16 Reasons

Anthony turns 16 today! I can't believe it. Half the time I still picture him as a 9-year-old. He loves that. This will be the first time since the day he was born that I will not be with him for his birthday. He's still in Alabama visiting our family down there. It bums me out a little bit, but he'll be back this weekend, so I'll make up for it then.

Since I still wanted him to have something from me on his birthday, I decided to write him a letter and tell him 16 Reasons I think he's awesome.

1. He's kind.
2. He's funny. He has fantastic, if not unintentional, comedic timing.
3. He makes brave hair choices. This kid recently colored his bangs purple... which then faded to some weird blond/fuchsia combination. And he just rocked it like it was on purpose. #pinkhairdontcare
4. He's super creative.
5. He has great taste in music... mostly. I have an odd sense of pride hearing him listen to songs I loved in high school/college. But every once in a while he throws some weird wrench in there.  
6. He is incredibly smart. Too smart for his own good at times, but still.
7. He's laid back. It takes a lot to ruffle his feathers, which is insane when you realized he grew up with a powder keg.
8. He can be really helpful.
9. He likes to try new food. He is one of my few sushi buddies. Lord love him
10. He's fun to hang out with.
11. He's got an interesting view on the world. He definitely sees things differently than I do, which is not a bad thing!
12. He has more confidence in me than I do. I used to make his birthday cakes every year. At first it was simple, but eventually there was Spider-Man, an aquarium, and a dragon. I called it quits before I had to figure out how to make a working Ferris wheel.
13. He likes to have adventures.
14. He's forgiving. Remember that powder keg he grew up with? Poor kid definitely got caught in the fallout more than he deserved. But he loves me anyway.
15. He likes to learn new tasks. He may never use them, but he'll look stuff up just to know it. Kind of cool, really.
16. He's committed. When he was little, he would pick what he wanted to be for Halloween next year on November 1, and he would not be swayed. One time he decided to be a vampire and refused to eat garlic for a solid year.

Obviously, there are more than 16 things I love about him, but it was fun to sit down an think about the reasons he's a great kid.

This is a collection of all the photos I shared
online for his birthday. It was fun. :-D

30 at 30

In honor of my 30^th birthday, I decided to jump on the bandwagon and come up with a list of 30 things to do before May 7 of next year! Off we go!

