Thinking ahead

So I came across this post today that pretty much sums up great ideas about not getting caught off guard for Christmas when it comes to presents....

Check it out.

Scripture Memory - Verse 18

But solid food is for the mature, who by constant use have trained themselves to distinguish good from evil.

Hebrews 5:14 (NIV)

Here is the link to the LPM Blog for V18.

Scripture Memory - Verse 17

In my distress I called to the Lord; I cried to my God for help.

Psalm 18:6a (NIV)

Here is the link to the LPM blog for the Scripture memory V17.

Review of Running - August

7 - 3 miles
8 - 2 miles (at noon, which should either give me bonus points for determination or take away points for crazy)
18 - 3 miles
25 - 2 miles
26 - 1 mile
27 - 5 miles (1:00:00 (12:00 min/mile pace) as part of the CS Running Club)
28 - 3 miles (1 mi sprint repeats w/ 3 min rest)
29 - 3 miles
30 - 2 miles (.5 miles warm up; 1/4 mi sprint X 2; 1/2 mi sprint X 2)

August mileage total = 24 miles
Miles per day = 0.774 miles/day
2011 mileage total = 168.28 miles
2011 Miles per day  (243 days) = 0.6925 miles/day
Started August with deficiency of 67.72 miles
Ended August with deficiency of 74.72 miles

Wardrobe Challenge, Week #5

Monday



Tuesday

Wednesday

In my selection for Wednesday, I decided to inventory my clothes against what I have already worn in this 'challenge' to see if I was truly nearing the end. 

Come to find out, after selecting my outfits for Wednesday and Thursday

(I *have* to get back on board with selecting my outfits at the beginning of the week - but moving put a rather large kink in that system), I realized I still have 10 tops that I haven't worn!!

Thursday



Wardrobe Challenge, Week #4

Monday

Tuesday

Wednesday

Thursday

It feels like I'm coming to the end of my wardrobe, and it seems like the most challenging part is simply remembering what I've worn and what I haven't!



Scripture Memory - Verse 16

If any of you lacks wisdom, you should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to you.
James 1:5 (NIV)

Here is the link to the LPM blog for Verse 16.

Wardrobe Challenge, Week #3

Here is the third week of my wardrobe challenge....Monday, August 8th - Friday, August 12th.  The photo section of this challenge is most helpful for me so I can remember what I've worn and haven't worn!

True to the suggestion last week, on Monday night I decided on the outfits for the remainder of the week and took all of the pictures.  What a stress reliever to not have to worry about what to wear!  A tip if you're going to do this, though...be sure to check your calendar so you know what meetings/appointments are (currently) scheduled for you.

Monday, 8/8

Unfortunately, I was dealing with a sick kiddo today, so my wardrobe isn't a 'work' wardrobe.

Tuesday, 8/9

Wednesday 8/10

The color seems very off in this picture, but the top is actually a nice shade of purple...promise!

Thursday 8/11

Friday 8/12, also...Graduation here in Aggieland!!  I'll certainly be sporting my Aggie gear today!

Experiment: Mini Pizzas!

Don't they look yummy?

I'll let you in on a little secret.....

...they were.

Better yet, they were SUPER SIMPLE!

Take your Grands biscuits, preheat your oven to the specifications on the container (or don't, I didn't). 

Tear the biscuits in half and place into a greased cupcake container, making it thin on the bottom and up the sides, like its own container.

Put a spoonful of spaghetti sauce in the dough.

Put some cheese on the spaghetti sauce (I used 2-3 cubes of cheese we keep cut up for Jacey).

Put a piece of pepperoni on top of the cheese.

Bake per the specifications on the biscuit container.

Pop out of the cupcake container and place onto a place.

Let cool (if you must), and eat!

Good Attitude Award

Let it be hereby known, 

that on Wednesday, August 3rd, 

Tatum Elizabeth Hapes was awarded the 

"Good Attitude Award!"

She was bestowed this award for 

"Being an AMAZING helper!" 

from Miss Christina in Montessori I 

and it was also noted that she had a 

'Great Attitude and had a WONDERFUL afternoon!!!"

She was so proud!  

This picture doesn't do her smile justice. 

Not one single solitary bit.
I love the days when the pixels are like this.....

Weekend fun!

