Sunday, March 31, 2013

Easter Sunday Song - Jesus Paid it All

Easter is one of my favorite holidays!  I love that this holiday brings families back to church and that it is a special celebration at church with vibrant colors. I love that families dress in their Sunday best. I love that our family has a tradition of eating ham on Easter. Most importantly, I love what Easter is all about:



Matthew 28:1-10 After the Sabbath, at dawn on the first day of the week, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary went to look at the tomb. There was a violent earthquake, for an angel of the Lord came down from heaven and, going to the tomb, rolled back the stone and sat on it. His appearance was like lightning, and his clothes were white as snow. The guards were so afraid of him that they shook and became like dead men.

The angel said to the women, "Do not be afraid, for I know that you are looking for Jesus, who was crucified. He is not here; he has risen, just as he said. Come and see the place where he lay. Then go quickly and tell his disciples: 'He has risen from the dead and is going ahead of you into Galilee. There you will see him.' Now I have told you."

The women hurried away from the tomb, afraid yet filled with joy, and ran to tell his disciples. Suddenly Jesus met them. "Greetings," he said. They came to him, clasped his feet and worshiped him. Then Jesus said to them, "Do not be afraid. Go and tell my brothers to go to Galilee; there they will see me." (NIV) 

Our church service was amazing today.  The sermon was so powerful, I wish every one of my friends and everyone I know was able to be there with me to hear the message of our great Savior. Instead I hope this weeks Easter Sunday song fills you with truth! 

 "Jesus Paid it All" -- by Kristian Stanfill





Sunday, March 17, 2013

Sunday Song - Glory to God Forever

Happy Sunday!  What a great weekend it's been! The temperature reached 70 degrees on Friday so I went for my first run since getting sick (and oh my, do I have a long way to go to get my mileage back to where I was just 4 weeks ago!!) Then I came home to Jason cooking brats on the grill. I was in bed at 8:30 and asleep by 8:31...think I needed my rest!

Saturday we spent the morning doing some much needed deep cleaning and laundry since we have Ellis and Josh coming to visit next weekend, then my parents the following weekend! (Cannot wait for either!!) As I've already shared, I joined the gym (YAY!) then we ran some errands then went to church which was another amazing service. I already shared about our St. Patrick's Day festivities. After the green beer, I was on a mission to find a new workout bag to help motivate me to go to the gym this week after work. I was pleased to find the perfect bag at the perfect price! 

Today it's 50 degrees and the sun is shining so we're going to run some errands and take Cooper to the dog park.  It's been such a relaxing and productive weekend. While I'm not ready to go back to work it's only a 4 day work week for me since we're meeting Ellis and Josh on the slopes Friday. Praying for some good spring skiing weather for me!

This weekends Sunday song is another oldie but great one. It reminds me of the Sundays spent in worship at the Auditorium Theater at Willow Chicago. As always, I hope it brings you encouragement today and this week.


"Glory to God Forever" -- by Fee


Glory to God 
Glory to God 
Glory to God Forever! 
Take my life and let it be
All for you and for your glory
Take my life and let it be yours!

Oh He deserves all the Glory I am so thankful for all He has given and done for me.  All the Glory to him!!

Happy St. Patrick's Day


It's not St. Patrick's Day without a green river and the streets filled with lots of green shirts, necklaces, hats, hair and drunk people but we still wanted to go out and celebrate. Jason had done some research and tried to find somewhere fun for us to go, but nowhere looked that great. To be honest, after our experience at the Irish pub last weekend I was hesitant to go anywhere to celebrate! We found a pub that had some St. Patrick's Day specials so we headed there after church and had a green beer and an appetizer. Just as I had expected, being out made me miss Chicago even more. It may have been easier to just skip the holiday all together but by going out it made me realize it's time that we make some of our own St. Patrick's Day traditions of our own next year. While I'm not even a slight bit Irish being away from Chicago made me long for the Irish traditions I've celebrated the last several years while living in Chicago so next year we will bring those traditions back to Colorado! :)  Cheers to the Irish and teaching us to love all things green and how to have a good time!

