Lotsa Changes

Bear with me, while I try and figure out HTML. You may have already noticed, and will continue to notice, different templates and colors until I find something I like.

Great Day

After Friday's dullness, today was spectacular. Last night was the first night in a week where I slept the whole night, rather than waking up around 3 am for no good reason. Must have been stress. Then off to church without too much rushing...always a good sign for a pleasant morning. Ran into the couple we met last week, made a point to say hi to a couple we knew before attending this church, figured out which community group to go to, good sermon, met another random person (they all just love to say hi to you at this church if they don't recognize you - I love it!), ate a blueberry bagel. All in all, a pleasant morning. I conveniently didn't remind Luke that we were supposed to run today for our marathon training and took a short nap instead. Our community group met at 5 this evening, and it was so nice to have lengthy conversations with people at our new church. They're all families with young children, and it seems like most of the couples had/have careers before starting a family, so Luke and I are a bit younger and definitely at a different stage in our lives. But, we absolutely loved our time there tonight. We were really hoping to meet a couple our own age that we could get to know and be able to call up and go out with. I'm praying that God has that in mind for us here in Austin.

Then Luke and I spent some time at Barnes where he read a book and I copied recipes out of magazines (to avoid spending the money on them) - always a nice free date. Haha - our dates these days are inventions in budgeting - when we do go out, it has to be free. When we were dating and didn't have any responsibilities, we ate out all the time and went to movies. That was also in Waco, where a movie costs $5 (for students). Even our first year of marriage, we had the luxury of eating out. But this move to Austin - it's really taken a toll on finances, mostly due to rent, so we don't get out much, which is sad, since Austin is such a cool city. But, if the great employers of Austin feel the need to call me up for an interview soon, then things won't be quite as tight, and we'll be able to put nearly my whole salary into our house fund. Keep praying for me, that I'll find the right job soon.

Yay for an encouraging day, when life was starting to look a little dark. God knows just what we need, and doesn't deliver a moment too soon or a minute too late. My faith is definitely being tested and strengthened with this move. It's a hard process at times, but He is always faithful.

And they said you couldn't die of boredom

I walk in circles around my kitchen. I walk upstairs and circle my bedroom. Then back down to circle the living room. Molly follows me EVERYWHERE. I can't escape her. She incessantly rings the bell to go sit outside, but she doesn't just sit there. The second I turn my back, she's trying to wriggle through the hole in the fence. I'm getting dumber by the minute from lack of stimulation.

Resolutions

1. To lose weight and get in shape.

Isn't that everyone's resolution at the start of each new year? Ours is a little delayed in starting, due to traveling, ice storms, and a little laziness. So, Luke and I started training today for a half-marathon. My goal is to eventually run a full marathon, but baby steps people, baby steps. We have a schedule made up, and we ran, or rather we walked with some jogging thrown in there, 4 miles today. Not bad for me! Luke barely broke a sweat though. Molly needed exercise after being cooped up inside for a week, so we dragged her along with us. When we finally made it home, I think she was actually mad that we took her that far, and this dog never runs out of energy. She wouldn't come inside - just glared at us and flopped on the grass. At least that's my interpretation - she's hard to read.

My legs are going to ache tomorrow! But at least I have nice new running shoes.


2. Get involved in a church here in Austin and meet people.

We have started attending All-Saints Presbyterian, and we really like it. The preaching style is a little different than what we're used to at Redeemer in Waco, but the message is always good. I've been praying that we'd meet some people here in Austin, and we sat next to a very nice couple today...the guy is the RUF intern for UT, and his wife was really sweet. We also met a nice man walking to our car today. It'll take some time, because it's hard for me to get out there and meet new people. But God is gracious, and I thank Him for the little things like this. Praise God it was sunny today too! First time in a week. I think everyone was in a good mood because of it.

More to come about our endeavors in marathon training. I must be crazy!

Freedom!

The ice is melting, and we've finally been able to escape from our home. It took us an hour to free Luke's car from the ice yesterday, with the help of our very kind neighbor Bill. He and his wife are from Massachussetts, and had some handy ice scrapers. They just moved to Texas a few months ago, thinking it'd be warm here. Oops! Not this week.

Took Molly to the vet to get her mouth fixed (see The Denning family blog for more details). Was much cheaper than we thought it would be, which was a total answer to prayer.

Still waiting to hear about a job - keep me in your prayers as I wait. The ice storm has delayed the process, but hopefully I'll hear soon.

Started a new post for the family, and I had the hardest time. But I think I've finally got it! I'll put a link up on this one soon, so you can read what's going on with the rest of the fam.