2012: the Theme.

Welcome to 2012 friends, family, and blog followers!

In my life it seems there are themes for every year. 2010 was about discipline. Learning to eat healthy, workout, budget, and be healthy in all aspects of my life by making discipline a priority and reseting my habits. It was a hard, successful, and rewarding year that set the tone for what would come next...

2011 was a year about relationships. When I sat down at the end of 2010 I thought, I've worked on 'me', now it's time to build up my relationships to where they need to be. I purposed to spend more time relating to others in the ways I love: entertaining, cooking, random gifts, and hand written letters. I also spend time making an effort to love others in the ways that made sense to them, in their love language, if you will. This included stepping up my phone call game.

With purpose, I devoted my time to the friendships I value most and that I see being for the long haul. What few people know about me is that while thousands of people have read this blog, 1500+ people call me a 'friend' on facebook, and over 500 people follow me on twitter - there are really only a small handful of people that I 'let in'. I may be a social media over-sharer but what I share with others and how close I let them is calculated. I can count on one hand the people I let know my hopes, my dreams, my fears, and hardships. Those are the people I most sought to invest time in, in 2011, and I have seen that be a success.

So what about 2012? Two great years have come to an end and enter 2012 with more promise than any year before it. How will I spend it? What will be my focus? And what will the overwelming theme of 2012 be?

Well ladies and gentleman, I won't even leave you in suspense. 2012 is a year to experience. I'm taking on 2012 as the biggest adventure yet and the chance to take it all in. This is a year for experiences. I welcome it with great excitement and I hope even a bit of courage as I plan to go after this year with all I've got.

Happy New Year, to each of you...what a great new year it will be.

Love,
B

Christmas 2011.

Good morning friends and hello from Indiana!

I hope each of you had a special Christmas day with family and or friends. Our Christmas was a bit out of sorts this year. Dad was actually off for Christmas day in the first time I can remember, which was a huge blessing! We normally celebrate Christmas very early in the morning so he can get to the office by mid morning but this year we waited until the afternoon so Noa could arrive.

As you can imagine we're all quite smitten with her already. She had a big first Christmas, much of which she slept through. But she was a trooper to make it from north Carolina, through Baltimore, and onto Indianapolis at just three weeks old without so much as a whimper, I hear.

So far it seems she's enjoying her aunts b and ruthie as well as her 'paws' who she hadn't met yet either. It is clear she will want for nothing in the Christensen household!

I am getting increasingly excited for both of my big 2012 trips as my Christmas presents were related to them. I got a coach across body bag for my trip to dc and a passport holder, travel blanket, and loads of sunscreen and bug repellant for my Haiti trip. Oh, and some money! :) that will be needed as well. 2012 promises to be a year I'll relay to my sweet niece for years to come.

Since being in Indiana I have finished 2 books - the last 2 books in the Hunger Games trilogy. I am trying to do what I rarely do in Tampa - relax. I feel a bit antsy but today might cure that - since I will be meeting up with friends at some point!

Well I think I have successfully typed this as my first blogpost from an iPad! again, Merry Christmas to each of you and your families.

Love,

B

Best Friend Christmas - Tampa.

This year was Auburn and I's 3rd annual best friend Christmas here in Tampa. I probably don't say enough how grateful I am to have her. She's an incredible friend and she constantly encourages and inspires me. I love her with all my heart and I love our tradition of having our own Christmas, here, in Tampa.

Normally we go out for a nice dinner and exchange gifts before she heads off to Joplin, MO and I head to Carmel, IN to celebrate the holidays with our faraway families. This year we decided to change it up and cook in. Auburn is an incredible cook and I credit my recently found love of cooking to her.

I agreed to grill steaks for the first time. Mind you, I had to google on my iphone how to do this but I figured I've managed not to have any grill disasters yet, so why not? I grilled filet's and make a bleu cheese topper.



Ta da! They came out surprisingly good. I was of course worried, but they really were delish.

Auburn let me off easy - all I had to do was grill the steaks and pick up a two liter of diet coke. She did all the real work. Garlic red skinned mashed potatoes, these amazing green beans that were inspired by a PF Changs recipe, and apple fritters with ice cream. I told you she was a good cook.

