Valentines day....

As usual, I had to bake valentines day cookies. You see, as a child, that was something special my mother did with us for every holiday. And it just doesn't seem to be special if I don't do it! And I usually rope my friend RO into decorating them with me, but this year she had a family emergency so she couldn't come over. But I had a GREAT time -- and it was well worth the effort. They turned out BEAUTIFUL! Above, some of my favorites. And don't think I can take credit for the design - most I saw somewhere else...but they sure are beautiful! And when I got them bagged - here they all were! 

Whew. That was a lot of cookies. I took some to brunch with the girls, some to a birthday party for Miss LM since she was so blessed to be born on Valentines day, and then the rest to work. Let's just say my work friends were LOVING me that day! ha! 

And I made these:

yeah, I feel like I might have outdone myself on these. They are oreo balls with red hearts on them. I had seen on a blog where someone did chocolate hearts with the melty chocolate -- and thought I had to try them. You do the hearts on wax paper using decorator tips and then just stick them on when the chocolate is not set on the oreo balls. They looked awesome!

And with all that Valentines Day madness - we also got to celebrate sweet LM's birthday! We went to Red Lion Pub for some food and drinks and had a great time catching up and celebrating Miss LM! Below, LM and TH. LOVE these two girls - and hoping we can take another trip like our last trip to Greece. We had a BLAST together!

And here are all the girls....it was so much fun and a great time together! And I feel so blessed that my time in public accounting brought all of these girls together in one way or another! 

And I got to spend valentines day with a friend from work who was in town from LA. We went to Barnaby's and had a great time hanging out and catching up. I'm so excited for him to move here - he is one of my favorite people I work with from that office - he has more experience than me and is always teaching me one thing or another. I'm glad he is working in our new finance organization and we have an amazing new boss. Its going to be fun learning together! 

the best superbowl ever....

let's see...it started out with a haircut during the pre-game, then was at the gym and watching re-runs of law and order for an hour during the 1st and 2nd quarters, watched the blackeyed peas during half time, then showered, cooked a healthy dinner, and am watching pretty woman...and about to go climb in bed to finish a book. let me repeat:

BEST SUPER BOWL EVER!!!!!!

Every year I feel like I race around and hang out with people for the 1st half and different people for the 2nd half -- and let's not even talk about how badly I end up eating. So I decided this year to do something different....its called saying NO and focusing on Karen. And that is just what I did. and it is absolutely fantastic. Actually, its been a NO weekend - starting out with our "no-snow" day Friday. I just said no to everything and stayed at home. 

I've still been sick and spent a LOT of time in bed this weekend. I have a cough that makes other people cringe (and we won't even begin to say how it makes me feel!) and it keeps me up at night. I'm ready for this to be over -- I'm on my second round of steroids and my third round of amoxicillin....in two months. I'll repeat that again too - READY FOR THIS SICKNESS TO BE OVER!

The good thing about spending so much time at home was that I was able to read...a lot. I've talked alot about Gregg Matte's book -- I am still in the thick of it -- and I love it. And one of the staff at work who has been on a weight loss journey about as long as I have been gave me another book - we had both heard about it on KSBJ and I told her about it and she ran out and bought a copy for me for being so supportive of her during her journey.

 Its called Made To Crave by Lysa TerKuerst. It is amazing. I wish I could totally explain how it hits home - but it does it in so many ways I don't even know where to start. There are so many things in this book that made me laugh, but even more that made me cry. Its probably the first book I have read every word in -- and most two to three times. And if you know me, I can pound out a 500 page book in a matter of hours. This one is like 200 and I've been reading it for days. But that's probably because more times than I can count I put the book down and through my tears I prayed...about so many things. 

It just hit home. Its just that good. Its just what I needed. 

If you have ever struggled with something -- whether it is food, or physical relationships with boys, or just doing things that you know you shouldn't do, but you do anyway...and you get in that trend of doing it, feeling great at that moment, then the next morning feeling guilty and then you just get ugly -- to yourself, to others....yeah. If you know that trend, this book is really for you. It spends a lot of talking about turning all of those cravings into cravings for God. 

And my favorite quote is "it is permissible, but is it beneficial?" I can think of so many situations where if I would have stopped and thought for just a second about something I wanted to do -- whether it was eat that whole bag of pretzel M&Ms, or buying those new shoes from Nordstoms, or even kissing that boy (that I knew I shouldn't have) -- is this beneficial? I'd probably have done a few things different. Needless to say, that quote is becoming part of my new mantra. 

I love the book...I love the things it has made me think about....I love the things I have prayed about and asked God to take off my plate -- and been able to ask for forgiveness for...I love that it gave me a "took kit" -- whether it is bible verses or quotes or a thought process to go through when you get in a that situation with a piece of chocolate cake or those cute pumps I just have to have from Nordies....I love that it made me think about my relationship with God in a new way -- one that doesn't include denying myself things -- but living in the parameters that God has set for me...I love that it opened my eyes. 

And with that - I am off to finish it. I hope everyone has a great week!