New Hair

Late last year, my best friend Angela mentioned that she thought I might like to try dying my hair black. While looking at pictures of us from our October trip to Vegas to see Bette Midler, she thought her black hair looked good against my skin. Since I am almost always up for a change to my hair and had never dyed it black before, I said it sounded like a good idea. So about a month or so ago, I went over to her house and she dyed it for me.

Wow...black hair was quite a change, but I found very quickly that I LOVED it! I felt prettier and sexier and just all around happy. Since my hair was also in desperate need of a haircut (tons of split ends that kept taunting me!) I made an appointment with my favorite hairdresser Kerry. This past Saturday we finally got together and talked about what to do. I wanted to keep as much length as possible since I really don't like how I look with short hair. I also wanted some long layers to frame it around my face...but nothing that would require a lot of daily maintenance since I am so not that girl! :)

The cut we ended up with is super cute, super easy to care for, and so much healthier. See the pictures below and let me know what you think! :)

First Five

First Five
I got this from my cousin Jennie and love the idea!

The first five people to respond to this post will get something made by me! My choice. For you.This offer does have some restrictions and limitations:

1- I make no guarantees that you will like what I make!
2- What I create will be just for you.
3- It'll be done this year.
4- You have no clue what it's going to be. But I promise that I will take time to think of something that seems right for me to send you! :)
5- I reserve the right to do something extremely strange.

The catch? Oh, the catch is that you must repost this on your blog and offer the same to the first 5 people who do the same on your blog. The first 5 people to do so and leave a comment telling me they did win a FAB-U-LOUS homemade gift by me! Oh, and be sure to post a picture of what you win when you get it!}

How goes it...

Well, we are in a new month now and I thought I'd take a look back and see if I was able to follow through on my resolutions. A friend of mine read about my goals for 2009 and came up with a cute acronym to help remind me about it daily. RENEW

R - relate
E - eat
N - Nehemiah 1:11 "Grant your servant success today."
E - enjoy
W - walk

I like the acronym a lot, especially with the included Bible verse which is also a reminder to me to pray daily for God's help in achieving daily success. I have this posted on my computer at work and find that it reminds me daily to make better choices.

I have had many opportunities in the last month to spend time with friends and family and I'm preparing to go out to Hallmark this week to purchase Valentine cards to send out as well. I've made an effort to make healthier food choices, to not eat everything on my plate or to take a smaller portion. I've done pretty well with eating breakfast every day and have cut back on the amount of soda and have been drinking more water lately.

As for prayer, I've tried to make a conscious effort to pray for those who I have offered to pray for - whether it be while driving in my car, before going to bed at night, or as I think about them throughout the day. Josh & I still need to order our new Bibles which were supposed to be Christmas presents. Mine will be the Bible on CD and I intend to start listening to it in the car on the way to or from (or both) work.

I think that I've tried to do things that make me smile...reading some good books, spending time with friends, going to Disneyland with my family, and watching things that make me laugh. I think that I would like to add to this idea by trying to not argue so often with Josh and try to let little things slide more often. To try to enjoy our time together and not let little issues steal our joy. We also have a vacation coming up at the end of this month that should be full of opportunities to smile. We are headed to the central coast to visit Paso Robles, Hearst Castle, Cayucos and Solvang over a 5 day vacation. This is in part to celebrate the seven year anniversary of when we met online through Match.com (2/25/02) and also because we've been wanting to take a vacation to those places for the last 5 years.

As for walking more, I've done several things to make this true almost every day. I walked one evening with my best friend and look forward to doing it again once she is recovered from her recent surgery. I've been parking my car further away from the places I need to go so that I can add a little walking here and there. I've been trying to get up from my desk throughout the day to walk around upstairs or around the library. We went to Disneyland two weeks ago with my family and as usual spent lots of time walking around. :) I find that I think about it more often and thus make more of an effort to add a few steps or more here and there. I've also recently ordered the original Sweatin' to the Oldies DVD set and Josh & I intend to start doing that once a week to start...and hopefully working up to a couple times a week.

I know that it will only be with God's help that I am able to continue working to achieve these goals...but it is my sincere intent to keep depending on him and not give up even if I stumble or fail. I appreciate any prayers or encouragement.

Goals

With the new year often comes the desire to make changes, or resolutions, as we like to call them. They are often very specific and in general they can be overwhelming and all to easily forgotten or given up on. I am no exception. But I do want to make some attempt for change, and so have come up with four things I would like to do in this new year.

