The LIGHT

One of my favorite movies(and a classic if you live anywhere close to Chicago) is the Blues Brothers.  There is one part in the movie where the two guys are in church and suddenly the sun shines through the window and the reverend is yelling "Do you see the light??!!  Do you see the light??!!"  And the guy (Jake) starts going crazy yelling "I see the light!!"  -Then he starts to do back flips....

I thought of that just now because OHHH baby I can see the light!  More like I can see the light at the end of the tunnel.  Even before we got married Mark kept telling me that he would get me to Indiana so we could live there.  When that didn't happen before the wedding I was devastated.  But he kept on saying that he would get me back to Indiana.  I still doubted that.  Especially after we started looking into immigration and I realized that I couldn't sponsor him to immigrate if I couldn't support him financially.  So over the past couple of months I have been searching the internet for any open teaching positions for the upcoming school year so that I could sponsor him to move.  So far, no dice.  But lately Mark has been having conversations with his brothers.  Conversations about expanding their company to Indiana and Mark running it out of Indiana.  They are eager to do it because it will help the business they already have.  Mark is eager to do it because it has major potential to be successful.  I am eager to do it cuz it gets me out of Canada, and back home.  And if he is part of their company, the company can help him with the immigration. 

So now you see what I mean by seeing the light at the end of the tunnel.  It will still take awhile for it to happen.  But hopefully by this time next year we will be moving.  Big potential and hoping that it will all work out.  There is light at the end of the tunnel, and it is making me happy.

Quick update

The 1,000 page biography of Queen Elizabeth I am reading is beckoning me from my nightstand.  I started reading it in December.  After renewing it from the library a million times I am finally down to the last hundred pages and am determined to finish it as soon as I can!  You may consider it to be a dull read, but I am finding it fascinating and have dear heart to thank for recommending it to me.  But my next book selection is going to be something a little lighter.

Anyway, I wrote all that as a way of explaining why this is going to be a short little update on things.

The running, and WILLPOWER of last week died.  The running died for 2 reasons. 1) My foot hurt.  Like it really hurt.  Like I have been limping on it all weekend long.  Knew I had to stop running to give whatever was wrong a chance to heal.  Today was the first day that it didn't hurt too badly, so the rest is working and hopefully I will be back at it again soon. 2) Had to stop running because the temperature DROPPED!! It is mid April and it feels like winter....and the snowflakes that were falling yesterday and today didn't help either!  I want SPRING!!!

The willpower hasn't totally died, although I did happen to make a cheesecake dessert tonight...I couldn't resist.

To end I will just share this happy/sappy marriage moment.  Last night Mark and I decide to go to bed early (12am.....he is such a night owl and it has rubbed off on me-although I get to sleep in)  But when we got in bed we ended up talking for over and hour.  Those late night in bed conversations are some of my favorite and make me very happy, and so thankful that I have such a completely wonderful husband.

Here I go again on my own

WILLPOWER baby!!!!!!!!!! 
I had such an amazingly successful day yesterday!!  It did take me a little bit to get going and actually get my mind set on running 3 miles.  But it was such a nice day! 70 degrees for the first time since what September??  So I went and I ran.  And OHHHH  baby did I ever run!! 3 miles in 23 minutes!!! I totally don't have any idea how that happened!! I haven't run 3 miles since 2009.  And definately haven't run at an 8minute pace in that long either.  Sooo proud of myself!

The other things on the list were all successful too.  I stayed away from the cookies, I cleaned, I did something nice for somebody else, and I tried really hard to get my mind in a good place and be okay with everything.

Sooo today.  I was definately sore so opted out of running again today.  But I didn't eat junk, so I am feeling good.  ALSO, I spent some time this morning applying for 2 more teaching jobs that came up.  Here is the thing...I am trying really hard to get my mind right with everything.  Life in Canada, you know.  So the last job I applied for made me feel really depressed.  Today I felt good.  So the WILLPOWER is working for me.

Tomorrow I am going to attempt the 3 miles again.  Will take more WILLPOWER because it is only gonna be in the 40's.  I will keep you posted though.

Let my love open the door

The phrase for tomorrow is WILL POWER.

Tomorrow I am going to run 3 miles.  I don't remember the last time I ran 3 miles.  Probably not since 2009.  Yikes.  WILLPOWER!

Tomorrow I am gonna avoid those chocolate cookies. WILL POWER!

Tomorrow I am going to get lots of cleaning done because let's face it, it's been awhile.  WILLPOWER!

Tomorrow I am going to do something nice for somebody else because I really haven't in a long time.  I used to be so good at doing nice/random things for people...lately, not so much.  WILLPOWER.

Tomorrow instead of sitting on my butt wishing I looked the way I did in 2006 I am going to get up and do something about it.  WILLPOWER!

Tomorrow I am not going to think about what may or may not happen in the coming months.  I will live in the moment and enjoy my day for what it is, and WHERE it is.  WILLPOWER!

"I'll give you a four leaf clover, take all the worry out of your mind.  I HAVE THE ONLY KEY TO YOUR HEART.  I CAN STOP YOU FROM FALLING APART. RELEASE YOURSELF FROM MISERY. Only one things gonna set you free.  That's my love. Let my love open the door to your heart."

Ecclesial retreat and the kid next door...

So the other week our ecclesia had a retreat.  So for your reference it would be like Attica, or fall conference but with the whole ecclesia not just the teens.  So it was a weekend event.  Get it? Ok, moving on...
So unfortunately Mark and I got placed in a room that apparently wasn't heated so I got a cold.  But that really isn't part of the story.  Our room also happened to be placed under the main hall where everything took place.  Our room was also placed next to a mom and her 9 yr old son.  It didn't take long to discover that the walls were paper thin and you could hear people in the next room who were talking in a regular voice.

