Finish This: Week Thirty-seven

Joining the Finish This party! Our lovely hostesses are Jen from The Arizona Russums, Nicole from Three 31, Lisa from Coastlined, and Becky from The Java Mama.

I am the type of person who always has a to-do list going and will call it a fantastic day when everything gets crossed off. My day planner is filled with lists of errands to run, phone calls to make, and Zumba classes, and at the end of the day, I draw bold lines through everything! And if I didn't finish something, I leave it unscathed and get to it later, no biggie. That's why I have a list - so I remember what I haven't done yet.

My favorite joke or riddle or funny is probably a little too dirty for this little blog, so I will share a couple G-rated favorites:

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All that really matters is:

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Hugo nails it: God is faithful, and we always have hope. 

Thanks for reading! Come back next week for another round of prompts, and if you want to participate, you can "finish this" in the comments or in your own blog post. 

Feeling Accomplished Friday

Samara will testify that today did not start out feeling accomplished. Last night we had some fan and light challenges, and I woke up this morning mad at the world in general and Samara's bathroom in particular. But Samara gave me some encouragement and perspective {thank you, dear friend} and I left the office at 2pm determined to cross at least a few things off my to-do list and feel like a conqueror. So here's what I did in just a few hours:

• bought and replaced florescent light bulbs
• washed dishes and ran the dishwasher
• made laundry detergent! I followed this recipe and am excited to try it.
• vacuumed the living room {where I made the laundry detergent...don't judge}
• listened to this song about 1 million times...love love love!
• am writing this blog post - totes counts
• am about to start working on a blog post as a contractor - yes, I sometimes get paid to blog, but my identity must remain a secret!

Tonight I'm heading to Notions, a writing group that Samara is a part of and that her lovely {albeit insane} compadres invited me to....kinda to replace her since she's outtie this weekend, but I also like to think that my charming personality alone warranted an invitation... I guess we'll see if I get invited back- the true judge. 

Well, that's all folks. Here, enjoy some humor just so Funny Friday doesn't feel completely left out in the cold. 

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Happy Friday, homies!

Piles

Brace yourself. This is a long drawn-out gushing from the heart of Bek.

Right now I feel like all I'm doing with my life is watching Doctor Who instead of doing anything with my life, and it's gnawing at me. I feel like there are so many more things that I should be doing but am avoiding or am completely incapable of doing. Part of this feeling is that my life is a pathetic little pile of things I have done, and right next to this pathetic little pile is a huge, ever-growing pile of things that I "should" do. You know, things like learn to cook for crying out loud and read the Word more and read more books and be nicer and stop being selfish and why don't you write more and stop thinking about Doctor Who all. the. time. and discover your life plan and calling and every step in the journey and then go and do it for Pete's sake and have you exercised in the past forty weeks and why haven't you finished all those projects yet and....it just goes on and on.

The temptation and tendency is to focus either entirely on the pathetic-ness of my little pile and then curl into the fetal position with my eyes closed OR to become overwhelmed by the sheer greatness of all the things I've yet to accomplish or master...and it still results in the fetal position with eyes closed scene.

However, Jesus speaks to girls curled up in the fetal position. It's fairly easy to listen to Him, because I don't really want to listen to the voices in my head pointing out allllll my failures and inadequacies. Jesus tells me that I don't have to do anything to be successful, that He loves me for me and not what I have or haven't done. Then He pulls me up out of the fetal position and opens my eyes and shows me how He sees my pathetic little pile - not so pathetic from His point of view! - and then shows me the things He has really called me to be and do - totes doable with His strength - and then I realize that the piles should not be the focus of my life but rather HE is the focus.

That's the nice ending, but sometimes it feels like even when Jesus says, "Look at Me" the piles are still screaming for my attention and my reaction is to point helplessly at the piles and tell Jesus to look at them. I struggle with focusing on "let Jesus change me" thing because I just want to do things and I want to be able to do them in my own strength and then point at my accomplishments and pat myself on the back. But that cycle ends with me back in the fetal position, which accomplishes nothing, which keeps me in the fetal position...vicious, eh?

So today I'm forcing myself out of the fetal position and rolling/slumping into the kneeling position, begging God to forgive my pride and my immature "I do it!" toddler-like beliefs. I'm asking for freedom from the piles and I'm admitting I can do nothing without His strength. And then I'm going to ask Him to please please remind me of this fact, no matter how painful or embarrassing the reminder is.

Today I'm broken and hopefully He gets some glory from my piles.

