2012 - A Year in Review

Ok, so I was really good at having a monthly resolution every month UNTIL the holiday season started.  Excuses only please those who make them, so I'll spare you...

The year of 2012 is by far the BEST year of my life so far.  This past year I have accomplished some things I never thought I would and they all happened because of God and His endless love for me!

The beginning of the year was rough.  I had a severe panic attack and after numerous visits to specialists I was diagnosed with anxiety and depression.  I also learned in February that my father had prostate cancer.  After a ton of prayer and some amazing surgeons my father beat cancer's butt and is doing AMAZING.

The Spring brought blessings I couldn't have imagined!  I was approved to move to Charleston and keep my job and started the process of building my own home.  In April, I met my soul mate and knew God had a hand in everything that was happening in my life.

All Summer long I got to enjoy the Lowcountry with Marshall and my family.  You know the saying, you don't know what you have until it's gone...well the Lowcountry was missing from my life and even the simplest smells of pluff mud were exciting to me!

In the Fall, I moved HOME and was able to spend all the time I wanted with Marshall and my family and see the sunset on this beautiful place every single day.  In August - 2 days after closing on my home - I surrendered my life to Jesus and was saved in front of hundreds of people!  From that point forward, my life changed completely.  I didn't worry about things anymore, I knew my life was in His hands and that He would take care of me.  I was baptized in September and got to share that experience with Marshall and my family!

The holidays this past year were exciting for me - I had my first Thanksgiving dinner in my new home and was able to have a SECOND Thanksgiving in Clemson with Marshall's parents too.  Christmas was split 4 ways in one week with my family and Marshall's family in Maryland.  I didn't get a white Christmas, but I did get two days of snow while I was in Maryland as well as seeing nearly 50 deer walk out in a field and feed in front of me.  They grow 'em different up there - way different!

We rang in the new year with a Clemson win and yummy oysters on New Years Day!  I think I've eaten more oysters in the past 4 months than I have in years - all thanks to being near the coast now!

I'm really looking forward to what 2013 has in store for me - if it's anything like 2012 I'll be one happy girl!

The only new year's resolutions I have is to be more consistent with my tithing and to take one Sunday a month off from volunteering at church - just have that day so Marshall and I can attend a service together.

God Bless and may your New Year be full of His Grace and Love!!!

Oops October

Oops, I missed October.  But what I've come to know in my new found walk with Jesus Christ is that the past is, well, the past.  Let it go.  So, toot-a-loo October...it's NOVEMBER!

November is my favorite month of the year for a LOT of reasons:
1.) it's my birth month - that's right, birth month.  Meaning I get to celebrate every chance I get that I was brought into this world!

2.) it's FALL!  Finally boot and jacket weather - my favorite!  Since moving I've continuously found boxes of sweaters, boots and scarves that I forgot I owned.  It's like Christmas every time I open another Rubbermaid bin and find something "new".

3.) Thanksgiving - do I really need to go into detail here?  Turkey, dressing, green bean casserole, sweet potato pie, and SECONDS of all those please!  This year I'll get to host Thanksgiving in my new home with my mom, stepfather and loving boyfriend - I can't wait!

4.) Football - not just football, cause lets be honest it's been going on for two months now, but I'm talking serious, hardcore, in-your-face, we-want-it-bad ball games.  There's only 4 games left in the regular college football season and I'm so blessed to get to go to TWO of them!  Can't wait to cheer on the Tigers in Death Valley next weekend and when they stomp the 'coots on the 24th!

5.) Oysters - I understand that most people think that you can eat 'em in months that have "R" in them, but I just can't bring myself to eat oysters in September and October.  The water is too warm - yucky.  November is the perfect month for oysters, fire and cold beer!

6.) It's almost Christmas! I love Christmas, I love buying Christmas presents, I love wrapping Christmas presents and I love decorating for Christmas - I freaking LOVE Christmas!  This year I get to spend it with my boyfriend IN Maryland!!!  Come on white Christmas!

7.) Hunting - prime weather for hopefully my first shot at a deer.  My boyfriend has been SO awesome at scouting and prepping me for my first kill - hopefully it will happen this month! 

8.) FIRE.  I love a good fire...and this chilly weather makes me want to kick back around one and share stories and fellowship.

9.) Cold weather food - chili, soup, pot roast, and all the other deliciousness that comes out of a kitchen in the fall to warm your body!

