Tuesday Nights and Wednesday Mornings

Let's talk about Tuesday nights...

I LOVE Tuesday nights!!!

I also love Wednesday mornings -- and the two are related.

Four mornings a week, I get up at 4:15am and I'm on the road by 5:15am.
Four nights a week, I need to fall asleep around 9:00pm to make sure I'm prepared for the 4:15am alarm... four nights a week, I am not always successful at falling asleep on time.  That leads to the inevitable self-pressure to "fall asleep" because I know every minute I'm not sleeping will lead to feel very tired the next morning.

TUESDAY NIGHT, I DO NOT have to fall asleep by 9pm because I DO NOT have to wake up at 4:15 Wednesday morning!!!  I get to SLEEP IN until 7:00am!  Let me tell you, 7:00am feels like noon when you wake up at 4:15 most mornings.

Tuesday night feels like a party to me! 
I don't have to worry about falling asleep!
I even do more chores around the house because I know I don't have to go straight to sleep.

Wednesday morning feels amazing -- like I'm taking a day off of work, but I'm not, I still get up and work -- I just get up 3 hours later than normal.  Like a school delay due to snow!  I get a so-called snow delay every Wednesday morning... and the anticipation of a snow delay every Tuesday night.  Plus, on my Wednesday morning snow-delay, I get to prepare for the day with my Hubby!  :-D Usually I get ready by myself and just wake him up to kiss him good-bye.  Wednesdays, we get to get ready together!  :-D

Happy Wednesday Morning!!!

Random Opinions...

Here are some random opinions...

When Alabama and Notre Dame play football, I want them both to lose.  If only one can lose, I want Notre Dame to lose.  Great job, Bama!

Sometimes the best way to create a grateful heart is to receive really mean emails... just unnecessarily curt and belittling content, from someone over and over and over... and then, when you're nearly shaking with trepidation of the email response you will get... you get a response that is not mean, it is actually cordial -- I haven't felt that kind of sincere relief and gratitude in a LONG time!!!

I love Thank You notes!

Our house takes a long time to recover when we get home from a trip... and immediately have to head back to work.  I've learned to accept this, and not invite guests over until we've been home at least a week.  The house does recover -- but it is a week-long process.

I find it really awkward when someone that I've sent a Christmas card for years, posts on facebook how they're sending out Christmas cards... and then I don't get a Christmas card.  If you know you're going to cut people off from you lists (i.e. send out cards, but don't send cards to everyone who sends cards to you), don't publicize it.  I can't imagine not sending a card to someone who sends me a card... that's why we make sure we have a few extras!

Grad school books are really expensive.  They also have made me pretty excited about starting my class next week (this is SUCH a blessing, as I haven't been very excited about it before now).

 I wish that my pictures would just automatically put the "themtnmillers.blogspot.com" tag on them... and improve the lighting, just by uploading them to my computer.

I don't know how yesterday was still Monday... ALL DAY.  Literally on my drive from Rifle to Vail... by the time I got to Vail, it no longer felt like Monday.  I read someone's facebook post about Monday, and thought, "Its not Monday anymore... oh man... yes it is."

I really need to buy some 2013 calendars.  I hope to get a good price.

I'm starting to have the craving to expand our family... we need a new kitten.  Then, next year we'll be ready for a new puppy.  But this year, I've begun praying for the Lord to bring a new kitten into our family.  I even had a dream about it a few nights ago.

I think my hubby looks amazing in his nice dress coat, scarf and shirt and tie.  His colleagues think he looks like a Mafia Man.  In my opinion the people who say this haven't seen many well-dressed men.  Oh, Rifle... how Chris and I try to add culture to this little hick-filled dust bowl.

My favorite Christmas gift was a Nativity Scene from my hubby and I LOVE IT!!!  I will do a post on it later, but I have wanted this Nativity Scene for years, but I didn't want to just buy it for myself.  My hubby bought me some this year (and we can add to it in future years) and I am so excited, that I'm not putting it away with the Christmas decorations.  We are going to have a Nativity Scene out to celebrate the Gift of Christ for the next 365 days at least!

