Here’s a quote from the article:

In a study last year 30 people who complained about stress ate a little bit of dark chocolate every day for two weeks. In the end the most stressed-out participants showed the most improvement. Researchers found that dark chocolate might help lower your stress hormones.

Did I read “dark chocolate every day?” I think I did. So when you’re feeling really stressed, try chocolate!

I’m glad I just bought that 2 pound bag of Hershey’s Special Dark chocolate chips for snacks… maybe I’ll let Brett have some for his stress relief too .

Read more here.

We have the entire season DVDs that we bought at Amazon (after being given the first season by our friend Chris). However, the third season, which has some great shows is coming on starting Jan. 27 at 9pm central on the Independent Film Channel.

For more info: http://www.ifc.com/itcrowd/

I certainly have not made many concerts lately. I’m hoping for some good aggressive stuff soon. Lots going on, but I must be getting ADD, as it takes more to hold my attention now… =)

I did want to mention that there are some free happenings at Washington University I just noticed, starting tomorrow. I’ve only done it once, but it was pretty sweet if you don’t mind all the students mulling around that have excellent talent all around them and just use it for background music while they do their homework… =)
http://stljazznotes.blogspot.com/2010/01/jazz-at-holmes-announces-winterspring.html

I may have to check out a few of these, as they have local artists as well as some out-of-town guys. One I recognize right away is Jay Oliver (keys), which used to play for Dave Weckl (drums).

Keep me posted of any good tunes, and I will try to do the same!

Have a kickin’ week!

New photos here on BrettandSonia.com! Check them out at www.brettandsonia.com/photos!!! You’ll probably have to wait a few seconds for the gallery to load because there’s hours of photo viewing fun.

For the past few months, I’ve been working hard to get my photo library online on Flickr. Not only will this provide a back-up to my iPhoto library, but it makes it easier for me to share my photos on my blog and with friends and family.

So stop by and check out the photos often! I’ll be adding new photos from Christmas and other events soon!

• We’re alive! We won’t be taking that for granted anytime soon.
• Jesus loves us
• A great new house with wonderful offices for our businesses

We thank our family and friends for all of their love and support this year (and every year). Give us a call and stop by sometime.

May 2010 bring each of you much joy, success, and happiness.

I’ll let you know what I decide to do.

To live.

Last year on Nov. 20, 2008, I was admitted to the hospital with 6 blood clots – 4 in my leg and 1 in each lung.

Now that I know how serious it was, I know God saved me. At that time, I had been wrestling with intense fear. Mom had died young earlier that year, and I kept waking up with strange feelings that caused me to fear for my life. I thought it was foolish, so I kept it to myself. But the night before I was diagnosed, I wrote a prayer to God with tears. At the end, I wrote to God, “I know you won’t let me die.”

Little did I know that my hurting leg had deadly clots forming that could have killed me.

But I’m alive!!!

So today, I’d like to celebrate this milestone. The best thing about a second chance is that you have a chance to reevaluate your purpose and destiny. Sometimes we need a bit of adjustment, humility, hope, and determined joy.

Every year when this week before Thanksgiving rolls around, I’m going to thank God for life and for a second chance to run the race He has set before me.

I hope you’ll think about how precious every day is and act accordingly. (Be nice to the people who work at Wal-Mart!)

Our new painting!

Brett and I went to an auction at Selkirk’s last weekend primarily because I had never been to one. It was a lot of fun. We went to the modernism auction, which was two days and had furniture and art. The day we went it was all art, as we found out. We had no real intentions of buying anything, but I had marked a few paintings I liked.

When the first one I marked came up, the price just kept dropping. Finally at $25, I nudged Brett to raise the paddle to bid. We bid and no one contested us! Yeah, we got a really cool painting, beautifully framed, for just $25. That’s cheaper than we could have gotten a poster framed at Target.

Then afterward, we ran into Anne-Marie Berger, the producer of the Living St. Louis show on KETC Channel 9. She interviewed us about our art buying experience and said we’d be on next Monday’s show (Nov. 23). So check it out if you get time!

Created with Admarket’s flickrSLiDR.