Gross.

Ahhh, my first obscene phone call while working at the hospital. Fabulous. Guess I'm really a part of the team now!

Seriously though, why are people so gross? What compels a dude to pick up the phone, dial the local hospital, and say "I'm having trouble getting my penis hard, can you help me with that?"

I have SEVERAL snarky things I could say in response, but I didn't because a) I'm a lady. b) it's really not even worth engaging, all this guy is looking for is attention, and c) ew.

Fun times on the night shift, y'all! Happy Friday.

Weekend Update

It's 3 am and it's raining lightly. Every now and then a breeze will gust through and rattle the windchime that's outside our main living room window. So peaceful to listen to! I hope it's raining in the morning. I love rainy days when I can stay in pj's, open the window, and listen to the rain without being interrupted. One of my favorite things! We just haven't had enough of those days this summer because it's been so dry.

This weekend was a good mix of busy and recharging. I really have to be proactive to maintain that balance, or it's quick to get out of hand with things to do, people to see, etc., and before I know it I don't have a free minute to myself. I've learned in the past couple of weeks that recharging is vital if I'm going to stay sane while balancing time with God, three jobs, quality time with my husband, friends, and keeping the house (relatively) free of animal fuzz. There's just no other way to put it: I will literally go crazy. Haha. My way of resting and recharging is to be at home not doing anything except maybe watching a tv show on netflix/hulu. Those days where I don't have a set time to be somewhere, can stay in pj's all morning, and read/tv/go out for a late lunch: perfection. I love spending time with my friends and it energizes me in a completely different way, but it's usually not restful for me (exception: a small but amazing circle of friends where I can come over in sweatpants holding a bottle of wine, and they don't even blink an eye). 

Friday I got home from work, exhausted. Slept all day (but not before putting a note on our door telling the FedEx guy to PLEASE leave my package if I don't answer the phone, as I work the night shift and may not hear him knocking). Woke up around 5 and checked the front door: package was there! Hooray! It was the new iphone. My phone's been broken for the past month and a half, so while I am excited to have a better camera and a new color (white), I really was just stoked to have a working phone again. Ya don't know whatcha got til it's gone! I'm not a 'talking on the phone' person but there were times where I REALLY wished I had been able to use my phone. So yay, if you have my number, call me maybe? (I can't believe I just did that).

Panorama feature of the iPhone 5-my backyard on Sat. morning

Above is one of the new features, the Panorama. I had no idea the phone could do that until Michael showed me. Pretty cool, huh? Michael and I went to Ingredient that night for dinner but it was a total bust. :( He hated his meal. Mine was okay but nothing special. He looked pretty miserable poking at his chicken sandwich so I suggested we go to Pita Pit, which was a few stores up, to get him a different sandwich. Wife of the year right here. Much happier husband after a full belly. We hit up a few stores looking for a phone case for me and new earphones for him (they redesigned them with the new phone and he took one look at mine and had to have a pair for himself), but couldn't find any. Went home and watched a couple episodes of Supernatural (we are on a time crunch to finish season 7 before the new season debuts! -yep, we're addicted.

new nails!

Saturday morning, for some inexplicable reason I woke up at 6 am. If you know me at all, you know this is totally not normal. After starting at the ceiling for half an hour, I saw Michael starting to wake up. I nudged him and told him that if I wasn't going to be able to go to sleep, we should at least take advantage of a rare early morning and go have breakfast. So we did! It was really nice to change up our 'dates', avoid the rush at IHOP, and spend quality time together in the morning. After breakfast we went to a couple different stores, again on the search for iphone cases/earphones. We finally found a sparkly pink case for me at Best Buy and the earphones for Michael at KU's student stores. I dropped Michael off and decided to have a little alone time and go get my nails done. I haven't done that in forever, it was a nice treat! The color is OPI's Second Honeymoon (um...yes please!).

Tiff's baby shower gifts-diapers and moscato. 

