Anne Marathon

Happy Sunday! Brother arrives home today from his birthday trip to Orlando - I have to leave in a few minutes to go pick him up from the airport. It was nice having the apartment all to myself for a few days for some quiet and relaxation, but it will be good to have him back.

While he was gone, I took advantage of his absence to have a girls weekend, and most of the ladies from my community group gathered for an "Anne of Green Gables" marathon. We watched the first 4 hours on Friday night and the second 4 hours Saturday morning/afternoon. It was SO much fun! I hadn't seen the movies in a couple of years, even though we've tried to do Anne marathons every year. It was awesome to watch them again and a lot of fun to hang out with friends.

As you know, the brother and I share a tiny apartment, and on Friday night, there were 9 of us crammed in to watch Anne. I took a picture because I thought it was hilarious. It's a little blurry, but at least you get the idea!

One of the ladies brought raspberry cordial - she found the official Anne recipe and made it! It was yummy!

So it was a fun weekend, and I'm trying not to stress out about the fact that it is almost over and I'll have to go back to work tomorrow. I could use a couple of weeks of this relaxation! :)

Matthew is coming to visit us on Friday to spend part of his spring break with us. I am SO EXCITED!!!! I can't wait to see brother and show him around some and just hang out. He hasn't been here since we moved up here, so it will be fun. I'll be posting again soon with updates on Orlando, life in general, and sharing about brother's visit. In the meantime, please keep praying for me and my family as we continue to go through changes, deal with large amounts of stress, and try to rest in God's arms and not panic! :) Love you guys!

An Update

Hi everybody! Happy Monday to you. Did you know that here in the Great White North, the current windchill outside is 12? And we're getting close to April!! Sigh....one day spring will return.

Anyway, I just wanted to put a quick update out there on the blog. I was able to spend the weekend with my parents, and it was a much needed and very helpful break. I was able to relax, catch up on some sleep, get lots of hugs and be snuggled by their cat (who started out as my cat many years ago). The break wasn't long enough, but it helped to bring the anxiety levels way down, and I am hoping and praying that they will stay down.

There is still tons of stuff happening in life, but I know God is bigger than circumstances, and I am hoping my body will now be in a position to follow what my head and heart know. I've never struggled with anxiety in this way before, and it has been quite an experience. I appreciate greatly the encouragement and support from all of you!

I ended up back at the doctor last Thursday because my leg was still swelling some. It appears as though I have either seriously strained or slightly torn my calf muscle. I can feel it when I step or walk a certain way, and there have been times when I could feel the muscle ball up and take forever to relax. I have a cool heating pad thing that you heat up in the microwave, and that is helping. At least it appears to be nothing serious, so that is a stress that has been eliminated.

I'll keep you posted on life and continue updating my blog. There is lots happening and much to share. Counting this week, I only have 13 weeks left of my current job before I'll be moving on to Orlando. Remind me when it's burning hot down there this summer how I felt when the windchill was 12 in March.... :) Have a great week!

A VERY Long Week

Greetings, faithful friends and readers of my blog. I apologize for not posting anything in quite sometime. It has been quite a stretch of time here, and I am just now getting back to posting. Last week was one of the worst weeks I have had in quite some time - work stress, life stress, health stress - all culminating in a few days of experiencing anxiety attacks, which I've never dealt with before. So it's been a little insane. Perhaps at some point I'll go into more details, but I would appreciate any prayer you could send my way as this week unfolds. I am doing better - the anxiety has calmed down a lot, but I am completely exhausted and could use some good nights of sleep. I'm going to Baltimore for the weekend to see my parents - sometimes a hug from mom and dad is needed!! - and I think that will be a good break.

The health stress I mentioned I believe stemmed from the run I went on last Sunday. I never run - EVER - but I guess I was inspired by the sunshine, and I went running without stretching and pushed myself too far. The next night, I did some more exercising that was kind of leg focused, and on Tuesday, my left calf was swollen to twice the size of my right one. Advil took the swelling down, but it was kind of a crazy experience for a few days. I did go to the doctor Friday, and in looking at everything, he didn't think I needed to worry about a blood clot. I have had no swelling since Thursday now, and while my leg is still bothering me as I begin walking and exercising again, I think we're moving forward with it all. I suppose that will teach me to never run again! :)

Anyway, I try to stay real on my blog, and let's face it - sometimes real life isn't pretty. I'll keep you all posted, but thank you for your prayers during a time of high stress. I appreciate you all!

