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Wine & Poetry Night
Posted by alicia on Jan 23, 2007 in Life
Start to gather your favorite poems and pair them with your favorite wine. Wine & Poetry Night is coming…..
Go Colts!!!!!!!!!!!
Posted by alicia on Jan 21, 2007 in Life
Peyton’s going to the Superbowl!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Church
Posted by alicia on Jan 21, 2007 in Life
We went to church, not once, but TWICE this weekend. Dan’s been sinning a lot lately and felt that he needed to hit it hard this weekend.
Actually, we went to A Different Richmond on Saturday night to catch up with some of our friends there. We’ve been visiting them since we moved to Richmond over a year ago. It has been interesting to see this community grow and find it’s identity. Each time we visit them I look for how they have changed and try to imagine where they are going. This often ends with me attempting to picture the community that I hope to find/create.
We were invited to visit The Well by a guy (CJ) that I trained at the gym. Actually, before Dan & I moved to Richmond I found CJ’s blog and left him a comment. I forgot about the comment until I met him at the gym.
This morning we drove out to a house in the West End for church. Over the past year we have visited a few different churches and this morning was the most enjoyable experience I’ve had at any of them. It was a comfortable setting for me and for the most part it felt natural. I think part of that was due to the fact that it was in someone’s home that was open and warm. Also, the pastor had suddenly gone out of town and his friendly wife was welcoming everyone. It had the feeling of a family gathering for a holiday feast.
Though it was enjoyable at The Well I left with some of the same questions that have plagued me over the last couple of years. Mainly, why a sermon? As I sat in this beautiful, warm home I glanced around the room at the people gathered. While studying their faces, I couldn’t comprehend why we were all listening to one person “teach” us about the book of John. The sermon seemed out of place. It was too impersonal for that environment, the community was warm and inviting, it deserved more.
A season change
Posted by alicia on Jan 17, 2007 in Life
For the last hour I’ve been sitting on the couch mindlessly going from website to website searching for something. Over the past week I’ve been poking around the house, looking for the same thing. I’m looking for my next source of inspiration. I’m in search of my next project or experience that will aid in my desire to live life to the fullest.
I usually go in phases when discovering what makes me come alive. Last summer & fall I read some amazing pieces of literature and I needed all of those characters and stories to sit with me for a couple of months before moving on. Now I’m starting to notice all the tale-tell signs that it is time to move on to the next phase. Over the past couple of weeks I’ve felt a little disconnected from reality. A lot of the conversations I’m having with people are very one-way…they talk and I nod in agreement. I go days without writing anything other than emails. I’m listening to music so ridiculous that when anyone other than Dan gets into the car I quickly make sure the radio is turned off. I have attempted to read old books that once inspired me. My day dreams are repetitive. I have a desire to drastically re-organize our entire house. Those are my signs. I’m at the point where my normal comforts are not satisfying me and they can’t hold my attention for more than a few minutes. I know this season of life, it happens a few times each year. It is during these times that I grow.
So, I’m in search of my next source of inspiration, project, or experience. In the past I have generally looked outward to fulfill this need, but I have a feeling that this time it is going to be something that comes from within me. Maybe that means it is going to involve some writing. Maybe something like this? Whatever comes of it, I am excited for this change of seasons, I’m excited for the new life and growth.
Weekend #2
Posted by alicia on Jan 14, 2007 in Life
The weekend went by too quickly. It seems like I spent most of the weekend putting together a to-do list for next weekend.
Jarrett, my brother, came to visit us for the weekend. We spent a lot of time relaxing and eating good food. We introduced Jarrett to Sticky Rice and Panera, which they do not have in Southwestern Virginia. Jarrett talked a lot about grad school. My baby brother graduates from Tech this May and is making plans for where he will go afterwards. Unfortunately for us he is not looking at any local schools. But, we will make the most of his time left here in VA and have lots of fun weekends like this one.
Today after Jarrett left Dan & I had some much needed quality time. We took a walk around the neighborhood enjoying the beautiful weather. I’m amazed that we’ve lived here for over a year and we still walk these streets like kids on an adventure. Each house catches our eyes and we comment on it’s beauty, cuteness, or potential. On today’s adventure we were greeted by lots of friendly neighbors. We even stumbled upon a “free” pile of treasures and brought home some beautiful glass candle holders.
After we got home we sat on our porch and read some Vegetarian Times magazines that a friend loaned me. Our interests in learning how to cook were sparked again. Then we made dinner and attempted to clean our bedroom. We quickly gave up on cleaning our bedroom and decided to have a beer and hangout. It has been a fab day. I wish I could have a week full of days like today…….and a clean bedroom.
Also, thanks to Dan for the flower.
Run!
Posted by alicia on Jan 10, 2007 in Life
Run out right now and get the latest copy of Natural Awakenings! For those of you who don’t know, Natural Awakenings is a free publication aimed at providing information on healthy living. The current issue has a short article about the Value of Personal Training. This article was written by me! It is the first time I’ve seen my name printed in ink as the author!! I’m pretty excited about this.
Do you even remember me?
Posted by alicia on Jan 10, 2007 in Life
It has been over a month since my last post. I guess I will follow the crowd and disguise my laziness with the holiday rush. To make up for that I will write the longest blog post known to man…….here goes…..
Holidays
As usual the holidays were weird for us. This was our 4th Christmas together as a married couple and we still haven’t figured everything out. On Christmas day there are 3 different places that I want to be: with Dan’s family, with my family, and at home with my cats. Until we figure out how to clone ourselves or how to get everyone in one location for Christmas (this will be much harder to accomplish than cloning) we will have to divide and conquer. This year we spent Christmas day with Dan’s family, which was wonderful and restful! It was just want I wanted. However, it meant that we missed Kaydance & Kennedy’s first Christmas (my nieces) and Piper & Bear’s first Christmas (my cats). It’s not that big of a deal, honestly 7 month old babies and cats don’t really seem to care much about Christmas. New Year’s was ok. We were with people we care about and that is what is important to me. Next year I hope we just plan on staying in and surround ourselves with love ones.
One highlight of the holidays was all the crafting we did. Tomorrow I will post pictures of some of the crafts we made and received. Making gifts for people really energizes me. I love the creative process and how one project can produce 10 more ideas. Last month’s crafting has given me enough ideas to keep me going all through the spring. I really want to focus on knitting, jewelry making, and making things for our house like a message board & picture frames.
Work
Work is INSANE!!!! This is our prime time. I’m sure that most of you who set resolutions for the year are desiring to lead a healthier life and for a lot of people that means joining a gym. Yesterday my boss said that this is what we’ve been preparing for all year. He is right. In the last couple of months I have more than doubled my staff. Though I am keeping super busy, I am loving every minute of it! I absolutely love the gym when it is bustling! Very few people get to work in such an energized environment that also has a sense of importance. Each day I get to interact with people who are making changes to improve their quality of life. I feel pretty lucky.
Reading
A couple of years ago Dan & I read a few of John Eldredge’s books and really enjoyed them. In fact, I’ve never met anyone who has read The Sacred Romance and not enjoyed it. Today I decided to pick it up again. I read two pages and had to stop because there was an entire paragraph speaking to me. Here is a tidbit:
“We make sure to maintain enough distance between ourselves and others, and even between ourselves and our own heart, to keep hidden the practical agnosticism we are living now that our inner life has been divorced from our outer life. Having thus appeased our heart, we nonetheless forced to give up our spiritual journey because our heart will no longer come with us. It is bound up in the little indulgences we feed it to keep it at bay.”
Of course it is time to go back work and I can’t explore this more right now, but I will keep you posted….