After dinner we got to Skype with Auburn's boyfriend who lives in Texas and who, sadly, I haven't gotten to meet face-to-face yet. And of course, exchange gifts. Auburn is pretty much the best gift giver ever...
She gave me a pizza stone...for my grill! As you all have probably noticed I'm more than a little obsessed with grilling everything from fruits, to veggies, to bread, to meat so I am THRILLED about my pizza stone (pictured above) and my sweet new pot holder that covers both arms! She also got me (but I was out of hands to show on in the photo) an italian cookbook. I love love love Italian food.

Some of you know me well enough to know that buying teams other than Colts or Bears gear slightly pains me but since Aubs is a die hard Cowboys fan with a dream of someday returning to Texas to reside, I got her this:

It was such a sweet, special night for me and I great reminder of how the Lord has blessed my life with great friendships. I'm so thankful for of his gifts, but Auburns friendship in my time in Tampa has been priceless. I can't imagine doing life without her. I feel so, so lucky to have her as my bestie.

Hope you're Christmas season is off to as good a start as mine! I'm headed to Indiana today so spend some time with my sweet family. Colts game tonight, who's tuning in? I'll be the one in blue...oh wait...

Love,

B

Advice from Bloggers - Round One.

I decided to poll some of my favorite bloggers/twitter friends on their thoughts on some of my favorite topics. This has been in the works via twitter for a bit and now the fruits of the conversations can be to your gain. Each of these fabulous girls have uniquely different, busy, incredible lives and are full of good advice! I'm constantly going to them for tips and tricks from fashion to makeup to life as a twenty-something. So first off, meet the ladies I love (I'm linking to their blogs and giving you their twitter names) :

The Girls who Keep my Twitter Feed Interesting:

Neely - @neelykins

Kerbi - @KerbiH

Amber - @brunchwithamber

Ashleigh - @ashleighhbowers

First off, with Jan 1st looming in the not-so-distant future I thought I'd start by asking: How do you stay organized?

Neely - I have a life planner, a blog planner, and post it's :)

Amber - I have boxes, drawers, baskets, etc. for everything! Everything has it's own place. I recently started saving my Birchbox boxes after I empty them and use them to store things too. I also make sure to put things away as soon as I'm done using it so that way I don't find myself with a mess. I also use my planner religiously. The second I make plans or an appointment, I pull out my planner and jot it down so I won't forget.

Ashleigh - As a SAHM, I really don't have a strict way of organization-- I am pretty laidback, but I DO NOT like clutter! I keep all of my daughter's appointments, recipes, meal plans, grocery lists, playdates, blog posts, giveaways, deadlines- in my Erin Condren life planner. Otherwise, I just go with the flow :-)

Kerbi - I have an EC life planner & an EC school planner, my iPhone, and post its!

Most of these girls it seems have an Erin Condren planner as Ashleigh referenced. I first saw one on Neely's blog but since have seen lots of the bloggers join the force. I love that you can customize the front cover with all of your favorite things - naturally, mine would basically just need to say diet coke in big black letters on the front.

Photo.

I haven't joined the EC force, but am faithfully sporting a Coach planner for the 6th year running. While working for Coach in college I got my best friend Candy, too many purses and accessories, and a planner that changed my life. I color code mine with highlighters because like Amber, I'm totally OCD. With a strong emphasis on the obsessive.


Something none of the girls mentioned that I do to stay organized is my Harriet the Spy notebook. I don't actually spy on people (well I do, but I don't take notes); I do keep a small notebook with me at all times which is filled with my daily 'to do' lists as well as grocery lists, birthday cards I need to send, etc. The list notebook. This has changed my life. I never forget things anymore.

Next question: What's one thing you 'do yourself' to save money?

Neely - I do my eyebrows, trim my bangs, and sometimes bake bread.

Ashleigh - I do my own mani/pedis, cook instead of going out, and I use to make baby food with L was little.

Kerbi - I do my own nails every other time (in between nail appointments), I do my own eyebrows, and I shave with conditioner instead of shaving cream.

Amber - I do my own eyebrows. I also do my own manicures and usually my own pedicures. I know this isn't DIY, but I wear jeans twice before washing them if they don't get dirty. It saves a laundry load sooner than later. ;) I also stretch my contacts out. Not the best thing to do for my eyes and my optometrist hates me for it, but mine are 2 weekers and I wear them for a month. So a 6 month supply lasts me a year! :) I'm a bit of a Sbux addict, but I try and make my own coffee at home as much as possible. I try and borrow/swap books with friends/family instead of buying it myself.

