Breaking the silence.....

There is a very legitimate reason for my lack of posting on my blog in the past month. SO much has been going on, but until now, I feel it was in my best interest to keep it off the internet. I'll write this post how I like to read things - first the news, then the details! So...for the news (if you do not yet know):

I'm moving to TEXAS!!!!!!

Ok, now that that is out of the way....haha! I have accepted a job at the University of Texas - Arlington effective May 4th. I have always said that I will know when it is time to move back home, and for the past year I have felt that time rapidly approaching. At one point, I made a decision that I would move at the end of the semester even if I had not found a job. However...as He always does, God had a plan of his own! When this job came along in late October, I wasn't serious looking because I wanted to wait until the end of the school year. However, I couldn't pass up the opportunity, so I applied. Lots of pieces fell into place - including the morning after I saw the job posting the supervisor of the new job called my current supervisor about the job. The new position is working with a program called Supplemental Instruction, and the center I work in at UMKC is the International Center for SI. I had a phone interview between Thanksgiving and Christmas, and went down for an in-person interview the Friday before MLK Day.

I am excited about being closer to family, and I am looking forward to this career move. This has not been an easy decision for me; in fact, I think this has been the most difficult decision I have ever had to make on my own. I will leave behind some amazing co-workers, a program I have build from the ground up, friends that have become a second family, an amazing city that has four real seasons (!), and many other things. However, at the end of the day, my family is the most important thing to me, and to have an opportunity to be closer to them is priceless.

As the next ten weeks fly by, I have a lot of things to finish up in Kansas City....but on the other hand I have many things I am looking forward to.

When I told my director at work about my decision, he was incredibly supportive and encouraging. He even told me that the hardest part of the process was making the decision, but that once the decision is made, it will all be easier after that. Let me tell you...that is so true! I struggled for weeks and weeks about the decision, and experienced a few sleepless nights, but now I am feeling like my old self again. Even better, I can feel God's hand in all of this. I have been reading and praying and thinking a lot lately, and I can feel the Spirit moving. I can't wait to see where this all leads!

2010...what do you have in store?

Goodbye 2009.....hello 2010!

Wow, 2009 was quite a year. Looking back, it was more eventful than I originally gave it credit for. I moved to a new house; sweated out the loss of a job and change of job responsibilities; spent a week in Vegas, a couple of different week long trips to Texas, and a week in New York; celebrated and mourned my 30th birthday; had major, life changing surgery; gained three new baby cousins - Andrew, Keller, and Dawson; struggled with some life altering decisions; and many other things I can't think of right now!

To be honest, there were many times that 2009 was overwhelming, frustrating, and hard. There were other times that it was fun, carefree, and exciting. Through it all, I can look back and say I am truly blessed.

Over the past couple of weeks, I have given thought to New Year's Resolutions and their validity. I have never really made New Year's Resolutions, and if I did make any, I sure didn't stick with them long. Sure, there are many things I would like to do, and are on my list of things to accomplish/change. I want to do something cool; something great; something inspiring, or at least interesting. When people ask me what I've been up to, or what's been going on in my life, I want to have something to say other than - "oh, the usual; go to work, go home, repeat." I loved the movie Julie & Julia, and found it to be rather inspiring. I want to do something like that, only different. One thing I am certainly trying to incorporate into my every day life is to do things differently once in a while; branch out. It could be something as simple as buying a different kind of cheese (yes, I have done that) or trying a different kind of wine (doing that, too), or it could be more extreme (I'm still coming up with an extreme). I am toying with the idea of training for a half-marathon, but I'm still not sure about it. I haven't been doing a very good job of training for my 5Ks, so I'm not sold on this half-marathon thing yet. So, for 2010, here is my short list of "want tos":
I want to:

• Try new things weekly
• Try many new recipes (I always collect them, then don't try them!)
• Continue to set monthly exercise goals and work to achieve them
• Purge many things that have accumulated in my house
• Write more hand-written notes to friends & family
• Take more time for myself

On top of those, I'm hopeful for a major life change in 2010. I would love for 2010 to find me living south of the Red River once again. I'm not sure exactly how that will happen or when it will occur, but it is a goal. As I anticipate that transition, my heart is aching and hopeful at the same time. I love Kansas City, and I have met many great people here. My heart aches at the thought of leaving these relationships. However, I am hopeful for the future, and confident that this is the best decision for me and for my future.

