Weekly Update

I looked at my blog before I started typing and realized my last post was a week ago. At least it's better than I had been doing! Actually, that's a little encouraging when I think about my Book List. I finished The Giver in a day and then started on the Hobbit... which feels like it is taking me for.ev.er to read. I'm almost done with it though! I will probably finish it tomorrow. I don't know what book I'll read after that. Not the Lord of the Rings though... I'm not ready for that. ;-)

I'm getting pretty excited for my trip! Ok, I've been excited since we booked it way back in October, but now it's getting real! Greg is letting me borrow his big suitcase and carry-on for the trip. I picked up the suitcase last night (he's using the carry-on for a business trip to Florida this weekend), and I already started packing!

It looks like I packed more than I actually have lol

One of the many great benefits of going to the Bahamas in February is that most of the clothes I'm packing are not in regular rotation right now. It felt a little odd digging out my shorts and flip-flops when it was 13 degrees earlier today! I think I have everything I need for the trip. Amy and I went shopping on Monday night and split the cost of some to the items we can share like shampoo, soap, room snacks/drinks, etc. Somehow that made this trip a little more real. :-D

In other news, I am currently in the midst of a 21-day prayer fast with my church. We fast corporately a few times a year, and I always learn new things about myself and my relationship with God in the process. I wouldn't say it's fun necessarily, but it is beneficial. My church supports all sorts of fasting; total fast, Daniel fast, media fast, whatever. This time I decided I'd give up all meat except seafood. So far I've learned that I'm ok not having meat, but I don't like meal planning. I think that's where my real sacrifice lies! But I use that time as a prayer reminder so it's all good. However, on Monday the Lord told me to add something else to my fast.

I just want to take a minute to say that when I say the Lord told me to do something, I don't mean that I heard a booming voice in the heavens or an angel appeared before me. It's hard to explain exactly how I know when God tells me to do something, I just know. It's a kind of conviction and certainty that I can't quite explain. Anyway, back to my fast...

Apparently, I'm not allowed to complain/whine/wallow for the rest of my fasting time. That is definitely harder than going without meat. I hate to admit it, but I have gotten into such a habit of texting Amy or Greg when someone makes me angry or annoyed. And it's not to vent so I can move on, it's to get them to agree with me and validate my irritation. And sometimes I will sit and stew in the negativity until everything makes my skin crawl. So I have to stop. That's not to say that I can't speak up when something is seriously wrong or that I can't let people know I've had a rough day, I'm just not allowed to rehash it a million times. I think this will also help me reclaim my joy in 2014. Is it odd that I'm kind of looking forward to the struggle?

Playing Ketchup

Get it? Ketchup, catch up... I love a good (or bad) pun! Anyway, I'm behind, so here's what I'm thankful for on days seven through twelve.

Seven: I'm thankful for bad days. Now that may seem like I'm being a little sarcastic, but I promise I'm not. See, November 7 was supposed to be an awesome day according to my calendar. Not only was is pay day, but I had plans to apply for my passport (more on that later). Oh, but the day was anything but awesome. I had to go to three different places before I found the place I was supposed to turn in my application. Then the clerk was hemming and hawing about whether or not the government would accept my birth certificate because it had a watermark instead of an embossed seal. Seriously? And all of this was before I had to go to work, which was a whole other story in non-awesomeness. So why am I thankful for bad days? Because they make me appreciate the little things that go right on days like that. And they help me appreciate the good days that much more.

Eight: I'm thankful for my best friend forever for life for real, Amy. What can I say about such and awesome person God has put in my life? She is my mental twin. She is who I go to when I need to know what I think about a situation. I swear, sometimes she can explain my own thought process to me better than I can. She is also someone who I can talk to about spiritual matters which is such a wonderful development in our friendship. After 10 years of friendship, we have reach the point of no return where there is quite literally nothing I feel awkward telling her. And she makes random boring errands not so boring (also known as "fundane"). I don't know where I'd be without her, and I don't really care to find out.

Nine: I'm thankful for vacations, and something to look forward to. This is where 7 and 8 come together. I haven't had a vacation since Greg and I went to Destin in August of 2012. Well, my bffflfr decided that since I'm turning the big 3-0 next year, I needed to go on a cruise for my birthday. But, since her store will be crazy busy around the time of my birthday, we're going in February. Where are we going, you ask? To the Bahamas. I've never been out of the country (hence the passport), so I am super excited. Did I also mention that Amy is paying for the trip? I told you I was thankful for her. I don't know what I did to deserve friends like her, but I'm glad I did it and I'll try to keep doing it! PS, we leave in 86 days!!!

Ten: I'm thankful for pressure cookers. I know, a little random. The other day I made a huge batch of vegetarian chili (aka vegetable soup with beans) and didn't have room to store it in the fridge. My grandmother gave us a pressure cooker not too long ago to use for canning, so I canned 8 jars of the chili for later. I'm excited to be able to have that on a day where maybe I don't feel like cooking. I have many plans for more canning adventures in the near future.

Eleven: I'm thankful for our veterans and their families. My grandfather served in the Army, my uncle in the Marines, and I have several extended family members in various other branches. I have the utmost respect for the people who put their lives on the line so we can enjoy things we take for granted. I'm also thankful for their families who support them as they take those risks.

Twelve: I'm thankful for the blogosphere. Not just my little blog here in the corner of nowhere, but all of the bloggers who put so much time and effort into their blogs to provide people with information, inspiration, and entertainment. There have been so many times that I have needed something and found exactly what I needed through a blog. Crafting, recipes, bible studies, workouts, and so on... I'm just so happy it all developed.

Ok, I think that gets me through today. I'll try to be more regular with the rest of the month, but I make you no promises. :-)