movin' on....

I've moved!

you can find me HERE

I am still working on it and making changes, but it is up and running!

THESE......

Really crack me up.
They come in an assortment of options:
- Action Packed
- Agility (do you really see DeSean Jackson wearing these?)
- Metabolize
- Biathlon
- Sleek Fit (ummm this shoe is pretty much the antonym of sleek)
- Jump Start
- Fitness Junkie (really????)
- This particular pair is "Optimize."

And the one that really kills me: Motivation

I don't know about you, but these shoes would kill just about any motivation I had mustered up to begin with. You would have to do some serious motivation to get me to be seen in public in these.

I am waiting for SNL to do a skit on these.

Part 1 – Cleaning and Organization

So, with the New Year comes resolutions.
I am not good at keeping resolutions.
So normally I skip this whole process.
However, this year is different. Why? Because I find myself in a place where I NEED to make a change.
Or else we will disappear under the piles and piles of laundry and dishes and dust bunnies and tossed-aside-pistachio-shells, NEVER TO BE SEEN AGAIN!
Ok, so maybe it’s not that bad. But it’s still bad.

So that is where this post comes in. It is Part 1 of 4 on organization and reclaiming the chaos that has become my life :)
And so begins what I’m learning about cleaning and organization. Notice I used the present tense: LEARNING. This is an ongoing process :)

So, why do I need I need a cleaning schedule? Because between both of us working full time, friends, family, church, busy weekends, and, of course, spending invaluable time watching endless hours of Psych, there is often little to no time for cleaning or pickup. At least, not BLOCKS of time that I can devote to it. Not to mention I’ve barely cooked or cleaned AT ALL for the past 2 months :) I’m not kidding. (Mike has been a super hero - cleaning and cooking for me!) And finally, because I want to be able, when we're out with friends, to say "hey, why don't you come back to our house for a while and we can hang out?!" without feeling like I've just invited them back to Oscar the Grouch's trash can habitat.
:)

So it’s time for a change. It’s time to do just a little something every day, so my cleaning list doesn’t grow so big that it can then chase me down and eat me for dinner. And since I’m only 4 days away from my second trimester (woohoo!) I am regaining strength and courage to make this change.

So, I devised this: my cleaning schedule:
SCHEDULE

I have realized that a 2-week cleaning schedule is more than sufficient, and it gives me more time to get stuff done, so I don’t feel so rushed and overwhelmed.
As you can see, there are basics for every day. Dishes, 1 load of laundry (that’s doable, right?!), and sorting the mail. Plus just one chore per day. And I’ve purposefully left one of the Thursdays free because of Community Group. And Fridays and Saturdays and Sundays so I have time to relax and enjoy my family :)

Now, for this to work, organization is key for me. I’m very much like my father (although not as extreme. I am convinced that Dad would live in an Excel spreadsheet if it was possible) and I need a schedule and a plan. But I think most important in making this plan successful is having a place for everything. It becomes much more of a hassle to pick up and clean as I go, if there is no PLACE to PUT the items being picked up as I go :)

Here is an example: Laundry.

For clean clothes, they will often end up in piles if I don’t have a clean closet or dresser.
For messy clothes, they will often not get done if I don’t have enough drying room.
So Mike and I went to Ikea on Saturday to find some tools to fix this problem. (oh how I *love* Ikea)
1) We got stackable drawers for all my tee shirts. They are organized by long sleeve, short sleeve, embellished, basic, etc. It’s beautiful and neat.
2) We got him a much larger dresser so there is room to put his clean folded laundry.
3) We found this amazing hanger. It holds 5 pairs of pants. Without overrunning our closets. It actually gives you MORE room!



4) We got this new drying rack:

We hang probably half of our clothes, and one thing that keeps me from doing laundry is I run out of space to hang our wet clothes. This should fix that. See? Organization is key.

So, this here is my resolution to try to just do one thing each day. I have now posted this on the world-wide-web, so if I fail, I fail publicly.
Please feel free to ask me how this is going. Or to just stop in one day to make sure my house doesn't look like the trash can ate it. Or to share any helpful tips you’ve found. I need all the help I can get!!

Next up: Planning/Google Calendar, Sunday Prep for the week. How I make sure I actually DO what I've set out to do :)

Christmas 09

This year was a wonderful Christmas! For starters, we had snow on the ground, which almost never happens. Nevermind it rained Christmas night and washed it all away. Don't ruin my glee.
The Wednesday before Christmas we traveled out to Harrisburg to see Mike's grandparents. Here are the kids out in the snow. And in the background, if you look closely, you can see the neighbor's dog looking longingly at the play day wishing he could come join in on the fun.

