Am I Normal?

So I know I said that I was working on a post about fun jewelry with a give away... But here's the deal... I need someone else to take the picture of me wearing the earrings and J just wasn't up for it the other night. Maybe soon we will take pics. Until then, you will all have to wait. Sorry:(

This post is going to be "heavier" than I usually post because it's just been on my mind and I have to get it out. I like to keep things light on my blog, but this is also a journal and sometimes you just have to get words out!

My mom has told me my entire life that I put too many expectations on events and things (like my birthday or Christmas) and then I get let down. I always deny this...of course! But Jonathan has told me he has noticed I do this also. I put so much hype into things that when they don't turn out like they are in my mind I get let down. I say that all to say that I don't know if this is the reason I was so upset last night or not. But either way I'm going to share it.

After work yesterday Billie came to the church to meet me to get our 2 mile run in for the day. (It's so nice to run with a running partner! Way more fun than running by myself!) Anyway, after our run we hurried from my office to the other end of the building to the bathroom with showers. We hurried and got our showers. Walked back down to my office (this is at least a quarter of a mile each way in case you were wondering...yes our church is so big my office is that far away from the sanctuary:) LOL) grabbed our stuff, ran {drove} to Subway grabbed dinner and then came back to church for the first night of this years women's Bible study. We were excited to get plugged into a Bible study (we did a study last year too) and meet people our age and get a sense of community along with learning about God and ways that we can be better Christians.

Well we walked in the room the Bible study was held and there were at least 400 women... (not what I consider a Bible study...that's more of a lecture). But it's a good sign that that many women wanted to come out to do the same thing we wanted to do! (There was a men's study happening in another area of the building at the same time with over 600 men which is awesome! J had a great time. It's nice that our studies are on the same night and time.) Back to our study. We walked through the room and there was only ONE table left with 3 seats open (we were meeting a friend)! They hadn't really mentioned what we would be learning when we signed up online and when we got there we learned that we would be studying the Old Testament Covenant. OK, I know that the OT can be applicable and it's good to study it, but let's just be honest here. Old Testament Covenant? How dry can you get? We have some great teachers and speakers, but I don't care how great of a speaker you are... it's hard to spice up and make the OT exciting when we're talking about laws and contracts. Just sayin. I felt like I was back in school learning book knowledge. Then my next thought was "what is wrong with me. If I was a good Christian I would be able to glean useful, applicable info from this whether it's interesting or not. And why isn't it interesting? Am I not mature enough for this?" All of these things were running through my brain as I watched the clock to count down the minutes. "How horrible I am! I'm even on staff at the church. I should be learning and enjoying this. Are people going to think I'm less of a Christian that I'm bored to death learning this stuff?"

I talked with my two girlfriends that were there and they both were thinking the exact same thing as me, which made me feel better. One of my friends mentioned that we should get a DVD or book study and meet with our group of girls instead of going back to this study and at least we'd be in the Word and learning something that we can use.

I went home and told Jonathan all about it and went to sleep thinking about it. And you know what? I woke up feeling like there must be something wrong with me. So of course I did what any girl does... I called my mom on my way to work to talk to her about it. She assured me that she has been through some Bible studies where you feel like you're just going through the motions. Maybe this just isn't the study for me at this time in my life. She agreed that we should try a Beth Moore DVD and said she's sure we would relate to it. That made me feel better.

Here's the thing that is weighing on my heart... If I have grown up in the church, went to a Christian school, a Christian college and now work for a church and the info in this Bible study was too heavy for me, what about the other people in the room. In a group that large and with how our church is so focused on outreach, you have to know that there are many "baby" Christians in that room. Did they walk away from that room with the same inadequate feelings I did? This worries me. I have a support system that I could obviously call on to tell me that I'm not crazy. But what about the other girls.

I'm all about doing a Bible study with my 3 girlfriends, but I was really hoping for a Bible study where we could meet new people and add to our community. I'm still trying to figure out how I feel about it all.

