Tobymac Show

Matt looks so excited in this photo! He was too - one of his favorite Christian hip-hop artists is Tobymac, who was playing at the local arena Sunday night. My former housemate, Kyla, hooked us up with some free promo tickets and we jumped at the opportunity!
Really great seats! (Nice shoes, Toby).
We totally jumped around like 10 year olds. So fun! I forgot ear plugs too...
Thanks so much Kyla!
We also ran into some good friends from college days. It was such a blessing to see them again, a decade later. What a blast!

I would say that the weekend was a raging success. We survived a Costco run on Friday night and turned it into a date night, thanks to their cafe area. Saturday was super lazy and fun evening with friends. Sunday was very productive while Matt was at work and then we topped our evening off with that show. And now it is the last day of January - where did this month go?

Happy Monday, all!

True Love

Matt and I don't have tv programming, but if we did I would totally watch American Idol this season - to follow this guy.

What an amazing story. I was teary at work at 8am!

Talk about commitment. And love - wow. So amazing.

Happy Thursday, all.

Reflections on the New Routine

So far so good, folks!

We've been down to one car for awhile now, and I secretly love it. Matt driving me to and from the vanpool everyday? Awesome! Having to wait until he gets off work for an hour M-thurs? Not so fun - but we came up with a plan.

Matt and I have faithfully started each weekday with a workout. It is a miracle - he is not a morning person at all, but is really motivated by the results and by how it makes him feel all day. It is great to have the extra time together, too!

One thing that has really helped is going to bed earlier. We are getting nearly 8 hours of sleep a night, so that helps when the alarm sounds at 5:25am! We do a 25 minute workout, then I shower and get ready and we have coffee together. Man does it taste so good then. Matt then takes me to the van pool at 6:40, and when then he has until 8:45 to have his own morning (which sometimes involves going back to bed! :)

I pre-make the days dinner the night before - and that really helps! Since Matt has to work until 6 and I am back at the van pool at 5:15, I got a short term pass to a gym across the street to kill time. I just do the elliptical or bike to pass the time. So if we do not get home until 6:30 - having dinner ready is huge as we are famished. The slow cooker is a godsend, too!

When daylight returns in the evenings, I will pass that time with an evening run. I can easily stow my stuff in the vanpool van and not worry about it. I am eager to make the one car thing work, as it saves us so much money. Plus, I really like the time together, and if I am ever inconvenienced we find a way to make it work out. Matt still has Fridays off, so we only need to juggle M-Thurs for now.

Please keep praying for Matt's vocational hopes - he has interviewed for a different position at his current job, as well as applied for one at my work. We are so hoping, big time on this, that we can work together. It would be a total dream.

Good news: my camera is getting FIXED and the sensor CLEANED. I can't wait to have it back!! Then my blog will be colorful again...

Have a great Tuesday, all!

Work Reflections

I am coming up on my 1000th post on this here blog, that is amazing. I will have to think of a creative and fun way to celebrate!

So a couple things I am reflecting on today.

First: Matt has an interview tomorrow for a different position at his company that is a step up. Would you mind saying a little prayer for him? Coincidingly, he just applied for a job at my company. We are not sure if there are any HR policies in place about married couples working in the same department as the case would be, but we'd love prayer for this application too. It would be a dream come true to get to commute together and see each other at lunchtimes and not just the early morning and evenings. Both of us had this on our minds last night and could not sleep! Matt is such an amazing man, he would be an asset to any company. We want to make good decisions vocationally, and this feels big. Also another huge perk would be having the same days off. Only having Saturdays has been really hard, but we are making the most of it. At least on Sundays I can have all meals with him.

Secondly, I realize I keep on changing my mind on what I want to be when I "grow up". We have so much opportunity today to have several vocations, and I have really grown to love working with data/numbers/spreadsheets as nerdy as it sounds. That is what I do at my current job and my last position in DC. I'd love to help others with personal finances someday. We are about to knock off another debt this week and I would love to help others experience the liberating feeling of it! Then again I loved the movie "The Business of Being Born" and thought I'd make a great doula. Or, a personal trainer - like, the kind that goes to peoples homes and helps them stick to exercise routines and experience endorphins! Ok, so financial guru, then a doula, then a trainer, then maybe a nurse? Oh, and I'd love to help people organize their homes. What is that called? A Professional Organizer?

