Progress....

Well, I am making slow forward progress on my goals. They will not be completed by the end of the month, but I have been working on it all.

My wardrobe is about 3/4 complete. The invitations are about 1/3 complete. My bedroom doesn't look like a shrapnel bomb went off in it. My house is relatively clean.

I'm getting there.

Please, keep praying I can finish up the invitations this week. We don't have much to finish after the cutting, but I want to make sure we get them out by Dec. 6th!

I'm praising God for His provisions.

For Keri! (And everyone else keeping me accountable)

So, last night, Robert, his mom & I got 100 invitations cut! (Well, the red paper). Black cutting is my job tonight, and then we'll move on!

I'm SO thankful Leah (Robert's mom) texted me to remind me we needed to get moving on it!

Again, my goals are coming slow, but they are coming. :)

I got incredible deals when I was shopping last weekend, which I'll blog about later.

On to the work day, choir rehearsal, and FBC Newsletter editing!

It's in the process....

So, I started my November goals, after being inspired by my friend Keri. (I'm ALWAYS inspired by you, Keri!) :)

Robert and I broke ground on the wedding invitations last night before I got too tired and he headed home. He's in charge of cutting and exacting. Tiff, Kristin & I are going to do all the little glitz and glam stuff. My mom & Leah are going to look over our wording & inserts once more before I print everything up.

But, sadly, that's as far as I've come on my November goals.

However....for the frugal (like me!) out there, you wouldn't believe the deals I got in my email. We are going to the mall on Saturday. :) 30% off any one item from Borders + I have $15 in Borders bucks (same as a gift card). DVD boxed set, here I come! Not sure what one yet, though. I also have a $10 Alderwood mall gift card to pick up there between 11 and 6 on Saturday. I'll use that plus my $10 off any purchase of $20 or more at Bath & Body Works. I also have $5 off of any $15 purchase at Bed, Bath & Beyond. I also have $10 JC Penney Rewards bucks.

Ah, the rewards you get from being value-oriented! )

November goals

Because my dear friend Keri decided to post hers on her blog - for accountability purposes - I have decided to do the same!!

Here they are, in no particular order:

1) Christmas gifts - figure out, budget, discuss with Robert

2) Re-organize desk (those drawers cannot possibly take any more paperwork!)

3) Completely organize filing cabinet (regretfully, it's more like a place to stuff things to "look at later")

4) Finalize Thanksgiving deserts & bake "trials" to have Mom & Perry test (I'm doing all the deserts this year; all they asked for was to try it first!)

5) Wedding invitations - finish & send by Dec. 1st.

6) Wardrobe - disaster zone

7) Re-organize spice cabinet & non-perishables in the kitchen

I may add to the list as I accomplish these, but I so need help keeping to them!

Here I go!

Yay! I'm so excited for the holidays!

I don't know about the rest of you, but I am SO excited for Thanksgiving & Christmas!

I love seeing all the sights and smells, and as of today, have had something new baking at home every week! It's SO exciting!

Robert & I also decided to participate in Northshore's Thanksgiving meal program this year. Basically, we walked into the church last week for our pre-marital counseling, and saw a man standing in front of a big stack of round laundry baskets. I asked him what it was, and it turns out that it's pretty much a ministry of giving. Each year, they ask the church to take a basket (or two, which we did), and fill it with non-perishable items to give to families in need who otherwise wouldn't have a Thanksgiving meal. Then, you also include a $20 gift card for a Turkey. :) It's SO incredible! I wish FBC had started something like this. I could do it, but I'm already busy 6 days a week in ministry; I think it's someone else's turn. However, Robert & I are going to be emailing our entire families asking for help to fill the baskets. If you want to help, just let me know. Even a dollar is a help! :)

Anyway, the season of giving which excites me so very much is upon us, and I couldn't be happier.

Happy Monday!

