25 Random Things About Me

Photo courtesy of butler.corey

I wasn't sure what to blog about today, and really I'm not in too much of a writing mood. I'm recovering from a migraine that I had today. It was SO not fun. So I'm going to post 25 random things about me! This type of thing has been circling around facebook the past week or so, I already had it typed up and posted there and I figure I'd post it here as well!

1. I am working for the same non-profit organization that I got my first job at when I was 14. I work for SIL International (associated with Wycliffe Bible Translator's) and ever since I was 14 I have worked as a Switchboard Operator, a kitchen helper at the Dining Hall, a Cashier for Books n' More, Janitorial (for 3 whole days!), and a Data Entry Clerk/Office Assistant for the International Academic Bookstore (5 years and counting).

2. I've been married to Tim for almost 4 years now and we live across the street from my work in a little place called Sunset Acres, which is the neighborhood (primarily for missionaries/students) that I used to romp around with all my MK friends back in junior high. I never thought in a million years I would actually live there.

3. We have a cat named Maya (one of a million other names -- Tim and I can't agree on one) that we picked up off the street, and a couple months after that she had 4 kittens. They are 12 weeks old and very cute. And yes, we still have them. If you want one, let me know!

4. I went to 4 different colleges. As a pre-nursing major I spent one year at Texas Tech, then one year at UTA. During all this I took ssome classes at Mountain View/Cedar Valley college. Then one day a lightbulb came on and I realized I was terrible at science and that Nursing really wasn't my calling. So I went to Dallas Baptist University, majored in Christian Studies/Educational Ministry, and minored in Psychology and loved it.

5. I want to go back to graduate school to get my masters in counseling. (you can send donations to........)

6. I have 14 nieces and nephews and another one on the way!

7. I have a gluten/wheat intolerance (aka Celiac disease). I've had it since I was 19 and I am unable to eat wheat, rye, barley, and several other things.

8. Due to my gluten intolerance, I've gotten very fast at scanning food labels and determing whether I can eat it or not.

9. No, I do not have a "glucose-intolerance".

10. I make homemade cards and love it! I have a blog where I post pictures of them: http://sarahcarpenterdesigns.blogspot.com
I hope to start selling them one day.

11. If I drink bottled water, I am never able to finish it. But if the bottle of water was poured into a glass, I will drink it all.

12. I've lived in Dallas, TX my whole life, with the exception of the one year in Lubbock.

13. I really want the experience of living outside of the rat race that is Dallas, preferably in another state such as Nebraska or Colorado.

14. I've decided I'm not much of a phone person anymore. I enjoy face-to-face communication a lot more :)

15. I am a coffee snob. I try to only buy organic, fair trade coffee, and it must be medium or bold. I'm lucky to work with a bunch of coffee snobs as well!

16. My favorite weeknight meal is seasoned black beans and rice. Sometimes with meat, most of the time without but always with some shredded cheese and crushed tortillas chips.

17. I do not separate my laundry (with the exception of towels....most of the time). I wash with cold water.

18. I'm terrible at remembering birthdays and even worse at keeping up with anniversaries. I do try though!

19. When I was in high school I went on a 2 week mission trip to Guatemala which was an amazing experience!

20. I know God has called me to be a part of ministry of some form, but I'm still seeking Him as to what the specifics are on that :)

21. When I get in the car, the first thing I do is lock the doors. I can't help it.

22. I really want to go on a mission trip again, and I look forward to the opportunity because it's something Tim and I can share together. He hasn't been on one yet.

23. In high school, I was in a girl band called 'Pierced Forgiveness'. We broke up after about 2 weeks.

24. Tim and I enjoy walks at the Joe Pool Lake dam, except I kind of get a little freaked out because I saw a rattle snake there this past summer....I hate snakes.

25. God has blessed me with a super amazing family and awesome friends. I am incredibly thankful!


So, now you know a little more about me. If anyone follows this blog, or just has hopped on over, I encourage you to fill out 25 random things about you, post your link in my comments, and see what you can come up with! It's fun to read other peoples randomness :)

Only one more day till the weekend and that makes me happy. Tim has band practice tomorrow night, so I'm going to take the opportunity to grab some take out and rent a movie. A little alone time is a necessity I think. Just me, Maya, Brother, Sister, Super Sad Eyes, and the One We Don't Speak Of (those would be all the kitties).

*love*

mmm...wraps!

