Whoa... I must calm down!

I'm mentally preparing for a relaxing day. Sounds weird, I know. Mentally preparing to relax?! I just now feel like the holidays are finally winding down for me and I have today off... what do I do with myself?! My house is clean. My husband is fed. My cat is fed. I am fed. There aren't many errands to do. This is stressful for me! I think I'll visit with some friends today. Maybe I'll take a trip to Miss Amy's or my new friend Carrie's with Monica. We may go hang out with Angie and Byron tonight. I can't wait for that! That is always super exciting! Why can't I just sit still?! Oh well... welcome to my crazy little world! I got some blogging in though and that counts for something. Check out my new blog if you have a chance at www.andrealoper.wordpress.com. It is a place for me to filter even more crazy thoughts. I've become a bit of a "blog hog" so I created my own little blog haven.

Random Ramblings of the Sleep Deprived

This was the first year that Darrell and I volunteered our home for Christmas. I loved it but I am wiped out! We had about 25 friends and family in the house and we enjoyed every minute. We celebrated on Christmas Eve with dinner and gifts and then we had some family stay the night. Darrell and I cooked a HUGE Christmas morning brunch. I was impressed with our skills considering that we rarely ever cook. We had more friends over on Christmas Day and then we went to the movies that night. It was lots of fun but it was exhausting! I think I'll pick another holiday the next time I offer up the house though. My retail career is definitely not conducive to planning a large event at the house. I went back to work at 7:30 this morning with my house looking less than desirable when I left. I'm home now, my house is cleaner, and my feet are about to fall off from being on them all day. Enough about that craziness.

I love that my nephew Hayden was so excited that we were celebrating Jesus' birthday. His excitement is contagious! I know the story of Christmas and what Christ's birth represents in my life but there is nothing more refreshing than the faith of a child. It's just so sincere and untainted.

I gave out a bunch of the Christmas CD's at work. I had about 10 people tell me how much they loved it. It's so amazing to have such wonderful, tangible ways to share C3with others.

I'm even more anxious about the move to the theaters now! I've never wanted time to pass so quickly. I'm trying to be patient though because my momma always said that "patience is a virtue."

See you soon!

Sunday Blog Banter

This has been the slowest Christmas season ever for me at work. I have worked in retail my whole life and have never been this bored at work during the holiday season. Well that all changed Friday and Saturday. It was as if a whirlwind of shoppers overtook Bloomingdales and specifically the YSL cosmetic counter! At one point Saturday I did in one hour the business I can do in a whole day... a busy day at that!

Saturday night my mom's community group came over after I got off of work for a Christmas party at our house. My mom has some really cool people in there. We had a lot of fun and I really enjoyed having them over. It's always a wonderful thing in my world to get to know people better. We talked about everything! I can't even recap because it literally was just about everything! I love having people over and I wish I could more often.

My mother-in-law is in North Carolina for the holidays. Darrell and I have the house to ourselves for the first time since we've lived here. We moved in April and between my sister and nephew living with us at one point and then moving her in it has been exciting in the Loper household. Quite frankly, I love them all dearly but I'm ecstatic the house is empty right now because we all need a break! I love that it is just the two of us for a couple of weeks.

I'm soooo excited to be moving to the theaters in three weeks. I can't believe it's almost here! What an amazing place for us to be to reach out to our community! I can't wait to see the main worship area and Powerhouse. I sing in Powerhouse and from what I understand the theater is going to really be crazy fun for the kids! I went to the children's ministry lunch today after service and I was so impressed with all of the volunteers who were there to serve in children's ministry. I'm so proud of what God is doing at C3! Darrell and I are pumped about all of those who have stepped up to serve in Connections as well. The curb to curb experience it so important and I'm anxious to hear and see what God is going to do through your smiling faces and warm receptions. There are so many vital areas God will use you in when you are just willing. I love the willingness of my C3 family! God will bless that more than any of us even know!

Well I'm gonna get a little shut eye before I head off on my hot date with my hot man! Have a great week and BTW check out the new C3 women's blog ... I can't wait to read some more great, encouraging blogs!

Exhaustion

Today was a lot of fun. Exhausting but fun. Here's a recap.
Woke up.
Read.
Watched "The Price Is Right"... loving Drew Carey, he's a lot nicer to the contestants.
Read some more.
Hayden came over.
Talked to Amanda.
Amanda and Leigh Ann came over.
Went to lunch with them and baby Jackson.
Headed to pick up Ansley with Amanda at her school.
Took Ansley back to my house to play with Hayden for the day.
Decided to take Ansley and Hayden to Chuck E. Cheese.
Spent hours at Chuck E. Cheese.
Mastered "Skee Ball."
Went next door to Petland.
Played with a cute puppy that loved to bite. The kids got scared.
Went through McDonald's drive through for ice cream sundaes.
Drove home.
Layed kids down at 4:30 attempting a nap.
Ansley went home.
Watched Spongebob with Hayden. I love Spongebob.
Gave Hayden a bath.
Hayden went home.
Cleaned downstairs.
Now here I am with my love D-Lo and the computer.
I love kids but they wear me out! It was fun being the cool aunt today. It was also great spending some time with good friends. Today was wonderfully tiring!

