Monday Monday

So Shana and I are in the same boat - we have lost the blogging fever. It's kinda sad, actually. I thoroughly enjoy reading other blogs, but seem to find no time to update my own. Well, here's a list to get me going:

• I have had a very rude yet needed awakening over the past couple weeks. Let's just say I was punked by my supervisor at work, and it has filtered into the rest of my life. I'm trying to rid myself of the negativity that I am so prone to feeling, and although it's tough, I know it's a process, so I'm going to keep moving forward.
• I haven't said it in a minute, so I'll say it now - I LOVE our church. Each person has their own place there, and even when you feel disconnected (which I have here lately), it only takes one service or one meeting or one dinner to make everything better. I wish I could hang out with everyone all week long...ah, if we only lived closer.
• Luke has been preaching on a sermon series about personal spiritual formation over the past couple weeks. The sermon yesterday spoke about how we are and should be conforming to the image of Christ, and not the images we have contrived for ourselves, but the true, biblical image of the Son of God. It was really powerful. It's yet another reminder that I am and will never acheive perfect in this life, so I have to stop expecting it of myself.
• God has really been convicting me of my speech lately. I understand the legalism behind all of it, and I think I've steered far enough to the other extreme. It's time to start catching those bad words before they come out of my mouth. Our women's group meeting last night really hit this home for me - we were discussing the attribute of being virtuous (from the Proverbs 31 woman), and I realized that my speech is no where near that. I know that even this is a process, but it's been a sucker punch to the face everytime I think about.
• I had a very ironicly (sp?) cool Jesus moment last week. In response to all of the stuff going on at work, I decided that posting some positive things around my cubicle would be a good start. Shana had reminded me of a verse about not complaining, and I decided to look it up and put it on my computer screen so I would see it every day. When Bible Gateway pulled up the reference, I about fell out of my seat. The reference is Philippians 2:14-16, which just so happens to be tattooed on my left ankle. I, of course, remember the portion about shining like stars, but have since forgotten the beginning of the passage. I laughed out loud at God's sense of irony and humor. Talk about your visual reminders.
• My excitement about the coming weekend waned today because there are supposed to be thunderstorms covering Destin, FL the whole time we're staying there. As much as I hate the beach part of the beach (the sand especially), it's still going to be very sad if it ends up raining the whole time. :( Hopefully it will be a good bonding experience for Paul's family, and I know there will be some good food and shopping involved, so it may turn out ok. AND I bought a couple bathing suit pieces that actually fit well. Thank you, Target!
• My excitement for the next weekend, however, has only grown since we bought our tickets to see Ben Folds play live with the Nashville Symphony. We're staying overnight and took that Monday off. I'm super pumped about this event, but even more because I will have three 4-day weeks in a row. YAY!
• Can you believe September is upon us? I think it's crazy that this year is flying by so quickly. Paul and I will be married 3 years on September 24th (hence the trip to Nashville), and although I'm excited about it, it feels like the time has flown...like we should be married longer than 3 years already. Sigh.
• I think I'm seriously going to start school in either January or next August. More to come on that front...
• And a new tattoo is inevitable before the end of the year. Boo-yah.

Hope all is well in the rest of the blogging world...drop a comment and say hi!

*Sigh*

(Eh...just because I like the stars, or asterisks, as they may be...love you Meg!)

I feel like a loser because I don't blog anywhere near as much as I should - it's at least minimally theraputic for me. I'm just lazy. This week (well, since my last post) has been super hectic, including almost 8 hours of overtime at work. I know what you're thinking...what the heck are you doing working OT at a job you already hate? Well, let's put it this way - we have a beach trip and a trip to Nashville coming up, both in September, and the extra money will come right at that moment. It's out of necessity, I keep telling myself. And it hasn't been anywhere near as bad as it could have been - I was in our card room 90% of the time, so I didn't have to be near (specific) coworkers, nor did I have to be on the phones dealing with stupid customers. And we got everything accomplished - I needed to feel like I accomplished something this week. I'm working tomorrow too, but it won't be as bad as normal - I can wear regular clothes, we're not on the phones, we can play music, etc. I just keep thinking about the extra money...

Speaking of the beach, I ordered some bathing suit stuff yesterday from Target. They're different tankini-ish pieces (and a cover-up dress thing), but because Target's sizes are weird, I had to order a couple different kinds. I hate bathing suits with an ungodly passion, but the one I have currently has a ripped lining, and is ridiculously faded (probably because it's over 2 years old. HA.) I'm attempting to be ok with myself and how I look in a bathing suit before August 30th...lol...we'll see what happens.

I really can't believe it's August 8th already. I don't really remember July at all, and you can forget asking me about June. Everything is seemingly good right now...I'm trying to not expect the inevitable, but it's hard for me. Paul is preaching this weekend at Dega, so we won't be at SHC this Sunday...I'm kinda sad about it. :( Also, we're speaking at the C&MA District Youth Retreat in October. Once again, we'll see what happens.

I'm at the point where I'm revising my to-do list each week...does that make me OCD? Probably. And what sucks is that I have the same few things on there every week - they're not super important, but need to be done. And we need two computers at home - with Paul now being in leadership at church and about to start school again for the fall, and with me being the "communications-something-or-other" for church and trying to create, start and maintain a budget for home, this one laptop thing is killer. I think we're going to look into a desktop...

There's so much I could write about right now, but I'm just trying to make it through the next 40 minutes, so I'm going to sign off. Love to all!