Currently January

In blog-related news, yesterday's post was my 900th!  That's so crazy to me.  I noticed I was getting close before Christmas, and meant to do a special post making a big deal out of it, but then I completely forgot, and it was just my Christmas recap.  That's pretty good though.  Maybe I will hit 1000 before baby Smith arrives!

Anyway,  another month means another Currently post.  Here's what I'm up to:

Planning: for a new baby to arrive in just 4 months!  EEK!  How did time fly by so quickly?  I'm trying to get all registered and then plan out a few DIY projects for the nursery.  I really want to use some furniture that we already have, so I'll be trying to freshen them up a bit.

Hoping:  that the next several months go as smoothly as possible.  Praying for a healthy baby and a healthy me.

Baking:  still not baking anything.  I'm tempted to whip up some cookies just so I have something to say, but no.

Wearing: anything that still fits!   A lot of my regular clothes still fit, but just aren't as comfortable or flattering as maternity options.  I've ordered a few more things online this week, so I'm hoping those will give me some new inspiration.  And I will continue to rely on scarves and cardigans to add color to the neutral maternity options I have found.

Resolving:  I don't really do resolutions anymore.  If anything, I'm trying to really live in the present this year, and not worry about what is coming next, or over-analyze what I should have done differently yesterday.  Everyone tells you how fast the years go by when you have a baby, so I want to treasure every moment (and I know I won't, because it's going to be tough)!

What are you currently doing?  Link up with  In Residence and Dearest Love to share your answers! 

Scarf: CK
Maternity Dress: Younkers (similar)
Belt: Gap  (exact)
Tights: Target (similar)
Boots: Madden  (exact)

Coral and Floral

I hadn't paired my current favorite skirt with coral yet, so I had to do it.  And you know I love mixing prints, so the stripes were also pretty much a given.  This was one of those outfits that probably just has too much going on for the average person, but I quite liked it.  And I am quite fondly looking back on those balmy fall days when I could get away with bare legs.  Don't worry, I'll run out of these type of outfit photos soon, and then I won't keep talking about it.

Cardigan: Gap (similar)
Tee: Gap (similar)
Skirt: Macy's (exact, Similar)
Shoes: Old Navy (option, option)

Praying Mantis Invasion

I feel weird about this outfit.  It seemed like a good idea when I put it on, and then when I got to work, I felt like a clown.  I think there's just too much going on here.  So, it was an awkward day, made all the more awkward by the following story.

In a rare turn of events, I took outfit pictures before I went to work.  It was a fiasco.  The sun was coming up over the house, so there was just a little corner by the screen door for taking pictures.  I set up and started snapping away, when I noticed...  PRAYING MANTIS INVASION!  That may be a bit dramatic, but there were TWO and they really looked like they were trying to break into our house.  Terrifying.  THEN a squirrel jumped off the roof onto the tree branch right over my head and a bunch of leaves fell.  And then I couldn't see what happened to the one praying mantis, so I felt very nervous.  Then I found him, and he was lower down on the screen, but still looked threatening.  They are just very creepy creatures! 

And on top of all that, our neighbors are getting new siding, and there were 2 worker guys walking in and out of their backyard who were probably wondering what the weird girl next door was doing.  Oh, nothing - just taking pictures of my outfit to post on the internet, and scheming how to get back into my house without riling up the praying mantises of doom.  

Tee & Cardigan: Gap
Necklace: won in giveaway
Jeans: Limited
Shoes: Payless

Five Things

I've seen this "5 things" chain floating around, and at first I was like "Phew, I hope I don't get tagged!" because of fact #1, but then I started to feel left out, so I was pretty excited when Kate tagged me.  Without any further ado, here's my 5 facts:  

1. I totally choke whenever there is any pressure.  I mean, I think I am a fairly interesting person, but whenever I'm in a group and we are supposed to share a "fun fact", I completely panic, and end up saying something like "I'm really bad at coming up with fun facts, but I am fun, I promise!" and then everyone thinks I'm kind of strange.  The same panic applies to any competition.  I'm not a great bowler, but I can usually get about 100 if I am not paying attention to the score.  However, if someone points out to me that I have 98, and my previous turn was a spare, so I really only need to get 1 pin in the 10th frame, I will almost always roll 2 gutter-balls.  This is super frustrating!
2. I have broken my front right tooth so many times that I have lost count.  The first time was when I was 7, and I did a flip on a bike rack that was much shorter than I thought, and I smashed my face on the concrete.  The next time I was 9 (and super graceful), and a mean boy tripped me when I was running.  I pretty much skidded face first across the sidewalk.  Over the next 5 or so years, I broke it several other times, on a random candy cane, or biting too hard on a fork.  I stopped counting around the 10th time.  I am very thankful that my dentist was able to fix it and you can't tell unless you get very close (and unless you are my husband, you shouldn't be that close).   
3. I collect elephants as travel souvenirs.  My dad traveled a fair amount when I was a kid, and brought back souvenirs for us kids.  When I was pretty young, I ended up with a set of elephants from Zaire (which no longer exists), and a set of elephants from India.  In 2002, I bought some from a flea market in Istanbul.  In 2003, one of my friends got me one from her trip to Guatemala.  In 2005, I bought one in Rome.  In 2006, I hit the jackpot in Kenya and got the little ivory elephant, plus elephant bookends!  My recent travels have been trickier, because there aren't as many elephant figurines in the tourist shops around the Caribbean, but I found one in Puerto Rico, and another one in Honduras.    
4. I'm sort of tall.  I have been 5'9'' since I was about 13 years old.  This was not great in those awkward middle school years when I towered over all my friends (and all the boys).  For some reason, I have embraced the tall, and always wore high heels anyway.  I don't feel super tall anymore, probably because I have quite a few tall friends and co-workers.  People still give me a hard time when I am wearing heels, like "aren't you tall enough?" and I sort of wonder if they go around teasing short people who wear flats.  I think probably not.
5. I have a complicated relationship with Nebraska Cornhusker football.  I was born in Nebraska, but then moved to Kansas when I was a baby.  For some reason, I decided as a very young child that I would be a huge Husker fan.  It probably helped that they were awesome in the mid-90s, too.  I continued my superfandom throughout middle and high school, and decided I was going to the University of Nebraska.  I remember my dad saying something like "You can't pick a college just because you like their football team!" and I was kind of like "well, yeah, I can..."  Once I got to Nebraska, my love of the Huskers started to fade.  It probably didn't help that they were awful when I had my student season tickets.  (Bill Callahan, anyone?)  Anyway, I don't really pay attention to the Husker games at all anymore, and have found that game days are the best time to go grocery shopping, because there are no lines!         

