Home Improvements

I can't believe sometimes how hard Greg works on our house. He told me when we were living in the apartment that he really wanted a house so he could have things to do - well he definitely has it with this house!

We've repainted the laundry room a nice sunny yellow, and Greg is restaining the cabinets so they are actually nice looking instead of antiques. It's really coming along nicely. Now he is outside working on our new deck/front porch. We haven't had one for quite a while because they had to tear ours out to replace the sewer line. But it's looking fantastic so far!

That's basically what we've been doing the last few weeks besides working. It's been crazy, but fun. Now we have our wedding season coming up - Rachel's wedding is NEXT SATURDAY! I'm very excited to be in her wedding (and that my dress fits!). Then right when we get back we leave for our DC vacation. I am so excited for that - I've never been to DC and it should be a blast with my whole family going!

I think tonight I may plan out our DC trip. I love planning things like that and it should be an amazing time. I thought of all of the SVSU grads today - I can't believe it's been a year since I walked across that stage. So much has happened!! But a good year it's been - I can't wait to see what God has in store for us next. He is such an amazing God, and we are SO blessed!

:)

Tattoo

Okay the post didn't work....let's try this. :)

Update on me

So Ashley reminded me that I haven't written in a while, and I have a few minutes so I thought I should. :)

Things are going okay for me. I don't know if I wrote this, but Greg and I had our sewer line replaced in our front yard. Thus, our front yard is completely torn up. It's been a while since we had it done, so I'm getting a little sick of our neighbors gawking at our yard. ;) Anyway, we had Troy Schmidt of Schmidt Builders come out today and will give us an estimate on a new front porch (ours was torn out in the process). Depending on prices, we're hoping to have both the front porch done and then the landscaping (and taking out one of our trees) very soon so our front yard is normal again.

On the inside of the house, we are about to be able to prime and paint the laundry room. Then we need to buy a countertop and backsplash, then stain the cabinets, and the room should be back in order. After that we need to complete the flooring in the basement. Once ALL that is completed, our house will be back to the way it was when we bought it. I know, right? Then we can start prioritizing the projects that we actually WANT to do. =P

Work has been crazy busy lately. Of course, since I work for a CPA firm, tax season hit pretty hard. But in my line of business, we're super busy right now with quarter end. I should have stayed late today but had Troy coming out for an estimate so I left on time. Just a lot of projects right away - feast or famine, right?

I am excited about the new class that Greg and I are taking at Messiah. It's called "Ordinary Day with Jesus" and is definitely something I struggle with in my Christian walk. In the first class we talked about when the day exactly starts, and according to the Bible, it starts in the evening. So basically, when we wake up, we are just joining God in His work instead of "starting" the day. I thought that was really profound and has really helped me so far this week. I think next week is everyday relationships, so I'm excited.

I'm also really looking forward to May. I have Rachel's wedding, in which I am a bridesmaid, then a vacation with Greg to DC for my cousin's wedding. It should be a lot of fun and definitely needed. I will be full time for a year starting April 24th, so I then get two weeks' paid vacation, which will be super nice!! Hopefully Greg and I will be able to take a few weekend trips or something this summer.

I also got a tattoo. I absolutely love it and don't regret it for a second, but I don't think I'll get another one. I'm content with this one. Let's see if I can figure out how to post a picture in this post...

Hmm...I think that's all that's going on with me. O:) Quilting this week, which I'm excited for - I don't think I've done any since the last quilting day. Oh I take that back, I made a pillow. :)

I hope I start updating this more often. On the plus side, I had a lot to talk about!! Now I'm off to study some more for Paraplanner (continuing ed for work). I hope I can learn it all before the test in June!

*Love covers a multitude of sins* - 1 Peter 4:8

1 Year Plan

So I was at work last week, and we were talking about things we want to do in life. I'm not that old, but I did turn 24 yesterday - I'm not that young. =P So instead of doing a New Year's Resolution or something like that, I've decided to take this milestone of my birthday and write down a few things I'd like to accomplish before I become 1/4 of a century old.

First, I'd like to complete the Registered Paraplanner designation at work. It is considered a sort of "JV" version of becoming a Certified Financial Planner. While investments and finance were not my major (not even close), that's what I work with every day, and it's important that I get a formal education in it, not only for our clients, but for myself. I need to know that I am good at what I do. Plus, letters after my name wouldn't look too bad either. O:) I need to take the test by June, and I'm a little less than halfway through the self-study course, so I need to step it up!

Second, I'm excited for May, because it is wedding season. :) Not only do I get to stand up in my awesome friend Rachel's wedding, I get to attend my cousin's wedding in Washington, DC. I've never been to DC, so I'm really excited to experience all of the history that is contained there. It will definitely be an awesome and long-awaited vacation.

