(Not So) Mundane Monday

My days have been extra busy lately due to a new interest...biking!

I don’t exercise. Like, ever. Unless racing kids across the playground or playing tag with them count? So yea, I don’t exercise.

In the dead of winter, I had a bright idea- why not take up biking once the weather got warmer? There are lots of metro parks around here and I own a bike. So, once March rolled around and we had some warm days, I bought a bike rack and decided to try it out.

And you know what? I’m really enjoying it! At first I wasn’t going very far, but then last Thursday I pushed myself and ended up going about 7 1/2 miles! That may not sound like a lot but for me- a person who doesn’t go to the gym, doesn’t run, doesn’t lift weights, well I was proud of myself!

Today I did about 8.2 and could definitely feel it- especially at the end. Yikes, my legs were just like “we’re done!”  but I finished! I made a new workout Itunes playlist that runs an hour and today I used 45 minutes of it. I have no idea if that’s good or bad but I figure the biking I’m doing is more than I did this time last year. Haha.

And today? Oh, I had fun. It rained almost all day so there were lots of puddles and one really huge one. So, I did what a country girl would do and went through it. Twice. What can I say?

Sometimes I go biking early in the morning, leaving my apartment around 7:30- this gives me time to bike, shower, etc. before work. I like going at this time because there are hardly any people on the trail- but lately, it’s still so cold!

The other time I go is after work, getting to the park sometime between 6 and 6:30- now it’s warmer at this time, but it can be hard to find a parking spot at the park! Sigh, I guess you can’t win!

What’s your exercise schedule? What do you do?

Saturday Glimpses

I don’t know what you’re up to this weekend…but here is what I did today…

Made my apartment hallway look bare :(

Packed lots of boxes (okay well not lots, this is just the beginning!)

Made sure I left the kitchen and my bedroom a mess but organized the bookcase with books I have for sale on Amazon

 

Picked up some cupcakes at a cupcakery my coworker Cara told me about- supposedly, they have a CHAI cupcake! I will be in love with it if I get to try it, I’m sure! For now, I got a few lemony snickets (lemon cake with raspberry topping under the icing- WOAH. Beyond delicious) and the others are a violet one and red velvet (I didn’t eat those).

and I made a toddler mohawk in the bath—silly!

       

What did you do on this rainy Saturday?

Packin' It Up!

I am spending the majority of this weekend packing up my apartment worth of belongings into boxes. Some of the boxes will go to my parents' house to stay for the summer (or longer?) while a small amount of will go with me to Hope's house in a few weeks. While I have 4 weeks until I technically move, this is the only weekend I have free to pack sooo..

yea, pray for me. I basically have to decide what from my two bedroom apartment can fit in one bedroom at Hope's. I know Hope doesn't cook much and neither do I, but I am wondering if I should bring things like... my George Foreman Grill, my vaccuum, a few pots & pans...I'm not just packing, I have to think! and pack! 

I bet your weekend will be more interesting than mine...

Earth Day

My co-teacher Cara, who I am blessed to work with three days a week lately, is an earthy, recycling type girl. Not that I don’t like to recycle- I do! But Cara is just more earthy than me- so she was excited for Earth Day!

One of my other co-workers had given me a recipe for making your own chalk- with eggshells- back in the fall, so I thought this week would be a great time to try it out! I saved about 4 dozen eggshells and put them into a huge bowl. The kids and I ground and ground and ground (it took a LONG time!) until the eggshells became powder.

We then took a spoonful of the powder and mixed it with a tiny bit of flour and water. Adam was excited to help with all of the mixing and was the only child who stuck around to watch the entire process happen multiple times.

I actually used my hands after Adam tried to mix it with popsicle sticks- it was just easier that way. I added a few drops of food coloring to each spoonful and rolled them into chalk. They have to dry for a few days but we are hoping to use them later this week- the kids ask to look at them every day!