That afternoon I went to a baby shower for my good friend Tiff. She has a particular favorite brand of moscato wine and I'm pretty sure she is counting down the days until that sweet baby girl of hers is born so she can have a glass. So what better way to shower her with a gift for HER and for the baby? I hope it's enjoyed post delivery. Her shower was excellent. No weird baby shower games, just tasty food, good conversation, and lots of excitement for Tiff. Our friend Pam had everyone write a message on a chalk board to Tiff and/or the baby, then took our picture with it for a photo album to give to Tiff. What a cool idea!! I loved it. 

Showing my buddy Anna how much better the front facing camera is on my new phone-at Tiff's shower. Beautiful tablescape (ok Sandra Lee) by Emily in the background!

Giving my new "purse" a spin, that I got at my buddy Amanda's Pampered Chef party a few ago. You fill it with ice cubes or water and it keeps your wine cold. This was for a meeting I went to with some awesome ladies where we had peach sangria.

Sunday was pretty busy. Church had me running around all over the place, pitching in to do kids check in, then managing my growth group kiosks and helping answer questions for people. I was so excited to hear that EastLake had more people show up in our second week after mailing out a flyer to the entire city, AND when we had to change locations. Go God for bringing people in even when we bounce locations. My hope and prayer is that those people who are looking for a sense of belonging and community will find it with our church family and plug into a group. It's such an awesome variety of people and there's always room for more. After church we came home and ate, then I did laundry (boo), grocery shopping, and some housework I'd put off the last few days. That night I attended a meeting for some of the women leaders in the church. It was so great to gather everyone together and relax, catch up, encourage one another, and get ready for what's to come!

Pic of new hair-it's more of a honey blonde now with a couple darker pieces. Good start for a fall look. Of course I can never take a serious picture with Michael nearby. ;)

This last pic technically isn't the weekend, but oh well. Tonight I had my hair done and wanted to include a picture. :)

Get pumpin'

The grass isn't greener on the other side-it's greener where you water it.

Awesome take-away from the start of EastLake's new series, Relationship Rehab, which we began last Sunday. There were so many new faces, and group sign ups went live, and the energy was just electric! I can't wait to see who God brings into our church family over the next few weeks. The series lasts another six weeks so there's plenty of time to jump on board to see why I'm so crazy about this place. If you live in Lawrence and are reading this, we'll be at South Middle School this Sunday, 9:30 and 11:00 am! This Sunday's talk: "Fight Less, Love More".

As I mentioned, growth group sign ups went live on Sunday and we're already at 200 people. This makes me happy not because I'm numbers driven, but because this means 200 people are plugging into our community and will see some sort of life change this fall. That could be through something simple like meeting new friends, learning a new skill (CPR/shooting a gun/making dresses for African children are all group options!), hanging out with people who are in similar situations (dads group/toddler group/40 + group), and/or learning more about their relationships with God, their spouse, friendships, etc.

I joined Body Pump and I'm leading a group on Tuesdays called Grace for the Unglued. I'm super excited about this group and likely will be blogging about it. It's for women who want to learn how to deal with life when it's beyond our control without acting out of control. Aka, a book for women who desire to make wise choices in the midst of raw emotions. Aka, we all know we women get crazy with the things that come out of our mouths from time to time, so how do we practically take next steps using biblical principles to be more kind yet honest, so we can handle ourselves with grace when life throws us those moments when we want to react first, think later? That's my group in a nutshell.

Speaking of body pump, I did a trial run on Saturday. It was just me and three other women, and Leah, the group leader. I am sooo proud to say that I actually finished the entire class! It was so much fun too. It's a weight lifting class pretty much...you get a bar with different sets of weights (we had 2.5, 5, and 10 lb weights), and it varies depending on the exercise and your strength level which weights you use. The music was awesome, it's super high energy, and Leah is a great motivator. It was a total body work out from triceps/biceps, chest, shoulders, back, abs, thighs, lunges, etc. I was pretty sore Sunday and even into Monday but it's a good feeling. Can't wait to do it again with more people! If I can do it, anyone can do it. It's a good feeling to accomplish something I previously wasn't sure I could handle. Did I mention you burn 800-1000 calories in one session?!

