Today would have been my first day of school with students had I found a teaching job here in Chicago. Since this morning I have fought back tears thinking of last year, my first year teaching. I keep pushing these thoughts aside hoping they will go away but they keep surfacing, so I figured I needed to write it out and get it all out there so I can move on.
It all started when I was cleaning out my voice mailbox this morning. I still have the voice mail where Principal Cindy Thomas offered me the job. It is the happiest, most joyful, encouraging message I've ever received and I plan on keeping it as long as I can.
I look back on this time last year, working at my apartment complex with a hostile boss wondering why God didn't give me a teaching job. I was so frustrated and down on myself, and it really didn't help that I hated going to work every day. I never really published this, but I was let go from that job in mid October. Thankfully, I had a job interview that day at a middle school for a PBI Assistant position (the interview was before I was let go, thank goodness). I didn't really want to work with middle schoolers, they were always 'weird' to me and I felt like I couldn't relate to them, but I wanted to get my foot in the educational world. I think the interview was a Wednesday or Thursday and I was offered the job Saturday and started that Monday.
I loved that job! I ended up absolutely loving my students. I was around 6th, 7th, and 8th graders but mostly worked with 6th and 8th. I came home smiling every day, even though the days were challenging, it was extremely rewarding.
I was still checking the websites for teaching positions, mostly hoping to score some interview practice for the next year. I got an interview for a 1st grade position at a different Nampa school and did very well. They ended up giving the job to someone that student taught there but the principal gave me many compliments and said to use him as a reference for any other interviews.
Well, I used him alright! I saw the posting for a part time kindergarten teacher at Central and although I didn't want to work part time, again I figured it was practice interviewing and/or a foot in the door! I sent Cindy an email on a Friday introducing myself and name-dropped. I got a phone call that afternoon from Cindy asking me to come in to interview!! She said they already interviewed 3 people (Nampa schools are required to interview at least 3 people) but she was willing to wait until Monday to interview me because of my recommendation from the other principal.
Monday came, I interviewed, and although I didn't feel like the interview was great, I had a feeling I got the job. The next day I went with my parents and grandma to a winery and on the way home my amazing voice mail came through. I immediately started crying and called Phil at work to tell him the great news. I had about a week and a half (half a week of which was holiday) to prepare before I had students.
Fast forward a little bit...the staff at Central was SO welcoming, many people went out of their way to introduce themselves, offer help, and made me feel at home. My first day with students came and went quickly and I knew I was where I was supposed to be. For the most part the staff wanted to be there and made work fun. I was remembering my first Friday at the school the secretary played the annoying yet catchy "Friday" song over the intercom and it put me (and I hope everyone else) in a great mood. Now every time I hear that song I think of that day.
I could go on and on and on about the amazing people I worked with, how encouraging Cindy was, and how I miss my little kiddos that are 1st graders now. But, I'm going to stop because I'm crying again and it hurts just a little too much right now.
Thank you to everyone at Central, my students, their parents, my husband, family, and my God for the fantastic time I was able to spend as a Central Elementary School Teacher.
Tuesday, September 4, 2012
Thursday, August 23, 2012
Chapter 7: Chicago
If I had to summarize my life into chapters, I would have just begun the 7th chapter. I sat down and actually wrote down the chapters and their titles to try to see where my life shifted and what event/age/location created that life shift. It's interesting-though it makes sense-that the last 4 chapters have been in the last 4 years of my life.
Life is constantly shifting in your 20s. Think about it, before your 20 you're in high school and your life is all about friends and activities and who has the coolest new outfit from the mall or whose boyfriend has the best car. Around 18 another chapter opens when you graduate, either you go off to college or you start working, if you do neither of those and you sit at home, we'll have a 'let's do something with yourself' discussion. From here on out, life can go in so many directions. My life opened a new chapter called Marriage, and while that chapter is still open and will remain that way to the end of this life, it inter-weaves with other chapters.
Anyway-I think you catch my drift...
Life changes. A lot. Quickly. Many times without your permission.
Chapter 7: Chicago
Disclaimer-My dear friends, this will be long and extremely detailed, read at your own risk.
Chapter 7 doesn't start in Chicago, it doesn't even start when we drove out of Idaho. It started back in March 2011, but I have a previous blog on everything that led up to us choosing Moody, you can find that on your own, you're a big kid ;)
This move had been long coming. WAY TOO LONG COMING! With over a year to think, pray, consider possibilities, and dream, I made it way more difficult than it needed to be. Needless to say, roller coaster is a great metaphor for how I felt the past few months. Everyone kept asking, "Are you excited?!" and at first I put on a brave face and said yes, but after a while I got real and said, "Well, I was about a year ago, now I'm just ready to do it already!" This response was not well received.
Side note: It's quite funny when you are going through a major life change, because people will always ask, "Are you excited?" It works for marriage, baby, moving, school, basically all things that are in their very nature, exciting! Many times I would want to say, "OF COURSE I'M EXCITED, I'M GETTING MARRIED, WERE YOU NOT EXCITED?!" But, I would respectfully say, "Yes! Here are some of my wedding details that I know you want information on..."
Back to my story, let's start in...July! This month was great. I started packing, which I really enjoy. I got to sort through everything, throw stuff away, decide where to put it, ahhh I love organizing! :) We started saying our good-byes, first to The River Church, then to Phil's Albertsons friends, and then to our close friends. It still hadn't really hit us (at least me) that we were leaving, so these good-byes went over very well. There was no crying, heart-break, or anything of the matter because we were still about a month out from actually leaving!
The end of July we drove down to La Quinta, California with my aunt, uncle, grandma, cousin, and the boyfriend. Thankfully, we actually got a vacation and had a great time with everyone. We celebrated my birthday in awesome fashion and hung out into the wee morning hours every day. We really got to know my aunt and uncle and really enjoyed spending time with them. Then, it was time to work. And by work I don't mean 9:00-5:00 M-F. I mean Monday 9:00AM-Sunday 5:00PM, pretty much non-stop. This allowed me to not dwell on us moving, it didn't even allow me to think of it because I was so busy-such a blessing! After the pageant, we spent time with my parents and Amy, Spencer, Talon, and Wade. Love my little nephews!
We flew back to Boise, finished packing and spent 2 nights in our packed up apartment. We were able to hang out with Phil's parents during that time which is always fun! Then we stayed with our amazing friends, Chris and Bethany, and their little curly headed kid, Valerie. We always have such a great time with them and were so thankful for their hospitality and allowing us to stay with them!
