seasons of michael

can't believe this guy is permanently leaving my thursday nights. again with the CHANGES!!! what is happening?!?! and for all wondering, the last scene of this clip sums it up in more ways than one.

michael scott, you will be missed.

i'd like to thank the academy

AND sweet elizabeth dalton dains for giving me the "versitile blogger" award... aka "one of the best blogs on the internet" award! dalton's blog is precious and she's always posting the best recipes... how amahzing do these look?! THANK YOU for passing this honor onto me... what an absolute treat!

so once a blogger receives the award, they must...

- thank the person who awarded them (check)

- share seven facts about themselves (seems excessive but ok...)

- pass the award to seven new found blog friends (easy)

- let these friends know they have been awarded (too bad i have no idea how to get a hold of a courier pidgeon)

ok here goes... seven things about me...

one. i leave in six days for new york city to be in the same town as my muffin...

two. if i had to choose to eat one thing for the rest of my life it would be mission tortilla strips & clint's hot sauce.

three. i believe my friend's kids to be half mine & i love them sooooo much.

tripp & kate / maddie pie & coop

blakey girl & charlie mack!

four. the celebrity i most identify with is khloe kardashian.

five. i sponsor a little boy in rwanda. his name is george & i had the blessing of my lifetime when i was able to go there & meet him last november.

(ps: if you've ever thought about sponsoring, stop thinking & do it! more info here.)

six. my mother, father, brother, sister-in-law & sister are my greatest gift.

seven. sometimes i think cougar town is funny.

that was fun. now onto the seven blogs i would like to bestow this award to...

LIFE IS GLAMOROUS & FABULOUS. tiffany is a darling friend of mine who always has great things to say about life, love, faith, family... you name it. i think she has close to 1.2 bazillion followers, so join the club if you haven't already.

KRISTEN & CO. kristen is tiffany's sister of all things! she always knows the "latest" on fashion, style, tv shows, you know, the important stuff. i always want to know if kristen thinks something is cool before i give it my final decision.

EMILY'S MAKEUP BAG. clod pod has single-handedly gotten us all out of our beauty ruts & has rescued my sad make-up application on more than one occasion. this girl is legit when it comes to product knowledge & i'm not quite sure what i'd do without her!

THE LITTLE KITCHEN THAT COULD. i believe this to be the one that started my love affair with blogs so many moons ago. my sister and i have made 99.9% of her recipes & have yet to be let down. they are instant favorites & she makes them easy to complete with her pictures & very detailed instructions. i will keep up with little kitchen's blog until they take me out feet first.

A JOY-FILLED JOURNEY. liz is hysterical. whether it be about her precious baby boy charlie or nyc or the latest reality show cast off, she will crack you up & then send you out into the world just a little bit more in the know.

COMING HOME TO SUN. you could say stephanie is a lady jack of all trades. the girl literally knows how to do everything and she shares it all on her blog which makes us all the better. she is working, going to school, being an incredibly doting wife, running around boston, and about a million other things, so steph, you're off the hook for the stipulations listed above but my list wouldn't be complete without mentioning your inspiring writing and perspective.

MILE MARKERS. well i'm clearly not going to alert kristin armstrong that i believe her blog to be one of the "most versatile" (can you imagine?!) but she's my all time favorite & i'm not going to neglect her because she's big time & i'm just a little bit less than that. thanks for marking my miles, kiki!

wow. this is the most effort i have ever put into a blog post. you all better still be reading. feel free to leave me comment after comment after comment!

change it is a comin'

couple things:

1) my blog was just recognized as one of the best on the internet and given a highly prestigious award, so i hope that makes you feel cool for reading me before i was a big deal.

2) in honor of my move to nyc, i've changed the title because things are about to get interesting...

