Wishful Wed... Charity

Yay for Hump Day! And y'all know what that means... Wishful Wednesday over at The Seattle Smiths!! Come join the party :) This weeks topic...

"I wish"... I had never-ending funds
to donate to a charity and it would be
a different one each month!!

There are just too many things that hit close to home for me, so I'd have a rotation of charities! And they would be (in no particular order)...:

1. ASPCA & American Humane Society
2. St. Jude Children's Hospital
3. Cancer Research Institute
4. American Red Cross
5. UNICEF
6. Global Hunger Project
7. Doctors Without Borders
8. Engineers Without Borders
9. Teachers Without Borders
10. Mothers Without Borders
11. World Wildlife Fund
12. Any mission that my church is involved in

Ahh....wouldn't that be nice if it were true! A girl can dream!

What charities would you donate to?? :)

Happy Wednesday Y'all!

Sunday Funday on a Monday

Happy Monday Y'all! I know this is supposed to be "Getting to know YOU" Sunday...but since I'm always a straggler, here it is on Monday :)

1. What color do you wear the most?
   I don't have a lot of just one color, I'm a pretty colorful person and my clothes reflect that :)


2. Would you rather have $10,000 or a dream vacation?
   Hmm...toughy... A dream vacation - it could end up costing well over $10,000 seeing as how my dream vacation involves a lot of continent hopping and extreme activities :)


3. Do you have a weird, quirky, or unusual habit?
   Haha, as Jennie said, I have to wash my hands as soon as I wake up. And now I've started doing it before I go to bed, too. I also picked up the bad habit of picking at my eye lashes from her. You're welcome and thanks a lot! ;)


4. I really need to start.........?
   My workout routine again. I was doing really well until I ran that 10K two weeks ago and I've had some pretty terrible pain in the arch of my foot and in my knee and haven't been working out (besides a walk here and there) in hopes of it fixing itself. So far, great success, I feel better and am actually gonna attempt an easy routine after work :)


5. What was the first blog you ever read?
   The Seattle Smith's, and still do! I love Kelsey and thoroughly enjoy her Wishful Wednesdays!


6. Do you collect anything?
   Crosses, turtles, and cups of sorts (i.e. mugs, steins, martini and wine glasses)


7. How old were you when you had your first kiss?
   13, it was on a dare in a game of Truth-or-Dare


8. Do you text/twitter while driving?
   Ugghh....yes :( I know I shouldn't. I won't actually send a text while I'm driving (okay..maybe at a red light) but I will read one if I get it and am driving.
   

I hope everyone had a pleasant weekend! Mine was great and the weather was absolutely gorgeous!! We really didn't do anything special, just enjoyed the sunshine and took a lot of naps :) Friday Spence and I went out to dinner then rented some movies and spent the rest of the evening watching them and going to sleep halfway early. Saturday he had to work, so I ran some errands, did some laundry, and laid out by the pool and soaked up that Vitamin D! We had dinner with my parents that night- Mmmm, fajitas!! - and then watched more movies and fell asleep early again (must've been all that time in the sun). Sunday we went to church, then he had to work and I napped.all.afternoon. We tried to be somewhat productive the rest of the day and took my little Nala for a walk and did some wedding planning (Eeek! So exciting! We picked a date, set a budget, and just tossed around some ideas for the "look" and "feel" we want to go for). Excellent weekend :)

This week is gonna be pretty busy, but nothing I can't handle. I'll let you know how it goes when I get there! Have a wonderful day y'all!!! :):):):)

Five Question Friday...

Hey y'all! Happy Friday!! I'm so ready for 5 o'clock to be here...only three and a half more hours...then I'm going home to take a nap and start enjoying the weekend. We had a blast last night at the baseball game - and the Hounds won, too! Woot woot! Maybe too much fun because I have been uber-tired allllll day, hehe, oops. Way to get the season started off on the right foot! :) I really don't have that much going on, so I thought I'd join in some fun and games with all you other lovely bloggers :)


So here's Five Question Friday from Mama M at My Little Life...





1. Who would you want to play you in a movie of you life? Amanda Bynes, she's just so dang cute and funny! Gotta love a quirky girl. Plus, she's in great shape and has great style :)



2. Did you ever go to summer camp? I went to Girl Scout camp, haha. It was a lot of fun!



3. What sends you running and screaming in the other direction? Hmm...crying kids/babies. It terrifies me when they cry because I don't know how to make it stop. Other than that I really enjoy them :)



4. What is something you do that drives your spouse nuts? Well I'm not married (yet! hehe), but it does drive Spence nuts when I'm late for things....and I have chronic lateness! I am late to everything. Ask any of my friends. Haha.



