Catch Up

It seems my once-a-week posting has started to fall by the wayside, so here is a short post to tide the few who read this blog over until I can make a more substantial one. An update of sorts:

*Verity has started doing a plethora of new things over the last few weeks. They include, but are not limited to:

-crawling on her hands and knees

-pulling up to stand, and even trying to walk alongside the couch

-clapping

-giving high-five

-getting her two bottom teeth in

-trying some new foods such as chicken, Grandma Hill's blueberry muffins, baby yogurt, and other yummy things

*Joe and I continue to follow our Beachbody workouts. Thus far, he has lost about 10 lbs, and I have lost 11. The annoying part is that he has been doing his for 4 weeks and I have been doing mine for 8. Why do men seem to have an edge when it comes to weight loss?

*We installed a gate to keep the dog away from Verity, and to keep Verity out of the dog food, litter box, etc. It seems to be doing the job so far.

*I started doing powerpoint again for the worship services at Sojourn. I really am enjoying it and am glad I was able to start serving in this way again.

Anyway, this is turning longer than I planned on. Hopefully more later. There are more than a few book reviews coming in the future. One because of the blogging for books program I am in, but the others because of some controversy going on amongst people I love. More thoughts on those later.

I love the mountains; I love the rolling hills...

This weekend we went on our first real family vacation. By that, I mean our first vacation where we didn't go visit family in Michigan. On Friday, the Martin family left Louisville and headed south for Asheville, North Carolina. We got there mid-afternoon.

We didn't really do much as we wanted to keep Verity on her schedule as much as we could that day, so we checked out the mall, ordered pizza, and put her to bed. Lucky for us our room was right across the hall from the pool so Joe and I were able to take the baby monitor and go relax in the hot tub while Verity slept. It was almost like a date!

The next day V woke up at 5:30, which wasn't real fun, but Joe and I both worked out and then we spent the majority of the morning driving around in the mountains. We stopped at a few places along the way:

We ate lunch at the Moose Cafe, which has been featured in Southern Living for their amazing biscuits and apple butter. It was well worth going there, if only for that! After that we walked downtown for a few hours and visited some of the shops down there. It was about 70 degrees so it was the perfect day for it. Verity even got a new Cat in the Hat bag.

Downtown Asheville was a little bit overwhelming in places for a sheltered yooper like me. It almost felt like culture shock in some areas; I felt like I had been transported back to the sixties...and I am NOT exaggerating. There were hippies playing instruments everywhere and sometimes they had dancers accompanying them. There were people that looked like they had stepped out of Little House on the Prairie competing with the hippies for spare change. The downtown area was also very dog-friendly. We even saw a golden retriever just hanging out in a storefront. And it wasn't a pet shop. There were dogs sitting with their owners on the patios of restaurants just hoping for a scrap of table food to drop their way. It seemed to be a place without rules.

After we had had our fill of the downtown district, we had dinner at Nona Mia Italian Kitchen, where Joe tempted V with some of their delicious garlic bread. She would have preferred that to her dinner of green beans and bananas.

After dinner it was back to the hotel so V could go to bed. This vacation was a little weird for us in that we were back to the hotel so early every evening, but really it was nice to spend some more time in the hot tub, catch up on reading, and even watch a little tv (we don't have cable at home, so it seems like a luxury).

Thanks to day-light savings, Verity slept in till 8:30 this morning. When she woke up, we got her all suited up for her first dip in the pool.

It took her a little bit to get used to it, but she loved splashing around. She even took a dip in the (lukewarm) hot tub.

We had to leave too soon and are already looking forward to visiting again. I love the convenience of all that the city has to offer mixed with the raw beauty and activity options (skiing!) of the mountains. Too bad the responsibilities of life must be dealt with. Back to reality.

On procrastination

Or maybe just a short note to put off the review that I really should be writing after reading the last book I received for review. It's hard for me to want to write a review about a book that I may end up ripping to shreds. On second thought that might be fun. Moving on though...