It had been a-g-e-s since Jules and I had gotten a chance to catch up, so we tried to get together this weekend to do so.

We planned a zoo trip, then decided to hit the splash pad.  The kids had loads of fun, and we decided that we would have to make our family get-togethers at *least* an annual occasion.  We also decided that we would have to meet up sans kids to actually get a chance to catch up on each others lives. :) 

Here is our day in pictures.

The kids were worn.out. by the time we got home, and quite honestly, so were Matt and I! 

Wardrobe Challenge, Week #2

A friend of mine had a great idea about laying out my clothes for the week ahead of time.  I'm not sure why I don't do that with myself, since it's something I use for Kellen during the school year to stay organized.

So...I may give that a shot.  The upside, I won't have to worry about picking something out each morning, but even better is that I'll be able to look at what I have worn vs what I haven't to keep up with the challenge!

Week #2 of the Wardrobe Challenge (Aug 1 - 5)

Monday (as you can see, this wasn't exactly a 'work' outfit. Tatum got sick Sunday night and we had a sick girl, stay home day)

Tuesday

Wednesday

Thursday (no, I don't normally make it a practice to wear a bathing suit to work, but I took a group of students who are participating in our summer research program to Schlitterbahn on Thursday.)

This is the awesome group of students I spent the day with at Schlitterbahn!

Again, Friday was a 'Spirit Day', so Aggie gear!  Two weeks down, and no problems, other than my trying to figure out my system for remembering what I've worn and what I haven't!

Our vacuum sucks!

And I'm certainly glad that it does!

Matt and I received our vacuum as a wedding present from his Nanny.  Unfortunately, it hasn't been working as well as I would like it to for a while.  It's a twin chamber bagless upright - a good vacuum - so I've been cleaning what I can on it, checking the brushes on the bottom, you name it, trying to figure out why it wasn't working at its initial power.

And I couldn't figure it out.

Then one day, I was walking around in Wal-Mart, looking at prices for a steam cleaner for the carpet (not buying one, but considering that the vacuum isn't doing such a hot job I wanted to see what options were out there for some deep cleaning action), and I stumbled across replacement filters.

Um, yeah.  We've had the vacuum for over ten and a half years and the filter has never been replaced.  I have cleaned the filter in various ways such as putting a bag around it and knocking it senseless on the ground and taking a cleaning toothbrush and 'brushing' it off, but replacing....never even crossed my mind.

So when I saw the filters, a lightbulb went off.  But of course, I couldn't buy one then, because I wasn't sure of which one I was supposed to get.  And I made a note to myself on my Blackberry.  Fast forward a month or so (I really wish I was kidding) and I finally remembered to check the specifics on the vacuum and put the information into my Blackberry note for the next time I was at Wal-mart.

Which was Monday.  So I replaced the filter.  And while I was at it, I rinsed out the HEPA filter, too.  And cleaned out the 'twin chambers'.

Who knew that a ten year old vacuum could look almost brand new?

Now that I've shattered any notion that I had it 'together' on the home front (as if anyone who reads this might think that anyway!), I just want to say....I'm really glad that my vacuum now sucks again!!

Operation: Girls room clean up!

So in what seems like a not-so-recent illness bout of Jacey's in June, I attempted to do some reorganizing.  I wanted to tackle the girls room.  Well, more specifically, their bookshelf.  So I began this project in June.

Here is the "before" picture.  Crazy, right?

So I went through all of the hair and head accessories.  There are some headbands I have for Jacey that would leave all kinds of marks on her big ole head.  So I quickly purged through those types of things.  You know, the small bows made for babies with just a little hair.  Can't use those - especially on a little girl with no hair!

I hung up all of the bows (how in the world we manage to get so many royal blue, red and purple bows is beyond me!) and realized that I need another bow hanging solution.  That's a project for another day, though.

Then I tackled the books.  I did a quick purge for any books that were messed up (=9), then decided to inventory what was left.

There were 93 books.

93!

And this is *just* the girls room!

That just seems like an absurdly large number of books to me.  So I'll probably go through them for another purge and donate some.  And just in case you were wondering, the Dr. Seuss books are in Kellen's room...so I can't even blame that number on those kinds of books.

After some discussion with some friends, I think I've realized what bothers me about the books, and it has to do with the quality of the books we have, not so much the quantity.  Anywho....

