list from the loft

• we are loving life at the loft
• we have these two huge windows in the main room that go almost from floor to ceiling on a 15 or more foot tall wall
• Michael's parents came over yesterday to get some of the stuff they will be storing for us, and they helped us get our bed up into the loft - HUGE help!!!
• It was a little tricky getting the bed up there, but it turned out being easier than we thought it would be
• we slept in the loft last night for the first time, and our dog Tabor does not like the spiral stair case, so he slept downstairs by himself. I'm not sure how much he slept. At one point during the night he was wining/howling. We will try to train him to go up the stairs.
• the community here at the loft apartments is very interesting and seems to be a huge mix of people. We have nick names for some of the people we see on a regular basis but haven't really met yet. Some people are more approachable than others.
  
• This morning while Michael was leaving for Revolution and I was taking Tabor out for his morning business, we met a guy who is the lead electric guitarist for Mount Paran Church of God. He lives at the very end of our hall.
• There's a single mom with two boys who live on one side of us, and two young dudes, probably around 20 years old who live on the other side of us.
• The lofts are surprisingly quiet, and we really do not hear much outside noise at all when we are inside our apartment.
• We saw two guys who were obviously about to fight each other Friday night while we were coming back in from taking Tabor out. They were standing right in front of the window of the apartment we almost moved into when we first started looking here. I'm so glad Michael said he wanted to check out apartments on the top floor to see what they'd be like. In front of that window is where a group of people hang out all the time.
  
• There are a lot of people who have dogs here.
• Dollar Tree, Gold's Gym, and Johnny's Pizza are right across from our apartment. Hot-z came over Friday and we went to lunch, and she drove. We had not decided where we would eat before we left, but we ended up at Johnny's Pizza, and we realized we could have walked there.
• It takes about 3 minutes to get to church from here, which is where I have to get ready to go to, so I guess this list is done.

Peace out!

less is more, but will it be enough?

The move is almost over. Just some miscellaneous stuff left at the ranch that we are going to get today. I am now sitting in my new loft apartment, which is so cool. The majority of the stuff we moved is sitting in boxes around me, and it still seems like a ton of stuff, even though we probably gave 1/3 of what we had away, trashed another 1/3 of it, and 1/3 of it still remains in our possession. We are giving ourselves 30 days to unpack completely, and if it doesn't end up having a place in our apartment after 30 days, we are seriously considering getting rid of it, even though we brought it here.

It was a truly freeing experience to get rid of so much stuff and to know i no longer have to deal with it. I hope that I have learned something through this that will last a lifetime - be happy with what you have already. Getting the next best greatest thing isn't going to make my life any better, and in fact, it could end up having more of a negative affect on me when I'm over it and have to find something to do with it.

These next years of my life I want to find fulfillment in doing things that God wants me to do. I know that will be enough - more than enough!

the time is now!!!

Today is moving day! We are in the throws of packing, trashing, donating, and moving. We are downsizing again - this time for real! But it still feels like we have too much stuff. We have been inspired by the show on TLC called "Clean Sweep" and are making huge strides in redefining what is important to us, but I feel like once we get in our apartment, we are going to have to do it again. We have given thousands of dollars of stuff away and thrown just as much away, and I am flabbergasted by the amount of money we have spent on stuff. The little addictions and fads of things that are no longer important to me is crazy!!! It's sorda embarrassing to think about what they all were - beanie babies, cross stitching, scrap booking, rubber stamping, and it goes on. Not that there is anything wrong with any of those things, but I guess I have a tendency to go overboard when I get hooked on something.

Well, it's a new day and a new start and a new perspective.

Back to the moving!

Peace out!

gutsy

So the thing I referenced that happened at Fuse at NewSpring Church was this. Their middle school and high school students used to meet separately; now they meet together on Wednesday nights. As you could imagine, this probably didn't go over well with the high schoolers - you know, having to meet with those goofy middle school kids. Well, at Fuse this past Wednesday, they showed a video of some of their middle school students sharing their opinions about how they are treated by the high school students, and the high school students shared their opinions about how they felt and even how they should probably step it up and be a better example of Christ to the middle school students. I thought that was a pretty gutsy video. It seemed to me that it would be eye opening to those students who are really trying to live for God. It's so easy to get caught up in your own little world and make life all about you. I'm guilty of it myself. Do I have the guts to ask God to reveal to me the ways I am doing that currently? Dangit! I hate when I have revelations like this. Now I'll have to ask.

It's been a pretty laid-back weekend so far, but tomorrow will be crazed. Taking Michael to church at 7:00 then coming back to the ranch, then going back to church at 9:50, then eating on the go, then bringing the boys back to the ranch, then heading to Woodstock to meet friends to ride together to a meeting in Acworth, then being picked up by Michael and other friends to go check out the youth ministry at West Ridge in Paulding. Funny that we lived right up the street from West Ridge when we lived in Dallas, but I have never been to anything they have ever done. So tomorrow will be my first West Ridge experience.