Philippians 3

The last day of the year tends to be consumed with reflection. At least that’s how I tend to approach it. I think of all the great things that happened the past year, I contemplate the failures and missed opportunities. I ruminate over the friendships I’ve made and the friendships I’ve kept and the relationship I am still waiting for. After I ponder the previous year I tend to wonder at the next year and what it holds. A whole new year always holds such hope and expectation for me. Whatever failures I found in my previous year I have the opportunity to make right in the next year and who knows what could happen in another 365 days.

Maybe this past year your you has been extremely difficult or sorrowful and maybe instead of a new year of hope this new year is fear or anxiety at the unknown. Be encouraged, “Whatever happens, my dear brothers and sisters, rejoice in the Lord. I never get tired of telling you these things, and I do it to safeguard your faith (3:1).” I can not tell you why this year was hard or why for some people it was great. Unfortunately I cannot tell you what this next year holds for you either. I choose to believe that this is going to be one of the best years for our church both corporately and individually and that God is going to take us to new levels of faith and ability to accomplish his purposes.  I profess that to you now, but I know that along the way things do happen.

I can tell you all the things that I don’t know about what tomorrow holds or I can tell you this, whatever does happen tomorrow, next month and year, rejoice! When we rejoice it helps protect our faith. Remember Nehemiah 8 tells us that when we have the joy of the Lord we have strength. As much as we rejoice in the good, we rejoice in the bad because when we have trials it is producing endurance and once our endurance has become fully developed we will be perfect and complete, lacking nothing (James 1:2-4).

Not only that but whatever happened this past year, leave it in this year and don’t take it into the new year. My colombian friends were telling me about one of their traditions is to bring a suitcase and then when it strikes midnight you go run around the block with it. It’s supposed to mean that you’ll have safe travels or something like that, but to me it’s just a picture of what we do all to often with our baggage. We pack it up and bring it with us into the new year.

In Philippians 3:13-14 Paul says, “No dear brothers and sisters, I have not achieved it, but I focus on this one thing; Forgetting the past and looking forward to what lies ahead, I press on to reach the end of the race and receive the heavenly prize for which God, through Christ Jesus, is calling us.” I’m not sure how this last year was for you but I know for me it was full of joy and success but also disappointment and heartache. I’m choosing to forget this past year both the good and the bad because God has something tremendous lying ahead of that and I’m going to be a lot slower to reach the end of the race if I’m being weighed down with baggage.

Wherever you are I am believing for you that this is going to be a great year, but whatever happens rejoice, forget the past and look ahead to the future.

Live Life Extraordinary,

Alayna

As I’ve been adjusting to the process of being a student I began to think about our walk as Christ followers. 1 Corinthians 3:1 talks about Paul addressing church in Corinth. When they were new believers or baby Christians Paul fed them with milk because that was what they could handle and digest, but now they should be ready for solid food, yet they are still going around acting like infants in Christ. If we never graduated from kindergarten but kept taking kindergarten over and over again we would never grow in our intelligence but would always stay at the same level. Instead they graduate us from one grade level to the next. Each grade level adds a new level of challenge by adding homework, study and material to keep us growing until we graduate and begin the process of learning again in a new area or venue.

As I studied 1 Timothy 1 last week it was apparent that the false teachers being addressed didn’t necessarily set out to be false teachers they just didn’t know how to handle the truth. I began thinking how many Christians do not know how to handle the truth. We know how to be fed, but not how to feed ourselves. Last night I was listening to a sermon and the preacher said that God only feeds you proportional to your hunger. I would say that while true, God only can feed you according to the utensils you know how to use.

2 Timothy 2:15 says, “Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a worker who has no need to be ashamed, rightly handling the word of truth.” This was one of the first scriptures I memorized and until a couple years ago I hadn’t quite grasped what this meant for me as a believer. There are several grade levels that we go through.

