Oops...

I'm behind in my challenge... does that mean I lose?

I plan on catching up, but things have been one great big ball of crazy at this casita. We're planning on having the vast majority of our stuff packed and out of this house by Friday and we have a TON of stuff. It's amazing how much we need to get rid of and all I can do is hope that The Ark is making a round through our neighborhood before the end of the month (and preferably not when we're on vacation). And that's the other problem- we have a vacation to pack for and I hope that I can keep my wits together long enough to prevent packing the things we need for WI in with the moving stuff. There's still a ton of laundry to do, packing in the majority of the rooms, transporting, essays to write, books to read (for school, I swear!) and a baby to love on. Oh yeah, and a picture challenge to squeeze in. I'll get caught up, I promise.

**Enter Panic Mode**

On a slightly positive note, I have the vast majority of our kitchen packed up. There is still a bit left, but I can bust that out in an hour once I get the appropriate boxes. I love that our kitchen has every cooking utensil/tool we will ever need (and will use more than once a year) but, man, it sure is a lot of things to pack and I'm trying to do it in an organized fashion so it's easier to unpack (I detest unpacking), so it takes a little longer.

Ok, time for bed. Maybe tomorrow I'll catch up on the challenge, but for now I'm going to go catch up on some z's.

7- A picture of my most treasured item

My most treasured item is my grandmother's ring, which was given to her by my grandfather. When she was diagnosed with cancer, she gave my sisters and I each a piece of jewelry that held significant meaning to her. She gave me the ring because we're both November babies and our birthstone is topaz (even though it isn't anymore), but we both didn't care for the yellow topaz. I'm so happy that she was able to see me where it at my wedding (it was my "something old" and "something blue").

5- A picture of my favorite memory

First off, let me begin with apologizing- I'm going to cheat with this one. And more importantly, I'm sorry Tree, I love this picture!

My favorite memories are from the trips we used to go on for volleyball and basketball- specifically, the ones with my buddy Theresa (they sucked after she graduated). We were absolutely silly on them, but we always had a blast. I often want to relive some of those moments (mainly because I want to know what the "hot non-Belen boys" (aka drunk cowboys) actually looked like since we were the only ones who didn't see or hear them.

4- A picture of my favorite night

I now know why this is called "The 30-Day Challenge" and not "The Simplest Task You Will Ever Do in 30-Days." Picking one picture is hard, especially when you're a person who has multiple favorites, never just one. This time, however, I narrowed it down pretty quickly. There have been a lot of great nights, but one really comes to mind:

A night on our honeymoon in Puerto Vallarta.

I'm not exactly sure which night this was since the computer that had the dates for all our wedding/honeymoon pictures has been dead for over a year now. I can tell you that it was an amazing night. Our honeymoon was during monsoon season in Mexico and that night there was a warm rain. We had dinner at one of the restaurants in the resort, then walked down to beach (danced for a couple minutes- that's all I can get out of Nick), then spent the rest of the evening on our balcony drinking beer and talking. It was followed by romancing that wasn't quite romantic, but mind-blowing nonetheless. (TMI? Oh well!)

3- A picture of the cast of my favorite show

Narrowing this down to one is way too difficult to even attempt, since there are so many, so I decided to go with the favorite of the shows I've watched recently (and that was still tough). And the place of honor goes to: Spartacus: Blood and Sand!

This show is ridiculously bloody, has poor CG effects, can pass for soft-core porn, and has the gladiators in codpieces (which weren't invented until the 16th century) but I LOVE it! It's currently on Netflix instant play, so check it out! Sadly, the actor who plays Spartacus was diagnosed with lymphoma and is currently undergoing treatment, so who knows when a second season will air. I am praying for his triumph over the disease, regardless of whether he continues acting or not and I ask that all of you who read this do the same. There is a prequel airing right now, but we haven't started watching it... yet.

2-A picture of someone I've known the longest

Val in Belize (I stole it from her FB page). We're a beer-drinking family.

There are a lot of people who could be shown here, but I chose to go with my eldest seester since she knew me when I was in our mama's belly. Val has always been an inspiration and a rockin' sister and I always enjoy hanging out with her (except for when she has the plague, like now. Sorry seester, there's been enough of the stomach flu in this house to last me a lifetime.) How many people can say that their sister is a world-travelling, brewery-hopping, marathoning CPA? She is awesome and has always been a source of support and comfort. I don't know what I would do without her.