They are purposely not extremely specific for I do not want to become overwhelmed and give up on them. They are not something I can fail once and say oh well, better luck next year. They are decidedly vague and hopefully able to continue throughout the year. I want to do my best to keep at them, and perhaps you who read my blog can help keep me accountable and ask me if I am doing what I've decided to do. Please pray for me and encourage me if you'd like...I would appreciate and enjoy that.

#1 - Walk more
We all have to walk and we all could stand to walk more. I purposely did not choose to say exercise more, or lose weight. Though I would like to do those things they are so specific that I would set myself up for failure. But I can always walk more...whether it be taking a few laps around the library at work, parking my car further from wherever I need to be, or purposely deciding to walk as exercise. My best friend Angela did suggest that we get together a couple times a week to walk and talk...and we will begin that this week. Whether or not we meet every week is not my goal...but choosing to start each day with a desire to walk more somehow...and realize that even if I don't do it once, twice or for 3 weeks or more I can start up again the next day and it will still be a success. :)

#2 - Eat better
Once again this can mean a variety of things and in general I want it to mean that I make more purposeful choices about what I am eating. I don't want to forbid myself from eating anything and I don't want to limit myself to a strict diet that I will surely cheat or give up on. I want to make an effort to eat breakfast every day and try to make sure that it is something filling and somewhat healthy. I want to try to eat out less often and cook at home more often. But I will still make time for semi-monthly Taco Tuesdays, or dinners out with friends, or wanting pizza at Shakey's. I can do those things on occasion and still make good food choices. I am also in the process of readingEat This, Not That: the no-diet weight loss solution by David Zinczenko. I love the idea of not limiting myself, but still making healthier food choices. I am also hoping to limit the amount of soda that I drink and making the choice to drink water or tea instead...and milk and juices on occasion.

#3 - Make time for the people who matter to me
I think that Josh & I already try really hard to do this the majority of the time. We often think about which of our friends we've seen recently and try to get together with people at least every other month or more. Josh has a monthly guy's game night, and I have a monthly girl's movie night. I try to keep in contact with friends and family through email, Facebook, MySpace or phone calls....or in person or through cards sent in the mail. But I know I can always do more to let people know that they matter to me and that I care about them. I know there are some people that I haven't kept in touch with as well as I should...and it is my intention to try harder this year. Making time for the people who matter to me is of vital importance to me and I believe that every little bit helps.

#4 - Do things that make me smile
This is a little vague...even for me and I came up with the idea! :) Basically I want to make sure that I make time for the things that make me smile, happy, joyful, or at peace. Maybe it's to read more books, or play with my niece and nephew. Perhaps it means visiting Disneyland more often, or buying fresh flowers. It could be taking time to draw or paint or scrapbook, cooking meals that I always want to but never make time for, or just sitting on the couch vegging out with my hubby for an entire weekend! What kinds of things make YOU smile?

I'd love to hear from those of you who read my blog...either post a comment or send me an email. Tell me what you think of my goals...what are your goals this year? Let me know if I need to make time for you. Thanks for reading! *hugs*

My favorite books of 2008

The Twilight saga by Stephenie Meyer
~ Great series of 4 books which many of my friends also devoured and they are definitely on my re-read list.

The Post-Birthday World by Lionel Shriver
~ I found this book amazing and absolutely needed to share it with someone so I asked my friend Amanda to read it and we still need to talk about it.

Queen of the Road: The True Tale of 47 States, 22,000 miles, 200 Shoes, 2 Cats, 1 Poodle, a Husband, and a Bus with a Will of its Own by Doreen Orion
~ Great book, great stories, great recipes...but even greater is how amazing the queenly author is. She really connects with her fans and I've enjoyed that quite a lot.

The Confessions of Georgia Nicolson series by Louise Rennison
~ Though this series of nine books is for young adults I hysterically laughed out loud multiple times (ask Josh :)) while reading each book and would love to own them so I can re-read them again and again. The titles alone made me laugh outloud and inspired me to read them.

Peculiar Treasures and On a Whim by Robin Jones Gunn
~ As always, I love anything and everything written by this author and I particularly love that she has continued on my favorite characters through this Katie Weldon series. Looking forward to more over the next few years.

My Life in France by Julia Child
~ This was an amazing book which told me so much more about Julia Child's life than I had ever realized. She had a very full life with so many adventures and neat experiences. I loved it and would highly recommend it to anyone who likes autobiographies or books about food culture.

