Say a little prayer for me.... or a few thousand :)

So today I had an interview with Make a Wish. It was for a fundraising/events planning position, and quite honestly I thought it went really really well. I really felt like with all the questions she was asking me, it was easy to talk about why I would LOVE this job!

Now just to fill you guys in.... I WANT TO WORK IN NON-PROFIT! That has always been a long-term goal of mine. Now, I realize to some people this sounds crazy! There are definitely challenges with any job, and I feel like I'm aware of a lot of those challenges in a non-profit environment. However, I feel like the work I would be doing would have PURPOSE. Even after a bad day, I can go home knowing that I helped someone... you know???

And I mean, come. on. MAKE A WISH?!?!?! Shut up, that would awesome!


Soooo I guess it's pretty obvious that I really.... really.... REALLY want this job. I mean, any job would be wonderful right now, but this? This is special. This is a dream job! No, I won't get rich working there, but that's ok. It's more important for me to love what I do and know WHY I do it.


I won't hear anything for about 2 weeks, so just keep praying in the meantime-- I know I will!!! :)

After the Boxes are Unpacked

Last night I went to a bible study here in LR with a friend from HU. Fellowship is starting a new bible study for women who are new to the LR area and/or new to Fellowship. There were about 15 women there, anywhere from 22 to 60. Most were in their twenties, relocated due to their husband's jobs... that seems to be a trend, I have found.

The woman who is leading the study shared her story of moving over 15 times in 20 years of marriage!!! Now that is just crazy! She talked about the adjustments of having to find a new church, new friends, new dentist, etc...

We spent the night talking about how moving to a new place can really be an emotional process.... and to be honest, I never thought of it that way. After hearing other people's stories, I realized that I've had a little emotional void since moving and didn't even know it! I really think this class is God's way of fixing what I was unable to put my finger on as broken. (does that make sense? ha!) What I mean is, I knew something isn't right, but didn't know exactly what it was. Don't get me wrong, I really am glad to be in LR, but after being here since October and still haven't decided on a church home (hopefully in the next 2 weeks we will though! :)), not finding a job (still pretty hopeless), and still not making much progress in the Friends Department, I'm just a little on the restless side.

So I'm super excited to meet several young girls who are going through the same thing I am. We are going to read this book:



I think this will be a great read and am excited to dig in! Also, the class has 7-10 older women who go to Fellowship, so I'm excited to have their wisdom and experiences to go along with the book.

I don't say all this to be Debbie Downer or for sympathy... that's not it AT. ALL. I really am learning to love the area and having so much time with Tyler, but I'm ready to get plugged into something. Even if we decide on another church, I think this group will be such a blessing! I'll keep the updates coming!

In other news.... the Bible in a Year??? Umm..... I'm a little behind... Already!!!

I know I know I know... I need to jump back into it! In fact, that is my plan for this afternoon. I will get back on schedule. Eeesh, 3 weeks in and I'm already behind...

Put the Peddle to the Metal!

So yesterday was Martin Luther King Day, and since Tyler works for the government, he had the day off! We were of course excited to be able to spend a day together. And since the weather has warmed up recently, we decided to go for a bike ride.

(Right after we bought my bike the weather dropped to like -15 degrees so riding a bike outside was pretty much impossible. We tried it once when it was 20 degrees outside and afterwords I felt like Harry and Lloyd...except on separate bikes) :)


But the weather was a lovely 60 degrees yesterday and just PERFECT for a bike ride!

Normally we ride down to the Big Dam Bridge (about 4 miles down) and back. Not too difficult, I realize, but I'm still a beginner. :)

But yesterday we crossed over the Bridge--which was awesome by the way-- and Tyler actually convinced me to make the entire trail loop! I really don't know how he did it. I mean, we didn't even know how many total miles it was.... we simply said, we'll try. Even if that meant making it half-way before falling over dead. Eeesh....



But I'm glad to say that we finished the trail in 1 hr, 45 minutes (about 13-15 miles, we're not too sure). That may be ridiculously slow overall, but seriously it was so fun!

The beautiful scenery during the first half, and avoiding be hit by a car while riding through downtown... such a variety! :)

In other news....



This is my newest addiction... and it seriously has me obsessed!!!!

