Life as it is...lots of fun!

It's almost February, but this month has been really full of fun stuff.

After getting back to town, getting back into work was pretty hard-- and I had some big ups and downs with my job. But I'm trying to take on a new outlook. Work is work, and it doesn't have to be who I am or affect how I feel about things. Lately the tensions at work have been difficult for me to see past, and all of the issues just come up over and over again. So I've decided to realize that my life is more than all of the mess at work. I am going to work like crazy to do my best there, but after doing my best I need to leave all the work stuff behind. If people decide to get in an uproar over the latest situation, I should calmly face it head on and then forget about the stress and go home. (Easier said than done, huh?)

Let's see...um, last weekend was one of my favorite weekends. Friday night we went to a see a Bluegrass band. (Which, by the way, isn't something I would normally choose.) I love live music, and it turned out to be a lot of fun. We went to a gathering event with our church on Thursday and met some new people who invited us. Then we went to a movie on Saturday. Then Sunday a bunch of us went to a live taping at the Grand Ole' Opry House, called "How Great Thou Art." It was a collection of gospel hymns sang by popular country music stars, like Carrie Underwood, Dierks Bentley, Ronnie Milsap, Trace Atkins, Sara Evans, Loretta Lynn, and Vince Gill. It was a great show, and really cool to see all of those people live. Vince Gill sang a song I love called "Give me Jesus" and Charlie Daniels sang "I'll fly away"-- another song I love.

This weekend has been a lot of fun, since Ash's birthday was Thursday, we've been celebrating all week. Thursday we went to the Ringling Bros. Circus at the Sommet Center. (Which was WAY cool! ) Last night we had a ton of our friends over for a wild (just kidding) party at our apartment. We played fun games like "Psychiatrist," "The Question game," and a new one called "Wise or Otherwise" that is like Balderdash, but you use half of a famous/funny quote instead of a word and it's definition. We had Mexican sodas in a tub of ice, corn dogs, french fries, and cupcakes and other fun foods.

I'm learning to love busy weekends just as much as the quiet and relaxing ones! Ha, ha, the girls used to complain about not having stuff to do and I just wanted to stay in and hang out and watch movies-- but now I see what we were missing.

Happy New Year!

I've been to Michigan and back since last time I wrote. Christmas was great. It was relaxing and snowy and fun. I am so grateful that I got to take a few days off. I left for home on Saturday the 22nd and came home Sunday the 30th. The best part about being home having everyone in my family home. It's hard to take that for granted after not having it for a long time. I also got to see my beautiful Michigan girls, who I haven't seen in forever! Then Candlelight service at Church on Christmas Eve, after Steak and Shake and seeing National Treasure-2. Christmas day was relaxing and casual. I got some amazing gifts. For instance:

I didn't do anything big for New Year's Eve. I had to work all day and then it was kinda nice to just go home make dinner and hang out. Then yesterday, Amanda and Ashley and I took a road trip to......Chattanooga. : ) Here are some pictures for your viewing pleasure: