All right, all right....

First of all, I feel the need to apologize to y'all because I didn't manage to get the "List Day" post up on time (again) this week. Unfortunately, this week I actually had a good reason: On Tuesday night J and I received news that dear friends of ours had just experienced a heart-breaking loss -- therefore, yesterday was spent praying and grieving for them and with them.... and, quite frankly, the last thing on my mind was writing out a good list. So, I hope you'll forgive me for that :) (..and prayers for this wondeful couple are greatly appreciated!)

Anyway, though... I'm hanging in over here, and I am pleased to give you a (somewhat more reflective and heartfelt-- as opposed to the "Thank God for coffee" usual) Good List today:

Good List (Week of 12/6)

1. J. This week was the first time I have ever had to deal with something of this magnitude with him, and he is proving himself to be a perfect partner in this-- truly my rock.
2. Family. I am so blessed to live close to my family. Sometimes it's just comforting to know that a Mom-hug is no more than 20 minutes away.
3. Life is precious. I feel like I complain all together too much about the little things-- my prayer is to shift my heart to focus on what really matters.
4. "Sometimes it doesn't matter what you say-- the important thing is that you said something."
5. Saying "I love you" and taking chances are things that should not be put off.
6. My bed is the perfect height to lean into when I'm praying on my knees.
7. Cats are amazing - they can sense when something is "off". Gracie and Baron were especially snuggly on Tuesday night.
8. I realize that it is time for me to box up all the "what-ifs" in my heart and put them away. There is no room for them anymore. This is a good thing.
9. Every once in a while, something happens to shake me and remind me once again of just how small I am, and just how big my God is. This is also a good thing.
10. "Thy will be done."

List Number 2:

Things I need more of in my life:

• walking. Like, A LOT more often. I like to run-- but long walks are where I really get the chance to talk to myself (heh.. does that sound bad--- perhaps I meant "listen to myself/my heart")-- and they are prime time to day dream... which lead me to:
• daydreaming. In an ideal world, I would allow myself at least an hour a day to get lost in my thought :)
• writing. I really, really desire to write more.
• to split a bottle of wine and really talk with J. during dinner. (This is amazing-- and we've gotten to do this a good amount recently. I am slightly ashamed to say that there have been some weeks where we eat our dinner in front of Big Bang... which, while funny, does not inspire intimacy:)
• cleaning the house. Hah. Now before you start thinking that we are living in filth and I never clean the house (and therefore forsake me and the blog forever...) -- it's not like I don't do this. Our house is very tidy-- I just don't "deep clean" as much as I could (should?)-- the crazy part is, this doesn't just make the list bc I have standards to uphold and people to invite over-- I actually love cleaning the house (I HATE doing dishes.... but that's another story.) I just feel so accomplished when it's done :) (Obviously, Laurie didn't give me the nickname "Spaz" for nothing :)
• baking. For pretty much the same reasons as above-- I feel fulfilled and accomplished when I do it (a resounding "Hallelujah!" for christmas cookie season!!). This may sound a little lame, but the perfect Saturday (to me) would consist of grocery shopping, cleaning, napping and baking. I am confident that J. would support this point whole-heartedly!
• send cards to people I love, just because I'm thinking about them.

And, just for fun, a final list. This list is comprised of 7 (some "semi-secret" meaning I have not told many people yet-- and definitely not blogged about them!)) things I would like to work on during the next year. What makes this fun is that I have scrambled the sentences-- so you'll have to do a little work to uncover these desires of my heart :) Enjoy!

• omarntah a urn
• a ertwi rtyos
• 5k nru 25 ntmuie a
• 8 ntmuie nru na imel
• a ytusd leda lebbi
• amet sles tea
• ot ynemo gnmaea areln ym

All right, that's it for now-- Have a happy Thursday, bloggies!!

It's almost the weekend :)