UNaddicted to shopping... its been a journey

Well friends, I have been missing for a while, and I wish I had some great reason why.... but I don't. I admit it has been a mere combination of having nothing going on while I've been at home and sheer laziness. (I can feel your shame shames and your tisk tisks)

This past weekend I spent in NWA to spend time with Amy and the girls. B turned the big 0-3 so I was able to enjoy the bday party at Gymboree (sooo fun!) but I will post a few pics later!

Sooo back to shopping! :)

My friend April came into town Wednesday night to spend the weekend with some good ol' HU friends, which I loved!



Yesterday Ashley, April and I spent the day at the mall here in LR. Of course I was excited! I mean, I would have to be two coughs away from DEATH to not be excited about going to mall! :)

*HOWEVER*

Since moving here, Tyler and I have really been trying to live cheaply. And I'm not talking about limiting our "eating-out to only 3 times a week" cheap, or "I get a weekly shopping budget" cheap. Friends... THERE. IS. NO. BUDGET. That's right. We may go out to eat once every two weeks, but that's a big maybe. And only if it's under $20. And I don't have to worry about going over my shopping budget, because I don't get one! Nothing. Zip. Zilch. (Thank you Dave Ramsey!)

If, by chance, there is something I need to purchase (like for a specific event), we discuss it before hand and I have a spending limit.

So when we got to the mall yesterday I knew it was a "Look, but Don't Touch" kind of shopping day. I actually kind of enjoy knowing that I will not make any purchases when I'm shopping. Sick, right? :)

But let me tell you, this was a TOUGH adjustment when we first started this spending freeze. In fact, I'm pretty sure I had physical pain. But after a while the stomach aches and throbbing pain behind my eye faded away. And now, I feel completely great!

After a few months of being Thrift McThrifterson, I feel a sense of freedom. (Way dramatic, I know) But when I was more careless with money, I felt like I wanted more and more and more AND MORE! It was a snowball effect. As soon as I made one purchase, I was on to the next "Oh, I have to have THAT!" purchase.

But now I feel more content in what I do have. I actually find myself realizing how much people spend on things they don't need, and it's kind of disturbing. Sure that $80 bag at that super-cute-trendy-store would be amazing, but is it really worth it when you have 15 more sitting in your closet??? Not so much.

Don't get me wrong, I like to look cute and trendy like any other girl, but I'm just learning to be ok with creative combinations and repetition (wearing an outfit more than once, for those of you that are foreign to this concept. ha!)

Dave Ramsey may have stripped away my shopping freedom, but he has also given me peace. (I guess that's why they call it Financial Peace? :)) I know that while Tyler and I are SavingSavingSaving now, we will be better prepared for our future.

We still have a LOOOONG journey ahead, but I am excited to see where this takes us. And I'm excited that I have learned an invaluable lesson (while I'm still fairly young) that keeping up with the Jones' is a Never-ending, torturing, unsettling journey. I will never be the Jones', so I just need to get over it.

Now if you don't mind, I have coupons to clip...

My one and only resolution

For the most part, I don't believe in New Year's Resolutions. I just think if we really wanted to change things in our lives, we wouldn't magically begin to change because the clock strikes midnight. For people that say they want to lose weight, eat healthier, be more adventurous... I say if you really wanted to do those things, you would have already done it. One day is not going to change your determination. Harsh, I know...

Now don't get me wrong, those are great goals to have, but I think making it a New Year's Resolution simply means you will keep it going for approximately 2 weeks, 4 days and 6 1/2 hours before quitting for the rest of the year, and trying once again in 2011.

Sorry for the lack of optimism.

I just think people should make those decisions because they truly want it... and again, not because the clock struck midnight.

Now I say all of that kind of hypocritically this year, because I in fact have a New Year's Resolution. I am going to read the Bible cover to cover!

I have been blessed to enough to go to a Christian school and even study biblical events first-hand during my time in Greece. But I have never read the Bible from Gen 1:1 to Revalations 22:21.

I feel like God has been slapping me in the face with this idea for the past few weeks! While in El Dorado for Christmas, the preacher gave his Sunday sermon about reading the bible in a year. Then my mom talked about how much that encouraged her to do it again. (She's done it several times, and she was still just as excited to do it again, how cool is that?!?) Not to mention that both of my grandmothers have read the bible cover to cover probably HUNDREDS of times, and that is no exaggeration. So why can't I?? Then on fb, I saw a friend from my home church mention that our preacher there talked about the exact same thing! (Coincidence? I most certainly think not!)