Tuesday's Tasks

Whew! This weekend was awesome and busy and fun and full of laughs and relaxing and exhausting and rejuvenating and still more fun. Or as Miranda's mum would say, "Such fun!"

Laurie and I had a great time. We hit up the less tourist-y spots of the neighborhood, had the sistren {like brethren, right?} over, made mojitos {some of the best I've ever made, actually}, hit up Ikea, painted and hung picture frames {my room is closer to finished}, went to dinner with my parents, skipped over the mountains to tour Leavenworth and visit Dahlia, and generally had a great time. Oh, and we watched a couple more episodes of Miranda because we can. So great.

I'm thankful for such a great visit with a great friend. It was a busy weekend, but it was also really restful. Laurie and I are both task-oriented, so I think it is complimentary to say that we got a lot accomplished this weekend, but we were still able to rest and enjoy a mini-vacation.

Because I'm task-oriented, I feel like I have a never-ending to-do list in my head. The worst thing is to start a task and not be able to complete it; I wish I hadn't started it because I keep thinking about it and its incomplete status. Sigh.

That's how I feel right now with the pictures in my room. I've got most of the frames hanging, but there are two that still need a picture. Then there's a frame that Samara and I are going to swap {long story- wrong color, already opened, etc.}. And since I had to take Laurie to the airport in the wee hours of the morning, my bed is unmade and the deflated air mattress is occupying an ungodly amount of floor space. Sigh.

I love having guests and friends over to visit, but I dislike the messiness that sometimes comes with that. I know it's not anyone's fault; it's simply an inconvenience of living out of a suitcase in someone else's room. But mess drives me a tad batty, and add the incomplete task of picture frames, and here comes crazy.

The good news is, tonight will be a fun evening meeting AJ's s-i-l who happens to live in the neighborhood. I'm so excited to get to know another part of AJ's family. And after dinner, I'm going to clean my room and wash my sheets and exercise and shower and go to bed early. This evening will be great, and a lot of my to-do list will get crossed off, and sleep will be wonderful tonight.

Oh! Exciting! Speaking of my room, I bought a clock yesterday for yonder bedroom. I'm really excited, because I think this fits the feel of the room. Now I just have to hang it...you're welcome to come over and make suggestions :)

Ending with an update: the TARDIS purse I'm crocheting... 'member that? Well, I'm happy to announce that I'm almost done! I just have windows and top of the TARDIS to complete, so yay! I promise: as soon as it's done, you will see pictures.

Happy Tuesday, dear readers!

Thanks for the Moral Support

Well, friends, thank you for all your support and encouragement. Samara and I have been recovering from our intruder the other day, and I think we're gonna make it. ;)

Since school has started/is starting soon {depending on your age and location}, I started thinking about my goals for this year. Am I even close to accomplishing them? Well, let's take a look-see...

Goals for 2013 {original post}:

1. Blog twice a week
2. Blog stories of depth as well as humor
3. Become healthier through adjusted food intake and increased activity
4. Travel to Prince Edward Island with Dahlia

How am I doing? *moment of soul searching...*

I'm pretty sure that I've been faithful with Numeral Uno. So far I've posted 81 times this year, which is an average of 2.18 times over the past 37 weeks of 2013. {Side note: we have approximately 15 weeks left of this year, and less than 100 days until Christmas. Gulp!}

Numeral Dos: I give myself a B on this goal. It seems that there are phases of funny stories and then a bundle of more serious thoughts... probably could go more on the serious side, but I also want to be real with what's going on in my head in the present. 

Onto Numeral Tres...this has had ups and downs. When I lived with my grandparents, it was really strong, for some obvious reasons: my grandparents spoiled me rotten let me eat what I needed and my bedroom had carpet {makes ab exercises kinder on my back}. Coming home was a little weaker. My mom cooks healthier food than my grandparents, but I wasn't exercising as much. And now that I've got my own place, I'm eating less but also exercising less. So...we're getting there. 

Y'all know about the big Numeral Quattro, but in case you've been living under a stupid rock, scroll through the archives and click on anything that says "Travel Journal." Dahlia and I went to PEI in August, and it was one of the highlights of 2013! I highly recommend it to anyone considering such a venture.

So what am I going to do for the rest of 2013? I'm going to continue blogging consistently and frequently, making sure to share my more personal thoughts as well as humorous happenings, and I'm going to implement a regular exercise routine at least twice a week.

Another goal I have for 2013 is to get fully settled into my new home. By the time 2014 rolls around, I want to have pictures on walls and boxes out in recycling. There are also a few little things that I'm looking for, and I'd love to not have a permanent mental shopping list in 15 weeks. 