Praise the Lord for life's little setbacks

Well, this morning, I woke up and spent some time in prayer. I just was waiting on the Lord for the "go-ahead" to start the day.

I spent a little less time getting ready to go, because I opted to take my shower tonight instead of this morning. It was a nice break. (Especially since my hair is halfway down my back now, and takes forever to blow-dry & flat-iron!)

So, I got all my stuff together and went outside. I put everything in the car, all ready for work. Key in the ignition, turn, and....nothing.

That's right; the engine wouldn't turn over.

I was slightly frazzled, but let the car sit for a minute. I tried again and again for 15 minutes before finally getting it started. (Of course, I was late getting to the house where I nanny at 3 mornings a week).

I've never had a problem internally with my car. Ever. I bought it brand new with 6 miles on it, and it's been wonderful. I keep it well-maintained, and I have the tires balanced & rotated every 6,000 miles. I get regular oil changes. So naturally, I was really worried.

Finally, I got the car started. I called the mom I nanny for, and explained what was going on. I'm sure she could hear the fear in my voice. Let me just say that for me to be late getting there is an extreme rarity. It just doesn't happen.

I was praying all the way to their house that the car would be okay. Last night when I took it for an oil change, the kid behind the counter said, "The battery reads black, by the way. It should be green." When I asked what it meant, he had no idea. Grr! But I thought it rather strange that, up until now, I had no problems, and all of a sudden when I take it to get the oil changed, the next morning, there's a problem.

But, I called my step-dad, who told me he was surprised the battery has lasted this long. It's nearly 4 years old. He suggested I call Les Schwab and see about getting a new one, which I did, and am going there after work to have the current battery tested.

I'm just praising the Lord for this, because it COULD have happened in freezing weather, with no hope of anything good coming from it.

So, Praise Him when things go good; Praise Him when things go bad! Thank you, Lord, for keeping me from harm's way! Thank you for keeping the car running today! Thank you for my safety, and that I can pay for this small repair in cash, on my own!

Thank you, Lord, for the screw in my tire! :)

Yes, I know what you're thinking: Is that sarcasm?

No, it's not.

It's the truth.

Praise Him when things go well, and praise Him when they don't.

Heading out to my car for my lunch break this afternoon, I noticed a screw in my rear driver's side tire. Yikes! It looked a little low, too. So, I drove very slowly to Les Schwab on Everett Ave. (about 2 mins. from my office), and ran into my friend, Garrett. He used to be at the Marysville Les Schwab, but he moved, I guess.

Since no one was ahead of me, he came right up, asked what was wrong, and how he could help. I told him, and asked if it would be too much trouble to balance and rotate as well. He said, "Not one bit. We'll get it done right away." I also asked for new wiper blades, and he had no problem installing those, either.

After it was all over, he came in to give me a verbal breakdown of what was up. Fixed the almost-flat tire with a patch, balanced and rotated all 4 tires, checked the brakes and shocks. Well, the front brakes are fine, but the rear ones are sealed, so that will be another day, another appointment.

Anyway, it looks like my shocks are leaking in the back. So I'll need new ones. Garrett called me, and it's not too expensive.

So, the blessings are incredibly abundant here. If I hadn't been observant and checked my tires for marks from the parking nazis, I wouldn't have seen the screw. Blessing #1. If I hadn't taken it to the tire store that I did, I'd have not seen Garrett. Blessing #2. If I didn't have the screw in the tire, I might never have known about the shocks. Blessing #3. It all happened before Autumn & Winter weather set in. Blessing #4.

I just keep counting, and the Lord keeps blessing. So...

...thank you, Lord, for the screw in my tire. :)

Bank scare - beware!

Beware!

My friend, Brandy, received a suspicious email from her so-called bank. It instructed her to access their site through her email address, because a third party had access to her account. Her bf told her NOT to do that, and to call her bank.

She did just that - the email was NOT from her bank! DO NOT do anything but CALL your bank or financial institution to report this kind of incident! Brandy says she ALMOST fell for it, because the email looked so authentic.

