FLORIDA!!

I now have some pictures that my brother and Mom took. We are just having way too much fun in the sun!! I am getting the best tan that I possibly can!! So far the weather has been exceptionally beautiful... sunny and in the 80's!! We can not ask for better weather than this.
Or typical vacation day consists of...

... waking at 7:00am for a 2 mile walk on the beach. We walk from the parking lot along the beach, the girls power walk while the guys shark tooth hunt. After the first mile we stop at the Jetty for coffee and conversation. Then we walk the mile back on the road past all the beautiful beach homes!!

... followed by a HUGE breakfast. If nothing else I will have gotten a good 10 pounds back from this trip. LOL!! Can't beat family cooking!!

... then miscellanous house hold chores for about an hour

... back to the beach for more fun in the sun!! And a fight between Mom and the rest of us over the strenght of the suntan lotion needed. We all say 4, she says we need 30. We think she just wants to come back the tannest!

... after the beach we have a HUGE dinner. I think Grandma has a personal goal to make sure no one leaves her house lighter than when they came in. She is completing her goal and then some. But with Grandma's cooking, its not hard at all to get me to eat!! As my Dad would say, I can't put her food on top of my head!!

... finally we follow up the evening with cards!!! Love Eucher & Schafkopf!!

Sometimes there are deviations for naps!! Tomorrow is scheduled to be chilly so we will be replacing beach time with shopping time (always have to hit the outlets)!

I am going to enjoy every last minute of this...

Upper Respiratory Infection

That is what I have. I went to the doctor on Monday and got medication. Then spent the last 3 days on the couch. The nice part... I got to watch a lot of Sex and The City (and Oprah) and slept a ton! Now I have a plane flight at 8pm to FLORIDA!! I can't went to spend the next week with my family!! I am overly excited!

Luckily I don't have to worry too much about getting everyone sick... my dad and brother already are! I don't know if that really is a good thing or not... but I am still excited to see everyone!

The days after...

I had the most wonderful Valentines date... with my friend Lynette!! Kendol had school and Lynette's boyfriend had to work so she and I went to Oceanaire (where her beaux is the Executive Sous Chef) and had a wonderful time.

We didn't make it to the restaurant until almost 10pm an there was still an amazing line!! People without reservations were even trying to get in. Lynette and I laughed at those people. Once we were seated I ordered a martini with olives (my current fav drink) and she ordered hers (caramel apple martini) and we got to chatting and people watching.

Our first course was an appetizer... we were going to have calamari however by 10:15pm they were out. Instead they brought us out shrimp, calamari style and it was wonderful! We ate the entire thing!! I was amazed at how good it tasted!! We then shared a spinach and warm bacon dressing salad... yummy!! For my entry I had scallops with corn ravioli. I was in heaven!! Once again, amazing. Then Lynette's beaux, Chris brought us out dessert. It was the perfect cap to the evening. Chocolate martinis with Crème brûlée, chocolate mouse, chocolate covered strawberries, a petifor with a cute little heart on it, and blackberries with whipped cream. Needless to say I was happy and full. Once the restaurant had died down a bit Chris and Dee stopped by the table and we had a great conversation!!

Then I woke up on Friday. Something doesn't feel right. And I knew it had nothing to do with the night before... I am coming down with... the FLU!! I don't have time for this!! I am going to Florida on Thursday. I took Airborne, all my vitamins and have been drinking tea and orange juice. I woke up this morning and I am dragging!! Its whats going around... sore throat, cough, runny nose, achy, head ache, etc. As soon as my replacement gets to work I am heading home to lay back down. I must feel better soon!! Pray that it goes away!!

HAPPY V-DAY!!!

I thought it was cold here...

until I saw this. These pictures are courtesy of my Mom in Michigan. Needless to say she is ready for our Florida trip next week!! It may not be that cold here (its up to 42 degrees right now) but I have to say I am ready for vacation too!!