On Christmas Eve day, there arose a game of Speed Circuit.
what is Speed Circuit you ask?
I would still like to know.
If you can't figure out what that means, it's code for "I don't get this game so I think I'll just watch and take pictures while you all knock your socks off" :)
Here we have Gary and Aaron strategizing. My spell-check says that's not a word....but I think it is. And that what the following pictures capture: strategizing.






And here is Meg hiding on the floor next to me with the Onion Pretzels. She is one smart cookie.


More strategizing.....





Meg and Mike trying to solve word puzzles. Hence their puzzled looks.



Grandma McNeill and Cyndi



Dad and daughters!



On Christmas Eve night we went over my parents for a late dinner and some exchanging of gifts. Here is their lovely tree. Now, this is in the living room, and this window faces the front yard. The perfect place for passer-bys to view such a pretty tree. Wouldn't you know, in all the 15 years they/we've been in that house, this is the first year someone had the brilliant idea to put it in front of the window. It's been in the corner, in the foyer, in the family room. Never in the window. Why did this never occur to us?????? And my parents are moving soon. This was probably the first and last Christmas for the brilliant idea :)


Ba!


Andrew tying the strings on his bomber hat in a bow. Even though no one does that.





And here is Donut Haven...

And the incredible creme-crumb-cake that is a Sharp tradition.



Christmas morning we went over the Smiths and spent the day with them.




They got Wii Fit!!!


Dan got some sort of nerf gun. And as you can see, Sean is in trouble.....


The beautiful Bow Queen :)



We played Speed Scrabble. And Meg and I tied to beat Mike and Tom. As you can see, Mike is distressed and being silly with his awesome sheepskin bomber hat.


It was a glorious Christmas. So thankful to God for such amazing families.
Next Christmas......we shall have a new addition to the Smith Family!!! Can't wait to meet him or her :)

Christmas Traditions: Holiday Foods

So, I was inspired by Traci's post about favorite Christmas movies.
And I've got my own list of favorites. Favorite Christmas-season foods. Note I said "Christmas-season" because some of these items can be found all year round, but are particularly good/in season during the holidays.

- Pistachios
- Clementines and Oranges
- Grapefruit & Fresh Grapefruit Juice (Trader Joe's!)
- Eggnog
- Wassail
- Creme Crumb Cake (from a family bakery at The Farmer's Market - it's to die for) We have it every Christmas morning.
- Christmas Blend Coffee
- Mimosas on Christmas morning (which, sadly, I will not be having this year)


What are some of your favorites?

Why Merging Never Works

So, I've given this some considerable thought (pretty much every morning at 8:45 for the past year and a half), and I've decided I know why merging never works smoothly.
Firstly, let me just say that I understand it is a necessary evil. Without it, we'd end up with highways the size of Canada.
And I also understand that those lovely members of the Signage Industry have attempted to ease our pain as much as possible. Generally they give you 1,000 ft notice. Or, if they're feeling particularly generous, they may even give you an entire mile. Either way, I appreciate that they are trying to be considerate of our merging woes.
However, they have overlooked one crucial fact:
People are selfish and always in a hurry. Especially at 8:45 in the morning.
And of those selfish and hurried people, there are then two categories. They are as follows.

Type 1 - these are the I-Don't-Care-About-That-Sign-I-Just-Want-To-Keep-Moving-And-Get-To-The-Front-Of-The-Line people. These people are instant-gratification seekers and short-sighted. They lose sight of the big picture; they have tunnel vision, if you will. We'll call them Five-Year-Olds.

Type 2 - these are the I-See-The-Sign-Therefore-I'm-Going-To-Get-Over-Now-So-I'm-In-A-Lane-When-The-Other-One-Expires people. These people are sensible and long-term-minded and can see the grand scheme of things. We'll call them Sensiblites.

So, there you have it. The two types of people and their merging mindsets. And at first there is no problem. But as you get closer and closer to the infamous merge, two things happen. Firstly, the Five-Year-Olds finally decide it's time to get over. Secondly, the Sensiblites revolt. See, I failed to mention above that Sensiblites are also self-righteous and carry with them the "snooze-you-lose" attitude. And so the efficacy of the system gets thrown out the window as the Sensiblite becomes bent on nothing else but punishing Five-Year-Old for his stupidity. Because as soon as Five-Year-Old tries to get in Sensiblite's lane, Sensiblite has a conniption the size of Mount Vesuvius and starts screaming at the rolled up window, "OH! You want to get over NOW, huh? Listen, buddy, I've been in this lane for the last mile and a half, going slower yet remaining committed because I know this is the lane to be, all the while the likes of you are whizzing past me and trying to cut in front of the OTHER sensible people in front of me who have ALSO waited their turn! If you had just paid attention to the sign and gotten over in the mile the sign gave you, NONE OF THIS TRAFFIC WOULD BE HAPPENING RIGHT NOW!"
Sensiblite then proceeds to tail the fellow Sensiblite in front of her so that Five-Year-Old has no chance of getting in whatsoever. It's like the Pearly White Gates - there are no shortcuts or butting ahead of someone. Guess you shoulda been more big-picture-oriented and waited in line!

