Stuart = Legal Resident!

You probably know that when it comes to Stuart and the US government, they don't always get along. Over the past 10 years he has run into several dilemmas dealing with the fact that he is not a US Citizen. About once a year there has been some kind of big issue. This year, however, is starting off great!! We have been going through the process of getting him a green card. After all the paper work was filed and proof of our legitimate marriage was collected we finally had our green card interview.

We were scheduled to be at the USCIS building in Atlanta yesterday at 9:30am and, believe it or not, we were out of there by 10:00! We had all of our papers, pictures, forms, letters, cards etc in order and put on our nicest smiles. Besides the fact that they didn't let me bring in my water bottle, and my shoes set off the metal detector, everything went smoothly and according to plan. The lady that interviewed us asked about 5 questions, thumbed through our file a few times, made copies of our licenses, and said we were approved. Stu and I kind of sat there for a minute in disbelief...that's it? SWEET!!! We collected all of our things that the lady didn't even bother looking at and walked out the door. It was as easy as that. Thanks in huge part to all of your prayers and support. We feel so relieved but we still have to wait 4-6 weeks to actually get the green card in the mail.

Once we have his card, Stuart will be free to travel in and out of the country and work wherever he wants. This is different from citizenship. That's a whole new process that we haven't looked into yet. Because he's not a US citizen (only a legal resident) he still has a South African passport and can't vote...or have jury duty (lucky duck). However, having a green card makes everything so much easier than it has been (since he's been on visas up until now) so we're not complaining! The other thing is that his green card is called a "conditional green card" since we've been married for less than two years. So it's not TOTALLY over. We'll have to go in again in two years, but for now all is well!

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Time to Call Jillian Michaels

Today I can barely keep my eyes open. Perhaps because didn't get enough sleep...perhaps because I ran my lungs out yesterday.

First, let me back up. On Friday we had a quick 30 minute run which we completed before I went to work. Then we left for our Winter Retreat with the high schoolers for the weekend. It was a great time of worship and hearing God's word from a man named Frank Winans. He is a friend of Aaron's from California and he actually spoke at my Spring Break Road Trip when I was in high school. He's awesome and he brought it this weekend. God is real...and he wants a relationship with you. It was great. Jake's friend from a great place called Wilmington, NC came and led worship for us. Chad and his guitar rocked it all weekend and led us in great songs and great worship. Saturday night we had our "Hollywood Movie Premiere". The students dressed up as a movie character and each small group made their own movies. Mine was awesome, if I do say so myself...a twisted spin off combination of "The Bachelorette" and "Scary Movie". I'll post it here if stuart puts it online.

Whenever I'm gone for the whole weekend I feel out of touch with my "working out" self. So Monday seemed very far away from Friday. What's worse is that Monday was also the longest run (so far) on our training schedule. We were supposed to run for 1 hour and 15 minutes. We hit the road right before sunset. I won't bore you with too many details, but let me tell you that the hill at the end just about made me cuss...and cry. Stuart suggested that we push it and run hard up the hill...bad idea for a novice jogger. I felt like I needed to rip open my lungs and give them more air. Coach Stu explained that I need to breathe deeper and slower when I push myself like that. In through the nose, out through the mouth. I was wheezing and gasping for air at the top of the hill, while my husband was running circles around me. It was NOT fun. at all. All I could do was picture Jillian Michaels (from The Biggest Loser) yelling in my face commanding me not to quit. Thanks Jill. It got too dark to stay outside before we were done with our 75 minutes of torture. So we headed back to the fitness center. For some dumb reason only 3 of the 10 treadmills there are in working condition and Stuart got the last one. Darn...I guess I'll have to do the elliptical machine. So all in all, I still haven't run the max, but someday I will...someday. Today my lungs feel better and are ready to hit the road again soon. I can't wait to look back and laugh at how bad of a runner I used to be...ha!

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Training Pays Off

Yesterday was another momentous day, momentous run. We were on a staff retreat with everyone from Student Life staff at church. It was a lot of fun playing board games, eating great food, and lounging around all day. Well, except for yesterday morning. Jake, Stuart and I ran for an hour straight! The last time that happened was the Bolder-Boulder about 6 years ago. The best part was that we made it and felt great afterward. It was the first outdoor run since we started training and today I'm feeling the effect of those large hills on my legs. A little more sore than usual, but hey, no pain=no gain right? I'm not sure if I would have done it on my own, but together we dominated that run. It was perfect weather as well which made it all the better. Today we have cross training on the schedule. That means we are supposed to do anything except run as a workout. I might do the 30-day Shred like I used to do or my dad is always suggesting that I do some cycling to strengthen my knee. We'll see.

