Ketchup.

So getting up at 5am has not gotten any easier. But I successfully did so every day this week. The only day I didn't "hop" out of bed at 5am (since I started this craziness) was last Friday, but that was on purpose. We were out late watching the national championship game the night before (way to go, Bama!) and didn't get home till like 1am. I don't know about you, but I cannot operate on 4 hours of sleep. Other than that hiccup, 5am it is! But ugh, I think the long days from early this week caught up to me sometime Wednesday afternoon, because getting up yesterday and today was AWFUL. Thank goodness for our new Keurig (or as the hub and I call it, "Ka-ZOONG!" - I have no good explanation for why). I still did it though. The key for me: not allowing myself to hit snooze AT ALL and hopping in the shower as soon as I get up.

OK so enough alarm talk. I've had no time in bloggy world this week, but I'm guessing Haiti has been a big topic. (As well as PANTS-ON-THE-GROUND! Seriously can't get that out of my head.) The Haiti situation is so sad - I feel very removed from it, honestly just because I've been so busy and swallowed up by work this week. So I feel like I'm just now catching on to the sadness and concern the rest of the world is feeling. I've actually been to Haiti - just for a day on a cruise years ago. But I can't imagine how scary that environment down there must be right now - seriously I just have no comprehension of that. And for the families here that are missing relatives and friends and are just waiting... how terribly frightening. Big prayers for Haiti and all those involved. And as usual the relief efforts are in full force and organizations here are raising money left and right. And I think this donate-money-by-text thing is BRILLIANT. I heard today that the Red Cross has raised over $5 million just through texting - amazing. I mean it really is genius... I think a lot of people have good intentions to donate but fail to do so out of pure laziness or forgetfullness or life. But how long does it take to text? Like a half second? And it comes through your cell phone bill, so it plays into our nation's (unfortunate) buy-now-pay-later mentality. I'd love to give so much more, but even I can sign up for this one! Here are a couple of donate-by-text options...

Text the word HAITI to 90999 to donate $10 to the American Red Cross.

Text the word YELE to 501501 to donate $5 to Yele (Wyclef Jean's organization).

Both groups will send you a text back to confirm your intent to donate and you'll need to reply with "YES" to complete the donation.

Nothing much else going on right now but work. And such is life for the next 3 months. Three months as of today, actually - so the countdown begins (till April 15th)! And because I'm a tax accountant and also way too nice, I'll open the floor for any tax questions you have. Now just general questions please, I don't want to do a freaking tax research project here. Ha! No but really, I'd be glad to answer any questions y'all have - just leave a comment on this post.

As far as the rest of our goings on, I'll just leave y'all with some bullet points. I've got some work I've got to get on, so this will have to do for now!

• Lucky's wedding (two weeks ago now, geez) was fab! The whole weekend was a blast and she made an absolutely stunning bride. She and her new hubby are on their way back now from an amazing honeymoon in Italy.
• The hub is still in the middle of his job search and we're starting to see some progress, but of course nothing ever progresses as fast as we'd like it to! Just continuing to pray for patience and trusting that God's at work here. We have all these amazing goals for 2010 laid out but until we get the job squared away we kinda feel like we're standing in mud. Prayers, prayers, prayers.
• Speaking of goals, I still plan to slap those on here as soon as we finalize them - we're almost there! We're slow.
• And on a completely superficial note, my silver Revas are starting to look really rough but I refuse to stop wearing them. Though I'm not sure I'd buy them again (not that I could right now) because now like everyone wears them and that's a TOTAL turn-off to me. As soon as anything is on everyone, I can't do it anymore. Because then I just look like everyone else - *snooze*. It's for this reason I've closeted Uggs and Coach bags.
• We are signed up to take FPU again starting next month! Like I said, we've got lots of goals for 2010 and many of those are financial, so we just felt like taking the class again to keep that "Gazelle Intensity" and accountability. I think we've coaxed some friends into taking it along with us, so I'm looking forward to it. I can't get enough Dave, so it'll be good. Classes are starting up all over - plop in your zip code on the site and find one near you. Whether you're broke and freaked out or raking it in without any debt, this 13-week class has something for everyone. It's a life-long journey and you can hop on no matter where you are. And if you work it, it will do incredible things for your marriage.
• My favorite K-cup right now is the Coffee People x-bold Donut Shop. It blends beautifully with my French Vanilla creamer. Tell me your faves, Keurig people! We're still sampling.
• Oh and people of the world, please stop referring to Atlanta as "HOTlanta." That's so over.