1.) Go to Church. In church we are challenged, edified and encouraged by the Word. Our series at Urban are not just chosen at random based on a good idea but rather are chosen based on what God is speaking to Pastor Ben and prayed upon as well. The pastor is simply a mouthpiece of what God wants to speak to you both individually and corporately!

2.) Read the Bible. Reading the Bible for yourself will illumintate things in a new way. The book is simply incredible and is timeless. It was written for those living 2000 years ago, for yesterday for those living in the future and for you now. Check it out and you’ll know for yourself.

3.) Meditate on Word. Meditating is simply thinking upon what you’ve read for a period of time. It’s as if you are marinating the Word and as you do so it develops better flavor. It allows you to know both the simplicity and the complexity of God’s Word.

4.) Study the Word. Read it. Reread it. Underline or highlight parts that stick out to you. Journal why those parts are sticking out to you and what you feel as you read them. As you do so God can teach you what he wants to speak to you through the Word. As you develop this habit add Bible commentary into the rotation to better understand context and intent of the Word. This is something I’ve started to develop more in my life and honestly it is amazing how much more I get from the Bible and how much more sensitive I am to hearing God through His Word.

In school you don’t simply erase what you’ve already learned when you move on to the next grade level rather you simply add on to the learning you’ve already had and the same principle applies here.

My hope and prayer is that as you continue to walk out your salvation you would have a greater hunger for the Word and would be able to present yourself as one approved, a student of the Word, rightly handling the word of truth.

Live Life Extraordinary,

Alayna

Though I would not say I am the talker in the family I definitely have an appreciation for wordiness. My main issue with Twitter is that I only have 140 characters, while Facebook on the other hand just took away their 400 character limit which made me love Facebook that much more. While hanging out with a friend a couple days ago we began to talk about writing and then on to word choice specifically talking about the word “like” in conversation. When you start to think about what you are saying it becomes apparent how useless and meaningless certain words are that you speak over and over again. One of my professors in college would make us read our papers and highlight words that were used more than 3 times to help us pay attention to our word choice yet the worst part was when he handed back a paper and entire paragraphs would be crossed off marked with “unnecessary” written in red pen beside it.

In 1 Timothy 1, Paul is instructing Timothy on dealing with some unnecessary conversations and words going around in the church at Ephesus. There were people saying things that were irrevelant to the aim or purpose of the church which was love (vs 5). They had swerved away from that purpose into idle talk. KJV translates idle talk into vain jangling which comes down to the idea of meaningless babble. 1 Timothy 6:20-21 states, “Guard the deposit entrusted to you. Avoid the irreverent babble and contradictions of what is falsely called ‘knowledge.’” Again 2 Timothy 2:16-17 says, “Avoid irreverent babble, for it will lead people into more and more ungodliness, and their talk will spread like gangrene…” Apparently this was a big issue in the church. James talked about the power the tongue has. It has the ability to direct and steer the body. Did you know that Jesus tells us in Matthew 12:36 that we will be held accountable for every idle/careless word that we speak.

This week pay extra attention to your words and what you are talking about. Is it edifying, encouraging and exhorting? What purpose is your conversation serving? If it does not serve a purpose or it’s purpose is not promoting our charge of love coming from a pure heart and a good concience and sincere faith, cut it out. Pay attention and you’ll be surprised at what comes out of us when we do.

Live Life Extraordinary,

Alayna

I can’t begin to tell you how much I absolutely love this poem by Pablo Neruda, titled Tu Venias (You Would Come). Above is really only the last stanza of the poem but it pretty much sums up how I feel about the process I am in right now.

I feel like the past years of my life were a process of learning how to die. Galations 2:20 says, “I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God who loved me and gave himself for me.” Phillipians 3:10-11 says, “that I may know him and the power of his resurrection and may share his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, that by any means possible I may attain the resurrection from the dead.”

