Snow Day

Today is the first true day of snow on the ground (that hasn't melted off.) And the only thing I can say is this: it is making me grumpy.

I do love seeing snow fall outside my window, I love the beautiful fresh blanket that lies untouched and glittering on the ground.

However, the beauty is greatly overshadowed by the fact that my miniature sad excuse for a car (honda civic 2 door) cannot, even with the aid of snowtires, safely get out of the parking lot at my apartment complex. That's right.

There's a little hill that you drive up and over to get onto the street. My toy like car does not have the guts, weight or grip to get up over that hill.

Also, a big thank you to the fact that now my apartments are responsible for our own snow removal but have not been equipped with the equipment to scrape the driveway, and thus enable tenants to safely leave the premises. One option: back up, gun it and pray to the Lord Almighty that there are not cars coming from both directions ready to send me to the pearly gates.

*sigh*

Anyone wanna lend me a jeep??

The Adventures of a Wintery Day

Because I'm not yet a camera-wielder, all the pictures here are from google!

My day:

-Get up at 7 to unlock the laundry rooms and workout room (the perks of being a manager? boo!), slipped twice AND FELL on the:

-Realize that if I don't hurry up and get to les schwab, they'll be packed with Round 2 of the people that waited until the 2nd snow to get snowtires put on.

-Thank Jesus for having me in bed early last night so I had enough sleep to get up and out in the

cold.

-Go to my parents house to get my snowtires, greeted by my handsome father all dressed up for the office and pulling my tires out of the shed. What a good dad.

-I finally get to Les Schwab - Three hour wait! yep, that's right. 3 HOURS.

Thankfully, I brought entertainment:

I thought this book was going to be a comedy when I first got it from the library - nope, not a comedy. However, it is an excessively good book. I'm almost done with it and I'm excited to read more of his work.

After 2 and a half hours of waiting, my papa brought me coffee and took me to sonic for breakfast while we waited for my car to get finished.

Then, i came home, showered the cold away and took a nap. What a great way to spend an hour, I tell ya.

Now, I'm sipping on:

and attempting to do

(doesn't that look exactly like me?! I KNOW!)

I haven't procrastinated as badly as I normally do, so I'm proud of myself. However, my laziness is manifesting itself in a new way: Both my toes and tea are cold and I haven't had the motivation to turn the heat on or go reheat my tea. :) Oh well, one step at a time!

Love

Rachel

The Journey of the year 2010

It's been about 11 months since i've updated. Being a surprisingly diligent blog follower, I am not nearly as diligent of a blog writer. But I want to start documenting again.

Over the last year, I've had a lot of transitions. One of them has been in my body shape/image/identity. Last year on Weight Watchers I lost just about 40 pounds. Hurray! What an accomplishment! I felt so good and I looked so different. But then, once January hit, I stopped losing. My motivation faded and once I got married in August, i started to gain. I've gained probably 10-12 pounds back. In the course of the past 6 or 7 months, my situation has changed and put more focus on outer be

auty. I started doing makeup artistry and my love of makeup has reached nearly obsessive (youtube, you have not helped this.) I started working at a fashion boutique where appearances REALLY mattered. The things I had learned on my summer of no makeup/fashion had started to fade and I began to need my security blanket of makeup and clothing again.

When I stopped wearing makeup, my skin cleared up and I felt comfortable in MY face.

This face, with NO MAKEUP!

This

(This was 1 week after EuroQuest in 2008)

I felt so happy and beautiful here. It's prophetic that my hair dye washed out, too (the blond in my bangs was purple before I left for EQ) God was changing my image of myself - not only physically but in every way. I learned that I am a lot more capable than I thought I was. I learned that God

was SO big, in control & so much more faithf

ul than I had thought. He rocked my world. When I look at that picture, my heart gets a little sad. I miss that summer so much but even more than that, I miss having such a vibrant relationship with the Almighty. In the last 2 years, my life has changed so drastically. I've gotten engaged, quit 1 job, started another, planned a wedding, got married, moved out of my parents house, started a new job, held both for a while, started a new term at COCC, started a freelance makeup business and gotten hired as an assistant manager for a property management company.

I suppose it makes sense that in this year, I'd get a little lost.

So that's where I am right now. Feeling a little lost in the whirl of all this transition.

"Where are you in all this, God?" I've asked. Even more than the asking, I have seen God move so much in this year. He has led Chris and I through so much even in the first 3 months of our marriage. I've learned that God is faithful, that He provides. I've learned that His hand is upon us and He is a God full of Grace! I've learned that His eyes are on us and leading us even before we realize it. With this new job as the Asst. Manager, I had no intention of leaving my boutique job. I loved it, I thought the business was doing well. Then out of the blue, I got offered the job with the property management company. Chris and I had interviewed before we even got married and someone else had gotten the job. Well, he didn't work out so they offered the job to us. I was set on saying no and turning it down until I learned of the tough financial situation my job was in.

I had no idea my job wasn't secure....but God did, and he made arrangements to provide before I ever knew I needed his provision. What a good God!

In this transition, I've lost a bit of who I thought I was and I think I'm finding it. I plan on starting Weight Watchers again in January. I want to take care of the body God has given me in a way that would honor Him. It's so hard in this world we live in where bodies are ugly if they are big and we are bad if we are overweight. Even the skinny girls can have such skewed views of their bodies. Our culture trains us to hate our bodies, to force them into submission at any cost and dislike them enough to be motivated to pursue perfection at any cost. But this view is one that I want to reject. In my pursuit of weight loss, I want "feeling good" to be my main motivator. I want "being physically able to do wh

at I want" to be a motivator. I want "to live a long time" to be my motivation. I realized tonight that the mental energy I will spend on planning healthy meals and eating mindfully will be equal to the negative mental energy I spend on regretting choices, feeling overweight and being dissatisfied with my appearance.

My handsome husband is wanting to work out and lose weight too. What a great motivation!

(Look how cute my hubby is)

So, long story long, I'm excited to pursue wellness for my body. Even more importantly, I want a vibrant relationship with Jesus again. Praise the Lord that He is patient and good and understand the process. Oh, He is good!

I hope to blog more about my progress, for myself (even if no one reads this.)

Dear Jesus,

I surrender this process to You. Please help me be patient and full of grace for myself and Chris as we seek to honor You with the condition of our bodies. Put us in a place where we can be filled by you and then pour out to others. You are SO good. Thank you for your hand on us this year and in the future. Help us know the real You, beyond speculation or just our own ideas.

We love You and want to honor you

In Jesus's name,

Amen.