7 Quick Takes: Focus on the Awesome

Thank God it's Friday.

This week has not been the most fun ever, so I'm choosing to focus my 7 Quick Takes on ways this week has been good and why this weekend is going to be awesome. Check out Kelly {our wonderful guest host} at This Ain't the Lyceum for all the link-up fun.

1. Haters gonna hate, but the soundtrack of my week has been Christmas music. Kelly Clarkson, Michael Buble, Frank Sinatra, even Andrea Botticelli have made this rough week a bit more bearable. Thank you, musical geniuses, for singing happy songs so beautifully.

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2. My sister Jayna came over on Monday night, which is always fun. When we were at the grocery store getting hard cider, she introduced me to Strongbow Gold, which may or may not have bumped Angry Orchard into Third Place in My Heart. If hard cider is your thing, I recommend you give Strongbow at least one try. It's super yummy.

3. On Tuesday, I had a mole removed {side note: I love my dermatologist. She made the whole needles/surgery/stitches thing so painless and pleasant, and her staff checked on us like 4 times after I said I was feeling a little lightheaded. If you're in the area, I highly recommend her!}, so now I have stitches and a huge bandaid on my left forearm.
I was feeling good last night, so I ventured out to Zumba. Just to be safe, though, I didn't really use my left arm, because stitches breaking open and blood gushing was something I avoid AT ALL COSTS.
So I one-armed Zumba, and afterwards my instructor told me that she would have me teach sometime, because if I can one-arm class, then no one else has any excuse. Ha! Good one.

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4. After work today, I am heading east over the mountains to visit Dahlia. Hooray! She is just lovely to be around. We can fly across the continent or sit on the couch all day, and either way we will have fun together.

This weekend, we are planning on scrapbooking and crafting. AJ, your Christmas present will hopefully take shape this weekend!

5. Speaking of Christmas presents, I'm feeling really on top of it this year. I have gifts for 2 out of 3 sisters already, and several yarn-related gifts are already finished. The gift I'm most proud of, though, is for my grandparents {trusting that they a) do not know this blog exists and therefore b) will not be reading this post}.
My sisters and I are using Shutterfly to create a photo book of the four of us. I only need two-three more pictures {ahem, sisters} and this album will be complete! My goal is to order it by Thanksgiving, so we are rocking it out.

6. The best part of my grandparents' gift is that we'll be able to give it to them in person. My family is traveling to the Frozen Tundra on the 26th to spend a few days with my mom's family! I'm really excited about this, and I'm already worrying praying for good traveling weather. Because of some health issues, my grandparents haven't been able to come out and visit us since I graduated from high school, so this is quite the exciting visit. Any upcoming holiday trips for you, dear readers?

7. Finally, coming back full circle to the week/weekend/awesomeness thing, I am spending Sunday afternoon with a friend looking at apartments for her and her new job! It's very exciting - this is a fabulous new job and totally in line with her passions and calling, and the apartments we're looking at are really cute.

This week hasn't been the best thing in life, but there have been some light spots and this weekend is going to be fantastic. Happy Friday!

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I'm Just Gonna Shake Shake Shake

{I know that I said I wanted to write more posts without prompts, but I'm not counting these as prompts; they're more like conversation initiators. I know, the hair is split super finely. Whatevs. Shaking it off.}

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Currently...

...wondering how early is too early to begin New Year's Eve party planning.

...stressing about doula training and how on earth I'm going to finish it all. Gulp.

...just finished reading UnDivided (Unwind Dystology)* by Neal Shusterman
Re'and* by Victoria Easter Wilson {review here!}

... currently reading Motherwit: An Alabama Midwife's Story* by Onnie Lee Logan
Spiritual Midwifery* by the one and only Ina May Gaskin
A Covert Affair: When Julia and Paul Child joined the OSS...* by Jennet Conant.

... going to read Unbroken: A World War II Story of Survival, Resilience, and Redemption* by Laura Hillenbrand - really excited about this one!

...listening to Imogen Heap and Kye Kye, as per usual, and.... Christmas music! Haters, please see above gif.

...craving more fudge that my flatmate made. She put a few sprinkles in and on it, and I think that was a very wise decision.

