The new blog is up and running! Come check it out!
Friday, October 4, 2013
Thursday, September 26, 2013
And in the end...
My 999 days are up! In the last 2.775 years I have cooked, eaten, traveled, read, learned, and grown far more than I ever expected to when I started this list.
I didn't accomplish every goal I set for myself, but I'd say 64 out of 99 isn't too shabby! I'll be making my donations to Water Missions and Jeff Street soon.
If you remember my very first post, the ultimate goal of doing this list was to make me more thankful, and if that was the case, I'd say this was a huge success. Here are just a few things for which I have become more thankful in the last 999 days...
God.
It's because of Him that any of this was possible. God gave me the opportunities to travel, the resources with which to cook, and so much more. Memorizing Titus gave me a greater appreciation for God's word and for the body of Christ, the church. Volunteering at Jeff Street allowed me to see the transforming power of the Gospel in the lives of broken people, people that the rest of the world might have ignored or written off as hopeless. That's what it's all about, folks.
My city.
When I started this list, I thought we only had a few months left here in Louisville, but God had other plans, and now it looks like are going to be here for quite awhile. Louisville's not a perfect city; there is no such thing this side of heaven. There's a lot of darkness here, a lot of hurting people. But I love this place. Though Charleston will always be home to me, Louisville is one of the coolest cities around, and I feel blessed to live here.
My body.
It's not cover-of-Cosmo material, but my body is a lot stronger than I give it credit for; I discovered that while training for the Bridge Run. This is the only body I'll ever have, and in the last few years I have learned how to take better care of it. As a result, I'm now almost heartburn-free, and I eventually had to give away my high-school jeans (the ones I'm wearing in that pic on the left) because they were too BIG!
My kitchen.
I cooked almost all of my 100 new recipes in my little kitchen. At 56 square feet, the kitchen is one of the smallest rooms in our apartment (second only to the bathroom). There's no dishwasher and virtually zero counter space, and the tiny cabinets had us storing surplus non-perishables in the cleaning closet. There were countless times when I (very loudly) voiced my hatred for it, yet I can't deny that it has given me some of the best meals of my life. Good things in small packages and all that sorta thing.
Books.
I've always loved to read, but I stopped doing it for a long time. Who knows why...maybe I was too busy, maybe I associated it with school and that made it feel like work, maybe I was just more preoccupied with stuff like social media. Ugh. In any case, I'm back in a groove with reading, and I wouldn't have it any other way. Written word > Facebook/Pinterest/all the other ways I waste my time.
My husband.
He's my best friend, and throughout the last 999 days, he has been my biggest fan and greatest supporter. There's no one else with whom I'd rather share this journey. That's why I'm pleased to announce that we are teaming up to do a combined 99-in-999 list, starting the first of October! That's just a few days away...so stay tuned!
I didn't accomplish every goal I set for myself, but I'd say 64 out of 99 isn't too shabby! I'll be making my donations to Water Missions and Jeff Street soon.
If you remember my very first post, the ultimate goal of doing this list was to make me more thankful, and if that was the case, I'd say this was a huge success. Here are just a few things for which I have become more thankful in the last 999 days...
God.
It's because of Him that any of this was possible. God gave me the opportunities to travel, the resources with which to cook, and so much more. Memorizing Titus gave me a greater appreciation for God's word and for the body of Christ, the church. Volunteering at Jeff Street allowed me to see the transforming power of the Gospel in the lives of broken people, people that the rest of the world might have ignored or written off as hopeless. That's what it's all about, folks.
My city.
(image from louilink.com)
When I started this list, I thought we only had a few months left here in Louisville, but God had other plans, and now it looks like are going to be here for quite awhile. Louisville's not a perfect city; there is no such thing this side of heaven. There's a lot of darkness here, a lot of hurting people. But I love this place. Though Charleston will always be home to me, Louisville is one of the coolest cities around, and I feel blessed to live here.
My body.
It's not cover-of-Cosmo material, but my body is a lot stronger than I give it credit for; I discovered that while training for the Bridge Run. This is the only body I'll ever have, and in the last few years I have learned how to take better care of it. As a result, I'm now almost heartburn-free, and I eventually had to give away my high-school jeans (the ones I'm wearing in that pic on the left) because they were too BIG!
My kitchen.
I cooked almost all of my 100 new recipes in my little kitchen. At 56 square feet, the kitchen is one of the smallest rooms in our apartment (second only to the bathroom). There's no dishwasher and virtually zero counter space, and the tiny cabinets had us storing surplus non-perishables in the cleaning closet. There were countless times when I (very loudly) voiced my hatred for it, yet I can't deny that it has given me some of the best meals of my life. Good things in small packages and all that sorta thing.
Books.
I've always loved to read, but I stopped doing it for a long time. Who knows why...maybe I was too busy, maybe I associated it with school and that made it feel like work, maybe I was just more preoccupied with stuff like social media. Ugh. In any case, I'm back in a groove with reading, and I wouldn't have it any other way. Written word > Facebook/Pinterest/all the other ways I waste my time.
