Oops

OK, so I've been very bad about posting the last 2 months. I think things have just been busier than ever and, unfortunately, my dedication to blogging has fallen by the wayside.

So here's an update.

Life in Renae Land is wonderful! Not only did I pass Spanish with flying colors but I've been working on my thesis and am feeling hopeful that it will get done this semester. Now I just have to get a piece written for the SW/Texas Popular Culture Association Conference in February and I will be caught up on must-dos for the moment.

Another happy tidbit of news it the addition of the most amazing man to my life. Kudos to E-harmony for their great profiling and matching system. Chris is a shining light of happiness in my life. If you're reading this, consider yourself priveleged to know about him. Part of me wants to keep him and all news of him tucked in close, safe and secure. Another part of me wants to shout from the rooftops what an amazing guy he is. God is so good! He has just been waiting to bring Chris into my life and now seems to be the perfect time. In the next few days, I will post a couple of photos we were able to take while he was here. On Thursday, I fly out to his place and meet his parents and family and friend. Oh, yeah, did I mention he lives in Michigan? I've never been a fan of the long distance relationship, but so far, so good. And it's not like it will be forever. :)

I hope that this finds all of you happy and healthy! Thanks to so many of you for your Christmas greetings and wishes that found their way to me. I hope your Christmas, your celebration of our Savior's birth, was wonderful and blessed.

Rainy day and Mondays - Take 2

OK, so today is both rainy and a Monday. But contrary to the song, the combination of the two has definitely not gotten me down. In fact, I'm feeling pretty darn good. It's a brand-new month, a brand-new week, a brand-new day. How could I possibly feel down knowing this?

But of course, the song reference got me thinking about other songs, and that (of course) gets me dancing. The following isn't really a top ten list so much as a track listing of the current soundtrack of my head. Enjoy!

1. Goodbye Says it All (Nothing like a little Blackhawk to wake one up)
2. Kiss the Girl (Love the Little Mermaid)
3. Manic Mondays (Monday theme song)
4. You're So Vain (Gotta have a little Carly Simon)
5. Closer to Fine (Who wouldn't love the Indigo Girls)
6. And We Danced (love the Hooters)
7. Jessie's Girl (perfect 80s song)
8. MBop (I have NO idea how this got in my head but it's stuck there!)
9. If You Leave (great older song)
10. Slow Dance More (a little Kenny Rogers)
11. You & I (and Jason Mraz to spice things up)
12. Fly Me to the Moon (absolutely necessary to have Frank in the mix)
13. Here Comes the Sun (my hopeful song for the day)

So that's it. The soundtrack of my life at the moment. Wishing sunny Mondays for all of you.

So I saw a variation of the following list on someone else's blog and thought I would modify it for my use. Kind of made me think and, I have to say, I enjoyed the process. So after completing it, I was thinking about how interesting (well, at least for me, maybe) it would be to come up with a Top 10 List every now and then. Top 10 things I'm thankful for, Top 10 best books I've read, Top 10 moments in my life, Top 10 Dancing Songs - sort of a world according to me. Be sure to check back for one in the near future. I'll also try to get some more fun photos posted. In the meantime, enjoy my list.

Ten movies you'd watch over and over:
1. Top Gun
2. Finding Nemo
3. Grease
4. Sixteen Candles
5. Casablanca
6. The Usual Suspects
7. Stealing Home
8. Sense and Sensibility
9. The Mummy
10. The Mummy Returns

Nine people you enjoy the company of:
1. Amy
2. Katia
3. Victoria
4. Fred
5. Edie & Kenny
6. Mindy
7. Roma & Rob
8. Sharon & Brian
9. Judy

Eight things you are wearing:
1. Jeans
2. My Irish T-shirt
3. Silver Earrings
4. Big comfy UNI sweatshirt
5. Tennies
6. Warm vanilla sugar scent
7. Contacts
8. Watch

Seven things on your mind:
1. The sun is about to come out!
2. My friend’s coming to visit tonight!
3. Micah & Jamie’s new baby – Isaiah Walker
4. Brian & Sharon’s new baby – Noah Keith
5. Spanish class – have to study vocabulary!
6. Yeah! It’s Thursday!
7. God is so good – ALL the time!

Six objects you touch every day:
1. My Bible
2. My toothbrush
3. My laptop
4. My CD player
5. Whatever book I’m currently reading
6. My cell phone

Five things you do every day:
1. Pray
2. Laugh
3. Love
4. Sing
5. Dance

Four bands/groups/musical acts you love:
1. Selah
2. Switchfoot
3. Neil Diamond
4. Mary Chapin Carpenter

Three of your favorite songs at this moment:
1. One Thing I Know - Selah
2. Dare You to Move - Switchfoot
3. Loving Arms – Darden Smith

Two people who have influenced your life the most:
1. My Dad
2. Jesus Christ

One person who you love more than anyone in the world:
1. Amy -my lifelong friend

Victoria (Elmo) & Amy (Monster) having fun at Target 

Amy, Me and Jonathan on Friday night 

Once again

Good evening, my friends. Once again it has been some time since I've posted. Chalk it up to a crazy life. All good, but definitely crazy. Here are the highlights of the past few weeks:

*My friends Brian and Sharon welcomed Baby Noah into their lives on 10/16. What an amazing blessing this little guy is! They are home now and doing very well!

*I passed my Spanish midterm - yes this is a huge thing!

