I'm relating work right now to the end of a college semester...

So...last August kicked off the beginning of a large project at work.  We went through training and set up classrooms and trained other trainers, etc.  And then, over the last 8 months, we've trained super users and end users... and we "Go Live" on the system in a mere 9 days.

When we were setting things up, I didn't really think what the end of training would mean.  All the trainers that we pulled in would be leaving.  All the classrooms would be broken down.  Everyone would basically pack up their stuff and go.

And that's when it hit me today.  It's just like college.  All these people come together in the Fall -- there's excitement in the air as a new semester begins and as you make new friends.  Things get ugly in the winter.  But as the end draws near, there's just a new anticipation.  There's crunch time as everything has to be done, but there's the hope of summer and time away from school.

Such is life right now.  Being 9 days away from what I believe will be two weeks of absolute chaos creates a desire to be done with it all -- to have it all behind you.  Kinda like finals (especially your senior year).  And then to see all your "new" friends start packing up their training supplies and cleaning out classrooms... well, it's just like when everyone packed up and left the dorms.  And while I still packed my college belongings, I worked on campus in the summers, so I was there when everyone else was gone.  Just like I'll be when all of these trainers return to their normal jobs as nurses, pharmacists, therapists, etc.

The last similarity is just the seasons -- starting in the Fall and ending in the Spring... there's just something in the air when it gets warm that brings with it memories that have been buried for several years...

Anyway... I just found it interesting how similar work and college appeared right now.  If I'm still alive after "Go Live," I'll be sure to update you on life...

2 MONTHS??

It's been over 2 months since I posted last... CRAZY!  Let me just attempt to update you on all that's happened...

First off...I started dating David Kramer about 2.5 months ago...which of course has changed a lot of things in my life...like holidays and things to do, etc.  There was an opening to work on Valentine's Day night (no one else wanted it, of course), and I actually had to stop and consider him before signing up.  That was new and different... but we were both ok with celebrating another night, so that was good.  So yeah...new and different, but fun and exciting. 

The holidays were good -- as I said, David and I spent time with both families, which caused a lot of busyness, but I also had a lot of fun.  His family is great!  I enjoy any time we spend with them.    Especially playing games...

Something new we did this year during my immediate family's Christmas was to share our testimonies.  That was pretty cool.  I mean, you know a lot of your family's day to day activities and know that they're a Christian, but what happened internally and externally to get them to that point?  So, we all shared, and it was a really cool time.  I'm sure there are even deeper levels to the stories, but at least we now know the overview.

Updates on my house -- It was fun to be decorated for Christmas, but that is now all put away.  My mom and grandma have stripped the wallpaper in the kitchen so that I can paint it (it's the last room I need to really do much of anything in).  When we took down the paper, we found a lot of reasons why there was paper in the first place...   So, we have some extra work to do before we can paint in there.  I finally bought a mattress last weekend, and it will be delivered tomorrow, so...my master bedroom can finally be put together -- after 5 months of living in my spare.  It's going to be weird, but...I'm looking forward to finally wrapping up all these loose ends.

Work is still crazy busy.  The project continues and the stress continues.  There are a lot of days when I'm dissatisfied with my job, but I know it's all only temporary -- until May or so.    It's hard to remember that when I'm in the midst of it, but I'm trying.  A lot of days, I feel like I'm losing my joy for teaching and helping others learn.  That's very sad for me.  I used to enjoy it and be energized, but lately, it just seems to drag on and wipe me.  I'm not sure what would help, though.

One thing keeping me going is a trip to Israel this summer with Wyn Laidig (www.israel.laidig.com).  It's a physically and spiritually strenuous trip, but I'm really looking forward to it.  David got me a treadmill for Christmas so that I could prepare for the physical part, and I've been fairly consistent about exercising.  The other exciting part about the trip is that once it's over, I'm tentatively planning to stay about 5 extra days with Ging and her family.    That would be awesome!! 

Other exciting plans coming up include my church's Ladies' Retreat on Feb. 22-24.  And...my 25th birthday is Feb. 21... and to celebrate that, David and I are planning a trip to Chicago and Milwaukee on the weekend of Feb. 29-Mar. 2.  We're gonna take in a show of Wicked Friday night and spend the rest of the weekend in Milwaukee hanging out with Jen and Ryan and exploring the sites.    Yeah, I know it's winter -- but you can always find things to do!

Besides work and vacations and stuff... life has been full of church (his and mine), time with friends (his and mine), time with family (his and mine)...and occasionally off-time to play catch up at home. 

There's an update!    Now, question for you all... can you be content and discontent all at the same time?

God's Love in the Little Things...

Work has been absolutely crazy lately...and today, especially.  I was just exhausted as my day ended.  I had been out of my office for most of the day, so when I showed up at the end, I found my parents there.  They'd been waiting for at least a half an hour, and they had brought me a small bouquet of flowers and some poppyseed bread. 

I finally got home around 7 pm, and got a phone call from my realtor telling me she'd left something at my back door and just wanted to be sure that I got it.  I hadn't yet, of course, so I went and brought it inside.  It was a purple poinsettia!  She'd been shopping, saw it, thought of me (I know -- who thinks of me when they see something purple?  ), and dropped it off with a sweet, cute card. 

God just knows when you need those little things to boost you.  Knowing that people were thinking of me today gave me the energy to accomplish the many things that awaited me at home tonight.  I was definitely more productive than I thought I'd be! 

In a quick side note:  My Christmas tree is all decorated!  It looks great and I'm enjoying it immensely -- when I'm home, that is. 

Side note #2:  For those of you who didn't know...my mom went to the ER early Friday morning thinking she might be having a heart attack.  They admitted her for observation and testing all day Friday, but she was released that evening.  Based on tests and other interventions, it does NOT appear that she had a heart attack, but they do not know what it was yet.  Thank you for your prayers, as that was a pretty emotional time for me...