10.) Smells - I love the smells of Fall - granted, with the cold I have now I can't smell ANYTHING.  BUT, when I can smell it's apples and cinnamon, pumpkin, and Christmas spice that's gonna be burning in this gal's house!

So for November, I'm just going to let it be my favorite month and not have a resolution - if it ain't broke, don't fix it, right?

Cheers Yall!

Saved September

Ok, so it's not a resolution I had when starting this "one resolution a month" thing at the begining of the year...but it's an important decision I made and need to share that.

On August 26th, 2012 I gave my life over to Jesus Christ and "met Him at the cross" in Salvation.  It was not planned, and totally shocked my parents and my boyfriend when I accepted Jesus Christ in front of my entire congregation at NewSpring Church.  When I say it was "not planned", I mean just that - I had no intention of salvation that specific day.  Our pastor asked those who wanted to be saved and give their lives over to Jesus to pray and then I nailed my name on a strip of paper to a cross at the head of the church...along with 1,269 other people all across South Carolina!

Since that day, I have been a completely different person.  I speak of myself as the "New Lindsey" on occasion and I'm really liking the new me!  The new me that is saved and committed to glorifying the name of Jesus Christ.

On September 16th, 2012 I publicly displayed my new relationship with Jesus by being baptized in front of my friends and family at NewSpring.  It was an experience like none other - but I have to be honest and say that I felt "numb" afterwards.  Though there were hundreds of people gathered around the baptism pools, I came out of the water and didn't "see" anyone.  It was my moment with Jesus - HE was there with me.

Also on September 16th, 2012 I became an Owner of NewSpring Church and have committed to serving Jesus thru greeting on Sundays.  I love serving and hope that my smile and warm wishes to all the people who enter and exit on Sundays allows them to enter and open their heart to Jesus.  

When I decided to move to Charleston and take a "leap of faith", I never intended on meeting my soulmate who in turn introduced me to Jesus Christ.  And for that, I am so thankful and blessed!
 

Though you have not seen him, you love him. Though you do not now see him, you believe in him and rejoice with joy that is inexpressible and filled with glory, obtaining the outcome of your faith, the salvation of your souls. 1 Peter 1:8-9

Ahhhh....August

Recap: Jewish July was hard...but I made it.  It's so hard NOT to spend money when you're building a friggin house!  I did well, though, and therefore I call Jewish July a success!

August...oh August.  You're finally here.  You're the gateway to fall and football and the first page of the next chapter of my life.

August, so far you're also the biggest pain in my butt.  I've had the most difficult weeks of work in August so far that have caused me so much stress and anxiety - anxiety that I thought I had under control.  Add building a house on top of 10+ hour work days and this white girl is TIRED!

So, my August resolution is very simple: just make it thru the dang month.  No catchy headline, just make it thru the dang month - without freaking out.

I've made it thru almost two weeks now and I've done pretty well.  My boyfriend, bless his heart, has been my rock and my ear every afternoon when I'm about to murder someone from work.  My mother and Stepfather have been there thru the entire building process for me and have had to take on some of my responsibilities while I cannot be present.  Mind you, my poor mother had hip surgery 8 weeks ago and back surgery last week.  She's an angel and a trooper!  I don't know what I would do with out her!  So, when I say "I" have made it thru two weeks, I mean my support team has helped me thru two weeks.  I couldn't do any of this without them!

Coming up in this crazy month...

5 days from now I'll be back in Charleston volunteering for Habitat for Humanity with my boyfriend.  I've always wanted to work on a Habitat project and give back and I'm so excited to get to do this!

11 days from now I'll be closing on my house.  I never in a million (28) years thought that I would ever own a house by myself.  I count my blessings everyday and am so very thankful for the gifts that God has given me.  This far into the process, I can only pray for him to guide me thru the rest of the month and bless those who have helped me along the way.

12 days from now I'll be moving into my new house.  This is the stuff that keeps me up at night: "how will we get the washer and dryer up the stairs" or "should I get Direct TV or Dish".  Seriously, I've been taking herbal sleeping meds to keep my brain from thinking and I think my body is getting used to them.  Great.

19 days from now I'll be moving out of Rock Hill and into my new home for good.  Reading what I just typed brought a huge smile to my face!

