“If it falls to your lot to be a street sweeper, sweep streets like Michelangelo painted pictures, sweep streets like Beethoven composed music … Sweep streets like Shakespeare wrote poetry. Sweep streets so well that all the host of heaven and earth will have to pause and say: Here lived a great street sweeper who swept his job well.” -Martin Luther King Jr.
I know bringing Baby home is going to change my life so drastically. I've been thinking a lot about what I want to accomplish, what I want my life to look like. But mostly I think about what I don't want it to look like. I don't want to be frazzled, bored, slothful, impatient and negative (not that I won't be any of those things sometimes, I just don't want to consistently be there!).
Since that's where my mind has been recently, this quote by Martin Luther King Jr really spoke to me. I think it is important to remember that even if our daily work isn't grand or showy, we can still work to be excellent. I also think its important to remember that I always have a choice. I can choose to be productive or choose to be slothful. I can choose to be happy or to be miserable no matter what my circumstances are.
Thursday, January 31, 2013
Monday, January 14, 2013
Hellooo 2013
Wow, is it seriously almost halfway through January?? Where does the time go?? I rang in the new year by taking lots of drugs and going to the urgent care center, waiting for them to tell me that I had the flu and I should go home and rest a lot and drink lots of fluids… I was pretty sure that’s all it was, but I was worried I had an infection of some sort, so to the doctor I went. I’m still fighting off the last of it, but at least I stopped sounding like a smoker! So let’s just say 2013 didn’t start off as well as I could have hoped. But that’s ok. I still have 50 more weeks to make it awesome!
Speaking of awesome, let’s talk about 2012! So many awesome things happened:
· Steve and I went on a great 10 day vacation to Utah and Idaho! We got to see lots of family, and I was able to appreciate living in the South more (seriously Idaho, snow in April?? Really??). It was really fun to meet some of Steve’s family, and to see some of my family that I don’t get to visit very often.
· We bought a house! We weren’t planning on buying until next year, but a coworker told me about a program to help you buy a house, and the interest rate we got was so good, we couldn’t refuse. The new house is A LOT of work (mostly for Steve), and sometimes I miss the simple life in an apartment, but I love it. I love our new part of town, living next to Steve’s grandparents, and being able to paint whatever the heck I want!
· I got knocked up! I had my serious doubts that I would ever get pregnant. I know that sounds dramatic, but I really did. I feel SO blessed to be having this baby in a few weeks (eek!), and I’m so grateful to all our friends and family that prayed her here!
· We had our 2nd wedding anniversary! I can’t believe that Steve has made it two whole years without choking me in my sleep! We were planning on celebrating by spending the day at Six Flags, but we found out about Baby a few days before, and I was in the middle of the lovely morning sickness, so we slept in, saw a movie, and spent the day enjoying not being at work.
· My WHOLE family came to visit for Christmas. It was crowded and loud and extremely fun. We hadn’t all been together for over a year, and I hadn’t spent Christmas with my family in three years, so I really appreciated everyone making the drive! Now to convince them all to move to Texas…
I pretty much fulfilled my 2012 resolutions. I could have done better, but I could have been much much worse. And with all the unexpected things that happened last year, I think I did well. Sometimes you have to roll with the punches!
My resolutions for 2013 are pretty simple.
· Have a baby. Steve says that’s a lame resolution since I’m going to be doing that no matter what. I say I’m just setting myself up to succeed. We’ll just agree to disagree on that one!
· Start a garden. I’m don’t want to have a mini farm or anything, but I do want to have a few plants. Tomatoes are for sure on the list, and I’m thinking maybe broccoli and some melons? I’m not sure. But I do know it’s happening! In a few years I want to be able to have tons of produce every year, and can it. But I don’t want to overwhelm myself! So for this year, starting a small garden will do.
· Start running again. Obviously this won’t start until after Baby has been here a while, but I really want to get back into my routine of running. I decided that I will never be the person running the half marathon or the marathon, and that’s ok. If I ever work my way up to a 10k I’ll be really happy. But I enjoy running, even if it’s only a few miles, and I’m excited to start it up again!
