, we went back to Mom and Dad Vaughan's house, and had cake and ice cream in honor of the birthday girl. We ate our dessert and watched old home movies, which was hilarious, to say the least. We also laughed at Emily, who stole the show by walking around in a pair of kid-sized pink sunglasses with a super-serious expression on her face. I think she was just tired, but it totally looked like she was rocking the glasses in classic supermodel style.
And now, here I sit on my couch, having just finished my second piece of German chocolate birthday cake (thanks, Momma Vaughan, for giving us some to take home!), contemplating all the things I haven't gotten done this weekend. First on the agenda tonight: laundry. We are down to the last two towels in the house, so it's definitely time. More to come! ♥
PS - The hubs and I went on a hot date last night to see Up in the Air. It was awesome, and I highly recommend it! Leave the kids at home, though. :)
And now, the fun part - I get to nominate 10 more bloggers to receive the Lemonade Stand so that they can go share it with others, too. So, without further ado, give it up for these awesome bloggers!
Melanie @ Adorkable
Bev @ A Baby? Maybe...
Emily @ Smith Gallery Photography
Jess @ Jessica Rabon Lewis Photography
Lindsay @ Apricots Today
Bethany @ Demani, Seren & Mekai
MckMama @ MckMama
Matt @ matt, liz & madeline
Amy @ Pregnancy Wishes, Baby Spit Dreams
Angie @ Dan and Angie
Kudos to you all!
(Official award rules... put the lemonade logo on your blog or within your post, nominate at least ten blogs with great attitude or gratitude, link the nominees within your post, let the nominees know they have received this award by commenting on their blog, share the love and link to the person from whom you received this award)
Justin and I went on an adventure this Christmas. On December 23rd, at approximately 5:30 in the morning, we loaded up our luggage and our dog, Ellie, and we began the long drive to Michigan. And I do mean long. We made great time, and arrived in 12 hours flat. Ellie was so good in the car; sometimes we even forgot she was in the car with us. We really enjoyed being together, too- we talked, sang, laughed, and slept (well, he did). It was smooth sailing all the way there.
UNTIL...
No, just kidding. It really was a very enjoyable trip. :) Gotcha!
We arrived to find my parents' house empty. We had let Dad in on the surprise ahead of time, but nobody else knew, so no one was in a hurry to come home that afternoon. But, one after the other, they all came in, and were ecstatic to find us already there, two days earlier than we had originally planned. Mom's reaction was priceless. Justin and I were hiding behind the Christmas tree in the living room, and we heard the door open, followed by a high-pitched "Is Katie here?? ... That's Ellie, isn't it? Are they here?!?" (Our Ellie had been standing in the front bay window. She gave us away!) When we came out, Mom hugged us about 5 times in a row and said something like "I'm so glad you're here! I can't believe it! You're early! I thought we weren't going to see you for two more days! I can't believe you're here! Ohhh!!"
Our 9-day trip was a bit of a whirlwind. We spent time with my family, laughing and playing games and eating and taking pictures and laughing some more. We saw SNOW, which, of course, gave me the warm fuzzies. We saw old friends and made some new ones, and my siblings and I lead worship at the church my Dad pastors. We also attended the humongous Christmas party for my mom's side of the family (if you don't know, she is one of seven children, and the family is constantly multiplying!) It was such a huge blessing to be able to see everyone. We had a great time!
We also celebrated my most favorite time of the year together, and that was the best of all. Even though we aren't kids anymore, Dad read us "The Night Before Christmas" on Christmas Eve, and we each opened one gift. Christmas morning, Justin and I were the first ones up, and we woke everyone up to have breakfast and open presents. It felt just like my childhood, except that this time, my darling husband was there with us. :)
Our last day there was on New Year's Eve, and we rang in the new year with good food, hilarious party games, and of course, a midnight toast and some kisses.
I don't know why, but this trip was much more meaningful than some of the others we have taken. We always have a great time with my family, but this time I really savored every moment, and made mental notes about the family house, the family dog, and my hometown, which just happens to look its best underneath a blanket of fresh, sparkly snow.
Maybe it's because I have a feeling that 2010 is going to be big. I can't wait to see what God has in store.
