Early morning dedication.

Chad and I are up early for a short little race this morning (short to Chad...only 5 miles). This is a small, local race called the Chattanooga Chase. It runs through a neighborhood on the north side of the river and winds through some pretty old houses. If I was a runner, I would do this race in a heartbeat because it is so pretty! Either way, getting up at 6:30 on our vacation day is dedication for both of us...

Thankful.

I am so thankful for so many things in my list...if I started a true list, it would never be finished. But today, I will be specific...

I am thankful for long weekends and the men and women who we remember this weekend. My own family history is rich with both men and women who have served in our military and I am fondly thinking of them this weekend too.

Hung out at the lake with Chad, Dad Bill (FIL), Chad's sister and our nephew yesterday. It was good fun - canoeing , jet ski, and swimming - made for a few fun hours in the sun. And I was even clever enough to wear sunscreen so I have no burn to show for it...though my hiney bones are rather sore from bouncing around on the jet ski (totally worth it, by the way).

Today we have already been to church and I am waiting patiently for Chad to get out of the second service where is is serving in the parking lot. I've already prepped everything for a grilled out lunch so looking forward to getting back to the house. I think we have made a deal that we will clean and play a little today and work and play a little tomorrow - instead of spending all day working one day. We need more play days in our lives, no?

Slowing down.

This week is the beginning of the slow down at work...and I could not be more thrilled. After Big Event #2, that became #1 because #1 was posponed to #2 (follow me?) happened on Sunday, I really am on the downhill slide for the next few weeks. I still have Big Event #2 (that was #1!) on July 14th but many, many fewer nights and weekends between then. In fact, I don't have to work any nights this week and I am going to a Boy Scout/Girl Scout event on Saturday by choice (and really for the little Boy Scout in the family!). The only downside about not working as many nights and weekends is that I am not gathering and hoarding flex time. I actually have to get up and go to work on time and stay all day. Bummer. :) It is really ok though...my gym buddy, K, and I are totally back on the wagon. Hello summer!

I am enjoying quiet nights at home - tonights involved a TV show, cleaning out the gutters, and a stroll through the garden to worry over a tomato plant that seems to have caught a disease. Praying it doesn't spread to the healthy others - I am hoping for a good 'mater haul this year. Even planning dinner for the rest of the week...I love to cook for my little family of 2.

Hoping for a visit from a friend this weekend. Crossing my fingers. Another friend with a baby in the due zone and praying for quick and easy (and selfishly, on a day I can come meet the newby...).

Worth it.

The CEO at my GS council has an internal blog that she posts on pretty regularly and always with careful and wise speech. In today's post, she talked about how we can not be great employees during the day if we are not taking care of ourselves outside of work. She used the example of a tree - if the roots are not healthy, the canopy can not be healthy. She talks a lot about taking care of ourselves so we can basically perform at our peak in all areas of our lives; easy to hear and hard to put into action when you are working 70 hours a week.

I've been thinking about this idea a lot, especially recently. I willingly give many more than 40 hours per week to my job because it is what I want to do and what I feel is necessary to be truly productive and successful (not in a monetary sense, more in a positive daily outcome sense). I work hard because I deeply believe that what I do has an impact on the lives of girls in our community, many of whom have life-changing experiences because of Girl Scouts. However, this hard work and these long hours come at a price...little time with my family, missed special occasions, few vacations, and no time for kids of our own (because I am busy with 16,000 of other people's kids!).  I've been thinking a lot about what "needs to give" to make me healthier; less work, more time with people I love, more mornings at the gym, more time at home. How can I live by the old saying "work smarter, not harder" in order to be a better ME?

I think the answer is two fold.
Be Intentional.
And
Don't be lazy.  

I guess that those two things sort of go hand in hand. Be intentional with your time and when you have time, don't misuse it by being lazy.

