It's Been Too Long...

Ok, so I started out this year with big intentions and lots of high aspirations for myself! A lot of them didn't end up happening. :) But isn't that the way it always is? So I end up coming to my blog daily but it's usually just to look at my other friends' blogs and never write on mine. I notice the last entry was in March. March??? What the heck! Where did this year go? To be honest, I have no idea. Too many things have seemed to slip away too quickly.

Well first off... since we're almost at the end of the year, let's take a look back at what my New Year's Resolutions were:

1. Eat healthier
2. Exercise more... okay, at all
3. Budget my finances better
4. Find a new church and attend regularly
5. Do a better job of keeping in touch with my friends and loved ones other than through Facebook!

Ok, so not too bad. I have been eating healthier and exercising a lot! In fact, I've lost 30 pounds so far! That's pretty darn good! Budget finances? Not so much. I mean, granted I haven't gotten myself into any sort of huge debt, but I haven't exactly racked up the savings either. We'll have to roll that forward into next year. :) I did find a new church and was attending regularly, for a while. But then life got in the way and once you're out of a habit it's almost ridiculously hard to get back into it, but that's going to change. Starting this Sunday, it's back to church! As far as number 5? I think Facebook is about the only way I keep in touch with anybody these days, which is ridiculous really. What ever happened just to calling someone up and talking on the phone? I never do that. Or even hand writing a letter? I think I'm going to start doing that and see how surprised people are to get a letter in the mail!

I think this is always such a crazy time of year with holiday shopping and plans with family, but I hope to not let it get me too crazed and I'm trying my best to keep it from getting hectic. Heck! I'm almost completely done with my Christmas shopping and we're only 2 days in to the month! That's awesome for me!

Well, I promise to work harder on writing at least every week. Finding something worth saying. I can barely remember what I did last week, much less a year ago - so I'd love to have something to remind me in 5 or 10 years of what I was thinking at this time in my life.

So here's to finishing up this year with a bang and hopefully starting off 2010 in a good way!

Living In The Moment...

This past Sunday at church our pastor started a new series entitled "30 Days to Live" and it was all about living in the moment and "what if you only had 30 days left on this earth?" It was a very moving and inspiring sermon. The scripture for this series is Psalm 39:4-5 which says "Lord, remind me how brief my time on earth will be. Remind me that my days are numbered, and that my life is fleeing away. My life is no longer than the width of my hand. An entire lifetime is just a moment to you; human existence is but a breath." (NLT). Normally the thought of how short our time on earth is brings about the "oh that's so morbid" comments. But seriously? We should be thinking about how short our time is. I think about all the days that I waste doing things that aren't pleasing to God or even things that I don't enjoy doing.

James 4:13-17 says: Now listen, you who say, "Today or tomorrow we will go to this or that city, spend a year there, carry on business and make money." Why, you do not even know what will happen tomorrow. What is your life? You are a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes. Instead, you ought to say, "If it is the Lord's will, we will live and do this or that." As it is, you boast and brag. All such boasting is evil. Anyone then, who knows the good he ought to do and doesn't do it sins.

Wow. I have never before thought of planning for the future like that. I mean, granted we do have to plan ahead for many things in life since we can't do everything spur of the moment, but there is something to be said for living in the moment, you know? Our pastor said, so many times we miss life in the moment. We don't spend good quality time with family, friends and loved ones because we're too busy thinking about all the work we have to do later or how you need to be doing laundry or cleaning the house or 8 million other things that are running through your mind at that minute. We're not ALL there with our loved ones. Psalm 118:24 says THIS is the day the Lord has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it. THIS is the day. Not tomorrow or 2 weeks from now. We need to live in this moment here and now and enjoy it and thank God for blessing us with the day that we have!

So all of this time that I have kept putting off my quiet times with God saying that I'd start tomorrow or this weekend. That's no more. The time that I've put off reading more because I'm just too busy - forget it, I'm starting more now. I'm going to stop overloading myself with work and busy-ness and start enjoying myself more and spending more time with my loved ones - especially God. So I pray, Lord... please remind me how brief my time on earth will be. I want to make it count for something!

Things I've Done...

I stole this list from my friend B who stole this list from someone else, who probably stole it from someone else. I've bolded everything I've done.

