Hands lifted high...

I finally made it to Isaiah last night.  After deciding to read the entire Bible several years ago and taking several breaks along the way, I have finally gotten to the first book of the prophets.  As I was speed-reading through the first chapter last night, racing through each verse so I could finish the chapter and congratulate myself for being such a good little Christian, I hit verse 13.

And it smacked me right in the face, stinging my cheek and bringing tears to my eyes.

Stop bringing meaningless offerings, He said.

Stop bringing meaningless offerings, Ryan.

He doesn't want my empty prayers.  He doesn't need me to speed through His Word without comprehending it.  He doesn't care that my body is in a pew if my mind is somewhere else.  He isn't impressed when I color inside the lines just because I should. 

There's nothing I can hold up in my hands to make Him proud.

He just wants me.

My heart.

My time.

My praise.

He wants my hands lifted high and completely empty.

Because anything else is meaningless.

A magic little potion...

I was planning on doing a little eye makeup tutorial here sometime soon (I've never done a video blog before, but I'm considering trying for you guys... you'd have to just ignore my awkwardness), but I've got to share something now that just can't wait.

I recently bought this Urban Decay Eyeshadow Primer Potion Set:

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And can I just tell you guys... I'm totally obsessed.  I used to have trouble with my eyeshadow wearing off by the end of the workday.  But this stuff is like magic.  Like super-duper, makeup fairy-esque magic.  You put it on under your eyeshadow, and it keeps it looking fresh all darned day.  Here's a picture of my eyeshadow at 7:45 PM...

(Please ignore my "I'm taking a self-portrait and can't decide whether I want to smile or not, so I'll do this mysterious thing with my mouth so that no one will be able to figure me out" look.  It's not my best.  Also, you should know that I did not touch up any of my makeup, so I'm looking pretty Edward Cullen-ish.)

... which I applied at 7:00 AM.

Magic, I tell you.

I got the sample pack because I couldn't figure out which color to try (and because it's on sale - win!), and I love them all.  But my favorite is the gold-ish Greed, which I use as my base eyeshadow, so I only have to apply whatever color I want to use in the crease.

Anyway, this is definitely not a paid endorsement - just wanted to pass on this glorious knowledge to any other eyeshadow enthusiasts out there. :)

(Also, I feel like it's important that I tell someone that I've been using the Instagram app for a few months now and just now realized that I've been sharing all the pictures I edited with my "followers." Good thing I kept it clean! ;))

What up, yo?

(Yeah, I'm totally thug.  Who wants to know?)

I'm feeling much better today!  Still not 100%, but almost. And so far, it doesn't look like Micah's caught it, so fingers crossed I didn't give it to him.  I am a little bummed that I missed his first game with the church softball league last night.  He was definitely excited to go, and I felt like the worst wife ever for not going, but whatever I had was apparently really contagious, and I didn't want to give it to anyone else.  (Plus, I was incredibly weak and just overall yucky-feeling and couldn't really muster the energy to get out of my pajamas.)

But otherwise we actually did have a great weekend! We had dinner to celebrate Bubba's birthday on Friday night.

We got some stuff done around the house on Saturday and took it easy on Saturday night.  On Sunday we had lunch with Micah's family and had some new friends from church over for dinner.  We had such a great time!

Unfortunately, Micah also totally ruined his iPhone this weekend.  I'm not supposed to say how, but it may or may not have involved a certain handsome engineer falling into the lake with his phone in his pocket.  But who really knows... :)  We tried drying it out in rice like all the articles online instructed, but as of yesterday evening it was still totally dead.  Thankfully I still had my old iPhone laying around the house, so he's using that one until we feel like forking over the dough for a new one.

This morning we met with a financial planner, and I'm SO excited to finally get a plan together for organizing our finances.  We've been trying to save and be financially conservative, but we didn't really have a plan, and Micah and I both operate better with an organized plan (preferably one involving Excel spreadsheets). :)

Lastly, Lent is going really well!  I'll be honest, I totally forgot to read my two chapters the first day (utter FAIL), but I read two extra chapters the next morning and have remembered every other night, so I'm going to call it good.  And I've managed to resist the lure of all non-water drinks (i.e. Diet Coke and Starbucks) so far.  But I'm really hoping it doesn't get any harder than this because I swear, y'all - I'm almost to the point where I'm about to have to start searching for Diet Coke-flavored chapstick...

