Goodness Gracious, I have a Blog????

Hello blog.  :)

I am posting on you because I don't want to become one of those women whose facebook becomes a pregnancy discussion board.  I mean, people can choose to read my blog.  They'd have to block my newsfeed to avoid seeing my posts.  And you don't want that, do you?

Of course not.

Besides, there's people who actually WANT the details (Hi, Mom and Dad).  So now they can read if they want.  But they don't have to.  Plus, I get to keep a record of pregnancy, so that when that little bundle of joy is in my arms and my brain magically forgets about all the inconveniences of the past nine months, and I turn to Josh and say, "Awww, I just want 20 more of these," then I have a reminder that no, I actually don't want 20 more of those. That I might melt when I look into little Jiblet's eyes, but I really don't want to do this 20 times and ten or less will suffice.  And I don't want to do it with multiples, either.


So blog, I will try to not turn you into a pregnancy log, because the internet does not need to have access to whether my ankles are swelling or info on how difficult it is to sit up in the mornings.  But most likely pregnancy will come up frequently.  Sorry about that.

When I was talking to a dear friend, she asked me what I was learning lately.  I peered the morning sickness induced brain haze and found a recurring theme:

My utter, complete dependence on the good grace of others.

It's easy to appreciate the grace of God.  I mean, no matter how you try, He's perfect and you're not.  But humans are a little different.  They're imperfect, you're imperfect.  You show them grace, they show you grace.  It's really easy to take that for granted, or to take it as "I forgave you, so now you forgive me."

But I found myself in the throes of morning sickness, and therefore, etiquette and social norms went out the window.  My college roommate invited me to a party the first weekend after the morning sickness hit.  I had RSVP'd yes.  But then the day of, I simply couldn't go to a party where there would be food.  Which pretty much describes every party.  So I blew it off.

And then there was the time my boss showed a great act of kindness and ordered pizza for our whole office.  Now, normally I'm a supreme pizza kind of gal.  But onions have declared themselves as my mortal enemy, in any form.  And then one of my co-workers suggested that we get a Supreme pizza, and everyone else very quickly agreed.  I mean, I'm the only girl in an office of guys!  Supreme is the thing to get!

One of my co-workers must have looked at my face.  The face that was plainly conveying the thoughts in my head.  The thoughts that ran something along the line of, "Onions?  On pizza?  That's like the equivalent of bringing in roadkill to the office and dishing it up"  And that kind co-worker very graciously jumped in to suggest a different kind.  When the others said that no, they were absolutely sure that supreme was what they wanted, kind co-worker jerked his head in my direction to remind them of my "condition".

So that was the time when little Jiblet vetoed an entire office to get the kind of pizza he wanted.  Who says children don't have sin natures?

And the list goes on.  My boss brought in his daughter's homemade fudge, very proudly showing off her skills.  I politely took a piece, took a bite, and promptly exited the building.  How can I tell him she did a good job after that?  I didn't eat the dishes that my guests brought to Thanksgiving.  I left church to eat a snack because Jiblet was hungry and goodness knows won't wait for anything.  But that was actually an improvement - I actually went to church that week, despite the 40-minute car ride over the mountains.

And then there's Josh.  As he puts it, I have a different stomach every day.  What sounds great yesterday, and of which I made a week's worth of servings, suddenly becomes a monster in my fridge.  The first week of the sickness, I wanted potatoes.  So we bought a five pound bag of potatoes.  But three days later, I could no longer look at potatoes.  And what's worse, I could no longer wash the dishes of any meal that included potatoes.  So Josh's meals have been reduced to the food I can't look at.

So what I have learned in the last two months?  First, I learned that the first trimester is really awful, and I really hope that the morning sickness disappears completely soon (it's hard to imagine being able to eat anything, though!).  But more importantly, I am completely dependent on others to extend grace, no matter what manners or social customs I ignored.  To still be my friend, even if I leave the lunchroom when they bring in their food.  To still include me in their plans, even though I cancelled last minute the last time because of carsickness.  To be kind enough to overlook my social transgressions.

And that's grace.

Why Hello, July

Wait. Where did that month go?

