Holidays

Maybe it's wrong of me, but I'm kind of glad the Christmas and New Year holidays are coming to an end. I'll be happy to get back to the ordinary. The time between holidays where nothing is really happening and nothing additional is expected out of you.  You can carry on with all of your regular activities, get your house in order, start planning for the new year. 
Bring on 2013 I say.  I should be careful with what I say.  2012 was no picnic.  But I'm really hopping 2013 brings good news and healthier resolutions. Micky and I had been walking every week night until December hit.  The cold weather and the need to shop as soon as the office closed didn't help our walk schedule.  I'm ready to get back into our workout schedule. I'm also hoping to get a treadmill soon.  My mom has one thats not being used and hopefully we can find a way to get it up here.
Most importantly, I'm ready for the pain in my legs and lower back to be gone. I can barely remember a time before the pain started, a time when I was active daily, thank you retail. If you work retail, if nothing else thank your job that it keeps you up and walking.  But there was a time when I didn't have any pain in my legs, other than the occasional leg cramp, and it was nice. To be able to go to bed and lay in one position all night or atleast 3o minutes without having to roll over to relieve the pain on the one side, or to be able to sit for longer than 30 minutes with no pain. Watching a tv show from beginning to end without getting up?  Impossible.  Sitting in a movie theater for 1.5 - 3 hours? I'm constantly moving, squirming, sitting on my legs, putting them down, squirming again.  *sigh* Oh how I dream to be pain free. I'm pretty tolerant of pain, but this is crazy. When I'm more active the pain is a lot less; the more active the less the pain. But when you work a job where you sit all day, it's difficult.  When life gets in the way, it's difficult. My prayer is to just get to the point where I can be active enough for the pain to completely disappear. If it doesn't get better this year, I'll be seeing a doctor. Then we'll go from there. Here's to a better 2013 for all of us!  Happy trails to you! And God bless.

First things first...

...we voted today! We've done our civic duty and are now watching the results unfold on tv.  I won't go into who we voted for or why, but that we are in prayer for whomever it may be, Obama or Romney.  We are also in prayer for those who are currently voting, those who are working those polls, and all those who will be up late tonight working on getting those results posted and counted.
I posted a comment on Facebook that I honestly expected more comments on but was glad to find that it did not turn into a war but more of an agreement and granted there were only 4-5 of us commenting, it was a good thread. Here is a screen shot of that:

I'll reiterate just by stating that I will continually post about my faith and I think it's sad that I can't post something about who I support for president without a large debate immediately following. Why can't we be just as passionate about our faith? Why can't I just post a political opinion and it just be that? An opinion. Not a debate. Regardless of tonight's outcome, I will continue to serve my God and my Savior, I will pray for our country's leaders along with my husband. 1 Timothy 2:1-3 tells us to pray and give thanks on behalf of all people, including kings and all who are in authority.  And so that's what we shall do.

Secondly, I finally peeled that pomegranate I posted about below.  Between the time that I bought that one and our trip to HEB on Saturday, I bought another one.  So I have enough seeds that I now have a stash at work (assuming the cleanup crew doesn't clean the fridge, don't worry I dated it) and a stash at home. 

I'm going to attempt to dip half of this stash in chocolate.  I'll post results here. But can you imagine the foodgasm that will result? Om nom nom.

I'll leave you with this closing shot as we look out into the future and wonder what it holds. 

Colors of the Fall

  I just love this time of year.  The colors, the smells, and the food. Oh yes, the food.
We went to the grocery store tonight to grab the ingredients for homemade salsa and a few extra items.  Well while over in the produce section, I found my favorite fruit ever.

Yes, Pomegranates.  Absolutely love breaking these apart and finding the ruby red jewels inside.  It's like breaking into a treasure chest.

Also found bags of fresh cranberries which I immediately stuck in the freezer.  I'll make fresh cranberry sauce with these, probably this weekend actually.  Mmmm, I can taste it now, with a little orange zest, cinnamon, and a touch of ginger. Yum.

And of course the pumpkin pies, the pumpkin spice lattes, pumpkin spice creamer... OH, and candy corn! I'm taking M&M's, candy corn, and peanuts to the office so I can make my Fall trail mix. I bought cute little Halloween bowls to put the mix in; good stuff. 

The Fall is responsible for so many beautiful colors, smells, tastes... I just love it.  And right now, at this time in our lives, God is moving.  We aren't sure how or why, but He is and we're curious to see what He has planned.  I'll fill you in more about this in a later post.  It's all part of a bigger story. Can't you just wait to see the big picture some day?  I just know God is up there working on a giant puzzle and we can see some of the pieces as He places them but there are always those missing pieces that we just can't comprehend or even begin to think about.  Oh I wonder what puzzle he is working on now... 

Hello Fall, hello bright colors, hello wonderful smells and tastes. Welcome to our world. It's good to see you!

MINI accomplishments

So we've had MINI Pearl for 7 months tomorrow, and she's already hit 10,000 miles! We take her on all out of town trips though. The MINI has so far been a great car that I feel completely safe in and love to drive! I've wanted one for quite some time so it's great to have actually accomplished that.
I just can't wait to get out and motor with some fellow MINIacs!

New car

In the meantime, I also got a new car:
Everyone, meet MINI Pearl who likes to Jam to Dynamic Music while motoring down the highway! More later...