All the President's Pastries by Roland Mesnier
~ This was a really fascinating book about the former pastry chef at the White House for over 20 years. Great pictures, neat stories and several recipes are included.

The Last Chinese Chef by Nicole Mones
~ Though this was fiction, it really read like a non-fiction story. I found it fascinating and very enjoyable to read. Beautiful descriptions and a neat love story too.

Around the World in 80 Dinners by Bill Jamison
~ Intriguing idea for an anniversary trip by the author and his wife. Though sometimes slow, I liked how descriptive they were about the foods and travel and quite enjoyed the book.

Auschwitz: A Doctor's Eyewitness Account by Miklos Nyiszli
~ Not a fun book to read, but important and a different perspective from many books written about the Holocaust as the author was a prisoner whose medical skills saved him from death, though at what cost?

The Crimson Petal and the White by Michel Faber
~ This was a very large book, but it never felt tiresome to read. Intriguing story and interesting characters made for a great novel which I enjoyed reading and discussing with Aunt Annette.

Animal, Vegetable, Miracle by Barbara Kingsolver
~ Interesting non-fiction about a family's decision to eat locally and organically for one year growing most of the food themselves or obtaining it from a short distance from their farm. It really made the idea of growing vegetables sound good and I specifically enjoyed the short essays written by their teenage daughter which included recipes.

Thankful & Grateful

When I think of all the things that I have been blessed with in my life, it makes it hard to imagine how I could ever feel like I need or want more. But I always do...I suppose it is human nature to always feel a need for more, and whether right or wrong it is there, always lurking beneath the surface of our thoughts or sometimes right out in the open. But at this time of year, there is hopefully more opportunity to think over our lives and be thankful and grateful for the many blessings we all can count. No matter how much or how little we have, there is always something to be thankful for, and these are some of mine.

10 - Facebook and MySpace: now you might think this a silly one or something unnecessary to life...and perhaps it is unnecessary. But, through these two websites I have been able to reconnect with, keep in touch with, and have fun with a variety of friends and family. Yes, some of it is silly - like Kidnap, Food Fling, Mafia Wars, or bulletin surveys. But the ability to support, encourage, and pray for these people is available at a moment's notice and for that I am thankful.

9 - Blogs: I love blogs...I love writing a blog...I love reading blogs...I love that blogs exist and are so prevalent. Though in some ways reading someone's blog can seem a bit like stalking them - reading about their personal life and they may never know you were there. But it is also a wonderful opportunity to know how to pray for others. It is a wonderful way to share memories, commemorate vacations, see pictures, share recipes, and even host book clubs. I love spending time each week visiting the long list of blogs I check on to see who has written or posted something new. The ability to leave a comment for them, or to read a comment they've left for me makes me smile and feel more connected to all of them.

8 - Vacations & Fun events: In the past year I have been blessed to be able to see Bon Jovi in concert, visit my godson & his family in Texas, go to Las Vegas for my birthday with Josh, Kelly & David, see WICKED in Los Angeles, spend time in a timeshare in Palm Springs, visit Las Vegas again this time with my best friend to see Bette Midler in concert, and see "The Glory of Christmas" at the Crystal Cathedral. I have also been able to visit Disneyland many times thanks to the blessing of having an annual pass, gone to San Diego to cheer for Angela in the Breast Cancer 3-Day, help plan and host a Bunco for the Cure fundraiser, along with many other fun and exciting events and daytrips.

7 - Books: If you know anything about me, then you should know that I LOVE books. I am constantly reading something and while I do have favorite genres and authors, I like to read a wide variety of books. Through my job at the library I am able to request even more books through interlibrary loan, in addition to purchasing books and borrowing books from others. I love talking about books and enjoy the opportunity to share my book love with friends like Melissa & Amanda. I love the website http://www.goodreads.com/ which allows me to list the books I've read, I am reading and that I want to read. I love being in an online bookclub with my sister and Aunt Annette. I love to always have a book available to read...and I am grateful that long ago when I was in kindergarten my teacher Mrs. Overholt took the time to teach me to read. Without her patience and encouragement I would not know how to read...without my parents love of reading to us and around us I would not have discovered my own desire to read...without my dad taking my sister & I to the public library every two weeks to check out our limit of 20 new books I would not have discovered my voracious appetite for reading...without my job at the library I would not have found a way to live as much as possible around books...and without my husband's love of books I would not have found someone who is just as happy as I am to sit in silence with our own books.