Daffodils

It's almost here... even though right now its only 35 degrees!!! SPRING!!! I can't wait!! I love warm weather. I came to work at Buckhead Church this morning to find daffodils at my desk. It was my friend Erinleigh's way of saying thank you for watching her dog Darcy and I have to say I like the way she says thank you!! And the best part... they were from her yard!! When I was there last week they had not bloomed yet. This makes me so excited for spring! Break out the kleenex... time for allergy season!! (Thank the Lord for allergy shots)

Also for Spring, I spent the last 2 days cleaning out and re-arranging my apartment. It's looks so good!! There were only 3 bags that I threw out and 3 bags going to Good Will. It feels so nice to have such a clean place right now!! (Once again, thank the Lord for allergy shots)

Kendol and I went out for Valentines last night and had a blast!! He has school until 10pm on Thursday so we made our own day, which I think was even better... not crowded at all! We went to One Midtown Kitchen and had a fabulous dinner. We split everything which is my favorite way to go. Then we went to see Fools Gold, which was a cute movie. It was a wonderful Valentines date!!

Tonight is SATC (Sex & The City) night and then on Thursday Lynn and I are celebrating Valentines at her beaux's restaurant, Oceanaire. I am excited!!

All I want to do is...

Dance, dance, dance!!! And that is exactly what a couple of friends and I did on Thursday night. And we had a blast!! We went to my old stomping grounds... Masquerade, had a blast.

The only trouble was I decided to go to the gym earlier that day and do both pilates and a combo class including step aerobics, cardio kick boxing, and Latin jam.

Other than that... Kendol took me out for breakfast to the Flying Biscuit on Friday and it was great! After all the working out Thursday night I was starving. And that was just what I needed!!



I can barely walk today. But it was worth it!!

No Work -- for almost a month!!

So, I scheduled two big trips to Venice... one in Florida and one in Italy!! And I can't wait!

I am going to Venice, Florida with my family the last week in February. We will be down there about a week and a half. Complete relaxation. Rejuvenation. A time for family, cards, ocean, beach, and tanning. I am so excited... I can't wait!!

I will come back to Atlanta for about a week before heading over to Venice ITALY!! I can't wait. I have never been that far overseas and one of my New Years Resolutions was that I would go somewhere in Europe. I got a passport a couple years back to go to Angie's wedding in Jamaica but haven't used it since. I will have another stamp on that passport on March 10 -- only 1 month away!!

I will be gone from the 10th to the 27th. When it gets closer to the date I will add the flight numbers for those who may want them. I will also try to keep an update on here of my daily happenings.



In other news I am (almost) official. As long as my references are good I am my small group's new leader! Sue, the single's community group director, really likes where I am on my walk with God and is excited to see me transition into leadership. I am excited for this new opportunity!!

Also, after some complications it looks like Kendol will now be getting a new roomate and will live in Atlantic Station. The original apartment he was going to get fell thru completely so he went a different direction and found a really great roommate. From the looks of it, he will be moving on Monday. He is really excited for this new direction in his life and I am very excited for him as well!

My Best Life Ever

Oprah yesterday was great!! If you were unable to watch I suggest checking it out online because Dr. Oz was on explaining how to live your best life ever. A lot of what they discussed is stuff I already know (eat right, sleep well, take your vitamins, have a passion) but it went a little more specific in the anti-aging direction. One tidbit of advise I took in was to drink green and white tea... a lot if it... every day. Like 4-5 cups. There are so many health benefits to it.

So, this morning I am trying something different. Instead of my morning cup of coffee I am choosing to drink a combo of green and white tea. If you work with me and find that my attitude is not up to par please let me know. I will run to the nearest break room and get my coffee fix :)


And now for the post-cap of my past week:

This past weekend I spent Saturday evening with my friend Ashley. She has moved up to Suwanee, and if you haven't heard of it don't feel left out. Its OTP. I think she is crazy. But don't remind me later that I said that... I *may* be moving OTP. We had dinner at a cute little Mexican restaurant and hung out at her new apartment. Since I hadn't seen her in a while it was great to catch up!

Sunday was the SUPERBOWL. Granted, I am not a huge fan of watching sports but I will when there is a party with free food involved! Portia, a friend from Cbeyond, had a party at her house. Another OTP visit but we had a lot of fun. I talked thru most of the game but watched the last 3 minutes of the game... amazing!! I missed the commercials but from what I hear I didn't miss much.

Monday there was no small group... which was probably good. I was exhausted and I couldn't stay awake. I was in bed by 9:30pm.

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!!