Did I just put too much hype into what this Bible study would do for me instead of praying about how I will grow from it? Should I talk to the people in that department about how I feel since I would assume that there would be others who feel the same way (even though that is scary since I work with these people)? This is what's been weighing on my heart all day and I just had to get it out there. Either way, I'm not sure what I will be doing next Wednesday night...

His and Hers

In my last post I mentioned that Jonathan and I got Snuggies. Well, I had to post a picture of us in our snuggies so you can all laugh at us. I thought Snuggies were a total joke, but I am now a believer because they keep me nice and warm while I type:) This is what we look like on a nightly basis. Me with the laptop on my lap and Jonathan with his iPhone in his hand OR his work computer on his lap. Yes, we live an exciting life! Please don't make fun of the silly expression on my face :)Don't you just love how my snuggie is so bright that it's actually reflecting off of the laptop? Wow. Dakota is loving our snuggies also. It's so cute. He keeps trying to lay on our laps. Maybe he needs a doggie snuggie? :)

Yep, we're dorks. But we're ok with that:)

Running in the snow and other stuff

I think Billie and I are crazy and I'm sure you do too. We met this morning in 19 degree weather with about 3 inches of snow on the ground to put in 4 miles! We are doing the Hal Higdon 12 week training program and we only have those 12 weeks before the half marathon (aka no room for skipping days). Well, I did skip my 3 mile run on Thursday because I don't have a gym membership and running outside I think would have been dangerous. Today we met at our church since we figured that the parking lot would be plowed unlike some other streets. Our church is big...and when I say big, I mean that 2 laps around the entire parking lot is 3 miles! (Which is pretty awesome that I can run there after work in the evenings before I go home, so it's still light out and safe.) Today Billie and I decided to run through a few streets around the church so we wouldn't just be running in circles. And for how cold it was, I think we did pretty well! Go us! Every Saturday we do our "long runs" together and we add a mile each week! I just hope we don't have these extreme temps again next week:)

After our run, Jonathan and I needed to run some errands. We dropped my engagement ring off at the jewelers because one of the prongs kept snagging all of my clothes and driving me crazy! When we picked it back up two hours later they had re-rhodiumed it and it looked brand new. The problem was that when I put it on, my band looked yellow, so they rhodiumed the band while I waited and now my rings are so beautiful! I feel like a newly-wed again:) I can't stop staring at the sparkly:) hehe.

We ran to Target so I could buy my first pair of leggings (since the 1980's) and of course they were on sale and did not have a SINGLE color or size! The entire display was empty! But all was not lost, we eyed some snuggies. We've always made fun of them, but with these cold temps, we said what the heck and bought a blue and a pink one! So right now we're sitting on the couch, Jonathan watching the UK game in his UK blue snuggie and me blogging in my pink one. And so far I'm loving it because i can stay warm while I type on the computer:) I totally recommend them to bloggers:)

Well, that's been our day so far. I'm working on a post about some great deals on jewelry I got after Christmas and maybe even a give-away!!! So be on the look-out! :) Have a great weekend!

SNOW!!

After all of my whining and complaining....it's SNOWING!!! I'm so thankful for a job I LOVE and I just have to say that I'm also thankful that when the city schools are on delay or out due to snow, we don't come in until 10:30!!! WHOOHOO! This morning it wasn't even really snowing yet, but we still got to go in late! The "blizzard" (I say that facetiously because people here don't know what a blizzard is!) was expected to start in the afternoon. So roads were starting to get bad so we were told at 3:30 we could go home! Whoohoo!

When I got home I let Dakota run around in the snow. He was so cute. He didn't stop long enough for me to get a good picture. Then when we got inside his whole little body was shaking from being cold. So cute.

My 1/2 marathon training was going well this week. 3 miles on Tuesday and 2 miles on Wednesday. Today was supposed to be 3 miles but this is what it looks like out my front door. I think there's just too much snow for running! It's slippery!

