Friday, January 30, 2009

Company Girl Coffee 01.30.09



Hello to my Company girls.

Today is a bit overwhelming at work. I am the author for a statistical analysis plan that is supposed to go to the FDA next week, and just this morning I was given about 50 things to change in it. (Ok, ok, 50 is a bit of an exaggeration, but it's still a lot.) Many of these last-minute changes are the result of my boss doing research on a similar trial that went to FDA in the past, so they are of course mega-important. And mega-hard to wrap my brain around.

So I'm spending quite a bit of time looking up statistical information on the internet and in SAS (that's the coding software we use) documentation. It feels a bit...or a lot...like grad school. I have to keep taking mini breaks to avoid becoming overly frustrated.

On another note, here is the answer to last week's trivia:

TRUE or FALSE: Children have angels in heaven who always have access to God.

Answer:

TRUE

Crazy, huh? I was like, no way. But look at Matthew 18:10: "See that you do not look down on one of these little ones. For I tell you that their angels in heaven always see the face of my Father in heaven."

Now for this week's trivia:

What natural disaster occurred when an angel rolled back the stone sealing Jesus' tomb?


I did pretty well on points this week. I went through all the organizing on paper. The main thing I realized is that I should be more diligent about keeping up with my laundry so it doesn't become overwhelming. I liked Rachel Anne's idea of doing some in the morning and evening. I even thought about what a great idea it was this morning as I rushed by my empty washing machine and cold clothes dryer on my way out the door. Ah...maybe next week I'll actually follow through?

Hope everyone's had a splendid week!

God bless,
Kara

Thursday, January 29, 2009

Supermarket


It's easy to identify people who can't count to ten.
They're in front of you in the supermarket express lane.

Be patient with everyone.
1 Thessalonians 5:14 (NIV)


An excerpt from God's Little Instruction Book.


Wednesday, January 28, 2009

How to Work

Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for men, since you know that you will receive an inheritance from the Lord as a reward.
It is the Lord Christ you are serving.

- Colossians 3:23-24


Just a little Scripture pick-me-up for any of you feeling bogged down and tired of your daily responsibilities. Whether at home, in the car, at work, or in the store, do it for God. Your work is from Him and for Him.

Monday, January 26, 2009

My Grandpa and Weekend Pics

My grandpa (Dad's dad) had a quadruple bypass open-heart surgery today. I was praying a lot. Thankfully, God brought him through the surgery ok and he's now recovering. I was definitely a little on-edge today until I got the confirming phone call from my dad. But he called me a little while ago and said everything is fine. I'm so relieved!!

On another note, I wanted to share some pictures from this past weekend, so here they are:

On Friday night, as I mentioned I was going to, I went line dancing with Kristin and Julie. It was so much fun!! I'm hoping it will start to be a more regular outing.

Julie, me, Kristin


Saturday I went to the bridal shower for my wonderful friend Jenn Hadra who moved out to California for her now-fiance. It was good to see her and I got to eat some yummy food. :)


Jenn opening her gift from me and with her beautiful rehearsal bouquet.


Amy Williams and me just chillin' :)


Me and Jenn

Many of you know that we've had fire-bellied newts and red-eyed tree frogs since last May. Well, sadly, both of our tree frogs suddenly got sick and passed away this last week. Dave and I really have no idea what happened...they were fine and then they were gone. Luckily, though, I happened to take pictures of the last tree frog Saturday just hours before he passed away. He even seemed fine while I was taking these pictures. It makes no sense. :(




Finally, just a couple pictures I took last night. I really like the one of me and Rogan.


Maggie sleeping on her dad


Kisses from the wifey




Friday, January 23, 2009

Company Girl Coffee 01.23.09



It's Company Girl Coffee day!

I think I am going to start posting trivia every Coffee day from a book Dave and I got for Christmas..."The World's Greatest Collection of Fun BIBLe TRIVIA." (I copied the capitalization of the letters just as they appear on the cover of the book...odd, huh?)

So...today's trivia question is:

TRUE or FALSE: Children have angels in heaven who always have access to God.

I would like to also share that I may have broken the record for the greatest number of Small Things points earned in one day, thanks to the wonderful shoe Small Thing yesterday. I rallied in my husband to help me and collected...drumroll please....24 PAIRS of shoes!! Yes, that's right. We had 24 pairs of shoes sitting by our front door. Ridiculous? I do think so. :) And there are only two of us!