Or maybe the more accurate question would be, "wait, where did that blog go?"  It got lost in the day-to-day whirlwind that is preparing for the fall.  So I present to you, in five parts: Our July. It turned into a multi-theme month that is cultivating a lot of good habits.

FLYing all the way home

July has been a "get-the-apartment-in-order" month, Flylady style.  Yes, the bane of our existence growing up who was always making us throw away old toys has been this month's theme as we prepare for our move.

It's been great.  Not only is the apartment in apple-pie order, but we've gotten rid of so much junk.  All those baggy clothes, old t-shirts in excess, single earrings, kitchenware that we have duplicates of, all those ratty old college twin bedsets - gone.  Woohoo.  I even got Josh to part with his terrible bright yellow and red tie.

Plus, we're practically packed for the move. Everything we're not planning on using in the next three weeks is packed away, labelled, and color-coded by room.  So this is going to be a pretty easy move, I think, and all because we're spending ten minutes a day on preparations.

Returning to my first "love"


I compiled my book list for "books to get through while Josh is in grad school".  There's about 90 books on my list, and so far this month I've read three.  Currently I am working on "The Little Prince" in Spanish.   After the post-college burnout, I read a little bit, but not a whole lot.  Now I've remembered what it is to love reading again, and to spend hours curled up with a book.  And Josh is reading right along with me!

Staying fit and having fun


Each day we are spending 15-20 minutes working out.  Three days a week this means cardio workouts - running, roller blading, ultimate frisbee, tennis.  The other days it means strength training + easy cardio - walking, cleaning, etc.  But the rule is to not let them be a "workout", but to be fun.  We're playing tennis during our lunch break once a week, and now we're hitting the trails on roller blades on weekends.  :)

A surprise improvement

Since I was about 9 and running track, I have always gotten a lot of headaches.  I blamed this on computer time, allergies, sleep deprivation...all of the above.  I never in a million years suspected dehydration, because I drink a lot of water.  I carry a water bottle with me at all times and sip from it all day, drinking almost nothing else. For the past three years, I've been drinking the recommended amount of water of 64oz. a day - in fact, a little more.

So I thought my headaches weren't related to dehydration at all.  But then early this month, I decided to drink until at no point during the day I was thirsty. If I'm thirsty, I drink until I no longer want anything to drink.

On the first day, I drank three liters (~101 ozs).

So for a week, I put three rubber bands on my water bottle and took one off each time I drank a liter.

NO HEADACHES!

All that time, I thought I was getting enough water because I was drinking the "recommended" amount.  Turns out my body needs more water than that - just like it needs more sleep than the average person (yes, my body wants 10 hours of sleep to be truly happy).  Now I'm drinking 3-4 liters a day, and I feel so much better.

So the moral of the story is you're probably dehydrated right now.  Go drink some water.

A new era

Josh and I made a commitment that for the first year of our marriage, we would intentionally avoid making too many commitments and instead really focus on intentionally getting to know each other. And that year is over. It's been wonderful.

Josh starts grad school next month and we'll have less time together.  If that had happened last fall, I feel certain our marriage would have been much less fun.   I will miss him like crazy on those nights he is gone, but at least I know we had a fabulous year where our first priority was simply to get used to being married.

August: the Demise of the Photo Faker


So yes, Mom, I'm a photo faker.  Maybe it was growing up with a mom who has a camera bag permanently attached to her shoulder.  But I don't take pictures.  Ever.  If something noteworthy happens, someone else has a camera, right? And they'll post them on facebook, because that's all people do with pictures now anyway.

Next month, my theme will be to take a picture a day.  And to post it.  So it will be a blog post a day. Another two-fer.  :)

That's all for now!  A nice long post to make up for not posting ever.  :P

Change of Plans...

Oh yeah, I forgot to mention...the music theme was scrapped within a couple days and the Josh theme is in.  Which means that this month, I am working on learning/experiencing more of Josh's hobbies and tastes.  This includes but is not limited to:

-reading Zorro
-learning the game he plays with his miniatures (lotr based, of course)
-probably learning to play Battlestar Galatica
-watching the Cosby show and Muppet clips
-etc.

You might call it getting in touch with my inner nerd/adventurer.  We might even pick up Star Wars from the library.