More on life at some point...

My Awana Girls...

This year, I once again have TNT (3rd-5th grade girls) and Sparks (K-2nd grade girls).  Nothing too major happened with my TNT girls, but... my Sparks are something else... they are both in Kindergarten (last year, my first year helping with Sparks, I had 2 first graders).  Both are little chatter boxes.  And both like attention.  Both also get distracted by the other easily.  And one in particular just likes to distract... she even distracts herself at times.

Anyway, they push my patience way more than I ever anticipated... and yet I have a love for them that developed so quickly that it surprised me.  And there is always something cute that makes me realize why I do these things...

For example, tonight...both girls were done saying their sections, so they were coloring.  One of them was talking to me and all of a sudden, she bursts out with "I wish I lived next to you."  The following converstation ensued.

Me:  Why's that?
Girl1:  Because, at Christmas, we make cookies!
Me:  Well, you can bring some to church for me.
Girl1:  But we make them for our neighborhood.
Me:  That's ok, you can probably just bring me a couple.
Girl1:  No, because they are not for your neighborhood!

Later on, I was helping the other little girl put all of her stuff back in her Awana bag.  She commented that I was wearing my favorite color, and I agreed that I was (purple, FYI).  Then this took place:

Girl2:  Why do you have blue on your hands?
Me:  *showing her my hands*  I do not have blue on my hands.
Girl2:  Well, you have a blue shirt.
Me:  No, I have a purple shirt.
Girl2:  Well, you have blue in your eyes!

I couldn't deny that, of course... so I agreed... I DO have blue in my eyes.  LOL.

Anyway, they are cute kids, even if a bit high strung at times.  I know it's just the age they are... but it's weird to have such young kids... I used to have a gap between my nursery kids (2-3 yr olds) and my TNT girls (3rd-5th graders).  Now, I'm much more spread out in the age range, which makes it interesting.

Speaking of nursery...I was in nursery a week and a half ago.  There is this one precious little girl -- she has HUGE blue eyes, curly blond hair, and is a petite little thing.  She came to me and put her arms up to be held shortly after I entered the room, and how could I deny her??    So, I picked her up and she just formed herself to fit against me, which is adorable.  Then she'd want down...so I'd put her down... and just a few minutes later, she'd be back... looking up at me with those eyes and cute little face (not even needing to lift her arms).  *sigh*  I don't know how many times I picked her up and put her down, but...I know that I would have continued to do so for a very long time, if that's how long church had gone.  LOL.    I saw her tonight, as well -- just passed by her table at dinner, and smiled at her.  And she recognized me.  You could tell the instant it happened, because her entire face changed from complacent to a full blown grin and her eyes squinted and everything.  Aww...she's just so adorable!

So, those are a couple of kid stories for today... I just wanted to write them down before I forgot, because they made me laugh. 

Six Whole Weeks

That's as long as I've lived in my home...just 6 weeks!  LOL.  But it's flown by.  I'm loving it.  I truly am.  It's becoming me!  Painting is getting done gradually...Gary the grass is growing...I have fish in my fish pond.  Things are really getting settled in.  It will take many more weeks before things are fully settled, but it's finally coming together, and that excites me!! 

I PROMISE that I will have pictures coming soon.  Really.  I've taken tons, but just haven't uploaded them quite yet.

Some cool things about my house that most people don't know:  I got my table and chairs free from Overstock.com because of their great customer service.  The table had some minor damage from being shipped (not making it unusable), and because they couldn't give me my money back, they just refunded me -- every penny (including shipping and tax).  Excellent!  So now I've bought a huntboard and an extra pair of chairs, as well!  All for the price of what the original table and chairs would have cost.  Absolutely fantastic.

We had to paint my living room several times because the color wasn't right.  Same for my bedroom.  But things are finally right, and moving right along.  My parents bought me a housewarming gift -- a little wrought iron and glass bistro set that is now in my sunroom.  I like it a lot. 

So, what else is new in life??

I went to TUFW this weekend for Homecoming weekend.  Got to see a lot of people I haven't seen in awhile, which was fantastic.  Got to catch up on life with April and Nicolette...and Liz.  Even more fantastic.  I got a phone call from Kari Stembel which was just really, really good, as we got to talk about life, again... and how she's doing in Thailand and what God wants from each of our lives, etc.

Despite some ups and downs this week, God has worked in ways I wasn't imagining or even thinking might happen...and He has just proved Himself faithful once again.

I have been learning new things about God that I'd either forgotten or hadn't known before.  Mainly from the Old Testament, which has been extremely fun.  I've also been journaling daily, which I love.

The weather today was absolutely perfect...got to travel with windows down and music up and just enjoy the fall.  LOVE IT! 

Church was good -- things are happening and I was just so encouraged by what was said and what is going on.  We started 40 Days of Renewal today, so we had our small groups tonight, and I'm really enjoying my group as well.  I've been looking forward to this series for the last few weeks, and can't wait to just re-focus with God and keep pursuing Him and letting Him work in my life -- a life (and heart) I am trying to keep surrendered, yielding, and soft to what He is asking me to do.

This week is packed...every day/night I have something going on.  But I'm looking forward to it all - should be some good times with friends, allowing me to see what God's doing in people's lives.

Finally, I'm already thinking about next summer and what I will do with the time off hours that I'm going to start building up in the next few months... and I am prayerfully considering going to Israel.  I would ask that you all pray with me about this, as it will require some changes in my life and some serious commitment from now until then.  Not that I'm opposed to that... just trying to figure out if it's time.    This is something I really want to do, but want it to be at the right time, too.

Ok...enough for now...hope you all have a great week!