Few and Far Between

Thats what my blogs have been, and probably will be for quite some time now.

The holidays definitely threw me for a loop, and I’m surprised to say I’m glad I’m back to normal life now.  I never realized how thankful I should have been for having a real Christmas break when I was in school.  Having to really work between Christmas and New Year’s was definitely a struggle.  I had a lot of good times though, check out some pics from our New Year’s Eve party. We clean up well!

I’d say plenty of fun was had by all, and I greatly enjoyed spending all day New Years Day in my pjs… That is the way to celebrate, let me tell you.

As for the rest of life, things have gone back to normal.  I thought it would make me sad, and for a while it did, but I’m finding myself back in a new groove.

I’m working on journaling (sorry, not necessarily blogging) more in the New Year, and so far so good. I’ve told people its great for a long time, but this is the first time I’ve really stuck with it. Pastor Nathan challenged us to make some spiritual goals on Sunday and I’m working on my patience.  Its taking work and a conscious effort on my part, but I’m excited for the challenge.

Now its off to see some folks from work and then our late night Thursday meeting as usual. My week really isn’t complete without them, even though I loved getting to bed early when we were off…

Here’s hoping Friday goes quickly, and I can really soak in the three day weekend… I’m hoping for sun and perhaps a trip to the beach. California winters really are great sometimes…

So this is Christmas…

Merry Christmas Blog World!

I am home for the holiday and taking time to catch up on my reading (blog, novel and otherwise…). Also, I am attached to my computer as I have been moving all of my music from my former cassette-player-sized mp3 player to my shiny new iPod Classic. Check out the comparison:

See what I mean? Too bad there is no easy way to just pull the files from one and drop them in the other. However, considering how spoiled I am, I have absolutely no right to complain any further than that…

My Christmas has been uneventful as most holidays are at the Keen house. With 3 people and 3 dogs, there isn’t a lot of stress or to-do. Sometimes I envy the huge family gatherings, but at the same time I like that holidays are simple here and give me a chance to rest up. And watch Discovery channel in HD. Technology is a beautiful thing…

Finally, my blog wandering led me to find out that I was tagged by Cristine to do a little exercise where I post 10 random facts about myself and tag 10 more people. I’m bad at that, so here are my facts and if you feel so inclined, join me let me know…

1. I’m an only child. Technically.

2. I was an honors kid, in college.

3. I secretly (although less secretly lately) have a deep love for hip-hop…

4. I have been on a ton of dates, but never in a serious relationship.

5. Triathlons are becoming my hobby, I’m not good, but I like the idea of getting better one day…

6. I use ellipses almost more than I use periods when I type…

7. I clean when I’m stressed and eat when I’m bored.

8. My desires for the future are split between wanting to be a stay-at-home mom and a B-A businesswoman.

9. I’m passionate about a lot of issues, but never feel informed enough to argue for them.

10. I’m an overanalytical worrier. My brain amazes me with this ability all the time…

There you go. Those got pretty introspective, but that’s what I do. I’m off to shop on the internet and perhaps watch some CSI Miami with the parents.

Leaps of Faith

I took one today, or at least took some big steps closer to the edge.

I may get to go in a new direction soon and I can’t wait to see where God may be taking me.  Stick around ya’ll, things are going to get awesome!

More importantly for the moment, Jamie is finally free from the clutches of student teaching, the boys are done with finals and we’re all ready to hit the town and enjoy life once again.  I’m so thankful that I am surrounded by people as crazy as I am.

Happy Weekend!

An Update

So this is how it’s going to be, I may only post once every two weeks, but there’s a pretty good chance that “one” post will turn into several as I think of more things to share.

Here is an updated version of my pictures blog, I can’t bring myself to replace the other one so consider this the new and improved holiday version. Enjoy!

