Another bend in the road…..

I have been writing out things in my head all weekend, I guess writing has become therapeutic for me. Life has taken yet another twist and turn, though this weekend was spend with a lot of joy and laughter I have had a few gut wrenching things happen also that have left me grappling once again for direction.

As you know I am a runner and am planning on running a marathon October 3rd for World Vision. I mentioned on Friday that last week I started running again after taking some time off to work with a personal trainer. I was really encouraged that even though I had not run for a while I was still able to run 3-4 miles a time without dying. Mid-week my right shin and knee started to hurt, but I honestly did not think much about it. I have no problem running through pain and in a strange way enjoy the sense of accomplishment after I have done something that was not fun at the time. So I kept running. I talked to my trainers and a few others who know about sports related injuries we all came to the conclusion that I just had really bad shin splints. I was bummed, but they are not a big deal to heal so was not to worried,

Friday night Phil took me out an a GREAT date, and after dinner we went to a movie. Almost the whole movie I was in excruciating pain and kept on moving trying to find a position where my leg did not hurt as bad. That night, sleeping even hurt. Saturday morning we went to the gym for our class again and during class I was doing everything but was almost feeling sick it hurt so much. After class I talked to Megan, our trainer, and she thought that I needed to get to a doctor as soon as possible.

When we got home I called and was able to get an appointment within the hour (seriously, this never happens!) After meeting with the doctor, we did a bunch of x-rays to see what was going on. From this, she was able to see signs leading her to believe that my right tibia is fractured. Though this cannot be confirmed 100% since x-rays do not show as much detail as she would need to know for sure, she said she was 95% sure this is it.

My next step is meeting with an Orthopedic Specialist tomorrow where she will be able to confirm the fracture. For right now, the first doctor believes that I will not be able to run for 6-12 months and for the next week I can have no impact on the leg. I am praying that I will learn something different tomorrow, but for now it looks like I will not be able to run the marathon.

Even though this is just an injury, my head and heart are having a really hard time accepting this. I feel such a passion and calling to do this for kids who do not have their own voice. It is not just about running, but running for a purpose. Honestly my heart is broken. I feel such a calling to do this, and do believe that God has told me to do this. I am confused why He would tell me to do this and then allow an injury to stop me. I do trust that God has a plan, I am just waiting to see what the next step is.

One Year of Home Ownership!

One year ago today…

We did not sleep very well the night before due to excitement

We woke up early to… well…. Wait for the afternoon closing

We went to our “almost ours” house to do one last walk through, on the way due to the large snowstorm went off the road and had to push out

We got together the list of things we needed at the house right away… vacuum, cleaning supplies, lamps, stereo, and the list went on…

We got a call that our closing was moved up an hour… quick get over there to sign the papers!

We signed our names to many times to count… smiled and giggled a lot… and when all was said and done, handed over keys to our new house!

Thinking back on that day makes my smile! On our way from the closing to the house I remember crying in sheer joy! That night we did not let any time go wasted and started tearing down curtains, cleaning, painting, and of course grilling with our friends and having our first meal in our home!

SO much has changed in a year; looking back it is hard to believe it is the same house! I still look around and am so grateful for how God blessed us with a great house. This past year we have made so many memories it is hard to believe how much life we have already lived there!

So for some top highlights:

Hosting every holiday over the year…. Yes, every one!
Easter, Memorial Day, 4th of July, Labor Day, Thanksgiving, Christmas, and New Years Eve and Day

The dog running circles around the house chasing Phil…

Lots and Lots of laughter with Friends and family

Game nights…. Poker… Pictionary… Things…

Many crazy construction projects leaving us completely exhausted thankful for a great bed to fall into

Work and youth group parties on the lawn

Dancing in the living room to loud music, not worrying about neighbors be disturbed like in an apartment (Phil still thinks it's to loud... oh well!)

Summer with great friends living in the basement

A GARAGE!!! (Yes, I have made it to FEBRUARY without having to scrape my car… love it!)

