Outdoor Ideas

Just a few more photos of downtown Des Moines.  I love all the lights and greenery -Definitely some good ideas for winter flower pots. And what I'm really loving this mild winter we are having - 50 degrees in December!  Yesterday, I walked the pups without a coat!  Truly crazy weather. 

Reflections

Western Gateway - Downtown DSM



Whiling driving around town the other day, I had some time to think about the new year and assess where I have been in the past year and I think I am pretty darn lucky. 

I have a job that I really love,

My relationship with my family is better than it's ever been,

I have many many friends and my closest friends are present in my daily life,

I have a house that brings me comfort and serenity,

and two little pups that bring me tons of happiness.

Seriously, what more could I ask for?  I know some might think I should be doing more or leading a more exciting life filled with travel and adventures or pursuing a highly active social life but I consider myself very very lucky to know true contentment. And as the new year approaches, I will continue with my life as it is, but I will be more healthy, I will continue to save more money, I will travel for fun this year, and I will remain content and happy for all that I have. 

Celebrations

It's a week long celebration of the holidays for me - first, Christmas followed by my birthday and finally New Year's.  Last night, 14 members of my family and I went out to celebrate my birthday.  Talk about anxiety producing! I always feel bad for the waitress who has to deal with a huge group like that but surprisingly everything was pretty low-keyed and the service was awesome.  All the nieces and nephews were soooo good and thank god for my new IPhone - little 2 year old Grace was occupied by You Tube videos of Elmo and Bert and Ernie throughout dinner. 

So the celebration continues tonight.  Connie, my partner in crime, and I will be heading out for dinner and possibly a movie.  And Thursday - more celebrations.  I'm going to need a day to recover from all my gatherings.  Happy Holidays indeed.  :)

Busy Bee

I'm finding that my week of vacation is going by fast. I have plans every night this week.  While I love getting together with everyone, it makes for a busy week. And throw my birthday into the mix. Busy. Busy. Busy. I'm glad I took an extra day off next week.  I have a few things around the house that I would like to do and I'm finding that it's hard to get anything done.  Can someone send the maid over to finish my laundry and clean my house??

Merry Christmas

Bah Humbug

Last week I got an email from our president of the college.  It was decided that everyone could have an an extra day off for the holiday and that day is today - Too bad I actually had a scheduled appointment today.  I'm sure I could have rescheduled with my student again, (poor student had two other times that didn't work out previously) and I just felt like that would be such bad customer service to change dates again. So here I am...hanging out in my office....and there is NO ONE else on campus today.  Ah well - call it my good deed for the day.  I have all my shopping done so it really isn't a big deal. All I have to do is find some gift bags and I'm good to go. 

On another note, I'm ready for the gift giving part to be over.  I hate this feeling of competition between family members.  While I don't feel the need to compete and spend all kinds of money just to buy someones attention or affection there is a particular person who does.  What happened to the whole "it's the thought that counts" premise? I realize this person is very insecure and it's the only thing she knows to do but I'm really quite annoyed to have to deal with this person year after year.  I feel she is so selfish.  And it's just irritating.    

So next year, I may just skip out on the whole thing.  Maybe I'll take a vacation to some beachy resort for the holiday.   

Blogs and Bits

While trolling the blog world, I found this awesome quote.  Not sure where I found it but I like the sentiment.  So I saved it on my computer. I save things on my computer all the time, so much so that's the reason I started my other blog, The Home Files years ago.  It was just a place I could store all kinds of photos which allowed me to categorize them. Kind of like having your own little mini magazine but without the advertisments.   And isn't it funny that now we have a website that actually does that exact same thing??  If you want to check out my Pinterest boards, you can find me here.  I'm not completely sold on Pinterest but I like the idea of storing things there and knowing where I got them. 

Gobal Warming

There was a small dusting of snow this morning but it's gone now.  This photo was taken a couple of weeks ago when we had just a just tad more snow than today.  There is no snow in sight for Christmas either.  And I'm perfectly fine with that.  My car is at a point where I don't feel very comfortable driving it on snow or ice at all.  But I just want to get through another 6 months before I have to start consider a car payment.  It's hard thinking about a car payment when you haven't had one in a very very long time. 

Oh the Places You Go

 

I met up with a friend and her daughter for a little frozen yogurt at Yo to Go last night.  It was such a cute place I had to take a few photos.  Look at all the fun stuff you can add to your yogurt!  And you can sample as much as you want before you actually choose.  I went with a chocolate cappuccino with a few heath bar sprinkles.  And I did sample the snickerdoodle frozen yogurt and it REALLY tasted like a snickerdoodle cookie!  The only down note was the amount of calories my dessert happened to be - you think you are being somewhat healthy but no...not really.  Oh well.  It was a nice treat just hanging out with a couple of good friends in a really cute place.

