Three musings

I'm thinking about three things right now. I don't really know what I want to say about each, but they're giving me much pause for consideration:

1. Eternity now
2. His purpose was, is and is to be Love
3. Obedience versus sacrifice

I may be able to elucidate later, but for the moment, this will have to suffice.

Trippin'

I'm in Giessen, Germany now! Rachel and I arrived safely this morning, in Frankfurt. We've spent the day getting rest ('cause sleeping on the plane was useless)...walking around the downtown area of Giessen...and eating lots and lots of food...we had soft pretzels, schnitzel, spatel....brownies...it's been friggin' awesome :)

Tomorrow, we're off to discover other little towns with Rach's mom, sister and grandmother....there's so much history to see here...everything seems to have a story behind it.

Sorry for the quick post, but I'm going to bed now 'cause I'm still seriously jet lagged. I'll post again in a couple of days from Paris :)

Much love!

One more sleep!!!!!!!!!

Oh crap, I'm so excited....so excited I can't sleep.....I haven't packed yet, but I can't seem to focus on any one thing to get that done......oh well! It'll get done :)

I'm going to Europe tomorrow!!!!!!!!!!!! With Rachel!!!!!!!!!!!

*high five*

Three more sleeps!!!

'Til Rach and I take off for Germany, France and Monaco......I'm getting really really really excited!!!!

I made a plan for the next few days....things I need to do between now and take-off....things I need to pack....and people I'll need to bring back treats for/write to while I'm away :)

So far, I've been able to check off all my to do's for this aft!! I love lists and being organized.....I think that's why I love Rachel so much....she's the queen of spreadsheets....the diva of organized spontaneity.....this trip is going to rock.

My brother...in the driver seat...

Proud, I am :)

My brother et al.

Ryan - I think you'll appreciate this :) I'm tellin' you....you guys will be like two peas....

I LOVE my brother.....not just 'cause he's my brother, but he's super chill and just about the coolest, smartest person I know.

Home alone....

....I have the house to myself for the weekend 'cause Karl is out of town.....

What to do....what to do....my first thought was that I could run around naked......hey, anyone living with housemates KNOWS that's what they'd do first :)

Actually, I do have a house guest in Karl's stead.....Melissa will be hanging out on our couch for a couple of days....so, there will be someone else around :)

If you read Rachel's blog, you'd know that we hit an event planner's tradeshow yesterday afternoon....what a blissful way to shake off the crap from earlier this week. It marked the turning point in my week, for sure :) There's nothing like being down by the lake when the water is sparkling, eating ice cream, drinking free beer and indulging in all sorts of mini-adventures (for free!) to drive away the blahs. Working a five-hour day is pretty sweet, too :)

Today, was a rainy day. I heart rainy days. I really really really love rainy days. It was nice and quiet at work. Not a lot of people were out walking so my walk to and from work was a touch more tranquil than usual. I got to chat with people I like and people who like me. I also worked out and while I was ellipticalling (or ellipticizing?) I started reading a book called "Captivating." It has struck a definite chord with me and I think I'll learn a lot from it......I'm kind of excited about it :) It feels like just the right thing to be reading after having just finished "I kissed dating good-bye."

I have a phone date with a good friend later this evening. And, I think I'll be in bed at a decent time, tonight. All in all, things are back to "normal."

:)

Today is a new day!

:)

Non-allergy-related tears...

....or damn near close to it....

Today kicked my ass all over the place.

I found out that the system disruption that I caused yesterday (very innocently and unintentionally, mind you) had a bigger impact than I had gauged and caused more than just raised eyebrows. The only saving grace is the grace of God in all of this. My AVP was super nice to me all day and totally had my back even though I had caused the screw-up. I won't get fired, which was my initial thought when I found out what had happened. I can actually say that it didn't bring me to tears even though I probably had cause to bawl my little eyes out. God does provide strength and His mercy is so sweet. I was able to get through a ridiculous meeting and survive withouth losing focus. Praise Him for that 'cause I really don't know how I could've done that on my own.