We packed up our moving truck on Saturday, said our teary-eyed good-byes early Sunday and drove off away from our loved ones. While the drive was uneventful and led me to count train cars, it was not boring. Phil and I have this "old couple" ability to sit together and not have the need to always talk because we enjoy each other's company so much. We did talk though, it was a 14 and a half hour day! We drove through Idaho, Utah, Wyoming, Nebraska, Iowa, and finally, on day 4, Illinois.
Driving into the city was SCARY! Phil drove a 16ft. Penske truck towing our car in morning rush hour into downtown Chicago. We safely made it to campus and got all checked in with IDs (my picture is hideous) and fobs to get into the buildings. We finally got to see our apartment, and if you follow me on Facebook you've seen the pictures of our AMAZING view! We get to look at Trump Tower and Sears Tower-now you might be thinking, I thought it's called the Willis Tower now. Yes, you are correct, but if you're in Chicago you better call it Sears Tower! We got everything moved into our apartment and finishing setting up house the next day.
The following week was spent exploring the city, eating, walking, eating, walking, and some interviewing. Phil is the new night shift custodial supervisor for Moody, a great job right on campus with weekends off! I am interviewing for nanny positions and have applied to a couple of other businesses around home. I've had no luck with teaching. I still apply to jobs online but have pretty much accepted the fact I won't be teaching, at least not this year.
Phil started orientation yesterday and is currently napping on the sofa. We would appreciate prayer for him as he jumps back into school, something he hasn't done for 6 years, that he would create healthy study habits and find his groove back into this thing called school. I would love to have a job ASAP, so you can include that in your prayers as well. Today has been my first struggle, it's weird being the supportive wife with nothing to do. I know I'm here to support Phil, but I do need an income and something to do to interact with people at some point, soon.
We love it here. It's been a wonderful week filled with new experiences. We are looking forward to meeting people and creating relationships that will last a long time. Please, if you get the chance to come to Chicago-DO IT! We would love to have you stay with us, (1 bedroom apartment so we have a couch and a floor to offer) and would love to show you around this spectacular city.
Chapter 7, to be continued....
Life is constantly shifting in your 20s. Think about it, before your 20 you're in high school and your life is all about friends and activities and who has the coolest new outfit from the mall or whose boyfriend has the best car. Around 18 another chapter opens when you graduate, either you go off to college or you start working, if you do neither of those and you sit at home, we'll have a 'let's do something with yourself' discussion. From here on out, life can go in so many directions. My life opened a new chapter called Marriage, and while that chapter is still open and will remain that way to the end of this life, it inter-weaves with other chapters.
Anyway-I think you catch my drift...
Life changes. A lot. Quickly. Many times without your permission.
Chapter 7: Chicago
Disclaimer-My dear friends, this will be long and extremely detailed, read at your own risk.
Chapter 7 doesn't start in Chicago, it doesn't even start when we drove out of Idaho. It started back in March 2011, but I have a previous blog on everything that led up to us choosing Moody, you can find that on your own, you're a big kid ;)
This move had been long coming. WAY TOO LONG COMING! With over a year to think, pray, consider possibilities, and dream, I made it way more difficult than it needed to be. Needless to say, roller coaster is a great metaphor for how I felt the past few months. Everyone kept asking, "Are you excited?!" and at first I put on a brave face and said yes, but after a while I got real and said, "Well, I was about a year ago, now I'm just ready to do it already!" This response was not well received.
Side note: It's quite funny when you are going through a major life change, because people will always ask, "Are you excited?" It works for marriage, baby, moving, school, basically all things that are in their very nature, exciting! Many times I would want to say, "OF COURSE I'M EXCITED, I'M GETTING MARRIED, WERE YOU NOT EXCITED?!" But, I would respectfully say, "Yes! Here are some of my wedding details that I know you want information on..."
Back to my story, let's start in...July! This month was great. I started packing, which I really enjoy. I got to sort through everything, throw stuff away, decide where to put it, ahhh I love organizing! :) We started saying our good-byes, first to The River Church, then to Phil's Albertsons friends, and then to our close friends. It still hadn't really hit us (at least me) that we were leaving, so these good-byes went over very well. There was no crying, heart-break, or anything of the matter because we were still about a month out from actually leaving!
The end of July we drove down to La Quinta, California with my aunt, uncle, grandma, cousin, and the boyfriend. Thankfully, we actually got a vacation and had a great time with everyone. We celebrated my birthday in awesome fashion and hung out into the wee morning hours every day. We really got to know my aunt and uncle and really enjoyed spending time with them. Then, it was time to work. And by work I don't mean 9:00-5:00 M-F. I mean Monday 9:00AM-Sunday 5:00PM, pretty much non-stop. This allowed me to not dwell on us moving, it didn't even allow me to think of it because I was so busy-such a blessing! After the pageant, we spent time with my parents and Amy, Spencer, Talon, and Wade. Love my little nephews!
We flew back to Boise, finished packing and spent 2 nights in our packed up apartment. We were able to hang out with Phil's parents during that time which is always fun! Then we stayed with our amazing friends, Chris and Bethany, and their little curly headed kid, Valerie. We always have such a great time with them and were so thankful for their hospitality and allowing us to stay with them!
We packed up our moving truck on Saturday, said our teary-eyed good-byes early Sunday and drove off away from our loved ones. While the drive was uneventful and led me to count train cars, it was not boring. Phil and I have this "old couple" ability to sit together and not have the need to always talk because we enjoy each other's company so much. We did talk though, it was a 14 and a half hour day! We drove through Idaho, Utah, Wyoming, Nebraska, Iowa, and finally, on day 4, Illinois.
Driving into the city was SCARY! Phil drove a 16ft. Penske truck towing our car in morning rush hour into downtown Chicago. We safely made it to campus and got all checked in with IDs (my picture is hideous) and fobs to get into the buildings. We finally got to see our apartment, and if you follow me on Facebook you've seen the pictures of our AMAZING view! We get to look at Trump Tower and Sears Tower-now you might be thinking, I thought it's called the Willis Tower now. Yes, you are correct, but if you're in Chicago you better call it Sears Tower! We got everything moved into our apartment and finishing setting up house the next day.
The following week was spent exploring the city, eating, walking, eating, walking, and some interviewing. Phil is the new night shift custodial supervisor for Moody, a great job right on campus with weekends off! I am interviewing for nanny positions and have applied to a couple of other businesses around home. I've had no luck with teaching. I still apply to jobs online but have pretty much accepted the fact I won't be teaching, at least not this year.
