Tomorrow I finally go in for surgery on my knee. I say finally, because it's been a while that I've been living with this bum knee. This has caused major frustration in my life and inhibited me from doing many of the things I love to do (i.e. cardio kickboxing, playing dodgeball, tackling middle schoolers...). As you can imagine, I am thrilled that it will finally be repaired.
As I was preparing for life back on the couch, I started thinking about how long it has actually been. In doing all of this pondering I've realized some very strange coincidences. See, I originally tore my ACL while skiing in college at 'Annex at Aspen'. After this retreat I went to the doctor but since there was no swelling and I had a good range of motion, he sent me home with a prescription of ice and Tylenol. Yeah, thanks. My knee continued to buckle whenever I did any cutting motions and I eventually had an MRI where they discovered I had no ACL. Strange coincidence #1: this past weekend marks the 3 year anniversary of when I first injured myself, and tomorrow I am having surgery.
For the past three weeks I've been hobbling around in a knee brace because I re-injured myself a few weeks ago at camp while I was showing my small group how to do this awesome cheerleading stunt. (Go Mustangs! Alright, I know, I'm not in high school any more. Got it.) This time my knee actually did swell a lot and was very painful to walk on. When I went to my doc they told me to suck it up until surgery, so I'm doing just that. Strange coincidence #2: I had finger surgery 8 years ago today. What's weird about that you ask? Well, Strange coincidence #3: I broke my finger doing that same cheerleading move in high school!
Who knows what all of this means? Maybe it just means that I need to grow up. Maybe February is an unlucky month for me. Maybe the doctors get some sort of bonus for February surgeries...who knows? My surgery is scheduled for 9:30 tomorrow morning. Since I hurt myself after the MRI, they are really not sure what they're going to find when they get in there. This means they don't really know how long recovery will be either.
With my appendectomy and then my little fender bender at camp, I've been quite dependent on my husband these first two months of 2011. I know he was probably starting to get bored since I'm walking around on my own just fine now. He doesn't know what to do with all this free time. Just last night he said "Babe, I can't wait until your surgery so I can start doing everything for you again!" :-D Just kidding. But in all seriousness I do have the best hubby. He's a pro caregiver (always has been) and I wouldn't choose anyone else to be by my side. It's definitely not a strange coincidence that I have Stu in my life to take good care of me. He's a gift straight from the Father of the heavenly lights. Fortunately we are surrounded by people who love and care about us too. Thank you to everyone who has pitched in so far and will continue to do so in the next few weeks! Fortunately, my mom will be in town this weekend to help us out. There's nothing like a momma's lovin' to help with a speedy recovery.
So wish us luck and say a prayer for the surgeon, for Stuart, and for my knee to be repaired so I can get on with my life. My goal is to play a full game of American Eagle next year at camp. Look out middle schoolers! No mercy.
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Most of you reading this probably clicked on the link from Facebook...or you got our Christmas card and saw the sticker inside! I hope you enjoyed our card. Andy-photographer-extrodinaire took our picture for us. What would we do without him? Here we are trying to go green again (remember our wedding invites?). This way we can show you more pictures and come back and edit things we regret saying after we post it! (I would say "jk"...but I'm not). hehe. This way, our letter is much more interactive as well, so I hope you're sitting down. Alright, on to our Christmas letter...
Is it just me, or do we all say "I can't believe how quickly this year has flown by!" every year? It seems like just yesterday I was sitting in my parents' basement, trying to keep my eyes open, celebrating the new year. My biggest question is...what will we call it when we reminisce about the year 2010. We've got Y2K, and then '01 through '09. I've heard a few people awkwardly call it "oh ten", but that just isn't right. I suppose Twenty-Ten has a nice ring to it. And then we'll have "twenty-eleven", not as smooth, but better than "oh eleven".
Enough of my rambling, I'm here to tell you about the great things that happened in 2010. January through March, Stu and I were still living in our apartment. I don't remember much about that time...except for waking up at 6am, while it was freezing cold, and going for a run almost every day. We trained and trained and trained, and on March 21, twenty-ten, Stuart, Jake and I ran our first half-marathon. I blogged all about that process earlier. It was quite the undertaking but we were very proud of ourselves. Upon completing the race, we took advantage of the 50% discount and signed up for next year's race too. You'd think we were actually runners...ha!
April 5, 2010 marked our one year anniversary. That flew by just as fast as everything else. We did a little stay-cation in Atlanta to celebrate. We kicked it off with the incredible Good Friday service at Passion City Church. We stayed at a hotel in Buckhead for the weekend, went to the Dialogue in the Dark exhibit, used some Groupons for dinner, and just had a great time pretending we were tourists. I'd recommend that to everyone. Look how happy we are just driving around Atlanta...
