No love lost

So my update on the guy from Chicago is now null and void.  Things have come to a conclusion.  And ya know what?  There is no love lost, and I am a-okay with that.  I'm not stressin about meeting someone.  I know that God will provide in his time, if he chooses to do so.  And for now, I've got a pretty sweet life!  I'm not complaining.  I'm back on my dating sites (eHarmony and Coffee Meets Bagel) and I'm game for blind dates if anyone wants to set me up.  Haha.  Life is good.

I've been painting my new apartment with...my new roommate!  I'm so excited.  Her name is Ashley and she's super sweet and fun.  We met at House - a local Christian young adult group that meets on Tuesday nights.  The apartment had dark brown walls in the living room and dining room, and the bedrooms/bathroom/kitchen aren't much better.  So we're in the process of painting everything a light gray.  It's a ton of work and I feel like I've been painting for ages - but I think it's going to look really nice when it's all said and done.  I'm hoping to start moving in next week!

Me, Mike, and Ashley, with my dad behind me!

I start personal training this week Wednesday with a trainer at South Shore Health and Racquet Club named Beau.  I hope it goes well!  I'm looking forward to having some direction and accountability.  I've been successfully counting my calories for the past week (though I have been going over my limit..) but at least I'm working at it and I'm more aware of what I'm eating!  So that's good.

Last week Friday I went and saw Newsies on Broadway with my friends Christina and Lisa.  It was a complete BLAST!  At first I was a little disappointed because it's quite different than the movie, but once I got over that - I absolutely loved it!  I even bought an official Newsies hat and I think I'm going to be a newsie for Halloween this year if I do anything.  Haha.  So that's fun.

Lisa, Christina and I in the news!

Also, last week I got the awesome opportunity to meet up with my friend Sarah from high school and meet her adorable 6 week old baby girl, Madelyn Louise!  It was fun to catch up, and Maddie is just so precious!

Isn't Maddie just so gorgeous?!  And Sarah too ;)

Did I tell you I've been reading The Celebration of Discipline with my friend Kayla?  It's been pretty good.  We're meeting every other week to discuss a chapter, and we're only on chapter three or four this week (I don't remember which) - the chapter on fasting.  It's been enlightening!  I'm enjoying it.  And I ordered some books from Banner Book House (local Christian book store) that should be coming in this week.  I got "Scary Close" by Donald Miller about being authentic in relationships and friendships.  And I got "Savor" a devotional by Shauna Niequist.  I love her writing.  I'm looking forward to reading both!  And I'm currently reading "Modern Romance" by Aziz Ansari which is a book about just that, modern romance, which a funny twist.  It's been good so far, though definitely not a page turner.

That's about it for me.  Hope all is well with y'all!  Thanks for reading.

Rotary Pumpkin 5K SUCCESS!

Alright guys, I did it - I successfully ran the Rotary Pumpkin 5K this past weekend...WITHOUT WALKING!  I was so excited!  And I got my best 5K time (for me) ever!  32:03.  Wahoo!

My team - team four!

The whole C25K group!

Then this past weekend, I went to Grand Rapids for a girls' night.  I met up with my friend Christina and some of her friends and we first watched some Buffy (wow it's been too long since I've seen that show!) and then we went to Stella's downtown and danced for like 3 or 4 hours.  It was a blast!  Then on Sunday I went and saw Kathryn's new house in Spring Lake.  It's gorgeous and we had a fun time catching up.

Also, I have some exciting new news...I've been on a couple of dates with a guy from Chicago!  That's been fun.  We met via eHarmony.  For the first date I went to Chicago and we spent over nine hours eating and drinking and being merry.  Haha.  I got a blister from walking around so much.  He's so easy to talk to and he's really nice.  I'll keep you posted if/as things progress.

Oh my gosh and guess what?!  I'm moving into an apartment in the next couple of weeks!  I am BEYOND excited!  It is downtown St. Joe on Broad Street so I will be able to walk to the library and the beach and the local tavern.  Oh man.  It's a two bedroom (but one of the bedrooms is so tiny it's not really appropriate for two people...so I'm going to use it as an office/craft room).  I'm going to be painting the entire apartment a light gray with white trim, so I've got some work to do before I move in - but I cannot wait!  House warming party anyone?!  :)

Newsies is coming up this Friday so I'll be traveling back to GR for that.  Can't wait.  And Lo will be in GR on October 16th for a couple of days.  Can't wait for that either.  So much exciting stuff going on!

I had my orientation at the gym with the trainer last week (at 5:30 in the morning no less - it was waaay too early!).  I just got situated with all the machines and learned where the seat adjustments should be.  I did 10 reps on each machine and have been super sore for days.  Oh man.  I definitely need to incorporate more strength training in my workouts.  I'm hoping to strength train 2-3 times a week, and do cardio 2-3 times a week.  We'll see.  Anyone want to volunteer to keep me accountable?  Pretty please?!  :)

What's new with you guys?  Anything fun?  Hope all is well!  Thanks for reading.

Family visit and then some

Ben, Kristen, and Ayla got to come out and visit for a couple of days this past week!  What a blast we had.  They left Tuesday morning and I miss them already.  We had a bonfire.  We went to the beach.  Kristen and I crocheted like crazy.  We had great food.  It was so much fun!

Ben, Kristen, and Ayla on the pier

Ayla and I with matching crocheted headbands I made!

What else is new....I made a list of goals for the month of September.  That's been kinda fun.  One of them is to drink half of my weight in ounces of water each day.  So say I weighed 100 lbs (ha!) then I'd drink 50 ounces.  I feel like I've been going to the bathroom every ten seconds!  Goodness.

Since my last post, I joined a running club.  We run on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Saturdays.  It's a Couch to 5K type program and we're training for a 5K on September 19th.  I'm pretty excited.  They divided us up into teams and I love my team.  We had a group challenge yesterday and my team won!  We get to split $100 as the prize.  The team with the highest percentage of people who actually complete the 5K gets to split $1000.  So we're hoping to have everyone there.  I also joined South Shore Health and Racquet Club.  I've worked out there a couple of times, and I'm hoping to start some personal training soon.  My friend got engaged and I'm reading a poem in her wedding, so I really want to lose the weight by May, which is when her wedding is!  Here's to lots of hard work!  (and I made a list of rewards for when I reach each 5 pounds lost, and if/when I reach my goal weight, my reward is visiting the Wizarding World of Harry Potter!  I CANNOT WAIT!  Hahahaha).

Ben ordered me some supplies to extend my camping hammock so that hopefully it will reach greater distances.  I'm looking forward to hammocking in the yard, curling up with a good book and relaxing.  Should be good!  Can't wait to get the materials.

My work is hosting a "Penny War" competition and there are teams that decorate jars.  Then people put money in the jars as a way to vote for their favorite, and whoever earns the most money wins!  My team is doing a Hunger Games themed jar.  I'm supposed to create an origami mockingjay.  Haha.  Should be fun!

I cannot wait until September 25th because I get to go see Newsies on Broadway in Grand Rapids!  Hooray!  And then in October, Lo is coming to visit from California.  I cannot wait to see her either!  I've got some fun stuff coming up.

Well, alas, that is all I've got for now.  Thanks for reading!  Love to you all.