All in a year's work

Sometimes life teaches you things when you're not looking. Here's a glimpse of what I've learned this year:


A two-year old really can have just the right words to make a bad day 100% better.


Investing in people is more important than investing in things.


Kate likes brussel sprouts and collard greens. Weird and awesome at the same time.


You can smell like a million bucks for free just by getting two or three free perfume samples every time you go by a Sephora and starting a collection.


Dryer sheets damage the heating coils in your dryer and make your dryer less efficient. Liquid softener is all you need. (Gain Original scent or Downy with the pink top smell the best.)


Sometimes your iPhone's autospell doesn't recognize southern slang.


Putting peppermint mocha creamer in your coffee in the mornings can help you pretend you're driving to the snow-covered ski slopes in Colorado instead of driving to work. It can also lead to your students commenting on your noticeable 'better mood.'


God wants you to pray BIG. Don't 'dumb down' or 'easy up' your prayers by only praying for things you know will probably happen anyway. Pray for the deepest desires of your heart, pray for the things you think are 'impossible' and sit back and watch God be God. He is Almighty and is in no way constrained by the ways of the this world.


It's completely okay not to be good at everything.


Watching So You Think You Can Dance can make you wish you would have stuck with Buddy Sherwood's School of Dance, even if you couldn't stick that back bend during your recital routine to Kenny Loggin's "Danger Zone"... even if you did visibly move your lips to count your dance steps. It can also make you want to be best friends with the host, Cat Deeley, so you can borrow her clothes.


You still get nervous about having a newborn your second time around.


Time spent with family may not always be perfect, but it's always memorable.

December 2009