rarest generic

It’s been a while since I updated my 27 before 27 list—I figured I’d save them up so I could post a bunch at once. I have five new ones for today. :)

#5 visit the farmer’s market (07/23/11)

Back in July, Jonathan and I finally went to the farmer’s market with a couple of our friends. We discovered all sorts of new foods (like purple bell peppers)! :) I didn’t take many pictures, but here was one of some yummy-looking squash:

#6 travel to a new state (08/25/11)

Undoubtedly one of my favorite things to cross off my list! Jonathan, Nick, and I went to Seattle, WA for the Penny Arcade Expo (extreme geekery!)—it was SO much fun and an absolutely amazing trip. Here’s a photo of the three of us at the top of the Space Needle:

#9 send an unsolicited gift (?)

I don’t have a specific date for this, nor do I have a photo, nor do I want to tell you to whom I gave the gift! I feel like that would defeat the purpose. ;) But I accomplished this in September, I promise.

#11 paint the hallway (10/12/11)

So I didn’t actually paint the hallway myself—Jonathan did it. But I can still cross it off my list, because it was accomplished before my birthday. :P While he was at it, he got really motivated and also turned our hallway door into a Dutch door. I am so impressed with his fearlessness when diving into projects like this. He is amazing! :)

#24 celebrate 4-year graduationversary (05/15/11)

This one was tons of fun. We went to the UNA campus four years after our graduation (to celebrate having been graduated as long as we were in college). We toured the campus, went to eat at one of our favorite spots, and recreated some funny pictures we took while we were still in college. I loved visiting again and thinking about how far we’ve all come.

As for the rest of my 27 before 27 list, I don’t foresee finishing it this year. A lot of the goals that remain cost money (visiting a new hockey rink, going camping [we own zero camping gear], take a class, preserve my wedding dress), which is something not in great supply. But I’ll keep working on the goals that I can, and I won’t sweat the ones I can’t get done. After all, I made the list for myself, to be fun—getting uptight about not completing it would defeat the purpose.

I haven’t decided yet if I’ll do a 28 before 28 list similar to this one for next year, or if I’ll do a reading list instead, or if I’ll just pick one goal like a New Year’s resolution…what do you think?

Over the past couple days I’ve completed two more things on my 27 before 27 list:

#14 – finish organizing / printing photos, completed on 04/30/11

It feels so good to finally have this done. I’m caught up through 2010, and I’ve even printed a few photos from 2011 (they’ll be stored in the adorable teal box until the end of the year when I know what size photo album I’m going to need).

#26 – read a non-fiction book, completed 04/29/11

I finished reading Heaven is for Real yesterday, currently #1 on the New York Times best-seller list in the non-fiction category. As a very short review, I’ll say that I enjoyed reading it, that I think some of it should be taken with a grain of salt, and that I don’t find it hard to believe that a good deal of it is true. I strongly encourage anyone who reads it to remember that Scripture is where we need to base our faith, not solely on a young boy’s story of going to Heaven. But it is an interesting story nonetheless, and I think it’s worth reading. :)

I still have a lot to do to accomplish all 27 things, but I’m getting there!

It’s time for a mass update about my 27 before 27 list. I’ve completed 5 more things since my last post about it. Now that the weather’s getting warmer around here I should be able to tackle some of the outdoor stuff soon. In the meantime, here are the newest items I’ve crossed off the list:

#4 – start a garden (03/19/11)

I planted some herbs today. Jonathan and I were hoping to have a full-out vegetable garden this year but the time’s not quite right yet. Instead, I’ve planted some basil, chives, lavender, and rosemary in a small plot next to our garage. I’ve never planted any herbs before so I’m hoping they’ll turn out.

#8 – read a classic novel (01/30/11)

Since I have an English degree, I’m kind of ashamed that it wasn’t until this year that I finally read Fahrenheit 451. It was, however, worth the wait. I really enjoyed it!

#10 – meet a neighbor (03/19/11)

I met our neighbor today. Well, it’s kind of a shame, really—he’s not technically our neighbor. He’s renovating the house next door in order to sell it, so unfortunately he won’t be around for long. But he’s a nice guy anyway—Dale. No pictures though (thought that might be kind of awkward :P).

#15 – update my resume (01/16/11)

Finally got around to doing this back in January. I’m not in the market for a new job or anything, I just hadn’t updated my resume in about three years, so it was past time. It feels really good to have this crossed off the list.

