Rest and relaxation here we come!

  Since January 27th will be our 8th anniversary as a couple (wow!), and since it seems like there's never enough time to just chill out, we have booked a room at our favorite b&b, Look Out Point Lakeside Inn, in Hot Springs for the weekend!

Lookout Point holds many good memories for us, it is where Jarrod proposed and where we ended up spending our honeymoon after hurricane Wilma intruded on our Mexico trip!

I am really looking forward to having a weekend with no agenda, no house to clean, no food to cook or laundry to do,  I can actually relax! Yeah!

It's also going to be a good time for us to talk about the upcoming year and make some important decisions about the future.

Here is a picture of the room we will be staying in. . . Possum Grape. . . we've stayed in all but 6 of the rooms. Every time we go, we try to book a different  one so that someday we can say we've stayed in all 10!

 

We've never been in the winter, so we may stay in and watch movies and read all weekend. The cold may prevent us from getting out much! I think it would be cool if it snowed, but there is little chance of that happening!

If you ever have opportunity to get away for a few days,  I highly recommend Lookout Point. The inn keepers Ray and Kristie are the nicest people you'll ever meet. They are there when you need them, whether to take care of an issue with the room or just help you find a place to have dinner, but they know you are there for rest and do their best to accommodate that need. They are just the best. The inn in itself is a work of art (especially if your like me and LOVE craftsman style architecture) it is like the house of my dreams only WAY larger! All the rooms are named after towns in Arkansas, and each is decorated differently, all very tastefully with a hint of whimsy. I can't forget to mention the food. The homemade gourmet breakfast is served every morning in the dining room and it never fails to impress me. Jarrod loves the strawberry soup, I like the bacon artichoke frittatas. But whatever we have it is always wonderful and worth getting out of bed for!

I know your jealous, right? Don't worry we'll be thinking about you while we're sitting on the porch in our rocking chairs, soaking up the sunset as it sets on the lake . . .

An introspective analysis of my multifaceted eccentricity. . .

I just read a great article in the Shabby Princess Newsletter that had an awesome quote that I'd never heard before, and it got me thinking about some things. . .

“Being creative is seeing the same thing as everybody else but thinking of something different.” ~ Unknown

Wow! What a great quote.  It's so validating to know there is someone out there like me. . .  but writing quotes! I'll admit that my "right brain" sometimes gives me difficulties with logic and numbers, but how boring would I be without it?!!  "That Christina, she likes to be different".  If  I only had a dollar for each time I've heard that statement  throughout my life, I'd be rich!! My tombstone will probably read:  "SHE WAS DIFFERENT". Ha ha!

I realize that I am not a creative genius, I'm far, far from it,  but I hold the personal belief that being an artist isn't about what you create it's about why you create. (Yes, I came up with that on my own, thank you very much! )

Those who know me well,  know that I have an inner desire to create and design, to do things different and to explore the possibilities.  Whether it's in the kitchen coming up with new recipes, designing invitations, or painting stripes around my bedroom (that some people think is weird?) those things are my creative outlets, my way of expressing who I am.

I may not ever get my wedding pictures published in a magazine (though I'm still trying, ha ha), own my own design business or go to culinary school in Paris like I dreamed of, but I love my life. I love the people in it and I love the ordinary-ness of it all. You see, the way I look at it is, it's my job to inject some much needed color and sometimes a good dose of  humor into the lives of those around me!

New Year. . . New list.

My 2008 Resolutions:

1. Laugh everyday, I'm sure it will be mostly at myself.

2. Spend more time in prayer.  It's so easy to get busy and forget, I have to make the time this year.

3. Study the Bible everyday and try to keep up nightly devotional and prayer with Jarrod.

4. Lose 10lbs! Ha! It's a long shot but it's a worthy and attainable weight-loss goal.

5. Eat better, less mac & cheese and more salads! ugh.

6. Smile more, even when it hurts! Even in the morning before I get my coffee. . .

7. Save more money! again, ugh.

8.  Take vitamins everyday, uh. . .starting tomorrow!

9. Talk less, and listen more. It's sooooo hard for me to to!

10. Worry less,  especially about things I cannot change. I need to accept that God is in control and put my trust in him.