Things You Probably Don't Think Are Worth Blogging About

But they are, to me. They are.

I ripped my pants this weekend. If that isn't a sign that someone needs to get her slightly doughy self to the gym, I sure don't know what is.

My friend, who doubles as my personal trainer because I asked her what sort of things I could do to not have my pants rip open again, sent me a link on being a motivated runner.

Well, lucky for me, I am one step ahead of the game, because Tip #1 is to blog. So now I just have to be fully transparent with you and let you know whether or not I'm running. You, of course, are not allowed to judge me, but rather love me and support me, and by that I mean just praise me when I run and absolutely do not question me if I don't. Also, it would be great if you exclaimed, "WOW look how much weight you've lost you must be running marathons on a bi-daily basis" every so often when passing me on campus or at the Lion or wherever. wherever.

Guys, here goes. I RAN today. 5 [read: 2] miles. Ok, ok, ok, I'll be more honest about my mileage when it isn't so I-eat-Gigi's-free-cupcakes-every-Thursday sad, you know what I mean?

In other news, my little weekend jaunt resulted two project extensions. And here I sit, after the initial due date of the project, not any closer to having started. I'm kind of operating under the "Well, i can't NOT turn it in so it'll get done somehow before tomorrow night" philosophy. Just not right now. It won't get done now.

Aside from me going to the gym by myself of my own accord, today was not special, if you know what I mean. If you are in a happy relationship, congratulations for you [seriously. ish.], but you probably don't know what I mean. If you're single and relishing your freedom, you also don't know what I mean. If you are 10x the Christian I am and spent today focusing on God's love for us, you are way more on your A-game and also probably do not know what I mean. For the rest of you, you might know what I mean.

Time to go listen to Duffy or Ray.

-bRob

PS - I'm really hungry.

Whirlwind Surreality

Webs,

My weekend jaunt was surreal. I landed in a flat, wide state covered in more snow than I'd ever seen in my entire life. I saw friends I hadn't seen in four years. We relived lots and lots of tales from our time as camp counselors in the Colorado mountains. I went to my first ever bachelorette party. I attended a wedding. I rode home in a tiny plane with someone with serious gastrointestinal issues, which meant I spent a good majority of the flight gagging and looking around to spot the gassy culprit [no luck].

I took lots of photos.

I also left my camera in Colorado.

No photos for you, Webs.

Another day, I suppose. Whenever my camera makes its way back home.

In lieu of photos, here's the "first dance" song. I'd never heard it before, but it fits the style of the couple well. 

I would apologize for how lame this photo-less post is, but then I remembered that it's my blogumentary, and blogumentaries are honest, not necessarily interesting. Right? yeah.


-bRob

Blogumenting

last week i was super sick.
i'm better now, and also we're out of kleenex and toilet paper.

Today's been another rough day. I say that not because I want pity, but because I'm blogumenting my feelings. And I'm big on full disclosure. 

Beyond that, there isn't much to say about my melodrama, but I wanted to share my go-to Bible verse for hard days.

The LORD is close to the brokenhearted 
   and saves those who are crushed in spirit.

Psalm 34:18

And my go-to tune:

Unrelatedly, I met with my senior design group to discuss a really unimportant ten-minute presentation for our Wednesday class. Here are one group member's thoughts on presentations:

"You know how I prepare for a presentation? I show up and then present."

"One time, to look like I'd actually prepared, I grabbed some blank notecards and flipped through them while I talked."

I am super thankful for my stellar team. We have too much fun, seeing as how we're putting in so many hours with a company that isn't paying us. hah.

-bRob

Sally Forth

About some time ago, I promised myself that I would never blog when I am either in the throes of anger or despair. Clearly, I forgot who I was dealing with, because obviously discretion and whatever the appropriate word is for keeping one's feelings to oneself  - these are not things in which I excel.

I know I'll find today's earlier post marginally embarrassing at some point, so I thought I'd qualify it with this post. However, I am neither embarrassed nor sorry enough to remove it entirely, because this is, at the end of the day, a blogumentary. The bad thing about being bRob is that you will embarrass yourself a lot percent of the time. The good thing about being bRob is that you'll probably forget about it pretty quickly.

However, I can still say that today has not been a good day. In fact, it's been unhappy.

But one thing I want to share with you is a little bit of truth and honesty. One of my biggest struggles is really understanding what God's love looks like. I know that it is all around me. But, broken as I am, it is something I have struggled to internalize for a while. It's God's Truth that keeps me going, but it's His Love that saved me, and it's His Love I don't really know. If that makes any sense at all.

However, something to which I've always been sensitive is how other people love me. When people make time for me, or follow up with me, or speak words of encouragement, it is such a blessing and it means SO much. Even when I am outright rebelling against the Lord, I see small glimmers of His grace through some of the people in my life and the kindness they extend.

 I  began to think about some of the things my brothers and sisters in Christ have done out of love for me. And really, I thought about how their love is a mere reflection of God's love. God's love that I see dimly. I dwelt on the fact that what my brothers and sisters do for me, they do on behalf of One who loves me more. Way more than they could. Not that they don't love me, but that He loves me unfathomably more, and their outpouring of love is a result of His love. Convoluted? Maybe when I explain it.

But as an exercise for myself - I replayed these events and things my friends have done for me as if God Himself was behind them.. Which He is.

Here's kind of how that worked (in my head):

* About a year ago, God sent me postcards every couple of days with encouraging words and verses on them for at least two months.

* Over a year ago, God stayed late after teaching a seminar late at night to ask me why I was upset and talk to me about my walk with God and why I was crying.

* In the fall of 2010, God pulled me aside before my baptism because He could tell I was nervous, and He prayed over me.

* Last semester, God paid for my lunch without even thinking twice about it, just because.

* Last month, God texted, messaged, and called me after Mariella got sick to see if I was alright and needed help.

* A few weeks ago, God texted me after Bible Study because I seemed upset. God then poured out words of encouragement and understanding.

* Tonight, God met me after a long day at work because I texted, in distress, at the last minute. God then listened intently, talked, laughed, and prayed with me.

All of you - I am so thankful God has blessed me with your friendships. He is gracious to have given me such sweet friends who show His love so well.

I have a lot of growing to do in understanding God's love [aaaaand in general]. But as I sally forth, I am reminded of His love by the way you guys love me.

Thanks for pointing me towards Him, even when I'm turned the other way.

-bRob

PS - I really thought the term was tally forth, but I googled it beforehand and changed it to sally forth puh-retty quickly. Because that would've been embarrassing.