Phil started orientation yesterday and is currently napping on the sofa. We would appreciate prayer for him as he jumps back into school, something he hasn't done for 6 years, that he would create healthy study habits and find his groove back into this thing called school. I would love to have a job ASAP, so you can include that in your prayers as well. Today has been my first struggle, it's weird being the supportive wife with nothing to do. I know I'm here to support Phil, but I do need an income and something to do to interact with people at some point, soon.
We love it here. It's been a wonderful week filled with new experiences. We are looking forward to meeting people and creating relationships that will last a long time. Please, if you get the chance to come to Chicago-DO IT! We would love to have you stay with us, (1 bedroom apartment so we have a couch and a floor to offer) and would love to show you around this spectacular city.
Chapter 7, to be continued....
Tuesday, June 26, 2012
Too Much Grey's Anatomy
I really enjoy Grey's Anatomy. I agree with most people that the earlier seasons were WAY better than the newer seasons (and I'm totally bummed Lexie died) but I still watch it to see what mayhem they come up with! However, watching that show has given me some nervous thoughts about surgery...too many people go in "healthy" and end up dead on the table...
Last night I woke up a few times with a bad pain in my side. I thought maybe it was just upset stomach so I decided to just go back to sleep. I woke up with this pain and decided to take it easy this morning and go into work later. After getting up and really feeling the pain, I went to the internet and typed in lower abdomen pain. I had a feeling it was my appendix, but wanted to see what other options there were. As mentioned in the above paragraph, I love watching Grey's but it has made me very scared to ever have surgery-what if I'm the one that doesn't wake up?! It turned out that the only other symptom of appendicitis I had was a swollen abdomen-it looked like I had gained 5-10 pounds over night!
I called my mom and talked to her, confirming a ride to the hospital if necessary since Phil was at work. She told me to call my doctor and talk to one of her nurses. So I called and left a voice mail. After 2 hours of waiting, my mom came to pick me up and I called the doctor again. I said, "I left a voice mail about 2 hrs ago, and haven't heard anything. I think I am having issues with my appendix, is there anyone that I can talk to now?" The operator said, "Oh yes! One moment!" And a triage nurse was on the phone instantly. I told her about my symptoms and she told me to come in.
As I was getting into the car with my mom I called Phil to let him know what was going on-up to this point he had no clue anything was wrong. I didn't want him to worry if the nurse didn't think I needed to go into the Emergency Room. Of course, he wasn't happy I didn't fill him in sooner and left work to come with us.
The doctor agreed that it was probably appendicitis, but could also be ovarian cysts. He wanted to rule out appendix first, so they took some blood and I had a CAT scan. They gave me a contrast through my IV to help make the pictures turn out better. The contrast gives you this really crazy warm feeling, it starts up by your head and neck and travels down your stomach to your...private areas. It was the weirdest feeling-and once it reached down south, it felt like I was peeing. I told the lady I was pretty sure I was going to the bathroom but she laughed and told me I wasn't. Thankfully, she warned me beforehand that the contrast would make me feel that way, so I knew to expect it.
About 30 minutes after the scan, they came in to tell me my appendix is great and all my reproductive parts look good too! Whew! However, my lymph nodes were swollen and that is what was causing the pain. I guess this issue is really common in kids and teenagers, so my body must feel young =] He said there is nothing specific that brings this on, nothing but time and rest to heal it, and nothing will come of it in the future! What a relief!
I ended up feeling kind of silly for going to the E.R. for something that insignificant, but the doctor reassured me that he thought it was my appendix too and I was right to come to the hospital to get it checked out.
I spent the rest of the day on a liquid diet in bed watching The Hills. I'm feeling better, still have some pain, but not nearly as bad as this morning! I'm looking forward to feeling better 100%!
Last night I woke up a few times with a bad pain in my side. I thought maybe it was just upset stomach so I decided to just go back to sleep. I woke up with this pain and decided to take it easy this morning and go into work later. After getting up and really feeling the pain, I went to the internet and typed in lower abdomen pain. I had a feeling it was my appendix, but wanted to see what other options there were. As mentioned in the above paragraph, I love watching Grey's but it has made me very scared to ever have surgery-what if I'm the one that doesn't wake up?! It turned out that the only other symptom of appendicitis I had was a swollen abdomen-it looked like I had gained 5-10 pounds over night!
I called my mom and talked to her, confirming a ride to the hospital if necessary since Phil was at work. She told me to call my doctor and talk to one of her nurses. So I called and left a voice mail. After 2 hours of waiting, my mom came to pick me up and I called the doctor again. I said, "I left a voice mail about 2 hrs ago, and haven't heard anything. I think I am having issues with my appendix, is there anyone that I can talk to now?" The operator said, "Oh yes! One moment!" And a triage nurse was on the phone instantly. I told her about my symptoms and she told me to come in.
As I was getting into the car with my mom I called Phil to let him know what was going on-up to this point he had no clue anything was wrong. I didn't want him to worry if the nurse didn't think I needed to go into the Emergency Room. Of course, he wasn't happy I didn't fill him in sooner and left work to come with us.
The doctor agreed that it was probably appendicitis, but could also be ovarian cysts. He wanted to rule out appendix first, so they took some blood and I had a CAT scan. They gave me a contrast through my IV to help make the pictures turn out better. The contrast gives you this really crazy warm feeling, it starts up by your head and neck and travels down your stomach to your...private areas. It was the weirdest feeling-and once it reached down south, it felt like I was peeing. I told the lady I was pretty sure I was going to the bathroom but she laughed and told me I wasn't. Thankfully, she warned me beforehand that the contrast would make me feel that way, so I knew to expect it.
About 30 minutes after the scan, they came in to tell me my appendix is great and all my reproductive parts look good too! Whew! However, my lymph nodes were swollen and that is what was causing the pain. I guess this issue is really common in kids and teenagers, so my body must feel young =] He said there is nothing specific that brings this on, nothing but time and rest to heal it, and nothing will come of it in the future! What a relief!
I ended up feeling kind of silly for going to the E.R. for something that insignificant, but the doctor reassured me that he thought it was my appendix too and I was right to come to the hospital to get it checked out.
I spent the rest of the day on a liquid diet in bed watching The Hills. I'm feeling better, still have some pain, but not nearly as bad as this morning! I'm looking forward to feeling better 100%!
Recap
It's been quite some time since posting, so allow me to fill you in with the latest happenings in the lives of Phil and Emily...
Phil is no longer on staff at The River Church as of June 1. We still attend and will continue to attend and serve until our final Sunday on July 15. We hear there will be a BBQ after church that Sunday in our honor so be sure to be there!