All of that to say...I've been working hard to do things that I know my heart needs to do. Flex off those extra hours and stay home to do the dishes. Paint. Write. Make time for a date with my husband. Go on a field trip with my nephew. It is hard because I feel like I should be at work but in that moment, I know i am exactly where I am supposed to be.

Tonight is a great example of this.
My sister texted me and said that both of my parents would be in Atlanta tonight and I should come and have dinner with them. It is hard to justify a 4 hour drive and a full tank of gas for a meal. But not really. I miss my parents; my sister texted me a picture of their sweet smiling faces and I cried at work. Easy justification...I needed to see their faces in person. To hug their necks and kiss their checks. To sit near them and remember their voices.

I needed this just for me today. More than I needed to work or do laundry or be in bed at a decent hour. I needed to feed my roots so my canopy will be strong...

(Edited at add: my amazing husband went to Atlanta with me, just so I wouldn't have to drive back alone at night. I married a blessing.)

New things.

Blogging from my phone. It's a whole new world out there!

downhill side.

I'm finally on the downhill side with work...my June and July are much quieter (with the exception of the BIG EVENT that was moved to July 14th). My nights are more free and every single weekend isn't booked (in fact, I think I only have to work one night next week!!). We spend the summers gearing up for the new GS year - renovating trainings, recruiting new volunteers, and for me, re-establishing my teams to function even better for the new school year. I am looking forward to working with some of the same volunteers and some new ones as well. I truly enjoy my job. There are some bad days (like yesterday, when I had to deal with an unpleasant volunteer situation) but mostly, they are busy and good.

Chad is teaching a lifeguarding class on the weekends right now so it is a little sad that my weekends are slowing down. And then he will be taking a class of his own at night and on the weekends through June. I sort of hate it that our schedules just don't match up like this...my work is slow during his fire season when he is out all the time and busy again during the summers when I can be home more at night. Oh well - it will work out some day! :)

Upgraded to a new phone yesterday. Finally on a REAL smartphone (does a Blackberry really count??). I tried to load the Blogger app (so you know, you'd hear more from me!) but it will only let me link it to my work email address (which is a no-no) so I can't use it until I can figure all of that out.

Chad will have the computer and TV for this class again this weekend so I better start figuring out now how I am going to entertain myself. The house is still mostly clean from last weekend - cause we are never here, though those furry, hairy animals are so I WILL need to vacuum - so I can clean up a little and then maybe get a good chunk of crafting done!! Wow - I think I will go ahead and start looking forward to that.

Gettin' things done!

Today was an incredibly productive day. I ended up NOT having to work after planning to all week so I had an entire, unexpected day to get things done. And get things done I did!
The rundown:
- Swept and mopped all hardwoods and kitchen
- Vacuumed all carpet
- Bought and hung new curtains in the living room (new as in, we've lived here for 2 years now and never had curtains on those windows...in a very HELLO NEIGHBORS kind way.) - Pictures to come.
- Cleaned the kitchen
- Cleaned off dining room and living room tables (the piles of who-knows-what that gets dropped off there every day)
- Cleaned up the craft/bonus room
- Cleaned up in the bedroom (including putting away 2 weeks worth of clean laundry!)
- Painted my fingernails in a beautiful sparkly pink! (cause this is JUST as important as a clean kitchen!)

Surely there was more but that should be good for now.

Wanna know why I got so much stuff done? Chad took the TV and the computer with him to teach a lifeguarding class today. Or I would NOT have been as productive, thanks Pintrest. I told him that he should take them with him every time I have a day off...I feel great about everything I've been able to get done today. And I am going to love coming home to a clean house tomorrow too...totally worth it.

May Birchbox!

Lucky you...(Ok, it's really just Lucky ME!) - my May Birchbox came! I have been super excited about this one because they have been pushing it big time on Facebook and their blog. It was a collaboration with the TV show "Gossip Girls" (which I don't watch...sorry...) but I knew they were super cute and a little fashion forward so I thought it might be a really fun box!

