Thursday, January 31, 2008

95th post...95 things...

In honor of my 95th post, I thought I'd post 95 random things...if I get that far...
1. I like birthdays.
2. My husband's name is Nathan.
3. I love Nathan.
4. I love kids.
5. I like pizza.
6. I didn't like pizza for the first 20 years of my life.
7. I like my bed.
8. I like summer.
9. I don't really like winter.
10. Nathan and I got snowed in in Morris (1/2 hour from home) on Monday night.
11. My favorite class in high school was calculus.
12. I thought about going into pharmacy after high school and then missed the deadline for my scholarship claim and decided against it (took it as a God-thing, which I still think it was).
13. My best friend Marsha is getting married in April!
14. My sister-in-law is getting married in March!
15. I have one sister and one brother.
16. I was blessed this week by an encouraging word from a youth's parent.
17. Encouragement is so important in life...I couldn't live without it.
18. I like the color green...especially when it is outside...and I'm not talking about green house paint.
19. Nathan is picking up his brand new, 80G ipod as I type.
20. Allowances are wonderful.
21. My allowance is going to Creative Memories scrapbooking supplies to try to buy my stock off of myself.
22. I like scrapbooking.
23. My sister and I finished my parents' scrapbook on Monday night (before we got stormed in).
24. The toy I always wanted when I was a kid was a "Baby Alive" doll.
25. I love cooking.
26. I hate deciding what to cook.
27. I like to bake too.
28. I even like to clean the house.
29. I only like to clean the house when I have time to clean the house.
30. I have never considered myself very creative.
31. I like to read.
32. I do not like to decorate for or organize special events.
33. I do not like to draw.
34. I do not like to get my hands dirty with gritty stuff.
35. As an adult, I always hoped I'd be taller.
36. I love sunshine.
37. I grew up playing Super Nintendo and still enjoy the occasional game, when the system decides to work.
38. I write...journal, poetry, short stories...
39. I could look at pictures for days and not get bored.
40. I love other cultures, especially when they are in their natural setting.
41. I'd love to have money to travel.
42. I don't enjoy swimming.
43. I do enjoy hot tubs.
44. I enjoy long, hot showers more.
45. I'm pretty impressed if anyone is still reading this.
46. My dog, Lennox, needs a bath.
47. I don't like phones very much, but I couldn't live without them.
48. When I turn on the tv, the only channels I check for good shows are TLC, HGTV, W-network and Slice.
49. When I get stressed with our finances, I close Excel and open Solitaire.
50. I like candles.
51. I like trees.
52. Trees give a sense of privacy.
53. There are no privacy trees where I live.
54. I wish that I was a Starbucks coffee snob.
55. I wish that I was a nice Starbucks coffee snob.
56. When I eat out in the food court, I either get Arby's or Chinese.
57-70. I like my friends (but won't name them all here).
71. I used to think that the number "eleven" should be said "eleventeen".
72. I still think so.
73. Nathan is amazing with photoshop.
74. Point form like this is hard to read.
75. Ziploc bags were a great idea.
76. I am going to have a "Nathan's special" ham sandwich for lunch.
77. If you've never had a "Nathan's special" and don't understand, you'll have to come for a visit.
78. Nathan is an excellent cook, but I have to encourage this gift routinely if I want him to believe me.
79. Sometimes I forget that in the "olden days" they actually did live in color, despite the pictures being in greyscale.
80. The number where I run out of things to say.
81. The number where I decide to keep going anyway.
82. I will go to work this afternoon.
83. I will come home and make supper.
84. I will then have a few minutes before some jr youth girls start showing up for our small group Bible study.
85. The year I was born.
86. Tomorrow night is date night!
87. Sunday is Superbowl with friends aka guys watch, girls talk.
88. My favorite color is yellow...no, blue...no, green...wait, it's red... no, actually it's grey, no, purple, no...
89. I am not terribly decisive.
90. I guess I'm scared that if I make a decision, people might disagree with me.
91. Post-it's were another great invention.
92. I am equally fond of Post-it flags.
93. I teach piano lessons weekly and LOVE it!
94. The year I was last in the country of my birth.
95. The number of posts I have now completed.

Saturday, January 19, 2008

These days...