22 days from now I'll be starting to work from my home office with a team that I'm so proud to be a part of and look forward to what we can do with our talents.

So, yea, I've got a busy couple of weeks coming up.  I can make it - I know I can!  Gotta start looking for that light at the end of the tunnel and stop worrying about all the bumps along the way.

Cheers y'all!

Jewish July

See how Jewish I'm being...I waited until the 9th of July to even post this.

I'm a poor future home owner...and need to save money...thus, Jewish July.

Not even going to write anymore about it...just being Jewish.


Oh, and PS, I will never give up Jelly Belly's again.  Period.

Jelly Belly June

Happy June 1st y'all!

First off, Military May was a success - not as much of a success as I had hoped, but a success none the less.  My Wounded Warrior Project page raised $75 thanks to my friends Molly, Erika, and Cobie!  I had hoped for a $500 donation by the end of May, but in my eyes, $75 is better than nothing at all.  I plan to keep the page open, so if you still wish to donate, please do!  Here's the link again: https://support.woundedwarriorproject.org/individual-fundraising/gratefulgal/

So it's June...time for a new resolution...

I was discussing my options for June yesterday with a co-worker and we came to the conclusion that there's really not many words that begin with "J" that you can correlate with June or a resolution for that matter.  Then I threw out the idea of not eating Jelly Belly's for the entire month...she laughed - but she had no idea how big of a challenge this would be for me.

About 3 years ago I had a roommate who was working on her Masters in Nutrition at the time.  She would come home in the evenings and very nonchalantly tell me how terrible the foods I was snacking on truly were.  I stopped eating them and started snacking on "better" foods thanks to her advice.  

One night we were watching the Bachelorette, drinking hot tea and making fun of the rediculousness of the people who were on TV to "find love".  My roommate walked out of the room and came back with a HUGE bag of Jelly Belly's (Variety Pack of course).  She offered me some (this obviously wasn't the first time I had them) and I hesitantly took a handful - was this a test?

NO, it wasn't a test - this girl freaking LOVED Jelly Belly's!  And you know what?...If a dietician can snack on them - then they must be alright!

Hi my name is Lindsey and for the past three years I've been addicted to Jelly Belly's.

Lets put it this way - you could call me the worst names in the world and follow up with a 5lb bag of Jelly Belly's and I would forget everything that you had just said.

I buy the big variety bags and dump them out into Tupperware bowls and pick out the ones I want to eat.  I know they sell them in bulk and you can get just the ones you like, but that's no fun!  I typically end up with a bunch of green and all the blacks - licorice, yuck.  Watermelon, Dr. Pepper and Tutti Fruity are devoured first, then Buttered Popcorn, Coconut and Oranges.  Yes, there's a method to my madness.

On a typical week, I would say I eat about 4-5 handfuls of Jelly Belly's...so yes, not eating them this month is actually going to be a challenge.

I sat down last night and looked at the 1/2 full bag that my loving boyfriend just bought me for a road trip (ironically to Bluffton for my old roommate's wedding) and realized...I have to eat all of these before tomorrow...

Jelly Belly-ache.

...I didn't make it thru them all - but you better believe I ate all the Watermelon, Dr. Pepper and Tutti Fruity ones!  There's still a 1/4 of them left...in which I will stuff in my face hole on July 1st.

So there it is, folks - no Jelly Belly June.  

Cheers y'all!

Military May

This year seems to be cruising by - it's already May!  

So far this year, I have had some battles to face and have made it thru some of the lowest points so far in my life.  I have leaned on my faith more than ever and have built my relationship with God, who has been by my side thru all of my struggles.  "I can do all things thru Christ who strengthens me" (Philippians 4:13) has been more true than ever in the past several months.  I know He has always been there for me, but because of my new relationship with Him I feel closer than ever to our Creator.  I am so blessed and I thank Him every day for what He has given me.

We, as Americans, are all blessed to have the freedom we so often forget.  It is because of our brave Military men and women that allow us to have the freedom we have today.   We should all be constantly reminded of the sacrifices these men and women have made - we are all forever in debt to them.

I have a huge spot in my heart for our Military as I have several friends and family who are Veterans.  I have seen what war can do to a person - physically and mentally.  It takes a special person to put their life on the line for Freedom and their country.  Memorial Day is May 30th, and while you may think that it's merely the kick off to summer and a paid day off, it is not.  Memorial Day is a day for honoring those who have lost their lives defending our country.  What a better way to honor the fallen than to have an entire month of Military Appreciation!

