Why I Love This Week!

*TODAY is THE day! We find out if we have been accepted for our DREAM job!

*It's my birthday week! I'll be the big 2-4 as of Thursday! I've always been fascinated by being 24 just cause it sounds older (and now I sound dorkier for that).

*My best friend is getting HITCHED! I'm headed up to start the festivities on Thursday which means lots of fun with the ladies! Plus, it is a rare thing for us all to be together!

*Somehow I have become a T.V. junkie (more like reality T.V. junkie). The Bachelor, Biggest Loser and American Idol... oh my!

Something New... "Why I Love This Week?"

In hopes of becoming a more consistent blogger (and also being a little bit more positive about each week), I'm following in Sabrina's footsteps to bring you...



*It's JANUARY! January is one of my favorite months as it is my birth month! This January also is over-the-top exciting as we receive the final word about moving overseas and my best friend is getting married!

*Life is back to normal this week! Although I enjoyed some days off, I am more than thankful to be back in the normal schedule at work and life. Plus, we won't be traveling back and forth to BG all week, like we have been for the past month.

*Biggest Loser! Last season was my first season to watch this show,but like most, I'm hooked!

*Double date with my new favorite couple! R and I did a little match-making over the break and have created our new favorite couple! So exciting that it has actually worked out so far and we have a new couple to go on dates with!

*Free weekend at home! I wasn't expecting this one as I was schedule to play at a wedding this week,but the bride called and said they had to move the wedding back a weekend (I mean, who does that? Is it possible?)... but I'm a-ok with that!

*Lastly, I'm throwing a bridal shower for my best friend this Sunday at home. Several of our closest friends will be there and I really do cherish each time I get to see them, as it is too far and few between!


Hope your week is as lovely as mine!

Merry Christmas Eve!

I thought I would follow in my blog friends' footsteps

1. Wrapping paper or gift bags?
Wrapping. Unless it is an awfully awkward gift (aka bird house for my mother-in-law), then it get the bag.

2. Real tree or artificial? Artificial here. But I LOVE the smell of real trees! I had a real wreath this year and it smelled wonderful, so I can only imagine how good a real tree would have been.

3. When do you put up the tree? I would prefer the day after Thanksgiving. BUT... this year, we had a bit a drama in a getting our Christmas Tree. My Nana was nice enough to give us a tree, but we only managed to get 2/3 of the tree so we had to wait til someone could bring us it. But long story short- I wish the day after Thanksgiving but this year it was about a week later.

4. Do you like eggnog? Ew.

5. Favorite gift received as a child? Probably an American Girl doll. I wanted to Samantha (one of the American girls) growing up so getting the doll was a happy day in my life!

6. Do you have a nativity scene? Yes! A beautiful softstone nativity from Niger, West Africa! (Thanks Phillips fam!)

7. Hardest person to buy for? My dad.

8. Easiest person to buy for? Ross.

9. Mail or email Christmas cards? Didn't do either this year, but I hope to send real ones in the future. I LOVE getting Christmas cards in the mail, the good ole fashion way!

10. Favorite Christmas movie? The Holiday.

11. When do you start shopping for Christmas? Black Friday.

12. Favorite thing to eat at Christmas? Sugar of all types... fudge, cookies, cake. (Oh goodness... this has been a bad holiday on the dieting front)

13. Clear lights or colored lights on the tree? Clear.

14. Favorite Christmas song? O Holy Night. Love it.

15. Travel or stay home at Christmas? Well we travel back in forth between family.

16. Can you name all of Santa's reindeer? I think this is silly... I just saw all of Sabrina's answer just before I wrote this so I feel like it is cheating.

17. Angel on tree top or star? This year, we just had ribbon because I'm too cheap to buy a topper.

18. Open the presents Christmas Eve or morning? Christmas Eve with my parents and Christmas Day with Ross' family.

19. The most annoying thing about this time of year? The feeling that you have to get gifts for someone when they don't want or need anything, when there are so many people in desperate need.

20. What I love most about Christmas... I know this is cheesy, but having time to reflect on the truth that the God Most High sent His Son to live among us and bring the light of salvation to the world.

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas!

The Wellmans have now full embraced the Christmas holiday! I LOVE Christmas and traditions,but as this is my last Christmas in the US for a few years, I'm fully embracing the season and enjoying the time with friends and family.

Without further adieu... my 2009 Christmas to-do list!

*Setting aside a night to decorate the tree and get into the Christmas mood- check!

*Decorating sugar cookies- check!

*Watching "The Holiday"

*Going to "Behold the Lamb of God" (this is one of our favorite traditions... however, our last year to do it since we'll be across the world!)

*Taking a trip to the Opryland Hotel

*Ross and I filling each others stockings (ps- my family never really did this tradition growing up, which was totally fine because we received SO much stuff anyway, but I really wanted to revamp this tradition)

*Getting new Christmas PJ's! This was a Riley family tradition. This year's PJs are WKU sweatpants for both us... so comfy!

*Finish reading Noel Piper's "Treasuring God in Our Traditions" and planning some God glorifying traditions to continue in our family.

