Good Things: June 2010

Here goes all the awesome of June:

1- felt rested when I woke up
2- dinner at Becky's
3- my last ever Thursday night meeting for work!
4- Invictus -- pretty good movie
5- Kilwin's ice cream.  Do I need to say more?
6- lots going through my head
7- CPK w/ Laura -- I really enjoy that girl
8- bible study ended early, GLEE finale
9-  Beauty and the Beast at the DPAC
10- home to clean and organizer, that always makes me feel good
11- Virginia -- man, do I love the smell of salt air
12- mom's picnic for work
13- lazy day, nice dinner with the rents for mom's birthday
14- unpacked, the Pocketbook App
15- I love Girl Scouts -- they are some smart girls!
16- Day Camp
17- Tiffany was in town!  yea for seeing a friend for the first time in forever
18- got a night at home... lots done... and I slept on the couch!  I love sleeping on the couch
19- the Back to School Carnival went off without much of a hitch
20- baby sitting is good money
21- cleaned out my car -- boy did it need it!
22- BJ's for grocery shopping -- got lots for my money!
23- PURGED! 
24- scrapbooked :-)
25- Criminal Minds is my new show; it is disturbing but fascinating
26- Little Point Sable!!! :-), oh and maple sugar candy
27- Ece and Mete, they are a pretty cute cousins
28- Met baby Gabe!
29- Dune Buggy Ride at Silver Lake, MI
30- got good time with the mom in the car

With all that I have done this past month... maybe that means I should update this blog.  Not sure why I am not.  I have been isolating myself a lot lately and I am not sure why.  Trying to think through that...

Life is good, though!  I start school in about six weeks and I get more excited each day.  As well, more nervous...  Hope you all are staying cool.  It is HOT here.

Good Things: May 2010

I don't even know where I have been, blogosphere.  Good thing I really only do this for myself.  Here are my Good Things for May!

1- Dinner in Charleston, on the rooftop.  The Breeze and nice weather was more than I could ask for.
2- Boone Hall Plantation
3- 1st sunburn of the summer... not a great thing... but I love that it means warm weather is here
4- Home...
5- God provides (as always)!  My Boss takes me going back to school well; I finish with my pre-req class.
6- My CEO has a project she wants me to work on as my part-time position!  God is so good!
7- Shag Dancing :-)
8- Strawberry picking -- they were everywhere
9- filled out the FASFA -- dude, it was so much easier than I thought!
10- ...
11- Bible Study... just left encouraged
12- WICKED!  Need I say more?
13- very productive day at work... and dinner at Chipotle
14- orientation for school -- it is becoming so real!
15- lots of cleaning... boy did my apartment need it!
16- finished Angie Smith's book -- "I Will Carry You" -- easy read, but very encouraging
17- apt stuff not going super well... but lots of laughter with Laura
18- lots of new Glee music! :-), Wakey! Wakey! -- get their CD, it is so worth it!
19- Office Clean out day -- AWESOME!  My new clean office looks amazing
20- good time with Salem -- I have some great volunteers
21- Went to the NC Ag Fest... fun times! 
22- Lara and Bryan's Wedding -- Congrats!
23- found some quiet time
24- didn't have to work as late as I had anticipated
25- Glee and NCIS -- I lead such a sad life...
26- stared a new Scrapbook page... yea for creativity
27- flowers from my Wake 19 volunteers
28- check delivered
29- CASWELL!!! The sun came out and I got some quality time on the beach! :-)
30- shagging at Caswell... the awkward abounds, but sometimes that can be awesome.  Got to teach Josh Wilson and his wife! :-)
31- quality time with Laura.

Happy June!  Hope everyone has some awesome summer plans!

Good Things: April 2010

A couple of days late, but I was out of town... is that an ok excuse?  Anyway, here is what was awesome about April 2010.

1- no class :-)
2- the salt air; drove to Va Beach and was able to enjoy one of my favorite smells.
3- the COTTAGE!  It is done... and gorgeous
4- first fire at the cottage.  :-) such memories of an awesome summer vacation spot.  Can't wait to spend time at our very own family cottage.
5- after a LONG delay in Detroit I made it home.
6- SLEEP
7- What wasn't good about this day? learned I had an interview for Grad School, learned I got a raise, AND my new laptop came!
8- Interview at Meredith -- I thought it went ok.
9- a nice quiet evening
10- fresh pineapple! YUM!
11- I GOT INTO GRAD SCHOOL!!!
12- started new Bible Study
13- Glee returned... and it was awesome! :-)
14- time to myself!
15- presentation for class... went pretty well!
16- Pizza House. that should be enough. But it was even more awesome because I just enjoyed being with some awesome people!
17- Jenn's Baby Shower... and I think it went pretty well.
18- quality time with Jenn
19- LOTS of leasing options...
20- Glee Night w/ Teal and Laurie.  It doesn't get much better
21- dinner w/ Lowther.  AND i won the iTouch.
22- my volunteers tell me you are the best membership director.
23- lazy night... and boy did I need it!
24- got lots done... including vacuuming my car.  Is it sad that might have been the first time I did since I bought it three years ago?
25- felt loved at church
26- transition looks better than I thought.... and the iTouch came! I love new toys!
27- was able to just lounge in my pj's... sometimes that is the best
28- dinner at the Nieman's... fresh strawberries!
29- NO Jury Duty!
30- Joy Prom!

