Sarah wanted a spot on the "Vegas wall," so I updated it this week! :) Yay for Mpix being quick and quality, and for adding pics of the fountains, dancing, Bill and Jill's wedding reception, more Mon Ami Gabi, Celine with Sarah, slot machines in the 2010 trip, and "the Lake of Frogs and Dreams!" ;-) I took off the Tulsa airport pic, since it didn't actually count. Anyway, this wall and these memories with these people make me happy! =)
A thoughtful note by Jeff during our Ecclesiastes class! lol
(It's true, and goes well with Ecclesiastes. Every week, I pick a random section of verses to volunteer to read aloud, and without fail, it is the most depressing part of the chapter! But it's been an awesome and insightful class, great for keeping an eternal perspective in life, and full of deeper subjects that I hope to write more about soon!)
This is probably my favorite verse in that book... the idea that God knows the best timing for everything and He makes our lives (and all creation) beautiful in the right season, and that He has set eternity in our hearts, but we cannot fully understand the mystery and wonder of it yet... I love that!!
My talented author friend, Tara Lynn, published her first novel. She asked a few friends to post a selfie with the book, so this was mine... (It will be my book for February, after I hopefully finish Jen Hatmaker's For the Love this weekend!) Yay!!
And now, some random FB memes that I liked for one reason or another:
I think we all tend to be at our craziest when we care the most about something. lol
#truth ...Although the new Walmart Grocery pickup thing might eliminate that hassle!
Must. get. up. earlier!! lol (Judge never comments on it, but I know that me rolling into work one minute before our hearing starts is not ideal.) Saw this on FB on a day I was running late, and it made me laugh!
This bill from the carpet cleaners cracked me up... I've had a lot of mispronunciations and misspellings, but never have I been called "Lindsey Muscle!" :)
How I feel right now. lol
Sammich enjoying her new Martha Stewart pet bed (...laying perpendicular, just as Rose should've done to make room for Jack. lolol)
Luke teaching Mitchell to play dodgeball made me laugh really hard!
Vegas fountains as seen and heard from our breakfast table at Mon Ami: :)
And finally, randomly caught New Girl on TV Tuesday, and it was the funniest thing ever! Their facial expressions and overall ridiculousness is fantastic (Clip here). ...I've missed Nick Miller and Schmidty!! :)
Okay, that's all I've got for now. Happy Friday, friends n' fam! I'm excited to have tonight off, then I'm headed to OKC for a movie and dinner with Dad's side of the fam tomorrow!! :)
I'm giving myself 10 minutes to write... 10:30-10:40. We'll see...
I feel busier than normal at the moment... transcripts are piling up at work (one of our court reporters quit last week) and I have a few things I want to accomplish at home before this month is over. I think I'll get there, thanks to having one more weekend.
In miraculous news, after 2 weeks of barely looking at my tracker, eating crap in Vegas then cookie cake and candy over the weekend at Mom and Dad's, I somehow managed to lose .8 pounds at my weigh-in Monday. lol Not a big loss, obviously, but definitely not the gain I was absolutely expecting. I'm psyched about that, and very much back on track this week! =)
Look at these little Valentine's Milk Bone dog treats - totes adorbs!! ;)
This meme about how your brain is kind of a jerk made me laugh:
Bellsy Bell wants to play fetch! lol Presh.
Yesterday, I made my very first lasagna... with spinach and ground turkey and a tiny bit of onion and garlic... it was intense! I was so proud of myself for chopping my first onion. :) (And possibly my last, because WOW, I want to vomit at the onion-garlic smell of my house right now!) The lasagna turned out really well, though... to quote Jen Hatmaker, "Unlike so many healthy choices, it does not taste like sadness and unfulfilled dreams!" I added up the ingredients and it came out to 80 points total, so 8 points per piece, which seems about right! :)
Only two minutes left... ahhh!!
Here's a fun pic of Missy K looking a little like a minion with her crazy hair and upside down glasses! #preshface
And that's all the time we have for today! Thanks for stopping by. I'll try to blog again later this week, but I can't promise anything. Trying to finish transcripts at work, Impact dinner and class tomorrow, Lindsay's group on Thursday, Tara Lynn's book signing party Friday night, and working in some reading and Planet Fitness time!! Hope you have a great week! :)
Sad news: I discovered on Tuesday morning that my hot water heater was leaking... soaking the carpet in my guest room and also running across the garage floor and flooding my front yard!