1. Started your own blog
2. Slept under the stars
3. Played in a band
4. Visited Hawaii
5. Watched a meteor shower
6. Given more than you can afford to charity
7. Been to Disneyland/DisneyWorld
8. Climbed a mountain
9. Held a praying mantis
10. Sang a solo
11. Bungee jumped
12. Visited Paris
13. Watched a lightning storm at sea
14. Taught yourself an art from scratch
15. Adopted a child
16. Had food poisoning
17. Walked to the top of the Statue of Liberty (you can longer do this)
18. Grown your own vegetables
19. Seen the Mona Lisa in France
20. Slept overnight on a train
21. Had a pillow fight
22. Hitch hiked
23. Taken a sick day when you're not ill
24. Built a snow fort
25. Held a lamb
26. Gone skinny dippin
27. Run a Marathon
28. Ridden a gondola in Switzerland
29. Seen a total eclipse
30. Watched a sunrise or sunset
31. Hit a home run (only if you count on Wii)
32. Been on a cruise
33. Seen Niagara Falls in person
34. Visited the birthplace of your ancestors
35. Seen Amish country
36. Taught yourself a new language
37. Had enough money to be truly satisfied
38. Seen the Leaning Tower of Pisa in person
39. Gone rock climbing
40. Seen Michelangelo’s David
41. Sung karaoke
42. Seen Old Faithful geyser erupt
43. Bought a stranger a meal at a restaurant
44. Visited Africa
45. Walked on a beach by moonlight
46. Been transported in an ambulance
47. Had your portrait painted
48. Gone deep sea fishing
49. Seen the Sistine Chapel in person
50. Been to the top of the Eiffel Tower in Paris
51. Gone scuba diving or snorkeling
52. Kissed in the rain
53. Played in the mud
54. Gone to a drive-in theater
55. Been in a movie
56. Visited the Great Wall of China
57. Started a business
58. Taken a martial arts class
59. Visited Russia
60. Served at a soup kitchen
61. Sold Girl Scout Cookies (no, but I've bought and eaten my fair share)
62. Gone whale watching
63. Got flowers for no reason
64. Donated blood, platelets or plasma
65. Gone sky diving
66. Visited a Nazi concentration camp
67. Bounced a check (should I really be proud of this??)
68. Flown in a helicopter
69. Saved a favorite childhood toy
70. Visited the Lincoln Memorial
71. Eaten Caviar
72. Pieced a quilt
73. Stood in Times Square
74. Toured the Everglades
75. Been fired from a job
76. Seen the Changing of the Guards in London
77. Broken a bone
78. Been on a speeding motorcycle
79. Seen the Grand Canyon in person
80. Published a book
81. Visited the Vatican
82. Bought a brand new car
83. Walked in Jerusalem
84. Had your picture in the newspaper
85. Read the entire Bible
86. Visited the White House
87. Killed and prepared an animal for eating
88. Had chickenpox
89. Saved someone’s life
90. Sat on a jury
91. Met someone famous
92. Joined a book club
93. Lost a loved one
94. Had a baby
95. Seen the Alamo in person
96. Swam in the Great Salt Lake
97. Been involved in a law suit
98. Owned a cell phone
99. Been stung by a bee
100. One cavity or less (I wish)

I guess I better get working on this list! What have you done?

Like Sands Through the Hourglass...

Why is it that everyone in this world seems to think their time is more important than mine? Perfect example... my boss. It's currently 11 a.m. and I've already been called into his office twice to talk about an upcoming presentation he's putting on that I'm preparing for him. Now I understand that the first "meeting" he was actually telling me things that were useful and that I needed to know. The second "meeting" was to tell me the EXACT same thing he told me in the first one. Um, are you kidding me? That's what I wanted to ask, but I didn't. I just sat there looking at him dully with my arms crossed waiting for him to finish. Now, keep in mind that while he's sitting here reiterating what he's ALREADY told me, there are numerous other things that are currently more pressing than this presentation (which isn't even until next Thursday) and he's keeping me from doing those things. So this makes me even more irritated by it. It didn't help things that when I woke up this morning I was telling myself, "You MUST go to work. You HAVE to go to work. GO TO WORK!! NOW!"

Should it really be THAT hard to get up and go to work? I'm reminded of a book I just finished reading where one of the main characters told her husband that work wasn't meant to be "fun"... if it were, it wouldn't be called "work". Well I don't want my life to be like that. I don't want to get up and go to a job I hate and waste more of my time on bending to some one else's beck and call. Yet, most of us do that on a daily basis. I think it's sad that so many of us are stuck in jobs and careers that we hate simply because we can't afford to do something different. I am very fortunate that in May of 2011 my husband will be out of school and starting a job that will allow me to go back to school and pursue that dream of mine. Whatever that is... I haven't figured it out yet. And who's to say that once I do that and start a new career that I won't be right back where I started? Working for people I don't like or back in the politics of the work place. Life is never a guarantee, I guess.

I spent last night going through albums from my childhood and scanning in pictures for a project I'm working on and I was taken back to that time when I didn't have a care in the world. When your parents took care of you and you didn't have to worry about if you'd have money to buy clothes or food. You didn't worry if you were going to have enough money to pay for the mortgage or to buy groceries or if you were going to have to put it on a credit card because once again some unexpected emergency popped up. Ah, those were definitely simpler times. Where was the class in high school or college that told you that being an adult was hard? That taught you about managing your money or picking the right career for you? I guess we just have to learn from these things that we deal with as adults and make sure that we teach our own children these things so that they don't end up in the same position that we are. I guess that's what my parents always meant by saying they wanted a better life for me than they had. Ok, I really think this has turned into a ramble. :) I'm good at doing that!

The bottom line? I need to be the boss! :)