I am too lazy to figure out who has already done this, so I'm tagging anyone who is reading this!  What are 5 random facts about you?

Tee and Cardigan: Gap
Skirt: Target
Boots: Wanted

Ruzzle Addict

Take One, Pass It On Item: pearl necklace from last Tuesday's post.

So, have you all jumped on the Ruzzle fad yet?  My brother and sister got me hooked on this game.  It's basically Boggle for smartphones, with a little bit of Scrabble thrown in.

I'm going to brag a little bit and say that I am ridiculously good at Boggle.  I mean, no one will play with me, because it just isn't fun.  For some reason, my brain is really great at seeing words in a random assortment of letters.  Surprisingly, this is of no use to me in my every day life and career.

My biggest problem with Ruzzle is that it tells you how many words you found, and then it tells you how many words exist to be found.  In Boggle, I just know that I found 50 words and my opponent found 25, so I get to feel really awesome.  Ruzzle tells me that there were 297 total words, and then I feel bad about myself, even when I win!  Why can't this game just let me be happy that I found more words than the other player?  Seriously, Ruzzle, stop ruining my life!   (at least I'm not being dramatic.)  

I don't believe there are 275 words to be found!

Dress and Cardigan: Gap
Necklace: gift (from China)
Tights: Old Navy
Shoes: BCBGeneration

Lazy Weekend

Happy Monday!  I hope you all had a fabulous weekend.  Mine was pretty low-key, which is perfect after all the craziness of the holidays.

We finally gave up on our old dishwasher and bought a new one.  It was delivered Friday night, and John got it all set up!  It is so shiny and looks great in the kitchen!  Is being excited about a new dishwasher a sign of old age?

I worked for a few hours on Saturday,then did stuff around the house.  On Sunday, we had church, and then were just lazy.  I did a little grocery shopping, and may have bought a new purse.  I honestly have no idea how I end up on the non-grocery side of Target!  

And finally, the big giveaway winner is....Shanea!  Congratulations!  Thanks to everyone who entered and helped spread the word. 

Cardigan: Gap
T-shirt: Loft
Jeans: Old Navy
Boots: Wanted via Piperlime

Favorite Books of 2012

Since I read 50 books in 2012, and I didn't write reviews on most of them, I figured I should write up a list of my favorites.  These are in no particular order:

• A Storm of Swords - Since this is book 3 in the series, it's kind of tricky, because you'd have to read books 1 and 2.  Right now, I am about a quarter of the way through book 5 and really love all of the books, but book 3 was my favorite.  
• Divergent - dystopian future, teenage girl is the main character, not quite as good as The Hunger Games, but still a pretty great story!  I also read Insurgent, and am looking forward to the next book this year!  
• Let's Pretend This Never Happened - not your average memoir.  Jenny is hilarious and heartbreaking and somehow manages to be both of those things in a completely believable way.  I read it on a flight this summer and had to be very careful about laughing uproariously on the plane.  
• MWF Seeking BFF - the author moved to Chicago to be with her boyfriend (who becomes her husband), but then realizes she doesn't have any close friends in town, and doesn't really know how to get them.  I am very happy to say that I have some great friends here in town, but I could really relate to that awkwardness of making friends as a grown-up.  How do you ask someone out on a friend date without being awkward?  I still don't really know, but it made me think I should make more of an effort to spend time with my friends.  That's kind of an unofficial resolution for the New Year.  
• Neverwhere - I don't even know how to describe this story line, but it's a great book!  Neil Gaiman is one of my favorite recently-discovered authors.  

What were your favorite books of 2012?  My to-read list is out of control, but I am always looking for books to add.  Speaking of more books,  I'm pretty excited to be participating in my first book swap.  If you like books, you should join in on the fun!

Shirt, Sweater, Jeans: Gap
Boots: Wanted via Piperlime