A Working Title

So what do you think? I, for one, love the new look my blog has. I don't so much love the title however. I need something fresh. Any ideas?

I want new.

A new blog design, that is. I suppose I should peruse the internet and try to find something a little more original than this new design, but it's enough of a change to hold me over for a week or two. I signed up for this thing where you get free books if you review them on your blog, so I need to enjoy my blogging environment a little more.

Anyway, today I have spent the majority of my day (all but 6 hours of it anyway) at work. I actually enjoy working the weekend now, as I have a lot of time to be alone. That probably sounds horrible, but it kind of helps me recharge. I suppose I shouldn't enjoy it TOO much today since Joe is home with a sick Verity...but oh well. I do have some work to do, but for the first 9 hours of my shift I only had three patients to run tests on, so I really have had a lot of downtime. So far, I've checked my email and caught up on my survey-for-giftcards hobby, watched some Law & Order, played games on my computer, and read. I also finished the majority of CE credit courses I needed to do before they expire.

One thing I really enjoy about being at work on a weekend is that I can listen to music. During the week an iPod really isn't an option with the phone ringing off the hook and people in and out with questions for us. We can't get a radio signal; I think the x-ray room next door must throw off the frequency somehow. Anyway, today I was listening to the DJ on my iTunes and an old song came on from when I was a kid, "Living Dangerously in the Hands of God," by Steve Camp. Now I know I'm probably considered a nerd for still listening to this. It IS 80's music after all. However, the lyrics are packed full of truth, and I'm encouraged and convicted every time I listen to it. This particular song talks about really living for Jesus. The whole song is extremely convicting, but this part challenges me every time:

There's safety in complacency, but God is calling us out of our comfort zones into a life of complete surrender to the cross. To live dangerously is not to live recklessly, but righteously, and it is because of God's radical grace for us that we can live life in radical obedience to Him.

It's so easy to forget about the gospel and what God has truly done for us by sending His Son to pay the penalty for our sins; it's also easy to not let the gospel impact the way we live, which should be "radical," as the song above states. :) I'm really excited to talk to my community group girls about this tomorrow night.

Well, as it's getting semi-busy, I need to get to work! But more to come. Two posts in one week is pretty earth-shattering though, in my opinion.

It's time...

...for an update! I figure after almost 9 months of not posting, I really should be more regular as far as updating this thing. Even if no one reads it, it IS sort of cathartic.

Since my last post, we have:

-had a baby

-traveled to Michigan more times than I can count

-started a new job (Joe)

-started leading a community group for church

-lost a grandparent (me)

-hosted our first Thanksgiving meal for family and friends

It's been a fairly busy 8-9 months. Verity will be 6 months on the 17th and is teething. We are so blessed to have such a beautiful baby girl.

This is from a few months ago, but Joe has all the recent pics on his computer so this will have to do.

It's also time for me to go to bed, but there will be more in the near future. Near meaning within the next week or two, not the next year or two.

88 days...

...till Verity Grace is (hopefully) here! I start the third trimester on Tuesday and as baby's due date gets closer, I find myself with mixed emotions. On one hand, I feel like I need a lot more time than I have left to get used to this whole, "being a parent," thing. There are so many things I don't know and I feel so irresponsible about my own life sometimes that I can't imagine being responsible for another human being who completely relies on me. It's overwhelming to think that God would give us the privilege of caring for a little soul. On the other hand, I REALLY am ready for my body to be back to its normal (hopefully thinner) shape! It's depressing to go for a walk and have to tell Joe to slow down after only two minutes of a moderate pace. Of course I am also excited to meet our little girl. I had a 4-day-old patient this last weekend at work and it made me all the more eager to meet little Verity.

In other news, there really isn't anything exciting to report. I applied to do counseling training at our church and am waiting to hear back on whether or not I have been accepted. Joe started his clinicals for 3-D imaging this week. We are thankful that he had the opportunity to do that this semester; not only was it free for him, but it will allow him access to more job opportunities if we ever move out of Louisville, which we hope to do in the next few years. Our hospital system laid off a number of people this week and thankfully our jobs were spared. God continues to provide for all our needs, and I know He would've done so had one or both of us lost a job, but honestly it is nice not to have to worry about it.

Other than that, we are just working, churching, and nesting. :) Over the next few weeks we will spend some time with both sides of the family, which will be nice. I am looking forward to going to Michigan a few times this summer while I am on maternity leave. Joe's schedule allows us to go up for a couple weeks at a time and it will be nice to be able to escape all the heat and humidity in Kentucky for a while.

Until next time...

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.