please do..

goodies..

here are three websites that i think are interesting and worth sharing. hopefully you'll like them too!

book mooch.

i'm still not completely sure how it works (i think the points system seems like it could get a little confusing, but maybe not), but i think this site seems very awesome. don't you just see things like this and wish you'd thought of them? well, i know i do. anywho, i'm hoping to put my list of books up soon so i can get started requesting and sending books. neato.

neighborhood fruit.

i'm kind of bummed that i didn't know about this site while we were still in cali, because there are so many fresh fruit trees out there and also a lot of people who would probably be prone to sharing from them. there was actually a huge lemon tree in someone's backyard on our alley in oceanside, and i thought very often about snatching a few. hopefully once warmer weather rolls around i'll be able to find someone sharing their fruit in raleigh.

one dress.

i found this website on a blog i really like and have been following it on and off ever since. i haven't read the whole thing, but what i do know is that the blogger has committed to wearing the same dress for an entire year as a protest against consumerism and to challenge her motivation and reasons for caring about fashion. it's pretty neat, and it's been interesting to follow what she's learning about herself and also about other people as they react to her wearing the same thing day after day.

i give all of these a heartfelt

p.s. can you believe january is almost over? it seems like just yesterday the ball was dropping to welcome in 2011. time. flies.

creative.

link

new..

it'd be safe to say that this picture pretty perfectly portrays (whoa. holy p's) how i feel about making goals. now, not the small day-to-day goals like, shower at some point, feed ruby three meals and a couple snacks, clean at least one thing around the apartment, and so on, but bigger goals.. "new year's resolution" type goals. we got into a discussion during journey group the other night (side note: journey group is what we call a group of me and three other woman from my church family who meet every other week to eat, discuss a book we're reading, pray, laugh, cry (i usually fill that criteria :), vent, and encourage and challenge each other. i can't say it better than "i love it") about whether or not we're disciplined people. i knew this before that night, but it got me thinking again about the fact that i know beyond a shadow of a doubt that i am not disciplined.. at all. i rarely follow through on goals i make that aren't vital to and almost forced to be done in my daily life. i don't like this about myself, and i'm glad that in realizing it i want it to change. so, i present the goals that i've been thinking about lately so that those of you out there reading (crickets.. ;) can ask me about them, if you'd like, and also because it helps me to feel like they're more real and decided on once i share them.. here goes.

1. pay off our car this year (hopefully in less than a year). of course, this goal includes daniel as well since he's bringing home most of the dough, so i'm glad he liked this one when i shared it with him. we are and have been working on it, but having the next 12 months (or less!) as a timeline helps me to want to chip away at it even more than i already do.

2. be more patient.. especially when driving. like i told our home group a couple weeks ago, i want more patience in my life overall, but i feel like making the blanket statement of being more patient as a wife, mom, sister, daughter, friend seems a bit daunting right now.. so i figure working on patience on the road is a good starting place that will encourage it in other areas of my life as well. also, i think it will affect more than just my time on the road since getting up earlier, not rushing out the door, and things like that will need to be altered in some way to make patience while driving more possible.

3. eat better. i've let myself get pretty slack with eating fast food, drinking soda, and overeating in general for awhile now. i keep saying i want to get rid of the "baby weight", but i don't know how much longer i can keep calling it baby weight since it's been over a year and a half. :)

4. learn to run. when i told my mother-in-love about this one the other day she said, "you don't know how to run?!" what a kidder she is. but really, i want to learn how to run.. i think i'll try the couch potato to 5k dealio since i've heard stories of success from others using it. so, once i find a running stroller i think i'll give #4 a whirl.

5. be here now. this one kind of blankets and flows into a lot of areas in my life, but i want to work on being where i am when i'm there and with who i'm there with. sounds complicated, i know.. but i often find myself multi-tasking or doing wasteful, mindless, and distracting things with my time when i should be giving attention to what's important at that moment.. i.e. ruby, daniel, time spent with God. i let other things capture my mind and time instead of taking in the good that's in front of me in that moment. i don't want time, experiences, memories, or relationships escaping me because of worries, to do lists, facebook, or whatever's taking my attention at the moment.. it's hard, but it will be good.

that's where i am for now. there are other little things i've been trying to better in myself lately, but i'm not at a sharing place with some of them yet. thanks for reading.. and here's to accomplishment!