Hitting the Road

It's that time of year where about a dozen of us pile into our travel vehicles and hit the road to entertain the masses.  It's tour season.

I guess you could say that the "season" actually started yesterday when our cast and crew got into town.  Today we are organizing and packing gear, cleaning out the trucks and vans, and making sure that we have everything that we need.  Seems easy, but it's definitely a long process and can require a lot of running back and forth.  But we all love it, which is what keeps us coming back season after season to work long days and get paid a lot less.

Yes, we get paid a lot less for all the work that we do.  You would think that a large tour (there's anywhere from 10-14 in our touring cast and crew) would make more money.  But that's not the case.  Though our fees are higher, our expenses are higher and there's a lot more people that need to get paid.  But at the end of the day, it's not about the money for any of us.  It's about doing what we love and being together as one big family.  It's amazing the relationships that you build when you spend every day traveling together.  I have a friend, Beth, who is my husband's assistant, but also one of my best friends.  Tour season is great for us to hang out, catch up, laugh, and play lots of cards.

So needless to say, I'm looking forward to tour season.  It lasts for 5 short weekends and will take us to Florida, Georgia, Missouri, Iowa, Indiana, Michigan, Ohio, and Oklahoma respectively.  We will work the hardest we work all year in these next few weekends, but it's gonna be fun!  I will be sure to keep you all posted on our journey.

Being Healthy

It's officially been 1 week since I entered the gym.  To say that I feel completely at home there is an understatement.  I love to learn, therefore, all the training that I have been getting has been a learning experience and I am soaking it up.  It's amazing.  I have been going almost every day (I train 3 days a week) trying to squeeze in extra workouts.  It's become kind of addicting....and yes, I know it's the gym.

But I realized something while walking up what seemed like 200 flights of stairs on the stairmaster.  I realized that I need more positive environments in my life.  Thy gym that I go to is full of positive energy that propels you forward, sometimes without you even realizing it.  Every person in there wants to be there and wants to be healthy.  And they want others that walk through that door to experience the same things that are.  Strength, flexibility, endurance.  In total, a better way of life.  One that makes their days brighter and puts a bounce in their step.

Why is it that I feel this in the gym surrounded by people I barely know?  Why do they encourage me and push me to do better and vie for a healthy lifestyle?  It doesn't do anything for them to do all these things.

I guess the question that I'm getting at is why do I feel all these amazing things in the gym that I should feel when I go to church...but I don't?  Walking into a building on Sunday filled with people who are "Christians" leaves me walking out frustrated and disillusioned.  I don't have that same bounce in my step.  That same sense of encouragement for a "healthy" life.  Those people who are encouraging and love well are becoming more rare daily.  Don't get me wrong.  I'm not saying that those people don't exist in the Church.  I'm just saying that they are rare.  Why is that?  Have we gotten so caught up in the "doing"that we're doing little more then just going through the motions even if those motions are hurting more then helping?

Our trainer in the gym has brought a love for the gym into our lives because he has spent the last 2 weeks really training us.  Showing us how to maximize our gym time by doing everything correctly.  More then once I found myself in awe of just how much I had been doing wrong!  And he lovingly and gently guided us.  And I can tell the difference.

My life is far from perfect.  I am a broken and sinful human being who's no better then anyone else.  But I want to experience the same things that I do when I walk into the gym.  I want to experience health.  I want the church to be the place that people would want to come back to despite the bad and difficult reputation that it has.  Can we do that?

The BIG Picture

I find myself right now sitting in the back lounge of our rented tour bus surfing the internet and watching a "Deadliest Catch" marathon on Discovery.  I have my own space, my own bunk, my own pillow, and access to just about anything that I need.  It's by far the best way to travel.  Seriously.  