Ick...

**Update - It's definitely a bug.  Apparently my brother, sister-in-law, mom and dad all have it.  We all went to dinner on Friday to celebrate my brother's birthday and seem to have caught it from Miss Stella Bella.  If that little princess wasn't so darned cute... :)**

So my plan was to post a fun weekend wrap-up this morning, but I'm feeling too sick to do just about anything.  I'm not sure what happened, but I either have some version of a stomach flu or a mild case of food poisoning.  Ick.

I hope you guys had a wonderful weekend, and I promise I'll check in soon!

Project Scripture: Week Nine

On to Week Nine, y'all.  Yay!

What a blessing it is to know that we worship a God who is always just as faithful as He was the day before! 

Apparently I Tweet now...

So I've been thinking about getting back on Twitter again for awhile, and I finally tracked down my old password, so I figured I'd let you guys know where you can find me.

I'm here at @Mrs_Hargrave.

So far, I've only managed to steal a line from Britney's version of "I Love Rock N Roll," but I feel certain I'll get better soon. :)  I'm planning on using Twitter for all the random, silly, every day ramblings I have when I can't squeeze a post in.  (Such as the fact that I spent the whole darned day yesterday thinking I had lost my wedding band but ended up finding it in my bobby pin container.  Apparently I'm just working too hard these days - my brain is mush when I get home!)

So anyway... if you've got a Twitter, let me know so I can follow you.  I'm feeling awfully lonely. :)

Running Must-Haves: Couch-to-5K App

I know that I just posted about how Couch-to-5K was going and that it's all I can talk about lately (I really hope I'm not totally boring you guys), but I really wanted to make sure everyone knew about the Couch-to-5K app.

Maybe I'm the only idiot, but for my first couple of Couch-to-5K workouts I didn't realize that there was an app that would make my life a million times easier, so when I ran I'd just take my iPod with me, set my workout playlist on shuffle, and then keep an eye on the stopwatch on my iPod to figure out when to run and when to walk.  The problem was that I was constantly fiddling with the iPod and couldn't really relax enough to focus on the run, especially at the beginning when the intervals were at a minute and 90 seconds - I was constantly looking down!

Then I found this app:

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Things that are awesome:

- When you're ready to start a workout, you open it up, select which workout you want to do (e.g., Week 4 Workout 1), and it does all the hard work for you.  It loads up a timer, which shows you which interval you're on, how long you have left on that interval, and which interval is coming next.  When that interval is over, and it's time to start the next one, she gives you verbal cues to tell you what to do (e.g., "Let's jog!").

- If you have music on your phone, you can add songs into the music player.  To keep it simple, I just pull up my "Workout" playlist and add all the songs.

- You can see your overall progress for the workout in the little "track" around the timer, as well as the total amount of time left for the workout. 

- One of the best things about it is that it uses the GPS on your phone to track your route, calculate your total distance, and determine your pace (e.g., X minutes/mile).  When you finish a workout, you can add it to your "log" which shows you your stats for all of your past workouts, so you can see how you're progressing.

Things that aren't awesome:

- The app isn't free.  I can't remember exactly how much I paid for it, but I think it was $2-$3.  And I have a weird thing about paying for apps (I seriously have maybe paid for one other app), but I think it's totally worth it.  There's actually another Couch-to-5K app called "Get Running (Couch-to-5K)," which looks like it's pretty similar, but I went with this one and love it.

- If you're not following the Couch-to-5K plan pretty closely, you might not find it super helpful, as the timers are all based upon the workout as designed. 

- The music player doesn't seem to have a repeat functionality, so if you get through all the songs you've added, it doesn't start over with the first song again.  You have to go back and add them all again, which is a pain to do while you're running. 

Overall, I'm in love with this app, and I'd recommend it to anyone who's attempting to get off the couch and out on the pavement.  :)

There's a first time for everything...

So I think I'm going to give this Lent thing a whirl.

