Earlier this month, I posted the following list of goals. I've made progress on some of them and am adding others. It's always fun to chronicle progress towards accomplishments, so the last day of each month I plan to do a reflection and update the status of each item on the list! Here's January's check!
1. Take a self-defense class: I've researched this, but haven't moved forward.
2. Pay off medical bills: TOTALLY FINISHED!
3. Go to Chicago: I've research this, but am not sure anyone else can go...don't want to go by myself, so we'll see what happens here.
4. Go skydiving: Mom may go with me! Wow! I've done the research and we'll see what happens with Mom's decision...
5. Take a course on gun safety, get a license to carry a gun and purchase one: This has been temporarily put off. a) It's pretty expensive b) Having a gun in home causes many conversations to happen...
6. Re-take the GRE (long story) and work HARD at completing my Master's degree: GRE has been taken and I'm set to graduate in December of this year! Whoo-hooo!
7. Go cash predominantly (I'm not sure cash only is even an option anymore): I'm currently practicing this one. It's going well, and I like it!
8. Go on a mission trip: I'm in communication to try to set one up for this summer. We'll see what the Lord has in store!
9. Plant things (I'm being vague on purpose) in my garden: Umm, it's winter time. Not really the time for planting... :)
10. Cook more regularly: I've been cooking each weekend and using those meals throughout the week. I cook some during the week too, but primarily on the weekend.
11. Figure out why my wifi doesn't work at home: Yeah, no.
12. Use everything in my pantry before going grocery shopping: If you've read the blog at all, you know I've been moving forward on this one! I'm allowing myself to buy perishables (meat, produce, dairy), but nothing else. It's been fun, challenging and a money-saver!
13. Re-read the Proverbs 31 woman study...focus hard on the character traits the Lord leads me too: I haven't started this one.
14. Meet Angie Smith: Going to Nashville is a possibility over Spring Break...so maybe.
15. Visit Crosspoint Church: If I go to Nashville over SB, then this is the plan.
16. Meet Brandi and Pete Wilson: See #14.
17. Meet the first few requirements in Dave Ramsey's list of 'acting your wage' (I'm using my own words here): Yep! :)
18. Pay off Television: Yep!
19. Work out more regularly: Yep!
20. Post more regularly: I've posted more this month than any month last year! I think that qualifies! :)
That's what I can think of right now. I added 3...now granted the three I added are ones I've already accomplished, but isn't that the fun of adding to a list? So you can mark them off? :) I may add more later!
Sunday, January 31, 2010
Saturday, January 30, 2010
The Livesays
Tara and Troy Livesay have been living in Haiti for 4 years. They have brought in several doctors, nurses, PAs and other medical personnel since January 12. This is Tara's post from today.
No place for politics
Something very odd went down with unicef yesterday. We were instructed in writing to pick up patients from the Comfort ship. When our driver got there to get the people there were unicef vehicles taking them to some camp. The unicef folks were not talking, they were just large and in charge. I'd love to believe somebody just got their wires crossed, but I'm not so sure. Something smelled wrong about it. The Comfort ship went to the work of getting us patient names, details, lists and a time to come get them. Clearly they were unaware of what was about to happen.
The problem is, giant worldwide organizations have power, and they have policies. Giant organizations are so giant that they cannot see the forest for the trees and they cannot see the individual person with the individual situation. We all know power corrupts. The unicef we're seeing is not as interested in putting people/children first as it is in setting policy, precedent, and moving forward its own political agenda. I've watched people get up in arms and say that it is wrong to not support this long-standing and "worthy" organization. I recognize that will likely happen again here. We can easily agree to disagree if need be.
We're simply stating that the policies and procedures are a long way off from meeting real people where they are. (And things are not what they appear to be. Not at all.) The anti-adoption rhetoric is maddening. Kids abandoned to an orphanage by their birth parent PRE earthquake are now being held in Haiti thanks to pressure placed on the Haitian government by the giant and powerful unicef. It is asinine and lacks all logic.
We are all for legal, careful, smart adoption. None of us want to see children taken from a birthparent that wants to raise them. That would be a terrible thing. The fact is, unicef is openly anti-international-adoption and what is happening now is nothing more than political grand-staning and a massive power trip. And all at the expense of children with waiting and approved families abroad.
For more thoughts and a specific story, read this.
Large powerful organizations with money can "encourage" and "convince" and put the pressure on ... and a government in crisis will bend to the will of a single powerful organization.
Meanwhile, children and people in crisis are not being served, cared for, or respected.