(Amber - we clearly need to start exchanging books! I love love love to share books)

Um first off, all you excellent eye brow pluckers need to give me lessons. I have to get my cave man eyebrows tamed by a threader about once a month. I am horrible at plucking. Horrible.

Things I do myself to save money...hmm. Cooking at home instead of eating out is a big one. I DVR movies instead of renting them, since I already have to pay for cable and there's always good movies on, if you plan ahead.

Question #3 (mostly because I'm curious): What one item do you always buy when you find one that fits?

Neely - Jeans and bras. I have a very hard time finding bras that fit right. Sad but true.

Kerbi - Bras. I just found my fave at Target and bought 2 of every color they sold. Sweaters, short and long sleeved tshirts, I find a good fitting one and buy every color.

(Kerbi - this makes you a woman after my own heart. I once bought 5 of the same dress in different colors because it fit perfectly)

Amber: I will always buy a pair of jeans that fits me like a glove! Being as short as I am, but having a set of hips - it can be very hard to find jeans that fit me perfectly. Also, bras are important. If I have to wear this sucker for most of the day, I want it to be comfortable. Luckily VS makes the best bras (in my opinion) and I can always find something that fits great! Oh, and maxi dresses. Most of them I swim in because they're too long, but when I find one that just barely touches the floor like it's supposed to, I get it. :)

My answer to this is simple and won't shock most of you...dresses! I have over 50 dresses and I feel no shame about it since I wear them probably 4 days a week on average. To work, out with friends, to church, on errands. Some of that is because I love them and their easy and some because I live in Florida and it's pretty much always hot. But if I find a great dress that fits - I always buy it.

Christmas Reading List.

Lucky for me Amazon had an ebook sale at just the right time. I'm prepping to leave town early tomorrow morning for 10 days of Christmas vacation. I of course plan to dominate a few books while I'm on there. I'm pretty much a weeny when it comes to the cold so I expect I will spend plenty of time indoors reading and drinking homemade hot chocolate. I thought for all of my crazy little reader friends you might want to know what I'll be working on.


I'm currently reading this book which came highly recommended on a newsletter from my library (which is also where I got this book):

From Amazon: John Ajvide Lindqvist has taken the horror world by storm. His first novel, Let the Right One In, has been made into critically acclaimed films in both Sweden and in the U.S (as Let Me In). His second novel, Handling the Undead, is beloved by horror lovers everywhere. Now, with Harbor, a stunning and chilling masterpiece, Lindqvist firmly cements his place as the heir apparent to Stephen King.

One ordinary winter afternoon on a snowy island, Anders and Cecilia take their six-year-old daughter Maja across the ice to visit the lighthouse in the middle of the frozen channel. While they are exploring the lighthouse, Maja disappears – either into thin air or under thin ice -- leaving not even a footprint in the snow.

Two years later, Anders, a broken man, moves back to his family’s abandoned home on the island. He soon realizes that Maja's disappearance is only one of many strange occurrences, and that his fellow islanders, including his own grandmother, know a lot more than they’re telling. As he digs deeper, Anders begins to unearth a dark and deadly secret at the heart of this small, seemingly placid town.

I'm only 50 pages in but I wouldn't describe this book as 'horror' at all. Suspense, yes but not horror. Although I imagine losing a child for any reason is horrific. So far I'm impressed with how well written the book is and the imagery the author is capable of.

On Kindle I bought:

(this is in prep for my trip there in April - I wanted to learn more about the history of the country and their culture there)



I also still have the 2nd and 3rd Hunger Games books downloaded to finish as well. After that, well, I've got a list if I get through all of these in time to tackle more. Whew. Let's hope I get plenty of reading time.

Any of you planning on getting some reading done this holiday season? What's in your book pile?

Love,

B

The Post Where I Finally Talk about this Football Season.

I shared this article that was recently printed in the Indianapolis Star's sports section about my sweet Dad. I was so touched by the author, Phil Richards, I wrote him an e-mail thanking him for his sweet words and the highlight of my Dad's placement of faith and family over football. I received a delightful response from Mr. Richards which included the statement ' you're a lucky girl, your Dad is one heckofaguy'. I couldn't agree more.

I haven't written much about this season and what it's been like but before this year ends I wanted to share a little about what the Lord has taught me through a season that began 0-13. If you've read the Old Testament you'll be familiar with Moses and his story as it's featured in Exodus. Moses lead the Israelites out of Egypt, where they were slaves. After which, they wandered the dessert for 40 years. Yes, you read that right, 40 years!

