Not In Control

Sometimes I just need to remember that there is a plan for me and I need to trust in it.  I subscribe to the blog listed in the graphic above and this came at a perfect time for me this morning.  I have flaws: I'm impatient, I get disappointed easily, and I dwell on things that are out of control.  If I would just allow myself to trust that there is a time for everything, like Ecclesiastes 3 says, then I would be able to let go of some of the anxiety and hurt I'm holding on to.

Like my last post mentioned, I've been working on focusing on the positives.  I'm also creating rewarding distractions for myself.  Some of the projects I have in process right now:

1. Creating a rotating meal plan for every single meal of the day, including snacks.  I am really good at following plans, but never have found one already made that fits my needs.  It's a lot of work to create a meal plan with accompanying shopping lists and that fits my calorie/fat/fiber/carb goals for the day!
2. Reorganizing our three spare bedrooms.  We moved our spare bedroom upstairs to the empty bedroom across the hall.  The room that was the spare bedroom is in process of becoming our office/tutoring and voice lesson space.  The piano is set up, and I know where the desk is going, but now we have to take apart and put back together our giant desk that is in our spare bedroom downstairs.  That spare bedroom that is currently the office will be slowly cleaned out and become the nursery when the time is right for us.
3. De-cluttering. In the process of moving around our three spare rooms, we are discovering a lot of unorganized mess and even some boxes that were never unpacked when we moved.  I guess we've started our spring cleaning early, but we've already made two HUGE trips to Goodwill and there are plenty more to come.
4. Planning my vacation. I'll admit, I've been anxious to plan this for months, and I truly am taking my time because I want to remain flexible while we're in North Carolina.  However, we're just over two months out, and I think that we can start to consider reserving a rental car and reserving nights in hotels.  We already have two nights on Outerbanks taken care of and a night in Richmond, VA on the way down.  I have to plan a little bit since Ryan wants to get home in time on the following Saturday for a bachelor party.  This is my most fun distraction!

#throwbackthursday :)

Some other things I'm looking forward to in the immediate future:

• I get to visit my best friend, Brooke, this weekend!! She moved about two hours away back in October, and outside of just stopping by to get lunch with her, this dumb winter has prevented our ability to visit each other.  I can't wait for some one-on-one time with this girl!
• Friday night, Jess, Emily, Alli, and I are going to a murder mystery dinner!  I've never been to one, but I am so pumped for it!
• At the end of this month, my sister, mom, aunts, and cousin will be spending a night in Galena, IL.  I'm really excited about this weekend getaway and hope to make it a regular thing.  
• The final Sunday of the month, I'll leave Galena to head to Wisconsin to attend my friend Alli's baby shower!  She is due in May, I haven't seen her at all while she's been preggers.  I can't wait to hug her and see her beautiful face and laugh together. 

Life is good.

When Life Gives You Lemons

Not everything in my life is happy-go-lucky, but this week, I've been trying to refocus on the positives in my life.  I decided to make a list of the some of the things that were bringing me down and how I'm looking at them in a new light.

1. When my job is not making me happy, I try to focus on the things I am able to do in my life because I have a steady income and the benefits of PTO.  Plus, I do enjoy my coworkers, so I try to look forward to going to work so that I get to see them!
2. My tutoring business has not taken off as quickly as I envisioned.  I guess my expectations were slightly unrealistic, it's only been almost a month since I started it.  I am focusing on the fact that I have two great tutoring + voice students and one awesome voice student and I'm really enjoying the time I get with them.  Eventually, through advertising, networking, and word-of-mouth, I will grow my business, but for now, the slow start is a good thing!
3. I have been carrying the stress of my job and some other personal struggles around in my body, in the form of not only some extra weight, but also increased tension in my back and shoulders.  My sister randomly motivated me a few days ago to join the gym in Eldridge.  What am I loving about it?  The abundant Video on Demand choices in the back room where Emily and I are trying out yoga and loving it!

I also have just been trying to engage my faith a little more to get me through the difficult times.  First of all, I'm often humbled by the prayer chain emails that I get for people who suffering far worse than me.  Everyone's struggles are their own, and their emotions are real, including mine, but it's always important to do a reality check and remind myself of the blessings I have.

"Fear not, for I am with you; Be not dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you, Yes, I will help you, I will uphold you with My righteous right hand." - Isaiah 41:10

Life Update: January 2014

I haven't done a very good job of keeping up on my day to day.  So I figured I'd give you a little update on what I've been up to lately.  Thanks to Ashley for the format inspiration. ;-)

Cooking: I've been focusing on cooking healthy, but also making it fun and delicious!  Some of our favorites so far include fish tacos, tortilla pizzas, and roasted red pepper soup w/ barley.

