Fill in the Blank Friday

1. If my house was on fire and I could only grab 3 things I would grab my Vespa key, laptop, and my Zeebee picture. (Zeebee was my childhood zebra that is now framed. It is so sweet and I want to give it to my children one day. I guess I would have to grab the shed key to so I could ket to the Vespa.)

2. A smell I really like is clean laundry and yummy man (aka... a boy showered).

3. Something you might not know about me is that I hate wrapping presents. I like the thought of it, but they never come out as perfect as I would like.

4. Some of my favorite websites to putter about on are I Heart Organizing, The Little Things We Do, Young House Love, Prudent Baby, and Tatertots and Jello. I do love a cute, organized, and crafty blog!

5. This weekend I will be styling something fun because we are going out to celebrate J's birthday tonight. (Yea! He made it home!)

6. Nothing makes me happier than getting something fun in the mail or waking up in the middle of the night and realizing I have hours left to sleep.

7. A bad habit I have is leaving dirty dishes on the counter. I HATE washing dishes. I always regret it when I have an hour's worth to do.

Link it up here @ The Little Things We Do

Standing Still

Some of you might have noticed that I took a little hiatus from blogging. In reality, I took a little hiatus from my life.

Last year when going through treatments and such, I was told often that I was handling everything so well. "Strong", "courageous", and "positive" were thrown around freely. In reality, I was a complete mess. Those of you who know me really well, know that I have changed. It is partially (and majorly) due to how I handled things. Sure, I continued to work, go to school, and have a social life, but that was me trying to stay in control. Looking back, I should have rested more. I should have gone for more counseling. I should have gone to those support group meetings more often. I should have asked for help more. I should have done things differently. I should have prayed more.

In April, I got the "all clear" and I felt good for awhile.

After awhile, I became discouraged because my energy levels weren't back to "normal". Some of the things I enjoyed before, I did not enjoy as much. My heart was hardened and I am not sure I truly realized how much. I also lived in fear. I had dreams about cancer taking over my body. I wasn't as confident. I stopped going to church. I slipped in and out of depression.

When I learned that my cancer had come back, I was devastated. That is when the hiatus began. If I wasn't at work or at a treatment then you can bet I was in bed or on my couch. I watched an insane amount of TV. I cried a lot and I would make excuses when people asked me to do things. I did not want to and did not feel like doing anything. Some days were a little better than others. Really this past weekend was the most productive I have been in awhile.

Yesterday I learned that my treatments have helped, but I am going to have to have more. It would be very easy for my to continue in my desire to escape from all that is going on around me, but I am hoping that will not be the case. In that hope, I am focusing on something "new" for me.

A couple of weeks ago, J asked me to go to church. While I was reluctant, I went with him. We go to Crosspoint and Pete had just started a new series called "More". That Sunday evening, Pete used Joshua 10 in his lesson. The passage was the story of Joshua and the Isrealites defeating the Amorites all because God had promised them victory and Joshua asked that the sun stand still. The sun standing still... that is crazy, but Joshua had the faith to ask God to do the "impossible." Pete posed the question, "What is your sun still prayer?" When walking out of church that evening, I slipped my hand into J's and thanked him for inviting me and that I was glad I went.

J asked me to church again the next week. At first, I told him that I wasn't feeling well. He asked again right before he left and I reluctantly agreed again. This time, Pete shared the story of Abraham focusing in on our relationship with God. "God can't put things in our hands because we are grasping too tightly to our picture of the future." Sheesh.

Pete reminded us that we should not base our whole theology on these little passages and I agree with that. However, these passages have been a good kick in the butt to help me get on with life. My sun-still prayer is that God heals me- that he heals me of cancer, he heals me of hurt, he heals me of my control freakish ways, he heals me.

I want to go from standing still in my life to having the sun-stand still.

Thank you to everyone who has reached out to me. Please keeping praying for me. A sun-still prayer...

Houndstooth for the Auburn Fan

I knew that as soon as I shared about my magazine holders, someone would give me a hard time. For those not in the world of the SEC, Alabama coach Bear Bryant wore a trademark houndstooth hat. Being an Auburn fan, I would not promote anything Alabama related, but houndstooth is just so cute! Plus, the pattern for this project is very forgiving. My blood will always bleed navy blue and "pretty" orange. War Eagle!

Anyways, here is a little simple how-to for the magazine holders.

I used priority mailing boxes. I went ahead and put them together because it was easier to measure. After you cut, each box will make two holders.

For the cuts, I measured 4 inches from the side of the box. Using a box cutter, I made a 3 inch cut down. I flipped the box over and did the same on the other side. Then, I made another long cut connecting my two 3 inch cuts. (See picture above.)