5. What is currently your favorite song? "Outside My Window" by Sarah Buxton. It's such a happy song, I can't help but sing along and be happy :) I'm also on a huge Texas country kick because it's the.BEST.summer music. Ever. :)

Wishful Wed ... Diet

It's time for Wishful Wednesday over the The Seattle Smith's! If you wanna play along or see what everyone else has to say, head on over and see Kelsey!

"I wish"... I had the willpower to
stay on one particualr diet,
and it would be marathon training!

Yup, marathon training. I know it's not really a "diet" per say, but it is definitely a lifestyle. Spencer and I are hopefully going to begin training for a marathon in the middle of May (I have to get the A-OK from my doctors first, and couldn't get an appointment til the end of the month). We want to run a half marathon sometime between August and October and then participate in the Rock'n'Roll Marathon in Las Vegas in December! It would be so much fun! My birthday also happens to be in December, so making the trip for the marathon would double as a birthday trip.

But back to the topic of diets... I hate that word - diet. It only makes me think of things I can't have. I especially hate "low-carb diets", they are so terribly unhealthy for you. Carbs are what fuel your body, you need them! It's all about portion control and choosing complex carbs (which digest slowly and keep you fuller longer) over simple carbs (which break down into sugar faster and then are immediately stored as fat because your body doesn't need them right then and there). If you regularly exercise, but are not on any kind of a demanding physical schedule (i.e. marathon or triathlon training), your plate should be divided up something like this: 40-50% vegetables/fruit, 25% lean protien, and 25% carbs.

I really love the book "The Abs Diet for Women" and reference it often. It's the best "diet" book I've come across and it's so easy to incorporate into your life. That's about as crazy as I've ever gotten with dieting. The more realistic a plan is, the easier it is to fit in to my actual life, the more likely I am to stick with it.

What about you? Any diet you've just loved?. ....or hated?

I'm back!...with BIG news!

First, let me apologize for being MIA these past two weeks. Y'all, things have been crazy busy for me lately and I have had zero time (or energy) to spend on anything but things that have to be done... not fun.

So where did I leave off...? Oh yes, weekend trip to Ft. Davis for some R&R in the mountains. It was a great trip. Nothing but me, Spence, beautiful scenery, and some peace and quiet. The cabin had electricity but no TV or radio, and it was so nice to have all the time in the world to just talk.

We stopped in my hometown of Alpine that Friday night for dinner at my favorite mexican food joint, La Casita (oh-em-gee, soooo delicious!), before heading out to the cabin that evening. When we got there, the sun had just set and the stars (which look crystal clear and are huge and shiney!) had come out to play. So we dragged one of the mattresses from inside out on to porch, grabbed a ton of blankets, and laid down and had a really great conversation (you know the kind that are just soo perfect and deep and reach down all the way in to your soul? yeah that kind). But then a cold front rolled in and covered up the lovely night sky and started to rain on us, so we reluctantly took shelter inside.

Saturday we woke up to snow. Yup, snow. Apparently that lovely cold front that spit rain on us that night decided we should have some snow, too. I made some banana pancakes for breakfast, then we lounged around and looked out the windows at all the animals going about their business. Tons of deer and a javelina here and there. Lots of napping also took place. Later that afternoon after it (kind of) warmed up, we braved the chilly wind and took a little hike to an Indian Cave - soo cool! We went back in to town later that afternoon to grab stuff to make dinner, and spent the rest of the night playing board games and jut being plain goofy.

Sunday was much warmer. So we packed up and stopped to climb some rocks before we headed home. We went back through Alpine and stopped at DQ to have some ice cream with my BFF Jennie and her little brother, then we hit the road back to Midland.

Such a nice weekend. Then Monday came before I knew it! And between my office job and subbing, I barely had to time shower! Kidding...well mostly, haha. The next weekend I thought I'd be able to catch up...but it didn't happen. We had a "Brinner" (breakfast for dinner) party at my friend Lindsey's on Friday night, then woke up early on Saturday morning to run the United Blood Services Bloodgusher 10K. Guess what this girl did? Got a medal! - 3rd in her age bracket! Woot woot!! My time was 61 min 50 sec. Pretty good for my first 10K. Spence ran it with me, although after hangin' back with me the first half, he left me in the dust and finished ahead of me. But, my Dad ran the half marathon (which started an hour earlier than my event) and I got to run the second half of my run with my daddy and finish with him. Perfect! I started with one man I love and finished with the other. :)

Brinner!