Speaking of awesome, let’s talk about 2012! So many awesome things happened:
· Steve and I went on a great 10 day vacation to Utah and Idaho! We got to see lots of family, and I was able to appreciate living in the South more (seriously Idaho, snow in April?? Really??). It was really fun to meet some of Steve’s family, and to see some of my family that I don’t get to visit very often.
· We bought a house! We weren’t planning on buying until next year, but a coworker told me about a program to help you buy a house, and the interest rate we got was so good, we couldn’t refuse. The new house is A LOT of work (mostly for Steve), and sometimes I miss the simple life in an apartment, but I love it. I love our new part of town, living next to Steve’s grandparents, and being able to paint whatever the heck I want!
· I got knocked up! I had my serious doubts that I would ever get pregnant. I know that sounds dramatic, but I really did. I feel SO blessed to be having this baby in a few weeks (eek!), and I’m so grateful to all our friends and family that prayed her here!
· We had our 2nd wedding anniversary! I can’t believe that Steve has made it two whole years without choking me in my sleep! We were planning on celebrating by spending the day at Six Flags, but we found out about Baby a few days before, and I was in the middle of the lovely morning sickness, so we slept in, saw a movie, and spent the day enjoying not being at work.
· My WHOLE family came to visit for Christmas. It was crowded and loud and extremely fun. We hadn’t all been together for over a year, and I hadn’t spent Christmas with my family in three years, so I really appreciated everyone making the drive! Now to convince them all to move to Texas…
I pretty much fulfilled my 2012 resolutions. I could have done better, but I could have been much much worse. And with all the unexpected things that happened last year, I think I did well. Sometimes you have to roll with the punches!
My resolutions for 2013 are pretty simple.
· Have a baby. Steve says that’s a lame resolution since I’m going to be doing that no matter what. I say I’m just setting myself up to succeed. We’ll just agree to disagree on that one!
· Start a garden. I’m don’t want to have a mini farm or anything, but I do want to have a few plants. Tomatoes are for sure on the list, and I’m thinking maybe broccoli and some melons? I’m not sure. But I do know it’s happening! In a few years I want to be able to have tons of produce every year, and can it. But I don’t want to overwhelm myself! So for this year, starting a small garden will do.
· Start running again. Obviously this won’t start until after Baby has been here a while, but I really want to get back into my routine of running. I decided that I will never be the person running the half marathon or the marathon, and that’s ok. If I ever work my way up to a 10k I’ll be really happy. But I enjoy running, even if it’s only a few miles, and I’m excited to start it up again!
Thursday, January 10, 2013
Things That Make me Cry: Pregnancy Edition
I've ways been a cryer. But pregnancy has given a whole new dimension to my crying. For example, this past week I have cried because:
We walked by the NICU on our hospital tour.
I couldn't get the sheets off the bed.
I missed the hairstyle makeover section of What Not to Wear.
Steve was asleep and I wasn't.
My nose was stuffy.
I forgot to put my fuzzy socks in with the laundry.
We were out of ground turkey.
I can't explain most of these. Except missing the hairstyle makeover. That still hurts a little bit...
We walked by the NICU on our hospital tour.
I couldn't get the sheets off the bed.
I missed the hairstyle makeover section of What Not to Wear.
Steve was asleep and I wasn't.
My nose was stuffy.
I forgot to put my fuzzy socks in with the laundry.
We were out of ground turkey.
I can't explain most of these. Except missing the hairstyle makeover. That still hurts a little bit...
Wednesday, December 12, 2012
Texas vs New Mexico
A Texan and a New Mexican are sitting in a bar.
The Texan tells the New Mexican "Where I come from, the ranches are so big you can get in your truck in the morning, drive all day, and by sunset, you still haven't made it to the other end."
The New Mexican says "Yeah, I have a truck like that too."
The Texan tells the New Mexican "Where I come from, the ranches are so big you can get in your truck in the morning, drive all day, and by sunset, you still haven't made it to the other end."
The New Mexican says "Yeah, I have a truck like that too."
