Am I ready?!?!

I sure hope so!! The small group girls and I went to Group Link last night. Since we are down to five and no official leader we hoped we could find 2-3 new girls and a leader. We found the girls but no leader. So guess who got nominated and stepped up?? Me. Am I ready?!?! I sure hope so. I don't think God would put me here if I am not. So I just pray that I can do well and glorify him.

Pray for me!! I just put in my application and I should be contacted in the next month. I am actually really excited!

Some changes

Since I gave a pre-cap of my last week I will now give a quick post cap.

The musical that Erinleigh and I were able to see was the Drowsy Chaperone and it was hillarious!!! Also, we had the best seats ever... 2nd row back from the stage!!! We decided that seats like that called for a glass of wine and some popcorn! We had a blast. I tried to re-create the play for Kendol later. He thought it was pretty funny too but I think he was laughing more at me than the musical. After the musical we stopped by the cutest little bar downtown for a martini!! We had the most fun!

Kendol and I did pack up a lot of his things this week and went shopping for a few things that he needs however he was unable to move this past week. There were some issues that a previous land lord caused by not being quite truthful. Kendol is clearing everything up and is hoping to move to his new apartment this week.

That means that I was able to go to my Sex & The City night Wednesday night with my girls!! We did the usual... Marlo's then to Lynn's apartment. We had fun but took no pictures. I can't believe we forgot!

Thursday after work I met up with neighbor Raleigh at Sidebar downtown. He is currently studying for his masters in philosophy so we met up with a bunch of his colleagues there and then 5 of us went to the Symphony. It was soooo fun!! I would do that again anytime. After the symphony Kendol met up with us at Vortex on Peachtree for a martini. (I am currently loving martini's)

Yesterday I relaxed during the day (I didn't get out of bed until 11am it was fabulous) and then went with Kelly from my small group to Spoke on the Mountain (a musical at a Methodist church in Roswell). It was very cute and full of country gospel music. For some reason I picture my parents really liking it ;)~

Tonight I am going with the girls in the community group to group link... we will be trying to add a few new girls and a leader. Pray that we are able to find some good people!!

Pictures...

This week is extremely busy for me. Saturday was Kendol's birthday so we celebrated at Twains, Kendol is moving into a new apartment so on Sunday I helped him pack after work, yesterday I had my small group (woo hoo), today I am going shopping with Kendol to get a few new things for his apt then going with Erinleigh (friend from Buckhead Church) to the Fox to watch a play (soooo excited!), tomorrow I will be helping Kendol move and possibly going to Sex and the City night with my girls (*if* it can fit in), Thursday night I am going to the Symphony with neighbor Raileigh, Friday --- RELAX!! -- Saturday after work I am going with the community group girls to GroupLink... we need a few more people in the group... and a leader. Wooh! What a run on sentence!!

So, in between doing laundry and getting ready for the day I thought I would do a quick update and add some additional pics... some are from December!! Oh my!

Here is the evolution of the Christmas cookies. They were made, obviously, before Christmas!!

And here are some pictures from Kendol's birthday at Twains!!


Finally I am not sure if I showed the pics from NYE 2007, so if not, here they are!

Hope you are having a great week!!

1/16/08

Getting messages like this from my director:

ROCK STAR - yes, ROCK STAR. I really appreciate your organization and work ethic, this AD schedule you put together is just another example of how great you. THANKS!!!

New Link

I have added another blogger to my list of fabulous blogs... check out Michele when you get a chance!! She sits next to me at Buckhead Church. :)

THIRTY!!! WOO HOO!!

SOOOOO... I was able to do 30, yes 30, floor wipers in a row!!!!!!!!! For those who don't know what they are check it out...



When I started doing them I was only able to do 5 in a row (1 = up to the left, down to the middle, up to the right, down to the middle). So 30 today was HUGE!! I am overly excited!!