I just had a really yummy lunch and I just had to share it's wonderful goodness with you. Just a little tidbit about me, I have a wheat/gluten intolerance, in that I am unable to eat foods with wheat, rye, or barley (there's a number of other items, but those are the main ones). At some point I will write a post about all that, but not today. Anyways, usually for lunch I will have a sandwich using millet bread with dijon/mayo mix, cheddar, and smoked turkey. I have that A LOT! It's not that I'm sick of it, but I need more variety. I always see these ads for wraps and they look so delicious! Usually they're made with whole wheat tortillas or regular flour tortillas. As I was browsing blogs, I came across this recipe over at Gluten Free Mommy for a Turkey Pesto Wrap. The tortilla used is from Food for Life (LOVE this brand!) and it's a Brown Rice Tortilla. This thing has cream cheese (I used light), it has pesto (best thing ever!), it has turkey, it has AVOCADO. Oh avocado, how I love thee. And I added sprouts which are incredibly good for you. I had no idea how good they were until I read this article, plus they're really cheap, only $1! This wrap is incredibly tasty and I will be making it often! I can't wait to experiment with other fillings....hooray for more gluten free options!! I should've taken a pic for those who love to look at food pics, I know I do! I'll take one next time I make it (which will probably be tomorrow!) and post it on here :)

I'm so glad it's the weekend. It has been super cleaning Saturday today! Between Tim and I we've been able to pretty much clean (and I mean REALLY clean) the house in about 3 hours. There are still a couple more projects we need to do such as clean the tub, clean the coffee maker, and go through the house with a black light and clean kitten 'oopsies' in our house. I don't think there are that many because they're pretty much litter trained, but kittens will be kittens after all.

After all that, I think I will make some Taco Salad or Winter Soup for dinner, and then Tim and I can relax and watch a movie or something :)

*love*

Things to work on in the New Year

I love new years. It's fresh and it's new. It's the ability to reflect on the past year and see the things that were wonderful, and the things that were not so wonderful. The not so wonderful things are what drives me to want to do better the next year with the help of God. I really don't like the whole 'resolution' thing because it never lasts. I don't know if it's psychological or what, but I find the word 'goal' to be a better term. Setting goals for myself just seems to work out better in my mind. So without further ado, here are some goals I would like to accomplish in 2009: (most of these are things I will work on for the rest of my life, but ya gotta start somewhere :)

• Be consistent with my quiet time/prayer time/bible reading. I know that God deserves my attention way more than I give Him and I honestly crave and desire that time as well! This also includes praying for people when I have said that I will pray for them.
  
• Be submissive and obedient to the Lord and listen to Him above all else each and every day.
  
• Be a better helper and wife to Tim -- there is ALWAYS room for improvement!
  
• Be more proactive! This includes church, small group, volunteering my time, duties within my home, keeping up with birthdays, etc.
  
• Keep my house clean and presentable -- you just never know when someone will drop by, plus I enjoy my home much more when it's clean. I also think it's important to have a tranquil environment when Tim comes home from work each day. It keeps me sane, thus keeping him sane :)
• Exercise 4-5 days per week, not just to lose weight, but for my health. I am 24 years old, and I lack energy a lot of times which I'm sure is due to inactivity. I want to be strong and feel alive!! For the other 2-3 days, I still want to be fairly active.
• No credit cards! About a week ago I took them out of my wallet so that I wouldn't be tempted to use them. We're currently going through difficult times, financially, like many others we know, and I do not want to be reliant on credit cards. In a lot of ways I feel that takes away trusting in God to provide for us in all circumstances, even the ones that seem impossible and nothing is impossible with God!
• Be debt free. This probably will not happen this year, unless things drastically change with both of our job situations (which is always possible, who knows!) but I would like to make a huge dent in that debt.
• Live a more simplistic lifestyle and learn to live with what we have.
  
• Tithe and give to a ministry that that the Lord places on our hearts. We have never been very consistent with tithing, but I know the Lord is working on me and Tim's hearts in this area and we want to be obedient and better stewards with our money.
  
• Limit my time on the computer and the TV -- these are very easily time wasters, and I have better things to do with my time
• I enjoy reading and want to read several books this year. The ones I am starting and hoping to finish in the next couple of weeks are: The Reason for God: Belief in the age of skepticism by Tim Keller and Love and Respect: The love she most desires; The respect he desperately needs by Emerson Eggerichs. I started Love and Respect awhile back, but never finished it, so I think I'm going to start it over and actually finish it this time! I'm terrible when it comes to sticking with one book and finishing it. I start reading about 2 or 3 different books at once and never finish any of them. Anyone else do this? I hope to stop doing that and actually complete what I've started.