Friday, December 7, 2012
Connecting the Dots
I was looking on Facebook today, and noticed a comment from someone I met when I first moved to San Antonio. I clicked on her profile, just to see what she was up to (yes, I Facebook stalk. It’s not a crime!), and I saw that she now has two kids! What the heck? She was just about to get married when I met her. Then I realized that I have lived in San Antonio for four and half years. That’s a really long time! It seems like it wasn’t very long ago that I pulled into town with everything I owned in a UHaul truck. The chain of events that brought me here is so crazy.
Everything happened so fast, I was here before I really had a chance to think about it. One morning I woke up and realized that I lived in Texas. I. Lived. In. TEXAS. It took a few months for that to really sink in! (It also took a few months to get over the disappointment that my chances of meeting George Strait hadn’t significantly increased…)
My favorite memory from moving here (other than my dad taking a Greyhound bus to Phoenix so he could drive my UHaul back to San Antonio – Love you pops!!) is rolling into town in the afternoon, finding my new house, and before we unpacked anything we went down to the Riverwalk. The weather was muggy and exotic feeling (Growing up in the dry desert, I associated mugginess with exoticness. Now I just associate it with bad hair days!!), and the whole river was packed with people having fun. The atmosphere was amazing, and I just couldn’t believe that I lived in such a cool place. I’m still as in love with the river as I was that day!
I had a few freak outs (mostly related to getting lost every time I left the house, seriously Texas, what’s up with these roads??), a few mornings when I woke up and wondered why the heck I had moved a thousand miles away from anyone I knew, but overall, moving here was one of the best things I have EVER done.
Looking back at the last four and a half years, I see how everything fell into place just like it was supposed to. It reminds me of one of my favorite quotes:
“You can't connect the dots looking forward. You can only connect them looking backwards. So you have to trust that the dots will somehow connect in your future. You have to trust in something: your gut, destiny, life, karma, whatever.”
Steve Jobs, Stanford Commencement Address, 2005
Everything happened so fast, I was here before I really had a chance to think about it. One morning I woke up and realized that I lived in Texas. I. Lived. In. TEXAS. It took a few months for that to really sink in! (It also took a few months to get over the disappointment that my chances of meeting George Strait hadn’t significantly increased…)
My favorite memory from moving here (other than my dad taking a Greyhound bus to Phoenix so he could drive my UHaul back to San Antonio – Love you pops!!) is rolling into town in the afternoon, finding my new house, and before we unpacked anything we went down to the Riverwalk. The weather was muggy and exotic feeling (Growing up in the dry desert, I associated mugginess with exoticness. Now I just associate it with bad hair days!!), and the whole river was packed with people having fun. The atmosphere was amazing, and I just couldn’t believe that I lived in such a cool place. I’m still as in love with the river as I was that day!
I had a few freak outs (mostly related to getting lost every time I left the house, seriously Texas, what’s up with these roads??), a few mornings when I woke up and wondered why the heck I had moved a thousand miles away from anyone I knew, but overall, moving here was one of the best things I have EVER done.
Looking back at the last four and a half years, I see how everything fell into place just like it was supposed to. It reminds me of one of my favorite quotes:
“You can't connect the dots looking forward. You can only connect them looking backwards. So you have to trust that the dots will somehow connect in your future. You have to trust in something: your gut, destiny, life, karma, whatever.”
Steve Jobs, Stanford Commencement Address, 2005
Monday, December 3, 2012
Poor People Don't Have Microwaves
I've still been thinking a lot about deserving things. I hear a lot of people complain about not having enough money, and I feel like that myself a lot. Whenever I get to feeling like I don't have enough, I always remember something my Young Women's leader told us many years ago.
She was complaining to her mom about how tired she was of being poor, and her mom told her "Honey, you're not poor. Poor people don't have microwaves." Of course, this was a really long time ago when microwaves were a lot more expensive, but the message has stuck with me all these years. Even if I don't have everything I want (and who does, really?) I still have more than most!
If I were really poor, I wouldn't:
She was complaining to her mom about how tired she was of being poor, and her mom told her "Honey, you're not poor. Poor people don't have microwaves." Of course, this was a really long time ago when microwaves were a lot more expensive, but the message has stuck with me all these years. Even if I don't have everything I want (and who does, really?) I still have more than most!
If I were really poor, I wouldn't:
- Have cable TV.
- Go out to eat.
- Have a cell phone, or at least not with a data plan!
