A Little Christmas Cheer

Every year my dad spends a lot of time & energy shaping this bush into a snowman. I hope you can tell from the picture that he is holding a Christmas tree which is also decorated complete with a star on top. My mom loves snowmen so my dad makes sure to get this one ready for her every Christmas. What a guy!

I have to say that I think their house is the best decorated house in town!

*Sigh*

For the last year or so I have had some struggles with my feet as a result of my running. I have a bone spur on my left heel & I've had some tightness & swelling in my right foot. Niether problem has been all unbearably painful, but it's been consistent enough that I wanted to ask my doctor about it before I committed myself to the 2008 Indianapolis Mini Marathon. So I went to see him on Tuesday. What's cool about my doc is that he is a member of the same running group that I have joined this year so he understands why I want to participate again. The bad news is that he doesn't want me to run again AT ALL until March 1st. Yikes! That seems like a long time away. He did advise me to go ahead & sign up for the training group as a walker & then ease back into running slowly for the race in May. Until then I'm restricted to walking & yoga. Yoga = yuck! So boring...pose, hold, breathe...over & over & over again. I'm going to check into maybe taking a class so it will be a little less dull. Anybody out there a yoga enthusiast? Got any tips for me? I just don't want to get totally out of shape between now & then & I do want my feet to heal up. I've still got a long way to go with them!

White Flag

I haven't blogged for a seriously long time & Erin has tagged me to get me back online. I was resisting at first (rebellious attitudes are hard to shake) but I decided to hoist the white flag & answer some questions. Here goes...

What was I doing ten years ago?
I was a Junior at Northland Baptist Bible College. This was also the semester that my Uncle Gary lost his battle with cancer. Not one of my best years at school, but the Lord taught me SO MUCH about His goodness & mercy.

What was I doing five years ago?
I was just getting ready to start work at the nuclear pharmacy. I had been working part-time selling jewelry at Fred Meyer for just over 3 years & I had just finished a period of cleaning houses & business part-time.

What was I doing one year ago?
I was seriously considering buying a house & I was looking for a second job - a part-time deal at a retail pharmacy. I was also getting ready to head down to Greenville for Missy's wedding.

What was I doing yesterday?
I went to church in the morning; ate lunch with my parents; went on a Holiday Historical Homes tour with Mike; went to evening church (enjoyed a wonderful Communion Service); & then went to Mike's house to eat pizza & watch The Amazing Race.

Five snacks I love:
Pumpkin Seeds
Reese's Pieces
Animal Crackers
Granola Bars
Apples

Five places I would run away to:
Hawaii
Vienna
My sister's house
My Grandma & Grandpa's
Work (I know that sounds crazy, but no one bothers me there)

Five TV shows I like:
The Amazing Race
E.R.

Five things I hate doing:
Dusting
Cleaning the Bathroom
Vehicle Maintenance
Anything where I'm not sure what I'm supposed to be doing
Listening to conference calls (I've got one coming up in about 23 minutes - yuck!)

Five biggest joys of the moment:
Spending time with family & friends
My jobs
Running
Getting ready for Christmas
Extra vacation days


There you have it - the best I could come up with on the spur of the moment. Erin, I hope this pleases you :-)

I'm not going to tag anyone b/c I'm not sure that anyone even reads my blog anymore!

Disgusting Development

I have this super favorite Nalgene bottle that has been with me for at least 5 years. It has 3 terrific Hawaii stickers on it - one for Makaha Beach, a turtle (my favorite Hawaiian symbol), and one for Ocean Concepts (a scuba diving place Justin used to work for) - and one other sticker that is the state flag of South Carolina (one of my favorite vacation spots). Anyway, love the stickers, love the bottle, love the convenience & supposed unbreakability. Hence the disgusting development. My Nalgene has a leak! A slow one, but a leak nonetheless. Guess it's time to start over with a new bottle.

It's For Sale!

Long time, no blog...I know, I know. I just have a second to post a little item for sale. I'm interested in selling my car. Here are the stats:
2005 Toyota Corolla Sport
Red with moon roof, spoiler, & ground effects
Mileage - just under 40k
Price - $11,000

I have the opportunity to buy my boss's former company car at a steal of a price which would be wonderful for my budget (plus, it's a Ford Escape & I love SUV type vehicles!).

Anybody interested?

**I promise that I will blog about my Vienna trip - complete with pictures - very soon!

Guten Tag!

I'm actually on my way to bed, but I wanted to post a quick note to let everyone know that I made it to Vienna safely & I'm having a wonderful time! I'm typing on Missy's laptop right now and everything is in German which is making things a bit difficult for me but that's all right. I'm visiting my friend Missy & her husband Kai. He is a pastor here in Vienna and they have an intern right now whose name is Ludwig. Today the four of us hopped on a train and went to Durnstein, a small town east of here. We had a picnic by the Danube, took a bazillion pics and ate grapes right off the vine from the vineyards that were all around. Tomorrow the boys are back to work and Missy and I are going to explore the city. My German is hopeless, but I do have some new vocab to share with those of you I will see when I return home. Some of the new words come complete with sign language complements of Ludwig.
Gute Nacht (which I have learned has to be said with the right amount of throat scraping or you don't say 'good night', you say 'good naked' - oops!)

My Birthday Cake

Anybody out there have a fabulous pumpkin cake recipe? My birthday is tomorrow & I want a terrific pumpkin cake. Help me out! :-)