The Christmas Season

Merry Christmas!

I know it's been a ridiculously long time since I've blogged, but I couldn't let my favorite holiday go by without a shout-out to my blog friends.

Christmas is easily my favorite time of the year. I love the lights, and the snow, and the music, and how everyone is a little nicer and a little happier. I love giving presents, and I love getting presents.

Most of all, I love how hearts seem to turn to the Savior at this time of year. I know mine does. For me, Christmas is about salvation. We celebrate the birth of a baby in a manger because that baby would eventually suffer and die for our sins, and for our infirmities. We celebrate His birth because of His life.

At this season, I am eternally grateful for the priceless gift of salvation. I have been blessed to have a sure knowledge of God's love and His eternal plan. He has continually blessed me, far above what I think I deserve. I see His hand everywhere in my life. But mostly, He is always there for me in times of trial or heartache. He is always by my side, lending a helping hand. He provided a way for me to return to my Heavenly Father. What greater gift is there?

May we remember the blessings of our Savior during this Christmas season, for He truly is the reason for the season.

No More Plastic!

Today is my 25th birthday.

It's been a good day. I went to work, where they bought me a birthday cake. I got a pedicure, thanks to the gift certificate given me by a good friend. Now my toes look freaking adorable. I went to dinner with my mom and dad.

The best part, though, is the present I got from my mom and dad. I've been eating off a plastic table with two plastic chair. Not the most classy thing. The other day I found this on Craigslist:

And only $65, which is a total steal!

Check out the detail on the table:

And the chairs:

Don't you love it? Isn't it adorable? It's so me. And now I don't have to eat off plastic anymore. Except maybe plates, if I don't feel like doing dishes . . .

Thanks Mama and Daddy!

Lazy Days

Today I was driving down a side street in town and I passed a little boy dressed in a Spiderman costume, riding his bike with his dad.

I miss the summers of my childhood. Heck, I miss the summers of my college days.

When I was little, I would spend the summer going to swimming lessons and the library, reading on our roof and playing outside. The backyard of the house I grew up in is still my favorite place in the whole world. I would ride my bike into town and stop at the Dairy King for a slushie on the way back.

When I was in college, summers were for playing. One summer my frineds and I went campng every weekend. My roommates and I watched movies, made fro-yo runs and had friends over. It was a time for laying out in the park, going to the pool and enjoying life.

Summer isn't quite the same now that I'm a full-fledged adult. I still enjoy the long days and warm nights, but it doesn't have the same carefee quality it used to have. I can't stay out late because I have to work the next day. I can't spend the day at the pool because I have to spend the day listening to copiers run (I'm worried about toner lung).

Don't get me wrong, I love my job. I'm lucky to have it, and I enjoy my days. I just miss the days of dressing up like Spiderman and riding your bike with Dad.

Update

Saw a line of cars whizzing past Mensa Man this morning. When I passed him I said, "You have GOT to be kidding me!"

Mensa Man

Most of my pet peeves regard driving. One of them is people who go under the speed limit. If you go the speed limit, I'm ok. If you go a couple under, I'm ok. If you go five or more under, I'll start twitching.

There is this guy that I seem to run into a lot along the main road by my house. I know it's the same guy because he drives this little white car with a Mensa bumper sticker. I call him Mensa Man.

Mensa Man drives 10 miles under the speed limit wherever he goes. The speed limit is 45? Mensa Man is going 35. There's a dozen cars piled up behind him while other whiz past him? Mensa Man doesn't care. He's sticking with his five under.

You'd think with his high IQ and all, he'd be able to read and understand the speed limit signs.

Now every time I'm behind a line of cars going under the speed limit, I think, "Mensa Man must be up there." I see the super smart son of a gun everywhere!

The opposite of Mensa Man is this:



I saw this driving home the other day (don't worry I just pointed the camera out the window and then cropped the picture). At first glance, it looks like any regular biker, but if you look closely, you'll notice the thin, shapely legs and the hair flying from under the helmet. It's a biker chick, and I only dream of being as cool as her.

Mensa Man probably doesn't even dream. He probably grumbles and shakes his fist when she rides by. Mensa Man just doesn't appreciate coolness.

This Time I'm Not Making Any Promises

Once again, it's been forever. Maybe the problem is that my life is just too boring. I'm hoping to change that this summer.

Last weekend I went to the Grand Junction Arts and Jazz Festival with my BFF Felicia.

