Gossamer Threads of Life

I think the thing that I find most distasteful about moving so much is not the packing and unpacking boxes, nor the thousands of miles that we put on our cars driving from coast to coast, nor is it the house-hunting in a place you have never seen before.  The things that is the most frustrating and most difficult is the church shopping.

Some people laugh when I call it church shopping, but that is what it feels like.  You have to get yourself up on Sunday morning to go to an unfamiliar church and try to focus on praising God while simultaneously trying to decide if this church is a good fit for you.  I was talking with a friend a few weeks ago about how hard it is to go to church when you don’t have a church yet.  When you do have a church that you go to regularly there is an accountability factor versus going to an unfamiliar church and just being another person in the sanctuary.

I think that it is really hard when you are at a church that is different from what you are accustomed to because that seems to make it hard to focus on what God has to say to you.  If you are so focused on the fact that the music is so loud that you think your ears are going to bleed it is really hard to also focus on the praises that you are singing to God.

The church that I went to this morning was pretty disappointing.  I was rather unimpressed with the sermon because there was no real cohesion to the points.  The pastor had 4 points, but used the same verses to make 3 of the 4 points.  He just read and interpreted the verses a little differently to make the points- it was a little weird.  There was also no resolution or ending thought to tie everything together.  The message was about the way the Pilate dealt with Jesus before turning him over to the Jews to be crucified.  I think he was trying to juxtapose the way that Pilate dealt with him to what our response to Jesus should be, but he ended on the point about Pilate washing his hands of Jesus before turning him over to the Jews.

He also made the point of saying that we should accept that we are as good as we are going to be, so we should stop trying to do all the right things.  Now, I don’t know if the point that he was trying to make was that we are saved by grace and not works and that just didn’t come across.  BUT he made a point to say that we should not refer to ourselves as sinners who have been saved by grace.  He said that we should refer to ourselves are saints.  We just have to let go of what we were and focus on what we are.  I have a problem with that.

We are commanded to continue to run the good race and strive on toward righteousness.  We know that it is not the things that we do that will save us, but by doing the “things” we are better equipped to live the life God has for us.  I know that reading my Bible and going to church and studying scriptures with other believers are not the things that will save me, but they are the way that I learn and grow as a Christian.

It is much easier to hear that I don’t really have to do anything and that I am as good as I am going to be, BUT because I am a child of God I WANT to do those things.  Do I always do what I should?  Not a chance, but I must keep trying.  I WANT to know God more and more and the only way to do that is by doing the things that He has commanded us to do.

Ok, I’m done now.  Bottom Line- Church shopping is hard!

**Cheers**

So, I’m going back to school, and I’m super pumped!!!  I am going to start my PhD at East Carolina University this fall.  I am going to be in the Bioenergetics and Exercise Science program, but most of the research that I will be doing will be a combination of Physiology and Biomechanics.  It is a little outside my normal area of expertise, but I am excited to learn something new!

I will be even more excited once we have our whole house search finished, not to imply that I am not already excited.  I think the number of exclamation points that I have used in this post would be an indicator 🙂

Have an awesome day!!!

Cheers!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

So, finally got myself to go running.  First time I have gone since we moved.  I am not sure if I have done any running since I finished the half marathon…bad Jamie!  Oh well, I went today.  Not far, but I went and that is the important thing.  I think it is much easier to make myself go when I am training for something.  Maybe I should train for something…

I had a friend ask me if I had even done a triathlon and if I would be interested in doing one.  I am interested, but I don;t have anywhere to swim at the moment.  There is a YMCA close, so I guess I could scope that out if I was really interested.  This is something I will have to think about.

So, on a different note, our cat is missing.  I haven’t seen Dio in a week.  I’m super bummed that I can’t find him, but I don’t know where he could have gotten off to.  I called the animal shelter last week and went down there today, but he wasn’t there.  I keep hoping that he will just show up.  It is more likely that he just wandered into someone’s house or garage.  He has done that before.  I guess his mom never taught him that it is rude to invite yourself to someone’s house.  By mom, I mean cat mom- I don’t really consider myself to be the parent of my pets.  I know that I’m just their person.  They really run the show 🙂

I keep hoping that he will show up, maybe he will.

Cheers to you!

So, the unpacking is coming along.  Still not totally unpacked, but we are getting there.  It is a little difficult with the serious reduction in space that we are dealing with.  Slowly but surely we are dealing with the remaining boxes.

I am making progress with the application process for going back to school.  It is pretty exciting stuff!  The more I get involved in the process the more excited I get.  Praying that this works out.

