As of today, I have been the 'ol ball and chain for 2 years! Crazy how time flies. I really does feel like yesterday that we were planning the wedding, going to the showers, having the wedding, and enjoying the honeymoon. It's a shame, but it really feel like that time in my life (from when I got engaged to the end of our honeymoon) was a blur. I truley flew by!
Now, since we have been married, I will not try to pretend that things have been perfect. I have a strong personality... this is not a secret, what is a secret to most, is that Jonathan also has a strong personality. We are both very stubbourn, and really enjoy being 'right'. When we first got married we were both pretty selfish, but I think that comes with the territory of being 23.
I feel like we have really grown, and I am definitely closer to Jonathan than anyone else ever. I feel like we both try everyday for each other because we really are in love. I know that if we continue to remember how much we love each other, the biggest fight in the world will not separate us.
I can't wait to start a family (logistically, I can) but in reality if we had the money and the room, I feel I have gotten to the point emotionally (sooner than I expected), that I am ready, and I think it is because of the growth I have seen in our relationship.
While we aren't perfect and probably never will be, we grow closer everyday, and I think that is the point of marriage. There is no such thing as perfect, and sometimes it isn't even great, but if your goal everyday is to put someone elses needs before your own (and they are willing to do the same), then you will continue to grow as a married couple for the rest of your lives.
P.S. Last week there was a couple in the Credit Union who will be celebrating their 70 year wedding anniversary next year!! I think it's a sign... just picture Jonathan and I at 93 (and yes, I will still have blonde hair, and yes, Jonathan will still be playing pranks) That's a nice image...
Tuesday, September 22, 2009
Tuesday, September 15, 2009
Fashion Update
I decided today, and a little bit one of my recent trips to the Loft, that my favorite color combos for call are neutrals (tans, creams, ect.) with Deep Purple! (and gold and chocolate brown accessories)
Oh the possibilities just make be smile. Today I am wearing this combo minus the gold jewelry because I was already late., but I realize I definitely need some more purple, it is such a beautiful and rich fall color that adding more to my wardrobe will be wonderful! Now I just have to find it cheap...
Oh the possibilities just make be smile. Today I am wearing this combo minus the gold jewelry because I was already late., but I realize I definitely need some more purple, it is such a beautiful and rich fall color that adding more to my wardrobe will be wonderful! Now I just have to find it cheap...
Monday, September 14, 2009
Memory Cleaning.
So I decided today that along with a small present, I am going to give my husband a clean garage for our 2 year anniversary.
The background info is that we have had a cluttered garage for about, well, 2 years now, pretty much since we moved into the house and 95% of the clutter is mine.
I grew up with a cluttered garage that only had a car parked in it when there was a hurricane coming and everything got stacked on top of each other. Therefore the idea of a cluttered garage doesn't bother me, but it does severely bother my husband (like an unpainted hallway bothers me, but that's a whole other post). I also enjoy an uncluttered life and home in general not that I am older, so this isn't completely selfless on my part.
So I know the question that remains is, "Jen if it bothers your Husband so much and you like an uncluttered house, why has it taken you two years to do??" The answer is the 'clutter' in the garage are my memories. They are boxes of things from college, high school, and even younger... and for me, it is so hard to just go through and say, "Sure, let's throw my memories away" even if it is a stupid plastic football from a William and Mary game my Junior year or a birthday card from my Great Aunt for my 16th birthday or my Busch Gardens Pass from when I was 9.
I know I'm probably a lot more sentimental than most, but this is not easy for me, and I can't imagine even a heartless person that wouldn't have a little bit of a hard time with it. My sentimentalness does come from my parents who would totally keep everything listed above, but while I do want to keep some memories, I realize that if I try to hold on to everything, we will constantly be tripping over my memories, and not giving room for new ones.
So wish me luck... and strength cause this sentimental goober is about to make herself a wreck over the next week.
The background info is that we have had a cluttered garage for about, well, 2 years now, pretty much since we moved into the house and 95% of the clutter is mine.
I grew up with a cluttered garage that only had a car parked in it when there was a hurricane coming and everything got stacked on top of each other. Therefore the idea of a cluttered garage doesn't bother me, but it does severely bother my husband (like an unpainted hallway bothers me, but that's a whole other post). I also enjoy an uncluttered life and home in general not that I am older, so this isn't completely selfless on my part.
So I know the question that remains is, "Jen if it bothers your Husband so much and you like an uncluttered house, why has it taken you two years to do??" The answer is the 'clutter' in the garage are my memories. They are boxes of things from college, high school, and even younger... and for me, it is so hard to just go through and say, "Sure, let's throw my memories away" even if it is a stupid plastic football from a William and Mary game my Junior year or a birthday card from my Great Aunt for my 16th birthday or my Busch Gardens Pass from when I was 9.
I know I'm probably a lot more sentimental than most, but this is not easy for me, and I can't imagine even a heartless person that wouldn't have a little bit of a hard time with it. My sentimentalness does come from my parents who would totally keep everything listed above, but while I do want to keep some memories, I realize that if I try to hold on to everything, we will constantly be tripping over my memories, and not giving room for new ones.
So wish me luck... and strength cause this sentimental goober is about to make herself a wreck over the next week.
Friday, September 11, 2009
Woe is me...
It's really amazing how someone and what they say to you can affect your mood.
I currently have a wonderful weekend planned. Tonight I'm going to dinner with my fabulous husband and hilarious parents, and then we are taking advantage of some super duper discount cards at Yankee Candle. Tomorrow (after a few hours of work) I will be hanging out with two great friends who I have been blessed to meet and get to know because of my husband, and then taking in another ODU football game with Jonathan! Sunday will be my first day running again, and I'm super siked! I people think I'm crazy, but with a week off, I can not wait to get back to it.
The purpose of that last paragraph was to show that by all normal accounts, I should be in an excellent mood...but I'm not. And it's not because something painful, horrible, or even slightly bad had happened in my life, it's because of my MEMBERS!!
For some reason when I have a member with a bad attitude, I get upset, even when I never did anything wrong. The worst for me is the members with the uppity attitudes, and 'shockingly', I experience these quite frequently in Williamsburg. Everyone thinks they are the best member, or have been here the longest, or have the most money, or are the best friend of 'a number' of the members on the board of directors...
Today I had a member get insulted by the way our system printed a print out for her. She proceeded to berade me for at least 10 minutes on how unprofessional the print out I gave her was. She told me that when she was an executive assistant for 'a number' of CEO's and other Executives she would never give out something like this. The reason she thought the print out was unprofessional was because it wasn't on letter head, and I hadn't personally typed it up. I found myself not only getting angry at the member, but also feeling ashamed of what I had given her. It is only now that I'm typing this that I realize that after working in the Branch for over a year, that is the first time I have ever had someone have that complaint, why then did I feel ashamed or even angry?
This woman was totally a twit, and I did nothing wrong...I know this...but I will still probably dwell for the next 2 and a half hours of the work day. I guess on the flip side, super positive members make me happy and put me in a good mood, I just wish there were more of them, and NONE of the negative, sucky ones...
I currently have a wonderful weekend planned. Tonight I'm going to dinner with my fabulous husband and hilarious parents, and then we are taking advantage of some super duper discount cards at Yankee Candle. Tomorrow (after a few hours of work) I will be hanging out with two great friends who I have been blessed to meet and get to know because of my husband, and then taking in another ODU football game with Jonathan! Sunday will be my first day running again, and I'm super siked! I people think I'm crazy, but with a week off, I can not wait to get back to it.
The purpose of that last paragraph was to show that by all normal accounts, I should be in an excellent mood...but I'm not. And it's not because something painful, horrible, or even slightly bad had happened in my life, it's because of my MEMBERS!!
For some reason when I have a member with a bad attitude, I get upset, even when I never did anything wrong. The worst for me is the members with the uppity attitudes, and 'shockingly', I experience these quite frequently in Williamsburg. Everyone thinks they are the best member, or have been here the longest, or have the most money, or are the best friend of 'a number' of the members on the board of directors...
Today I had a member get insulted by the way our system printed a print out for her. She proceeded to berade me for at least 10 minutes on how unprofessional the print out I gave her was. She told me that when she was an executive assistant for 'a number' of CEO's and other Executives she would never give out something like this. The reason she thought the print out was unprofessional was because it wasn't on letter head, and I hadn't personally typed it up. I found myself not only getting angry at the member, but also feeling ashamed of what I had given her. It is only now that I'm typing this that I realize that after working in the Branch for over a year, that is the first time I have ever had someone have that complaint, why then did I feel ashamed or even angry?
This woman was totally a twit, and I did nothing wrong...I know this...but I will still probably dwell for the next 2 and a half hours of the work day. I guess on the flip side, super positive members make me happy and put me in a good mood, I just wish there were more of them, and NONE of the negative, sucky ones...
Wednesday, September 2, 2009
My New Favorite
So it's official, I'm old. This is the first year of my life that I have changed my favorite season!
For as long as I can remember it has been summer! The warm weather, the beach, the vacations...summer has been the golden child (pun intended). I have now realized that the warm weather is actually hot, I rarely get to the beach like I would like to, and vacations are planned for non-summer times because it's a lot cheaper!
My new favorite is FALL!! Convenient, I know. I really love fall weather, it's perfect for pretty much everything! Running, walking, bike riding, shopping at outdoor malls, tailgating.
