Holidays

Maybe it's wrong of me, but I'm kind of glad the Christmas and New Year holidays are coming to an end. I'll be happy to get back to the ordinary. The time between holidays where nothing is really happening and nothing additional is expected out of you.  You can carry on with all of your regular activities, get your house in order, start planning for the new year. 
Bring on 2013 I say.  I should be careful with what I say.  2012 was no picnic.  But I'm really hopping 2013 brings good news and healthier resolutions. Micky and I had been walking every week night until December hit.  The cold weather and the need to shop as soon as the office closed didn't help our walk schedule.  I'm ready to get back into our workout schedule. I'm also hoping to get a treadmill soon.  My mom has one thats not being used and hopefully we can find a way to get it up here.
Most importantly, I'm ready for the pain in my legs and lower back to be gone. I can barely remember a time before the pain started, a time when I was active daily, thank you retail. If you work retail, if nothing else thank your job that it keeps you up and walking.  But there was a time when I didn't have any pain in my legs, other than the occasional leg cramp, and it was nice. To be able to go to bed and lay in one position all night or atleast 3o minutes without having to roll over to relieve the pain on the one side, or to be able to sit for longer than 30 minutes with no pain. Watching a tv show from beginning to end without getting up?  Impossible.  Sitting in a movie theater for 1.5 - 3 hours? I'm constantly moving, squirming, sitting on my legs, putting them down, squirming again.  *sigh* Oh how I dream to be pain free. I'm pretty tolerant of pain, but this is crazy. When I'm more active the pain is a lot less; the more active the less the pain. But when you work a job where you sit all day, it's difficult.  When life gets in the way, it's difficult. My prayer is to just get to the point where I can be active enough for the pain to completely disappear. If it doesn't get better this year, I'll be seeing a doctor. Then we'll go from there. Here's to a better 2013 for all of us!  Happy trails to you! And God bless.

First things first...

...we voted today! We've done our civic duty and are now watching the results unfold on tv.  I won't go into who we voted for or why, but that we are in prayer for whomever it may be, Obama or Romney.  We are also in prayer for those who are currently voting, those who are working those polls, and all those who will be up late tonight working on getting those results posted and counted.
I posted a comment on Facebook that I honestly expected more comments on but was glad to find that it did not turn into a war but more of an agreement and granted there were only 4-5 of us commenting, it was a good thread. Here is a screen shot of that:

I'll reiterate just by stating that I will continually post about my faith and I think it's sad that I can't post something about who I support for president without a large debate immediately following. Why can't we be just as passionate about our faith? Why can't I just post a political opinion and it just be that? An opinion. Not a debate. Regardless of tonight's outcome, I will continue to serve my God and my Savior, I will pray for our country's leaders along with my husband. 1 Timothy 2:1-3 tells us to pray and give thanks on behalf of all people, including kings and all who are in authority.  And so that's what we shall do.

Secondly, I finally peeled that pomegranate I posted about below.  Between the time that I bought that one and our trip to HEB on Saturday, I bought another one.  So I have enough seeds that I now have a stash at work (assuming the cleanup crew doesn't clean the fridge, don't worry I dated it) and a stash at home. 

I'm going to attempt to dip half of this stash in chocolate.  I'll post results here. But can you imagine the foodgasm that will result? Om nom nom.

I'll leave you with this closing shot as we look out into the future and wonder what it holds. 

Colors of the Fall

  I just love this time of year.  The colors, the smells, and the food. Oh yes, the food.
We went to the grocery store tonight to grab the ingredients for homemade salsa and a few extra items.  Well while over in the produce section, I found my favorite fruit ever.

Yes, Pomegranates.  Absolutely love breaking these apart and finding the ruby red jewels inside.  It's like breaking into a treasure chest.

Also found bags of fresh cranberries which I immediately stuck in the freezer.  I'll make fresh cranberry sauce with these, probably this weekend actually.  Mmmm, I can taste it now, with a little orange zest, cinnamon, and a touch of ginger. Yum.

And of course the pumpkin pies, the pumpkin spice lattes, pumpkin spice creamer... OH, and candy corn! I'm taking M&M's, candy corn, and peanuts to the office so I can make my Fall trail mix. I bought cute little Halloween bowls to put the mix in; good stuff. 

The Fall is responsible for so many beautiful colors, smells, tastes... I just love it.  And right now, at this time in our lives, God is moving.  We aren't sure how or why, but He is and we're curious to see what He has planned.  I'll fill you in more about this in a later post.  It's all part of a bigger story. Can't you just wait to see the big picture some day?  I just know God is up there working on a giant puzzle and we can see some of the pieces as He places them but there are always those missing pieces that we just can't comprehend or even begin to think about.  Oh I wonder what puzzle he is working on now... 

Hello Fall, hello bright colors, hello wonderful smells and tastes. Welcome to our world. It's good to see you!

MINI accomplishments

So we've had MINI Pearl for 7 months tomorrow, and she's already hit 10,000 miles! We take her on all out of town trips though. The MINI has so far been a great car that I feel completely safe in and love to drive! I've wanted one for quite some time so it's great to have actually accomplished that.
I just can't wait to get out and motor with some fellow MINIacs!

New car

In the meantime, I also got a new car:
Everyone, meet MINI Pearl who likes to Jam to Dynamic Music while motoring down the highway! More later...

Along the Way

So here I am 5-6 months later and though I'm not walking as much as I would have hoped, I did participate in a program called Walk Across Texas with my co-workers. As luck would have it, my team, Steppin On Up, won the walk against the Holy Walkamolies. Very clever name indeed.  So they got points for the name, but we walked further, 1 mile further to be exact.  So both teams walked pretty far actually and there was no prize to be won, just the feel of accomplishment and a fun little competition between workmates. 

My husband and I walk about 2 days out of the week, if we're not walking, we're working in the yard.  I love working in my garden, plucking old blooms from my flowers, trimming back the bushes; it's one of my favorite past times.  Used to love reading as well, and still do but I find it harder and harder to get through a book, where I used to finish a book in 2-3 days.  

Otherwise my days are filled with work, playing with my cats and dogs, being on Facebook probably more than a person should be, eating, & spending time with my husband.  Oh, and watching tv when my show is on, Fringe.  

So anyway, to put a nice little bow on this package, shaping up is a work in progress.  Slowly I will begin to get in shape or get in better shape than I am now.  I'd also like to go get back into the things that I used to be into, reading, writing (if it weren't for that gigantic wall in front of me), and crafting.  (No, def not arithmetic.)  

I'll begin to post more here, now that I know I have atleast a few followers.  

This is Shellie, signing out.  Goodnight!