Tonight I am going line dancing with some friends and I am soooo excited. One of the local bars, City Limits, provides free line dancing lessons at 8 o'clock on Friday nights. I stay for the dancing and leave before it gets routy, and I just love it. I grew up doing a lot of dancing...mostly tap, with some jazz, hip hop, and ballet mixed in. To this day, dancing lifts my spirits so much! So that will definitely be the high point of my day.

One last thing I wanted to share was a song I was listening to this morning in the shower. It's a song by The Afters that I had played at our wedding reception. The words made me tear up this morning, taking me back to my wedding night. This song just really makes me think about the love in a marriage...how you're united, to be there for each other through thick and thin...swimming through each others tears and holding onto each other even when love is a raging sea, as the song says. Love is not always wonderful and easy...but it's big enough to make it through...and that's why I selected this song for my wedding reception and why I want to share it now. :)

God bless!

Thursday, January 22, 2009

Points are my motivation

I am a points person. I will do about anything if I find out I can earn points for doing it. Points are simply a great motivation.

And you know what's crazy? Oftentimes, the points earn me nothing tangible or valuable in the end. I just like points. Weird.

My current activities that earn me points are the following:

SparkPeople
Every day I log on to track my food consumption, physical activities, and glasses of water that I drink. They all get me points. Then this little graphic "trophy" on my homepage changes as I earn more. This point earning process motivates me much more than many of the motivational articles that the site provides (which, surprise, you get points for reading).

BlueCross BlueShield BluePoints
I get this great point earner program from my health insurance. Every day I log on to record my physical activity and the number of fruits and veggies I eat. I've found myself scarfing down many more fruits and veggies since starting the beginning of this month. I have to eat 5 fruits or veggies 5 out of 7 days of the week, or I don't get any fruit/veggie points for that week. Strict! I know! And bonus: these points actually lead to prizes!! I'm currently thinking about getting some headphones (by taking a health analysis I got a whoppin' number of points very quickly), but I'm also contemplating saving all my points until the end of the year and getting something super duper. We'll see.

Company Girls - Small Things
Company Girls is a group of women who log onto the same blog daily (written by Rachel Anne Ridge) to find out what "Small Thing" they will do that day to make their home more of a sanctuary for their family. And...whattayaknow...you get points for doing the small things! And Rachel Anne is even so nice as to provide prizes for the points. Isn't that sweet?? Once again, I'm always super excited to participate. I've started a Google doc to keep track of my daily points. It's quite motivational.


So...maybe points aren't your thing. But if they're not, you should figure out what is. And then stick to it. Because it can help you achieve a lot!! I'm getting more in shape, I'm eating healthier, my house is getting more organized, and I'm less stressed! It's pretty excellent, I must say.

Tuesday, January 20, 2009

Winter Wonderland

Well, it is 11:29am and I am curled up on my couch with my laptop, a hot mug of coffee, and my two pups beside me. Must say I'm pretty happy right now. :)

Yup, work got canceled. Because it snowed. Which is kind of funny to me. Now I will give them some credit...it is a lot of snow. Probably 5 inches or so (at least that's what it looks like). But if I were in Indiana right now, the roads would be completely clear and the city cleanup crew would have turned the beautiful crisp layer of snow into a pile of brown icky mush hours ago. But not in North Carolina. Nope. The roads are barely commutable here in Raleigh. The only way to possibly travel above 15mph is to find the tracks of some earlier car on the road and follow them as closely as possible. Even then, you're looking at top speeds of 40-45mph. On the interstate.

And how do I know this? Because I spent an hour and fifteen minutes on the road this morning. I woke up and found out we had a two-hour delay (and felt like I was back in high school), so I slept in for a while, then decided to go to work half an hour early to make up some time I'm going to miss later this week. It was a long trek, and I passed probably 5 cars that had driven off the road, but I finally got there. When I pulled in found that there was only one other car in the parking lot. Hmm. So I went in and headed up to my office when my cell started ringing. I answered it just as I walked in and set my stuff on my desk. It was Kristin.

"Did you get the message?"

"What message?"

"The Durham office [our office] is closed today."

Are you KIDDING me?? They sent out an email ten minutes before I got to work (2/3 through my trip) saying that the office was closed. Sigh.

