Painting Pictures of Egypt

I might not be a good artist, but I can paint a pretty stellar picture of Egypt.  My heart is still in Bolivar these days.  I have moments of, "Wow!  I love Wake Forest!"  I have this thought when I drive past either of the two (yes, two!) Sonics in town and remember that happy hour is THREE hours long instead of two hours like in Bolivar.  I have this thought when I see green grass and pretty flowers instead of extreme drought.  But then I spend literally two months trying to find a stinking car wash in Wake Forest and get so unbelievably frustrated.  In Bolivar I could be to one of three or four car washes in 5-7 minutes.  I know this may seem like a simple, ridiculous example, but when this sort of experience is the norm for three months it can be utterly exhausted.  Nothing is "easy" here.  So many things seem incredibly time-consuming.  For example, I drive an hour to work and an hour and a half home each day.  When I spending two and a half hours in the car I can't help but think, "If I lived in Bolivar I would be able to get to work in ten minutes even if my office was on the complete opposite side of town."  And of course my mathematical side kicks in - hmm....2.5 hours a day x 5 days a week = 12.5 hours a week x 52 weeks = 650 hours in a year or 27 days a year.  That's right, at this rate I will be spending one month a year commuting to and from work.  How ridiculous is that?  It's so easy for me to think about all of the other productive things I could be doing with that month - sleep, work out, spend time with Robert, make dinner, clean the house, socialize, relax.  Basically, here's a simple breakdown of my life:
Wake up
Get ready for work
Drive to work
Work
Drive home from work
Eat dinner
Get ready for bed
Sleep
Get ready for work
I'm utterly exhausted.  When I get home I just want to sit and be comatose. 

Once again, Sara Groves sings that words of my heart.  Her song "Painting Pictures of Egypt" makes me cry every single time I hear it.  I didn't want to leave Bolivar.  To me, Bolivar is a wonderful place.

I don’t want to leave here
I don’t want to stay
It feels like pinching to me
Either way
And the places I long for the most
Are the places where I’ve been
They are calling out to me
Like a long lost friend

It’s not about losing faith
It’s not about trust
It’s all about comfortable
When you move so much
And the place I was wasn’t perfect
But I had found a way to live
And it wasn’t milk or honey
But then neither is this

I've been painting pictures of Egypt,
Leaving out what it lacks
The future feels so hard,
And I wanna go back!
But the places that used to fit me,
Cannot hold the things I've learned
Those roads were closed off to me
While my back was turned!

The past is so tangible
I know it by heart
Familiar things are never easy
To discard
I was dying for some freedom
But now I hesitate to go
I am caught between the Promise
And the things I know

I've been painting pictures of Egypt,
Leaving out what it lacks
The future feels so hard,
And I wanna go back!
But the places that used to fit me,
Cannot hold the things I've learned
Those roads were closed off to me
While my back was turned!

If it comes too quick
I may not appreciate it
Is that the reason behind all this time and sand?
And if it comes too quick
I may not recognize it
Is that the reason behind all this time and sand?

When you come to visit

We've enjoyed playing host and hostess this summer.  It's been wonderful to show off our little town to our friends and family.  After three months of living here we've discovered some must-sees when hosting visitors.  Here are some places we'll take you if you come and visit us:

Shorty's Hotdogs - Cheap, tasty, and a great story
When Wake Forest College left the town nearly everything went under as well.  Shorty's was the only restaurant to stay alive.  The inside of the restaurant is adorable.  The hotdogs come with chili, onions, and mustard on them.  They have great hamburgers and fries, too.  We especially love the decor.

The Olde English Tea Room - Robert's workplace
Some of our personal favorites are the tomato pie, butterscotch and walnut scones, and cucumber sandwiches.  The two dining rooms were just remodeled, too.

SEBTS - Robert's school
It's so beautiful!  Huge magnolia trees, cobblestone sidewalks, beautiful buildings.  Random fact: There's a little rock fence going around the entire campus.  It was built by one of Wake Forest's janitors.  He worked at the school for over 50 years and took it upon himself to build the fence.  In the 90's a community member took it upon himself to repair the fence.  When he repaired it he pulled out all sorts of trash from the nooks and crannies - marbles, scissors, bones.