We are also looking for houses!  We have been pre-approved for a loan to buy our first house!!!  That is pretty exciting stuff.

So many changes going on right now.  Life is certainly an adventure!

Cheers!!

I am so ready for the boxes to all be unpacked.

That is all…

I was reminded recently that I really shoulde update my blog because the last entry stated that I was planning to run the 1/2 marathon.

I am happy to report that I successfully completed the Seattle 1/2 Marathon on the Sunday after Thanksgiving with a time of 2 hours, 6 minutes.  I was really happy with that time and am planning to sign up for another race sometime this year.

In other news, we moved again!  This time we are in North Carolina and the sunshine is already making a difference!  I have missed days that are just clear and sunny during the last year those days have been very few and far between.  We have moved, but are waiting on all of our household goods to arrive.  I must say that I  don’t think you are ever so happy to sit in a chair than after you have not had any in your house for 6 days!!

I am not totally sure what my days are going to hold as we start this portion of the Marine Corps adventure.  I am looking at either going back to school or trying to find a job.  I am going to pursue the school option first and then we will see what happens after that!

HOPEFULLY, I will do a better job of keeping up with my posts.  Here’s to trying!

**Cheers**

So, I have decided to train for and run the Seattle half marathon.

I am really excited about it and look forward to the ride.  I have always enjoyed running, and I am excited about this adventure.  I really hope that training goes well.  I have a plan, so it will be easier to stick to training- I hope.

The race is the Sunday after Thanksgiving and my training program officially starts the week after next.  I am still running a few times a week now, but will stick to the plan once it starts.

I will keep you posted as to my progress!

Cheers-

So, summer finally decided to show up.  It is so weird that it was August before the nice weather decided to show up, and even then the weather is not nice all the time.  I know that there are some people who read this who are sweltering in triple digit heat, but it is a little crazy to be wearing jeans and long sleeves during what should be summer!

It is strange to not be working in the realm of academia, so I am a little out of touch with when school is starting for all the kids around here.  I only know that it is starting soon because I have some parents at work talking about needing to get school clothes for their kids.

I hope “summer” sticks around for awhile 🙂

Cheers to you all!

So, I guess I went on a hiatus from blogging…sorry!!

I think in one of the last posts I said something about working 10-6, this is TOTALLY not the case anymore.  I am currently (and for the forseable future) working 4:30 am to 12:30 pm.  Yes, I have been told that I am crazy, but I don’t really care.  I like my shift and I really like the area that I am working in, so… the schedule stands!

I am settling into my routine at work.  The funny part about that is that there is really no such thing as a routine 🙂  Everyday is different.  We have several things that change often, so as to not provide opportunity to get too settled into the current schedule.  One example is that the schedule of classes that we teach changes every 7 weeks.  This is both fun and challenging.  I like changing things up, but I think it is had for some of the employees who work in my area.  They think I have up and left them or something all because I am gone for a different hour of the day.

I like the new schedule because it gives me a chance to hang out with Keith more, usually.  There are some days that we don’t ever seem to catch up, but that is not the norm.  It is really nice because I know that when we move to NC the deployments will start.  Boooo!  So, we have to take advantage of the time now.

My parents and sister, Katie are coming to visit Friday!  I am very excited to see them.  I think they are not going to believe the weather here.  They are coming from triple digit heat to here where it has not even been in the 80’s for any extended period of time.  Quite the switch!  I think they are going to have a good time and then just after they leave my other sister and her family are going to be arriving!  So many visitors- so fun!  It is going to be good to hang out with everyone.

I am going to go and enjoy the sun for a bit-

Cheers!!

Today is Easter!  Such a happy day, I just wish the weather had been a little nicer today.  It was nice Friday and Saturday, though.  I guess it would be bad to complain about the weather when it was nice for a few days already.

I am getting ready to make the switch to “first shift.”  This meant that I will start work at 4:30 am each day, BUT I will be off at 12:30.  That means that I should be home before 2.  I am hoping that I am able to use all the time that I will have after i get off work to be productive.  I have found that it is hard for me to get up before work and do things around the house, so maybe this way I will already be up and use the time after work for productivity.

I have convinced Keith to workout with me 3-4 days a week, starting this week.  I had been working out with 3 of my co-workers for the last 4 weeks and I don’t want to stop just because of the shift change.  I am hoping that Keith and I will be able to keep each other of track for the workouts 🙂  I really like the workouts that I have been doing.  They are really challenging, but don’t feel grueling.  That has made it easier to stay on track with them.  We will see what happens!

I should be getting off to be, so I can get up WAYYYYY too early in the morning.

Cheers to all and Happy Easter!