Random

I was reminded through a friend's post about this journaling idea that I used to do in high school. I had the best English teacher for most of my high school career! She was very passionate and loved to write. One of her assignments was to take out our journals and free write for 5 minutes. So the other day when my friend did a 5 minute free write on her blog, I decided that I would also do a free write. So here it goes... 5 minutes of free writing!

Lately, I have been in one of those moods, you know the kind that just stops you from wanting to do anything. The kind of mood that makes you grumble in your heart. Until recently, I have done nothing but grumble in my heart. I have been frustrated with my entire life. I go to school an hour away 5 days a week. This means that I spend on average 10 hours a week on the road. I hate that. I hate that I cannot have a normal college life. Last night I figured out that I spend about $250.00 a month or more on gas. I am spending more money on gas that I am on my car!! So what did I do? I grumbled! I also have taken a slight pay cut because of all of the time I spend at school. I grumbled. I am overwhelmed with my schooling. There is so much to do any not enough time to do it in. I have been in school for 3 days and all I do is grumble. Grumble, grumble, complain. complain, grumble...

Luckily, God has changed my heart. He has soften me. Now I am still frustrated over the amount of driving I do, or gas money that I spend, but I am looking at it differently. I guess I should be content and thankful for the fact that I have a car, money to pay for my gas, and the chance to go to school. I must be thankful. God will take care of me. I know that He will...

Time is up... that was fun. I should just journal randomly like this more often! :-)

God of All Comfort

" Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves have received from God. For just as the sufferings of Christ flow over into our lives, so also through Christ our comfort overflows. If we are distressed, it is for your comfort and salvation; if we are comforted, it is for your comfort, which produces in you patient endurance of the same sufferings we suffer. And our hope for you is firm, because we know that just as you share in our sufferings, so also you share in our comfort."

- 2 Corinthians 1:3-7

Communication

I was going to blog yesterday but I decided not to. My attitude all day was awful. I could list a million and one things that went wrong from Saturday until Monday. I was not expressing my feelings correctly. I was letting them build up and fester deep inside of me. My thoughts and feelings were ruining my relationship with God and with Roger. I was the one doing it no one else. These thoughts were just very angry. I was becoming bitter. Yesterday, an ironic turn of events happened. After work, I got a message that normally would send me up the wall and down the other side. I would have been defensive and very upset. But I could feel God. I could feel Him changing my attitude. I know that it was God because I do not have the strength to change my own attitude. I was relieved to get this message. I was happy and excited. I finally was able to talk with Roger about what was really going on. I have been able to come up with some so so answer about why I have been acting the way I am (blame my pms!) but I really was able to express my frustrations. I did it in a correct way. I did not yell at him. I talked with him. FINALLY have we regained the connection that we had lost since he moved here! I finally feel like we are both on the same page. We both needed to communicate about the most random things that are happening in our lives. I love when God works through me. I love when I feel Him around me! The best feeling in the world...

My last day off...

Today is my last day off until possibly spring break! Yesterday, I was in the worst mood like I stated earlier but today I am in a great mood! So I thought I would catch you up on what's been going on. Let me warn you that this post will be random and disconnected... :-)

My first purchase for my house was these towels!! Roger and I were out shopping and I aw the colors and fell in love. I instantly turned to Roger and gave him that "OH! We cannot live without these" look and he grinned and said buy them! They were a great deal!!! It made my day!!

Ahh my dinner for Roger comes next. We had Chicken Coats with Bacon. (Roger picked it out) It was a really easy recipe. You had to butterfly the chicken and stuff it with cream cheese and chives then wrap it in 2 slices of bacon...

It was very tasty but I think that if I made it again I would change the recipe. I loved the cream cheese stuffing but I think that I would have used a rub on the chicken to give it a little more flavor. ( I am slightly terrified of spices...) I also would have used 1/2 of a slice of bacon. It was way to much with 2 slices! Maybe I would even put it on the inside? I don't know but I would change somethings.

Next was the Pasta Carbornara. It was sooo yummy!! I will make this meal 100 times over I am sure! The only thing that I would change is probably the cheese. I used the grated Parmesan cheese and I think that sliced parm. cheese would have been better. It didn't quite melt like I had hoped it would but it was still so good. I even heated it up for 3 other meals and I hate hate hate leftovers!!