Which brings be to another love, FOOTBALL! I know what your thinking, Jen likes pink and shopping and other very femine things, this just doesn't seem to fit?? Well guess what, Jen is also super competive and LOVES stragegy! While I appreciate football in all forms, my favorite is definitely college! I apprecaite the competition of it! It's not about money, well it is a little, but not for the players, they are there to win. The coaches are there to come up with the best strategy to do that. It's not about million dollar contracts or DUI scandals, it's about football, and I feel like you lose a lot of that in Pro.
This year I am even more excited for football because I have a new underdog to cheer for! The ODU Monarchs!! Yes, I am only one by marriage or family relation, but I'm excited to see them overcome all odds and hopefully have a winning season for their first one!
I really am looking forward to weekends full of tailgating, leaf-filled walks with my hubby, and holiday (Halloween, Thanksgiving, and Christmas) decorating. Believe it or not, the optimist in me, is even looking forward to Christmas shopping!
Well I better get back to my dreams of cider and falling leaves, before the last bit of summer comes and hits me in the backside :) This is weather is just right to put me in a good mood full of optimisim.
For as long as I can remember it has been summer! The warm weather, the beach, the vacations...summer has been the golden child (pun intended). I have now realized that the warm weather is actually hot, I rarely get to the beach like I would like to, and vacations are planned for non-summer times because it's a lot cheaper!
My new favorite is FALL!! Convenient, I know. I really love fall weather, it's perfect for pretty much everything! Running, walking, bike riding, shopping at outdoor malls, tailgating.
Which brings be to another love, FOOTBALL! I know what your thinking, Jen likes pink and shopping and other very femine things, this just doesn't seem to fit?? Well guess what, Jen is also super competive and LOVES stragegy! While I appreciate football in all forms, my favorite is definitely college! I apprecaite the competition of it! It's not about money, well it is a little, but not for the players, they are there to win. The coaches are there to come up with the best strategy to do that. It's not about million dollar contracts or DUI scandals, it's about football, and I feel like you lose a lot of that in Pro.
This year I am even more excited for football because I have a new underdog to cheer for! The ODU Monarchs!! Yes, I am only one by marriage or family relation, but I'm excited to see them overcome all odds and hopefully have a winning season for their first one!
I really am looking forward to weekends full of tailgating, leaf-filled walks with my hubby, and holiday (Halloween, Thanksgiving, and Christmas) decorating. Believe it or not, the optimist in me, is even looking forward to Christmas shopping!
Well I better get back to my dreams of cider and falling leaves, before the last bit of summer comes and hits me in the backside :) This is weather is just right to put me in a good mood full of optimisim.
Monday, August 31, 2009
A 'Banker's' top ten pet peeves:
I wanted to take this time to post a few random thoughts that a number of us 'bankers' have. Hopefully this will make you 'non-bankers' more aware of what we go through everyday, and a little nicer next time you visit your local financial institution:
10. I am putting you check on hold because the bank requires me to do so, not because I don't trust you, or think you are shady, it's my job, and if I don't do it and something is wrong with your check, they will fire me, not you...
9. I work at a bank, I am bonded and have had a full background check, if I ask you for your social security or any other info, it is not because I am going to steal your information it is because I have to have it to open your account or do your loan, so yes it IS my business.
8. If you watch the news, you will hear that house prices are coming down and foreclosures are going up, that means if you want a mortgage you will need a down payment, period, again this is not because I don't trust you or think you are shady.
7. If you have more than a page of collections items on your credit report, please do not apply for a loan, it wastes my time and yours.
6. When I ask you how you would like your cash back, please tell me when I ask, not when I am counting it back to you.
5. The sign in the drive-thru says 3 transactions or less because it's a drive-thru and you are wasting people's gas when it takes you over a minute just to tell the teller what you would like to do.
4. The bank is a bank, it is not a candy store, nor is it a coffee shop, so yes those are the only colors we have for lollipops and no we don't have de-caf or flavored creamer.
3. We weren't joking when we put the sign that says "Please wait here for the next available teller", it doesn't have LOL or HAHA after, it's for real.
3A. Just because my office door is open, it does not mean I am available, that is why we have a front desk to sign-in at, papers all over my desk or my ear to the phone reciever is usually a hint that I am in the middle of something.
2. Just because you know the Bank President's name or have been a member "forever" I will not refund your fees, you should keep a check register, and balance it, like in the old days when you met our President or became a member.
And finally number one, and this one is personal...
1. Yes, my last name is Register and I work at a Bank, it's hilarious, except it's not really, and you are most certainly not the first person to figure that out, move on, or I will put your checks on permanent holds... :)
This was the cure for my case of the 'Mondays'. Thanks for reading, hopefully you enjoyed or at least got some education...
10. I am putting you check on hold because the bank requires me to do so, not because I don't trust you, or think you are shady, it's my job, and if I don't do it and something is wrong with your check, they will fire me, not you...
9. I work at a bank, I am bonded and have had a full background check, if I ask you for your social security or any other info, it is not because I am going to steal your information it is because I have to have it to open your account or do your loan, so yes it IS my business.
8. If you watch the news, you will hear that house prices are coming down and foreclosures are going up, that means if you want a mortgage you will need a down payment, period, again this is not because I don't trust you or think you are shady.
7. If you have more than a page of collections items on your credit report, please do not apply for a loan, it wastes my time and yours.
6. When I ask you how you would like your cash back, please tell me when I ask, not when I am counting it back to you.
5. The sign in the drive-thru says 3 transactions or less because it's a drive-thru and you are wasting people's gas when it takes you over a minute just to tell the teller what you would like to do.
4. The bank is a bank, it is not a candy store, nor is it a coffee shop, so yes those are the only colors we have for lollipops and no we don't have de-caf or flavored creamer.
3. We weren't joking when we put the sign that says "Please wait here for the next available teller", it doesn't have LOL or HAHA after, it's for real.
3A. Just because my office door is open, it does not mean I am available, that is why we have a front desk to sign-in at, papers all over my desk or my ear to the phone reciever is usually a hint that I am in the middle of something.
2. Just because you know the Bank President's name or have been a member "forever" I will not refund your fees, you should keep a check register, and balance it, like in the old days when you met our President or became a member.
And finally number one, and this one is personal...
1. Yes, my last name is Register and I work at a Bank, it's hilarious, except it's not really, and you are most certainly not the first person to figure that out, move on, or I will put your checks on permanent holds... :)
This was the cure for my case of the 'Mondays'. Thanks for reading, hopefully you enjoyed or at least got some education...
Monday, August 17, 2009
Naive Running
I finally got to run yesterday after a week of no running. (See previous two posts)
Well I went to this park near my house that I like to run at (about a mile and a half from my house). I used to always run to the park, and then run the long trail. I would also run around the neighborhoods near there.
Due to my previous injury, I decided to drive there yesterday, so if something happened I wouldn't be able to get home without having to hobble a mile and a half.
Now for the last 2 years of my illustrious running career I have thought that the long trail at riverview is 2 miles because the short trail is 1 mile, and I usually will run the long trail a few times, along with my other neighborhood running.
Yesterday I really wanted to do ten miles to keep up my training. As I was running and was nearing (what I thought) was 7 miles, and except for a little back pain, my body was doing well, and my breathing was great! I decided to only do (what I thought) was 8 miles, so I didn't put to much pressure on my body and didn't want to agitate my back, since I was starting to feel it some. And 8 miles is great with not training for a whole week!! Well the more I thought about how great my times I were (I ran 9 minute miles on my first day back!!) and watched other runners figure 8 the trails, I decided to investigate when I got home...
It turns out the long trail is only 1.6 and to make it 2 miles you do have to figure 8 the two trails. I feel like my whole running career has been a fraud!! I have thought I was running 2 miles there when I was only running 1.6!! The worst is that I thought I was running 8 and 9 minute mile times there because I thought it was 2 miles, but really it was 10 and 11 minutes miles. I knew I wasn't running fast but I figured I was going fast because it was flat and I have long legs and didn't have to wait for stop lights, ALL LIES!!!
Anyway, no one else seemed to understand why I was so upset, and better yet, everyone I have told, has seemed to already know this!! What the heck?? Didn't think you might clue a sister in?
So yesterday I ran 6.5ish miles when I thought I ran 8, big difference! So with less than 3 weeks till the big race I am currently running half the distance of the race...
Hence I have quite the dilemma because the hardcore-competitive part of me thinks I should step-up my training since I was running less than I thought on my long runs, and I was out of commision for a week, but the rational part of me realizes it would be better to walk some of the race than to re-injure myself and not be able to run it at all.
This is soooo not how I wanted this race to go this year, for heaven's sake, I started training 4 months before the stupid thing!
Oh jeez! I think I will take up a less injury prone sport like....ping pong
Well I went to this park near my house that I like to run at (about a mile and a half from my house). I used to always run to the park, and then run the long trail. I would also run around the neighborhoods near there.
Due to my previous injury, I decided to drive there yesterday, so if something happened I wouldn't be able to get home without having to hobble a mile and a half.
Now for the last 2 years of my illustrious running career I have thought that the long trail at riverview is 2 miles because the short trail is 1 mile, and I usually will run the long trail a few times, along with my other neighborhood running.