...enjoying a good hair day. Yay, straightener that works!

...getting excited for Cami and my trip to visit Samara! We are meeting at 5:30 tonight, having Chinese food for dinner {because why the hell not!?}, and then venturing down to yonder Oregon for a weekend of laughs, hugs, Doctor Who, costumes, chocolate, Portland, and whatever other adventures we find. CANNOT WAIT!!!

...grateful for a fantastic table lamp I found at Value Village. You. Guys. This thing is amazing. You know when you look at Target and you're like, mm, okay. Then you look at Pinterest and are all like, mm, if only me + drill + glass didn't = death.
And then you go to Value Village and the heavens open and a unicorn whinnies and fairy dust speeds your sprint into the embrace of the COOLEST LAMP EVER, and it doesn't even need a makeover. True story. Pictures coming soon.

...laughing at this clip from the Graham Norton Show of Miranda Hart teaching Benedict Cumberbatch how to walk like a diva. All day, every day, please and thank you.

Hope you all have a fantastic Halloween weekend!

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*affiliate links that will, ideally, contribute to my doula education. Thanks for your click!

Christmas Time in the City

It's December. I can share Christmas-related items now {just ignore the fact that I've been listening to Christmas music since November 20th or so}.

Samara and I got a tree!!! Isn't it cute!?

We went to a tree farm nearby and cut it down ourselves, and then we tied it onto Samara's car by ourselves, too. This part.... well, you know how there are some things you say "I'll laugh at this later" so you don't cry in the moment? Well, Samara and I just skip to the laughter part because we are nuts. 

All around us, people are winding their string through their car windows and over the tree, securing the bundle of holiday joy onto the roofs of their vehicles. We got this, we think. And so we begin. One window in Samara's car doesn't roll down, so I open that door and we improvise. 

Over, under, over, under. The string goes around and around the tree and car and then is secured with knots. Samara and I survey our accomplishment with pride, and then it hits us. If the string is through the windows, then we can't open the doors to get in the car. We burst out laughing and determine how to get into the vehicle without undoing our work.

Thankfully, we both managed to utilize our ballet training and enter {and later exit} the car without disturbing Charlie. Oh, that's what we named the tree. We were going for a Charlie Brown tree, but we could also call it Rudy or Frosty. Votes can be made in the comment section ;)

Well, I'm in the holiday spirit now, aren't you? :) Happy December!

Funny Friday & How Is It November Already?

Ok, guys, I know that I basically counted every single day of October via 31 Days of Writing, but still... I can't believe it's November already!?!? Because you know what happens in November? Christmas music. Which leads to Christmas, which leads to a new year....meaning November 2014 is like in 2 weeks, basically.

Speaking of 31 Days of Writing, I think I may have forgotten how to write a Funny Friday post. Does that count as its own deep twisted version of humor? No? I know, it's more sad than funny.

Well, while I scramble to think of something funny for Friday, allow me to entertain you with weekend plans. Samara and I are going to IKEA! Woot. We are fortunate to live within 30 minutes {weekend-only traffic times} from one of the blessed places, so tomorrow morning, bright and early, off we go! Just kidding. It'll be like bright and middling... after last night's adventures, there will be much sleep on the morrow.

Speaking of last night, wanna see some pictures?! Of course you do, and even if you don't, too bad, because I promised you pictures and I keep my promises...eventually. But today is the day after, so we're not gonna ruin a good thing, k?

The Fantastic Fox Family

Totes adorbs, right!? Yes I did ride the bus downtown looking like that. Yes I did walk over a mile to the theater dressed like that. Yes I did take off the mask to watch Frankenstein. Ain't nobody get time to let anything get in the way of seeing Benedict Cumberbatch!

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The show was even better than last time. {I guess I haven't formally reviewed Frankenstein yet, so add that to my list of promises to keep.} I found that since I knew what was going to happen, I could appreciate the parallels and contrasts better. Plus, the acting....always, always superb. Can't praise them enough.

Right. Funny Friday. Last night at the theater, I was sitting next to Samara's friend Sammy. There's a scene where the Creature reaches for a pot that's just been taken off the fire, so of course he burns his hand. 

