So at some point on Friday afternoon I got a bit bored of watching tv and I walked out onto my balcony and just stood there and looked out. It was a beautiful day... a bit warm... but there was a really nice breeze. And my balcony was shaded... so it was great. And I just sat there and was watching life go by and I realized that I really don't take enough time for myself. I let life fly by around me and I think that I miss it a lot. I think that most of us miss it a lot. I realize that I am truly blessed this summer because I have the opportunity to really enjoy those little things. I have a lot of time to myself where I'm not going to be busy... so I need to take advantage of that. It seems like such a stupid little thing... just standing on the balcony, letting the breeze hit me, and just having a moment of quiet to myself. No TV, no radio, no nothing... just nature (and the cars driving down the street) :) One of my favorite prints that I have is of two white chairs sitting on a deck overlooking the beach.
(FYI... this isn't the exact picture... but I couldn't find the print I have online... so this is close)
I always think of it as something I'd love to have at retirement... I always envision an older couple occupying those chairs and just sitting back and enjoying life around them... with the waves crashing in the distance. Sitting out on the balcony made me feel like I was getting that moment to myself. It was definitely a nice change... and something that I need to take more advantage of this summer.
In other news... so I was just chatting with Katie today and found out that two girls that I was friends with in Iowa (who were in the same program as I was) have either had babies or are pregnant now. I'm telling you... Iowa is just a breeding ground!!! And everyone in Iowa has boys... we have no clue how this happens. But every single female who has worked in a lab in Iowa (doesn't matter what department it is) and gets pregnant ends up having a boy. I know in my head that one shouldn't have anything to do with the other... but those odds are just crazy if you ask me!!! So yeah... everyone is wondering what effect being in Iowa may have on me... especially since I did half of my time there and half in Chicago. :) I told them that they will just have to keep on waiting since that isn't in the plans anytime in the near future!!! But it was weird to hear about all of my friends being pregnant and having babies. Those are the times that I feel like I'm somehow "behind." And I will admit that it isn't as bad now that I'm dating Mark... I feel like I'm "catching up" in some way. But it's still strange.
I got my Augie magazine this week... I love getting that magazine... I don't know why. But I love reading what people in my class are doing... always looking to see what names I recognize, etc. Maybe it brings me back... I don't know. I do love it though. But it is strange to watch the phases that my classes went through. When we first graduated, there were TONS of wedding announcements... all the people who met at Augie and got married. Then a couple years went by and there would be more wedding announcements, but also people graduating with their masters. Now the big announcement is babies. All those people who got married are having babies. I'm guessing the next big group will be the people who finished med school and perhaps some PhD's. (We'll see how long it takes Augie to put my update in there). And of course there will be more babies... some are already on their 2nd!! It's just crazy to read that sometimes. I love to see where life takes different people... but yeah. Crazy.
What else? This weekend was graduation party weekend. Mark's sister, Mary, had her party... so I was at Mark's house meeting tons of family (and I only remember some of their names). It was fun. His grandparents were there and they are so cute. They call me little Stacey, of course... LOL Granted, his grandma isn't THAT much taller than me!!! I guess they asked Mark when I had left if our relationship was "serious" and he said yes... his grandma was happy... because "she likes me." LOL So that was good. Then I was at another graduation party for a friend at church. His parents (especially his mom) are kind of my "church parents." When I went on a missions trip to Mexico several years ago, Wendy was the one who stayed with me when I was sick and fed me Gatorade and other food to help me get better. Of course, she's a mom to almost everyone in the church!! LOL Anyway... her son finished high school and all of the church group was over for the party... so it was a good time. Fun to see everyone (until the t-storm hit... and then that was the end of the party... especially the pool part of it all!!) Then I drove back to Mark's just to spend some time with him. We watched a movie and ended up both falling asleep (yes, we are old farts... this is the excitement of our lives... what can I say?) I really have to say that getting to spend 6 hours a week with my boyfriend is really NOT cutting it. I'm sure it doesn't help that we got spoiled two weeks in a row when we went to Utah for Amanda's wedding and then I was out in Arizona for Memorial Day weekend... and we had lots of time to spend together. And now we get a matter of hours when he's home. It sucks. So yeah... I can't wait unti July 12th when he's home for good. I am very obviously NOT a long distance person. And I'm realizing that I don't think I'd be happy if my significant other had to travel a lot... so at least I'm learning that now. I know in the end that this is probably good for me and Mark... that somehow it is strengthening our relationship and such. I think it's just hard because when we do get to see each other, we're so busy on those weekends with different activities with family and friends that we aren't getting time together. And that is hard. But I know it will be over sooner than I think... so that will be good. And hopefully I won't have to do this again for a LONG time (never would be nice... but I'm not that delusional).
What else?? So Amanda text messaged me last night to tell me that her nieces were going to be on the front page of the Chicago Sun Times... and sure enough... they were!!
Now granted, they got in the paper for a not so good thing... some stupid person stole their lemonade stand!!!! Seriously... who steals a lemonade stand?!?!? But it was cute to see the girls on the front page of the paper. Marcelite has some great quotes in there (you'd never know she was 5!!). And I'd like you all to know that she is my "best wedding friend." She and Lucinda were flower girls in Amanda and Rich's wedding... and Marcelite always would stand next to me since she would follow me down the aisle. So that is how I earned such an honor. :) By the way... all I have to say is that only in Wheaton or Naperville would kids earn $51 at a lemonade stand. People seriously have TOO much money!!! But I'm glad it helped the girls out... :)
What else? I don't know... I think that's about all of the news right now. We talked about spiritual gifts in church today. I love talks on that... I wish more people would take advantage of their gifts and really put them to good use. I think I'm going to take one of the online tests that I think is pretty good today just to see where my gifts are. I know which ones I'm usually high in (encouragement, teaching, and leadership) but I like to check to see if they change at all as time goes on. It is good to see that my chosen field of teaching is something that I am theoretically gifted at. But it also reminds me how much I enjoyed being a Bible study leader. I really want to do that again... and I think I'm going to talk to Chris (our pastor) about starting something up again. I really miss my weekly meetings with my girls... just having a chance to talk about life and really dig into the Bible, etc. So we'll see if maybe something can get started again. I heard today at Panera that the numbers for the second service (the traditional service that typically has more of the older members of our congregation) are starting to dwindle. But the numbers in the first service are rising dramatically... I can't say I'm surprised... especially with our new pastor. And while I do think it's sad to lose some of our older crowd... at the same point... a growing church requires younger congregation members. So I think that is going to change things in our church and get some new directions... which I am excited to see. We are going through the book of Numbers this summer at church... and you'd think that it would be really dry and boring... but it is really interesting. Chris is pulling some great stuff out of there and showing us how it relates to our own lives. And I just love that. It has been a long time since I've had a pastor take Biblical passages and relate it to my life. So yeah... it's really good. Now I just need to get my spiritual life at home back on track...
Anyway... that is the scoop over here. I'm going to go work on my lesson plans for this week. I feel like my class was kind of boring on Wednesday and Thursday... so I want to try to liven things up... get my students more involved. Make things a bit more real. Something. It's Biology... I've got to try something!! So that's the plan... and I should probably clean up my place and get some things organized because it's a pit right now. 4 classes of paperwork with no office to store it in at school is making my own office and living room at home become a pile of papers. NOT good. I think it's time to go through my file cabinets of papers from grad school and start dumping... I'll have to tell the Johnsons that if they need some kindling for their fire... I've got LOTS of paper to donate!! :)
And on that note... I'm off for now... I hope you all had lovely weekends... and hopefully Monday won't seem so bad... :)
No comments:
Post a Comment