3) uploaded a new design, too, which is fun and the best part is YOU CAN COMMENT AGAIN.

happy sunday, water bugs! xo, sem

snackeries

as i was sitting down to my 10am snack break, it dawned on me i have yet to mention my metamorphosis to the blogosphere. z and i started this tracy anderson "body perfection is possible" journey a little over a month ago and while i have cheated here and there (and everywhere) there are some tid bits of the program i have actually fallen in love with.

one being that i feel as though a little bit of gwyneth is with me anywhere i go. she is the one who told me about tracy, afterall, and i am indebted forever.

i also love the 30 minute muscular structure workout dvd that changes every ten days. we threw the 30 minute cardio dvd out the window after about four days, but the muscular structure one works your arms, abs and legs and i honestly think i'm seeing results. (even though my measurements have indeed stayed the same so far... which defies all logic.)

last but certainly not least, the "dynamic diet component" left a liiiiitle to be desired. nothing but pureed parsnips for seven days was not cutting it. so again, z and i modified and i think that's fine. a couple of things she introduced have been total lifelines and i will absolutely carry them with me from this day forward. for instance: la croix sparking water. the lime flavored version is my favorite, especially because it reminds me of when i was sick as a kid and i'd wake up in the middle of the night and reach for the sprite my mom left me and all the ice was melted, so it was really watered down with only minimal carbonation left... that's what this stuff tastes like. sounds strange, sounds odd, but it works for me. next are these amazing GLUTEN FREE thinkthin bars. someone please make sure i'm buried with one (chunky peanut butter flavored).

and that does it for the nutritional and dietary goodness blog post for today, folks. the moral of the story is gwyneth is always right. bu-byeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee....

girl's day

sem * maddie pie * abby

gettin' our toe-nie nails did. nothing better.

love her

a lot of people in my life are waiting for something right now. i feel like i've had more conversations surrounding this subject than at any time before. many of us are on the verge of something that hasn't quiiiiiite come to fruition and we're stressing... becoming impatient... and semi-spirialing.

keeks to the rescue. i might as well copy and paste her whole entry, but here's the jist...

When I was younger, I never thought about waiting, except to rush it along. But I am trying to cultivate a deeper level of patience in time for my 40th year. I have spent some time recently thinking and journaling about the Wait and I came to the conclusion that there are two ways to wait.

The first way is the path of Hurried Anxiety. This is a period of waiting characterized by fear and scatteredness. We push the reality of the wait to the outer edges of our consciousness and forge ahead with a spirit of busyness. We scramble and rush and do several things at once, none of them very well. We strive and dwell on the various things that could go wrong, giving our power and energy away to empty threats. It is a shallow way to wait. It is marked by the impatience of a child, minus the cuteness of youth.

The alternative way to wait is the Wait of Hopeful Expectation. This path is the peaceful, reflective version. It calls us to a higher level of consciousness, acutely aware of the discomfort of the wait while maintaining a willingness to be present in it. This kind of waiting creates an opportunity to seek clarity and focus and create a reservoir of stillness and intent. Whatever it is that we are waiting for is then blessed by the access to this reservoir, assuring that we will not run dry. Our usual nervous energy is collected and channeled into purposeful endeavors. Even if the endeavor is simply rest.

The most marked difference in the wait of hopeful expectation is the component of Trust. Whatever the challenge that lies ahead, be it of a personal nature, work related, or running related, the wait is the time to cultivate trust. Trust God, trust your training, trust your body (listen to it!), and trust your heart.

People who learn how to wait are ultimately the people who know when to make a move...we will only know how to go for it if we have truly learned how to wait for it.

complete blog can be read here. happy weekend of waiting in hopeful expectation!

xo, sem

that's just good tv

haven't dared turn on TLC since college. those shows are mind sucks and if i didn't go cold turkey and ban myself from the channel, i was going to fail out of school and turn into one of those 850lb people who never leave their tvs and have to have a crane come and take them out of their house.

but i think after a near 10-year hiatus, i'm ready to cave and put the learning channel back on my tivo. why? two words. extreme couponing.

this is the best video i could find and it's not that great at depicting the suspense and genius of the show as a whole... but my favorite so far is this lady (j'aime) who owed upwards of THIRTEEN HUNDRED DOLLARS at the register,but after coupons, paid $103! what?!?!?!!?

and in other television-related news... guess what starts this fridaaaaaaayyyyyyyyy?? (as if you needed a reminder)

"one of TV's greatest achievements"... couldn't have said it better myself. oh and you know i hate to brag...

**texas forever**