No place for politics
Something very odd went down with unicef yesterday. We were instructed in writing to pick up patients from the Comfort ship. When our driver got there to get the people there were unicef vehicles taking them to some camp. The unicef folks were not talking, they were just large and in charge. I'd love to believe somebody just got their wires crossed, but I'm not so sure. Something smelled wrong about it. The Comfort ship went to the work of getting us patient names, details, lists and a time to come get them. Clearly they were unaware of what was about to happen.
The problem is, giant worldwide organizations have power, and they have policies. Giant organizations are so giant that they cannot see the forest for the trees and they cannot see the individual person with the individual situation. We all know power corrupts. The unicef we're seeing is not as interested in putting people/children first as it is in setting policy, precedent, and moving forward its own political agenda. I've watched people get up in arms and say that it is wrong to not support this long-standing and "worthy" organization. I recognize that will likely happen again here. We can easily agree to disagree if need be.
We're simply stating that the policies and procedures are a long way off from meeting real people where they are. (And things are not what they appear to be. Not at all.) The anti-adoption rhetoric is maddening. Kids abandoned to an orphanage by their birth parent PRE earthquake are now being held in Haiti thanks to pressure placed on the Haitian government by the giant and powerful unicef. It is asinine and lacks all logic.
We are all for legal, careful, smart adoption. None of us want to see children taken from a birthparent that wants to raise them. That would be a terrible thing. The fact is, unicef is openly anti-international-adoption and what is happening now is nothing more than political grand-staning and a massive power trip. And all at the expense of children with waiting and approved families abroad.
For more thoughts and a specific story, read this.
Large powerful organizations with money can "encourage" and "convince" and put the pressure on ... and a government in crisis will bend to the will of a single powerful organization.
Meanwhile, children and people in crisis are not being served, cared for, or respected.
Friday, January 29, 2010
Family and School
I went home last weekend for some good family time!
We went to Rockfish. I'd never been, but it's one of my parents' favorite restaurants. It was yummy!
Angela and Trudy
Mom and Dad
Angela is a Wii fanatic. She absolutely loves Wii Sports! She did this...
...most of the weekend! :)
Arisa and Kento are kids I tutor every Tuesday. I've tutored Arisa for 3 years and started tutoring Kento this year. I love them!
I started back to grad school this semester! I was reading before class yesterday and came across a little education humor!
We went to Rockfish. I'd never been, but it's one of my parents' favorite restaurants. It was yummy!
Angela and Trudy
Mom and Dad
Angela is a Wii fanatic. She absolutely loves Wii Sports! She did this...
...most of the weekend! :)
Arisa and Kento are kids I tutor every Tuesday. I've tutored Arisa for 3 years and started tutoring Kento this year. I love them!
I started back to grad school this semester! I was reading before class yesterday and came across a little education humor!
Monday, January 25, 2010
Another recipe :)
I promise I won't only blog about recipes, though I know it's seemed that way lately.
I don't even have pics this time. Sorry! :(
I used my remaining pork tenderloin tonight and made a yummy dish that I can use for lunches this week.
I cut the pork tenderloin into 8 pork chops. Then I sprinkled one package of Knorr's Vegetable Dip seasoning on one side of the pork chops. I turned them over, careful to press the meat into the seasoning (because some fell off while turning.) Then I sprinkled one package of Knorr's Vegetable Dip seasoning on the other side. I baked them at 350 for 30 minutes. It was so flavorful! Very yummy!
I recommend it!
I don't even have pics this time. Sorry! :(
I used my remaining pork tenderloin tonight and made a yummy dish that I can use for lunches this week.
I cut the pork tenderloin into 8 pork chops. Then I sprinkled one package of Knorr's Vegetable Dip seasoning on one side of the pork chops. I turned them over, careful to press the meat into the seasoning (because some fell off while turning.) Then I sprinkled one package of Knorr's Vegetable Dip seasoning on the other side. I baked them at 350 for 30 minutes. It was so flavorful! Very yummy!
I recommend it!
Tuesday, January 19, 2010
Help for Haiti
My heart has been absolutely broken for Haiti over the last week. The pictures are breathtaking and seem almost as if they cannot possibly be real.
photo: CNN
But they are.
All of them.
The stories that are coming through. The terror. The horror. The absolute destruction.
We throw words around in our culture today to the point that the meaning of those words has dulled.
Absolute Destruction.
I know many of us are having trouble with our own budgets. I know we have had to cut back and make changes in the way we live life.
photos: FoxNews
But we have a roof. Most of us own a car. We eat three meals a day. Our pantry and refrigerator are full and we have 20 restaurants within 5 minutes of our home.
My heart is burdened to go to Haiti. Right now they are asking only medical personnel to come. And I 100% understand and respect that. Right now, they need our prayers. And they need our funds.