I like going home because my Friday night plans can include a rousing game of Scrabble with the parents. My Dad tends to own my mom and I dang near every time, I love/hate him…

Here are the boys.  I didn’t know dogs actually played tug-of-war with each other anywhere but in well-trained movies. These two proved otherwise… Tell me you’ve seen anything more adorable than this and I’ll fight you. Unless it involves sleeping things that are less than 6 months old, you can’t beat that…

This is Shelly.  She’s our grown-up dog that we’ve had since I was in 4th grade.  I loved her when I was growing up because she was crazy and hyper like me. I like her now because she is content to spend the evening sleeping on the couch like me.  Its a beautiful thing.

I got to buy my first real Christmas tree this weekend.  It was really fun, even if we did end up going at 9:30 in the morning…  Cars immediately look cooler when there is a pine tree strapped to the roof, it’s official.

Last but not least (especially when you consider it in terms of time spent and effort involved) is a sample from our Casa Christmas picture.  If you’re on the nice list, be on the lookout for this year’s 1st Annual Casa Christmas Card. It will be a sight to behold I’m sure…

Here’s hoping one day I’m so up to speed with this that these pictures will be posted frequently enough to be their own posts…

Happy Holidays!

Contentment

I spend a lot of time at work. Having just recently joined the 40+ hours a week club, I still struggle with this. I realize now that when people ask me how my day was, my answer almost solely depends on how work went. I noticed today that I’ve become the kind of girl they market Glamour and In Style to. Actually, that part is pretty fun. However, it doesn’t tend to help me at all on my journey to becoming content with where God has me right now.

Before I dive in to my work-related story, here is a tidbit from my typical work day. I have a sweet cubicle that is 50% window. That is awesome for 97% of my day. However, as the seasons have changed I have come upon a less pleasant side of this abundance of windows – the glare from across the street. Here is a nice cell phone picture to give you an idea:

If the sunbeams coming through the blinds give you any hint, its REALLY BRIGHT. Like, hold my hand up to my head while I’m inside bright. Thinking about blogging about it made me laugh for a moment though. I’ve found that laughing at work is one of life’s simple joys that I can’t get enough of.

Moving on to my original point… I found what I think would be my dream job today. I’m proud to say I have chosen to take this opportunity to be very excited about what that means for Right-Now Stephanie (as opposed to In-The-Future Stephanie, just to clarify). So what does that mean for me right now? Let me explain…

I work in Public Relations, a far-ish cry from my Sociology major that focused on racial and socioeconomic inequality. Regardless, I enjoy the potential this job has, even if I do get frustrated with a lot of the day-to-day details. Billable hours may very well be the bane of my existence.

What got me even more excited about this potential today was reading about women (it was Glamour, there’s some bias) who work as the Communications Directors for elected officials. To put it simply, they’re the people who’s job it is to make sure the official’s message gets out and said official (how’s that for gender neutrality?) talks to the right people. I want to do that one day, pretty dang badly.

Ideally, this future goal will inspire to me to be motivated to learn as much as possible from where I am now. My worry is that thinking about this other job will make me even less inclined to love my current one. We’ll see. God is really working on me and my contentment factor right now. I have quite the distance to go. Funny how it ties in with the patience factor He’s been working on for the last 22 years…

Thats it for tonight.  I’m trying to convince myself that going to the gym in the morning is a good choice. We’ll see about that…

Rain!

I’m in love with rain.  I’m in a better mood when I wake up and its raining. I pray when I see rain that it lasts for days. I get anxious when it stops because I don’t want it to be over yet.  What I love even more is that its our most precious resource falling out of the sky completely out of our control.

Thanks for rain God, its awesome.

Getting to know me

I said I would get pictures on here and I’m holding myself to it.  Here’s a little glimpse into my life these days…

This would be Maximus. He makes me smile.

These are the roommates. They make coming home awesome.

These are my parents. They make made me! Sorry, I thought it was funny…

This is still my favorite city. It makes me want to take on the world.

So there’s a little about me in pictures. There will be more, consider this a teaser…

The time has come!