Once summer rolled around it was crazy as usual. Stuart took middle schoolers to Louisville, KY and Student Life Summer Camp. We both went with high school teams to New York, NY and Panama. Those were all awesome. We also had the great opportunity to stay at a friends condo near Daytona Beach, FL. That was a week of paradise! While in Florida we stopped by to see the Hembree's AND the Wizarding World of Harry Potter! Check that one off the bucket list! Another fun trip, that wasn't really during the summer (but over Labor Day weekend), was when we went with our good friends, the Brophy's, to Jenica's hometown of Shannon, IL. We had a blast learning all about corn, getting to know Jenica's family, and we even spent a day in Chicago. Awesome.
Two days after returning home from our trip to Panama, we bought a house! It's a nice 3 bedroom, 2 1/2 bathroom townhouse located about 15 minutes from work. We love it because of the two car garage, large kitchen, swimming pool across the street, and ample parking places for our guests. We also love having two extra bedrooms. One is always ready for guests to stay and the other is Stuart's office. It's great. Have a look:
Here's the main level:
The upstairs...
The basement/garage...
October 3rd = Half marathon number 2. We like to think of it as completing a full marathon...do you think that counts? Two halves in a year = a whole. This one was much much more difficult. Since we had already trained for one race, we thought it might be good not to train for the second race just to see how we would do. Ok, or we're just lazy. As great as our new house is...it does lack the awesome workout facility that our apartment had. And when it's 85 degrees outside with 100% humidity, running does not sound that appealing. We could definitely feel the difference on our second race. I had to give a little pep-talk to my legs a couple of times during the race just so they would keep moving. However, at the end of the race we had to walk because I was having some intense pain in my knee. I hated that. I told Stu he could keep running, but of course, he stayed by my side the whole time. (More about my knee in a minute...)
Another big thing this year has been Stuart's videography. Aside from his multiple wedding videos, he did a video for a mission organization, one with "stillmotion"for the NFL Network, and went to India with Andy to donate their gifts and abilities in videos and photos for an awesome ministry called As Our Own. God has blessed him with the amazing talent of capturing moments on film, and He is using that ability to bless others. It's awesome.
Yes, 2010 was a success, and it's not over! Stuart and I are meeting my family in South Africa to spend Christmas with his family! Christmas during the summer?? YAY!!!...screeeccchhhh! As most of you know by now, those plans have changed quite a bit! Last Wednesday I started feeling some severe abdominal pain. I went to the doctor on Friday, and on Saturday morning had my appendix removed. We were supposed to fly out on Sunday and meet my family in Dallas so we could all travel to Cape Town together. Unfortunately we had to cancel that flight, but my family proceeded with their plans. After many hard discussions and even more tears, we decided to cancel our trip altogether. We hope our families have a great time of bonding and creating memories. We'll enjoy making memories of our own here on the home front :) Trying to make the best of things...
(okay so I was fake sleeping in this picture...there's no possible way to try to be photogenic like this)
.....AND THIS IS WHY WE'RE GLAD WE CAN GO BACK AND EDIT....my family never made it to Cape Town after all!! London airport was snowed in, so American Airlines re-routed them through Brazil, but Brazil did not have enough seats for everyone on their outbound flights. LOONNGG Story short...they will be in Colorado for Christmas and we might be joining them! It's very strange and very unfortunate that none of us will be joining Stuart's family. A years worth of planning, for what? If you're sitting there shaking your head with confusion, welcome to our lives for the past week! And I think I'll just stop typing now in case something else happens. What a strange turn of events this has been....We don't know why, but we just trust that God is with us through all of this and He is Sovereign...
Despite all of the Christmas Craziness, we have so much to be thankful for. It really has been a phenomenal year. We praise God for the ways that He blesses us, even though we recognize how unworthy we are. We strive to make His name famous in everything that we do. He is good. We truly believe that. His plans supersede anything we try to force.
Looking forward to Twenty Eleven gives me mixed emotions. Remember that knee situation I mentioned? Turns out that 3 years ago, when I fell skiing, I tore my ACL, unbeknownst to myself. All this time I have waited and waited for my knee to "heal", thinking it was something else. I went to the doctor several times to get it checked out, but it wasn't until I was running our second half marathon and slightly tore my miniscuis in that same knee, that I had an MRI done. Needless to say, the doctor will give me a new ACL and repair my meniscus in February. Fun stuff. Can't wait to be back in the hospital. I think the worst part about that is that I have to take out all my jewelry again. What a pain ;) Don't worry, I'll still be by Stuart's side during that next half marathon...cheering him on from the sidewalk!
We do have sweet expectations for 2011 as well. Andy and Jenica are expecting their first baby boy at the beginning of February. Our great friends Gretchen and Micah are getting married in April. We are taking another trip of high school students to Cape Town (Lord willing!). Stuart has many more excellent video opportunities. It will be a good year, we know it.
We hope all of you have a very merry, Christ-centered Christmas. We are grateful for our "Georgia Family" here and everyone else who loves and supports us. We pray that your lives will be blessed in 2011. Hopefully next year's Christmas card will end on a much calmer note! At least this one has created memories for all of us. Love to you and your family!
