Project Scripture: Week Eighteen

Sorry I'm late with this week's verse, you guys!  And I don't have a picture tonight either (it's too darned dark to get a good picture of my memory verse board)... Worst blogger ever!

But I'm hoping that this week's verse makes up for it.  I bet some of you guys have heard this one a time or two.

"And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to His purpose." - Romans 8:28.

This is the verse I repeat to myself when life seems to be spinning out of control, and I can't make sense of what He's doing with me.  It helps me to remember that He is always in control and working for my good, even when I can't see it.

Hope you guys have a lovely week!

Weekend fun and a little bit British...

This weekend was fairly fabulous.

On Friday, we had sushi and snow cones with some sweet friends.  It was a much needed break from what ended up being a super stressful week at work. 

Saturday was a good day, apart from an epic decorating failure (post coming tomorrow) and the fact that I had to work for a few hours.

This morning we went to church, and then I drove out to Josephine to hang out with my cute niece.

(I mean, seriously... is that face not too much??)

When we got home, I had just enough time to change before we had to head out the door again for our Sunday School picnic.

We had a blasty blast, and I was able to snap a few pictures between bites of hotdog and these deliciious "hamburger" cupcakes. :)

Micah manned the grill for a little while...

The kids and adults, alike, had a great time playing games and eating way too much yummy food.

And you know what else I did this weekend?

I booked a flight to...

LONDON, baby!

You guys - I've wanted to go to England since I was a little girl and saw The Secret Garden for the first time.  So I honestly couldn't be any more thrilled about it, even if it is for work.  I'll be there for a week, and I'm hoping to be able to squeeze in at least a teensy bit of fun while I'm there.

I'm leaving next weekend, and I'm hoping to be able to blog about it while I'm there, but even if I can't, I'll definitely be Instagraming it up, so come and follow me (@ryanahargrave) if you want to join in on the fun. :)

Hope you guys had a lovely weekend, as well!

Who deemed me competent to practice law?

This week has been... Exhausting.  Crazy.  Exhausting.  Awesome.  Exhausting.  Awful.  Scary.  And did I mention that this week has been exhausting?

Traveling combined with too many deadlines at work has made this girl a basket case.  And a zombie.

So much so that I'm doing dumb things, which isn't really out of the ordinary for me, but I don't usually do so many dumb things in such a short amount of time.

For your entertainment, here's what I've been up to this week: 

- I got a shipment notification from Pottery Barn for something I cannot WAIT to show you guys when it comes in.  I was so excited that I forwarded the following message to Micah:  "Whoo hoo! So excited!" 

Except that I didn't forward the message to Micah. 

In fact, I replied back to the customer service email.  In response, they thanked me for my email and assured me that were dedicated to responding to my concerns in a timely manner.

- I washed my body with bubble bath last night.  Micah snatched my Almond Goat Milk Stuff soap from beside the tub, and I thought I was using body wash.  I couldn't figure out why it was all so... bubbly.

- I spent the better part of the afternoon of my first deposition with my zipper down.

- I ran into a trash can at the airport and apologized to it.

- I ordered a muffin from the Starbucks barista and, as I took the bag from him and put it in my purse, I smiled sweetly at him.  He asked me if I needed anything else, and I said, "just the muffin, please."  Understandably, he looked at me like I'm crazy.

- I sent an email to opposing counsel last night.  From my bathtub.  With approximately six typos in it.

- I contemplated how I might use my purse/cell phone/keys/lip gloss as a weapon at the airport on Wednesday night as I was taking the SkyLink from Terminal C to Terminal D.  As I was jabbing my key in the air (for practice, obvi), I realized that we had arrived at Terminal E (please don't ask me why Terminal E is between Terminals C and D - I am clearly not capable of complex thought right now) and that there was someone waiting on the platform, watching me.

- After I arrived in Terminal D, I went to take the escalator down to the ground level so that I could get to the parking garage.  I saw that the escalator wasn't working so I grumpily picked up my carry-on and huffed and puffed it down the stairs.  When I reached the bottom, I stopped to pull out the handle again so I could roll it to the garage. I look over and see a janitor stepping off the other escalator that was working perfectly, looking at me and probably wondering why I opted to take the stairs if I was so pissed off about doing it. 

And that, ladies and gentlemen, is how it's done.

Thankful Thursdays...

As I'm typing this, I'm running a spell-check on an email for work that absolutely had to be sent out tonight this morning.  After I got home from a flight that landed in Dallas at 11:30 because I missed the flight that landed in dallas at 8:00 because my first deposition (for which I have a WHOLE post planned) didn't quite go as planned.