As fate would have it, I'm a Southern Baptist gal and not actually Catholic.  And I've never, ever participated in Lent before.  At least I don't think I have.  (Which suggests that I have not, because I feel certain that I'd remember giving something up for 40 days.)

So we've established that I'm utterly inexperienced in this.  But the idea of taking 40 days to focus on Christ is so appealing to me.  Yes, I do realize that I should be focusing all of my days on Christ, but I am unavoidably human and continue to struggle with this very basic tenet of my faith.  So I'm thinking that this might be pretty perfect for an imperfect girl like me. :)

So what am I giving up?

Well, again, it's something I should probably already be doing anyway, but for my first Lent stint (ha!), I'm giving up all non-water beverages. 

On the Slim-4-Life plan, I'm limited to 16 oz. of non-water drinks a day anyway, and I'm not ever allowed to drink any dark colas (i.e. NO DIET COKE!).  But because my love for Diet Coke is deep and unyielding, I allow myself two diet cokes per week.  What can I say... I'm a rebel, y'all.  (And you'd better believe I savor every last drop of those two cans.)  And Fresca is free game, so I usually have one of those every other day or so, as well as the occasional Skinny Peppermint Mocha from Starbucks as a treat.

I realize this is probably pretty lame, as far as spiritual sacrifice goes, but I think it'll actually be a really neat way to give God a little more of me.  When Wednesday afternoon, say 2:30, rolls around, and I start craving a cold can of deliciously refreshing, aspartame goodness, I'll think of Christ and what he endured for me and remember how small my sacrifice is compared to His.

And because I want to really make this about Him and not my desire to be healthier, I'm also going to commit to reading two Bible chapters each day.  Yet again, I should be in the Word daily, but I don't always make time like I should.  Maybe this will jump-start a habit?

So what are you guys giving up for Lent?

(And also, happy birthday to my big brother.  You're almost 30, Bub.  Holy cow, you're getting old! ;))

One month...

As of today, I have been running for exactly one month.

This is, by far, the longest I've stuck to any workout regime since high school.  And it feels really good to have not given up yet. 

I've run in the rain.

I've run in the cold.

I've run until my shins are throbbing (from the pain of repeated heel strikes) and my calves are burning (from the effort it takes to try and run on my toes so my shins don't hurt).

And you know what? 

I'm going to keep on running.

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I'm not telling you this out of any sort of pride.  I am lazy and short-sighted, and I've given up on so many "I'm going to start working out" kicks that I've lost count.  So, believe me, there is absolutely no pride here.  I'm only telling you what I'm telling myself so that maybe I'll eventually believe it.  And so that maybe you can help keep me accountable?

But just in case, I invested in a little extra "insurance" to keep me motivated to stick with it.

I registered myself and Micah for the 2012 White Rock 5K on April 14th.  I'll be running a 5K in less than two months, y'all! 

It's so exciting.  And terrifying.  And I have this weird fear that I'm going to fall on my face in front of everyone (which wouldn't be altogether surprising), but I'm going to do it anyway.  I'm going to find my strong and do this thing that's difficult.  And I'm hoping that one day I'll look back at this goal that seems huge and insurmountable to me right now and smile at the strength I didn't know I had.

Project Scripture: Week Eight

I hope everyone is having a fabulous weekend!  We've actually taken it pretty easy around our house.  (Currently, Micah's fixing some turkey burgers, and I'm finishing up a project for work.)

I've gotta be honest, y'all - I really had trouble with this past week's verse.   I'm not sure if it was because it was extra long (two verses, to be exact!), or if was just a little more gramatically complex than the past verses, but I didn't really get it down until yesterday evening.  Thankfully, this week's verse is a little simpler, so we should all be able to get it much easier. :) 

Here's the verse for Week 8!

I hope you all have a wonderful week, and happy memorizing!

Thankfuls...

It's Friday!  Whoo hoo!

In celebration of the coming weekend, I thought I'd post some things I'm thankful for today.

In no particular order...

I'm thankful that I had the best tall, skinny peppermint mocha (with extra peppermint) of my life this morning.  Seriously... SO good.

I'm thankful that Pottery Barn put these cute moss sphere vase fillers on sale (with free shipping!). 