For those of you who don't know, my husband and I travel full time, mainly in the States, but all over the world.  My husband is an illusionist.  We will spend the next 9 months, collectively, on the road.  It's a crazy life that I wouldn't trade for anything.  But, being in a tour bus makes it incredibly fun and less draining.  The life of us gypsy road warriors is far from glam.  It's rough, it's exhausting, and it's incredibly rewarding.  We have the opportunity to interact with thousands of people all over the world. Like I said, it's amazing.  

But as I sit here alone in the back of the bus, I feel an overwhelming sense of peace.  I feel like I'm right where God intends me to be despite how difficult it might be at times.  In my humanness, I am likely to whine and get irritated with small things, but the big pictures is just that: BIG.  A friend of mine made a statement regarding what he does (he's a singer) and states that we whine and complain about all the nitty-gritty things that aren't right on the road, but at the end of the day we get paid to do what we love.  To do exactly what God designed for our lives.  I thought about it.  And I found myself one of those people.  I tend to go out with good intentions, but in the end make the trip all about what I wanted or how it wasn't great...could have been better "if".  And I get to travel the world, with my husband and friends, doing what I love.  It doesn't get any better than this.  It will never be glamorous, it will never make me rich and famous.  But hopefully the big picture is something that will continue to remain just that.  BIG.  And I pray that God continues to let me be a part of it.  

Dreaming of Size 4 Pants

To say that working out (ie anything that requires me to break a sweat) is my nemesis is the understatement of the year.  I loathe it.  There have been so many times that I have thought about heading out for a jog or quick trip to the gym and ended up breaking into a cold sweat, while visions of dry heaving into the bushes made me panic.  Like I said, I loathe working out.

But it's now officially the spring of 2010, which means that summer is just around the corner.  And every woman in America knows that "summer" is followed by the two most dreaded words in the English language: "swimsuit season".  Every woman knows that summers are the greatest time of the year, and the worst time of the year.  It's the time that we grill out, play bocce ball on the lawn, and spend time with our friends and loved ones.  It's also the time that we weep inside when our skinny friends (the one's who's bodies we secretly covet) decide to go boating at the lake or lay by the pool.  I am one of those who weeps inside...or sometimes out loud.

But I'm working hard to make this year not a summer that I spend hiding in the air conditioning in sweats and baggy clothes.  I want to take back what I used to have: a life.  One of my favorite activities is boating all weekend with friends.  I love to swim at the pool and get tan and just enjoy being outside in the hot sun.  This is the year that I am going to wear a swimsuit. It's been 5 years since I've enjoyed the freedom, so I'm a little nervous.  But I am taking the steps necessary to make it happen.  I have been cutting out the junk food from my diet since November, went vegetarian 6 weeks ago, and now have an amazing trainer that I'm excited to meet at the gym 3 days a week.  (I still panic a little at the thought of the gym, but am learning to love it).  It's about being healthy, not just being thin.

So people (especially you ladies out there), I write this post for two reasons.
1.  Stay with me and track my progress with me!  It helps me to stay motivated and keep focused.  I have some amazing friends here in Nashville that are such an encouragement and motivation.  They help me not give up and fight to do whatever it takes.
2.  If you find yourself wanting to hide in the corner at the thought of a gym or swimsuit, know that you're not alone.  You're fears are normal.  Now it's time to reclaim your body and your life.  You are in control and can defy gravity if you choose.  And remember that it's not just about being in shape, it's about being healthy.

Here's to getting healthier and dreaming of size 4 pants!

that "blogging" thing

So here I am.  Trying (hopefully not in another failed attempt) to start a blog.  Not because it's just one more avenue for people to stalk my life, but because there are so many times that I've found myself wanting to tell people something that would take more then 140 characters on Twitter, and I have no real outlet.  Because I travel full time, I am sharing my life not at home with friends and family, but chasing pavement with my husband and chihuahua.  So this is seemed like a great way for me to be able to sit down in our nightly hotel somewhere in the world and chit chat with those who are interested in the details.  And maybe a way for me to feel a sense of "normal" in my whirlwind life.

So, that being said, here is my 3rd attempt at the blogging world.  :)