1.       See more live music. I might have stolen this one from Greg. It was part of his new year's resolution, but I like the idea. There are so many opportunities to see some good music that I really should join him in this effort.
2.       Explore my area. There are so many cool things to do within a day's drive of my house and I rarely do any of them!
3.       Try new foods! I am definitely not one to shy away from trying foods that are different. Hello, one of my favorite desserts is the chocolate habanero deliciousness known as the Azteca Gelato from Coolato Gelato. That being said, when I go out to restaurants I tend to order the similar things everywhere I go.
4.       Establish a regular game night. We used to be so good at this! Amy and I would hang out and play Clue or Wii games, Greg and I would go over to friends' houses for Settlers of Catan... I would like to set up at least a quarterly game night. Soon!
5.       Relax. I would never call myself high strung, but I will admit that sometimes I get a little overwhelmed. Even if I know things are out of my control and there's nothing I can do, I still get stressed out. I just need to caaalm dooown.
6.       Get a new job. Ok, this one's cheating because I start my new job tomorrow! The job interview I mentioned before went really well and I go in to fill out paperwork tomorrow morning. My first full day will be May 16!
7.       Re-establish my quiet time. This will help me do #5. I used to have a regularly scheduled time alone with God and it was great! These days I feel like I'm just blowing through my bible reading and I wait so late to pray that I end up falling asleep before I'm done. God made time to make the universe, I think I can make time to be with Him!
8.       Get crafty! Obviously I love my crafts, but they have fallen to the wayside lately. I need to get back at my creative outlets!
9.       Do more things Greg wants to do. I have the most wonderful guy ever, but I will admit that we do what I want to do a lot of the time. We do what he wants to do when it's also something I want to do. Eek! I need to be more open to doing things that he's interested in. *cough*DragonCon*cough*
10.   Try new restaurants. Similar yet different from #3, I need to branch out in my eating habits. When I go out to eat, I probably eat at the same few places over and over. I practically have some of their menus memorized. Which is a shame because Knoxville has a lot of fun places that I've been interested in but never tried. How sad.
11.   Reorganize and downsize. I have too much crap.
12.   Get back into a regular exercise routine. Yeah, yeah, I know. I've been down this path before. But I also know I feel better when I workout. Hopefully not working in a gym will help me be more inclined to visit it.
13.   Get a tan. Hee hee hee, ok so if you've seen my pictures you know I basically have a year-round tan [shout out to the mixed kids!]. But if I have a better tan, that means I actually spent some time outside this summer!
14.   Have more “little” dates with G. Greg and I have had some big, fancy dates like a casino party at Club LeConte and dinner at Brazeiros, but I have just as much fun (if not more) doing silly little things with him. We need more of that.
15.   Read more! I have gone through a drought of reading and it saddens me. Books are like free vacations! What am I waiting for?
16.   Go somewhere I’ve never been. I did this in February, and now it's bugging me that I need to do it again. And again. And again. It doesn't have to be as dramatic as going to the Bahamas, but just to visit a place I've never been and see something new. It can be tied in with #2 and #10. :-)
17.   Be joyful. Back in January, I asked my small group to pick a word or theme for the year. My word was joy. I feel I do great with it some days and absolutely terrible other days. I can do better.
18.   More random acts of kindness. I've done this a few times, but I need to get more mindful about my randomness.
19.   Clean regularly. This kind of goes with #11. Once I pare down, hopefully it will be easier to keep stuff clean.
20.   Do something with my hair. I'm in a mode where all I do is wear my hair in a bun, which is usually a signal that I need a haircut. And then I just wear it in a ponytail or a braid. I need to get more adventurous.
21.   Say thank you more. I have been blessed with some really great people in my life. I need to let them know I appreciate them.
22.   Take a trip with G. We haven't gone on a trip together since August 2012. That needs to be remedied.  
23.   Fix my fridge. I bought a beautiful new fridge, but when they installed it we realized there was a tiny pinhole in the tube to our house tubing. It's a simple fix, I just need to go to Home Depot to get the part.
24.   Swim. As in laps. I used to be on a swim team when I was in middle school and I've always loved to swim. Plus it's such a great all over workout.
25.   Go to the chiropractor. I went for a free consultation a few weeks ago and we discovered I have a twist in my back causing a lean in my neck and pain in my shoulders. There's also a line where a curve should be in the back of my neck. My new health insurance will cover chiropractic visits, so there's nothing really stopping me.
26.   Try a new activity. I'm noticing a theme here. I want to do new things.
27.   Cook from my Pinterest boards. Like every person with a Pinterest account, I have all these delicious looking recipes I've done nothing but look at. I need to try a few!
28.   Meal plan. My life runs more smoothly when I do this, but I get so wrapped up in nonsense I forget to do it. Or I get distracted.
29.   Update my wardrobe. For all the clothes I have, I don't have a lot to wear. Once I do #11, I'll need to purchase some better pieces. But not too many! 
30.   Blog more! If you look at my post history, I think this one speaks for itself.

Some will definitely be easier than others, but I’m looking forward to trying it!

Spirit Week

I'm going to totally pretend that you've only missed this week. That being said, this is still going to be a long post. Deal with it...

This week has been... interesting! In a mostly good way! Tomorrow is the Group Fitness Launch at work (where the instructors start using new releases of the MOSSA Group classes), so we've been having a Spirit Week at work to gear up for it. Starting Tuesday we had Earth Day, Sports Day, Crazy Hat Day, and Super Hero Day. Tomorrow for the actual launch will be Beach Party Day. What most of us heard was that we go almost a whole week where we didn't have to wear our uniforms. Chicka-chicka-ka-score! ;-)

The interesting part of my week really started on Monday. I knew the next day was Earth Day, and I was allowed to wear anything with an Earth Day/Recycling theme to it. I shot Amy a message to see if she had anything I could borrow since I had nothing appropriate, and she found a tshirt of her husband's that would be perfect. When she asked him if I could borrow it He said I could, but only if I applied for a position that had just become available at his company. I think we all know that I've been looking for other employment for a while now, so I was intrigued. After a brief conversation with Amy, I polished up my resume and go it to the HR person. When I saw Amy at small group that night, she said her husband came home saying he thought they wanted to interview me on Thursday. Sure enough, when small group was over I had a voice mail asking if I was available for an interview on Thursday at 10am. Ahhh!