My mom staying with us for a week helping getting the house “move-in” ready

A DOG!!

A beautiful new kitchen

Mowing our own lawn for the first time

Many bonfires with friends in our backyard

My sister moving into our newly finished basement apartment

… and many many more

Two a Day.... And Phil Through a wall….

Well this past week and a half I have been working out two times a day and man, am I tired! I am trying really hard to get in better shape and also lose weight before I start training for the marathon. I have been eating right and working super hard but am still was not seeing the results I would like to. Thankfully since Phil and I have both been taking this class at our gym we have really gotten the help we needed. Megan, one of the trainers (Yes Megan, you are now officially in the blog!) has really helped me look at things I can change to hopefully kick start my body! She has really gone over and above what she needs to do and I am so thankful for that!

As a result of this week I was super encouraged by some weight loss and just knowing I can handle working this hard and getting really good eating habits in place! I now have the motivation to do it all over again next week!

Even though I have been more tired, it feels great to be using my body like this. Though I maybe do not want to admit it, when I wake up early to go and run, the rest of my day is great. I have more energy, I am more awake and I love knowing when I get to work I have already run four miles or so, it really is a great sense of accomplishment.

I am very excited for this weekend to relax and enjoy some down time. This morning when I got to work there was an email waiting for me from Phil asking if I wanted to go on date with him tonight. (See, who said romance once you’re married is dead? It’s sure not dead here… Good job Phil!) So he is taking me to Olive Garden and to see the Movie Valentines Day! I am really excited to have a good evening and spend some quality time with Phil!

Now, for the story you have all been waiting for….

During our class a few nights ago our trainer had us all doing different stations and rotating through them. The first one was either doing push-ups OR *if you could* doing a handstand against the wall. Well, I started at this station and knew I could do the handstand, so did and was fine. (well, except for all the blood from my entire body draining into my head…. But that is a minor detail, right?) So Phil is at this station next and decides that he wants to do a handstand too… So Megan says, don’t worry the wall will catch you, so Phil really goes for it. However he started way to far back from the wall and with a bit to much speed and literally crashes into the wall and breaks through the drywall! Needless to say we stopped doing handstands after that…. Way to go Phil!

Here is the great evidence of the damages!

Learning “Joy”

Over the past weeks and months I have been really challenged to re-think the way I live life. Honestly, I can struggle to not play the pity my card when things don’t go my way or even just having a good attitude in all things. For example, living in Minnesota has its challenges! I recently heard a weather man talking about why Minnesota has such extreme weather. We are right in the middle of the equator and the north poll, so we get the worst and best of both climates. I am a freeze baby anyway so winter can tend to be more miserable for me. In the past I have always let the weather dictate my mood… sunny days are good, but on the cold cloudy days I can tend to be a grouch.

After we went to Cancun over Christmas this year I was really dreading coming back to the cold, but started thinking about my attitude. I realized that by allowing myself to be crabby about the cold was wasting time and not living a life of joy that I want to live. Though the cold is still cold, I am learning to realize this is where I live right now, and choosing to love the weather for all its ups and downs makes me a much happier person.

Though this example is simplistic, I have been trying to apply this to my whole life. Often we wish things away and only see the grass on the other side. I just don’t want to live my life this way. I want to be in the moment, living and enjoying all that God has for me now, not wishing for things to be different. I am defiantly still learning, and know I will never stop learning contentment and joy, but am so thankful for the changes I have already made.

I would love to hear how you choose joy in life…. Leave a comment!

And now for the change of subjects: Bathroom Update (OK, for those of you who watch SNL, when I say Bathroom Update, I hear the music playing from the Weekend Update….)

Yesterday we were very pleasantly surprised that our state tax refund had already been put into our account! Go Phil for doing our taxes well and right away.. did you know he is the best?! SO, we decided we wanted to get the vanity ordered for the bathroom first since that is the only thing we need to order and we wanted to make sure we have it when we need it. I just got a notice saying it has shipped and is scheduled to arrive on MONDAY!! Very exciting for us…. Now we wait for our federal tax return…. Hopefully within the next three weeks. Then the party begins…… or the mess….. ok one or the other!