I just googled it. There is an actual association for that industry! WOW.

Ah I am way to indecisive. How annoying! So if you could get a 'do over' and have any kind of career, what would you select?

Have a great day, all ;)

On Being Adventurous

This week, 7 years ago (!?!) I hiked the Tiger Leaping Gorge trail in China. It was a wild week, and I was foolish to not have a plan for a broken camera. I did manage to mooch a few photos from some friends of the three-day adventure, and I wrote journal entries along the way.

I was thinking of the experience yesterday as I was cleaning the house. Since Matt and I only have Saturdays together, I leave Sundays for any projects and to-do's. I do really enjoy the work, and as I puttered around the house I would try to think back to "what was I doing this week in 2002 or 2004, etc?" and if I could not remember, I would go and look it up in my journal.

It was awesome re-reading of the adventure, and I hope to do a full blog post on it someday when I have the time. Until then, it was a good reminder to me that life is still adventurous, but wow I really love being home. That would be my last time of being lost up near Tibet and last hike where I run out of water! I loved my twenties, and I am really loving now. A lot.

PS. Yes I am holding TP in that photo - I was on my way to the "Water Closet".

Making Time for Yourself

A bit of vulnerability here, but here we go: here is a picture of me at 20 pounds heavier than my current weight:
That was 2005, and I am with my Tai Chi teacher in Beijing. It was a nasty weather summer - I hated how I felt. I did not understand why I was not "fit" when I ate mostly healthy and exercised often.

It was sporadic though. I would go on speed walks or hikes, and not pay attention or plan my nutrition (and portions). I was bad about making time for myself and my health. "Busyness" was often to blame.

Fast forward a couple years, I discovered the joy of running. Without any dieting, weight slowly started to come off. I put more nutrition into my meals, was intentional about getting better quality sleep (this was huge for my health) and dealing with stress better. Then I got into distance running and added some lean muscle to my frame. More muscle meant a higher metabolism - muscle needs more calories than fat. So again, without any dieting or calorie counting of any kind, weight was lost and kept off. I realized in all of this that making time for myself was so huge - if we hear that we should be getting a minimum of 30 minutes of exercise a day, we need to just do it. It will not happen on its own - you have to schedule it!

This week, I had two things I wanted to do daily: enjoy a home cooked meal, and exercise with Matt. It as been awesome! I looked at the calendar and realized that two of the past four days were to busy in the evenings to workout, so I moved it to the morning for us. On Sunday I made Monday's meal and on Monday I made Tuesdays - so a meal was ready to heat up and eat right away when we got home, so we did not eat too late at night. We had some great ones too; a veggie-layered casserole, chicken enchiladas, tilapia & veggies, and homemade spaghetti & meatballs with spinach. It was decadent eating but portion-controlled and we did not eat past 7:30 (One of our "rules" we use to keep things in check - no late night munching). Things feel really balanced right now, in spite of long hours away from home.

I was reflecting today on the success of the meal/workout plan this week and realized that a big factor is because we planned ahead. We have some daily and weekly routines that keep things moving smoothly - like having a "budget committee meeting" on Thursday nights to look at our debt payoff plans and talk about things we are saving for, looking ahead to where big expenses could occur, etc (financial health). Having a cup of coffee together and reading a devotional means we are feeding ourselves spiritually and connecting together first thing in the morning (spiritual health). The daily workouts (we rest on Sundays) mean so much for our physical health and it is fun to do together. None of this would happen if we left it up to chance.

One of my friends asked how in the world do we have time to work out at all when we are gone from 6:45am until 6:15pm? One answer for you: NO TV. We have more time for each other, better sleep, stronger communication and more time for everything thanks to not having any tv programming controlling our lives. We put DVD's on our laptop for weekend entertainment.