So I loaded my stuff back on my shoulders and headed back to my car. And drove all the way back home. Slightly annoyed that I'd driven so far in such horrible driving conditions for no reason, but still thrilled to have the day off.

So here I am. I think Maggie and Rogan are pretty excited to have me home. Especially Rogan. She normally stays in her kennel all day (until she stops destroying things when we're not around). They've already pranced around in the snow and played inside for a while. Much better than spending a day locked up.

Alright I'm off to do some things I've been wanting to do. Such as print out pictures for photo frames, work on our wedding scrapbook or photobook, etc. Fun stuff. :)

God bless!


The most snow I've ever seen in North Carolina. From inside my house. I wasn't feeling the urge to go back out there for a picture.


A picture I had to share because I thought it looked like something out of a Martha Stewart catalog :-P



Don't let their looks of annoyance fool you...my dogs are glad I'm home.

Thursday, January 15, 2009

Tension

The tension and fear in the air over the economy is so thick some days. It has been like that lately even in my home. (Although it's probably my self-created tension that I experience solely on my own. Dave doesn't worry about much.) I find myself wondering, what will we have to do to make ends meet if the worst happens? Dave and I both have our jobs right now, thank the Lord, but every day I hear about more and more people being let go all over. It's scary.

A friend of mine shared some words yesterday that really impressed me and touched my heart. I want to share them with any of you who may be suffering or are simply very worried during these times:

"Well, what I told [her mom] is this...you really have minimal control over the economy, you can only control how you look at it. That's not to say I suggest running out to a casino and throwing away 5 grand, or that I don't recommend budgeting and being smart with money. But, knock on wood, should you or anyone else get laid off...and I hope with sincere hope that doesn't happen to you or anyone else really...but instead of seeing it as a total disaster, I think people need to see it as God bringing them a new opportunity to learn from and grow from. Sure, times will be tough until they find a new job, but maybe the new job is God's way of bringing them more happiness or bringing someone into their life that will teach them a wicked valuable lesson. It's not a great situation to go out and celebrate, but I think people need to be more open to what God's bringing into their life, rather than what they see as Him taking away."

I thought her perspective was so amazing. It really woke me up and made me realize I have no reason to be worried or anxious. God's got a plan. We just need to keep that in mind at all times. Whatever happens, God is in control.

Tuesday, January 13, 2009

ProQuo

Through reading others' blogs and sites, I just stumbled upon the wonderful site ProQuo. This is a website that enables you to manage your junk mail, credit card mailings, catalogs, etc. It's pretty neat! You just sign up (for free) then tell them what you do and do not want to receive in the mail. (And I'm talking about mailbox mail here, not email.) Check it out!


ProQuo: http://www.proquo.com/

Monday, January 12, 2009

Don't worry.

How much pain have cost us the evils which have never happened!

Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life?
Matthew 6:27


-excerpt from God's Little Instruction Book

Friday, January 9, 2009

Company Girl Coffee 01.09.09



So I think I understand this now
...on Company Girl Coffee days, we all write little blogs to the Company Girls and read one another's? Did I get that correct?? :) (Last time I just did the Mr. Linky thing and felt very confused (yet thrilled) afterward when tons of people commented on my blog.) [PS to all you readers who have no idea who I'm talking to or what I'm talking about, click the "I'm a Company Girl" link to the right.]

Today Dave and I (and our pups) are driving to Charlotte for our third Christmas. Yes, that's right. Third Christmas. I must admit that my decorations are not put away in my house...I didn't feel the urge to do it when I knew I wasn't done celebrating yet. Zero Company Girl points for me. :( Dave and I spent Christmas with my family in Indiana, then his dad, step-mom, and granny came to visit us last weekend, and now we're going to see his mom and step-dad and have Christmas with them this weekend. (Actually, his dad and step-mom get to see us again since they all live in/near Charlotte...lucky ducks. :) ) Nothing much exciting has been going on lately, other than nightly entertainment with our new Wii and Wii Fit. (Whoo hoo for Christmas presents!!)