Feed my Starving Children

On Monday night our small group packed meals for Feed My Starving Children. If you have never heard about this organization, you should check their web site out here. But for a quick re-cap what they do is pack and send these food packs to children all around the world who are starving. The packs consist of Chicken and vitamin formula, rice, vegetables, and soy. These four ingredients give the children the nutrition to grow and become healthy again.
Eagle Brook is doing a project this month where as a church we are packing over 3 million meals to send to places like Haiti where poverty is rampant, especially after the earthquake. It was a blast to do, but also really cool to know the time we were spending packing meals was going to directly affect a child’s life. Over the course of the night, we packed enough meals to feed 94 children for a year, unbelievable!

On another note, Phil and I are both so grateful for our small group! Since we got married fairly young we have been the only married couple for a long time and have really desired to be with others who are in the same stage of life we are. We have found such great friendships through our small group and love having other married couples to hang out with.

Hope you all are enjoying the halfway point of the week! Only two days until the weekend!

Coming soon…. The story of Phil falling through a wall… yes, there will be pictures!

Have I told you about my Husband?

Ever since Phil and I got married two and a half years ago, (I honestly cannot believe that much time has passed) Phil has continually astounded me with how loving and self-less he is. Everyday I am challenged by him to care more and to put my own desires away.

The last week or so he has, on a few different occasions, made me snuggle up on the couch while he cleans the kitchen and makes us dinner. Or I complain about my phone, so he offers to switch with me, or he knowing the house needs to be cleaned does not hesitate in helping, but even more does the things he knows I hate, like vacuuming or cleaning the stove.

I have asked him why he is so kind, he always responds the same, “Because I love you.” It makes me melt to hear him say that. I am challenged by him to love more, to think about his needs above my own, because I love him and want to serve him in the same way. For Phil, it seems almost second nature for him to be so selfless, for me it is another story!

These past few months have been a challenge for Phil, I know he has been frustrated about jobs and wanting to take care of me the best he can. But even through these hard times I see him becoming more and more like Christ. I respect him so much for how hard he has worked even in jobs he does not enjoy, and still comes home willing to serve me.

Over this last weekend we were both serving at Church, and I was in a conversation where someone asked our head pastor (Bob Merrit) what he would have changed or done differently as a twenty-five year old. After thinking about it, he said no matter what, to learn to love his wife better, to not let the spark die, to serve each other. He then said, “You guys, I am living the dream, I am married to my best friend celebrating twenty-five years of marriage because of the hard work we put in back then.” This is what I want to do, this is what Phil is doing.

So have I told you about my husband? He is amazing, I am so thankful for him! I can’t wait to spend the rest of my life with him.

It must GO!

Over the weekend I accidentally dropped a large bobby pin down our bathroom sink. It already drains very slow do to very old rusty pipes so I thought we better get it out! I told Phil about this so on Sunday he started to try and get it out. :) After trying for a while from the top, we realized we would have to go from under the sink and get it out of the trap. (Aren’t you impressed I know what it is called?! Ok, well I may have just called Phil to find out the name…) So Phil got out his pipe wrench and other tools and went to work. After he got all the pipes apart we found the bobby pin, along with a nasty amount of hair and other grossness clogging our sink.
Thinking the problem was fixed he started putting the pieces back together and found that due to rustiness and old pipes they had actually just broken off, so there was no way to reconnect them. After talking about if we even wanted to spend the time, energy, and money to fix it, we decided that a run to Home Depot was worth it. We got the parts and headed home to find that the pipes are not the right size and that there is not way to fix it without spending more money than we want to on a bathroom we are tearing out in a month!

So long story short, good thing the bathroom will soon be no more! Oh yeah, and if you are at our house over the next month, sorry, we have no bathroom sink!

Happy Monday!