Happy New Year...Well...Almost!

It's almost 2009! It doesn't feel like New Years Eve at all to me, probably because I'm at work...booooo...but only for a 1/2 day. Then I'm hitting the Dillards sale at the Promenade! 50% off of already reduced items, you can't beat that. Hey, did you know that Christmas money burns holes in your pockets? Yeah me neither, crazy huh?

School starts in 12 days, ahhhhh! I'm doing really well keeping up with studying and writing the 2 papers that are due on the first day. I've already started on the first one and I write papers pretty quickly so I'm good to go!

We're going to a couple of parties tonight so I'm excited about that. Everyone went to Fast Lanes last night but I stayed home because I had to work today AND be up at 5 am to get to the gym. I've worked out 5 mornings in a row this week, I think that means I'm officially back in my morning routine!

Tomorrow starts the big "get back on track" diet that I do every year. Nothing but chicken, fish, veggies, fruit, and a few whole grains for me for the next month! I'm excited, I love how good I feel when I eat healthy...not to mention all the pants in my closet will fit again =) It's good to endulge every once in a while, like over the holidays, but after that you have to get back into it. Otherwise things can get out of control!

Wow, I just looked at my little temperature thing at the bottom of the screen and it says it's still 27 degrees outside...brrrr...must bundle up before going to the Promenade.

Well, I hope everyone has a fabulous New Year's...please drive safely!

Longest Day Ever

I want to go home so bad and it's only lunch time! Do you ever have one of those days were you realize that no one has done their job and now that they're on vacation you have to do it for them? I'm having one of those days. I've been so busy fixing other people's mistakes that I've barely started any of my own daily work!

I actually had an interview for an internal position this morning. It would be a really great promotion and I hope to hear more soon. (Yep, that's all I'm giving you!)

I'm getting more sore by the minute! Note to self...when one takes a long break from exercise over a holiday week it is best to ease back into the exercise, not get right back into your crazy hard 5:30am routine right away! Seriously, I hurt EVERYWHERE

We're supposed to go to Fast Lanes tonight with Kara and Greg and Holly and Hank and a bunch of other people tonight. I have to work tomorrow though so if I make it out I won't be able to stay long. It's a really fun place, they have bowling, go karts, lazer tag, and all kinds of other games. We had a team building night there a couple of months ago.

I can't believe tomorrow is New Year's Eve. 2008 has FLOWN by. I guess I was just having too much fun right?! But seriously, my life has changed so much this year. I got this blessing of a new job, a new house, things are going great with Jeff, I was accepted into Grad school, I have a family that loves me, friends that are so much fun...the list goes on and on. I have so much to thank God for every day. He has blessed me more this year than I could have ever imagined. I hope that next year, I stay focused on pleasing Him and being thankful for all these blessings. I can do all things through Him, who strengthens me.

New Years Resolutions

Not much happened this weekend, except for Mom & Dad (and Penny!) coming to my house Saturday night for a yummy steak dinner cooked on my new grill! Note to self...don't grill in 30 degree weather.

So I guess I should start working on my New Years Resolutions. Yep, resolutionS not resolution. I treat this time of the year as a check-up and usually do a little check-in every 4 months or so. I like to look at all areas of my life and see what needs improvement. So here goes:

Health/Fitness/Wellness:

• 250 Workouts in 2009 (This is my goal every year and I actually meet it pretty often!)
• Run 3 5K's and 1 10K (I'm sure Tara & Hillary will help me out with this one!)
• Eat Healthy - Do my big "Get Back on Track" Diet twice a year (I'm starting it again on January 1st!)
• Get regular check-ups at the doctor and dentist (I tend to cancel, say I'm going to reschedule and then I forget)
• Give up sweets again for Lent
• Run a Trail Run
• Take more Tennis Lessons
• Play more golf this year (Dad will help with this one!)