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I've been scouring the earth for more things for the plethora (yeah, I just busted out an SAT word on you) of glass containers lying around my house, and these are just perfect.

I'm thankful that I allowed myself an extra workout at the Week Three pace.  I'm just not quite ready to bump up to five minute running intervals.  The transition to Week Four on Sunday is not going to be fun at all.

I'm thankful to have so much support from you all on this weight loss/running journey.  Seriously.  I can't even tell you how wonderful it has been to know that y'all are rooting for me.  It motivates me to keep going so I don't let you down. :)

I'm thankful that we finally broke down and got DVR last year.  Because what in the world would I do if I actually had to choose between Private Practice and Jersey Shore? (Man, I'm pathetic...)

I'm thankful that I was quick enough to score a gorgeous bookshelf from Noteworthy Home for our bedroom.  (Her stuff goes so quick {because it's all gorgeous}, so when you see something you like, you have to snatch it up before someone else does!)  It's being delivered tomorrow, and when I get it all set up and accessorized I'll post pictures.  For now, I'll show you her picture.

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Gorgeous, right?  I just love the bun feet and molding!

And last but definitely not least, I'm thankful that I got to have sushi at lunch today.  Because, let's face it, sushi is always a good idea. :)

Linking up to Miss Mustard Seed's Furniture Feature Friday!

Find your strong...

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After unintentionally taking a few days off from running, we got back on track (pun definitely intended) last night. 

And I'm not gonna lie... it sucked. 

I was working really hard to find my strong but still couldn't quite finish the three-minute running sections of the workout, even though I had been able to the last time I ran.  It was an important reminder that, for me, consistency is important.  Because when I take a few (or five) days off and remember how blissful laziness feels, I have absolutely no desire to put on my running shoes again.  And the longer I go between workouts, the higher the chance that I'll just give up completely.  Again.

But thankfully I made myself put my shoes on and take the first step out the door last night.  And, believe me, it definitely sucked.  But I finished.  And I feel certain that it'll suck at least a tiny bit less tomorrow, and that is what's keeping me going.

If there's anyone else feeling defeated or tired or ashamed for having given up yet again, remember that every day is a new day.  Every morning brings a new opportunity for us to find our strong.  And when we can't find it, we can always rely upon His. :)

Eleven Things...

I sure love it when I can lazily (it's a legit adverb, fo sho) rely upon others to supply content for a post.  And it's definitely a bonus when it involves me getting to share random tidbits about myself with you.  So I'm taking Leslie up on her universal tag of all of her readers in this cute little game.

Here are the rules...

~you must post the rules

~post 11 fun facts about yourself

~answer the 11 questions that the tagger posted for you & then create 11 questions to ask the people you've tagged

~tag 11 people and link them in your post

~let them know you have tagged them

Here are the eleven fun facts about me...

1.  My favorite, ahem, profane exclamation is "mother flip."  I'd almost always prefer the original, but I'm a Southern lady, and we try to keep that kind of thing to a minimum, y'all. 

2.  My middle name before I got married (and moved my maiden name to my middle name) was Elisabeth.  Why, yes, it is just like Elizabeth, but with an "s."  Can you even imagine what a beatdown it was for me when I was in elementary school with a name like "Ryan Elisabeth"?  Boy-ish first name + weird, out-of-the-box middle name = automatic seat at the semi-dork lunch table.  But I guess the fact that I occasionally wore ties and medieval headdresses (like the one pictured below) to school probably didn't help.

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  (But to be fair, I really love my first name now.  Well done, Mom.)

3.  I'm exactly two and a half years to the day younger than my brother.  He always calls me on my birthday to wish himself a happy "half-birthday."  :)

4.  99% of the time, I fall asleep within two minutes of my head hitting the pillow.  It's a gift that I never take for granted.

5.  Every song on the Harry Potter and the Sorceror's Stone Soundtrack is on my favorites playlist on my iPod.  It's only slightly embarassing when Micah's friends are over playing pool and "Fluffy's Harp" starts playing on my docking station.  Cause then I can just change the song to "The Boy is Mine" and regain all the cool points I lost.  (Perhaps it's time for me to invest in some new music?) (But who else is excited that Brandy and Monica are collaborating again!??)