Along the Way

So here I am 5-6 months later and though I'm not walking as much as I would have hoped, I did participate in a program called Walk Across Texas with my co-workers. As luck would have it, my team, Steppin On Up, won the walk against the Holy Walkamolies. Very clever name indeed.  So they got points for the name, but we walked further, 1 mile further to be exact.  So both teams walked pretty far actually and there was no prize to be won, just the feel of accomplishment and a fun little competition between workmates. 

My husband and I walk about 2 days out of the week, if we're not walking, we're working in the yard.  I love working in my garden, plucking old blooms from my flowers, trimming back the bushes; it's one of my favorite past times.  Used to love reading as well, and still do but I find it harder and harder to get through a book, where I used to finish a book in 2-3 days.  

Otherwise my days are filled with work, playing with my cats and dogs, being on Facebook probably more than a person should be, eating, & spending time with my husband.  Oh, and watching tv when my show is on, Fringe.  

So anyway, to put a nice little bow on this package, shaping up is a work in progress.  Slowly I will begin to get in shape or get in better shape than I am now.  I'd also like to go get back into the things that I used to be into, reading, writing (if it weren't for that gigantic wall in front of me), and crafting.  (No, def not arithmetic.)  

I'll begin to post more here, now that I know I have atleast a few followers.  

This is Shellie, signing out.  Goodnight!

Shaping Up

So, working at a church is proving to be very good for me. Yes, it's demanding, stressful, and at times confusing, but it's forcing me to shape up. Both physically and spiritually, I'm out of shape.

I've been in a lot of physical pain in my legs, hips, and thighs. I'm blaming inactivity. Before I got the job at the church, I had actually just started work at Lowes, but even before then I had started to get depressed because I couldn't find a job. I began spending a lot of my time in front of the tv or computer screen, sometimes at the same time. Well, after awhile of this, about 4 months, I started feeling sore, but didn't really know why. I thought maybe it was from sitting too much so I started to get up and move around and found out, the more I moved around, the less the pain.
At the beginning of May, I got the job at Lowes. I was on my feet all day. It was great. But still, any prolonged period of sitting and the pain would reemerge.
My husband and I started walking around our neighborhood park, but even that was off and on.
Around that time, I had applied for a job at our church. Preschool ministry assistant. Not exactly my cup of tea, but it was a job in the church. I also gave thought to the fact that I'd be sitting most of the day and nearly passed on the opportunity.
The opportunity passed me. Because I had just started at Lowes, it made it difficult to be available, even for just a phone call when the preschool minister would call to set up a phone interview. We played phone tag, I even emailed, but at that point it was too late. The unavailability was a turn off and I knew that.
It was then that a friend noticed the position for College Ministry Assistant.
I called, turned in my application and resume, interviewed over the phone, and then finally met and interviewed with my boss, George. A couple days later, I got the call! I was hired, and it had all gone so smoothly, that it must have been God.
Now, here I am 5 1/2 - 6 months later and I'm loving my job, but the sitting for long periods at a time is killing me. I can't sleep at night because I'm stiff and the constant throb leaves no comfortable position.
Again, my husband and I have taken up walking here and there. But just this week, I got a couple of my coworkers interested in getting in shape. We're taking two days of the week, Tuesday and Thursday, and walking around the church sanctuary. I'm not sure how far we walked today, but 7 times around is one mile, and I'm pretty sure we atleast did that. My husband and I walked yesterday too, so slowly and surely, I will get in physical shape. With the accountability of both my coworkers and husband, I'm sure of this.

Spiritually... I'm just not where I need to be. I miss God's Spirit, the all consuming presence of who he is and how he makes me feel, the burning desire to shout his name on the highest mountain.
We have weekly meetings as the college staff talk about the week before and the weeks to come. The time after the meeting, from Tuesday - Friday is spent in preparation for the College class, Freedom, on Sunday mornings.
Anyway, the time spent in our meetings is always beneficial, sometimes adventurous (check my Facebook status from 11/29), and always prayerful. It's in these prayers and spiritual discussions that I'm feeling quite inadequate. Discussions and prayers that used to come so easy are a struggle to find. Grasping the right words and saying the right thing, even knowing the right verse or Biblical reference for the discussion is difficult. I may know what I want to say, but where it comes from or how to say it are lost to me.
Granted, a prayer to God doesn't have to be eloquent, but I feel as if I've become complacent and in that, the words, the actions don't matter. But now that I'm working amongst people that are always studying, always in the word, I'm realizing just how stagnant I've become. I've gotten comfortable and I'm no longer growing as a child of God. Be hot or cold, one or the other; I feel like its worse to be in the middle, unmoving. As the saying goes, "a rolling stone gathers no moss." I don't want to gather dust or moss, I want to be that rolling stone, constantly moving toward something more. I want to kneel to pray and feel like I've reached the highest mountain top. I want to continue to move and grow up in Christ.

So to sum it all up, my physical and spiritual needs have not been met. I've spent so long looking out for everyone else and now I think it's time to look out for me. Time to grow myself and make sure I'm in good physical and spiritual shape. My husband is growing as well and I think we can grow together, alongside each other and prepare ourselves for the road ahead. So that we can help prepare our future children for the road ahead of them. And perhaps by example, show those around us and our families what it means to live a Godly life. What it means to be in shape.

Lord, help us to get in shape. Help us to be physically fit for the road ahead, but also to be spiritually fit and ready to grow your kingdom. Help us grow in you and know you more.
You are our salvation and our spring of life. Thank you for the life you've given, we are blessed beyond measure.
Amen.