#10: Read 30 non-academic books.
So, around 1:30 this morning, and again at 3:30, I woke up with an upset stomach and some other symptoms which I will not describe for you. (You're welcome.) I'm pretty sure it was caused by something I ate, not a virus or anything, but I decided to stay home from work today, just in case. I've spent the whole day in bed, reading, crocheting, watching shows on Netflix, and ingesting plenty of Gatorade and dry toast. I managed to finish reading Every Woman's Battle, which I've been working on for a few months now (it's a pretty short read...I probably could've knocked it out in a few days if I wasn't in the middle of so many other books). I think I would recommend it, especially to married women, though there's a lot of wisdom for single women in there too, on the subject of emotional and sexual fulfillment. (I'll give you a hint: It won't come from a man.)
One of my favorite chapters was near the end, and it was all about carving out time to spend with God one-on-one. I will definitely be using some of her suggestions when it comes to reaching one of the goals on my next 99 list. Yes, there's another list coming, and this one has a twist...so stay tuned!
Tuesday, June 11, 2013
Sunday, June 2, 2013
More Books!
#10: Read 30 non-academic books.
On and off for the past year or so, Tom and I have been reading The Meaning of Marriage by Tim Keller and his wife Kathy; and we finally finished it on Friday night. I highly recommend it to anyone who is married, is considering marriage, or has just had fleeting thoughts along the lines of "if I ever get married..." It drives home the importance of the Gospel in marriage and teaches people how to have a marriage that is truly reflective of Christ's relationship with His church. Great stuff.
The next day I finished reading Here We Go Again. Tom gave me this book for my birthday a few years ago, but I never got around to reading it until recently. (Or maybe it was for Christmas...? The two are so close together, it's hard to keep track.) It's Betty White's autobiographical look at her career in television; as a self-proclaimed Golden Girls enthusiast, I knew I would really enjoy it, and I did. Her vivacious personality really jumped off the pages; it almost felt like I was sitting in Betty's living room, sipping tea (OK, maybe she would be drinking something a little stronger...?) and listening to her tell her story. I almost hated finishing it because I didn't want it to end, but my sister-in-law gave me another one of Betty's books, so the fun doesn't have to stop there. :)
On and off for the past year or so, Tom and I have been reading The Meaning of Marriage by Tim Keller and his wife Kathy; and we finally finished it on Friday night. I highly recommend it to anyone who is married, is considering marriage, or has just had fleeting thoughts along the lines of "if I ever get married..." It drives home the importance of the Gospel in marriage and teaches people how to have a marriage that is truly reflective of Christ's relationship with His church. Great stuff.
The next day I finished reading Here We Go Again. Tom gave me this book for my birthday a few years ago, but I never got around to reading it until recently. (Or maybe it was for Christmas...? The two are so close together, it's hard to keep track.) It's Betty White's autobiographical look at her career in television; as a self-proclaimed Golden Girls enthusiast, I knew I would really enjoy it, and I did. Her vivacious personality really jumped off the pages; it almost felt like I was sitting in Betty's living room, sipping tea (OK, maybe she would be drinking something a little stronger...?) and listening to her tell her story. I almost hated finishing it because I didn't want it to end, but my sister-in-law gave me another one of Betty's books, so the fun doesn't have to stop there. :)
Tuesday, May 28, 2013
Happy Endings
#28: Watch every Best Picture Winner since 1961.
I can't believe it, but this is DONE...I've officially watched every BPW from the last 53 years! The last one, you ask? It was the very good, very epic Lawrence of Arabia. It's nearly four hours long, so Tom and I spread it out over Memorial Day weekend, watching it in increments starting on Friday evening and finishing it up yesterday morning. I loved it! What a great ending to my run of Best Picture Winners. This was definitely one of my favorite goals...I'm excited to cross it off, but I had so much fun with it that I'm a little sad to see it go!
#10: Read 30 non-academic books.
