Monday, August 18, 2014

Catching Up

I have been a total blogging slacker for quite a while. Life has kept me quite busy and lots has been happening. It's too much to put into a single post so let me hit the high points and I'll come back and fill in the details later.

In February I became an independent consultant for Thirty-One Gifts. I expected to be primarily a "personal use" consultant but it has really taken off. I'm having a great time doing it and I've made some wonderful new friends. I went to the National Conference in Columbus, OH and am already looking forward to going back next year!

In May I completed my two-year Academy for Spiritual Formation. It was an absolutely life-changing, soul-shaping wonderful experience. It was hard to say good-bye at the end, but at the same time it was time for that season to end. I hope to someday return to a 5-day academy (In fact I really hope to attend one in February) but I know that it will be a unique experience all its own.

We celebrated our 5th anniversary on May 23rd. I'm not quite sure how but my name got on a list for a free cruise from Carnival so we took advantage of it for our anniversary. It was a nice, low-key vacation. We drove out to Galveston, cruised for five days, then spent a day in Houston after the cruise just exploring. Then we went to New Orleans for a day, also. It was a nice getaway that I think we both needed.

In the spring, Jeff and I made the decision to stop pursuing fertility testing and treatments. We also decided to step back from actively pursuing adoption. We said that if something landed in our lap we would go with it, but we weren't going to actively try to chase things down. Then, wouldn't you know it, something did land in our lap. I can't say a whole lot more about it right now but I'm very excited about what is happening.

Our family is also growing in other ways! My brother got engaged to his sweet, wonderful girlfriend and I am so excited to have her as a part of our family! She is great for him and makes him so very happy, which makes me very happy.

I have gotten very involved in our church and it has been great. On Pentecost I got to preach my first sermon in two years. It went really well and I had a wonderful time doing it. This week I also took another step and presented my request for ordination to the congregation. This has been sort of an ongoing thing and it continues to be an evolving process, but one that has been very empowering and encouraging.

In April I made the decision that it was time for me to quit working at Children's Hospital. The mental and emotional demands of the job were simply too much. My hours had also increased at UAB and doing both was just too much. I don't know what will happen long-term but I'm glad I can recognize and respect my own limits and generally avoid burnout!

On Saturday I turned 29. I didn't do much of anything which was a perfect celebration for me. I'm really excited about what the next year has in store for me!

So there you have it! The short version of the last 6-ish months of my life!