A little history

Sitting curled up with a couple sweatshirts on and enjoying some music via Pandora Radio made me a little reflective this afternoon. I've been thinking about the last few years and all that's happened. Life has changed so much since the summer I turned 21.

Five years ago I was sitting curled up with a blanket working on a puzzle and watching Princess Bride. Not too uncommon, except for the fact that I was in Central Asia, experiencing my first Christmas away from home. I remember being really lonely. Not wanting to be over with the Neuharth's too much (They were my host family)because I wanted them to be able to enjoy family time without a guest, at least for a while.

I had been living in the Neuharth's guest house for about four months. I greatly enjoyed living nearby and teaching in the school where all four girls attended. Such a huge responsibility for someone with little experience teaching and even less teaching in a school.

A year later, December 2006, I was returning home from a semester at Trinity Western University in Langley, BC. Again, I was struggling with loneliness. I felt like a failure as I wasn't returning to TWU the next semester, but rather returning to Mt. Hood Community College. I had decided I wasn't going to be a high school math teacher. I wasn't sure what else I was going to do and felt really lost.

However, God seemed to close the door to TWU at just the right time. About a month and a half after coming home from Trinity I started attending a college group. The second week I was there I met Luke, just after his 23rd birthday. Four months later we were dating.

Christmas 2007 I was hopeful for the future. Still, I wasn't completely sure what direction I was heading. I had finished my Associates Degree, but what was next?

Christmas 2008 Luke and I were in a fog of wedding plans and stress, only a month to go til our wedding day. Trying to make it through all the holiday events as well as stay partially sane was starting to get overwhelming, until God decided it was going to snow. Because of the snow we were able to have a simpler Christmas. Luke took the bus out Christmas Eve and was able to spend Christmas day with my family.

Christmas 2009 I thought would be a simple one. Considering we didn't have wedding plans to stress us out. However, being married, as it turns out, adds about triple the Christmas responsibilities. :)

We ended up going to about 9 of the 11, or so, Christmas gatherings, and on top of that, we had our car broken into. It was a very busy few weeks.

This Christmas season we are trying to keep things as simple as possible. And as for the future, there are a lot of unknowns. Definitely a time where Luke and I are needing to rely on God. I am anxious, worried, stressed, and excited about what our future holds. I know it can change so quickly, as the last five years has shown.

There are so many blanks in this brief overview of the last five years. I hope it makes a little sense.

Thanks for taking time to read through this...

...oh, and

Merry Christmas!

Dissapointment and Turn Around

So, this last Monday was another one of my weigh-in/check-in's. I was pretty discouraged in not seeing any improvement. But, after thinking it through, I realized a few things, I didn't gain any weight, I did add a little to waist and hips, but not enough to really be mad about. The last few weeks were a little rough physically and emotionally, getting sick and then losing motivation definitely showed in those numbers too. I'm hoping it also means muscle has been built too, cause I know I'm feeling better and my clothes are starting to fit better...

So, yesterday I decided to break down and start counting calories too. I researched a little on how much it takes to lose weight and stay healthy at the same time. Did you know that to lose one pound you have to burn 3500 calories? It sounds a bit daunting. But if you think of it as a kind of game to play it isn't too bad.

I'm planning on tracking how many calories I intake, how many calories I burn during my exercise routine, and, hopefully, I'll be able to see small improvement in my monthly weigh-in/check-in.

Today I walked for an hour, which turned out to be 4.09 miles. (If you walk outside and don't have a pedometer check out http://www.gmap-pedometer.com/) That's about 490 calories burned!

I also found a site where I can enter in the food I've eaten and track my exercise. As far as I've found, it's free. If you want to check it out yourself the site is: http://www.everydayhealth.com/

Anyway, I'm hoping that this will keep my interest and keep me going for a while. :)

Any takers on keeping accountable with me?

Jobs

In the last two weeks I've been trying to figure out how to find something profitable for me to do. It's not just about finding a job, but also trying to find something that is fulfilling, useful, and that will bring in a little income.

Ideas so far:

• Childcare - I would like to help stay-at-home mom's. Those who need just an extra pair of hands, or just a few hours down time, so they can relax or run a couple errands without having to keep track of a little one. My thought is that it would be a few hours once a week/once a month. But it would also be scheduled.
• Housekeeping - This again is more for young mom's who need some extra help during the day. Cleaning the bathroom, doing some laundry, vacuuming, etc. I don't want a full-time schedule for this either. Just when things seem a little overwhelming or you know you can't get to that for a while but it needs to be done.
• Tutoring - I am a little nervous about this one since I haven't been in school for a few years, but I would love to help. I could help with math (depending on the level), go through flash cards, or just sit with the student for a while and talk through what their learning. I would love to have my home open for high school/college students as well who need someplace other than a coffee shop, home, or campus to study.
  

With these ideas I see the need for a car or how this can be something that most young families can't afford, but again, they're ideas and something I know I can do.