Reading: I just finished The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde and am getting ready to start Hyperbole and a Half by Allie Brosch for the girl power book club I just joined!  Also, I'm in the middle of The Book Whisperer by Donalyn Miller for a class that I'm taking.

Studying: How to teach reading to students for the class I'm in.  I'm in this class to renew my substitute teaching license, but I think that it will be very helpful in the tutoring business that I'm about to launch!

Looking forward to: February 2nd!  Yes, Super Bowl day, but also, launch day for my tutoring business! Holy moly is that already only a few days away?  I'm getting very nervous, but very excited about it.  My biggest fear is not having anyone interested, but I've already had three potential students just based on discussing this with friends and neighbors.

Obsessed With: Taking pictures of my cats.  I sent one of the pictures to Ryan on Monday and he said if I wasn't married to him, I'd be a crazy cat lady.  Probably...

Sick of: Being sick!! I'm currently sick for the second time this month.  Not sure what the deal is, but I have a feeling it has something to do with the fact that I got about 6 hours of sleep between Friday and Saturday night all together.

January Renewals: I gave up alcohol and caffeine for New Year's and I physically have felt so much better!  I think I've even lost a couple pounds from it. :)  I also attended a CEW (Christian Experience Weekend) this past weekend and though I ended the weekend physically exhausted, I'm feeling spiritual renewed!  It was an extra bonus to spend this weekend with my mom and my friend, Brooke.

I'm Back...

...and I have so much to update you on!  But I'm not sure I'll get to all today.  I need to use our other computer to add pictures, but here are some things you can look forward to in the coming posts:
     1. Father's Day Fun
     2. My new job
     3. Family visits
     4. Weekend adventures
     5. Flater visit weekend recap!

First thing is first...my best friend, Brooke, is pregnant!! And I've been waiting to post this picture because her bump is showing.  Yeah, she's in the green and she's glowing!! :)  Our friend Nicole, in the middle, was here last weekend visiting from Nashville.  It was a wonderful reunion full of happy news. :)

I'll be back on here soon with plenty more updates.  Stay tuned and happy Monday! :)

February Goals

January Goals
1. Hit the gym 4 times per week
           Did it!
2. Eat out less, a whole lot less (as I write these goals at Panera!)
           Pretty good, but the unexpected meals did come up
3. Organize a bible or book study with friends
           Did it!  We've had two bible studies already :)

So let's see, January was pretty successful!  Nice to set goals that are attainable, as long as I make a plan to complete them.  I'm going to shoot for the same things in February.

February Goals

1. Stick with our healthy eating plan

2. Celebrate my birthday with my family

3. Finish the book I started in Mexico

What goals have you set for the month?  I will be readdressing goals next week when Lent starts...I always have a good deed to-do list and this year it's quite expansive and exciting! :)

What I'm Listening To

I feel like I am at a total loss of creative things to post about!  But I think my blog was more interesting when I kind of just posted whatever I felt like...not always just recaps and recipes.  So bear with me, you may get a wide array of random posts, but hopefully that will result in more frequent posts.  I am sure I am listening to some "overplayed" songs, but I don't listen to the radio often, so when I hear one I like, I Shazam it and make a play list.  So here you go:
1. The Lumineers - Ho Hey

2. The Civil Wars - I've Got This Friend 

3. Taylor Swift (feat. Gary Lightbody) - The Last Time

4. Regina Spektor - Don't Leave Me

5. Bruno Mars - Locked Out Of Heaven

The first time I heard that Bruno Mars song, I really REALLY didn't think I liked it, but now, I thoroughly enjoy it.  There are lots of other songs I like right now, just can't think of them :)  Happy Thursday night!

Winter Television

This is that time of year when all of my favorite shows either just ended or haven't started yet!  So what the heck do I do with my time? Well, I've been scouring HuluPlus to choose some new TV to watch until Mad Men starts (March 25!).  Here are the top 5 shows I'm currently watching:
1. Modern Family

2. The Voice (so much better than American Idol)

3. Storage Wars (Don't make fun of me, it's the winter lull and this show is funny!)

4. SMASH (I didn't jump on board with this right away, I just wasn't convinced it'd be good, but after talking with several friends about it, I watched it on Hulu and LOVE it)

5. Revenge (Again, this is a show I wasn't too sure about until it was recommended to me multiple times...good stuff!  I don't know if this is currently airing, but I'm watching it on Hulu now!)

