Gratitude Journal - Day 5

Thankful for my dear friend, Bethina. She's understanding and loving and caring and forgiving... and she lets me play with her baby daughter any time I want! :-D

Gratitude Journal - Day 4

I heard my grandpa's voice today for the first time in months! Made me feel oh-so happy. I miss him SO much. I'm so thankful that he's hanging in there... and able to speak, if only for a minute. :-)

I Know This Shouldn't Be Funny... But It Is...

Found this in a news article this morning...

"Authorities have shut down a Hutto day care after they found evidence that the owner was abusing the children there, including feeding... Chee-tos to children."

This was NOT an April Fool's Joke. Poor kids: she *was* abusing the children (apparently by adding hot sauce to their baby formula, dousing their fingers/thumbs in black pepper, and putting towels over their faces to stop them from crying), but the way the reporter wrote this sentence? It just sounds ridiculous.

Work is Awesome!

I had the BEST day at work today! I did an elfa demo/presentation for the first time, and it was SO fun! My co-workers were SO encouraging supportive! And I was able to help a whole bunch of customers. I also did most of the announcements and took care of the new products. I left work feeling very inspired and motivated. What a great day!

p.s. I did finish another layout today too. I love white cardstock. I love simple layouts. I can't forget that. :-)

Family Get-Together and Scrapping. :-)

Larry and Jesse came over for dinner tonight. It was so nice to have them over!

And I scrapped THREE pages! Oh, that was so fun! I'm loving this Studio Calico kit right now... totally inspiring! :-D

Sickness and Basketball.

I wasn't feeling well today, so Jeremy stayed home to take care of me. That was so nice. :-) He really is awesome.

Later on in they day, I was feeling better, so we walked to the park. We brought the basketball, and that was pretty cool. I think it will be fun if we continue to go! I *almost* beat him at "Horse." Tee hee. Next time!

28 at 28.

1. I eat toast, vanilla yogurt and chocolate milk (Carnation Instant Breakfast) every morning for breakfast.

2. I wear fleece pants and a long sleeve shirt to bed each night.

3. I still sleep with a stuffed animal: my Build-A-Bear bear, Samantha. :-)

4. Jeremy and I hug and kiss about ten times a day.

5. Jeremy and I call each other about five times a day... at least. (I should really count... LOL.)

6. I try to call my mom and dad every day.

7. Having hot tea before bed is one of my very favorite rituals.

8. I still watch A LOT of Friends and Glee on DVD. Tee hee.

9. I think a lot. All the time. I never stop thinking. My mind never rests. Sometimes, this is frustrating.

10. I try to cuddle the puppies every day. I love when they lick my face.

11. I miss coaching gymnastics, and every day, I consider going back...

12. I love dolls and stuffed animals, and I love having them sitting in my scrap room.

13. If a scrapbooking layout is taking too long (longer than an hour or two), I usually want to give up and move on.

14. I drink water, Crystal Light Pure Fitness, tea, chocolate milk, homemade Italian sodas, and grapefruit juice. That's all. :-)

15. I don't think I ever leave work feeling unhappy or frustrated. I'm almost always in a good mood after work. :-D

16. I feel anxious if my house is messy.

17. I LOVE being outside. If I'm outside for a while, and then I go inside, I get a nervous, yucky feeling. Ew.

18. I want to write a book. I haven't decided on what yet...

19. I love making YouTube videos.

20. I have a love/hate relationship with staying up late.

21. I have to get, at least, ten hours of sleep to feel good.

22. Eco-Lips Mint chapstick is the BEST, and I carry it with me wherever I go.

23. I'm not very good at managing my time.

24. I can't sleep well when Jeremy is out of town.

25. I wear earplugs to bed every night.

26. I could probably live off pizza, chocolate milk, tacos, pot roast and my homemade cheesecake. I wonder if I'd get sick of those foods? I probably would... LOL.

27. The Sound of Music and Love Actually are STILL my favorite movies.

28. I listen to the Glee soundtracks and Taylor Swift... pretty much exclusively.

Taffy and Babies. Mmmm. :-)

I ordered three pounds of Steel's saltwater taffy, and I got it in the mail today. YUM. I ate WAY too much of it. WAY too much. Feelin' kinda sick now, but I don't care. It was fun to eat that much at once! ;-)

I don't know for sure, but I think it's the same taffy Mona bought for Ross in Friends. I'm such a crazed fan. LOL. :-p

I also got to meet Lyndsey's new baby, Sebastian today. SO cute and sweet. :-) She said next time she has a baby, she wants the drugs... LOL.

Grandpa's Birthday!