Go to my new blog for Essential Charm - Discounts abound!

http://essentialcharm.blogspot.com/

Yes, I have more items up! Please, visit the shop blog (link above) for more information! :) I'm so excited!

Kimi

Essential Charm is up and running!

Hey everyone!

Check out my new etsy.com shop, Essential Charm! My username is kimialex. Only one item up so far, but I'm working on it!

I started a blog for my shop. The first post was just put up! Follow the Essential Charm blog here: http://essentialcharm.blogspot.com/ Shop here:http://kimialex.etsy.com/

Please, let me know if you want me to create an item for you! :)

Kimi

Check out the new weekly Giveaway!

http://kristinfriesen.blogspot.com/2009/07/weekly-giveaway-leaves-of-glassurban.html

I LOVE this stuff!

Day trip to the Burg

Well, today I went with my dad to Ellensburg. We were visiting the Central Washington University campus for the annual Jazz In The Valley gig. (Alumni event). It was a BLAST! I got to hear a lot of people tell me "I remember when you were thiiisssss big!" And put their hand about a foot above the ground. Haha! I also got to know some really neat people, and was able to hear some amazing talent and music, too!

I'll post pictures tomorrow, if I have time in the evening after work. I'm pretty sure I'll have to get a CD burned for Chris soon!

Anyway, I'll try to remember to post pictures of my brand new desk tomorrow, too. :)

Going to bed now!

Graduation

Well, I did it! As of Sunday, I am officially a University of Washington graduate!

After the ceremony, Grandpa & Grandma Crombie, Grandma Freeman, Mom, Dad, Perry, Tristan, Jack, Leah, Robert, Ashley, Tiffany and I all went out for dinner at the Spaghetti Factory in downtown. We had so much fun!

I never thought this day would come, let alone approach and be over so quickly. But I am SO thankful. And, as an added bonus, I got a B+, A- and an A+ in my classes, landing me a spot on the Dean's List.

How's that for accomplished? :)

New Vintage Glam!

Kristin is absolutely amazing! Check it out! http://www.etsy.com/shop.php?user_id=5365727

Amazing birthday giveaway!

http://kristinfriesen.blogspot.com/2009/05/birthday-giveaway.html

I just bought the springtime romance set. :)

Some things that have been on my heart

So, lately (for the last week or so), there has been a Bible verse at the forefront of my brain and on the tip of my tongue nearly 24/7. Proverbs 15:1 "A soft answer turns away wrath, but a harsh word stirs up anger."

It seems to be that God is just reminding me that, even when I become frustrated and upset, it's best to be slow to speak and quick to listen. Not only that, I've witnessed a few people deliberately trying to hurt myself or someone else with their words and been able to calmly handle the situations without any angst.

Also, there's a song that's been playing on the "shuffle" function of my iPod several times over the last 9 days or so. "Love Them Like Jesus," by the Casting Crowns. Sometimes, I'm faced with situations where one of the teen girls from church comes to me seeking advice and wisdom, and all I can think to say is to pray. I'm learning that God doesn't require me to have all the answers, as the song goes, and that if I just love people, things will be alright. Loving people like Jesus is what we're commanded to do.

Just wanted to share that. :)

Spring time lift!

I'm telling you, check out Kristin's new stuff, it's absolutely amazing! Not only that, but it's reasonably priced. :)

Enjoy!

http://www.etsy.com/shop.php?user_id=5365727

Preparing for my last quarter as an undergrad

Last week was the end of finals. YAY! While I absolutely love school, and am sad when the quarters and years end, I couldn't be more happy to have the quarter behind me. It means I am one step closer to graduation! (June 14th, by the way).

So, I'm still working like crazy, I'm scheduled for 67 hours between today and Sunday - 40 at job #1, 27 at job #2 - and I'll be working from home a lot this week as well. (Trying to take care of some inventory and get some stuff moving.)

