Day 31 - My last three resolutions!!!

Oh my!!! It is January 31st and I still owe three resolutions to finish off the month so let's get started so I can get to bed and feel as though I have accomplished my mission of coming up with 31 resolutions by the end of January - well friends I have one hour until the end of January so I guess I better get started so I can get to sleep.

Number 29 - Stay better connected with my family. Because I am the only one of the family that moved away I sometimes feel disconnected, because I live a couple hours away. We have a big family and as my siblings have kids we just keep getting bigger. I love the little ones they are so much fun! Holidays are so much better when they are around - they make me smile. Anyway - I am going to make it a point this year to make a call to at least one family member each week, making it a point to stay connected! Included here is a picture of the family the only one that you can't see in this picture is Hayes (he is there he is just hiding in my sister's belly!)

Number 30 - Conflict resolution is the topic of our radio show this weekend. Conflict is something that I hate - wait I think most people don't really like it. Anyway - throughout most of my life I have avoided conflict just to keep the peace thinking it was better to keep my thoughts to myself especially when someone hurt me. Well - I don't think that is what God wants for me and my life as a Christian - I am committing this year to deal with conflicts as they arise and not let too much time laps because that just makes for anger and bitterness and I don't want that in my life. So I am going to confront even when it is hard. Even if it is just a letter or an email, of course the best is face to face but that is not always a possibility - so I am starting this today! Confronting in love through prayer will I get strength and gentleness and love.

Number 31 - WHOWHOWHWOHWWWW!!! This is the last one!!! No pressure but this should be really good... I hope I can handle the pressure. I was going to resolve to keep my resolutions at least 80% of the time - but I thought that might be cheating. So what can I write for my resolution. Well I have one and I have greatly debated whether or not this was a good resolution or if I should write it down, but after a great conversation with my friend Sylvia I feel like this has been confirmed. It is actually kind of personal, but I think I can share the jist of it and why I am making this resolution.

I will tell you my resolution and then I will explain why... well I am resolving not to date, pursue dating, or think about guys in a romantic fashion during lent this year. One of my greatest hopes and dreams is to one day get married and have a family, I have longed for that for many years. Obviously it has not happened yet, and often I get very anxious saying "God - I am ready now - I least expect it" because that seems to be everyone's response - "oh when you least expect it" - let me tell you that gets old fast - so let me speak for all the single people in the world - please don't say that - it is very annoying. Anyway back to my point - I have been mostly content with my singleness - going through stages that I am mainly content and then some where I am not content at all.

But I am not sure if I have even gone through a time in my life that I was content with me....content with just wanting to know God better and get my life on track with him. In fact - I know that I have not. The past two weeks I have really been focusing on looking at my life and who I am in Christ and have realized that I have not ever really been content with me until just recently. I know that this may sound silly to some of you but to me this is huge and I am going to celebrate that during lent, by not worrying about relationships with others, but instead just focusing on my relationship with my creator! He loves me, for me...just how I am...I am his favorite (don't worry you are his favorite too!) So I am taking the 40 days of lent and giving God 100% of my attention, my love, my feelings, my adorations, no distractions, just God! Now don't get me wrong - I will still hang out with all my friends, but I don't try to figure out my feelings, I won't let my heart wonder from my savior for this period...I see this as a time of preparation....a time of waiting.... a time to Be Still and know that He is God!

I can't believe I just wrote all of that but that is me, that is my heart and that is my last resolution!

Catching Up on the Resolutions

Since I was away all weekend I have gotten a little behind on my blogging and on my resolutions, I don't have one more week of resolutions and then I can just work on actually keeping my 31 resolutions of the year. So without further waiting here are my resolutions for the past few days.

#25 - This one is work related - last year I did an awful job recording my miles for reimbursement, so then at the end of December I was scrambling to remember where I had gone in April - it was a bit stressful, so this year I am resolving to keep a notebook in my car with a mileage log and each time I got somewhere work related then I will have the log right there. Along with that I will also resolve to turn them in at the end of each month.

#26 - Since on of my goals of the new year is to work on my finances I am going to try to do a better job setting up a system of keeping all my bills together so I don't forget to pay them. You see I have always been very organized, but over the last year I seem to be a little flustered in my organization, and overwhelmed by all the papers and such that I have. What I really need is a desk so I can organize my bills and such as I get them, and pay them on time. This is going to be a challenge.

#27 - This resolution is to help me stay connected to my adventurous side. I love adventures especially outdoors, however sometimes with my fatigue and such I shy away from those things, for fear that it will use up all my energy (which it often does). But regardless I still want to have adventure, so I am committing to do at least one spontaneous adventuresome activity each month. The first one was this past Sunday - we were on the church family retreat and everyone was outside playing, so I decided to play also - I played football for about 40 minutes (I threw two touchdown passes!!!) Then I ice skated on the pond for a half hour, and then I went tubing for two runs down the hill with 4 middle school girls piled on top of me. Now that my friends is an adventuresome moment!!!

Now for today's resolution....this is the one that I have been avoiding until closer to the end of the month because the longer I wait the longer I get to be a little bit lazy, but here it goes! I have become significantly weaker over the past few months - I even have trouble picking up the bag of dog food. (What a wusss!!!!!) Anyway - I would really like to work on that - so I am committing that each day at some point I will do 20 pushups and 50 sit-ups. My goal is 5 days a week (it is much more realistic than seven days a week!) I will start that tonight.

Now I only have three more resolutions to go - I hope I can think of some good ones between now and then!

Resolution #24

My resolution today is a little shallow I must say but it is kinda fun so I am going for it. My resolution for this the rest of this year is to get 700 facebook friends by the end of the year. I currently have 470 friends. So if I can 650 I will be really excited but if I can get 700 by Dec. 31st I think that would be fun. The rules of this resolution are that I must actually know and have interacted with that person at some point in my 32 years of life. The challenge is that since I am a bit older many of my close friends do not have a facebook account, so then I have to rely on meeting new kids at church and at school. So yeah - this will be a fun one to see if I can actually complete it.

An update on one of my other resolutions is that I called about Life Insurance today! One step closer to fulfilling that resolution. Now I just have to work on the will thing. That will be a little weird I am going to be honest. Anyway - there you have it!!

Resolution #23

I have been thinking about doing this resolution for a while, but after last night I have confirmed that this is a resolution that I am going to do and have some accountability on.

Before I reveal my resolution I want to take a moment to say how much I enjoyed our small group bible study last night. It was our first one of the semester, so it was me and 7 girls from Bucknell. We had dinner together, celebrated an early birthday for Allison (aka Loveeeee) and then we got our spiritual butt kicking from our study. The study is so good! We all love it!

Last night part of the study was the idea of claiming scripture for your life and using the power of God's word to break down the walls in our lives. We all decided that we need to know scripture better. So we have all made a commitment to each other that each week we would pick a verse and memorize it and share it with the group the next week.

So I am resolving to memorize one scripture a week for the year. I am thinking that this is going to be a challenge but I am hoping for some accountability from my girls. My first verse is from Isaiah 61:1,2 and it says this....

"The Spirit of the Sovereign Lord is on me, because the Lord has anointed me to preach the good news to the poor. He has sent me to bind up the broken hearted, to proclaim freedom for the captives and release from darkness for the prisoners. To proclaim the year of the Lord's favor and the day of vengence of our God, to comfort all who mourn."

Resolution #20, 21, 22

So I guess this whole house sitting thing is keeping me from blogging regularly. In fact I have been so tired this past week that I don't even remember some of my resolutions. Last night before I went to bed I made up three good ones and for the life of me I can't remember what they were. Wow I need to get a better memory!!! Anyway - just to catch up on my resolutions here we go....

Resolution #20 - Since this was a Youth Group night - My resolution is to drop a note or an email to a student each week that has missed Youth Group - letting them know that they were missed and that I hope they will make it the following week. This will be good because it will help me to stay connected with the kids that seem to miss youth group regularly, and encourage them to get involved. I will start this one today!