Basically as we learn to die we then learn to live. Just like Braveheart said, “Every man dies, not every man truly lives”

I think that only now am I finally learning what “the life I now live” is. So funny that as I look up I realize that is what I named my blog so many years ago. The past few years have been fun but often painful. I’ve learned many lessons and some the hard way. I’ve experienced loss and death in friendships, finances, dreams and even physical loss of my Gramps. I’ve often felt like I was in the valley of dry bones it talks about in Ezekiel yet I couldn’t feel the breath of God or hear him speak.

There is a new wind blowing though. Out of a season of ashes and hardship I feel like the seeds that have been planted and watered in tears and loneliness awaiting the warmth of sun in their little hole in the ground are now beginning to sprout roots that would take hold and begin to support new life.

This is a root season. I may not see a full grown tree on the top of the surface but underneath the surface their is growth, strength and tenacity taking hold of the soil and nurturing what is purposed to be an incredible destiny. I am not discouraged to not see blooms  but am incouraged that though some things had to die so the seed could fall and be planted, the death has not been in vain. After all if we never experienced death in some regard how would we be able to experience life and life abundantly.

At some point I am going to turn and see my incredible destiny, husband, family beside me and it’s going to be like it had always been there and would continue to go on forever.

Until then I will keep praying that the Lord would keep me hidden until my spring has come until i am “in his eyes as one who finds peace” (Song of Solomon 8:10b).

Live Life Extraordinary,

Alayna

Lately I’ve been going through a little of a lonely season. When I am not working I’m running and when I’m not running I’m at Urban or an Urban event or I am sleeping. The time I would normally spend socializing I still do somewhat. It’s just been interesting because at this point in time most of my close friends are married or married with kids. The couple close single friends I have are now most all out of state or country.

I love my married friends and I love my married friends’ kids. They are great and I am so thankful to have relationships with them so that I can learn through them about healthy married relationships and when I am in a relationship I will have those friends to lean on.

However, sometimes it is just nice to have a friend that is going through the same season of life that you are that you can be honest and open with and have them to lean on and encourage you through things that they are walking through or have walked through too.

This is the lonely season I am going through. I have plenty of friends and I am not isolating at all. I just do not really relate to any one near me right now and I am missing the feeling of having a best friend.

As I was lamenting a little last night after a great run I began to pray about this because after all I know scripturally that Jesus is the friend that sticks closer than a brother so I figured that who else to share my friendship woes than to the best friend there ever was and is. Through praying I began to think about all my married friends and how they always say about their spouse that they are their best friend. I began thinking that maybe God is just getting me ready for a new best friend. That and I think God uses circumstances to draw us closer to Him in a new way in order to deepen our relationship with Him. In the past few weeks I can definitely see how my relationship has gotten deeper with God and communication with him as been more frequent, open and honest.

All that to say even though it has been a lonely, different season of life it has been a growing and learning season too. So even though I’ve been stalling in writing blogs I haven’t been stalling in life

Also for all my friends and family that follow the blog please be praying. I am looking at cars right now to purchase. I’ve been saving up a down payment for one. Just got bad news at the dentist and it’s going to cost me about 500.00 at the dentist that I really don’t have right now but I need to get it taken care of. Also I’ll need to have oral surgery to remove my wisdom teeth in the next couple months and that will also be an added expense right around the holidays so be praying as I really don’t know how I am going to cover those medical costs, but I believe that God is a good father and a good provider and so I am trusting in him.

Live Life Extraordinary,

Alayna

Really I am overwhelmed by the faithfulness of God.This weekend I got to celebrate with a good friend, E H as she gets ready to go to San Felipe Mexico to be in the missions field working in an orphanage. She is literally stepping into a dream and I”m so excited to see her fulfill God’s plans and purposes for her life. She has the biggest heart I’ve ever known and is not afraid of standing for the truth and saying it like it is. Part of me is sad that my friend is leaving. She is undoubtedly one of my closest friends here but to keep her here would be selfish. We sent her out today and I was filled with such gratefulness to know her because she is going to change lives that are going to change the world

I’m overwhelmed by the goodness of God. We had our first service in our new building. It just feels right. The school we are in now is just perfect for this season we are in as a church. I have the feeling that God is going to use this campus mightily to reach families and young people alike and God is going to be glorified. The momentum was evident as we began worship and continued through with a great word from Ben. It was so fun watching the kids play water games so full of excitement and joy and that same excitement and joy was marked in the adult service as well. I am overwhelmed by what God is doing in our ministry team and leadership team as we prepare to launch the Sexual Revolution series and campaign in a few short weeks.