Yesterday I really wanted to do ten miles to keep up my training. As I was running and was nearing (what I thought) was 7 miles, and except for a little back pain, my body was doing well, and my breathing was great! I decided to only do (what I thought) was 8 miles, so I didn't put to much pressure on my body and didn't want to agitate my back, since I was starting to feel it some. And 8 miles is great with not training for a whole week!! Well the more I thought about how great my times I were (I ran 9 minute miles on my first day back!!) and watched other runners figure 8 the trails, I decided to investigate when I got home...
It turns out the long trail is only 1.6 and to make it 2 miles you do have to figure 8 the two trails. I feel like my whole running career has been a fraud!! I have thought I was running 2 miles there when I was only running 1.6!! The worst is that I thought I was running 8 and 9 minute mile times there because I thought it was 2 miles, but really it was 10 and 11 minutes miles. I knew I wasn't running fast but I figured I was going fast because it was flat and I have long legs and didn't have to wait for stop lights, ALL LIES!!!
Anyway, no one else seemed to understand why I was so upset, and better yet, everyone I have told, has seemed to already know this!! What the heck?? Didn't think you might clue a sister in?
So yesterday I ran 6.5ish miles when I thought I ran 8, big difference! So with less than 3 weeks till the big race I am currently running half the distance of the race...
Hence I have quite the dilemma because the hardcore-competitive part of me thinks I should step-up my training since I was running less than I thought on my long runs, and I was out of commision for a week, but the rational part of me realizes it would be better to walk some of the race than to re-injure myself and not be able to run it at all.
This is soooo not how I wanted this race to go this year, for heaven's sake, I started training 4 months before the stupid thing!
Oh jeez! I think I will take up a less injury prone sport like....ping pong
Tuesday, August 11, 2009
Pain...
So i'm still in pain, I seem to wake in the morning feeling better, and then after an hour or so at work, I'm in major pain again...
I finally bit the bullet and made an appt with my PCP. A 'benefit' to living life on a budget is you go with the HMO over the PPO, and therefore I have to see a Dr. who probably can't do anything for me, just to be able to make an appt. with a Dr. who MIGHT be able to...
This sucks! Big time! I don't like to complain about being in pain, I like to suck it up, but feeling pain constantly in any part of your body is difficult and not fun. The worst thing is that I am training to run the half-marathon in va beach on labor day weekend, and I'm really afraid that I'm not going to be in shape to run for at least a week, and with the race fast approaching, it could mean certain disaster...
Prayers will help and are definitely accepted...40 year-old injured person signing off
I finally bit the bullet and made an appt with my PCP. A 'benefit' to living life on a budget is you go with the HMO over the PPO, and therefore I have to see a Dr. who probably can't do anything for me, just to be able to make an appt. with a Dr. who MIGHT be able to...
This sucks! Big time! I don't like to complain about being in pain, I like to suck it up, but feeling pain constantly in any part of your body is difficult and not fun. The worst thing is that I am training to run the half-marathon in va beach on labor day weekend, and I'm really afraid that I'm not going to be in shape to run for at least a week, and with the race fast approaching, it could mean certain disaster...
Prayers will help and are definitely accepted...40 year-old injured person signing off
Monday, August 10, 2009
Put your back into it...
So, I turned 25 last Wednesday, I expected my insurance to go down, I expected the "when are you going to have kids" questions to go up, I even expected to feel a little nostalgia since "I'm now a quarter of a century!!", but never did I expect to start experiencing the health problems of a 40 year-old. Yes kids, it's true, I threw my back out. How you might ask, lifting a 200lb safe? no, lifting a couple gallons of milk? no, lifting anything? no... I simply bent down and to the left while I was running, when I went to stand up straight, all I felt was sharp pain in my lower left back. I stopped for a minute and stretched it out, being the stubbourn 25 year-old I am, I kept running for another three miles, determined that the pain was only in my head, and creating the rule, "If you would continue walking even with this pain, then you should continue running, it's pretty much the same thing, right?, stop being a baby!!"
After I had finished running, I stretched for a while, but nothing seemed to work, by the time I got out of the shower and was getting ready for church I was getting goosebumps and tears in the corners of my eyes from the pain. The same stubbourn 25 year-old pressed on...I HAD to go to church, it as my friend Dan's last weekend before he went to the seminary, and I had to fill in for my parent's as EM's since they were at Grandma's.
All through church the pain was intense, and I'm pretty sure I wasn't hiding it very well. Sitting hurt, Standing hurt, going from sitting to standing hurt (and if you have ever been to a Catholic church, you know you do this a lot)!! By the end of church, all I wanted to do was go home and lay in the fetal position (or whatever position was semi-comfortable) in my bed!
So that's what I did, for close to 6 hours on Sunday, I laid in bed and read, and slept, and then repeated these actions! I was sure that I would not be able to sleep last night because of all the slept I got during the day, but that was not a problem either, apparently pain really takes it out of you. Today I am feeling much better, the pain is more nagging tightness then severe sharp pain, hopefully by tomorrow it will be completely gone...but that could just be the optimistic 25 year-old talking instead of the injured 40 year-old...
After I had finished running, I stretched for a while, but nothing seemed to work, by the time I got out of the shower and was getting ready for church I was getting goosebumps and tears in the corners of my eyes from the pain. The same stubbourn 25 year-old pressed on...I HAD to go to church, it as my friend Dan's last weekend before he went to the seminary, and I had to fill in for my parent's as EM's since they were at Grandma's.
All through church the pain was intense, and I'm pretty sure I wasn't hiding it very well. Sitting hurt, Standing hurt, going from sitting to standing hurt (and if you have ever been to a Catholic church, you know you do this a lot)!! By the end of church, all I wanted to do was go home and lay in the fetal position (or whatever position was semi-comfortable) in my bed!
So that's what I did, for close to 6 hours on Sunday, I laid in bed and read, and slept, and then repeated these actions! I was sure that I would not be able to sleep last night because of all the slept I got during the day, but that was not a problem either, apparently pain really takes it out of you. Today I am feeling much better, the pain is more nagging tightness then severe sharp pain, hopefully by tomorrow it will be completely gone...but that could just be the optimistic 25 year-old talking instead of the injured 40 year-old...
Tuesday, August 4, 2009
Nature vs. Nurture
Jonathan and I have long had this debate, I tend to be more of the "Nature" philosophy, where Jonathan is more of the "Nurture". This has led some heated debates mainly related to sexual orientation and weight. As much as I love him, I think Jonathan is completely wrong in believing that people 'choose' to be gay, and if an overweight person wants to be skinny they just need to get off their lazy butt and stop eating big macs.
Last night I think we had a small break through... Jonathan (for about the 6th time) as decided to start P90X. For those of you not familiar, it is the new hit way to get in super duper shape in the comfort of your own home, with only 1 hour a day, in 90 days you will have a beach body!
At the start of this program you are supposed to measure your physical fitness level, mainly to gauge whether you are strong enough to start and to see how far you've come at the end. Jonathan wanted me to help him, but since he was supposed to take breaks between each test, I also decided to measure myself.
I have belonged to a gym for almost three years now, and I actually use it. I also run on a regular basis (my last run was 9 miles!). I also use TV commercials to do circuit workouts at my house! I am very active!!
Jonathan, on the other hand, can count on one hand the number of times in the last year he has done some sort of excercise without me doing it with him. (And he rarely does excercise with me, besides...you know....)
Well anyway, last night Jonathan beat me or barley lost to me at every test!! What the heck!! I actually try to stay physically fit and his activity level is slightly above that of the 700 hundred pound man. When I brought this to his attention at first it made him smirk, but them when I brought it back to the good ol' metabolism discussion, he really couldn't say much.
A great example is my brother, while not a health freak, he is far from most his age, and he is fairly active. He was keeping up pretty well at rock climbing, and he just left a week of intense drumline camp at ODU. We went out to eat at the mexican restaraunt and he got a salad, while it was a taco salad, he was the only one!! Yet, he still is and probably always will be overweight, even if he works really hard and gets his weight down by eating like a rabbit and working out an hour plus everyday (not typical for most people) he will never be a string bean, which for some people with worse eating habits and less activity (cough, cough, Jonathan) just comes naturally.
Before I get off my soapbox, I will say I do not support obesity, I support a normal healthy lifestyle, normal= some junk food + not excercising EVERY day, and if you live a normal healthy lifestyle and still have weight issues, then unfortunately you got the bad genes, but you are not a worse or more lazy person than the skinny person with the same eating and activity habits!!
Stepping down...before I fall. :)
Last night I think we had a small break through... Jonathan (for about the 6th time) as decided to start P90X. For those of you not familiar, it is the new hit way to get in super duper shape in the comfort of your own home, with only 1 hour a day, in 90 days you will have a beach body!
At the start of this program you are supposed to measure your physical fitness level, mainly to gauge whether you are strong enough to start and to see how far you've come at the end. Jonathan wanted me to help him, but since he was supposed to take breaks between each test, I also decided to measure myself.
I have belonged to a gym for almost three years now, and I actually use it. I also run on a regular basis (my last run was 9 miles!). I also use TV commercials to do circuit workouts at my house! I am very active!!
Jonathan, on the other hand, can count on one hand the number of times in the last year he has done some sort of excercise without me doing it with him. (And he rarely does excercise with me, besides...you know....)