When Jonathan got home he broke in our new shovel. Yes, we have lived here 4 years and just bought a shovel this winter! Don't judge.

I'm excited to see how much snow we get!! I just love snow. I grew up with lots of snow in the winter so whenever we get a bit of snow here, it brings back fun memories of sledding and building snowmen and skiing! I get frustrated living in the "south" because we do get snow each winter, but the city is never prepared with enough plows and salt trucks. So 3 inches will shut down the city! It's frustrating for a "northern" girl who knows how to drive in the snow!

Dakota is watching for more snow to fall so he can sleep in with mommy tomorrow!

Happy Birthday Mom!

Today is my mom's birthday and since I can't be with her, I thought I'd tell her Happy Birthday on my blog! The last couple of years her birthday has fallen on her Christmas break, so she and my dad have come down to visit us and celebrate her birthday with us. This year it didn't work out that way. Since I was so sick when we left town after Christmas, my mom wasn't able to open her birthday presents...but that left them for her to open on her actual birthday... Today!

Happy Birthday mom! I love you and I wish I was there! :) I'd love some Real Seafood!

(I know I just posted this picture a week ago, but this is the most recent picture I have of us!)

Winter Decorations

We still have yet to get any snow accumulation, but I still feel the need to decorate for winter:). We took down all of the Christmas decorations on New Year's day and it felt so good to get things back to normal! I only have a couple of winter decorations, but I thought I'd share them. I love decorating with snowmen. (again...wish we had some snow! We've had flurries and a bit on the ground but never enough to shovel or cover the grass. I keep hoping...)

This tree is at the front door. I got it from Lily's Warehouse sale this summer when I was visiting my mom. (She of course had to get one too because the price was so good! $10 I think.) We thought they would be cute Christmas decorations or just whenever decorations. I think the red berries look "wintry".

This kind of looks like the picture that I posted at Christmas, but I took down the Christmas tree, so this pic just has the pine tree and snowman. I just love both of these decorations. (Do you love the empty picture frame on the wall in the background? Lovely...almost 4 years living here and the frames are still empty!)

This is my entryway table. I'm really bad about switching things up once I get stuff how I like it. So I've never really decorated this table. (I usually have 3 pillar candles on the left of the table and that's all). But I got inspired and I think it turned out cute. I had the snowman out (in a different location) for Christmas. The plate was a Christmas present from Billie! I just LOVE it! I have been wanting one of these plates for forever! She knows me so well:) Now I just need to learn how to write more artistically on it! The tree is from the After-Christmas sale at Lily's (do I shop there too much? ha) that I went to last weekend with my mom. It was only $16 and it is so unique (just like all of their stuff). It's all wires, so you can bend the branches how you'd like and the tree sits in a rock. Just so cool. I wish it showed up a little bit better against our brown walls, but I still think it's cute! And of course my new Wood Wick candle:) I've never had one before and this smelled so fresh that I just had to get it. I just love the crackling sound!

I also still have the snowman in the guest bathroom. I already posted a pic of that, so I'm not going to post it again. I think that a few touches here and there are just so fun! The problem is that I have all these snowmen and NO SNOW outside! Did I mention that? I mean, when it is this cold out, you might as well have snow to make things pretty!

We had a great weekend and are not looking forward to going back to work tomorrow! After a week off for Jonathan and 3 short weeks for me it's going to be hard to get back in the swing of things! Along with getting back in the swing of work, Billie and I are starting our 12 week training program for our half marathon starting this week! Oh my! Hopefully I'll have energy to blog this week because I'm getting tired just thinking about it:) Lets just say I have a whole lot of cookies, sweets, and food to run off!

Christmas and New Year's!