Happy news: I caught it early enough that no lasting damage was done - the carpet can be salvaged and the repair work was well done and affordable! :)
Somewhere between running around looking for Bellsy in the freezing cold weather with wet hair, talking to the plumber for a while in my cold garage, and waking up sweating the last couple nights because of the giant dehumidifier and fans heating up my guest room, I've come down with a terrible cold over the last couple days, so I'm feeling super congested and I'm in for a rest night and planning to rest all day tomorrow... it'll be good for me - I'm feeling a bit worn down and frazzled. Example: I forgot that I had changed into my comfy red flip flops over lunch and accidentally wore them back to work with my black slacks and blue shirt. #classy My renewed commitment to making an effort in my appearance is apparently on pause until I feel better. lol It's never fun to feel like your head is going to explode with sinus pressure, but I'm honestly happy to have a reason to slow down and read and rest a bit!
Anyway, you should totally watch the sermon in my previous post!! Powerful.
And in Photo Friday fun, here are some recent pics from my iPhone...
Kyndal Faith was excited to show me "her room" and to jump on the bed and play with Minnie! :)
Missy-K weighing in at the doctor... not sure why I felt the need to document this, but I just think she's the cutest thing ever!!
Preshface coloring her book while we waited.
Babah making fresh "orange juice" from clementines for Jace and Kyndal! lol ...It took a while, and Jace wanted to serve some to everyone. I don't think Babah will volunteer herself for that job again!
Grandad and the Jaceman hanging out!
Kyndal excited about her new purse from Virginia! :)
Thanks to Rach for convincing me to try this... the Chicken Caesar Salad is the lowest-point salad at Panera, and oddly enough, it's my favorite one I've tried! The dressing has a parmesan flavor that's pretty awesome! This whole "choose two" meal = 9 points, and it was filling and good!
And this = my 1 point dessert!! lol ...Strawberries, bananas, 1/4 tsp of sugar, and a 1/2 tablespoon of chocolate syrup! (I measure everything exactly the first few times.) "Nom!" as JEM would say! lol
Me being happy that I fit into a few new clothes... and that I have a sister I can text for fashion advice when I'm clueless! :)
Kicking it old school with some Point of Grace!! :) I really want to find the pic of Me, Tiffany, Jenny, and Casey imitating this cover pose. (I was Terry, the one in the striped shirt and overalls... be jealous! lol) Umm, we also made music videos... In one of them, I didn't realize one of my big cross earrings had fallen off, so the camera closes in on me lip syncing with one huge earring. Epic! lol
Isla Fisher = my red hair color inspiration (one of few brown eyed redheads in Hollywood)!
I asked Jace if I could get a pic of him with his B-day board... here's how that went:
At least you can see the board in one and him in the other. lol (The board isn't finished yet, obvi. lol Rach and Josh say "obvi" instead of the whole word "obviously." Like most things that annoy me at first, it's kinda starting to catch on for me!)
Miss K needed to hold a sign too if Jace got to hold one! Good thing she can't read yet. :)
Mini Miss, just minutes before she climbed out of that crib for the first time and fell on her precious face! :( I was over there eating Reeses and "helping" with chalkboards, and Rach and Josh flew into impressive action... after Kyndal threw up everything she'd ever eaten, Rach rushed her to ERgent Care and Josh turned that crib into a day bed (while I did my best to keep Jace happy for a bit).
The glove phase is going strong right now! lol
I delivered a few wreaths to people who live in the Tulsa area... it was the prettiest my trunk has looked in quite some time! :)
Confession: I've struggled to get back on the healthy track since Vegas. I'm going to force myself to go to the meeting and weigh in on Monday, and I don't expect it to be pretty unless I come down with a stomach bug between now and then. But I know that meeting and weigh-in will help me mentally to get back in the game!!
I did make an effort last night and cooked this WW Chicken Parmesan (though it's actually chicken mozzarella) recipe, #1 on my 25 new recipes for 2016! Whole wheat pasta and tomato sauce + asparagus with olive oil, garlic, salt, and pepper + baked chicken with tomato sauce and grated mozzarella. It was surprisingly good... and this whole plate = 9 points!! Also, I've realized that asparagus is my favorite green vegetable, and probably the easiest to prepare... who knew!?