Girl Stuff

Hmmmmm....It's Friday so that's a good thing.  I don't know if I have anything inspiring today or not. 

One funny thing this week....the guys that have come into my office this week have commented on my outfits. (What the heck!  I expect comments from the girls, but the boys?!) One mentioned that wore the same fannel shirt a couple days before.  Another mentioned that I have way too many boots.  And somehow my hair color became a topic on facebook this week.  Guess I'm going to have to step up my game!

After seeing Emily Henderson's post, I checked out Lands' End Canvas.  I love me a good shirt dress with some boots!  So I bought a couple - here's to hoping they work!

Finals Week

Sorry everyone - it's finals week and most of my thoughts and time have been with students.  Many many  MANY final papers this week so that means I am editing and proofing a ton.  Lots of students are testing in my office and that is always a test of my patience trying to be sure I have the right student, at the right time, with the right test.  It's a bit like the game CLUE - sometimes I'm right and sometimes I'm not.  So let's just say my brain is fried. 

And I'm not the only one - I was talking to a professor yesterday and just as we were finishing our conversation he said, "Love you" as he hung up the phone.  This is not a usual dialogue between us!!!  So I just laughed and chalked it up to all of us being exhausted. 

Friends

Not much a weekend to talk about since I spent most of Saturday on campus helping a couple of students and then watching the basketball game.  I also spent some time with my old friend.  It's amazing that so many years can pass by and yet we picked up just where we left off.   It's good to have those kinds of friendships that have no barriers and you can just be yourself without worrying about being judged in any way.  I guess I have been very lucky in my life without even realizing it.   

Homecoming

I had the privilege of catching up with a very good friend last night. We haven't spoken for a very very long time but I guarantee if you saw us chatting last night you would have no idea it had been years since we last talked.  Sadly, she is in town because her mom isn't doing well.  I am so sad for her and having dealt with my own mother's death only makes me want to want to shield her from what is most likely to come. 

Visiting my friend at the hospital reminds me so much of my mom and the time we spent in the hospital when she suffered an aneurysm.  My friend's mom is in the very same hospital building - just one floor away.  My mom spent over a month recovering from her head trauma so I know that area like the back of my hand. Oh the memories...  What a crazy time that was...

I feel so lucky to have this friend in my life again.  She was my first friend after my family moved to Iowa and she was one person I could really count on when I needed her most.  We really had each other's backs growing up.   Both of us agreed - we dealt with much to much chaos in our younger lives but we turned out ok in spite everything.  It's going to be great to continue our chats and I am really looking forward to having this friend in my life again. 

Have a good weekend and I'll catch everyone next week.

Quote for the Day

Death of a Cellphone

Things I did not plan to buy this month:  Apple Iphone 4S



My Blackberry Storm is about 3 years old now (a whole year over my contract upgrade). And its currently on life support.  We have had a couple of scares in the last few months but somehow he always came back to life - if even a little less each time. Last Thursday, I thought he was officially a goner.  I was just checking my twitter feed when suddenly he went to blackscreen.  I tried to resuscitate him - pushing the off and on button, pulling the battery out and replacing it again, I even plugged in the charger.  Nothing worked.  I was stunned.  He was gone.  Really gone.  As I finally came to terms that my cell phone was dead, I grabbed my coat and headed to the store to find his replacement.  The happy-go-lucky salesperson greeted me at the door and asked what I was looking for.  I told my sad tale of the dead blackberry that my phone had passed on but he wanted to try just one more time.  Gingerly, he plugged my broken phone into a charger and my blackberry's faint little red light came on!  "Hang in their little buddy!" I exclaimed.  Just hang in there for a few more days until that big green and purple truck arrives with my Iphone in hand.  And then you can pass over to that big cellphone store in the sky.  Godspeed my friend...Godspeed...

Outdoor Ideas

How's this for an inspiration photo?  While driving downtown last weekend, I got to admire all the street decorating.  All the trees with lights and garland hung in store windows - so sparkly!  And there was some great ideas for outdoor pots in the winter.  (I really need to go back and take more photos.) Some were just incredible and you could totally recreate with your own flowerpots.  This is the look I want to recreate for my house. 

Simple Things

I picked up some flowers for my sister for Thanksgiving - of course I had to test them out in my house first.  Not bad for $10!  Thank you Trader Joe's!