Well anyway, last night Jonathan beat me or barley lost to me at every test!! What the heck!! I actually try to stay physically fit and his activity level is slightly above that of the 700 hundred pound man. When I brought this to his attention at first it made him smirk, but them when I brought it back to the good ol' metabolism discussion, he really couldn't say much.
A great example is my brother, while not a health freak, he is far from most his age, and he is fairly active. He was keeping up pretty well at rock climbing, and he just left a week of intense drumline camp at ODU. We went out to eat at the mexican restaraunt and he got a salad, while it was a taco salad, he was the only one!! Yet, he still is and probably always will be overweight, even if he works really hard and gets his weight down by eating like a rabbit and working out an hour plus everyday (not typical for most people) he will never be a string bean, which for some people with worse eating habits and less activity (cough, cough, Jonathan) just comes naturally.
Before I get off my soapbox, I will say I do not support obesity, I support a normal healthy lifestyle, normal= some junk food + not excercising EVERY day, and if you live a normal healthy lifestyle and still have weight issues, then unfortunately you got the bad genes, but you are not a worse or more lazy person than the skinny person with the same eating and activity habits!!
Stepping down...before I fall. :)
Saturday, August 1, 2009
Rock Climbing and Harry and Sally
We are going rock climbing this afternoon. I'm very excited...for two reasons. One, I am not an avid rock climber, but I am an avid let's DO something kinda person, and whitewater rafting would have been a little more expensive... so who knows, maybe I'll be good...
The other reason is we are combining friends from several social groups. We have some of our friends from young adults, one of my friends from FOREVER and her boyfriend, some of 'jonathan's friends' (in quotes, because they were Jonathan's first, but I'm pretty sure they like me more, j/k), and also a friend of mine from my old job, who has become one of my closest.
The reason for my excitement is that I have always wanted to have a social gathering type house, where people come and party, and it's all decked out in southern living and williams and sonoma. While we are still a far leap to the decked out-ness, we are one step closer to having parties at our house and inviting everyone!!
It's not fun to have parties and feel like all your doing is introducing and trying to start conversations all night long. It always reminds me of that scene in "When Harry Met Sally" and they are at the restaurant and Sally is setting Harry up with her friend (Carrie Fisher) and visa versa, and they both try to start conversations for the other, but when they try it doesn't work, and gets awkward.
So I think DOing something is the way to go, it gives everyone something to talk about. And when you are working together to get someones butt up a wall, it's like sports, it brings people together. I hope everyone in our different friends groups ends up like Sally's Friend and Harry's Friend who like each other without the help of Sally and Harry, if you haven't seen the movie more than once like myself, this analogy is probably not working for you, but just imagine a dinner party disaster and you will get the picture.
We are going to Mexican and Margaritas after which will continue to bring the group together. Who doesn't like Mexican!! and social lube is always a big help!
I need to say Thank you very much to my hubby who planned all of this!! I know he thinks it will be a disaster, but I will continue to let the dreams of southern living and williams and sonoma dance in my head :)
The other reason is we are combining friends from several social groups. We have some of our friends from young adults, one of my friends from FOREVER and her boyfriend, some of 'jonathan's friends' (in quotes, because they were Jonathan's first, but I'm pretty sure they like me more, j/k), and also a friend of mine from my old job, who has become one of my closest.
The reason for my excitement is that I have always wanted to have a social gathering type house, where people come and party, and it's all decked out in southern living and williams and sonoma. While we are still a far leap to the decked out-ness, we are one step closer to having parties at our house and inviting everyone!!
It's not fun to have parties and feel like all your doing is introducing and trying to start conversations all night long. It always reminds me of that scene in "When Harry Met Sally" and they are at the restaurant and Sally is setting Harry up with her friend (Carrie Fisher) and visa versa, and they both try to start conversations for the other, but when they try it doesn't work, and gets awkward.
So I think DOing something is the way to go, it gives everyone something to talk about. And when you are working together to get someones butt up a wall, it's like sports, it brings people together. I hope everyone in our different friends groups ends up like Sally's Friend and Harry's Friend who like each other without the help of Sally and Harry, if you haven't seen the movie more than once like myself, this analogy is probably not working for you, but just imagine a dinner party disaster and you will get the picture.
We are going to Mexican and Margaritas after which will continue to bring the group together. Who doesn't like Mexican!! and social lube is always a big help!
I need to say Thank you very much to my hubby who planned all of this!! I know he thinks it will be a disaster, but I will continue to let the dreams of southern living and williams and sonoma dance in my head :)
Friday, July 31, 2009
What a great place!
The other night I realized that I love where I live. Not particularly our actual house, but our neighborhood and the surrounding area. It is wonderful having a neighbohood pool and someone to cut your grass. We have our grocery store, pharmacy, neighborhood bar, blockbuster, starbucks, total wine, a chinese place, a pizza place, a mexican place, a wing place, bonefish, the ABC store, and care-a-lot pet supply all with in WALKING distance.
In case you don't realize how awesome this is for us, let me explain...
Grocery Store: Self-Explanatory
Pharmacy: Visit there at least once a month, every month...
Bar: love sports, non-smoking, and 1.50 drafts!
Blockbuster: We rent movies on the regular
Starbucks: nice hang out and the coffee...when we get a coupon
Total Wine: If you know me...Self-Explantory
Chinese: Favorite kind of take-out
Pizza: Jonathan's overall favorite food
Mexican: One of our two favorite food genres
Wings: Favorite junk food dinner
Bonefish: The other of our two favorite food genres
ABC Store: see answer for Total Wine
Care-a-l0t: Hello!! ARF! and Mackenzie!!!
But wait...it get's better, as you know, I am some what a fitness enthusiast. I never claim to be a healthy eater, but I love to be active! Well I have been comtemplating for a couple months whether I should cancel my gym membership, it's almost $40 a month, and with Jonathan going full-time with ARF!, any places we can cut, we really need to. I really didn't want to because I was afraid I would become a sad and lethargic couch potato. I lost 25 pounds after I gained Gold's and have managed to keep all but 3 or 4 off for the last two years plus! To be honest I was afraid I would become fat again...
Well, as usual, my neighborhood has come to my rescue...within WALKING distance between Care-a-lot and the ABC Store we are getting a Planet Fitness! Instead of paying 40, I will be able to pay 10 dollars monthly and have access 24 hours a day Mon-Fri (and 7-7 Sat and Sun) to a ton of cardio machines and weightlifting machines! Not only that, they have a 'judgement free zone' motto. Their focus is similar to mine, which is, once size does NOT fit all, and a healthy, active life-style, not extreme weight-loss, is the goal. They offer comp. miniature tootsie rolls, free pizza the first mon. of the month, and free bagels the second tue. of the month. Believe or not, because of the low cost, I actually have a tentative agreement from Jonathan to join!! I thought we would have to be millionaires before I saw that happen.
So when I think about the size of our house, and how it would be nice to have more room and a real yard, I also realize how lucky we are, and I'm not ready to grow up to a big-girl house! For once in my life, I'm (gasp!) satisfied!
In case you don't realize how awesome this is for us, let me explain...
Grocery Store: Self-Explanatory
Pharmacy: Visit there at least once a month, every month...
Bar: love sports, non-smoking, and 1.50 drafts!
Blockbuster: We rent movies on the regular
Starbucks: nice hang out and the coffee...when we get a coupon
Total Wine: If you know me...Self-Explantory
Chinese: Favorite kind of take-out
Pizza: Jonathan's overall favorite food
Mexican: One of our two favorite food genres
Wings: Favorite junk food dinner
Bonefish: The other of our two favorite food genres
ABC Store: see answer for Total Wine
Care-a-l0t: Hello!! ARF! and Mackenzie!!!
But wait...it get's better, as you know, I am some what a fitness enthusiast. I never claim to be a healthy eater, but I love to be active! Well I have been comtemplating for a couple months whether I should cancel my gym membership, it's almost $40 a month, and with Jonathan going full-time with ARF!, any places we can cut, we really need to. I really didn't want to because I was afraid I would become a sad and lethargic couch potato. I lost 25 pounds after I gained Gold's and have managed to keep all but 3 or 4 off for the last two years plus! To be honest I was afraid I would become fat again...
Well, as usual, my neighborhood has come to my rescue...within WALKING distance between Care-a-lot and the ABC Store we are getting a Planet Fitness! Instead of paying 40, I will be able to pay 10 dollars monthly and have access 24 hours a day Mon-Fri (and 7-7 Sat and Sun) to a ton of cardio machines and weightlifting machines! Not only that, they have a 'judgement free zone' motto. Their focus is similar to mine, which is, once size does NOT fit all, and a healthy, active life-style, not extreme weight-loss, is the goal. They offer comp. miniature tootsie rolls, free pizza the first mon. of the month, and free bagels the second tue. of the month. Believe or not, because of the low cost, I actually have a tentative agreement from Jonathan to join!! I thought we would have to be millionaires before I saw that happen.
So when I think about the size of our house, and how it would be nice to have more room and a real yard, I also realize how lucky we are, and I'm not ready to grow up to a big-girl house! For once in my life, I'm (gasp!) satisfied!