Speaking of yesterday morning, that's also when I finished reading The Hunger Games! (It feels so good to actually be finishing some books instead of just starting a ton of them!) We rented the movie about a month ago, and it was good; but I figured the book had to be better, and I was right. I'm definitely going to try to read the next book before the next movie comes out.
I can't believe it, but this is DONE...I've officially watched every BPW from the last 53 years! The last one, you ask? It was the very good, very epic Lawrence of Arabia. It's nearly four hours long, so Tom and I spread it out over Memorial Day weekend, watching it in increments starting on Friday evening and finishing it up yesterday morning. I loved it! What a great ending to my run of Best Picture Winners. This was definitely one of my favorite goals...I'm excited to cross it off, but I had so much fun with it that I'm a little sad to see it go!
#10: Read 30 non-academic books.
Speaking of yesterday morning, that's also when I finished reading The Hunger Games! (It feels so good to actually be finishing some books instead of just starting a ton of them!) We rented the movie about a month ago, and it was good; but I figured the book had to be better, and I was right. I'm definitely going to try to read the next book before the next movie comes out.
Tuesday, May 14, 2013
Good Reads and a Good-bye
#10: Read 30 non-academic books.
I finished reading John Piper's Battling Unbelief a couple weeks ago. It's actually the first Piper book I've been able to read all the way through. (I can hear it now: "*gasp* And you're a seminary wife?!") When Tom and I started courting back in 2008, I tried to read Desiring God per Tom's recommendation, but I could never seem to concentrate long enough to get anything out of it. I'll have to give that another try sometime, though, because Battling Unbelief was great. The basic premise? All sin ultimately stems from unbelief, and the way to battle it is with a concept that Piper calls "faith in future grace": trusting God's promises in Scripture and looking ahead to the grace that God gives us on a daily basis. Great stuff. No wonder all the seminary folks like this Piper guy...
Last night, I finally finished The Tipping Point. This is the book that my father-in-law loaned me almost two years ago in exchange for Sein Language, and I'm just now finishing it. (Sorry, Dad!) I'm going to go out on a limb and say that this was one of the best books I've read in a very long time. It turns out that social epidemics are even more fascinating than I thought they were, which is saying a lot!
#64: Watch every season of ER.
We just finished season 11 last week, and my favorite character, Dr. Carter, left for Africa at the end of the last episode! (I know, I know, he was everyone's favorite.) I almost don't want to keep watching because I know the last four seasons won't be as good without him, but I do know he guest stars in a few episodes (including the series finale), so I guess that's reason enough to keep going with it...!
I finished reading John Piper's Battling Unbelief a couple weeks ago. It's actually the first Piper book I've been able to read all the way through. (I can hear it now: "*gasp* And you're a seminary wife?!") When Tom and I started courting back in 2008, I tried to read Desiring God per Tom's recommendation, but I could never seem to concentrate long enough to get anything out of it. I'll have to give that another try sometime, though, because Battling Unbelief was great. The basic premise? All sin ultimately stems from unbelief, and the way to battle it is with a concept that Piper calls "faith in future grace": trusting God's promises in Scripture and looking ahead to the grace that God gives us on a daily basis. Great stuff. No wonder all the seminary folks like this Piper guy...
Last night, I finally finished The Tipping Point. This is the book that my father-in-law loaned me almost two years ago in exchange for Sein Language, and I'm just now finishing it. (Sorry, Dad!) I'm going to go out on a limb and say that this was one of the best books I've read in a very long time. It turns out that social epidemics are even more fascinating than I thought they were, which is saying a lot!
#64: Watch every season of ER.
We just finished season 11 last week, and my favorite character, Dr. Carter, left for Africa at the end of the last episode! (I know, I know, he was everyone's favorite.) I almost don't want to keep watching because I know the last four seasons won't be as good without him, but I do know he guest stars in a few episodes (including the series finale), so I guess that's reason enough to keep going with it...!
Wednesday, May 1, 2013
The Big Cut
#16: Do something drastically different with my hair.
#54: Donate my hair.