When I started thinking about how I wanted to honor our Military this month, I did a good bit of research to find the organization I wanted to support.  I was inspired by a very special person and started looking into the Wounded Warrior Project.  The WWP was founded in 2003 by a group of Veterans in Virginia who were moved by stories of the injured service members returning from Afghanistan and Iraq.  It started as a program to provide comfort items to wounded service members and has grown into a support system and programs designed to assist warriors as they recover and transition back into civilian life.  These programs are structured around mind, body, economic empowerment and engagement and range from outdoor rehabilitative retreats, peer support, adaptive sports, employment assistance and giving warriors and their families a voice.  It's an amazing non-profit organization and I'm so excited to support them in May and beyond.

I have set up a personal fund raiser page thru WWP and set a goal of $500 to raise by the end of May.  I'm asking all of you to help me in this project and support the ones who give you freedom each and every day.  We will never be able to repay them for the bravery and courage they have, and the sacrifices they make - but we CAN give back to those who give everything for us.

Here's the link to my page:

 https://support.woundedwarriorproject.org/individual-fundraising/gratefulgal/

Every dollar counts, every cent is appreciated!  The page will display your name as a contributor, but your donation amount will be kept private. 

Also, please "like" the Wounded Warrior Project on Facebook:

                http://www.facebook.com/wwpinc.fans.  

On their page you can "Thank a Warrior" and send a thank you card:

                http://www.facebook.com/wwpinc.fans?sk=app_200103733347528

God Bless America and the brave men and women who do what they do every day so we have the freedom to do what we do every day. 

Cheers Y'all!

Artistic April = Success.

So far, this whole one resolution a month thing is going really well.  It's a lot easier to set a short term goal and achieve it than it is to drag out one thing all year long.

April was an extremely uplifting month for me - so many good things are happening and I'm so very blessed!

I may have fallen short on some of the Twitter stuff - but the Artistic April paintings were a total success.

First painting was inspired by a painting I did on a girls night out at Painting with a Twist in Charlotte.  As soon as my brush hit the canvas, I was back to my artsy- fartsy self and knew exactly who this one was going to be for.  One of my best friends, was getting married this month (this past Saturday to be exact) and the colors and feeling the painting took on reminded me of her spirit and love for the water.  I even threw in a pelican on the pylon - her favorite.

stacy's sunset

The second painting was inspired by an artist I found online - call it copying, call it inspiration.  While I was painting this one, the colors and whimsical landscape made me think of my aunt - who ironically had a birthday that week! 

spring landscape

The third painting isn't going anywhere - I love this one.  Also inspired by an artichoke painting by an artist on "the interweb", I threw in my own colors and BOOM!

artichoke

The last painting was done on the LAST day of April.  My cousin "hinted" that my God son would love to have a fish for his room - and what that little man wants, Aunt Lindsey does!

will's "bish"

I would have painted a lot more this past month, but this is what I was working with:

need studio space NOW!

Needless to say, the new house WILL have a studio in the garage!

Cheers Yall!

Artistic April

First off, Meatless March was a total success!  I only cheated two times - once was St. Pat's when I mowed down a Wild Wing's Buffarella at 11:00pm and the other time I was making dinner for my friends and completely forgot to leave the chicken out of my quesadilla.  Trust me, there were PLENTY of other times I wanted to cheat!  The hardest part about not eating meat is not being able to find something fast (read: Chick-fil-A) when I was hungry.  The most "fast food" I ate was a veggie sub from Jersey Mike's...which is pretty delicious.

So, my most common response to "I'm not eating meat this month" was "What the hell do you eat then?".

Glad you asked:

Did I miss meat?  NO!  Look at all the delicious stuff I ate!  I will say that Trader Joe's was my best friend in March, and I will continue to drive the 30 minutes to Rae Road in Charlotte to purchase all my groceries going forward.  They have such delicious produce and it's CHEAP!

I ate lots of FREE shrimp - thanks to my father who took me casting one weekend in McClellanville while I was down visiting.  We tried to go offshore for some serious meat fishing, but ended up fishing in the creek instead.

Shakes and smoothies provided the protein I was lacking, and by the end of March I had concocted a ridiculous amount of different flavored smoothies, and learned that I like the protein shakes a lot more when made with coconut milk instead of water.