Whoo!

Group catalog: DONE.

Group tshirts: Picking them up from Acme, a local tshirt store, Friday afternoon. This place absolutely rocks. If you live in Lawrence and need any kind of custom design work for a tshirt, you gotta go see them. Jennilyn, the manager, is a friend and EastLaker and she and the staff there are awesome!

Today was chilly and rainy. I'm not sure if it even passed 70 degrees. GLORIOUS. I went to sleep around 9:30am and opened a window. The bedroom got cold and I burrowed under a down comforter with Penny next to me. Oh man, you know those sleeps when you're so tired that you wake up and it feels like it's only been a couple minutes? That was me. Usually I'm kind of a light sleeper but I really don't think I even moved once my head hit the pillow. Want me some more of that this weekend.

Work tonight has been super slow. I really hope I don't jinx myself by saying that. So far I've painted my nails, eaten grapes and a bologna sandwich, watched an episode of True Life, and now I'm going to do some stretches and then type up an email for my group leaders.

If you see me on Sunday, and ask me what I did this weekend, and I rattle off a long list...please be disappointed in me. It's time to recharge so I can be ready to go for group sign ups on Sunday morning. I think Friday night all I want to do is make blueberry pancakes and go get Michael some new sneakers so he can start exercising.

PS- "Grace for the Unglued" will be an awesome growth group. Tuesdays 7:30. Just sayin'.

fall 2012 groups-thoughts before the launch

Oh my...I think I'm done with the fall 2012 growth group catalog. (Growth groups are small groups at the church I attend/work for (EastLake) that happen 3 times a year, they can be anything from a book study to a girls' night out and anything and everything in between. They're led by volunteers and they ROCK!)

Hal.le.lujah!!! I'm to that point now where I can't objectively edit it anymore, I've combed through it so many times that it all seems to blend together. I think that's a sign I need to be satisfied with it and call it good. We have 29 groups and they are an AWESOME mix of study, activity, and service groups. So. Excited.

I was bored and poking through some of my old Facebook posts and came across a note I wrote back in November 2011, while I was participating in a fall group about a book called TrueFaced. It still resonates with me so I wanted to share it here. In a nutshell, it's about how much God can change your entire perspective on life, once you've realized you can trust Him. And then you find other people you can share your messes of life with, people who are just as broken but believe in something greater than themselves. Those people become family when they start to do life together-and growth groups are where that happens.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"If it is unerringly true that each of us enjoys only the love we will allow in, and if it is equally true that God went to unending lengths to bring us love in a way that we would allow in, then it becomes stunningly obvious that the carriers of God's love ought to be wildly driven to learn to give his love in a way that can be easily put on.

To give a love that can be trusted changes everything. This is where life gets worth living. It jump-starts one of the most profoundly beautiful and miraculous chain reactions we get to witness in this lifetime. Closed, broken, frightened, bluffing men and women come squinting out of dark corners into the light and start singing songs they didn't know were in them. They begin to feel alive-secure in his embrace, seeing life for the first time in full color. Actually allowing this love past their double-bolted defenses, they wonder out loud what took them so long. Each one becomes real, safe, creative, and refreshingly untamed. They drink this love in like those gulping down cold, fresh lemonade for the first time. And they almost involuntarily begin to offer to all around them a love as rich and freeing as what they are taking in. They discover a waiting, thirsty community everywhere they look. And the world arond them dramatically changes, one drink at a time..."