My medal :)

Sunday was a full day of church then just resting. With Monday came another whirlwind of a week. But eventually the weekend was here again and it was absolutely wonderful. I spent it with the people I love the most. I went to my first hockey game Saturday evening, the Odessa Jackalopes (semi-pro) had a play off game in town, so me, Spence and my daddy went and watched. Super fun and intense! Who knew I'd like hockey? Also, Spencer's best friend came home for Easter weekend, so we hung out with him and his super sweet girlfriend Saturday afternoon and then again that night after the game. Sunday was Easter service with the fam, then home for some Spring cleaning. That night we did some grilling and watched one of our fave movies - "Top Gun". :)

And now it's another new week and it seems like things are only going to speed up with no sign of a slow down any time soon... (womp womp :( ). I did have today, Tuesday, off, which I am so thankful for. I got caught up on a lot of cleaning and little things, so hopefully this week will go much smoother than the past ones. Tonight we began our small Women's Bible Study and I'm so stoked about it. I stole the idea from my best friend Jennie, and we're doing Beth Moore's "Breaking Free". I'll be sure to let y'all know how it goes :) Tomorrow is Date Night, not sure what we're going to do yet, but I'm pretty sure I'm going to try out an Asian Shrimp Salad recipe. Thursday night is opening night for our semi-pro baseball team, the Midland Rockhounds! I love going to ball games. It also happens to be Thirsty Thursday (half price tap beer! ), so let the games begin! Teehee. Friday will probably be low-key because we're running in a 5K Saturday morning. Then Sunday is church and cooking out. Hopefully I can keep it together this week and not get behind! :)

So maybe you're wondering why I have "BIG news" in my title and nothing has seemed BIG so far.... Well... here it is....

I GOT ENGAGED!!

Spencer proposed the Friday night we were star-gazing and having that really great talk in Ft. Davis. So, needless to say, I've been super busy with calls from friends and family and have just been emotionally exhausted by the end of the day due to all the excitement.

I am so happy and looking forward to planning an amazing wedding and spending the rest of my life with the man of my dreams. But as for tonight, I'm just ready to lay down and close my eyes. Got a long week ahead of me, and there won;t be any slowing down anytime soon ;)

My brain is on vacation...

It's Friday...and while I am physically present at work...my brain is on vacation. So please, leave a message at the tone... I'll get back to you on Monday. :) But seriously y'all, how am I supposed to be concentrating on work projects when it's a gorgeous, 80 degree, sun shiney day outside? As I stare longingly out the window at the fluffy white clouds that dot the sky, my mind is whisked away to a far away land...a land of mountains and quiet and peacefulness...

And yes, I'm actually heading for that land today. There's a little town in Texas called Alpine and it's home for me. This little town of about 6,000 is nestled in the mountains of West Texas and it is one of the most beautiful and peaceful places I've ever been. Spencer was just itching to get outta town to somewhere quiet and relaxing, and with it only being about a 3 hour drive, we thought, "Why not?". He has a cabin in Ft. Davis (Alpine's neighbor town) that we'll be staying at and just do a whole lot of nuthin'. It's gonna be awesome. Of course we'll go hiking and probably into town to wander around but there will be no set schedule of anything. Just doing what we want, when we want. And most importantly catching up on some overdue R&R. We've both been going 180 mph for the past month and are ready for some peace and quiet.

Back to reality for now though... I just have to make it through a half day at the office and then it's poolside with the girls til Spence is off work and we head out.

Tomorrow is the first day of Spring - Yaaaay! I am so ready for summer dresses, flip flops, tan lines, and flowers and green everywhere! :) But because I enjoy all seasons, here is a little farewell to Winter and the things I will miss about it...:

• Wearing my (knock-off) Uggs - they're so comfy but also so inappropriate for spring weather
• Using my fireplace
• Wearing gloves - I really like gloves, I don't know why... I just do, weird I know :)
• Using the weather as an excuse to be lazy
• *** Snow ***
• And the consequential snowball fight

What will you miss about winter? And what are you most looking forward to in Spring?

Happy Friday bloggers!!

Wishful Wednesday ... Lottery

I wish ... I could win the lottery
REAL soon, and I would hope to
budget it so it would last.

First things first, I would settle my debts (school loans, car payment, and my credit card); then, I would budget the rest. I would put half into a savings account, invest a fourth of it, and budget the remaining fourth into monthly allocations. I want it to last, not use it up on frivolous things. I would most definitely continue to work. Winning a large sum of money doesn't mean that I get a free pass to be lazy. Assuming a get a teaching job soon, why would I want to quit doing something I enjoy? It makes me happy and gives me a sense of fulfilment. Going around spending money isn't going to do that.

I also want to be able to help people if they were to ever need it and contribute something to society...maybe fund a scholarship or mission, build a park or library, who knows! The possibilities are endless. I would love the opportunity to bless other people the way I had been.

I would also be sure to do something really nice for all the people who have helped me out. Mainly my parents and grandparents, but I also have some really amazing friends who have helped this girl out of a jam or two. It would be super if I could show them the same courtesy and love they showed me.

And I would be a liar if I didn't also say that I would most definitely take a little vacation. No where fancy. I just want a beach, the ocean, a hammock, and my love. But if I budget the right way, then who's to say that little vacays wouldn't become a more permanent thing? Haha.

A girl can dream...

On another note, Happy St. Patty's all!