I don't remember how much I have discussed my workout routine on here in the past so here is a good spot to mention it. Since the beginning of December I have been doing the "300 workout" which includes the following:

# 25 pull-ups
# 50 deadlifts (right now I am up to 40 lbs... but I will go to 50 next week)
# 50 push-ups
# 50 box jumps (I use a step from the aerobics class with 5 levels)
# 50 "floor wipers" (a core and shoulders exercise at 10 pounds - next week it will be 12 lbs)
# 50 "clean and press" at 15 pounds (a weight-lifting exercise)
# 25 more pull-ups -- for a total of 300 reps

I always mix a few other exercises into the routine to keep it interesting but the point of the routine is to not stop working to keep the cardio up. Before the routine I run/jog 30-45 minutes (3-5 miles). I do this routine on Saturday and Tuesday. On Thursday I generally jog 30 minutes and plates for 60 minutes.

Right now I am sore... but that is great!! Hehe!!

Sophisticated Ladies

So Kendol and I have now been dating a year. To celebrate we went out to Plaka for some exceptional Greek food!!! Yummmmm! And then we met up with Lynn, her boyfriend Chris, Dee, and anther friend of theirs at Oceanaire. We had drinks until everyone was ready to go and then headed over to Twisted Taco then Cosmo Lava. It was a fun night!!

Kendol is continuing the celebration into this evening. We will be going to see Sophisticated Ladies at the Alliance Theatre!! I can't wait!!

Sleeeeeeeepy - Update

Thanks everyone for your comments!! I soooo appreciate them. I did some research on the comments and I have decided to keep a quick mood journal to keep track of how I am feeling. Then I will take that to my doctor with the list of ideas that you have. In the meantime, I am stopping by the closest Whole Foods on my way home to pick up some supplements that the Mayo Clinic website suggest could help.

From what I read good supplements for depression-like symptoms are: melatonin, St. John's Wort and SAM-e (for Serotonin), and Vitamin B6.

It wouldn't surprise me if this is depression related... about 5 years ago I was treated for depression.

One comment was artificial sweeteners such as that aspartame in diet coke could cause a problem... and that I have heard before too, however, I drink maybe 1 full can of Diet Coke ever month (if that) and I try my best to stay away from any artificial sweeteners or high fructose corn syrup and such, so I don't think that is it. I wish it was... it would be an easy fix!! Also, someone thought it may be that I am not getting enough sleep but I literally fall asleep at 10pm and will stay asleep either for like 12 hours or until woken. I am for sure getting enough sleep! I am trying to keep my sleep to 8 hours as much as possible.

If anyone else has any other ideas on what they think it might be or other supplement ideas please let me know! I am always open to suggestions!

PS. If this doesn't work I am getting a GEO!! Thanks Jerry for the idea ;)

1/9/2008

Being alive for another year.

That my God wants to have a relationship with me.

That I learned another strategy for listening to God.

For my family and friends.

For my health.

For my ability to make a living.

For the ability to save money.

For the ability to go on vacation.

For all the luxuries in my life.

Sleeeeeeeepy

Once again I am back to being sleepy all the time. I have been to numerous doctors over the years about this but no one knows why I get so tired. Monday night I went to bed at 10pm and woke up to my alarm at 9am -- yet I was still tired all day and was ready for bed again last night at 10pm. I woke up to my alarm at 8am. I am sitting in my bosses office after drinking 1/2 a can of diet coke but I could still lay on the floor and fall asleep.

I feel like I am getting a good nights sleep, I have dreams, I work out 3 days a week, and I am eating healthy. I am not working crazy hours a week. I think things are calm. Yet tired.

What is most frustrating is that I start to hear half conversations (and that is especially bad when working), I can't remember things I am used to remembering, I have a hard time concentrating, I feel like I stumble over words, and I stop wanting to go out with friend because all I want to do is sleep.

I don't know what brings it on and it last for generally a week to a month. If anyone who reads this has any ideas of what they might think this is or what I can do to not feel so tired please leave it in a comment!! I would be more than happy to try just about anything!

Jeff Henderson Rocks!! (thank you God!!)