#17 – buy some red high heels (03/05/11)

This is definitely my favorite update. I searched long and hard for these babies. The requirements were that the shoes 1) be high heels, 2) be red, 3) be sexy, and 4) make me feel gorgeous. They definitely succeed at all that.

Hope to have another update in another month or so with more stuff crossed off the list! :)

As we’re nearing the end of 2010, a lot of people are thinking about their new year’s resolutions for 2011. I very rarely participate in the new year’s resolution craze—this coming year I’m not going to have a new year’s goal considering I have a list of 27 things to do before I turn 27 next November that I haven’t yet put much of a dent in. But over this past year, on top of my weekly goal list, I made a lengthy resolutions list, and I thought I should update on how I did this year in making these things happen.

1) I will write more.

I feel like I accomplished this. I didn’t put any specific measurements to it, but I’ve been journaling consistently once a week this year, sometimes twice, with an occasional miss. I’ve also blogged some, so I’d call this a success. The next step is to get back to creative writing, my real desire, something I haven’t done in a long time and feel drawn to do.

2) I will read more.

This one is also a success. I did manage to squeeze in 12 books this year, one being the NCV Bible which I completed reading in November (it took me two and a half years to read the whole thing!). I re-read all the Harry Potter books in preparation for the movie last month, and I also established one night a week as reading night, which I’ve been able to stick to on most weeks.

3) I will honor the Sabbath.

Like I said in my original new year’s resolution post at this time last year, for me, this is Sunday. That may change—I’ve started reading the Bible over again and this time I’m studying it, not just reading, but for now, I’m trying to get into the habit of taking a day of rest. Obviously there were quite a few weekends when I didn’t succeed at this, especially because it’s a habit that I have to form, but I’d say more weekends than not I did take Sunday to rest, so I’d call this one a win, too.

4) I will find a home church.

I was most worried about this one, but I did it! Fortunately for me I mentioned my church hunting woes at work one day and a lot of co-workers had some great suggestions, and I found a church as a result of that conversation. I really love it—I love the music, the atmosphere, and the teaching. It’s been really great.

5) I will take better care of my body.

This goal has definitely been my biggest challenge this year. I still haven’t successfully found a workout routine, but I haven’t given up. I have, however, made a lot of good choices when it comes to the food that I eat, so at least I’ve made some progress there! Hopefully into 2011 I can really tackle this.

6) I will be more loving.

This goal happens to be the least quantifiable, but I think I met my own expectations of what I wanted to do. My goal was to train myself to think more about others and less about myself—I’ve made a lot of progress in this and it’s something that I’ll continue to work on as life goes on. There’s always room for improvement here, especially because people are generally selfish by nature, including myself.

All in all I’m really happy with my progress over the last year, and I’m determined to carry the good habits and thoughts into 2011.

Happy new year! :)

I hadn’t planned on completing this goal so soon (#27 on my 27 before 27 list: add another classic to our Disney movie collection), but my mom and dad are apparently looking out for me, because they bought us Beauty and the Beast for Christmas! :)

I definitely plan on adding many more to our collection, but this is a start and enough to cross off another goal!

On December 12th, I completed #16 on my 27 before 27 list: attend a rock concert. On a whim, JB and I decided to go see the Trans-Siberian Orchestra! :) We went to see them two Christmases ago, but we enjoyed the show all the same! And if you don’t think TSO counts as rock…then you have never heard their really good stuff. ;) Here are some pictures chronicling the evening—enjoy!

Cookies and I have a love-hate relationship…I love them, but they hate me. Okay, the cookies probably don’t hate me, but I am notoriously terrible at making cookies unless I buy that pre-made cookie dough that’s already cut into perfect little disks. Hence why I chose sugar cookies for #1 on my 27 before 27 list: make a dessert from scratch.

Step 1 – make a mess of the kitchen

Step 2 – mix, roll, and cut

Step 3 – make an overdone batch

Step 4 – make an underdone batch

Step 5 – make a batch that’s juuuust right!

Mission #1 complete (12/07/2010). :)

For the past two years, I have created a weekly goal planner for the new year—I started with a yearly calendar in Excel and thought of a goal for every week of the year. After two years of doing this, I feel really satisfied with the things I’ve accomplished by this exercise, but as I approach the end of year 2, I feel like it’s time for something different—something a little more fun and a little more flexible.