*Reading the Luke 2 Christmas story together

Ramblings via Panera

I'm wasting some time at Panera today, after having a dentist appointment in BG. My face is half numb from the dental work so I thought soup would be a nice option for lunch. Think again. I'm loudly slurping my broccoli cheddar soup in the middle of Panera.

Just so you know, that whole ambitious plan to run a 5k on October 31= FAIL.

On a nicer note, I now have a job in Owensboro. No substitute teaching here. God definitely provided by giving me a job at the church where R works as an assistant to the music minister. Fun times! Isn't it crazy how the Lord always provides?! Shew, I'm in awe.

And to follow up with the failed attempt at getting in shape.... Our church in Owensboro has a Christian Life Center with a SWEET gym. It almost makes me LIKE working out. Almost.

You know that game where people ask "If you were being sent off to a deserted island, what would be the one thing you would take with you?" Well, my life is that game right now. We're (Lord willing) moving overseas in July and will only be allowed a few suitcases. Seeing that we're going to a place where we'll see extremes in weather, most of our suitcases will be full of clothes for various seasons. But here's my top three for most prized item: 1) hair straightener (220 volt of course!), 2) big picture frame with signatures from our wedding (which Ross assures me will not fit into our luggage, but I'm up for the challenge!), and 3) just a couple pieces of Fiestaware??

I feel as though people are really pushing the holidays early this year. I mean everyone was carving their pumpkins and drinking hot cider when it was still 90 degrees outside and now, half the population has already decorated for Christmas. I love my holidays and highly anticipate all the festive traditions, but seriously?

And lastly, I'm a nomad at this point in my life. Ms. "I've lived in BG my whole life" will be living all over creation within the next 9 months (all over creation= 4 different locations). But I'm okay with it.

Update on the Wellmans :)

I'm at the beach this week, which equals lots of time in sun and lots of free time!! Thus, here's an update on the Wellmans!! Hopefully this will catch everyone (well i hope there's just one of you! haha!)up on our life and the many changes that have occurred and will be occurring soon!

This fall has been unexpectedly changing and busy within the Wellman household! We've made our first move as a married couple (and pretty much my first move ever!), along with ending and starting new jobs and ministry. After a year of working with the middle school ministry at Living Hope, we knew that the time had come for us to move on. It's just crazy to think how when we started this just a year ago, these middle school students seemed so distant and awkward, but now, we've truly come to love the middle schoolers at Living Hope. We're so thankful for this past year at Living Hope but also for the church family that Living Hope has and will always be to us.

Ross started his new job at FBC Owensboro mid-September and a week later, we officially moved to Owensboro. Ross has taken an interim position for the middle school and high school at FBC... I've come to see him as a professional interim. :) We're slowing adjusting to this move. For this born and bred Bowling Green girl, Owensboro is just different. But it's growing on me! I have been acquainted with the new church and I'm already realizing that this is what the Lord desired for us. We've gotten to know our youth and had lots of fun at a retreat with our middle school students last weekend. We're living in a quaint part of town, with a great location. I was hesitant about our new apartment at first as it is pretty old (like built in the 40's!), but as we've worked to make it our place, it is great! (Pictures to come!). My number one question in Owensboro is what I'm doing with all my time... well, I'm having no problem keeping myself busy between driving back and forth from BG for orchestra, giving harp lessons, and finishing up some responsibilities with my job. But as for long term, I'm planning on substitute teaching for the short time we'll be in Owensboro.


As most of you know, Ross and I have spent the last year applying to move overseas to be language and culture students, among other things. It's been an intense process, with lots of applications and interviews, as well as lots of prayer in determining if this is indeed what the Lord wants for us right now. We have a big step in this process coming up this month. We will head to Virginia for a week to have our final interview and receive information about what our lives will soon be! We would really appreciate your prayers during this week (Oct. 19-24), that we would be nerve free and open to the Lord's leading in our lives. Also, that if the Lord wills it, that this interview would lead to a move for training in April and overseas in July, as we have planned.

So there you have it... an update that will hopefully lead to more blog posts! :)

I'M BACK... and still running!

The fact remains...I'm a horrible blogger! Last time I blogged, I was just finishing Week 3 of Couch to 5k. Since then, I've lost a bit of my momentum as my work hours have increased in addition to preparing to move! My days and nights have been jammed packed with work, church, quality time with friends and family,back and forth trips to Owensboro and packing!
So confession time... I missed a few workouts over the past couple weeks. Those missed workouts put me even further behind as I felt that I need to repeat some trainings to get back to where I was. As of now, I'm one workout shy of being on Week 6. That one workout is the 2 mile run (no walking, mind you!). So I'm repeating Week 5 so I will survive the 2 mile run without my lungs exploding. (All of you real runners out there... give me grace, I'm out of shape!)
I attribute part of my slacking to shin splints (I know... excuses, excuses). I realized a few weeks ago that I only got shin splints when I did long runs two days in a row... so I have been trying to avoid back to back C25K workouts.

All that to say... I haven't fallen off the running wagon yet!! And I'm still alive!