The big news at the time was my new mixer. Which I haven't written about lately. But it is wonderful and has gotten some use. :) Will be getting it out this week to bake pies for the wedding on Saturday! I have had some other new and extravagant purchases since January. The first, and biggest, was my new TV in February, followed by the sewing machine in April. (Wow, when I try to summarize things like this, it makes me sound like a shop-a-holic!!)
But probably the most exciting thing I have become the proud owner of recently is plane tickets to England and Ireland! I don't think I've written about it (because I feel like everyone knows already!), but I'm leaving July 27 for England to visit my parents in Oxford. We're then taking a side trip to the land of (roughly half to two-thirds of) my forefathers... Ireland!! VERY excited about that. :)
I booked the flight to allow for the other big event of the summer... the Seafair race on July 26! Haven't been running much lately, so I gotta get back on track (haha no pun intended!) and train for that. Otherwise, it will be a very long 8K. :)
Which brings me to the next big change in my life since January. Since I wrote my 50th post, I've lost another 15 pounds! Sadly, my rate of weight loss has not kept up with my dream of losing it all by June 1. :( But I've struggled along, and have reached a new milestone... drumroll please... over 45 pounds lost! For those doing the math... 19 lbs to go before I reach the goal. Which I'm hoping will happen soon. I shouldn't set dates for these things, but it would be very cool (and reasonable, I hope) to be there by my birthday in August. We'll see. :) At the moment, I'm very happy to have reached a new "tens digit"... haha. Finally at or even slightly below a number that has been a major wall for me.
Hm. Other changes in my life over the last 50 posts. Well, I mentioned in the 50th post that God had tested my faith a bit. Haha. Understatement of the year. :) I think I was in a bit of denial at the time as to how much I was being tested... if only I knew what was to come! The last 6 months or so have been an interesting time for me spiritually. (For examples, check out this post on submission , this one from Easter , or one of my personal favorite rants. For a more upbeat perspective, check out this one about hymn-singing!) Perhaps in January I just didn't feel like putting it out there so publicly, but I've kind of already done that recently, so what's a little more honesty? :)
I won't sugar-coat it. It's been a hard 6 months. Obviously I can't really explain why, here, but let it suffice to say that I have never been faced with so many questions and struggled with scripture and the church so much. Looking back, I can say with absolute certainty that my faith is stronger and is getting stronger as a result... most days. I have definitely been brought to the brink, where there is no place else to turn but to Him. Never before have I found myself literally on my knees, crying out to God... then turning to His Word and finding answers. Not always the ones I want. But still. :) The craziness of this situation has been forcing me to face the reality that I need to trust Him, because seriously, that's really the only viable option. And as hard as that is... wow.
I've made new friends and strengthened existing friendships since January, too. I'm continually impressed by the gift God has given me in my friendship with Ingrid... yes, sometimes we go a few weeks with the only contact being a poke or wall post on Facebook, but then we can get together and have incredibly deep and meaningful conversations, whether about marriage/kids/the future, tough spiritual questions... or about reality TV (SYTYCD premieres this week!!!!). Other friendships are starting to take hold, whether with my coworkers or some of the girls at church. It's slow, and not an easy thing for me, but it's working out. :)
Despite everything, God's given me a peace lately about certain things in my life. Don't worry, I won't go quoting Dr. Evil again... but the other major change over the last few months has been a strengthening of other relationships, too. Even though things aren't the way that I want them to be right now, I have absolute confidence that they will be someday... even if I have to wait until 2012! If Moses can be in the desert for 40 years... well... who am I to complain? :) One day at a time. Which I think is a little bit easier now than it was in January.
Beyond that, not much else has changed. I've settled into daily life here in Seattle. Smokey and I are headed to go watch Jon Stewart... and I might even have a diet Coke, too. :)
One last thing...
HAPPY BIRTHDAY, ANDY!!
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