Is it the middle of September already?
I just glanced at my calendar today and realized it’s the 16th. The days are flying by and, as usual, I’m not getting as much accomplished as I would like. Plus, Zach contracted a bad cold at school last week and he has passed it to the rest of us. Jake came home from work yesterday completely miserable and they sent him home again today because he was still not up to par. Poor guy! It really hit him hard. I’ve been fighting it. I go walking with my mom every morning and, even though I’ve woken the past couple days feeling terrible, I haven’t skipped a day’s walk. I will not let this thing get me. Too much to do. I did take a nap this evening because I could no longer sit at my computer working without my eyes drooping shut. That seemed to help a little, but my head is throbbing and all the muscles in my body are screaming. I’m pushing through. Somebody has to take care of the kids and get them to and from school daily. That would be me. No matter how sick I am.
The kids are liking their new classes this year. I can already tell that Zach likes having a little more responsibility this year in class and in his new school. And Chloe likes her new class, but she’s all about boys all of the sudden. She comes home daily talking about a certain boy and I try not to make too big a deal out of it and ask her about some of her other friends or what she learned in school to change the subject. My mom informed me that when I was in first grade, my teacher told her the same thing about me. “Krista is so boy-crazy!” So, I guess she’s following in my footsteps. I do remember liking a few boys in first grade, but I think I stopped being so “boy-crazy” after that year, so hopefully it’s just a phase she’s going through.
I’m really liking the drive to and from school every day. I can see little sections of leaves here and there on the trees beginning to change colors and it makes me happy. Fall is my very favorite season and it makes me feel cozy just thinking about it. 
Jake is still LOVING his job. We’re praying hard that he gets hired in soon as a full-time employee with benefits (and a little more money would be great, too). It’s so hard to be patient. After all this time, he’s in a job he really loves and can excel at and his boss wants to be able to give him more responsibility in their department, but that can’t really happen until he’s an official employee. So we’re just waiting, trusting, believing that God’s timing is perfect on this and that it will happen soon.
Still working on my novel. I will probably not be participating in NaNoWriMo again this year. Not sure. Last year, I had the idea for my book a month or so before the “contest” started and I was so excited to write it. I’ve got a couple ideas in my head for books I’d like to write in the future, but finishing the book I’ve already written seems like a better use of my time than starting a brand new story. It sure sound like fun, though. I’m pretty sure Jake will be doing it. This will be his third year, I think.
I’m so excited! My cousin Brian recently got engaged to his girlfriend Lisa! They are getting married in Traverse City in March and I get to photograph the wedding for them! We all love Lisa and everyone is so happy that she will be an official part of the family now. It seems like one of my cousins gets married every year (Paul + Kaeli in 2008 then Joel + Sarah this year.) I wonder who will be next. hehe!
Congratulations to my dear friend Amanda and her hubby Brad, who welcomed a baby boy, Landon, into their family on 9.9.09. What a fun birthdate, right? If I wasn’t afraid of passing along my sicky germs to baby, I’d go visit this week. Can’t wait to meet him.
So, this week I tried scheduling out my days to try to be more productive. I had several work projects to finish up this week and I was able to get a couple of them done early in the week. It was great to check them off the list. I hoped to finish up a slideshow for my August 29th wedding couple today, but because I was sick, I was dragging and didn’t get as much of it done as planned. So that will be for tomorrow. It’s nice to have my week scheduled, but loose enough that I can shift things around as needed. I used to work off of a “to do” list on my desk (it’s still there, too, in case I need to see other things that have to be done that aren’t on the schedule), but I wasn’t always using my time wisely. I would work on whatever I felt like and there was no structure to it. I got things done, but not efficiently. Scheduling it out is working much better!
I’m still keeping my kitchen clean, by the way! It makes me happy to walk into a clean, clutter free room.
Mom and I are walking about 2.5 miles a day. My legs were killing me the first couple days, but it feels great now! I’m not “dieting” per se, just eating healthier again. I’ve been eating oatmeal or a green smoothie for breakfast, salads for lunch and whatever we have for dinner (usually chicken of some kind). Not going to weigh myself yet, but am hoping the scale will be kind to me when I finally step up.
Listening to Pride and Prejudice soundtrack on a loop right now. My head has been pounding all night and this music is completely soothing me.
A few blogs I’m reading this week:
• *happy place* – Mindi posts daily pictures and other things that inspire her. Love it!
• Confessions of a Wishful Slacker – Lindsey’s blog is so much fun to read, with stories of their explorations of Chicago, restaurants, websites she likes to visit, yummy recipes, great savings tips, and their cat, of course. She is one of my past brides and she lives in downtown Chicago with her husband Jim.
• Karen Russell – I love Karen’s photographs, but it’s the fun, candid stories that go along with them that always make me smile.
Must get some rest now so I can stay well. If you made it to the end of this post, thanks for reading through all my ramblings tonight. 
AJAXed with AWP