....And to all a good night

Merry Christmas!

I hope everyone has an exciting and safe holiday. Cherish this time you have with your loved ones; I will speak to you soon!

~ Amanda

Where'd you get yer learnin'?

When I was in school my teachers always said one key way to know if you should trust a website was to check for misspellings and poor grammar...

...what happens when that website is CNN? Doesn't their tag line even say you can trust them? If so, WHY must they do this?

12/19/2008 from CNN.com: M.E.: It's Cayee, and it's a homicide.
Not to make this any worse than it already is, but the girl's name, it's Caylee with an "L".

12/10/2008 from CNN.com:
"He recalled another occasion in which he and another boy decided to get drunk. They mixed orange juice with rubbing alcohol. It make Middleton sick and his friend intoxicated."

Really CNN, it make him sick?

What has this world come to? I am thoroughly disappointed.

Good News

The Good News is,

if you're awake, you're alive.

The bad news is,

you have to get out of that comfy bed,

find something to wear,

and at least try to be someone who is pleasant to be around...

I've been tagged!

I've been tagged by my friend from high school, Lorelle. The instructions for this tag are to pick the 4th picture folder on my computer; choose and post the 4th picture; explain the picture; and tag 4 other people to participate.

This picture is from this summer. It was my 28th Birthday and I was on my way to work. It was a pretty great day considering. When I got to work my friends made me a cake (German Chocolate, my favorite) and gave me a gift certificate to Target. Then when I got home the kids had made me a beautiful strawberry cake... b/c that's apparently what I wanted. I also got flowers all the way from Birmingham, it was a wonderful birthday surprise!

Now I tag:

Tommy Terrell

Lauren Duffy

Jasika Nicole

Lana Carlson

A little premature

I know it's not quite the time, but I've been thinking about my New Years Resolutions and I'm ready to put them out there.

I've spent the last year doing things for me. A little selfish, yes, but definitely worth it. I quit smoking. I started working out. I even did a 5k! (not very well, but at least I finished) I'm becoming more responsible for myself, my actions, and maybe for others around me. I am paying bills and have bought a car (well, I'm paying for it). It's really a total 360 from one year ago. I may not have everything I need or want but I'm getting there, and I'm doing it right.

This year, just like every other, I resolve to work out more (get a new gym membership) and be healthier in all my decisions. I will save more and be more diligent in my financial decisions. I will say "yes" as much as I can. I need to make it a point to get out and do more. See my friends more and meet (and reconnect with) more people. I also plan to travel. I have one trip already set up for January and am planning another for the end of February. A friend is planning to visit me sometime in between.

Everything is looking up and I'm excited about the prospects of a new year.

To snitch or not to snitch

If you know me, you know that I can't stand a liar. That being said, I have a moral delima. Where I work on Sundays we don't punch a clock. We just write our measly few hours on a sheet and turn them in every week. If our supervisor isn't there, it's my job to turn in the time sheets. Last week I noticed something.

If I get to work early I will hang out in the nursery until it's time for me to go upstairs (about 9:15 or 9:20). I didn't go upstairs until closer to 9:30 this past week because I needed to make sure there was another person in the nursery. When I picked up the time sheets in the afternoon, this woman's sheet said she got there at 8:30.

Here's my delimma. She lied. It's possible she's lied every week since she's been working. But these 3 little hours are the only ones she works in a week. This is my 2nd job and I am just getting by. Do I do the right thing and tell someone that she is lying? Or do I let her keep doing it because she really does need those extra few dollars?

Did I mention this is a church?

Weigh-in Wednesday

They did it again! How do Shelli Yoder all all the fine folks at the EDCT know exactly what I need to hear at exactly the right time?

I tend to be quite ambiguous in a lot of my posts because I'm still not exactly sure I want everything up here for all the world to see, but I do know that I like to write things out. Well, this speaks to my post from earlier today. A lot of stupid things beyond my control have really messed up my outlook for the next few weeks and/or months. I'm working through it. This helps.

Amid the complexities of this world, the financial concerns of the future, our relationships, our lives, it is easy to let ourselves become overwhelmed and anxious. We receive few reminders that we have all we need for this moment, right here, right now. Poet David Whyte offers us a rare prompt in the following poem to think differently. Through the unknown, may we remain open to being...enough.

ENOUGH

Enough. These few words are enough.

If not these words, this breath.

If not this breath, this sitting here.

This opening to the life

we have refused

again and again

until now.

Until now.

-David Whyte