In case you're wondering about my life outside of training for a half-marathon:
-- Next week (Monday) Stuart and I have our "Adjustment of Status" Immigration Interview. This is (hopefully) our final step in getting Stuart his green card. Please pray for that interview at 9:30 am EST. Neither us nor our lawyer has reason to believe that anything should go wrong. But in the end it's up to the government worker, and can sometimes depend on which side of the bed he/she wakes up on! Hopefully all will go well and Stu will leave there as a legal resident. I'll be sure to blog the outcome of next Monday's meeting. In the mean time...time to go workout.

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For my husband...

Ok so I said that I would only be blogging about "momentous events" in my life from now on, but Stuart persuaded me to blog today. Apparently our 25 minute run was a big deal. Actually anytime we get out of bed before 7 to work out is a very big deal. We will need to start making this a habit. Stuart literally pushed me out of bed this morning (and then laid there for 5 more minutes until I blinded him by turning on all the lights...no mercy). We finally got to the gym and successfully ran for 25 minutes. We did a "hilly" course on the treadmill. A bit more of a challenge. I listened to "Money Girl" podcast and learned about saving for tuition and avoiding employment scams. Neither scenarios really apply to me, but it passed the time. It feels good to have that taken care of today.

Another thing worth mentioning is that I've dusted off my Bible and started reading again. In the past couple of weeks God has spoken to me through other people by using the phrase "pressing in". I've been in a rut in my personal relationship with God and can't quite figure out what it is, and what it will take to get out...but this phrase keeps finding its way to my ears. PRESS IN TO THE LORD. Seek Him with all that you have. Don't give up until you do. It's more than just reading my Bible for 10 minutes and asking God to bless me and my family. It's reading with intent. Apply it to my life. His Word holds the key and the answer to everything I need. It's the most valuable thing we have here. DIG! What does He have in store for me?? I'm speaking at youth group in a couple of weeks and have decided that now is a great time to embark on this journey. I'm starting in Ephesians. We'll see how it goes and where it leads me...It, like running, will be a challenge for me. Discipline. Focus. Reptition. I pray that God will meet me there and reveal what He has for me. May I become more like Him and may He use me to the best of my ability.

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Run for a Change

Stuart and I have set the biggest new year's resolution that we ever have...running a Half-Marathon. That's 13.10938 miles. Or for those of you on the metric system, that's 21.0975 km. (BY THE WAY, did you know that there are only 3 countries in the world that don't use the metric system?? USA, Liberia and Burma...I think we're missing something here). 13.1 miles is farther than I've ever run at one time. Actually it wouldn't be that far off to say I don't think I've ever run that far total. I ran the Bolder-Boulder back in high school (with Stuart...)which was 6 miles, and I ran Race for The Cure with my dad (3.2 miles), and other than that I've probably run about 1.2 miles in the gym on my own. Needless to say, this will be quite the adventure.

I blame our latest host family for this mess. Watching "Biggest Loser" with The Howard family became a tradition that we have yet to let go of. At the end of every season they run the Biggest Loser Marathon, where all of the remaining contestants run 26.2 miles less than 6 months after being morbidly obese. It was the end of last season that we decided, if they can do it, we can too!! Okay, maybe not a marathon, but let's go for a half!! So here we are. The race is 66 days away and we are desperately trying to force our legs & lungs to be supportive.

We started training about two weeks ago. When we signed up for the race we also downloaded a nice training guide that sends us daily email reminders of our scheduled torture. My favorites are the ones that say "Today is a rest day!" The highlight came this past Monday when we had a scheduled 45 minute "easy" run. (ha!) Both Stu and I hit the 4 mile mark! Wooooo!!! We've set up little incentives for ourselves along the way. Running a 5k was our first goal. Check. Once we hit that we bought some running jackets so we can stay warm, comfortable, and dry outside. This kinda breaks our year-long-no-buying-clothes rule, but otherwise we'd be unprepared for the race. Plus, all real runners have the appropriate attire! Next goal: 10k and we'll get some fancy runner's watches. Can't wait for those!

This morning was our first morning run. Killer. But we might as well get used to it because the race (which is on 3/21/10 by the way) starts at 7am...oh boy. So far so good though! Our legs and lungs are graciously cooperating. Both Stu and I have bad knees but I think they are determined to press on too. We are injury free as of now, and that is a great feeling. Stay tuned as the training continues...

Here are some websites in case you're interested:
The Race site: http://inggamarathon.com/
Stuart's Blog: http://stuarta13.blogspot.com/

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