30 before 30 list

OK.  My 30 before 30 list is complete!!!!!  I have betweeen now and May 30th, 2012 to complete these.  Yikes!

Let me know if you are interested in helping me with any of these! Lol.  I am scared to death of 3 of these, so I might chicken out.  Can you guess which ones they are?  

I am sending this list out so you all can keep me accountable to complete them!!  I will keep you updated on my progress.  Wish me lots of luck.

1.        Mechanical Bull Ride

2.        Drink a martini

3.        Get a professional spray tan

4.        Take a cooking class

5.        Visit Mt. Rushmore

6.        Complete a half marathon

7.        Finish a full cycle of the 30 day Shred

8.        Bake a cake from scratch (and enjoy it)

9.        Swim with dolphins

10.     Skydive

11.     Dance in the rain

12.     Party in New Orleans for Mardi Gras

13.     Do a keg stand

14.     Go to an opera

15.     Have 30 margaritas in 30 different places

16.     Go on a blind date

17.     Sing a karaoke song all by myself in public

18.     Go skinny dipping (awkward!?!?)

19.     Watch 5 classic films I’ve never seen

20.     Take a homeless person to lunch or dinner

21.     Be a vegetarian for a month

22.     Complete a 1,000 piece jigsaw puzzle by myself

23.     Climb to the top of Old Baldy at Garner

24.     Ride a roller coaster 30 times in a row

25.     Crash a party/wedding

26.     Learn how to change a tire

27.     Perform 5 random acts of kindness

28.     Ride in a limousine

29.     Send a message in a bottle

30.     Send a care package to Iraq

Quick Question

Why didn't Noah swat all the mosquitos before they got on the ark?  I mean really?

May 12th 2011

I just realized that Thursday was my 4 year anniversary of graduating college.  4 years has seemed to fly by.  I was reflecting on where I am now versus where I was 4 years ago.  It’s depressing really. 

Then:  I had $35 K in student loans. 

Now:  I still have about $32K in student loans.  I can’t pay the interest fast enough to bring down the principal

Outcome: Depressing

Then: I got a job at a huge company thinking I could move my way up and have a career.

Now: At the same company in a different position and no chance of moving up

Outcome: Depressing

Then:  Started at said company making a low amount of a salary

Now:  Make almost the same amount of money-after two ½ years with the company I was finally able to get one raise.

Outcome: Depressing

Then: No boyfriend

Now: A guy that I have had a crush on for 3 years that doesn’t notice me no matter what I do or say.  Oh, and he thinks I’m obnoxious.  I am forced to see and talk to him everyday until God moves me out of here.  I like talking with him and seeing him, but it hurts me everytime I do.

Outcome: Depressing

Then: Not going to church

Now:  Found a great church and have made lots of friends

Outcome: Great

Then: No pet

Now:  Coolest cat on Earth, Jabba the Hutt

Outcome: Great

Then:  1 adorable nephew

Now:  3 adorable nephews

Outcome: Great

Overall, the last few months have been great in terms of church and meeting new friends.  Financially and career wise though things are not going well.  God has a plan and will provide for me as I need it.  I just need to keep faith.

Mother's Day and Baby Cole

This weekend for Mother’s Day we went over to my Mom’s and hung out for a few hours.  I only got to spend a little time with her since we went to my sisters house to visit the new baby (who is soooo cute!).  I plan on going over there more next weekend to spend time with her.

Cole in the bean bag chair.  My sister says he sleeps there a lot of the time, since he doesn’t move much it’s easier.  I asked her and she said he’s only slept in his room once, the rest of the time he’s in my sisters room sleeping in there.  He is so tiny compared to the bean bag chair, but to be fair the bean bag chair is larger than average.

Drunk on milk!  Ha ha.  He is so tired, but we kept trying to hold him and keep him awake.  This is his passed out face.

The thrill of the hunt

Some men like to hunt deer or bears or other defenseless animals.  Single women?  They like to husband hunt.  Yep.  Husband hunting is a sport on all women’s do to list at some point in their lives.  They might call it dating or going out with guys, but it’s husband hunting.

Recently a little voice inside my head has been telling me to stop husband hunting.  That little voice is God tell me no.  I don’t know if he wants me to stop looking because he doesn’t want me married right now, or because he wants me to open my eyes to someone around me.  I know that God will bring him to me when the timing is right.

Everytime lately when I am out in public and I see a cute guy the little voice in my head tells me “no husband hunting”.  It’s crazy!  It happens everytime!  Sometimes I quit looking, other times I continue to look anyway. Bad. Bad. Bad.

So yesterday my C.A.R.E. group from New Hope Church went to Tom Bass Park in Pearland for a BBQ.  I looked across the park and saw a cute guy playing Frisbee with his two dogs.  Everyone always says it’s a good sign that a guy is at the park with his dogs.  Naturally, I started walking over just to ‘watch’ him playing Frisbee.  As I was walking over the little voice said “No husband hunting”.  I paused for a second then I decided to keep walking (disobeying God). 

The guy noticed me and started walking towards me.  I asked him about his dogs and he answered me.  Automatically I could tell that he was gay!  Very gay.

Two things I learned from this story.

1. When God tells you not to do something, don’t do it.
2. Turn the opposite direction when he tells me to stop
3. If I keep husband hunting and God keeps telling me to stop he will turn ALL MEN GAY!  I don’t want that.

So for the sake of all you men out there (and single women), I am not going to husband hunt anymore until God says it’s ok for me to because we need straight guys to marry.