Compassion International and the American Red Cross are two organizations that are well respected and make it oh, so easy to give. I urge you to dig deep and donate. Simply click on the links and follow the easy steps. It only takes a few minutes!
I chose to donate through Haiti relief via Compassion International because I sponsor a little boy there and feel ties with them already.
I've read other blogs and they're doing matches and giveaways of large amounts of money. I certainly don't have a blog audience of a large magnitude or the bank account to give a large amount of money. However, any amount of money helps.
For every comment left on this post, I will donate $1 to Compassion International specifically for Haiti relief. All you have to do is leave a comment.
Prayers are most definitely needed!
photo: CNN
But they are.
All of them.
The stories that are coming through. The terror. The horror. The absolute destruction.
We throw words around in our culture today to the point that the meaning of those words has dulled.
Absolute Destruction.
I know many of us are having trouble with our own budgets. I know we have had to cut back and make changes in the way we live life.
photos: FoxNews
But we have a roof. Most of us own a car. We eat three meals a day. Our pantry and refrigerator are full and we have 20 restaurants within 5 minutes of our home.
My heart is burdened to go to Haiti. Right now they are asking only medical personnel to come. And I 100% understand and respect that. Right now, they need our prayers. And they need our funds.
Compassion International and the American Red Cross are two organizations that are well respected and make it oh, so easy to give. I urge you to dig deep and donate. Simply click on the links and follow the easy steps. It only takes a few minutes!
I chose to donate through Haiti relief via Compassion International because I sponsor a little boy there and feel ties with them already.
I've read other blogs and they're doing matches and giveaways of large amounts of money. I certainly don't have a blog audience of a large magnitude or the bank account to give a large amount of money. However, any amount of money helps.
For every comment left on this post, I will donate $1 to Compassion International specifically for Haiti relief. All you have to do is leave a comment.
Prayers are most definitely needed!
What a Weekend!
A weekend in pictures...with captions. (You didn't really think I could refrain from saying something, did you!?)
Julie's birthday was Friday! We did NOT serve this.
Umm, yeah. I messed up.
We did have a blast though!
I got a wine rack from my parents for Christmas. It was fun to fill it and then promptly empty it for Julie's party!
Saturday, I've already blogged about, so I'm not including any pics today. =)
Sunday morning dawned bright and early so I could go cheer on my friends!
I'd never gone to the marathon before, so made some rookie parking mistakes. I enjoyed watching this guy though as he ZOOMED by!
But eventually, I got where I was supposed to be. Way to go Melody and Julie!
Sunday night was quite emotional. Bill, my Bible Study teacher, read us a bit about a missionary's life from her blog. We're focusing on the Walk of Faith and going through Hebrews 11. This week we were talking about Joseph and Bill decided to read a little of a modern day Walk of Faith. It started off normal...just like our own life. A few entries in and we realized this was last week from a Haitian missionary. Many hearts were breaking in the room as all of us quickly figured out that this woman's life went from 'normal' to absolutely tilted on her world's axis in a matter of moments. That was at 5:15. At 6:30, our church service began and, as I'm sure most of you are aware, this Sunday was Sanctity of Life Sunday. As a believer in Jesus Christ, as a woman with a desire for children, as a sister to a woman with Down Syndrome, as a human being living life on this Earth, these statistics broke my heart. Did you know that 90% of pregnancies where Down Syndrome is diagnosed end in abortion? Did you know? There are so many more heart stopping numbers, but that is the one that branded itself into my brain and on my heart.
I knew of a Sanctity of Life March on Monday morning and decided to go.
I left about 12:00, because Melody found her car was officially totalled and she only had one more day of a paid rental car. We both had the day off work, so we went to three dealerships and test drove several cars. We then decided on one and Darrick met up with us to start the negotiating.
She left with this beauty!
And then I went home and crashed from a fun-filled weekend!
Julie's birthday was Friday! We did NOT serve this.
Umm, yeah. I messed up.
We did have a blast though!
I got a wine rack from my parents for Christmas. It was fun to fill it and then promptly empty it for Julie's party!
Saturday, I've already blogged about, so I'm not including any pics today. =)
Sunday morning dawned bright and early so I could go cheer on my friends!
I'd never gone to the marathon before, so made some rookie parking mistakes. I enjoyed watching this guy though as he ZOOMED by!
But eventually, I got where I was supposed to be. Way to go Melody and Julie!
