The Best Things In Life Are Free...

But when it comes to Christmas presents, I would much rather just spend a little money and get it over with.

This year my mom thought she would do us girls a favor by asking for a supposedly simple gift.  All she wanted was a video of us performing "All The Single Ladies" by Beyonce.  Easy enough right?

WRONG!

After watching the original five or six times, we thought we had it all figured out.  However, as soon as we started putting things together, we realized we were in WAY over our heads.  You sort of have to be able to dance in the first place to pull off "All The Single Ladies", something a six foot tall white girl, like myself, simply cannot do.

Yet, on Christmas Adam (what my sisters call the day before Christmas Eve) we realized we had to give my mom SOMETHING or else Christmas morning was going to be pretty pathetic.  We therefore took a mosaic approach, learning all the easy dance moves and then piecing them together into a glorious montage.

Please, treat yourself to this Christmas treasure.  And yes, all of us Gibb girls are, in fact, single...  Just saying...

CHECK IT OUT

MISSION ACCOMPLISHED!!

Over one year ago, I bought a book: a book that was going to change my life forever, or so I thought; a book that was going to make me the Kristen I'd always dreamed of, or so I hoped; a book that would only take six weeks to complete, or so it said.  Behold: THE BOOK!

This book taught me a few valuable lessons.  

1.  Do not judge a book by it's title.  Even though it says six weeks, it may very well take you six years to complete this dang Countdown.  Throughout the past year, I found myself slipping into the all too familiar "Pride Cycle".  I can't even count how many times I'd start, make it to around week three, start seeing some results, feel pretty hot, and then BAM! - "Yea, how quick to be lifted up in pride; yea, how quick to boast, and do all manner of that which is iniquity..."  Okay, I wouldn't exactly fall into iniquity, but I'd definitely rationalize missing a workout, or two , or three, to "eat, drink, and be merry".  Then two weeks later I'd come to the sad realization that a fourteen day sabbatical is too long and I'd start all over again.  What a vicious, vicious cycle.  I'm proud to say I have the first three weeks of workouts memorized because of this.

2.  Me Like Pilates.  Pilates is a beautiful, beautiful thing.  Try it.  Although it makes your abs feel like they're being electrocuted, you'll feel so proud when you can do this...

...haha, or at least I did.

3.  Seriously, Just Do It.  Exactly six weeks ago while cleaning my room, this book stared up at me and then started laughing in my face.  And it made me really angry.  So I decided right then and there to do something about it.  The solution was to quit telling myself lies.  "I don't have any time" - what a big, fat lie!  "It's too hard" - another huge lie!  I knew this wasn't the truth, but the truth hurts.  Like literally!  Waking up at 5:30 to workout is down right painful.  But I did it.  And that's the way it goes, sometimes there really is no easy way around something and you seriously just have to do it.

Okay, I know this doesn't relate, but I thought it was funny.

4.  Be Flexible!  Yes, it's nice to be able to touch your toes, but I mean flexibility in the sense that if you literally do not have a spare hour to workout one day it's perfectly fine to give and take.  No, I did not finish this book in the exact order it is laid out.  No, I did not workout every single day it specified to.  No, I did not do the exact number of reps it told me to do on the things I really hated, or just plum couldn't do.  But YES, I did each and every work out and I feel GREAT.  Do not expect perfection.  A big reason I kept having to start over again was because I wanted to complete it perfectly.  What a great way to set myself up for failure!  I can now testify that flexibility eliminates failure, so give yourself some room to breath, it's best to do things at your own speed.

5.  The Saying is TRUE!  I've always wondered if the saying "It takes 3 weeks to make a habit" is really true.  Well, I think it is.  No, it didn't get easier to wake up really early, but I had definitely accepted the fact that I was going to working out, and that made a huge difference.  True, all my previous attempts lasted to around week three, but the difference this time was that I didn't allow myself to justify a celebratory break, causing a break in the habit.  Stick to it and soon enough it will stick to you!


Now, having said all this, I'd like to extend a DARE.  No, this is not a challenge or some kind of piece of homework for reading Kristen Gibb's blog, this is a DARE.  With the blessed New Year fast approaching, I DARE YOU to do something you've been meaning to for a long time now.  Quit telling yourself those silly lies and just do it.  You'll thank yourself later, trust me.  And you might even look real good in a bikini afterwards...  But I wouldn't know.

I Know It Isn't Sunday, But...

I AM GOING TO DIE.  


It's true.  There was a bad omen in my french toast this morning.  I was just sitting there one minute enjoying some good french toast, and then I look down to cut off another piece and BOOM!  There the omen was.


You think I'm crazy?  Well, check it out for yourself!!

There it is, in the middle there.

If that doesn't look like an omen, I don't know what does.

It's a pity really, I was actually really enjoying this Christmas season.  Now it will be a miracle if I actually survive long enough to open all my presents.  Does anyone have any idea how much time I've got left?    

