New Experience

This weekend I had the privilege of going to the NW Church in Shoreline, WA. For those of you that know me, you know I am involved in an acapella praise group called enterPraise. We are a group of folks from the Portland Metro area that get invited to lead worship at various events and churches. This weekend we were invited to NW Church for the first ever Worship Festival. What an experience!

Yesterday morning we rehearsed with their praise band. What amazing talent they have. I was blessed to have my first praise band experience be with them. I loved how our 2 teams were able to work together to make our harmonies work. Then in the early afternoon we sat with folks from both their instrumental praise group and acapella praise group for some discussion time about how to help bring the congregation into the presence of God. Then the congregation was invited to come and learn 4 new songs. POTLUCK!!!! Our night ended with about 2 hours of worship, a little acepella and a little instrumental.

This morning we help lead both services and we were incredibly blessed to have spent that time with such an amazing group of brothers and sisters. I call this a new experience because for someone who grew up in an acapella tradition this was a step outside my norm and I have to admit it was fun. I always thought I would love singing with a praise band and this solidified it. There is a new energy when being able to experience what I did this weekend.

One caveat to this experience. I have attended instrumental services before and not felt the same. Why was this experience different? We had vocal harmonies. The services I have attended previously had only lead with a few points of harmony. I know this is mainly if not solely because contemporary Christian music covers harmonies with instruments instead of voices. I have always missed this piece. I grew up with harmony in my being and can't resist. I think it really enhances the fullness and beauty of these songs. So although I enjoyed it, I'm not sure I could experience that anywhere else.

My hope for the weekend is that the NW Church was as blessed by God's presence as I was. May the NW Church take the energy and vigor they worshiped with this weekend into their lives all the time. Thank you Lord for the experience to worship with a new group of brothers and sisters in Christ. It is great to meet new family.

Not So Crazy Afterall

So this morning I ran the 5 mile Kaiser race, success! Other than having to get up at 6 am or so in order to get there by 7:30 am for a 7:45 am start time, not too bad. I have been running 5 miles or more on the treadmill for a while and so I figured starting with a 5 miler would be best. I wasn't tired afterward, which tells me I need to step it up next time.

So as I'm rounding the next to the last corner, I spot my sister-in-law Angie and my nephew Micah. They did the 2 mile Marafun this morning and they were heading to the finish line the same time I was. Angie had to laugh because 1) she didn't know I was going to be there and 2) because she said Micah walked most of it until I showed up and then he took off. We crossed the finish line and there was my nephew Hugh and my cousin Robbie who ran with Hugh. So much fun seeing them there. I think Hugh has decided at 8 yrs old that he wants to be a runner. I told him to come over so we can go run by the lake together.

Well, there is my crazy update!

I Might Be Crazy

Did I get your attention? Well, tomorrow is the Portland Marathon. I thought long and hard about this particular event. There is a marathon, 1/2 marathon, 10 mile Mayor's walk and the Kaiser 5 mile run. Hmmm...which one to participate in?!? I'm not ready for the marathon yet. Not that one. Not really sure if I'm ready to for the 1/2 marathon either. Not that one. Not sure I want to participate in the Mayor's walk. Not that one. Friday, I settled on the 5 miler for my first race experience. So tomorrow morning at 7:45 I will be running in downtown Portland in my first of possibly many races to come. This also means, I will probably be stinky during church tomorrow. Sorry PUMP! I'll try to keep my stink to myself. :)

Good Times!

So many of you know what I'm doing in my life right now, but some might not. In January I decided to get a gym membership. FYI-Costco has 24 Hour Fitness memberships for less than $300 for 2 yrs with no initiation fee. Anyway...I went in to activate my membership and decided to get 3 training sessions, they were having a deal. The first time I met my trainer I was thinking, "He must think I'm fat and crazy to be doing this." We chatted for a little while and I found out that he is a Christian and he even lived in Fresno for a while as a Youth Pastor at Peoples Church. Very weird and bizarre, but possibly meant to be. He did the BMI test, you know where they pinch your fat all over your body and it tells you what percentage body fat you have vs lean body mass. Oh happy day, NOT! Well, I won't tell you what it was, but it wasn't good and neither was my weight. I was the heaviest I have ever been, ugh!

By my second workout session with him I decided I definitely could not do this by myself so I took another deal, 10 sessions and get 3 free. In the first month I lost 18 lbs. Wooo hooo!!! So excited. Well, I am going to skip ahead to now. During the months of June and July I hit a wall of sorts. I was still training, but my cardio was not top notch and so I was somewhat stalled. I didn't lose anything at my June weigh-in...ok, I do have to say I had been to CA and on a cruise in May, so I at least had maintained. Well, about 2 and a half weeks ago my trainer was tired of me flaking with my cardio and I got a Bodybugg.

So this little device resides on my upper left arm at all times, except when showering. It is a mamba jamba pedometer. It calculates my steps and it reads my body heat, maybe something else I don't remember, but it calculates using my body heat how many calories I'm burning. Then I have to log-in to a website, www.my.apexfitness.com and log what I'm eating. So that has always been the death of any diet I've been on. Mind you I am not on a diet, I am changing my health for good and so this is a lifestyle change for me. Anyway, I hate logging my food. Needless to say, I am kinda enjoying it. I can see calories burned vs eaten, fat, carbs and protein amounts for the day. So my deficit is supposed to be between 500 and 900 calories daily, which amazingly enough is sometimes hard to do and other times very hard to do. I think I am getting somewhat obsessive about it now, but maybe that is a good thing. Maybe that means something is changing mentally for me along with my body.