6 - Working at the Library: I never knew that I would work in a library. As a child I never dreamed of this job...I thought I'd be an artist, or a set decorator, or an oceanographer. Throughout college I thought I would be an artist, an English major or a teacher...but then I discovered that I did not want to teach and I got a job as a student worker in the library. I fell in love with it - who knew you could work with one of your favorite things all day long, in a quiet environment, with usually low levels of stress, and with such wonderful people. I was happy to be there...but then I graduated and was lost. But thankfully three short months later, the library assistant position became available and my old boss told me the job was essentially mine for the taking and so it began on August 16, 2001. Working here has been the best possible job for me. I am so grateful for the kind coworkers who genuinely care for one another, for the faculty and students that I am able to develop friendships with, for the work that I do that is not only interesting but also fulfilling. I know that this is where God wants me to be, and I can daily see how He is able to use me in this job. I love working with the student workers and talking to them, critiquing papers for them, inviting them into my home for homecooked meals, and just watching them grow. I am always sad to see them graduate, but that is part of life in a college...and there are always new ones to take their places. I love the quiet, I love the books, and I love the ability to work in a quiet, Christian environment.

5 - Grocery Stores: As I get older I find that I am more willing to try new things to eat and to discover that some things that I never used to like are now some of my favorite foods. I love walking into grocery stores and seeing all the possibilites. I love the stacks of fresh vegetables and fruits - deciding to try new things has revealed a few new favorites like parsnips, fennel, red peppers, and leeks. I love the dairy products - trying new cheeses like Camembert, or richer butters from Ireland or France, and of course focusing on old favorites like cheddar and 1%milk. I love the baking goods, the cereals, the meat department and bakery. I love trying new recipes and and just being able to go into a grocery store and stock up on yummy foods to eat and enjoy. I also am grateful for the opportunity to be able to share some of the food in a variety of ways - by donating to the food pantry at church, by inviting friends and family over for meals, and baking Christmas goodies to share with co-workers and students.

4 - Financial Security: We are not rich by most definitions, but we are also not poor either. I am thankful that we have the security to know our bills will be paid each month, that we can eat well, that we can do fun things and that we can give gifts to those celebrating birthdays, milestones, or holidays. Though sometimes money is tight, we are never unable to live and really, to live well. I am thankful that God provides for us enough that we can talk about vacations to Walt Disney World, or the possibility of buying a house, or of having a baby. I am grateful that we have enough so that we can donate to charity or help support people in missions or just lend some money when needed. Though we might complain sometimes, I know that we have much to be thankful for financially and I am grateful that God provides for us.

3 - Friendship: I am so overabundantly blessed with friendships. Some specific friendships I've loved this year include - taco Tuesdays with Robin, Melissa & Yolanda; once-a-month dinners with Amanda; monthly movie nights with Angela, Kelly & Mandy; vacation to Texas to see John & Melissa and the boys in April; lunches with Angela & Michael at the cafeteria; dinner & movie nights with Amber; anniversary dinners with Joseph & Sunset; dinners with Melissa, Alicia & Jessie; dinners with Yukai, Rob & Marisa, The Alexanders, the Zupkofka's; Disneyland with Kevin; Las Vegas & Bette Midler with Angela; looking forward to dinners with Anna & Jason; and so many others.

2 - Family: I am so grateful for the blessing of my family. My husband Josh is such a perfect fit for me. Though we can be very different and look at things in very different ways, we support and love each other. He takes such good care of me and gives me more compliments and assurances of his love than I could ever need or ask for. He is a daily blessing and I am grateful to have married him. My parents have been such an encouragement all my life - they are so kind, loving, Christ-like, friendly and supportive. My sister who is also one of my best friends - "a sister who was a friend and with whom I could compare myself, the better to understand both my singularity and our commonality." (Ahab's Wife). David who is the best brother-in-law anyone could ask for and always fun at family gatherings. My niece and nephew Katelyn & Jonathan who are the lights of my life - every opportunity to spend time with them is cherished and I am daily amazed to see them growing and learning new things. My Aunty Diana who is not only my aunt but also like a mother & friend to me. She is so supportive, encouraging and loving and I am grateful every day that we are as close as we have become...though I miss her and wish that we could spend more time together I know that we are in each other's hearts and thoughts daily. My other aunts and uncles who are each special in their own way - I love the many ways that we can stay in touch and share our love with each other. My grandparents who I always love to see and are such a blessing. All my cousins - related by blood or by love...they are each so special to me. God has blessed me tremedously with a huge loving family and I am so thankful for their presence in my life.