-from Truefaced

This, to me, is what EastLake is all about. A church family growing in their faith together, leaning into one another for support while learning how to trust God for the first time, or the tenth time, or the hundreth time because all those other times were built on a foundation of good intentions but not grace. One of the biggest takeaways I've received from my time with this book is this: needs are not weaknesses. It goes against society norms to admit to people out loud, "I need x,y, or z." But the amazing thing about churches like EastLake is that it's okay to admit that we've all got our junk we're working through. No one is perfect. And we wouldn't want anyone to be. How incredibly freeing.

Healing for me began when I could open up to a handful of women and let them see the broken pieces of my heart-and they didn't judge, or ridicule, or pity me. God used them to help me reshape those pieces into something different, but still beautiful.  If you're still searching and live in Lawrence or the surrounding area...man, this is a great place to SEE God's love in action. Because once it really gets into your head that grace is something you'll NEVER lose once you put your faith in God, and that it IS possible to love deeper and better than you've ever known, all because you know how much He loved you first...it changes everything.

At the hospital

Quiet night at the hospital. I don't normally work Tuesday nights (errr Wednesday mornings?) but I'm covering for a co-worker so that she can enjoy a much needed vacation.

I've been watching the Food Network off and on for the past couple of hours. I really should not do that...it just makes me hungry and I can't leave so then I just sit here wanting to eat! I have goldfish and a bag of assorted chocolate in my drawer and it's taking a lot of will power not to get into those. Why I do that to myself by bringing those here, I'm not sure. Haha!

Speaking of food...Michael signed up for a KU healthy weight loss challenge. It starts today (Wednesday) and lasts for 10 weeks. It cost us $25 for him to enter and the person who loses the largest percentage of weight wins the pot of money. I'm so excited for him...he does really well when motivated so this could be the perfect kick to jumpstart a healthier routine. He's going to start walking to and from his lab (we live a little over a mile away but I've been driving him most of the time this summer since it was so dang hot), and going to the KU gym a couple times a week after he's done with school. The biggest challenge will be food. He's a great cook and I know we can both adapt our preferences, but I confess...I love to eat out. So maybe we'll save some money in the process too!

So yeah...I guess that's the biggest news that's coming up, family related. The past month has been a whirlwind of training for the hospital job, working, working, working, and some more working. A ton of people have asked me how it's going with working overnights. So far it's been manageable. On Thursdays and Fridays when I get off at 7 am, my routine is normally to go to the hospital cafeteria and pick up something small for breakfast (usually fruit and a biscuit), swing by Lyndsay's condo and chill with her while she gets ready for work (she lives literally a minute from the hospital), then leave around 8 to go to the gym. Work out for half an hour, come home, quick jump in the shower, check email/facebook/any work related things for internet marketing job or EastLake, then sleep by 9:30 ish. I try to get up around 3-4 so I have time to get work things done before the close of their business days if necessary. I try not to leave too much housework on Thurs and Fri because frankly...I don't feel like doing it. I'll visit with Michael, eat dinner, watch tv with him or a movie, and try to get in a quick nap around 8pm so I'm refreshed and ready to go again by 10:30.

Not going to lie, it's tiring juggling 3 jobs. I thought it would be a little easier since they are all part time. I do feel pulled sometimes in different directions. But 2 out of 3 don't have set hours and are work from home, so that's a huuuuuge plus and honestly, the only reason I'm able to do it. And clearly, since I'm typing this at 4 am while at the hospital job, the downtime I have affords me the opportunity to do some work for the other 2 here, if I need to.

I think this weekend is going to be a rest and recharge weekend before fall gets crazy, for sure. I have been stretching myself pretty thin with a lot of events, working, etc. A lot of it has been really fun (birthday party for a friend's 2 year old, pampered chef party, going out for a drink with Lyndsay, a trip to downtown OP) but I was thinking about it the other day... I think I need a day to be lazy at home and not do anything. So I think that is going to be this Saturday, minus an hour where I very well may kill myself trying to do Body Pump. Oh Lord, help me.