When you are finished cutting, you will get holders that look like this...

For covering your holders, you can use scrapbook or wrapping paper. I opted for the wrapping paper. Make sure though that the paper is thick (high-quality). I picked my paper up from Hobby Lobby using a 60% off coupon. (Only $1.20!)

Now, I am a horrible wrapper so I cannot give you directions here. I just stumbled my way through it. This part was the most time consuming. I was glad I got the houndstooth because the pattern was forgiving and overlapped easier than some other prints. In the end, I came out with these...

I had several large scraps that I will save for future projects. (Maybe an anti-Alabama project?!) I did go ahead and make this little Valentine's piece...

I had the red frame from the good ole Delta Xi days. I typed up LOVE in red and printed it out. Next, I cut out the letters and glue them to my scrap. After putting it in the frame, I decided LOVE was more of a coral shade than the frame, so I used a red Sharpie and colored the letters to make the red pop. I do think it screams "Roll Tide" so as soon as Valentines is over, I will retire this little piece. We wouldn't want people getting the wrong impression. ;)

I linked up...

Cleanliness Is Next to Godliness...

The dish is clean! Fridge Purge is over with. The weekend of cleaning and organizing is coming to an end.

When it comes to cleaning, I think I have ADHD. I will start something and then get carried away with another little project. This weekend was no exception. The main goals were to wash dishes, clean the counters, and get my files in order in the filing cabinet. Those are almost finished, but here is what else got done during my "sidetracks"...

The junk drawer got organized.

My spice/coffee cabinet got some attention.

The pantry is now presentable.

My magazines have a cute new home.

A little Valentines' goodness was made.

This weekend I also:
Had a fabulous time at Book Club
Watched 2 episodes of Mad Men
Planned all meals for the week
Couponed
Went grocery shopping
Went to farmers market
Had dinner with China friends
Signed up for Susan G Komen 3-Day in Atlanta
Installed light bulbs
Did laundry
Cooked lasagna
Wrote 3 letters
Paid bills
Went to church
Video chatted with J (so ready for him to come home!)
And read half a book

I need another weekend to recover.

Part of the reason, why I stayed busy this weekend is because tomorrow I go in for my scan. I am really anxious about this so staying busy helped me not to think about it. Anyways, if you could say some prayers for me tomorrow that would be wonderful.

Tomorrow is going to be uber busy with DIBELing at school, the scan, leadership meeting, and possibly attending McGavock's PAC meeting depending on how I feel after the scan. I need to go wash a few more dishes and put in one more load of laundry before calling it a night. My bed is calling my name.

The Great Fridge Purge of 2011

**Note: This post is not for the faint of heart or "neat freaks".

The past few days have been extremely productive.

Currently finishing the Great Fridge Purge of 2011. Actually, I am finished, but I have one last Pyrex dish to clean out.

Have you ever had a container in your fridge that you just kept in there because it was so old/gross? I have a Spinach Casserole (circa Oct.2010) that just makes me cringe when I open the door, but cringe is much better than the bodily function that will occur if I open the container. Sigh. Tonight is the night though. It has to go.

Pictures of my delightful organizing binge to come soon. (I'll spare you from a picture of my "science project".)

Fill in the Blank Friday

1. I feel happy when I'm sitting around a table with friends or when I get a letter in the mail.

2. I get silly when I decorate for Christmas. I just get downright jolly and then it explodes into silliness. Amy has a little bit of it caught on tape.

3. Something that makes me sad is I hear or experience people being inconsiderate and just plain crude. This week I was truly sad and somewhat outraged to hear of a "church" who was planning on protesting at the youngest shooting victim's funeral in Tucson.

4. Something that makes me annoyed is when the kitchen sink "hose" is left pulled out. Grrrr. It has happened numerous times this week.

5. A time that I've been truly surprised was when my friends surprised me with a big top birthday celebration.

6. I am so thankful for a week of snow days while finishing up radiation. I have felt so tired and just "blah" that having these days off were a complete blessing. I'm sorry for those who are angry that we will be in school til June, but I am very happy that we did not have to go this week.

7. I feel loved when people make time for me. Nothing does my heart better than when I get an invitation to hang out or when J takes the time to stop to have a meal with me or when my sisters stop by my house. ::Sigh:: Happiness.

Link up here... The Little Things We Do

Snow Day

Took almost a month off from blogging. Not intentional. Just didn't feel like it.

Nothing to get a little spark back like a SNOW DAY!

I woke up to this.


I was inspired by this.


It made me do this.


So then, I created this.


I thoroughly enjoyed my morning playing in the snow. Tonight I will be trekking with J to my parents to watch my Auburn Tigers become National Champions. So excited!!!!

A truly wonderful Monday.