Stranger Danger.

I grew up in a small town called Raymond.

Raymond is home of the Comets, the first Stampede, and ... umm the Show Choir.  Raymond is so small that everyone knows everything about everybody.  Strangers don't exist in Raymond.  

Just like all mothers, Raymond Mothers teach their kids not to talk to strangers.  I think it's in the Mother Handbook, in like the Mandatory Rule section along with "don't sit too close to the TV" and "don't swallow your gum".  Anyways, when you grow up being warned about something that doesn't exist, it's always way scarier, like the monster under your bed or cooties for example.

Anyways, I eventually moved out into the world of strangers.  Fortunately, I had the ammo to combat all of them, such as the "no eye contact maneuver" and the "look distracted feint".  Ha!  Take that strangers!

Just a week ago though, I was jogging.  Downtown along Memorial Drive.  There are a lot of joggers there.  Anyways, I came to a stoplight and had to wait for it to turn green.  While I was waiting, the next jogger behind me caught up and we both started up again at the same time.... AT THE EXACT SAME PACE.  Uh oh.

As soon as it was made quite apparent that we were going to be together for awhile, my new found elderly gentleman jogging STRANGER turned to me and said hello.  Oh shiitake mushrooms.

"Hi."

"Have you ever tried snow skating before?"

What the?!  He wants to have an actual conversation while we're jogging!?

"No."

"Oh it's great exercise, my kids and I were out doing it last night, it's like ..."

He kept going.  

Thankfully, I eventually realized that I could either choose to make things really awkward while we were jogging, or I could open up and have an actual conversation; I chose number two.  And I'm glad I did, we ended up talking a bit about what I'm taking in school and he offered some priceless advice into somethings I should check out in regards to work.  Whoa!  Talking to a stranger was COOL!

However, since this one event, I've had a few more experiences where I realized that I'm lacking some serious skills when it comes to talking to strangers.  Talking to strangers is actually a very valuable skill, think about it.

• Being able to ask important questions in class to a teacher you barely know = talking to a stranger.
• Group work (oh how I loath thee) = talking to a stranger.
• Blind dates = talking to a stranger.
• Job interviews = talking to a stranger.
• Asking for or giving directions = talking to a stranger.
• Ordering food, banking, buying stuff = talking to a stranger.
• Missionary work = talking to a stranger.

No wonder I suck at all of these!  It's because I don't know how to talk to strangers!  

I hereby challenge myself, and anyone really, to practice your "stranger skills", and I don't mean practicing up on your weird talents like burping the alphabet backwards.  Make yourself make eye contact!  Make yourself smile at the people you walk past!  Simply say "Hello" and ask how someone is doing if you're going to be in the same vicinity for an extended period of time!  Make yourself start a conversation!  Make yourself extend a compliment!  Say "Merry Christmas" for heaven's sake!  Strangers are really just regular people like you and me, and they appreciate being treated nicely.  And sometimes, strangers in the strangest places end up not being strangers at all ;)

DISCLAIMER:

Obviously some strangers you should probably avoid.  Be nice, but keep your distance.  Unless of course you think being kidnapped from your bed and stuff sounds like fun.

MERRY CHRISTMAS!

It's a Wonderful Life

I've always been more of an Ebenezer Scrooge when it comes to Christmas time. Take this picture for example, 3912 Christmas of '07.  Think you can guess which stocking is mine?

If you guessed the skinny black sock in the middle, you are CORRECT!

Now, don't be getting all mad at me for being Grinch Gibb, let me explain myself.  I didn't say, "I HATE CHRISTMAS!" (guess the movie... hehe), I'm merely saying there is very little that I thoroughly enjoy about the "most happiest time of the year", those being:

1.  celebrating the birth of Jesus Christ

2.  Fruitcake (P.S. I'm dead serious)

3.  the song O Holy Night

4.  and the movie It's A Wonderful Life

As for the rest, let's just say it frustrates me.  Don't you ever feel like the real meaning of Christmas has been taken hostage and held for ransom?  No one wants to pay that ransom, because the price is simply looking past your list of wants, realizing there's more to Christmas than extravagant gifts, and being grateful for the life someone lived.  

I don't mean to preach a Christmas sermon, but have you ever wondered what the world would be like if you or someone you know never existed?  Then you should watch "It's A Wonderful Life".  Every time I watch this movie I love it more.  It truly is timeless.  To realize how important a single life is, simply imagine the world without it.  No matter how small or simple a person is, they make a difference and truly live a "wonderful life".  Now imagine the awful hole the world would experience without the birth of the Saviour.  This is the true spirit of Christmas.

This Christmas, be grateful.  Realize the importance of a single life.  Then choose to live a similar one.  

And watch "It's A Wonderful Life".

Merry Christmas :)