I love to get the mail.  When I was a little girl, I wasn't allowed to get the mail because we had a REALLY long driveway and my dad was concerned that mail could be lost between the mailbox and the house.  So, when I was finally OLD ENOUGH and RESPONSIBLE ENOUGH to be trusted to get the mail!  I have always LOVED getting the mail and take such pride in being old enough to get the mail.  Well, this week, I'm not allowed to get the mail because my birthday is coming up this weekend and I can't see any cards or anything that arrives until my ACTUAL Birthday.  I am going crazy this week not being able to get the mail.

Hmmm... any more opinions I can share today... I'm sure I have them...

What are some of your random opinions lately?

Back to Work...

Chris and I are back to work.

Sunday night was spent packing our work bags and making our lunches... back to the old routine.

I'm feeling a bit weary at the idea of my usual 900 miles of travel/week for the next 20 weeks, but I'm trying to see the bright side.

Or... if not the bright side, at least some humor:

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I feel your pain, Dolly!  :-D

Home Sweet Home!

Chris and I left Michigan at 8:30pm EST Thursday night...
and drove and drove and drove and drove...
and arrived in Rifle at 4:30pm MST Friday evening.

It is so nice to be home.

We had a WONDERFUL vacation with both of our families and the two weeks FLEW by, but it is always so nice to come home.

Last night, I found myself making a list of my favorite things about arriving home:

1. Turning the heat up and feeling and hearing the furnace kick back on
2. Doing laundry before we travel so when I unpack, I can put clean, folded clothes right from the suitcase to the dresser
3. Unloading Christmas presents and finding a spot for them in our home and life
4. Unloading our cooler and ALL THE GOODIES that our families send back with us... homemade canned goods, frozen blueberries, fresh fruit, leftovers, Christmas cookies and more
5. Coming home in the evening and making dinner from our cooler and NOT having to run right out to the store or order dinner.
6. The sight of our animals settling back into their home -- Lloyd collapsed on our bed and didn't move from evening until morning
7. Arriving home Friday night so that we have TWO FULL days to organize the house and prepare for work on Monday.

Its so nice to be home!

Review: LissaLou Designs Etsy Shop

I have never done a blog review mostly because I think of blog reviews as the Blogger gets something for free, and then recommends that product to her many, many readers.

I do not have many, many readers, and I do not receive free products requesting my recommendation.

That being said, I CANNOT NOT write a review for the Etsy Shop, LissaLou Designs!

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I shared yesterday that Chris' sister and brother-in-law, Becky and Daniel, are expecting their first baby this summer and we are SOOOO excited for a new niece or nephew (the FIRST niece or nephew on this side of the family).  We wanted to get them special presents this Christmas to celebrate the fact that they are expecting.

I searched Etsy high and low for cute idea for gifts for expectant parents and fell in love with the LissaLou Designs ornaments (she had LOTS of cute items, but I fell in LOVE with her ornaments).

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I emailed the designer, not knowing how personalized these ornaments could be, but I shared with her as much information as I could -- I figured she would use the details she could, and leave the information she couldn't.

I sent her an email with the following details:
Expecting The Rodriguez Family Becky and Daniel 
Sex of baby unknown Year: 2012 
Becky is a doctor, Daniel is a fire fighter 
Mom has short blonde hair, dad is Hispanic and tall 
Baby due July 2013

I had no idea what she could do, but I knew we would end up with a nice ornament.

We were THRILLED with the ornament LissaLou Designs made!!!  We could not have asked for a more personalized little representation of their Expectant Family.

The bulb is small and yet the details included were amazing.
Becky is a cute blonde mama, in a white Dr.'s coat with DR on her sleeve with a baby bump... even wearing pink heels!
Daniel is a hispanic fire-fighter, complete with a fire hat that says FD.
It has both their names, EXPECTING, The Rodriguez family, and the year.

We just could not have asked for a cuter, more personalized, PERFECT ornament for Becky and Daniel.

The ornament arrived in PLENTY of time for Christmas -- I don't remember the exact turn-around between ordering it and receiving it, but I want to say it was less than two weeks.

We will DEFINITELY be ordering from LissaLou Designs again when other friends are married, or expecting, or have new babies.

Please visit this gal's Etsy shop and check out some of her great items for yourself.
You can also find her on facebook: Lissa Lou Designs

A Year Away

I don't want to wish my life away AT ALL!

