Happy Little Trees

I'm cold fighting today. I think I might actually have a mini-strain of the flu. I had chills and body aches last week, so I am left now with a very stuffy head.

I am taking lots of homeopathic stuff, and just heard about another something or other that Dr. Oz recommends, so I will pay my homage to Whole Foods, and see if I can feel a bit better.

Once I'm better, watch out! I am all ready to go full force with the "Beth Gets in Shape" plan. It's going to consist of my old favorites: interval running, free weights and machines. And maybe I'll add in some new weird YMCA class. Those are always highly entertaining. If I could find my DVD remote, I would include workout DVDs, but for now, I can only play the introduction since I need the remote to get to the other playlists.

I haven't even thought about my resolutions yet, but I always make them, so I will make them again this year. Sometimes they aren't really resolutions, but goals. --Kind of like a yearly bucket-list evaluation.

Here's my list for 2010 (and geez! Shouldn't our cars be flying by now?):

Workouts
1) This year's main workout goal will be to be able to run a loop around Rice University again.

2) Do some laps in the pool at least once a month.

3) Adjust the amount of weight I use on my assisted pull-up by ten pounds.

Spirituality
1) Take a day of solitude once a month, complete with random trips to Austin.

2) Keep a better prayer list.

Cleanliness (I keep this list next to the Godliness one)
1) Do a Saturday morning cleaning check every week.

2) Consider getting a maid.

3) Paint my fingernails once a month, then remove the polish within the next week.

4) Get a haircut every 8 weeks, instead of 12 weeks.

Financial
1) Pay off all my credit card debt.

2) Have enough money in my Christmas savings to buy all my gifts.

3) Spend less money on food and waste less food.

I need to check back on last year's list, and see how I did.

Hope you have a very blessed and Happy New Year! Can you believe it's 2010?! Crazy times!

If my sister were a superhero, she would be Gadget Girl. She loves gadgets. And she's always inventing new ones, but then discovers that someone else had the same idea after a trip to Wal-Mart.


For Christmas, she got me the Jupiter Jack which turns your car radio into a speakerphone. I haven't tried it yet, but it should be pretty interesing to have my phone calls in stereo. It might feel like God is talking to me or something. But I believe that God also talks in whispers, so maybe that isn't a good analogy.


She sent my cousin some cool Christmas 3-D glasses. I took some pictures of myself in the glasses, and hope you can see pictures of the effect seen through the fabulous lens of my trusty iPhone.

This picture makes me laugh because we are all kind of making weird faces. We needed someone to say, "Look this way!"



Tom is pointing like an Uncle Sam poster which is pretty funny. But the best part besides all the pointing and various direction darting eyes, is the fact that we are surrounding our friend, Susan, who graduated from HBU.



Congratulations, Susan!



And another amazing thing is that two of her sisters, her brother-in-law, and her precious father are here visiting from Kenya!




Her family is very special to me (and to everyone who meets them!). Her sister, Dee, is a breast cancer survivor and is now working to help other women in Africa have funds to pay for their treatment. The whole family is amazing. I got to meet them all for the first time three years ago while visiting Kenya, and my heart was never the same.