She was working the festival, so we just wandered up and down the street. I checked out the goods, and she asked people for their zip codes and got blown off.

There was a lot of amazing stuff there! My favorite was the blown glass. There were several vendors with all different styles. I bought this blown glass pendent from an amazing mother-daughter team.

The daughter blows the glass and the mother makes necklaces. The mother has cancer, and when they found out she was going to lose her hair, her daughter learned to do henna. Now she does henna tattoos all over her mom's head every month.

There was also the most amazing photographer there. Here's a sample of his work.

Downtown Grand Junction has a program called Art on the Corner. There are different sculptures all up and down Main Street. There are a lot of great ones, but this one was my favorite. The picture doesn't really do it justice.

So that's what I've been up to. I want to say I'll write agains soon, but I'm not making any promises!

I'm Baaaaack!

I know, I know, I said that last time.

Just give me a minute to explain. I swear, there are mitigating circumstances.

The first problem was that my laptop up and died. There I was, catching up on my blogging (reading, not writing) and poof, it just stops! I took it to the geek squad to see if there was anything they could do and their verdict was that it was beyond hope and I should just let it go. Let's just say that put a definite cramp in my blogging style. I'm up and running and back online now, so I can't use that as an excuse anymore!

The biggest problem has been me. Remember the Depression Post? I've been there again. Have I ever mentioned how much I really HATE THE WINTER? I hate and loathe it. Anyway, I'm mostly back now. Here's how I feel about that.

The Hallalujah Chorus was supposed to be here but blogger had issues with
the html code. Stupid Blogger.

Don't listen for too long. After about two and a half minutes they get off key.

The moral of the story? I've been bad. I'm getting better. I've been really blessed this round, as much as anyone who can't get out of bed can be. I promise I'll try to blog more.

xoxo,
Betsy

Miracle of Miracles! A Post!

I haven't blogged in an embarrasingly long time.

I'm ashamed of myself.

Part of it is because winter tends to be a hard time for me, and I'd rather curl up in bed than type. Part of it is that I've been pretty busy. Mostly, though, I just haven't had much to say.

But this has been the best week ever! And I wanted to share with my bloggy friends.

Reasons this was the best week ever:

1) Went to see "He's Just Not That Into You" with one of my friends. We were BFFs growing up, but we went to different colleges and sort of lost touch. We're living in the same town now, and we get together once in a while. The great thing is that it's not awkward at all. It's like we've just picked up where we left off. That's a true friend. Plus, the movie was super funny.

2) I finally broke the 20lb mark! I've been flirting with it for months, but the holidays really threw me off. I didn't gain any weight, but I lost momentum. I have officially lost 21.4lbs, which means I'm back on my way.

3) I got a(nother) raise! That makes three in six months. I so totally rock. When the boss called me in, I thought I was in for it, but he just gave me more money, and one of the best compliments I've ever had. He and the manager both said they had never given that many raises in the short of time. Ever. Seriously! I SO TOTALLY ROCK!

4) With the raise also came paid time off. I don't recall that ever being discussed when I started. I get 3:20 every pay period. I've never had PTO before! I have a real job!

5) I decided I wanted to celebrate my raise with some friends. I was concerned because I don't really have any here, but I made a few calls, and some girls came over to eat pizza and watch a movie. I haven't hung out with friends in ages, and it was so fun!

6) I got Pablo's Pizza for free. Pablo's is this amazing gourmet pizza place here, and it's a little pricey. I was willing to spring for it in celebration, but when I got there to pick up my order, they had no record of it. I had to wait about 15 min while they cooked it, but they gave me the pizza for free. Heck, I'll do just about anything for free pizza.

7) This is possibly the best one, tied with the raise (have I mentioned that I rock?). There is this guy I've been hanging out with lately. He's . . . I can't think of one word to sum him up. He's smart and funny and kind and witty and handsome and tall and has the sexiest forearms I've ever seen. He's a little out of my league at the moment (and for the next 50lbs or so), but we have a lot of fun together and I was hoping we could be friends. I've called and texted him a couple times in the last couple weeks, but I didn't hear anything back. After watching "He's Just Not That Into You" I was convinced that he just wasn't that into me. Today, I found out that he lost his phone a little while back! It's the best news I've heard all day! He wasn't avoiding me! He was actually thinking about me! And then the clouds parted and angels sang the Hallelujah Chorus.

I hope you have as great a week as I did.