This week was an interesting one of sorts. I would show you the week in pictures, but I can't find my camera cord, so some day soon, a huge album titled something like, "Winter 2011," will appear on Facebook and maybe then you will have an idea of what the last several weeks have looked like around the Martin household. To give you a general idea of our week, here are a few of the highlights (or possible lowlights, depending on how you look at it):

*Joe completed a whole week of P90, the precursor to the P90x workouts. He has been really disciplined about working out every day and about his diet, so hopefully the diet part will rub off on me! Usually once he gets going on something he is really able to stick with it.

*Verity rolled off the bed and hit her head while I was changing her socks. I know, what kind of mom lets her child do that while she is standing right there holding on to her? Apparently, I do. After many tears shed on her part and mine, we took her to the pediatrician, and she is doing just fine. Apparently, she hit the hardest part of her head, so that was a good thing. I have learned my lesson and will be changing clothes on the floor from now on. Verity is just too squirmy for her own good at this point.

*I got two bottles of Dawn dishsoap and a tube of Crest toothpaste for free plus ECBs at CVS this week. It's been a while since I've been able to really do the coupon thing well so I was semi-excited about that.

*We both enjoyed hanging out with various people from around Louisville, which doesn't happen as often as it used to due to V's schedule.

Anyway, it was a fairly uneventful week. This weekend we are going on our first family getaway to Asheville, NC. If I ever find my camera cord, there will be pictures from that, too. Until next time.

Random

Things you may or may not care to know about my week...

*I told my co-workers that every Friday I work (which is every three weeks) is Treat Day. Today my boss brought in two pans of brownies. I think I may have eaten 1/4 of one of them. This is what happens when I have next to no baked goods for 25 days. So much for self-control.

*Verity said, "daddy," last night while I was getting ready to give her her antibiotics. Joe wasn't home. She has no idea what she said. I still thought it was sweet.

*I found out that I have some of the best friends ever here in Louisville. I am so thankful to have such a wonderful spiritual family, especially when my biological family and in-laws live at least 8 hours away.

*Not only is one of my spiritual gifts administration, but one of my greatest weaknesses is my need to be in control. It has taken me training several people at work and 5.5 years of marriage to figure this out. Apparently it did not take my husband quite that long to put it together.

*I miss exercise on the days I don't do it. The last time I felt this way was my sophomore year of college when I would play basketball at the gym for several hours every day. Who knew I could get that feeling back when I started doing workout videos...in front of a television...in a cramped space...after a 12-hour day at work...at the beginning of February?

*My husband is a lot happier and more productive when he gets at least 7 hours of good sleep. Yes, I know this is true for most people, but because it has been so long since he has had this for more than one day a week, I almost forgot it was possible.

That's all for the randomness tonight. Maybe I will make this a weekly thing. At least that way there would be one post a week. I have another book review coming up, this time on a fiction book titled, Tandem, by Tracey Bateman. I sort of enjoy writing reviews. It lets me discuss my feelings about a book with "someone," and if a reader happens to be completely bored with my feelings, they don't have to read it. It's nice. So anyway, for the few that actually read this, that is an upcoming post to look forward to, or dread, whichever you prefer.

A plain morning...

This morning my siblings left after a fun but slightly stressful weekend. The stressful part is due to having a baby around that we had to keep happy all the time. I'm still not used to that yet when we have company in town. Here are a few snapshots my sister-in-law Abbey took of V while they were here:

Anyway, it's always depressing for me when family or friends from out-of-town leave and the weather today seems to reflect my mood. Even though it's 60 degrees, it's fairly windy and overcast and seems like it could rain at any moment. I am really hoping that my workout routine tonight will help lift my spirits.

Speaking of exercise, as a sort of update on my resolution for the year, I am doing fairly well in the self-control area. God has really changed my heart and given me the grace to say no to food and soda when I am not hungry or when I am full and don't really need to eat more. This isn't to say that I don't screw up in this area still, because I do, but I am really seeing true change in this area of my life and it has been so encouraging. It also gives me hope that God can work in other areas of my life if I am willing to get serious about it, repent, and let Him.