What about you? What are you looking forward to in 2010?

Christmas in Dallas.....

....is my favorite time of year!!!

I'm still recovering from an action packed Christmas! Mimi and I drove to Dallas this year so we would have more room to bring back presents (haha!). After a 7.5 hour drive complete with a Starbuck's latte, a book on tape, and two spills - my latte and Mimi's water - on my my white shirt, we made it to my parent's house. Every Christmas is fun and special, and this one was no different. I'll admit, I had a lot on my mind and a lot to do the weeks and days leading up to my trip, and I was feeling a little stressed, but once I got in the car a lot of that stress melted away. In addition to lots of family time and delicious food, some highlights of my trip were:

• Seeing Christen and Andrew before they headed back to Boston. I'm so glad I got to see her before baby Rogers comes in the spring!!!
• Spending time with my Aunt Tena, Uncle Steve, Courtney, Cody, Brayden, and Dawson (in addition to my family and Christen & Andrew) at El Fenix.
• Enjoying the day with my Mom's family, including two of my great-aunts.
• One-on-one time with my Gran-Gran (that doesn't happen too often in big families!)
• Dinner with the Dabners and a heated game of Catch Phrase
• Having a girls day starting with manis and pedis with my mom, then getting my hair cut and colored by my favorite stylist, then a girls night out.
• Girl's night out with Denise at Fireside Pies, Urban Crust, and 32 Degrees Rooftop Bar.
• Quality time with Sadie, Andrew, Denise, and Travis
• A White Christmas in Dallas!!!! Beautiful Christmas Eve snowfall.
• Fun family time with my dad's side of the family. Good food, conversation, and games.
• After Christmas shopping at IKEA!
• Watching Blindside
• Getting snowed out of KC and returning a day late!

I hope you had a blessed holiday! I'm looking forward to the new year. God Bless.

Too Cute not to share!

This is my newest baby cousin Dawson at Thanksgiving. He is the sweetest thing, and I loved my time snuggling with him. He is a doll, and my cousin Courtney is the best little mom!
I had a great time in Texas for the holiday, and I would blog about it, but all my pictures are on my mom's camera (that's a hint...!). However, this picture pretty much sums up how I like to spend my time - loving on all the babies in our family! It seems like we have a lot of babies around, but you don't see me complaining!!

It's that time of year again....

Happy Thanksgiving!!!!!

With the holidays quickly approaching, the pace of life quickens with it! As with every year at this time, I enjoy the holidays and the activities that go along with them, but am not so fond of the weather. We have been enjoying unseasonably warm weather in Kansas City for the most part. We've had a few chilly days, and even some snow flurries, but alas....the cold will return soon!

As I prepare for the holidays, I'll share with you a little of what is going on around here lately.

Aside from the weather, I have found myself as busy as usual. Midterms have finally been graded and recorded, just in time for the students to turn in another paper. I'm scurrying to get those done before I leave for Thanksgiving, because they have a final paper due when I get back. Who wrote that syllabus anyway?????!!! haha

Football for the 4th graders is finally over - their season was longer than a high school season! We started in July and finished up last weekend. I served as the team "mom" - meaning I got to do all the administrative stuff like manage the money, sign up for tournaments, communicate all the practice and game schedules, team photos, drink sign up, and end of season party! After a rough start to the season, and a couple of rough games, or guys pulled out a great season. They won the tournament championship, and we celebrated with burgers and candy at Johnny's Tavern! I breathed a huge sigh of relief when the party was successfully over; even thought I miss seeing the kids and some of the parents a few times a week.