- Have a car. I would ride the bus or walk or get a ride.
- Have a warm home in the Winter and a cool home in the Summer.
- Have the internet at home. I would use the library.
And if you really are feeling poor, but are still doing all the above, maybe it's time to stop doing those things and save your money!!
If you still feel like you don't have enough, try this statistic on for size:
Saturday, December 1, 2012
Time Flies
Ok, seriously, is it already December?? How did this happen?? It's almost Christmas!
We got out our Christmas tree last weekend. It was a breeze to put up (I want to kiss whoever invented pre lit trees. On the lips. Possibly with tongue.) and might be the world's most perfect fake tree. It has LED lights (hello energy savings!) and it has both white AND colored lights. For someone with decorating commitment issues like mine, that is a huge plus! And all we had to do was take it out of the box, put the three sections together, and fluff!
We went to Hallmark on Monday to get our yearly ornament, and also snagged a "New House" ornament! I loved looking at the Baby's First Christmas ornaments. I can't wait to buy one for next year!
When we got home from Hallmark we started decorating the tree, but then we ran out of ornament hooks, and our new favorite show came on, and we were both tired, so we stopped decorating. And we haven't started it up again... So in addition to all of our unpacked regular boxes, we also have half unpacked Christmas boxes laying around. I've decided it's my new decorating style. I'm going to call it Just Moved In Chic. Luckily the boxes totally go with our wall color, so I think it's really working for us!
Baby (who is still without a name for now) is doing well. At my last appointment she weighed over two pounds! They were trying to check on a little spot they found on the heart, but she was all curled up and wouldn't move (she's stubborn. Of course she gets that from Steve, not me!!), so I get to have another one in a month or so. I'm fine with that, I love seeing her! I'm still feeling really good. My back hurts if I overdo it, so I wear grandma shoes every day and spend quality time with my back massager. I also developed pregnancy induced carpal tunnel syndrome... It's annoying, but as long as I wear my wrist braces at night and drink enough water, it doesn't get too bad.
Our calendar is jam packed full until after Christmas. Sometimes I get overwhelmed with everything that still needs to be done! Luckily my sister Jalenna is coming to stay with us in a couple of weeks. I'm looking forward to having a full time slave for a while. She said she would work for food. Which is fine with me, my whole life is an all you can eat buffet!
We got out our Christmas tree last weekend. It was a breeze to put up (I want to kiss whoever invented pre lit trees. On the lips. Possibly with tongue.) and might be the world's most perfect fake tree. It has LED lights (hello energy savings!) and it has both white AND colored lights. For someone with decorating commitment issues like mine, that is a huge plus! And all we had to do was take it out of the box, put the three sections together, and fluff!
We went to Hallmark on Monday to get our yearly ornament, and also snagged a "New House" ornament! I loved looking at the Baby's First Christmas ornaments. I can't wait to buy one for next year!
When we got home from Hallmark we started decorating the tree, but then we ran out of ornament hooks, and our new favorite show came on, and we were both tired, so we stopped decorating. And we haven't started it up again... So in addition to all of our unpacked regular boxes, we also have half unpacked Christmas boxes laying around. I've decided it's my new decorating style. I'm going to call it Just Moved In Chic. Luckily the boxes totally go with our wall color, so I think it's really working for us!
Baby (who is still without a name for now) is doing well. At my last appointment she weighed over two pounds! They were trying to check on a little spot they found on the heart, but she was all curled up and wouldn't move (she's stubborn. Of course she gets that from Steve, not me!!), so I get to have another one in a month or so. I'm fine with that, I love seeing her! I'm still feeling really good. My back hurts if I overdo it, so I wear grandma shoes every day and spend quality time with my back massager. I also developed pregnancy induced carpal tunnel syndrome... It's annoying, but as long as I wear my wrist braces at night and drink enough water, it doesn't get too bad.
Our calendar is jam packed full until after Christmas. Sometimes I get overwhelmed with everything that still needs to be done! Luckily my sister Jalenna is coming to stay with us in a couple of weeks. I'm looking forward to having a full time slave for a while. She said she would work for food. Which is fine with me, my whole life is an all you can eat buffet!
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