Casting Crowns=an amazing example of a Christian band!

I was able to see them in concert on Saturday night, and was reminded how great they are. It was a good show, but it was also a night of amazing worship too! Sometimes I get a little cynical when it comes to the integrity of well known Christian speakers or singers, but they just seem so genuine and SO much fun!

Jake also was able to hook us up with awesome seats, and meet and greet passes too, so we got to meet some of the members of the band-such a great time!

So about Jake, sometimes I have to remind myself how lucky I am to have him in my life! It's been so great to get to know him the last few months. I remember thinking that I'd never find a guy that would be as sweet or thoughtful as I'd expect them to be, or someone that would appreciate my geekiness or laugh when I'm a little irrational, but I seem to have found him. Plus he's so incredibly smart! It definitely keeps me on my toes...and it keeps my humbleness in check too. He also loves God...which is a given, but it's so incredible. So yeah...enough gushing...sorry!

So I'm also feeling kind of anxious about starting school in the next couple of weeks. I've decided to finally finish my teaching degree after a few year hiatus. It's been something I've wanted to do since I was a kid, but my life has gone a couple different directions since I graduated from college, and has finally come back to the place where I need to start school again. I know I'll love the learning aspect, but it's the papers and tests (those little details) that I'm freaking out about! It'll be nice to take online classes so I have a little flexibility as far as the school work goes.

Life is good!

Between work, sleep, and watching What Not to Wear and the Food Network...I've been trying my best to take advantage of the fabulous warmer weather! I'm so thankful to have a nice park with a cool lake that's close enough to walk to...it's an extra incentive to get out and walk! I also decided to test out my green thumb this year and plant some flowers, snap peas and tomato plants. They're all just in pots, so I'm excited to see how they turn out! Hopefully I'll have little tomatoes before too long :)

I'm also super excited about a little trip to Alberta coming up in August! It still seems so far away, but it's definitely creeping up so fast. I can't wait to see everyone, to see Lisa and Ryan get married, and to see the little babies and how much they've grown up! I miss everyone like crazy...I can't believe it's been over a year.

I've also had a new relationship development in my life in the last couple of weeks. It's kind of exciting, and it's a bit of an adjustment, but it's a good adjustment! It's been so long since I've been in a relationship that I kind of forget what it's like!

He's a very sweet guy, calls when he says he will, he's totally fun to hang out with, and it's one of those situations where I feel like I can be myself and not worry about what he's going to think of that. I guess I'm really excited to see what happens :)

He's also a truck driver, so he's gone during the week and usually home on the weekends. It actually works out pretty good because my work-a-holic self can work and do my own thing during the week, but I still have someone to talk with and spend time with once in awhile too.

Anyway, that's it for now..I filled my blog quota...maybe it'll be less than 3 months before I post again :)

A New Season

It's about time that I stopped TALKING about changing things and actually start DOING.
I've been living in Michigan for 10 months now (holy freaking cow...it's been almost a year!!). I've struggled with a lot of things this year, and it's about time that I start taking steps to get through those struggles, get the focus OFF of myself and on to God and other people.

Item #1) After 10 months, I think I've found a church that I can connect with and feel part of their community. It's called Northeast Community Church of the Nazarene. I actually visited there in Augustish, but decided to cross it off of my list because there weren't enough people. However, I feel extremely welcomed by the people there and I just feel like that's where God wants to put me right now. http://www.northcommnaz.org/ I'm excited to see what God has in store for the church there.

Item #2) I actually joined a gym. http://www.fitness19.com/ I've talked about exercising for a long time. In the summer I was a little more active and took a lot of walks around the neighborhood and stuff...but it wasn't really a regular thing. Then in the winter I found myself not doing anything and gaining weight...not cool. Money has been an issue, but I just decided that I needed to make it a priority to be more healthy and I'm sure it'll work out. So yeah, I'm actually really excited about that.

Item #3) God is showing me that I need to get outside myself and focus on other things. For the past few weeks I've been volunteering at Love INC in the thrift store there and I've had a ton of fun. I love thrift stores anyway, but Love INC is such a great ministry that helps people right in the community with needs that they have...food, housing, clothes, whatever...so the money from the thrift store helps out with those things. The volunteers are all really great people, so it's good to work with them, as well as good to meet the people that come and shop in the store. I'm excited to get more involved in different areas there as well. http://www.loveinthenameofchrist.org/

Item #4) I decided to observe Lent this year. Lent is generally a Catholic tradition, but I know a lot of Protestant churches and people that observe it as well. Lent is the 40 days of preparation before Easter that Christians use to focus on the death and resurrection of Jesus. I don't observe it every year, but this year I feel the need to renew my focus on Christ himself and spend more time thinking about Jesus, his life, his death, his teachings and everything else about Him. This may seem like a weird thing...but it will be a sacrifice for me...I'm going to give up eating out on my own. This includes fast food runs during work, on the way to work, the way HOME from work...all of those things :) It will help me eat healthier, help with finances and maybe I'll learn to cook as well. It doesn't sound like a very spiritual thing to give up, but it will be a reminder to me that I need to focus on the reason that I've given it up in the first place.

So that's it. Those are big things for me, but writing them out will make it easier for me to remember those goals and keep them in mind when I don't want to get out of bed on Sunday morning and go to church, or if I think I'm too tired to go to the gym. I'm excited to see what this year has in store...