Saturday, July 25, 2009
RIP John Register
Well it happened, Jonathan's Grandfather died yesterday around 4pm. I had built up a lot of nervous energy as so how Jonathan would react, but I never could have really prepared myself for how he reacted. I expected tears, heartbreak, possibly some anger, but all I got when I got home from work yesterday was a slightly unreciprocated hug and a "I'm fine", with a tone that really meant he was what he said.
As the night wore on Jonathan seemed to get agitated mainly with the dogs, but a little with me. I think he is frustrated because he doesn't know what to do, he wants to be sad, but as he kept saying last night as a repeatedly asked "are you ok?", "It just doesn't feel real". I guess when you haven't experienced it before, it probably doesn't. I was never lucky/unlucky enough to have that feeling. My first experience with death was up close and personal. My family held hands praying around my uncle's bed as he slowly faded, and eventually died. Pretty intense, for a 13 year-old, but it definitely made death real.
I imagine Jonathan will be upset at the funeral, but I also imagined he would have been upset on getting the news, he has still yet to cry, or even show had real sadness. Some might say that's a 'guy thing'. But again my experience has been that I have seen my Brother cry, my Dad cry, and even my Grandfather cry, most of these experiences with close men in my life crying involved the death of a love one.
I guess that is not how everyone expresses the 'sadness' emotion, and I should stop trying to dictate exactly how Jonathan should express it, but something inside me tells me that Jonathan will feel a lot better if he does cry. Just like this blog is cathartic for me, and I think a good cry will be for him, but if Jonathan's history is an indicator I will need some pretty strong onions before that will ever happen.
As the night wore on Jonathan seemed to get agitated mainly with the dogs, but a little with me. I think he is frustrated because he doesn't know what to do, he wants to be sad, but as he kept saying last night as a repeatedly asked "are you ok?", "It just doesn't feel real". I guess when you haven't experienced it before, it probably doesn't. I was never lucky/unlucky enough to have that feeling. My first experience with death was up close and personal. My family held hands praying around my uncle's bed as he slowly faded, and eventually died. Pretty intense, for a 13 year-old, but it definitely made death real.
I imagine Jonathan will be upset at the funeral, but I also imagined he would have been upset on getting the news, he has still yet to cry, or even show had real sadness. Some might say that's a 'guy thing'. But again my experience has been that I have seen my Brother cry, my Dad cry, and even my Grandfather cry, most of these experiences with close men in my life crying involved the death of a love one.
I guess that is not how everyone expresses the 'sadness' emotion, and I should stop trying to dictate exactly how Jonathan should express it, but something inside me tells me that Jonathan will feel a lot better if he does cry. Just like this blog is cathartic for me, and I think a good cry will be for him, but if Jonathan's history is an indicator I will need some pretty strong onions before that will ever happen.
Wednesday, July 22, 2009
Death
Great title, right? Definitely an uplifting one... People deal with death in so many different ways. Sometimes they get really sad and withdrawn, others grow closer to their family and friends, others get mad and angry, still others experience a number of these emotions throughout the course of 'coping'.
The first time I really experienced Death I was in the 8th Grade, and I was there when my Uncle ultimately lost his 1 year battle with cancer. I remember withdrawing some from my friends, mainly because my boyfriend dumped me because I wasn't 'available'. I have experience death in my life a number of times since then, and have learned to deal with my emotions, and move on, going to the funeral itself always helps me to cope.
At 25 my husband has yet to 'experience' death, he has all his uncles, aunt, grandparents, immediate family, but that could be coming to an end very soon. His Grandfather (aka Grandaddy) has been recently moved to hospice care, and they don't think it will be very long (a few days, maybe a week). I am really concerned how Jonathan will handle this. I have seem him with a range of emotions, happy, frustrated, angry, disapointed, but sad is an emotion I haven't really seem (unless you count when I dumped him in the 9th grade).
I tried to pray for him yesterday, but at first I was lost at what to pray for. I didn't want to pray for Grandaddy to live because I know he's in pain, I didn't want to pray for him to 'go on to a better place' because I know how much that will hurt Jonathan, and Praying for Jonathan to 'get through it' just didn't seem appropriate either. I finally decided to pray that this experience brings him closer to God.
Through our relationship (the second time) Jonathan has always struggled with his relationship with God, while he definitely believes in 'him', he has never really had much beyond that. So hopefully my prayer will be answered, and something good will come out of this devastating experience for him. Fingers crossed!
The first time I really experienced Death I was in the 8th Grade, and I was there when my Uncle ultimately lost his 1 year battle with cancer. I remember withdrawing some from my friends, mainly because my boyfriend dumped me because I wasn't 'available'. I have experience death in my life a number of times since then, and have learned to deal with my emotions, and move on, going to the funeral itself always helps me to cope.
At 25 my husband has yet to 'experience' death, he has all his uncles, aunt, grandparents, immediate family, but that could be coming to an end very soon. His Grandfather (aka Grandaddy) has been recently moved to hospice care, and they don't think it will be very long (a few days, maybe a week). I am really concerned how Jonathan will handle this. I have seem him with a range of emotions, happy, frustrated, angry, disapointed, but sad is an emotion I haven't really seem (unless you count when I dumped him in the 9th grade).
I tried to pray for him yesterday, but at first I was lost at what to pray for. I didn't want to pray for Grandaddy to live because I know he's in pain, I didn't want to pray for him to 'go on to a better place' because I know how much that will hurt Jonathan, and Praying for Jonathan to 'get through it' just didn't seem appropriate either. I finally decided to pray that this experience brings him closer to God.
Through our relationship (the second time) Jonathan has always struggled with his relationship with God, while he definitely believes in 'him', he has never really had much beyond that. So hopefully my prayer will be answered, and something good will come out of this devastating experience for him. Fingers crossed!
Friday, July 17, 2009
Great Vacation...
So I just got back from vaca, and while it wasn't your tranditional vacation, it was truley amazing. I am having trouble keeping my eyes open and praying for 6 o'clock, but I would do it again every year if I get the chance.
I went on a mission trip with my church....as a chaperone, yikes! I got about 5 hours sleep every night for a week, but the way we were able to touch people lives made everything completely worth it. I definitely fell more in love with helping people, and want to make a concerted effort to listen to the path God has set-up for me, instead of deciding what I'm going to do, whether he likes it or not.
On the trip there were 4 of us "chaperones" that went on a mission trip together in high school, so it was really cool to remember the fun stories and experience we had together before, and how we were definitely not the 'good' kids then, so we knew what to look for :)
My group (Team Fuego!! Somebody call 911!) started off our trip at a Steve Forbes house. He was a disabled man, both physically and mentally. He had caved in front deck and large holes in his floor, all which he had to manuever with a walker. The first day at his house we rebuilt the deck, and the second day we laid new plywood and linoleum for his floors. He was also being taken advantage of by his 'friends' who were supposedly dealing drugs out of his house so we were very quick to call adult protective services to hopefully get him taken care of the way he should be.
On the third day I was shown a side of America I had only heard about in Movies and on TV. The house we went to visit in help was the home of Nanny Gray and her sister Adele. Both woman were well into their 80's, and their house looked like the abandon sheds you see on the side of the road. The wood boards on the outside of the house were completely at a loss for any kind of paint, and the tin roof was rusted. They did not allow us in the house, but from what we could see it was completely black, and very dirty. The woman themselves wore dirty rags for clothing. We had been sent there to deliver a large amount of firewood, cut down the weeds that had overgrown their front yard, and, probably the most important, build a rain barrell contraption outside their front door. These two 80 year old woman were walking down a steep path about a 1/4 of a mile from their home to a spring to get their water everyday. The house that they lived in was the house they were born in and it does not have water, and only limited electricity. To see people in this state, but yet still thanking God for all they have, was more than overwhelming. I will certainly remember them and the impact they had on my life, forever.
The fourth day of our trip was Sunday and the day of rest, we mainly hung out with the kids, went to church, and overall, just relaxed. It was nice.
The next day of our journey took us to a house that other groups were currently working on, but due to the condition of the house, would take even more people that were currently there to hopefully finish it before our week was up. At this house lived a couple who had lost the right to have their Grandchildren visit purely due to the horrible condition of their home. The focus at this house was to make it liveable again for their Grandchildren. While our group played a minor role in this entire project, repairing the front deck, it was great to know that we were a part of making a dream come true for these people.
On our last 'work' day we combined with Team 3 (Shark Bait) and became the Flaming Sharks (HeEeey!). It was a lot of fun because Amanda and John were on that team, and Amanda and I are good at delegating to the kids :) At this site we built a ramp for a woman who uses a walker to get around and has fallen down her stairs a few times. It felt good to know, she will not longer have to worry about that. We also used this day to pelt our kids with water balloons. Two adults ran around one side of the house and two ran around the other, so we definitely got them.
On Wednesday we drove back, and that was also our tubing today. While I ended up getting a little burnt, the tubing was a lot of fun, and it was great being attached to my young adult buddies for a couple hours in the water. We also went to the nicest Arby's I have ever seen in my life on the way home, big screen TV's, 6 ft totem poll, smoothie bar, and beer! Pretty amazing, and definitely a good end to a great trip!
I'm very excited for the friendships I have made with some of the kids, and looking forward to helping lead the highschoolers toward God in the fall.
I went on a mission trip with my church....as a chaperone, yikes! I got about 5 hours sleep every night for a week, but the way we were able to touch people lives made everything completely worth it. I definitely fell more in love with helping people, and want to make a concerted effort to listen to the path God has set-up for me, instead of deciding what I'm going to do, whether he likes it or not.