With my new found free time, I have been working long hours. It seems like no matter how much work I do, there is always a ton more to get done. That being said, there are many days I do not get very many tasks completed because I experience frequent interruptions. I don't mind them though; they are part of my job. I love meeting with and talking to students, so I try to devote time to every student who comes in our office, especially the ones that need help or are lost. This week has been a small blessing, though, because the students are on Fall Break. That means I'm getting tons of work done!

I am also enjoying cooking more than I have been in a long while. Since my surgery, my appetite is all over the place; some days I am extremely hungry so I snack a lot, and other days food does not interest me in any way. I really haven't been into cooking meals, or the nights I wanted to I was busy with football, so lately I'm enjoying having time to cook. This weekend I made some incredible Cranberry Crumb Bars from the goodLife eats blog - here. Oh....they are yummy! Then I made a quasi-traditional Thanksgiving meal for the roommate and myself. The roommate was traumatize by some poorly made Thanksgiving dishes last year (not made by me I should point out), and since I don't really get to cook for my family due to my travel arrangements, I thought it would be kind of fun. I made a Jenny-O turkey breast (there weren't turkeys small enough for two people!), stuffing, cheesy potatoes, green bean casserole, and wheat rolls. Then, I made an apple pie. Oh...it smelled so 'fallish' in my house this weekend!

Like I said, this week has been filled with checking tasks off my never ending to-do list. I've still got a lot to do, but tonight I'm headed to see my family!

Nothing says holidays like spending time with family. I'll fly in late tonight then drive west tomorrow to spend the day with my Gran-Gran, aunts, uncles, cousins, and my great-cousins. What's a great-cousin you might ask? Well, I have made that definition to describe my cousins children. It sounds a lot nicer and more familiar than 2nd cousin. I digress. We'll cook, eat, clean, watch football, and play games. I'm looking forward to it. Then I'll 'celebrate' Black Friday with my other cousin, and spend the day with my immediate family. Saturday my mom and I plan to participate in a 5K in the morning, then more family fun later in the day. I'll update you when I get back!



What Thanksgiving post would be complete without a list of things I am thankful for this year? I could go on for hours, but I'm supposed to be checking things off my to-do list, so here is everything I can think of in 3 minutes:
- My unmatchable family
- The relationships I have with some of my cousins (and their families and babies!)
- My job (sometimes I might not feel 100% that way, but I am very thankful to have a job when so many do not)
- The time I was able to spend with my Grandmother, Granddaddy, and Paw-Paw, and the time I am still able to spend with my Gran-Gran
- The marvels of modern medicine, and the amazing surgical procedure I was able to undergo
- My two best friends - one who lives close who has shown me what it means to be me, and the other who lives too far way in Indiana, but has taught me that friendship doesn't have to mean seeing each other every day, and it means loving each other for who you are
- Food, and the fact that I don't worry from day to day or meal to meal where I am going to get nourishment
- Freedom. To live, to decide, to move about, to worship, to be.
- My coworkers who make coming to work so much easier
- Education - not just because it is my job, but because it is so important to me. And liberating.
- Target and Kohls (just had to throw those out there to see if you were paying attention - but they are two of my favorite stores!!!)
- Technology - including: computers (w/spell check!), the internet, cell phones, pdas, iPods (which reminds me I need to charge mine for the flight), airplanes, cars, dvrs, tvs, email, etc.
- Sports - especially college basketball, football, and nfl, and golf, and whatever else. Yes, I am thankful for sports. It's a whole other post, but go with me on this one.

Ok, my three minutes are up. Have a great Thanksgiving!!!!