And, in case you were wondering, this is what Terminal D of DFW airport looks like at midnight. 

So since it's technically Thursday, I wanted to go ahead get this week's Thankful Thursdays post up (given that I'll almost certainly be sleeping in a bit in the morning...)

And you know what I'm thankful for in the wee hours of what I hope will be a much better day than yesterday?

I'm thankful that I get to crawl in bed next to my sweet husband and wake up next to him in the morning.  And I'm also thankful that I can put my first deposition behind me.  As atrocious as it was, I feel certain it can only get better from here. :)

Now you guys spill - what are you thankful for?!

Switcheroo...

Remember when I bought that bookcase?  I mentioned that I wasn't totally in love with it in the space (which was in the corner of our master bedroom) at first.  And while it definitely grew on me, I decided to try it out in a new space this weekend and am pretty sure that's where it's going to stay.

This little circular nook has been giving me so much trouble! It's been so hard to figure out what to put there, but I think a little reading nook might be perfect.

I'm definitely not going to leave it there by itself.  I'm now on the hunt for the perfect chair to go next to it.  And maybe a floor reading lamp?

So yay! But then I had to to figure out what to do with the wall in the corner of the master bedroom.  And I remembered that I bought these book cover postcards awhile back, along with 16 ~ $2 frames from Target, but never found the perfect place to hang them. 

So I went to town with my laser level and these Command strips, and after about a hour, I had myself a really cool, quirky piece of wall art!

I picked covers with pretty blues and greens to match our comforter, and I love the pop of color they give to the room!

So fun, right?

And we also actually finished organizing our pantry, too, but I'm headed to Florida for work for the next couple of days, so I'll have to share those pictures when I get back. :) 

Have a fabulous Tuesday, y'all!

Project Scripture: Week Seventeen

Can you guys even believe we've made it to week SEVENTEEN?! So awesome...

Anyway, here's this week's verse.

"So whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God." - 1 Cor. 10:31.

(I'll post a weekend recap soon! :))

Some confessions...

It's FRIDAY!

So I'm linking up with Leslie over at A Blonde Ambition to spill some of my deepest, darkest secrets!  (And so what if they're actually pretty shallow...)

1.  I'm STUPID excited because I was able to put on my all-time favorite shirt this morning.  And I'm just choosing to ignore the fact that it's a teensy bit low-cut for work because I love it a ridiculous amount.  I'd share a picture of me in it, but the dadgum fluorescent lighting in my office is too crappy this morning for me to snag a picture. (Believe me... I tried and got busted by the cleaning lady.  The things I do for you guys... ;))

(You can almost, barely see the shirt in this picture, which was taken circa 2007 [who says circa?] when my brother was home from the Navy, and we were all out celebrating [I was, as usual, the token sober girl].  Someone got out the red lipstick, and it was all downhill from there..]

2.  While I was at it, I decided to try putting on my all-time favorite pair of trouser pants, and they fit too.  Hallelujah, y'all. 

3.  Micah took off work today, and do you know what he's planning on doing with his free day?  He's going to buy a trailer full of mulch to put in all of our flower beds and trees.  He's such a perfect man.  And I'm the worst wife ever because I'm (not so secretly) excited that he's doing it when I'll be at work so I don't have to help.  I told you - worst. wife. ever.

4.  I've got a women's fellowship tonight with the sweet girls in my Sunday School class, and I'm really looking forward to it.  We're having Mexican food, and I'm just going to have to make myself order the tortilla soup because I was baaaad last night at dinner at Mi Cocina with Micah's parents. 

5.  Micah and I got to the restaurant a few minutes early last night, so I made him take a picture with me. 

It turned out pretty cute.  And you'd never know that he was annoying the crap out of me right before and right after we took this picture.  It's a good thing he's handsome...

6.  We don't have a whole lot of plans this weekend, and I'm pretty thrilled about it.  I've got to work some tomorrow and Sunday, but hopefully we can find some time to go use the Simply Fondue Groupon I bought a few months ago and totally forgot about until I got an email reminding me to use it before it expired in a couple of weeks.  I sure do love me some fondue. :)

So what's up with you guys?  Got any secrets to confess?  Go link up and tell us all about them! :)

Thankful Thursdays (Link Up!)...

How is it already Thursday? Does anyone else feel like this week is flying by??  Anyone?  Bueller?