Now I'll be honest, most of these shows wouldn't get my attention when my other shows are on, but I'm kind of glad to have "discovered" a couple other good shows to watch in the meantime.  My top 5 favorite shows that aren't on the air right now: Downton Abbey, Mad Men, Top Chef, Breaking Bad, and Game Of Thrones. 
What are your favorite TV shows?

You Make Me So Happy

Good morning friends and family...at least to the three of you that actually read this silly blog! :) I do have other things I could be posting about, and want to post about (like that pesky organizing challenge), but that seems boring.  Haha, so I just wanted to share a couple of things that have made me quite happy lately, even in the smallest of ways.

1. Receiving these to items in the mail yesterday:

2. Having a skype date...FINALLY!

Emily is sharpening pencils for her wedding :)

3. Having some delicious, home-cooked meals:

The beginnings of a healthy chicken pot pie

284 calorie breakfast, score!

Cajun Chicken Pasta

I'm bummed I didn't get a picture of the baked potato soup we made Monday night, delicious!  Also, I am putting this next picture up, even though it's not home-cooked because we finally found a delicious, affordable Thai take-out place like 2 minutes away from our house! 

Top: Drunken Noodles, Bottom: Pad Thai

4. Two Girls' Nights Out in one weekend:

5. Singing the National Anthem at the Kid's Micro Marathon that Brooke organized

Brooke, the beautiful lady in charge

Some of the kids stretching before the run, so cute

6. My kitties

Cali helping me do laundry

Peter just chillaxing

7. Crafts

No pictures of this, but I have been able to get some things done around the house that I've been putting off forever.  I've been working on a quilt that is finally ALMOST done, I got some pictures in frames and hung on the wall. I got some materials needed for a couple of fall decor projects, and I took some pictures that I want to print and frame as decor :) I love being productive and crafty...neither of which happens all that often.

There are plenty of other things that make me happy right now, I just don't have pictures of them all or time to write about them all.  I have loved being able to spend time with my husband more.  I have enjoyed watching some movies we've been meaning to watch for quite a while.  I love coaching the QCBT softball team, it's a lot of fun; we have another game tonight!  Etc. etc. etc.

Things that aren't making me happy right now: being sickish which in turn is making me lazy, so no working out for a while.  I don't like that I am at a total plateau with my weight loss.  Money...there needs to be more of it.

But whatever, enough of that.  All in all, I'm at a good point in my life and just wanted to celebrate the little things that are worth paying attention to and enjoying!  Happy Wednesday!

Sarah's To-Do List

You know that ominous creature that you often think you have under control and then it grows to monstrous proportions?!  You know what I'm talking about, the never-ending to-do list.  I have quite the love-hate relationship with this little pest.  I am an avid list maker, I get a load of satisfaction from crossing things off of a list!  Even down to the grocery list; boy do I smile when I know I just picked up the last thing on my list. :-) But this to-do list...what a pain in my arse!  Whether at work or home, I never seem to have enough time to tackle it all, and before I can even come close to finishing it, more items are added to it.  I thought the wedding to-do was going to be the end of scary lists, nope!  At least completing things on that list was usually kind of fun!

I won't bore you with my pesky to-do list; I will, however, ask you how you handle yours?  Any advice for accomplishing things more quickly? I'm a big "one day at a time" advocate at work, but I can't seem to grasp that concept at home.  I think one of my biggest problems is that I probably spread myself to thin.  I don't leave any "free time" to get things done.  I have my routines and on my free days, I fill them up with activities and appointments and never just stay home to work on the little things. But I suppose that's the trade off, because hanging out with friends and family is always a good thing too.  I think I'm still working on finding that balance between husband, friends, family, and ME.  My short-term goal, like next week or so, cross three big things off of my to-do list.  That means making some time for ME!