Family/Relationships/Friends:

• Spend more time with family & friends
• Have more Girl's Nights & Double Dates
• Host more dinners at the house for friends (with my new grill!)
• Have a Date Night with Jeff every week
• Keep in touch more with family and friends...birthdays, anniversaries, etc.

Spritual:

• Attend regular church services on Sunday mornings, Bible studies on Tuesday nights, and Night's of Worship one Friday out of the month.
• Read the entire Bible (I'm already about 1/3rd of the way through)
• Vacation - Italy Trip!! Make the most of it and take as many pictures as possible to document this amazing trip!
• Blog more about Bible Study/Church Services that interest me
• Give 10% or more every week to offering
• STOP WORRYING SO MUCH! (This is a big one for me as most of you already know)

Professional:

• Get A's in my Graduate School classes
• Make a study schedule for each class and stick to it
• Apply for any career advancement opportunities that become available
• Get as much feedback from peers and supervisors as possible
• Learn more about each department/job in the office
• Help whenever and where ever I can in the office

Financial:

• Stick to budget - 35% Housing, 15% Debt (Credit Card, Student Loan, Car Payment), 15% Transportation, 10% Savings, 25% Other Living Expenses (The Fun Stuff)
• Save more money after car is paid off

Charity/Volunteer Work:

• 100 hours Volunteer work (This is a goal that I will fulfill within the Junior League, a volunteer organization I am a member of...www.juniorleaguenwa.org)

Is It the Weekend Yet?

Just a little FYI...working the day after Christmas is NO FUN! Yep, I'm in the office along with about 5 other people and I'm doing the work of 4 people today =( I've actually got a lot done this morning, it's noon and I'm just waiting on some reports to pull back and after I work on them I'll be done. I got here super early this morning though. Seriously, it was still dark and the only lights on in Bentonville Plaza were on the Sara Lee floor, of course! We're such go-getters!


I had a nice Christmas break with Mom and Dad. I think everyone liked their presents, especially Dad with his REAL Oakley's and new John Brown University Dad t-shirt!

Mom had the house decorated soooo pretty! She even made a bunch of little bows to put in the decorative tree in the living room...



I got a grill for my house and lots of games and things like that and of course money to shop the after Christmas sales (my favorite part!) I was pretty tired when I got home yesterday and managed to fall asleep around 6:00. Little Millie cat was very angry that we left her all alone for two days. I found her hiding underneath the bed and she gave me dirty looks for about an hour after I got home. Kind of like this...


She was all purrs and cuddles this morning though!


It's supposed to rain a LOT this weekend starting tonight but hopefully it will clear up by tomorrow night so Mom & Dad can drive up to Fayetteville and we can cook steaks on my new grill (and use Jeff's new steak knives!) =)


Other than that, I'll be studying and working out all weekend!

Santa Is Almost Here!

Well, I was right, Jeff couldn't stand to wait and we exchanged presents last Thursday! Haha! He got me an AWESOME new camera (a Nikon D40) which I have been wanting for-EVER!

I love love love love love it! It takes really good pictures, which the only ones I have taken so far are of the cat and the dog so I'm excited to get some good subjects soon.

Look how big Vincent's nose looks with the zoom lens!....

Speaking of good subjects to take pictures of.....I'M GOING TO EUROPE!!!!! Jeff casually mentioned the other night that his parents are taking us to Europe in June this summer...yeah...I picked my jaw up off the floor about 5 minutes after he told me. I kept saying "Really?!! For real we're going to Europe?!" I've never been anywhere outside of the United States so this will be a really neat experience for me. He's since mentioned to me that I have to pack all of my belongings into one backpack, so this should be interesting. =) Most of you know that I am the queen of the $25 heavy baggage fee from my beloved American Airlines.

I've still been fighting off this stinkin cold/cough/sinus stuff this weekend. I don't think it will ever end. And now EVERYONE around me at work has it so we'll probably just keep passing it back and forth between the cube walls....lovely.