Saturday, March 16, 2013

Gym Membership

I'm so excited...I joined Lifetime Fitness again. It's been about 7 years since I have belonged there and am so happy to be able to go back again! I used to work out almost daily for 6 years but when I moved to Chicago they didn't have that particular gym in the city and while I joined a different one in the city it was a total meat market and fun "city-life" got in the way of working out.

When we moved to Colorado I knew there was a Lifetime Fitness near by and wanted to join but we had already had a (free) fitness center in out apartment complex plus Jason isn't a fan of paying for a membership to a gym. Considering I never used mine when we were in Chicago it was hard for me to convince him (and myself) that it's worth the money. But I've really been wanting to join for the past year. I like the (big) gym environment and rarely use our little fitness center for a number of reasons. Lifetime has classes that I know I'll take, plenty of machines, a group running club and the idea of some "me time" after work each day to unwind seems perfect. Not to mention that I get a $25 massage for enrolling and they have a steam room in the locker room...so needed for me who is having a hard time adjusting to the dry weather here.

While listening to a sermon online yesterday I realized how important it is to have a healthy work/life balance which I have not had since I started this new job. I also realized how stressed I am and not sleeping well at night even though I'm exhausted. Considering I'm hoping to have this job or one similar for many years to come I figured it's time to put some healthy habits in place now. In addition, I'm still trying to train for a half marathon (the illness the past 3 weeks put a major damper on that) and would love to be in better over-all shape! So today I start a new routine. I'm giving myself two months with the membership, then will re-evaluate to see how much I use it and what it's doing to my overall health.

I'm super excited for my new routine!  Hoping I use it as much as I'm hoping and see some serious improvements in my over-all health!  Wishing me good luck! :)

Thursday, March 14, 2013

Timberweek

Yay!! JT on Fallon every.single.night. this week has been amazing!! Love both of them! So together = Heaven. Love, love love them!

ps...tomorrow is Friday! :)

Sunday, March 10, 2013

Sunday Song - You Never Let Go

Happy Sunday!  This Sunday's song is a rather old one but always a good one.  Hope it speaks truth into you this weekend.  It brought me much encouragement today!  

"You Never Let Go" -- by Matt Redman




And I will fear no evil

For my God is with me
And if my God is with me
Whom then shall I fear?
Whom then shall I fear?

Oh no, You never let go
Through the calm and through the storm
Oh no, You never let go
In every high and every low
Oh no, You never let go
Lord, You never let go of me

Week and Weekend Update

I have been working 10-12 hours days every day plus hours over the weekend so life has really been at a halt   This last week was awful too.  Just way too much to do and not enough support.  I thought by putting in the extra hours I'd be able to get ahead but by Friday I was just spent and still had so much to do!  Plus I am still getting over whatever illness I had so have a bed cough and haven't felt that great.

I was so happy I made it to the weekend and was able to spend it with my husband.  On that note, he has been so supportive of me while I am working all these hours.  He's helped with everything around the apartment and made many dinners or suggested me picking up dinners on the way home or ordered us pizza so I don't have to worry about it.  It helps that he works the same ridiculous hours all the time but I am just so thankful for his support, especially when I come home and only talk work for two hours straight without even asking him how his day was!

So Friday we took Cooper for a walk at his favorite dog park then we went out to dinner to try an Irish pub/restaurant which ended up being a total bust. But it was fun to just be out and relax and enjoy each others company.  Cheesy, I know  but just what I needed!  Saturday we woke up to what was supposed to be a blizzard so cleaned up around the house then went out and ran some quick errands just to get me out of the house. I don't do well when I know I'm stranded!  We played in the snow a little with Cooper too.  In the evening ince the snow had really accumulated we didn't want to be driving so stayed in and hit up the hot tub then watched a Netflix and ate some bad food all night.  Today we went to church which was a great service followed by more errands and stuff around the apartment. Unfortunately I had to work for a few hours today but for the most part I just enjoyed being with Jason and relaxing. Tonight we're recording the Bible series so we can catch up on SNL with my favorite one and only Justin Timberlake.  The day sure slipped away from us with the time change but how fun to have an extra hour of sunlight!