I’m overwhelmed by God’s protection. I am so thankful that God has chosen to hide me for my husband. I used to be bummed out by the fact that I haven’t been asked out in almost two years on a real date and that I haven’t had a dating relationship since high school. The more I think about it though I am so thankful that God has hidden me for purposes only he knows at this point. While I have issues and some baggage God has saved me from giving my heart away needlessly for men that would not end up being my beloved. Not only that but because of his protection and by hiding me away I have been able to enjoy me single season. I have so much joy and excitement. I love the adventures I have right now and that I have the ability in this season to continue to prepare myself and grow in character so that I might be the right one for my spouse.

God is doing great things.

As I get ready to leave for my vacation to Washington I’m a little overwhelmed. I believe that God is asking me to use this trip as the blank piece of paper that Ben spoke about in his sermon today. I’m giving God back my desires and wants and instead asking Him to write his will for my life. There’s so much I want to do but ultimately I know that my wants compare very little with the magnitude and greatness of His will for my life. My will won’t ever measure up to the awesomeness of His will. Since I started planning this trip I knew God was going to use this time to refresh yet, but also to equip. I keep thinking about the verse in Habakkuk 2 that says to write the vision down, make it plain (easy to understand) so that the herald may run with it. I’m believing that God is going to write the vision down this week so that I might understand so that when I come back I will be able to run with it.

Pray for me if you think of it because I’ve been a little anxious about this trip because I feel like something big is coming and I just want to be receptive and open to what God has for me in my 25th year of life and even more.

Live Life Extraordinary,

Alayna

So I did it. I finished my second half marathon. I am super happy about it but currently I am super exhausted, sun burnt and sore so those factors are definitely taking over currently haha

It was a good race though. My friend Beth (in the second picture on the top) came from Vegas to help cheer me on. We got up before dawn to head towards Balboa park (where the race started). It was incredible to watch all the people coming in like ants out of the woodwork. It was a continual flow of people into the park area to where the corrals were to start the race. There was even a flash mob in the park!! Flash mobs are like one of my favorite things! You can check it out at  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t4VWPq__1vo&feature=youtu.be .

Originally I was in corral 29 but somehow I got pushed into 30 which really doesn’t matter since my chip only starts tracking when I personally cross the start line. My friend Beth ran the first mile with me which was fun then she split off to bee line it to the end of the race so she could get there and cheer me across the finish. The best signs at the beginning of the race were one at .2mi which said “only 26 more to go” also one that said “You’re not almost there” around mile 1 then one as we approached the first turn which said “lamest parade ever”. The bands were kind of lame sauce but still fun. A lot played covers which made it more fun. I kept my ipod in my ears so I could have a steady pace the whole race and when I was slowing down I could put on a faster song to get me back to moving faster. I tried to take it out though passing the bands so I could experience some of the Rock N Roll fun

I felt really good the first 5 mi though not gonna lie it may have been because mi 2-4 were at a steady downhill grade and mi 5 was pretty flat. They closed off  CA-163 for a section and we ran on it. The cool part was running on the freeway which made for a pretty cool experience. However freeways are not made for runners. What feels fine in a car does not feel fine on feet. It was very angled on pretty much the whole part of the freeway so you felt lopsided running. I’ve never had issues with knee pain from running and this time I had a ton of it and I blame the freeway for this. The also not cool part were that they were handing out otter pops along mi 6 on the freeway. Mi 6 is my infamous wall. I get it every run I do especially when it’s a race. Around mi 6 I see otter pop wrappers littering the freeway and get excited and start looking around for the person handing out otter pops only to find that they are all gone and all I see are wrappers. My excitement quickly turned to disdain and I was pretty embittered towards all those that got their delicious icy snack while I ran through my not so fun wall.

