Perfect mix of productivity and relaxing

Saturday is such a key day in the week for me. I always find Saturdays to be difficult to plan because a part of me know the house and laundry need attention, another part of me wants to hang out with friends, another part of me wants to get through errands, yet another part of me wants to relax and be lazy. How do I ever balance all of these? I also have my 8th grade girls thrown into the mix some too!

It's so hard to figure out which things to say YES to and which things to pass on...because generally...I want to do everything!

This Saturday I went shopping at Walmart with a couple 8th grade girls. We were buying things for our church food pantry. It was pretty interesting watching the girls navigate the store and weigh-in on what they thought was best to buy the people in need. Among the items were hot chocolate mix with colorful marshmallows, a jar of pickles, nutella, and various types of name brand sugar cereals. I'm sure those shopping at the pantry this week. What a great thing to have jr. Highers do! Get them thinking outside themselves!!

Next up...I really wanted to go to the apple orchard with friends. However, unfortunately...I had a disaster of a house to attend to! AND a mountain of laundry to concur! Ok I admit, and a nap to take. I missed hanging out with the girls which I'm sad about, but did make a dent in the laundry and the house has found some kind of order. Praise the Lord!

Ok time for church! Yes!

No matter how I feel...God is faithful

I've reached the end of another week! This week went so slow! I just felt like it was dragging so much! It's my 7th week with my new company and I really was feeling like I wanted to get an offer! As a recruiter, there's a big focus on placing candidates. If you are not placing people it starts to get to you after a while. I am not expected to actually get any hires for another month, but it is nice if I do. WELL...it appears that I will have TWO offers on Monday! I'm terribly excited! It sounds like my candidates will accept the positions too...which is a big win!

Again, God continues to show up in my life. He continually shows me I don't need to worry about my situation or problems...He has a plan and it's perfect. Yet I still even today have struggled with being worried about the future. Maybe worried is not exactly the right term, but I just want to have a hand in controlling the future. You know?

You see, my parents and the hub's parents plus family are coming out to visit in November...how cool would it be to tell them we are expecting?! I know, it's just awful for me to think like that...but that's just where my brain goes. Even after God has shown me time and time again that He knows best and will take care of us, I still desperately want to grab the reigns from Him. Truth of the matter is, I probably don't even know the depth of what I am really desiring. To want kids...is probably a crazy wish...I'm sure of it! I really am trying to soak in and enjoy my time spent with Brian. I have observed what children do with your time and ability to go on dates and such. I'm sure it's a positive trade off, but it's still a major change in life and I try to remind myself of that each time my cycle starts over.

I do think that I have come to grips with the fact that we have honestly been trying for over year and have been unsuccessful. It's a weird feeling really. Definitely humbling. It's humbling because you can only do so much...then pretty much God has to do the rest. I have been more faithful about bringing this want to the Lord though and plan on continuing.

He has been faithful in the past and I know He has a great plan for our future.

Commuting in the rain.

So, the other day a friend of mine asked if I was enjoying commuting or hating it. After a long-winded response I came to the conclusion that I did indeed enjoy it. I am currently 7 weeks into my new job now and feel I'm settling in nicely. I still have no hires at this point, but am hopeful something will come through soon.

I continue to learn new things about commuting. For instance, if you choose to pay for parking with cash, always bring quarters because there are only 2 of 6 machines that take dollar bills and they are often not working...not to mention there's frequently a line at both of them. Also, choose a parking spot and use the same one EVERY time you park. No exceptions. Even when it's raining and you see a closer spot, don't give in to temptation, just go to your same spot. Reason being...you will more than likely be distracted by the rain and getting your umbrella up, so you won't look at the spot number of your parking space. I learned this today. I was standing in line trying my best not to get wet (not successfully) and realized I had no clue what parking space I had parked in. Then there's that sound...ding ding ding ding ding...Oh no! No time to go look at what spot you are in!! So, I just picked one that I thought it might be. I usually park in 542. I got a little closer, so I paid for spot 536. We will see what the outcome is. Another lesson is, don't sit in a broken seat...even if you think you can handle it until your stop. It's truly just too uncomfy and distracts you from the things you like to do during the ride.

I've decided to get a monthly parking pass. It just makes sense, I mean the last thing I want to do is stand outside in the bitter cold worrying about what parking space number I am. With a parking permit I can park wherever and not have to make sure I have quarters on hand each week.

As the fall and winter seasons approach...I definitely need to beef up my supply of coats, sweaters, and boots.

Recovering

Ok, 30 day review went well...I just need to keep working...harder. The online training portion is over, now in need to make calls! This is easier said than done. I seem to remember finding candidates being easier than this. I would feel much better if I landed an interview even.

There's this special incentive on these one positions...I can get an addition $100 gift card if I can fill one of them. The problem is, a bunch of people in the office already have candidates for the positions. (sigh). It's a very defeating feeling, but at the same time expect it. I am looking forward to 6 months from now when I'm more comfortable with everything. I feel like a lost child right now.

So, this past weekend was the Chi-Town Shindig! It was a great kick-off to another year in the Jr High ministry! It was amazing. I really wish I would have brought both my film and digital camera! Especially since I had very few pictures left on the film one. So sad. There's just something amazing about being around 1000 kids worshipping God. Those kids shook the very walls of Harvest's new downtown cathedral. It just makes me wonder about what the people outside of the church heard...or thought. Pastor James came down and gave a message directly to the students. It was really cool having him be a part of the night. There's just something about having him be visually excited about what God is doing in the student ministry. I mean, obviously he's interested...it's just not often that we get to see it first hand.

