Fun with Flowers

I forget how much I love flowers. Whenever I buy them for myself, it just puts me in a good mood. I think I like them even more when I buy them for myself than when Jim buys them (I know, weird, huh?) (not that I don't like them from Jim, too!). So last week we had friends over several times, and I realized that was a perfect opportunity for me to buy a few cheap bunches from Trader Joe's. Yay! I took like a month and a half off of the Creativity Project over the holidays and being with family and all, but by my accounting, this should have been week 21, and I'm using my flower arranging as my creative endeavor...

I think these Stargazer Lilies are my new favorite flower. They just smell sooooo good, and their fragrance fills the whole room. I love walking downstairs and suddenly catching a whiff. Mmmmmmm! The "vase" that they're in actually was a candle holder, but a couple months ago I got some flowers and thought they would look so pretty in it. Unfortunately it was not waterproof, and over the course of the life of the flowers, it leaked all over. So I bought a tube of bathroom sealant and sealed the snot out of it, and whala! A beautiful vase...

I must say, I like my photography on this one. :o) After a few days of a traditional bouquet, I decided to use my 8-candle candelabra for a more unique display (what is it with me and using candle holders for flowers?). I don't think this will be the last time I do so!

Ah, flowers. So cheerful!...I'm curious: What flower makes you most happy, and why?

Blog World...

My son took a blissful 3 hour nap this afternoon! Did you catch that? This little boy who usually settles for a mere 30 minutes slept for 3 hours straight!!! And he did that yesterday, too. I really, really hope we're turning a corner here, and this isn't just some fleeting fluke. This week I'm trying to really work on my New Year's Goal of establishing a routine of some sort, and I'm charting his times and working on consistency, etc...and this might be proof that it's working. (That, and I'm letting him nap in our bed, which seems to be his cozy spot. Hey, if it works, who needs a crib?!)

So, what did I get done in those blissful 3 hours of time to myself? The lists of things I could do ran rampant through my head...but what I did was...waste three hours perusing decorating Blog World. I'm half-way annoyed at myself, but at the same time, it was nice. Too bad now I have all these great ideas for projects...that need to go to the end of my already lengthy project list. Oh well!

Check some of these out...

Like this heart wreath:

or this one:

Or this awesome remake of old shirts:

Or these silky flowers:

Or this cute family tree (something I've been itching to do for awhile now...):

These are only the beginning of all the cool ideas I gleaned...Now I just need to do some of them!

Note to self: If I am fortunate to get some more long naps from the kiddo, I must flee the temptation of looking at more blogs and instead work on the pile of projects I already have to do (many of them are fun, too!)...We'll see how I do!

2011!!!

OK, so I know we're several weeks into the "new" year already, but this is my first chance to do some reflecting. I don't know how many countless blogs I've written in my mind over the past few weeks, but alas, none of them have ever made here to blog-world and thus have disappeared into oblivion. But not so this one! Aha!

2010...Wow! The turn of the decade turned out to bring about many turnabouts to my life. What could have been a lousy year (thanks to being laid off, enduring unexplained infertility, and sprouting many more grey hairs...among other things) I think ended as one of the best years of my life so far, namely because of the high-maintenance bundle of joy named Jadon who entered our lonely existence. What a kid! Every night as I cradle him to sleep in my arms, I am nearly overwhelmed with all-consuming love for this little guy. A baby truly is a miraculous thing. So I ended last year fatter, more disorganized, less in-shape, more exhausted, and less on top of things than I've ever been before, but I wouldn't trade that for anything.

And now it's a new year! Time for new perspectives and fresh starts on all the resolutions I always seem to have. So here's what I'm thinking:

GOALS:
1. Physical: I want to be 10 pounds lighter by my birthday in May, and make sure that same 10 pounds are off by the end of the year, too. To do this, I also plan to get back into my healthier eating habits, i.e. midweek desserts replaced by salads, less snacking, less pre-packaged meals. I also want to maintain a very do-able 3 x's per week exercise plan.

2. Spiritual: Jim challenged me to take this "Radical Challenge" with him, based on the writing and preaching of pastor David Platt from Brook Hills Church in Birmingham, Alabama. It consists of 4 parts:
*Read through the Bible in a year (Jim does this every 3 years anyway, but I've never done it--in a year--because it always felt so tedious. But having a kid definitely changes quiet times and I realized having this checklist to read everyday makes it much more likely that I'll actually spend more than just 5 minutes with God before starting my never-ending to-do list of household duties and projects. After searching for a plan to follow, I came up with my own--read 5 chapters (more or less) a day, straight through from Genesis through Revelation. I'm a little behind, but so far, so good!
*Pray for the world. Jim got me Operation World for Christmas, which is an excellent resource. We're trying to pray it together at night (but it hasn't become a habit yet, so I need to get on that!).
*Give sacrificially to something. We're working on that on a few fronts.
*Spend a week in a cross-cultural experience. I might tap into last year's Haiti trip for that because I'm not a big fan of spending thousands of dollars for yearly big trips. However, our youth group will spend spring break doing VBS and evangelism on nearby Camp Pendleton, and I'll be part of that.

3. Personal: *Figure out a flexible routine that will enhance Jadon's growth and my sanity (currently, every day subjects Jadon to a new schedule thanks to ministry and all the people and agencies interested in Jadon as a foster child. We definitely have to work on this!)
*Blog at least once a week (My sister who lives in Israel scolded my on my irregularity...Sorry Sawah!)
*Clean out my garage.
*Sort through my teaching boxes and either discard my paper files or turn important ones into digital.
*Try new recipes and organize all the ones I've cut out over the years.
*Complete Jadon's 1st year album (I think I'm going to try digital scrapbooking)
*Be more careful of my negative words to my husband (this one isn't so tangible...I have to figure it out more...)

I'm sure these are more than enough to keep me more than busy, but in addition, I do have a few HOPES for 2011, that beyond doing what I can will require God's intervention:

HOPES:
1. Jadon will sleep through the night (soon!)...This kid is definitely not a sleeper. We're talking maybe 10 hrs. total at night if I'm lucky (interrupted by at least 2 wakings), and 20- 30 minute naps on average. He wakes up happy as a clam, but I, on the other hand, am pooped!
2. We will film movie #2 this summer...We're like 10 drafts into the script and moving forward full steam, but finances are still a major issue. And I have to admit, if God wants us to wait, I am certainly not opposed to having a "selfish" summer. But I HOPE that God will be clear as to His intentions for this project, because other than feeling like He wants us to do it, we are not clear on the when for now.
3. Pending on the results of #2, our non-profit that we started last year will bring in sufficient funds to [start to] change the future of orphans in at least one impoverished area, probably Africa but perhaps Haiti.
4. My to-do list of projects will be significantly accomplished.
5. My parents will find their dream property down here and buy it. :o)
6. My small group of girls will grow radically in their spiritual development.

I can't wait to read this again 12 months from now and see how 2011 went!

(Any of you have similar goals...or different ones?)