I've wanted to donate my hair to Locks of Love for as long as I can remember, but there's always been one thing standing in my way:
My hair.
It takes forever to grow, and quite frankly, I've never had the patience to let it get to the 10-inch minimum that's required for LoL.
The last time I had a major haircut was right after my wedding, when I got eight inches chopped off. Well, that was nearly four years ago, and the time is finally here. A couple months ago, I asked Tom to measure my hair, and it was just barely long enough. Yes, it really took that long. In my defense, I've been getting it trimmed every couple of months just to prevent split ends, but anyway...
Another reason I'd been putting the haircut off is that I couldn't decide on a style. The last few times I've gotten my hair cut short, I've gone with a pretty standard cut, and I wanted to mix it up this time, by both going shorter and trying a new style. I'd also never chosen a style based on whether or not I could wear it curly. For most of my life, I blow-dried my hair straight, but in the last few years I've come to embrace my natural curl. (Actually, I just discovered that it takes a lot less time to put in some product, scrunch, and go, plus it does less damage than styling with heat...but the embracing thing sounds better.) So that made the selection process take a little longer too. I started gathering pictures on a Pinterest board and ultimately got it narrowed down to a few that I liked and thought would look good on me.
But then I couldn't decide between those few! So I turned to Facebook and asked my FB friends to weigh in, thinking that maybe it would be helpful to have some fresh pairs of eyes looking at them. (By the way, thank you to everyone who commented!)
Ultimately I decided to just go in and let Kate, the lady who cuts my hair, tell me what looks good. I figured she knows way more about this stuff than I do. What we ended up with was an angled bob. Not crazy short, but different enough. Actually, for years people have been telling me to get my hair cut this way, and I've always been like, "Nooooo, that's not for me." But I love it. It's so sassy!
Anyway, I know what you're all waiting for, so I'll shaddap now. Here are the pictures:
#54: Donate my hair.
I've wanted to donate my hair to Locks of Love for as long as I can remember, but there's always been one thing standing in my way:
My hair.
It takes forever to grow, and quite frankly, I've never had the patience to let it get to the 10-inch minimum that's required for LoL.
The last time I had a major haircut was right after my wedding, when I got eight inches chopped off. Well, that was nearly four years ago, and the time is finally here. A couple months ago, I asked Tom to measure my hair, and it was just barely long enough. Yes, it really took that long. In my defense, I've been getting it trimmed every couple of months just to prevent split ends, but anyway...
Another reason I'd been putting the haircut off is that I couldn't decide on a style. The last few times I've gotten my hair cut short, I've gone with a pretty standard cut, and I wanted to mix it up this time, by both going shorter and trying a new style. I'd also never chosen a style based on whether or not I could wear it curly. For most of my life, I blow-dried my hair straight, but in the last few years I've come to embrace my natural curl. (Actually, I just discovered that it takes a lot less time to put in some product, scrunch, and go, plus it does less damage than styling with heat...but the embracing thing sounds better.) So that made the selection process take a little longer too. I started gathering pictures on a Pinterest board and ultimately got it narrowed down to a few that I liked and thought would look good on me.
But then I couldn't decide between those few! So I turned to Facebook and asked my FB friends to weigh in, thinking that maybe it would be helpful to have some fresh pairs of eyes looking at them. (By the way, thank you to everyone who commented!)
Ultimately I decided to just go in and let Kate, the lady who cuts my hair, tell me what looks good. I figured she knows way more about this stuff than I do. What we ended up with was an angled bob. Not crazy short, but different enough. Actually, for years people have been telling me to get my hair cut this way, and I've always been like, "Nooooo, that's not for me." But I love it. It's so sassy!
Anyway, I know what you're all waiting for, so I'll shaddap now. Here are the pictures:
Before...
After!
Side view (this was the "preview" pic I sent Tom before I got home):
And just in case you were wondering...the ponytail that Kate cut off was pitiful because my hair is so fine, but it was exactly 10 inches, so I am sending it off to Locks of Love today!
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