Enter the “27 before 27” list. I had this idea a while ago and I’ve been working on this list for a couple months now. I’ve been eager to start but I thought it was too early. Now that I’m about 1 week from my 26th birthday, I feel like I can get started. :)

Some of these things are looming tasks that I never get around to; some are simply fun little things to remind myself to relax once in a while. In any case, here is my 27 before 27 list:

1)                make a dessert from scratch

2)                visit a new hockey rink

3)                take a class

4)                start a garden

5)                visit the farmer’s market

6)                travel to a new state

7)                sew something

8)                read a classic novel

9)                send an unsolicited gift

10)          meet a neighbor

11)          paint the hallway

12)          donate blood

13)          preserve wedding dress

14)          finish organizing/printing photos

15)          update résumé

16)          attend a rock concert

17)          buy some red high heels

18)          go camping

19)          walk or run for a purpose

20)          go to a museum

21)          go canoeing

22)          have a 100% “me” day

23)          buy a bicycle

24)          celebrate 4-year graduationversary

25)          color an entire coloring book

26)          read a non-fiction book

27)          add to Disney movie collection

What do you think?

via Dweebist 

In the midst of the busy life, the new house, preparing for an anniversary trip, much insanity at work, and new health problems arising in my little family, it’s easy to get busy doing things and forget to just “live.” This might sound abstract, but it really inspired me this morning. Hope it inspires you, too.

For those of you who are still interested in my resolutions updates (and by “for those of you” I mean “for me so I’ll get my butt in gear”), I’ll say up front I’ve not been doing well on most of my goals. There is a lot going on in my life right now…all the things that come with the end of the “fiscal year” at work, a huge project at work that I’m spearheading, and now house stuff.

Yes, indeed, Jonathan and I are looking to buy our first home. We’re pretty far along in the process…pending a home inspection and a loan approval (and closing, of course), we should be getting a house next month.

I’m very excited about it, but I do tend to slack on my resolutions when I have so much going on. I don’t think I’m going to be able to give 100% to my resolutions in the coming weeks. I have to give myself a break while I’m so busy. But I do think I can do better. And I will, starting today!

For those of you who are interested, here’s a picture of the house. Hopefully Jonathan and I will get out soon to take pictures of our own, but this picture on the listing is the best I can do for now.

Thanks for keeping me accountable. I hope you’re all doing well with your goals!

If you’re keeping up with these updates with any consistency, you might have noticed I didn’t post a resolutions update last week. Actually, I’ve done very well on all fronts, including the frequency of my workouts (the hardest part of all for me). Since I’ve done well, I didn’t feel the need to post last Sunday. I think it’s important that I keep on updating about my progress, but I think perhaps I don’t need to do it every week anymore. Everything is coming easier for me now that it’s been a few weeks and I’ve been holding myself accountable via this blog. So I’ll definitely keep updating, but probably on a bi-weekly basis for now until either 1) I start to lapse and need to update weekly again or 2) do even better and can further reduce the number of resolutions update posts (let’s hope for the latter)! :) Thanks for reading—keep holding me accountable!

1. I will write more.
2. I will read more.
3. I will honor the Sabbath.
4. I will find a home church.
5. I will take better care of my body.
6. I will be more loving.

I can do it!

Success is a fight between you and yourself. ~ Unknown

This past week I did much better with all of my goals. I wrote quite a bit, I read quite a bit, I rested a lot this weekend and have churches lined up for every Sunday in February. I managed to focus more on others than myself at work which has been especially difficult given the struggles and stress there. I got plenty of sleep and ate well this week, too.

But what I can’t seem to get in the swing of things is exercising on a regular basis. I have tried and tried. My husband is a personal trainer and even that doesn’t get me working out as often as I should.

So my question to you is: how do you stay active? What are your tricks for making yourself exercise, especially when you don’t want to?

Well, friends, I didn’t do too well this week with my resolutions. Honestly, I’ve felt sick all week. Not sick sick, but my-body-is-fighting-off-a-sickness-and-making-me-feel-awful sick. Like I-need-a-nap-every-day sick. Like I-can-barely-make-myself-go-to-work-every-day sick. So that has put a damper on my goals.

I am feeling better this afternoon though, which I hope is a sign that the rest I’ve been giving myself has defeated whatever it was that was trying to invade my health.

Here’s to a successful week. :)

A recent blog post on a favorite blog of mine, Tip Junkie, featured a “word of the year” giveaway (the giveaway has ended now—sorry!). The challenge was to pick one word that describes what you want out of 2010.

I found the idea intriguing. I thought perhaps that having a one-word mantra for the whole year might remind me of what I want to accomplish. I chose the word “commitment,” specifically commitment to myself and the goals I’ve always wanted to achieve. This is the year that I want to buckle down and do the things I’ve always wanted to do and never have.