This = recipe #2 for 2016. It barely counts as it's 2 ingredients, but it's on the Hungry Girl website, so I'm counting it! 1 can of Sprite Zero + any cake mix... wisk to combine then bake for the recommended time in a 9x13 pan and cut into 12 pieces! The cake is legit for my chocolate-loving self, and it's only 6 points per slice! Vanilla frozen yogurt is 3 points, so all in all, decent and tasty! :)
(Yeah, I know it's not really the best idea to be eating cheesy meals and ice cream desserts as I have a cold, but really, dairy is worth the pain! lol)
Here is Sammers at the vet this morning. Don't let her happy smile fool you - she was a nervous wreck, and way too stubborn to walk on that leash - she had to be carried. She weighs 5 pounds more than Bellsy, but the vet didn't seem to think that was a big deal, so whatever, I guess. I'm glad their stressful vet time is over, and that my house and hot water are back in running order, and that I get to rest and relax (and hopefully read a bit) now!
One last picture from my phone - this = me and Sarah boarding our flight home from Vegas at 6am!
Song of the Week = See You Again because I love this song and video!!
This is hands down the best sermon I've ever heard on abortion and how the church should respond. I just love Matt Chandler and his direct, intense, truth-in-love teaching! This was humbling and stirred fresh compassion and love and empathy in my heart for the women faced with these decisions. I want to fight through my desire to see quick results, to go beyond taking a firm moral stand and take Godly action on this issue. More on that in a future post. For now, this is worth your time:
1. My little Ella Bell is quite the tiny escape artist... off having her happy little Bellsy adventures, clueless to danger! She has gotten out of the yard at Mom and Dad's 3 times now, and at least once at my house. :( We've put rocks down around my fence and used mesh lining on Mom and Dad's wrought iron fence, but she still found a way out somehow. (Dad's gonna put rocks down before I come back.) Three of those times, a neighbor picked her up before we even knew she was missing (it helps that she's so adorable and tiny and endearing). But this Sunday, we called them in and Sam came, but Ella was nowhere to be found... I walked around the neighborhood calling her (in the freezing cold with my wet hair) then got in Mom's car and we drove around with the windows down calling for her. I was really nervous about Douglas and the golf course being so close. We drove all through the neighborhood then went up and down Douglas... nothing. Then we went through the neighborhood one more time, and there she was, just standing in the furthest driveway down the block, wagging her fluffy tail at us! I'm VERY thankful that we found her safe and happy and unscathed, still convinced that she's tough and fierce... just look how freaking cute she is!! :)
2. On a similar note, here's Miss Bella Bells whimpering and wanting to come join us as we decorated my front porch for fall! I love seeing her little snout peek out. lol
3. Sammers tends to hog the food and is a few pounds bigger than Bellsy, so she can't get out of the little spaces her sister squeezes through! lol
4. She's also much louder than Bellsy, so I get frustrated with her more and have to yell at her to stop barking sometimes... (if I'd only known she was trying to tell us her sister was missing... she's the dog who cried dramatic barking, so it's hard to tell)! It's impossible to stay mad very long when she's being obnoxious, though... she's just a silly flufflepuff who wants to become friends with everyone (even the skunk who sprayed her)!!
5. The girlfranz love to play fetch, but they're weirdly uncompetitive about it. Any time I throw a ball to my right, Bellsy goes for it... and when I throw it to the left, Sammers gets it. It's all very coordinated and they don't fight or ever run in the other direction... it's bizarre but funny! lol
6. They love most meats, but are not at all interested in hot dogs... which makes me even less likely to buy them, knowing they're not good enough for dogs!
7. They follow me around wherever I go, watching me cook or blog or getting on the couch with me to watch TV... and I talk to them all the time even though they don't understand me. I still use the weird baby voice that JEM imitates, because it's what naturally comes out when I see them! lol
8. They are NOT fans of leashes, collars, harnesses, or walks... they plant their feet and have to be dragged to go anywhere - it's pathetic and sad and slightly funny. I'm going to work harder on getting them to take little walks with me when spring rolls around!
9. Poor little asthmatic Bellsy-doodles coughs a lot any time she gets excited about seeing someone new. So she's coughing and Sammich is peeing, and I'm trying to calm them both down and keep Sam off the couch... they're so great when you "get to know them," but really need to work on their first impression skills! lol
10. I come home at lunch, but they stay in my laundry room while I'm at work... and Smammy doesn't like to chew her dog treats until I actually leave and shut the door behind me. She'll just hold it between her teeth like a cigarette then look up at me, just standing perfectly still waiting for me to get out! It cracks me up every time! :) They're full of energy and always there to greet me with waggy tails when I get home. They're my very best girlfranz, and the cutest Poms around! #presh
I was looking for Pom memes and couldn't resist posting this one. lol