Anyway... here's what I'm thanking God for on this fine, sunny morning.

{I'm thankful} that it's Thursday... because that means it's a Diet Coke day! (I think I mentioned before that I let myself have three Diet Cokes a week - one on Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday. It's so pitiful how much I look forward to them. :))

{I'm thankful} that my puppy is so cute.

(Because if she wasn't, I feel certain that the fact that she randomly sneaks my socks/slippers/rubber bands around to random places in the house would drive me insane.)

{I'm thankful} that I lost another .8 pounds, even if it did take me two weeks to lose it.  Truth be told, with the way I was eating last week and the week before, I'm shocked that I didn't gain weight.

{I'm thankful} that I get to take my first deposition next week!  It's not in London (or Canada) - it's in Florida, right on the beach, actually.  Too bad I'll be too busy playing grown-up to enjoy the sunshine...

{I'm thankful} that Micah's playing ball again.

(Although, as I mentioned on Twitter the other night, I sure do miss those baseball pants... ;))

{I'm thankful} that when my best friend emailed yesterday with questions about a genetics homework assignment, I actually remembered a lot of it!  It's good to know that those four years I spent suffering through chemistry/biology/biochemistry classes weren't a total waste. :)

And, as always, {I'm thankful} for the love of my life.

Because he's still handsome even when he's got a fat, slimy catfish in his hand. :)

What are you guys thankful for today?  Link up and tell us!

Also linking up with black tag diaries, The Fontenot Four, First Day of my Life, kate says stuff, a punk a pumpkin and a peanut, and Elf House Chronicles.

What I'm Loving Wednesday...

You know what I'm loving today?

{I'm loving} my Mischief Managed, Harry Potter-themed Pinterest board.  Seriously, y'all... when I'm having a bad day, I just have to take a peek at some of these pins, and I'm in an infinitely better mood.  See how they work for you. :)

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via

via (I giggle every time...)

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via (Amen, Albus)

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And, lastly, what may quite possibly be my favorite pin ever...

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I die...

(And go link up to This Kind of Love and The Vintage Apple to share what YOU'RE loving/pinning this week!)

You...

Can I just tell y'all something?

You guys make my day.

It seems like God always uses my sweet blog friends to bless me on the hard days.  Which is so like Him... giving me exactly what I need exactly when I need it the most.

And I guess it's not like today has really been that hard.  Work has been stressful, and I've felt like a colossal screw-up for the past two days, but in the grand scheme of things I'm just being a whiny girl.

But nevertheless, I just want to tell you all...

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Yep. I love you that much. :)

Project Scripture: Week Sixteen

I'm a day late, y'all, but better late than never!

Here's this week's verse:  "Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come." - 2 Corinthians 5:17.

How encouraging to be reminded that Christ can make all things new!

3.1 miles...

I promised details from my 5K, and I'm delivering. :)

I woke up yesterday morning feeling excited/terrified.  After getting dressed and doing my semi-signature side braid, I made myself eat a granola bar because I knew I needed some fuel to get me through the race.

Then we headed to White Rock Lake, where the race was being held.  I didn't make it over there to pick up my race packet the day before, so we spent a little time trying to figure out where to get it.  We finally figured out where to go and parked.

Walking up, I started to realize that my foot was probably going to be a problem.  After my run on Thursday, I started having pain on the outside of my left foot.  Strangely enough, it felt better in heels, so I thought it might be better after I worked all day on Friday and it didn't hurt too bad.  And I thought it'd definitely feel better in running shoes, so I wasn't too worried about it.  But I should have been.  No amount of stretching made it better, and there was a dull pain every time I walked.  And if I'm being honest, I might have bailed out on the race if I hadn't blasted it to all of you guys (and everyone else I've ever met).  But I thought it might get better as I ran, so I decided to just go for it.

One of my friends from work sweetly agreed to run with me, (Micah had decided to let us girls run together and became the designated stuff-holder/photographer... which maybe wasn't the best idea based on past experience... ;)).

(Yeah, I accidentally ripped off my name tag-thingy, and Micah had to rig it up below my number.  I was so obviously a newbie...)

Once Ashley got there, we went ahead and got lined up.

Ashley has done several other races (and a triathlon!), and she suggested that we start in the back so that we didn't get run over.  It wasn't actually a super-big race anyway, but I figured I'd be better safe than sorry.

And then, before I knew it, the gun had gone off, and it was time to go.

