if there is anything praiseworthy

Philippians 4:8 - "Finally brethren, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is of good report, if there is any virtue and if there is anything praiseworthy - meditate on these things."

Recently I've been nudged towards spending more time in prayer and memorizing Scripture, two things I struggle with. The above verse was in my Bible reading today and just struck me, so I added it to my repertoire of memory verses (all two of them! But hey, it's a start). Hopefully it'll stick and be a good reminder on those days where I just want to complain about everything.

And speaking of praiseworthy, I talked to my mom yesterday and learned that Dad has stopped using his cane almost completely! Praise God!! A couple weeks ago he spoke with his doctor about looking into hemiplegic (spelling?) migraines, which originate in the right side of the brain (that's where the "hemi-" part comes in) and cause temporary paralysis of the left side of the body (hence the "-plegic"). Both Dr. Madney and the neurologist in Missoula thought the migraines could be a possibility so they changed Dad's medication (interestingly enough, if he takes regular migraine meds, it can cause a stroke. Weird.) And voila! He's walking again! Most likely he'll be on these meds for the rest of his life, but hey, if it continues to work, that's a small price to pay for mobility! Thank you Lord! =)

it's been awhile

Apparently I'm a bit of a slacker when it comes to updating my blog...seriously, since July! hahaha oh well. Life has been a bit crazy here, and doesn't seem to show any signs of slowing down right away.

Dad seems to be doing much better. He was able to go to church (and Sunday school! huge blessing for him) with just a cane rather than a walker or not at all. He is still seeing a physical therapist and still tires easily, but hopefully by winter he'll be able to take care of himself long enough for mom to at least work part time. Maybe.

Mark ships out for boot camp next week. Monday afternoon he checks in at Butte for processing, goes through processing Tuesday and flies out Wednesday for Ft. Jackson, South Carolina. He's (understandably) nervous but super excited to get past boot camp to his training: he gets to learn how to repair tanks! He sounds like a kid at Christmas-time when he talks about it. =)

Those are the big updates in our lives. Continued prayers for strength and healing in Dad and safety and mental toughness for Mark would be appreciated. Thanks! =)

why?

What can I say or do that'll make it go away? How do I make the hurt stop? I remember apple picking and going to her baby shower. I had the chance to see her a couple weeks ago and was too selfish, too lazy, too something...and now, it's too late.

I pray for peace and comfort for her family and friends, especially Tim. For healing for Jordyn. For understanding as to why this could happen...

RIP Morgan and Hannah, you will be missed.

the simple things

Steve and I took a walk tonight around the Wetlands here in Zeeland, and it was so relaxing! We spent the better part of half an hour (or more, I'm not really sure) just standing there observing all the millions of tadpoles and listening the frogs croaking excitedly at each other. We wandered around to a different part of the pond and counted at least 12 different frogs poking their heads out of the water! Okay, so one of those "frogs" turned out to be a turtle (!) but still, behind us there were two more frogs, so really, it works out.

We saw a mama duck and her babies and went over to see them more closely, but when we got too close they scurried up the bank into the woods. Steve was a bit disappointed that the ducks "wouldn't come out to play" but we did get a close-up view of a red-winged blackbird. It chattered at us for intruding on its territory.

All in all, it was a very peaceful experience. I loved every single minute of it!

theories on laundry

I was thinking this afternoon while folding laundry, and I decided that this particular household chore (the folding, not the laundry itself) is a waste of time and energy. I mean really, at some point this week we're just going to put these same clothes on (I see the same clothes week after week...hey, we all have our favorites!) and wear them till they're all wrinkly and smelly again. In theory, I could just leave them all in a pile and we could dig through them for what we want.

Ok, so this only works for us in theory because after a while, I would get tired of that massive pile of clothes getting in my way and mingling with our dirty clothes that inevitably never make it into the hamper. Not to mention that while I'm not what you'd call a neat freak, I prefer smooth clothes over wrinkly any day. So, until Steve makes enough money to hire someone to do my laundry, including the folding and putting away part, I'll just have to waste my time...sadness. ;)

all done

So 4 and 1/2 months of training have come to an end: I raced the 5K at the Riverbank Run today. Let me recap a bit of my morning for you:

I left right when I thought I should to get to Elaine's house in time to carpool and have plenty of time before the 7:30 start of my race (hers started at 8). I forgot construction and ended up being 5 minutes late!
So we got a late start but figured we were still doing okay timewise...wrong! We were going to exit at Ottawa Ave. to get to our parking spot but there was a LOOOOONNNNNGGG line of traffic waiting to exit there, so we continued on thinking we'd take the next exit, College Ave. Wrong again: College is closed for construction and the detour sends you on down the road to Fuller, where we exited and headed on our way back to Michigan Ave. By the time we parked and walked back down to Ottawa Ave. and DeVos Place, the loudspeakers were announcing 5 minutes until the start of the 5K!!!!! I hurried and picked up my packet with my bib and time chip in it, and Elaine was amazing and put the chip on my shoe while I pinned on my bib. I made it to the starting line with 3 minutes to spare, only to get caught up in the 12-minute-mile group.
Needless to say, I started the race pretty much at the back of the pack and spent the whole 3.2 miles trying to play catch-up. My chip time will most likely be at least 4 minutes faster than my start-to-finish time but I feel confident that I ran a strong race. I'll probably update later tonite with my times and place, but for now I'm okay with a 34 minute 5K (start-to-finish).
Elaine ran the 10K and ended up running pretty much the whole thing in the rain, but she finished strong and we decided next year we're running the same race. It just wasn't the same without our running buddy there to encourage us when the going got tough!!!!

All in all it was a good experience, and we're setting our sights higher for next year: 25K here we come!!!

EDIT:

I just checked my race results, and instead of shaving time like I had hoped, I ended up running it a couple minutes slower!!! My chip time was 32:06, clock time was 36:14. I had wanted to shave time rather than add it, but I felt more confident about my run today. I don't get it...

celebrity?

I just felt the need to post this. Not sure why, but it is kinda cool that my picture was in the Grand Rapids Press (although I'm not exactly a fan EVER of how I look in pictures!) So feast your eyes!

http://www.mlive.com/news/grand-rapids/index.ssf/2009/04/zeeland_downtown_abuzz_over_pl.html

I would just like to say that I didn't even know this had been published yet. My father-in-law - IN TENNESSEE - saw this before I did!!!!! He was kind enough to send me the link.

Thank you, thank you...I'll be here all week. ;)

grrrrrr...

I should be trying to sleep, but instead I'm sitting here worrying about what my problem is. You see, I'm fine all week; a few mood swings here and there but nothing real serious usually. Then Sunday rolls around and I fall into this serious funk that usually ends up with me pissed off at Steve for absolutely no freakin reason. Then I get pissed at myself for being pissed at Steve and, well, I can't think of a Sunday I haven't cried in over a month. You'd think, what with Sunday being the one day a week we sit and do nothing, I should be well-rested, relaxed, in a good mood, you know, happy. What is wrong with me??!!

If you're one of the 2 people who read this and made it this far, I apologize for whining...I just needed to get this off my chest...again. :-/

love

"It wasn't that it was easy,or that it made me happy,or that I could lie down at night & breathe deep.It was just- Good,I thought,to love" - borrowed from ellery's twitter page

Love isn't easy. I smile as I say this because when I was little, I smirked when adults would tell me that love takes work. They made it seem easy, so I assumed it was. Fast forward 2+ years into my marriage and I have to swallow my pride and acknowledge that, yes, Mom and Dad were right. Sometimes it would probably be easier to throw in the towel and call it quits. But not only is that against everything I believe in, but it's so much more gratifying to work through the issues (regardless of how mundane!) and come out stronger for it. It is good to love; it's satisfying, fulfilling, completing. While once I couldn't imagine ever finding someone to settle down with, now I can't imagine my life without him. No, love isn't easy, but it is so worth the effort it requires. =)

ramblings

I'm not sure what I had in mind to blog tonite...I just wanted to take the time and sit. Not be running off to parties or showers or lunches; just being. Don't get me wrong, I've thoroughly enjoyed the time spent with friends, whether we were catching up or celebrating up-coming marriages. But I haven't been home much these last couple of days. I never seem to understand how much I need my me-time until I don't get as much as usual. It feels, I don't know, stressful? That's not the word I was looking for but I think it describes how I feel. Spread thin; rushing from one event to another, penciling in time for everything and everybody. Right now is me-time. And I have to tell you, it's heavenly. Have a great night everybody! =)

provision

I was doing my quiet time the other day when I was struck by how God has provided for us these last few months and I hadn't taken the time to thank Him. While I was working at O'Charley's, Steve's paycheck was paying for practically everything. And while we stressed and fretted over how we were going to stay on top of bills, we never...and I stress this...NEVER went without. We always had more than enough. And not once did I stop and consciously say "Thank you Father." Unfortunately, my focus was on the negative and I missed the lesson entirely.

I was struck again today by God's provision: My car has been sitting lifeless since the last week of December. Some incredible friends of ours were gracious and let us borrow their car until we got mine fixed. A mechanic friend told us we were looking at $200 to $800 to fix my car (we thought we'd have to replace the flywheel). This week we finally took my car in to get it repaired and I found out today how much it cost: $121.10! It wasn't the flywheel, just a part of it. They replaced the starter drive, charged the battery, and voila! My car runs again! Praise God!!!