Yea... it has been a good month!  Now for summer to begin.  I'm ready!  Are you?

Good Things: March 2010

I think this is my favorite part of the month -- looking back at all of the good and fun things in my life!

1- Chick fil a
2- NCIS marathon at home ... yea, I need a life
3- wrote the grad school essays... one step closer
4- SUN!!! My Inbox was pretty at work (less than 5)
5- Oasis event at church... Square Dancing.
6- The Wake 23 Sweetheart Dance
7- laziness ALL day! :-)
8- unexpected time at home for just me
9- took some comp time and it was just beautiful... sun was shining, I was able to have the windows open and I enjoyed doing catch up stuff
10- Niemans!
11- chocolate milkshake... I just needed one, you know?
12- Scrapbooked!
13- "perfect Saturday" -- quiet morning, cleaned, lunch @ CPK, relaxed in the afternoon, walked, Game Night at Becky's
14- Cookie Sale ended!  went hiking in Eno St. Park
15- got my taxes done... FOR FREE... yea for getting money back!
16- dinner w/ Meredith!
17- took a walk at lunchtime
18- NCIS in the morning
19- got asked out to lunch by a 4 year old... amazing what will make your day
20- Ross is here!  Umstead, Rita's for free Italian Ice, Mellow Mushroom
21- more scrapbooking!
22- MEW Banquet -- laughter, lots of fun time with the girls
23- got my federal tax return!  spent it on books for the cottage and paid of some more debt!
24- B-E-A-Utiful DAY!  went for a walk to just enjoy the Spring weather
25- yummy... baked potato for lunch
26- Glee Night #3 with the girls!
27- Angela surprised me!  Spring Fling in Apex
28- dreamt about a tropical beach vacation w/ Laura... thinking we may actually do it.  Now to be economical or go big?
29- dinner w/ Anna -- just lots of good convo
30- phone date w/ Christine
31- Last Song... yes I went to see it the day it opened... no judgment.  It wasn't too bad!

Friends, what has your month been like?  Happy April!

Good Things: Feb 2010

Another month has arrived!  Do you remember being little and waking up and saying "Ribbit, Ribbit" for good luck?  No?  I am the only one -- oops. 

Anyway -- here is my list of good things from February.

1- Snow Day! worked from home :-)
2- Dinner at Moe's w/ Becky -- and it was FREE!
3- Teal and Laurie came to the Gathering.
4- up at 6, out of the house at 7; didn't get home until 10 -- but I survived.  That was good, right?
5- Kanki for dinner!
6- Shrimp Bread from Lucky 32.  It was delicious -- don't judge by the name.
7- Superbowl -- fun time hanging out with friends
8- MEW -- always good to be in the Word
9- dinner @ Chris's with friends
10- I got caught up with life!!!
11- Belle got a new t-shirt.  She looked stylin'. (I'll try to remember to post a picture)
12- Keli kept me calm on one heck of a night :-).  Dinner @ CPK
13- Cookie Delivery Day -- despite starting late, we ended ahead of schedule!
14- took a nap :-) gift from Laura :-)
15- social w/ the MEW girls.  lots of laughter about lists, spam, and other such random things.
16- took a comp day!
17- Chili's with the roomies
18- chocolate milkshake (which I had been craving all day so it just made my day)
19- watched the Olympics -- snowboarders are crazy.  Have you noticed that?
20- lots of fun and random things; lunch @ Carolina Cafe, hanging out with Becky, and dinner to celebrate Doug's bday
21- lots of laughter after a great Baptism service
22- my Inbox didn't explode upon opening up at work!  seriously... I only had 20ish new emails!
23- took a night for ME!!!
24- started writing my essays for my grad school application.
25- lunch w/ Deanna
26- Missions Dinner at church -- awesome to hear from a girl who at 20 raised 50,000 to build an orphange/home for street kids in Uganda. 
27- Glee-ful night w/ the girls from Duke!
28- lots done around the apartment, made me feel good -- now I can hit the ground running for my crazy week ahead!

Quick question -- why do most of my good things center around food?  I need to work on finding good things that aren't food.  That is going to be my goal for this month.

Good Things: January 2010

I am totally going to keep up the Good Things Posts.  I think it is a good thing to look back at the month and rejoice over good things...