Since we were at the back, it was a few minutes before we could actually start running, but once we got going, I actually felt really great - apart from my foot.  I started out with a good pace, and a little Call Me Maybe. :)  And then we hit a pretty humongous hill, so I decided to let myself take a one-minute walk break when we finished the first mile.  My foot was hurting, but it was bearable.

The time between the first and second mile markers is pretty much a blur.  I remember getting pretty tired, but feeling okay.  Ashley was so sweet to stay with my pace, even though I know she normally runs much more quickly. 

And then about 2.5 miles, my foot started cramping.  I had to stop and walk for another minute, and I worried that it wouldn't stop.  But it finally did, and I started running more on my toes, which seemed to help.  My stupid headphones wouldn't stay in, so I finally just took them out, without having made it to Chris Brown's Forever, which was definitely a bummer. 

I finally made it to mile 3 and saw the finish line and took off with much more energy than I should have had at the end of 3.1 miles.

Here I come!

Almost there!  It was right about this point that the announcer guy called out my name and commended me on my strong finish. 

And then I crossed the finish line!

(and this picture totally makes it look like I finished dead last.  I swear I didn't... there were actually quite a lot of people who walked the whole thing, which made me feel a little more hardcore. ;))

Ha... I sort of wanted to cry at this point.

Micah took Ashley's and my picture.

And then it was all over.

I can't really say how it felt to be done.  I was so, so glad to have done it, but I was definitely disappointed to have not been in peak condition, and my time was so much slower than it had been in the past several weeks.  Plus, based on the fact that I was able to turn it on and finish so strong at the end, I know that I could have gone faster.  I think I just needed to have a little more confidence in my ability to finish.  I was so worried about losing steam at the end that I held back a little more than I should have for most of the race.

But, honestly, I was never looking at the race, itself, as the end goal.  It was just my "insurance policy" to keep me running, and it definitely served that purpose.  I wouldn't say that I've fallen in love with running yet, but it is definitely something I'm going to keep doing (after I take a week or so off to let my foot heal).  And technically, because I missed a few days, I haven't actually finished Couch-to-5K, so I'm going to get those last couple of runs logged on the app so that I can officially call myself a Couch-to-5K grad. :)

Bottom line, it was a fantastic experience, and I'm so happy to have done it.  Who knows if I'll sign up for another race anytime soon, but at least now I know what I'm capable of.  And there's no telling what I'll be capable of if I just. keep. running. :)

I survived the 5K!

I swear I'll have a full post in the next day or two, but I had to make sure you guys knew that I made it through the 5K this morning! And I didn't fall down! :)

Pictures and details coming soon... Promise.

Um, I'm running a 5K tomorrow...

Holy crap, you guys.

I run a 5K tomorrow.

I keep telling myself things like this:

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And this...

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And this...

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But mostly?

I'm telling myself this:

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Love,
The clumsiest girl you'll ever meet

Thankful Thursdays (Link Up!)

I'm counting my blessings again, y'all.

Today I'm thankful to be able to work at a job that I love.  Like love.

Being an attorney wasn't really what I set out to do when I graduated high school.  I planned on getting my degree in biochemistry (which I did) and going to pharmacy school after graduation (which I did not).  About halfway through college, I realized that I was entirely too clumsy to be mixing peoples' medications (you think I'm kidding...) and tried to figure out what I wanted to do with my life.  And because He always knows better than I ever could what's best for me, I "accidentally" ended up in a business law course that same semester and fell in love.

So I took another law course the next semester and began to realize that being an attorney could actually be the perfect career for me.  But I wasn't about to throw away all those science classes that I suffered through my first two years, so I decided to finish out my biochem degree and just add in as many extra government/law classes that I could.  Then I learned about intellectual property law (patents, copyrights, trademarks) and figured that it'd be a neat way to tie in the two things that I loved and make a hopefully perfect career out of it.

Turns out I was right. :)

I moved to Houston for law school, and I actually kind of loved it (nerd alert!). I really loved the patent classes I took.  But then the market crashed, and the summer jobs that I just knew would turn into full-time jobs after graduation didn't, and I spent a lot of time trying to figure out what the heck I wanted to do.  After taking the bar exam, and doing everything I could possibly think of to find a job, God dropped my dream job in my lap.  Because He's wonderful in that way.

And now, after having practiced patent litigation for a year and a half, I can tell you that I wholeheartedly love what I do.  And I know so many people absolutely hate their jobs, so I just feel incredibly blessed to get to spend my days doing something I love.  Let's be honest... sometimes I hate it and want to pull my hair out and curse the day I ever thought about going to law school.