I'm not really ready for work tomorrow but I only have 3 weeks until spring break -- I can do it, I can do it! I'm hoping that the work I've put in will pay off a little to help me feel better!

Tuesday, March 5, 2013

Sunday, March 3, 2013

Sunday Meanderings

Happy Sunday!  How was your weekend?!  Mine was fabulous! Continued to heal my body since I have been sick all week. We got lots of cleaning done, errands were run and cars were worked on. We grilled out tonight since it was so nice out.  Not ready to go back to work tomorrow but thankful I'm feeling better with each day. Which brings me to:

Meanderings on...

Summer School...I found out today that I will be teaching summer school in June and July!  I am ecstatic! Considering just 3 months ago I was a TA at a high school, I cannot believe that I have had to opportunity to teach for a month now and was hired on to teach summer school as a teacher! With the new summer job I won't be able to do the Women's Half Marathon that I wanted to do in June but hope to run the Chicago Rock & Roll Half the end of July.  (and well, that gives me an extra month of training too...win-win!)

Parent/Teacher Conferences...I survived my first week of conferences!  I did miss one since I was really sick on Monday but the rest of the week went well.  Its been a great opportunity for me to meet many parents who I wasn't able to meet at the meet and greet when I first started.  It's absolutely exhausting though, working all day and then having conferences in the beginning and end,especially when you're really under the weather!  I still have two left this week along with two IEP meetings.  But I am just loving this job when we're not understaffed!

The Lease...We resigned our lease this week so we'll be here another 12 months.  We both want to be in a different area but the packing and moving just didn't outweigh the need for a new location.  Plus we really like everything about our apartment and it's always greener on the other side...so we stay. Now I'm ready to decorate, decorate!  Mom, get ready for when you're here to help!

My new Uggs...Life just got really good! I got new Uggs from Jason for my birthday.  I've been wearing my other ones for almost 5 years now and lets just say they're really worn!  I finally got the protectant spray in the mail Friday so was able to wear them yesterday.  Never mind that it was almost 60 degrees and everyone else was wearing flip flops...my Uggs were keeping my toes extra warm. ;-0

My birthday dinner...Last night we went to Maggiano's for my birthday dinner since I was too sick last week.  We were supposed to go get sushi but on our way there we passed Maggianos and made a u-turn for there instead.  And now, we have leftovers plus the "take home" dish so basically have dinner for every night this week!  YAY! Thanks Jason for wining and dining me!

On the Bible mini-series...There's a mini-series on the history channel.  We watched night one. It's strange but powerful at the same time.  If you have cable, definitely check it out next week...7/6c. Be there!


Sunday Song - Not for a Moment

Last night was a pretty amazing night at church for me.  The worship music was fantastic and the message spoke to me in a way that I was absolutely confident God was speaking to me about something that has been really bothering me.  It gave me an extra skip in my step and I am so uplifted again, which I have really needed!  This morning I woke up with this song in my head.  It's not the song I had planned to post as my "Sunday Song" but feel led to share it. Hope it lifts you up and encourages you!

Not for a Moment (After All) -- by Meredith Andrews



You were reaching through the storm
Walking on the water
Even when I could not see
In the middle of it all
When I thought You were a thousand miles away
Not for a moment did You forsake me
Not for a moment did You forsake me

Chorus:

After all You are constant
After all You are only good
After all You are sovereign
Not for a moment will You forsake me
Not for a moment will You forsake me

You were singing in the dark
Whispering Your promise
Even when I could not hear
I was held in Your arms
Carried for a thousand miles to show
Not for a moment did You forsake me

Chorus

And every step every breath you are there
Every tear every cry every prayer
In my heart at my worst
When my world falls down
Not for a moment will You forsake me
Even in the dark
Even when it's hard
You will never leave me
After all

Chorus