Resolution #21 - This resolution is made along with my friend Jeanne - we have this little new obsession - it is called Gilmore Girls - we never watched the show when it was on TV - but when I got sick this Fall a family from my church bought me season one and two - I became hooked! Now I am on season three and can't wait to see what happens next. So we are both resolving to watch all seven seasons before the end of the year - this will be a very fun - non-productive resolution - my favorite kind!!!

Resolution #22 - This is for today - I have lots of friends from lots of different places. The bad part about that is that I don't get to see them or talk to them very much, some of that is my fault as I get so involved in my work and my life that I just don't make the time that I need to make to stay in touch. So with that being said I am resolving to stay in better touch with my friends. Each week I will either make a phone call or send an email or a card to one of my long distance friends. I am actually really excited about this one! I really miss my friends!!!!

So there you have it!!! I am caught up on my resolutions, and I would like to update you on my past resolutions. Last night at the basketball game Dr. DiRocco came up to me and thanked me for my letter to him and said that he would keep it in a special file! What a great encouragement! Now that makes me want to write even more letters to people when they exercise random acts of kindness!

I have been doing pretty well on the whole resolution things as a whole! I only have 8 more to make, let me know if you have a suggestion for a resolution, just in case I run out!

I owe some resolutions!

Don't worry I didn't forget about making resolutions, In fact I actually have been good about making them and keeping them, I just haven't had my computer for the last couple days so I am a little behind in blogging about them.

So here is #18 - Find an Eli - that is a strange one you may think, but let me explain - we are doing a bible study right now about Descerning the voice of God and one of the things that they encourage people to do is to Find an Eli - he was a mentor, he trained the young men and taught them. I want to find an Eli - a woman who is spiritually mature who would be willing to mentor and encourage me to be a Godly woman. I am praying that God will give me a great woman of faith to challenge me in my walk with Him

#19 Is a result of our radio show this week - we did a show called Cats Got your Tongue - it is about being willing to share your relationship with God to others and not be ashamed. So many times in my life, God has given me great opportunities to talk about my faith to non-believers and too many times I just change the subject because it feels uncomfortable or I am afraid of what they will think. So I want to resolve to speak up for Christ when given an opportunity.

#20 - Well it is only 12:30 so I still have some time to think about this one....I will get back to you on this one!

Sanctity of Life Sunday

Today is a very meaningful day - I actually can't even put to words what I feel or what I think, but I can say thankyou - to my birthmom - thanks for giving me life. I don't know who you are, or where you are, but I love you and thanks for loving me. I have included an interview with Mark Schultz about the song that I included earlier in the week. His interview says it all.

Resolution #17

WOW - I am at 17 already - where has this month gone! I can't believe it! It has been one of those days...a dog day if you will. I love my baby but sometimes he just finds things to do that just get him in trouble.... for instance, this morning I was getting out of bed and went to the living room to find my dog eating a chunk out of the front of my couch - the worst part is that I must take the blame for this one, I spilled some of Boo's fish flavored medicine on the couch and didn't have time to clean it up properly, and of course that is the part that Tucker ate. Then later we came home from a nice 50 minute walk and as I was doing something I noticed that Tucker was destroying a pillow - this I take no blame for! So it has been a not so good day in that department. And speaking of bad things happening....my water heater is leaking water, my shower is still leaking in the basement and to top it all off - that resolution that I made last night...well I may take that back since today I got my electric bill....301 dollars - oh my - and that is with my heat at 54 degrees - could you imagine what it would be if I actually turned it to 60? It is just crazy!!!

So anyway - I have now vented, and I am ready to make my resolution for the day. I am resolving to buy new furniture for my living room sometime in the next 6 months. I was hoping to wait until the end of the year but I think it is time since I am missing a large chunk of my couch, and my furnature is about 25 years old - it kinda smells and it looks pretty crappy. So the bathroom update is going to have to wait and my new saving project will have to be my furniture. I am thinking dark sage green for the color - does that surprise anyone????

The resolutions continue!

So today has been a long but eventful day! Up at 5:30 to make breakfast for my kids - Choc. Chip pancakes! It was yummy - I even made some banana pancakes in honor of Jack Johnson's song banana pancakes, they actually weren't too bad. Then office work - I actually got a couple things done. I have been struggling to get office work done this week, I don't know what my problem is...well okay maybe I do know, maybe I am really deep down inside a lazy person and it is finally coming out..hmmm we will have to see about that.

Well then I spent some time with my friend Sylvia, good times, great discussions, lots to think about! Then Tucker and I went for a little lunch time walk. Then off to the school for tennis sign-ups, it seems that once again that about 1/3 of the team are kids from our church, cool then I guess I am working double time!!!

Back to the office after nice chats with the LHS office ladies - they are so nice! I got a little more work done, then I went for another walk - this once much longer - 1 1/2 hours long - I think I am going to be a bit sore tomorrow. Too bad it didn't tire Tucker out - he seems to have so much energy tonight! And he will not leave Boo alone. Then I was off to see my girls play some bball...tough nice for the Lbg girls! It was a hard game to watch, we really made a run in the third quarter but just fell apart during the fourth. Then back home for a nice conversation with a friend, and now finally in bed and ready to call it a night if my dog would just settle down a bit.

So my resolution tonight is going to sound a little strange but there are a couple avid readers who will really appreciate this resolution starting tomorrow. I resolve that for the next few cold wintry months I will not let my house get below 58 degrees. As I was typing I realized it was really cold, so I looked at the temperature and realized it was 54 degrees in my house. I think that is a little too cold. So I got in my bed and loaded on the covers and tomorrow - I will turn the heat up so my animals won't have to have those silly dog and cat sweaters. Sorry if you have them for your pets I just think that Tucker would eat his then it would make him want to eat Boo's and her while he is at it.

So starting tomorrow - the heat wave begins I think I am going to try for a 60 degree average just not getting below 58!!!! If only electric heat was cheaper!

Resolution # 15

It is hard to believe that the month is half over! WOW!! I can't believe it, better yet I can't believe that I have not run out of resolutions yet, I guess that means I am such a mess that there is a lot of fixing that needs done (hahaha!)

Before I get to my thoughts today I figured that I would say that I just went for 30 minutes walk and it was so nice! And on a Tuesday, to be honest I was really tired and I wanted to just take a nap (and I guess I will find out later when I crash that I should have taken the nap), but Tucker needed a walk desperately!

Anyway - this morning when I finally got to work (getting out of bed on Tuesdays is pretty hard, it is like moving a large bag of sand!) I took care of a couple business/financial things that have been hanging over my head. So that was a huge relief and it got me thinking... I really need to have a plan for my finances. I have a couple books that I haven't really read, and now that I have so many medical bills and suck, I really need to sit down and come up with a budget, so I will not overdraw my account and I will be able to pay my bills on time. So that is my resolution for the year, make a budget, stick to the budget, and set up some saving places for emergencies, for trips, and for home improvement projects such as my bathroom and my living room furniture. If I would be around next weekend I would go to the Financial Map Seminar at the First Baptist Church in Danville, it is sponsored by How to Manage your Money.

So there you have it - Resolution #15 - Make and stick to a budget!

Resolution #14

I have so many options for resolutions today - I am not sure which one to choose, I guess the good news is that I am not running out of new ideas for the rest of the month as I was fearful that I might. Anyway - before I get to today's resolution I will do a little update on my others. I am doing pretty well with the water thing and I have not had a rasp ice tea in over a week. I have been walking, today I just went around the block because I feel like crap. My bible reading is sub-par - I need to work on that one. Accountability - we are chatting tonight, journaling ---um yeah this is the one that I have yet to accomplish, I know that I need to do this and it will be good for me and I love writing, but sometimes it is really hard for me, for reasons that I am not willing to go into at this time. Anyway back to following through on the resolutions...I wrote and mailed a letter to Dr. DiRocco today so I am glad about that. I am reading a book about the cognitive struggles of MS so check on that one.

