Stephany Writes

Categories: Recurring Series

Five For Friday

1 – I’ve been chatting with a few friends about meeting up for a fun blogger getaway weekend. Some people are a bit bummed they won’t be able to make it to Bloggers in Sin City this year (I am not. I will be on a cruise instead. Sorry I’m not sorry.) and I have read way too many recaps of bloggers getting together for fun girls’ weekends that I decided 2012, I am organizing a weekend of my own. Right now, nothing is being done but I want to get some sort of email chain going so we can discuss where to go, what to do, etc. I’m thinking sometime later in the year since I have to save up my time off at work for my cruise and then build it back up when I come back. I know this is way in advance but if you’re interested in a bloggers’ weekend this fall, let me know in the comments or in an email, or just send me a tweet. I am going to make this happen!

2 – I’m very hesitant to talk about my job here but I will say that things are going well. Not great. Not excellent. But good. I am eternally grateful for my boss taking a chance on a girl fresh out of college, and I’m learning a lot. Mostly about what I want in life. What my skill sets are and what I want to do with myself. Marketing is an interesting field to work in, but it has me pondering what God’s plan for my life really is.

3 – I joined a women’s Bible study at my church this past week. When I heard they were going to be doing a Beth Moore study, it kicked the urge to go into a higher gear because I love Beth Moore. She’s an incredible speaker, writer, and all-around woman. It was a huge group, but divided into about 12-13 smaller groups of about 8-10 women. (Did I mention huge?!) But it was also so good for me to be in that environment, surrounded by so many other Christian women.

4 – I’ve had a great response to my blogging survey. I have my reasons for doing so, mainly to see if there are any posts people love more than others and to get a handle on what people think about me talking more about my faith on this blog (since I’m kind of blunt and in-your-face when I do talk about my faith…). I plan on going over the results on Monday but if you haven’t filled it out yet, here’s the link to get to the survey.

5 – This Sunday is the AFC and NFC Championships for NFL Football. I am incredibly nervous about Sunday since my brother’s favorite team, the San Fransisco 49ers, is in the NFC Championship game. This is their first playoff appearance in 9 years and they’ve lots of terrible years of crappy football behind them. Last week was an incredibly stressful week and I actually got a headache from watching the game with my brother. He’s one of the most passionate guys I’ve ever met when it comes to football, especially as it relates to his Niners. (And as a side note, I am rooting for the Ravens, too! The Patriots have become one of the most boring teams to watch. So passionless. So unemotional.) It should be a fun Sunday of football!

Let me know if you’re interested in a blogger getaway weekend this fall! Who are you rooting for this Sunday?

Categories: Recurring Series

Everyday Moments: December 2011

1 – Warmed up chocolate chip cookies

2 – Beginning my Christmas shopping with a shirt for my nephew and a new harness for Dutch

3 – Game night with my mom and brother

4 – gChatting with Katherine and coming up with an awesome idea for 2012: making 12 small changes – 1 a month – to transform my life into something that is healthier and happier for me.

5 – Finishing a really great book and starting another really great book

6 – Spoonfuls of cookie dough

7 – Finally having an easy run that felt fun. After weeks of tough runs, it was much needed.

8 – Getting let out of jury duty by 11:00am. (I was questioned, but not picked for the jury.)

9 – A nice, productive day at home

10 – A full day of Christmas shopping, including meeting up with my brother at Target to start shopping for our mom.

11 – My second day of getting 8 full hours of sleep

12 – Buying my nephew some well-loved books

13 – A busy, but super productive day at work

14 – Turning the TV off by 8:30pm to spend time reading and slowly getting ready for bed.

15 – Baking cookies

16 – Sleeping in until 11, a day of Christmas shopping

17 – Nephew time. It was short and sweet but good God, I love that kid so much, it’s ridiculous. 🙂

18 – A Christmas get-together with family

19 – The beginning of Holiday Week

20 – A cheesy, predictable Christmas movie

21 – Putting the presents back under the tree

22 – Finishing out my first week managing the media department by myself. And doing a pretty good job at it, if I do say so myself!

23 – A cheesy, predictable romance novel (Are we sensing a theme here?)

24 – Christmas Eve. A day full of anticipation of what is to come on Christmas.

25 – Christmas! Presents, family time, and food. Nothing better.

26 – Buying new froofy pillows to match my new bedspread.

27 – Starting on my 70th book to read this year.

28 – Episodes of Happy Endings. I just started watching this show. It’s so funny!

29 – A really fun day at work where half our morning was spent chit-chatting over chocolate cake in the conference room and part of the afternoon was spent enjoying a delicious Caribbean meal at a restaurant in town.

30 – Having a day off work to catch up on life.

31 – Spending New Year’s Eve with my brother and my mom. Perfect.

Categories: Recurring Series

Wine and Love, V.10

It’s been a few weeks since I participated in the lovely Nora’s fun blog series, Wine and Love. It’s simple: share what’s making you happy and sad this week. If you post on your own blog, don’t forget to head over to Nora’s and link up!