I could go on and on I'm sure, but these are the main things I would like to work on this year and for the rest of my life! I have to remember that through all of this I cannot do any of it on my own. I must continue to lean and rely on my Lord and savior for all things and look to him for guidance in all that I do.

I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me. Galatians 2:20

*love*

Season's Greetings!

I really haven't fallen off the face of the earth. Tim and I have been quite preoccupied with getting ready for the holidays, various projects, including our biggest project: 4 kittens. They take up quite a bit of our time, and they are currently residing in the office, thus I am not in there as often on the computer. It used to be my place of creativity and serenity, but when you have kittens running up your leg all the time, it makes it kind of difficult! I probably won't be updating my blog(s) much until after the first of the year.

Until the next time I get a chance to blog, I hope everyone is having fun getting ready for Christmas! Christmas is probably my favorite holiday. I love the lights, the music, giving gifts, sharing time with family and friends, the yummy holiday foods, the Church services, etc. It is all too easy to get overwhelmed with all the duties and craziness that comes along with it though. I pray that through all the hustle and bustle of this season, that we are all able to sit back and reflect on what this season is all about. The birth of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, the greatest gift of all!

Luke 2:9-12
And an angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were filled with fear. And the angel said to them, “Fear not, for behold, I bring you good news of a great joy that will be for all the people. For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord. And this will be a sign for you: you will find a baby wrapped in swaddling cloths and lying in a manger.”

Peace & Joy to you all
*love*

Thanksgiving

We had a really good Thanksgiving this year. Lots of fun with family, devouring way too much turkey and stuffing, and loving every minute of it. On Thanksgiving day, we had dinner up in McKinney at Tim's sister's (Amy) house. Tim's folks came into town from Kansas City, so it was great to see them and catch up on life. I love it when they are able to come down :) Amy has a wheat intolerance just like I do, so it's nice eating over there because she always has things prepared so that we can eat them! Except for the fact that she forgot to tell me the gravy had flour in it...oops! And within about 10 minutes of eating it, I knew I had been 'glutened'. That part wasn't so fun, but I didn't let it ruin my evening. All of us girls had fun chatting away all evening while the guys did their guy things and the kids played. My sister in law, Robin, went with her sister at midnight to head over to outlet mall to start Black Friday shopping, and Amy and my mother in law were going to get up at 4 to head out! Tim and I decided not to do that this year, which was good because we were so unbelievably tired, especially since Garbanzo has been waking us up every few hours to eat! She's nursing 4 kittens, so she's hungry all the time. We decided after that night that when we got home from Friday thanksgiving at my parents house, we were going to move them into the office so we could shut our bedroom door!

So back to Thanksgiving! Friday morning, I woke up and started preparing the gluten free apple tart I was so excited to make! I ran into a few issues...as in the dough kind of fell apart on me (the hazards of baking gluten free sometimes...), but I ended up piecing it back together, and it turned out AMAZINGLY good. Oh my word, I am in love with this dessert.

We went to my folks house around 1:00, and played a game of ladder golf, or whatever it's called. I forgot what it's called! But it's a fun game, even though my brother Mike beat me...oh well. And here's Peter giving a demonstration, and the lovely Beth showing her stuff.

We had a wonderful dinner that my mom and dad put together, and I ate way too much as usual. We got to video chat with my sister and brother and their families who couldn't be with us. At least they got to all be together up in Wisconsin for Thanksgiving :) We also celebrated Tim's birthday as a family (even though his birthday was on November 2) I still can't believe he's 30!!

It was a very relaxing, low-key Thanksgiving, both days. I am so thankful it has worked out the past few years to have thanksgiving with one family on Thanksgiving, and one family the next day. We don't have to rush through lunch with the first family, only to be so full and not be able to eat much at the second!

So we went home Friday evening, and had to get the kitties moved into the office. That was the best idea, ever. Mama took to the move quite well, even though she looked quite concerned at first, and so did the kittens. They love their new dwelling place -- more room to play! So they're happy, and we're happy that we can finally have a full nights sleep again.

Aren't they sweet?

*love*