I will end this on a brighter note and say that the entire day wasn't crappy....it was tempered by the above situation, but it was also intensely good....I got asked to work on another project. And, because, on the surface, I was able to hold it together and hold my own through the crappy situation, my AVP was somewhat impressed. It was certainly a learning and growing experience. The Lord can do the most incredble things in the worst circumstances.

When I got home from work, I went for a walk in Kensington which totally helped me shake off the yuckiness I was feeling. AND, I bought little herb plants -- rosemary, thyme and basil :) They're sitting in the living room now and they look really cute.

So, I do feel better now. And, tomorrow is another day. And, all that crap that happened is so insignificant....in light of eternity.

Some thoughts since I haven't posted in a week....

...Well, there's not really too much to say.....things are good.....life is sweet.....apart from not being able to get chocolate chip cookie dough ice cream at Baskin Robbins tonight (it was closed.....for the love of...)

So....what can I say?

Let's see....I got up at a decent time this morning. Didn't really have to rush getting ready and was still out the door at 8am. Got to work....was uber productive and had a tonne of stuff done by 9:30am. Had a fab lunch with Andrew at the Brasserie....saw Jeff and Cindy! Got back to work....had a good afternoon at work.....caused a slight system disruption, but whatev.....came home around 5:30-ish.....cleaned the fridge....hung out with Karl on the sofa....wrote in my real journal....talked to Anton when he stopped by for a bit.....hung out with Karl in his room.....went to get ice cream....stopped at the Village Idiot to say hi to the Monday night FT crew.....got to BR and it was closed....walked down McCaul....saw Cindy, again! Walked to Ben & Jerry's....it was closed....close to tears (more because of allergies, but a little bit attributable to my thwarted quest for ice cream)....walked to Starbucks for a different kind of treat...had a peanut butter bar...Karl had a giant chocolate chip cookie....walked home through the park......having a glass of wine.....Karl's painting something on the wall of his bedroom.....found out that he doesn't have to get up early so we can watch a movie (wicked)....going to watch Kingdom of Heaven.

That's all. A good end to a good day.

:)

Shameless self-promotion....

....but I suppose it's allowed once in awhile given this is MY blog.

Guess who got a promotion?

Oh yeah :)

This is SENIOR Communications Consultant signing off.

So, I've decided...

....to make some changes.

To start, I'm making a concerted effort to be in bed at a decent time every night. I'm going to be judicious in how I spend my time....this means I probably won't get to hang out with everyone, all the time and I'll probably end up missing more than one fun FT event. But, it does mean that when I do spend time with my friends, they'll have my undivided and un-sleep-deprived attention. I can't stand feeling cranky, irritable or exhausted and I hate that I do feel like that when I need to be there for others.

Also, I'm looking at a number of major decisions that I've made in the past that have had a negative or stress-inducing affect on my life.....Some that even seemed life-giving to begin with, but turned out to be burdensome to all involved. I don't want to lament the decisions or dwell on the negative, but I do want to learn from them. And, in some cases, take steps to make things right. I've decided it's never too late to turn around and take steps in the right direction.....no matter how many steps I've gone in the wrong direction thus far.

As for today. it was a day full of peace. I really did feel abnormally focused and got tonnes of work done. And, I managed to be more than just efficient with work tasks. I chatted with work friends, good friends and my fam.

In a nutshell, I was in an optimizing mode all day. I know not every day will be the same, but I feel like the trajectory wasn't so steep today......

Shout-outs (it's been awhile):

- Ryan, it's always a pleasure :)
- Nadine, congratulations on the M license!!!
- Shawn, you've been a most gracious house guest....come stay again!!
- Debbie, all I have to say is "a-ma-bee-yay" (sorry for butchering even the phonetic spelling)....thanks for introducing me to Cantores Celestes!!
- Johanna, that is one freakin' awesome Bench hoodie-esque top ;)