In 75 days...

Happy Valentine's Day!

 

One Year in the Engineering Department

Today marks my one year anniversary at UTM. It's hard to believe a whole year has passed since my first day. I must say that this job has been the best I've ever had. There are busy moments, but there are also slow times. During Christmas and summer break, I spend the whole day seeing only a handful of people, but then during the school year, there will be non-stop student/faculty/staff traffic in the office. It's a near perfect balance. I am thankful for my coworkers, my boss, the time off (like today: snow day!), the free education and free recreation center membership, the overall balance that I find there, and so much more.

Thank you, God, for blessing me with this job. You knew exactly what I needed.

Country Music 1/2 Marathon and the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society

As you know, I'll be running in the Country Music 1/2 Marathon at 7:00AM on April 30, 2011. That's in exactly 80 days! I've decided to join the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society to raise support as I prepare for the race. Please visit my fund-raising page and consider making a pledge. You could be helping people like Sophia Blanco:

To make a pledge, please  visit: http://mch.cmm.llsevent.org/lexie25

Thanks!

Mia Stewart's Math-A-Thon Fundraiser

Please visit Mia Stewart's Page to donate to St. Jude Children's Research Hospital. Mia's parents are dear friends of mine. We worked together at Redcloud Ranch for two summers. Please donate!

A Busy, Fun-Filled Weekend

Thankfully, the snow held off long enough for Becca and Maggie (Becca's baby girl aka sweet dog) to arrive safely at our apartment Friday around 11PM. We tried desperately to stay up and watch Steel Magnolias, but alas, we were much to sleepy. We finished the movie the next morning instead. What a classic!

We then went to the Rec Center to run 3 miles. We felt so sluggish. My guess is that it was caused from the lack of sleep. I couldn't sleep in at all on Saturday. I woke up at 5:30AM! I never wake up that early. I just could not get back to sleep though. Oh well. I got a full night's rest Sunday, so I made up for it.

Anyway, so after our workout, we made a quick trip to Wal-mart. I made "Tommy Things" for lunch and Becca LOVED them. They are so healthy and filling! We watched some tv and then got ready to go to the movie theater where we watched Country Strong. It wasn't bad, but it wasn't my favorite either. "I can't believe they killed her!" Haha. Bec and I then went to Huddle House for dinner. I sure do like their Southern Pecan Waffles! When we got back to the apartment, James was there, and we all just relaxed and watched tv. I had so much fun with Becca here this weekend. I wish she lived closer.

On Sunday I went to church by myself. James was wore out from the day before. He woke up around 5AM on Saturday to get to an early breakfast and then to a youth rally at the church that lasted the entire day. He played drums and helped out with the youth. He was exhausted from it too. After I got home from church, James and I went to lunch at the cafeteria brunch. That afternoon, James went to help some friends change a tire (repeat from last weekend...last Sunday he took the tire off and this weekend he put the new tire on) while I went to run with my friend Christa. We had an excellent run too! We just chatted the whole time without music and ran 3 miles without even realizing it. It was great!

On Sunday evening, James and I went to our Sunday School class Super Bowl party. We had a great time getting to know the people in our class even better. The more I'm around them, the more I love them all. I haven't been this happy at a church since I was in the youth group at Faith Baptist. Thank you, God, for blessing us with such a loving and welcoming church family!

Levitical Reminder

One of my New Year's resolutions was to read the Bible in a year. I have successfully been reading just as I set out to do, and by doing so, I have seen God's faithful hand in my life. I have been trudging through Leviticus for the past few days, and let's just say it is not one of the most exciting books of the Bible. Thankfully though, God sent me a bit of encouragement today through my friend's blog post. She too is working her way through Leviticus this month, and she shared some thematic insights that I had not fully thought about until today. 

In essence, Leviticus, in all its exhaustive and repetitive rules, reminds us how blessed we are as Christians to have access to God by way of the Holy Spirit because of Jesus' sacrifice on the cross. Paul states in Romans 7:6, "But now we are released from the law, having died to that which held us captive, so that we serve in the new way of the Spirit and not in the old way of the written code." Praise God for the "new way of the Spirit"! There is freedom from the law in Christ. 

And thanks, Day by Grace, for sharing your insights. It was a great encouragement to me. 