I stomped through my wall by mi 8 and started enjoying myself again I had picked it up a bit and it was honestly just beautiful out. Blue skies, cool breeze…perfect running weather. I was tempted though mi 8 was right next to the mall and I thought man shopping would be fun. Then I remembered I was sweaty and gross and didn’t have any form of payment on me so I kept running. Mi 9 disappointment struck again as I looked down and saw jolly rancher wrappers all around me and immediately realized as with the lesson with the otter pop wrappers that there was in fact no more deliciously sweet hard candy being given out to keep the mouth from dryness either. I was quickly cheered by a certain group of marathoners to fun by. A group of guys holding a flag that said England wearing the Bearskin, a military hat worn by the brigade of guards commonly seen outside of buckingham palace and their tightie whities  and that was pretty much it. It was a funny sight to behold and made me giggle which was exactly what I needed after my jolly rancher disappointment.

Mi 10 I started to slow down. We started looping around which is really hard to do as a runner because in essence you are just passing by where you’ve already ran. That and in other cases you can see the next mile marker but you may still have several miles to go before actually getting to that marker. Plus 10mi is the longest run you do in half marathon training so mentally it gets hard at this point because you’ve got to push past where you’ve not gone before (the last time I ran 13.1 was my first half so while I knew I could run it, I haven’t run it since the beginning of November.) I did my best to listen to stuff that would keep me moving quick but it was just not happening. I had been running 9:45-10min miles and I slowed to about 11min miles which happens. My hips and shoulder were starting to feel it, but I was encouraged that compared to my race in November I was feeling much better so I gritted my teeth and pushed through.

Mi 12 was emotional. I did this last race too. There is something about running a long race and being dead dog tired and getting to the point where you are almost there that just plays on your emotions. However tearing up on the last mile is not the best for breathing and finishing strong. So I thought I’d put on something fast to jam towards the finish on and I get the song pulled up and going and like two seconds later my ipod dies. Like seriously my last mile and it dies…it was out of control, but somehow I managed to pace in at about a 8:30 min mile which is really good for me especially at mile 12. Sprinted through the finish and booked it towards the medic tent where I immediately iced my hip and poor knee (stupid freeway lol).

Overall it was a good race. Wish that my d-chip worked because now I have no clue what my time is but oh well what do you do. After the race Beth and I headed to Coronada where I passed out for a good hour waking only to flip sides haha. Decided what better way to ice bath then in the cold ocean. The bottom right picture was my post race beach essentials Cytomax (for electrolyte recovery), a book (hardly read because I was passed out), cell so I could respond and tell everyone how I did, and vegan curry hummus and pita chips because they are deliciousness!!!

Today has been good. Definitely feeling very sore and not well rested because I managed to get sunburnt despite very liberal sunscreen application so every time I turned either my muscles cramped or I was hurting my sunburn. But managed a long walk along the harbor and through gaslamp after all my friend Beth hadn’t been to san diego so we had to do some sight seeing. Went to lunch at my favorite place, Neighborhood. Then I proceeded to lay in bed all day only to get up once because I had to go make a deposit which on the way back from biking to the bank I had to stop and rest, which was fine by me because that gave me an excuse for a second coffee beverage and opportunity to read my book and enjoy the beautiful weather. P.S. You all should read People of the Book!! It is soooo good!

Anywho it’s been a fun long weekend but tomorrow I am back to work and I’m just hoping that the second day is the worst (for soreness) somehow magically doesn’t apply to me since I’ve been so good and active today

Well hope you’ve enjoyed my rambling account of my rock n roll half marathon experience!

