Monday, December 22, 2008

taking up running

i have decided that i want need to start running. i have never enjoyed it but i really want to find a new form of exercise that i have to really commit to in order to be successful. the only time that i have ever run on a regular basis before was in high school when playing field hockey, which was just 1 mile before every practice. i feel like now is as good of a time as any other. i have been trying to drop all the weight i gained in college, plus the extra 50 lbs. or so i picked up since getting married, and i need a workout regimen that will keep me motivated. i have also been doing weight watchers since the end of september, and am proud to report that i have now lost 20.4 lbs and counting!!!! it seems like i have an eternity to go, but it took awhile to pack on, so i'm sure it will take away to take off. ryan has now joined me on the healthy living bandwagon and so we're trying to do this together. i'm going to try the couch potato to 5K running plan so wish me luck because i'm starting today!!


this will be me in a matter of weeks:

a girl can dream, right???

Monday, December 15, 2008

weekend recap

well, what a weekend! i feel very ramped up for christmas now that we've officially joined in the season by attending our first (and second) christmas parties, wrapping christmas gifts, drinking buckets full of hot chocolate, and receiving some delightful christmas cards from our dear friends and family.


saturday night was our church christmas party and it was a blast!! who knew that giving junk from around the house could make for such a comical evening :) wouldn't you know that ryan would be the one to open the nosiest/most annoying gift?!? two words: FINGER CYMBALS! oh yes, he was like #5 to open a white elephant gift, in which was enclosed some lovely finger cymbals. so instead of sitting quietly while the rest of the gang picked/opened/stole gifts from each other, he proceeded to celebrate the whole time by clanging the finger cymbals. much to my dismay, i was sitting right next to him!!! i thought my hearing was bad before...


thankfully after all the gift giving was said and done, linda was sweet enough to trade him her darth vader bobblehead for his gift of goodies. THANK YOU, THANK YOU, THANK YOU!! we may not still be married if he made it home with those things!


sunday was my dad's company christmas party, which proved to be less than thrilling. i was only there for about an hour but spent most of my time playing babysitter for my sister, who is the point person on all company shindigs, and trying to figure out who would fit the profile of my favorite "the office" characters. there were quite a lot of similarities to dwight, as could be expected in any engineering firm, but no jim and pam to speak of...



after about an hour, my oldest niece, mikayla, started feeling like she was going to throw up, so i got a hall pass to leave with the sick child in tow. poor thing, she must have the crazed stomach flu that's going around. i'm just hoping the rest of the family won't catch it because i don't do sickness very well.


(poor mikayla!! she was so sick that yawkey would not leave her side)



anyways, well that was our weekend in a nutshell. hope you had a great one. happy monday!

Friday, December 12, 2008

as we know it

life update...

ryan is still looking for a new job so he can finally get out of the retail industry. we are really praying that he can find something with more normal hours, like an 8-5/M-F. plus, the job has to be something local because we are absolutely not moving again!! we just got back home and the thought of picking up and moving again makes us both feel sick! he's put out a few resumes and has his ear to the ground on openings, but nothing concrete yet. this is a major prayer for us because we really don't feel like we can start a family or pursue anything with adoption until he has something with more family friendly hours. it's really not about the money, but more the lack of time that he has at home right now. we just don't feel like it would be fair to our child/children to have a dad gone as much as he is right now, so please pray for us!!

i am still plugging away with my new job in louisville (actually, i've been there 7 months already so i guess it's not really new any more!), and really enjoying it. we are currently trying to raise some serious general funds just for our normal operations, and with the current economy, it has been going more slowly than we would like. fortunately, we know God's got a much bigger bank account than we could ever hope for, so the money will come from somewhere if God wants things to move forward.

as far as the rest of our lives...
we are staying busy with church stuff and other extracurriculars. we both are really enjoying volunteering in the children's ministry at fellowship - i work with pre-k and ryan works with infants (scary, i know!!). we have been so blessed to make a lot of good friends through our small group and church, so we've been busy hanging out with them whenever we can.

also, we are both trying to turn over a new leaf and get healthy. i always joke that i didn't gain the freshman 15 in college but the freshman 50. sadly, it didn't just stop my freshman year!!! so, now i've been doing weight watchers since the end of september and have lost 18.8 lbs to date! i've got a long way to go so i'm trying to keep up the workouts and am working on learning to cook/eat healthier. just as of this week, i think i've finally got ryan on board with trying to lose weight as well. it took a little bribing and arm twisting, but the promise of a wii if he loses 30 lbs was just enough to get him in the game finally!!! i'll keep you updated on our progress :)

we are also trying to spend as much time as we can with our families now that we're back in louisville. although this hasn't been as easy as i thought it would be, we are grateful for all the extra time we get to spend with everyone. my sister's kids, brother - stuart and brother-in-law - zachary are all growing like weeds!! it makes me feel so old when i hang out with them!