Duke - Gorgeous garden and cathedral.  It's definitely a must-see.

OBX - If you're here for more than a weekend you've got to hit up the Outer Banks.  It's about three hours away, but it's worth the drive.  Highlights include several beaches, the Wright Brothers Memorial, Lost Colony of Roanoke, the birthplace of the first child born after the English came to America, beautiful lighthouses.

Farmers' Market - Open every Wednesday evening and Saturday morning - delicious!

Historic Main - This is the street with the beautiful houses

Blackboard - My place of employment - It's a pretty sweet office complete with a free drink machine and lights that turn on whenever you enter the room

The End of Summer

Things are moving so quickly around here these days.  We blinked and the summer passed.  This summer has been huge – a cross-country move, new jobs, getting married, making new friends, finding a new church.  It’s been a summer of change.  That seems to be our theme the past year or so: change.  Most everything in my earthly life has changed during the past 15 months. 

I started my new job on Monday, July 23.  I’m working at Blackboard in Raleigh.  Do you ever use Blackboard in high school or college?  I used it at BHS, SBU, and Drury.  My official title is Market Development Representative.  I’ve officially been here for three weeks, and I think I have gotten into the swing of things.  The first week I was here I mainly shadowed my co-workers.  Our department also had a training seminar for two days.  The second and third weeks I made phone calls galore.  A big chunk of my job involves calling current customers to make sure we’re meeting their needs and to invite them to events, etc.  The other chunk involves me contacting potential customers who have shown interested in our products.  I have my very own cubicle. Haha  It’s not exactly a corner office, but I guess it’s kind of big as far as cubicles go.  The office building is super sweet, too.

Robert visited a neurosurgeon at the end of July.  Robert’s back has been a pain in the back.  Sorry, I had to say it. J  We’ve been trying to take care of his chronic pain for nearly a year.  It has been frustrating to say the least.  We’ve gone to the chiropractor, physical therapist, primary care physician, pain management specialist, and now a neurosurgeon.  Moving to NC didn’t exactly make this whole process easier.  I’ll spare you the details, but to summarize things Robert will be having back surgery on September 12.  We are so excited!  He has two large herniated discs.  The hernias are causing his entire left side to be miserable – numb extremities, tingling body parts, cold feet, arthritis-like stiffness, a limp, inability to move fluidly, lack of flexibility, radiculopathy, and nausea.  It’s been awful.  Robert has been in such physical pain, and it’s definitely been frustrating for both of us.  It’s been tough, because there really isn’t anything I can do to relieve his pain other than feel sorry for him and offer him my sympathy.

My family came to visit!!!  I had been awaiting this visit with great anticipation.  It was absolutely wonderful to be in the same place at the same time again.  I’m so thankful we were able to coordinate it all.  I picked up Mom, Dad, and Jim from the RDU airport on Saturday morning.  It’s great to live so close to the airport – only a 30 minute drive.  Highlights of the trip

•   A visit to the Wake Forest Museum
•  A day at Duke – Checking out Camden Indoor Stadium, the beautiful garden, and listening to an organ demonstration at the cathedral
• Showing them my office
• Church together at Faith Baptist
• A day at the beach – Beautiful weather, swimming in the ocean, lighthouses
•  UNC 
•   Catching up

It was wonderful!  I can’t wait to go to MO in November!  It seems so far away though.

We had another fun weekend this week.  Robert and I went to Richmond, VA to meet up with his family.  Richmond is kind of the midpoint between Serina and us.  Bethany and Jason were in DC for a few days to celebrate Bethany’s birthday.  We met up yesterday to go white water rafting.  I had never done it before, and it was a lot of fun!  We had a picnic at Brown Island before the rafting trip.  After our adventure we enjoyed some delicious BBQ.  Great time!

This coming weekend Ray will be in town.  We love visitors!!!

Robert starts welcome week on Wednesday.  Where has the summer gone?  We’re excited that he will finally get to sign up for classes.  Has anyone heard of waiting to sign up for classes until three days before school starts?  Nonsense!  How are you supposed to order your books in time?