Live Life Extraordinary,

Alayna

Maybe you know some other quotes along these lines but those are just a few that come to mind currently. Seriously now though this concept while not new drives me crazy yet 98% of society buys into it (my own personal statistic).  Girls are particularly bad at this, the twiddle their thumbs and wait for some guy to come sweep them off their feet and then hope that their feet will be sweeped long enough to put a ring on it. After all once your married everything becomes that much easier (sarcasm intended).

I was listening to a podcast a few days ago by Steven Furtick and it wasn’t even on the subject but somehow it got brought up very briefly but he said, “Stop worrying about finding the right one and work at being the right one.” I love this because it just seems to epitomize exactly how I feel.

Too many women are waiting on the sidelines hoping that some day it might all fall into place and this mythical “right one” will appear. These ladies are so caught up with finding the right one and measuring every guy that so much as glances their way with their right one standards that they forget to use their standards on themselves and make sure they are measuring up first.

I refuse to be one of these women. I trust God that he will bring the man I marry into my life when the timing is right, but until that time I’m not going to play the guessing game with every guy I see. Instead I will be the right one.

It kinda goes back to my spring cleaning, but being the right one is all about discipline and having your priorities in line. It’s true that right now I have little to no life. I wake up early to spend time with God before my day,  I work a stressful job for long hours then either come home and run or go straight to the gym after work. I come home and try to eat dinner before 10pm, study the Word and then I go to bed. Rinse and Repeat.

Does it stink sometimes to not get to just do whatever I want whenever I want…absolutely! Today being a great example. I went hiking this morning because it was my day off, hung out with my friends and their kids at the park then worked on some stuff at home and rested. By the time it was 6pm I knew I had to go on a run. Nothing in me wanted to run. I was exhausted from a full day in the sun and my hike. However I knew that I couldn’t skip it either. Everyday that I run I’m investing in myself and my future life and kids. Everytime I wake up early to spend time with the Lord I am investing in that relationship so that our communication is clear so that when He speaks I don’t have to wonder. When I go to work I’m investing so that I can have financial stability so that when more people are added into my life they don’t have to deal with a mess that I made.

As cheesy as it sounds every time I run I think about how worth it what I’m doing is. When you work on being the right one it’s worth it. It’s worth early mornings, it’s worth soreness and it’s worth long work days. It’s worth the sacrafice to be the right one. Plus if you know you are Ms. Right you don’t really need worry about finding Mr. Right, he’ll come to you!

Live Life Extraordinary,

Alayna

It couldn’t have come a moment too soon. I had a crazy busy week followed by a busy weekend. It was fun though. Saturday I went to the Urban Ladies Brunch. It was a very cool time to hang out with some neat ladies and just hang out and relax. Plus I got to hang out with baby Elizabeth (my friend Adrienne’s baby) I took her at the end and didn’t give her back for almost 40 minutes haha. Let me tell you, if you need help destressing/relaxing just hold a baby and it will do the trick.

After that I headed to the cafe to finish my blog on www.lifeaturban.com titled Duh…Winning (that’s my plug to go check it out haha). Then I went to the pool for about an hour with friends. Which was fabulous since we were having 80 degree weather Then I am missing my best friend’s birthday this week since I’m going to be on vacation so I had to make it special. We went to dinner at Barrio Star in San Diego and it was delicious!!! Such a cool little place. She loved her gift too which was sparkly pink nail polish because if you knew Jess you’d know that anything that is pink or sparkles she’ll love also I found a shirt with the main lyrics to Queen’s Bicycle which let me tell you was not an easy task. Then to top it off I got tickets to Mixtape an offbroadway musical revue that was fantastic!! Let me tell you I was laughing so hard I was crying within five minutes of the start of the show and it just got better. If you have a chance to get to San Diego before it’s done in the middle of June it would be worth it

Needless to say all that kept me out until almost 11pm. Now if you did not know I have to move at the end of the month which is crazy. The hard part of it all is that I am on vacation a full week I come back and have work all week and then have to move. So I’ve been frantically trying to pack as much as possible this whole week. With that being the main focus I left packing for the trip to last minute which is actually no different then normal, but yeah it’s not the easiest thing to do when half your stuff is already packed.

