So it's down to crunch time for us...packing, moving, cleaning.
I am absolutely amazed as to how fast time flies when there
is so much to do! However, since many of my students have
dropped off for the summer, I am able to devote a little more
time to the packing. Thankfully, Josh has the week off before we move to help. So far, I've packed the living room and the front closet. Sometimes, I get so overwhelmed when I look around and see all the "stuff" we've collected the past two years.

On a more fun note, Josh and I got to spend all day Sunday with Mom and Dad. My hands got dirty playing in the dirt weeding and Josh spiffied-up the car. :) Over all, it was a nice, relaxing Sunday for us.

Even though there is so much to do, I am definitely looking forward to moving into the town home. I can't wait to put everything in its place and make it into a home for us. Yay for more space and storage!

Life-change

It has been a very calm week for me, which is great! Not to say that I don't enjoy being busy, but it is nice just to take a deep breath before the craziness starts up again. I never realized how much I enjoy others taking spring break until I started teaching piano. :)

In the midst of this slow week, I decided that I wanted to make a few life changes. I had some rough ideas at the beginning of this year, but never wrote them down...so I decided to write some goals this week.

First is to be more positive. I feel like I'm an optimist, but I seem to get into a negative mind-set lately. It's so difficult at times to trust God when things seem uncertain--and as many of you know, there are a lot of unknowns in my life at this time.

Next, I don't know about everyone else, but I've come to realize how important it is to have a "healthy" lifestyle. And I don't mean the fad diets, eating oats and grass-type of thing, but truly changing our minds and our habits to be good to our bodies. It's so easy to get caught-up worrying about how I look, if I'm overweight--just what other people think. But, I've been reading Scripture and really praying about it, and I feel like God has really challeneged me to become a better steward of my body; not for vanity, but for the fact that it is a gift and we should treat it with respect. So yesterday as a start, I joined Lifetime and signed up for various classes like: kickboxing, yoga, pilates and a spinning class. Knowing myself, trying to get up to just "exercise" wasn't going to cut it, so by signing up for these free classes, I feel like I have the motivation to go. :) After this, I went online and found some great low-fat, low-calorie recipes that I'm going to start cooking. It would be awesome if we could all encourage each other to live healthier. I know that when I'm working out regularly, it helps me to have a more positive attitude and more energy.

Friends

Wow, this past weekend has been crazy for me! I started a second job involving social work and unfortunately, due to different circumstances, I couldn't get around to it til this past weekend. I had to visit 9 residents within a 2 day time and, I must say, it was very intense. In addition, some of my friends were getting together (people I haven't seen for awhile) so, of course I stayed up into the wee hours with them on Friday and Saturday. Let's just say I'm extremely sleep-deprived!

This posting is about my thoughts on friends. It has been so hard, getting older, to make new friends. I have 3 friends that are very close to me, but not more than that. So, when they are busy and I have some free time, its difficult to know what to do with some of this time--especially if Josh is busy as well. I have come to realize that I really need that "girl time" chatting and laughing--even if it's about nothing. Very late Friday night...around 2-3am at Perkins, my friends and I were hanging out, and I overheard a conversation of two girls in the next booth. It wasn't anything important...just two girls talking. Call it late-night craziness or a large dose of friendliness, I turned around and started talking with them. They were sisters, Lindsey and Abby. Lindsey was waiting for a phone call from a guy in Hawaii. So, while they waited, we visited.

To make the long story short, Lindsey and I exchanged phone numbers and wow! It's one of the neatest thing that's happened in awhile...I made a new friend out of the blue! I think that God knew I needed another friend in my life--and we'll see! It was pretty strange, because I am NOT an extrovert at all and it scares me a little to talk to strangers, but I guess it pays to be friendly and be a little outgoing.

Guess What Happened??

Yesterday, one of my student's mom ran in to the driver's side of the red car. As you can see in the picture, it's pretty scraped up...I can't even open the driver's side.

So, today I'm going to drop it off at the auto body shop and pray that they do a great job. :)

It was rather an adventure, trying to figure all this out and fortunately for us, the family is footing all the of the costs, including the rental car. I suppose it is as it should be, but I still feel awful about what happened. The funny thing is that the car was parked and I was inside. This will definitely make me a more cautious driver.

I hope y'all will have a great day! Oh yeah, I still haven't heard back from the company...will post it if I do.

Sad, sad story

This is a sad story of one of my friend's friends. I wanted to share it because I could empathize with her pain. I changed the names.