Yesterday I was able to organize and file all of my school papers. This includes my taxes from 3 years ago, all of my FASFA paperwork, my health insurance, and student loans! What a project but it is done! I was able to work in my visual journal! I did like 5 pages! Very relaxing. I was able to read through my Bridal Bargain book that Roger and I recently bought. There are some great ideas in this book! This morning, I had the privilege of playing with my cousins. We went outside and played in the snow and then came in and made these adorable snowman!

So my last days off have been relaxing and enjoyable. I hate that I have to go back to school but am thankful for the day that I have right now!! Enjoy your Thursday :-)

Bleh...

Well blog world I am not in the mood to share with you my pictures and story about my dinner the other night. What I can say is that Roger and I are still alive and no one got sick :-) :-)

I have been in of those blah moods. I don't feel like doing anything. I have just wanted to sit in my room and cry... It's pathetic really. I cannot really explain it. Today, Shannon brought me coffee and we sat and chatted. It was so nice to see that she was going through the same thing as me!! We both decided that we needed some quality time with our guys. School is starting soon and it's just such a stressful time for us. We both get physically sick when we go into the new semester. We need that time to just catch up and enjoy the loves of our lives. I have been dropping hints left and right that I want to go on a date and finally Roger asked me out ;-) I am really excited about our date. It has been a very long time. So yeah, I am hoping that this quality time with Roger will help ease into my new semester...

So that's my update for today...

Attempt 1

Alright bloggy world I am going to make dinner tonight for me and my fiance! I am very nervous and excited. I have picked out my main dish and my sides. I had to check with Roger to make sure he would like it! I didn't want to do anything to dramatic so I am sticking to something simple. So what's for dinner tonight? Stuffed Chicken in Bacon Coats and Quick Pasta Carbonara!! I will let you know how it turns out. Right now, I need to get to the store to pick up a few things!

Honesty

Well my dear friend Tiffany tagged me to share 7 honest truths about myself. I have been thinking about them actually for the last day or two. I have done these before so I wanted to think of different items to share. I hope you find my seven things enjoyable...

1-About once a week, when I am lying in bed, I let my mind wander. I instantly swell up in tears and spent the next 30 minutes telling myself that my brother will not die when he gets deployed in less than 4 days. I have not talked to anyone about my brother leaving, not even my fiance. I feel like if I talk about it, it might come true. I have actually thought about not calling my brother before he leaves that way life will feel normal. I decided against that.

2- I was dumped December 18th, 2007. Three weeks later I went to a basketball game with my friend Jena. I knew Roger would be there. Roger ended up holding my hand there. I did not like Roger at that point. I did not want anything more than a simple flirting relationship (yes I was young and stupid). I actually swore that I would never see him again. He, after all, was not my type!! And now...we are engaged!! I am happy to say that God's plans were better than mine.

3- No one ever believes this one but Roger is the only guy that I have ever kissed! My first boyfriend did not kiss me. I had several flings and never let them come close to kissing me. My last boyfriend, I begged to kiss me but he never did. I believe that God allowed me to keep my first kiss so I could only ever kiss one boy in my life. I think that it is awful romantic! Don't you?!?!

4- I have been told, on many occasions, that I should be a teacher. I teach private and group lessons at my YMCA, I have taught at the camp that I used to work at, I make special time in my busy life to take a certain little girl swimming, and I have just signed on to be a Swim Coach! The problem is that I hate teaching. I mean really hate it. I dread getting into the water to explain freestyle for the umpteenth time. Even as I write this, I am dreading go to my lessons for the twin boys I have. However, when I open my mouth to start to teach, I know that God is with me because this nice and steady tone comes out and I can explain freestyle to anyone. It is quite amazing but I still hate teaching.

5- I used to hate my best friend, Shannon. We were inseparable until she started to date my ex-boyfriend, John. At the time, my life was ruined. I did not allow God to work through my life and heal my heart. Instead, I was selfish and lost years of our friendship. It was a silly mistake! Now we get together every week and are thoroughly enjoying each other. I also know now that John is a great fit for Shannon!! They are a great couple. I love them both!

6- I cannot cook. I have these great ideas about cooking wonderful, delicious meals for my family. But I cannot do it. I am excited to practice on Roger when he moves here! I hope that I can learn a few things and have some good meals under my belt for when we get married.

7- I rarely rarely feel pretty or attractive. I have very low self esteem. I think that because of that I invest in silly things like getting my nails done, my eye brows waxed, or expensive hair cuts just because I think that it makes me feel better.

So there you have it. Those are my honest truths. I hope you enjoy reading them.