So over all I would say that I am doing pretty well for the most part. I really need to work on that journalling thing, maybe if my hands felt better then I would be more willing to write - I guess I could always type it and then print it out and tape it in. We will see.

Resolution #14 - So tonight on my way back from the farm I was listening the WGRC and a song by Mark Schultz came on. His songs are often stories, and the one I heard tonight was no different, it is called Everything to me.

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As I listened to the song tears came to my eyes I realized that the song was about a teenaged mother who chose to give her child up for adoption. It was about me and my mother who is out there somewhere. So when I got home tonight I found the video which I have embedded in this blog, if you have a moment you should watch it. Once again I cried as I heard the song again and watched the video. So now to the resolution part, I am not sure if you can resolve to consider something or if you have to resolve to actually do something. Well I guess since this is my blog and my resolutions I can do whatever I want....so here it is, I am resolving through this year to think about my adoption, to consider if I would like to search for my birthparents, especially considering all my medical issues. My mom keeps bringing it up and I keep pushing it away. I am not sure what all this will mean, but I do know that I have a lot to think about and consider, not that I haven't thought about it before, but I really want to be intentional about it and pray about what God would want me to do.


I will close with the words of the song: Everything to me by Mark Schultz

I must have felt your tears
When they took me from your arms
I’m sure I must have heard you say goodbye
Lonely and afraid had you made a big mistake
Could an ocean even hold the tears you cried

But you had dreams for me
You wanted the best for me
And you made the only choice you could that night

(Chorus)
You gave life to me
A brand new world to see
Like playing baseball in the yard with dad at night
Mom reading Goodnight Moon
And praying in my room
So if you worry if your choice was right
You gave me up but you gave everything to me

And if I saw you on the street
Would you know that it was me
And would your eyes be blue or green like mine
Would we share a warm embrace
Would you know me in your heart
Or would you smile and let me walk on by
Knowing you had dreams for me
You wanted the best for me
And I hope that you’d be proud of who I am

(Chorus)
You gave life to me
A chance to find my dreams
And a chance to fall in love
You should have seen her shining face
On our wedding day
Oh is this the dream you had in mind
When you gave me up
You gave everything to me

And when I see you there
Watching from heaven’s gates
Into your arms
I’m gonna run
And when you look in my eyes
You can see my whole life
See who I was
And who I’ve become

Resolution # 13

I am having a pretty rough day I must say... instead of going to youth group tonight I am laying on my couch feeling like someone has just beat me up... but that is actually beside the point and has nothing to do with my resolution... other than this may be shorter and less explained than usual. Anyway - I was talking with some friends last night and we were talking about wills and living wills and life insurance and all that fun mature people stuff. So this resolution is that sometime in 2008 I need to look into writing a will/living will and look into getting life insurance. Now I know for some people this may be a very boring resolution but I think it is important and so I guess this means I am officially a grown up now - YUCK!!

Resolution #11 and #12

Yesterday was crazy - I went to bed at midnight and I couldn't remember for the life of me what my resolution of the day had been...well at least I am not going crazy because I hadn't written one so that is a really good reason to not remember what it was.

So now I have to come up with two and make one of them retro-active. So here goes with Resolution number #11 - Since this past year has been a very rough year with my diagnosis of MS, I have had to process a lot of things...infact I am still processing a lot of things. There are days that I feel like I have come to grips with it and there are days that I just struggle to understand why. One of the hardest parts about the disease is that it is so unpredictable and it affects different people differently. One of the challenges of the disease is that many people don't really understand it (sometimes I don't understand it and I have it) but it can be awkward for people to not know what to say. It is also hard when people tell you that you look like nothing is wrong but you feel like someone put a 100 brick in your body and you can't really move and if you do it takes excessive amounts of energy. So what is my actually resolution after this disertation.... well, I am resolving to educate myself with the disease, to read books, research, and stay up to date on new findings. Also with this I will educate my family and friends, so they can better understand my struggles and my need for independence despite my also needing their assistance. I have actually already started this one, at Christmas - I gave all of my siblings a booklet about MS since no one ever talks to me about it, I figured it would be a nice way to open the lines of communication. So if you are out there and you would like to know more about MS, please don't be afraid to ask me I would be happy to share, suggest books, or maybe even let you help me on one of my "bad" days.

Resolution #12 - Many times in my life I see someone do nice things and think to myself - wow that was really cool that they did that, but they it just slips my mind and no words of encouragement are ever shared or sent. I don't want to do that, I want to do a better job of letting my kids, my friends, or maybe even strangers know that I noticed something cool that they did and I just wanted to let them know about it. I mean think about, I love getting random letters in the mail thanking me for doing something that I didn't think twice about. So this resolutions is called Catching Random Acts of Kindness! So I resolve to do one of three things when the thought go through my mind that someone did something cool that stood out to me. I must give a call, send an email or send a note to let them know. And the first person that is going to get a note of encouragement is our superintendant - I have thought on several occasions that I should write him a note to let him know that I admire his integrity in the midst of challenging situations, but I have never sat down to do that - so on Monday - that will be my first note of affirmation.

Resolution #10

So I am on resolution number 10 already...I better start thinking ahead so I don't run out of resolutions, someone asked me today what my new resolution was and I had no idea so I figured I better start to think about it! So after my drive home from job #2 I decided that my next resolution about be about walking. The weather here in Central PA has been rediculously warm, to the point of wearing a long sleeve t-shirt and pants. So I have been spoiled this past week! Anyway - back to my resolution, walking! I have been much better at walking daily since I have Tucker, but sometimes that is just a short walk to get him out - what I would really like to do is at least three times a week go for a longer walk, at least a 30 minute walk, maybe even throw in a hike every now and then... but that may be it's own resolution. Anyway walk for at least 30 minutes three times a week that is today's in a nut shell, if anyone wants to walk with me just let me know!

Resolution #9

So I was told yesterday that I should have a resolution about blogging - so here it is...my blogging resolution. I resolve to blog for it is good for the fingers, although it hurts my fingers and sometimes my fingers aren't very coordinated, I think it is good for them. I will blog because it is good for my friends that actually care about what I am thinking and the silly little things that happen each week. I will blog because sometimes I think I am actually funny and can say really funny things to make people laugh. I will blog because it is good to get my thoughts out of my head and into my computer, because I have way too many thoughts going through my head every minute of every day - it gets really tiring just thinking about the thoughts, so yeah...blogging is theraputic, so everyone should do it. I am going to blog a couple times a week - don't worry I chose the word couple because it is just vague enough to help me if I have a slow week of exciting things to write about.

Some people actually care if people read their blog, and they actually have blog followers, well I am not sure if anyone actually reads mine, but if you do I hope you enjoy it, and if you don't well then at least I am enjoying it!

Resolution Series #7 and #8

So the resolutions continue and what's great about this whole series is that I have now sucked one of my other friends (Jeanne) into doing the same - she is doing 31 resolutions and blogging about it. She even admitted that she is going to copy some of my resolutions. But that's cool imitation is one of the best compliments!

Anyway - so resolution number #7 could be one of my hardest resolutions to keep, sad to say, but it is the truth. I hate flossing my teeth!!! I am not sure why - my mom actually loves it - she is obsessed with it - she flosses several times a day - she even keeps floss in her pocket! For Christmas I got her an electric flosser - I didn't even know that they made such a thing - but it is true and I am sure my mom loves it. So back to me and my flossing issues, every time I go to the dentist they ask me about flossing and I have to tell them that I don't floss and they tell me I should and then proceed to rip my gums apart with floss. You would think that that alone would be a good reason to floss, I always have good intentions but bad follow through. So here is the deal - like all my resolutions I have decided not to go overboard and say that I am going to floss daily - because I won't, but Mondays are now my flossing day. I figured if I floss 52 times a year, that is a lot more than one or two days a year. GO ME!!!