1 - God: Simply put I am grateful that God sent his only son to die on a cross for me, and for everyone else who will believe this to be true and accept him into their hearts and lives. I am grateful that God made such variety in his world - all the colors of the flowers, the types of trees, the amazing animals and so much more. I am thankful for his many blessing in my life and for always letting me know that he is there - protecting, guiding and blessing my life. Thank you God!

Decisions

Who doesn't want a house? If one had a choice, and money was no object, wouldn't everyone choose to own a house rather than rent an apartment? But since we all know that for the majority of people, money is a huge concern how do you decide when the time is right to buy a house? And if you decide that you do want to buy a house, how does one decide how much one is willing to do without and how much one is willing to cut back in order to have said house? These are some of the decisions that Josh & I have been wrestling with over the past few weeks.

Josh wants a house...pure and simple. He wants it and according to him there is nothing that he would mind giving up or cutting back on to have a house. To him, now is the time to buy and if we wait we will never own a house. I would love a h0use...at some point. There are many things that I would mind giving up and cutting back on if that is the only way we can afford a house. I believe that if we are meant to have a house, we will...but that doesn't mean now. I am content in my circumstances, even if that means continuing to rent an apartment. So how we reconcile these two VERY different positions? We are married and thus we must come to some sort of compromise since neither of us is willing to settle.

We qualify for a good-sized loan and at this point in time there are a variety of homes available for that amount or less in the areas we are contemplating moving to. A few of the homes we saw looked a little familiar - one was my sister's house, just flipped; another two looked like my parent's house, one exact and the other flipped. So yesterday I asked my sister and my mom what they pay for utilities each month. We needed to come up with an estimate for what our costs would be if we bought a house and this was a pretty decent way to guess at utility prices. In our apartment we only pay for electricity, phone, internet and DVR - water, trash, gas, and cable are covered by our rent. However, in a house we would have to cover all of those bills in addition to the mortgage, insurance and taxes. The difference in utilities was about $300.

So, last night Josh & I sat down and crunched some numbers. Based on an estimate for mortgage, taxes and home insurance our realtor had given us, the utility costs for my parents home, our other bills, and other budget lines (food, fun, etc) we determined that in order to have a house we would need to trim at least $1,000 from our monthly budget. This is a large number and it would involve very difficult cut-backs that Josh was completely willing to make, but I was not quite as certain. Part of my uncertainty stems from the fact that at the moment we are completely comfortable. We make enough to provide a comfortable life that allows us to go out to eat when we'd like, buy things when we want or need to, take vacations that can be costly sometimes, and not stress too much about finances. Buying a house would mean constantly cutting back every month for at least one year, and possibly several years. Yes, we would have a house, but for me I'm not certain if that is comfort enough.

A second concern is the possibility of becoming pregnant. If we bought a house and tightened up our budget and then we became pregnant...how could we afford it? We know that neither of us can stay home, so daycare is a must. More money would be taken from my paychecks to cover the additional health insurance. Furniture, clothing, diapers, etc would need to be purchased as well. I know we could handle either buying a house or having a baby...but I don't know how we could handle both at the same time. One way to tackle this problem is to discover whether or not we are even capable of having children. There is a concern that we cannot, and so we are going to take steps to discover if this is true or not. Once we have that information we can determine if this is even a concern, and then move on from that point.

After much discussion, much arguing and yes, some yelling and crying...we came to a conclusion that we are both willing to stick to for now. We will table the decision of buying a house until March. First, because the holiday season is upon us and the only way we could seriously cut back would be to cut out all Christmas money we are both unwilling to do this. Second, we need to finish paying off Josh's dental bill before mid-March in order to pay no interest. Third, we want to see if home prices will continue to drop. And finally, we will discover whether or not we can get pregnant. However, starting in January when we create our new yearly budget, we will start gradually cutting back in as many areas as possible and putting that money away in savings. This will help us to have something set aside for a down payment and also prepare us for the cut-backs that will come with either owning a home or having a child.

We do not know what the future holds for us - perhaps we will buy a house next year, or maybe we will have a child. No matter what happens, we are prepared to deal with it together in prayer and thanksgiving. We know how blessed we are, and I am grateful every day for the amazing ways that the Lord takes care of us.