-Paige & Stuart
...In all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us.For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons,neither the present nor the future, nor any powers,neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.
No, not me...but my husband and his bestie (Andy), were recently asked to help out an organization called Charasia in India. I won't give away too many of the details, but check out all of the info on their blog. Basically, God is sending them to use the gifts he has given them and help out an amazing organization that is literally setting people free. Stuart will be doing some video footage and Andy will be taking pictures, giving Charasia new, beautiful, updated, media to share with the world. They leave on November 7 and will be gone for 10 days, and they need your prayers and support!
Their goal is to raise $4500 before they leave to cover travel and accommodations while they are there. They also have a list of things that they are looking to get for their trip (I'll put that list below). If you'd like to help, please watch this video below, visit their blog, and click on the donate button! Or you can simply donate here. You can also add them on facebook, follow them on Twitter, send them an email, stop by their homes, give them a call, take them to coffee, wash their cars...you'll be sure never to miss a beat. Please be in prayer for them as they go. Andy and Stuart are two of the busiest people I know and their lives don't slow down just because they now have a last-minute, 10-day, life-changing trip to India! So please pray for good rest, good health, safety, support, and endurance to keep up their energy. Please also pray for their wives they are leaving behind...especially Andy's wife who is 7 months pregnant with his first child...we are both so excited that they have this opportunity, but we miss them when they are gone! More than anything, we all pray that God will use them in every way he wants to, and that nothing will get in the way of that. Thanks to everyone that has already, and will continue to be so supportive. It means the world to us and we praise God for you.
We took a team of high school students to Panama this summer, and that was an amazing adventure. I went as a student seven years ago, (feels like yesterday). That was the best mission trip I’d been on, until I went again. Stuart was a leader when I went with our youth group. I’d like say that’s where we bonded, and I fell in love…he doesn’t seem to remember it quite like that. Here's our young little team when I was in high school:
This trip, although 7 years later, was actually very similar to the one before. Same ministry (YWAM). Same camp to call home. Same indigenous Panamanian village to visit. Same torrential downpours to enjoy. Same broken Spanish skills to confuse people with. Our team leader was even the brother of our leader from last time! One of my many highlights was the fact that my dad (good ol’ Shel) was there with his church youth group two weeks prior to our trip. Of course that meant that everyone knew who he was, and would nearly fall over laughing whenever I brought up the fact that he was my DAD. He leaves his own mark wherever he goes, and he is not ashamed. They all loved Shel and were never short of stories from him being there. It was great fun and made me proud that he made such an impact!
At first I thought it was a little weird to me that the village we went to for three days, was the same village my dad went to with his team, which was the same village we went to seven years ago! Don’t you think all those villagers might be Christians by now? Shouldn’t we move on to other places in Panama? I honestly thought something was a little fishy about that. Thankfully, we were privileged to meet a man named Tulio, (who is also a blogger, for those Spanish-speaking folk…for the rest of you, just look at the pictures on his blog and you can tell how awesome he is). Tulio is a native Panamanian who has a deep passion for his people. He gave us an in-depth lecture about the history of his people and the movements of Christianity through the land. The main problem was that people would come in and push Jesus into their lives, telling them to change everything about their culture. Their music, their dress, their traditions…this all needed to be modified in order to become Christians. Now, why would someone want to worship a God that doesn’t accept who they are? This made me realize the reason YWAM continues to go back to the same villages. It’s all about building trust and relationships. Demonstrating the love of God rather than forcing it upon them. It all made sense. I was grateful for the opportunity to learn all about the natives of Panama and have such a deep respect for them now.
I could go on and on about highlights from the trip, which would take days. Instead, I’ll just try to sum it up for you (and you can watch the video). Our team was awesome. Awesome. Truth be told, we were a little nervous about taking this level three team. We felt like they weren’t as prepared as teams in the past, but once they got focused, they did amazing things. We had several opportunities to go out on the streets of Panama City and perform dramas, tell testimonies, and talk to people about Christ. Mid-week, we packed up our stuff and took the 4-hour canoe ride down the river to the village I've been talking about. There we swam/bathed in the river, played with the kids, talked to the adults, and got poured on every day. Stu and I got to help teach some youth in the village how to play guitar! (They know about as much as I do now...very very beginner.) We had lots of down time all week, due mostly to the rain. Here is our team this year, just ignore that whole right side of the group...
Our schedule was pretty relaxed which was great because it enabled us to have extensive devotional time every morning. Andy did a great job leading us through the book of Hebrews. Every single person gained from his encouragement and challenges. During those Bible studies we not only gained from God’s word, but from each other as well. It was a time that people really were able to open up about some pretty heavy issues in their lives. This brought us much closer as a team and as a family. I praise God that we had those moments. He changed lives, He healed lives, He restored lives, and He continues to work in our lives since. God did awesome things and totally refreshed me from the inside out. It was awesome. For more details about what we did exactly, look at Andy's blog…and check this out to see for yourself how awesome the village was:
Well, now that it's officially Fall, I thought it might be a good time to do a recap of my exciting summer. This would be one seriously long post if I tried to detail everything I did, and my fingers might get numb from typing so much...so I decided to just start with the beginning and hopefully post the rest very shortly.