On the trip there were 4 of us "chaperones" that went on a mission trip together in high school, so it was really cool to remember the fun stories and experience we had together before, and how we were definitely not the 'good' kids then, so we knew what to look for :)
My group (Team Fuego!! Somebody call 911!) started off our trip at a Steve Forbes house. He was a disabled man, both physically and mentally. He had caved in front deck and large holes in his floor, all which he had to manuever with a walker. The first day at his house we rebuilt the deck, and the second day we laid new plywood and linoleum for his floors. He was also being taken advantage of by his 'friends' who were supposedly dealing drugs out of his house so we were very quick to call adult protective services to hopefully get him taken care of the way he should be.
On the third day I was shown a side of America I had only heard about in Movies and on TV. The house we went to visit in help was the home of Nanny Gray and her sister Adele. Both woman were well into their 80's, and their house looked like the abandon sheds you see on the side of the road. The wood boards on the outside of the house were completely at a loss for any kind of paint, and the tin roof was rusted. They did not allow us in the house, but from what we could see it was completely black, and very dirty. The woman themselves wore dirty rags for clothing. We had been sent there to deliver a large amount of firewood, cut down the weeds that had overgrown their front yard, and, probably the most important, build a rain barrell contraption outside their front door. These two 80 year old woman were walking down a steep path about a 1/4 of a mile from their home to a spring to get their water everyday. The house that they lived in was the house they were born in and it does not have water, and only limited electricity. To see people in this state, but yet still thanking God for all they have, was more than overwhelming. I will certainly remember them and the impact they had on my life, forever.
The fourth day of our trip was Sunday and the day of rest, we mainly hung out with the kids, went to church, and overall, just relaxed. It was nice.
The next day of our journey took us to a house that other groups were currently working on, but due to the condition of the house, would take even more people that were currently there to hopefully finish it before our week was up. At this house lived a couple who had lost the right to have their Grandchildren visit purely due to the horrible condition of their home. The focus at this house was to make it liveable again for their Grandchildren. While our group played a minor role in this entire project, repairing the front deck, it was great to know that we were a part of making a dream come true for these people.
On our last 'work' day we combined with Team 3 (Shark Bait) and became the Flaming Sharks (HeEeey!). It was a lot of fun because Amanda and John were on that team, and Amanda and I are good at delegating to the kids :) At this site we built a ramp for a woman who uses a walker to get around and has fallen down her stairs a few times. It felt good to know, she will not longer have to worry about that. We also used this day to pelt our kids with water balloons. Two adults ran around one side of the house and two ran around the other, so we definitely got them.
On Wednesday we drove back, and that was also our tubing today. While I ended up getting a little burnt, the tubing was a lot of fun, and it was great being attached to my young adult buddies for a couple hours in the water. We also went to the nicest Arby's I have ever seen in my life on the way home, big screen TV's, 6 ft totem poll, smoothie bar, and beer! Pretty amazing, and definitely a good end to a great trip!
I'm very excited for the friendships I have made with some of the kids, and looking forward to helping lead the highschoolers toward God in the fall.
Wednesday, July 1, 2009
For Every Season...Change, Change, Change
Change is hard, whether good or bad, big change is never easy. There are always adjustments and adaptations to be made. I bring this up because we have had a big change (drum roll please)... Jonathan has quit his job with ADT, and is now full-time with ARF!
This is definitely a good thing, but nonetheless will be difficult. Jonathan has to get health insurance on his own, and we no longer have a 'standard' paycheck coming in from his side of the household. I know I will get used to this, but it still scares me, and I know next payday it will seem weird and intimidating to only have one direct deposit going in.
Another change that could be occuring, but is by no means set in stone, one of my closest friends and by far best shopping partner ever, could be interviewing and as result getting a job in North Carolina. This job would be a huge promotion for her, and would basically make all her professional dreams come true, but ultimately she would be leaving the area, and we could potentially grow apart.
It seems so selfish that in all the change going on in my life, I continually think about how the changes in my life will effect me, instead of the difficulty my friend or husband might be going through. Outwardly, I show my concern for them and their feelings, but inwardly my concern is protecting myself and the life I've built.
I feel like BIG change turns most people in selfish people, we feel like we have to concentrate on how the change will effect our lives and how we can prepare, and don't take the time to consider how that change will effect those around us.
I could be going through another big change in my life in the near future, but am not quite ready to talk openly about it on my blog, if it comes to pass, I'll let you know, otherwise, I will continue to ask for your prayers, and prayers for those around me, since I seem to be worrying much more about myself, than I am about them...
This is definitely a good thing, but nonetheless will be difficult. Jonathan has to get health insurance on his own, and we no longer have a 'standard' paycheck coming in from his side of the household. I know I will get used to this, but it still scares me, and I know next payday it will seem weird and intimidating to only have one direct deposit going in.
Another change that could be occuring, but is by no means set in stone, one of my closest friends and by far best shopping partner ever, could be interviewing and as result getting a job in North Carolina. This job would be a huge promotion for her, and would basically make all her professional dreams come true, but ultimately she would be leaving the area, and we could potentially grow apart.
It seems so selfish that in all the change going on in my life, I continually think about how the changes in my life will effect me, instead of the difficulty my friend or husband might be going through. Outwardly, I show my concern for them and their feelings, but inwardly my concern is protecting myself and the life I've built.
I feel like BIG change turns most people in selfish people, we feel like we have to concentrate on how the change will effect our lives and how we can prepare, and don't take the time to consider how that change will effect those around us.
I could be going through another big change in my life in the near future, but am not quite ready to talk openly about it on my blog, if it comes to pass, I'll let you know, otherwise, I will continue to ask for your prayers, and prayers for those around me, since I seem to be worrying much more about myself, than I am about them...
Thursday, June 25, 2009
Pray for us
Jonathan and I have some big stuff going on in our lives right now. I would be happy to tell anyone individually, but don't really want to broadcast it on our blog. Anyway, I would really appreciate any prayers in our direction because we are in the process of making some big life decisions, and I know being lifted up, will definitely help.
Let me know if you need prayers as well, because I would be happy to scratch your back since your scratching mine :)
Disclaimer: This has nothing to do with future children, sorry to disapoint.
Let me know if you need prayers as well, because I would be happy to scratch your back since your scratching mine :)
Disclaimer: This has nothing to do with future children, sorry to disapoint.
Monday, June 22, 2009
Horse Blinders
In terms of females, I am definitely one of the most competitive I know, second only to olympic althetes and Pat Summit, but I have recently realized, this is not a good thing... I always felt like my competetive spirit made me work harder, and push to be the best, but as it turns out I think it just makes me over analyze situations, and push to hard at the beginning, saving nothing for the end.
This most recently hindered my performance during the 5K I ran in Norfolk over the weekend. I was very hot and if you humidity could be over 100%, I think it was. This did not deter me from worming my way to the front of the pack before the race began, and then trying to keep up with those in the front who were use to running the 5K at a 7 minute mile pace. I lasted for a good 1/2 mile before I realized we had only ran a half mile, and I was completely out of breath. Now I don't mean to brag or sound like I'm some amazing athlete, but I can regularly run 3 miles without killing myself, so being dead after a 1/2 mile, this is not good...
I was talking to my mom after the run, and how I felt this deep drive that I had to run as fast as everyone and as they passed me, I was a failure, and she said, in her typically endearing way "you need to get over that" and then continued with "you know those blinder things they have for horses, you need those!"
She was pretty funny, but she was also right. I need to figure out a way to put blinders on myself, not just in running, but also in life. I'm always so concerned with be happier, stronger, more successful, and just plain better than (fill in the blank person). I really want to keep my drive, but be concerned with the goals I set for myself, and not how well someone else is doing at achieving them.
This most recently hindered my performance during the 5K I ran in Norfolk over the weekend. I was very hot and if you humidity could be over 100%, I think it was. This did not deter me from worming my way to the front of the pack before the race began, and then trying to keep up with those in the front who were use to running the 5K at a 7 minute mile pace. I lasted for a good 1/2 mile before I realized we had only ran a half mile, and I was completely out of breath. Now I don't mean to brag or sound like I'm some amazing athlete, but I can regularly run 3 miles without killing myself, so being dead after a 1/2 mile, this is not good...
I was talking to my mom after the run, and how I felt this deep drive that I had to run as fast as everyone and as they passed me, I was a failure, and she said, in her typically endearing way "you need to get over that" and then continued with "you know those blinder things they have for horses, you need those!"
She was pretty funny, but she was also right. I need to figure out a way to put blinders on myself, not just in running, but also in life. I'm always so concerned with be happier, stronger, more successful, and just plain better than (fill in the blank person). I really want to keep my drive, but be concerned with the goals I set for myself, and not how well someone else is doing at achieving them.
Thursday, June 18, 2009
Running...literally....except not
So I feel like I have been running aroung like a chicken with it's head cut of since my post last week, but I have yet to actually run. Meaning because things have been crazy, I have totally been slacking on my training, and now I am supposed to run a 5K this weekend. Which a 5K is nothing compared to a half-marathon, but I was actually hoping to get a good time, and not barely scoot in at the 30 minute mark, which is probably what I will end up doing.