Too often I take for granted that I have all my needs - and most of my wants - met in full. What about you? Do you say thanks often enough?

inspired

I was reading xanga posts this evening to kill the time, and I came across one that inspired me. The girl wrote about appreciating the average and seemingly mundane days because there is beauty in everything if we only take the time to stop and take it in. She ended by asking what was beautiful to her readers today, and I was inspired to write down what stood out to me today:

The warm sunshine on a friend's face
Appreciating a cup of coffee at work with a new friend
The tired yet invigorated feeling in my muscles after a long run (with the first friend)
A simple, tired smile on my hubby's face...even after a long LONG day at work

What was beautiful to you today??

an ode to O'Charley's

Dear Chux,
We've had a good run...5 months is nothing to shake a stick at. Our relationship started off a little rocky but we've grown together during this time, and we've had some fun in the process. Of course, nobody is perfect: I dropped trays of food right in front of the people all prepared to consume it and dropped plates of salad on the cold floor. You required time and effort on my part, but we created a friendship unique to itself. However, it's time to say good-bye. It's not you, it's me...I've found something new, something far better than you could ever be for me. Don't be sad...I'll be around. It's time to move on, but we can still be friends...

Yours truly,
Peggy

life as we know it

So, more changes around the Bauman household. Next Friday will be my last day at O'Charley's! Not because I absolutely hated it there or anything, I just have a better opportunity to do something I love for much better money than something I simply like.

Awhile back I was struggling with what I wanted to do with my life, and I think I have it: be a barista. It's relaxing, most of the time it doesn't feel like work at all, and best of all, I don't have to graduate from college to do it!!! I guess I always thought that someday I'd have to grow up and get a "real job" but I'm finding out that maybe that isn't the path for me. And you know what? I'm ok with that. =)

anticipation

This week holds so much for me...not that most weeks don't, but this one is more exciting than usual. I have an interview tomorrow afternoon at a new coffee shop; I'm super excited about all the possibilities that one scribble on my calendar holds!! What if I get the job? Will I be able to continue at O'Charley's or will I quit? What if I don't get the job? What next?

I'm looking forward to running again. Last week I rolled my ankle and was only able to get 2 runs in all week; this week will be better. I'll feel more centered, more normal than I have these last couple weeks.

This week marks the first double I'll have volunteered to work at O'Charley's; I'm a little unsure that I want to be away in the evening for work, but right now we need the extra money. Sacrifices now will be reflected upon later in life when we're comfortable enough that sacrifices are (hopefully) no longer necessary.

This weekend Steve and I will be going to Freeze Out at Lake Ann Camp up north. This is my first time going on any youth event as a chaperone; I'm a little unsure of what to expect. I am excited for the opportunity to grow along with these great kids (and to go snowboarding on Saturday!)

Here's to the unknown...may this week be the best yet of 2009!

Let down

I just got the news: I didn't get hired by Consumers. At first, and I feel kind of bad about this, I breathed a sigh of relief. I was nervous they would hire me and I would have to learn a new job all over again...but now that reality is setting in, I'm very disappointed. This would have been a great opportunity to start a career and make much better money than I am as a server.

The email was short and sweet; nothing personal, just a copy-and-paste letter that everyone else who wasn't hired probably received as well. So here I sit, wondering where to go from here. Any ideas?

resolutions

I know most people make New Year's resolutions, and then proceed to break them a month or so later, but this year, we didn't. Not that we CHOSE not to, we just, well, forgot. That's not to say we don't have goals or things we'd like to accomplish in '09, we just didn't formalize it by saying, "My resolution for 2009 is *fill in the blank*."

Personally, I would like to run a half-marathon. I already started the training process half-way through December, and the fact that 3 weeks later I'm still motivated and haven't given in to my sleepiness in the early morning hours surprises me! When will this half-marathon take place? Originally, May. But plans changed and it's looking like I'll be fulfilling this goal in September.

Then why do I keep training for a race that is nine months away? Because I made another, more superficial goal when I first decided to start this project: I want to be fit when we go to Hawaii in June. Not necessarily skinny or a certain poundage lighter, just fit. So that's what is motivating me currently to continue training.

My wonderful husband also made a goal before the New Year started: he wants to lose weight before Hawaii. He surprised me when he told me he was interested in running a 5K in May, though! My hubby doesn't really enjoy running, so for him to decide this made me almost giddy!! We could finally share in this experience!!! His training doesn't begin until March, so in the meantime, he is just being careful of what he eats and such in order to reach his healthier goal.

So here's to 2009 and everything it holds in store for us...cheers!