Happy National Day of Encouragement!

Today is the National Day of Encouragement!

"Therefore encourage one another and build each other up, just as in fact you are doing." - 1 Thessalonians 5:11

I have been so blessed with sources of encouragement all around me! And it sure feels like I've needed it recently! My family is amazing - always there for me no matter what. I don't know what I'd do without them! My friends - new and old, far and near - are one of the biggest blessings to me. They love me for me and are ready to encourage me at any moment. I am so blessed.

Over the last couple of months, I have been reading a blog daily called (in)courage. It's basically a group of women who have a heart for community and for the Lord. I love waking up and reading what they have to share. It's an encouragement to see that others - even those I don't know - have been through the same kinds of things I have. These women share their hearts through this blog and it has seriously been an encouragement!

A few weeks ago, in anticipation of today, the ladies at (in)courage set out a challenge. They provided beautiful cards from DaySpring and asked that we (their readers, their friends) would use the cards to encourage those around us. Well, if you know me at all, you know that sending cards of encouragement is one of the things I love to do :)

I'm sort of going out on a limb with the card I'm sending tomorrow. It's so much easier for me to send cards to those I love. In fact, sometimes I get the urge to just go browse the card section and find a card for one of my friends. But this time, I'm sending my card to someone I don't know very well. But I know that she is going through a really hard time and needs the encouragement desperately. She is not a believer and I can tell that she is in need of love. I'm praying that my card will give her a glimmer of hope.

What has encouragement meant in your life? How will you encourage someone today?

Actuaries, Anvils, and Gilmore Girls (oh my!)

So I went to a business lunch today. We have them every month or so. We get to go to a not too terribly fancy ballroom, eat mediocre food and listen to the most recent topic on pension plans and related topics. Most of them are pretty interesting if you're someone nerdy like me ;)

Today my boss (my big-time boss - the senior actuary at our firm) gave the presentation. I even got to help him research it and prepare parts of the presentation, which is a big deal for me! It was on a topic extremely relevant to the work that I do - and in general, this guy is a great public speaker. So I was pretty excited!

Somewhere in the middle of the presentation he used the word "anvil". I can't remember exactly what the context was, since anvils don't exactly relate to actuarial work, but I think it was some sort of analogy involving pounding. Anyway, the point is, he used the word "anvil".

As soon as he spoke the word, I immediately started daydreaming about Gilmore Girls - which probably explains why I can't remember the context it was used in! I firmly believe that any and everything in life can be related to Gilmore Girls in some way. And, man have I learned a lot from that show. I learn something almost every time I watch an episode - even if I've seen it over a dozen times!

For example (here's where I finally tie together the uncommon trio of actuaries, anvils, and Gilmore Girls) I don't think I knew what an anvil was until I watched this scene of GGs. It's probably one of my favorites. And  though my boss probably doesn't know it, he completely made my day - not by giving me tons of insight into the Pension Relief Act of 2010, nor by crediting me in front of everyone for helping him make the graphs in his presentation - but by making reference to anvils and filling my imagination with all things Gilmore :)

Waking up Early

I used to be a morning person... I really was! But slowly my ability to wake up in the morning has dwindled away. It sometimes takes an hour of pressing snooze before I can actually bring myself to turn the shower on. And by pressing snooze, I mean getting up out of bed and pressing the snooze button on the alarm clock that is on the other side of the room. It's that bad.

Well, next week I plan on starting a boot camp at Georgetown Rec center. It's twice a week at 5:30 in the morning. Yes... IN THE MORNING. I don't know how I'm going to do it. But I'm going to try. I'll let you know how it goes :)

Here's a clip on what Lorelai thinks about getting up early. And "early" for her is 6:30. That's not even close to how early I'm going to have to get up! Sure, she gets woken up by loud banging, but I promise that sometimes my alarm sounds pretty darn close to loud banging!

Enjoy :)