Well, through much trial and many training sessions, yes I keep buying them, I have lost 50 lbs. You read that right, 50 lbs and 9% body fat. I haven't calculated how many inches, but it is a lot. Here is the thing...I still have at least 33 lbs to go, but it is hard when people keep telling you that you look good and/or that you better stop or they won't be able to see you anymore. Ok, I have lost a lot, but I still am not at a healthy weight yet. My trainer even went as far as to say, "Are you're friends telling you you look good?" I said, "Yes." He then said, rather emphatically, "They're liars! All girls lie. Yes, you look better than you did, but you still are not at your goal." Ok, ok...I know some of you are thinking what a jerk! But it's true. I do look better, but I'm not at my goal and when people tell me I look good, it gets harder and harder to keep going. Not that I want people to say I'm still fat, which I don't think I am anymore. But, do you get what I'm saying? He stung me at first, but the more I think about it I think he's right.

Well, I have also now found that shopping is not so easy. I used to shop at basically 2 to 3 stores. Pretty easy when there are limits to what fit. Now I can go into any store and find clothes that will fit. This alone, is very overwhelming. Of course, not knowing your real size is also frustrating. I can't buy too much because I'm still losing, but I need to buy some because some of my clothes are just hanging on me. Ah! Such a dilemma, a good one mind you.

Well, this last week was a mind breakthrough. When you are in the middle of losing weight it takes a while for your mind to catch up with your body. I have not been able to see myself as 50 lbs less until this last week. I have been wearing some of my new clothes, which fit and because of my newfound energy levels I am happier. At least that is what others say, I guess I hadn't realized how unhappy I looked or acted before. Things are looking up in my world right now. Thanks for reading, if you got this far. Check back later for updates!

Long Time, No Write

Surprise! I'm alive and I'm writing. So a little less than a month ago I made a huge decision. After reviewing my finances and deciding that if I ever want to own even a condo in the Portland area I must change something. So how is it that no matter how much you make you never seem to have enough to put away for the future and pay all your bills. So luckily I haven't put myself in more debt living on my own, but I just can't seem to make a large dent in my debt. So, now for my decision. I am moving in with my parents who live just across the river in WA for 2 years in order to pay off all of my debt and put some away to be in a better financial place to purchase a place of my own.

So for the last 3 weeks I have been packing, shredding trash and taking loads over to my parents. Of course, this does increase my commute from 1 mile to about 20 miles, ah traffic. Ok, so it's no Southern CA commute, but for Portland it will be plenty long. Happy though because today I called auto insurance and it is actually going to decrease by at least $200/year. Oh Happy Day!!!! I can then cancel my renters insurance, cable, internet and power. So, more money to help pay off debt.

I'm not making promises, but I just might write more often than I have.

Great News!!!

So first of all, I am much better than I was at my last post. I realized, after the sun came out, that this winter hit me worse than it had previously. Life has definitely been looking up.

Work- At the end of May I took my first official business trip for my company. I visited 5 different Oregon cities to train staff members on a new accounting system. It was a grand success. But while I was gone my manager left for a 4 week "vacation." She was having personal problems and her work was effected. During that time my VP began discussing with me the responsibilities that I had been doing and she realized that I was doing all of the work. I had no idea and thought they just thought I was a good employee and giving me more work to do. So during that month the responsibility list was being distributed more evenly and my job description was changing to include supervising other staff in my department. When my manager finally got back, she seemed to be fine with the changes. She was back for a week and then was out again. She never came back and last week resigned.
So, guess who is now the Accounting Manager...Me. So for the last week and a half I have been getting up to speed with the rest of the managers. The manager level is a newer tier in the company so I am fortunate enough to actually get the training from a professional on how to be the best manager I can be. I couldn't be in a better place for this to happen actually. So that is my exciting news at work.

Personal- Life is just going well. My younger brother and sister-in-law will be here in 2 weeks for a few days. I haven't seen them since May and miss being with them. My youngest nephew is at the very fun stage of jabbering and smiling a lot, at least with his aunt. I have had a lot of opportunities in the last few months to sing with enterPraise and I am loving it. I really miss that when we don't get together.

So, that is the most recent part of my life. Sorry it took so long, but work life has been busy and when I get home I just want to relax.

Such a Mood

I have a confession...I'M NOT PERFECT!!! Oh no, as if that really surprises anyone. I tend to act like my life is just perfect and I have no problems. I'm not trying to be fake when I am that way, I just don't like to burden people with my true feelings most of the time. I am a people pleaser so you will rarely see me truly sad. Well...here goes. I'm not happy right now. I have been in a mood since before Christmas and I just can't seem to shake it. So, I'm single...big deal. There are a lot of people who are single in their 30's and I am just now 30, so BIG deal. Well, for me it is and I'm admitting it now. I wanted to be married in my early 20's and I had wished by now I had a husband to walk with me and kids or at least one kid. So, obviously I haven't gotten married and I have no kids and so I feel like I'm just drifting through life. I keep busy so I don't have to "feel" too much. Maybe that's not such a good thing, but I don't want to be constantly depressed or a depressing person to be around. I told a friend last year I'm afraid there is no light at the end of the tunnel. I just want to know there is an end to this feeling. She said something that I know I haven't quite been able to shake. She asked me if I was even in the tunnel. Because if I don't even face the tunnel then I won't ever see the light at the end. So here I sit still pondering that statement and I'm not sure I've begun walking through the tunnel. It's a scary thought to face all those hurts and hopes that haven't come true, but am I really better off pushing them as far down as possible? Certainly not, but I don't know how to move forward right now.

Job is going well and I'm even busy. For those that know me, know I get frustrated when I'm not busy at work. I have 3 awesome nephews, parents that love me, brothers and sisters-in-law that love me. Friends who support and love me however and whenever they can. So for those that are willing...pray for me that my heart and soul are opened to God's will for me right now and pray that I will constantly feel His loving arms around me.