And there is some sort of vindictive, incredibly satisfying feeling that comes from shoving Five-Year-Old off the road into oblivion.

Maybe next time Five-Year-Old will reconsider his ways and deem it a GOOD IDEA to convert and become a Sensiblite. And yell all kinds of nasty things at other thick-headed Fire-Year-Old's.

And that, my friends, is why merging will never win itself a Nobel Peace Prize. Well....on second thought.....maybe that's not true after all. Apparently anyone can win one of those.

Which type are you?

And no, I don't need anger management, thank you very much ;)

I'm learning.....

So, I am in the middle of a learning process.
Learning things I thought I knew.
There is a chance I may be revising my stance on High-Fructose Corn Syrup (HFCS).
I’m currently reading this article from the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition : Straight Talk About High-Fructose Corn Syrup: What it is and what it ain't

This does not mean that I am going to just start buying products with HFCS – I think there’s still some research that needs to be done. Plus, I have not finished the article, so I am reserving final judgment for a while longer. This does mean, however, that I am going to let the scientific facts speak for themselves. What I like about this is that it’s a scholarly journal, not media hype, which may prove to be the source of a lot of the confusion over this issue.

I'll let ya know what I think! In the meantime, let me know your thoughts! But please have a scientific reason to support your argument either way. These are the kind of facts we need to reach clarity on this controversy :)

Thanks for putting up with my nerd post :)

The End.

O Tannenbaum

It must be a tradition of sorts. We always seem to fight on Christmas Tree Day :) It's always about silly stuff.....I believe last year it was over tea.
Anyways, this past Saturday was Christmas Tree Day. And we are creatures of habit. And I'm not going to disclose the contents of this year's argument. Maybe I'll divulge next year. The important thing is it was silly and we kissed and made up :)
We usually do this the day (or weekend) after Thanksgiving. But this year I went shopping on Black Friday and was not feeling well on Saturday. So we waited a week.
It had started to sneet (snow/sleet), but we braved Old Man Winter and headed out to Wiggins anyways.
Here is Mr. Lumberjack himself.


And here is only a portion of the forest from which we had to choose our tree. This is always the most difficult part. You have to understand - I had a disastrous Christmas tree experience the year we lived in Maryland. If you'd like a dramatic reenactment of how that story went down, you may consult my mother.
Anyways, when it comes to picking trees, Mike is very practical (thank goodness), and me, well.....let's just say that if I had no supervision I'd pick a tree the size of The Nutcracker tree every year. No doubt. Never mind the fact that I don't have a 25 ft ceiling.


So we embarked on a mission. To find a happy medium.


This one (apparently) had eaten too many Christmas cookies and was too fat for our living room. Boo hoo.


This one, on the other hand, had lost its midsection somewhere along the way.


After much looking, we headed over to the other side of the tree farm to see what we could see. It was quite a trek.


And of course ours was the furthest away. Here is Mike with the saw.


And here is Michael and his lovely face when he realized how wet the ground was going to be. He got over it ;)


And while I went to Wawa to get cash (for some reason we thought a tree farm in a field would have a credit card machine) Michael dragged our tree back down the hill all by himself (no cart even!) and got it baled. I met him back there in time for him to tie it to the top of the van. Which, we almost lost it on the way home and pulled over on Rt 3 to save it from certain destruction.


And then Mike had the brilliant idea to put it in the tree stand outside before bringing it in and cutting the strings. I can't tell you how much easier that made it!


And here it is. It is still not decorated because I've been feeling sick this week. But soon!


And to make this Christmas Tree Day even better, it snowed :)

Merry Christmas!!
p.s. It's a Christmas tree....not a holiday tree.....I mean c'mon! Please let's not rewrite history....