It all started in New York, New York. My sister had gone on the same trip last summer and loved it so much, she convinced us to take a team. Stuart and I did the pre-trip back in March, which was a crazy, rainy, fun weekend. We were excited to go back with warmer weather and a team of high-schoolers. Finally, on June 5th, we loaded a bunch of church vans and headed north. Yep, we were "those kids" in a long caravan, taking over Chick-fil-a's and Taco Bell's all along the east coast. Our first destination once in the Empire State: Coney Island. We spent a few hours here and it was very interesting to me. I had no idea it was part of NY that is slowly dying. While several groups are trying to save it, others want to tear it down and build fancy sky-scrapers. I got to see my dear friend from college, Emily and her boyfriend. They, now official New Yorkers, thought we were crazy for wanting to spend time there, but they came anyway and joined us for some Nathan's hot dogs. Yumm.
From there we headed full-swing into our mission trip. CSM (Center for Student Missions) always does a great job with inner-city trips. The next day was our first ministry day and we went on a 10-mile walking prayer tour. Although it was a long day, it was great to see the big sites of NYC all in one day, and pray for what God had in store for us. The rest of the week we spent riding on the subway, serving at soup kitchens, day cares, community gardens, and homeless shelters. I was paired with one my Georgia Mom's, Christy, (both Stu and I lived in her basement), which was the highlight of my week. Our team did great and really had some eye opening experiences. It's not every day you're serving soup and bread on the streets of Harlem and see two women get in a fight! We were safe though, don't worry.
Another highlight was meeting a woman named Pastor Debbe, (in Coney Island believe it or not..that's where we are in the picture I posted above). She ran an incredible homeless ministry, called Salt and Sea Mission. Since she was once on the streets herself, she knew what it was like to be in their shoes, and she knew what it was like to experience the almighty saving grace of Jesus. As our team shyly stumbled into her office, she immediately scolded us for looking lazy and uninterested. Nice lady, really. She said that sharing God's love with people is the most exciting, important thing we can do in our lives...and we MUST be enthusiastic about it. No yawning. No day dreaming. No slacking off. Despite the fact that most of our team were incoming 9th graders, she held us all to the same standard of excellence. She encouraged me personally to be much more outgoing in my faith. Sure it says "faith without deeds is dead", but what is faith without words?? If people can only see the nice things we do, but never hear the saving words of forgiveness, we have done them no good.
Ironically enough, that afternoon our team split into two and each group did the "cultural plunge". We wandered into a park with a list of questions about the city and came upon a group of homeless people whom we spent the majority of our time talking to. I had the privilege of meeting a woman from Connecticut named Lisa, and sharing the gospel with her. Thanks to Pastor Debbe, I was bold and held nothing back. What if this was the only time Lisa would ever hear the Good News? It's pretty rare that I actually have the opportunity to tell someone, in a personal way, that God cares for them no matter what and that He desperately wants them to put their faith in Him, so that in the end, they will spend eternity in His kingdom. It was an amazing experience and I still pray for Lisa often, and my life has been totally changed because of the two women I met that day. New York was great and I feel honored to have shared those experiences with my team. I was, however, totally exhausted at the end of it, but I can't wait to go back!
Finally! I've updated my blogs! Well, I didn't actually do very much at all, but a friend of mine, Lindsay, designed them for me. I noticed her beautiful blog one day and thought to myself...I wish my blog looked awesome too. Fortunately, she specializes in just that! So I contacted her and asked her for some help. Voila! New blogs!! My mom, being the scrap book queen that she is, designed the header on my cooking blog. Pretty cute, huh? So I'd love for you to be a "faithful follower" of mine and let me know what you think. I hope you enjoy both blogs as much as I do, and if you want your blog to look snazzy as well, ask Lindsay! Check back for some life updates and new recipes soon...and pictures of our new house!