This may end up being a really long post...so I apologize. I'm soo behind! I haven't blogged in over a week and so much has happened!!! First of all, I hope you all had a wonderful Christmas and New Year! Since Jonathan's family and my family live far away from each other we swap every other year for Thanksgiving/Christmas. This year was Christmas with my family. I think it's different for females than males being home at Christmas and doing all of the family traditions. I missed them so much last year and it was nice to be able to be there this year!

Both of my brothers families were not coming in until later on Christmas and then on Sunday so Christmas Eve and Christmas morning ended up being quiet with just the four of us. My parents have been attending a new church, so we went to one of their seven (7!!) Christmas eve services. (There ended up being over 20,000 people in attendance at all 7 services.) It was a really great service with great music! Luckily we knew to get there early so we could get good seats. Then we went to my Aunt and Uncle's house for their annual Christmas Eve party.

Christmas morning was the four...er...five including Dakota (since he was our main entertainment opening his stocking and presents) of us so we had a lazy, quiet morning opening presents and eating a yummy brunch of egg casserole and homemade sticky buns. In the afternoon we worked on a puzzle, my mom made a yummy dinner and then we played a rousing game of domino's. Fun memories! Here's the sad part...Christmas night Jonathan woke up sick. And when I say sick, I mean throwing up every 15 minutes. He couldn't even keep an ice chip down. It was horrible! So Saturday we loaded him into the car and drove him to the ER where he got an IV of fluids and meds. Poor thing. I've never seen him so sick. They said it was a 48 hour stomach virus. (Can't wait to see the bill from that since J has special insurance that only works at UK...but what could we do since we were 5 hours away?)

The good part about Saturday was that Lily's (if you know me well you know I LOVE Lily's) was having a sale on all of their Christmas stuff 50% off!!! I always stock up on stuff from there when I'm at my parents...but 50% off??? That's awesome! So I got a TON of great stuff for next year. I was going to take pictures and post a blog about it but it didn't happen and they are now packed in bins in the attic. Guess you'll have to check back next Christmas to see:)

On Sunday my one brother's family left and my other brother's family came to my parents' house. We were playing a fun Christmas movie trivia game and all of the sudden it hit me! I was sick! Luckily since we knew what it was, as soon as I was sick my mom got on the phone and got a prescription called in for me so I didn't get to the point that Jonathan had been. Tell you what...that virus was so draining! I missed seeing the kids open their presents and all of the fun family stuff while I was sick! Such a bummer!

The next morning, Jonathan still wasn't feeling well but we had to leave because I was working the next day, so he dressed me and practically carried me to the car and I slept the entire way home. J got me into bed when we got home and unpacked everything for us. 3 more adults and 3 kids in my family ended up getting sick after they left my parents house. It also ran through my aunt and uncle and cousins houses. Crazy!

Skipping ahead a couple days... We usually do a big New Years Eve party at our house, but some of our friends were out of town and with not feeling well during the week we just kept things low-keyed. Billie, Derek and Eli came over to celebrate. We had a great time. We watched The Hangover and laughed until our stomachs hurt. And the guys played the New Super Mario Bros game for the Wii...until almost 2am! We did watch the ball drop though! I know... We were a rowdy crew! We always do chocolate fondue on New Years so we made some and it was delicious!

I went to For Love when I was in Toledo. My orange scarf was $5 and my gold earrings were $4! I might need to post the rest of those deals later! (I discovered that I LOVE scarves during Old Navy's after Thanksgiving Day Sale since they were cheap. Now I can't get enough of them!)

Cute family!! Love them all! :)

Is Eli not the most beautiful baby? He is just so precious!! Look at those eyes:)

Today we took down all of the Christmas stuff and I got my normal house back! I love the Christmas stuff but after Christmas I am sooo ready to declutter! I did leave up some winter decorations to be fun!

It's been a crazy week. I can't believe it's already 2010! The beginning of the 2000 I was a college student. It's crazy to think about how much has happened since then! This past year has been a good one. I can't wait to see what 2010 brings!