So, here is goes.  The Good Things for January 2010:

1- getting better at bananagrams!  Went rollerskating and then had 'dinner' at Waffle House
2- yummy Puppy Chow! girly movie time at Angie's!
3- nap! :-) last day of calm before heading back to work
4- I actually made dinner people!
5- got the apartment to myself, always a blessing
6- The Gathering -- we started a new series that I am excited about; got to talk to fun people!
7- started class!  This is going to be weird
8- survived a LONG day at work -- oh, it was pay day!
9- Princess and the Frog w/ Keli
10- lunch @ Salsarita's -- got to eat with some fun people from Sunday School
11- good night at MEW -- good truth and conviction came out of the night
12- God gave me peace: "It will all be ok."
13- bought Wicked tickets!!
14- i had time to study -- it was again like God was speaking directly to me: "I'll provide the time, you provide the discipline"
15- Glee night w/ Katy :-)
16- hang out time w/ Annette!
17- Golden Globes w/ Jenn
18- shopping trip w/ Laura
19- we played Jeopardy in my class -- not even kidding.
20- The Gathering was just plain encouraging.
21- took my test in 11 minutes; still got a 101.
22- no cavaties!!
23- Chad & Reanne get engaged -- fun time with friends celebrating1
24- had to work all day, but I got off early1
25- the video from Beth Moore's study was killer! 
26- productive evening that included a walk, making dinner and get lots done!
27- Fat Daddy's w/ Suzanne
28- despite a lack of planning, my meeting for work went pretty well!
29- fun evening with Laura
30- SNOW!
31- church was cancelled sadly, but it afforded me another lazy and productive day!

Hope everyone had a great January!

Good Things: December

Hard to believe that this is my last Good Things Post for 2009.  And soon I'll have to start writing 2010 (PS -- how are you saying 2010?  twenty-ten or two thousand-ten?).

All in all, I had a great December, although very introverted.  There is something about the end of the year and cold weather that makes me just want to live in my head and stay in my apartment all the time.  IF I went out to be with people, I definitely forced myself. 

Oh well... good things, December 2009:

1- Introverted Time, caught up on all of my favorite shows
2- Camp Mu-sha-ni for possibly my favorite all day staff meeting -- the camp guys planned it and let us do what we like best... talk and crafts!
3- ...
4- Oasis 414: White Christmas- swing dancing! 
5- SICK... boo!  But I made it better by watching Glee all day
6- cleaned room, relaxed, made sure that awful 24 hour bug didn't come back!
7- fun convo with the roomies
8- made the google group for work.  is there anything that Google can't do well? I submit there is not!
9- Phantom of the Opera!
10- wrapped presents for people!
11- On The Incarnation performance at church-- amazing to be reminded of what Christ coming to this earth means!
12- made purses for the Nieman girls! I really like being crafty!
13- one heck of a productive day! lunch w/ Meredith!
14- MEW social -- I really enjoy my Bibly Study girls
15- productive at work :-)
16- dinner at the Niemans!
17- ...
18- SNOW! in North Carolina! stayed warm on the couch with Rachey
19- crafts! this time I made coasters for the grandma and the mom
20- mailed out the last of my Christmas gifts!
21- played LIFE with some pretty cool kids.  I loved that game as a kiddo!
22- home to Va Beach -- Christmas break began.  WAHOO!
23- slept in!!!
24- didn't have to take a vacation day.  Our CEO gave it to us for free!
25- Christmas.  generous parents. Avatar 3D with the family
26- Christy! The Blind Side! delicious dinner with the Thomas family!
27- Brennan, saw the Rotes, headed back to Raleigh to my BED
28- spent a fortune on iTunes with all of my Gift Certificats... and the best part -- it wasn't even half of what I was given!  Wicked Soundtrack, Jericho CD, lots and lots of singles I have been wanting to buy
29- bought Glee on DVD
30- Breyer's Vanilla Bean Ice Cream.  I allowed myself this treat and it is so worth it!
31- New Year's Eve Girls Night -- amazing!

Happy 2010 friends and blog world!

PS- do you know what I noticed while re-reading this post? I love the exclamation mark.  I may need to stop using it -- it looses its effect when used so much.

Good Things: November

Well, it is unbelievably that time of the month again -- time to look back at November and find things to be thankful for!  There are quite a few of them!

1- started listening to Christmas music :-)
2- phone date w/ Christine!
3- dinner w/ Stephanie at Chipotle
4- met w/ the NC State Elementary Ed person... and got so excited to go back to school
5- The Office/Autumn-y party
6- dinner w/ Laurie... man, I love that girl!
7- had a quiet day.  I put together my bookcase and then went to the Daniel Renstorm concert
8- went on a walk w/ Laura and then had Stromboli for dinner
9- one heck of a productive day at work!
10- My Birthday!   I felt so loved!
11- Mellow Mushroom for dinner.  That is all you need to know!
12- another productive, but tiring day.  Realized I have one amazing friend in Laura
13- to the Niemans for dinner -- gave me the Casting Crowns' Christmas CD. 
14- went to my first Corn Maize and then to iHop for dinner
15- had some quality me time; organized my iTunes library which always makes me feel good (yes, I am sad and I know it)
16- bought my Joshua Scrapbook for $4!!!
17- decided to do something I swore I wouldn't... I am putting my cat on kitty kat prozac.  Yes, again I know I am sad.
18- decided to get some time to myself.  Ordered Papa John's for dinner!
19- finished organizing my iPod now that my home computer is back up and running!
20- went to see the midnight showing of New Moon. I can't believe I just admitted that.
21- Jimmy John's.  Man, I miss that place.
22- OMGosh, our cottage is real!  I'll post pictures soon!
23- first day of painting w/ my mom... didn't know I could be that sore!
24- had a Milky Way for dessert... yum!
25- met up w/ one Christine VanSweden while waiting for my dad at the G-Rap airport
26- Thanksgiving and my Dad's birthday.  The food was amazing... turkey... stuffing... mashed potatoes... rolls.
27- Onion Rings w/ dinner made a long day of painting all worth while.
28- done painting the cottage!  (for now!)
29- made it home... I missed that apartment.
30- still loving My Evening Walk Bible Study.  Beth Moore's Esther study rocks... and is so applicable right now.  As well... I love my roommates.  It felt good to be near them, with them, to laugh with them.