There is not much I would change about my wedding, maybe only 2 or 3 things (for example, the grass being green, rather than brown outside would have been nice). One of those things is pretty much impossible, considering Stuart can't marry me and shoot our video at the same time. I'm glad he was at the altar though. Wouldn't change that for the world. Over this past year, however, he has ventured into the wedding business and has become an amazing videographer. He puts his whole heart into what he does: constantly studying other pro videographers, reading articles about the business, learning how to really capture the meaningful, pivotal moments, investing in state-of-the-art equipment. One day he'll get his own fancy camera, in the meantime we're grateful to have some awesomefriends that let him borrow their stuff. I'll just go ahead and post his wedding videos here for you to see for yourself. Starting with the most recent...going back to the very first one he did about a year ago. If you get a chance today, tell him how awesome he is! :)
The past 5 years of my life have included some jam-packed, fun-filled, nonstop summers, and now that I'm married...Nothing has changed! We wouldn't have it any other way though. Our youth group is taking 8, yes EIGHT, mission trips between the high school and middle school. That's about 180 students traveling around the world spreading God's good news and serving those in need. It's the best way to see the world if you ask me. We're going to New Orleans (in fact they're there right now!), New York, Tijuana, Costa Rica, Peru, Panama, Kentucky, and Tennessee. That's not even including VBS or summer camps!! A few weeks ago we had "Missions Sunday" at church and Stuart made this phenom video. It gives you a nice overview of what we'll be doing on some of these trips:
Yep, we'll be pretty busy, but it's so worth it! It's what we love to do. If you'd like to try to keep up with the madness, here's our Summer Schedule as of now:
June 5-12 : New York City (Paige and Stuart)
June 14-18 : VBS at church
June 20-25 : Lousiville, KY (Stuart)
June 29 : Closing Date!!
July 3-13 : Panama (Paige and Stuart)
July 19-24 : TBD (Paige and Stuart)
July 25-30 : Summer Camp with Shift (Stuart)
August 9 : School Starts in Gwinnett County
Well we are officially under contract and on our way to being real life home owners! After 6 counter-offers we finally found a compromise with the seller. The biggest issue was the closing date. See, until about 6 weeks ago we had no idea that buying a home was in our near future. We especially had no idea we would find a great home so quickly!! Problem A is that our lease on our apartment isn't up until the middle of August. Problem B is that we will be gone for 5 out of the next 8 weeks. Well, I am only gone for 3, but Stu is gone for all 5. We were pushing to close mid-July which would give us a month to move, and it's after most of our big trips. The seller didn't want to wait that long because he was getting a little antsy and impatient (shame on him)...Anyway, I'm sure you don't care that much about all of the boring details, so I'll stop now. Simply put, our closing date is officially June 29th!! You'll have to come to our house-warming party (or should I call it our "town home-warming" party) to see the whole thing, but here is the outside!
Isn't it cute? :) We love it and are so appreciative of our real estate agent Amber. She's been so helpful to us, making the whole thing a breeze on our end. We plan to sign all the papers on June 29 but then leave 3 days later for Panama. Most of the moving will take place after we get back. Anyone want to help paint? Or donate furniture? Or move furniture? Or go swimming?? Come on over!
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For the past few years Stu and I have become forever indebted to a few wonderful families. The Howard's, the Young's, the Randolph's, the Greenleaf's, and the Howard's again, each opened up their homes to us and allowed us to live there while we were in ministry. They took us in as one of their own. Even after we got married, the Howard's basement was still our home. It was an awesome opportunity to build relationships and extend my family, I'd do it again in a heart beat if I could.
Last August we started feeling guilty for letting all of the great wedding gifts we recieved just sit in another basement....so we finally got our apartment. It's been so perfect for us this past year. It's homey, close to church, close to our other Georgia families, and affordable. Our favorite part is having the extra bedroom for guests to come stay whenever they need to. However, as August looms around the corner holding our lease its hand, we knew we'd have another decision to make: what do we do now? Sign on for another year? Move back in with the Howard's? We never, in a million years, would have predicted our final choice...LET'S BUY A HOUSE!
I say a million years, because I thought it would take that long to save up for a nice down payment. Right now we're looking at heading to Cape Town for Christmas with my family, and paying off my car, and all of the other expenses in life, with little to show for in our savings account. It wasn't until we started talking with some friends (a little less than a month ago) that we realized how "first-home-buyer-friendly" the market is right now. We talked to a friend of ours who is a real estate agent, Amber, and she graciously gave us the 5th-grade education of buying a house.
We were onboard, unfortunately missing the tax-rebate deadline, but onboard nonetheless. We got pre-qualified for a loan, told Amber what our ideal house might be like, reviewed some that she found online, went looking at those that she found...and came across a townhome that has 99% of what we're looking for in a house! The kicker was...it had just opened up again from a lady who bought it but then lost her job...so we had to act fast before it got listed again. We were making one of the biggest decisions we'll ever make and only had a day to think about it! However, we decided to go for it. This of course, came with lots of prayer and trust that God has paved the way. We kept looking for that closed door from Him, but it never came. Thus, two days later we gave the seller an offer...and they counter offered...and we counter offered...and they did again...and we did again...that's where we are currently!
I'm sorry to leave to you hanging for now, but I will come back when I have some more concrete news. This will hopefully be over within the next two days, but until then...you'll have to wait in suspense....