6 month update

Thursday was my 6 month appointment with my surgeon. I hadn't been feeling too positive in the weeks leading up to the appointment because to be honest, my workouts have been lacking. Excuses are for another time, but I really feel like I wasn't doing as well as I should. Also, by this point, there is no more swelling in my stomach from the surgery and recovery, and my actually stomach is starting to adjust to its new 'normal' size. I had been noticing lately that I can eat a bit more than I had been eating in previous weeks. I used to track everything I eat, but I have gotten lazy busy in the past month and a half and haven't been tracking, so it seemed like I was eating a lot more.
Ok, all of that to tell you - I am doing great! I have lost a total of 71.5 pounds! Everyone was pleased with my progress. I don't have to go back for 6 more months. They did blood work this time, and because I'm not the worlds best at remembering to take my vitamins, I figured I'd get a terrible report on that, too, but come to find out, the only thing that didn't look good was my Vitamin D. I blame it on the lack of sunshine lately. I lost quite a few inches over my pre-surgery measurements and my August measurements. If you're interested, the total loss compared to my May measurements are (in inches): Neck - 1.25, Waist - 10.5, Chest - 8.0, Hips - 9.25, Arms - 2.75 each, Thighs - 5.5 each. I am going through clothes like crazy - as you can see from the changes in the measurements! In fact, my mom and I bought a lot of shirts for me at Target the weekend of my birthday in August, and a few of them were too tight. I didn't take them back because I knew they would fit sooner or later - and now, they all fit or are too big. Go figure! The hardest part about that is that I LOVE to shop. It is hard for me not to go crazy and buy some of the cute things I find, so I try to limit myself to one or two things a month. According to the doctor, I have at least 40 more pounds to 'easily' lose, than anything after that he said will come with hard work on my part. Gives me something to look forward to, and make a goal for.
So, I'll try to keep updating the tracker, so you can follow the progress. I wanted to post a picture with this one, but don't have one, but don't worry - I'll have one to post after the holiday!

Plans

I remember in FCA in college, a lot of my friends and I had the same 'favorite verse'. I even remember a overly petty discussion between two people (one of whom may or may not have been me) who both claimed it was 'their verse'. Seriously, like there aren't tons of other verses in the Bible. I digress....the verse I'm referring to is 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 have been thinking a lot lately about my future and what God has planned for me. Certainly I have strong desires in my heart for certain plans, and I want so strongly to believe that they are desires God has put in my heart, and not desires Rebecca has placed there. In the past few days I have been very sensitive to those plans, and have even begun to think about what my life will look like if these things don't work out. Will I be able to be happy? Will I still praise God? Will I be bitter? Will my introverted nature cause me to withdraw even more? What will my motivation be? What will my goals look like?
Then I have other thoughts too, such as: If these desires/plans do not come to fruition, does that mean I have done something wrong? Have I disappointed God? ...beyond repair? Have my past sins cost me future happiness?
Other moments there are thoughts that resemble these: Does God remember me? (I mean, I know I live in Kansas and all, but I *think* I remember reading He hears prayers even when they don't come from Texas.) Has He given up on me? Have I turned my back on Him so many times that He has hardened his heart toward me? How much longer do I have to be in the valley?
I don't share these thoughts, what I share with others are some of my desires (because some are too strong to hold in), and my own personal plans. Of course I have plans - I'm an ISTJ, a classic Type A, a first born! I probably came out of the womb with plans, because trust me - I've been making them ever since! I know in my mind and heart how I want the next few weeks to look, the next few months, and even the next few years. I'm trying to take the proper steps in the directions I need to go to make that happen. I feel like I have been stagnant regarding my place in life for the past three or four years, now I'm ready to move forward again.
I need to constantly remember that moving forward doesn't mean I'm the leader (despite my ISTJ tendencies, Type A personality, or first-born predisposition) - in this case I need to follow. After all, HE knows the plans HE has for me (He even knows the plans I have for myself). I pray I can submit myself fully to His plans, even if they are not my own.