66,795 pushups, anyone?

I stumbled across this idea and thought it might be fun to do, but I probably won't make it past February. We'll see. Anyway, basically you start with one pushup on January 1st, and each day add one more until you get to a grand total of 365 on the last day of the year. Now, that 365 doesn't necessarily mean all in one set, but in as few sets as possible to reach the goal. I'm going to give it a try and see how it goes! Here's what my schedule will look like (I love having schedules to check off when I complete something)....

And yeah...I'll keep you posted on how far I make it. If I make it to the 365, the grand total of pushups is 66,795 for the entire year...hence the title of this post. Kind of random, but kind of cool!


Countdown till my trip to CA: 2 days! Technically only one, since I leave Saturday and tomorrow is friday! 
Outside Temp: 43°F
Verse of the Day: 

Therefore, as the elect of God, holy and beloved, put on tender mercies, kindness, humility, meekness, longsuffering.

Colossians 3:12

A Little Painting...

I was rather pleased with how these turned out, so I decided to post a few pictures of the bookends that I hand-painted for a good friend of mine for Christmas. I'm not really a painter, but when I bought them they were kind of a bland off-white, and I thought it'd be fun to splash some color on there! Here is the finished product:

In the process, I found out that the painting was actually really nice therapy. I'm keeping my eye out now for more fun little projects like this. 

Catching Up

I feel as if I have utterly failed at blogging. It's already two weeks into December and this is my first post since October! Suffice to say, times have been busy. But even in all the busyness, there have been lots of enjoyable times along the way. Thanksgiving with family and friends was wonderful (yes, I am jumping back a bit to November). We had family from three different states come in to spend it with us in AZ, and a family here in town came over as well. We made adorable cupcakes that looked like turkeys (my favorite project of the week - pictured below), and just got to enjoy spending quality time with each other and remembering all the things that we are thankful for! God has truly blessed us. Even through the hard times, there is always a reason to praise His name. 

Turkey Cupcakes!

Moving on, I am pleased to announce that I am now officially finished with my degree program at Central Arizona College! This semester was my last, and I will be receiving my Associates degree in Liberal Arts (with an emphasis in Communications). It has been quite a journey, these past 2 1/2 years of school. I've taken a variety of classes, some I loved and some I learned absolutely nothing in. Some of them were those dreaded "required" courses. I definitely learned the trick of finding what pleases the teacher and just "getting through" it - which can be seen probably as both a good thing and a bad thing. But all in all, it was worth it because, as far as I know, I graduated with a 4.0. My official grades haven't come back for three classes yet, but from my calculations I should have all A's this semester, which makes for a straight-A college experience. Phew! So glad that's over! And since I was home-schooled before college and thus have never had an official "graduation," I had my graduation photos taken by my aunt and will be sending them out to people shortly. To those I'm not mailing them to, it's because we're friends on facebook and you can see them there! 


Oh, I am so glad it is December! December has to be one of my favorite months out of the year. The house has smelled like sugar cookies for a few days as my mom and sister mass-bake enough to feed all of my mom's music students (and us, of course), and I love seeing all the houses with their decorations, going shopping, attending christmas parties, and just the joy of remembering why we celebrate Christmas in the first place! In my morning quiet times I've been studying different words associated with Christmas (Peace, Joy, Love, Hope, etc) and going through their different meanings and what all the Bible has to say about each of them. It's been really cool, and already has broadened my perspective and reminded me of the importance of it all. 


And last but not least, I got a puppy! It was kind of an impulse buy, but we now have a new addition to the family. She's a border collie/german shepherd and I named her Dakota. She's around two months old and is really cute and small! The last two nights have been rather sleepless with her constant crying, but I know it will only be for a time - we'll get through it and I'm very much looking forward to having a future jogging partner! 

Countdown till my trip to California: 18 days!
Outside Temp: 41°F
Verse of the Day: 

For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, says the Lord, thoughts of peace and not of evil, to give you a future and a hope.

Jeremiah 29:11