November flew by.  I am sure December will, too.  Can't believe we are 24 days away from Christmas and 30 days away from a new year.  How does time fly so quickly?

Good Things: October

Well, we have reached the end of another month. And I must say that the end of the month was just filled with joy and laughter and it has just made me so thankful for life, for friendships, for challenges, for adventures, for everything. I hope your October has been wonderful as well!

1- took refuge in friendships; good people watching at The Office gathering
2- had a good time setting up for Oasis; got to dance! :-)
3- U2 concert. need I really say more?
4- took a nap, had a very quiet evening
5- MEW, just felt welcomed
6- survived the dentist with no crying (which for me is a BIG deal)
7- had Laurie time after the Gathering
8- slept w/ the windows open!
9- quiet time at the apartment :-)
10- people watching in Mount Airy.
11- solid nap time in the car on the way home from Fall Retreat
12- good convo w/ Jenn
13- dinner w/ Meredith T. feels good to be understood!
14- I actually took time and studied for the GRE!
15- Puppy Chow! The Office gathering
16- took a day to myself... went home and took more review time for the GRE
17- Race for the Cure with the family
18- baptisms! went to bed early
19- MEW (FYI-- that stands for My Evening Walk Bible Study)
20- studied some more, began to feel somewhat confident
21- Glee & Real World Road Rule challenge :-)
22- GRE is done!
23- headed to Michigan... fun times in the car with my brother
24- fun friends and hang out time
25- arrived safely home
26- MEW social -- saw why I was with this particular group of women
27- good solid introverted time in apt; OTH marathon
28- Hurricane's Game for work... sometimes my job has some great perks! began school research and became EXCITED about the possibilities!
29- quiet hang out time with the roomies at the apt.
30- good car ride on the way to the Veverka Fall Retreat, just felt like I could feel answer to prayer
31- great time at the retreat... felt included, kayaked around the pond/lake

Lots of great memories for me this month. OH, and I began listening to Christmas music as of Nov 1st. :-)

Happy November, blog world!

Good Things: September

Do I say this every month? How is it ______ already?

Well, I am going to go ahead and say it! How is it already October 1st?!?!? Time flies when you're having fun... or something a long those lines.

Ready for all the good things?

1- dinner at the Niemans -- that almost always makes it a good day!
2- worked from home :-); good convo & laughter w/ the roomies; Missouri showed up randomly at The Gathering
3- ... sadly I don't remember ANYTHING from this day. How does that happen?
4- packed for MAINE! Fell in love w/ Glee
5- MAINE! Michigan WON their 1st game
6- beautiful weather in MAINE! became a pseudo wedding crasher (and if Laura and I had the right outfit we would have walked right on over to the reception)
7- Kayaking in MAINE!
8- home... bags didn't make the connection, but they did make it to us that same night
9- Flat Tire :(, but there was nothing wrong! Got to clean my office
10- LOTS got done at work; was told "you did a great job with that presentation."
11-Cheesecake Factory. Dulche de Leche Cheesecake. Need I say more?
12- Michigan BEAT Notre Dame -- heck yes!
13- Sick Day... missed church!
14- My Evening Walk Bible Study started... Studying Beth Moore's Esther: It's Tough Being a Woman.
15- Worked from home because they were painting my nasty pink walls! Chili's w/ Stephanie
16- got the Ethiopia bug (singles ministry is going and I really, really want to join them)
17- Lilly's Pizza (Yummy!!!), The Office premiered!
18- KANKI
19- Introverted Day, had the apartment to myself! Michigan won... again. Yea 3-0.
20- started the Ververka Class at church (scary, but good); saw baptisms. Have I mentioned how much I love watching baptisms?
21- God confirmed many of my choices
22- got done w/ my evening meeting early. WAHOO! (I worked 4 out 5 nights that week)
23- Glee!
24- lunch w/ Rachel
25- movie with Shorty -- The Informist. Don't go see the movie
26- Wilmington Trip w/ Rachel and Jenn. We got soaked in the rain!
27- Great Day. Enjoyed the Marriage Conference at Church
28- dinner at the Niemans. Began working out with Giggles before work -- feeling great already!
29- dinner at Chipotle with Hugs.
30- Glee! AND... my guilty please, The Real World/Road Rules Challenge is back ON! I am doing the happy dance.