6.  I love kissing in the rain.  And falling asleep to the sound of rain. 

7.  I could eat blue cheese every day for the rest of my life and not be sad about it.

8.  When I bend over to pick something up, I almost always have to lift my leg up behind me like I imagine a ballerina would do.

9.  There's a lady and her husband who sit behind our Sunday School Class group at church and sing every song at the top of their lungs and off-key.  I really, really wish they wouldn't.

10.  I've never met anyone famous.  Ever.  I almost saw the girl who played the mean girl in The Babysitter's Club movie and Joey's pregnant sister on Friends while I was in New York, but I got back from the bathroom too late, my old roommate tells me.

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11.  If there's music playing, I'm almost certainly wiggling my toes to the beat.  I have no idea when I started doing this, but I can't stop myself. 

Here are the questions that Leslie posted...

1. If you could raid any celebrity's closet, who would it be and why?

It's probably too predictable, but definitely Jennifer Aniston.  Her style is so timeless and classic. 

2. If you were a shoe, what would you look like?

These.

Valentino Couture Bow Platform Pump via

Hands down.  Classic black peep-toe pump with just a hint of sass. :)

3. What is your biggest pet peeve?

Oh, this is hard.  Despite my comment above, I'm not usually easily annoyed.  (I swear, y'all... they sing really loud!)  But I have to admit that the incorrect usage of they're/their/there, you're/your, and to/too can sometimes send me spinning out of orbit.  As Ross said, "Y-O-U-apostrophe-R-E means 'you are.'  Y-O-U-R means 'YOUR!'"

4. Favorite song of all-time?

Hardest question EVER.  I can't.  I just can't.

5. Are you a dog person or a cat person? And why? (If you don't like animals, we can't be friends.)

Dog person.  I love how sassy cats are, but I need unconditional love.

6. You're queen for a day. How do you spend your royal 24 hours?

Smuggling out all the crown jewels, of course!

7. What's the most delicious thing you've ever eaten?

Oh, wow.  Oh, wow.  Visions of cheese and buttercream frosting and heavy whipping cream are dancing in my head.  (But not together, of course.  It's more like a conga line.)  Truthfully, I can't really narrow it down to just one, so I'll just tell you that the Chocolate Mousse Cake from Stein's Bakery in Dallas is pretty darned delectable.  It's my birthday cake every year and kept coming to the front of my mind over and over as I deliberated this question for approximately nine-and-a-half minutes.

8. What scares you the most? (This can be deep and complex or shallow...whateva you feel like!)

Alligators.  Or crocodiles.  Either/or.

9. Which celebrity do you wish would drift off into obscurity?

Miley Cyrus.  The sound of her braces/retainer (whatever the crap it is that makes her sound so strange) is the only thing I hear when she sings, and it makes me want to cry.

10. You're 16 years old again. What advice would you give your younger self?

You're going to have your heart broken soon.  But by the time your next birthday rolls around, you'll have met the man you're going to marry.  He's worth all the tears, I promise.

11. What's your Starbucks order?

Tall, skinny peppermint mocha.  Delish.

Here's who I'm tagging in this post...

I'm taking Leslie's cue and tagging YOU!  Anyone who's reading and wants to join in the fun is invited! 

Here are the questions you've got to answer...

1.  Where would you go if you could go anywhere in the world?

2.  Name a beauty product you can't live without.

3.  What's something you hope to do in the next five years?

4.  If you could take three things with you to a deserted island, what would they be?

5.  Favorite song? (See if you can do it.  Maybe I'm just cray-cray?)

6.  What's the best book you've read recently?

7.  Team Edward or Team Jacob? (Or do you hate them both?)

8.  If you could be any person for a day, who would it be?

9.  Something delicious you ate recently? (I won't make you pick your favorite because that's just mean. ;))

10. Describe yourself in five words or less.

11. What's something you're good at?

If you decide to play along, definitely come link your post up in the comments so we can come check it out! :)

XOXO.

What I'm Loving Wednesday...

Happy Wednesday, y'all!