Third, I'd like to start exercising more - and I'm not going to overdo it this time. I usually say "I'm going to exercise!" and set a super lofty goal to work out for an hour at some gym every day. This time, I'm going to tone it down. Greg and I are taking a walk every evening whenever it's nice out after work, and that's really nice. I think it's really helping my stamina, my body, and my sleep cycles. Who knew walking was so good for you? ;) I'm hoping I can continue that throughout the summer and maybe add some more exercise in there as the weather gets nicer and nicer.

Fourth, I'd like to expand my faith. This is an ongoing goal for life, but I'm just starting to get into church at Messiah and I love it. I love doing projection once a month, and it's just the right amount of commitment. I'm hoping that we can get to know people in church, like we have been, and serve God in the ways that He has blessed us.

Fifth, I'd like to continue to improve our marriage. I love being married, and although it's hard work, it's totally worth it. I think Greg and I are just finally starting to get into the groove of marriage, and it's getting better every day. I know it's just going to keep improving. :)

Sixth, I'd like to make some major improvements on the house with my husband. We've had this actually thrust upon us by our sewer issues, but it is nice to improve the house and work on things with my husband. It's a great way to bond. :) We have so many ideas and I'm excited to get started on them.

So this list turned a little more abstract than I was planning, but I don't know if my heart was really in it. I'm distracted tonight. Maybe I'll try again later, but I did want to write all this down. :)

Purpose

I've just been washed over with a new sense of contentment and purpose just now, and felt the urge to write about it. :)

Today was a good day. I volunteered at church this morning running projection. It's so nice to be part of the church body again. Greg and I were so involved with His House that I felt a little lost when we were looking for a church home. But now we are involved with Messiah Lutheran, and volunteering with the church, and it's really amazing that my heart is again fulfilled with God in a way I was missing. It's SO nice to find a church home.

I worked on my continuing education for work this afternoon as well. I'm taking a self-study course in order to be a registered paraplanner for work. It's sort of like being a financial planner, but the JV course. I find it a little difficult, since I've never taken a finance class in my life. I've been struggling with the fact that I haven't been using my degree since I graduated (or even before that) and it's been difficult to come to the realization that God wants me to be where I am, whether or not I'm using the degree I'm still paying for. But today, as hard as this course is for me, it was a good thing. I think that broadening my horizons into this new field will eventually help me in ways I can't even think of right now. It's good to learn new things and try new experiences, and if this is where God wants me, who am I to complain?

Also, Greg and I put together our gifts for our niece and nephew (who share the same birthday 7 years apart). Even though I still haven't met them (they live in Florida) it's so nice to have children in the family that we can spoil. I'm the youngest, so I never had that growing up, and it feels nice to be an aunt, even by marriage. :) Plus we have our Compassion Child in Indonesia, and I love getting his letters and drawings. It's a wonderful feeling knowing we are helping God's children.

My last good thing of the night was a message from one of my Facebook friends. She saw this blog again and read an old message I had put up from November, and it touched her once again. She left me a message on Facebook, and I cannot tell you how uplifting it was to read that. Sometimes we wonder why we're here, and if we really are making a difference, and if we should be doing more than what we are doing. At least I do. I sometimes wonder if I should sell my possessions and go be a mission worker in some foreign country. I wonder if I am doing enough to further God's kingdom, or if I am settling for mediocrity in this fallen world. But it's things like this that God blesses me with so He lets me know I am on the right path. And I'm right where God wants me, and I'm doing what He wants me to do. What a wonderful feeling. In a world of uncertainty, little messages like that help me to be centered around my Rock, my Jesus again. And that content feeling is unlike any other.

So I wanted to share that even though I'm still not sure my purpose in life, or if I'm on the right road, I know that God will take care of me. And that's all I need to know. :)

Have a wonderful week everyone!!

Laziness...

I find myself being lazy a lot more now that I'm out of college and super busy at work. I'm coming to this realization this week since, yesterday, Greg was rearranging the basement, vacuuming, etc., and I sat in my chair. All night. lol. Really?

Work has been crazy lately - there is so much to do for me, it seems like I can never get it all done. It's nice to always be busy and it makes the day go by fast, but sometimes it's a little overwhelming. I had to leave early today, so it was nice to just take a break. Hopefully I'll catch up on some things soon!

Maybe tonight I'll do some more sewing. I am excited about the quilt that I am working on now and my next one - I bought some super cute fabric at Joann's on Sunday so that's always a motivating factor. Plus I have an idea for some other fabric that I have, so I'm also very excited about that.

