Busy Little Bee

The past month has been crazy busy, but in a good way.

I rediscovered my love for graphic design and decided to take an online class to learn the new-to-me program, Adobe Illustrator. I'm taking Illustrator 101, and I just love it! I'd been using some trials of CS5 and the new CC platform, and I decided to bite the bullet and buy a yearlong subscription for a discounted price. My short-term goal is to master the pen tool, and my long-term goal is to open an Etsy shop (or something of that nature) and sell my designs, whether that is printables, cards, or something of that nature.

I got to go to Winter Jam for the second straight year with Melanie, and I had the greatest time! The music was incredible this year, Melanie adopted a Holt International child with special needs, and we got to hear Michael Tait sing Jesus Freak. We're 1/3 of the way to our dream of hearing Jesus Freak performed live by dc Talk. I finally got to see Lecrae perform, which was wonderful, though I wish he'd done something from his earlier albums. Melanie and I have a date every year, even if she goes to Australia to teach. I'm so grateful that she came up to me after the New Teacher Panel in 2012 and initiated a great friendship!

So far, I've run in 4 5ks (1/3 of my way through my 26 Before 27 goal!) and volunteered for one. I did my first trail run, which was intense. My slowest time so far (my slowest time ever) but not by much (less than a minute) and it was VERY hilly. I haven't picked a March race yet, but I'm doing the Color Run in April with Brittany, and we're doing the MS Walk with our work. (Please donate!) I'm also volunteering with Bubble Palooza in May, and I'll get to run that one for free, so yay!

We've had two different bouts of snow in a 3 week span. Thankfully, I wasn't stuck in it either time, but some of my coworkers were in their cars or in Home Depot overnight during the first storm. By the second one, nobody was taking any chances. I'm hoping that we don't have weather like that again for quite some time. I'm good with the cold, and I don't even mind the snow, but when it cripples a huge city like Atlanta... no bueno.

My best friend had her baby, and he is unbelievably cute. I mean, I'm biased and I admit it, but he is honest-to-goodness one of the CUTEST babies I've ever seen. Let's be honest; not all babies are cute fresh out of the oven. But he was. But when you have parents as good looking as his, I guess it's to be expected. My bestie is beautiful... and so is his wife ;) Sorry that I don't have pictures to share. I *have* pictures to share, but I'd have to check with Melissa and Russell before posting them.

I think I might try to redesign my blog soon, but probably in baby steps. I'm really really tired of this look. Gotta spice things up! So hopefully with the next post, we'll have a fresh new look.

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