I finished up my first year of teaching and really struggled with some strong emotions that I wasn't expecting. The end of the year came up so quickly, it truly caught me by surprise how fast everything happened. On our last day of school we had Kindergarten graduation. All the students were in little white caps and gowns, and my students had bright colored leis. They sang a few songs and just melted my heart! I had a few parents come up to me afterwards to take pictures with me and tell me their child enjoyed my class and thanked me for being their teacher-such an honor! The few things that led my emotional days:
-turning in my letter of resignation
-looking at pictures the day after graduation
-cleaning out my room while candidates were interviewing for my job
-realizing I left my job without having another one to fall into
June has been a great month! Phil preached the first Sunday and we took off to Vegas after church. We got to meet our new nephew, Wade Kingston, and had a TON of fun with Amy, Spencer, and Talon. I struggled a bit with wanting to move back, Vegas still feels like home, whereas Boise/Meridian/Eagle has not felt like home yet. I took Phil by EVERYWHERE I could think of including all my schools, places I visited often, restaurants, you name it-we at least drove by with me pointing out the window telling a story! Phil was a great listener and seemed to enjoy my stories. :)
In the middle of our vacation, we drove out to California. We visited with one of my best friends, Hayley, and got to meet her wonderful boyfriend! It was such a blast spending time together just talking, it felt like our old UNLV days. After a great day with Hayley, we spent a full day at Six Flags. We LOVE roller coasters!! Unfortunately, we rode a very wet water ride early in the day, add that with tons of walking, and thighs that rub together and you get a very uncomfortable evening...We drove to Anaheim that night and stayed in our hotel in preparation for Disneyland! We thought we were going to be murdered that night when we were woken up at 1:30 AM to drilling right by our room, but luckily we survived! The next day we opened up Disneyland-we rode 8 rides within the first 2 hours (all the major rides that take FOREVER, it was awesome!) We watched Fantasmic, which is fantastIC, and met some super nice people-a pastor and his wife from Sacramento and a family from Reno. The next day we went to California Adventure and opened that park up too! We had a lot of fun and did more relaxing that day since there is less to do in that park. We got FastPasses for World of Color and met some Kiwis (people from New Zealand) before the show. That show is probably one of the best things I've ever seen! So amazing!
We headed back to Vegas in time for me to have a phone interview with a school in Chicago. I was pretty sure I nailed the interview-and low and behold I had an email an hour later asking me to come out to Chicago to interview in person! After thinking about it and talking through it, we decided I needed to take this opportunity, so we booked some flights and a dorm room at Moody (where Phil will be attending school this Fall) for me to stay.
We drove back home and I was in town for a little over 24 hours before heading out to Chicago. Unfortunately, Phil couldn't come with me since it was so last minute so I traveled by myself. The traveling part I don't mind-however the sitting in a small, hot dorm room with nothing in it by myself was not good. I cried. I missed my husband and wanted to be home. It was a very rough evening alone in Chicago. My interview was the next day-ALL day and then I went straight to the airport to come home.
The next few days were EMOTIONAL! This move is finally sinking in. After talking about moving for over a year, and knowing we were moving (but not where) for 10 months, and knowing we were moving to Chicago for 6 months, you'd think I have had enough time to sort out my feelings right?! WRONG-too much time is just as bad as not having enough time. Phil has been such a trooper dealing with my crazy emotions.
I'm waiting to hear back from the school I interviewed with-no answers yet. The public school district and the smaller suburb districts I've applied to have just begun their hiring process, so I am hoping to be able to interview for some of those positions soon as well. I have been praying that I would have a job by the end of June-it doesn't look like that will happen, but I know God will provide for Phil and I. He'll make sure we are taken care of!
Phil is no longer on staff at The River Church as of June 1. We still attend and will continue to attend and serve until our final Sunday on July 15. We hear there will be a BBQ after church that Sunday in our honor so be sure to be there!
I finished up my first year of teaching and really struggled with some strong emotions that I wasn't expecting. The end of the year came up so quickly, it truly caught me by surprise how fast everything happened. On our last day of school we had Kindergarten graduation. All the students were in little white caps and gowns, and my students had bright colored leis. They sang a few songs and just melted my heart! I had a few parents come up to me afterwards to take pictures with me and tell me their child enjoyed my class and thanked me for being their teacher-such an honor! The few things that led my emotional days:
-turning in my letter of resignation
-looking at pictures the day after graduation
-cleaning out my room while candidates were interviewing for my job
-realizing I left my job without having another one to fall into
June has been a great month! Phil preached the first Sunday and we took off to Vegas after church. We got to meet our new nephew, Wade Kingston, and had a TON of fun with Amy, Spencer, and Talon. I struggled a bit with wanting to move back, Vegas still feels like home, whereas Boise/Meridian/Eagle has not felt like home yet. I took Phil by EVERYWHERE I could think of including all my schools, places I visited often, restaurants, you name it-we at least drove by with me pointing out the window telling a story! Phil was a great listener and seemed to enjoy my stories. :)
In the middle of our vacation, we drove out to California. We visited with one of my best friends, Hayley, and got to meet her wonderful boyfriend! It was such a blast spending time together just talking, it felt like our old UNLV days. After a great day with Hayley, we spent a full day at Six Flags. We LOVE roller coasters!! Unfortunately, we rode a very wet water ride early in the day, add that with tons of walking, and thighs that rub together and you get a very uncomfortable evening...We drove to Anaheim that night and stayed in our hotel in preparation for Disneyland! We thought we were going to be murdered that night when we were woken up at 1:30 AM to drilling right by our room, but luckily we survived! The next day we opened up Disneyland-we rode 8 rides within the first 2 hours (all the major rides that take FOREVER, it was awesome!) We watched Fantasmic, which is fantastIC, and met some super nice people-a pastor and his wife from Sacramento and a family from Reno. The next day we went to California Adventure and opened that park up too! We had a lot of fun and did more relaxing that day since there is less to do in that park. We got FastPasses for World of Color and met some Kiwis (people from New Zealand) before the show. That show is probably one of the best things I've ever seen! So amazing!
We headed back to Vegas in time for me to have a phone interview with a school in Chicago. I was pretty sure I nailed the interview-and low and behold I had an email an hour later asking me to come out to Chicago to interview in person! After thinking about it and talking through it, we decided I needed to take this opportunity, so we booked some flights and a dorm room at Moody (where Phil will be attending school this Fall) for me to stay.
We drove back home and I was in town for a little over 24 hours before heading out to Chicago. Unfortunately, Phil couldn't come with me since it was so last minute so I traveled by myself. The traveling part I don't mind-however the sitting in a small, hot dorm room with nothing in it by myself was not good. I cried. I missed my husband and wanted to be home. It was a very rough evening alone in Chicago. My interview was the next day-ALL day and then I went straight to the airport to come home.
