It's the Weekly Recap!

* Remember when I went to WBCL last fall for a radio interview? Well I had a sweet extra surprise that came about as a result of that adventure. I gained a new friend! Jamie, the Mid-Morning producer and I struck up a friendship! She and I have much in common at this stage of our lives, and last Sunday afternoon, we met up at Starbucks for coffee and chatting. God has always been so good to send some single girls my way to talk with...and share with...and as each of them moves on, He is good to bring a new friend for me. I'm so thankful to have met Jamie and it was great to sit with caramel macchiatos and just share our hearts. Great start to the week!

* The beginning of the work week was filled with busyness in the office as we began a new semester on Tuesday. There are always last minute emergencies that trickle over from the semester before and then new students to welcome, so it makes for some chaotic days! (Just to keep it real - that translates to two meltdowns at home two nights in a row after trying in vain to be helpful for two whole days.)

* Tuesday, just as I left for work, giant beautiful snowflakes began to fall from the sky. Oh it's so pretty!


Until, of course, said beauty accumulates enough to require this bad boy:

And THIS is how I feel about that chore:

* Wednesday was a red letter day at work. I got a headset! I forgot we'd been asked a few weeks ago if we wanted them, and apparently I said yes. Do you think I look like I should work for Life Alert or ADT or OnStar or something? I practiced the lines, just in case. "Help is on the way, Mrs. Johnson." (My friend Cara saw this picture on Facebook and said at least it's wireless so I won't be like the chick in My Big Fat Greek Wedding and forget I'm connected when I try to leave my desk...LOL!!!)
And to round out the goodness of the day...FREE COFFEE!!! I was sort of wilting at my desk, mid-afternoon, so I went down to McConn to get a cup of fresh brew. I gave the guy my dollar and he asked if, by chance, I'd want hazelnut coffee. (My fave!) Apparently he'd overfilled the carafe and had to drain a cup out of it before he could move it. So rather than throw it away, he just put it in my cup and gave me back my dollar! Free hazelnut coffee tastes even better!

* Thursday was...a trial. So much so that I'm going to have to reserve "the story of Thursday" for another time. But let's hit the good parts of the day, shall we? First, I would like to revisit the topic of my newfound love: Shellac Nail Polish. My nail lady takes the month of January off work, so she found a sub to help me out while she's gone. I decided, just for kicks and giggles, to see how long I could make my French manicure (that my regular lady had done) last. Want to know? TWENTY SEVEN DAYS. Check this out!

My nails on December 18th...the day I had the manicure done. Keep in mind, these are not acrylics. These are my own nails, polished:

Twenty-seven days later before the polish was removed. The only "flaw" is that my nails grew, so you can see where it pulled away at my nail bed (and the nails are just way too long). But not a single chip in that polish! When I used to do my own French manicures, I couldn't keep them chip-free for two days!
I went with pink this time. I need to feel spring break-ish.

Also on Thursday evening, I had the chance to spend almost four hours with my new mentor, Lara. I think I'm going to have to spend all next week posting things I need to tell you that are too long for the recaps. Finding Lara is one of them. The short version is that after two years of praying to find a mentor, God provided one! I'm so excited about meeting with her and learning from her. (Did I mention this adventure involved Starbucks? Sigh of happiness.)

* I was never so glad to see a week end as I was on Friday. Goodness. I came home after work and tried a new recipe...chicken pot pie soup:

It's very pretty but I'm not sure I'm wild about the (lack of) flavor. It needed a little something else. I will have to see if I can figure out what that might be.

* Yesterday I drove to Kokomo to hang out with Kari. (We were actually having our Christmas exchange. That would be one month late, not eleven months early.) We ate at Panera (yum yum!!) and she opened her prayer and praise box....


...and I received a towel...I'll have to blog about it sometime. (Yes. I will blog about towels.) It came with this really neat note explaining how towels can remind us of the way Jesus served others by washing their feet and drying them with a towel. I loved it!

And guess what I got to do after that? SHOP AT THE HOBBY LOBBY!!!! I was thrilled. I'd made a list of treasures to hunt for and spent I don't even know how long in there just savoring the very air. My favorite find of the day...little plant stand tables! I've been looking for tiny tables for over a year. I need them for each side of my bed, but the space is so tight, I don't have room for normal bedside tables. I'd found several plant stands - for about $50 a stand - and I needed two! NO THANK YOU! So when I found these perfectly sized tables for $13.99 each - YES PLEASE!

(Do you see Inspector #2 under the tables sniffing them out?)

And then to round out the week, Robyn from my office came over last night to watch Extreme Couponing with me. Did any of you see that show? It was a repeat from last week, I think. Anyway, those people were HARD CORE about their coupons! Kinda scary!

Favorite God Moment of the Whole Week: I'm going to post more about this tomorrow, but my favorite part was Friday when I was utterly depleted spiritually and emotionally, and right before I left for work, I wrote a desperate prayer for help in my journal. By mid-morning, God had completely shown off with a beautiful answer. I loved it.

Books I'm Reading This Week: This was not a great week for reading. I barely cracked a book other than my devo book, Sparkling Gems from the Greek. (And, of course, the Bible.)

Goal Update from Last Sunday: Lesson learned on saying my goal was to protect my time with the Lord because the week was bound to be stressful! Talk about some hands-on testing! But I did survive and I did learn much in the time I had with Him...even if it wasn't what I'd hoped to learn. And the house, while not sparkling, is no longer buried in dust and clutter.

Goals for the Coming Week: I want to devote this week to reading and writing. I have a writing project underway and I want to spend some time focusing on it. And I'd like to finish at least one of the books I had started earlier!