Resolution #8 - Since 8 is my favorite number I thought I would resolve to do something that involved one of my favorite things....Raspberry Ice Tea - I love it - I could drink it everyday for every meal....I especially like the Rasp White Tea - thinking about it makes my mouth water, however it is full of sugar and all that stuff that is not good for you. So last night as I was enjoying my first Rasp tea of the new year, I decided that I would limit my tea intake to once a week. I actually love Rasp tea so much that I gave it up for Lent last year, not because I feel that I have to give up something, but to see if I could do it. One of my friends thought it was so silly to give that up that he would put bottles of Rasp tea in my car, on my porch, in my fridge, just to try to get me to budge! But I was strong and I made it, so lots of water for me and little tea - that is the theme of the new year.

Updates on my resolutions so far....not bad so far...accountability - last night - good times had by all. The water thing - I definately need to drink more but I have been drinking it daily. The bible thing - need to do that tonight! The journal thing....need to do that tonight as well. Celebrating the good days....that is today - it is a beautiful day and it is a shot day but I feel pretty good!! AMENNNN!!!! I think I will celebrate with a nice walk in this 60 degree weather. Know when to rest, listen to my body - I think I may stay home this weekend instead of going skiing again...although I have not made that decision yet.

Resolution Series #5 and #6

This was actually supposed to be for yesterday, however since I was putting my resolution into practice I was not able to write....Resolution #5 - Celebrate the good days! Yesterday was a good day, I actually felt pretty good, not too tired and not too fatigued, so I went with a bunch of kids from the school skiing! It was so much fun to feel somewhat normal and enjoy time in the great outdoors with my kids. We had so much fun! So I have decided that when I have good days, I am going to celebrate them! Enjoy them, live them up, and go all out just like old times!

So the only problem with the Celebrate the good days, is the day after the celebration! The feel like you got hit by a car day... that leads me to resolution number 6 - Listen to your body! I am getting older (so i have been told by several people) and with that comes slower recovery from activity, but with my MS I have to now plan in recovery time. (yuck!) I just really wanted to hang out with my friend Meg today and see a movie but instead I need to spend some recovery time on the couch because my body is saying - DO NOTHING! So listening to my body is something that I Have had to really learn this year...I am not great at it, but I am getting a little better at planning recovery time. Actually last night, as I was going up the lift, I could feel my body shutting down so I said to the girl next to me, my body is done for the night and this will be my last run, I think she thought I was kidding, but it is amazing how quickly the shut down happens.

So that is it for my weekend of resolutions, celebrate the good days and listen to my body! I think they are both good ones to work on - especially since I am a little stubborn from what I have been told!

Resolution #4

So the series continues....and today's resolution is to journal! I could just say journal more and that would mean that I would just have to journal one more time than I did last year, so I think for this one I need to be a little bit more specific, or I won't follow through. So I am going to say weekly. I need to journal weekly. I love journalling so I am not sure why I don't do it more often. It really is a great way to get things off your chest. For me it also is a great way to help me focus when I am praying (I think I have prayer ADD!) Anyway - I will keep you posted on how that is going.

An update on the other resolutions - Accountability - I have a partner, now we just need to set a time to meet! Water drinking - that one is going well so far, but I had a friend tell me that if you want to lose weight you need to drink the same amount of water in ounces that you are in pounds. For example, if I weighed 160 pounds I would need to drink 160 ounces of water daily. That is a lot of water. Maybe I will try that. And the Bible reading...well I found the Chronological bible and moved it to my night stand - that is a start!

Resolution Series #3

So far I have been able to keep my first two resolutions but I actually had to make a conscious effort this morning to remember to drink a glass of water.

Another snipit of information about resolutions as I have been thinking about them...people should avoid saying that they are going to do something everyday...because then if you miss one day then you feel like you blew it and it is off all together...but if you were more general in your resolutions they would be easier to keep... so that leads me to resolution number 3.

Resolution #3 - Finish reading the Chronological Bible this year. So three years ago I decided to try to read the Chronological bible in a year, each day there were specific readings and it is supposed to help you get finished in one year...well it is three years later and I am about half way through it. So instead of saying that I am going to read every night before I go to bed or every morning when I wake up, my goal of 2008 is to finish it!

Resolution Series #2

I should really start to make a list of all these resolutions that I think of so I don't forget them - it would really be ashame if I couldn't come up with 31 good resolutions!

Anyway - today's resolution is water! Yes water - I am going to start the new year and hopefully the whole year off with a nice glass of water. Instead of tea or something like that. Water is so good for you - so I am going to drink more of it - starting today! So far so good - it is 4pm and I have already had three glasses! They say 8 a day is what you are supposed to have - I am not sure I will get there but if I try to drink more I think that will be a good start to my new year!

The Resolution Series #1

Happy New Year!!!! With the new year comes a new start and new resolutions and new everything (okay not everything!, but you know what I mean). Anyway - I am not sure about you but sometimes I really get into things that are a series, I always want to see what is going to happen next ... which is why I had to go online today and get Season 3 of the Gilmore Girls just so I can stay in the loop (I don't have tv, so cut me some slack)

Anyway - I am going to do a series through the month of January, it is called the resolution series. Each day of the month I am going to blog about a resolution that I am going to make to allow for a great 2008! So let the fun begin.

These are going to be fun and serious but all things that I legatimately should be able to keep. So here we go.

Resolution #1 - Accountability Partner - last year I had talked to my friend Jeanne about this and we both agreed it would be great to have an intentional spiritual accountability partner. We actually did it for a while and then our lives went crazy and our accountability time went down the drain - so after chatting with her this afternoon we are both up for the challenge.

So what does this entail - asking direct questions about our prayer time, our bible time, talking about our bible study, and just being real with one another about what is going on in our lives. And making sure that it happens weekly or at least bi-weekly.

So there you have it folks - Resolution #1 - stay tuned for tomorrow's resolution!

Christmas Pictures!

Well even though the camera broke I was still able to get some good pictures of my kids on Christmas. Just a note - we are a hick family, so that will explain the fact that my sister's kids came to Christmas dressed in Camo! They are so funny up there in Potter County! My brother's kids are Paige and Matthew and my sister's kids (in the camo) are Hayes and Kamryn. They were all so good at Christmas - I was really impressed! I had so much fun watching them open their gifts! It is fun being an Aunt - you get to spoil the kids and then send them home!

The Dead Camera

Well ...tomorrow I get to go in the office and let my boss know that once again after two years - the camera has died. It seems as though each time we buy a digital camera - it last exactly two years, and then it breaks. The bad part is since I am the one that takes most of the pictures at the church, it is always in my possession when it decides to stop working. The worst part of it all was I was taking a really cute Christmas picture of the nieces and nephews when it breathed it last breath. I am not sure if I got the picture or not - I will have to let you know at a later date, if I did I will post the picture - if not - imagine four really cute kids all smiling because they are with Aunt Jana! (you can laugh now!)

Well it was a great Christmas despite the broken camera - it was really fun and somewhat relaxing being home. Now back to my real relaxing by my fireplace, it is my night to do nothing! I love it - I am not even going to try to clean up!

The Monday After

Well...it has come and past...the 6th Annual Holiday Open House! After cooking and preparing my house for over a week (which by the way - I just love cooking, the cleaning, I could do without!) the event took place and was a huge success. I had over 120 people come and enjoy the festivities. It was so fun to have so many people come and eat the food that I made. That does sound kinda weird, but I just love cooking for others and having people over. I guess maybe because my spiritual gift is hospitality. Anyway, I am glad that the freezing rain held off and people were able to come to the party! Now the downer - I have to clean up my house! The other downer, my little puppy Tucker had to go on a playdate during the party, I think he would have tried to sample some of the food and tried to get a little too friendly with the guests. So a big thanks to Miss Karen for babysitting Tucker. And since he missed the party and many people didn't get to see him - I thought that I would include a picture!

Kids are so cute!

So I must admit that I am a sucker for cute kids, but I am especially bias towards my nieces and nephews. My sister Jill sent me this picture the other day and I just loved it so I thought I would share it with all my friends. I am pretty sure they may be some of the cutest kids ever (maybe because they are related to me). Anyway - I think the blue clothing really brings out their beautiful blue eyes. It is hard to believe that Kamryn will be four in a just a couple months and Hayes is now 16 months. Wow - how they grow. I can't wait to see them along with my brother's kids (Paige and Matthew) at Christmas time.