I must say, though, my bedroom looks like a tornado went through it. I just have not had time or energy to clean it at all. It was hard enough just picking a few things up before I had to get ready for work this morning, but in all seriousness, it is bothering me! I'm going to make some goals for myself this week so that I can get things done, and don't start the next quarter behind.

Which brings me to the point of this blog: my last quarter as an undergrad begins on Monday! I am SO thrilled! I'm more excited to actually graduate, I think, but essentially, it's just a huge accomplishment.

Wish me luck, as I have to go to Target tonight for more school supplies after work!

Dreaming of jewelry...

Hey guys,

My friend Kristin is an AMAZINGLY talented hand-crafted jewelry maker! Her blog is here: http://kristinfriesen.blogspot.com/

She's got the cutest and most unique stuff! I am jonesing for her Springtime Romance necklace....grrr, I wish I could bring myself to spend the money rather than save it, but I DO have a wedding to pay for. :)

Anyway, please do check out her shop. http://www.etsy.com/shop.php?user_id=5365727.

It's amazing, I promise!

Employment....

Well, I think that most of my readers pretty much know how I feel about employment: If you have it, do what's asked of you.

I just wanted to express the frustration that comes with people saying that, even though they may have employment, they don't care about it, or even saying that they don't care what's asked of them, they're not going to do it anyway, just because they don't feel like it.

Let me explain why this frustrates me.

I have 2 jobs. I work between 35 and 55 hours every week. I also work for myself at home, too, and I'm a full-time student at UW. I get very angry when people tell me that they just can't handle that darn 20-hour a week job that they get overpaid to do. It makes me feel like my efforts are futile. Not only that, but it really implies that there's a big problem in our society.

Shouldn't we all feel blessed to have employment, rather than whine and complain about it all the time? Surely I am not an exception to this, as I've definitely had awful days at work, and been treated unfairly. But truly, I just am angry with hearing this stuff all the time.

The Bible tells us that, "if a man shall not work, neither let him eat." Honestly, these days, I don't see that being the way that people view employment. People take advantage of the government and state assistance programs, people extort money from their businesses, they scam others, and not only that, but then they go and complain some more!

I think that if you have a job or jobs, you really should do everything in your power to keep them, and do well at them.

Recovering

You know, when I get sick, I usually just power through it, get more sleep, and I'm good to go.

But 2 weeks ago, I was flat on my back.

What started as a little cough and sniffle quickly reared its ugly head to a flu bug on top of a nasty head & chest cold.

Since I was sleeping 12-13 hours a night, napping a lot during the day, and not able to go to school or work for nearly 5 days, I'm still recovering. I'm bummed that I missed all that school and work hours, but thankfully, I'm not too far behind. However, I made a big mistake one day when I was sick that I am STILL paying for!

Robert had gone to Fred Meyer & bought me a bunch of medicines & cough drops & effervescents. No problem, right? Take the meds, go to bed. Wake up, take more, sleep more. Ect.

Yeah. It worked great until I woke up at 9:30am on Wednesday sick to my stomach and without a voice, and took the WRONG medicine - I drugged myself to sleep for the next 5 hours by mistakingly taking nighttime Tylenol Severe Cold. Since then, it's been near impossible for me to get back into a regular schedule. Grr...

Anyway, I stayed at my mom's last night after an incredibly long day, and I've got another one that I'm not even 1/2 way through with today. Yikes!

But Christmas is finally all put away at home, and the house is clean, which makes me happy. I'm just so darn tired!

Sickness

Yesterday I woke up not feeling great. It was really hard just to get out of bed and take a shower.

I got to work and had an even slower start there, which frustrated me. My job is more independent than most, and so I was angry that I just couldn't get some motivation to get stuff done.

Well, I wasn't feeling like I had the flu or something, it was more like a really sore throat and a desire to just go back to bed. Last night at my second job, I started coughing even more. After awhile, I could start to sense that it wasn't just dry coughing. And it hurt really bad.