I want to be with people, building relationships, and benefiting not just students/children, but also families. I don't want to go to the local retail store and just stand behind a counter all day. I've thought about daycare, but I don't feel comfortable with that, it's hard to explain the specific reasons. I have worked briefly for a house cleaning company and though it was a learning experience, I don't intend to go that route. With tutoring, I'd like to do it in my own time, rather than through an agency or school, but I haven't completely ruled that out. I do want to be affordable though.

So there it is. My job ideas. Who knows if it will actually go anywhere. But that is what I like to do and what I want to do.

An Idea...

So, many of you know that I have been an athlete and coach for a long time and have a passion for youth.

For those of you who don't know, I swam on Montavilla Summer Swim League for 6 years, swam a year on Madison High School's swim team, and also competed on Madison's track and field team.

Coaching began with swim team around the age of 19, at Montavilla pool. I was never super into swim team, but enjoyed coaching so much! This passion transitioned over to Madison in an amazing way. I volunteered as an assistant swim coach for just over one season, but had to quit because of college responsibilities.

However, a couple years after that experience, my former track coach, Jon McNulty, contacted me and asked me to coach pole vault and hurdles. I had gone down to the track occasionally to help out and was considering what to do next. I did have more experience with swimming, but I enjoyed the challenge of track when I was on the team and it was very beneficial in developing my character and all the other changes that occur in high school.

I have now coached three track seasons and have been blessed to be a part of the kids lives. It's an amazing thing to see the kids push themselves further, improve, and grow as individuals. I'm happy to have been a part of these kids' lives.

Anyway, all this background information to say that, today, for some reason, I woke up thinking about the kids, the team, and the facilities that they use. This last season was the last year for Madison to host track meets. The track is so horrible. It's been needing repairs and a new surface for years, but the district doesn't have it in the funds to do anything.

I really want to see if there is a way I can help with one of the most influential places in my high school and young adult years.

I'm not sure where to begin. I asked the Athletic Director at MHS if there were any grants we could apply for (my mom said she would be willing to help in that area), but he basically laughed at me and said there was nothing I could do.

So, I think the first step is to talk to Jon again and see if there has been any change since Spring and then start an alumni association or something where people can donate and see what is happening in the track program. Or, put together an event where people can come by and donate, whether it be money or time, to help spruce up the place and potentially open the track again to district meets.

Any other ideas?

Beginning Again

It's been a few years since I've written a blog. Just don't have the patience for it normally...either that or I just don't have a lot to say.

Well, I'm feeling a bit blog-ish today, so here it goes. :)

It seems that the new year's resolution idea really starts in the fall for me. With the change of seasons and school year starting for most people it is a better time to start new habits...at least that's what I think...

Anyway, a few of the new 'habits' that I'm trying to develop are

1. budget
2. meal planning
3. exercise

All great things...I just hope that they are things I can continue past Fall 2010.

The budget is really just beginning. Luke and I have been through the course "Financial Peace" by Dave Ramsey, but it didn't seem to be exactly where we were at. My feeling is that he expects you to be making tons of money and have debt so by the time you're out of debt you can put all that extra money into housing or something. The problem is that we don't have debt and we don't make a ton of money. So, we've taken a few of the ideas from Ramsey, like saving up 3-6 months of our expenses in case of emergency, but we're also looking at other ways of doing things.

I read a book, "The Complete Financial Guide for Young Couples" by Larry Burkett which made so much more sense to me, and didn't lord-over the fact that he has money. He simply explains how to manage money. A lot of the principles are the same, just stated in a different manner.

Anyway, all that to say that I'm excited to have our budget coming together. :)

Next is meal planning. I started doing this about two months ago and it has really helped with grocery shopping, our budget, and my sanity. Having a list of dinner ideas keeps me from getting to 5:45pm and realizing, "I'm hungry, now...what am I going to make for dinner..." and then not being able to think clearly enough to: 1. find something healthy and 2. find something at home to eat.

Part of what makes this not just practical, but actually fun too, is throwing in a new recipe once in a while and posting it on my facebook group site: Dinner Ideas.

Last but not least in this 'resolution' list is the exercise.

I have tried working out before, getting on a schedule, working out like crazy, and seeing little to no difference. I decided to go for long term goals this time, and add a few more areas to keep track of.

The four areas are: running time, weight, and the measurements of my hips and waist.

After one month there is improvement in all areas. Not huge in all areas, but improvement. I am up from being able to only run barely 1.5 minutes at a time to around 20 minutes. I'll spare the details of the other improvements, but be assured there are some. :)

So, that's it for now...maybe I'll write again before another 3 years passes by... and if no one reads this it's nice to just send this out into the void.

"Sometimes I wonder about my life. I lead a small life - well, valuable, but small - and sometimes I wonder, do I do it because I like it, or because I haven't been brave? So much of what I see reminds me of something I read in a book, when shouldn't it be the other way around? I don't really want an answer. I just want to send this cosmic question out into the void. So good night, dear void." -You've Got Mail