Another goal I made for myself this year was to read 45 books. So far I've read 30, so Goodreads indicates that I am two books behind schedule, but what do they know? I'm in the middle of a biography of Queen Elizabeth, the Queen Mother {mum to current Queen Elizabeth II}, and I've also read a few chapters of a book about vaccines {fascinating, right??}.

No commitment here, but I would be really proud if I finished crocheting my TARDIS purse. It may or may not happen, given that it requires sewing *sigh*. But hey, this can be a dream, right?

Thanks for "listening" to my accountability report. Let's talk again in a few weeks :)

So Many Sticky Notes

Remember how I wrote on Friday about how busy and productive this weekend was going to be? Well, the good news is, I was productive. The bad news is, some things didn't go as planned, so the to-do list is still long.

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Sunday was Curtain Day. Samara and I had scheduled a time to go to Target, buy curtain rods, pick out curtains for the front window, and come home to install. Unfortunately, we made a mistake that you really only make once in your lifetime before you learn: we didn't check the size of the curtain rods, so we got the wrong ones. Sigh. The worst part? We didn't realize this until the hardware was drilled and hammered and screwed into the wall. Double sigh.

Thankfully, Target is AMAZING and let me exchange the curtain rod without the hardware. Thank you, Target!!! So last night I made a quick trip out there and made the switch {sounds like a drug deal, or is that just me?} and now we have curtains for our slider! Woot!


You may have seen this via Instagram, but it's too cool not to share! Finally we have curtains!

Tonight we are exchanging and installing the other rod, so stay tuned for pictures.

Also tonight: Season 4 finale of Doctor Who. Sob. I don't know how to handle saying goodbye to David Tennant as the Doctor.

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Let's just say that if you hear crying tonight, it's the sound of my heart{s}. Gah.

Moving on to happier times.

Yesterday I had a phone date with my friend Shaina! We have not talked in literally over a year, but we are planning on cutting that time down to 6 months next time. So good to talk with her.

Tomorrow night = phone date with AJ! So excited! We are bosom friends, in case you didn't know. There is much rejoicing whenever we are together, either on the phone or especially in person. MUCH rejoicing.

Alright, I think that just about covers life right now. Well, you know. The highs and lows.

Until we meet again... :)

In Response to Complaints That I Haven't Blogged All Week...

You know who you are. ;)

I should tell you upfront that I wrote a post on Tuesday, an appendix to the PEI Travel Journal, but I haven't added the pictures yet, so it's just sitting in the "drafts" bucket. It will get done tonight, if I can find the sticky note...

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Literally, this is my desk right now. I have a list of things to do around the house, a list for purchases I need to make, a separate grocery-and-coupon list, a list of errands to run before I die, and a list of people to call. And my home internet is being a poo. And I'm shopping for car insurance. 

My list of lists should qualify for today's Funny Friday. If only I was being funny. 

But it's all good. I like being busy, and I know that this weekend will have a lot accomplished. The antsy side of my brain just wants to cross things off the list, but I can't do that yet. So in the meantime, my brain just keeps coming up with things to add to all my lists, which is kind of maddening, but hey, that means I'm being productive, right? Right????

I have crossed a few things off my list, which is nice. One of the most important things was installing one and replacing the batteries for two additional....smoke detectors!

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I feel so grown up with the smoke detectors...until I start cooking. Lame. 

A Funny Friday story is unlikely to happen at this point, I'm sorry to say. But hopefully you'll get a Travel Journal special this weekend, and maybe even a My Productive Weekend post on Monday. Happy Friday!

One of Those Days

Today is one of those days where...

• the alarm is already set for as late as I can handle it, and still the snooze button manages to get hit.
• the sky is gray and it's somewhat sad after several weeks of glorious warmth and sunshine
• surprisingly the bad-hair-day isn't as bad as expected...in fact, today no one has asked what happened on top of my head. I'm taking this as a very positive sign

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• try as I might, nothing comes to mind for Funny Friday. Sorry, peeps. Another time.
• the rest of the week is catching up with me and all the late nights are hanging out in the bags under my eyes. Samara said it best: "moving is like Finals Week for grown-ups!" This is how bad it is: today, I actually went to Mickey D's and ordered a coffee. Me. Bek. Drinking coffee. Oi.
• the to-do list in my head has been running for so long and has changed so many times that my tired brain has given up and is simply concentrating on moving. The end. Just get moved, Bek. Like a boss.

And because I'm not at all worried about Samara and my cooking skills...

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Happy Friday!