I have never been one of those people just waiting for my life to begin.  I was never thinking that "as soon as..."
"As soon as I go to college..."
"As soon as I'm done with college..."
"As soon as I get a job..."
"As soon as I get married..."
"As soon as we buy a house..."
"As soon as we have a baby..."

I have never thought about my life as the exciting part just around the corner.

My life is now.

When students think of their life "finally starting" when they leave home, they're mistaken.  If, Lord forbid, something happened to this kid before he left home, he still would have had a life.  His life doesn't BEGIN when he leaves home, his life enters a new chapter when he leaves home.  His live is going on NOW.

I have always TRIED to treasure the stage of life where I am... I emphasize tried because it has not always been easy.  Sometimes I needed to be creative in order to find things to be grateful about for my current stage of life, but I always knew, and, to this day, KNOW, My Life Is NOW.

That being said, I am not looking forward to this next year, which is so ironic because 13 is my lucky number... and this year is 2013.

I am returning to grad school this year and I will be accelerating the program so as to complete all the requirements in one calendar year.  That means that by next Christmas (2013), I REALLY REALLY HOPE and PLAN to be finished.

To be honest, I am not excited to earn this degree... I am excited to HAVE this degree and FINISH this degree.  I want to HAVE EARNED the degree, not about to begin earning this degree.  Which means, I wish it was 1 year from now -- and I really DO NOT want to feel this way.

The problem is, when I think of 2013, ALL I think about is the parts of this degree.
Winter/Spring 2013, I will be juggling my regular difficult work load and traveling AND completing an on-line class.
June 2013, I will be living in Greeley, Colorado (in all likelihood, away from my husband and animals) to take an on-campus class.
July 2013, I will spend 3 weeks doing practicum work somewhere in the country (hopefully the mid-west)
August 2013, I will spend 3 weeks doing practicum work somewhere in the country (hopefully in the mid-west)
Fall 2013, I will be tying all the loose ends of the degree, working at my regular job, and spending 3 more weeks doing practicum work, having to take time away from my job, and living away from my husband and animals.

The entire program leaves me with possibly, POSSIBLY two weeks of vacation in the entire 2013 year (this, from a teacher who REALLY looks forward to, and benefits from her 8 week summer break!).  Two weeks to try to see Chris' family and my family and two weeks to somewhat recover from the year and gather the strength to keep on going.

When I look ahead at 2013, I see exhaustion, logistical head-aches, deadlines, and yes, a light at the end of the tunnel... but the light at the end of the tunnel is the end of 2013.

The ONE thing I Am REALLY REALLY looking forward to in 2013 is...

Chris and I are going to be an Aunt and Uncle on his side of the family!!!!

Chris' little sister and brother-in-law, Becky and Daniel, are expecting a baby in July and this will be the FIRST grandchild on the Miller side of the family.  Everyone is SOOO excited and we are really close to Chris' siblings so it is going to be so much fun to have a new baby in the family... and watch them handle a first-baby... before we have to handle a first-baby.

 We had so much fun shopping for Becky and Daniel for Christmas.  We bought Becky the Cardinal fan maternity shirt in the picture above, and we bought Daniel baby fireman pajamas... because Daniel is a fire-fighter, and their baby will have to be appropriately appareled!

 So, there's the truth about when I think about the year... I am not excited -- except for the new family baby.  But when I think about my year, I am not excited.  I am a little overwhelmed and very tired... and I wish it was a year from now.

Many bloggers pray about "words" for the year and they hold to that word for direction and the way they feel God is teaching them that year.  My human word for 2013 is NO, or TIRED, or STUDY, or DO I HAVE TO?... the word I keep coming back to in prayer for 2013 is FAITH.

Faith that I am meant to earn this degree.
Faith that I can do what is asked of me.

But I don't have Faith that I will enjoy it.
I don't have Faith that there are fun times ahead in 2013.
I don't have Faith that any rest will exist in 2013.
I have Faith there is work ahead in 2013.

Thanks for listening.

When you look ahead at 2013, what do you see?

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!!

Happy New Year!

WELCOME 2013!!!

 I hope you had a wonderful New Year's Eve and an even better NEW YEAR!!!!

GO MICHIGAN!

GO BIG TEN!!

HAPPY 2013!