The next few days were EMOTIONAL! This move is finally sinking in. After talking about moving for over a year, and knowing we were moving (but not where) for 10 months, and knowing we were moving to Chicago for 6 months, you'd think I have had enough time to sort out my feelings right?! WRONG-too much time is just as bad as not having enough time. Phil has been such a trooper dealing with my crazy emotions.
I'm waiting to hear back from the school I interviewed with-no answers yet. The public school district and the smaller suburb districts I've applied to have just begun their hiring process, so I am hoping to be able to interview for some of those positions soon as well. I have been praying that I would have a job by the end of June-it doesn't look like that will happen, but I know God will provide for Phil and I. He'll make sure we are taken care of!
Sunday, May 13, 2012
91
That's how many days are left until Phil and I move to Chicago.
...
...
I don't mind leaving Meridian.
I don't mind leaving my job [though I will miss my kiddos]
I am so excited to live in a new city with so much to offer.
I can't wait to learn more about Phil and myself as we live 1800 miles away from our families.
I am ready to learn more about my God and His will for our lives.
Why am I feeling nervous. anxious. scared. confused. lonely?
The gravity of this life changing decision is finally hitting both Phil and I. I think we were both keeping a strong front for the other, and our real feelings didn't break through until watching one of our favorite shows, The Office. It was Michael's last episode where he is saying goodbye to everyone. It is a silly, sort of sad episode the whole time except for the end. The exchange between Jim and Michael shows a true friendship and how much it hurt both of them that they would not be seeing each other every day anymore. Pam and Michael's scene really hit me hard seeing how much they cared about each other. Throughout those 2 scenes I was holding my tears in, sneaking peeks at Phil to see if he was crying. He was just as close to crying as I was and finally I lost it and laid there hugging Phil. Since then, I have had a few moments where I have come close to losing it again, but have held it in.
I decided I needed to journal my feelings and fears so I can remember what to thank God for after He gets me through each trial stronger and closer to Him.
Here are my fears/hold ups:
-Not being as financially prepared as we had hoped for
-Not knowing where I will be working and as the primary provider while Phil is in school this makes me very nervous
-Leaving our families [1800 miles is far]
-Not being around for family events [birthdays, weddings, vacations, life]
-Leaving amazing friends
-Wondering if we will be able to save money for after school
-Not knowing what to expect...in every area
-And after finishing school; finding a job for Phil, buying a car, finding a new home, and starting a family all in the same year or 2
Here is what I am excited for:
-A new adventure
-A true urban lifestyle
-Being independent
-Making new friends
-Finding a new church family to call home
-Serving in our new church together as a couple and feeling out possible ministry opportunities for our future
-Preparing for the rest of our lives
-Being closer and closer to starting our family
-Having a better idea of where we will serve after school (what type of ministry and where geographically)
I know this is not a coherent list or explanation of what is going on inside my head. I don't think I can make a coherent list; my mind is constantly going and going, from one topic to another, trying to plan one thing and jumping in to plan another.
Yes, I am happy about our change.
Yes, I am excited to move to Chicago.
Yes, I am nervous and anxious at the same time.
Yes, I am counting down the days.
Yes, I will miss you.
Yes, we will try our hardest to come back to visit.
Yes, I am ready, but not completely.
Sunday, February 12, 2012
Chicago
The rumors are true, Phil and I are moving to Chicago! Allow me to fill you in with what's been going on with us the past 11 months....
March(ish): Just like I told Phil he would marry me, just like how I told Phil to start a band, I told him he was supposed to be a pastor. I don't know why God decides to use me to tell Phil what He wants him to do, but He continues to use me as a vessel through which to speak to Phil about his future. This was an EXTREMELY hard idea to swallow. If you don't know already, I am a pastor's kid, always have been. Growing up I said I would NEVER EVER marry anyone going into ministry. Being a pastor's kid was not an enjoyable experience for me and left me with a sour view of ministry and the way it works. So for me to feel that my husband was to be a pastor, I knew it was truly from God.
I told Phil a year or so before this revelation that he needed to go to school. He needed a college education, whether it was to be a worship leader, or a videographer. So, once we prayed together and decided Phil really was supposed to be a pastor, I began searching for schools.
I LOVE planning; whether it's planning finances, vacations, grocery lists, or simply our future, I LOVE IT! So, searching for schools was a ton of fun for me. We knew the local schools were not an option due to not being accredited, too expensive, or disagreeing with theology. I asked Phil where he would like to live so I could search schools in those areas. He told me that wasn't the right way to go about it, anywhere that had a great accredited school that held the same theology and wasn't too expensive was an option. Of course, I searched by location to find those schools. :) I searched California (way too expensive), Washington-Seattle area (not many accredited schools, if any), Las Vegas (only 1 school and it's a secondary campus for a large school), and back east (North and South Carolina, Tennessee-but Phil absolutely did not want to move over there).
Finally, we settled on Moody Bible Institute. It was actually one of the first, if not the first, schools we looked at. It sounded amazing; tuition-free, it's in downtown Chicago, holds the same beliefs we have, far from everyone...BUT I couldn't accept it. I wanted to move somewhere more like Vegas-warm, sunny, and full of people. So, I found a school in Kissimmee, Florida-nice and close to Orlando (we LOVE it there), good beliefs, and relatively inexpensive. I showed Phil both schools, laid out the pros and cons for each and heavily supported the school in Florida. Phil asked me to stop looking at schools, give him time to think and pray, and that he would make a decision.
Summer: I tried to not bring the school in Florida up, but of course it was the only thing I was "planning" at the time, so it was brought up often. Finally, one day Phil told me he was pretty sure he knew what school he was supposed to go to...I was SO excited, I was going to move to sunny Florida, enjoy the beach all summer long, be nice and tan, be able to visit Disney World and Universal Studios all the time...and he told me he felt God was calling him to Chicago...I was crushed. Yes, I cried. Yes, I pouted. Yes, I was a submissive wife and threw out all my information and paperwork for the school in Florida. BUT, I still wasn't convinced. I just knew I wouldn't be able to live in gray, freezing cold, ugly, stupid Chicago. I knew I would be miserable and depressed. So, I told Phil that we had to take a trip there to see if I could handle living there in that awful city. Finally, a vacation to plan for! Planning our trip helped me amp up for the actual trip and made me excited about Chicago. I researched different things to do, places, restaurants, living, and public transportation.
