Hello Blog World

Obviously I've failed miserably at my New Year's Resolution to blog consistently. I've done a little better about writing in my journal, but not much. I've had some exciting things happen since I last posted. (Disclaimer: I live a pretty boring life right now. Exciting for me may not be exciting for most people.)

I went to Washington, D.C. at the begining of March. I needed to get OUT of town, and it was a much needed and enjoyed break. I got to visit my friends Min and Diana, who I had not seen since graduating from Baylor. It was so fun to see them again and catch up! To be honest, the purpose of my trip was two-fold: To go on vacation and see my friends, but also to check out DC and maybe do some networking. I've thought about moving to DC for a long time, but I haven't been there since I was a child. I figured I should see the city before I get too invested in searching for jobs there. As to whether or not there will be return trips to DC or possible move in the future ... TBD. I loved the city, but I am doing some serious prayer and God-seeking right now.

I am getting involved at The Village. I went through the membership class in February, and have been growing more and more comfortable in my home group. I'm starting to really care about and become invested in the women in my group. We started accountability groups a couple of weeks ago, and I'm so excited about the women I will be going through life with over the coming months. I also contacted the high school ministry at the church and met with some of the youth leaders. I'm going to become a home group leader for some high school girls and am attending my first meeting this Sunday. I'm so excited about this opportunity to mentor and invest in the lives of some teen girls. My small group leader in high school played a huge role in my life, and I'm excited to do the same for someone else. I'm nervous as all get-out though. What if I'm not fun or cool or wise and the girls don't like me? I'm trying to trust God to equip me for this adventure.

After some ups and downs at work lately, I'm excited about some projects I have going on. Staff had to work during Spring Break last week, and it was a horrible week. It was so beautiful outside, and I had to sit in my windowless office with no human interaction. I was so happy to see my students again this week. I really love them and have so much fun interacting with them. I will be sad to say good-bye to my students whenever I finally leave my job. I hate to admit it, but I realize now how easy it is for teachers to develop favorites. I definitely have mine.

I've had some fun nights out recently. I went karoaking with a big group for my friend Kim's birthday. We rented out a room in a Korean karoake bar and had a blast. I was the only person to receive a 100 top score from the computer for my rendition of "Larger than Life." Man, I can kill those Backstreet Boy songs. My friend Ashley also came down from Kansas for her Spring Break and we went out two-stepping with some friends. Haha. I've also had some fun dinner/shopping/coffee/movie dates with friends. Yep, I am "living the life". The Dallas life that is.

I need to start taking pictures so I can upload them and make my blog look more interesting. I just find it so dang hard to get pictures in the right position in Blogger, so I don't even bother. Does anyone else have that problem?

Happy Valentine's Day

My mom took me to see "Stars on Ice" as a Valentine's Day treat. I have always loved figure skating, and it was a special way to spend the day with her. By the way, Sasha Cohen fell in both of her solo skates, which made me realize that I have never seen her skate without falling. Remember the Olympics? How did she become such a star?

After I got home from the show, I went over to my friend Lindsay's house for a girls Valentine's party. I also treated myself to a small shopping spree at Target in the morning. Spending an hour in Target automatically makes any day better. In fact, I love Target so much, I think I would marry it if I could. Since that's probably not possible, maybe having my wedding inside Target would be the next best option. I would get married in the stationery aisle or the accessories department. Don't worry. I'm just kidding. Anyways, yesterday was pretty much the perfect day.

"But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we still sinners, Christ died for us." Romans 5:8

Stirring my affections

This last week has been a hard one for me because of something that happened at work which I cannot talk about on my blog. Please know that there is a student who desperately needs prayer and a counselor (me!) who needs wisdom on how guide her.

I went through the membership class at The Village this weekend, which turned out to be a huge blessing to me. I have struggled with the decision of where I should go to church and how I should serve within the church. After going through the class, I feel very peaceful about my decision to join the Village and excited about the opportunities I have there. I have been meeting some great people and am excited to get to know them and hopefully walk through the next seasons of life with them.

Matt said something that really impacted me during the class. I don't remember what the original context was anymore, but he talked about how we should fill out life with things that stir our affections for Christ. I think back to the times when I have struggled with my desire to be in a relationship with God, and I realize that the things I prioritized in my life at the time were not things that would pull me or excite me about Christ. So, I made a list. I pray that I will continue to fill my life with these things and weed out things that pull me away from Him.

Things that stir my affections for Christ:
1. worship music
2. being in nature
3. strong Christian fellowship
4. the Psalms
5. prayer
6. good books with Christian themes
7. the innocence of children
8. missions and service
9. journaling
10. seeing or hearing other people's stories about sacrificial love

Ice Day

So despite having a day and a half off from work due to the "Great Texas Ice Storm", this has felt like the longest week ever. Work is soo busy right now, and I am exhausted. I've had to put in late nights all week to make up for the time off and next week will be just as busy. The good news is that the week after THAT I am going to use some of my comp time to take a day off.