FLOWERS! My mom has always had lots of plants and flowers at her house (that I at one point despised because my chores always included watering them twice a day...) so I knew it wouldn't be long before I got some blooms of my own. When we first moved in to our apartment, Dana bought me a little bansai tree...but apparently it couldn't handle the -10 degree weather we had here one day, and it never recovered. Poor plant. Alas, my inspiration was not hindered! Finally, I made my way over to Pike Nursery on a mission...and...mission accomplished.
Planting soil, white calibrachoa, hurrah rose petunias, gardening gloves, 24" english horse trough planter, and some cold water to stay hydrated! Tah-Dah!
I've been thinking about doing this for a while actually, but it has finally come to fruition: A Cooking Blog! It all started a year ago when my mom gave me a beautiful scrapbook cookbook as a wedding gift. All of my favorite dishes were in there laid out on some awesome pages. I was determined to get good use out of it. As I started cooking, I wanted to prove to my mom that I was stepping up in being a wife. I took pictures of the dishes I made and emailed them to her. I had a whole album of food pictures! Then I watched a movie that changed my life, "Julie & Julia". A dramatic story of a girl who cooks through Julia Child's whole book and updates her blog along the way. The movie's ending isn't the best...but it inspired my potential new beginning! I love to blog, and I love to cook, perfect combination!
After months of dreaming, it's finally started! The main thing I'm having a hard time with is coming up with a good name. Pretty much any title with the word "cook" in it is taken. The challenge is finding something related to cooking that doesn't have the actual word in it...any suggestions?? It has to go at the beginning of blogspot.com. Right now it's "paigeatkinscooks". Booorrrrriiingg! Let me know if something more clever comes to mind.
The blog will mainly be for people in my life stage (duh). Newlyweds who want to make a delicious dinner for their hubbys. Whenever I search for a recipe online it's important that I see the reviews. I only choose the dishes that people rave about. I'm obviously not an expert chef so I can't really offer advice, but at least I can show people that it doesn't hurt to try! Who knows what will come of it? I'm a novice couponer as well, so I hope to one day offer advice on saving money at the grocery store. For now, it's just a place that gives purpose to my otherwise useless pictures of food!
I'm attempting to make my blog look awesome...but that's like taking on another full-time job! So I apologize for the mess around here. Hopefully this weekend I'll get it all cleaned up and pretty. Sorry to those of you dying to know what my next big adventure is. Maybe it will be blog-designing! And sorry about the videos dominating the whole screen. In my attempts to reformat it, I inadvertently LOST all my formatting and had to start from scratch. I'm pretty sure no one checks my blog regularly enough to even notice this mess, but for the faithful few out there, I'll be up and running again soon, don't you worry. In the mean time, check out Stu's blog. He's got it goin' on.
I know it's been a while since my last update, but that is because my life has just been a whirlwind for the past couple of weeks! It all started when we took a weekend trip to New York. Stuart had a meeting there on Monday but we went out on Friday and did just about everything (however briefly) you could do in NYC. Statue of Liberty, Empire State Building, Broadway Show, Central Park, hot dog stands, Little Italy, China Town, Times Square, Brooklyn, and lots and lots of train rides. We had a great time, despite the fact that the weather was less than ideal. I'll post the video and you can see what I mean.
The closer the race got, the harder it seemed to train. We were so busy! I got up at 6am some days, but I was still nervous to run 13 whole miles. Before the race we had to plan and execute the 30-Hour Famine, which is no small task. Thankfully the Student Life staff is hard working and recruited some hard working volunteers. All in all it was a great 30 hours. What made it better is that Elise was in town and Kaylee came to hang out for the weekend too! Of course there is a video documenting this wonderful event, so I'll post that one as well.
Team Run for Change raised about $600, and as a big group we raised around $17,000! All of that money goes towards the life-saving work World Vision is doing. We're glad to be part of making a difference in the world, and we're SO grateful to all of the people who donated toward the cause. THANK YOU!
So finally the BIG DAY came. For those of you worrying, don't. The three of us did our fast for the 30-hour famine a couple of days before the actual event. We figured it wouldn't be the wisest thing to go without food right before such a momentous event. We were nourished and ready to go. Stuart, myself, and Jake, along with our faithful cheerleaders Kaylee and Elise, headed downtown around 5:30am Sunday morning. We got on the Marta (train) to take us into Atlanta. That's where we started seeing all of the legit runners...and we fit right in. Elise and Kaylee got off a stop earlier to go to the cheering section at Mile 2. We checked our bags in, stood in line at the port-o-potties for about 15 minutes and once we got to the starting line the race had already begun. So we joined the herd of cattle...I mean runners...and there it began. No time to take it in or have second thoughts. Just start Running!
The best part was the beginning. Weaving in and out, passing all the slow people. Never mind those were doing the same to us. The three of us (Jake in red, Me in white, and Stuart in blue) stayed together the whole time. It was really exciting to see Kaylee and Elise at mile 2. There sign encouraged us as it said "Only 11.1 to go!" Turns out they were having way too much fun being spectators (video to come).