I love veggies, but I needed meat yesterday...so I ate this:

Lunch.

 Ok, so onto April...

If you don't know already, I'm what most people would call "Artsy Fartsy".  While my cousin wrote 15 page papers on God knows what, I was sketching trees from our dorm room.

Lately, I've been going thru some tough stuff, and I've been trying to find alternate ways to control my stress.  Yesterday, I had an epiphany...I should paint.

So I trucked it to Michael's Craft Store and bought some new paints and 4 canvases.  I then spent the rest of my afternoon painting in my tiny ass living room, on the floor with the iPod on shuffle.  It was so relaxing.

So, now I have 3 blank canvases and 29 days to bring back the artsy fartsy Lindsey.  Hey, at least I'll have new art for my new house - whenever I find it.

Also, I'm adding "Appreciative April" to the mix.  Each day I will tweet (I never use the Twitter) about something that day that I found that I appreciate.  I think this exercise will help me find the positive in the days that seem impossibly negative.  Follow me @LowcntryLindsey

April is going to be a good month...I just feel it.

Oh Hi March!

It's that time again...

First, a Friendship February re-cap.  The first weekend of February was full of showering my friend Brooke and her baby boy with gifts and a ridiculous amount of food.  The next weekend, Chelcie and I made an impromptu trip to Charleston to house sit for my mother.  On the way back we stopped in Columbia to meet Mary Ann's beautiful baby girl, Mary Elizabeth.  The next weekend was Super Saturday in Rock Hill - full of crap I never do.  And last weekend I spent 3 days with my very best friends in a beach house for our 10 year class reunion.  Granted, I may have gone against the resolution a bit and spent time with a few people I normally hang out with - I think February was a total success in so many ways.

Ok, onto March.  I've debated about this for a couple of days, and I'm making an executive decision - I'm gonna do what I really never thought I could do.  I've contemplated whether or not I have the will power to make it thru 31 days without this, but if it were an easy thing to do I would do it every day of my life.  It's going to be hard, but easy restrictions are...well easy.  As if I need any more hardships in my life right now...either way, I'm pushing myself to do different things just because, well, I want to push myself.

Drum roll please...Meatless March.

Yep, I'm going to attempt to go thru the next 31 days as a vegetarian.  Not like the crazy "eggs come from chickens, and chicken is meat" kind of vegetarian.  But the "I'm not eating MEAT" vegetarian.

This was a tough decision, just knowing that my company is having dinner tomorrow night at Wild Wing and I'm craving a Buffarella like nobody's business.  Even worse, the weather is so nice and people were grilling out tonight when I got home - the smell of burgers on charcoal park grills was intoxicating.  So, I went all crazy for dinner and baked a chicken breast (one of 12 I JUST bought BOGO - meh), slapped it on a salad, and topped it with my mother's homemade ginger dressing.  Crazy, right?  No.  I want steak...dammit, steak.  I NEVER eat steak: a.) I have no grill (lost it in the 'divorce') and b.) apparently my friends never want to invite me over for a nice steak dinner.  WTF, friends?

In all honesty, I don't eat a lot of meat anyway.  Most of my meals are salads, soups or pasta.  And when there's meat involved, it's chicken - the only white meat (that's what she said).  But seriously, I always wonder how vegetarians feel when they're sitting around a bunch of people mowing down on beef while they find themselves asking "how are the veggie burgers"? 

Can I do it?  Yes.  Will I like it?  Probably not.  What's going to be the hardest part of this?  Not going to Taco Bell on the way home from McHale's. 

To keep this interesting, I'll be trying some new recipes (that I'll more than likely google) in order not to go insane eating the same crap over and over again this month.  If any of you have some good ones, please share - it's going to be a long month...I need support!

Again, I'm not doing this for any other reason than to see if I can do it.  To my asshole friends who (I know you will) find it funny to tempt me with burgers and (now) invite me to steak dinners - you suck.

This should be interesting.

Cheers y'all!

Oh February...

