Wishing for Spring

I absolutely HATE to admit it, but I think the south is wearing off on me.... in this one area at least.  It has been unusually cold lately for Lynchburg, VA (meaning consistently in the 20-30's) - nowhere close to Minnesotan cold or anything, however, I am so ready for winter to be over and for spring to arrive.  The issue is that our apartment rarely gets warmer than 60 degrees (mostly around 55 degrees).  We were told that our heat pump is not made for "record breaking cold weather" (haha) and that there is nothing we can do to get our heat to work better.  On top of that...my office is consistently cold as well.  Therefore, the only times I can get warm are when I'm in the car, at the gym, or in bed under 3 comforters.  I cannot wait for it to get warmer.

Another reason that I am anxious for the arrival of spring is because springtime brings along with it lots of green and other bright colors.  I have been itching to go on a photowalk for the past couple of weeks...and I'm ready to capture some great colors of spring!  Oh warmth and sunshine...please come soon!!

Here is a lovely picture to hold me over for a couple more months.  I wish.

 

2011 Begins..

It is now 2011.  Each time I approach New Year's, I feel both sadness and excitement.  Sadness because another good year has passed, and I'll never have the same experiences ever again.  Excitement because I never know what adventure's will take place in the new year.  2010 carried a lot of new adventures.  Some of the highlights being: working at Camp Good News in MN in July, surprising my dad for his birthday in MN, moving to a new apartment which we LOVE LOVE LOVE, me working full time, Rob getting a big raise, working with our youth group, making new friends, our trip to Kansas City for Christmas, etc...

I am excited to see what 2011 will bring.  Moreso than that, I am excited to see what God will do in 2011, and am excited to be a part of His work.  I believe that some big things are going to take place in 2011...and I can't wait to see how God guides.

It's Fun to Stay at the....

YMCA!

Rob and I joined the YMCA this week! We live across the street from it, so we really have no excuse not go. So far, it's been a blast.  I've been swimming, and been to a couple Zumba classes with my friend, Anna.  It has really helped me relieve stress.  This week has been super stressful as the accreditation team is here to check out our department at work and all the work that I've been doing for the past year is getting checked out and validated.  So, joining the Y could not have come at a better time.  I really want to work hard to get back into better shape.

I'm so glad that tomorrow is Friday!  I am definitely ready for the weekend to get here!  Rob and I are going to Roanoke to hang out and just do something different.  Maybe take some pics of the leaves and trees.  They are absolutely gorgeous right now!  God's creation is so amazing!  Yay for weekends. 

Granddad's 75th Birthday Cake

So, every fall Rob and I go to Gross's orchard's apple festival.  This year, the apple festival just happened to be on the same day as Rob's granddad's 75th birthday party in Jacksonville, NC.  Even though I was bummed, heading to NC for a weekend to see Rob's grandparents and a lot of other family was a ton of fun!  Rob and I made the cake for the party.  Here are a few pics of the progression of this massive cake. 

Layer 1

Filling and half of layer 2.

Time to haul to NC. Avoid all bumps.

With the trees and fish. All set up at the party.

Birthday boy!

Close up of fisherman. I made the fish from chocolate.

Almost gone.

Everyone loved it! It was 2-layer, almond cake with buttercream icing, and a strawberry preserve filling.  It was such a fun weekend! We got to spend lots of time with family and I got to know a lot of them better.  This was way better than the apple festival!  Best of all, there were no clowns! haha. For those who have been to Gross's apple festival, you know exactly what freaky clown I'm talking about.  The one that I've had nightmares about since last year's festival.  Just kidding...kind of.  It was a great weekend!

If YOU Want Me To

God has been rocking my world lately, in numerous ways, but specifically through the life of Joshua as I've been reading the book of Joshua.  God told Joshua to do some crazy things as he led the Israelites, but Joshua obeyed immediately every time.  He NEVER questioned God or hesitated one bit, and God blessed him greatly because of this willingness to trust and obey.  I need to be more like Joshua!

Then the other night on my way home from Bedford, I heard Ginny Owen's song "If You Want Me To" on the radio, and I've always liked that song, but the words really go along with the book of Joshua, but with a suffering twist.  We are to obey even in the midst of pain and suffering, or if obeying may bring upon us suffering.  In the end, it will bring us closer to God.  I found the video of her singing this song and wanted to post it in case anyone hasn't heard it. 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1q8pWgDsv1E

I'm back. :)

So, it has been quite a while since I have posted. 

Recap of my summer: 

• May - Counseling Intensive. Good but tiring!
• June - Trip to MN for camp - was AMAZING! Def. going back next summer! It is a priority!
• July - Trip to MN to surprise my dad for his 50th birthday.  Had sooo much fun spending time with family and seeing a ton of good friends!  We also moved to a new, amazing apartment.

That's about it.  August 2, I started working full time, and time has disappeared ever since then.  I can now say goodbye to any freetime I ever had.  My life consists of work, homework, housework, and Rob and I do fit a lot of fun and together time in too (gotta have that).  I just always feel that there is always more to do, but I think that will always be the case from here on out, so I just can't let myself become stressed over it.  However, working full time has also made me become much more disciplined in the time I do have, which I like.  I enjoy my job and my co-workers and I have learned a lot from what I am doing which will be reflected in my future, so I am very happy where I am, even if it takes my precious free time away.

And speaking of the future... some interesting and surprising events could be going down... but not sure yet, so just gotta wait and see.

So, we LOOOOOOOVE our new apartment! I'll put pics up once we get it painted.  And if anyone knows me, they know that when it comes to colors, I love BOLD BOLD BOLD.  I'm not going crazy though, since we don't own the place, but you had better believe that our living room will soon be RED (once we find the time to paint, reference above).  This whole move has been such a blessing! We were so wanting to just leave Lynchburg but felt that that is not what God wanted for us, but now we are so happy with where we are.  God definitely knew what He was doing.  Doesn't He always.

Traditional or Non-traditional?

Every morning as Rob and I drive to work we listen to the same morning radio show out of NYC.  It brightens up our mornings.  The other day I was listening to this show after dropping Rob off and heading to my office and they were talking about this woman who called into the show and was about to propose to her boyfriend because she wanted to get engaged and thought he was never going to ask her.  The next day she called back and said that her boyfriend said yes, but also told her that he wished she would have let him propose.  After that a number of women called in; some saying that they had proposed to their boyfriends, and others saying that after hearing the show they were now considering proposing to their boyfriend.

I read online that the only day where it is traditional for women to propose to men is on February 29th, Leap Year day.  Interesting little tidbit of information if you are ever on Jeopardy.

I am not a super traditional person, but the woman proposing to the man just seems weird to me.  Then I ask myself why it seems so weird.  Both people are part of the relationship and technically have equal rights to asking for the others' hand in marriage so why is the man the one who is expected to propose?  Perhaps it is connected with the man's role as the leader and initiator of the relationship....which if that is the case, then I definitely agree that the man should be the leader.  I am not all that traditional, but I never would have even thought about proposing to Rob, (although I did get him an engagement ring that I carried around for a while whenever we were together, "just in case" he were to pop the question).  I found it quite interesting that so many women were open to proposing to their boyfriend after hearing about this topic on the radio.  I think I kind of like things as they are, with the man doing the proposing.