One reason I love having them around on Christmas is the excitement that they bring. I love my family but since it is just Dave and I with my mom and dad, Christmas morning can be a real dull time. Dave doesn't really talk or smile or get excited about Christmas, nor does my dad so my mom and I talk to each other and show each other what we got. But later in the day when the kids come, life gets fun at the Grant house. Four grandkids, five grant kids, three spouses, mom and dad, cats, dogs...let's just say it is crazy but fun!!

OCC Trip Highlights

So I must say that one of the highlights of this years trip to Charlotte would have to be the song that Brittany and Emmy wrote and performed for me. It was amazing. Take a few minutes and watch this - you will clearly be impressed! They are such fun kids!

Operation Christmas Child

So we are here in Charlotte North Carolina along with my kids and some adults - it has been a great trip so far - The kids have been awesome and I am so proud of how well they worked yesterday. The trip down was uneventful - but so good that we didn't have to drive. I love taking the bus - it saves so much energy, although - despite being excessively tired I could not sleep on the bus!!! I was like a child with ADD - I couldn't sit still!!! We got in around midnight and got to bed around 1am the first night. Last night my kids were all in their rooms by 10:30pm...where did these kids come from - they are so good!!! It must be their leader :)...anyway..there are some really cool videos of our trip on You Tube, but last time I tried that I got two copies, so until I get a little assistance from my friend Joel I will have to refer you to his blog to see the videos... to see his blog go to www.joelsnyder.net

So until I write again - check out his blog and his video - it is really cool!!

Good Friends! God's Blessings!

Well, I can honestly say that this is the best that I have felt in a few days, maybe a few weeks, maybe this whole month. I was graciously reminded today about God's goodness and faithfulness and his ability to provide, when hope is lost.

It seems as though his timing is impecable!!! (I don't really know how to spell that word but it sounded really good!) Anyway - I was having some financial burdens because of my medical condition and it was stressing me out - and killing my bank account, in fact today I went to get my mail and I was negative 200 - that is bad, but I knew that God would provide, especially since tomorrow if payday (thank goodness!) But much to my surprise I found an envelope on my dresser from my friends, with enough money to pay my taxes and several of my bills. WOW - God truly does answer our prayers! It is funny how he brings people into our lives for such a time as this! Last year at this time I had just met most of these people and over the past year have grown to love them like brothers and sisters.

I still can't believe it - I am so honored to call them my friends, I am humbled and thankful for God's provision in the midst of one of the biggest challenges of my life. God is good, even during the hard times!

Waiting!

I hate waiting.... I hate waiting for many things.... like for instance I hate waiting in line at the grocery store, I hate waiting for my food to cook, I hate waiting in lines at Christmas time (that won't be a problem since I am not buying any gifts this year) I just hate waiting period. The reason that I am writing this blog about my hatred for waiting is that I am currently waiting for test results. It just makes me crazy having to wait for them, especially since the tests were done on Friday, you would think that by Tuesday afternoon someone would have read them and they would have had the decency to call my doctor to let him know, so that my doctor could then call me and let me know, then I could stop waiting. Sigh, deep breath.... patience I know, I just need to be patient. And speaking of that don't ever pray that God would help you learn patience unless you are really serious about learning it, because he will put you in situations that will require a ton of it. Okay I am done ranting and raving for a little while, and I will sit back and wait some more in hopes that they will call me and let me know what is going on in my brain!!!!!

The cold hits Central PA

Much to my disdain I had to turn my heat on....not just in my room but the whole house! Ahhhhhh!!!!! And worse yet.... electric heat is supposed to go up 17% in January...for real...what is going on that makes the price of electricity go up that much - that is ridiculous!!!!! AHHHHHHH!!! Okay so I guess this is more of a venting session than it is a blog....but hey that is what I am thinking. At least it is free to blog so even if I have to freeze to death I can still blog, or better yet I could sleep in my office - it is much warmer here!

Harvest Festival

When I think about the crazy things that I do to make kids laugh I must now add this weekends Harvest Festival. For over an hour and a half I wore these ugly teeth and talked like a redneck... if it didn't make the kids laugh (which I think it did) it sure made the parents laugh. The event took a lot of work but it seemed to be a big success, we had games, food, worms in dirt, pies in faces (mine and braedon's) and lots of other fun stuff... not to mention the Virginia Reel - that was super fun also. I must say I was exhausted at the end of the night but it was well worth it!

320 Boxes Packed

So Midnight Madness was a great success - we had lots of kids and adults show up to prepare, shop, wrap, and put together 320 shoeboxes. It was a pretty amazing night and I am glad that all the hard work and preparation paid off. I have to admit that earlier in the day I was a bit nervous that no one would show up, but thanks be to God - I was wrong - we had a great turn out and everyone seemed to have a great time. A special thanks to all our volunteers from our church and from the local Kiwanas group - I could not do my job without you!!!

Technology is not my thing...

So if you look at the post before this one you will learn really quickly that I hate technology and it has taken too much of my time just to try to get the video posted and then for some reason I am so good at getting the video on that I decided two copies of the video would be better! Ughhhh!!! So I have about four other things to blog about but I should clean my desk instead!

New Orleans

One of my boys did this video about our New Orleans Mission Trip. It is really cool - you should check it out!

Midnight Madness

It is OCC Time again and with that brings our 5th annual or maybe it is the 6th annual (I am going to need to check on that) Midnight Madness. You may be wondering - what is midnight madness...well it is an All-Area Shoebox packing party. We wrap shoeboxes, go shopping, and pack close to 300 shoeboxes. It is open to all Youth and Families, so feel free to come and join us from 6pm to....who knows when maybe 10pm. There will be pizza and snacks served, so come on out and join us! Oh and for those of you who are wondering why it is called Midnight Madness, well it is because if I am not home and in bed by Midnight then I am mad the next day! Isn't that a great reason to name an event! Like I said before all are welcome to come, we would love to have you join us!

The Heat is on!

So much to my dismay, I broke down and finally turned my heat on, despite the fact that my air conditioner is still in the window. I usually am very good about not turning the heat on until the very latest...however my house is freezing and it is a shot night. It is about midnight and I just took my shot about a half hour ago, it was a bleeder, I hate when that happens, I just hope I can sleep through the night, that is my big hope.

Last week my shot prize was a candy bar this week it was Easy Mac, it was not my top choice but it was one of my few options. I will explain my lack of food in a later blog. So with all that being said, I have turned into a wuss and turned my heat on to deal with the chills that I usually get along with my shots.

My girls win, Tucker is bad, MS Sucks

So the title gives away my roller coaster of a day. First the great news, my Lewisburg Girls won the district championship in Cross Country...in fact Casey Miller (one of the nicest and hardest working kids ever!) from my youth group came in first. She along with another girl from my youth group Shannon Wright finished in the top ten or close to it. The boys ended up getting 4th place but ran very well, Great Job today - I am so proud of you!

The down part of the day, I guess watching cross country really did me in today...I was having trouble standing by the end and almost fell asleep at lunch. So I came home and laid down, as I was sleeping my dog decided he was going to search the house for things to destroy and eat and break....

Tucker ripped out the bottom of my box spring, he tried to bite my ear while I was sleeping and was successful in eating my glasses, well they are not completely eaten but they are ruined! He has been so bad - I think he needs exercise but I can't get up without feeling like I need to sit down...which leads me to my last point...MS Sucks!

I so hate the fact that at one moment I feel pretty good, I feel like I can get out and do things, and then the next day it is all I can do to get out of bed...so I did this morning, but then I was back in bed all day, no energy, dizzy, and just exhausted, so because of that I had to stay home tonight and skip Young Life, where I was supposed to give the talk...I guess my role tonight is to just pray for the kids! I know God has a purpose in all of this, I just wish I could see the big picture!