Just a quick note to say that I am officially excited that the holidays have arrived. As made apparent in previous posts, I’m usually that person who gets irritated when lights are up too early, but I have officially arrived at the point where I can’t wait to see more!

On a sad sad note, I’m afraid I’m getting my first cold of the season. It was bound to happen eventually. This is what I get for living with teachers… Too bad I love them dearly and can’t stay away.

In thinking about where I’ve been since the last post, I can’t help but share that I am so thankful for everything that contributed to the holiday weekend.  No matter how much I may disagree with American culture, I’m so happy that we get an extra long weekend that is supposed to be about giving thanks.  I’ll refrain from any bitter commentary about what it may have become and just say that I am thankful for Thanksgiving.  I’m so glad that I got a chance to go home and relax with my family and reflect on how blessed I am.

And yes, I went shopping on Black Friday. And I liked it.

I’m really looking forward to what this holiday season has in store. Now if it would only get cold! (Hint, hint – RIVERSIDE…)

Happy Holidays!

Two weeks later…

And now comes the pre-blog disclaimer:

I highly doubt that I will be a regular poster. I want to be, really I do. But when I get home from work I usually can’t bring myself to plop down in front of the computer right away. And I am making a pact with myself never to access blogs from work.  That will begin a slippery slope that may very well end in me achieving my dream of becoming a bum at the beach…

Speaking of work, today was one of those less-than-inspiring ones.  I contributed to a situation that resulted in us getting a not-so-cheerful email from a client.  Definitely not one of my favorite feelings.

While I know I join the rest of the world in this statement, I will still make it: I HATE SCREWING UP!

Seriously, I do not take mistakes well. Who does? I tend feel especially bad because my low position at work means that me screwing up usually gets someone above me in trouble.  And I like the people above me. I’d rather not make their day unpleasant.

So here’s hoping tomorrow goes better. Pray for me in the mean time, I can always use it.

On a lighter note, I actually had my first “I’m so blogging about that” moment the other day. It was great. Now I will share it with you, Blog World…

I was up at my parents’ house on Saturday for a visit. Partly to see them, and mostly to see Maximus, my golden retriever pup. Never fear, pictures will come soon. There are at least 40 of him on my cell phone. From the last month…

Annnyway, back on subject. I’m driving through the neighborhood after a trip to Target with mom (a trip to AV necessity) and I see my first Nativity scene of the season. ON NOVEMBER THIRD.

Don’t get me wrong. I’m all for the holidays. I’m stoked that they’re on their way here. But that does not mean that they’re here yet. Far from it if you ask me. I’d like to enjoy Fall. It’s my favorite season and I’d rather it not be rushed.

But now that I’ve seen the signs, I’m getting super excited for Christmas. The Casa is going to be decked out in holiday splendor and I can’t wait.

Thursday means one thing…

That tomorrow is Friday.

I don’t think I have really appreciated Fridays since high school. Now that I’m back into the 5-days-a-week world, I understand their beauty just a little more…

This week has gone by quite slowly. These past 2 days have seemed endless… But tomorrow is Friday and I’m stoked. I didn’t originally intend to post a blog about why I like Fridays, but apparently it’s necessary. Here’s a list of things that make Fridays awesome to me.

The average Friday:

1. I get to wear jeans to work. Trust me, this is a big deal.

2. I can stay up late (in theory)

3. It precedes 2 days of no work

4. I tend to have an excuse to go out to lunch/dinner

This Friday is especially awesome:

1. I get to wear NEW jeans to work

2. I will be staying up extra late as we are having the 1st Annual Casa Halloween Party

3. It precedes 4 DAYS OF NO WORK

4. I get to see my best friend the very next day…

Yep. You could say I’m a little excited. And now that the rest of the week is over, I can truly relish in the joy that is Friday.

Now I’m off to buy a pumpkin. Envy me, I don’t mind.