Today was Grandpa Pendzimas' birthday! He had to spend it in the hospital because he's still recovering from surgery. Ah well. He was a good sport about it, and I was able to call him and tell him that I ordered his measuring cups from The Container Store. He can't wait to get them! Yay! :-)

And my favorite memory of him? I thought I'd mention that today. The Del Mar Fair... just the two of us. I'm pretty sure I was ten. He spoiled the socks right off me that day. It was so nice to be his only grandchild... for only one day. He made me feel like a million dollars. I love that we've always had a special bond. :-)

I Heart Elizabeth So Much!

After work, we went over to Elizabeth's to watch the Academy Awards. I really liked how they introduced the Best Actor and Best Actress noms. Very cool. Poor Jeremy was so tired, he couldn't even make it all the way through!

Afterward, Elizabeth and I had SUCH a nice talk. I am SO blessed to have a friend like her. We talked till 1:30am. She reminded me that I can't go back to the Reyanna I used to be, but I can create a new one that I *want* to be. That inspired me. That girl has so much wisdom in under 28 years!

And what she said made me think of The Shawshank Redemption...

"Get busy livin. Or get busy dyin."

Uneventful.

I was planning on hanging out with Hillary today, but I felt so crappy. So I stayed in bed instead. LOL. Then I went to work, and that was actually a pretty fun time. :-)

This was a pretty uneventful day. *sigh* Ah well.

He's Home On Time!

This whole week has been so nice because Jeremy has been home at reasonable hours. Yay. :-) I think we both needed a break from the craziness! :-p

Friends and Frozen Yogurt.

Got to call Jennifer today to wish her a happy birthday. Was so nice to hear her voice. I told her I miss coaching, and she told me she doesn't. LOL.

Then Elizabeth, Jeremy and I went out for frozen yogurt. Yum. I mixed raspberry FY with cheesecake-flavored FY, and that was TASTY.

Sleeping and Poms.

Today was SUCH a nice day, but I could barely enjoy it because I was so tired. I took three naps... meaning, I pretty much slept all day long. Save a bike ride and cuddling with the dogs next door, who escaped into our backyard...

They are so obnoxious when they're on their side of the fence, but once they came over to our side, they were SUCH sweeties! They wanted to cuddle and lick my face and sit on my lap and just be loved on. That made me feel kinda sad... like maybe they just don't enough of that at home, and that's why they're always trying to get over here.

This one, Charlie, LOVES me. LOVES me.

I told him to go home, so he did, and I went back inside. Then he came back to our back door and pawed at it like a crazy dog until I gave him some more lovin. LOL. Silly puppy.

Crazy day. LOL.

Fun with Friends.

We had dinner and margaritas (at Jardin Corona) with Jamie and Elizabeth tonight. We had SO much fun! We laughed SO much. And when we got home, I was SO tired... I could barely talk or type. LOL. I'm so glad we have friends to be silly with. :-p

(This was written after the fact... LOL.)

Walks Are So Nice.

We went for a nice walk tonight. We're hoping to go on more nice walks. We can't wait till it's warm every day again.

May through September, we miss you! And we can't wait to have you here again! ;-)

Tough Day.

Today was a tough day. Jeremy is having a tough time with working so much... not eating or sleeping regularly. Poor guy. He's feeling much better after a nice long talk (and a good cry) and LOTS of hugging and cuddling. :-) And he lost his wedding ring at work. That made him really sad. It's okay. I'll get him a new one tomorrow... :-)

Grandpa Stark.

We went and visited Jeremy's grandpa today. It was so nice to see him, and it was SUCH a nice day. We sat outside in the sun, played with Blackie, and ate A LOT of turkey and brisket. Grandpa cried when we left, and that made me tear up. He's so lonely without Winnie-Lou. It breaks my heart. I hope we can go back to visit soon. :-)

After visiting Grandpa, we had dinner with our new friends from church, Stephanie and Brian. Their dogs are SO cute. We had a fun time. :-)

Everyone Else is Doing It...

Saw Avatar tonight. Awesome graphics. Pretty cool effects. And I like the conservation message. :-) I didn't think I'd like 3D movies, but I got used to it, and it was pretty cool feeling so immersed. :-)

Reading Too Many.

I am not good with reading books. I'm reading The Secret Life of Bees, Breaking Dawn, and Forgive to Live, and I'd really like to, at least, finish one of them! LOL.

Jeremy worked. I created.

Poor Jeremy! He's worked 49 hours in three days - with barely 15 hours sleep! EEK! I appreciate him so much, but I'm worried about him.

I made an inspiration piece today for my scrap room. Fun!

Snow! And Mom. :)

It snowed! EEEEEE! Awesomeness! We were at the hotel, and what a surprise when I opened the door this morning! WOW!

Mom had a hard day today. I'm glad I could be here for her to vent. I love that we have such a close relationship, and she can call me whenever she wants. :-) I wish she lived closer though...

Be You.