So on night one I went to bed at about 11.  There were still a lot of people awake upstairs so noise was still traveling through, as well as being able to hear people walking around.  So the kid next door to me was quite upset by this noise.  I am quite old enough to know that there was nothing I could do about it and the noise would die down eventually.  The kid next door was not old enough to realize these things.

So he pretty much through a tantrum that his poor mother had to deal with.  He was waaayy bent out of shape by the noise and was begging his mom to go upstairs and tell them all to be quiet....something she wasn't going to do since there were about 20 ppl up there making the noise.  So she went upstairs either to appease him, or to go socialize herself.  So left alone in the room next door, his frustration finally came out.
"Shut up you losers!"  "I'm trying to sleep here!" He yelled.  He then proceeded to kick the wall while he yelled these things. 
It made me laugh.  Just one of those things where I felt bad for the kid, because I was trying to sleep through the noise too.  But his reaction was just sooo over the top that it made me laugh. 

That's the story for now.......Sarah and Jeremy are having a boy!!

Mamma Mia!

Well here we go again.  So I did a little bit of checking yesterday and discovered another social studies opening in Indiana.  This one is way out in the middle of nowhere.  At least an hour from my parents.  It is between my hometown and West Lafayette(the location of Purdue University).  Super small school system.  So I started filling out the application last night only to become so incredibly frustrated that I had to give up on it.  It was irritating me so much that I eneded up taking a bath to relax.  I was seriously frustrated so it required a serious bath with candles, bubbles, music and some wine.  Thankfully that helped me calm down and I was able to finish the application this morning.

Besides the people that read this blog, Mark, and my Mom, I haven't told anybody that I have been applying for jobs.  It is just one of those things that I am investing soo much emotion into that I only feel comfortable letting the people closest to me know.

I have been getting along with dear heart really well lately which is nice.  I don't know what it is, but I have just really enjoyed talking to her lately.  She used to always drive me a little crazy.  But lately it has been nice.  Now that she is retired I tend to call her more. She is always good to tell me all of the latest stories about Caroline and the crazy things that girl does.  It makes me happy.

Something else that makes me happy is watching Mamma Mia. (If you haven't seen it you need to do so immediately!!)  This is the second time that I have watched it in a week.  Without fail it puts me in such a good mood!

Last topic for today is just a simple observation.  Has anybody else noticed that like a ton of christos are preggers right now???  I know at least 8 people that are expecting right now!  Just thought I would throw that out there.  But don't worry, I'm several years away from drinking that water....Gotta get out of Canada first.  I can't have my kids thinking that milk in a bag is normal.  :-)

These are a few of my favorite things....

I just thought it might be fun to give you a list of some of my favorite and slightly unknown favorite things and random facts.  Just for the sake of randomness...
*My favorite childhood movie was Rookie of the Year. About a kid who gets to play for the Chicago Cubs.
*My favorite book is The Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya sisterhood...I have read it too many times to count.
*My favorite ice cream is a reeces peanut butter cup blizzard from dairy queen.
*I once asked a guy out using lyrics from a backstreet boys song. (I was 14 let's chalk it up to teenage stupidity and move on....btw-i was rejected. lol!)
*My favorite alcoholic drink is anything that has alcohol in it. (If we are drinking tequila, I can drink Mark under the table)
*I have never felt more at peace and have never felt closer to God as when I was at Yosemite National Park.
*My favorite movie is the Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants (Part 1 and 2) -Nothing makes me happier then stories about friendship
*Nothing feels more like home than sitting on the shore of Lake Michigan looking at the Chicago skyline in the distance.
*Nothing calms me down like blaring music and speeding on a country road at sunset with the cornfields flying by.
*The best answered prayer I ever got was when Caroline Grace was born, and she brings a smile to my face whenever I think of her.
*My nicknames....when I was little my dad always called me binky.  A lot of my cousins call me Meg, which I love. My sister Sarah and cousin Kerri started calling me MegMeg at Hanover as a joke to make me mad...but it stuck.  Soon all of the Hanover crowd was calling me MegMeg. MegMeg turned into MeyMey when Caroline was learning to talk and couldn't get the G sound.  She's 5 and I love that she still calls me MeyMey. -I will never be Aunt Megan...I will always just be MeyMey and hope that my soon to come nephew and still don't know the sex will call me MeyMey too.  Random fact in Chinese Meymey means little sister...Sarah found that out and thought it only made the name more appropriate.
*My favorite moment was when I said  "I do"
*My first boyfriend asked me out at Hanover at "the point".  A place that overlooks the Ohio River. My last boyfriend (now my husband) asked me out at the same place.
*My favorite place in Chicago is the Art Institute.
*My favorite place in California is apart from the obvious Yosemite is Huntington Beach.
*My best birthday was my 23rd.
*My favorite day of randomness was 4th of July 2009
*My favorite songs that put me in a good mood are The Joker by the Steve Miller Band and Stay With Me by Rod Stewart
*Things that I hated as a kid that I like now: Ketchup, Hamburgers, most veggies.
*Favorite road trip was with Sophie to see No Doubt in San Diego
*My eyes are blue/green. They look blue when I wear blue and look green when I wear green.
*When I hear any songs from the Disney Jungle Book I think of my mom...she always sang them when I was little and danced around to them.
*My favorite Idyllwild moment was listening to my friends sing Sanctuary.
-I guess that is all for now. I keep thinking of more and more to add, but nobody will read it if it's too long. I will have to do another one of these posts sometime since there seems to be a lot that I can put in.