Monday Ramblings

First and foremost... I miss you Angie... terribly. Come home soon! There was a little less "sparkle" in my life this weekend. I miss you and your glittery eyes, shirt, jewelery, and so on and so forth. Have a wonderful Thanksgiving with the family!

Life is so busy. I'm going to do some painting tomorrow and I'm really looking forward to it. It is like stress relief for me. I love to paint. I just like making things pretty. It sounds so superficial but I love pretty things. Pretty is subjective though. I don't think everyone enjoys the pretty I enjoy. I loved my crayola red hair. I thought it was pretty. My mom... not so much. She never said it but our bond is so tight that I could read it in the bewildered look in her eyes.

My sister Brittney is celebrating her 25th birthday tomorrow. I can't believe it! She is such a vivacious, beautiful, and talented person. I'm so proud she is my sister. I've enjoyed having her around the last couple of months. She is such an amazing mom to my nephew Hayden. He is SO smart and she has a lot to do with it. I can't imagine what it's like to be a mom... let alone a single mom. She is the best! I love you Brittney and look forward to hanging out with you tomorrow. I really am insanely proud of you!

I'm really tired and I'm afraid if I continue I might start telling some really embarrassing stories about Brittney and I growing up. Nostalgia can conjer up some crazy things. I'm gonna stop while I'm ahead. Good night!

A Day in Bed

I'm not feeling very well today. I stayed home from work. I really needed to rest. It was the seventh day of a nine day stretch with a conference and a huge wedding on my two "days off." I was starting to feel bad yesterday but after waking up a couple of times in the middle of the night last night I couldn't take it anymore.

I'm so thankful for Darrell. He tells me I'm patient. I don't think I am. I can buckle under stress. I never used to cry. That changed about two years ago. I've become more emotional. It's weird! Maybe I thrive on stress. Who knows? What would I do if things were actually calm and monotonous everyday? I think that might be somewhat boring. I've learned to embrace chaos... to an extent.

My friend and I talked on the phone for quite a while today. God is doing something big in her life. It is SOOOOO amazing. I have faith she will be giving her life to Him soon. Pray for her.

I've become the "old married woman" at work that all the single girls love to share their relationship stuff with. It feels kind of nice to know that people trust what I have to say. I feel somewhat inadequate and majorly blessed that I have an amazing husband that makes things as easy as possible for me to love him. I'm glad that I'm the "old married woman." Dating kinda stunk.

I love C3 and I am so excited about what God is doing in our community! I'm crazy ecstatic about the theaters! I can't even begin to tell you. I wanna invite EVERYONE! Do me a favor... invite everyone for me and I'll invite everyone for you. That way we will literally be inviting everyone. Imagine all of your friends and family experiencing life change. God desires it. Your friends and family desire it... they just may not know it yet! Who doesn't want to feel new?

CU at C3!

Procrastination Blogging

I need to clean my house and do some laundry but I don't feel like it. I think I'll give myself a time... let's say I MUST start by 3:00pm.

Darrell and I had lunch at Designer Greens at Waterford Lakes and I loved my salad. It was yummy! I love spending time with him even if it is just an hour out of the day to have a quick bite to eat. He looks really cute today. We made plans to see the new Tyler Perry movie tonight. I'm looking forward to it. I love to talk to him. I can tell him anything. He never judges me. A couple of weeks ago I told him about getting a speeding ticket. He was so nice to me about it. I felt dumb and he never made me feel worse about myself for it. I'm grateful for his gift of mercy. I needed it then. He makes me feel protected and unconditionally loved. He's the best!

Work has been great the last couple of days. I've been really busy and I've met a lot of nice, new clients. I have a very large wedding to do soon and I'm looking forward to that. I'm praying for some particular avenues to open up for me in my freelance career. I've had a lot of referrals lately for fashion shows, weddings, and photo shoots but it would be amazing to have more consistent work. That's the con of working full time for a steady stream of income vs. being able to get out there and promote my work but losing out on a weekly paycheck. I love what I do so much and I would be so bored if I wasn't always busy.

My mom was away this weekend and I missed seeing her. I'm glad she got to have a little time in North Carolina though with her sister and family. She does SO much and never gets the credit she deserves. She lives with and takes care of my grandmother. My grandma has dimensia or alzheimers. I don't really know exactly what because alzheimers and dimensia look very similar. She has been sick for about 5 years. My mom also watches my nephew a lot. She is the best mom/daughter/grandma anyone could ask for. She is beautiful both inside and out.

I enjoy playing Freecell on the computer... it's a great stress relief.

Lola (my beautiful cat) is so precious. She loves to sit at my feet and purrrrr. She is so playful and crazy. She acts like she is still a kitten the way she runs through the house playing hide and seek. She loves Darrell more than she loves me though. I have her all to myself today though so I get all her love. (I get a little jealous.)

