food coma

i promised i would try to write while we were on vacation, and here i am! 

the question comes up: what's your favorite holiday tradition?  and i hardly have an answer because we haven't really had a special "tradition" for the holidays.  my mom and i decorated cookies for the first time in a lot of years last week.. it warmed my little heart.  i wouldn't call that a tradition.  the closest thing to a tradition that i've got so far is my annual pledge class party.  we've done that the past three years... but i feel that this may be the last year for various reasons.  so that's not exactly a tradition.  we don't usually have a lot of gifts, just a few significant ones because we don't want to lose the reason for the season... which means i don't have a special gift-opening tradition either! 

so i guess my being with family is my tradition.  i'm always trying to find some family to spend time with, and i'll usually be able to scrape up enough to go visit someone.  what's your tradition?  i think i need some ideas for myself and the sarge.  we have bought an ornament for both years, and idea i pretty much borrowed from kat, but that's about it so far.

also, i made it!  i had to stay in the real country for a few days.  y'all know i'm a city girl.  san francisco bay area, born and raised.  i don't do well with things that scurry.  but i made it, thank God.  it was fun hanging out with sergeant j's family though.  his youngest sister and i had a girl's day in little rock, which was really fun.  she doesn't get to go up there too often and every girl needs time away from the 'rents :)

hopefully, there will be pictures soon.  i know that's what you guys really care about these days.  at any rate, if i don't see you (or ... read you) before,

merry christmas!

oops i forgot to tell you about the title.  the sarge and i have been eating at all our favorite arkansas- or southern-only restaurants and i'm just about able to roll back to california, if it were downhill.  i'm a mess.  i guess january's blog will be about a diet.  we have a ball to attend in june, and i can't be a butterball!  

i told my mom i was well on my way to eating myself into a food coma and her response? 

"how fun!!"

the planet

i have dropped off the face of the planet. 

sorry about that.

i'm sure you have (not really) been wondering what the heck happened to me, and the truth (excuse) is that i have just been lazy.  well, busy... and too lazy to sit at my computer to do anything productive (or anything that wasn't frontierville... did i just admit that?)

anyway.  i have missed all of you (especially ty.  yes, i said it.)  so i just decided to bite the bullet and quit dreading the "catch up" and just write something.  

hmm..

that's supposed to be a razorback lol

so, in the time i've disappeared, i have gone to two christmas parties, ditched one, baked and decorated christmas cookies for the first time in a while, made it half way to a "scentsational start" with scentsy (whoo hoo!!), and mentally checked out of work.  i have not really done a lot of productive things, but i DID start something amazing. 

organizing my life.

you should do it. don't ask me how i found the fly lady site, but i'm glad i did.  i poked around a little and found her "baby steps" to avoiding CHAOS (can't have anyone over syndrome).  it has just made my little day.  i signed up for a daily digest of her emails which includes a 'flight plan' for the next day; an area to focus on, a mission to accomplish, and a little clutter clearing.  i just love it.. mainly because i am a neat person BUT i sometimes get overwhelmed with the little things that get overlooked.  i love that i am now creating some HABITS to keep life in order instead of the out-of-hand mess it wants to be.  for example, here was today's flight plan (in a nutshell--and paraphrased of course):  go through the personal hygiene ridiculousness in your bathroom (this week's zone is the main bathroom and guest room); spend 5 minutes decluttering.  easy.  but i'll admit, i wouldn't do it on my own.  go to flylady.net.  try not to be overwhelmed.  she has a great philosophy.

AND...

tomorrow we're leaving for arkansas.  *dancing*  this is the reason i've been checked out.. i can't wait to see my mommy and daddy.  and megan.  and my pledge sisters.  i'm going to miss seeing the ocean and the sun though, i already know that.  but a visit to my folks is long overdo.

so there's my life in 5 minutes.  hope i didn't bore you to death.  i promise i will try to promise to write while i'm on vacation (and yes, i meant to write it that way).

happy trails friends.   

how cliche can we get?

day 15.  role models.  i usually hate these questions.

it is unfortunate to say, but i don't have anyone who i consider to be a role model.  i admire some people, so i guess that would have to do.  i am myself and i recognize that.  but these ladies have made a big impression on me, in a way i hope to make an impression on a young girl someday.

one is my mom, of course.  she is an amazing woman.  she loves people in the most intimate and honest way.  she is an entertainer, a caregiver, and a minister to women.  she loves her husband (my dad) through everything, good and bad.  she is a woman and a lady.  if she had gone to ouachita, she would have been an EEE -- classy, that is.  she's as bold and she is beautiful, but also gentle and has a quiet spirit, as i believe paul meant for women.  the older i get, the more she reveals to me about her youth, and each of her embarrassing stories makes me admire her more.  what a gal.  my mama.

another lady i am beginning to value a lot works across from me.  her name's sherry and she's amazing.  she is so poised and well spoken; she's organized and driven, but like my mom she has the most gentle and sweet spirit.  she knows exactly on whom she relies and is so encouraging to young women.  she is like a mom, though she and i have only known each other a while.  i think she gives off the mom vibe.  she loves her husband and has such a strong story of faith.  i got to share a room with her on a staff retreat and i was blown away by her humility.  she's been through so much and has an awesome testimony, but is not a showboat.  i love her more and more each day we work together.  what a woman. 

i hope one day i can have the effect on young women the way these two women have had and continue to have an impression on me.  it helps to remember that someone is always noticing you and your behavior.  your language, your attitude, and the way you carry yourself.  we are all being formed, but that is not an excuse to live how you want to live today and apologize tomorrow. 

who's watching you?

winner, winner, chicken dinner.

the winner is ... 

i'm not sure why i put i would announce the winner on the third... 

that was really lame...

i wish you could have ALL won!  seriously!

but winner, you have 24 hours from the time stamp on this blog to claim your prize.... 

and golly, you ought to know what scent you want to smell! 

congrats, 

brittney from razorback britt!

you must have a few winning bones in your body.  

non fiction.

challenge day 14: a non-fiction book

well, kind of like yesterday, i am not exactly sure if we're just talking about a favorite or a current read.  since i embarrassed myself yesterday with talk of the twilight business, i guess i'll try to redeem myself by talking about something with some substance. 

my favorite, favorite non-fiction book is this one:

image from global online store

one of my professors at ouachita wrote it.  it's a historical account of ethnicity and race in the bible.  it's eye opening.  going to a southern baptist college, being one of the only (if not the only) black person in my biblical studies courses, i had the tendency to wonder where race falls in american theology.  of course, i never felt discriminated against at school, but it's no secret that the "south" has used "the bible" as an excuse for their "behavior" once or twice.  that, and the most racist people i have personally ever met are "professing christians".  so anyway, it just gave me a great perspective on issues of race.  not for debating or arguing, just as a personal apologetic for what i already knew had to be true. 

second is this one:

image from goodreads

an eye opening look at christianity as a global entity (which, let's be honest, we in america often ignore), including where we've come from and where we're going.  it will rock your little sunday morning world.

the most challenging non-fiction work i have read, maybe ever, was chesterton's orthodoxy:

image from goodreads

the language is so antiquated, but the ideas are so fresh.  i loved this book, though i could only read one chapter at a time (and often more than once).  i recommend chesterton to anyone who is patient and wants to improve their reading comprehension skills!

of course, anything my a.w. tozer would make the favorites list as well.  i enjoy anything the teaches me something and anything introspective and convicting. 

let's not participate in the dumbing down of america.

let's read more.