What about you? If you had to choose one word to describe what you want out of this new year, what would it be?

For this week’s resolution update, I’m going to rate myself on a scale of 1 to 10, 1 meaning I completely failed at meeting my goal this past week, and 10 meaning there is nothing I could’ve done better to meet my goal. I’ll just straight up say…I did not do well this week.

1) I will write more. 8 – I was consistent with my blogging and journaling.

2) I will read more. 8 – I read quite a bit this week, mostly my magazines.

3) I will honor the Sabbath. 7 – Despite having company over this weekend, I managed to do most of my chores on Saturday and rested most of the day today.

4) I will find a home church. 5 – I didn’t go to church this morning, but I did do some research to find a few more new churches to try in the coming weeks.

5) I will take better care of my body. 5 – I couldn’t get into working out this week. Really, there’s no excuse.

6) I will be more loving. 5 – I had an extremely frustrating week at work, and it’s during those stressful times that I get more caught up in myself and my own needs than I should. I need to be better at focusing on others.

Not a stellar week, but again, there’s always tomorrow.

“Doing your best means never stop trying.”

Another week has gone by…here are my updates on my resolutions:

1) I will write more. I’ve been blogging pretty consistently (as you can see). I didn’t, however, write in my journal last Wednesday like I was supposed to. I think I’ll be doing that tonight—I need to.

2) I will read more. I didn’t read on Thursday, my designated reading night. I talked to a friend instead, but I hadn’t talked to her in a while so it was worth it. I did read quite a bit during the rest of the week.

3) I will honor the Sabbath. I worked hard on Saturday to get my chores accomplished so I could rest today. We did have to go look at a house today (we’re in the market) but we couldn’t go and see it yesterday—the realtor was busy. I prepped dinner last night again so I wouldn’t have to spend a lot of time in the kitchen.

4) I will find a home church. I went to another church again this morning, and I’ve been praying for God to show me where He wants me to be!

5) I will take better care of my body. Confession—this is not going well. I’m stress eating. And I only worked out twice last week. But I have to remind myself that twice is more than zero, and I have to remember that this is a new week with new opportunities. I can do this!

6) I will be more loving. I haven’t done well this week to focus on what other people need rather than my own feelings. Work has been very stressful for me lately and I’m getting swept up in my stress rather than how I can be a servant for others. I need to improve on this.

Overall, not an excellent job, but blogging about this stuff is keeping me thinking about what I need to do. I think it’ll be better going forward!

It’s been one week since I posted about my goals for this new year, but I feel like I’ve already made strides to achieve all of them. Here are my updates:

1) I will write more. Well, for starters, I’ve written 7 blog posts already (not all have posted), including this one. I’d say that’s more than I was writing. I’ve also committed to writing at least 2 posts a week and have scheduled this writing time in my planner (Sunday and Monday). I scheduled time to write in my journal every Wednesday and I managed to accomplish that this past week. I also created a bookmark folder in Firefox for “things to post about” so when I see something online that makes me think of a post I can write, I have it saved. I’d say I met this goal this week.

2) I will read more. I finished reading my 9th book of 2009 just before the year was over (Lost in a Good Book by Jasper Fford; book banter post to come). I’m already reading quite a few books (you can see the list of my current reads on the right side of this page), and I’ve started reading two more books this past week, Severance and The Big Over Easy. I’ve designated every Thursday as reading night, and I’ve been keeping up with reading all the blogs to which I’ve subscribed. I didn’t read this past Thursday (it was New Year’s Eve so I was busy), but I did read a lot this past week. I feel like I’ve accomplished this goal this week, too.

3) I will honor the Sabbath. I thought this would be a lot harder for me than it has been. I usually have a slew of chores to do on the weekend, so this week I wrote them all in my planner on Friday and Saturday, and that included prepping tonight’s dinner yesterday to minimize the work I’d have to do today. We’re having slow-cooker pot roast, so there’s minimal hands-on time anyway (I planned this on purpose). I’ve written all my recurring weekend chores on a post-it that I will stick on every Saturday so I make sure I get them done that day (laundry, grocery shopping, giving the house a quick tidying up, etc.). The only thing that some might consider “work” that I’ll be doing on Sunday is writing my resolutions update post, but I don’t consider that work. Writing (anything) is something I enjoy. I realize the day isn’t over yet, but I think I’ve succeeded this week at honoring the Sabbath.