anyways, we've got a slew of Christmas parties to go to this weekend, even though i'll be flying solo to most of them, so it should be pretty busy. hope you have a great weekend! x0x0-

Tuesday, December 9, 2008

forecasting

today i have been thinking a lot about what the future of our family will look like. ryan and i have been praying for several months now on what the next step will be and when we will take it (God willing). i keep finding myself coming back to Jeremiah 29:11 -

"For I know the plans I have for you', declares the Lord, 'plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future."

i am so glad to know that He already knows what our tomorrow looks like. He knows exactly how many kids we'll have, their names and even the crap they'll do to get on our nerves. unfortunately, i am a major worrier and planner so i naturally like to have everything worked out a long time in advanced. BUT, as i'm learning more and more, life just does not work that way!! in many ways though, i am so glad that i'm not the one planning my life because i could not have dreamed up some of the things that have happened. i believe strongly in the power of prayer and am just waiting and praying for God to give us the direction He would have our family go. who knows what's in store (well, besides God)...not me but i can't wait to find out!!!!!

Friday, December 5, 2008

INFJ <3 ESFP

its pretty much a well-known fact that i am an INFJ personality type. you can find a description of an INFJ here but it basically means that i have "introverted intuition with extroverted feelings". my sweet husband on the other hand is a definite ESFP, described here, but basically a person who believes that "the whole world is their stage". so basically put: we are from totally different planets...literally, man is from mars, woman is from venus!

i absolutely love to think about God's sense of humor in putting us two together. i just would have never thought that i would end up marrying ryan sweeney!! after all the times he annoyed me in youth group at church or said ridiculous/ADHD things, i never thought that i would become "that girl" to date him (much less MARRY HIM!!) - but i am sooooo glad i did.

after thinking back to all the wackos that i could have ended up with, its comforting to think that God was (and still is) in control! at least i got the lesser of the wackos :)

anyways, i've just been feeling really nostalgic lately and have been thinking back over the past 7 years that we've been together. i really do feel like the luckiest girl in the world to be married to (beware- cliche alert!) my best friend! we've shared a lot of wonderful memories and i can't wait to see where God takes us next...

















Thursday, December 4, 2008

Christ-centered Christmas...

last night at small group, we were talking about the true meaning of christmas and discussing how easy it is to glaze over all the amazing truths that christmas actually symbolizes. i mean seriously, Christ chose to come into this crazy world as a baby - both fully human and fully God - to break us from the bonds of the law. not only did He chose to become a baby, He also was born to a teenage girl and placed in a manger...not born to a king and placed on a throne like He deserved. He truly humbled Himself and took our(my) place on the cross. this should be the true meaning and focus of christmas!!!!



unfortunately, it is just so easy for me to lose this perspective and see christmas only through the eyes of presents, shopping, decorations, etc. basically, christmas has been broken down to how much money i'm going to spend and on who...i'm pathetic, i know.

anyways, it's probably too late in the game for some of these this year but here are some ideas i'm contemplating for a more Christ-centered christmas":
-buying gifts that make an impact on the world, not just on a closet or toy chest of a loved one (Donate Love - Sozo International, World Vision & International Justice Mission)
-convincing the family to pool our money and take a family vacation instead
-shop for a child off the Angel Tree
-free babysitting to friends and family that need a break
-actually reading the christmas story straight from the Bible on christmas morning rather than rushing to open presents
-giving out cookies to our neighbors, especially ones we don't know
-having a christmas pot-luck dinner with friends instead of buying gifts for each other
-baking a b-day cake for Jesus
-going out carolling with the family
-offering to pay for a stranger's gas during the holiday shopping season
-going to a restaurant on christmas eve or christmas day just for a drink, and then leaving a large tip


hopefully verbalizing some of these ideas will hold me accountable. merry christmas y'all~

Wednesday, December 3, 2008

that's what she said!


i'm hooked...absolutely and totally. the office officially and completely makes me laugh and is quickly becoming one of my favorite shows. now, i understand that i'm a little late, as this trend has already been around awhile, but ryan and i just started watching it from the beginning about a week ago. i always thought it was funny, but now that i have watched it from the start (actually, we started at season 2 because we don't know anyone who has season 1 - which is only 6 episodes), i can truly appreciate the brilliance of the show.
anyways, now you know what i've been up to lately instead of blogging...