My husband.
Tuesday, September 17, 2013
A Book and a Letter
#10: Read 30 non-academic books.
Well, it's becoming pretty clear that I won't finish this goal in time, unless I can finish 11 books in the next 8 days...not likely. But I'll write about the book I finished most recently anyway.
A few months ago, I was in the mood to read some fiction, and Tom suggested Summer of the Monkeys. It was one of his favorite books as a kid. So I thought "OK, why not?"
Well...I don't think I was quite prepared for how much I would enjoy it. I won't give away any details, but it really is such a great story. I actually found myself tearing up for at least the last two or three chapters, but not sad tears (no, sad tears are apparently for Where the Red Fern Grows by the same author, Wilson Rawls). It's nice to know that there are books like this that can be enjoyed by both kids and adults. I highly recommend it!
#36: Take photos to spell out our last name and frame them.
I was looking at the list the other day and realized I still needed the letters L and E. Then yesterday evening I noticed that the bookcase in our dining area kinda looks like an E, so just one letter to go!
Well, it's becoming pretty clear that I won't finish this goal in time, unless I can finish 11 books in the next 8 days...not likely. But I'll write about the book I finished most recently anyway.
A few months ago, I was in the mood to read some fiction, and Tom suggested Summer of the Monkeys. It was one of his favorite books as a kid. So I thought "OK, why not?"
Well...I don't think I was quite prepared for how much I would enjoy it. I won't give away any details, but it really is such a great story. I actually found myself tearing up for at least the last two or three chapters, but not sad tears (no, sad tears are apparently for Where the Red Fern Grows by the same author, Wilson Rawls). It's nice to know that there are books like this that can be enjoyed by both kids and adults. I highly recommend it!
#36: Take photos to spell out our last name and frame them.
I was looking at the list the other day and realized I still needed the letters L and E. Then yesterday evening I noticed that the bookcase in our dining area kinda looks like an E, so just one letter to go!
Um...you can see it, right?
Saturday, August 17, 2013
Indecent Proposal
#85: Volunteer at Jeff Street at least once a month.
Something interesting always seems to happen at Jeff Street when I'm there without Tom, and this month's visit was no exception. So here's just a little anecdote for your reading pleasure.
I'd just given this one guy some stuff from the toiletries cart, and he seemed nice enough. Not much different from most of the other folks. But as he was leaving, he stopped by the front office window and said something along the lines of "Hey...girl in the hat...will you marry me?" (I was the only gal in close proximity who was wearing a hat.)
Oh dear. There are so many things wrong with that, I don't even know where to begin. I knew he was kidding, but I wasn't really in the mood to play along, so I held up my wedding ring and told him I was taken.
The moral of the story...? Well, it's an anecdote, so there doesn't need to be a moral, but if there was one, it would be this:
Always wear a wedding ring.
Just kidding.
Something interesting always seems to happen at Jeff Street when I'm there without Tom, and this month's visit was no exception. So here's just a little anecdote for your reading pleasure.
I'd just given this one guy some stuff from the toiletries cart, and he seemed nice enough. Not much different from most of the other folks. But as he was leaving, he stopped by the front office window and said something along the lines of "Hey...girl in the hat...will you marry me?" (I was the only gal in close proximity who was wearing a hat.)
Oh dear. There are so many things wrong with that, I don't even know where to begin. I knew he was kidding, but I wasn't really in the mood to play along, so I held up my wedding ring and told him I was taken.
The moral of the story...? Well, it's an anecdote, so there doesn't need to be a moral, but if there was one, it would be this:
Always wear a wedding ring.
Just kidding.
Sunday, August 11, 2013
Muy Elegante
#21: Get really dressed up to go somewhere that's not fancy.
This weekend, we had not one, but two occasions that involved going to a Mexican restaurant while considerably overdressed.
Some dear friends of ours got married yesterday (yay!), and they asked me to sing in the wedding. This meant that Tom and I got to attend both the wedding and rehearsal. We knew the rehearsal dinner was going to be at a Mexican restaurant, but we decided to follow standard protocol and dress up a bit. Well, we were definitely overdressed, but whatev. There were some other folks who was as dressed-up as we were.
The next day, however, was the wedding.
We were even more dressed-up than the day before, AND we decided to go out for Mexican again that evening right after the reception. I don't know about you, but this isn't what I normally wear to a Mexican restaurant...
This weekend, we had not one, but two occasions that involved going to a Mexican restaurant while considerably overdressed.
Some dear friends of ours got married yesterday (yay!), and they asked me to sing in the wedding. This meant that Tom and I got to attend both the wedding and rehearsal. We knew the rehearsal dinner was going to be at a Mexican restaurant, but we decided to follow standard protocol and dress up a bit. Well, we were definitely overdressed, but whatev. There were some other folks who was as dressed-up as we were.
The next day, however, was the wedding.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)