So, I went to 6pm service last night at Buckhead Church, like I always do, and the sermon was done by our Senior Pastor Jeff... and it was perfect. I always here how I need to listen to God's voice but no one other than my brother Dan has been able to explain how. Dan says its by reading the Bible and then being silent so I can hear God's voice. So I have been doing that and luckly have made it thru Leviticus (yeah!) and am into first Kings. However Jeff took it a step further and gave us a system to try. He suggest reading a few sentences and then praying and mediatating over those until you hear the power phrase that God is communicating to you. Once you have the phrase you should write it down in some kind of journal with the date and the passage that you read. So I am now incorporating his system into my daily reading. I have a feeling it will be powerful!!

No SATC this week.

Since Lynn wasn't feeling well Sex & The City for this week was canceled. I have to say it was sad but luckily I had spent New Years with her and I did stop by her house to pick up my coat and to give her ring back (it was featured in the New Years pictures as "my bling"). The walk across the street from my car to her lobby was freezing!! What made it so cold was the wind. I asked Kendol if he wanted to stop by my parents house on the way home. I figure its so cold we must be in Michigan! He informed me that we are not actually living in Michigan. Isn't this supposed to be HOT-lanta!

I am currently in my last hour of work at Buckhead Church before heading to the gym. My Shuffle is dead (I think it just need to be re-charged) so I am going to be working out old-school -- listening to the music provided by LA Fitness.

Also, I have been on my typical January diet... no chocolate. I do allow myself one exception -- in (hot) chocolate milk. I figure all the nutrients in the milk cancel out the calories in the chocolate. And, this happens only once every few days. This January diet started the day I got back from my parents house and it's going surprisingly well. Generally this is the week where I crave chocolate but not yet! Woo Hoo!! I have also tried something new in creating a meal plan for the week. Making sure to have 5 small meals every 2-3 hours through out the day. One of the meals is a regular lunch or dinner but the rest are mostly snack portions but I stay very full, which may be why I am not craving chocolate... I am too full! I am planning on prolonging this plan for about 3 months (with the exception of going to FL to visit Grandma and Grandpa... then all bets are off).

Signatures

The best ever. I just got an email with this as the signature:

Sent over Al Gore's Internet, via Steve Job's invention, with my
thoughts on loan from God.

It rocks!

And it really is that cold!

On new years I left my coat at Lynn's house because it really was too warm to wear it. Not thinking I would need it today I told her to keep it until tonight (Sex and the City Night!) and I would pick it back up then.

Then I chose to walk to work. It was a coooooooold walk. I didn't realize it was that cold until I checked this...

Apparently I know how to bring it...

Unfortunately the 'it' I can bring is snow. I got to work today and was reprimanded by co-worker Jerry. He woke up in the middle of the night to find snow on his deck! I wouldn't have believed him except he has pictures. He has explicitly told me that I was not allowed to bring that back to Georgia with me. Oops! I am sure he will be blogging about it himself soon!

Welcome to 2008

So, instead of my original plan stated in my last post I got a text from my friend Lynn to come out with her so that is what we did. We started out the night at Oceanaire where her boyfriend is the seux chef extraordinaire before taking our little party over to Twisted Taco. I can't say the night was drama-free but it was darn close and I had a great time. I am so happy I was able to ring in the New Year with the friends I did. Luckily Lynn is much better with the whole camera thing than I am so we do have pictures.



Thanks to Kendol, Lynn, Chris, Dee, Jason and Heather for ringing in the new year in style... with me! ;)

Hope you had a fun and safe New Years and my God bless you in 2008!!

What makes me feel 'old' at 27

I am sitting at work. I have no big New Years plans. And I told Kendol last night that I would prefer to get a bottle of wine, stay in, and fall asleep before the ball drops. I am turning into my parents. And that makes me feel old at 27.





What are your New Years plans??

Let It Snow...

And it sure is. We have been keeping an eye on flights all day because Atlanta had bad weather this morning and its snowing so much that my flight back to Atlanta scheduled for 5:50pm tonight has been cancelled already. Luckily I was one of the first to reschedule my flight for tomorrow. For those who want to know the flight number is Delta 43751 flying out from Flint at 2:55pm.