4) I will find a home church. I’ve written it in my planner every Saturday to decide where I’m going to go to church the next day, that way I’ve committed before my alarm goes off the next morning that I have somewhere specific to be. I attended church this morning and I’m keeping a list of all the churches I’ve been to with some notes about my experience there to make it easier to track where I’ve been. This week, I’ve done as much as I can toward this goal. This one will just take time.

5) I will take better care of my body. Late last year there was a solid 5-week time period when I was working out every weekday, and I hope to get there again, but I’m not going to dive right into that just yet. This past week I only worked out once—I know I could’ve done better. This coming week I’m going to work out 3 days, and late in January I’m going to resume the 5-day routine. In the meantime, I’ve found some workout videos to stream on Netflix, and I’ve been writing out some small workouts I can do here in the house as well as some ideas about outdoor workouts so I can choose from a list what I’d like to do that night rather than get stuck in a rut like I usually do. I was also a lot more conscious this week about my food choices, trying to work in more vegetable servings (you’ll find in keeping up with this resolution that vegetables and I have a hate-hate relationship), and I’ve been consistent about getting at least 8 hours of sleep every night. All of these will prove more difficult this week as work is resuming tomorrow. I think I could’ve done a little better this past week, but I have made improvements and plans toward getting better, so I’d say I met this goal.

6) I will be more loving. This one is a little hard to track. I can think of many times this past week when I consciously stopped my thought process to insert positive thoughts of service—I had to make myself stop internally complaining and start volunteering my time and energy (especially to my coworkers) with a happy heart. This was hard for me last week because I had a specific set of tasks I wanted to accomplish and I didn’t because I was busy helping others. But it isn’t about me, it’s about other people. This will take some time too, but I feel like I accomplished this goal this past week.

To help me achieve all of these goals, I’ve put an extra piece of paper in my planner on every Sunday so I can jot in notes and keep track of my progress during the week. And perhaps the biggest stride I’ve taken to achieve all of these goals is adding them to my daily prayer list. “…With God all things are possible.” Matthew 19:26

Overall, I’ve done well. Here’s to continued success!

How are you doing with your New Year’s resolutions so far?

Welcome to Saturday SOS (simple organizing solutions). I love organization; let’s just establish this now. I organize everything—my CDs, my craft supplies, my recipes, my to-dos—you name it, I organize it. I love organization for two reasons:

• Organization is easy for me
• Organization makes my life easier

I realize that not everyone has the blessing of that first bullet. I count myself very lucky to have the organizing gene. But I think everyone will agree with the second bullet—organization streamlines your day. It simplifies the mundane to leave you more time for the exciting parts of life. Instead of searching around for 15 minutes trying to find that recipe I wanted to try tonight, I know exactly where it is—I can find it and start cooking without wasting time!

Admittedly, just because I love organization and it comes naturally to me doesn’t mean every area of my life is organized. Organizing takes a lot of time, something I’m working on managing better and better each day. So to kick off my SOS posts, I decided to find 5 areas in my apartment that I wish were more organized:

1. My bedroom closet and dresser
2. Wedding leftovers
3. Spice cabinet
4. My desk
5. Holiday decorations

After I had identified the areas that needed a little SOS, I listed some ways I could organize each one.

1. My bedroom closet and dresser – get rid of shoes I never wear, get rid of the box of books I need to sell, get rid of clothing I never wear, re-organize the clothing to better utilize space; remove things from bedroom closet that belong somewhere else in the apartment
2. Wedding leftovers – reorganize the tote of keepsakes from the wedding, sell or donate the pile of supplies I’ll not need again (this will mean taking inventory of everything I have, researching how much money I can make for everything, taking pictures and posting on Craigslist)
3. Spice cabinet – take everything out and throw away expired stuff, organize into categories, find containers, label containers and put everything in its designated space, somehow make measuring cups more easily accessible (I haven’t figured out the solution to this yet)
4. My desk – de-clutter the corkboard, remove all paper clutter from desk surface, find a way to make the space more inviting, organize desk drawer
5. Holiday decorations – separate decorations into different holidays, get rid of any decorations that we don’t like, buy appropriate containers and store each holiday’s decorations in a separate container (right now they are all jammed into one huge box)

The next step will be to commit to a day to tackle each area, but you get the picture. The hardest part is deciding you need to organize something and then making the plan to do it.

I’ll keep you posted on my progress!

Are there any areas in your life that need organization (think outside the home, too)?