July: Phil got licensed for ministry and earned the title, "Pastor Phil". I call him Pastor Pill, because it's easier to say and much more fun. :)
September: My dad got sick, really sick. He was diagnosed with Sepsis and the only reason it was caught early enough was because he has a fake knee. When a person has a fake body part, infections generally attack that area first because it is foreign matter. His knee blew up in size, he had the shivers, high fever, and just looked awful. Thankfully, he went to the hospital and was immediately checked in. While he was sick, Phil had to preach for my dad. I believe he taught 4 Sundays in a row while my dad was in the hospital and then as he was healing at home. This was a rough time for me emotionally and physically and mentally for Phil. On the last Sunday that Phil was covering for my dad, my dad asked the church to bless us financially for our trip to Chicago for stepping in and doing such an amazing job preaching. Of course, this had everyone asking, "Why Chicago?" "What are you going to do in Chicago?" We weren't telling anyone other than family (and a few close friends) why we were going, so we had to partially fib and say, "We just wanted to see what the city is like" or "I hadn't been there in a long time and wanted to go back." Our wonderful church gave us enough money to cover our expenses while we were out of town, a huge blessing!
We got to Chicago on Monday afternoon, rode public transportation into the heart of the city and checked into our sketchy hotel. We got some food, took a nap (traveling takes a LOT out of you) and then got dinner. We didn't explore much that first day. The second day, we had a tour of the school scheduled. We walked over to the campus and had our tour with a school group from Norway. Phil loved talking to them and hearing about them and their culture. They told us about the horrific shootings that had recently happened and how it had affected their country. After viewing the campus, we walked down to the Magnificent Mile. The Magnificent Mile is a shopping district full of amazing stores and boutiques. Within the Magnificent Mile is the Water Tower Place Mall which had the American Girl store and a Lego store (both of us LOVED acting like kids there), there is the 900 Shops with wonderful stores like Bloomingdales, Diesel, and UGG. After window shopping, we went up to the John Hancock Observatory and listened to the audio tour telling us all about the city of Chicago while seeing it from 94 stories up! Later the night, we took the bus to the Navy Pier, and then headed back to the John Hancock for dinner at the Signature Room on the 95th floor. The dinner was amazing and we watched the beautiful city of Chicago as it disappeared from us as a cloud rolled around the building! Unfortunately, we had to go home the next day, but we had a blast and both absolutely fell in love with Chicago.
November: The application for early decision was due December 1. I asked Phil to have everything done by Thanksgiving to give extra time in case something went missing. He finished his app and it was officially in God's hands whether Phil got admitted to the school or not.
December: I started to get nervous. I had complete faith in Phil that he was more than good enough to get into the school, but for some reason felt we needed some back up plans. I told Phil about my feelings and he told me I could find some other schools in case Moody didn't work out. So, I went back to my school in Kissimmee, and found another school in Phoenix, Arizona. I was torn, because I would rather live in Florida, but the school in Arizona seemed better. Phil was leaning towards Arizona as well, and we were both so confused as to what we were supposed to do. We began the application process for the other schools but waited to complete everything until we got our answer from Moody.
January: Moody posted on their Facebook that the early decision letters would be going in the mail on the 17th. Enter super freak out mode. I could not sleep, when I did sleep it was awful, I was cranky, rude, and it was all due to an immense amount of stress I was holding. The week of the 17th came and some people that live closer to Chicago started posting on the Moody Facebook that they had been deferred to regular decision (April). This was when I REALLY started to freak out. I had been praying and praying and praying that God would give us a clear yes or no, I was pretty sure I couldn't handle not knowing where we would be moving to until April.
That weekend, Phil's band, Floors & Stories, played at a high school camp up in McCall. I decided to go up as well, but stay in a hotel and have a mini-getaway. The letter still hadn't come before we went up so we still didn't know if he was accepted, denied, or deferred. We were starting to wonder if ANYONE got accepted, until finally, a few people posted that they were accepted. This made us feel better, but still extremely nervous. We got home on Sunday, and low and behold, a letter from Moody Bible Institute was in our mailbox. We got inside, put everything down, and looked at each other. I was begging Phil to open the letter and I wanted to look at it with him, but he told me to sit down and let him read it to me. I sat on the sofa, and waited. He took a deep breath, and opened the envelope. He started reading, "Dear Philip, we are delighted to inform you that your application for Fall 2012 has been accepted...." and immediately I broke down sobbing. I jumped up, still sobbing, and hugged Phil tightly. We read the rest of the letter, and still sobbing told him how proud I was of him. Phil began making phone calls to our parents and siblings to tell them the good news and I sat with the letter in my hands, staring at it, and even left a tear stain on the bottom of it.
We were SO excited, we wanted to yell our news out to the world! But we couldn't. We had to wait until the right time. We had to tell our church before we could tell our friends and make it "Facebook official". Let me be honest, that SUCKED. It was all I wanted to talk about, but I couldn't talk about it with anyone but Phil and my parents. We set the date to tell our church family and waited.
Finally, the day came, Sunday, February 12, 2012. Phil gave an amazing sermon on the Prodigal Son, with a lesson that I never got from that parable before. He did a great job. Then, my dad got up on stage, and began preparing our church body to hear the news. Phil got on stage and asked me to come up with him. He told them, and finally, the word was out. After church, I was finally allowed to put it on Facebook and I did. :)
I am so proud of Phil for being courageous enough to take on the calling to be a pastor. For being willing and wanting to begin college at the age of 25. For being a supportive, loving, and compassionate husband to me. He is truly amazing and I know God has big plans for him and I. We look forward to finding out what those plans are, but in the mean time, our plans are to finish out the summer in Meridian, and then head out to the Midwest and to find our new home in the wonderful city of Chicago.
March(ish): Just like I told Phil he would marry me, just like how I told Phil to start a band, I told him he was supposed to be a pastor. I don't know why God decides to use me to tell Phil what He wants him to do, but He continues to use me as a vessel through which to speak to Phil about his future. This was an EXTREMELY hard idea to swallow. If you don't know already, I am a pastor's kid, always have been. Growing up I said I would NEVER EVER marry anyone going into ministry. Being a pastor's kid was not an enjoyable experience for me and left me with a sour view of ministry and the way it works. So for me to feel that my husband was to be a pastor, I knew it was truly from God.
I told Phil a year or so before this revelation that he needed to go to school. He needed a college education, whether it was to be a worship leader, or a videographer. So, once we prayed together and decided Phil really was supposed to be a pastor, I began searching for schools.
