Linking up with Jennifer of Conversion Diary for today’s Quick Takes. (photo credit)

1 – I am currently on Day 5 of being (mostly) sugar-free and it’s going okay. I’m hungry all the time, which I’m guessing has to do with the fact that I’m not eating the right foods. I’m eating enough, but instead of replacing all the sugary foods I used to eat with better, more filling foods, I’ve just taken out the bad foods. This is all a learning process, though, and I imagine I’ll learn so much more in the coming weeks.

2 – I’ve been thinking of deleting all the games I play on my phone (Words with Friends, Hanging with Friends, Scramble with Friends, and Draw Something). Currently, I am playing 55 games between the four games. Fifty. Five. Games. That’s pure insanity. At the very least, I’m thinking of deleting my Draw Something account since it’s become so overwhelming to keep up with. And I’m just not creative when it comes to drawing anything that it’s not fun anymore. I think it’s time to just delete it and move on. The world will not end.

3 – My mom and I are planning to take a little weekend trip to Orlando next month. I still have one day I can use on my 3-day Disney pass I bought back in January and my mom has two days. And since it’s such a drag driving all the way to Orlando, spending an entire day at a park, and then driving home, we decided we’d just spend the weekend there instead. I really can’t wait! Since I don’t count my mom’s marathon as a vacation, I don’t think we’ve been on one since July! And now we’ll have this weekend in April, our 6-day cruise in May, and then another 4-day cruise in June. Exciting, exciting!

4 – I know it’s weird, but I get a strange thrill out of paying all my bills whenever I get paid. I keep a log of what needs to go where for each paycheck and it’s fun for me to make a plan of where my money will go. Maybe living in constant financial disarray most of my life makes me so thankful I can easily pay my bills, as well as pay for extras, that doing so is fun? I’m not sure. I’m getting way too deep about money for a Friday morning. Don’t get me wrong, I still get a little bummed out when the majority of my paycheck is gone before I even see it thanks to bills, but the thrill is always there.

5 – I’m trying to decide if I want to chop my hair off again before my cruise. Sometimes, I see photos of myself with my shorter hair and get such longing to be back there. But then it’s so nice to have longer hair that I can pull up in a ponytail whenever I don’t feel like styling it. I don’t know what to do!

5 – It has been a crazy week in the NFL. First, Sean Payton gets suspended for a year (losing out on over $7 million dollars, as well!) for the bounty controversy, Gregg Williams was suspended indefinitely, as well as penalties for other coaches involved. Listen, I follow a host of Saints fans on Twitter so I’m not going to get involved in the mess. I’ll just say that I think this penalty is necessary and needed for change to come for any other bounty schemes happening around the league because it’s a disgusting thing to reward a player for physically injuring another player. That is not football. Also in football this week, Peyton Manning is now a Bronco (WHY, PEYTON, WHY?!?!), and Tim Tebow is now on my most-hated team, the New York Jets. So, sadly, Tebow and I have broken up. (What? You didn’t know we were dating? Funny… neither did he…)

6 – I’m so excited about my weekend! Weekends are always exciting for me, but since I’ve been doing my sugar-free thang for the past five days and Saturday is my cheat day… I am super excited! Saturday will be the first week since the beginning of February that I won’t go to boot camp (I haz a sad) but I will be going to the salon to get my hair color freshened up and my eyebrows waxed. And somehow, my mom and I managed to book the same appointments, just flip-flopped. We didn’t book our appointments together, yet somehow we managed to do just that! The rest of Saturday is up in the air but I smell a trip to the mall with my mom in our future! Sunday, I have tentative plans with a friend to spend the day at Busch Gardens. I haven’t been there in a long time (despite the fact that I have a pass to go for free!) so it should be a fun day. And Sunday night is our #twookclub chat! We’re discussing Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close so anyone who has read the book is free to join in. We’ll be discussing it on Twitter at 9:00pm EST!

7 – Speaking of #twookclub, if you haven’t voted for our April book, you have just a few more days to do so! I’m closing the poll at 8:00pm EST and will announce it then. Currently, there are two books tied for first and another one close behind, so get your vote in! Head on over to the Goodreads page, scroll to the bottom, and you’ll see the poll. I can’t wait to announce the winner!

When is your next vacation? Any fun weekend plans?

1 – I’m bringing back an oldie (but a goody!) with Seven Quick Takes Friday. The last time I did a “Quick Takes” post was in April of 2010! Whoa. Oh, and do I remember that time of my life so well. That was when I was in the midst of my craziest semester ever. I am so glad that season of my life is over. And to keep things interesting, some of my Project 365 photos will be sprinkled throughout!

2 – I have readers email me infrequently to talk to me about my Letters to My Future Husband series. And it’s always fun to respond back because it’s the #1 way people find my blog through searches. I had a girl email me this past week with a simple, “I came to your page after I started doing my journal entries. I wanted to make sure I wasn’t the only one! Thanks for letting my heart rest easy.” Sigh. I love that. I emailed back and in the process, we have spent the past week emailing back and forth, telling each other our stories and finding peace in the fact that God somehow put us together, at a time when my heart was in turmoil. I just imagine He’s smiling down at his handiwork with each email we send.

3 – It’s been a crazy week here in my life. On Friday, my mom texted me and told me her work was sending her on a cruise in June. She was allowed to bring a guest, so I had a lot of thinking to do. For one, we are going on a cruise the third week of May and I’ll be taking an entire week off work for that. The June cruise would be a 4-day one, so I would only need to take a half-day on a Thursday, and a full day off on a Friday. But still. Asking for time off five weeks after being off for a week? I cringed. But I asked and my boss was completely, 100% OK with it. That was my biggest obstacle and I thought to myself, When am I going to have the chance to go on TWO cruises in one summer? So I’m going. On two cruises. This summer. How crazy does that sound? Let the excursion planning begin! (And the saving. Oh, the saving!)

4 – My entire weekend was spent spending, spending, spending. I had the money to do so and had fantastic luck at the mall and Marshall’s. (Side note: I used to detest that store, but now it is my *favorite* place to shop for clothes. So cheap! So cute!) I picked up two cute dresses, a new pair of jeans, and several shirts, including two new undershirts from Old Navy.

5 – I’ve been really disappointed in myself for how I’m doing with Weight Watchers. I’ve tried a few different times writing about it but the words just aren’t coming. Suffice it to say, I wanted my word for 2012 to be health but I can’t seem to break the cycle of unhealthy living. Every day, I set out with great intentions but I keep slipping up. And while I know the steps I need to take to break the cycle, sometimes it’s very hard to put it into action.

6 – Today, my nephew is having surgery to get his tonsils removed. Ironically, it is the same surgery I had when I was four. His surgery is happening this morning and I’m going to be a nervous wreck until it is over and done with. Say a few prayers for him, please?

On that same note, my grandma has her last CyberKnife treatment today. She had to go in four times for this where she has to lie completely still (they strap her down, even her head!) for about an hour while lasers shoot all around her. She can’t do anything but lie there. I. Would. Go. Crazy. But knowing my grandma, she’s lying there reciting Bible verses and praying during that time.

7 – Sunday night, the March book for #twookclub is announced! Have you voted yet? The votes for all five books are so tight that I’m not sure at all which book will win! Go here to vote.

And one last thing! I’m giving away a pre-made template from Yellow and Savvy Design’s Etsy shop. Giveaway ends on Monday night and you have THREE ways to enter.