Living Blossoms

+ Yeah, I know - not nearly as cold as where you live. I ain't complainin'. The other night there was a very slim chance of "ocean-effect snow" flurries at the beaches. I do believe that is the first time in my 6½ years of living in Florida that there has been even a chance of any snow in Jacksonville. Global warming, my butt. (Pretty please? LOL.)

+ I feel rather chic and stylish today. On my way back from St. Augustine yesterday I stopped at the outlets to make myself a liar and buy a pair of skinny jeans. Sarah and I tried them on when we were there a few weeks ago, both left without them, and both regretted it later. Hehe. I'm wearing them today (they're a dark wash, and the only skinny jeans I have ever tried that actually look good) tucked into my comfy black mid-calf boots, with a teal shirt, the black satin blazer I just got from The Thrift Store, and some intricate and rather large black earrings. The skinny pants tucked into riding boots + ponytail + blazer make me feel a bit like I should be riding horses in the English countryside. (*wistful sigh*)

+ This morning I did two workout videos that I got from the library. One was a strength training one by that guy with the long, blond, curly hair and way-too-big-for-his-body muscles. I already knew all the moves, but it was still a good workout. The other was a cardio salsa DVD. I swear I have some sort of disorder where my brain gets way too confused by even simple dance moves so it can't get my body to do them like the examples. I have, like, physical dyslexia, or something like that which doesn't exist. Hehe. Finally I modified two moves and ended up doing okay and getting a good workout. And then I went to McDonald's for lunch. *smirk*

+ Oh! The other day while hunting for solid-colored dress shirts at Goodwill I found what is now my best thrift store find ever! Yes, my $5 Joe's Jeans and $7 7 For All Mankind jeans have been surpassed by a $260 cream leather Banana Republic tote for (drum roll, please) $4! I got it because it was nice and figured it retailed for, oh, $80 originally. Then I got online to check and they don't have one large leather tote under $260! I will probably try to sell it because I can't see myself ever needing a tote that large, except when I'm a mom, at which time I won't be wanting to carry diapers and Cheerios in a very expensive one in a light color. Hehe.

+ Isn't it weird to think of me as a mom? Well, it is to me anyway. But I've thought that a lot lately - "When I'm a mom..." I guess psyching yourself into wanting kids in the near future really does work, 'cause I have done it. I still feel too young to have kids though. Maybe that's something I need to keep working on myself for... or maybe we should just keep waiting. I don't know.

+ I have been very good lately about keeping the dishes done. Now that my dishwasher is out of commission, I really need to keep up on it so I don't have to spend half an hour hunching over the sink to eliminate the pile of dishes that will inevitably appear if I slack off. But so far, so good.

+ I adore this song. I listened to it probably 10 times yesterday, and 3 more today. So pretty. I just wish it was longer!

+ So, I got all the work done that I could do today in a little over 7 hours. I picked Isaac up from home on my way back from Orange Park (where I got stuff for church, so I count it as work time) and he worked on his laptop on my desk while I worked assembling notebooks and letters at my counter. That was nice - I could just turn around and lean over and kiss him. He was kind enough to stuff and seal the envelopes for me as I did other work, which is why I got out of there in under 8 hours. I just have the bulletin and sermon PowerPoint to do on Saturday evening, which means I may get to do more at Fellowship Group than just eat. Yay!

+ Wednesday nights are such awesome TV nights. Pushing Daisies, Criminal Minds (most Wednesdays, but, sadly, not tonight), Law & Order, and Bones to watch online tomorrow or Friday. I just heard the other day that Pushing Daisies is canceled though. Sad. But at least we get to finish this season - unlike what happened to Journeyman last year.

+ So apparently the friends I referred to Swagbucks had a good day too. Instead of being up to 83 points, I'm up to 99! ROCK ON! I'm 1/4 of the way to a $50 Southwest Airlines GC! Thanks to all who've joined under me.

+ Yesterday as I walked to work I saw a sign on a church a few blocks from our house that Tim Hawkins is coming there on Dec. 15! Tim Hawkins is tied with Brian Regan for my favorite comedian. We will so be there to see him! I can't wait. (If you haven't heard of him, look him up on YouTube.) If I hadn't walked to work, I wouldn't have known about this! Walking to work is fun too because Ken and John (youth pastor) walk by my office and look confused - "Wait - I didn't know you were here. Where's your car?" Hehe.

+ I'm wearing a magenta sweater with pretty big (larger than a nickel) jeweled flower buttons today. It's a recent thrift store find, originally from Express, and part angora, so it's really soft. It is SO not traditional Bethany (did I mention it's magenta and has big jeweled flower buttons?), but I love it! Speaking of recent thrift store finds that I love, those 3 pairs of $3 jeans that I got at a recent storewide 50% off sale have pretty much been worn every day since I got them. This is now my Holy Grail brand and size, I think. I hope they still fit when I lose the inches off my hips.

