free time, defined.

 

free time does not exist. all time is filled with something.

sometimes multiple things.

simplified, my time right now is mostly spent like this:

work, eat, study, sleep.

 

two months and counting.

 

 

yardsale finds: bonus edition.

who would have thought that at the end of October i would be subjected to a rollercoaster of yardsale related emotions. you see, it was my understanding that yardsale season was pretty much done and over months ago. but then, i got excited as i noticed yardsale signs popping up all over last week. and then, i got sad when i remembered that i was going to be golfing all day Saturday. but then, i found out the tournament didn't start until noon which left me ample opportunity to leave the house a little bit earlier on Saturday and stop at a few sales that just so happened to be (mostly) right on the way to the golf course!  

 

(clockwise-ish from left, as always)

wooden slatted folding chair, blue glass fishbowl thing, jodi picoult book (they all make me cry but i just can't quit her), metal recipe card holder(?) that i'm going to try and use as a mail organizer.
Total Spent: $10.50

my new golf buddies seemed kind of impressed that i had been yardsaling before the tournament, and even more impressed with what i got versus how much i spent. they also told me to be on the lookout for my own set of golf clubs at yardsales, since i'm a "real golfer" now. maybe next year.

non-resolutions i have done.

finish reading the Lord of the Rings trilogy & watch the movies with the hubs. i kind of sort of really lost myself in this series. if you have never read these books, GO READ THEM RIGHT NOW. they are fantastic. the movies? eh. they followed the storyline pretty closely, but they also left out a lot of my favorite parts, and the ending was a little disappointing. also: where exactly in the books did i miss that whole Aragorn/Arwen epic love story that was such a major plot point in the movies? i felt a little cheated because i read all four of those books and still managed to be confused and clueless during those parts of the movies. overall, i'm really glad i made this a priority.

go skiing. did it. rocked it. would go again sometime this winter if i could find time and friends to go with at the same time.

clean out my closet. quick story: last weekend, i had a spur of the moment girls day out with my friend Nadine who i am SO glad lives in Maryland. we checked out a little furniture rehab/antique store, shopped the clearance racks at the mall, and went out for dinner somewhere new. it was a fantastic way to spend a day, and we both came away with some really good deals, housewares, (you should see her new dresser!) and new clothes.

the problem with me buying new clothes is that i didnt really have anywhere to put them. i had run out of room in my drawers and hangers in my closet, and my wardrobe was already overflowing into a second closet in the guest room. so i decided that before i could put away any of my new buys, i would have to clean out what i already had to make room for it. so thats what i did. i went through my closet and got rid of anything that no longer fit or that i no longer wore. and then i did the same thing to my dresser. and my second closet. i even went through my "extensive" (according to my husband) collection of shoes.

my side of the closet post-purge. 

there is no 'before' picture, and its even kind of hard to believe that this is an 'after' picture since it isnt super amazingly organized, but do you see all those empty hangers on the right side between my blue hoodie and the blue bag? those are all the hangers that i managed to empty. my drawers look a little more organized and close a little easier. and my second closet looks virtually the same. but believe it or not i managed to glean two trash bags full of clothes out of my wardrobe that are ready to donate. (thats not even counting the stuff that wasnt good enough to donate) that bag in the middle? shoes.

mark still thinks i have too many shoes. and clothes. and of course, now that i put my new clothes away my closet is just as packed as ever. but its packed with good stuff that i like, so i see that as a blessing. i am tempted to add 'reorganize the closets' as a followup nonresolution, but i dont want to get ahead of myself. for now, lets just cross it off the list!

three down, twenty-three to go.

meal plan monday: dec 31.

ok yes. today is jan 1. i know that. Happy New Year! i'm just a day behind this week - i made my meal plan for the week yesterday, but then i was too busy getting completely sucked into the Lord of the Rings trilogy to type it up and post it.

yes, really.

i am on chapter 5 and one page of Book 1 of the Two Towers. (the Ents are on the move!) i started the trilogy at the end of last week. it took me a little over 2 days to finish the Fellowship of the Ring. and then i moved right on to the next book.