I'm loving a lot today, so I'm linking up with Jamie at This Kind of Love to share some of my faves on this lovely morning!

I'm loving that, even after my temporary bout of insanity, Micah and I ended up having a WONDERFUL Valentine's Day.  I left work early so I could stop and get groceries to make Ranch Chicken and Loaded Potato Casserole. 

                        Ranch Chicken via                                       Loaded Potato Casserole via

We made dinner and Chocolated Covered Strawberries together and then watched Twilight:  Breaking Dawn, Part I.  Micah was such a sport about it, but he did say several times, "I just don't understand.  This movie is horrible."  But I can't help myself.  I love me some Edward Cullen. :)

I'm loving that, after a few days off, Micah and I are running again tonight.  We've been SO busy the past couple of days, and it has been SO cold here, but it should be in the 60s tonight, and I'm ready to keep going with Couch-to-5K. 

I'm loving my very favorite eye makeup duo:  M.A.C's Retrospeck and Tempting.

Retrospeck via

Tempting via

I've used these colors together consistently for my everyday eyeshadow for at least 7 years, and they'll probably always remain my favorites.

(You can kind of see what they look like in the picture above, although I was really just trying to get a picture of my hair so I could remember how to do the side braid for the next time. :))

I'm loving... these recent Pinterest finds.

cake batter puppy chow via

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ranch chicken via (this was good, y'all! although I'd definitely use tenderloins next time)

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And, as always, I'm loving my precious, adorable, wonderfully perfect husband!

Just the facts, ma'am...

These are the facts, and they are undisputed.

- Micah and I have a history of sucking at Valentine's Day. 

- Micah is sort of the opposite of most guys:  he's wonderful to me all year long but sometimes drops the ball when it comes time to pony up the artificial, Hallmark-type romance. 

- I, on the other hand, am a typical girl.  I want him to want to pony up the artificial, Hallmark-type romance without me having to tell him to.  And I also want him to understand this about me without me having to tell him.  So, basically, he should be a skilled mind reader.  (Which I maintain is not an unreasonable requirement, but I digress.)

- With full knowledge of the utter disaster that ensued the last time he forgot to make dinner reservations for Valentine's Day, Micah made reservations at a nice steakhouse in Dallas a full week in advance.  Very well done, I must add.

- Yesterday I realize that I have put absolutely no thought into a gift for him, so I call to ask him if he's gotten me a present yet.  He says he has an "idea," but he's not sure "what kind" to get or where to get them.  Being a skilled mind reader myself, I tell him that pearls are a fairly expensive and timeless gift, and that he (we) should probably do some research before we spend that kind of money on them.  After recovering from shock at my psychic-esque skills, he agrees that we just won't exchange gifts this year.  I convince myself that I really am fine with not getting a present and almost succeed, remaining slightly frustrated that he didn't plan ahead to make sure I felt extra special on Valentine's Day.  (Never mind the fact that I had absolutely NO plans for a present for him.)

- Last night, I realize that, as sweet as the gesture was, I don't really want to eat steak on Valentine's Day.  I'd rather have a quiet night at home with Micah and go to dinner somewhere on Saturday.  So I tell him this.  He tries to cancel the reservation from his phone but can't, so he asks me to call and cancel the reservation.  I become unreasonably angry that he won't take care of it himself since, as I pointed out, he is the man, and husbands should always just take care of things like this, but especially on Valentine's Day.  We both get frustrated, and we end up going to bed angry.

- This morning, we wake up happier (as we usually do), but I corner him in the closet as he's trying to get ready for work.  I ask him why he can't understand that Valentine's Day is about husbands doing sweet things for their wives.  I tell him that he's the best husband in the world 364 days of the year but that on the one day he's supposed to make me feel special, he fails miserably.  He remains quiet, and I follow him out into the kitchen, fully prepared to continue lecturing him.

Until I see this on the counter.

Utter wife FAIL.

Apparently he had stopped by the store yesterday evening, after all.

No, it isn't pearls or flowers or some over-the-top, expensive, predictable gift.  It's just my husband, loving me in his sweet, understated, consistently wonderful way.  Just like he does every other day of the year.  It's just one more piece of evidence that he is more than I could ever deserve.  (And that I'm a crazy, ridiculous girl who sometimes forgets that society's perception of romance isn't reality.)