So we ran, and ran, and ran. Water stations every couple of miles to keep us going. Our only goal was to keep running, and not be last. The mile markers were a relief each time. It was great running together because it felt like a team. Jake would stop to drink his water and come sprinting full speed to catch up. He had a smile on his face the whole way. We were surprised to see our cheerleaders again at mile 10. By this time we were anxious for the finish line as it was the hilly-est part of the race. When we got to about mile 11 we heard cheering behind us. Finally we saw what it was about. The MARATHON first place runner was about to pass us! I found out later that he finished the race in 2 hours 20 minutes. He ran 26 miles 4 minutes slower than we could run 13! It was a really cool moment.
FINALLY we made the last turn and saw the glorious finish line...and Elise and Kaylee jumping up and down like crazy. Our final time was 2:16. And there were still people behind us when we finished! It was a great, great feeling. We were very proud of our accomplishments and rewarded ourselves with free massages. I really am still in disbelief that I run 13 miles and survived. Three months ago I could barely run 2 miles without my legs nearly collapsing.
Now on to the next one! Who knows when that will be? You're definitely invited though. If I can do it, you can too!! I should probably keep working out to stay in shape...maybe tomorrow.
Despite several attempts to put it off, Stuart and I finally attacked our "long" run. We left our warm, comfortable apartment around 5:30 pm, braced ourselves for the mean outdoors and didn't return again until 7:30. We ran about 11 miles all around Suwanee. We are very fortunate to live near the green way. It's one of my new favorite places ever. It's a beautiful, peaceful, hideaway that's closed off from the busy world. If you've ever been to the Boulder Creek, it's very similar to that. Just wonderful. Love it. Makes running much more pleasant...well, that and running with Stu. There's no way I'd be able to do that by myself. About 3/4 of the way through my legs were really starting to hurt. But with Coach Stuart by my side I didn't give in. Slowed down? Yes of course, but I was still running...for 11 miles. Quite an accomplishment if I do say so myself.
That night I went to Gretchen's house for girl's night and had to ice my calves and hip flexors. I was pretty sore. Actually, I still am. Regardless, I got up at the crack of dawn and ran another 6+ miles this morning. I tried to drag Stuart out of bed too but he passed.
Last night we made our video to start raising money for the 30-Hour Famine. We're connecting our half-marathon to the Famine and trying to get people to give $ towards that. I think the video will be great and hopefully we can raise a lot of money! Our goal as a youth group is to reach $20,000. I hope we can make a dent in that. I'll post the video here soon.
That's right. This past Sunday marked the one-month-to-go-oh-crap! date. We celebrated by running a 10K outside at the Suwanee Greenway. It was a beautiful day. BEAUTIFUL. We've been waiting for that warm sunshine for a long time. We ran 6.2+ miles together and it felt great. The next day, however I was feelin it. Apparently running on a flat treadmill means running on a flat treadmill. The slightest inclines and obstacles can have a huge impact on the novice runner. I was a little sore but I persevered through the rest of the week. Monday was another day with Jillian Michaels and her 30-day shred. Tuesday was a rest day and I soaked that in. Wednesday was another hour-long run. And today was the shred again. For some reason my lower back feels like it has a little tweak in it. Not very good. I hope it gets better by tomorrow because we have another 60 minutes to destroy.
I honestly never thought I'd be able to say that I could run 6 miles...much less 13! It is really amazing how your body adapts. Or maybe it has more to do with your mindset. I stopped telling myself "I could never do that". I just got off my butt and did it! The first part of the run is always the hardest. Once I clear the 30-minute-mark it gets much easier. Some days the end is hard when I'm just counting down the minutes, but I just literally have to coach myself through it. YOU CAN DO IT. DON'T GIVE UP. DON'T GIVE UP. KEEP GOING. IT'S NOT GOING TO KILL YOU. DON'T GIVE UP!
It will be exciting to run through the city with my hubby by my side. I love to run with him. Lately we haven't been able to because of our schedules. I typically try to get up before 7 and work out. Some days he's just not really into that, plus he favors running outside more than me. I miss him when he's not dying on his treadmill right along with me. Sunday's run with Stuart was great. Quality time. It definitely would not have been as enjoyable without him. Plus, we got some great use out of our new sportbands! This week has been a good week in our relationship (just FYI). Lots of spending time together, laughing, watching the Olympics, and good spirits overall. Yay! I love my husband.
I mentioned this in an earlier blog. Our Winter Retreat with high-school had a Hollywood Theme so everyone brought costumes and each small group made a movie. Here is mine...they did awesome. You can check out all of the groups' videos on the SL1318 youtube page.