If you haven't tried the Wii Fit, you definitely should. I love it. I've read in magazines so many times to keep my core tight and maintain my balance when doing exercises, and I've always assumed I was fairly good at it. Wii Fit quickly clarified the situation for me. My little red "center of gravity" is pretty shaky at times. And then when I see it wiggling, it makes me giggle. Which messes up my "tight core" (because my stomach is shaking) and then pretty soon the little red "center of gravity" is going CRAZY all over the screen. It's pretty entertaining. Find a friend with a Wii Fit or have your in-laws surprise you with one like I did...you'll be glad you did. :)


My points for Company Girls didn't go too well this week...I got zero. :( I already mentioned the Christmas decorations...then I'd already super-duper cleaned the toilets this past weekend...then last night I didn't have time for the utensils. I'm not sure what else I'm forgetting, but the bottom line is that I pretty much failed miserably. Next week is a new week, though, right???


Alright well not much else to say right now. I hope everyone is having a wonderfully splendid day.
God bless.

Thursday, January 8, 2009

Freecycle

I found this great new site called Freecycle. You simply sign up (for free), and then you get regular emails from people living near you that are either offering or asking for items for free. There have been all kinds of great things so far (although I have yet to get one). I've seen TONS of baby items, furniture, a sattelite radio, poinsettias, books, toys, clothes, a wine rack, fake Christmas trees...it's pretty cool. The theory behind all of it is that they are keeping trash out of the landfills, which sounds like a good idea to me.


You should check it out! www.freecycle.org

C&J Twins

I just wanted to do a little post as a congratulations to my wonderful friend Casey and her husband, Jason, who just lately announced that they are pregnant, and then today found out that they are having twins!!!

Casey, I love you to pieces, and I'm soooo happy for you. :)

Tuesday, January 6, 2009

Cold world

If the world seems cold to you, kindle fire to warm it.

- Lucy Larcom, hymnist

Monday, January 5, 2009

Christmas catch-up

Here are a few more details and pics from my Christmas vacation up north.

First of all, I finally got to meet Shawn!! (My older half-brother, for those of you who don't know.) He spent a day and night at my parents' house while I was there, and it was so great to hang out. Below are some pics from the occasion.



Shawn, Aaron, me, Evan, Collin. (I feel like I look like a midget in the middle of them.)

My mom "encouraged" (aka "forced") us all to bake and decorate Christmas cookies while Shawn was visiting. My favorite outcome from the cookie baking definitely had to be the following picture:



Yes, that's right, My father made a gingerbread woman in a bikini. He is such a goofy man.

After the great holiday days (aka Christmas Eve and Christmas), I also got to hang out with the wonderful Brian Fife, the splendid Jessica S-Squared, and the amazing Alison Clendenning and Tori. Sadly, I forgot to get pictures with Brian, Alison, and Tori. :( (Speaking of which, I forgot to get pictures with a bunch of family members, too. Dad...can you email me some?? :) )


Jess and me

When we got back to NC, Dave was excited to find that a tent he had ordered had arrived. What followed was 30 minutes of my husband reverting back to a 10-year-old, building the tent in our living room and climbing inside. In fact, he was so excited, he climbed in before he'd taken the time to put it together. See below. Such a silly boy.





Mm mm chili

Dave and I made the following chili last night, and wow is it scrum-diddilly-umptious!! We made a ton of it so that we would have it to eat throughout the week. I quickly discovered that cooking chili is a GREAT way to get rid of leftovers!! If you've never tried it, you definitely should. I felt like a 5-year-old again, getting all excited because I could dump in anything I wanted.

Ingredients:

2 lbs ground venison, browned and drained
2 bulk-size cans diced tomatoes
2 cans black beans
1 can kidney beans
1 can pinto beans
a bunch of dried onion flakes (we didn't have an onion)
Leftover diced tomatoes (in addition to the cans mentioned above)
Leftover salsa
Leftover marinara sauce
Leftover corn
Loftover half a green pepper, diced
Lots of chili powder
A couple dashes of cumin

Saturday, January 3, 2009

A thought to fall asleep to...

And as I get ready to head upstairs to our bedroom and cuddle up under my covers, I want to share this quote I just found that put a smile on my face:

The atheist can't find God for the same reason that a thief can't find a police officer.
Author Unknown

Hehe.


My emotionality

I thought I made the word "emotionality" up. Apparently not. I plugged it into Google, just out of curiosity, and whattaya know. Someone beat me to the punch. According to several web sources, "emotionality" is "emotional nature or quality." That definition works fine for me. That's pretty much what I was going for.