*Spent a great weekend with my Mom, and got to spend time with a few cousins as we helped Mom clean and sort and get ready to put her house on the market.

*Saw Selah in concert - phenomenal!

*And the biggest highlight was flying out to Philadelphia on October 13th to be with my best friend Amy as she was installed as the new Cantor of KI Reform Congregation. Not only did I get to spend some amazing time with Amy but I also got to spend time with another of my best friends, Victoria. And I got to meet Victoria's friend Kevin. Also got to see my friend Jonathan. It was an amazing weekend. To top it off, I got to see my friend Fred, who lives in Omaha but is originally from near Philly, in Philadelphia! Pretty cool trip.

Life is good...no, life is great, wonderful, blessed.

Love you all....

For all you dedicated readers...

I just checked when the last time I posted was and realized it's been over a month. So sorry for all of you dedicated readers out there.

Does it make sense if I say that this is one of the sanest and happiest times of my life, yet also the craziest? Because honestly, that's how it feels. I am so happy to live where I live and have the friends I do, and the job I work at. I don't think things could be any better. And then I look at my crazy schedule and wonder when I'm supposed to sleep! Between Spanish class, a class through church, helping with BYF, doing homework and spending time with friends, I am never home! But you know, it's a good thing. Crazy doesn't necessarily equate to unhappy. In fact, in my case, I think crazy shows how well-adjusted I am to this new phase in my life and how very happy and loved I feel.

So to any of you dear, wonderful, loved friends or family out there who might read this, thank you! Thank you for keeping me sane while keeping me insanely busy! Thank you for helping me make wonderful memories - just the moments of laughter from this week are enough to keep me smiling for the next year. You all are the reason I've made this far. You all are the ones who prayed when I didn't think I'd make it. You were God in the flesh for me. Thank you. I love you.

Because my life is centered around my Father, I wanted to take a few sentences and ask you to say a quick prayer for all those things on both of our hearts. I have some amazing friends who need some prayer and need the touch of God in their lives. If you could stop for a moment and just ask God's will, I would appreciate it. In church last week, Pastor talked about being a blessing. In Genesis 12:2, God tells Abraham that he is blessed to be a blessing. Thank you for being a blessing in my life!

I pray peaceful days for all of you...

Roma with the rhino at Legoland in the Mall of America

Our perfectly pedicured toes 

Rainy days and Mondays...

Ah, rainy days and Mondays... Funny thing is it's not raining, not even close. In fact, the weather is gorgeous. At this very moment, it is 64 degrees with a light breeze and a few clouds drifting across the sky. People talk about Rocky Mountain sunsets and watching the sun rise over the ocean. I think I'll take my little piece of heaven , out here on the top of a hill in rural, Western Iowa. Watching the sun rise over rows and rows of Iowa field corn, now that's something worth watching. Stepping outside tonight, I noticed the lights of town 15 miles southwest of here. The only other lights were those of the fireflies as they danced in my yard, and of course, the light of the stars millions of miles above us. It's amazing how many more stars I can see out here versus being in town.

So it's not rainy, and although it's Monday, somehow it just doesn't feel like it. The day was full of little moments of wonderful...laughing with co-workers, dancing to my own beat as I tried to clean off my desk, special e-mails from dear friends, a brownie-batter blizzard treat from Luke, having things work out - just so. So very many reasons to count my blessings. Wishing you wonderful rainy days and Mondays.

My friends Tony and Tami at the NOPHNRCSE Conference in Sacramento, CA, June 2004 

Amy and I at our favorite eatery - Panera! 

Sean and Ian with the Guys at the firehouse in Chinatown where Backdraft was filmed 

Late Sunday Evening...

This weekend was spent mainly relaxing and trying to catch up on household chores.  Definitely a low key weekend and desperately needed.  After all of the traveling I've done this summer, I need to just relax and spend some quiet weekends at home.  However, I will once again be racking up the road miles next weekend as I head up to Minneapolis to meet with my older sister.  Ro and I are going to "shop till we drop" at the Mall of America, treat ourselves to lovely pedicures and just spend some good quality sister time together.  Definitely looking forward to seeing her and hanging out.  Of all my sisters, (I have a ton of them, well, five to be exact) Ro is the one that I am probably closest to.  She gets me.  And I like her husband - which is a huge thing! 
 
So I'll be posting some photos in the next few days of some different aspects of my life.  Some are from the NOPHNRCSE conference in Sacramento, a few from the Chicago vacation earlier in June, and we'll finish out with a couple of my time in Philly.
 
Have a great week all of you who stop by and peruse my words.  Let's keep it safe out there.  R

Just me at Amyla's

Amyla and I 

To begin with...

So if you're here reading this, I would think it safe to say you're interested in my life. This will give you a glimpse of it.

To say that the last few months have been chaotic would be a massive understatement. Since the beginning of April, I have traveled from my home in rural Iowa to San Antonio, Chicago, Sacramento and Philadelphia to name just a few of the places. My suitcases have rarely been unpacked but it's all been good.

I just returned last week from a spontaneous trip to Philadelphia. My best friend, Amy, flew me out to see her for my 30th birthday. What an awesome gift...and an awesome trip! Seeing Amy, and another best friend Victoria, on my birthday was wonderful. Just getting to spend time with both of them was exactly what I needed.

Now I'm home again and have been busy getting ready to finish up my MA this fall. Let's see, I have a thesis to finish and defend, oral and written comprehenisves to study for and take and a foreign language to learn - all by December. No problem. Talk to me in December.