Hope your September was awesome! I have lots of fun things coming up in October: two Fall Retreats, a trip home to walk a 5k, a trip to Michigan, and... the... U2 CONCERT! I might hyperventilate I am so excited. :-) :-) :-)

Good Things: August!

Can anyone explain to me how it is September? If anyone could let me know how time travels so quickly, I would greatly appreciate it.

That being said, Fall seems to have arrived early here in North Carolina. We set a record low yesterday in Raleigh; our high was only 72 and that was at around noon (versus the normal 3 or 4 pm). Has Fall arrived early for any of you?

August has overall been a good month, but it had its very rough start. About mid-month I decided to "pull myself up from the boot straps" and make it good again. Just recently I read this blog post from Donald Miller (one of my favorites) and decide I did the right thing.

Here is the good stuff that August has brought:

1- Jenn and Josh arrive! Mellow Mushroom w/ Jenn, Josh, and Angela; hard part: God said to let go...
2- lunch at Carolina Ale House; hard part: all hope was dashed
3- Hanging Rock... discovered I really like being outdoorsy
4- saw Harry Potter #6
5- I didn't fall apart!
6- COLDPLAY, need I say more?
7- lunch @ Bullock's (yummy southern bbq); hard: began making a new reality
8- had a quiet morning after Jenn and Josh left
9- dinner & a movie at Amanda's
10- felt like I could handle my new reality
11- dinner w/ Stephanie at Red Robin
12- very anxious day, but this is when I decided to pull myself up by the boot straps; good thing: I didn't have to go to my all day staff meeting for work!
13- AWESOME last trip to North Hills, I got to dance like a fool!
14- Potluck Dinner, a great convo w/ Anna!
15- study date w/ Rachel
16- dinner at Brian's -- again, felt like I can handle this new reality (which is totally unrelated to Brian)
17- Jenn's B-day Surprise B-day Party :-)
18- Got everything on my "to-do list" for the day DONE!!!
19- laughter with Teal and Laurie
20- had a slow, quiet morning at home
21- worked from home; lunch w/ Rachel; Hurt Locker w/ friends
22- Productive, Introverted Day -- it was glorious!!!
23- ACTS forum -- so interesting!
24- got my computer back! now, if only I would set it up...
25- dinner w/ Anna
26- Finished work registrations!!! Was able to say "I feel blessed to be single right now." (and I meant it!)
27- saw God's hand at work, He is just allowing things to fall into place and allowing me to continue to succeed!
28- Pei Wei with Katy & Kris; didn't feel stellar so I napped for a while
29- fun, chill hang out time at Amanda's
30- met Reed's mom who is a HOOT! :-)
31- felt crummy, but was still able to be semi-productive

So there you have it! I am working on a post about hope and what it has looked like for me this month; I plan on being pretty dang open with it so maybe some of what I have said here will make more sense.

Hope you August was stellar! Enjoy the Fall weather!

Good Things: July

It has been a hard couple of days and the last thing I want to do is look at my "good things" (yep, I am in one of THOSE moods, where I just want to pout). Especially since I have a feeling that my good things will center around a lot of what has made me feel like BLAH this past week (how is that for cryptic; I am working on an update post).

Anyway, here it goes:

1- The Gathering. It was one awesome sermon that night
2- AWESOME night at North Hills; fun times and laughter at Amanda's
3- Topsail Beach trip -- so much fun, good convo with people
4- quality time with Laura
5- dancing at TJ's was great, despite a very emotional afternoon
6- Mellow Mushroom! YUMMY!
7- one hard, but very good conversation with Laura and Rachel
8- really enjoyed my Try-It Troop; good convo w/ Laura
9- got a random pick up line ("just knew I had to dance with you") at North Hills and a phone number -- some one must have been HOT that night ;-)
10- got some packing done
11- Billy and Bethany's wedding :-); we signed our lease!
12- lots of packing fun w/ Rachel; had good convo with Meg and Amanda
13- Building Together, Boylan Bridge for dinner
14- not a great day... got a flat tire. But I came home to Laura and Rachel so that was good
15- one of those "I made it through the day" days
16- some dancing at North Hills... a whole lot more laughing at Amanda's
17- took a day off to begin THE MOVE
18- MOVING DAY! It went smoothly, I had a riding partner in the U-haul AND Brian made us dinner
19- went dancing... as always
20- took a day off... got settled, which felt GOOD
21- met Rachel's Jon :-)
22- ... I don't remember anything from this day. Is that sad?
23- dinner at the Nieman's. always a good time!
24- Tennessee, here I come! I needed to get out of town and this trip was perfect timing! we were able to surprise Jenn and Teal w/ Laurie and it was so encouraging to be around those girls. PS- Texas Roadhouse for dinner. Need I say more?
25- Tennessee: shopping and daiquiris!
26- hard night... just because I have made myself vulnerable. But it was a good night, too
27- Boylan Bridge again for dinner (YUM!)
28- got laundry done (yes, it was that exciting to do so!)
29- The Gathering... felt like people REALLY wanted to talk to me
30- dancing... an ok night... just felt excited (but for what, who knows)
31- Laura's Bday party -- dinner and roller skating. It was so much fun to go roller skating, too!