Filling up my wine glass:

> Being forgetful. I had big plans last night to make homemade chocolate chip cookies to take to work today. Unfortunately, I forgot chocolate chips and butter. It’s kind of impossible to make cookies (at least MY kind!) without both ingredients. Sorry, coworkers. No cookies for YOU! (I’m also very sad that I was not able to partake in spoonfuls of cookie dough yesterday. I may have been looking forward to that all day.)

> Being a crater face. This week has been a bad week for my face. I broke out in the worst way all around my chin and it has made me feel so self-conscious. I can barely stand to look in the mirror. I have a feeling the break-outs are a combination of stress, not washing my pillowcase enough, not washing my face, and letting Dutch kiss me too much. Whew! So, I’ve started washing my face again religiously (I use Cetaphil and it really works for me!) and Dutch and I have broken up. I want to buy a boatload of pillowcases to switch out every week (since it’s VERY hard to wash my sheets weekly due to having to use a laundry room and the washers/dryers being limited) and as for stress? Other than figuring out ways to better handle the stress I am dealing with, there’s not much else I can do with it. Luckily, the break-outs are calming down and not looking so disgusting anymore. 😉

> Wisdom teeth. Yesterday was the first day in a week that my upper right wisdom tooth hasn’t hurt. I’m twenty-four, I know I need to get them removed, but I’m hoping I can hold off the surgery until later in the summer. (Due to time off issues.) Usually, I just need one dose of Advil and the pain goes away but it’s definitely annoying. I’m hoping I turned a corner, though, and the pain will stay gone!

Filling up my love glass (oh, the cheese!):

> A great review. I had my 3-month review at my job last week, something I was having a lot of anxiety about. (Have you heard about the time I wasn’t told I was doing an awful job in an internship and just let go with no warning, no way to improve? No? See: anxiety.) I found out that I am not on the brink of being fired but that I am well-liked, a valuable team member, and someone they can count on and want to keep around! So be gone, anxiety! I have specific goals to work on, but I know without a doubt, I can go to either of my bosses for help on how to achieve them.

> Christmas shopping. This is, without a doubt, my favorite time of the year. I love seeing houses lit up and Christmas trees and wrapped presents greeting me every time I open the door. And I love buying Christmas presents. I tried to stick to a budget but it just didn’t happen. This is the only time I go a little overboard with presents and it’s just fun to find special gifts for those special people in your life. (Also, I only buy for my mom, my brother, my sister-in-law, and my nephew.) I’m hoping to be completely finished with my shopping by this weekend, which is incredibly early for me. Heh.

> Vacation time. I have tomorrow off (which I will use for sleeping, catching up on Joy Council writing, and Christmas shopping. SO fun!). Next week, I have Friday off. The following week, I have Monday, Tuesday, and Friday off! How did I get so lucky? Unfortunately, once the third week of January hits, I will have no time to take off until my cruise in late May. So I’m enjoying it while I can!

What are your wines and loves for this week?

Categories: Recurring Series

50 Questions That Will Free Your Mind, Part 9

41. If you knew that everyone you know was going to die tomorrow, who would you visit today?

This is a tough question to even think about but not a tough one to answer. I would spend the day with my mom, my brother, and my nephew. Those three people mean the most to me in the entire world and I would want to spend it recreating memories and soaking in all the time left I had with them. (What a morbid question, though! Geesh!)

42. Would you be willing to reduce your life expectancy by 10 years to become extremely attractive or famous?

Absolutely not. I have no inclinations for fame and while I don’t think I would mind being extremely attractive, I’m fairly happy with my mediocre looks now. Sure, I’m not a beauty and YES, I want to lose weight but I want to do it the hard way. I want to put time and effort, sweat and tears into becoming skinnier because that’s part of the process of healing from the inside out. And honestly? The face that stares back at me every day is mine. She is me. We are one. I wouldn’t want a stranger looking back at me, because I’m pretty good friends with the girl I see now.

43. What is the difference between being alive and truly living?

It’s very simple: being alive is just about breathing and moving through each day. You go through the motions of everyday life, but never fully reach out and grasp all life can be. You don’t even have to be depressed or sad, you could be content with your life. But you’re not really living. You’re not taking risks and challenging yourself and loving every moment you breathe.

Truly living? That’s what we aspire to. It’s when you finish each day, exhausted but happy because you didn’t sit down and let life pass you by. You have taken life by the horns and are throwing yourself out into the Universe. Each day isn’t sunshine and rainbows, but you finish each day knowing you did the best job you could to build the best life you can imagine. It’s going to bed every night and not dreading what awaits you in the morning. It’s waking up and being excited about the “to-do” list, even if it’s filled with mundane things. You have a pep in your step because you’ve realized what life is all about and you have captured those moments the rest of us are still wishing on.

44. When is it time to stop calculating risk and rewards, and just go ahead and do what you know is right?

There is a deeply personal answer to each challenge we face, where we have to weigh the risks and rewards. Sometimes, we have to stop thinking so damn much and just start doing. I am a thinker and I weigh the pros and cons of just about every decision I make and it can be as simple as what I want to eat for lunch. When it feels right for you, that’s when you stop thinking. When you know you will be happier if you went to that book club or went sky-diving or traveled alone for the first time in your life, you will know it in your heart. And you’ll stop believing in all those cons and risks.