Tuesday and Wednesday were kind of a blur. I scrambled to get my shift partially covered for Thursday (I was supposed to work 11am-6pm), and I finished getting the rest of Greg's birthday gifts together. Oh yeah, not only did I have an interview on Thursday, but the love of my life turned 37! Tuesday and Wednesday involved a lot of shopping and praying. Mostly, I was praying that I would keep calm and just present myself well. I didn't want to get too excited, mostly because I've applied for several jobs and had a few interviews and then crickets. So I kept praying for God to move as He saw fit in the situation and to remind me that He has perfect timing.

Thursday was a full day, which was great! I didn't have time to dwell on anything because the day was so packed. I had the interview, worked 1-6, then immediately when to the restaurant to meet everyone for Greg's birthday dinner. I think the interview went really well. The HR person had told me it would be less than an hour, and I was there for about an hour and a half. It was really friendly interview, and I think I presented myself as well as I possibly could. Amy said her husband sent her a message saying it must be going well because I was still there, and that was only about halfway through my time there. :-) They said they hoped to make a final decision on Monday, and I should hear one way or the other sometime on Tuesday. After that, I ended up meeting Amy at the store because I had to get new shoes. I might have forgotten my tennis shoes and socks in my hurry to not be late... I needed new shoes anyway! We wandered around a chatted for about an hour until it was time for me to head to work. My shift went by pretty fast, probably because it was abbreviated. ;-) At 6 I flew out the door and up to Market Square for dinner. Greg decided he wanted to visit The Stock & Barrel this year. I ended up ordering a Bison Burger and Duck Confit Fries. Ohmigosh, it was so good! I'm sorry I didn't get a picture of it, but I inhaled it! If you're in the area, I highly recommend it! After dinner we wandered around the square for a bit, then all headed our separate ways.

Today was pretty good, too. It started off a little rough, but it's nothing that needs too much attention. Amy is at a women's retreat this weekend, Greg is at a concert, and Mom went off with her small group, so I'm at home with Tony tonight. He's in his room, so I've been left to my own devices. Well, a girl can only draft her resignation letter so many times before it becomes boring, so I decided to make something. We have a private Facebook page for our small group. I noticed that now you can add a cover picture to group pages (it used to just cycle through the profile pictures of the group members), so I went to PicMonkey and made this:

Ephesians 3:20 has sort of unofficially become our group's theme verse almost as soon as we started meeting together. Plus I wanted to remind myself that as much as I may want this job, God is capable of doing so much more than I can even comprehend. Again, His plan and timing are perfect. There's no point in worrying about it.

It looks like Anthony and I will have a pretty busy weekend. His small group is volunteering tomorrow morning so I need to get up early to get him up and out the door. Then he has a "date" tomorrow evening with his girlfriend. Whew, I don't know if I'm ready for all that! I better rest up!

Childhood Memory

The challenge for today simply said "childhood memory." This was actually quite easy for me for me to choose. Overall, I had a pretty good childhood, (or at least I thought it was good at the time, which is really all that matters), but for some reason this one always sticks out to me. 

Yep, pickles. I. Love. Pickles. When I was a kid, I would drink the brine straight from the jar. Don't judge me. Anyway, that's not the exact memory I wanted to share. The one instance I'm thinking of happened on my 7th birthday. We didn't have a lot of money when I was growing up. We were on government assistance for a little while, right after mom became disabled, but my mom did a great job of making sure I didn't want for anything (or even know we were poor until I got my first job and realized how much stuff costs). Anyway! That is all to say that I learned at a young age to appreciate a gift that had a lot of thought put into it, even if it was somewhat unconventional. 

So, for my 7th birthday, my sister got me a gallon of pickles. Are you kidding me??? That was the best present EVER! If you know my relationship with my sister, you understand why it's so odd that it is my favorite childhood memory. She put some thought into that one and got me something she knew I'd really like. And finish in 3 days. 

I should also mention that I also got a swing set for my 7th birthday. But I forget about it until I think about eating a pickle while waiting for my brother to finish building it. The pickles are what I remember over a swing set. Seriously? How much do I love pickles?