Well, “Just One Cup January” went over pretty well with only one cheat day out of 31.  I must say, I can’t wait to try the coffee from the new coffee maker at the office.  However, I’ve now grown to only need just one cup of joe to get me thru the morning now that I’ve been doing it for over a month.  I now supplement that second cup with a smoothie I make at home and take to work with me.  Gets me thru the morning and provides protein and energy I need to make it thru my lunchtime workouts.  Strawberries, Mango and Pineapple plus low fat yogurt, coconut milk and protein powder (that normally tastes like chalk) makes for a pretty delicious mid-morning snack.  If I’m feeling REALLY crazy, I’ll throw in a banana!  I know…crazy stuff…living on the edge.

So, when I set out do to this “one resolution a month” crap I had really awesome ideas for each month.  Unfortunately, I have already broken two of my February resolutions…and it’s the nearly the 3^rd day of the month.  Dammit.

My original February resolution was “Frugal February”.  Granted, I don’t go crazy spending money all the time, but here lately I’ve had some events in my schedule that have required me to spend a lot more than I normally do.  Honestly, it’s totally screwed my monthly budget.  Christmas was a given…I knew I was going to be poor after the holidays.  I like giving gifts – I like wrapping them even more.  So I found myself over-buying just to use up the wrapping paper I had bought (that was super cute).  January rolled around and my friends and I threw one of the smoothest, classiest baby showers I’ve been a part of thus far.  Again, Lindsey was broke.  And then the lovely state of South Carolina reminded me that I needed to pay my car taxes…great.  My Jetta may have been a bucket I dumped cash into every three months fixing crap that shouldn’t have broken given the age, mileage and maintenance I kept on her…but the property taxes were about $100 less than my new rig.  Another large purchase included my 3 month visit to my girl Ashley for cut and color which in turn sent me to a really cute boutique in Charlotte where I forked out WAY too much for a dress for my class reunion.  I never would have spent the money I did on this dress…but I got caught up in the atmosphere and the dress looked really hot on!  Needless to say, I needed a reason to be really cheap and have “Frugal February”…but I already screwed that up…

Payday is tomorrow and I HAD to buy things for another baby shower this weekend so, I did what everyone else in America does – I charged it.  Let me tell you…me + Target + AMEX = bad, bad, bad news.  I got all the things I needed to make 48 cupcakes, punch, gifts, etc.  However, as I was unloading my cart (it’s a buggy, but some people make fun of me for saying that – so there) at the register I found things that I unconsciously loaded in my cart (buggy).  A 3lb bag of Jelly Belly’s, a 2 lb bag of gummy bears, a HUGE bag of frozen fruit for smoothies (I needed more), nail polish, a new book, and new headphones (mine crapped out Monday).  Granted, I probably can justify the headphones and fruit, but who buys 5 lbs of candy!?!  The lady at the register said “for your children” (note the plural)…and all I could do was hang my head in embarrassment and lie.  “Yes, they love candy”.  Moral of this story: Target ruined my Frugal February.

My second February resolution idea was “Fresh February”…which would essentially ruin Frugal February or any chance of saving any money.  I eat really well…most of the time.  Lunches usually consist of a Lean Cuisine or soup.  Snacks in the afternoon are fruit or a 100 calorie “something” around 3:00.  Dinner rotates between quesadillas, soup and grilled chicken salads.  Boring, I know…but it’s really hard to cook for one!  That’s my excuse.  Back to my resolution, I was planning on eating nothing but fresh fruit and vegetables – no meat, no processed food, etc.  And I was doing really well – until today.  This week has been a blur at work.  The end of our sale and the end of 2011 pricing was Monday, our order entry person is going on vacation all next week, and I was in Chicago the end of last week…all leading up to a REALLY busy week.  In my haste and frustration I made an executive decision for the office – we were going to Salsarita’s for lunch.  TECHNICALLY, it’s advertized as “fresh, fast, Mexican”…but I’m not going to neglect the delicious burrito in a bowl and not give it some meaty love!  And so I threw “Fresh February” out the window.

I had a thought to have “Frustrated February” where I would try not to get frustrated at work all month – but …read above.  That idea left as fast as it entered my head.

And so here we are on the eve of the 3^rd of February and I’m stuck trying to come up with a February resolution.  After a lot of thinking I have one!

“Friendship February”.