A couple of weeks ago, we planted pinto beans in tiny plastic containers with cotton balls covering them. I left them in the dark coat room for about a week and some of them really began to sprout so earlier this week we planted them in cups. I was surprised at how many kids didn’t want to touch the dirt- city kids! ;)

So, that is a few ways we are celebrating Earth Day this week- how about you?

       

Myrtle Beach

I’m finally getting around to writing about my spring break, which was almost a month ago! My friend Hope and I went to Myrtle Beach for a few days (an 11 hour drive) and then drove another 11 hours to southern Florida for a few more days. We didn’t really do any sightseeing in either place- we both work multiple jobs and just wanted to get away to relax. So, relax we did!

When we left my apartment at dark o’thirty in the morning, the ground, cars and parking lot were covered in snow- getting out of BC was just awful! There were accidents every few feet on the highway and we were so glad once we got to normal, dry roads! Getting out of the city was the worst part (aside from the ticket but we’re not going to talk about that!)

Once we got to Myrtle Beach, we had our suites to ourselves. We were sharing them with my aunt, uncle and two cousins but they didn’t arrive until late the next day. From my room, I could see multiple palm trees (YAYYYYY!!!) and a lazy river- although the weather was too cold to use it while we were there.

One of the most exciting things about South Carolina to me was the Piggly Wiggly stores. I had seen them in movies but wasn’t sure they really existed! ;)

Isn’t the pig just so darn cute?!

I liked the look of this place on the way to Barefoot Landing, where we ran into an alligator and lots of turtles!

 

   If you have ever been to Barefoot Landing- they have a store there called Purple Etc. We came across it accidentally while wandering around, but Hope’s favorite color is purple purple PURPLE so she absolutely loved it. It was a little overload if you ask me…. but then again, I’m not a purple girl! ;)

We did spend some time on the beach, but it was only like 50* and way too cold to go in the water. It was pretty though!

And a few pictures of the palm trees- gosh, I think palm trees just make for a happier world!

            

So, there you have the first part of our vacation. I’ll post about Florida soon!

Singleness

I have had some very interesting conversations with my friends lately regarding being single. I'm 25 and have never dated anyone...I've gone on very few dates. It has nothing to do with not wanting to date/marry but rather just that I haven't met the right people to date nor do I have good ideas on how to meet people. 

That said, I will be attending a wedding of one of my sisters soon- maybe even in this calendar year. With that comes pressure from people wanting to know why I'm not dating/married. Lots.of.pressure.

Anyway, these talks have been so interesting! Most of my friends from high school/college are married, but I've been able to find a few people around BC who I am blessed to call friends- and they are single too. Most of them are older than me by 10+ years so they come from all walks of life. Some have barely dated, like me. Some have been engaged but never made it to the altar. We're all different with various pasts/stories but we are single. 

One of my friends shared with me a website called singleness.org. More interestingly, we read together an article from the website on God's perspective on singleness. I found it really interesting- some of my favorite points/sayings from that article and another I came across:

"Singleness is a total curse in my life. All of my friends have someone. My church is geared towards families. If you are not part of a couple you are not invited anywhere. You are a total misfit. I feel like a total freak. I HATE MY LIFE!!!!!!"

All I have to say to this is I completely sympathize. 

~

An important thing that God shows us from His high tower is that marriage is only a thing of this earth and it is temporary. Marriage ends at the death of one of the marriage partners and does not continue in heaven.

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Marriage should not be one's ultimate goal in life or it becomes an idol.

~

There is a danger with the multitude of matchmaking web sites, the multitude of books and programs on marriage and the family, and comments by friends and relatives implying one should get married, that results in our putting too much emphasis on marriage rather than on Jesus.

Not The Same

I swear to you, I did actually GO on vacation. I took pictures, even. But by golly, between my internet being constantly down (I'm babysitting now), work drama, other things...I've lost my blogging/vacation-sharing mojo. 

So, I'm moving.

In 5 weeks.

