Game Night and The Neverending Couch Hunt

I have two very different things on my mind at the moment. The first is how much fun Chris and I had at game night at our church. We got there at 6 and played Apples to Apples with some people we didn't know too well and then we played Scattegories until 9 pm! It was so much fun and a bunch of people came to the event. I think this is a yearly event and I'm already looking forward to next years game night. It was a great way to spend a Sunday evening.

The second thing is how stinking hard it is to find a couch that we can afford and that we don't hate! We are struggling with the decision and have found a couple of possibilities but I want a couch that we really like and not just one that will do for now. Ugh, it's so frustrating. The one couch that we liked the most won't fit through our front door so we would have to haul it over the balcony and it's leather so we would most likely scratch it all up and then it would match all of our completely scratched wood furniture! So, we are waiting on a new couch. We did find a table and chairs at Ikea for only $69 so we have somewhere to sit that is relatively comfortable. At least we have more room for the air mattress right now which will be good when Melissa comes to visit on Monday.

Oh, here's a third thought, we had to pry my wedding ring off my finger today. My fingers have swollen and I couldn't get the ring off. It's been like that since about November. It hasn't been a big deal because it didn't hurt or anything and I kept thinking I'd lose weight. Well, with work and the hot weather my finger swelled even more and the ring started to dig into my skin and cause a red mark. Today it began to hurt pretty bad so Chris googled how to get a ring off and found that many women have this problem, particularly pregnant women. Anyway, I froze my finger with ice, held my hand over my head for 5 minutes and then we used dental floss and windex and managed to get it off without too much pain. I mean, it hurt but it was tolerable, it wasn't as painful as others had described. My husband was a champ, he withstood my crying and pried the sucker loose. Now, I have a ring on a chain to wear around my neck and a sore red mark on my finger from the tight ring. I need to decide when I should get it resized or if I'm just going to try and lose the weight ASAP so that it fits again. Decisions, decisions.

Blessings

We are truly blessed! Just when I thought that SoCal may not be the place for us we found ourselves feeling so welcome and at peace with our decision to move here.

For the last six months I've been a little skeptical of our decision to leave the midwest and settle in a suburb of Los Angeles. I've felt like my wardrobe, hairstyle, physique, car, etc. just weren't up to par with everyone else around here. I felt like a fish out of water. As much as I was enjoying the sunshine, beach and being near my sister and nephews, I was also feeling out of place. When you don't have a lot of money it can be overwhelming to live down here. Particularly when you have a few pounds to lose and are living in a wardrobe that requires at least a 10 pound weight loss. It's just very different than my life in Indiana where shopping at Kmart and Walmart were normal and people complimented me everytime I got a haircut or bought a new top. In Indiana baby and bridal showers were full of crazy games, mini-sausages, cakes made lovingly by hand and a good time. Out here, baby showers (I haven't been to a wedding shower yet) are full of fancy platters, perfectly themed snacks, games that aren't really games at all and way too much money! It all came to a head as I was helping to plan a baby shower with friends and a debate broke out over the use of plastic cups! Seriously, aren't we in a recession? Does it really matter if the cups are plastic? It was too much, it made me want to cry because there is so much more to life than the type of cups used at a baby shower. In the end the shower will be beautiful and the family will feel loved and that's what matters most.

Then, just a few short days later we were invited to dinner by one of the elders of our new church. The dinner was lovely and the couple is so nice and sincere. Then, when we were all done, they pulled out an envelope containing a "love offering" and I have truly never felt so loved by a church. I finally felt like we were at home. It wasn't because of the money, it was because people had noticed our prayers and our needs. It was beautiful. The elders said that they wanted us to be able to stay in SoCal because we were an important part of the church family. Wow! That's powerful. Well, now we can stay in SoCal and we have another 5 months before it will be a huge burden if our house is not rented. Hopefully God will provide some renters before that 5 month deadline comes up but if not, He has provided.

God is showing us that He brought us here for a reason and that he will take care of us. What a powerful demonstration of His love.

Weekend Update

Hehe, I wish I were funny enough to warrant that title. Anyway, deserving or not, this is my weekend update.

• We are moving in 7 days!! My amazingly wonderful husband has packed pretty much everything and left me to sit back and rest (or, work on my dissertation, you know, whatever).
  
• Speaking of the dis. I finished chapter 4 on Saturday and now just need to finish up 2 and 3 and get them to JD for approval. Praying for approval.
  
• I was also able to get a haircut yesterday, it's so much better! Nice and short, I use less shampoo and it takes less then half the time to dry. My mom was awesome and sent me a gift card which paid for the lovely hair cut and a some new clothes.
• Today I led the opening prayer at church, went to Bible class and then taught Sunday school. A very busy morning!
• After church we had a baby shower planning meeting - a Tea Party theme for a baby girl! So cute. I'm making teacup and teapot shaped sugar cookies. I'm a little nervous about decorating but it will be fun anyway.
• Went to Golden Spoon for a yummy treat and then to the Commons for a free concert, it was a U2 cover band but they were pretty good, sadly, not the best acoustics.

Now, we are both sitting in bed on our laptops and I'm beginning to get a little drowsy. Tomorrow is my first 8 hour day at work so I'm anticipating exhaustion at the end of the day :)