GIST - The Sunday Edition # 154

Things I am grateful for today

1. I taught Sunday school and didn't pass out from fright.

2. I found a book that is really helping me with parts of the Bible that are confusing to me.

3. I'm going to spend the day with my parents on Tuesday. It's been a while since we have spent more than a couple of hours together. We are going to Selma to my grandma's old house.

4. I was content with the things I managed to get done during my vacation and didn't beat myself up for the things I didn't do. 

5. I finished another book and have started the next one.

He hates his picture taken

Picture taken 2 years ago. Which is about how often I can sneak a picture of him.

Very lovely sentiment

I need these on my table

Wordless Wednesday - my target from Friday

My grandma & my Uncle Gordon

cooking, cleaning and all sorts of domestic things

Tomorrow is my last day off before I go back to work and I am spending it with my parents. We are going to Selma to my grandma's house to explore. They asked me to go up with them and I said ok before I even knew where we were actually going. That might be a definition of crazy.

I have spent my time doing things I don't normally get a chance to do. Cleaning various things that normally get neglected, cleaning out closets and attics and sun rooms. Thinning down the amount of "stuff" I have collected all over the house. I am much pleased with the progress I managed to make.

I cooked almost every night. Survived the icy/snowy weather trapped in my house with my entire family and cleaned my kitchen approximately nine thousand times.

Things I haven't done: a lot of stressing or a lot of reading. The lack of reading is ironic because you would have thought with nine days off in a row, I would have managed to read a lot. I spent time doing all the other things instead.

I am definitely ready to go back to work. I love time off but I also love my job. I think that makes me incredibly lucky.

GIST - The Sunday Edition # 153

Things I am grateful for today

1. caffeine

2. enjoying my vacation

3. random compliments about my hair

4. spending extra time with Chris since I was on vacation and he had a couple of days off that he wouldn't normally have.

5. Elizabeth and her shenanigans 

Me on a tractor

Tenacious tree

Ready for spring

Wordless Wednesday - Happy Birthday Nick

...

Vacation plans

Today was the first day of my vacation.

Chris had the day off and so did Elizabeth for Martin Luther King Jr's birthday holiday. Elizabeth also has tomorrow off for a teacher workday.

I didn't really make plans for my vacation. I am going to do whatever I do and not stress myself out trying to do ALL. THE. THINGS. like I normally try to cram into a set of days off.

I am seriously looking forward to just having a good time and getting some much needed rest.

GIST - The Sunday Edition # 152

Things I am grateful for today

1. getting my lazy behind out of bed and attending church this morning.

2. less than 30 minutes left in a work day before 9 glorious days off.

3. good books to read

4. chocolate

5. the way Lilly greets me when I get home from work each evening. She acts like it's been years since she last saw me and she jumps up and down and barks and just make a complete fool of herself which is so incredibly adorable.

Me several years ago

7 Quick Takes # 63

--- 1 ---

I haven't done a 7 Quick Takes post since the end of November so I thought I would restart with today and see how I feel about it in a month or so. I did enjoy it before although thinking of 7 things every week was a bit more than I felt I could manage during the month of December.

--- 2 ---

I also figured out when trying to find what number I was on that I repeated 34 twice so I have spent countless minutes this evening editing numbers on blog posts because it was irritating me. Yes, I may have a slight problem.

--- 3 ---

I changed the image at the top because I liked this one back when it was posted and I felt like something different. Also, I have no creativity streak when it comes to making graphics. This is something I would like to learn but it's not going to happen any time soon.

--- 4 ---

It still astounds me  when watching the weather that there is a tropics update or even a need for a tropics update. Alex being the first named storm in January for the 2016 is weird to me but it also seems fitting since the weather has been acting all sorts of crazy over the past little bit. Mother Nature is drunk.

--- 5 ---

Because I am petty to the highest degree, I was extremely glad the powerball winning ticket numbers were on more than one ticket after hearing the millionaire in California was one of the winners. Also, I bought a single ticket for Saturday's drawing. You can't win if you don't play is my motto and the idea of that kind of money was worth the $2. Although, I promise you that amount of money scares me. I honestly can't imagine how it would be to have access to that kind of money.

--- 6 ---

I have my first vacation of the year coming up in 3 days. (Not that I'm counting or anything.)

--- 7 ---

Tonight is going to be a good night. It's raining so it should drive some business in. (At least that is my hope.)

For more Quick Takes, visit This Ain't the Lyceum!

Gorgeous

Wordless Wednesday - bright tree

Pyramids

The Great Pyramids

GIST - The Sunday Edition # 151

Things I am grateful for today

1. more time to read. I have been actually making more time because it is something I enjoy doing so much.

2. books on my tablet. While I still prefer books I can hold in between my two hands, the books on the tablet have made it convenient for me to read at work without having to lug around a large book.

3. sunshine-y days

4. music

5. soup

Greatness

Spain

Words to live by

Wordless Wednesday - memorial

Goals and the lack of actual resolutions

I tend to not make resolutions anymore because there is something terrible to me about being full of hopes and dreams and plans and then realizing that 3 days later, you have inadvertently broken every single one of your resolutions.

In that vein, I have decided to break down and do a goals for each month list. At the beginning of each month, I will review my goal list. Some of them may carry over from one month to the next or may get discarded altogether. It really depends on how I feel.

January goals

wear makeup to work each day I am on the schedule

add some color into my wardrobe aside from the black I always wear on my days off

set up a budget book

organize my filing cabinet

write in my beside journal at least 4 days a week

read at least 5 books this month

go to church at least 2 Sundays

do something different with my hair

practice gratitude

exercise at least 4 days a week

They may seem silly but these are some of the things I need to work on so I am going to make a conscious effort to do so in the month of January. I don't take good enough care of myself because I'm always running around taking care of everyone else. This is (hopefully) the year I will manage to change how I treat myself.

Colorful birds

I want a pair.

GIST - The Sunday Edition # 150

Things I am grateful for today

1. I taught Sunday school today and really enjoyed it. I was only nervous for a few minutes and then I got into the lesson and forgot about being nervous.

2. I made chili for supper so the house smells yummy.

3. The fridge in the house stopped working last night. I am grateful that I figured it out before we lost everything in it; there was the fridge in the shop to transfer everything into temporarily and we will have a new one tomorrow. It could have been much worse and I'm grateful that it wasn't.

4. School resumes tomorrow and Elizabeth is excited about going back. I will be glad for everyone to get back into a set routine. I love the breaks but I also love when they are over.

5.  Chris bought me a bracelet. I mentioned to him yesterday I had found a bracelet I would like to have for one of the upcoming holidays and he surprised me with it last night. I totally wasn't expecting that at all. I also give him gift ideas well in advance of things like our anniversary or my birthday so I wasn't expecting him to go out and buy it immediately. I'm glad he did because it was thoughtful and sweet and I love the bracelet.

Russell

It's hard to believe that tomorrow will make one full year since you left this Earth. There are days I still pick up the phone to call you only to remember at the last second that calling you is no longer possible.

Happy New Year 2016