So we didn't do much this weekend because I wasn't feeling so hot. We were supposed to go to a party Friday night but instead went and had mexican food at Acambaro (my favorite) and saw the movie "Seven Pounds". It was pretty good. Then Saturday night we went to dinner with our friends Annie and Brian who got married a couple of summers ago and I'm pretty sure we haven't hung out with them since then. So it was nice catching up with them.

I'm slowly but surely winding down this busy day, just waiting on someone to return my phone call and then I will hopefully be done. I'm off work tomorrow (a gift from the bosses) and I'll be heading to Fort Smith tomorrow afternoon. Unfortunately, I have to work on Friday but it's cool because Mom & Dad are coming up Saturday to eat dinner with Jeff and I. And we'll get to use the new steak knives that I got Jeff for Christmas, Yay!

Well, I received my textbooks in the mail on Saturday, all FOUR of them that go with my ONE class! I've got my study plan set and I've officially started reading and outlining assignments. Fun stuff I tell you! I like the readings so far, it's a leadership class so I guess it's supposed to be semi-inspirational. I will be taking my books along with me to Fort Smith for Christmas...maybe I'll convince Dad to study for me? Or Penny...

Back to Work...and Soon School!

Ok, I made it into work today and it's almost 2:00...I think I'm going to make it! I still don't feel great and this Dayquil is making me dizzy and slightly nauseous but it is taking care of most of my cough and runny nose problems. Luckily this has been a pretty light day for me at work. I've been catching up on e-mails.

I've officially been granted financial aid AND registered for grad school as of today! About 5 minutes after I registered I was sent the syllabus for my first class and boy is it a doozy (to quote mom)! The class is Foundations of Leadership and it's a study of historical and contemporary leadership theories and concepts, with an emphasis on the moral dimensions of leadership and ethics. Yes, I took that right out of the course description and yes I think I'm going to really like this class. There are a ton of reading assignments and short papers due throughout the course but I like assignments like that so it shouldn't be too bad. I've already made a very detailed study schedule (because I'm a nerd like that and because these classes are so short and intense) and I ordered my books today so I could get started as soon as possible! I have 2 papers due on the first day of class so I really do have to get started soon. =)

I'm excited for Christmas, it will be here before we know it! Jeff and I are trying to figure out when we're going to exchange presents. We pretty much always want to exchange them as soon as they're ready and wrapped because we can't hold back the excitement! So we'll see how long we last this year...

The thing I hate most about being sick is that I can't work out. I can't WAIT to get back into the gym. I'm planning on getting back into my 5:30am aerobics class routine tomorrow since I'm starting to finally feel a little better. So wish me luck and pray I don't pass out from a stopped up head and fall down in BodyStep class! =) HAHA!

Day 4...Cabin Fever Setting In...

I have been sick since THURSDAY! This is ridiculous and definitely not fun. I've been working from home all week so far but hopefully I'll go back tomorrow. I went in for a couple of hours yesterday but went home when people on the other side of the office told me they could hear me coughing. So that was 60 miles worth of unnecessary driving!


I went to my boss' Christmas party at her house on Friday despite my coughing. I wasn't feeling as bad last week but it's gotten much worse since. The party was fun and they have a beautiful home, cute kids, and 4 cats! The fattest one, Sammy, soon became my favorite...


I've been busy getting registerd for grad school. Financial Aid is taking FOREVER but hopefully it will get processed this week so I can get everything finished and start preparing for classes in January. Another guy in my office is in the same MBA program and he's been a huge help in letting me in on all the in's and out's of grad school. For instance, you apparently always have an assignment due on the first day of class! Glad he told me that! No one likes being unprepared =)


I think I'm just about done Christmas shopping. I'm waiting on a few more things to come in the mail but other than that I'm done and my tree is about to overflow with presents. It's very pretty though! Vincent is sad he can't sleep underneath the tree anymore.