My Grandma has been staying with my parents this week, and therefore several nights have been devoted to Grandma time. Shout out to Gram and her 83rd birthday yesterday!! Our tradition since she hit the big 8-0 was to get her sex on the beach for her birthday. And before you get totally grossed out I mean the drink, not the action. We started this when we were down in Puerto Rico about to go out on a Cruise for her 80th birthday, and found our way to Senor Frogs as a family (our Family is not like most). Anyway, we continued the tradition last night, and added some fried oreos!! (trust me, your life will never me the same)
Last night Jonathan and I also began pet sitting for the weekend for Ike and Beau, a golden retreiver and a black lab, both are around 12 years old, and are so funny to see around Mackenzie who is literally running circles around them. We will have them all weekend which makes this weekend a little more stressful.
Tomorrow I am leaving right from work to stay with some friends so that I don't have very far to drive for my run in the morning. Jonathan has drill all weekend so I will probably get the brunt of taking care of the dogs, but luckily they don't move very much. :)
I know this post was totally random, but I needed to try and calm myself a little, and this randomness is where my head is right now. So now I will do a typical Jen, and make some lists and an estimated timeline for the remainder of my day... good thing Jonathan and I are married because I don't know if anyone else could handle the 'analness' we both have as well as each other can...
My Grandma has been staying with my parents this week, and therefore several nights have been devoted to Grandma time. Shout out to Gram and her 83rd birthday yesterday!! Our tradition since she hit the big 8-0 was to get her sex on the beach for her birthday. And before you get totally grossed out I mean the drink, not the action. We started this when we were down in Puerto Rico about to go out on a Cruise for her 80th birthday, and found our way to Senor Frogs as a family (our Family is not like most). Anyway, we continued the tradition last night, and added some fried oreos!! (trust me, your life will never me the same)
Last night Jonathan and I also began pet sitting for the weekend for Ike and Beau, a golden retreiver and a black lab, both are around 12 years old, and are so funny to see around Mackenzie who is literally running circles around them. We will have them all weekend which makes this weekend a little more stressful.
Tomorrow I am leaving right from work to stay with some friends so that I don't have very far to drive for my run in the morning. Jonathan has drill all weekend so I will probably get the brunt of taking care of the dogs, but luckily they don't move very much. :)
I know this post was totally random, but I needed to try and calm myself a little, and this randomness is where my head is right now. So now I will do a typical Jen, and make some lists and an estimated timeline for the remainder of my day... good thing Jonathan and I are married because I don't know if anyone else could handle the 'analness' we both have as well as each other can...
Friday, June 12, 2009
TGIF?
Why is it that everyone gets so excited about Friday? I know... the weekend, but why is it that we all inisit in working in jobs that make us exclaim every Friday...THANK GOD IT'S FRIDAY!!?? I know, I know...money, but everyone in a normal 9-5 seems to always feel that way. Like every week they work in a job that they can't stand so much that every Friday is like a special present from God. That's Sad, and I don't want that for my life.
I have worked very hard recently to begin enjoying my job, and not just seeing it as a paycheck, while I don't always love it (see my previous post), I do really enjoy the people I work with, colleagues and members.
I have discovered that you have to find the parts of your job you really enjoy and focus on those, yes bad things will happen, and if you are a supervisor of any kind, they will probably happen often, but being miserable 40 hours or more a week doesn't make for an overall happy and faith filled life.
So while this Friday I am excited (for my steak and pretty dress I will be wearing tomorrow), I refuse to dread Monday, and instead will work hard to look forward to the enjoyable parts.
I have worked very hard recently to begin enjoying my job, and not just seeing it as a paycheck, while I don't always love it (see my previous post), I do really enjoy the people I work with, colleagues and members.
I have discovered that you have to find the parts of your job you really enjoy and focus on those, yes bad things will happen, and if you are a supervisor of any kind, they will probably happen often, but being miserable 40 hours or more a week doesn't make for an overall happy and faith filled life.
So while this Friday I am excited (for my steak and pretty dress I will be wearing tomorrow), I refuse to dread Monday, and instead will work hard to look forward to the enjoyable parts.
Wednesday, June 10, 2009
Audited.
Yesterday was a very stressful day. We finally had the day that I, as an assistant branch manager, had been dreading...we were audited. Those of you who know me, know that I tend to be a little high-strung, and yesterday definitely brought me to the edge, and tangled me a little.
Now as a disclaimer, in terms of audits and auditors, ours really aren't that bad, in fact our auditors themselves are very nice, but having someone punch holes and find mistakes in the work you do, all day long, doesn't make for the best day.
According to the auditors, we overall, didn't do too bad, just a few minor things.... but as the girl who still doesn't understand why people say "no ones perfect", this was like a punch in the gut. I can't get into too many details of the audit due to confidentiality, but there was one thing particularly that came to light that involved the honesty of a couple of my colleagues, and that really bothered me. I am a very trusting person, mainly because I don't lie, and if I try, infants can read through it, so the idea of being deceiptful escapes me. And I'm not completely sure that my colleagues were intentionally being deceiptful, but I'm having trouble understanding another point of view. (One of my flaws)
Needless to say the action yesterday resulted in 2 glasses of wine and a bowl of icecream last night. I also managed to wake up at 3:30 in the morning and wasn't able to go back to sleep for about an hour due to worrying about this situation.
Now that I am fully awake and into the groove of my workday everything seems a little better, and it's not the end of the world, but boy to I have trouble convincing myself of that when I'm in 'that' place. You know 'that' place, the place where it seems that your problems are bigger than anyone elses in the world and you would gladly trade places with anyone because there is no solution. I tend to go to this place when something bad and stressful happens, but after a goodnight sleep, I usually realize there are people a lot worse off and I am a total drama queen for thinking I have the worst problems in the world.
Anyway, as previously stated, I'm doing a lot better this morning, and looking forward to Devin and Sarah's nuptials this weekend. What makes their wedding weekend even better is that I just had a chef from the Aberdeen Barn (where they are having their rehearsal dinner) come into the branch, and I was able to change my healthly order of salmon, to the not as healthy, but so much more delicious prime rib, yuuuuummm :)
Now as a disclaimer, in terms of audits and auditors, ours really aren't that bad, in fact our auditors themselves are very nice, but having someone punch holes and find mistakes in the work you do, all day long, doesn't make for the best day.
According to the auditors, we overall, didn't do too bad, just a few minor things.... but as the girl who still doesn't understand why people say "no ones perfect", this was like a punch in the gut. I can't get into too many details of the audit due to confidentiality, but there was one thing particularly that came to light that involved the honesty of a couple of my colleagues, and that really bothered me. I am a very trusting person, mainly because I don't lie, and if I try, infants can read through it, so the idea of being deceiptful escapes me. And I'm not completely sure that my colleagues were intentionally being deceiptful, but I'm having trouble understanding another point of view. (One of my flaws)
Needless to say the action yesterday resulted in 2 glasses of wine and a bowl of icecream last night. I also managed to wake up at 3:30 in the morning and wasn't able to go back to sleep for about an hour due to worrying about this situation.
Now that I am fully awake and into the groove of my workday everything seems a little better, and it's not the end of the world, but boy to I have trouble convincing myself of that when I'm in 'that' place. You know 'that' place, the place where it seems that your problems are bigger than anyone elses in the world and you would gladly trade places with anyone because there is no solution. I tend to go to this place when something bad and stressful happens, but after a goodnight sleep, I usually realize there are people a lot worse off and I am a total drama queen for thinking I have the worst problems in the world.
Anyway, as previously stated, I'm doing a lot better this morning, and looking forward to Devin and Sarah's nuptials this weekend. What makes their wedding weekend even better is that I just had a chef from the Aberdeen Barn (where they are having their rehearsal dinner) come into the branch, and I was able to change my healthly order of salmon, to the not as healthy, but so much more delicious prime rib, yuuuuummm :)
Monday, June 8, 2009
Good Weekends always Fly by!
So this weekend was a very good one, but it seems that the best weekends always fly by so quickly!
On Friday Jonathan and I had a date night. We went to Andy's Pizza, a place right across the street from us, that we had yet to check out. It turns out we like the place a lot and are considering it for family dinner with our families, but Dino's still has slightly better food. After that we went shopping in Jefferson Commons, and with Jonathan's blessing I got a new pink dress for Sarah and Devin's wedding. Jonathan got some new kicks, that he totally enjoys for two reasons, they were cheap and they give him about 2 inches.
I worked Saturday morning, but it was a very low stress saturday and was done by noon, so no biggie. When I got off I got changed and headed to a baby shower with my Mom. The shower was for a friend of ours from church who has been trying to get pregnant for three years and has been through a number of mis-carriages. It was so wonderful to see her happily carrying a beach ball under shirt (now 8 months along).
Saturday night Jonathan and I ventured over to the new Fresh Market right around the corner from us and bought some delicious bleu cheese burgers and rolls! I can't wait to go back and explore the store longer when it's a little less crowded. Jonathan grilled the burgers and toasted the buns, and though his perfectionism wasn't satisfied completely, I totally enjoyed mine! After we decided we ate way too much for dinner and there is never anything good on TV saturday night, we hopped in the car with Mackenzie to head over to Riverview Park, about a mile and a half from our house. They have a two-mile paved path, so Mackenny and I ran, and Jonathan rollerbladed. I was pretty proud of myself, I was able to run the 2 mile path in 16 minutes. Basically 8 minute miles, and since I never run for speed, only for distance, I was excited to see how well I could do if I push myself.