What an awesome weekend! My parents flew in late Thursday night. After scrubbing our place and fluffing the pillows in the guest room, Stu and I drove out to the airport to pick them up. Friday morning I got up early (maybe too early) to get a quick run in. 30 minutes. Check. Then my mom and I went to get mani/pedis at my favorite, Peachy Nails. Meanwhile Shel and Stu went to the gym. My dad likes to stay busy so it was good timing. When our nails finally dried we went back home to pick up the boys and then off to Cheesecake Factory. We had gift certificates from some awesome people that we had been saving for this weekend. As we headed to Buckhead snow flurries appeared! By the time our humungo lunch was on its way to our hips, chicken-feather flurries were coming down and it started to look like Colorado. I was very impressed with this Georgia snow. However, that foiled our plans for the afternoon. Around 3pm the roads were getting bad and drivers were getting crazy, I guess when you’re not used to snow you feel the need to do whatever it takes to slow down traffic. So instead of going to the Georgia Aquarium we headed to another great tourist destination: Costco! There my wonderful father bought some necessities that we had conveniently just run out of (ie Dishwasher soap, laundry detergent, TP, Diet Coke, brownie mix etc.) We also bought food for Stuart’s Green Card Party on Saturday. By the time we got home it was full-on mock Colorado. The snow was sticking. Snow men were being made on every corner. And seriously, everyone that got out of their car thought it would be a good idea to throw snowballs. I think we saw about 10 snowball fights on our way home. Weird Southerners.
Saturday would have been a great day to go for a run, but instead we lounged around and my mom and I cooked for the party. Quality time with the parents was a much better use of my time...at least that’s what I’m telling myself. I mean I could have joined my dad when he went to the gym, but I could see it in my mom’s face that she REALLY wanted me to stay and watch CMT Top 20 Countdown. The rest of day was spent cooking and preparing for the festivities. Finally 6pm came and we had a great time at the Green Party. Lots of people showed up and they were all wearing green! It was great. It felt like a pre-birthday party for me! We had a huge taco bar and played Wii all night. My parents snuck out early to go watch Apollo Ohno dominate in speed skating.
Finally Sunday (Valentines Day) rolled around and my dad had an early flight out. If only he had known that he would get stuck in Chicago for 10 hours and get home to Denver the same time my mom did, he could have stayed and watched movies with us all day! Poor chap. It was a great weekend with my family. I love them so much and think the world of my parents. I hope they come back soon! After we dropped off my mom we went to Passion City Church. That was also incredible. Louie is my hero. We went out to dinner with our friends who went to church with us at the crazy Greek restaurant off of I-85 called Mykonos Taverna. That was the craziest dinner I’ve been to in a long time. Complete with Loud Greek music, dancing, and yummy gyros.
So that was our Valentines day. We decided to push our romantic date a month out for when we go to New York. It was a good day, but we did miss our long run that was scheduled. It was supposed to be for almost 2 hours. Oops. I kind of made up for it yesterday, but only ran half that time. Stuart went out and bought us some Nike+ Sportbands. They’re awesome and I’ve been wanting one for a long time. Now we can track everything when we run outside (if it ever warms up in this igloo state). We hit our goal of running a 10K and so rewarded ourselves with some new watches. Our next goal: TEN MILES. Yikes. But the race is a month from this coming Sunday!!! OMG.
Sorry for those of you waiting around for me to update this wonderful space. Work has actually been very busy which in turn has caused me to actually start working.
Anyway, back to the running. About a week ago I did my first "speed workout". Stuart informed me that it's not just for the sake of being able to run faster (which I have no interest in), but to improve lung capacity. So I did a 10-minute warm up, then ran faster than I knew possible for TEN whole minutes, slow for 5, fast again for ten, and then a much needed 10-minute cool down. WHOA. The next three days, it was my quad's turn to be angry with me. I can't remember the last time I was that sore. Plus, we had a middle school retreat this past weekend and I dominated the 6th grade girls in dodge ball. So my right arm was out of commission as well. Ouch.
Sunday was a big day too. We both ran 10K. It wasn't the fastest time, but at least we did it. Check that one off the list. Yesterday was another speed work out. 10-minute warm up and cool down and in between I did 6 minutes fast, 2 minutes slow for a total of 4 times. I was not in the mood to run, but I had to do it anyway.
The workouts are getting more intense this month. And next month is our race! We should start raising money for our Run-for-a-Change Campaign pretty soon. The 30-Hour Famine is the day before our race and our goal is to have people pledge money for our half-marathon that will all go towards the Famine. Our goal as a youth group is to raise $20,000 this year. It's awesome to be part of that.
This weekend my parents come and we have stuart's green card party! woop!!
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!
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!
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.
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.
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/
Hi Everyone! Welcome to my life...blog edition. I used to update this pretty frequently so that you could try to stay updated on all of my adventures. Now that I've settled down and gotten hitched, I'll just be adding the more momentous events in my life. I married the man of my dreams on 4/5/09 and we recently bought our first house in Lawrenceville, GA! God has called us both to work with the youth group at Sugarloaf UMC. He is on staff and I am a committed volunteer. We love what we do and we make a great team. The rest of my family is in Colorado and his is all the way in South Africa. So this is my life, for all the world to see. Enjoy!