Then there was a glitch with the car where they told me I’d need a credit check to pay with a debit card. Then when I went in this morning they told me that they didn’t just hold 400.oo but they held 400.00 on top of the rental which would put my total over 700.00 which just isn’t acceptable. Luckily I went in ready to fight this morning, but decided to just lay on the sugar instead and be as sweet as I could be. They guy waived my credit check and only charged me the price of the rental and did not add anything else as a hold. What’s great is that I knew God had my back because even the smallest detail was covered. When I went to pick out my car there was only two ford focus’s which I’ve heard bad things about plus I’ve driven one and hated it, then there was a Suzuki which I refuse to drive and finally a Hyundai accent which is a car I love, but it was in red. With the length of my trip I just couldn’t take the risk of a red car. So I went to tell the guy I’d take a Ford but thought to double check and make sure there wasn’t something else in a different section. Glad I did too because he was like yeah that’s it except for that blue hyundai over there that got parked in the wrong spot. So yay!! I got the blue hyundai which is kinda nostalgic of when I had my own little blue hyundai

We had a great service at Urban this morning with five salvations! So good and then I grabbed some coffee and hit the road. What a beautiful drive!! I did wonder if there were a lot of accidents though because of people looking at the great views as they drive The only bummer was driving through LA but that was to be expected. Everytime I drive through it it just solidifies even more so how much I dislike the place.

Despite stop and go traffic in LA I made great time and was in Santa Barbara by 4:30p. My hotel is super cute! As soon as I figure out how to upload photos onto the computer with my new camera I’ll post some. In the meantime you can google, The Presidio Santa Barbara and check it out. I have the room with the roses on the wall. As soon as I got here I changed to go on a run. The super nice gal at the front desk had recommended that I go see the mission, and told me where some other cute places were thinking that I had more than just a few hours today to explore. Luckily by deciding to go for a run I killed two birds with one stone. I got in a 6.5 mi run in and was able to see the mission, the downtown shops, ran through a earth fair thing with live music, saw some cute old churches, some adorable older homes with beautiful gardens in the outer neighborhoods, the seaman’s pier and the beach! All in a matter of a couple hours and I took pictures!

My final event of the evening is dinner alone at a restaurant. Which is where I am writing this blog. I was going to walk here, but my mom wasn’t happy with that idea and even though I am grown I try not to cause her more worry than it’s worth so I decided to respect her wishes. Then I thought I would order it to go, but that kinda defeats the purpose of my independent me-cation so here I sit. Had a delicious mint lamb burger and now I’m just blogging. It wasn’t so bad, though like 3 different people asked me how many were in my party when I walked up and all had a look of surprise on their faces when I told them just me. The saving grace was the free wifi because I got to use my computer and have dinner without feeling that bad about it since it was too dark in here to read. Which worked perfect since I have been without internet for a week now at home!

Anywho tomorrow is part deux of my journey up the coast to see the fam. I’m excited for it though, I absolutely love driving. It’s weird but for me it is one of the most relaxing things. Plus I get to sing at the top of my lungs without having to worry about what anyone else things hahaha.

Well it is time for me to pay my bill and go in search of something sweet to end the day Look at me two blogs in two weeks haha, but I don’t want to jinx it

Live Life Extraordinary,

Alayna

The not so literal spring cleaning is that which I’m doing of body, soul and spirit. I’ve kind of become complacent in the routine of my life which is not always bad when you have routine but I’m convinced that complacency is never the Lord’s will. I desire to always be content in my circumstances while never satisfied so that I keep learning, keep growing and reaching for the best that God has to offer.