Next up, the toy bins.  Do we need that many toys?  Many of them are for Jacey, and after looking closely at them, I realized that many of them were not age appropriate.  They were all too little for her.

*sniff* *sniff*

My baby is not so much of a baby anymore.

*sigh*

At any rate, here is the finished product.  Tatum played dress up this weekend, so the dress up bins on the bottom aren't 'staged' for photography - this is how they look.

All-in-all, I'm pretty happy with the way this turned out.  I am thrilled that Tatum likes to play dress up so much, and I wouldn't dream of impeding her creativity, so I don't mind the craziness of those bins.

Now....for the rest of the room!

Looking at the big picture

If you're questioning the 'bigger picture' for your life - how you're going to make an impact, what you're supposed to do, what it all means....especially as you clean up spilled milk for what feels like the hundredth time in a day or put away the toys that have once again escaped from their homes - remember.....God already has it figured out.  All you have to do is obey Him and trust.

Follow Him when it doesn't seem to make sense.  Be faithful in the little things.  Those little things add up and make it oh-so-easier to be trusting and faithful in the big things.

“Trust in the LORD with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make your paths straight."  Proverbs 3:5-6 

'...in all your ways acknowledge him...'  

As you're cleaning up that milk. 

As you're picking up those toys. 

As you're doing another load of laundry.

As you're cooking another dinner.

As you're scrubbing the floor.

As you're vacuuming.

As you're kissing the foreheads of those precious children.

As you're hugging your hubby tight.
As you're holding hair back as a child gets sick in the middle of the night.
As you're disciplining.
As you're redirecting a child to acceptable toys.

In all your ways... 


Those little moments, those little tasks, those little - seemingly insignificant, mundane things - make up the little pixels of the big picture of your life.


What does your picture look like?

Scripture Memory (Verse 15)

My dear brothers and sisters, take note of this: Everyone should be quick to listen, slow to speak and slow to become angry.
James 1:19 (NIV)

Here is the link to the LPM post!

Review of Running - July

2 - 4.5 miles
10 - 4 miles
11 - 3 miles

Monthly mileage = 11.5 miles
Miles per day = 0.37 miles/day

2011 Mileage total =144.28 miles
2011 Average Mile/day (212 days) =0.68 miles per day
*Current deficiency of 67.72 miles

This was a horrible, no-good running month.  The longer runs felt really good, but the family schedule was just all around crazy...and prohibited me from being able to run during the week.  Unfortunately, there were at least two weekends when my neck and back were so outta whack that I didn't want to risk running and possibly injuring or exacerbating whatever was going on with it.  One of those weekends was the weekend of Jacey's birthday party, when it was hurting so badly that I ended up going and getting a massage so that I could at least pick up the sweet princess.

Ug.

And the heat and humidity here....whew!  I'm hopeful that when the schedules settle down a little that I'll be able to work on this consistency a little more, but will be able to do so without fear of a heatstroke - even at 5 AM!

My journey took quite a hit this month, but as long as I'm still pressing forward and working towards accomplishing my goals, I'm not going to beat myself up.

How are you doing on your goals?

Wardrobe Challenge, Week #1

Monday

Tuesday

Wednesday

Thursday

And remember...Friday is a spirit day, so no worries about a fancy 'outfit' on Fridays.

Purse purging

In a post earlier this week I talked about my friend coming over to help me finalizing my closet purging.  What she also helped me do was go through my purses.

I love purses.

And shoes.

She had already helped me go through my shoes many months ago and I threw out quite a few pairs that haven't been replaced.  (As a side note, I now believe that my hubby has more shoes than me, and I think this is just hilarious.)

Have I mentioned how much I love friends like this?

Anyway, in our going through purses, she pulled out a few and stuck them to the side.  She put the ones I knew she would in the 'keep' pile, and some of the ones she put in the 'no' pile I felt a little twinge over.  She suggested I look through them and be sure they were cleaned out before I made a final decision.

As I was pulling things out of one of them, I came across a list of gifts from a baby shower that had been thrown for me.

It brought back such fond memories.  Sweet, right?  Especially considering that my sweet baby Jacey is now a year old.

Except that this gift list wasn't from a shower held for Jacey.

Oh no.

It was from a shower held for TATUM.