Here was her status:

"Today our preacher spoke on the significance of reading your Bible daily. He said what is it going to be like when you die and you are standing before God and you have never actually read it from front to back. Well... God I am so sorry I didn't have a chance to read the whole thing...sorry about that! That brought it home for me. I am going to read it from cover to cover this year...it is a promise to myself."

Just an interesting thought... how can we stand before God and explain that we never read all of his written, inspired word?!? Well, we can't. Simple fact. There is no excuse!

I've done my research and found the best website! Here it is!

This site maps it all out for me, day by day. It even lets you pick the order, the version of your bible, and what day you want to start on. So now I know exactly what to read and what day to read it on. I figure if I accidentally skip a few days, it will help me get back on track.

I'm doing it Chronologically. I know some people like to read straight cover to cover, or even break it up with Psalms and New Testament everyday (I guess parts of the OT can get pretty boring) but I've decided I want to read it in the order that everything happened, almost like a story.

So far so good! I'm in Genesis reading about Abraham. As someone who loves the Old Testament (I'm weird, I know, but I just LOOOOOVE all the stories and the history of it all.) I'm excited to start off with the OT.

Now, I may or may not get completely finished by Dec 31, 2010, but that's ok. As long as I stay on track, and stay consistent I will be happy. I mean, I really think God will be please that I actually finished reading it all, not that I finished in 365 days, don't you?

Long time no blog

Well I have to apologize for the lack of bloggage the past week or so. I think it is mostly due to the holidays... although heaven's knows that there has been plenty of down-time. I think I've eaten enough during Christmas weekend to go into hibernation for a solid 3 months or so...

But I think I was just enjoying the relaxing time, and honestly didn't have too much to blog about. But have no fear, this kid is back!

So... about the holidays... well let me just start by saying Tyler and I spent our first New Year's together the best way we know how... being lazy. That's right, we didn't do a thing. I made dinner, baked some cookies, and we just laid around, played games, and enjoyed each other's company. And we barely made it to 12 o'clock... we basically were passed out on the bed and woke back up about 12:08, just in time to say "Happy New Year," get our New Year's kiss, get under the covers and call it a night. Wow, I seriously think we are 63 years old already. ha! But it was great!

Christmas was of course wonderful! Being able to go home for a few nights to be with the Herrimans was great! It was even better because I was able to fully experience my first Herriman Christmas! Dinner with the extended fam Christmas Eve, candlelight service at 10 pm, then off to bed. We woke up and opened presents in our pj's, ate a fantastic biscuits and gravy breakfast, and played games.... now that is a PERFECT Christmas. Did I mention we woke up to a WHITE Christmas too?!? Even better! :)

Then Tyler and I spent Christmas night together in LR, just the 2 of us. We woke up early Saturday and spent the weekend with my family in El Dorado with my Memaw and Aunt. It was so great for our entire family to get together at Memaw's, especially because there are little babies and lots of chaos, so I really feel like that was a majoy accomplishment! :)

Sorry no pics from Christmas, I really don't know what I was thinking, but I totally forgot all weekend! Oops!

So this last week Tyler and I have just been recovering from the travelling. And TODAY was the day that we actually purchased my major Christmas present!!!

Drum roll please.........



My very own mountain bike! (A special thank you to all the contributors who generously gave $$ for Christmas! :) )

Now I realize that this is probably very random to some people. I mean, I haven't ridden a bike in probably 12 years! But Tyler has one and hasn't ridden it much recently. He really really enjoys it and I thought that would be a great thing for us to do together! Plus, I get a little bored with running (or at least attempting to, in my case, ha!). Not to mention the fact that Tyler DESPISES to run. I mean it. He can't stand it. I seriously think he would rather watch She's the Man with me 5 times in a row before going for a run. :) So it makes it even tougher for me to go alone. I thought biking would be a great change of pace for me.... and Tyler :)

Even though its 25 degrees outside today I begged Tyler to go for a ride with me. We were only out for about 30 minutes but I LOVED it!!! SO FUN!

Now the only problem, as I'm lying in bed tonight, is that my butt now hurts SOOOO BAD!!!!