Now I've just got eight hours to figure out how to fashion a gift from office supplies and the candy jar in the kitchen at work... ;)

(And, for the record, we didn't actually drink the champagne before work, in case you all were wondering...)

More on the Sweet Tea Candle...

Our weekend wasn't exciting at all, really.  We took it pretty easy, and right now we're cuddled up on the couch watching the Grammys.  (P.S. How wonderful is Adele?  Isn't she just lovely?  And don't you all pretend you're also an international phenomenon while you're driving down the road singing "Rolling in the Deep," belting it out with feeling and doing her hand motions? And when you finish, you say "thank you" in your best British accent?  No?  So, it's just me then.)

So, since we're so boring, I don't have much to share tonight.  I mostly just wanted to post a little more about the Sweet Tea candle I posted about last week.

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Any local readers can pick one up at Southern Simplicity in Rockwall, TX, and any out-of-towners can buy them online here.  (And, just so you know, Southern Simplicity has no idea that I exist.  Not a teeny tiny little clue.  Just wanted to share about this delicious-smelling candle becuase I like you guys and because I feel like I'd be doing you a disservice by leaving you in the dark about it.  It's scrumptious.  And that's it for the annoying I'm-an-attorney-and-just-can't help-myself part of this evening. :))

Alright, y'all.  Hope you guys had a wonderful weekend and have a GREAT week! :)

Project Scripture: Week Seven

Hope you guys are having fun with this.  I know I am!  Here's this week's verse.

I feel like confessing...

Fridays just feel like a good day for confessing, don't they? 

1)  Yesterday was a running day, and by about 4:00 in the afternoon, I was actually... looking forward to it.  I can't even believe I just said that, but it's true.  I'm just halfway through Week Three of Couch-to-5K, and I'm already looking forward to running.  Holy cow.  Who would have thought?  Now, make no mistake, about halfway through the workout last night, I was cursing the world and wondering why any sane person would voluntarily submit themselves to such torture (clearly, I could never survive any sort of interrogation... or anything even remotely challenging, apparently), but I powered through.  And my time was even better than my previous workout! 

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2)  Micah has been out of town since Tuesday, and I've been reminded how crappy and boring my life would be without him.  Even just watching TV is more fun when he's sitting beside me.  I also didn't love the fact that he wasn't here to hold Lilly's leash while we ran, so I had to deal with her, instead.  (She's just too pitiful when I put on my running shoes and go out the door without her.  Micah said the last time I left her home, she whined for about five minutes.  Poor little princess.)  I spent a stupid amount of very precious energy keeping her from spazzing out every time another person/dog/car/leaf came near us.  I definitely won't take him dealing with her for granted anymore...

3)  I've got a pretty significant dent in my windshield on my car, and the crack is starting to spread quickly.  I've been putting off getting it fixed, but I'm pretty sure my time is about up.  Ick.  I guess I'll go ahead and get my squeaky brakes, dented bumper, and cracked stepside fixed at the same time.  My car's a hot mess.

4)  I recently pinned this sweet, sweet story.  Instead of paraphrasing it, I'll just post the story and the letter written by the daughter of what must be the cutest couple in the history of time:

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"We always give a small metal box with this story inside to friends who are getting married. Tim likes to include $50 and a note saying, "the first 50 are on us." We've loved making this tradition a part of our marriage and hope you do to. It's never too late to start!

Dear Ann Landers,

Last weekend, we celebrated my parents’ 50th wedding anniversary. This morning they left on a long-awaited trip to Hawaii. They were as excited as if it were their honeymoon! When my parents married, they had only enough money for a three-day trip 50 miles from home. They made a pact then that each time they made love, they would put a dollar in a special metal box and save it for a honeymoon in Hawaii for their 50th anniversary. Dad was a policeman, and Mom was a schoolteacher. They lived in a modest house and did all their own repairs. Raising five children was a challenge, and sometimes, money was short. But no matter what emergency came up , Dad would not let mom take any money out of the “Hawaii account.” As the amount grew, they put it in a savings account and then bought CDs.