Anne is a Korean adoptee like me, abused in every way imaginable before she was adopted. It scarred her, leaving her bitter and distrusting of any love offered. Funny enough, as she grew older, like me, she vowed to never marry and to never have children that could get hurt the way she did. But one day, she met a man. No matter how hard she tried to get away, he pursued her with diligence, patience and kindess and won her heart. He seemed like the handsome prince she longed for and she felt no fear being with him. Anne had never been so happy and she and her handsome prince married. Two years into Anne's marriage, her handsome prince turned from an adoring, attentive husband

into demanding, self-righteous, mean man. Never harming her
physically, but hurting her heart and spirit with harsh tones

and cruel words. So once again, Anne vowed to never trust another with her heart. She turned against the man she once loved and she tried to start anew...new job, new place to live, new life...and wondered if there would be any happiness in this life for her.

Slowly again, a new man came into her life. He was unlike she had ever known; he seemed so very beautiful to her, not only physically, but in every way imaginable. Anne fell in love again, but this time, fearfully. His eyes were so bright and full of life, and his smile like the sunshine. She felt her heart slowly melt. Anne wanted to give him all the love she had inside, to ease his hurts and give him everything he could ever want. She wanted forever with him, to be able to look in his eyes, to be held and loved by him and to share his love for life and all its adventures. One day, she told him of her love and hoped with everything in her that he felt the same. When she declared her love to him, he smiled his smile and told her he knew, but did not tell her that he loved her back. Anne had never been so embarassed, or so horrified with herself for speaking her feelings.

In desperation, she went to another man's arms to try and forget her pain and him. After, all she felt was more pain and disgust with herself; she had betrayed herself and the man she loved. When Anne could bear it no longer, she told him of her actions. He was grave, hurt, and jealous. How could he not? Did she not speak of her love, then gone to another? Even though this happened, they still talked, shared parts of their lives with each other, and again, she told him she loved him. When he told her he loved her, she felt as if she could fly and that nothing could bring her down again. I wish I could say they are together and happy, but they aren't. Anne went to other lovers' arms again, even though she loved this man. Even she can't answer to why she acted this way. So she went to him, ashamed, hurting and asked him to never speak to her or talk to her, because she couldn't bear it. It hurt too much to be near him and know that nothing could ever come of it except friendship because she acted horribly. Selfishly, Anne asked to never to see each other again. However, in her heart of hearts, she hoped he would refuse, jump up and hold her, tell her he loved her still and that he wanted to be with her. He didn't. He told her that he wanted friendship and wanted to talk as before, but the choice was hers and she couldn't decide when she looked into his eyes.

Maybe after reading this, he will realize just how sorry she is and that if he could ever trust her, maybe she could still love him, talk to him and even be with him someday.

This is all I know. I wish I could give it a happy ending because I like good endings...you guys all know that I like romantic stories (sadly, ;)). This story really got to me because I kind of understand how she feels. The emptiness that one feels inside when you think no one loves you. After you read this, if any of you wants to talk about my past, please call me and I will share it with you. It made me realize just how precious all of you guys are to me and that yes, even though I don't say it often, I do love all of you. One more thing, you know who you are, so please talk to me after reading this.

I just wanted to update you on how my interview went on Tuesday. When I arrived to the office, I met with Phyllis, the office manager. I'm not quite sure how to word it, but she basically told me that she thought I would get very bored with this job. The people in the office know me pretty well, and while I appreciate her honesty, I really didn't want to hear that. To make the long story short, I do have a second interview in the near future (next week or so). I'm just praying really hard, trying to trust God to provide.

Anyway, I really liked this picture as it reminds me of summer. Can't wait! Blessings!

Yesterday, Josh and I arrived to church just in time for the early service at 8:45. We had stayed up late the night before, having forgotten about daylight savings, Josh played his birthday present and I read. We stayed up until around midnight (which in actuality was more like one, since the time change), then had to get up early to make our trek to Hudson. Let's just say it wasn't pretty when it was time for me to get up. :) After the service, Josh went to lifeshaping while I read Frank Pretti in the church library. It was nice to just sit in the quiet and read a fun book. We then stopped at Mom and Dad's for tater-tot hotdish, which was AMAZING! Josh and I were able to see how Anna was faring as well, since she has been so sick lately. It is wonderful how drugs are available to us...Anna was doing well and I got to help her study her chemistry test. It was a fun time to be had.

Jerry, Josh's dad, drove up to Maple Grove to take us out for dinner that evening. It was a late birthday get together for Josh's 27th birthday. It was great to catch up with the news from Des Moines and the food was yummy as well.

I would love it if you would all think of me tomorrow. I have an interview with the company I work for now for a different position. We'll just see what God has in store.

Hope everyone will enjoy the lovely warm weather that is coming our way. I can't wait for warmer weather--to be able to go outside without a jacket--that would be a blessing! Lol!