So Tuesday morning, after sleeping in late because of the 3:58 a.m. text message saying UNT was closed for the day, I looked out my apartment window and noticed that one of my front tires was flat. I immediate thought three things: 1) Thank goodness it didn't pop on me while I was driving on I-35 (that's happened to me twice, and it's scary), 2) What a horrible weather day to have to go outside and put on my spare tire, and 3) Can I just leave it till tomorrow? The problem with leaving it till tomorrow was that I couldn't miss any more work, so I bundled up and drove slowly around Lewisville to look for a car repair shop. After spending my ice day sitting in a Firestone waiting room reading magazines, I got the dreaded news: You need new tires, and we've found about $1,500 worth of repairs that need to be done to your car.

Can I just say as a single woman who knows nothing about cars, there is no place that makes me feel more insecure than going into an auto repair shop alone? Do I really need this repair? Are they trying to rip me off? Why can't I remember when was the last time I got that part replaced? What will happen if I don't get it done? I also know that I commute 20 minutes up and down I-35 every day in lots of traffic, and I don't want to be nervous about my car going out on me. Anyways, the guy at the counter was really nice and patiently explained everything to me and told me he would "hook me up" when I told him I couldn't afford a lot of the maintenance that needed to be done.

The truth is, I know I probably don't maintain my car as well as I should. It's a nuisance to me, and I hate spending money on it. It's time for my attitude to change, I guess. I got some of the repairs done, and I will have to save up for the later ones. So, here's the funny part of the story, as I was getting ready to leave, the guy I'd been talking to all day asked if he could take me out sometime. He was nice, but I wasn't feeling it, so I gave him the "Thanks, but I have a boyfriend" lie. As I left, I wondered if I really should have turned down the guy who could help me out with $1500 in car repairs. He gave me his number to call "if I changed my mind", and when I looked at it later, I realized he gave me the Firestone customer service line where people are supposed to call and take a survey on the service they received. So was it really all a ploy?

What an ice day.

Make new friends, but keep the old...

...One is silver and the other gold. (Ah, Girl Scouts). I got to see some of my favorite Baylor girls this weekend. Lara and Ashley came up from Houston, Stacy came down from Oklahoma, and Lauren and I made the long trek from across the metroplex to Holley's house for a reunion. It was so good to see old roommates and friends, and I am so blessed to have become a part of this group of friends. I wish I could have had 4 full years with them at Baylor, and I missed their sweet spirits and goofy jokes after they graduated. Thanks for a great time, girls! (We missed you Chelsea.)



So, about my new year's resolution ... It wasn't hard to get all my veggies in this week, so I think I accomplished my first goal. However, I bought myself a bag of valentine's candy heart, and, let's face it, Necco advertises them as a "fat free candy", but there is nothing good about candy hearts. Pure sugar. Oh well, at least I didn't eat cookies, right?

This week:

• I will go to the gym M, T, H, F after work.
• I will not drink sodas or buy any more candy hearts.
• (And continue eating fruits and veggies with every meal).

Yes we can

It's my first post of 2009! The fact that this is being written on Jan. 16 is not a good sign considering my New Year's resolution was to write every day, either in my journal or on my blog. I've done better with writing in my journal. I have decided that I miss writing, and I hope 2009 will bring a job change. I remember that one of my professors told me that good writing takes practice. She said that even just writing in streams of consciousness for five minutes a day would help improve somebody's skills. Since I've been out of the writing biz for the past 6 months or so, I've decided I need to sharpen up. Hence the new year's resolution.


My second resolution this year is to shape up. Now this resolution has been set many times before. This time is different. I lost about 10-15 pounds while I was living in England. But now, six months later, I am back at my pre-England weight. Boo America. Too much Chick-Fil-A, Mexican food, and cookie dough - all nonexistent across the pond. I also walked everywhere in England and worked out almost every day as a break from studying. Now, I spend much of my day sitting and work out 2-3 times a week. Here's why I think I usually fail: I give up on myself too easily. I have never had accountability in my weight loss goals. Also, when you live by yourself, it is much easier to eat over eat. I am hoping by talking about this on my blog, that will change a bit. More so that exercising, my weight loss obstacle is food. Therefore, I am taking baby steps to change my lifestyle.



Goals for this week:

• Eat a fruit or vegetable with every meal.
• I will not buy any cookies (my weakness) at the store this week.

See you next week!

In 2008, I ...

• Lived in England
• Interned at the BBC
• Travelled to Norway, Ireland, and Portugal
• Wrote a dissertation
• Finished grad school
• Moved back home
• Made new friends, but kept the old
• Found a job
• Got my first "real" paycheck
• Moved into an apartment
• Found a church
• Began a quarter-life crisis (to be continued in 2009)

Not bad ...