My parents were always very much in love. I can remember Dad coming home and telling Mom, “I have a dollar in my pocket.” She would smile at him and reply, “I know just how to spend it.” When each of us children married, Mom and Dad gave us a small metal box and told us their secret, which we found enchanting. All five of us are now saving for our dream honeymoons. Mom and Dad never told us how much money they managed to save, but it must have been considerable because when they cashed in those CDs, they had enough for airfare to Hawaii, plus hotel accommodations for 10 days and plenty of spending money. Before they boarded the plane, Dad winked and said, “Tonight we are starting an account for Cancun. That should only take 25 years!”

Ann, I thought you’d enjoy this story about 50 great years of intimacy in marriage!

From a loving daughter in Abilene, Texas"

 

Is that not the sweetest, most adorable thing you've ever heard?  I feel certain that I'll be giving this as a wedding present sometime soon.

 

Alright, loves.  I think that's about all the dirt I can scrounge up right now.  Happy Friday, and enjoy the weekend! :) (And if you have your own secrets to spill, be sure and link up to A Blonde Ambition!)

Another treasure...

I found another treasure in Micah's bible the other day.

That's my name there on a notecard.  (Yes, I used to sign my name with a halo above it.  I even put the halo on my driver's license signature when I was eighteen.  Man, I was obnoxious back then.  But I've totally grown out of that.  Totally.  Well, probably.  Or maybe.  Surely?  Actually, probably not.  Okay, definitely not.  Alright, I'm still totally obnoxious.  Sorry.) 

We were in the same Sunday School class in high school (which was actually taught by Micah's dad.  Isn't that precious?), and every week we drew names for a person to pray for during the week.  Apparently Micah drew mine one week and decided to keep it in his bible.  For approximately ten years or so.

Even after all this time, Micah continues to surprise and dazzle me.  He truly is the best man I've ever known.  Plus, he's handsome.  And smart and funny.  And he runs with me so I don't get murdered.  (I may or may not have an irrational fear that someone's going to jump me from behind while I'm running.)  And he pumps my gas for me.  And he snuggles with me even when he doesn't want to.

So I can't really help but love him.  Thank goodness he loves me back. (Even in spite of my obnoxiousness.)

Three minutes...

Oh my goodness, y'all. 

The past few days have been crazy.  Like, insane. 

But before I get into what we did this weekend, can I just tell you about how awesome it was to start Week Three of Couch-to-5K tonight and to be able to run for three minutes without stopping??  I honestly never thought I'd be able to do that, and it was an amazing feeling.  AND, I'm working on my running mechanics (running more on my toes), so my shins and knees don't hurt near as badly as they did last week.  I'm so excited!  (It's the little things, apparently... :))

Anyway, so back to our crazy weekend.  Here's what we did from Saturday through tonight:

I met Lauren for a BFF pedicure and lunch date.  (Whereupon I bought this cute little "@" for the side table in the living room.  And a sweet tea-scented candle.  Yeah, I said sweet tea-scented.  It smells like heaven.  Like a delightfully Southern heaven.)

Micah went to the Dallas Boat Show with his Dad and brother.

We drove to Josephine to have turkey and dressing with my extended family. (Apparently my Mamaw was craving dressing and didn't want to make a whole pan for just her and Papaw, so she invited all of us to come eat with them.  It was delicious.)

We went to a work friend's birthday party.

We brought breakfast for our Sunday School class.

We had shrimp creole (marry me!) at my Mom's house. 

We went to a Superbowl party with our Sunday School class.

I went to a women's event at church.

I survived a big presentation at work for one of the partners.  Whew.

Micah went to his first men's group meetings with our Sunday School class.

I kicked off Week Three of Couch-to-5K.

All that in four days, y'all.  I'm exhausted just typing it all out.  And the food... ugh.  Let's just say that I was NOT a very good dieter this weekend.  I'm definitely back on track again, but I'm rocking a pretty gnarly sugar headache today.  I will definitely not be indulging in peanut butter balls, pretzels dipped in chocolate, or donuts again any time soon. 

But all in all, I think I've still earned myself a nice bubble bath.  Don't y'all? :)