I LOVE planning; whether it's planning finances, vacations, grocery lists, or simply our future, I LOVE IT! So, searching for schools was a ton of fun for me. We knew the local schools were not an option due to not being accredited, too expensive, or disagreeing with theology. I asked Phil where he would like to live so I could search schools in those areas. He told me that wasn't the right way to go about it, anywhere that had a great accredited school that held the same theology and wasn't too expensive was an option. Of course, I searched by location to find those schools. :) I searched California (way too expensive), Washington-Seattle area (not many accredited schools, if any), Las Vegas (only 1 school and it's a secondary campus for a large school), and back east (North and South Carolina, Tennessee-but Phil absolutely did not want to move over there).
Finally, we settled on Moody Bible Institute. It was actually one of the first, if not the first, schools we looked at. It sounded amazing; tuition-free, it's in downtown Chicago, holds the same beliefs we have, far from everyone...BUT I couldn't accept it. I wanted to move somewhere more like Vegas-warm, sunny, and full of people. So, I found a school in Kissimmee, Florida-nice and close to Orlando (we LOVE it there), good beliefs, and relatively inexpensive. I showed Phil both schools, laid out the pros and cons for each and heavily supported the school in Florida. Phil asked me to stop looking at schools, give him time to think and pray, and that he would make a decision.
Summer: I tried to not bring the school in Florida up, but of course it was the only thing I was "planning" at the time, so it was brought up often. Finally, one day Phil told me he was pretty sure he knew what school he was supposed to go to...I was SO excited, I was going to move to sunny Florida, enjoy the beach all summer long, be nice and tan, be able to visit Disney World and Universal Studios all the time...and he told me he felt God was calling him to Chicago...I was crushed. Yes, I cried. Yes, I pouted. Yes, I was a submissive wife and threw out all my information and paperwork for the school in Florida. BUT, I still wasn't convinced. I just knew I wouldn't be able to live in gray, freezing cold, ugly, stupid Chicago. I knew I would be miserable and depressed. So, I told Phil that we had to take a trip there to see if I could handle living there in that awful city. Finally, a vacation to plan for! Planning our trip helped me amp up for the actual trip and made me excited about Chicago. I researched different things to do, places, restaurants, living, and public transportation.
July: Phil got licensed for ministry and earned the title, "Pastor Phil". I call him Pastor Pill, because it's easier to say and much more fun. :)
September: My dad got sick, really sick. He was diagnosed with Sepsis and the only reason it was caught early enough was because he has a fake knee. When a person has a fake body part, infections generally attack that area first because it is foreign matter. His knee blew up in size, he had the shivers, high fever, and just looked awful. Thankfully, he went to the hospital and was immediately checked in. While he was sick, Phil had to preach for my dad. I believe he taught 4 Sundays in a row while my dad was in the hospital and then as he was healing at home. This was a rough time for me emotionally and physically and mentally for Phil. On the last Sunday that Phil was covering for my dad, my dad asked the church to bless us financially for our trip to Chicago for stepping in and doing such an amazing job preaching. Of course, this had everyone asking, "Why Chicago?" "What are you going to do in Chicago?" We weren't telling anyone other than family (and a few close friends) why we were going, so we had to partially fib and say, "We just wanted to see what the city is like" or "I hadn't been there in a long time and wanted to go back." Our wonderful church gave us enough money to cover our expenses while we were out of town, a huge blessing!
We got to Chicago on Monday afternoon, rode public transportation into the heart of the city and checked into our sketchy hotel. We got some food, took a nap (traveling takes a LOT out of you) and then got dinner. We didn't explore much that first day. The second day, we had a tour of the school scheduled. We walked over to the campus and had our tour with a school group from Norway. Phil loved talking to them and hearing about them and their culture. They told us about the horrific shootings that had recently happened and how it had affected their country. After viewing the campus, we walked down to the Magnificent Mile. The Magnificent Mile is a shopping district full of amazing stores and boutiques. Within the Magnificent Mile is the Water Tower Place Mall which had the American Girl store and a Lego store (both of us LOVED acting like kids there), there is the 900 Shops with wonderful stores like Bloomingdales, Diesel, and UGG. After window shopping, we went up to the John Hancock Observatory and listened to the audio tour telling us all about the city of Chicago while seeing it from 94 stories up! Later the night, we took the bus to the Navy Pier, and then headed back to the John Hancock for dinner at the Signature Room on the 95th floor. The dinner was amazing and we watched the beautiful city of Chicago as it disappeared from us as a cloud rolled around the building! Unfortunately, we had to go home the next day, but we had a blast and both absolutely fell in love with Chicago.
November: The application for early decision was due December 1. I asked Phil to have everything done by Thanksgiving to give extra time in case something went missing. He finished his app and it was officially in God's hands whether Phil got admitted to the school or not.
December: I started to get nervous. I had complete faith in Phil that he was more than good enough to get into the school, but for some reason felt we needed some back up plans. I told Phil about my feelings and he told me I could find some other schools in case Moody didn't work out. So, I went back to my school in Kissimmee, and found another school in Phoenix, Arizona. I was torn, because I would rather live in Florida, but the school in Arizona seemed better. Phil was leaning towards Arizona as well, and we were both so confused as to what we were supposed to do. We began the application process for the other schools but waited to complete everything until we got our answer from Moody.
January: Moody posted on their Facebook that the early decision letters would be going in the mail on the 17th. Enter super freak out mode. I could not sleep, when I did sleep it was awful, I was cranky, rude, and it was all due to an immense amount of stress I was holding. The week of the 17th came and some people that live closer to Chicago started posting on the Moody Facebook that they had been deferred to regular decision (April). This was when I REALLY started to freak out. I had been praying and praying and praying that God would give us a clear yes or no, I was pretty sure I couldn't handle not knowing where we would be moving to until April.
That weekend, Phil's band, Floors & Stories, played at a high school camp up in McCall. I decided to go up as well, but stay in a hotel and have a mini-getaway. The letter still hadn't come before we went up so we still didn't know if he was accepted, denied, or deferred. We were starting to wonder if ANYONE got accepted, until finally, a few people posted that they were accepted. This made us feel better, but still extremely nervous. We got home on Sunday, and low and behold, a letter from Moody Bible Institute was in our mailbox. We got inside, put everything down, and looked at each other. I was begging Phil to open the letter and I wanted to look at it with him, but he told me to sit down and let him read it to me. I sat on the sofa, and waited. He took a deep breath, and opened the envelope. He started reading, "Dear Philip, we are delighted to inform you that your application for Fall 2012 has been accepted...." and immediately I broke down sobbing. I jumped up, still sobbing, and hugged Phil tightly. We read the rest of the letter, and still sobbing told him how proud I was of him. Phil began making phone calls to our parents and siblings to tell them the good news and I sat with the letter in my hands, staring at it, and even left a tear stain on the bottom of it.
