New Year, New You...

That seems to be the theme of every January doesn't it? I kinda like me already though. Don't get me wrong, I have lots of room to grow.

How? 

Oh it's so good of you to ask! My friend Bahar and I had a discussion about how it takes 3 weeks to break or establish a new habit. We're complaining less.

So, I'm going to blog the Haley Experiment... in which I will tell you if I complained and you will in turn agree to fine me $5.00**. I am extremely skeptical that it only requires 21 days to break a habit. I have read that it is easier to substitute one habit for another.

Example, please?

Oh gosh, you're good with the questions today, blog junkies! Suppose when you are under stress you typically eat junk food. Instead of just going "cold turkey" on junk food eating it is easier to replace it with exercise. Eventually you will train your body to associate stress with a desire to exercise instead of eat.

Today is day 1 of "Whine = no. Wine = yes" j/k... Whine = No. Wine = No. Which leads me to the following....

Do you know what this picture is of?

Now your gut reaction might be "a faucet" but if you look really closely you will notice it is a faucet without running water. Did I mention it's cold in Texas? Since I'm not whining I guess that means you know the pipes froze and burst in my apartment today, huh?

I'm just stating the facts, folks. Either way, I'm counting this as a whine-free day!


**for those who don't know Chris LeDoux actually wrote and sang a song titled Five Dollar Fine about whining. I will not pay you anything.

New Year!

I don't celebrate New Years Eve with a list of resolutions. Mostly because I know very few of us ever keep them. I recently read an encouraging article from ??? about a prayer list her family had when she was a child. Long story short they made a giant list and crossed them off one by one as God answered their prayers. I thought making a prayer list for 2011 and watching what God does with the year would be better than resolutions. Here are a few from the list:

1. That Luke and I may grow together in our relationship with God. Truly making it a chord of three strands (Eccl. 4:12)

2. That each of us (literally out there reading) would have the happiest and healthiest year of our lives thus far. 

Ok there are several more, but I don't think they are for public reading. I do sincerely hope that you all have a fantastic and blessed new year!!!

Moving on... Luke's aunt and uncle stopped by to visit this weekend. They are such wonderful people! Guess what Aunt Audrey brought to visit me? Her horse, Phantom. I love horses and Phantom is NO exception. Luke wasn't a huge fan of me kissing the horse, but we just won't tell him about how irresistible those little velvety muzzles are in the future!

Christmas Prep

It is almost Christmas time in my casa. Of course I haven't prepared at all... until today. Tomorrow is one of my favorite days of the entire year. It is the day the company I work for gives presents to the school we sponsor. The kids TOTALLY love it. Completely. This year I wanted to share the love, so I gave presents from Luke... so here you go, honey, these are the gifts you picked (the little boy requested puzzles, super heros, and/or a motorcycle).

and this is how pretty the turned out... I love wrapping:

Those are little reindeer with winter clothes... they're super cute and happy!

I also took this opportunity to throw a few decorations up. I wanted to put up my Christmas tree, but I haven't. Maybe I will this weekend. After all I live alone so I can leave it up as long as I want.

I think these little trees are the bees' knees:

This is the BEST Christmas present I've ever gotten. Seriously. Luke got for me in Europe last year. I've always wanted one and he didn't know it. BEST GIFT EVER....

I made this ornament for next year's Christmas tree. Exciting:

iLove

This is how I spent the last few hours of my evening... do you know why I love this? Obviously I love Coke, that's no secret. I haven't read a book for fun in ages and John Grisham is pretty much my favorite (half way through since I left for Cincinnati - yay!)... but the thing I love here that you can't really tell is...

iOS 4.2 for iPad... oh my goodness gracious. There are 2 things I really wanted for my iPad... the ability to connect to a 3G network (I have the WiFi only iPad) and multi-tasking... iOS 4.2 allows multi-tasking (in other words I can listen to Pandora AND play solitaire) and my new iPhone (a work upgrade) allows tethering (I can plug it into my iPad and use my 3G connection).

I can honestly say this is the most fun I've had without moving a muscle for 2.5 hours.

Life. Is. Good.

(Can't wait for Luke to come home, so it can go from Good to Great!)

So Exciting... Slumby!

A friend I made while at Baylor... well kinda, we were room mates on a study abroad program for part of the trip... just started a new business.

http://slumby.com/

She's an awesome Christian gal with great ideas and the cutest family. Check it out! You can also "like" Slumby on Facebook. =) 

Thankful

It's that time of year again. Thanksgiving is one of my favorite holidays. It's what I call a "no pressure holiday"... no gifts to buy, just tons of food to eat and 4 straight days of work. It happens during Fall, or we as all know it, The Best Season of the Year. It's also a day where we focus on what we are most grateful for. What a fantastic idea....

• God
• His presence
• His peace
• When you can't articulate what you think or feel, He just gets it... soooo good
• Luke
• Particularly hearing from him everyday
• His sweet little soul - there isn't a square inch, inside or out, of him that isn't wonderful
• Getting to spend my life with my best friend, the person who has taught me so much
• Family
• Friends 
• You are the family God let me choose and I love you so much for it
• Running
• It is my "me time"
• Hot showers / baths / etc
• Really great Bible studies / books / movies
• Nicole C. Mullen CDs
• Coca-Cola 
• The volunteer organizations I've been a part of and the lives that have blessed me from there
• Bamboo Sheets
• super soft and it is an easily renewable resource
• Aprons from Anthropology
• Granola with Raspberry Kefir in the morning
• Cows
• Golden Retrievers
• The Clay Pot restaurant
• USPS Flat Rate Shipping 
• My Blackberry / MacBook / iPad / Shuffle
• mostly the fact that they have Off switches I've learned to use this year!
• New luggage
• Dried Cranberries 
• Sephora Body Wash
• Ojon Hair Care Products 

That's the greatest hits list anyway. There are a lot of other "things" and specific people I am grateful for, but I think "God, those I love and Coke" would pretty much be a good summary. 

Happy Thanksgiving

Animal du Jour

As most of you already know Luke and I went on a cruise in August. I'll post more about that later (lots of nifty pictures and of course dear friends... always a good story).

One of the interesting/fun things Carnival does is fold towels like a different animal every day and leave them in the guests' rooms. I made it my goal to be each animal and have my picture made with it. (You are all still in shock that he proposed aren't you? Maybe what you think is "weird" Luke sees as "lovable")

Enjoy!

Monkey See, Monkey Do

I Always Make My Family Proud

(God has a special place for anyone who claims me)

I don't know what I was doing... but please

note that I did not have the heart to remove the

monkey from the first day.