Eight random things about life right now:

1. Nathan's little brother is out for a visit this weekend. It's fun to have an extra person around the house...Lennox really enjoys him too. He seems to enjoy both of our brothers alot! Maybe this is a sign that they'll make good uncles when the time comes to expand???

2. It is REALLY cold outside! I plan each of my trips outside so that I don't forget anything and have to go out again. I really dislike the cold. I've decided I can handle Canadian winters and snow, as long as it doesn't get any colder than -10 degrees...windchill factored in...

3. I just baked chocolate chip cookies before I came here but I left the second batch in too long so they are more "golden brown" than "gooey".

4. My sister and I are making a scrapbook for my parents for their 25th wedding anniversary (which was last July). We are putting all (most) of their pictures into one (massive) album. It's been alot of fun to work on together and we are almost done!

5. Nathan is taking a class at CMU this semester and really enjoying it. Being back at school has really reminded him how much he likes to think and learn and be stretched. Maybe I should think about taking some kind of class...

6. I am constantly on the lookout for different decorating things I can do with our house that are cost-effective but that will change the look of our house inside. I think the next project will be painting our bedroom. We got new bedding ("iced pear" sheets with a chocolate brown duvet) a few months ago and it doesn't go great with the color of the walls (deep red). I'm thinking a pale yellow/ivory color. Any other suggestions?

7. I am currently in the middle of reading Kite Runner with Nathan. I am reading it out loud to him (usually while we drive somewhere) and it's a really good book so far! We got it for Christmas from Nate's brother. I would definitely recommend it.

8. The place where I work is in the middle of some renovations! When it is done, I will have my very own, brand-new office! I am pretty excited about that. I am also going to be working more hours because one of the other lumber yards here in town just closed, so we have become much busier! Whoo-hoo! I love my job!

Well, there you have it. A small update on my life. There's not much happening but we're terribly busy. Does that make sense to anyone else?

Monday, January 07, 2008

A stranger visited me this week...

This has been a strange week for me. See, I'm sick. I NEVER get sick! Well, I get the odd headache or stomach cramp or whatever, but days of dizzy-ness and nauseousness and icky-ness just don't usually happen to me! Today I've just felt horrible! And now, for those of you who are putting two and two together, no, we're NOT pregnant! I got my wisdom teeth out on January 3rd and have been struggling to heal ever since. I thought I would be fine...not phased at all! But there I am, four days later, and still not feeling like I can even walk to work on my own, never mind drive! My mouth hasn't given me much grief, but, like I said, I've been dizzy and nauseous and just completely out of it! Maybe my best bet is to stay completely drugged on those T3's they have me on! Lately, since the actual pain hasn't been too bad, I've been trying to wean myself off the pain meds, but the other "icky-ness" has picked up, so maybe it's my body's way of saying, "More drugs, please!" Who knows? All I know is that my body doesn't usually respond like this and I'm sick of being sick. Then again, I can't complain. I have a wonderful husband who takes such good care of me and a dog who looks at me with the most worried expression on his face when I moan and cry in agony. I've got nothing to complain about at all!

So how was everyone's Christmas? Mine was ok. I'm pretty sure I already wrote about it before Chrsitmas was over because it was basically over for me, but the rest of the season also went well. Our youth retreat in Minneapolis went really well. Our youth seemed to love it (the ones who weren't throwing up the whole weekend-poor kids!)...I think it was a wonderful spiritual feast for everyone who was there that weekend.

Since being back, I haven't been up to much. I've gotten my wisdom teeth out and then basically laid around the house. I've had lots of time to think, though, which I usually enjoy quite a bit. I've been thinking about what my youth involvement will look like in 2008. Also, what my Creative Memories business plan will look like this year. (If anyone would like me to come out and do a party or Get-Together for them and some friends at their place, please let me know! It could be so much fun! I have this great idea for some paper folding albums that we could do, great for people who don't scrapbook!) And, because I've been doing alot of my thinking and healing on the couch in front of the tv, I've got a bunch of decorating ideas for our house! *sigh* Unfortunately those take money...but paint and trim can go a long way in the name of decorating, no?

So these have been my thoughts lately. There's still not much new, but it's my feeble attempt at staying current, for those of us out there who are still blogging! Hopefully next time I post I will be slightly less drugged and will make a bit more sense or at least follow more of a train of thought!

Have a great week!