Thing 1 and Thing 2 - neither related to the other

Thing 1:

I was in Target yesterday doing my non-trader-joe-shop (essentially what's left on my list after Trader Joe's...) trying to plan a dessert for tonight (the lovely Alf and Ruth Lohmann are coming for dinner.)
Apple Cake.....Ooey Gooey Cake.....Fruit Parfaits....WHAT TO DO?!
And then I remembered I was tired. So so tired.
Clearly my culinary motivations have run off with every ounce of energy I once owned.
And then I walked down the baking aisle.
And saw these.
And it gave me pause for thought.
Could it really be as easy as brownie mix + egg + water + oil?
Is this what smart people do? Can it really be this easy?!
And I answered myself. I said, "Self, YES! Grab the brownie mix and go!"
And so I did. And I can't even tell you how excited I am to dump, mix and pour. It is going to make my life so much easier.

And here is Thing 2:

I told you it was unrelated.
But it has transformed my dining room table.
The table is only a few months old, but already it had water marks, heat stains, scratches, etc. It was dry!! Dying and screaming for orange oil love!
And I heard its cries.
And now, it looks even better than when we first bought it!!! Can't you see that SHINE?!
It is only $3.49. As such, I insist you go buy it if you have any wood furniture worth loving. Trust me, you won't be disappointed.

Thanksgiving Morning

Well here I am on Thanksgiving morning, sitting on my couch in front of a cozy fire waiting for the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade to start.
I've always loved holiday mornings, particularly Thanksgiving and Christmas. When we were younger we would always celebrate with the Sharp side, rotating houses each year, and those are some of my favorite Thanksgiving memories. Aunt Betty's cream cheese bars. Aunt Donna's famous banana bread. Uncle Johnny's white hots (I don't know exactly what they were....some sort of sausage sandwich....but they were GOOD!). All of us kids wrestling with dad and Uncle Dean and Uncle Steve. (For the record, we kicked their butts ;) Definitely some good memories. And now we're all grown up. And soon Mike and I will have our own little one running around on Thanksgiving morning, and we'll get to start our own traditions. I hope they're just as fun and exciting as my childhood memories!
Ok, so following in Ange's footsteps, here is a list of things I am grateful for this Thanksgiving (In no particular order):

-my Savior and my God, Jesus Christ
-my incredible husband who takes such great care of me, especially in these early weeks of pregnancy
-my church and their commitment to preach the Gospel
-our new house!
-a baby on the way
-both of our amazing families (Sharps and Smiths!)
-our Community Group
-Friends
-Cheesecake Factory :)
-a Fireplace (i love this one)
-stable jobs
-two working vehicles
-Fruit
-camera
-the YMCA (we need this place to stay in shape ;)
-History (it's fascinating!)
-J Crew coats :)
-bagels (which comprise most of my diet these days)
-new laptop
-Christmas trees
-parents. I'm convinced we have some of the best around!
-water
-snow!
-Change of seasons
-the beach
-doctors and medicine
-health
-good magazines and books
-Music and art
-a country that allows us to worship freely

I think what I was most aware of as I made this list is how many of these things are not necessities. God has been so good to bless us with not only our needs, but also wants. What a gracious God we serve!!! I hope to celebrate Thanksgiving every day, not just once a year. Gratitude certainly is a powerful weapon against anxiety!
"Therefore do not be anxious, saying, 'What shall we eat?' or 'What shall we drink?' or 'What shall we wear?' For the Gentiles seek after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them all. but seek first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you." - Matthew 6:31-33

SURPRISE!

Soooooo.....lately (in spite of recent blog posts) most of my food intake has consisted of these:


And I've been drinking this stuff like medicine:


Because, a few weeks ago when I found out I had swine flu:


We also found out something else:

We are having a baby :) SURPRISE!
However, because I had swine flu when we told our families, I have yet to receive many congratulatory hugs from many beloved family members. Being pregnant didn't change the opinion that I deserved to be quarantined ;)
Rosie did have the best one-liner though. When we told my family, Rosie was relatively quiet until she felt compelled to voice an epiphany she had. She said, "Huh, so I guess this is the first time you've ever really been surprised, Sarah." That kid knows me and my snooping tendencies all too well!
Now here's another funny part to the story. We found out on a Tuesday that I was pregnant. That Sunday before was Sean's birthday and, keeping with traditional Smith gift-giving techniques, we informed Sean his gift was still forthcoming. He joked "is it a baby niece/nephew?!"
We told him yeah right - go jump in a lake.
So, when we told the Smiths a few days later, Sean's first response was "you guys DID get me a baby for my birthday!"
Sorry to burst your bubble, Sean, but our plans for a birthday gift probably looked something like a book. But since this clearly counts as far as you're concerned, we'll just say we got you a niece/nephew for your birthday and call it even ;)