Shannon

I have just returned from my favorite part of my week! When it fits into our busy schedule, normally once a week, I get coffee with my very good friend, Shannon! I love sitting in our favorite coffee shop with our favorite drinkings talking about our latest topic. Lately the topic at hand has been our weddings!! I am engaged and Shannon will be engaged soon ( I am sure of it!) We are planning our weddings about a month apart from each other. We talk about everything!! It is such a great feeling to share all of my excitement with someone else. I am so glad that I have Shannon in my life. I love having girl time with her. I think that one of the best blessings in life is having a true friend. Sometime I will blog about my roller coaster of a friendship with Shannon, but right now we are steady and enjoying each other! We even have planned a second date this week! I am so blessed.

Got it!

I think I am starting to get the hang of this blogging thing!! I have figured out how to change my background, add pictures, and text! :-)

I am awaiting the end of the Green Bay Packers playoff game. I am hoping for a win for the sake of my fiancé's attitude ;-) How I love spending time with him while he yells at the tv and enjoys his football game!

Addicted to Organizing!

DISASTER HITS!!!

Maybe you don't see what I see in the above picture but I see DISASTER!!!! Clothes are thrown everywhere, nothing is in it's place, the bed is not made, my purse is lying on the floor instead of on the desk, my make up is spread everywhere...my oh my!! It is a mess...

However, I have been spending days thinking about "spring" cleaning my room. I lie in my bed at night thinking about where I should move things, what project to start with, and what things I must get rid of! I absolutely love love love cleaning and organizing! Some people spend money on organizing books. People tell them how to sort and separate things, how to keep your house clutter free ect. I laugh at these books! I was born with the gift at organizing and sometimes forget that other people don't see things the way I do. I really don't have any secrets, most things I come up with on my own, but I will share with you two tips that I live by!

1- Invest in some good plastic organizers. I LIVE BY THESE! I have some for my makeup, my underwear, socks, camis ect. I have storage bins that are labeled with the contents that are inside. ( Save your bins! Don't right in permanent marker, type it up and tape it on the bin!!) Also, I use simple things that are found around my home to store things in. I have a cup that holds all of my makeup brushes and a champagne glass that holds my over sized jewelry! Keep it simple :-)

2- Besides seasonal items, if it hasn't been worn or used in 6 months THROW IT OUT!!! If you haven't used in the past 6 months, you will not use it again! Now I know there are exceptions like holiday items or baby items that you know you will use, but that sweater that hangs in your closet that you are saving because you may wear it sometime...get rid of it. You won't use it! I promise you won't! Every 6 months I go through my closet and give away bags and bags of clothes and trust me I always find things to wear! I also use this practice with shoes, purses, perfumes, and lotions. Certain things just take up so much room and collect dust so don't keep them either throw them away or give them away!


So those are the two tips that i followed when cleaning out my closest... here is the after picture of my closet...
I know it doesn't look organized but the bottom cubbies house my pjs to the right are my dress shirts and my summer dresses. My underwear and socks are stored in the blue bin, the pink basket holds my winter gear, next to my blue bin is my new sweater organizer. I have them sorted by the ones I use the most.
The other half of my closet holds all of my hooded sweat shirts, my skirts, and my 6 winter coats :-) I have a slight obsession with organizing my hooded sweatshirt by color...

So that is what consumed my day. I must say that I think I own a ton of clothes! Sadly, I didn't even show you my other dressers..yes I said dressers because I have more than one! Oh my!! The only way that I can keep all of my clothes is to continual stay organized!! Give it a try, you may find that it is fun and slightly addicting!!

My Big Surprise...

The Proposal...

It happened Christmas Eve 2009. I had put in 8 hours at my pool and was coming home in a rush to pack to go to my Mother's for Christmas. However, my plans were quickly changed! When I opened my door and stepped into my living room I saw this...

Roger standing in the middle of my living room with a dozen pink roses, rose petals thrown all over the floor and about 30 lit candles accompanying the flowers. Roger said this beautiful speech that I really don't remember because I was shaking at the words that Roger was saying. He got down on one knee and asked the timeless question, "Will You Marry Me?" Of course, I said yes!! It was such a surprise. I had no idea it was coming! It was perfect. Everything about it was perfect! It hasn't really hit me that I am now engaged. Someday I will be a Mrs! How exciting :-) So now you guys get to read about my big wedding plans for the next year and a half. I can't wait to start planning, to try on dresses, to pick out colors, to test taste cakes, to find an apartment, to pick out dishes, to find towels...oh my the list goes on and on! What a great adventure!! :-)