Shot Night

So my shot night had to be switched this week due to several obligations on Tuesday. It wasn't as bad as last week so that is good, my new trick is to have a reward for myself as soon as I am done taking my shot - last week I wasn't allowed to eat dinner until I did it, this week it was a candy bar, which is a funny story. During middle school youth group tonight we shared our favorite candy bar with everyone - I was trying to explain my new favorite but I couldn't remember the name, I said it was crispy, crunchy something, but it can be found on the top row by the check out at Walmart - well one of my boys (Daniel) said I am going there tonight I will get you one - and that he did, his mom delivered it on their way home.

So thanks Daniel for making my shot worthwhile and thanks Hershey for this new candy bar it is delicious!!!

A rainy Day in Central PA

What is your favorite thing to do on a rainy day.....many people would say nap. Boy would I love a nap right now but that doesn't seem to fit my craziness for the day. Some people would say relax and read a book. Well as I sit here I am looking at a book called MS and Your Feelings and I am not sure I am ready to dive into that one. Some would suggest a movie, that is a good idea, but not the one that I am going for tonight. How about a football game! Despite the fact that sitting in the rain can be a very soggy experience, I actually enjoy experiencing it! Especially if it is going to be on the warm side, which tonight is supposed to be. So that's it folks - my rainy day in central PA choice for the night is FOOTBALL - I must be crazy! Good Luck Tigers!

MS Challenge Walk

Well the 30 miles are complete and I can still walk....actually I feel great, which is a nice change to how I felt last week at this time. It seems like my energy comes and goes and last week it was gone and fatigue seemed to be my best friend. But by the weekend, thanks to many people praying I was able to complete the 30 miles. It was a beautiful walk, we explored different historical sites, we walked through a neighborhood of mansions that had streets lined with Sycamore trees! It was so neat! And being competitive I felt that I should just walk but I should walk at a brisk pace....we ended up doing 16 miles in 3.5 hours. We finished in the top 10 people out of about 300....now it wasn't a race, but being the competitor that I am I wanted to walk as fast as I could just to see if I could do it! And I did! I was pretty sore that night and was thankful for an afternoon nap. That night they did a candle lighting service, it was nice, many tears were shed as people shared their stories, but it was also a night filled with hope for the future.

Day 2 was just as beautiful but a different setting, we walked through the horse farms in the Brandywine historical area, there were more hills and I was a bit slower, but thanks to Tim and his insistant prodding, I stayed well hydrated and learned to tolerate Gu (an energy supplement). We finished out our 14 miles in Longwood Gardens which is a beautiful place I just wish that I had more time to just look around, but we were on a mission to finish and that we did, in about 3 hours. We celebrated at the end and had a little ceremony, it was a great weekend and I am so thankful that I was able to finish the 30 miles and feel pretty well (other than being sore!) I am thankful for my friends that made it a point to be there for the finish (Erik and Elias - that poster was great!), Biz - thanks for being a great bathroom buddy, Braedon - thanks for skipping work to be there, and Tim - you are a great walking buddy, even though you hate you the rah rahs!!

Thanks for all those the prayed - I am sure that is the reason I did so well!!! God Rocks!!

The Walk if finally here!

So yeah - I am about to depart for Philly for my 30 mile MS challenge walk. Last year at this time, I would not have thought twice about walking 30 miles, it would be an easy knotch in my belt, but this year brings a whole other twist on walking 30 miles. My body has been about 10 steps behind for the past month or so, so I am a bit nervous. Many people told me that I just shouldn't walk - which you know me that makes me want to do it all the more. Then others say just do what you can and that will be a great success - actually that is what I would tell someone in my position, but for me - it is not a pride thing - it is a physical task that I more than anything want to finish, especially since I have felt so frustrated in my ability to do physical stuff.

So anyway - I am off - we will see what the weekend brings! I will report more later!!

Office Privacy

So the great part about my office is that I can clothes both of my doors if I need some privacy or I am working on something important. Now it doesn't always work, but at least it deters some from just walking right through. Our secretary (or Administrative Assistant) does not have that luxury so she often has to put her work on hold and do everything for everyone, as well as hear conversations that she would prefer to not hear. She is basically at the mercy of everyone who walks through the door...Until now.... thanks to my creative juices along with the help of my trusty assistant we built Sharon her own private office on her day off. Now those that enter must ring a bell for service and then enter through the streamer wall to get assistance!

If you are having a similar problem at your office, try streamers - they work wonders and are a great conversation piece!

Cutting Costs

Do you know how much it costs to use your dryer to dry a load of clothes??? It can cost up to 3.50 a load - that is a lot of money especially when you have to wash all your closes do to a flea infestation from Potter County. So my solution to the high costs of drying clothes....turning my back yard into a huge drying rack - my neighbors must think I am nuts! The great news is that so many of my friends have seen my yard and laughed, and have offered to build me some laundry lines because of it! Pretty good deal, A!

Rescue Dog!

Yes - my dog - although he has not been trained yet to do so, has now been crowned rescue dog for the Himmelrieich Christian Resource Center. Here is the story, Tucker and I were in my office at church with Braedon getting some work done, when our Librarian came into my office and asked if I knew how to get a squirrel out of a building. I mentioned that I was not an expert but maybe Tucker could help...and that he did - he chased that squirrel right out of the building and rescued all the patrons from the potential to contract rabies from the crazy confused squirrel that inhabited the library.

Alas - all were saved by my little four month old puppy! I am just so proud! He will be signing autographs next week at Pets R Us - Super Rescuers!

Get Real with Dave and Jana

Tonight our show will feature our interview with Tony Dungy - if you are able you should listen to the show tonight at 10pm or check out our podcast or listen online at www.wgrc.com

I hope you will enjoy the show!

My favorite tree!

You want to know what makes me mad...well maybe you don't but I am going to say it anyway...we had a big storm on Thursday of last week. And in the wind of the storm my tree decided to split in half and fall over, but the funny part is that it was my favorite tree - it was young and vibrant (so I thought) and not the tree that I have distain for (that would be the tree that was right next to it, the tree that I have been wanting to remove since I moved in to my house) Instead - the tree that I love is now going to have to be cut down.....that makes me so sad.

Okay so enough about my trees - that was just the beginning of the craziness. And I don't feel like going into details so here is the long and the short of it.

Friday - went to a wedding in Rochester - it was really nice - Congrats Michelle and Adrian! On the way home we looked for a hotel so we could go hiking - there was no room in the Inn or anyplace for that matter, so as we drove, I got a call...my dad was being taken to the hospital again. So back home I came!

He was transferred to Sayre after being stabilized. I stayed at my house because of the orders I recieved from my mom. He was taken to the ICU with an infection and a few other less serious but annoying problems - hives all over.

So when I came home I realized that my basement was leaking under my tub, my dryer had died, and I got four bills from the hospital, ahhhhhhhhhhH!!!!!!!

Stress!! That has been my month - every time I think that things are going to be less stressful - wamo! (Is that a word, if not it is now!)

So now I am getting ready for bed, it is Monday and it has been an uneventful day - thank the Lord (really) I even had a chance to spend some time out in creation - I ran! That is a miracle in and of itself.

Now that I have rambled, I guess that means it is time for bed!

Tony Dungy

Yes...it is true..I got to interview Tony Dungy this week. I believe this makes me one step closer to being famous....not that I actually want to be famous, but it is fun to joke about it. We interviewed him for our show Get Real. The interview will air Oct. 6th (which just so you know happens to be Tony's birthday). I must say that the weirdest part about the whole interview was that I didn't know what to call him....was I allowed to call him Tony, should I call him Coach Dungy or Mr. Dungy...it was a hard decision, so I didn't refer to him as anything.