This is how it looked when I first opened it. The little "Gossip Girl" sleeve was over the outside of the traditional Birchbox (but it also came in a black mailer box instead of pink this month, which was pretty fun and funky!).

 First thing I came to was this little bottle of blenderclenser (all one word) from the beautyblender company. it is a cleaner for your makeup brushes and sponges which is great because I have been using shampoo and conditioner on mine (disclaimer: it is what the beauty folks at Ulta told me to do! And it makes them super soft and clean. Just rinse well so you aren't rubbing shampoo and conditioner on your face. Hair is hair, right??) Looking forward to trying this out!

 This was the fun little "extra" this month. I am looking forward to sending a little love note to someone special. Already have someone in mind! :)

I've been seeing these elastic headbands everywhere, though the ones I have seen are wider. I am super excited to try it and see if it will stay on my slippery, thick hair. And black - matches everything. This one is by the Twistband company and looks to be the perfect length...

Inside the second little pretty wrapper was three more items...this one and the two below.

This is a really pretty metallic gold-ish fingernail polish by the Color Club company. The color is called "Disco Nap". I think it will look fun alone (especially during the holidays?) or over another color (red??).

I am actually pretty excited about this product. It is the Waterfuse BB Cream by Dr. Jart. It is a 4-in-1 moisturizer, sunscreen, serum, and tint. Thankfully, it came in a color that is pretty darn close to my skin tone so i am probably gonna whip this stuff on first thing tomorrow morning!

Another nice perfume sample! Hard to even pick one that I like the best from the 3 I've recieved so far. This one is called L'Etrog by the Arquiste company. It is touted as "warm notes of citron, palm leaves, and myrtle" and inspired by a harvest festival in Italy. It is much "spicier" than the others and I actually really like it. I'll try it tomorrow too and see what I think!



So there it is! May Birchbox goodness.

I'm a little sad that mine didn't include any of the crazy designers that they were hinting at on Facebook (like Dior...I know, I know - much higher fashion than this southern gal needs!) but it still would have been super fun to try that stuff. Either way, I am still LOVING my Birchboxes and my monthly birthday dance at the mailbox (no seriously, Chad usually checks the mail and it was hard for me to be cool when I saw it in my mailbox today. I totally did the "Paula...act cool, act cool" speech to myself and then did a jig when I got behind the house.

P.S. My fingernail polish is "Kate" from my Zoya collection that I ordered from Birchbox! It was in a collection of 3 style bloggers that won a contest to have their color created and featured by Zoya. I have been VERY pleased with these nail polishes. I got the limited set of 3 - Kate (a watermelony, reddish orange), Coraline (a tangerine color) and Belle (a beautiful sparkly pink that looks great over the other two or alone!).

The cool thing about the Zoya company is that they try to make their polishes with fewer chemicals and it definately smells less harsh! These are jelly polishes so they are pretty sheer by themselves - it takes me 3 good coats to get a deep color but it lasts a long time. I think last time I went a full week with no chips - it literally started wearing off the tips and growing out so before I took it off.

quiet.

Sorry it has been so quite on the home front...work is nuts right now. A few big events and trainings left to go and then the summer should settle down a little. I am really, really looking forward to that happening!

I had a couple of evenings off last week and I just stayed home and quiet and enjoyed the time with my guy. It was nice to see his face!

This weekend we harvested honey from our older hive. They were literally running out of room and since it was already 6 supers (boxes) high, we couldn't really add any more and be able to see in the top and work with it. And of course, I use "we" very loosely...Chad really does all of the work with the hive. I did, however, help quite a bit with the actual honey harvesting. We only took honey off of 2 boxes but we got over 40 pounds...once we got all of the honey out of our extractor and let it drain out of the cappings (the wax you slice off to get the honey out), we got a ton!  It is much lighter than last summer's honey, since it is not mixed with the honey from the honey flow that is yet to come. It is more of a light blonde and last year's was a brunette. :)  We'll probably get at least that much more next time we harvest (late June or July?) so we are definately selling it this year...anyone interested in local honey??