The nice part is I am now able to see my Uncle Mike and Aunt Linda. They were coming today to visit with my parents and they were supposed to be here after my flight left. Its nice to spend one more day with the family.

P.S. Snow storms are so beautiful when you know you will only see one this year ;)

UPDATE: A First Time for Everything

Dad and Dan went back out this morning to continue track the deer this morning. They were afraid last night that tracking would be difficult because of the new snow this morning but it didn't start snowing until after the left... which was perfect. They got back out to the woods, found where the deer had laid down, and found where SOMEONE ELSE had drug it away! The jerk!! Dad and Dan went to the closest house and spoke with the woman who lived there. They found out that her son got the deer. At least someone did, but after all that work yesterday its kinda anti-climatic that we never got it.

A First Time for Everything

Something that the northern guys like to do is go hunting. The males in my family are no exception. Give them something to hunt and they will do it. This morning they spent the morning much like many early mornings by heading out to their blinds at 5am to hunt deer. The plan was for them to bow hunt in the am and then for them to come home in time for a late breakfast and then we would spend the afternoon together.

On the assumption that events would go as planned I woke up at 9am, spent the morning working out (jogged 4 miles on the treadmill then did some sit-ups and push-ups) before taking my shower. At about 11am I got a call from my Dad that he had shot a buck around 8am, however it didn't drop right away, so they had spent the next few hours watching the buck walk around their respective hunting areas. Once the deer was far enough away for them to leave they did so in hopes that the deer would find a spot to lay down and that they would find the deer there later.

Then they asked me... "Would you like to come track the deer with us?"

This was something new to me. In the 20-odd years that I have lived in Michigan I haven't gone hunting or tracked a deer. I defiantly don't have the patience to sit in a blind at un-godly hours in the morning and wait for an animal to possibly walk by, I do have the patience to walk thru the woods. So, in the spirit of trying something new, I agreed to join them.

The woods that my dad and Dan hunt is up by my grandparents house in Sebewaing so they picked me up and we first stopped at Sport-ez in Sebewaing for a Roastie. If you are ever in Sebewaing you should stop by... the Roasties are very good!

SIDE NOTE: if you are completely against hunting (or a really good story) stop reading now.

After lunch we headed out to the woods. The woods were beautiful and it was an amazing walk. The last time I chose to take a walk thru the woods without Dad or Dan I was with my cousin Marie and we got so lost that I am scared to go in the woods by myself. My dad showed me where his shanny was and where he had shot the deer and then we followed the deers trail thru the woods which is where my Dad and brother thought our adventure would end. However, since this was my first 'track' that was only the beginning.

The trail took us thru all the woods, over a road, into another woods. There were a few times that we lost the trail but my dad and Dan are experts at this so they always found blood. Then the deer went into a field and we (and I say 'we' very loosely as I was along for the journey) lost the trail. I stood at the last spot that they know the deer was and each guy followed a different trail of hooves. When Dan's trail ended he pulled out his binoculars and looked around. He saw a buck a couple fields over that they thought may have been my Dad's deer however when he turned to tell Dad the deer went away. So, my Dad went to the edge of the field we were on and tried to find a new trail, but there were none.

With no trail to go on, we went to a line of pine trees and the guys looked at the edge of the field, where there is snow, and miraculously found the trail. We followed that to the next field and were half way thru another field when we heard two dogs barking off in the distance. We all looked up and saw them chasing... a deer.

Dan looked thru the binoculars again and found it was a buck and it was running with a hobble. It took a few minutes to monitor him to verify but it was my Dad's buck. We all watched the deer for a while however the deer kept moving and we had to be able to keep up with it. The decision was made that Dad and I would go back to the vehicle and Dan would keep monitor of the progress of the deer.