+ I uploaded my potential commercial comp. card photos to Facebook, and would love your opinions on them. If you have a FB, you can leave comments there. If you don't, please let me know here which ones you like best. I need to know which ones are people's faves so I can choose which ones to have printed to show to Suzi. I may end up printing them all... unless there're some no one likes at all. With prints running 19¢ each, if there are just 5 I don't print, that's saving $1. Yeah, I'm cheap. Did I mention paying upwards of $5K for a new roof this week?  =o/

+ I listed some of my CVSing goodies and shoes I barely wore on Ebay. If any of you wear a size 10 shoe, or 11 if you like knee-high boots, check out my auctions. *crosses fingers that it'll all sell*

+ I think getting more cardio has been helping me sleep better. I haven't been laying awake for hours any night since I started walking everywhere. That's a big praise!

+ I've been seriously craving Gilmore Girls lately. I would start watching them again if I wasn't already working my way through Buffy for the first time since it aired. Heh. Maybe I can do both at once?

+ Well, I need to go finish up my laundry and pack for Charleston. We're leaving EARLY, so the next time I update will be from there.  =o)

+ I just got back from the mechanic shop. Isaac said his car's brakes were acting up, so he took my car to work and I took his in this afternoon. I could tell there was something wrong just in the 1½-mile drive there. Turns out it's his master brake cylinder, and he also has a bad CV axle. Those are both quite dangerous, especially considering that 95% of the time his car is driven, it's at highway speeds and/or in rush hour. So we have to cough up $450 for that. Oy. Isaac was still at work when the employee there told me it would take at least 2 hours to fix the car, so I decided to walk home. The employee was appalled! LOL! She offered to give me a ride, and I kept insisting I would be fine, that it was only a mile or two, etc. Finally she caved but she had this crazy worried look on her face. Made me laugh. It was nice though, that she was so worried about me.

+ I also walked a mile and a half this morning. I decided to meet Grams at Panera for lunch, and found out that's not as far as I thought. It was a really great day for a walk. So I walked 3 miles on my own today, and 3.6 with Isaac yesterday. Go me!

+ I was amused that when walking back from the mechanic, I got 4 honks, one whistle, and one "Heyyyy". Ha! Apparently jeans, a t-shirt, and tennis shoes is the new sexy. I didn't even get one honk walking to Panera.

<< 3 hours later >>

+ The photo shoot on Saturday was SO MUCH FUN. I was kind of nervous because I didn't know what to expect, but it was a blast. Isaac went with me just in case. When we were trying to find the old library, we pulled into a parking lot (after going the wrong way down a one way street. Oops!) only to realize that it was a) kitty corner from the library, and b) the law office of one of the elders at church! When I got into the wedding dress getup later on, I was just praying that he wouldn't be driving by! Hehe.

First we did some shots of us in dresses outside. Mine was gauzy and the setting sort of urban, so I really can't wait to see those. It was cold, especially since I was in a pretty short, spaghetti-strap dress! But in the sun it wasn't too bad. Then we went inside to do some dresses shots. Then we changed into our next outfits - which, for me, was the wedding dress. Since the dress was already tattered at the bottom, I asked Tara if she wanted me to punk it up and wear my fishnets and hot pink open-toes. She thought that was a great idea, so I did that. Then I put on my black choker and a bunch of pearls that Celia had brought. It was awesome. We shot outside in an alley, then walking down the sidewalk, then against a (absolutely FREEZING) black metal gate thing. I was SO COLD. The dress was strapless. But actually while we were shooting I didn't notice the cold so much. I was having too much fun! (That or I was numb. Heh.) We came back in and I was going to wear a little black dress I brought, but I was so cold I just wanted warmth, so I put on a sweater and jeans. We then went to the basement, which was warmer, creepy and cool. We did some cool shadowy pics in a chair and then some crazy ones holding onto pipes in a glass room. LOL. What a crazy day, but a total blast. Even Isaac had fun, but I think that may be mostly because he could tell I was having a blast. I know most photo shoots aren't like this one was, but oh man, was it fun. I can't wait to get the pictures!

+ Sunday we had a church potluck Thanksgiving dinner. It was amazing! And my parents actually stayed for it too. They've been so crazy antisocial these past few years. It was fun.

+ Angela's Premier Designs party for my Christmas present was such a huge success that I got everything on my wish list, two things for Grams, and one for Angela! Holy cow! Hers did better than mine did in January. Dude. I told Ange she's never going to top this, but she reminded me that last year I gave her $200 (with an online deal I found), so now we're even. Hehe.

+ The thrift store by my house is doing another storewide 50% off on Black Friday. I can't believe they're doing another one already! They must have a ton of stuff. Well, I know where I'll be when everyone else is waiting in line for hours at Kohl's. Hehe. I actually kind of wish I had people to really do Black Friday with. I think it could be fun. Not that I need any of the stuff on sale, but if I did, it would be fun.

+ And also? HAPPY THANKSGIVING! I hope you have an amazing day thanking God for all He's given you, eat far too much turkey, and pray for the Lions to have one of the biggest upsets in NFL history. Heh.