Since we had just watched the film/play, Sammy whispered, "Don't touch it!" And of course the Creature touches it and burns himself. 

I whispered "They never listen, do they" and Sammy replied "He didn't hear me." 

And then they guy in front of us turns around and whispers, "I did." Oops! 

Sammy and I couldn't look at each other because we would have laughed too loudly. It was awful....ly funny. Such fun. 

Happy weekend, all!

Tuesday’s Travels

Alright, just to bring everyone up to speed- the office I work at most days of the week is in the Big City {relative to its surroundings, I must note}. One day of the week, however, I venture on a 50-mile journey to the office that is affectionately known as “the Farm.” It really is a farm, and a home, and offices to like 3 different companies. Tuesday is usually the day I go to the Farm, hence the title, Tuesday’s Travels.
So today I drove myself out there {usually my boss and I carpool} and while on this lovely little trip, I started to think about all the funny and wonderful and odd things that occur along the way.
For instance, at least once each direction, I smell money. And by this, I mean that I smell cow poo. told you it was wonderful.
Something else that’s wonderful is that I found a station that is playing Christmas music already!!!! AND it doesn’t get static-y way out on the Farm! Have to say, I can’t stand a radio with static. So this is a double blessing.
Another wonderful thing is the view. Now, y’all know that I love my mountains, and the Midwest isn’t exactly known for its mountainous terrain, but these sunrises and sunsets out here are pretty magnificent. I’m biased and think that the only thing that could make it better is a snow-capped mountain nearby, but for a flat-ish countryside, the view is spectacular. If you follow me on insta.gram, you saw the pic I shared this evening, although the picture looks kinda yellow-ish and the sky was really a glorious pink-purple. Alas, technology.
Finally, what is better at the end of a long trip and a long day at the Farm? Grandpa’s waffles. Oh yes. With peanut butter. and strawberries. mmmmhmmm.
on that happy note, I bid you goodnight. it’s ok to dream about waffles. Grandpa doesn’t mind.

What’s New?

God is so good! No, that’s not really new… He’s always been good, but this week it seems that He is showing His goodness to me more than ever. Now, I’m not saying that this was the best week ever, because it wasn’t. Kinda far from it, actually. But I realized that it was God using circumstances to show me His goodness, and helping me choose Him over other things (like stress, sleep, friends, homework, etc.).

This weekend I have not that many assignments, but lots of things to do. I have a test on Monday over 5 HUGE chapters (thank God for the study guide that narrows it down!), and I have a 12-15 page paper about monasteries in the Middle Ages, due Tuesday. Yeah.

I’m so grateful for the ability to exercise and read simultaneously. It really helps me get my nervous energy out while not wasting time by not studying. I love the elliptical machine! Textbook, water bottle, and elliptical- perfect!

Also, well done Pixar on the movie Up!, and specifically to the soundtrack team! It made reading those chapters a bit more fun!

Can I just say that I love popcorn… it’s the best. I know it’s going to kill me one day, but I don’t have it as often as I used to, and is there anything out there that won’t kill me? :)

I’m sooooooo excited for Thanksgiving!!!!! My roomie and I are going to spend it with one of my newly-adopted families, and then she’s going to see a movie and come back to the dorms, and I’ll spend the rest of the weekend with the fam… I’m especially excited because AJ asked me if I wanted to help her decorate the house for Christmas!

Woot! BEST part of the year! My roomie and I have already been listening to Christmas music AND we put up Christmas lights in our room… they are SO cool! Too bad we can’t have candles in the dorms; otherwise, we would totally have Christmas-scented candles in the room to make it smell yummy!

I go home in 24 days. I’m so excited! My dad called me yesterday to tell me that he and my sis put the bunk-beds together so I have a place to sleep when I come home! Woot! My sis even washed the sheets for me! I can hardly wait to sleep on them! And my MC class is having a Christmas party the weekend after I get home, so I get to see almost everyone! I just counted… there will only be 6 people that won’t be there… that means 75% of the class be there! Whoa!

Well, I should go write that paper and enjoy my popcorn… hey, one more post until 100! :D