This morning was even worse.

I was armed by 7pm last night with Airborne, meds, losenges and cough drops. But none of it has really helped.

As a result, I wasn't able to get to work today, let alone make it to campus for Linear Algebra this afternoon.

I will be getting a Jamba Juice on the way to my second job tonight. Thank the Lord, I only have a 3-hour shift, and it should be slow.

Reminiscence of Cow Pie High

So this morning I had an interview at MPHS. It's for a senior project I am working very hard on. I walked onto campus and was immediately stopped by security. Haha! There I was, parking in the visitor's lot, with my backpack & cell phone, and I had no "late pass." It took a few minutes of convincing - and my UW ID - to prove that I was not a high school student. :)

I went into the NEW counseling office - I had no clue where I was going, but ended up in the right place - (since they've moved campus all around with the SLCs), and had a nice little chat with Jeff Thomas. It was so good to catch up! (And, work on my project, of course!)

Well, on my way out, I was stopped by about 5 different people who wanted to catch up, too, and it took me about 45 more minutes to get off campus than planned, but that was okay. It was fun! Just...surreal. And, I was trying to avoid running into my brother or his friends, (ya know, it's kind of embarrassing to run into your big sister at school), so during passing time, I had to dodge into the field house where I was stopped again to chat with my friend's mom in the Athletic office, as well as Mr. Tallquist. LOL! It was fun, though.

After receiving a text from Katie saying that work was a bit crazy today, I went to Starbucks to cheer her up.

Little did I know I'd see my friend Brien, whom I haven't seen for at least a year, and my friend Paul!

So, busy morning, busy day, but praise God for the blessings!

Rewarding Monday

"Somebody's got a case of the Mondays!"

That's a line from Office Space that my friend, Jeff, teases me with when I'm feeling down.

I woke up Monday morning with a slight case, but relented later.

Around 9:30am, when I was at my day job, my boss from my second job called and said that one of our other receptionists had quit, and she needed my recommendation on hiring someone ASAP.

Well, being that I'd suggested months ago that we hire Robert's sister, Ashley, I immediately hung up and called Ashley. Everything went through, and she came to work with me last night to train.

Let me just say that I'm a HUGE fan of ACTUAL on the job training, instead of the "on the job training" we do at the beginning of the tax season. It's so much easier to teach that way. And she did AMAZING! I'm so excited to have her working with me.

Granted, it's a really crappy time to hire someone, because it's "peak," or, our busiest time of year, right now. But I think she'll be just fine.

I started feeling sick last night, and went home to lay down promptly, but I'm feeling a little better now. I had some tea and lots of fiber this morning, so I hope I can kick whatever it is that's trying to attack my immune system. :)

God is good!

As most of you know, I am now working full-time.

Let me clarify...

My day job, at BXWA in North Everett, is allowing me to work whatever hours I can between 7am and 5pm (open & close of business at our work), Monday-Friday. That basically means that if I'm not at school, I'm there. My nights/ weekends job at H & R Block in Smokey Point is having me work Friday-Tuesday. (I don't work Wednesday & Thursdays because we have AWANA at church on those nights).

So, I just completed a 47-hour work week last week. I also squeezed in a dentist appointment and working from home, too. It was busy, but I never lost sleep (I get a minimum of 8 hours a night), and I'm feeling pretty good. My body is tired, but I'm not sick, and I feel like this is finally starting to look good for me.

I had kind of a depressing Saturday at work, and I called my dad to get a little perspective. I felt like I was just spinning my wheels. Almost like working all those hours was worth nothing.

But I've since dropped the "pity me" attitude, which is lame and unproductive, neither of which I wish to be. I'm just saving up money and trying to pay off my car.

So YAY! Things are going really well, and I hope that it continues this way. Please pray that it does.