What are some routines or disciplines that you have come to rely on that help keep things running smoothly in your daily life?

For Mom (and my Father-in-Law)

Mama - this is that penguin I was telling you about. What a happy guy!

Ron - this is that penguin I was telling you about when I interrupted you at dinner the other night. ;) Hee hee.

We got some snow here, but my dance was not nearly as good as the happy penguin - I had to drive in that business....

Starbucks did wonders for me this morning.

Now, what would it take to get you to hop around like that today?

Getaways

I am still loving the effects of the relaxing weekend away at the beach recently. It made me realize just how important those kind of getaways are. That time with Matt is so great too - we are unplugged and away from the noise and stress of life.
Matt was away for four days as he was in a wedding of one of his best friends in California. Though we had originally planned on going together, he had to go solo as I did not have enough leave time from work to accompany him.
He had a great time with the guys. They went to a shooting range, had great meals, and lots of time catching up. He came back refreshed from such a great weekend, but boy did we miss each other! I told him that I won't let him leave for that many days again without me. It is too hard!
I made the most of my time while he was away. Was not feeling great Friday and Saturday so I took it easy, but did some much-needed housework, so that was good...

We've started a new routine for the winter (while it is too cold to run outside) where we do a workout video, weights, and some treadmilling during the week at home. We worked out last night and this morning, and will try to keep up the daily workout Monday - Thursday, rest on Fridays, and do an outdoor activity on Saturdays for the daylight. Lord knows I need it - being underground all day wreaks havoc on my Vitamin D levels! Supplementing for now...

Today is 1-11-11?! Awesome. 11-11-11 will be even more fun :)

Happy Tuesday, all :)

First Week of the New Year

This week totally got away from me. We had the whirlwind trip to the beach and then it was back to work...

It was also our last full week with Matt's folks with us before they returned to Germany, so we had some fun family time over dinners. Lots of planning the future and talks about life and such, fun times.

I made it onto the treadmill nearly every day, which was my goal. Just daily exercise, in general, is the goal. Cold temps here made it tough to get outside, so the "dreadmill" it was! Though it is painful to get up early, the task is checked off my to-do list first thing - and it leaves me with all those happy endorphins all day (and a spiked metabolism...geesh!). We are eyeing a summer marathon, in faith - so I want to keep up on the running!

Yesterday was bittersweet as I said goodbye to Matt for four whole days. He went to CA to be in a wedding, and I had to stay home because I did not have enough leave time from work :( He is having a ball catching up with old friends! The house is eerily quiet - Matt gone and his folks on the west side before they depart.

Not much else going on aside from some crazy world events: mass deaths of wildlife (what is going on??) and...Starbucks is changing their logo!
Oops not that one. This one:

I am not really a fan of change, but I do like me some coffee!

This weekend has up-in-the-air plans as they depend on decent driving weather. I am hoping to get out to see a dear friend...we will see!

Have a great weekend, all!

New Years at Cannon Beach, OR

Happy New Year! We started out on Friday morning - New Years' Eve - with finishing the rest of our Bible reading plan. It was an accomplishment for us to read it in one year!
We read 20 minutes every morning, over coffee.
That is near 700 cups of coffee this past year between the both of us...
We drove to Cannon Beach all day - we arrived after dark so we did not get to see the ocean, but it was time to celebrate!
I brought some bubbly from the winery that I work at...
oh and here is my new hair 'do. I cut off a lot! We rang in the new year with Matt's mom, brother, sister-in-law, and adorable niece.
The view from our balcony on New Years Day!
Famous haystack rock. Beautiful!
Lots of folks on the beach at 8am...and a smudge on my camera lens =/
A wonderful sight to see on New Years Day!
Matt showing our niece the ocean...
Belgian waffles for breakfast!
It was a great family day :)
We bundled up and headed out...
And played cat and mouse with the ocean waves. Matt lost once...
It was a nearly perfect New Years' trip. Matt's dad was ill last minute and could not join us, but we hope the pictures will help :)

A whole new year...wow! I am excited to hear what you all were up to! Happy New Year, everyone!