Future church home?

After checking out various UCC churches in Minneapolis and finding ourselves disappointed, Jeff and I ventured over to one in St. Paul: Macalester-Plymouth United Church. To our surprise, we walked away thinking it just might be the one . . . .

Finally.

I do realize that it is late September and that my last post was in June. Life has been consuming, to say the least, but I've skipped going to church this morning to gather my thoughts and maybe put some words down on this "paper."

To recap:

I moved to Minneapolis in early June to work as an EMR Trainer for one of the U of M's clinics in the Phillips Neighborhood of Minneapolis. My coworkers are simply amazing . . .fascinating people with enormous hearts. The clinic is in transition on many levels, and I've been thrown into the mix to develop training curriculum and then implement that training . . .which has been quite the task since the clinic's EMR is tricky and fairly new. With a group of others, I also look at various processes within the clinic, and work toward changing systems that work against efficiency. Though there are many nights when I come home absolutely exhausted (hence the lack of email and keeping Facebook current), I find myself happy with this shift in careers, as my mind is engaged and I'm actually operating out of my strengths (thank you, Fuller, for Now Discover Your Strengths).

Jeff has also moved to Minneapolis. Dima is absolutely in love with him (as am I), and we've enjoyed many trips together to the dog park in downtown Minny (only 2 blocks from where I live!) where we are starting to develop community with other dog parkers. We're a strange crowd, people standing around sharing stories and knowing each other only by his or her respective canine--"Oh yeah, Anabelle and her owner were here the other day . . ." But we check in with each other and laugh about the latest antics of the pooches, or discuss the goings-on in the city. I highly recommend visiting a dog park when feeling down. You will leave a happier person; guaranteed.

I also managed to get Lyme Disease, so that put me out of commission for the majority of July. Thankfully it was caught early, but I did experience extreme fatigue, joint pain, and general malaise. I think my body is still recovering, but I was able to go running the other day and I felt good for the duration of the run. Life is certainly improving, right?

I will write that it has been good to return to Minneapolis. I love the mentality here, along with the diversity of people, and I find myself "home," if you will. The belonging I wrote of in an earlier post . . .I feel that in MN--where a love for the arts, nature, various perspectives on life and religion merge in a lovely way. Please feel free to visit!