We've had some freeeeezing cold weather here this week. It was almost 70 degrees on Sunday, then dropped into the 20's that night and has been in the teens ever since. Cold cold cold...and not good for me since I'm sick! Fort Smith got some bad ice last night. Mom and Dad said they saw a lot of wrecks today. Not good, you guys better be careful driving home today! And don't forget to put Penny's sweater on!

I Did It!!

I got into grad school!! I will officially be getting my MBA starting in January! What a relief =) I was super nervous all weekend because I hadn't heard from them but come to find out I had an e-mail sitting in my inbox since Saturday!

I had a pretty busy weekend. We went to my company Christmas party Friday night and it was really fun. We had a DJ so there was some dancing involved! Then Sunday I worked at our Winter Dreams Tour of Homes fundraiser. You would think that standing up for 4 hours straight wouldn't be that difficult but MAN did my back start hurting!

I have another busy weekend coming up too. My boss' Christmas party is Friday night, then I've decided to do a 3 mile Trail Run (I opted for the 3 mile instead of the 9 mile since it's my first one) on Saturday morning. Hopefully it won't be too cold! It looks like the high will be in the 50's so that isn't too bad, I just hope I don't sprain an ankle! =)

We're supposed to get some pretty nasty weather up here in the next few days. Me no likey!

23 Days Till Christmas!!

Can you believe that? The holidays are flying by this year =( Thanksgiving was fun and relaxing for me but not for Jeff! He had soooo much driving to do. Tuesday night we went to Eureka Springs and ate dinner with Jeff's parents, grandmother, his Aunt and Uncle, and their visitor from Ghana, Africa. Her name was Adelaide and she was really funny and had some very interesting stories.

The next day my boss let me work from home thank goodness since we would be getting back late the night before then leaving again that afternoon for Fort Smith. We got to Mom & Dad's late that afternoon and indulged in bloody mary's, wine, shrimp cocktail, filet mignon, and Jeff's favorite, green bean casserole! It was super yummo.

The next day we just kind of hung around the house, watched the Macy's Day Parade, mom baked pies, we went to the club for a HUGE lunch (very yummo as well), then came back and I read my book and the boys watched football. Jeff had to leave that night to get to Little Rock for the football game. I was going to go with him but after hearing the weather forecast, decided to stay home a little while longer. He went duck hunting for the first time Saturday and Sunday! The game was awesome, we had a watch party and Penny wore her Razorback jersey...

Did I also mention she had a Christmas dress rehearsal? She's our little Elf...

Hee Hee heeeee...

So yes, it was a much needed relaxing vacation for me. Oh, and mom and dad drove me back to Fayetteville Saturday (because it was going to snow Sunday) and we put up all my Christmas decorations for the first time at my new house!! I love it, it's so cozy now.

Perty huh? We also put some pretty wreaths with bows on both of my outside lights that are on each side of my garage. I like it!

Well, I hopefully find out weather or not I made it into grad school this week. The suspense is killing me...seriously...I'm super nervous. I just want to know!

I kind of have a big weekend ahead. Friday night is our company's big Christmas party then all day Sunday I'll be at the Winter Dreams Tour of Homes, which is a fundaiser we do in the Junior League every year. It's fun and pretty easy but you get tired of standing up so long. I just hope we have better weather than last year, it was pretty yucky.

I have been totally immersed in my new book I'm reading. It's the newest one out by my favorite author, Wally Lamb called "The Hour I First Believed". It's pretty dark, like all of his books but he is SUCH a fantastic writer. I've gotten through 400 pages in about 3 or 4 days (there are 700 something total and I wish it was longer)! It's a novel about Columbine and it kind of mixes fiction with actual events and facts from the tragedy. I'm hooked, I can't put it down. I was reading till like 2 in the morning Sunday night and my sleepiness has not recovered since! He's only written about 5 books, I wish he wrote more, more often. The last one I read was when I was in high school!

And last update but not least....I present to you....this year's Christmas card!!

I Need A Nap!

