Good Riddance...

Last year, New York City sponsored the first Good Riddance Day -- a chance to throw away some bad memories of the year. They sponsored the event again this year, and in reading about it, I started thinking about some things I'd like to say good riddance too!

And... join me. If you want to repost on your blog, please do, just leave me a comment and I'll link you. Or if you don't blog, then leave a comment on my blog!

Good riddance to...

Good riddance to... D.R.A.M.A. -- whether is it mine, my friends, or my nosy self getting involved where I don't need to! NO MORE DRAMA!

Good riddance to... credit card debt. PRAISE THE LORD!

Good riddance to... not living my life to the fullest.

Good riddance to... CENSORSHIP.

Good riddance to... blowing my vacation days before September... I'm taking a real vacation this year!

Good riddance to... having a bad attitude!

Good riddance to... being late to work. No More. Hopefully :)

Good riddance to... body insecurity. I'm 30. I'm going to love me for me!

Good riddance to... unforgiveness. You are a cancer, and I don't want any part of you.

Good riddance to... my inconsistency with spending time with God. It shows in my life.

Good riddance to... screening phone calls. Sorry folks... I'm confessing here.

Good riddance to... Guys who are not worth my time!

Good riddance to... toxic relationships in my life.

Good riddance to... the "skinnier" jeans in my closet. I want to be that size... but I want NEW JEANS!

Good riddance to... letting people in my life feel like I'm worthless. I'm going to call you out in '09.

Good riddance to... 2008. You've been an interesting year (albeit the best birthday and Christmas I've had in uh, a decade!), but I'm glad to see you go!

Now... it's your turn!

31 Things to do Before turning 31

1. Kiss someone at midnight on New Years -- I've never done this! I have kissed people, just not at NY btw.



2. Make up a song.



3. Learn to say and write Love in 10 different languages.



4. Lose 60 pounds!



5. Learn the names of the people who clean my building, do my manicures, and my mailman/person.



6. Travel to at least ONE city this year that you've never been too!

Nathan

I'm refusing to back down on this... so I'm asking you again to pray for my friend Nathan.

He got his acceptance into Duke's double lung transplant program today... but recieved a huge setback today as his O2 went berzerck today.

His family set up a Caring Bridge page here, if you'd like to visit... but if you would remember him in prayer tonight, I would appreciate it!

God is good!!!!

I should be ashamed to admit this...

but I TOTALLY want one of these things.

I'm having one of those days where I can't get it together, you know? So, I think a list is appropriate:

• a guy showed up to look at my water/meter this morning -- I didn't get to work until 9
• my nail polish is chipped and looks like CRAP
• I ripped a corner of my nail off washing my hair
• my windshield was frozen solid this morning
• i mean... 60 degrees one day, 30 degrees the next... ???
• my brother's flight got delayed 3 hours yesterday
• my house is a wreck

But Amy Beth said it best -- "God has been known to make a message out of a mess."

I'm so thankful that God makes messages out of my mess... even a mess that I don't think He can do anything for. Or the messes that I don't think He cares about. I am reminded, both deeply and profoundly, that God cares about my messes -- the big and small, insignificant and major, climactic and anticlimatic.

Wish & Prayer

I did have good intentions of wishing everyone a Very Merry Christmas! But since I didn't do so in a timely fashion, I wanted to say Belated Merry Christmas and wish you a Happy New Year, as well as pray that you are blessed and realized the true meaning of Christmas... and that one of the greatest miracles is that we don't have to wait until this time of year to remember Jesus' gift of Love!

Also... I encourage you to start a new tradition for 2009 -- either ring in the new year with prayer, grab a prayer journal to use throughout the year, or start a prayer blog.

"Then the LORD replied: "Write down the revelation and make it plain on tablets so that a herald may run with it."

Habakkuk 2:2

A few years ago, a friend of mine and I did this, we even wrote down a few requests and sealed them in an envelope to lay our requests before the Lord. You would have chills if you knew what I put in that envelope and how the Lord has answered those requests. God longs for our conversation and relationship, and to hear our requests and thoughts. I encourage you to be serious about giving even 5 minutes in your day to God over and above your bedtime prayers. It will literally change your life!

Much Love!

Jenn

Christmas Recap

Let's start with the Eve...

• as I mentioned before, I hit up Wal-Mart AND Kroger on Christmas Eve and left unscathed.
• I wrapped a lot of presents with Love.
• I dropped off said presents and food at my grandparents house at 3:40
• Left for the airport at 4:00
• NO TRAFFIC on I-85 North
• That alone was a Christmas miracle for me.
• Met a really nice lady at the airport who was waiting for her sister. Her son was at home tracking his aunt's plane via Delta.com. As we were conversating, it turned out that her sister was on the plane that left LaGuardia right before my brother's, so her son was able to track JM's plane and let me know that he would be landing 20 minutes early!
• I've officially made more friends in/from New York than my brother. :)
• After collecting JM, we headed to my grandparents for family Christmas.
• Played the "Right Family Christmas Game" with my big crazy loud dramatic family -- who are officially dislexic and deaf. Right and left became "throw it across the room", and "huh?".
• HILARIOUSNESS ensued.
• Gift time... it's a hullabloo that should be video,... but (as mentioned) I dropped the ball on that.
• Getting to enjoy my family!
• 12:30am -- Headed home for the night.
• Merry Christmas!!!!
• 1:00am -- my brother connects my Mom and SD's new tv up.
• 2:00am -- we decide to have family Christmas
• The lottery tickets were a HUGE hit... my mom won $50 on the first ticket, and $80 (plus 2 free tickets) overall.
• SIDENOTE: At one point, I realized that my family was all sitting around scratching off lottery tickets... VERY strange!
• We all slept (well except Bill) until noon.
• Lunch with my family again at 1
• Food... naps... conversation... general family stuff from 2-5
• Eventually, my mother, brother, and I sat down and my mom (who never plays games and I've never seen pick up a deck of cards) DESTROYS my brother and I at Phase10. It was fabulous.
• John Mark and I start cooking and I teach JM how to solve a Rubik's cube.
• 1:00am -- Off to bed.
• 4:15am -- my mom wakes me up
• 4:40am -- we leave for work (I dropped her off!)
• 7:30am -- I arrive in Dalton, and hit the mall (don't ask!)
• 8:00am -- at work.

It's 9:10am and I'm pooped. But Happy. And Blessed.