Feeling SO much better! I'm inspired to find the Reyanna that has gotten lost in pleasing others. Ack.

Ack. Feeling Blech.

I'm going through some tough stuff. It's frustrating not to be able to figure stuff out right away. I'm just down. Blech.

Thinking.

I think too much. I analyze everything. Sometimes that can be frustrating.

Feeling Better.

I feel SO much better today! Phew. :-)

A Down Day.

There's something missing. Is it the fact that I've been sick a lot? Is it the feeling like I've lost a part of my life - all the things I used to love to do? Is it what happened last year?

I feel like I'm in a cloud. It's the headache that won't go away. The constant feeling that something is wrong - or I've lost something very important. Me? Is it me that I'm missing?

"Be you. Find you. Be happy with that."

That's hitting me lately... that sentence I saw on Lizzy K's blog. Who am I? Where am I? Where am I going? Is it the fact that I'm not doing anything I thought I would? I thought that maybe what I was missing was children, but now I feel like maybe that's not it at all - like if I had kids, it wouldn't make a difference in this area of my life.

I feel stifled, trapped. I just want to feel better. I want my health to be better. I feel like if I were feeling better, i could do the things I want to do, be the person I want and need to be. How do I get there?

Videos Are Fun!

I made a video tutorial today, and it was so fun! I can't wait to do another one!

I Heart Scrapbooking.

I need to try and scrap every day - even if only a card...

Last Day of the elfa Sale!

I worked over nine hours today, and I had so much fun! I'm really good at being elfa sales manager. I love it so much. :-)

Valentine's Day

Best Valentine's Day EVER! And I made the Journal Challenges creative team! YAY! Love our new church too. Totally awesome!

Taking a Load Off.

Told The Container Store that I may need to take a break due to my health. I hope it works out that I can.

Ruby Loves ST! (And they love her!)

Ruby was featured on the ST blog today! How exciting! She's SO cute. :-)

The Bachelor = Good Television

Jeremy and I have been watching The Bachelor (Jake, the pilot) all season on Hulu.com. It's really fun. We're both totally into it, and waiting six days between episodes is painful. LOL. We're such dorks. :-p

Sometimes Eating is Not So Cool.

I'm starting to realize that *eating* is what's making me sick. Too bad I just can't cut that out, right?! LOL. I'm not minding a bland diet: mashed potatoes, chicken, chocolate milk, yogurt, Jell-O and GF bread. Yummy. :-) And I'm starting to feel better... :-D

LONG hours.

Jeremy didn't get home from work until 5:30 this morning. (That's a 23-hour day!) I stayed up to wait for him. Then we got to go take a nap together. He slept for 2-3 hours. I slept about 5 or 6. I'm sure we'll both sleep well tonight! LOL.

Sometimes Jeremy's Work is Yucky.

It bothers me when Jeremy works long hours... like now. He won't be home until *tomorrow* morning. Sheesh. Poor guy. He needs sleep! LOL.

Working and Sleeping.

I still wasn't feeling up to working, but I only had a 3-hour shift, so I braved it.

When I got out of work, I smelled hot dogs. Jeremy asked me what I wanted for dinner, and I said, "Grilled hot dogs." So we went to Walgreens and got hot dogs and propane, and that's just what we had. I had three of them. And that's pretty much all I ate all day. LOL.

Being Sick... Sucks.

Had to call in sick today... 3rd time in less than a month. I HATE calling in sick. I hate it. But I was too sick to stand up, and therefore, too sick to go to work. *sigh*

Kissa Kitty!

Kissa is so totally sweet. I'm so glad she adopted us. :-) She LOVES to cuddle! LOL.

The Pups Will be Famous!

I'm going to be featured on Coffee with a Canine in a few weeks. That's pretty cool! I'm excited. :-)

Cute Puppies!

I love our puppies. They're the best. And the cutest. And the sweetest. And they're really good cuddlers. :-)

It's FREEZING!

I've been cold for several nights in a row... couldn't understand why... as I sleep in sweats with fleece sheets, a down comforter, AND a quilt. Just noticed that the down comforter was down by my feet! Ack! Moved it back up. I'm much warmer now. :-)

Took pregnancy test... Negative. Darn.

Money. Ew.

Did our finances today. We're not in the best place, but at least I feel a bit less stressed because I KNOW where we are. :-)

WOOHOO!

Finally out of the apartment! Feels great!

Tea, DVDs and Dolls.

Sitting down with hot tea and a DVD is one of my favorite parts of the day. :-)

p.s. I bought Franziska today. Am I crazy?! ;-) Happy 1/2 Birthday to me! HA!

Oh, Lily!

I finally finished a layout about Lily. It made me laugh... looking back on the funny things she said. :-)

Baking the Days Away.