Anyway, the change due to a lot of news that we received all in the same week and that is causing considerable stress to Josh.  Therefore, I'm trying to help him be distracted/relaxed at home in the evenings.

In other news:

-we will be moving late July/early August.  Possibly to West Virginia (barely, but still.  Yay car registration and new licenses).  Where we will go, we're not sure, but we are definitely going to move, and definitely moving out of our current town.

-no scholarships have come through yet - please pray that the necessary funding for grad school comes through.  We have two and a half months to come up with the first semester's amount.

-the required course, which Josh was told last year he could transfer in b/c the professor teaches the class both at our alma mater and Josh's grad school, cannot be transferred in.   Therefore, he ended up adding a class (only offered in the fall and a pre-req to most of the other classes) to his schedule and will be in class on MTW from 6:30-9:30 next fall, after an eight hour workday and before a 1.5 hour commute home.  This will however, hopefully be the last 3-class semester.*

*We are appealing to the professor to convince the registrar to let Josh transfer it in.  Pray it goes well...

-in preparation for a move (and to get all our we-hate-making-decisions-but-have-to-do-it energy out), we performed a massive purge and our den is now 1/4 full of stuff we are selling/giving away/throwing out.

And that's all for now!  We're both doing well, and actually...now that we've gone through the purge, we're both excited to move (we're ready to move now!).  And this is really the first time we've had to make the tough decisions as a married couple, so I feel like it's been a worthwhile growing experience. :)

A Belated Anniversary Post

On Monday, the day we celebrated our first anniversary, my co-worker returned to work from his honeymoon.  He was on the phone when his bride came in to eat lunch with him, so I was chatting with her while she waited.

He got off the phone.  He turned.  He saw her.  He jumped up. "It's soo good to see you!" he gushed, wrapping her in his arms and kissing her.  She returned the embrace and then turned to smile apologetically at me.  "This is the longest we've been apart since we got married." And then turned back into his arms, thrilled that the four-hour wait was finally over.

I had to smile - and then I was thinking about the year of marriage that Josh and I have shared together.  We're not the gushy honeymooners anymore (okay, not as gushy).  But part of me expected that to be a sad realization, like we had fallen "out-of-love".  Yet it was rather a joyful realization.

We don't have that warm-fuzzy-feeling-everytime-I-see-you feeling as often anymore, but in its place is something a thousand times more precious.  We've gained trust.

Not that we didn't trust each other before. But the trust that comes from living and loving together is unique. Special. Intimate.  I trust Josh to care for me, to tell me when there's something on his mind, to apologize when something goes wrong and to rebuke me when that something is me.  I trust him to take the time to talk through disagreements and to set down the impulse purchase and to cherish me and to do everything he can to provide for me.

Josh trusts me to be a good steward of his provisions, to be honest but supportive, to look at both sides of an issue, and to see things with as objective a perspective as possible.  We both trust each other to treat ourselves as the other's possession, and to treat the other as ourselves.

We have disagreements and sometimes one of us (um....me) will try to get out of doing the dishes and there are dirty clothes on the floor. It's all the things that society tells us are those little things that make marriage impossible.

But we trust each other to be married.  We trust each other to love and to cherish, to honor and obey, as long as we both shall live.

And that's not the starry newlywed view, where you hope and you trust in their good character. It's the experience that you can only get by knowing another.

And that is what our first year of marriage has been all about.

End of the Month

Since my husband is trying to revive his facebook, I figure I should try to post a little more on my blog.

Plus, I finished my full month of running.  How was it? Great.  I feel better, I worked some steam out on the more stressful days (which helps a little in the marriage department!), and it made me more conscious of what it means to be "healthy".

To be honest, I didn't quite make my goal of exercising every day - but then every other day is a big improvement as well.  I did have to stop for a while because I caught a cold, but otherwise, I made great leaps and bounds and was able to meet my goal!

Someone once told me that physical fitness isn't about how far you can go or pushing yourself to the max.  It's about staying healthy and keeping in good shape so that if you ever NEED to kick it up a notch, you can. So I intend to keep up the progress I have made by continuing my routine 3 days a week - not necessarily with the goal of getting faster or running longer, but just with the goal of staying fit and healthy.