Yep, just as I thought. Amazing how much can change in a month. Again, I am sorry I am being cryptic. I'll try to process some of what I feel and will let you know what is going on at a later time.

It is nice to smile about all the good things, though! And even better -- it is good to remember that I have amazing friends who have and continue to give me unconditional support. I praise God for that!

Hope July was awesome for you all!

Good Things: June

It's that time of the month again! Here's my "Good Things" for June:

1- quality downtime with Laura and Rachel
2- dinner with Laura Wiggins, good convo w/ the roomie
3- lunch with Suzanne, talked on the phone with Christy (I LOVE that girl)
4- dancing in the rain
5- dinner w/ Rachel
6- AJ 5K... makes me think maybe, just maybe I would like to do a spring triathlon... we'll see
7- dancing at TJ's, does it get any better?
8- No Doubt Concert (man, I did love that band back in the day)
9- dinner for Molly's b-day; "He's Just Not That Into You" w/ Kate and the girls
10- Jenny came to visit!!! (plus, I played hooky at work. Sshh! don't tell anyone)
11- had time to rest at home before my evening work (what a blessing!)
12- minimal time in the office before I headed home
13- Mom's B-day... AND I randomly ran into Joel Box out with the rents
14- a night of dancing I hadn't planned -- was an encouraging night
15- dinner w/ Rachel again... good convo
16- spent the morning at camp (sometimes I really like my job)
17- first trip to Goodberry's... YUMMY!
18- dancing at North Hills...
19- Jonathan and Lizzi get married!
20- EVERYTHING: breakfast at Big Boy's; shopping w/ Jenn and Christine; rest at home; dinner at Pizza House; colliders for lunch; "Bride Wars" -- really it was an awesome day in Ann Arbor
21- brunch with my girls from college
22- nice quiet evening... with some good journaling thrown in
23- I was told "I have a gift with children" :-)
24- cleaned out my car!!! (still need to have it detailed, though)
25- another night of dancing
26- an afternoon of nothing, then Kate and Matt's rehearsal dinner
27- Matt and Kate get married! AND I got a pedicure
28- sadly, this was an off day... but Laura was extremely encouraging and Bethany and Billy's shower was fun
29- Building Together started!!
30- shag dancing... also learning how to let things roll a bit more.

Seriously... do I go dancing a lot? And is it weird that if I go dancing that always makes it a good day?

Hope your June's were great! I also hope that they didn't fly by quite as quickly as mine has. Happy July everyone!!

Good Things: May

Well folks... welcome to June! This post cracked me up... make sure to check out his opinion on it "already being June."

That being said, it is time for me to stop an think "What was so great about May." According to my calendar where I keep track of these things... lots!

1- Oasis 414 event- Shag Dancing. why was it so good? Well, I love to dance... I felt myself around everyone... AND, we went to see Wolverine afterwards
2- I bought my new cell phone. And yes, I love it!
3- whew, what a busy day. I enjoyed it because I actually played kickball -- yea, I know. I never play sports where I have to embarrass myself.
4- finished Twilight...
5- ...
6- ...
7- went Shag Dancing at North Hills. I, of course, danced like a fool. Yep, not surprised.
8- work only a 1/2 day. headed to Va Beach so I could drive to MI with mom. I drove the whole way with the windows down. It was beautiful and I enjoyed it!
9- got to spend some quality time with the grandmas
10- finished New Moon
11- had a great time with my parents
12- found a new apartment, for a great deal. Yea God for working that one out. (remind to tell you all sometime how God has continually proved faithful in the living situations).
13- had a nice restful evening after one crazy weekend
14- another awesome night at North Hills... I of course was on the dance floor quite a bit. :-)
15- Cook Out at Amanda's
16- Strawberry picking... Prayer and Praise night that evening
17- loved the evening service at church
18- dinner at the Niemans! spent much of the time playing games with the girls
19- slept in... was totally worth it
20- dinner w/ Rachel at Neo-China (YUM!)
21- Area 23 Recognitions Night; somehow managed to get everything done on my "to-do" list
22- Vacation Day! Spent it at the beach... and then camped on the beach!
23- Caswell!! spent the afternoon on the beach, talked to people, photo scavenger hunt, great convo w/ Amanda
24- Caswell!! Dancing in the evening, great teaching, Prayer and Praise at the Fort
25- home... great time catching up with Laura once we got home
26- good time w/ Rachel
27- Pizza at B's
28- good solid quiet time... first in quite a while
29- bought TOMs shoes (still waiting for them to come in...); signed up for the GRE; paid a big chunk of a credit card off -- just a good day to feel like I am accomplishing something
30- Sarah Hannich came to NC!!! I spent the day in Winston-Salem with her and her family. What a fun family... and I love just hanging out and talking with Sarai-May
31- kind of a rough day... but had a great time shag dancing at TJ's.