Night Classes

Business Law 701: Basically, this class is a repeat of everything I learned in Business Law 711 over the summer. Dr. Hearn is a really great guy: friendly, dry sense of humor therefore funny, understanding, quirky, etc. He has his good qualities, but unfortunately, he's also very, very boring. He repeats himself often, and he speaks slowly and quietly. I truly struggle to stay awake in his class. It's not easy especially when the class is from 6:00-8:35PM. That's on the brink of my bedtime! At any rate, it'll be an easy "A" class, so I really shouldn't complain. As long as I show up and do well on the exams, I'll be just fine. I just get a little uneasy at the thought of spending my every Tuesday night until May fighting the urge to sleep in class. Too bad I don't use energy drinks.

Finance 710: This class is a little more exciting than Business Law, but it's twice as long. The class goes from 5:25-9:00PM every Thursday night. Whew. I have only been to the class once because the first week's class was canceled because of the weather. I've got the class tonight, and I somewhat dread it. It wouldn't be so bad if it weren't so long. I must say though that Dr. Haddad is an excellent professor. He's engaging, excited about the material, and extremely helpful when someone doesn't understand. I even enjoyed learning the material last week. Just need to take one moment at a time. Before I know it, I'll be graduating with an MBA!

Becca, Birthday, Brunch and Bowl

My best bud Becca is coming to visit on Friday and Saturday. We're probably going to stay up late laughing on Friday and then go running on Saturday. I hope the weather will be as nice as last weekend. Otherwise I'll pay the one-time access fee at the Rec Center so she can run on the indoor track with me. I'm so happy she's coming!

Saturday is my brother's 17th birthday! I can hardly believe he's turning 17. I can clearly remember being a teenager, and it makes me feel so old knowing he's one. James and I bought him a UTM t-shirt at the bookstore today. He's never had one, and I hope he likes it. I've got to get to the post office sometime soon so the shirt will arrive at my parents' house by Saturday. 

The UTM cafeteria hosts a monthly brunch where they serve better food than usual. This Sunday marks February's Sweetheart Sunday Brunch. It's not terribly exciting, but it's always nice to have a "free" place to eat after church. It's not actually free, but we paid for a meal plan. Why not use it?

As I'm sure you're well aware, the Super Bowl is this Sunday evening. James and I are not really into sports, but we are into fellowship. Our Sunday school class is hosting an outreach-style Super Bowl party. I invited my two new friends Brooke and Julie and their husbands. We met in the Wednesday night workout class at the Rec Center. I really hope they all can come. I've enjoyed getting to know them in the short amount of time we've spent in class, and I look forward to becoming closer friends with them.

 

February

The month of love. This year I have some fun surprises in store for James' Valentine's Day. Since he doesn't read my blog, I'll share one part of the surprise with you. James really enjoys anatomy and physiology. He's in the second part of the class this semester, and he's learning about what's inside our bodies and how all of our systems function. That disgusts me, but he loves it. I found this card on Etsy, and I think it's perfect for him:

 

Sure, it's not pleasant, but James is not a mushy, lovey kind of guy. I think he'll appreciate this more than something romantic or sweet. On the inside of the card, I'll write something like, "Mine belongs to you." Hehe.

I wouldn't go so far to say Valentine's Day is my favorite holiday, but I do like the Valentine colors of red, pink and white. I bought Hershey's Kisses and Hugs to fill my candy bowl at work, and I just love how the foil wrappers look in the glass bowl. It's so cheery to me. 

I wanted to buy the pdf file for this banner (also found on Etsy) to hang in the office:

Isn't it adorable? I can't justify spending 4 dollars on it though. Then I'd have to print it using my own paper and ink and provide my own ribbon to hang it. That doesn't seem like a lot, but it would still be an unnecessary expense.

With that said, James and I are saving our pennies for a very good reason. We're going to Peru this summer! James' parents and two of his cousins will be going as well. We are so excited about this opportunity to visit South America. I am especially grateful for James' dad and mom, two of the most generous people I know.

These photos are of the ancient city of Machu Picchu. The ruins were rediscovered in 1911. We will visit this "lost city", Colca Canyon, the Uros Islands, Lima, Cusco, the Sacred Valley and other amazing places while in Peru.

I love traveling to new and exotic places! First I visited Japan in 2006, then Thailand in 2009 and now Peru in 2011!