Sometimes, I miss Ames

As much as I was ready to GET OUT when we graduated, I have days when I really miss Ames, and Iowa State, and the lifestyle I had then.  I am definitely not complaining about the life I have now, but just saying that there are some random things I miss:

• Wednesday night's Name that Tune during the summer
• F.A.C., especially patio at Element when the weather was nice
• Good restaurants! The Cafe, Homestyle Chinese, Hickory Park, The Grove Cafe, Dublin Bay, Olde Main, and La Fuente to name a few
• Bartenders that actually knew me (though maybe that's not a good thing!)
• Ok, don't make fun of me for this one...but I miss college.  I miss writing papers, working on projects, staying up late to finish homework.  It sounds weird, but I liked being a student.
• Petersen's Pit on hot days
• Tailgating
• Intramural sports
• Living close to some of my best friends
• My Macbook
• Iowa State campus
• Reimann Gardens

Ok, that list is getting pretty long!  I mostly miss summer in Ames.  I loved the chill atmosphere and the variety of casual activities that kept me entertained!  Luckily, and oddly, I have found some similar activities or at least good replacements for a lot of what I liked about Ames.  I have been surprisingly happy here in the Quad Cities! :) Here are some great things I have loved in the Quad Cities:

• Wednesday night karaoke with the girls
• Playing golf with Ryan and my mom
• Living less than a mile away from the bike path
• Fantastic microbreweries
• Great restaurants! Exotic Thai, Los Agaves, The Olive Tree Cafe, Cafe Fresh, Mojo's, Woodfire Grill, The Belgian Village...to name a few
• Boating with Kyle in the summer
• A variety of summer festivals on the river
• The fabulous farmer's market!
• Being close to my family
• Getting involved in various community activities: Big Brother's Big Sisters, finding a Church I like, taking voice lessons, volunteering for things at work
• Living pretty close to Chicago
• Making some great new friends
• Having a house, not an apartment anymore

There are a lot of things I miss, but a lot of things I wouldn't trade for the world.  I had a great time in Ames, I'm having a great time in the Quad Cities, and I'm sure we'll have a great time wherever our lives take us next! =)

Top 10 of 2010

2010 was a good year.  It was definitely a year I will never forget.  But just in case I do, I just wanted to recap my top ten moments (I'll try sticking to just 10).  Plus, it's just fun to look back and let my memory experience all of those good time again.

10. Spending time with people I love

Ok, I know I know...this is pretty generic.  But here's the deal, I got married this year, to the most wonderful man on the planet (I know I'm partial!) and for the better part of the first half of the year, I was dedicated to the dress, the cake, the details, the guest list, and though I got to spend time with my friends throughout all of that...it was always spent doing things for me.  So AFTER the wedding, when things were winding down, I appreciated every moment I got to spend with people who mean a lot to me.  Especially the ones who couldn't be a part of the wedding planning or even make it to the wedding.  This goes from seeing Steph and Kyle, to hanging out with my family, to finally seeing Shae for one brief 24 hour period in December.

My brother and I at the zoo

Mom and I at the fair, Blake Shelton concert!

Jessi, Laura, and I enjoying martinis in Des Moines <3

Ashley and Abbas came to visit!! So goofy :)

Stephanie finally lives closer than Cali!!!!

Visiting Shae while she was home from San Fran in Chicago!

9. My health

Yes, I know, I'm not the healthiest person you know.  I'm not the skinniest, I'm not the best eater, and I still hate to run.  So why did this make my top 10?  A couple of reasons I guess. First of all, even though I still have pounds/inches to lose, I think I have finally learned not to beat up myself so much.  I think the wedding helped a lot.  I was a little more fit for the wedding than I am right now, but it felt great to look at those pictures, even though I was not perfectly thin or tan or whatever, and think that I am pretty.  Secondly, to work on getting fit again, I joined the Y in November and I am loving it! My favorite part of the Y is all of the group exercise classes, the best of which is Zumba...it's so much fun.  Finally, the best thing regarding my health was surgery.  How can that be good right?! I got my gall bladder removed at the beginning of November and my stomach problems have done a 180!  I no longer have nightly stomach aches, no heartburn problems, no nausea problems.  It has been great.

8. Ashley moved to Davenport

I don't have to go in to a lot of detail about why this is great, because come on, who doesn't want one of their best friends to live in the same city as you?!  Ashley got a job at the bank I work at and has been living down here for about three months now!  I think it has been great for both of us to have each other nearby.  And it's great working at for the same company because we email each other at work a lot and it's fun!  On top of the wonderfulness of having Ashley in town, she just got an apartment that is literally six blocks away from the house Ryan and I are moving into this month! :)

7. Omaha

Ryan and I have made a couple of trips to Omaha this year to visit Ashley, Andy, Laura, and Jason.  I LOVE this city and I LOVE our friends who live there.  I wish it wasn't 5 hours away, but it's well worth the drive when we can make it.  If I only lived 5 hours away from ALL of my closest friends, I think I would be in heaven.  Though of course, even now, a lot of them live within a 5 hour drive, but they're all in opposite directions!  Maybe we should just all pick a city and move there! :)

Das Boot

Touring Lucky Bucket Brewery

Halloween in Omaha

Erin looks pissed! lol

Girls weekend!