Now I'd encourage you to read the story of HOW the Lord came to bring the Israelites out of Egypt. The story of how Moses used plagues on the Egyptian people to finally get Pharaoh to release the Israelites is a pretty crazy story chalk full of miracles that include when he parted the Red Sea. Seriously, read it.

So now they're wandering in the dessert complaining because what else would you do if you're stuck in the dessert for 40 years, right? Part way through this epically long period of wandering, they start feeling like maybe slavery wasn't so bad. Hey, at least it wasn't the desert even if we had to work all day in the sun, be beaten and whipped, and eat everyone else's leftovers.

This of course had to annoy/frustrate the Lord as well as Moses. Hey, remember those miracles we did to get you of there? Remember when I was literally raining down food from heaven to feed you everyday in this desert? Can I get a little appreciation?

Eventually the story ends well and the Israelites do make it to the Promiseland. But that's not really where I'm headed with this. After the best 9 year run in Indianapolis Colts franchise history (as referenced in the article), we went 0-13 to start this season. That's right, for 13 painfully long weeks we didn't win one single game. It was a long fall from the top, from winning a Super Bowl, to here - with our most promising title for the year being earning 'first round draft pick' (which goes to the worst record in the league).

My dad was quoted in the article as saying, ' Footballs like life,' he said. 'This isn't cancer, but it certainly teaches you what it's like in hard times. You've got to face it. You've got to be a man'.

This football season is what you might call the desert. And about 5 games in (which felt a bit like 40 years) I recognized this year as that. I knew with clarity, I am in the desert. I can be like the Israelites and I can whine and whimper about what this desert season feels like OR I can remember all that the Lord has done to bring me here. The miracles.

When I look back at Dad's time in the NFL, I recognize that it's been chalk full of miracles. And I don't just mean on the football field. If you read the article you know that my Dad is in and of himself, a bit of a miracle. Born to 15 year old unwed mother, placed for adoption in LA, and adopted my a Pastor and his wife.

But our story is miracle after miracle. Our time in Indianapolis started off on a rough foot. After the best 5 year run in Tampa Bay Buccaneers history we were blindsided by a full staff firing. I had just finished my sophmore year of high school. It would be the first move I made without my best friend and older sister, Rae. It rocked my world and began the longest season of struggle I've endured to date. What I see when I look back though, is the Lord's hand in it all. Even desert seasons have purpose.

This year hasn't been without tears and hardship. Without careless words from media, old college ' buddies', and strangers in the stands. This year hasn't been easy and much of it hasn't been fun. The first 13 games of this season were hard. There has been heartbreak, disappointment, and worry to go around.

The Lord, like he did for the Israelites in the desert, has a way of keeping us encouraged when we need it most. The article I linked above was just that for me. A reminder of the Lord's faithfulness, purpose, and plan to prosper. That article highlights how the Lord has used not only a tough season this year but the years of sacrifice and faithfulness of my precious Dad to bring glory back to Him.

I don't know what the next few weeks hold, starting with the game I will attend tomorrow night in Indianapolis, as we enter it 1-13. What I can tell you is this - God is good. Win or lose. Super Bowl wins or first round draft picks. I believe with as much conviction at the end of this long, hard season that God's plans are to prosper (Jeremiah 29:11).

I want to close with the exerpt from the article:

They might struggle. The crowd mght boo. THe calls for firing the coaching staff might be renewed and invigorated.

Christensen will call the plays. He will smile. He will compete. He will suffer and he will enjoy and he will soldier on.

'Football is important,' he said. 'Winning games is important. But this is about more than football. It's bigger than that. It's about the city. It's about using the platform. It's about making an impact'.

Love,
B

Party Planning: The Menu.

Well, obviously our New Years Brunch is a trifold hostess affair. But I thought I would tell you what I'm going to be making, at least.

If you've been reading the blog for a while, you may remember that I've done this before but I will be making Red Velvet Pancakes - topped with whipped cream, hersheys syrup, and sprinkles.

Picture and recipe cred.

I will be making my Mom's famous coffee cake recipe which my sisters and I all love. Actually, I would be willing to bet we'll be eating some of that over Christmas in Indiana.

Lastly (for me, there will be much much more food) I will be stealing this idea from pinterest and making french toast shots:

Photo and idea cred.

If you're coming to our brunch, be excited. If you're not, well, I wish you were and I hope you're planning some yummy New Years fun of your own!

Love,

B