Wow, what a day. It's 3:00 and I seriously have not moved from my desk since 7:00 this morning except to use the bathroom (which you all know I can do in lightening speed!) No lunch, no nothin', just work work work. So I'm taking a break up update the ole blog since I don't have the choice to lay down and take a big ole nap!

I received a call from the Director of Corporate and Pulic Relations at John Brown University today and he thinks I'm good to go to get into the MBA program so cross your fingers and say a prayer! It should be next week or so before I get the official thumbs up so I'm not getting too excited yet! But it is good to hear from him and know that the application is moving along.

I pretty much did absolutely nothing this weekend. I watched a lot of tv, took some naps, ate some food...yep that's about it. Sometimes you just need a weekend to relax, this is the first one I have spent not studying in a while so it was pretty nice.

I'm excited Thanksgiving is almost here (besides the busy factor at work), I'm going home Wednesday night and not coming back to Fayetteville till Sunday. Hopefully the kitty cat will be okay by herself for that long. Jeff assures me that cats are easy like that and as long as they have food, water, and a poop box, they're good to go? We'll see about that...

Done!

The GMAT is DONE! HAAAAAAAAAAAAALLLELUIA! I didn't do as well as I would have liked but at least it's DONE! Plus I've been reading some stuff online about scores and I basically did okay for having a full time job and all of that. Graduate schools realize that when you work full time you can't spend all day studying every week before the exam. The test by the way, was not fun at all. It was four hours long (2 essays, 37 DIFFICULT math problems, and 41 verbal *my favorite*) and they kept the room about 800 degrees! I was practially sweating the whole time, so I was dying to finish and get out of there.

Oh and the really weird part was, I was videotaped and audio recorded the whole time! Yeah, they mean business! No cheating allowed! Not that you could even begin to cheat on that thing, every test is completely different. The questions get easier when you get them wrong and more difficult when you get them correct. The scoring scale made absolutely no sense to me. You were graded on whether or not you answered the question, whether you got it correct, and the difficulty level of the question. Crazyness i tell you. After I finished the test I went home and took Vincent on a loooong run in the nice sunny weather to make my head stop spinning!

Ok, I admit it, I put up a few Christmas decorations last night. Just a few!! I couldn't help it! I can't wait to get my tree and decorate EVERYTHING! I've been seeing a lot of Christmas penguins ( my fav animal) and I'm loving them! I want everything I find!

We didn't do much this weekend since I was studying. Friday night we ate at Guido's Pizza then went to see a movie. Then Saturday night we went to Jason's Deli and ate dinner then I went back home to keep studying and Jeff had some people over to see the Jermaine Taylor fight on HBO. He won!

Speaking of HBO, Jeff and I are completely hooked on their series True Blood. It's so good! It's based off of another vampire book series called "Sookie Stackhouse". I still haven't read all the Twighlight books because I didn't think the whole vampire scene would interest me but I have to say it's pretty captivating! There are so many twists and turns all the time in the show and there's a big mystery that runs through the entire season. Next week is the season finale! I know I'm hooked because I called Jeff at like 10:30 last night after already talking to him on the phone and saying goodnight because I had forgotten to ask him my True Blood questions! "So who is this guy? Does she know that girl was the girl in the road? How do they know he's the killer?!" And on and on and on... Jeff knows a little more about the show than I do because he watched it from the beginning. I started with episode 3 or 4 so I always have questions to make sure I'm not missing anything in the plot! I guess I'll just have to rent it when they come out on DVD and watch them all at once. Or I could read the books.

Thanksgiving is 8 days away people! Ready...set....EAT!!

Oh the Weather Outside is Frightful!

It's getting cold outside! I don't think I've seen the sun since the weekend. And it will be even colder this weekend, we aren't supposed to get out of the 40's on Saturday and it's going to be windy too. Not a great combination! Oh well, at least I don't have any plans except studying for the GMAT (which by the way I take in FOUR DAYS!!!)