I'll be in the same city (almost). Definitely in the same state. Just a few miles from where I am now. I'll be living with one of my closest friends. I don't want to mess this up! My past two roommate situations have not turned out to be the best, so saying I'm not nervous at all would be a lie. I don't want to ruin our friendship because 1) like I said, she's one of my closest friends and 2) we still work together at the moment...now, come next fall, I don't know. But either way, it would be great if we could live together and still be friends. Haha. 

Now, we did just spend spring break together-- 8 days of being together 24/7. In long car rides, sweltering heat...and we didn't even come close to killing each other. So there's hope, I guess. 

We're alike in that we are both sarcastic, teachers, like some of the same tv shows/movies, reading,  awesome people...

But man, we're also really different. LOL! She's a healthy girl, a runner and man alive, I think she'll die when she sees all the crap I eat. I'm a tad worried about that. And I spend more time on the computer than she does...by a lot. I mean, we'll both be working (welllll...for July & August at least...did I mention I have most of June off? Yea, I have most of June off! Which means I'll be around the house a lot...either that or gone meandering across the USA...can I come visit any of you? babysit for you??) and I have my babysitting and she has her 2nd job working in a store...

but it will just be different, a change from how life is now. And that's a little bit of scary!

I'm alive!

Posting from my iPod...

My Internet has been mad lately and refuses to work on my laptop, sporatically working on the iPod.

I have a summer job...

I've been spending my mornings biking, working all day and then enjoying the awesome sunshine! By the time I get home, the last thing I want to wrestle with is an uncooperative router/ modem.

I hope you all have a fantastic Friday!! What have I missed???

Limbo

I know I haven't written about my vacation yet...I've been back a week. This week was wildly crazy, but then again aren't they all? I just haven't felt like writing, anything. Vacation was a welcome break from all things techy and I loved it. Ever happen to you?

On the job front, I'm still in complete limbo. I sent an email to my 1st choice family on Thursday, telling them I would love to work for them if they felt it was a good fit, to feel free to take some time to think about it and to give me a call/email when they made a decision. I haven't heard a word, and that's freaking me out! When I talked to my coworker about them on Thursday (or was it Friday?) they sounded like they were definitely ready to hire me so I'm hoping that either they haven't seen the email, or were away for the weekend, or just haven't had a chance to call....?? 

Anyway, I'm looking forward to the next two weeks. Work *should* be drama free because Jessa won't be there, yet again. Jessa told me earlier this week she *might* not be there this week, but I called the teacher who subs for her yesterday because I was thinking it would be helpful for planning reasons to know for sure, and guess what? It's not one week, it's two! Unbelievable. The upside to that? I only have to deal with her for 10 days once she gets back! Haha. 

The Right Choice

Summer jobs, that is. 

It's looking like I basically have two job offers. I really like both families, both sets of kids. The families both live in fine areas, one closer to downtown in a neighborhood that encourages walking- there is a Panera, parks, library, etc. all within walking distance. The other lives in a middle class neighborhood filled with kids and close to a school. Both sets of parents are fine with me taking their kids places. Both are flexible for the summer and want part time care, which is what I'm looking for. Both seem really easy going...either way, I'm going to let one family down because it doesn't seem like either of them are looking at anyone else for childcare. 

Sigh.

I hate decisions like this, I really do. 

I'd love to make a decision by this weekend, for my peace of mind as well as letting the family I don't choose have enough time to choose someone. Times like this, I just wish someone could tell me what to do, you know????

Refreshed

I’m back! Vacation was extremely relaxing, for the most part. Hope and I are both huge readers and sped through a pile of books each between 42+ hours in the car and not feeling a need to go sightsee. I do have stories to tell you, but of course I’m not unpacked yet so I’ll be back with more pictures later!

I will tell you this. Alligators were seen, palm trees were in abundance, I got to visit two states I hadn’t been to before (South Carolina and Georgia), and DO NOT turn left on 9th Ave N in Myrtle Beach even though Google tells you to. It’ll cost ya!