Fun with Shrinky Dinks

I told you I was going to get craft-tastic for Amy's birthday! This one involved an old school with some Shrinky Dinks. I had this idea about 30 hours before I was supposed to meet her for her birthday dinner... What is it about last minute inspiration? Oh well.

First a back story. Amy's stepson once said that she and I were Mental Twins. I'm not entire positive what he meant by that, but we decided it was true. More often than not we will be thinking the same thing or similar things, even if we're not in the same place and haven't spoken in a few days. For example: Several weeks ago I was shopping with Greg and saw this:

Discovered at JCP

Since Amy has a little mini-obsession going with octopuses lately, I took a pic meaning to text it to her. For some reason I didn't, but I saw it in my phone the other morning and decided to send it to her... at the same time that she was hanging up a giant poster she painted of an octopus. Mental twin powers activate!

Which is what led to this project.

This was a total Pin-spired project. I got the original idea from something I pinned a few months ago. I found the background here and played around with it in Paint until I liked the color combo. Then the font was found here (I used Badaboom). I messed around in PowerPoint until I got that looking right. Then it was time to print...

A) You need to print it kind of faded so it will look right after it bakes. B) I made the colors inverted because I was going to make one for her and one for me, but then I couldn't decide which to give her and which to keep, so I just to put both on each of them. If I can't make a decision, I don't. :-)

Next I trimmed them and put the hole at the top. FYI, a single hole-punch is the perfect size for a jump ring. Then I baked them in my pre-heated toaster (yes, I felt like I was using an Easy Bake Oven). When they were done I let them cool and painted them with diamond glaze to protect it. I had read that the colors can bleed if they get wet, plus it added a little extra shine. Once the glaze was dry to the touch I added the jump ring.

It was fun. Other people may see something similar for Chrismas. :-)

Let your light shine

I don't know if y'all realize exactly how much I love birthdays. While I like to have fun on my own birthday, I love celebrating my friends and family even more. I'm pretty sure I've mentioned how much I love the feeling of finding a gift that screams someone's name at me. Sometimes it's a ready made gift on the shelf; sometimes it's just a piece of a gift and I have to figure out where to go with it. That's what happened with Amy's gift this year.

I was at Hobby Lobby looking at something she had pointed out when we were there before, but I couldn't decide what to do with it. I was staring off into space, trying to figure out what to do with the transfers when I saw this:

Black? Silver? Chandelier? Amy written all over it!  And within 30 seconds I decided what to do with it. Enter gray damask scrapbook paper and black glitter tape from Hobby Lobby, a silver picture frame from Dollar Tree, and the computer/printer.

The hardest part was deciding which Bible verse to use. I found a font on Pinterest. Can I just take minute to say how much I love browsing fonts on there? So many options! I found the font in this post, and I chose Grand Hotel. Making that choice made the whole thing have a vintage luxury hotel feel with the wallpaper and chandelier... maybe it's just me. Anyway! I set the paper margins to 5" x 7" and put my text towards the bottom of the page. I printed it and cut it to fit in the frame (it was an 8.5" x 11" sheet of scrapbook paper), then I glued on the chandelier. While it dried, I covered the matte board (originally an off-white) with the black glitter tape. Then I put it all together. Ta-da!

"You are the light of the world. A town built on a hill cannot be hidden. Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house. In the same way, let you light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven."

Matthew 5:14-16, NIV

I'm really impressed with the way it turned out! I think the black glitter really helps set it off. The frame I found is more like a shadow box; there is a good 1/4-inch of space between the glass and the paper. That isn't why I got it (I got it because it was the only frame I saw at Dollar Tree that wasn't some shade of brown), but it is an added bonus since the chandelier is not totally flat.

It's classy! And totally Amy. 

The Bravest

First and foremost, I need to wish a slightly belated birthday to my Best Friend, Mental Twin, Partner in Crime, and all around Long-Lost Sister, Amy!

Blurry and off-center because we were shaking from
freezing at the UT/KY game last year

I have now officially wished her a happy trip around the sun on Facebook (twice!), Twitter, text, and now via blog. That should be enough for now. She was lucky enough to spend her actual birthday with her mom in Destin, FL. I'm only slightly jealous... Mostly I'm happy she got to take a (much needed) vacation! We're going to celebrate her birthday at her happy place, Lakeside Tavern, on Sunday, which gives me a few more days to get her gift put together. Yes, I know, it's already belated. What's my problem? Shh. But seriously, I'm pretty pleased with the way it's turning out. I just need to finish up. Hopefully I'll have time to do that tomorrow.