The best part of the story though, was probably not the actual interview although that was amazing and Tony has a great deal of integrity and I was blessed to be able to talk to him. The best part of the story was actually getting to the radio station. I had decided to go for a long training walk and take my puppy Tucker with me. We walked about 7 miles and we were about a mile or so away from my house, when I thought I better ask this woman what time it is. She said 11:30 and in panic I pulled on the leash and said run Tucker. We ran the rest of the way home (btw I have not run in about 10 months) as we were approaching my house, I had a horrible relization that I did not have a car at my house nor did I have my phone with me. I ran into my house and called my collegue and said - I have no car come and get me....he was worried because I was trying to catch my breath and I just didn't want to miss the interview, once he realized that I was okay he laughed and headed to pick me up... good thing this was radio because I looked awful...gross...smelly...sweaty...and best yet I hadn't even brushed my teeth yet. Good thing Coach Dungy didn't have to see me - that would have been a little embarrassing!

Do I always have to be nice

You know I have been considering writing several times over the last few weeks - however...I do want my blogs to be fun and interesting and somewhat comical....so then does that mean I shouldn't write about the tough stuff or maybe I should only journal about the tough stuff and write about the other fun stuff....but alas I have decided that a blog should be a bit of everything, the good and bad, the funny and the serious, because after all that is me...I am a bit of everything...does that make me confused or ecclectic...I am not sure but whatever it is, it is me. So with that being said, I will just quickly say that the last couples weeks have been very difficult with my dad's health and my health. We are a medical mess! It is official. My dad went back into the hospital by ambulance on Saturday night to find out that he had pneumonia, then the next day they found that he had a ruptured sternum and back into surgery he went. He is out and recovering, but he is not a happy camper as you would imagine. I feel so badly for him and since I have been sick on top of everything - I haven't been able to visit. So friends and strangers that is the long and the short of my thoughts for the day!

Part 2: Top Ten Things to do when you get up at 3:30 in the morning

Well it seems as though I really enjoy getting up early..... okay not really, in fact I hate it. But hey if you have to suffer by being awake you may as well make the best of it. So here is my top ten list of things to do when you wake up at 3:30am.

10. Put on my night vision goggles and explore the neighborhood
9. Jog two miles with my puppy Tucker in two, the whole time wondering where he is because he is black and I can't see him since I lost my night vision goggles during exploration.
8. Coughed up a lung or two due to the large mass of flem that does not seem to want to leave my body.
7. Had a knock down, drag out fight with a fever...sad to say, but I think the fever won! At least for a couple hours (I actually think that it just broke...since I am now removing the twenty blankets and sweatshirts that I put on because I was shivering so badly.
6. I picked tomatoes at my neighbors house, they told me if I ever needed anything not to hesitate, so I just went for it.
5. Practice singing songs for my concert on Saturday night, the volume didn't seem to be a problem or wake my roommate since I have no voice at all.
4. Make new friends on myspace and facebook, you know the scary ones that stay up all night and stalk people....yeah those ones. You know someone has to befriend them.
3. Played catch with Tucker in the living room to try to get him from barking and waking up Erin.
2. Finished the last episode of season one of the Gilmore Girls.....I think that I am hooked. (Thanks Kathy - what a great gift to enjoy while sitting on the couch.
1. Making up a top ten list filled with truths and lies to see if anyone actually reads my blog and then if they do to see if anyone actually can figure out which ones are true and which ones are false.

Good luck - may the force be with you, hahahaha as you play my little game of what is true and what is a lie!!! Oh wait just for kicks I am going to add a picture, don't worry this is what I am going to do next time I am up in the middle of the night. Okay maybe not, but this is what my boy's do for fun when it rains on a mission trip - it is called Devistation.

A long but good day!!

I am definately ready for bed!!! My day started bright and early - as they usually do since I have a puppy. We went for our morning walk then off to church....it was Rally day we did a skit - the top ten reasons to miss Sunday School - I was reason number 10 however I feel most people or teens would pick it to be number one.... sleeping in so yes I got to wear my PJs to Sunday School....a little akward but fun none the less. Then it was church time in the Great Hall...then back to my house to finish all the things that I hadn't gotten done already since I was at Sayre all day on Saturday. This afternoon I did the church picnic thing with Tucker - he was a hit all the kids wanted to play with him. I got in trouble for taking him in the creek - I was told I was being a bad example....me a bad example if that is the worst thing I do I think I will make it in life! Then we piled in the van for youth group. We had 22 middle schoolers - it was a blast. Then we had 22 high schoolers, we were missing a bunch but it was still a good time. Then another meeting to pray for our community. Now it is almost 11 pm and I am exhausted and feel like yuck - I didn't sleep last night because swallowing felt as though someone was taking sandpaper up and down my throat! UGHGHHGHGH!!!

So tonight I am having a hot cup of tea and hoping to sleep soundly - we will see how that works out...tomorrow is National start to clean my office day!! I will try to get some pictures!

When it rains it pours!

So this has been a crazy week.... Wednesday morning I received a call from my mom that my dad had been life-flighted to a hospital in Sayre. He had a massive heart attack. So I fed my kids their Wednesday breakfast and tied up a few loose ends at work and headed up to the hospital, because my mom was alone. When I got there my sister was also there which I was very thankful for. So we sat and waited.... the surgery was supposed to take 2.5 hours, and time seemed to be going very slowly as we sat and watched the clock. About 6 hours later, the surgeon came out and met with us. It was much more complicated than they expected and much more serious than a triple bipass. The doctor said that she couldn't believe that he didn't have major problems sooner.

After he was out of recovery my mom got to see him about 5 minutes later she returned and was crying - he looked awful and he got so upset when she talked to him and he would not stay still and tried to talk but he had tubes in his throat.

Needless to say Jill and I did not get to see him Wednesday. So my mom and I stayed up there and Jill went home and came back on Thursday with her husband. My sister in law Jen also came up and we all got to see him. Mom said he looked better, but it was very hard to see him and walk through the ICU. He couldn't talk since he had the tubes in his throat, but he did squeeze my hand.... I wanted to cry but I felt that I needed to be strong.

On my way up to the hospital I was thinking about all the different scenerios and that made me a wreck, I am so thankful he made it through! It is going to be a long recovery, but we will take one day at a time.

So for now I am going to be making several trips to Sayre over the next week or two. Wow how things can change in the blink of an eye. I am so thankful I am feeling well enough to make the drive.

Tuesday Night Review

Well it sure has been an interesting day....almost bi-polar. My day started being a bit tired and sluggish because of my injections but finished out high energy as I had to chase my puppy since he decided that he wanted to spend time in the neighbors yard, not normally a problem except the fact that he is black and it is night time and it is very challenging to chase something that you can't see.

It was also bi-polar in a sense because I got a couple not nice emails saying that I needed to be a better communicator and then after a meeting tonight I got a very nice email saying that I did a great job communicating.

Ahhhh - I am not sure that I can ever win! I think the hardest part is that despite the fact that I got that really nice email saying very positive things, I still focus on the other one. Why do I do that?

Football Season has begun!

So many people are really excited about the fact that it is football season! Don't get me wrong - I like football - I really enjoy watching a good game...but for me...football season means quality hang out time with kids, parents and other random people.

I went to the first Lewisburg game tonight and let me just say I was trying to park my car and people were already talking to me. I was trying to rush so I could see the band (which was amazing by the way!!!) but I got stopped by at least four people. After the band played it was constant conversation for the next two hours. My favorite part of the night was when my middle school boys were so excited to see me that they ran up and gave me a hug and did the claw which is kinda like giving someone a pound but I guess it is the in thing in CA (according to Josh, anyway)

So all this to say - I love football season because I get to see everyone, and then we have an open gym afterwards and I get to see more people - we had about 30 kids tonight - it was a blast. My kids tell me that I should run for mayor - I think after tonight I will consider that!

Things to do when you are awake at 4:30 in the morning

Well since I have been up for several hours, I thought that it would be fun to make a top ten list of things to do when you wake up at 4:30 am.