We had date night last night and I cooked pot roast, green bean casserole, and rice. It was sooooo good! (**Pat self on back**) And it was the perfect meal for a cold night. Very yummy, and surprisingly there are even leftovers! I took the cutest picture of Millie when Jeff was holding her in her blankie last night! She loves that thing, she'll sleep for hours when she's wrapped up in it.

This week has been so busy at work. We had SAP training for a couple of days and 1/2 of us went one day and 1/2 went the 2nd day. So on the day that I wasn't in training, I was doing the work of three people instead of one! So yesterday was a little hectic to say the least! But I made it! =)

This day week after next is Thanksgiving! Can you believe it? We're having a Thanksgiving Pot Luck Luncheon at work tomorrow. It's going to be good! And I think we're getting free pies this week or next to take to our Thanksgiving dinners. YUM! The perks of working in the food industry are very yummy sometimes =)

Weekend Update

Happy Monday! Is there such a thing? I'm super busy at work as usual, still gearing up for the holidays. Not too much went on this weekend. I mostly spent all my time studying. I take the GMAT 1 week from today! I'm scared.

We had a pretty tame Girls Night Friday night. Tara and Hillary were exhausted from their 8 mile run they did before they came over. They're legs were about dead! So we just watched a movie and hung out and they went home around 11. Jeff and the boys stayed out a little later though, of course!

Saturday Jeff had people over for the game at his house and cooked out. I couldn't go of course, because I had my nose in a book =( I got a lot done that day though so I guess it was worth it. Then Saturday night we went to Outback Steakhouse for dinner (I got the yummy atlantic salmon as usual) then we went to the movies and saw Madagascar 2. It was sooo funny! I love those movies! The penguins and the lemur king are my favorite. Jeff and I are somehow always first in line to see the animated movies, I guess we're just kids at heart! =)

It's starting to feel like Christmas is right around the corner, my calendar is quickly filling up with invitations to holiday parties and other fun things. And our Winter Dreams event for Junior League is coming up very soon so I'll be selling tickets for that once I get them in our meeting tomorrow night! There are some pretty cool houses in this years tour. We've even got some of the fancy condos!

Hope everyone has a great Monday!

Girl's Night, Party Time, Excellent!

Yes, we're having a Girl's Night In at my house tonight. Tara and Hillary are going to run their 8 miles (they're training for a 1/2 marathon) then they're heading over to my house for food, booze, and chick flicks! Tara is making her famous Crystal Light Vodka drinks, I'm pretty sure it's the official drink of Jonesboro! HAHAHA! So it should be fun, I'm pulling out my extensive collection of chick flicks that I never get to watch with Jeff around =)

It's going to be a pretty busy day at work. We've got 2 people out and Retail Link (Wal-Mart's main system) is down this morning, which is why I'm writing a blog instead of working =) This week has been crazy with all the holiday orders and things like that...I'm looking forward to January!

It is so beautiful around Fayetteville this time of year. The trees are pretty much at their peak of changing colors and it's gorgeous! I almost had a wreck the other day looking at a huge bright orange/red tree (don't worry dad, I said ALMOST, I am otherwise a very cautious, safe driver) =)

She Shoots, She Scooores!!...Or Not

Well last night was "Date Night" so I cooked a yummy dinner for Jeff and I. And of course Vincent sat at the door waiting for any sign of table scraps...we didn't have any though! I cooked a new recipe from my Williams Sonoma cookbook (love that store!). It was Pan Seared Chicken with Mustard Sauce. We also had rice, and carrots with mustard glaze (I have a jar of dijon mustard in the fridge I'm trying to use up if you can't tell!. It was pretty good, I made it a little differently than the recipe called for to try and keep the chicken juicy!

After we ate, we played a game called Table Topics. It's basically just a big block of cards with all kinds of different questions on them. I must share the funniest one with you. It was the last question given to me and it was something like "what is the one thing you've done that you would erase if you could".