Well nothing much else going on in my life. I wish I had NBC at home so I can watch the Olympics, but oh well. I got to watch curling at my parents' house, which is the one sport I wanted to see, so that was good. :)

I hope everyone is having a great week!!!

Trading my dreams for His

I used to be so good about writing almost every day (and even multiple times a day) in a blog. I wonder what happened to that dedication. In any event, I'm going to try to get back into this. I think it's good for me.

I was driving home yesterday, and there wasn't anything good on the radio. I decided to pick one of my CDs in my car at random and pop it in. It was Casting Crowns' "The Altar and the Door." I almost switched it, because I wasn't sure if that's what I wanted, but I kept it in. And listened. I've heard the CD many times before (Greg got it for me for Christmas 2008) but for some reason, it stuck with me. And I'm still listening to it, over and over again.

I think I've fallen away a little bit from God and my faith. Greg and I went through a bit of a transition after college, where we were caught up in wedding planning, and moving to Midland, and not really having a church "home" together. I think that even if you're not involved with the church you go to, you should at least go to the same one every week. Otherwise, you feel lost. You feel like you don't belong. You feel nomadic, wandering through life without any real roots. We are inherently relational, and need to know, even if no one knows our name, that we can go somewhere each week and it will be familiar.

Well we didn't have that for a long time. That, combined with the fact that my yearly devotional book ended in the new year, caused me to . . . stagnate. Go through life, but not really live it. A situation we all find ourselves in sometimes.

But I think the rediscovery of this CD really is helping me focus back in. Greg and I are getting involved in our home church, Messiah Lutheran. We're praying more together. And I think, finally, we're learning what marriage is all about. When they say that the first year is the hardest, they aren't kidding. Thankfully, we found a great book called Love and War by John and Stasi Eldridge (authors of Captivating and Wild at Heart) that is really insightful. We're only on Chapter 3, and I'd say it's helped our marriage in numerous ways already. God really stepped in when He put that in front of us.

I've been feeling a little lost in my purpose in life lately. It's amazing to be married and share my life with someone else, but what exactly I'm supposed to do with my life is still a mystery to me. I've had some dreams all my life; but are they my purpose? I'm still not sure.

My job has nothing to do with my degree. I have a Bachelor's in English; I work in finance. How did that happen? Is this where I should be? I can't help but believe that I am exactly where God wants me, but sometimes it's difficult to remember that. God wants us in certain places for certain reasons, but sometimes I can't help but wonder. I pray that God shows me when it's time to move on. I love my job and my coworkers and my boss, but is this my true calling? Is this what I was meant to do? I'm not sure.

I participated in National Novel Writing Month in November 2009, and came out with a 5,000 word manuscript; but it didn't feel real. It felt . . . pushed. I always thought I would be an author of some kind, with a focus on novels. Maybe that's not where God wants me. I never reached the length or level of writing I thought I would before that month. Now that I have, it's not all I think it should be. It isn't something that I can't wait to do. Shouldn't it be? I'm wondering if God wants me more for non-fiction. Something real, something I can pour my own experiences into without worrying about whether or not my characters are authentic or the story line is engaging. A book about what I've learned in life, that maybe might help others. I think that might be more of my focus now.

I've also been thinking a lot about sewing. It's been over a year now since I've really gotten into it, and I love it. I make quilts for donation, and a lot for gifts, but I am wondering if this is maybe something that I could start a business with. Make quilts for friends and family at first, build a client base. I never pictured myself a small business owner, but maybe I'd be good at it. It's still something I'll have to do some hard core praying about.

I am excited to fix up the house with Greg. I never knew home ownership could be so trying sometimes, but it's definitely worth it if I can work on it with Greg. I think it's our own mini-adventure that we can take together, something that will grow us closer in a way that I never thought of before.

I guess that leads me to the new title of my blog, and the title of this entry (which I just decided): Trading my dreams for His. God has such BIG plans for all of us, but sometimes we're not sure what those are. And sometimes they may just change for us. We think we know, but we really don't. And that's okay. We didn't fail at the other dreams; they just weren't right for us. What a glorious discovery! It's difficult to let go of a dream you've had since kindergarten, but I'd rather live out God's dreams for me then my own earthly dreams, wouldn't you?

God is incredible and amazing and wonderful and indescribable. I am constantly in awe of His amazing love and awesome power. I pray that I may follow His dreams for me, and, in the process, bring glory to Him and His name. Thank you, Lord, for these amazing revelations. May You provide me guidance and allow me to love You with all my heart, soul, mind, and strength, and use the gifts You have blessed me with to advance Your kingdom.