10. Take the dog outside - but do it quietly so you don't wake up the neighbors or your roommate that doesn't like dogs.
9. Check your email - as if people really send you messages at 4:30 in the morning.
8. Check to see who is on IM - again like other people are as crazy as you and are actually awake at 4:30 am.
7. Get the cat in - as you sit on the couch you realize that your cat is outside, but knowing that the dog and the cat don't get along you have to operate a stealth mission to get the cat in the house without the dog barking and waking up the roommate.
6. Cover the couch - since the furniture in my living room is dying I thought it would be nice to cover it with a sheet, because sheets are way cheaper than fabric and super way cheaper than furniture covers. I can make it one year with sheets, even if they look silly.
5. Check my myspace - my only new friend request was some band from Nashville and they had bad words on their site so they got the nix (is that how you spell that)
4. Check my facebook - I like facebook I am going to be honest - I actually like it much better than myspace, there are so many options for your page and it is easier to communicate with people and if used properly can be a great tool to stay connected with kids or catch up with long lost friends.
3. Watch Home star runner. It has been forever since I have watched a strong bad email. I even looked at the clothes, now that was funny. Strong bad did an email on 5th grade hygiene that was pretty funny.
2. Sent a message - I wonder if people actually look at the times that emails are posted, because if they do they are going to think that I pulled an all nighter.
1. Last but not least....I wrote a blog that I am not sure if anyone is going to read, but if you do infact read it, drop me a little note to say hello, because I am always curious who actually wants to read my thoughts!

My new NANO

So I have officially become cool....I finally have an Ipod and the best part - it was a gift!!! And motivation for me while I am training for my 30 mile walk. I just can't believe it - my very own ipod nano. You may be wondering what color - it is silver - no bells and whistles just a simple ipod - now all I need is one of those cool armbands so I don't get it all sweaty! Anyway - I just thought that I would write about how cool I now am....it is funny to think that a little machine can make you cool!

Tucker

Did I mention that I got a puppy a couple weeks ago? He is really cute and his name is Tucker! I love him to death. He makes me smile, except when he is biting my leg with his gator teeth!!! Anyway - he is a great pup 22 out of 24 hours a day!

If you ever get bored and want to come play with him you are more than welcome to do so!!!

Technology Whoas!!!

Okay so can you believe it - two post in less than three days - Joel watch out - I may just become hooked like you! Anyway - so a very sad thing happened in technology land on Sunday. Out of the kindness of my heart I turned my cell phone off at church so it would not interfere with the hearing impaired sound system. Nice person, huh! Yeah that is what I thought until my phone decided not to turn back on....I tried everything, but nothing would work and of course we were having two youth events that day and people were trying to find me and I have no long distance on my home phone and yeah...let's just say a mess! So I went to a store this morning to get it fixed and they said, sorry we only can fix it if you got it here - WHAT ahahahhahahha!!! (that is the steroids talking!) So then I drove to the mall later this evening and the man was very nice, he gave me a brand new phone. The only problem was he could not get anything off the other phone, it had gone to the grave and taken every single, number, picture and song with it!!! Ughhhhh!!! I guess no more "Jack Johnson - Upside down" when people call - no more cute little kids when I open the phone.

So I guess the moral of the story is that they now have this thing where you can register your phone numbers online in a safe database so if this happens you will have all your numbers. But of course I didn't know about this - so I lost everything - so yeah - if you know me and we talk sometimes you might want to call and give me your number so we can still be friends!

A reflective serious post

So as much as I was planning to do at least a post every week - life sometimes throws you for a loop. I guess I have been avoiding making posts over the last couple of weeks, because I knew they would not be fun and jovial so I figured I shouldn't write, but the more I sit here on my couch and think about it, the more I realize, that maybe this is the best time to write a blog....so here it is! My blog, you know know this year has been a rough year, much rougher than I could have ever imagined. I never expected to become ill, to recieve the diagnosis of MS or have what I considered a nice normal active life fall completely apart in front of my face.

I have hated this year at times, I have grown immensely this year at times, I have been close to God at times, and I have just yelled at God at times. I laugh and I cry, I reflect and I re-evaluate constantly.

This past month I had another flare up of my MS - not good when your hands don't work, you drop things, you can't type, and it feels like you have your hands inside the oven, which led them to find my newest lesion on my spinal cord - fun stuff - okay not really, but hey I am trying to be positive.

This week I have spent alot of quality time at the hospital making new friends with the infusion department - they are wonderful people and after 5 days of 2 hour steroid IVs you get to know them pretty well. Some people love steroids because it gives them energy - me....not so much - I get sick - dizzy ill and I can't sleep, not to forget the great side effects of emotional roller coasters and "roid rage" don't worry I have yet to beat up anyone today anyway.

Despite not sleeping and spending the week on the couch I was able to accomplish alot of stuff - delegation is my new favorite thing! I also got to hang out with alot of my kids as they came over to help out and play with my new puppy Tucker.

The down fall to the whole thing is that despite feeling loved and having company there is still this feeling of being alone in this whole thing - that is rough - now again - this is probably my steroids talking for me - but it is hard to sit here alone when your family is all together celebrating your nephews first birthday - that really stinks. Or all your friends are out enjoying a night of camping and your are on the couch. Worse yet - when you have friends that don't seem to even care - when I know that is not the case - it is just that is how I feel - one of my friends just tells me to stop feeling because I am acting like a girl, but hey I am a girl.

So I am not sure if this is helping me or making me more unsettled in the emotions category - I hate being this way because I know that it is not me and it stinks. I hate drugs. But yet if it makes my hands work - then it is worth it! So the moral of this whole blog is - don't take steroids unless you really need them and don't do drugs they will mess with your mind and don't get MS because it really sucks.

The end!

Overwhelmed!

So I have not been very good at Blogging despite my great intentions!!! I do have a great friend who sends me nice gentle reminders that it is in fact time again to blog - thanks Joel!! You are my motivation and inspiration to be a good blogger. I thought that my next blog would be about all the stuff that is going on with my life from a medical standpoint, but to be honest - I am not ready to do that...so instead - I am going to vent for a moment - but just a short moment then back to the reality of having too much to do and not enough time. So I have about 20 hours of work to get done before tomorrow at 2pm and let's just say there isn't even that much time if I didn't sleep. This being sick one day a week really messes up your schedule. So yeah! The list of stuff to do keeps getting longer, and my brain keeps getting smaller. Anyway - I am going to take a side moment to mention the picture that I have included... it was from a great trip which I will chat about later but it seems kinda funny to be sitting in the trunk of a car talking on a cell phone right next to the Arkansas river... oh I wish I could go back to that place - that trunk was huge and confortable - no worries I wasn't shut in it just resting in with the trunk open. Anyway - those are my thoughts for the moment! Joel have a great day!

There are many of me!

I can't believe that there are 28 other Jana Grant's in the US - that is too cool!!! You should check this out and see how many there are of you!

HowManyOfMe.com

There are 28 people with my name in the U.S.A. How many have your name?

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Lewisburg is famous on You Tube

This is so cool...Lewisburg is famous!! We made it on a music video - in fact my place of employment made it too! There are several scenes on the video that are all from Lewisburg. And on top of that all - it is a cool song - I really like it alot - it is catchy!


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Shots...hmmmmm?????

Okay - so I was told today that I need to blog more....and to be honest...I am sure that I have alot to blog about, but I am trying not to be too negative and things have been kinda rough lately, so I am going to just do a short little blog today and then I am going to try to start and blog about all the crazy stuff that has been going on in my life. So the title - shots...tonight I begin my life long journey of injections for MS....I am a bit nervous...I have to give myself my shots...and the needle seems pretty long. I know that I will be fine, but the thought of it makes me nervous. I think I am also nervous about how it is going to make me feel. It has been described to me as feeling like you have been hit with a train for about 24 hours after each shot for about the first 3 months. That doesn't sound like fun to me... yuck! So yeah...that is where I am today... a bit nervous...a bit on edge with all of the uncertainty...I also think that knowing that this is for my whole life is a bit overwhelming and I am not sure that reality has set in yet. I am going to have to put on my tough girl self and suck it up. So yeah - that's it! Those are my thoughts for this fine day - Joel this is for you!