Of course I was lost, no clue where we were, but we walked along the road and quickly I found that we had made a pretty good circle and ended some what close to car. We drove back and picked up my brother and then drove as close as we could to the deer. New plans now have to be made. This is bow hunting and apparently you need to be pretty close to get a good shot with a bow. A lot closer than we will probably be able to get. Also, the deer is now in field and the guys want permission to shoot in the field. The next step was to call Neil or Tom (relatives on my Mom's side). Neil didn't answer however Tom was close as he was checking out the bay to see how the ice fishing was so he came to help. He verified with the field owner that we could go onto his field. We were right by a ditch and there was another coming from the adjacent field. They needed to hide as much as possible to get as close as the could to the deer. Dan went into the ditch by where we were parked while Tom and Dad drove to the next ditch. I watched from my Dad's vehicle. I saw my Dad get out and start walking, which caused the deer to run, but not in the direction that they were hoping (which would have been back to Dan).

While they were working on this I realized I needed to go to the bathroom but I had no where to go. I looked around and the only way to get any privacy would be to go into the ditch. I devised a little plan of my own but it was adverted when I started walking to the ditch and on one step the snow broke and I went thigh high into the snow. I turned around and tried to go back but all the snow started breaking. I crawled my way back up and as I was doing that Dad and Tom were coming back in Tom's truck. Then I was glad I didn't make it into the ditch. They would have come back just in time to catch me with my pants around my ankles. Would have been quite embarrassing!

Dad and Tom had devised a new plan. Tom would drop off my Dad at the other end of the ditch that Dan was in while Tom and I would watch the deer from the truck. We watched the deer thru the binoculars Tom had brought and we saw the deer head towards a line of pine trees that lined Steve Gremel house. Tom and I then drove over to Steve's house to see who was home, we found out there were quite a few people there -- and a couple of dogs. I quickly realized these were the same dogs that had chased the deers only about an hour earlier. And, I could see why the deer ran... they were scary dogs. However, this second time that the deer was bad the dogs were completely oblivious and there were not two but three dogs.

Tom talked to the people who where there and then instructed me to get take his truck to get my Dad. I asked if he was sure he wanted me driving his vehicle but he was.

I was so nervous!! I am not the best driver, I hate driving big vehicles, and I had to turn around the truck in front of everyone. I managed to get the truck turned around and was driving out the very long drive way when another truck pulled in... it was my Dad with another guy. I turned back around and headed back into commotion.

The found the deer behind a barn and watched it walk INTO a pig barn. By the time I had pulled up Dan already had drawn his bow back and was pointed directly into the barn. My dad and another guy was on the opposite side of the barn and was looking in thru one of the side windows. My dad asked permission to shoot into the barn however the guy wasn't the owner of the barn so he didn't shoot in. They told me later that the deer was hopping over the stalls of the pig barn while they were watching. Then I see the deer jump out of a window on the side I was on! It then ran back into the field!! It was crazy! One of the ladies who was there was having a ton of fun... she said this is the most excitement ever on their property!

We all stood around and chatted for a moment. I found out that the dog that came up with Dan had found him in the ditch. Apparently Dan was getting pretty close to the deer, almost within shooting range, and he heard a noise behind him. When he turned to look he saw the dog... and the dog just wanted to play. He shoo'ed the dog over to the deer but the dog wouldn't give up. That's when the deer headed to the pine trees along the house.

After we left the house we drove back around to where I had needed to use the restroom... which is right where the deer was standing. Dad and Dan were in the bed of Tom's truck, each holding their bows hoping for one last shot before the sun went down. My dad did take one shot but it was more of a hail-mary and missed the deer. My dad went out into the woods to get his arrow and scared the deer back into the woods that my dad had shot the deer to begin with. Talk about a full circle!! But, my dad was happy. Since it was now 5pm the sun was going down and tracking had to be done for the day. With the deer going into the woods there was a good chance that it would lay down to sleep so Dad and Dan will go back out tomorrow morning and see if they can start over.

In the end my Mom was upset... I spent a day in the woods with my family tracking a deer but not a picture was taken. No one will ever believe me.