What about you? Have you been having a great time as the weather gets warmer and warmer? I hope so!

Good Things: April

Another month of 2009 has passed us by! Yikes! Where did it go? April was a much better month than March... why? because I wasn't working cra-azy hours! Here is my list of Good Things for April:

1- no April Fools' Joke (I hate being fooled...)
2- dinner date with Jenn Lowther!
3- Laura and I hosted dinner at our apartment... people actually showed! (and it wasn't too awkward)
4- Easter Outreach at Church- had lots of fun hanging with some sweet kiddos; Ravi's b-day party!
5- went to the NC State IM fields and played frisbee. So nice to be outside, the spring here has been beautiful!
6- UNC won the National Championship! Watched it at the Dean Dome in Chapel Hill
7- took a sick day... nice to just sleep all afternoon (although it sucked to feel crappy)
8- my guilty pleasure, The Real World/ Road Rules Challenge began (The Duel II)
9- made some yummy puppy chow for my weekend in Charlotte
10- Charlotte, went to Ikea!
11- the bro came to hang out; evening at Meg's, Cranium was super fun (despite the fact that my team lost)
12- Easter- the family visited and we went to Umstead.
13- worked from home in the afternoon- nice to sit on the couch and get some things done
14- lunch at Chick-fil-a (amazing how just that can make my day)
15- dinner at Chili's w/ Stephanie, Jenn, and Laura
16- Recognitions Night for one of my areas- just ends up being a fun night versus feeling like I am working
17- bought U2 tickets!!!! went to see Bride Wars w/ Laura (pretty good movie)
18- b-day party at Red Robin (not my b-day)
19- just a blah day... took an afternoon nap
20- Tax Rebate arrived- completed Baby Step #2!!!
21- FREE CONE DAY at Ben & Jerry's... yummy!
22- Matt G. didn't go home on American Idol (sue me, I like him!)
23- Friday's w/ my volunteers wasn't all work talk (thank goodness!)
24- slept on the couch (something I like to do, but don't get to very often); sunbathed in the afternoon!
25- Kanki for lunch, Fish Fry at Pullen Park and then downtown Raleigh wandering
26- afternoon spent outside in the sun!
27- dinner @ the Nieman's, sweet prayer time with the girls
28- last Try-It Troop meeting :-)
29- All Day Staff "Fun" Day @ Lake Johnson
30- Shag Dancing at North Hills

Sorry this is a couple of days late. We got a new phone system on Friday at work and it was messing with my Internet all day and then I just don't seem to blog on the weekend.

Good Things: March

It's that time of the month! It's time for my monthly "Good Things" list. So, here is goes for March 2009:

1- Disney World. rainy morning, but the sun came out in the morning. Saw the EPCOT "Illuminations" show.
2- Disney World. spent all day at the Animal Kingdom. I LOVED the Lion King show; that evening we went to Hollywood Studios- spent the evening riding the "Tower of Terror" back-to-back-to-back. :-)
3-last day of Disney. We were ready to go- and the good news? We made our connecting flights (despite having only 40 minutes in the Atlanta airport to do so).
4- got all unpacked and my room clean!
5- one crazy day at work. My good thing? I made it through the day!
6- Hurricane's Scout Night- I forgot how much I enjoy hockey!
7- Went to "Jesus Christ Superstar" with Robin and Keli
8- had a much needed and good talk w/ Amanda; decided I was going to our annual Fort Caswell Singles Retreat
9- had a much needed productive evening (we know how much I enjoy those!)
10- Wool E. Bull from the Durham Bulls stopped by my Try It Troop; realized how much I truly enjoy working with kiddos.
11- good time at BJ's with Keli (too bad it was shopping for work)
12- ate at Fat Daddy's for the first time... it is really good!
13- Robyn's b-day party- lots of fun with lots of laughter.
14- Area 23 Sweetheart Dance- what a LONG day, but so glad the event went off successfully!
15- had a lazy afternoon with a 2 hour nap!
16- work related, but still good- turned in 30 registrations! (this is good news for my annual goals)
17- finally had an evening off! what did I do? crosswords. :-)
18- got to spend some time hanging out after The Gathering. realized I am slowing feeling more comfortable around people.
19- wore my new glasses- I got lots of compliments on them.
20- went to Oak Island to visit Aunt Tina and Uncle John. nice to see the beach- I miss it!
21- the morning sunrise at the beach. remind me again why I don't live at the beach?
22- good lunch at Old Raleigh; nice walk and talk with Laura
23- breakfast with my roomie
24- people at work recognized how hard I work!
25- dinner at the Nieman's... so nice after a really long day at work
26- ate Chick Fil a... yummy!
27- kind of random evening... but just nice to joke with Laura.
28- Dave and Tricia's wedding- I just love dancing so much.
29- UNC won! random, but fun evening hang out with people from church, played Telephone Charades.
30- ...
31- decided to throw a dinner party on Friday. kind of nervous about it, but it will be good right? people will come right?