So I thought really hard and for some reason a story from elementary popped into my head. I was on the basketball team and definitely not very good. I think I was about 4'5 at that time so that would explain most of the problem! We were playing a game against some really hard school from some random small town as usual. And if I can recall correctly, I believe it was a pretty close game. So we were going back and forth across the court turning the ball over, and finally, out of nowhere, I got the ball passed to me!! So there I was thinking "yes, I got the ball! it's my time to shine!" So I turned, lined the ball up with the goal just like my coach had taught me, shot, and SCORED!! From half court!! I was so excited and had a huge smile on my face, then I looked at the crowd....

I noticed they had really weird looks on their faces... then i looked at my team members... same thing. What is going on? Come to find out... I made a basket for the other team...yeah...from half court. I think I cried for about 2 days. So THAT my friends is the one thing I would erase! And that is probably why I chose cheering from the sidelines rather than being in the game for the rest of my life!

So dinner was good and the game was fun, then we watched "Get Smart". It was pretty funny, the plot seemed kind of silly to me but I guess it was supposed to be like that.

I'm excited for tomorrow night. Tara and Hillary and I are having Girls Night at my house (they still haven't seen it yet) so that should be fun! They're training for a half marathon and they're coming over after their run so hopefully they won't be too tired! We'll probably just eat and watch girly movies and hang out, pretty low key, that's what us old people do now.

Other than that I will be studying, studying, and um....studying.

Hello Family & Friends!

Hey ya'll (As we 'Arkansans' say)! I've decided to get on the blog board and start one of my own for my family and friends to stay in touch during these busy times! It's a fun way of sharing pictures, thoughts, stories, and weekend updates.

A lot has been happening lately...I've been super busy at work gearing up for the holiday season. Sara Lee sells a LOT of holiday items and we're working very hard to get them into Wal-Mart so they can sell sell sell (and we don't run out)!

I've also been studying for the GMAT. =( I take it Monday after next and I'm EXTREMELY nervous about it! It's a very hard, very competitive test. I'm most worried about the math section, of course...never has been a strong subject for me. So I've been spending lots of lunch hours and weekends in the library with my nose buried in a test prep book.

I got a new kitten a couple of weeks ago! She was found at Jeff's office curled up by a door outside in freezing temperatures. She was so weak from starving that she couldn't even sit up to eat. We took her to the vet and they couldn't even draw blood from her because she was only 1.2 pounds (and they estimated her to be 12 weeks old, aparently they can tell stuff like that from facial features). It was scary but Jeff and I have been feeding her and nursing her back to health and she's now doing great! I weighed her last night and she's now up to 4 pounds! She's very playful and purrs all the time. She's the sweetest kitten ever and I love her so much already! Oh, and her name is Millie! Vincent gets a little jealous of the new baby taking away his mommy's attention but they're fun to watch together.

I can't believe it's already November! The holidays are right around the corner (the big one's anyway!) I'm excited because my bosses gave me an extra day off the week of Christmas as a gift! That will be nice to spend a little extra time with the family!

Well, I guess I should touch on the topic of the day...the election. No, it did not turn out the way I wanted it to...but my new motto for this election is "It is what it is." That's really all I can say. I think it's important also to remember that "together we stand, divided we fall". We need to come together as Americans now more than ever. I hope this trend of disrespecting the most honored position in America stops and we just focus on what is ahead. We touched on a very fitting verse last night in Bible study and it has been with me all day...

"I urge you, first of all, to pray for all people. As you make your requests, plead for God's mercy upon them, and give thanks. Pray this way for kings and all others who are in authority, so that we can live in peace and quietness, in godliness and dignity. This is good and pleases God our Savior, for he wants everyone to be saved and to understand the truth. For there is only one God and one Mediator who can reconcile God and people. He is the man Christ Jesus. He gave his life to purchase freedom for everyone. This is the message that God gave to the world at the proper time." - 1 Timothy 2:1-6