Because nurses who work in the hospital usually work 12-hour shifts, we usually only have a 3-day work week. This is definitely one of the many perks of being a nurse! Before I was married, most of my days off were spent going eye-shopping, meeting up with people, spending hours reading at cute cafes, taking spontaneous trips with my family and/or friends and basically doing whatever I wanted. It was pretty splendid.
However, now that I'm married - my "days off" are now primarily reserved for my household duties (aka wife duties). On the days I work, I usually work from 7:00am to 7:30pm, which usually doesn't leave a lot of time for chores, sanitizing the kitchen, organizing my fridge, cleaning the mildew from the showers, watering the plants, meal planning, grocery shopping, sweeping the floor, vacuuming, picking up my hair from the bathroom floor, doing laundry etc. This has forced me to be creative with the time I have on my days off to catch up on my chores and keep my apartment from looking like its been hit by a storm. It's a lot of work - it's tedious and sometimes mundane - but I'm learning to find many reasons to be thankful for the season I'm in now. I know that our life is full of many different seasons and I'm determined to enjoy each one that God graciously gives to me. I know that one day this season will end and I will have to adjust to another... so in hopes to embrace the life I'm living now, here's a snippet of an ordinary day.
Today I attended a 2-hour class at work for a new change they are doing in the computer systems at our hospital. I actually only got about 3-hours of sleep last night, so I had to make an emergency run to Starbucks before. I was feeling super tired and my fatigue deceived my mind into buying a Venti quad-shot (4-shot) caramel macchiato. This was pretty foolish of me because I can never finish more than a few sips. Here I am walking back to my car with my 3/4ths full Starbucks drink. Poop.
After my computer class, I stopped by Trader Joes.
This season of my life is truly marked by a deep love for Trader Joes. I seriously love it there. It is currently my favorite spot when I need some retail therapy. (haha, don't judge) Now that we're living in Downey, our closest TJ is a 20-minute drive away so whenever I happen to be near one, I try to find an excuse to go. Last time, it was to get a new bag of chia seeds. Today we were out of eggs. Every time I go to shop, I always look for one thing I've never tried before.
Today, I got a little can of Thai Curry!
Then, I stopped by the Costco near our apartment.
A few weeks ago, I wrote about our budgeting system. With only $120 to spend for 2-week's worth of groceries, I've been saving up my spare change for a few weeks to buy some meat from Costco. I was really excited to finally be able to walk out of Costco with my HUGE packs of chicken and salmon. I came home and immediately cut everything up into smaller pieces and foiled everything and organized it in my freezer. I was really happy! It's all about finding joy in the little things, people.. :)
I spent the rest of the day cleaning the apartment, wiping down the kitchen/bathroom, putting things away, sweeping/vacuuming and organizing my fridge/freezer. Eugene was able to come home early for dinner after class so I quickly whipped up dinner for us.
To celebrate my victorious purchase, of course we had to eat salmon for dinner!
I made a simple teriyaki salmon with a soy sauce/sesame oil/brown sugar mixture, steamed some veggies and served it with some jasmine rice. Victory (and our celebratory dinner) was sweet.
I read in one of my food magazines earlier last week that the best way to save time with meal planning and cooking is to make big portions for dinner and plan to eat leftovers for lunch. As simple as that sounds, I never thought of that before! For dinner tonight, I made a lot more than the two of us could eat and the rest of our meal went into a tupperware for Eugene to take tomorrow! :)
Although my days are ordinary and full of seemingly-mundane tasks and responsibilities, I'm reminded time and time again that my ordinary life ultimately belongs to an extraordinary God. I'm learning that all the seemingly ordinary things that I'm doing can be acts of worship before God when I do it with a heart to honor and serve Him. The tasks in and of itself are tedious, and often seem without end since I basically have to sweep, sanitize, wipe, vacuum, dust and put away clothes almost every day! Though my life and the things I do to spend my time seem mundane to me at times, I know that even my most ordinary tasks do not go unnoticed by the God I am pursuing to serve.
I hope that no matter what the season - whether it be a busy one full of new experiences and lessons and adventures, or a quiet one with a daily grind full of routines and to-do lists and never-ending chores, that I could approach each day, each season, each task with eagerness to do all things wholeheartedly. I'm learning that the beauty and glory and purpose we find in our lives is not found in the things we do from day-to-day but before Whom we stand and serve.
So thankful for this season in my life. :)
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Whatever you do, work heartily, as for the Lord and not for men, knowing that from the Lord you will receive the inheritance as your reward. You are serving the Lord Christ.
Colossians 3:23-24
Give thanks: short-days at work, the tremendous blessing I have in my job, my free-reward drink at Starbucks that I can look forward to tomorrow (!!!), a clean apartment, frozen lemonades, washi tape, bedtime prayers with eugene
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