Being the friend with no significant other, children, etc., I am usually the one that travels to see all my friends across the state.  I’ve been slacking lately – mostly because I’m broke…but I’ve been busy too!  My usual Friday and Saturday nights consist of me patronizing McHales in Rock Hill at least once a weekend with the same crowd.  Every now and then we get a wild hair and make the journey uptown Charlotte to spend twice as much on a beer and stress over how we’re going to get home. (PS: it’s about a $60 cab ride back to the ‘Hill).  Regardless, I have a LOT of friends in the Charlotte area that I don’t get to see because I’m so stuck in my ways on the weekends.  I have even more friends in Charleston that I miss out on seeing during my 3 day visits “home”.  I try my hardest to make the rounds when I go, but I always miss out on seeing someone and get slapped on the wrist after they realize I’ve been home and haven’t visited.

SO…in the month of February, my resolution is to spend more time with my friends that I have neglected to make time for, invite out, or travel to see.  Yea, it may force me to spend a little more cash but, if I can manage to buy $15.00 worth of candy at Target on credit…I think I’ll be okay.

Thankfully, my class reunion is in February and some of my besties and I have a beach house on the Isle of Palms for a few nights where we will get to spend more time together than we have probably EVER had the chance to do!

So to all my friends, beware…I’m coming to visit, asking you to come out, and stopping by this month.  

Love y’all!

1/2 Way thru January...

...and I failed.  I've been doing so good with the just one cup in the morning - but Saturday afternoon I gave in.  I was exhausted from Mary Ann's shower and had tons of peer pressure about going out that night.  So, instead of going to the C Store and grabbing a $2 Red Bull, I decided to break my rule and have another cup o' joe.

And, let me tell ya...it worked!  Cause by 11:00 that night I was doing this:

Caption: I have no clue what I'm doing...

And this....

I didn't drop anything...but I did drop it like it's hot!

And by the end of the night I looked like this...

exactly as I remember it...

So, yea...I failed.  BUT, technically I said I wouldn't have more than one cup in the morning...and I haven't.

So BOOM.

Just One Cup January

Happy 2012 everyone!  I always like to start off a new year – it’s a fresh start on another chapter of your life.  At work the file cabinets are empty, the folders are new, and the team is ready to start off fresh with hopes for an amazing year.  At home the Christmas decorations are put away (ok, so I didn’t have that many this year but there’s now an empty corner of my living room where presents were once stored) and all the laundry is done.  It’s time to start fresh…and apparently also time to make that New Year’s resolution.

I’ve never been the one of 500 people joining a gym in January – I’ve always been a member.  In January when the influx of newbies come storming into my gym hoping to lose the weight they could have been losing all year, it only makes me angry.  My routine will surely be screwed starting tomorrow.  But, hey…congrats for making a resolution.  See you next January – and thank you for your contribution to the gym…maybe now they can get us some new TV’s in the ladies fitness room.

So, I guess what I’m getting at with my rant is that most New Year’s resolutions are broken within the first few months of the year.  So, I’m going to try something different…something that will keep me focused year round on bettering myself.  It’s easier to make short term goals than long term goals.  Instead of setting some ridiculous goal that lasts an entire year, I plan to set monthly goals (read: resolutions).

Each month I will have a new resolution – starting on the 1^st of each month.  I think by doing this I will have a better chance of keeping the goals I set.  I also think that after sticking to one goal for 30+ days I’ll have a better chance of sticking to them year round.  By the end of 2012, I may not keep all 12 resolutions, but hell, if I keep 6 – I’ll be happy.

Ok, so here goes nothing…

Let’s start off slow, right?  Ease myself into this monthly goal thing.  Thus, Just One Cup January.

Just one cup of coffee in the mornings.  Typical mornings consist of me and my Keurig brewing up a delicious cup of coffee before I head out the door to work.  Once I get to work, I usually finish off the good coffee I brought and then start in on the 2^nd cup from the industrial sized coffee maker in the office.  I don’t know what it is – whether or not it’s the machine or the coffee itself, but the stuff is terrible.  For a while we were all convinced that the coffee was eating our insides, and it was always blamed for any “stomach issues” anyone had.  This should be an easy goal to achieve but just to be safe, I prepared for that second cup crave.  I’ve always liked hot tea, but typically stick to the basics – Earl Grey and Sleepy Time tea.  After a trip to World Market, my cabinet is full of a crazy variety of teas – herbal and other teas.  Have you ever had Ginger Tea…?  It’s delicious! 

cheerio yall

I’ll let you know how it goes.  Office gals, keep me on track – if you see me going for numero dos, slap me.

Cheers y'all!