Sunday night was quite emotional. Bill, my Bible Study teacher, read us a bit about a missionary's life from her blog. We're focusing on the Walk of Faith and going through Hebrews 11. This week we were talking about Joseph and Bill decided to read a little of a modern day Walk of Faith. It started off normal...just like our own life. A few entries in and we realized this was last week from a Haitian missionary. Many hearts were breaking in the room as all of us quickly figured out that this woman's life went from 'normal' to absolutely tilted on her world's axis in a matter of moments. That was at 5:15. At 6:30, our church service began and, as I'm sure most of you are aware, this Sunday was Sanctity of Life Sunday. As a believer in Jesus Christ, as a woman with a desire for children, as a sister to a woman with Down Syndrome, as a human being living life on this Earth, these statistics broke my heart. Did you know that 90% of pregnancies where Down Syndrome is diagnosed end in abortion? Did you know? There are so many more heart stopping numbers, but that is the one that branded itself into my brain and on my heart.
I knew of a Sanctity of Life March on Monday morning and decided to go.
I left about 12:00, because Melody found her car was officially totalled and she only had one more day of a paid rental car. We both had the day off work, so we went to three dealerships and test drove several cars. We then decided on one and Darrick met up with us to start the negotiating.
She left with this beauty!
And then I went home and crashed from a fun-filled weekend!
Sunday, January 17, 2010
Call Me Goofy
I don't care if its silly, but I've really been having fun with my camera lately. Its still a point and click job, so its not the camera per se, but I'm still having fun!
I got a hair cut this morning!
I'd like to grow it out, so it was just a trim. I love, love, love my hairstylist. He's just great! He had to cut off enough to keep it healthy, so growing it out means going a little shorter right now, but I like it. =) (I took several silly pics in my car, but in the interest of self-preservation, I'm not including those =)
Here's a pic from last night to see a comparison.
Then I went to pick up my boots. The entire heel was about to come off the right boot and the little tips on the bottoms of both heels needed replaced. I've had them 8 years, so I definitely didn't mind $26 in maintenance! I LOVE these boots!
Have you ever tried dark chocolate covered cranberries? Yumm!
A pedicure was next on the stop for the day. I went with a color I've previously sworn I would NEVER try...
GREEN! (official nail polish color: electric eel)
Genesis and I went walking this afternoon. (This pic is from last week. I forgot to take one today.)
And then I came home and cooked! I'm keeping to my personal challenge and it's been fun! (Again, I know this is silly. I don't care. It makes me smile. =) And it's super stewardship!)
I had pork tenderloin in the freezer. I cut some of it into pork chops
and marinated it in Jack Daniels for about 20 minutes. (I'd prefer to do it longer, but this wasn't really preplanned, so I didn't have time.)
Then I sauteed onion and garlic in a light olive oil
before adding some beef broth and 2 cans of mushroom steak sauce.
I let it cook for about 5 minutes and then added a corn starch and water mixture to thicken. The pork chops went in next
and the final touch was a can of diced Italian style tomatoes. Just a little Italian seasoning for flavor and cook for about 25 minutes.
It was wonderful!
(PS: Now, I'm out of
Does my challenge include whiskey? Hmm...)
I got a hair cut this morning!
I'd like to grow it out, so it was just a trim. I love, love, love my hairstylist. He's just great! He had to cut off enough to keep it healthy, so growing it out means going a little shorter right now, but I like it. =) (I took several silly pics in my car, but in the interest of self-preservation, I'm not including those =)
Here's a pic from last night to see a comparison.
Then I went to pick up my boots. The entire heel was about to come off the right boot and the little tips on the bottoms of both heels needed replaced. I've had them 8 years, so I definitely didn't mind $26 in maintenance! I LOVE these boots!
Have you ever tried dark chocolate covered cranberries? Yumm!
A pedicure was next on the stop for the day. I went with a color I've previously sworn I would NEVER try...
GREEN! (official nail polish color: electric eel)
Genesis and I went walking this afternoon. (This pic is from last week. I forgot to take one today.)
And then I came home and cooked! I'm keeping to my personal challenge and it's been fun! (Again, I know this is silly. I don't care. It makes me smile. =) And it's super stewardship!)
I had pork tenderloin in the freezer. I cut some of it into pork chops
and marinated it in Jack Daniels for about 20 minutes. (I'd prefer to do it longer, but this wasn't really preplanned, so I didn't have time.)
Then I sauteed onion and garlic in a light olive oil
before adding some beef broth and 2 cans of mushroom steak sauce.
I let it cook for about 5 minutes and then added a corn starch and water mixture to thicken. The pork chops went in next
and the final touch was a can of diced Italian style tomatoes. Just a little Italian seasoning for flavor and cook for about 25 minutes.
It was wonderful!
(PS: Now, I'm out of
Does my challenge include whiskey? Hmm...)
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