In other news, so begins a new month!  We have a keyboard and a flute sitting in our apartment that rarely get used.  So this month is about brushing up on my music!  I'm try to alternate the two...with the keyboard, the challenge is reading those left-hand notes.  Playing the flute for so many years has my eye automatically trained to read the treble clef, and now I'm terribly at translating to the bass clef.  On the flute, my challenge will be finger fumblings, and smooth breath control.  Time to work that diaphragm!

And so begins a new month. Newly off from a fabulous Alaskan vacation, DONE with financial audits, and now getting back on top of things at work.  I feel like things have definitely taken a turn for the less-hectic!

Lesson of the Week

Never ever take a financial position one month before the end of the fiscal year, esp. if you are a non-profit organization. Because the annual audit WILL happen the week after your brother-in-law graduates and you lose your student interns and your husband's family comes into town, and which coincidentally is the week before you leave for vacation and really don't want to be in a stressful situation.   And because you didn't actually work there for most of the year, you will be asked all kinds of questions that you don't know the answer to ("so did this funding come through this source? And when you said x donation went through y campaign, what made you say that?"   Me: Ummmm....sure, I think so.  And I didn't say that.  Because I wasn't actually working here.")

Whew.

And because I am in a highly busy part of the year and working with some very stressed coworkers (seriously. At our meeting today I could feel the stress in the room absorbing into my bloodstream), I am very very grateful for my running goal.

Because I am keeping it!  And it feels good.  :)

I might not actually meet the running goal in miles and minutes for the month.  My allergies seriously impair my running ability, because they seriously impair my breathing ability, and that's just a little important to a runner.

But that's okay, because it's gotten me exercising every day, whether it's running or walking to the grocery store or playing frisbee with the neighbor kid.  And since I feel good and have a chance to let off some steam, getting to work and finding things like a leaky refrigerator that desperately needs to be defrosted doesn't really bother me.

So the moral of the story is: audits are stressful.  But running is fun and mind-clearing and good.  :)

A Weekend at Holly Knoll

One of my friends works as the personal assistant for the president of an organization that owns a mansion.

At least, that's what she told us when she invited our college hallway down for a weekend.  She's an outdoorsy type of gal, so we assumed it was something kinda like a big cabin.  Then she said it had a river with a dock, and we could go swimming. That just strengthened our assumption.  But we should have realized that the South is a little different....

The house itself...the tree obstructs the view a little, but then,  MLK, Jr. wrote much of us "I Have a Dream" speech under it. So it stays.

The second story veranda - screened in to avoid bugs.

The first floor study

Second story sitting room (as opposed to the second story game room)

Third story sitting room, as well as the fully stocked, absolutely beautiful third story kitchen

The dock!

View down the staircase to the front entryway!

One of nine bedrooms

The riverfront.  One of the gals and I waded halfway across the river to Williamsburg  and we were still only waist deep.

Beautiful sunsets!

All in all, it was gorgeous and I felt well-refreshed (at least emotionally and spiritually - I didn't sleep a whole lot!) after it.  Each morning I was up 2-3 hours before anyone else, so I could sit on that gorgeous dock with my Bible or talk a walk or sit on the front porch with its six rocking chairs or read one of the many books scattered throughout the house.  On the second morning, I walked out on the dock only to find an otter already there in the water....I surprised him as much as he surprised me!

But even more, it was a sharp reminder of lifestyles and the choices we have made.  For that weekend, I ate fabulous food and lounged on comfortable furniture and had loads of girl-talk and watched movies.  And it was fun.  The social aspect of it was like being back in college (the food was way way better, of course).

It was nice to experience "the high life" for a while.  But in the end, it was nice to go back to my own lifestyle.  To go to work where I am personally invested in the organization and carry much of the responsibility for the internal workings.  To come home to our apartment, with its lack of a coffee table and noisy upstairs neighbors and have my husband greet me at the door with a kiss.  To cook our simple meals, sans wine or cocktails, but to cook them together and enjoy them together.  

Holly Knoll was beautiful and I'm really glad I went (and I have some good recipes now, too). But it wasn't sad to say goodbye.