On a related note, I am now working on taking better care of my body, as I realize that haven't been honoring God in this area of my life either. February 1st, I started doing Turbo Jam, a Beachbody program, and it has been great. I haven't missed a workout yet and it is actually becoming one of my favorite parts of the day. I purchased a new pair of workout shorts this weekend and can't wait till tonight to be able to use them. I know this may sound a little dorky, but it's true. Between the exercise and eating less/better, I have lost 6 lbs., which is a good start on the way back to my pre-pregnancy weight.

Hopefully I will update some on V's new skills and developments later this week but she is getting into some stuff she shouldn't right now so more later. :)

Radical

I just finished a very uncomfortable read. I don't think I've ever read a book that made me so defensive, aware of my defensiveness, and grieved over it all at the same time. Radical, by David Platt, is the book I fault for this unnerving experience.

This book had been recommended to me by several trusted friends and family, and more than once I had thought about picking it up in the bookstore. When I signed up for the Blogging for Books program through WaterBrook Multnomah and saw that it was one of the books available for review, I didn't even look at what else was available; I selected it on the spot.

I admit that it has taken me several weeks to get through this book. This wasn't because the book was poorly written or difficult to understand; the material is just heavy. The basic premise is that as American christians, we have no idea what it means to live like Jesus, a life of mission. We chase after a life of comfort and security, and care way more about living the American Dream than we do about people's souls. This has trickled into the culture of the church in our country, and we are disobeying God's command to go to the nations with the good news of the gospel, mainly because we don't want to sacrifice these idols. The author goes into a lot more detail on these topics and issues a radical challenge to change at the end of the book. The whole thing is biblically based and very convicting. Needless to say, God has used this book to expose some idols I didn't realize had such a hold in my own life.

The only things I wish the author would have touched a little more on would be the attitude of the heart in these matters. It is easy to tell everyone to quit being selfish and move overseas to share the gospel with the lost; in reality, however, there are a lot of people who just aren't in a position to be able to do this. That doesn't mean that God is less pleased with them, as long as their heart is willing and, should God provide an opportunity, obedient. Sometimes the opportunities that God provides us with are right in our neighborhood, and I don't feel like that was emphasized enough.

Overall, this was a worthwhile read and God has really been using it in my life to change my heart over the last few weeks. If you're interested in previewing this book, you can go here and download chapter 1:

http://waterbrookmultnomah.com/2010/04/20/sneak-peek-radical-by-david-platt/

Disclaimer: I received this book for free from WaterBrook Multnomah Publishing Group for this review.

Snowed in.

Or at least that's what those from the Louisville area would say we are. It has been snowing pretty steadily since around 1 with no end in sight. All that to say, I think we've maybe gotten one inch so far. They called schools off for half the day and there was a run on milk and bread. The joys of winter in the south.

Anyway, Joe, V, and I have had some time together the past couple of days after not seeing one another for almost a week! (Well, Joe and I hadn't; he and V saw each other and V and I saw each other.) It has been really nice to just hang out together with no real schedule. V figured out how to jump a little in her jumperoo and she is sitting unsupported now. It has been fun to watch her progress over the past couple of days.

On a sad note, I am officially done nursing tomorrow. Since Verity has started solids, she has been less and less interested in nursing during the day. It has gotten to the point where she cries after about 30 seconds and refuses to nurse. She has been nursing right before bed and before I go to work, but it's mainly for comfort. Last Thursday I decided enough was enough; I was not going to pump every three hours on what was already going to be a long drive to Michigan by myself. A full day of pumping does not even give her a full feeding, so it seemed kind of pointless to continue doing it. Anyway, tomorrow I will be starting a new migraine medication so I will not be allowed to nurse her. We will see how she does without her comfort nursing. It's sort of bittersweet; I will enjoy my freedom and fewer migraines, but I will miss being the one she depends on in this way and the bond there was because of it.

Well, the jumping queen is ready for a break so this marks the end of this emotional pity party. Until next time.