this and that and no caps

heeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeey!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! ok, long time no "read" (hehe) which means i have lots to say and lots of blogs to visit myself!! which also means no time for capital letters. sometimes i think the shift key is over-rated anyhow...unless pushing two buttons at one time burns more calories...in that case i would be all over it!! speaking of calories, i am currently chowing down on some special k cereal...the new kind with the chocolate pieces in it. have you tried it? good stuff. (i would capitalize that for emphasis, but that would defeat my shift-key fast.)

so i still don't have a computer (thank goodness for roommates) but i can't complain too much because my parents are being super sweet and purchasing some extra memory for my ice-age machine that i got when i started at carolina. apparently my computer only has 1/4 of the memory that any bottom-end/cheap computer on the market comes with now-a-days so we've got to get mine caught up! to be honest, it has been nice not having it...sort of like a detox thing. it makes me a little less stressed not to feel the need to check my email every hour, or that i have to respond to any messages within 5 minutes of receiving them for fear the world will be lost without me or my input. (ha.)

enough about that. so when i got back to town, hutch had grown a mile and a half. i promise he is the smartest 17 mo. old on the planet. he can sing his abc's (even the "now i know my abc's..." part at the end), twinkle-twinkle little star, the b-i-b-l-e, jesus loves me, count to ten in english and spanish (what?!), pick up the walkie on his jeep that he got for christmas and say "breaker, breaker" like a pro...and he knows how to steal the heart of his 23 year old nanny. i love him.

so bills came in last month (as they do every month) and the nunnery (nickname for our house because we live on "convent place") has decided we are in emergency mode. our house and all those in it are now living under "operation simplicity". we are going back to the dark ages (literally with the lights) to save money, and have adopted the following new policies.

*natural light is awesome. electric lights are out. candles are in.
*heat. what is that? blankets, long pants, sweatshirts and socks were created for a reason.
*cable tv. is this really necessary? honestly. i own all 10 seasons of friends, and we have countless movies on dvd. when are we even home to watch much else? (don't comment much on this one...i'm still trying to convince myself that i'll survive without a play by play of mcdreamy and meredith's relationship status every thursday night. and am i the only one that doesn't like izzy and george together?) (ps..we haven't made a decision on dropping the cable, but it's in the possibility corner.)
*taking hot showers is awesome. and will continue to be awesome. because we don't pay the water bill. :) (well...ok it's probably in the rent somewhere...but humor me.)

so far we've been pretty successful...so we'll see how this thing goes...

i added a few things to my routine in the new year. one of them is taking a bubble bath once a week. there are few things more relaxing. hot water, candles, hot tea (with honey!) and any one of my favorite speakers in my ipod. currently i'm listening to beth moore's series on jonah. i bought the audio from her website and did it a few years ago in college and loved it. i have a really cool jonah story about me and one of my roommates that i'll have to tell you later. anyways, i'll be on week 2 tonight. i'm going to try to do this bubble bath thing like once a week. it is just much more fun to get clean this way than just a quick shower. :) (it's the little things that make me excited!)

i'm still reading the ragamuffin gospel (i have to read stuff like that really slow because there is just so much there) and i also just started beth's 90-day daniel study. it is a really awesome format and one that's easy to keep consistent with because it's not too much for one day, but the stuff that is there will really make you think and challenge you, and it's just been a cool journey so far. i'm a little ocd (obsessive compulsive) about certain things, and it just tickles me so that i started the study on jan. 1st so my days match up with the calendar date. i.e. today is january 10th, and i am on day 10. :) when it gets to february i'm sure i'll have a small panic attack (kidding.) when the dates go back down to 1 an i keep going, but i'll survive. has anybody done the 90-day 'jesus the one and only'? i've heard it's awesome too so maybe that will be next...

if i could get you gals to pray for something that would be awesome. i keep having this particular thought about investing my time in doing something, but i'm not sure if it's something i'm just coming up with in my own head, or if it's something that i think the Lord really wants me to do and i've just now started listening to Him about it. i hate to be so vague, but if it does end up happening down the road, i don't have a clue how to even go about it or where to start...so i just don't want to say too much in case it does happen, i want it to be led by Him and not my own influences. kay enough confusing you there...just pray about it if you feel like it. :D thanks.

so i know that some of you are curious about my special day last week because i mentioned it right fast in that other post. it was a doosy (sp?) of a day...in a good way and some not...but mostly awesome. and i'm about to be the jerk of blog-land, because i'm about to leave and not talk about it again...ahh!! :) forgive me! i promise you will understand why this day was/is so important to me when i actually write about it, but it deserves it's own post, so i'm going to wait maybe just one more time. i am sort of in the middle of journaling about some things that have gone on in the last year and i want to complete my thought there before trying to explain things in blogworld. you know how when you write and you stop in the middle of it, it's hard to get back to that mindset of being in that moment...so i just want to go there and finish, and then i'll spill all the beans.

well my cereal is gone now and i'm still hungry, so i'm going to head back to the kitchen. i knew i should have gone on that walk today. looking forward to catching up with you girls. hopefully i'll be back tonight to read all about what ya'll have been up to. i have missed you!!! we are so blessed...don't forget to tell jesus thanks today...he is so wonderful :)

ps...read psalm 40 and let it rock your socks off :D