welcome back!

well, it's so hard to believe that it's almost been a year since i last blogged. a lot has happened in the past year!

a year in review {a semi-brief version}:

work: work is different for both me and the hubs! i started a new job back in august at a church here in the area as the director of preschool ministry. it's a great church and we love it. it is very different from the other churches where i have served but that is one of the major things i like about this new ministry endeavor. don't get me wrong...i have LOVED my experiences working for mega churches but i am enjoying seeing how church is done in a different setting.

health: if you've known me for any amount of time, you know that i have struggled with my weight almost my entire life. i decided back in january 2013 to investigate the possibility of weight loss surgery. hubs attended a seminar with me {i was more open to the idea of surgery than he was but he agreed to attend the seminar} and after the seminar we both felt that weight loss surgery was the best option for me. i've not been super public about my decision to have weight loss surgery for several reasons 1) it's a personal decision and i don't have to share everything with the world {but now i am sharing it with all 4 of you that will see this...all of whom probably already knew ;-) } 2) it's not just a personal decision but it was MY decision {along with hubs, of course}! when people hear about someone having weight loss surgery they have a tendency to share any and all horror stories they have heard about weight loss surgery, share about their grandma's sister's friend's brother who had the surgery and gained all of their weight back, or they judge and assume that weight loss surgery means taking the "easy way out." {as an aside, i can absolutely assure you that it is NOT the easy way out...6 months of preparation, the actual surgery process, and the discipline to follow the rules and guidelines after surgery is NOT easy!} basically, i believe that weight loss surgery is  one tool out of many that will help me and equip me to lose weight. if i choose to ignore the number of calories i consume in a day {and also choose processed food over a healthy, balanced diet} and don't make exercise and physical activity a priority then i will gain my weight back. like i said, weight loss surgery is a tool...it's not the magic pill that requires no other work or discipline!

wow. that was a long introduction :-). so, i had my surgery in august 2013 and have lost 137 pounds since my highest pre-surgery weight. i still have weight that i want to lose but sometimes i just have to stop and think about the fact that i have lost 137 pounds. it seems crazy and unreal to me. i often let myself get bogged down by the weight i still want to lose and i don't let myself take in the amount of weight i have lost. i can say that i enjoy life a lot more now and exercising is actually...fun...can you believe i feel that way?! i can't but i'm so happy that i do!

hubs: i mentioned earlier that work is also different for hubs, too. he is now doing contract work for a company that is literally 5 minutes from our doorstep. he loves it and i do, too. he is so much happier and way less stressed! the last 3 months in his previous job were SO stressful and frustrating. the Lord provided in a way that we did not expect but we are so thankful. i don't know why it surprises me when i realize the Lord knows what's best but sometimes it still does. He used a difficult situation to bring about a better situation for hubs. praise the Lord!

my recent job change did not just mean that i am serving at a different church but that hubs would have to change churches, too. he had been a member at our last church since he was 15 yrs old and when we left he was serving as a deacon and married adult sunday school teacher. no one likes change and this was a big change! hubs was convinced, though, that the Lord was moving us to this new church and that the Lord would give him new ministry opportunities. he was right! we had only been at our new church for 4 months and hubs was asked to  start a new young marrieds sunday school class. we love our class and love the opportunities we have to minister to young married couples. {he has also become the resident go-to expert on apologetics and is even teaching an adult Bible study the week we have VBS focused solely on apologetics...right up his alley!}

paisley: {i couldn't do an update on the alleys and NOT include the furry alley that lives in our house!} she is doing so well...she is as cute and spunky as ever. i'm also fairly certain that she appreciates my more active lifestyle because she gets to go on a lot more walks now than ever before!

well there you go. that's a brief snapshot of the last year. there are obviously lots of details that i didn't include but i covered the high points! i really enjoy blogging so hopefully my next post will happen sooner than a year from now!