Girls weekend in  Omaha!

Aw, Calypso...so crazy! :)

6. Christmas

Sadly, I don't have any pictures from any of my Christmases this year.  But it made the list because, get this, we had SIX!  We had six Christmases in three days.  It was crazy, kinda stressful, and kind of sad.  Yet, I am so grateful that I was able to see so much of our families that weekend.  We started with church on Friday with Ryan's parents, dinner and presents with my family, and then presents with Ryan's fam.  Saturday involved a trip up to Dubuque where we spent the first part of the day with my mom's side of the family and then drove a couple miles to my father-in-law's parents.  We even made it home in time to see a late showing of True Grit (awesome!).  Sunday, we started with brunch at Ryan's parents' house with his mom's parents and then we spent the afternoon and my parents' place with my dad's side of the family.  It was crazy, but it was fun!

5. My birthday/bachelorette party

Despite the ridiculous drive up to Des Moines, this was a fun weekend.  However, I'm not going to write too much about it because of my previous post about said party. :)  But here are some enjoyable pictures to recap the weekend!

4. Cubs Game

On the Sunday of Labor Day weekend, Ryan and I went to our very first Cubs game together :)  Well, we went with his mom and brother too.  But it was so much fun and I can't wait to go again.  I'm not the biggest baseball fan, but Wrigley is awesome and it's fun to see the Cubs win.  Of course, they definitely DID NOT win this game we went to.  But we spent a beautiful day in Chicago, had great food, good weather, and a fun time.

Our view of Wrigley from Goose Island

nummy beer

Sporting my new Cubs hat

Food at Goose Island

so much fun!

3. Iowa/ISU Game

September 11th this year was the infamous Iowa vs. Iowa State game, played in Iowa City this year.  Ryan and I really had a wonderful weekend.  We went up to Cedar Rapids on Friday night and had a great time drinking and playing games with Emily.  On Saturday, we headed down to IC for the big game.  We met up with Laura, Jason, Kyle, Derek, Stolt, Lisa, and some other friends.  We had a fun time tailgating at Stolt's house and then walked to meet some more friends.  At some point, I split off to go find my dad who was tailgating as well...and on my way to meet him, I got a call from Ashley M.  Her and Andy got engaged!!!  It was fabulous news and made my wandering walk a little less awful.  LoL.  Then I met up with my dad, and then my sister and then back to the bar to watch the game.  It was a lot of fun and I'm looking forward to the game being in Ames this year! :)

sisters!

Hawkeye and Cyclone <3

We play friendly

ISU v. Iowa in flippy cup

Representin' Fantasy Football

Me, my "sister", and my sister

2. Wedding
I know right? How is the wedding number two and not number one?  Easy.  The wedding was awesome, incredible, important, beautiful, stressful (but worth it), and the most important day of my life thus far....but it's one DAY and it flies by!  But it was phenomenal, and we were so lucky with amazing weather, beautiful family and friends, and happy to have each other.  Married life is good <3

1. Honeymoon
Yes, the honeymoon was definitely my number one experience of the year because it was just me and Ryan, newlywed, in a brand new beautiful country for a whole 8 days!!  I know I already have a whole post about my honeymoon, but let me just recap.  Costa Rica was an affordable, exotic vacation full of adventure, romance, and relaxation.  We went hiking on a volcano, snorkeling with a school fish, exploring the night life, enjoying the rain forest, and swimming in the ocean right by our hotel room.  We spent one night in the capital city, two nights with a volcano in our back yard, two nights in the cloud forest, and three nights on the ocean.  It was phenomenal and we can't wait to go back.

View from our hotel in San Jose

Our room at the Arenal Volcano

On a short hike <3

View of the volcano off of our patio

Arenal lake, view from the volcano hike

On our hike

Room in the Monte Verde cloud forest

So this is what a rain forest looks like!

Hiking

Our hotel in Tamarindo

Tamarindo is very much a surf town

Fresh mango/pineapple smoothie

Where we went snorkeling

Sunset catamaran

Last day :( About to head to the airport.

Some other contenders for the list: concerts I've been too, our weekend in Chicago, my bridal showers, Andy's birthday weekend in DPort/Galesburg, camping, weekend in McGregor/Prarie du Chein...so many good memories, it's hard to decide between them all.  We can't wait to see what 2011 has in store for us!  It's been good so far :)