Attitude Adjustment

So, we had a business meeting at church on Sunday night. During that meeting, Grandpa Crombie was talking about how he was working at a jobsite years ago, and something he noticed ended up being something he never forgot.

He was talking to one of the workmen there, and asked why there was a screw sticking halfway out of a post on some days, and other days it was all the way in. Additionally, he wanted to know why some guys came and gave it half a turn and then walked away. It seemed to have no purpose.

Little did he know....

The man told him that it wasn't without purpose; it was an attitude adjustment! Every time one of the guys had a problem, they went up and gave it half a turn, or a whole turn, or whatever they needed to adjust their attitude visibly. Then, when it got screwed in all the way, they'd turn it half way until it was all the way out again, and start all over. Grandpa Crombie said it was one of the best crews he's ever worked with.

Just something to think about. :)

A penny, a planner, and a pint of cocoa

Sometimes, I forget to stop and enjoy life, rather than just live it.

Yesterday at school, God opened my eyes to some simple yet pleasing occurrences that really made my day. It wasn't anything spectacular, or even anything that most people - including myself - would think twice about.

This quarter, I am on campus 5 days a week. I'm also working 2 part-time jobs, and so my course load is heavy, and my work load is heavier. Thus, when I drag myself to school every day, it's always kind of mundane.

But yesterday was different.

Actually, let me start with October.

My car was burglarized on October 30th. Stolen items were: laptop, backpack, class notes, homework, textbooks, day planner, etc. I had to re-purchase all of it. Well, I was able to do so, thanks to the help of my dad and my fiance.

Long story short, I was not able to replace the amazing day planner I had to begin with. The University Bookstore had run out of them - all locations.

That brings us to Tuesday night.

I don't know why, but I just thought, "what if I just call the Seattle bookstore and see if they have them in? Couldn't hurt." So I did. They had ONE box of them left, and they shipped one to my school for me the very next day, free of charge AND 20% off!

So, I purchased my new/old planner from the bookstore between classes. It put a smile on my face, and brought to mind the realization that the Lord wanted me to be patient and adjust to a massive change. Sure, the day planner is part of that, but the big picture was my stuff being gone. (However, my laptop is worthless to anyone who has it but me, it's all locked down).

Then, as I was leaving school, one of the UW clubs was giving out cocoa and cider and chowder! I decided a cup of hot chocolate was just what I needed to lift my spirits. You wouldn't believe how much it made me so happy! It was nearly ridiculous, but I was just so excited.

More than that, I was worried that I'd not brought enough food with me for the day to school. During one of my classes, a classmate shared his crackers with me, and I kept finding more food in my lunch bag. The cocoa was just the icing on the cake. :)

As I hiked up the hill to walk 1/4 mile to my car, I stopped after I crossed the street. There was a penny in front of me. I was talking on the phone, so I waited until I was done, hung up, and picked up the penny.

I feel like it was God's way of telling me, "Well done, My child." I've been trying really hard to save more money and not spend it, and that penny just made me thrilled. (Last week I found a dime on the ground, too.)

Anyway, I just thought I'd share that with you all.

Long days to accomplish big goals

So today, I am working 8-5 at my regular day job in Everett, and then going straight to my second job in Smokey Point, to work from 5:30-9pm.

I know, it sounds really overwhelming, but honestly - it's fine with me. I have set some serious goals for myself, and while I'm not quite ready to share what each of them is, I'll list what they are concerning.

1) Financial
2) Scholastic
3) Organization
4) Time Management

Basically, it was time! I just HAD to do these things, and after lots of prayer, some tears, and talking it through with a couple people for wise leading, I've just decided that this is what I need to do.

Also, I have found that I've abandoned my accountability to-do lists with my friend more and more, and we both need to do more helping one another with that.

Beyond these things, I'm also trying to do more cooking. For heaven's sakes, I'm going to be Mrs. Robert Crombie soon! I need to domesticate myself a little!