Blue Like Jazz

Donald Miller 

______________________

I finished reading Blue Like Jazz last Sunday evening, and I’m pleased to say I loved it. I’d heard some pretty interesting criticism of this book (sorry, Don, if you’re reading this) that made me a little nervous. But the things I heard also made me excited to read it. People were talking about the controversial ideas, or about the author and his “strange” beliefs. Me? I’ve struggled with “Christianity” as a religion all my life. That’s not to say I haven’t been a Christian for years—I have. It’s not the faith I’ve toiled with, it’s the religion. So when I saw the subtitle of this book, “Nonreligious thoughts on Christian Spirituality,” I was immediately intrigued. This sounded fresh to me. I didn’t recognize any of the names on the back of the book singing Donald’s praises, nor did I understand the title. I didn’t get the cover imagery. And I wasn’t sure what these “nonreligious thoughts” would turn out to be. But something about it, about the things I’d heard and what I felt in that subtitle made me want to read it. So I did.

I was right—the perspective in Blue Like Jazz is fresh. It feels raw. It feels honest. It feels like all those questions you’ve always wanted to ask but were always afraid to, because you knew your parents or your pastor would question you questioning your religion. It feels like all those times when you were frustrated that you didn’t understand God or the way this world works. It feels like somebody looking at you in the eye and telling you that you aren’t the only one who has these thoughts.

Here are the three most important takeaways I got from this book:

1) I am worth loving, and I know this because Jesus loves me. I have believed in Jesus for years. I accepted a long time ago that He is God’s son, that He died on the cross for all sinners, and that I believe in Him. I asked Him years ago to come into my heart and save me, and He did. But it wasn’t until Sunday night, after finishing this book, when I went to pray and think on the things I’d just read, that God revealed to me that I am worth loving. No matter what mean things I might say or think, no matter what terrible things I might do, I am still worth loving, and Jesus is proof of this. I felt so relieved and joyful when I realized this.

2) Christianity’s history is pretty ugly, and I’m not the only one who thinks so. In Blue Like Jazz, Donald writes about how he and his fellow students set up a “confession booth” on their college campus, not to take confessions from others, but to apologize for all the wrongs that Christians have done to humanity, from the violence of the Crusaders to their own lack of caring and loving of their fellow students. I’ve always felt defensive in the past when someone would address the evils in Christianity’s past, and even in its present. But it never occurred to me to face these problems and let people know that Christianity isn’t and never will be perfect. After all, this is why we need Jesus in the first place.

3) It is not my responsibility to change people, just to love them unconditionally. I felt so free when I realized this (and it sounds like Don did, too). God has taken the responsibility of changing people off of my plate! I don’t know why I ever thought it was mine to begin with. I’m such a judgmental person. I get it from my father. I’ve always grappled with it and, frankly, never liked it about myself! I want to be someone who can have her opinions without judging people who don’t share them. Instead, I will just love people, and leave the changing up to God.

I realize not everyone who reads Blue Like Jazz will have the same revelations I’ve had. I realize that many people probably already had all this together. But reading a book that is honest and that addresses Christian issues is refreshing and empowering. Many thanks to Donald Miller for his candidness, and to God for dropping this book in my lap. It has changed me.

Wealth consists not in having great possessions,

but in having few wants.

Esther de Waal, Seeking God: The Way of St. Benedict

___________________

My husband and I had a discussion last Wednesday about what we would do if we were ever to win the lottery. We were on our way home from a nice dinner out and saw a billboard for the Powerball which got our imaginations rolling. The chances of us winning the lottery are quite slim, especially considering we don’t even play it, but we thought it would be fun to daydream about it.

Of course we decided we would get rid of our student loans first, and probably the loans of our friends and family, too. Then we would design and build our dream home from scratch, and probably do the same for our parents. We’d put a great deal of money into savings, we’d give a great deal to charity, and we’d buy lots of video games.

But the longer we talked about our impossible plans for our impossible lottery winnings, the more I realized that I was bordering on want. I realized that day in the car as we were discussing that there is a fine line between daydreaming and want.

I’ve always had an issue with envy—it’s something I struggle with. I pray very frequently that God would help me have a sense of contentment with what I have, and that He would also show me daily the blessings that are around me that I so frequently miss.

As soon as I began to feel negative emotions about not having this lottery money, I let the discussion trail off. It had become unconstructive—no—deconstructive. It’s okay to daydream, but it isn’t okay to dwell on things you don’t have.

What do you do to stay content with the blessings in your life? How do you stay on the daydreaming side of the line?