It's about time...

...for a new blog! It seems like everything else is new in my life right now, so why not write a new blog??

Anyway, the last several months have been a whirlwind for the Martins. Brothers got married on both sides, and we gained two new sisters, which is always fun. Our first child never made it into the world and is now enjoying eternity with Jesus. My car died and we bought a small SUV, which will be perfect for moving things to our new (rented) condo, where we will be moving to September 15th. We also just switched churches due to Joe's new job. Joe started a new semester at school and next week I start a few classes, one through the seminary and one at our new church. Our world is sort of in an upheaval.

During times like this it's usually a big struggle for me emotionally. I tend to hate change. A lot. Not all change, mind you. I love when people's hearts change, my own included, to become more like Christ. It's the things that facilitate this change that I have a harder time with. It's not always easy to trust God with the loss of a child, or when a car breaks down at one of the most inconvenient times financially in our lives. It's hard to start over when you feel comfortable where you have been. I'm sure there are other things that I would have an even harder time trusting God with. However, Romans 8:28-30 has been a huge comfort to me during this time and I am having an easier time adjusting to everything than I normally do. It seems natural almost to draw closer to God when I am hurting or questioning or worrying.

I want to encourage anyone who is struggling in any area of their lives with these verses. God IS good, and He IS in control, and nothing takes Him by surprise. Ultimately, we can take what happens in life and use it to glorify God and become more like him, or we can wallow in our self-pity and heartache. I happen to be much less miserable when I choose the former. It's kind of scary to me when I re-read this; I sound like my parents!

Anyway, I'll leave you all with that. Maybe it won't take me so long to write again.

Blood and the Internet

Being that I'm stuck at work on a beautiful Saturday (or not so beautiful, seeing as how I have no windows here in the lab), I figured I would take this time to update my blog since they have taken down the firewalls on the internet for the time being. I hope they don't put them back up for a long time; I could get used to being able to surf the web at my leisure on my weekends here. So far, my day has consisted of looking at a few things under the microscope, running a few blood tests, facebook stalking, attempting to watch parts of a movie, and checking my email. Maybe I will even try to fix the horrible formatting job I did the last time I updated my blog. Beth's new look for her's has inspired me.

Anyway, not a whole lot has happened since the last time I was on here. Maybe I should've read what I wrote so I would know if that was true or not. I am sending in our taxes finally tonight. They have been done for a long time; I am one of those people that gets them done the day the last W-2 comes in the mail. That is probably because I've always received a large refund in the past. This year we are sending the government a large check, which is why I have held off on sending them in for so long this year. It's sad to me to have to send that in, as I could pay off almost half of one of my student loans with that money, but such is life.

On a brighter note, we are getting some new dishes today. The first year we were married, we did not have a dishwasher and while many of our dishes were in the dishrack drying, our evil cat decided to push the whole thing off the counter and many of them broke or were chipped. We have been setting money aside in a "home improvement" fund and decided that we would finally replace them with these:



I am really excited to have a full set of dishes again. They shouldn't chip as easily, either, since they aren't stoneware. While we're talking about home improvement, I've also had my eye on this for our apartment:


Maybe in a few months:)

For the few who read this, this is what happens when I have too much time on my hands. You get images in your blog postings. Too bad I don't have my own computer so there are no pictures of anything of any real significance. Now I will see if this actually looks halfway decent or not. If not, I guess that's what all this time on my hands is for.

Another day, another dollar

I am done working for a whole week and am ready for the break. Today went by quickly at work, but it was exhausting. I had no help for a few hours and between answering phones and performing one of the main tests we do manually, as our instrument was down for about 8 hours, I was running around like a chicken with my head cut off. I was thankful that I had a long hiatus ahead of me. I have been working around 50 hours a week to help out my boss because the lady who works opposite of me broke her arm and had to have surgery on it, so she really can't do anything that our job requires of her. While the larger paychecks are nice, I am ready for her to come back.

I guess in some ways I have been glad for the extra hours in that it gets me out of the house more. When I'm at work I don't always feel that way, but the house gets lonely during the week sometimes when Joe is at work. There are nights when I am extremely productive-I get lots of cleaning and other things done that I have been wanting to do for a while but haven't had the extra time to do. I already have our taxes finished up for the most part even. However, there are a lot of nights where Riley and I just sit on the futon and watch reruns of Law & Order on Netflix or Gilmore Girls on dvd (I still do plan on sending you season 2, Amy!) Maybe I need to get a new hobby or something. I thought about trying some of the things I've seen on the Bakerella blog. She is so creative with cakes, and the brownie recipe I got from her was amazing! However, since Joe is on a health kick and I am reluctantly attempting to join him, I suppose I shouldn't tempt us in this way. I do really like to vacuum lately with the pink vacuum that Joe isn't necessarily a fan of. While I am amazed at how much dust and hair it picks up every time I use it, I think the thing I like best about it is that it is pink. After all, since I've been married I haven't been able to have many real "girly" things around the house, so it's fun to have one with that sort of flair to it.

Well, now that I've posted a completely random post, I suppose I will move on to another website. It's one of the "futon-with-Riley-watch-Gilmore-Girls-surf-the-web" nights here.

A Winter Wonderland?

I am not leaving my house today. It snowed last night, rained today, and is supposed to snow some more through the night. When I lived in Michigan, this would've been a minor inconvenience. In Louisville, however, I have become like the many who make a run on the grocery stores at any prediction of snowflakes. It isn't that I don't remember how to drive in the snow; if anything, my situation is better as I have a landlord that doesn't let the snow get knee-deep before my driveway is plowed. However, the other drivers here scare me out of my wits. Last weekend it snowed maybe 1.5 inches in about 2 hours. The next day I read in the paper that there were 130 accidents in our county as a result. I saw 5 of those accidents happen in a 10-minute time span.

I am trying to figure out things to do in my house as a result of being "snowed in," for lack of a more fitting term. I don't know why I have a hard time doing this as there always seems to be something to clean, several loads of laundry to do, a dog to be washed, books to read, movies to watch, dinner to cook, friends to call, and other random activities I always wish I had more time to do when I work a lot. When Joe left for work today, however, I had no idea what to do with myself. I did finally shower, which probably was a good thing. I always feel more productive when I feel clean.

A week from Sunday I am going to Lafayette, Indiana for a week-long conference on biblical counseling with my mom and a few people from my old church in Iron Mountain. I am really looking forward to going, and not only because it means I get a whole week off from work:) Since it isn't real practical for me to be taking classes at the seminary right now like Joe is, this is the second best option for me to pursue some sort of ministry in biblical counseling. The speakers at the weekend versions of the conference that I have been to have always been excellent and I am sure this will be no exception. It is also rumored that there is an excellent bookstore on the premises and Joe told me that since this is, in essence, my schooling, I get to buy some "textbooks" for my own reference. I love it! Hopefully the weather will be good for traveling.

Well, maybe I will do something productive, like balance our budget, or take Riley outside, or watch Gilmore Girls...I wonder how mad Joe would be if I made no-bake cookies tonight.