the little things

It was one of those nights. As I watched each hour tick away, I became more frustrated that my mind wouldn’t stop racing. I began to dwell on the irritating moments of my day, and let my aggravation take over, until God intervened. I suddenly realized how often I overlook those harder to notice moments that remind us why life is worth living. As a result, I decided I would make a more conscious effort to seek out the moments of joy in each day. Perhaps it will inspire you to do the same.

Sunday, January 27, 2013

a creative way to pray

My husband and I do our best to arrange our schedules so that we can eat dinner together most nights ... and when we do, we end our meal by reading a brief Scripture passage and praying together. We found though that we were often saying the same prayer night after night, and forgetting to pray for the people and places that we said we would pray for. So, the teacher in me came up with a way to make sure we remembered to pray for the various praises and requests that were brought to our attention.

I grabbed a handful of popsicle sticks from my overflowing stash at school and wrote down a prayer request or praise on the end of each one with a thin black permanent marker. I then put the popsicle sticks into a coffee mug, and placed the mug within reach of our dinner table. I placed another empty coffee mug in a similar location.

Each night now, each of us picks at random one popsicle stick out of the first mug, prays for that request or praise, and then puts the stick into the other mug when finished. This way, we will be sure to pray for all of the requests and praises. When we run out of popsicle sticks, we will start over with them again. When a request is answered, we will take it out of the mug or leave it in as a reminder to thank God for answered prayer. We have extra popsicle sticks on hand to add more requests or praises as time goes by. So far, this has been a great way to develop our prayer life together and with our Heavenly Father. It was so easy to set up -- I highly recommend trying it for yourself!

our perfect couch saga

What a blessing it was for my parents to generously offer us their used couches when we first got married and moved into our own place. They fit nicely in our space and served their purpose for 2 and a half years (not to mention the 10-15 years that we sat on them at my parents' place!). But after stuffing the cushions a few too many times, and never wanting to sit in the middle of the couch because the padding had worn down so much, we decided it was time to invest in something new. We'd been saving for a while, and we figured New Years sales was a good time to look!

So on January 1, we stopped into furniture store after furniture store on Route 17, searching for the perfect couch(es). We had a budget in mind and were not about to let any suave sales man talk us into spending more (ha!). Though we looked around a lot, our hearts were set on one of the first sectionals we laid eyes on that day. It was chocolate brown, microfiber, and perfectly within our budget with delivery and tax included! By the end of our shopping experience, we had paid our fees and set a delivery date for the following Saturday.

In preparation for our new purchase to arrive, we took down the Christmas tree and brought our old couches to the garage (with some help from my brother -- thanks!). I anxiously came home from my errands that Saturday morning, actually looking forward to doing schoolwork since it would be from the comfort of my new couch!

Unfortunately though, I came home to find 2 delivery men explaining to my husband that there was no way this couch was going to fit up the stair well and make it into our apartment. Of course, he asked them to at least try, but it became obvious very quickly that they were absolutely right. While the couch would've fit in our space once in the living room, it was not going to make it up. I know it sounds ridiculous, but I was crushed. I was embarrassed that we hadn't even thought to measure the stair well, and simply upset because I had already become attached to this couch that was oh-so-comfortable in the store and fit so nicely into our budget.

That night, we were back at the store for a full refund. (Thank goodness we didn't lose any money on our first attempt.) I was overwhelmed by the idea of starting all over to shop for the perfect couch, but we tried anyway. We now knew more detailed specifications. We needed a sectional that would break down into at least 3 pieces, none of them measuring longer than 82" long. Yikes, this wasn't going to be easy. Not to mention that when you buy sectionals in pieces, you have to spend more money because more fabric is needed to make it. Needless to say, our budget had to expand. I was still upset and unable to commit to anything quickly after the last couch fiasco, so we went home to sit on this instead:

Yes, that is our Aerobed. At least we had one or we would've been sitting on dining room chairs or the floor to watch TV! We could've brought our old couches up from the garage, but it was such a hassle getting them out that we didn't want to ask for help in bringing them back in, only to move them back out again soon when we did finally find the perfect couch. So, we sat on the air mattress for a few weeks in the meantime.

Our busy schedules and frustration kept us out of the furniture stores for a while, but last weekend we decided to give it another go. (The air mattress was getting old!) We went back to the same stores, but this time with even more specifications and (sigh) a higher budget. I figured if we had to spend more money, we should at least get exactly what we want and pray it lasts us a LONG time!

I am SO glad we were patient in this quest because that night our hard work finally paid off. We found another sectional to fall in love with -- this time a chocolate brown, leather sectional that could be broken into 4 pieces. AND... it was on sale! (Not quite to the price of our original budget -- that would've been too good to be true -- but at least we didn't pay full price!) Though the measurements made us a little nervous (I can't even tell you how many times my husband took out the tape measure), we decided to go for it. The worst that could happen was that they didn't fit (again) and we get a full refund, right? We knew that from experience, haha! Though I would've been mortified had that happened again.

Thankfully, that wasn't the case! Take a look:

The delivery men were able to get this sectional up the stair well with no problems and it fits PERFECTLY in our space. It was totally worth the wait for this one! We love coming home to sit on our couch, and we are so excited to host others at our place now that we have more seating.

