I'm Back!

Hey Everyone! How's it going? I must say, it feels entirely strange to be typing this into the New Post window. I just spent 10 minutes on Facebook and that felt really weird too. It has been a really good 40 days being away from Facebook and blogging. I'm really glad I did it, and that said, I'm really glad I'm back too!

It has been a very eventful 40 days. It seems like everything is new and different! Of course, not everything is, but there has been a big decision that has changed my life (and will change my life) quite a bit. So where do I start? This is so difficult. Hmm...

Ok, 40 days ago I was really feeling like I needed to take a break from the internet. It was taking up WAY too much of my time and I found that my "default" thing to do when I was bored was to pick up the laptop and go online. I weighed the options and decided that a 40 day fast was in order. The first few days were the most refreshing. I felt like I had SO much time in my day. I was so productive...making great meals, keeping the house super-clean, spending lots of time reading and crocheting and sewing. Then that became the new normal. It was still great and I didn't really even notice most days that I was missing anything. A couple times stuff would happen and my first thought was "ooh, I should write about that on my blog!" but of course I couldn't. But for the most part, no biggie. I'm pretty sure I won't be back to facebook very much. It was fun to see what people were up to, but for the most part it just took/takes the infertility thing from an 8 to a 10 on the "painful" scale. So why not just avoid it, right? The hardest part has been the last couple days. It's been so close and it's felt like such a long time and I just felt like coming back early. But I'm glad I'm not.

So what's happened since October 19? Wow. Well, I won't keep you in suspense the whole post. The big decision that was made is that I'm going to become a full-time student next semester. I never finished my full undergrad degree, so that limited my options for studies, but I have decided to go for a Diploma in Congregational Care. It has a good mix of theology courses and counseling courses. I'm hoping this will be a good addition to my schooling for the next time that I'm a pastor's wife or professor's wife or whatever. And, if I really enjoy any lay-counseling that I do, to become a licensed counselor would only require me finishing my BA (two years) and then only one more year of seminary. And because Nathan is a full-time student, I get 50% off of my tuition. Can't argue with that! So my next semester will be quite a bit busier than this semester, but I am really looking forward to this next step. : )

Let's see, what else? I've put up my Christmas tree! I found a 4' tree in a storage room here on campus, so I snagged it and we bought a few decorations and lights and decorated for Christmas. Here in the States, it is kinda taboo to decorate before Thanksgiving (which was yesterday), but once I had the tree in our apartment, I couldn't help but put it up. It did feel kinda early, especially with no snow and mostly beautiful daytime weather, but I just had to. It gives our little apartment such a cozy feeling to have the Christmas lights on.

Speaking of Christmas, Nathan and I bought our Christmas present for each other this morning. Is anyone out there familiar with Black Friday? It is the Friday after Thanksgiving where all the stores put out crazy sales and people line up outside the store for hours before it opens in hope of getting that certain tv or ipod or whatever. Almost every year, somewhere in the States someone dies on Black Friday from being trampled as people rush in to grab that special thing that they were waiting for. Well, I'd always thought these people were absolutely insane, but this year Nathan found a GREAT deal on a 32" Westinghouse tv that Target had. A few of the other people in the court (all Canadians) wanted to experience Black Friday as well so we bundled up (it gets down to 3 degrees at night here) and left our cozy, warm apartments at 11:30pm to line up outside of Target, which was set to open at 5am. We joined the line at midnight and settled in for our 5 hour wait. Time went surprisingly quickly. We played some President (Scum) with names changed to suit the Thanksgiving theme (Turkey, Fruitcake, etc). It's also amazing the sense of community that develops with the people next to you in line in a situation like that. We knew what the people in front of us and behind us were waiting for and had one of them ask us in the store if we'd gotten what we'd hoped for. So fun. So yeah, the doors opened at 5am sharp and we were in and out in 9 minutes with a brand new tv. Merry Christmas!

I can't think of what else is new. I'm sure there is lots and it will probably come to me all day, but I think I'll leave it at that for now. I am dying to check out what all of you have been up to in these last 40 days! Hope you all made it back. I'm looking forward to seeing who's still around and checking and who didn't last through the 40 days, so if you could leave me a little comment and let me know that you're still reading, that would be great. (you can let me know here in the comment box, or on facebook or email...just to make it the most convenient for you)

Hope you're all doing well!