May the Fourth be with you.....

Today is Star Wars Day!  May the Fourth be with You! (get it? he he).

My nephew Hunter is a HUGE Star Wars fan.  Here is a picture of my nephew and I about a year ago making Star Wars cookies.  They don’t look to appetizing, but they were actually good.  Our teeth were black from the Darth Vadar icing.  Yummy cookies. 

William Sonoma has Star Wars items for sale right now like pancake molds and cookie cutters. 

The blog Just Jenn Recipes has a ton of Star Wars related food posts.  The author and her son are both Star Wars fans.

God Bless America

It seems like everytime I turn on the news the past few days there is a new detail regarding the Osama Bin Laden death. 

Mostly though it seems they are celebrating his death.  I am conflicted because on one hand I want to see justice for the victims of 9/11, but on the other hand I do not want to celebrate anyone’s death.  It just seems wrong.  Yes, he was a bad guy but do two wrongs make a right? 

The bible says:

“Do I take any pleasure in the death of the wicked? Declares the Sovereign LORD, Rather, am I not pleased when they turn from their ways and live?” Ezekiel 18:23

I want them to believe in Jesus, but I don’t want to kill them or put harm against them if they don’t.   The victims of 9/11 do need justice, but who is meant to carry out the justice?  God will judge them; it’s not my place too. 

Love the sinner, hate the sin.

With that being said, God Bless America. 

Favorite things

I am overall a pretty simple person, though I have been told I am high maintenance...which I am NOT!  Here are a few of my favorite things, in random order.

Tulips-So pretty!

Flamingos-Not much to say about these-I've loved them since I was little.

Jabba the Hutt-He's the coolest cat around so he is loved.  Don't you love his Easter bunny ears?

High heels-They make me feel taller!  At 5' 5 (cough, cough 5'3) I am on the shorter side, so I need them.

Flip flops-If I love heels, then I love flip flops more!

Glitter-Who doesn't love glitter?  It's part of my happy place.

Sunscreen-Why didn't I think about that BEFORE I went to the beach and got sunburned.

Bluebonnets-They are the State of Texas official flower and they are so beautiful.

That is all for now, I will post more of my favorites later!

My weekend!

I had a great weekend!  I went to the beach and got super sunburned (not so great) on Saturday and on Sunday I went to the March of Dimes 5 mile walk at U of H (and got sunburned there also).

We went to Surfside beach, which I had never been to before.  Surfside is so much cleaner than Galveston and it is not as crowded as Galveston, which makes it much quieter.  You don't have to worry so much about being hit with a frisbee, which is alwasy nice!  I watched all the surfers try and ride the waves.  Did I surf you ask?  NO!  I am clumsy just walking, I can only imagine what I would be like if I had to try and balance on waves and a slippery board.  No, thank you.

The March of Dimes walk was great, I went with work and got a free tshirt!  I love free stuff, it makes me happy.  I was in charge of pictures so everytime we spotted a tshirt from our group, I made sure to run ahead and snap a pic.  Afterwards, they served hamburgers and chips.  My new favorite chips are salt and vinegar...ewwww right?  No, they are so good!  At first they taste funny, but then they really grow on you.  So now every time I eat chips (which isn't often) I try and hunt down some salt and vinegar ones.  Weird.

Psalm 31 Woman

I have recently been studying women of the bible and the guidelines God has set for women in his ministry.  I came across Psalm 31 which has several principles of a godly woman.  The ones listed below are an overview of what all woman of Jesus should be striving for. 

This is one of my favorite bible verses:  Charm is deceptive, and beauty is fleeting; but a woman who fears the LORD is to be praised.  Proverbs 31:30. 

Cool verse, huh?  I like it!  Beauty is fleeting…we can’t all be beauty queens for ever, but we can all be spiritual forever.  I want to be beautiful on the inside and outside-not just the outside.  I have know several people throughout my life who might be skinnier or prettier than me, but were horrible women.  They talked bad about you and to you, were unfaithful to their partners, unethical and pushed everyone out of their way.  That’s the world’s way, not God’s way.  The sad thing is that they were taught that, they weren’t made to be like that.  The world has taught them to gossip, talk behind people’s back, claw and scratch their way to the top.

I strive to be nice to everyone, but I am not one to be hurt by someone and them pretend that it didn’t happen.  I try not to be mean to anyone just because they hurt me, but I will stay as far away as possible from them.  If I don’t like you I am not one to still hang around you.  If you ask me a question I will answer, but I am not going to go have lunch with you or listen to your stories.  Who actually wants to hang out with someone who they can’t stand?  I don’t need the negativity and the DRAMA in my life.  Drama free is for me (did you like my rhyme-he he?).  Negativity and drama only breed negativity and drama.  If you are creating drama in my life I just want to stay away from you. Jesus doesn’t create drama, he helps smooth it out and help you learn from it.

Principles of the Psalm 31 Woman

1. Pursues an ongoing, personal relationship with Jesus Christ

2. Loves, honors, and greatly enriches the life of her husband, encouraging and supporting his leadership within his family and his church

3. Nurtures the next generation, shaping and molding the children who will one day define who we are as a community and as a nation

4. Creates a warm and loving environment for family and friends

5. Is a faithful steward of the time and money God has entrusted to her

6. Speaks with wisdom and faithful instruction as she encourages others and develops godly friendships

7. Shares the love of Christ by extending her hands to help the poor and opening her arms to the needy