You know, another thing that was awesome is how well the night was planned. Things really went off without a hitch. The only thing, as far as I can tell, that was off was how long it took the buses to get downtown. It was great! Now, that being said, I do wish my 8th grade girls would have gone to sleep before 5am!!!

Sunday was a lazy day. Brian and I went to get his beer making kit, so when I come home tonight he will have freshly brewed beer in the 1st processing container. It will stay there a week then move to another container...then another week then to bottles. This should be interesting. More to come!

Now we are off to a busy week! Brian will talk to his boss tomorrow about his new job opportunity. We are praying it goes smoothly! He will either start next week, in October, or January...depending on what the outcome of tomorrow's meeting!

End of week 4

Well, I've been at my new job for a full four weeks now and my 30 day review is today at 2:30. It's been a pretty adventurous 30 days. I mean, I started a new job, started a new diet (meaning eating healthier...and more often), and a new workout routine (which means I started to exercise on a semi-regular basis). I was going to throw "got pregnant in there too, but it would've been a cruel joke to the 4 people that read my blog.

The job is going well, I'd say. I think I have most the office people figured out and have my favorites picked out. I have a couple work-spouse potentials as well. Odds are I will end up with a work wife, which I'm good with. IT recruiting isn't exactly something you can just pick up and do and be good at. I was hoping these skills would come back to me faster than they are and I am anxious to become a productive a bit sooner than I am.

If in had to guess, and I am, I would say today's review will reinforcing that I'm a good addition to the team as well as a soft, but strong emphasis on the need to get me up to speed and productive as soon as possible. I do believe next week will mark the time that I start spending more hours at work. This won't last forever, but will last for a while. I knew it was coming, so now need to suck it up and step up to the plate. It's been a great honeymoon season! In think if I spend more time there I will also see results faster...so that would be cool.

Overall I'm happy with the job change because I'm excited about working again. This has given me a new thing to work on and be better at...and when I get better, I will make more money and that's always a good thing!

In other new Jr High is up and running, I have 8th graders in my small group this year...oh boy are they crazy! They're a ton of fun though, so I can't complain too much. The hubs and I are also part of a new small group for couples. It's with our good friend plus a couple of new couples. We met for the first time Wednesday night and it went really well. I'm really stoked about moving forward and building better relationships with everyone.

Well, I'm almost to work and I haven't even read a chapter in Judges yet (I'm reading through some Old testament books during my train ride).

I will follow up on how the review went.

See you later...

I've never been great at good-byes. Honestly, I have been dreading yesterday for at least a week now. Last night was the last night our friend Cam would be staying with us. It's been nearly 6 months since he moved into our den in the basement. I just can't believe the time has gone so quickly.
When Brian and I first told him he could stay with us for a while...we really knew very little about him. We just knew that he was going through a rough patch and needed a bed, we could help with that! What we didn't have any idea how blessed we would be!
You know how sometimes you come home, look around and wonder, "How in the world did this house get so messy?" Having Cam around was the exact opposite. The dishwasher would always be unloaded, things would magically get organized, plus groceries would appear in the fridge! It never failed that when B and I had not clue what was for dinner, Cam would text us saying he had dinner under control.
Last night Cam brought home some great gifts for us as well...the best best thing he gave us was the gift card to eat out! There he goes again taking care of dinner for us. Hahaha
When it was time to say goodbye, we all hugged and shared some of the great things we all experienced through the last 6 months. There were awkward silences here and there, but overall it was more a feeling of "see you later" than of goodbye. It's really weird to think that he's not going to be there when I get home tonight. Bittersweet. We are so happy for him, yet will miss him at the same time.

We definitely wish him the best on his adventure in Spain. And can't wait to throw a Welcome Home party!

The day after. (written on Thursday)

The day after the 10 miles bike ride and I feel surprisingly okay...good even.

Yesterday I got up at 5:40am to catch the 6:33 train. Getting up and functioning wasn't easy. I'm still just getting used to getting up at 6am, so an even earlier alarm is not a welcome thing. My body likes routine. It doesn't like and reacts very negatively to changes, especially when that change happens in the morning. To help my body (specifically my stomach) to cope I popped a couple immodiums. I know I know, no one really wants to read about that, but it's my blog...and my IBS to work through.

I got to the office at 7:30 and shortly after was headed toward North Ave Beach by way of cab. We got to the beach and each were given our vehicles of torture (the bikes). I don't really don't know anything about bikes, but they seemed really nice. After a few humiliating photo-ops with the other office peeps, we were off and riding. We rode roughly 1/2 mile and pulled over to stop to wait for some to catch up. At that point I realized that this whole thing was a big mistake. "What were you thinking, Rach?" I thought to myself. My thoughts raced as e slow-pokes caught up, "how in the world are you going to make it another 9.5 miles?!" we pressed on.

The ride was beautiful. It was all along the path by the lake. It was a sunny day, the water and sky were blue, the city was in clear view. We reached the Shedd Aquarium and that whole area...it was our half-way-ish point. We stopped for a bit to wait for the slow-pokes. At this point I was a member of that group. A really frustrating part of this whole ride was that the rest of my office was a part of the front running group. Didn't they say this was a team outting? I'd be lying if I said I wasn't a little sad.

I finished out the ride in just under 2 hours. Bleh. To be fair, we did stop for a few more photo-ops along the way which I'm sure greatly affected my time.

Overall, I am glad I did it and am glad it's over. I would like to take that route again though! It was soooo pretty. I've never seen the city from that view before. It reminded me of what a great city I live in (near). Maybe I will take the hubs request to buy bikes a little more seriously...