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This past weekend was pretty great. Greg's friend Moose was given 4 tickets to the Braves (or Bravest according to my auto-correct) game for Friday Night, and he asked Greg and I to join him. Moose and I had recently been talking about the fact that I had never been to a Braves game, so when he asked I jumped at the chance. I don't know if I was more excited about the game or taking a 1/2-day off from work, but I was pumped!

I knew it was going to be a good trip when I found this at a gas station in Georgia:

Amy and I have a long running joke about these being the "holy grail of cola beverages" because we can never find it individually sold in a 20oz bottle around here. I saw it and knew I was in for a good time!

We got to Turner Field about an hour and a half before the game started. Moose and his dad decided to go autograph hunting, so Greg and I meandered around the lower level of the stadium for a while.

There was a huge mural with all of the team name changes and moves over the years (apparently the Atlanta Braves started as the Boston Redstockings), and this one cracked me up. I mean I know Boston is famous for their beans, but still... Oh well.

I also made G take a pic with me in front of the bullpen. Really, I was looking to update my fb profile pic and I don't like taking selfies alone... Is is still a selfie if someone else is in the picture?

Finally we made it up to our seats. And our seats were in the Coca-Cola Suite!

Free Coke products? Suite!

Not a bad view, either!

Moose said he didn't know if it was fair that I got to sit in a suite at my first Braves game. I told him it might be the only one I ever went to, so I might as well go big!

I made G take another one so I could choose. :-)

 We had a great time chatting with our neighboring suites and watching the game. And it ended wonderfully:

Should be 2-3, but the winner is correct. 

 We got "free baseball" (Moose's term for extra innings) and the Braves won! I might have been sad if they lost at my first game... After that there was a post-game performance by Montell Jordan.

Apparently he is now a Pastor at an Atlanta church and sang a few praise and worship songs while they were setting up for the fireworks. It was great and I loved the bonus worship time I got that day. After the game and fireworks we came back home to Knoxville. I finally crawled into bed at a little after 4am. It was totally worth it.

On Saturday, Greg and I had a nice day looking for adhesive for his prosthetic ears running errands. He decided to by William Shakespeare's Star Wars while we were at Target, and he ended up reading some of it to me once we got back to his house.

I love a strange man...

I'm not a huge Star Wars fan, but I would be interested in seeing this performed.

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Anyway, I think this post in bordering epic status, so I will rest my weary hands. I hope you're having a good week! Be blessed!

Biscuits

I am still having a hard time wrapping my head around the fact that it is already August! Tony starts 10th grade on Monday, Amy's birthday is in 19 days (good thing I already know what she's getting), and the unofficial end of summer, Labor Day, is just around the corner. Then it will be time for football, apples, chili, and pumpkins. Don't get me wrong, I love Fall. It's my favorite season. But where the heck did my summer go??? Luckily I have some pretty fun thins planned for the rest of this month.

This weekend is Tennessee's Tax Free Weekend, so we are going shopping bright an early tomorrow. Thank goodness, because I am in desperate need of some new shirts, pants, and shoes. Since Tennessee's sales tax is so high, it's like 10% off of everything I need! I may look at some of the school supplies for some craft projects I have in mind, but my main mission is to get clothes.

We intend to take a 9-Inning Vacation on the 11th. I haven't gone to a game all season which is a little weird. I'm not a huge baseball fan, but it's always fun to go. And I love this one because The Tennessee Smokies are playing the Montgomery Biscuits. I'm not kidding. Here's there mascot.

 How could you not want to see that team play?? I love our local team, but I'm not gonna lie... I kind of want a Montgomery Biscuits shirt. Only in the South, right?

Then, like I said, Amy's birthday is in 19 days. She's going out of town for a few days on her actual birthday, but I'm sure she and I will do something before or after her trip. I'm pretty stoked about her present, but seeing as she reads this blog, you're going to have to wait to find out what it is. Rest assured, it involves some craft-tastic goodness.

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I have a few other things to catch you up on, but I'm going to leave this post on a high note. Hope your August is off to a great start!