45. If we learn from our mistakes, why are we always so afraid to make a mistake?

I am terrified of making mistakes. Terrified. Even though we learn from mistakes, I always feel that making them makes me inferior. As if there is something wrong with me because I tripped up. I’m slowly beginning to realize that making mistakes is part of the growth progress. We have to make mistakes, we have to fall down. It’s the only way we can grow, it’s the only way we can learn. But there’s something scary about making a mistake. I think that’s why I haven’t tried harder to get published, even small articles or short stories. I am terrified of not being good enough.

The truth is? I’m not experienced enough to be “good enough”. I will get rejected and I will have lots of areas in my writing to improve on. Learning the mistakes I’m making in my writing will only make me a better writer, but it’s scary to lay your heart and soul on the line – your passion – and find out just how many mistakes you’re making.

Are you afraid of making mistakes? Tell me, would you reduce your life expectancy by 10 years to become attractive and/or famous? Why or why not?

[part 1] [part 2] [part 3] [part 4] [part 5] [part 6] [part 7] [part 8]

*Questions found here

Categories: Recurring Series

Ten on Tuesday (Vol. 43)

1. What are 3 things that are on your Christmas wishlist?

I posted about my Christmas wish list last week but one item I desperately want to receive this year (that I forgot to list!) is a new comforter set. I have my eyes on this set from Target. I currently have one from IKEA but the comforter is way too big for my full-size bed. Also, my dog isn’t a fan of the comforter. I’m not even kidding. He protested the change until I finally brought my old comforter up on our bed for him to sleep in. No, he’s not spoiled at all.

Talk about going off on a tangent! OK. Three things on my wish list: a new comforter set, a new cover for my Kindle, and new workout clothes from Target.

2. What’s your favorite Christmas song?

I’m torn between “Little Drummer Boy” by Jars of Clay and “Go Tell It On the Mountain” by Needtobreathe. Two of my favorite bands with beautiful renditions of both songs.

3. Do you have a favorite band or singer that sings it especially awesome?

Whoops. See above.

4. Have you heard about the website Goodreads?

Yes, I most definitely have! It’s one of my favorite sites. I use it constantly to look for new books to read, rate and review books I’m reading, and keep up with #twookclub! We use a Goodreads group to suggest books to read, vote on the next book to read, and just chat about general things. I’m debating whether or not to put up a discussion about the book pick of the month for others to discuss the book in further detail (especially for those who can’t make the monthly chat!). But yes, know of and love Goodreads. If you consider yourself a bookworm, you need to be using this site!

5. What are 3 books you want to read?

  • Stuff Christians Like by Jon Acuff, because I’m obsessed with his blog
  • The Christian Atheist by Craig Groeschel, because the tagline reads “Believing in God but Living As If He Doesn’t Exist” which is basically the way I’ve been living my faith over the past year
  • Divergent by Veronica Roth, because of the rave reviews it is getting from everyone

6. Do you hunt deer?

No, I don’t.

7. Have you started Christmas shopping? Are you completely finished?

I have started. I am finished shopping for my brother and my boss. I’m still drawing a blank as to what to get my sister-in-law. I’ve bought my nephew a shirt, but have a few other items to purchase for him. And I haven’t even started on my mom which is always a big process for me. (I like to spoil her since she never was spoiled when she was married to my dad – nor in the years that followed, as a single mom to teenagers.) But I love Christmas shopping so, so much that it doesn’t bother me at all. Not the rush, not the lines, not the busyness. I love it all.

8. Did you shop on Black Friday? What was the best deal you got?

I have never shopped on Black Friday but I think I will one year. Just for the experience. And only for something silly, like a Belgian waffle maker. Because who doesn’t need one of those?!

9. What’s one holiday tradition that your family has?

I think our biggest tradition is waiting until Christmas Day to open presents and stockings. I couldn’t imagine opening presents on Christmas Eve and it’s such a fun, special memory. (Especially staying up late with my brother when we were younger. We always tried so hard to stay awake!) We were finally allowed to get up at 6am, open our stockings, and then wake our parents up to open the present haul. Now, with my brother out of the house, it’s a little calmer. I’m able to sleep through the night (although it’s still a little hard! I’m a five-year-old on Christmas Eve, still!) and my mom and I wake around 7:30-8:00 to open our stockings/presents before waiting for my brother and his family to come over.

10. How many blogs do you read? Do you subscribe/unsubscribe often or do you purge every once in a while?

I follow 84 blogs in Google Reader, but they are all in their own folders so I make sure I read the blogs that I love the most first. I use the “mark all as read” button more than I would like but it’s impossible to keep up with them all. About once a month, I’ll add a few new blogs to my Reader, as well as purge blogs I’m either skimming or not reading at all.

Tell me: What is one holiday tradition your family has?

*Questions found here