So where I'm going is this: I think I figured out my Christian emotionality. My Christian emotional nature. As I stated a couple days ago, I'm at a point in my life where I'm not interested in "emotional" Bible studies. I've continued to reflect on that blog entry, trying to figure out exactly what I was getting at. I feel that I set myself up for misinterpretation and possibly causing defensiveness in others, which I hope didn't happen. I hope everyone could view my blog entry as personal opinion and preference and not take it as me saying "I'm right and you're wrong." That was definitely not my intent. My intent was more to write out my own thoughts, reflect upon them, and save them for future reference.

After thinking for several days, I figured out what it is that I don't like about these so-called (by me) "emotional" Bible studies. It's the fact that to really get anything out of them, I have to be excited. I have to be all God-giddy. (Maybe I should be referring to these as "excited" Bible studies instead of "emotional" Bible studies. I think I will refer to them as "excited/emotional" from now on.) So...as I was saying, to get into these Bible studies, you have to be God-giddy. And that's very easy for some people. So people are so God-giddy all the time I want to just stare at them in awe and wonder. Regretfully, I'm not one of those people. I'm a God-.... I can't even figure out the word. Let's put it this way. I love God. I am comfortable knowing I am His child. I am eager to learn about Him all that I can. But I rarely get God-giddy. That doesn't mean I don't feel a deep desire for Him within me. My desire just doesn't manifest itself as it does in others. I have more of a serious, down-to-earth, and solemn devotion to God. Maybe this isn't good. Maybe my quest after God and even my life would be more fun if I could learn to be lighter about it once in a while. But I can't. At least at my current place in my spiritual walk. Right now I have too many unanswered questions, spinning thoughts, and confusion about God. I've learned so much about Him, and I feel that I grow more and more into the person He wants me to be every day...but the more I learn, the more questions I have. It's like the deeper I dig the more difficult it gets. I feel completely secure in His grace, yet my head is spinning in wonder and curiosities. This process become more and more serious (maybe not always in a good way), and then when an "excited/emotional" Bible study comes along, I feel like it interferes with my process. Maybe I'm being too hard-headed and stubborn. I don't know. (In case you haven't noticed, I'm just sort of rambling at this point with no end in sight. So I'll stop.)

ANYWAYS, moving beyond the "excited/emotional" Bible studies...as I said, I recently realized my Christian emotionality. Or, rather, the way to spark my Christian emotionality. It's clearly not Bible studies or books. But it does exist.

It's music. Turn on any one of many select Christian songs, and if I'm not careful and composed, my eyes will be filling with tears in seconds. It's actually rather pathetic. I cry on the way to work all the time. And on the way home. Or on the way to the store. Music just touches me. There is something in a good Christian song...a connection between the words and the instruments...as if the words and the instruments work together to move me in a way that neither could do alone. And I can just feel God warming my heart. I still don't get God-giddy. As I said, that's not in my nature. So even if I had wonderful praise music playing in the background, I still don't think I could get into the "excited/emotional" Bible studies. But while a good Christian song is playing...at least for a moment, for those 3 minutes and 47 seconds that the song endures...I can feel intense emotions surfacing from deep within, most definitely coming from my connection with God. It actually puts me on an emotional high. While that song is playing, it's just me and God, with me completely focused on Him and truly feeling His Presence. It's amazing. Three minutes and 47 seconds with God in song lift me up more than would ever be possible for even 3 hours of an "excited/emotional" Bible study. God-inspired music touches my soul.

Along these lines, I found a song today that really moved me. It reminded me of how God's love is there for me not matter what. If you're touched by music in any way like me, watch this video and listen. The second half is the best part.





So that's my method to feeling emotional for God. It's music. God forbid I ever went deaf. That would be quite a way for God to challenge me, huh? (Dear God, I was just speaking hypothetically, please let me keep my hearing...)

Related posts: Give Me Your Eyes

Friday, January 2, 2009

Quiet

Today when I pulled into my work parking lot there were about 10 cars. In fact, there were zero cars in the area of the lot that I park in, and I had to pause for a moment and wonder if I'd missed the memo about a January 2nd holiday.

In any case, it is very nice a peaceful in the office building today. I must say I'm enjoying it.

Along the note of workplaces, it is days like today that I'm semi-glad that I don't have a window office. I can just sit here in my oblivion and pretend that it's sunny outside, even though it's not. And I have nothing to show me otherwise. Goodbye seasonal affective disorder. (I'm totally joking.)

My windowless office