Mark is very impressed. and also very gracious, since he is using his extra time off work to do super productive things like build a new mantel and upstairs entertainment center while i sit on the couch in my pajamas and ask him random questions that he refuses to answer like "hey is Tom Bombadil a bad guy?" and yell out exclamations like "well like DUH - i knew like a month ago that Gollum was following you" and "ugh i can't believe you are so dumb FRODO."

i am an awesome wife.

but hey, i did manage to get dressed in real clothes yesterday and go to the grocery store. a very productive day indeed.

Monday: TWO new years eve parties. so much food!
Tuesday: tilapia, rice, and a veggie.
Wednesday: citrus herb chicken, rice, and a veggie.
Thursday: crock pot chicken enchilada soup. (recipe)
Friday: lazy lasagna.
Saturday: dinner with the Hippler's.
Sunday: breakfast for dinner.

next on the list.

- read through my Bible.

i downloaded the YouVersion app to my iPad the day after my birthday. i downloaded the ESV Bible yesterday so that i can read it without an internet connection. i signed up for a reading plan this morning. the Eat this Book: One Year Bible with Daily Psalm Reading Plan, to be exact.

i fully expect it to take me more than a year to make it through. its not that i'm excpecting to fail, just that i'm learning to have more reasonable expectations for myself. and that's ok. no pressure on this list, remember? these aren't things i have to do, just things i would like to do.

and i would really like to do this. because there is a lot of good stuff in this Book that i have never read before. pages i have never turned. and even on the pages that i have read multiple times, there are still new truths to be learned and new depths to discover and new thoughts to ponder.

i like this plan. i'm excited to be a part of it.

if you want to be a part of this plan with me, you can find it here. 

recent reading.

i first heard of Wicked when my high-school art club was planning a trip to NYC and we were voting on which Broadway shows we wanted to see while we were there. i had no idea what it was, but it got a lot of votes so i figured it had to be something good, and i was among the disappointed when we weren't able to secure tickets for our group. we wound up going to see Hairspray and The Producers instead, and i forgot all about the other shows on the original ballot.

i next encountered Wicked in my college marching band. one of our closing numbers my freshman year was a mash-up of two songs from the score: Dancing Through Life, and Defying Gravity. i liked the songs, but it was kind of difficult to fully appreciate them while also trying to play them and keep up with the drill too. lucky for me, my BFITW was kind enough to introduce me to the full soundtrack. and then i promptly fell in love with the parallel story of the Wizard of Oz.

and THEN, i found out that the musical was based on a BOOK, and of course had to read it. i put all three* books from the Wicked Years on my Christmas list, and i read through the first book before Christmas break was over. (i only got the first one that year, because apparently the fact that i asked for anything called Son of a Witch was just too shocking!) if it was possible, i fell even more in love with Wicked. i even went to see the musical in Pittsburgh with my BFITW, and it is the inspiration for our hopefully-sometime-in-the-nearish-future matching tattoos.

all that to say, i took a trip to the library before family vacation, and over the past few weeks i finally read the second and third books in the Wicked Years: Son of a Witch, and A Lion Among Men. and i highly recommend them to all of you. start at the beginning of course, with Wicked: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West, and go from there. i dare you to not get sucked into the story, and the characters, and the whole world of Oz. they're like fairy tales for adults!

speaking of fairy tales for adults, when we were on vacation, my sister loaned me another book by Gregory Maguire called Confessions of an Ugly Stepsister, which is a parallel Cinderella story. i read the whole thing while we were at the beach with the inlaws over the weekend. you should read it. it will give you a whole different perspective on the classic story. and i bet you'll love it.

i've read some really good stuff in the past month or so, but i'm not quite sure what i'm going to read next. have you read anything good lately?

* i hear from the very reliable source that is wikipedia that a fourth and possibly final book in the series is supposed to come out later this year! anyone else wicked excited?!