A Beautiful Day

Today was absolutely gorgeous! The temperature was about 54, the sun was shining, and it was glorious! We went to church this morning, which was fantastic, and then I went to the store afterwards. Came home, and I've gotten a lot done - cleaned the bathroom, did lots of laundry, cooked dinner - but I also took time to go for a run/walk and lay on the rocks by the ocean. It was really nice. These last two days have helped us remember that spring will arrive again at some point, but we have a way to go still. It's supposed to start wintry mixing overnight and into tomorrow, turning into all snow and accumulating around 3 inches through the day. Gotta love it!

Anyway, I thought I'd share a few pictures with you. Here is a picture of the chicken pie I made for dinner tonight. Mmm...

Ellie has very much enjoyed the nice weather. She sat in front of the door and in the open window a lot today. She's so cute!!



I hope you guys all have a fantastic week. More posts to come soon!

A Spring-like Saturday

Happy Saturday, y'all! It's so incredibly awesome to have temperatures in the 50's here today! We have a couple of windows open, and Ellie has spent most of the day sitting in them, enjoying the rare warmth. It's kind of weird though because you have this nice weather and then there is still snow all over the ground. It's obviously melting, but when you get 14 inches, it takes awhile to disappear.

Another thing that has made this day fabulous is that the World Baseball Classic started today and the United States is playing Canada. A couple of Braves are on the team, and it's been a lot of fun to watch some baseball again. It makes it seem like spring will really come again. The winters here are so long, and when you hit the month of March, you're so ready for it to be done. Just having one day of mild temps, seeing some baseball....well, it just helps encourage you to hang on! Spring always comes again....eventually.

As promised, I went to take some pictures today. There are a couple of ponds around here, or little inlets from the ocean, that have been frozen over for awhile. I just think it looks beautiful, so I wanted to share that with you today. In the first picture, the front is a little inlet that's frozen and then you can see the ocean on the other side of the divide.



Well, I'm going to go continue to enjoy this most relaxing day. Have a great weekend!

Bowling

I know I promised to post pictures of the snow we received. And we did receive snow - about 14 inches of it! But I have not actually taken any pictures of the snow yet, for a couple of reasons. One - it has been COLD all week! When it first snowed, the windchill was in the single digits and teens. I wasn't really excited about going out in that just to take some pictures. And then I've been working all week, and by the time I get home, it's dark. Have no fear - I will post pictures this weekend of some beautiful scenes. It's supposed to be 54 tomorrow -- YES!!!! -- and I plan to go for a walk with my camera. I know you're thinking that if it's 54, there won't be any snow for me to take a picture of. However, there are a couple of shots I have in mind that should be glorious tomorrow. Can't wait to share them with you!

In the meantime, here is a different picture. Our community group went bowling last night as a "fun night" to have together. Not everyone could come, but this is the group that was there. These are some of my favorite people in the great white north and people that I will miss when I leave.

More blogging to come soon. I will of course post some snow pictures, and I have other things to share too. Have a great Friday!

Sunday Ramblings

Happy Sunday, y'all! Congrats to all of my Georgia family and friends who are enjoying a fabulous snowfall! Isn't watching snow fall so magical? I will say that while I am sick of the cold and dark and brown and blah, I still adore snow. It hasn't lost any of it's magic for me, and I hope you guys enjoy your snow!

One side note - after living up here, I understand why northerners make fun of the way southerners deal with snow. I found it a little amusing when I went on weather.com earlier this afternoon and saw that Georgia is under a winter storm warning because you might get up to 4 inches of snow. We in the great white north are also under a winter storm warning right now.....for 15-18 inches of snow! :) The worst of our weather is supposed to be tonight and in the morning, and I must say that I am praying I won't have to go into work. I plan to take some pictures tomorrow of this massive nor'easter headed our way, and make sure you guys take pictures too!

Today at church, I helped serve communion. The way we do it here is two people serve together, one holding the bread, and one the cup. If you are holding the bread, when someone gets a piece, you say, "This is Christ's body, broken for you." If you're holding the cup, you say, "This is Christ's blood, shed for you." I must say that I love serving communion. If you ever have the opportunity to do so and you get to say something like this, I encourage you to go for it. Do you know how awesome it is to look into the eyes of each person that comes up to you and say to them that Christ's body was broken and His blood shed for them? It's such a powerful reminder that Christ died for all - no matter the shape, size, level of intelligence, status, past choices, etc. - He died for each of us. He loves us that much. As we were serving communion this morning, big fat snowflakes were falling outside. Though our sins were as scarlet, now they have been washed white as snow. Go look at your snow and keep that mental picture in your head. Our God is good.

I'll put up another post as soon as I have some fantastic snow pictures. Enjoy your day!