PS: I am feeling a bit guilty even now as I post this because my husband and I have made some very large purchases lately -- the new car, and now this! It is not like us to spend large sums of money! I have to keep reminding myself that we saved carefully for both of these items for a long time now and just happened to buy them around the same time. However, don't expect to see any new, large expenses popping up on this blog again any time soon. (God, please don't throw us for any unexpected loops in the near future!) We need to start SAVING again, instead of spending. :)

Saturday, January 19, 2013

5 minute workout and more

Ever since the doctor said "high cholesterol" (I blame my genetics!) and "exercise is your best medicine," I've been trying a bit harder to make exercise a more normal part of my routine. Unfortunately though, I've never been one who loves to exercise. I love taking walks with friends, or getting outside for a leisurely hike or bike ride on a nice day. But intense exercise? Yuck. Don't get me wrong, I feel great when I'm done! But getting myself motivated to start is always difficult. Had God designed me to be an athlete, things might be different, but the reality is that me and sports have never mixed well. Growing up, my feeble attempts at T-ball, soccer, skiing, gymnastics, and basketball were all short-lived. I tried hard to make my dad (and grand-dad) proud in the sports department (Dad spent many nights shooting hoops with me after dinner), but thankfully they both came around to realize that God gifted me in other ways. It may not have been quite as thrilling for them to watch the school play or spring concert, but I know they were/are proud of my musical ability and creativity.

If only I could burn enough calories singing or crafting! I would be set! Instead, I've had to come up with other fun ways to get some exercise. I made it a goal to work out 3 times a week, getting my heart rate up for at least 30 minutes. While simply going for a run was doing the trick for a while in college, I've found that it may not be best for me now. It's difficult to get home from work with enough daylight left to run, not to mention the cold temperatures and snow covered sidewalks! So, here's what has been (mostly) working for me lately. Thank goodness for some new options!

1. My sister-in-law introduced me to Mandy's Underground Fitness. Since a gym membership is out of the question for us financially, Mandy's is a great alternative. Mandy leads several work out classes a week in her parents' basement (though will soon have her own space!) for women of all ages. With prices as low as $8 a class (even cheaper if you commit to many classes), it is a great way to exercise with other people. Mandy brings such positive energy and new ideas to each work out, so it's never dull! We work hard and laugh a lot. I only wish she was located closer to my house so I could go more often. I've been going to one of Mandy's classes per week. What I love most is that I'm more motivated to push myself while there because I'm encouraged by others. Going to Mandy's is by far my most intense, but also most enjoyable, workout of the week. Though often sore the next day, it's totally worth it!

2. Since I am more likely to actually exercise if I plan to do so with someone else, I try to schedule a work out with a friend each week as well. Sometimes this is a walk with mom on the weekends (don't worry, walking with mom is no leisurely deal -- I am always trying to keep up with her long legs!). But for week day workouts, I am very grateful for a new friend who lives just a few blocks away! We can quickly meet up for a walk/run around our neighborhood, or on rainy and cold days, we've opted for going to one place or another to do a work out video together. I love that I am distracted by our conversation so the work out seems to go faster! And when all else fails, sometimes I even convince my ultra-athletic husband to go for a slow jog with me. This is always a last resort because he usually tries to get me to run farther than I do on my own!

3. The previous options take care of 2 work outs in a week, but then there's that third one that I try so hard to squeeze in, but doesn't always happen. Why not? Well, because I end up doing it on my own. Normally, I enjoy "Jenna time" but not when it means working out alone. I am always waiting for this one to be over. When I do muster up enough energy to make it happen, it usually means a quick run/walk on the streets around my house or a work out video in my living room. (Sorry to my downstairs neighbors for my jumping around!). But like I said, this is the first workout to go during a busy week.

4. I know I shouldn't make excuses for my lack of exercise, but in the hurried pace of life that defines North Jersey, it's so hard not to. For days when my busyness gets the best of me, there's always the 5 minute workout. A group of teachers at school got to talking about exercise during lunch one day, and many of them shared similar feelings about wanting to work out but not being able to find the time. My co-2nd grade-teacher (famous for her brilliant ideas) then shared what she heard on the Dr. Oz show not too long ago -- and the 5 minute workout club began. Since then, a few of us have been bringing our sneakers to school, and spending 5 minutes together after 3:00 dismissal. In our dress clothes and sneakers, we complete 5 moves, each for one minute. You wouldn't guess it, but we can totally break a sweat in just 5 minutes. Of course there are days when we need to rush out to meetings or appointments, so we are not as consistent as we set out to be. But, there are often at least 3 of us who motivate each other to squeeze in a short work out before heading home for the day. We figure 5 minutes of exercise is better than none at all! Thank goodness for our PE teacher who faithfully asks every day who is up for a few minutes of exercise! It's hard to say no to her!

I may not stick to my exercise plan as strictly as I should, but I am happy to report that the addition of these work out options has helped lower my cholesterol and made me enjoy exercising at least a little bit more. I guess the key to exercise for me is having others to hold me accountable!