I've been in the baking mood lately. I've made a cake AND cookies this week. Plus meatloaf and ratatouille!

p.s. Today, I found Franziska by Jeckle Jansen. On eBay! Seventeen years I've been looking for this doll! CRAZY! And happy. :-)

Night Owl... Again.

I've become a night owl! I love staying up late. I feel most creative late at night, but I'm always super tired the next day! Gah!

(Okay, I realize I already said this on the 19th, but it just baffles me. LOL.)

Re-Cap

I've been re-capping 2009 on my blog. It's been fun looking back at all the photos. :-)

Debt is Yucky.

We went to the bank to apply for a debt consolidation loan. We're taking control! Yay!

Quality Time

Tonight, Jeremy and I relaxed and watched some Sex and the City (he liked it!). That was nice. :-)

*sigh* Jeremy *sigh*

I miss Jeremy. He works a lot. I'm getting bummed out about that.

*sigh* Jeremy *sigh*

I miss Jeremy. He works a lot. I'm getting bummed out about that.

Carnation Instant Breakfast

I drink chocolate milk just about every day. I wonder if I'll ever get sick of it.

Chocolate is good with sea salt.

I really love sea salt on chocolate. Mmmm.

Decorating

I have a love-hate relationship with decorating. I want my house to look good and feel good, but I'd rather spend my money on adventures... DOING something. :-)

Night Owl

When did I become a night owl? I love staying up late and sleeping in. I feel most creative at the wee hours of the morning. Go figure.

Hi, my name is Reyanna, and...

I'm addicted to Sex and the City.

(That show is fabulous!)

Elizabeth

It is so great to have a friend like Elizabeth. Seven months re-united, and I love the connection we have!

Sickie.

I'm sick of being sick, and I'm ready for it to be over. I want to feel better now. :-)

I Think I Need Alone Time.

And just like that... I wished there were doors to my scrap room.

Sex and the City.

Today, I got the whole series of Sex and the City. On Craigslist. Dirt cheap. It makes me miss Manhattan. It makes me wish we would have done what we said we were going to do... after Rhode Island, put all our stuff in storage, and live in Manhattan for one year. We didn't. I wonder if we'll ever get the chance again...

Scrapbooking is awesome.

I forgot how much I love scrapbooking. I forgot how awesome it feels when I finish a page, look at it, and think, "Hey! I really like that!" I love that feeling.

Days off.

On my days off, I spend A LOT of time in my pajamas. I eat comfort foods like burritos and nachos and chocolate. I drink a lot of tea. I watch Friends and favorite movies. I do the occasional load of laundry. I usually talk on the phone. And perhaps, I'll organize or create. I love my days off.

I miss movies like they're old friends.

Today I was reminded how much I LOVE Pollyanna. I still smiled like a giddy, school-girl and teared up at the end... just like I always have. *sigh* I love revisiting old favorites.

Retail therapy?

I tend to throw myself into decorating when I get down or something traumatic is happening. I really want a new quilt from Pottery Barn...

Poor Winnie-Lou.

Watching somebody die has to be one of the most horrible experiences. I had nightmares all night last night.

Death... staring you right in the face.

We were at the hospital all night tonight. Winnie-Lou (Jeremy's grandmother) is dying. Yes, she's just short of 84 years, but it's still so awful.

I Don't Wanna Miss a Thing.

You know that song by Aerosmith? That is exactly how I feel lately. I know it sounds cheesy, but I honestly feel that way about Jeremy. Every. Single. Day.

"I don't wanna close my eyes
I don't wanna fall asleep
'Cause I'd miss you, babe
And I don't wanna miss a thing
'Cause even when I dream of you
The sweetest dream will never do
I'd still miss you, babe
And I don't wanna miss a thing."

*sigh* So cheesy that it makes me giggle. But there's no denying it... I'm in love with that guy. And I don't want to miss a thing...

I love tea.

The Steeping Room is one of my favorite places in Austin. Every time I go, I just get so giddy! Today I tried the Jasmine Blueberry (with Hillary W.). Yummy. :-)

Dancing is SO fun!

Last night was SO fun! Jeremy and I put on some awesome music and danced our butts off! How can you not dance when you hear I Gotta Feelin' by the Black Eyed Peas?!

Trying some make-up.

Today I put make-up on for the first time in... years. Talk about a boost of self-confidence! LOL.

p.s. Happy 8th birthday to my twinkie nieces, Alaura and Brenna!

Bitterness is yucky.

When I don't get my way, I tend to get bitter. I'm gonna work on that. :-)

Reading.

I love to read! Sometimes I forget how much I love it. I started The Secret Life of Bees today. I think I'm going to enjoy it. :)

Resolutions.

I'd really like to resolve to be more confident. I am capable. I am reliable. I am responsible. I am strong.

Bring it on, 2010!