The body part is rather simple. I started weight watchers. I bucked against all of my friends’ suggestions that I should try it out. After all I have always been active and I do know how to eat healthy. Yet even with all my activity and head knowledge of what’s good versus bad I have continued to stay plateaued at my current weight. Thus I gave in and now I’m completely obsessed with points, weekly points, activity points and weigh in’s hahaha. Not only that but I’m training for my 2nd half marathon. I’m competing in the San Diego Rock N’ Roll Half adn I’m actually excited. It’s June 5th and I’m stoked partly because I’m so far been good and consistent with my training plan, but also because I’m raising money for it. All money that I get through friends, family and business partner sponsorship will be going towards Urban’s community outreach and youth programs. Some things that have been part of community outreach have been First Sunday where we give household items, clothing, food, toiletries and etc to those that are low low income families and individuals that could otherwise not afford the items and each First Sunday we provide a free hot meal after service. We’ve also done 3 space makeovers for three different single mom’s who needed creative ways to have as many as 4 kids in either a studio or small one bedroom apartment. (These were one of my favorite outreaches!). We are also starting our Urban youth program for junior high and high school students and since we haven’t had these programs for the first two years we will now need to get some of the necessary resources for this ministry in order to be as effective as possible. (If you would like to sponsor me just leave me a comment and I’ll give you the info you need!)

The soul part  of my spring cleaning is already started as a work in progress. About a month ago I decided to cut back on the amount of shows I was watching in order to have more time to do other things. I am continuing to cut back and one of the reasons is because I want to read a new book every two weeks alternating between literature/fiction and Christian non-fiction. Also I’m being a little more choosy about the the music I’m listening to. I was astounded about a week ago as I began singing a song that I had heard several times over on the radio and thought was catchy but as I sang I realized the lyrics I were singing were honestly just trash. While I’ve never been super concerned about bad language and such mainly because I’m around it at work and when I was doing track, I still believe that out of the heart the mouth speaks and I don’t want that trash in my heart. I’d rather think upon and listen to things that are edifying and encouraging.

The spirit part is a little more intense for me. I have determined in my heart to wake up earlier so I could spend time with God before I begin my day. For those of you that may know me I’m not a morning person. I hate waking up in the morning. In fact I have getting ready for work down to 20-25 minutes so that I can spend as much time as possible in bed sleeping. While I’m sad to see my sleep go the fact of the matter is days just are better when you start them with God. So I’m getting up at 6:30 every morning and going for a walk through downtown or the harbor so I can pray and get my blood pumping at the same time. Then my goal in the evening after spending time at the gym or running is to spend at least an hour in the Word studying. Not just reading but working with a Bible commentary and textbook to glean as much as possible. I’ve always loved the books of the prophets in the Old Testament so that is the focus of my fifty days of spring cleaning. The goal of course is to develop the habits in this 50 days to continue on after the fact.

So yeah that’s what I’m up to currently

Oh and I am taking a vacation! It’s going to be the first “me” vacation. Most of my vacations are centered around others whether family or friends which don’t get me wrong are pretty enjoyable, but most of the time I end up more tired from the week of “rest” than if I just stayed a work. So with my me-cation in mind I am renting a car and starting up the coast, I’ll stay in Santa Barbara and relax, walk the beach, go for a bike ride or maybe just stay in my room!  Then I’ll head up the coast the rest of the way to hopefully meet up with AK and Sister Sue in Salinas since it’s the next step on the way. Then I’ll head to Santa Cruz to park at mi madre’s and venture in at some point to see GMa and Paha in Fremont and the city to see T. Then whenever I’m ready I’ll venture back down maybe even leisurely to San Diego. I can’t even begin to express how excited I am! I even finally came into the 21st century and bought a digital camera so I could actually document my travels through my me-cation

Anywho just thought you all should know!

I’ll probably be blogging through my spring cleaning progress and studies in order to keep myself accountable and on track so keep your fingers crossed. I may be back to stay in the blogosphere

Live Life Extraordinary,

Alayna