Yes, Tatum.

Over four years ago.

That clinched it.

Any doubt I had about whether or not to let go of that particular purse was gone, as it was crystal clear that it had not been used in over four years.

But it made me wonder....why did I feel that twinge when I initially thought about getting rid of that purse?  Why is it, for that matter, so hard to get rid of most anything, even things we don't use that much?  Or haven't used, in the case of this particular purse, in years?

These are the things that clutter our closets, fill our homes, cause us stress, require cleaning, yet we can't bear to part with them?  Why?

In the past few weeks as I've been getting rid of things it's been so nice to pass them on to other people who can use them.  It's hopefully blessed others and helped them, which causes me to feel like I'm doing good, it's made my house look better - cleaner and more open, it's made it easier to keep things clean around the house, and it's caused me to want to keep purging.  The more I get rid of the more it seems I want to get rid of...like a weird purging cycle.

So my question for the day...what are you holding on to that's weighing you down?  (And you can go as deep with that question as you would like).  What kind of baggage are you carrying? Purge it!  Get rid of that excess baggage now and for good!

Wardrobe Challenge

I've been going through my clothes, paring down.  Not necessarily because I'm concerned about my space (although my hubby might like to have more than just his jeans in our 'shared' closet), but because I have realized that I have a lot of clothes.  My 'a lot of clothes' may not be a lot of clothes to some, as this is certainly a relative term, but hear me out.

I work in an office from Monday through Friday.  It's a fairly casual office, but it is a work environment, and depending on my schedule and meetings, there are some days that require me to be 'dressier' than others.  Fridays are typically more casual, especially in the fall when you'll normally find me in a maroon shirt - many times it's my TAMU jersey, a departmental shirt, or some other A&M gear. So do the math with me here...that leaves me four days during the week for 'outfits'.  Continue with that math and I need 16 'outfits' for a month - not counting Friday 'spirit' days.

I bribed invited a friend to come over for dinner earlier this week and asked her to go through my closet with me and help me purge my clothes (again).  I was mainly concerned with my tops and jackets.

Here's my newsflash:  I am not a fashionista.

Stop laughing.

No really.  Stop.

Ok. Now that you've picked yourself up off the floor, I'll continue.

So I asked this fashion-forward friend of mine to help with what I was hoping would be a final purge of my closet.  She determined that a handful of my tops were not 'work' tops and forbade me from wearing them to work.  Ever again. Then she got me into this decade and tossed out a few more shirts and jackets.

I was expecting that, which is exactly why I asked this particular friend for her help.  We all need friends like this who we can trust to be brutally honest with us.  I love her.

So after this purge, my inventory of spring/summer/fall work tops (hey, I'm in Texas and my 'winter wardrobe' of long-sleeve tops doesn't really count in this mix since I only wear them for maybe a month - tops...everything else can be short sleeve, sleeveless, and dressy tanks) totals 22 items.  These are the tops, not the jackets and other accessories. Note: this count does not count tank tops, t-shirts, etc

If I factor in the Friday spirit day piece, and start my clothes on a rotation, this clothing count should take me over five weeks to fully wear.  Let me say that a different way to fully state my point and the reason why I initially thought (and kinda still do!) I had (have?) too many articles of clothing.  

I should be able to wear something different to work every day for over five weeks.  

If my clothes are on a rotation, I should only wear something ten times in a year (assuming weather conditions remain such that I can wear the same clothes year-round, which as we know is not the case).

Written in that manner, the amount of clothing I have still seems somewhat absurd to me.  And I've purged.  Really purged.  Is this still too much??

I still have a few articles of clothing to the side in my closet that I'm hoping to fit back into after I stop nursing, but there really aren't that many of them (less than a half dozen tops).  I also have some pre-pregnancy clothes that I'm not ready to admit defeat on quite yet.

I have realized that I'm in a clothing rut.  I tend to wear the same things over and over again (at least it feels that way to me).  Now that I've come to this clothing revelation, I'm going to experiment to be sure I'm wearing everything in my closet that I'm keeping.  And if I don't like it, don't feel comfortable in it, or don't feel confident while wearing it, it's gone.

Period.

And I'm going to photo journal it.  I'll try to post weekly on my wardrobe selection, so we'll see how that goes.

Wanna go on the challenge with me?