We were SO excited, we wanted to yell our news out to the world! But we couldn't. We had to wait until the right time. We had to tell our church before we could tell our friends and make it "Facebook official". Let me be honest, that SUCKED. It was all I wanted to talk about, but I couldn't talk about it with anyone but Phil and my parents. We set the date to tell our church family and waited.
Finally, the day came, Sunday, February 12, 2012. Phil gave an amazing sermon on the Prodigal Son, with a lesson that I never got from that parable before. He did a great job. Then, my dad got up on stage, and began preparing our church body to hear the news. Phil got on stage and asked me to come up with him. He told them, and finally, the word was out. After church, I was finally allowed to put it on Facebook and I did. :)
I am so proud of Phil for being courageous enough to take on the calling to be a pastor. For being willing and wanting to begin college at the age of 25. For being a supportive, loving, and compassionate husband to me. He is truly amazing and I know God has big plans for him and I. We look forward to finding out what those plans are, but in the mean time, our plans are to finish out the summer in Meridian, and then head out to the Midwest and to find our new home in the wonderful city of Chicago.
Thursday, June 23, 2011
It's been awhile...
Why hello there. It's been awhile since I last blogged. I've thought about writing something a couple of times, but never felt I had anything great to say. I still don't think I have anything super interesting...but who knows, maybe someone will enjoy reading this...
*I have a job! No, not a teaching job (although my apps are still out), I'm working for Riverstone Residential Group as a leasing consultant. Want to know the best part?! I work where I live! That's right, I walk out my door, take a left, and ta-da! I'm at work! It is so awesome, I love it. You can't beat great pay with absolutely no travel-although I do get to drive our golf cart around. =] We're hoping to get a rent discount in the next 2 months (90 days after hire date) which would be fantastic! We're looking at saving close to $200 a month! I'm very happy with my job, I can definitely see myself doing this for awhile if no teaching jobs are available to me.
*I have not been following a healthy diet, not at all. Fortunately, I waited long enough to eat super un-healthy that I haven't gained much weight back from my HCG. I did about a round and a half of HCG and lost a total of 25 lbs. Right now I'm down about 21 lbs from when I started-which is still awesome! I feel better than I did and have more confidence, but I'm still much more overweight than I should be. I'm taking the Jillian Michaels Jump Start pills right now. I just finished the first week of "Detox and Cleanse" pills..and it sure does clean ya out! Tomorrow I start the "Fat burning and Probiotic pills" for another week. My plan is as follows:
-finish up the Jillian Michaels pills by June 30
-Gorge July 1 and 2 and start HCG round 3
-Start HCG diet July 3 and continue until drops are gone (probably only about 2 weeks since its not a full bottle)
-Wean myself off the HCG diet and low calories
My goal is to lose 15 lbs this round which would put me about 10 lbs from my original goal. I really think I can do at least 15 if I stick to the diet this time and walk every morning before work with my [mother-in-law's] weight vest on. I will absolutely keep you updated on my progress!
*Phil and I rearranged our living room furniture today. I really like it. We moved things around so we can get another chair/love seat/something to sit on in the room. Usually when we have guests over, someone [me] ends up sitting on the floor. I found a couple of chairs I really like!
Papasan chair
LoveSac PillowSac
PillowSak (just like the one above but much cheaper, knock off brand)
They are all pricey, but hey-my birthday is coming up in about 1 month! =]
*I need a hobby, says my dad...and I agree. I love my days off lounging around, but I do need something to do, people to meet and hang out with, something to keep me busy. I love my alone time, but I think I might be alone and at home a little too much...if you know of any activities/hobbies you can suggest, let me know! Preferably something that either costs very little or nothing at all would be great since we're saving every little penny we have!
Speaking of hobby.....I have Pretty Little Liars on Netflix and I'm going to go watch an episode before Phil gets home for his lunch/dinner. Have a fabulous night!
*I have a job! No, not a teaching job (although my apps are still out), I'm working for Riverstone Residential Group as a leasing consultant. Want to know the best part?! I work where I live! That's right, I walk out my door, take a left, and ta-da! I'm at work! It is so awesome, I love it. You can't beat great pay with absolutely no travel-although I do get to drive our golf cart around. =] We're hoping to get a rent discount in the next 2 months (90 days after hire date) which would be fantastic! We're looking at saving close to $200 a month! I'm very happy with my job, I can definitely see myself doing this for awhile if no teaching jobs are available to me.
*I have not been following a healthy diet, not at all. Fortunately, I waited long enough to eat super un-healthy that I haven't gained much weight back from my HCG. I did about a round and a half of HCG and lost a total of 25 lbs. Right now I'm down about 21 lbs from when I started-which is still awesome! I feel better than I did and have more confidence, but I'm still much more overweight than I should be. I'm taking the Jillian Michaels Jump Start pills right now. I just finished the first week of "Detox and Cleanse" pills..and it sure does clean ya out! Tomorrow I start the "Fat burning and Probiotic pills" for another week. My plan is as follows:
-finish up the Jillian Michaels pills by June 30
-Gorge July 1 and 2 and start HCG round 3
-Start HCG diet July 3 and continue until drops are gone (probably only about 2 weeks since its not a full bottle)
-Wean myself off the HCG diet and low calories
My goal is to lose 15 lbs this round which would put me about 10 lbs from my original goal. I really think I can do at least 15 if I stick to the diet this time and walk every morning before work with my [mother-in-law's] weight vest on. I will absolutely keep you updated on my progress!
*Phil and I rearranged our living room furniture today. I really like it. We moved things around so we can get another chair/love seat/something to sit on in the room. Usually when we have guests over, someone [me] ends up sitting on the floor. I found a couple of chairs I really like!
Papasan chair
LoveSac PillowSac
PillowSak (just like the one above but much cheaper, knock off brand)
They are all pricey, but hey-my birthday is coming up in about 1 month! =]
*I need a hobby, says my dad...and I agree. I love my days off lounging around, but I do need something to do, people to meet and hang out with, something to keep me busy. I love my alone time, but I think I might be alone and at home a little too much...if you know of any activities/hobbies you can suggest, let me know! Preferably something that either costs very little or nothing at all would be great since we're saving every little penny we have!
Speaking of hobby.....I have Pretty Little Liars on Netflix and I'm going to go watch an episode before Phil gets home for his lunch/dinner. Have a fabulous night!
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