Eight minutes until I need to clean. I better go. I need to get in my obsessive compulsive state of mind.

My Dwelling Place

When I'm in a funk I try to focus on the things that make me happy. I had some funky moments this week and here are some of the things that I've been dwelling on to make me smile. No more funk for me.

-seeing people out with their C3 shirts on
-my own stupid jokes that only I laugh at
-obscenely bright nail polish and lipstick colors
-vivid color in general
-reading my bible and the words hitting me right when and where I need it
-an encouraging word
-climbing into bed right after putting clean sheets on it
-Darrell rubbing what I consider my pudgy belly and telling me he loves it... or when he tells me he loves it and lays his head on it
-fabulous shoes/handbags
-a good read
-makeup... lots and lots of makeup!
-having a great meal and discussion with friends... hence, the pudgy belly
-seeing friends I've invited in church... regularly
-spontaneous silliness
-an awesome day after a crappy one
-laughing so hard it hurts
-hearing about my nephew Hayden's day
-getting ManPed's (manicure/pedicures)
-having code words for things... such as ManPed's
-getting my hair done
-my "CU AT C3" custom license plate on my car
-Madea
-having a weekend off from work
-sleeping in
-smokey eye makeup
-a smile from a stranger
-feeling safe with someone
-HGTV... particularly "Divine Design" and "Deserving Design"
-houndstooth print
-my friend's artwork
-hanging out with my mama and sisters (I don't do this enough)
-dancing a night away
-reconnecting with an old friend
-telling people the stupid things I did when I was younger to get a reaction
-Powerhouse kids
-teasing my mother-in-law
-our Sunday night dinners with Dan and Sally
-cruises
-C3 on Sunday
-making new friends
-talking to my dad on a good day
-seeing someones life change after meeting Christ
-the way the red candles smell from Pier One
-great design
-a fresh perspective
-singing in my car
-setting goals and meeting them
-C3 in the community
-Johnny and Jayde in the morning on XL 106.7 while driving to work
-knowing when someone says they'll pray for me they really will
-Darrell's new faux hawk
-going to Chuck E. Cheese with Hayden
-young adults home team
-C3's future

Bye Bye to My Space

As Barry begins a new chapter in his life with Facebook... I end one of mine. I am no longer a "My Spacer." I'm exclusively a Facebook member now. I've had my account for a while and it is much easier to monitor. BTW Mexico was fun. I'll tell you more later!

My New Reality Obsession

I have a new television show that I love. "Tori and Dean: Inn Love." They are sooooo Andrea and Darrell. We happened to catch it while the marathon of season one was on and Darrell just laughed at Tori's theatrical over the top personality. He then said, "honey, oh my gosh, that is you!" I loved the idea of running a modern bed and breakfast and pulling out a red carpet for the grand opening with ice sculptures, spotlights and just good old fashioned fabulousness. What I love more is that her husband tries SO hard to bring her back down to earth. I'm definitely exuberant, emotional, intensely passionate, and very much a dreamer. Darrell is much more the realist. I need that. I think I want to meet them and see how we click. We'd probably become best friends. There goes my dreamer side again...

De ja vu

My computer is broken again. Blogging from Darrell's phone. I'll make up for it later.

Back in Blogland

Good morning! After our whirlwind trip in which we logged about 4800 miles on our Excursion with eight people and tons of luggage, I'm back in O'town and looking forward to hangin' with my girls again...

Ya'll have done an excellent job of keeping the blogging home fires burning while I was away and away from wi-fi (between that and the absence of great coffee shops like "Cuppy's" on Lee Vista, I had to do a little regrouping).

I missed you all and am looking forward to Sunday! I've been posting photos on my blog (Blonde Antithesis) and have lots more to post since I took around two thousand pictures (I had to do something!).

So, keep blogging and reading - thanks for keeping me "plugged-in" as I got truly unplugged this summer. Luvya. Peace.

things that make me happy...

chai tea (but only from Barnie's)
my 3-year-old telling me, "Mommy, you're a good cooker."
finishing a long run
sleeping in
75% off signs at Target
my husband putting away the laundry (my most dreaded chore)
laying on the beach with a good book
chocolate
going to Dallas for a church conference and someone stopping me in a store saying, "Are you in town for the Harley convention?"
The Office
my 5-year-old exercising with me
dancing with my kids (I know they won't judge me!)
snickerdoodle cookies
jumping on a trampoline
seeing people of all different races and backgrounds worshipping in the same room
the look in my husband's eyes when he holds our son
portable DVD players
McDonald's diet coke (it really is the better than other places)
date nights
Grease (the movie)
my husband telling me I'm beautiful, even on my ugliest day
blogging

Helloo...

Hello! Where are you, my blog-alicious sisters? Is anyone out there? Is this thing on? By my estimations, it's your turn, Sandy - and now that you've proven you can "bring the heat" in the blogging world, you best get after it (Don't make me come over there!). LUVya. Peace.