Happy New Year!

It’s New Year’s Eve!! Yay!

This is the first year I’ve spent the holiday by myself. My parents are out of town and most of my friends had previous plans or didn’t feel like going out (I didn’t either!) Some people might think it’s pathetic to spend NYE alone, but I don’t mind it. I get to watch a marathon of Harry Potter movies and eat my favorite foods. Tonight I made Jalapeno Popper Chicken (recipe review to come…I think). I also love the freedom to reflect on this past year and think about the year to come.

To be honest, I’m happy to see 2012 end. It was a rough year.

November Adventures

Prior to the month of November I made two decisions that radically impacted my month. One was free and one cost me a pretty penny but both have kept me extremely busy. Oh and there was a holiday and family drama thrown in the mix. Lovely.

Waiting: Week Three~ish

I have to say I am coming off of a wonderful weekend. My best friend (hi Erin!) was here for 3 days before leaving me to go back to Oregon. We had a blast at another friend’s “goodbye bash,” a baby shower, and a girls game night. I got very little sleep and drank a lot of coffee but those are my favorite times. And I’m pretty sure I’ll be having another one of those weekends in just three days. I will be flying to Oregon for my sister’s graduation!

I’m absolutely positive I will get not enough sleep, but will get to spend precious, precious time with my beautiful sister. So far I’ve been promised a fancy caramel making session, wine tasting in the Willamette Valley, dinner at her fancy pants restaurant, and lots of uber closeness that will drive her bananas. :)

On top of that, God continues to patiently teach me about the process of waiting and I’m surprisingly finding more & more joy as I continue to pursue Him.

My wonderful journey continued with last week’s post: http://www.heirswithchrist.com/2012/10/15-free-to-fail-so-dont-wait.html

I was drawn to this quote from the above blog: “Cynicism masquerades as strength. We build buttresses made of negative promises. Arrows can’t pierce nonexistent dreams.”

The hills & valleys of waiting.

I love metaphors.

They are such fun little packages waiting to be unpacked. And they have this beautiful ability to help explain the unexplainable. What’s not to love about them?

One of my favorite metaphors for life with God is the image of our life as full of hills & valleys. It is so clear and easy to understand.

while I’m waiting…

The providence of God’s timing is—of lately—been something that has frustrated me, which I shall explain in a moment .

However, this morning I couldn’t help but notice a bit of perfect timing in my life. And now that I think about it, if it weren’t for my current circumstances I might not have noticed all this in the first place!

Browsing on pinterest this morning lead me to this blog: http://www.heirswithchrist.com/ and to this post: http://www.heirswithchrist.com/2012/09/what-are-you-waiting-for_30.html

What am I waiting for?? Oh, where to begin! There are so many things in my life that aren’t “done” or are not “where they should be.” Reading through this post, I was struck by the fact that I’m not alone. Perhaps this obvious to others, but a lot of times I feel like everyone else's life is so together and then there's little ol' me: still waiting. Today, I was reminded that everyone is waiting for something.

My Next Book Shall Be Called:

Unraveling of a Substitute's Mind 

or

How To Piss Off the Substitute Teacher in 5 Easy Steps

The list of asinine things a student will do when they have a substitute teacher is endless. It never ceases to amaze me what they try to get away with or how they think they can treat me.

I could write a book.