Monday, March 11, 2013

The Word of 2013: Intentionality

How embarassing. I have not written a thing in quite some time. I suppose most of our days are pretty ordinary and don't seem worth writing about afterward, but it is pretty pathetic since last I blogged! It's not that I anticipated becoming an international web sensation or anything, but man -- I at least want to pretend we are adventurous and exciting people up here in Michigan.

Alas, though, most of all people's days are spent doing very ordinary things. I spend the majority of my days driving to, working at, and driving home from the law firm. Darin's are spent at the YMCA. Days crawl by but weeks fly; I can't believe it is MARCH already.

It has been difficult at times to feel purposeful post-college. Those were such carefree times that I had no problem spending a day at a new place with friends, taking on a mission, volunteering for weeks in a faraway place, or having long coffee talks and really bonding with people. Those were generally very, very rich days in my life. Once you cross that stage and turn your tassel, though, you likely have to wave some of that fun good-bye. I am very happy for people who have found really energizing jobs already, but a lot of us have to accept what comes our way and get a paycheck, even if it is for sitting in a cubicle all day. (Disclaimer: the people I work with are super funny and I am very fond of them, so that helps out a lot.) Ruts have the chance to begin forming in the ground, the same old path every weekday and a lot of resting and lack of imagination on the weekend.

We all need to take a step back and inject intentionality into our lives when they get this way!

We need challenges and to spend more of our time doing and less of it just existing. One of my hugest struggles, truthfully, is sloth -- I enjoy lounging around in my Star Wars pajama pants and go on Pinterest for hours after I get home from work. But I want to spend more of that time exercising, trying out a new exotic recipe, cleaning my house so that it's more pleasant to be in, reading the bible, having a meaningful chat with Darin, or any other of a myriad of ideas.

I want to start finding out what is around us and what we can do out in the great city and towns all around us on our Saturdays, not just sleep in super late and watch TV. It'd be great to start visiting family members or calling up ones that are far away when there seems to be nothing to do. I can take up a new hobby, read new books, and see new sights. We can purposefully set aside money to really go farther away and go on a real adventure, or say yes to an invitation even though we are feeling lazy and want to stay home and at least give new experiences a shot.

I want to spend more time planning what I eat so that it's more healthy and more delicious, and is more valuable to me. I want to spend more time moving and being active and appreciating the health I am lucky to have. I want to be more focused on Christ and seek out more opportunities to make His name great and lay myself down for others so they can see Him better.

I want my life to be completely full, every hour chosen and used intentionally.

My hope is that anyone else who is struggling with feeling like they are always stuck in the same feelings, places, and situations is encouraged as well to make some changes and experience more life because of it.

Love y'all, and hopefully I will have more things to share as our lives move towards fuller and fuller enjoyment of God and His world!

Love, Lara

P.S. Despite many parts of our routine lives being boring as all-get-out, we did snap some moments along the way to kind of give anyone an idea of what we've been up to!


Christmas Eve, enjoying some light snowfall. This was back when I found snow charming, before the real storms hit and ruined my commute too many times. We'll be on good terms again next winter.


Our Christmas party set-up. I was so rustic and Pinterest-ing that I loved myself a little too much. 


Later on, we took a little day trip to Belle Isle and saw the oldest aquarium in the United States!


Maybe I am spoiled having grown up in the land of Sea World, but since it took 15 minutes to look at the whole aquarium, I was a wee bit underwhelmed.


The conservatory was actually way cooler. Maybe I just liked how warm and humid it was inside, or that there were orange trees, or many other things that reminded me of Florida, but it was also just cool anyways.


A view of Detroit from a snowy Belle Isle.


We went to a gorgeous and special wedding in Detroit, and the reception was at the Majestic Theatre and was so lovely. Detroit's former opulence at its finest.


For our Valentine's Day dessert, we made creme brulee and it was magnificently scrumptious and really easy to make!


The GORGEOUS flowers Darin got for me... that arrived at 10:00 p.m. although they were originally to arrive at my workplace. :) Haha he was so, so happy about it.


Made cevapi with one of my favorite friends, Kristin, and her boyfriend Mark came over and dined on the Bosnian delights with all of us. They turned out pretty good, minus the fact that I missed my favorite other country afterward. :(


Darin got a cardigan, which is my FAVORITE piece of clothing that all men should own, and I had to photograph how much of a stud he is in a sweater.


My attempt at making mozzarella cheese. This literally was all that formed out of a whole gallon of milk. I will figure it out someday!


The joyous occasion when I found a real, self-serve and self-decorate frozen yogurt place in Michigan that was close to our house. Yogurtown in Dearborn. Get you some. Florida had tons of these and I was hurting without them nearby for a less-guilty dessert option. (Or any option, since Dairy Queen was closed all winter until this weekend!!! Grrrr!)


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