So, there you have it! My March... not to bad. I also saw an article today that gave me an idea i am going to try and implement. On the first of each month, do something special to celebrate and rejoice in God's goodness. Whether it is scheduling playtime into you schedule or getting a special treat... do something to celebrate God's goodness (and treat yourself!).

Hope everyone out there had a nice March! Looking forward to a good April.

Good Things: February

I know, I know- I am a little late on this one. My life is really busy. But I am going to try and be consistent in blogging even if life around me is outta control. My plan is to blog right before I go home from work as a way to "defrost" from work.

Anyway, here is my monthly list of Good Things, this time from Feb 2009:

1- Super Bowl Sunday, really it was watching "The Office" at Amanda's; watching that show with a group makes it even funnier, if that is at all possible.
2- "The Bachelor" watching with Rachel. (I know, it's trash- wait until my reaction post to the finale this year).
3- I got a surprise from a volunteer- a chocolate bar in my box. YUMMY!
4- Awesome message at The Gathering, just what I needed to hear
5- dinner w/ the Niemans :-) love that family!
6- dinner at CPK (California Pizza Kitchen)- I LOVE, love their foccia bread. Pure heaven for a carb lover like myself.
7- beautiful day- got to be outdoors, a walk through Umstead with Laura
8- received some very sweet compliments from the Children's Ministry
9- lunch at Subway with Tiffany
10- homemade lunch with Amy and her sweet boy, Luke
11- UNC beat Duke #1!
12- came home from my leaders' meeting w/ no follow up questions: SCORE!
13- got my eyebrows waxed- no judgement, k? I like it when this happens
14- Pink Pancake Party and extended time of worship
15- got to see the a women's UNC basketball game
16- lunch at Applebee's
17- ...
18- ...
19- ...
20- dinner at Red Robin w/ Rachel
21- Mom and Dad came to visit, saw a bunch of old videos of myself as a kid, saw Gran Torino- go see it!
22- countdown until Disney is on!
23- dinner at the Nieman's, again
24- Try-It Troop: worked on Scrapbooks, got the quietest girl there to open up!
25- spur of the moment Getting Started- not my favorite thing, but I did get my packing for Disney done even though my day was nutso
26- one more day until Disney- felt like I couldn't even concentrate at work that day
27- DISNEY WORLD, need I say more? Fun things: Space Mountain, Splash Mountain, Mickey's Philharmagic, Wishes Fireworks show
28- beautiful weather in Florida, I was in my shorts and a polo! GLORIOUS day! Fun things: Mission Space and Soarin' at EPCOT, plus Fantasmic at Hollywood Studios.

So- I missed a couple of days, but over all, not a bad list. What good things happened for you in February? I'll try to be better in March...

Good Things: January

I saw this on a blog I read. And I thought it was a good idea- so here are my good things/blessings for January (and since I am doing it delayed, I may not have something for every day, but I'll work on that for the rest of the year).

1-I slept in after a late New Year's Eve. I the proceeded to do nothing by be lazy with my roomie, Laura.
2- Watched "Made of Honor" with Laura; it was ok as far as Chick Flicks go.
3- Took a hike in Umstead- love being outdoors!
4- lunch a Moe's- I love nachos so anytime I get to eat them- YUM!
5- ...
6- Spent the night organizing my life- it's one of my favorite things to do!
7- The Gathering at church
8- ...
9- got to spend time with Kate before she headed back to Oklahoma
10- dinner with Anna Paules! love that girl!
11- Leadership for FLC- man, I do like serving in the body of Christ!
12- lunch w/ Amanda at Panera
13- Try-It Troop for work: 4 people are willing to volunteer!! SCORE!!!
14- lunch w/ Sarah Lile, coffee w/ Jenn Lowther, and Chili Night- could a day be any better?
15- dinner w/ Rachel :-)
16- trip to Atlanta!
17- Coke Museum... need I say more? but I did really enjoy the Aquarium, too
18- I want a Wii and a Wii Fit! played on it for the first time- I am sold!
19- Day off- I'll take one of those at any point
20- SNOW DAY!
21- Celine Dion Concert
22- ...
23- Jenny visits!!! We went for another hike in Umstead
24- Ben and Jerry's Cinnamon Bun Ice Cream. again, need I say more?
25- RENT!
26- dinner w/ the Nieman's- boy do I love this family.
27- ...
28- dinner w/ Rachel again :-); it was much needed- I was feeling lonely and needed the time to have some quality one on one with her
29- talked to Christine on the phone!
30- quiet night in...
31- UNC vs. NC State basketball game and 3:10 to Yuma- quality hang out time w/ FLC friends

Man- this is a good exercise, to list your blessings and good things. Makes you feel thankful, makes you realize life is good. Try it! :-)