But most days?  It's pretty great.

I mean, I totally feel comfortable using legal jargon in everyday life! (Movie quote!) :)

Also linking up with black tag diaries, The Fontenot Four, First Day of my Life, kate says stuff, a punk a pumpkin and a peanut, and Elf House Chronicles.

My Music Wednesday...

A friend (hi, Lisa!) sang this song at another friend's (hi, Hope!) wedding, and I think it's so gorgeous.  I feel certain you will, too. :)

Enjoy Hope Now by Addison Road!

Apparently I missed coffee, too...

In my desperation for Diet Coke, I almost forgot about the fact that I also gave up coffee for Lent.  And tea.  And juices of all sorts.  And anything else that wasn't water. 

And it didn't even occur to me to reward myself with a latte until today.  But I can tell you with absolute certainty that this afternoon's latte was one of the best I've ever had. :)

(For those of you who, like me, don't speak Starbucks, that's a tall, non-fat, sugar-free peppermint mocha latte with extra peppermint.  Which is not to be confused with a tall, non-fat, sugar-free white chocolate mocha latte, which doesn't exist because Starbucks is full of idiots who don't realize how delicious/marketable a sugar-free white chocolate mocha latte would be.  But I digress...)

Guess who ran three miles last night...

... this girl!

Technically I only ran 2.75 miles because the I walked the first lap (quickly) as a warmup lap, but whatever y'all.  I saw this on the screen last night, and I was thrilled.

(And yes, I run a 12-minute mile. I'm slow as Christmas, but I'm still running, and that's all I can really hope for right now. :))

I ran on the track last night for the first time (since high school), and I really loved it - mostly because there were NO HILLS!  And for some reason I was able to zone out a little bit more than I do when I'm running around the pond by the house. 

It was especially encouraging because my 5K is on Saturday, and I was not feeling ready.  Like, at all. 

But you know what? 

I can only do what I can do.  No more, and hopefully no less.  So if I have to take a few one-minute walk breaks, I'm going to take them.  And if I am the last person to cross the finish line, then so be it.  I'm still going to be insanely proud of myself for getting up off the couch and pushing myself far beyond what I thought I was capable of.  And plus...

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Right? :)

Moroccan Argan Oil and an almost-perfect weekend...

Raise your hand if you had a fabulous weekend!

Mine started earlier than usual because I worked from home on Friday, so I was able to call it quits a little early and head to Ulta to do some damage.

I bought this...

(well, not all of it... just the shampoo and conditioner, which I LOVE and am excited to work into the rotation! And it came with a sample of the oil, which I'm seriously obsessed with and will definitely be buying.  I used a teensy bit from about mid-shaft down on damp hair before styling, and my hair feels like silk.)

I also bought some a couple of Essie polishes... neither of which I ended up being in love with, so I won't bother telling you about them. 

And I picked up some new highlighter, which I'm loving.

Napoleon Perdis Mosaic Powder in Gleaming

So altogether a pretty successful shopping excursion. :)

On Saturday I went and got a massage, which was quite possibly the best I've ever had, and Micah got a haircut (thanks, Rach!).  We spent Saturday night with my brother and sister-in-law (and Stella, of course!), which was wonderful.  I just adore that little princess.

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On Sunday, we started out at church and then worked our way over to my Mamaw and Papaw's whereupon I had my first Diet Coke in 40 days (heaven!) and got to visit with my sweet family and a family friend I hadn't seen in a couple of years. 

Then we went to Micah's parents' house where I accidentally locked my keys in my car. 

Ugh. 

So we had to borrow Micah's mom's car, drive all the way back to Sunnyvale (a 40-minute drive), get the spare key, drive back, unlock the car, and then head home again.  It was sort of a beatdown, but oh well.  I got some quality time with Micah and ate some Cuties. :)

And that was pretty much it.  What did you guys do this weekend?

Me and Diet Coke... times five

I'm just curious...

When you guys ask your husbands to take your picture, do you get a whole lot of this?

Or this...

Or maybe a little of this...

(Oh, hey there, double chin... I thought you and I were over for good. Apparently not.)

Before you finally get one of these?

Thank goodness for my sweet sister-in-law, who can usually pull off one of these on the first try...

(And in case you were wondering, I'm posing with a can of Diet Coke to memorialize the delicousness that was the first can I had had since giving it up for forty days.  And, why yes, it was as yummy as I had remembered. :))