Sunday morning, I woke up to do my usual weekly 'long' run, I was supposed to do 7 miles this weekend, but I think the 2 mile speed run the night before took a little out of me so I did 5 1/2 miles and decided the two runs together equaled more than 7 and that's fine. After, I maintained my Sunday morning routine, and went to church and 'brunch' with the brunch bunch from church. (We have been going to breakfast together after church for about 5 or 6 years). Then it was home to get ready for our 'photo shoot'. Or should I say, Mackenzie's photo shoot. Jonathan has been working very hard to promote our business Arf! Pet Care (www.arfpetcare.com), and we are now getting another article written about us, this time in the Virginia Pilot extension paper "Inside Business". Like our article in the Daily Press, when the photographer came to take pictures of 'us', it really meant Mackenzie with Jonathan and I holding up the background. Either way it was fun, and I was impressed by how well behaved Mackenzie was.
Finally, after the photo shoot, Jonathan and I got ready to go to the free Mercyme concert at Busch Gardens. We met up with my my brother, and a couple friends from church. The concert was great, and I was able to trick Jonathan into doing something 'churchy' :) After the concert we rode Griffon in the dark, which was awesome!! I also did my 'special' run/swim out of the park, which embarassed Jonathan, but everyone else seemed to enjoy.
Overall we had a wonderful weekend, and when I write about it, it seems like we did so much, but it definitely went by so quickly. I wish fun weekends would go slow like work weeks, and work weeks would fly by like fun weekends.
On Friday Jonathan and I had a date night. We went to Andy's Pizza, a place right across the street from us, that we had yet to check out. It turns out we like the place a lot and are considering it for family dinner with our families, but Dino's still has slightly better food. After that we went shopping in Jefferson Commons, and with Jonathan's blessing I got a new pink dress for Sarah and Devin's wedding. Jonathan got some new kicks, that he totally enjoys for two reasons, they were cheap and they give him about 2 inches.
I worked Saturday morning, but it was a very low stress saturday and was done by noon, so no biggie. When I got off I got changed and headed to a baby shower with my Mom. The shower was for a friend of ours from church who has been trying to get pregnant for three years and has been through a number of mis-carriages. It was so wonderful to see her happily carrying a beach ball under shirt (now 8 months along).
Saturday night Jonathan and I ventured over to the new Fresh Market right around the corner from us and bought some delicious bleu cheese burgers and rolls! I can't wait to go back and explore the store longer when it's a little less crowded. Jonathan grilled the burgers and toasted the buns, and though his perfectionism wasn't satisfied completely, I totally enjoyed mine! After we decided we ate way too much for dinner and there is never anything good on TV saturday night, we hopped in the car with Mackenzie to head over to Riverview Park, about a mile and a half from our house. They have a two-mile paved path, so Mackenny and I ran, and Jonathan rollerbladed. I was pretty proud of myself, I was able to run the 2 mile path in 16 minutes. Basically 8 minute miles, and since I never run for speed, only for distance, I was excited to see how well I could do if I push myself.
Sunday morning, I woke up to do my usual weekly 'long' run, I was supposed to do 7 miles this weekend, but I think the 2 mile speed run the night before took a little out of me so I did 5 1/2 miles and decided the two runs together equaled more than 7 and that's fine. After, I maintained my Sunday morning routine, and went to church and 'brunch' with the brunch bunch from church. (We have been going to breakfast together after church for about 5 or 6 years). Then it was home to get ready for our 'photo shoot'. Or should I say, Mackenzie's photo shoot. Jonathan has been working very hard to promote our business Arf! Pet Care (www.arfpetcare.com), and we are now getting another article written about us, this time in the Virginia Pilot extension paper "Inside Business". Like our article in the Daily Press, when the photographer came to take pictures of 'us', it really meant Mackenzie with Jonathan and I holding up the background. Either way it was fun, and I was impressed by how well behaved Mackenzie was.
Finally, after the photo shoot, Jonathan and I got ready to go to the free Mercyme concert at Busch Gardens. We met up with my my brother, and a couple friends from church. The concert was great, and I was able to trick Jonathan into doing something 'churchy' :) After the concert we rode Griffon in the dark, which was awesome!! I also did my 'special' run/swim out of the park, which embarassed Jonathan, but everyone else seemed to enjoy.
Overall we had a wonderful weekend, and when I write about it, it seems like we did so much, but it definitely went by so quickly. I wish fun weekends would go slow like work weeks, and work weeks would fly by like fun weekends.
Saturday, June 6, 2009
I know she knows who I am...
Ever said those words? Well the truth is, she, or he, might not know who you are. Why am I bringing this up? because there are those times you avoid eye contact with someone because you think there is a history or because you think they know you, and it's been so long that you just really don't want to talk to them, well the truth is, maybe they don't know who you are, or don't remember.
I have been working at the New Town branch with Maria Hardin, an older hispanic lady, for about a year now, it was just this morning that we realized we lived right down the street from one another for about two years, and never met... And by right down the street I don't mean she lived at one end of a mile long street and I lived at the other, I mean she literally lived 2 houses down from the small cul-de-sac I called home for my High School Years. Once we realized this we also realized we knew some of the same people from the neghborhood and my brother use play with her neighbors children all the time! Yet, as far as we both know, neither of us remember meeting each other before 1st Advantage.
This brings up another point, can you imagine all the people that live around you or are a friend of a friend, and run in similar circles, but you never meet them. There are so many interesting people in the world and while I might have over 600 friends on facebook, I have yet to come close meeting them all. This also makes me hopeful for my life. I have so many wonderful friends, but many of them I just met in the last 7 years, there's also a number that I knew in high school and have become friends with in the last year. I can only imagine the wonderful and interesting people I will get to meet in the future, and how current 'aquaintences' will turn into friends. Pretty cool.
I have been working at the New Town branch with Maria Hardin, an older hispanic lady, for about a year now, it was just this morning that we realized we lived right down the street from one another for about two years, and never met... And by right down the street I don't mean she lived at one end of a mile long street and I lived at the other, I mean she literally lived 2 houses down from the small cul-de-sac I called home for my High School Years. Once we realized this we also realized we knew some of the same people from the neghborhood and my brother use play with her neighbors children all the time! Yet, as far as we both know, neither of us remember meeting each other before 1st Advantage.
This brings up another point, can you imagine all the people that live around you or are a friend of a friend, and run in similar circles, but you never meet them. There are so many interesting people in the world and while I might have over 600 friends on facebook, I have yet to come close meeting them all. This also makes me hopeful for my life. I have so many wonderful friends, but many of them I just met in the last 7 years, there's also a number that I knew in high school and have become friends with in the last year. I can only imagine the wonderful and interesting people I will get to meet in the future, and how current 'aquaintences' will turn into friends. Pretty cool.
Thursday, June 4, 2009
I'm Baaaaackkkk!!
Life got busy...married, new job, sick mom, really busy job, sick mom again, another new job, finally got rid of the old job and the stress and therapy because of the job, some down-time, but now I'm back, and promise to be better than ever(as far as blogging is concerned)!!
I feel like this blog will be a good way to think through my emotions and spend time with myself, which I'm horrible at... So while I spend time with myself and my thoughts you all can enjoy :)
Thought for the day: Can I just be in-between AND be happy??
I feel like sometimes I'm on a roller coaster, my life it soooo up, and then feels down, and then up and then down, see above for an example, but recently I been feeling in-between. I always feel the most happy when I have something to look forward to like vacation, an evening out, or just a break from work, but recently, due to a lack of funds, I haven't had the pleasure of enjoying my normal 'looking forward to something' highs. I guess it's my nature of continually looking for the 'next' thing, that makes those highs happen, but in the old nature vs. nuture argument, you can't argue with walking with ease at 8 1/2 months.
I would love to be more like my brother who enjoys life and is usually not concerned with the 'next' thing unless pushed for an answer. I think I am afraid I will lose my drive and ambition if I'm content in the moment, like I will not strive for better because I'm happy with where I'm at.
So my goal (since I can't help the ambition) is to work to let life happen to me instead of the reverse...
I feel like this blog will be a good way to think through my emotions and spend time with myself, which I'm horrible at... So while I spend time with myself and my thoughts you all can enjoy :)
Thought for the day: Can I just be in-between AND be happy??
I feel like sometimes I'm on a roller coaster, my life it soooo up, and then feels down, and then up and then down, see above for an example, but recently I been feeling in-between. I always feel the most happy when I have something to look forward to like vacation, an evening out, or just a break from work, but recently, due to a lack of funds, I haven't had the pleasure of enjoying my normal 'looking forward to something' highs. I guess it's my nature of continually looking for the 'next' thing, that makes those highs happen, but in the old nature vs. nuture argument, you can't argue with walking with ease at 8 1/2 months.
I would love to be more like my brother who enjoys life and is usually not concerned with the 'next' thing unless pushed for an answer. I think I am afraid I will lose my drive and ambition if I'm content in the moment, like I will not strive for better because I'm happy with where I'm at.
So my goal (since I can't help the ambition) is to work to let life happen to me instead of the reverse...
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