Joined Arbonne!

I started my business with Arbonne! Arbonne is a company that offers a wide variety of high quality, botanically based, skincare, cosmetics, wellness, and fragrance products.

There are so many reasons I decided to join this company. I enjoy being productive. Making money is always cool! I love that this is a job that I can take with me wherever we move. Because the products are pure, safe, and beneficial, they come alongside and support the healthy lifestyle James and I strive to reach. My skin has never looked or felt better!

If you are even 1% interested in learning about Arbonne, ask me! I’d love to share information, answer questions, send you samples, or help you shop!

www.arbonne.com

mrsrachelbaird@gmail.com

November Happenings

November was such a fun month and included lots of traveling for me and a very hectic schedule for James! He has been working very long hours at TBS. He accomplished shooting expert for pistol and rifle. His experience in target practice has helped him a lot! He served the billet of squad leader the last couple of weeks. People ask me what he does all day...he takes a lot of classes, PTs (works out), humps with rucks and rifles (hikes with tactical gear and backpacks), visits the chow hall (eats), learns MCMAP (Marine Corps Martial Arts), cleans the barracks and halls (literally, the lieutenants clean everything - all the buildings, their rooms, the grounds), and does lots of homework and studying. This is by no means an exhaustive list. James handles it like a champ! Our military does SO MUCH. People have no idea how demanding the military can be, both physically and mentally. And this is in garrison (i.e. not a deployment)!

I got to go to North Carolina to visit Blaine and Kazia. I had never been to North Carolina. It was fun to see a different part of the country as well as check out another Marine Corps base area since there is a strong possibility we may get stationed there. My friends were awesome hosts. They took me to see a small oceanside town to admire the Christmas lights and boat dock. It was totally worth the chilly weather! We hit up the bowling alley and I somehow lucked out with a couple spares and a strike. Kazia insisted that we go to a zumba class. Oh my goodness! If you know me, you know I am EXTREMELY uncoordinated! I think I laughed at myself more than I managed to dance! It was such a fun little trip. I hope that no matter where we are in life, James and I can stay in touch with them. They're awesome.

 

I'm a first time aunt! My nephew was born on November 15th. I was able to drive back to Indiana for a visit to meet baby Jude Peter on his 6th day here. He stole my heart immediately. I cannot wait to be able to see him again. He's so adorable. It's so sweet to see how excited my brother and his wife are too. I loved getting to visit them and my other family over the long weekend. 

 
Immediately following my Indiana trip, we had the Marine Corps Birthday Ball to attend. My picture here is blurry. The lighting didn't agree with my cell phone camera...It was a fun evening. I guess that some people don't know what all a ball entails. The event begins with a cocktail hour. Following that, everyone is seated (at an assigned seat). Once people are seated, Marines begin a procession. I cannot remember the order or all the specifics, but the United States flag and the Marine Corps flag are escorted into the room. The Marine Corps traditional birthday cake is brought to the front of the room. Several distinguished persons are escorted to the front of the room. The National Anthem is sung. The Marine Corps hymn is sung. A motivating video demonstrating the character of the Marines is played. The guest of honor is introduced and speaks. At our ball, the guest of honor was a general. Then the oldest Marine present cuts the cake and gives a piece to the youngest Marine present. Prayer is offered. After this, all formalities are concluded and dinner commences. And yes, of course there is a dance floor!

Right before Thanksgiving, I had the honor of attending my second OCS (Officer Candidate School) graduation. My friend Deidre Fetz completed the program and is now a Second Lieutenant! I am so proud of her! It was also wonderful to have her family over for Thanksgiving. We had a great visit with them. 

And - I started a business with Arbonne! I will share more about that in a separate post.

Pillar Church

For three weekends now we've been attending Pillar. We LOVE it. We originally found out about the church through an invitation from our neighbors. (Did I mention they are super cool people?) We've invited some other couples that we know through James' company. Two of those couples joined us there today. It has been great to be able to meet and begin to know other young Christian couples in our area.

Pillar Church has only been around for about a decade. They are passionate about raising up and equipping believers who will then go out into the world planting churches to grow the kingdom. As they plant churches, they are specifically seeking to minister to the Marine Corps. Eventually, they want to plant a church at every Marine Corps installment. (a BIG goal for an even BIGGER God!) So far, I think they have three churches in our area, one at Camp Lejeune, three in Iceland, and a couple in Indonesia. They have plans to plant one in the Camp Pendleton area early next year.

In Experiencing God, a Biblestudy we did in the past, Henry Blackaby encourages believers to look for God at work. When we see God at work, we need to join Him in that endeavor. I think this is exactly why we want to continue ministering to God at Pillar. We see God at work there.

Check out this website to see the detailed layout of Pillar's beliefs: www.pillardumfries.com

If your church (or you!) are interested in partnering with Pillar in planting churches or want some more information about church planting, check out this website: www.praetorianproject.org or watch a short video here: www.praetorianproject.org/videos

Home Sweet Home

We have really enjoyed our new apartment. Already, it feels like home. We were fortunate to get the building at the very end of the street where traffic is minimal. We even get a nice woodland view! The staff here is great. Our neighbors have been wonderful. It has just been a really great experience so far. We are so thankful. 

And now, a couple shots of our new place!

Our Building

Kitchen

Dining

Living Room

Master Bedroom

Porch View

Move Completed

It has been over a year since James commissioned. As crazy as it is, in many ways, I still feel like our move to Virginia snuck up on us. The transition could not have gone better. We had a wonderful time visiting with family and friends in Indiana in the weeks prior to our move. Several of our friends took time out from their busy schedules to help us in one way or another. The support we have is awesome. Thank you for all the help, gifts, food, prayers, notes of encouragement, and love you all have shown us!

Without our families, our move would not have been nearly as efficient. Thank goodness for the homeschool 12 passenger vans - you just never know when they will come in handy! Both of our families helped a TON with the packing, moving, and unpacking process. We left Friday morning and by Sunday when everyone departed, our living room, kitchen, bathrooms, and bedroom were unpacked and looking great! The only room yet to go through is the spare bedroom...it's kind of a nightmare since it contains all the random things that don't belong in the other rooms!

Sunday morning we visited Stafford County Community Church. The people there were super welcoming. I think we may try another visit there next weekend.

I'm hoping to put up photos of our place in the next week. James reports on the 15th so this in between period is a little vacation for us. Please continue to pray for us as we continue adjusting to the area!

Girls and Fitness

Just the other day, I was talking to one of my co-workers about working out. She wants to start working out, but when I suggested weight-lifting, she immediately said, "I don't want to do that! I don't want to get huge!" American women are generally under the impression that if they lift weights, they will become huge - grotesquely muscular - and look like a man. This is the image that they see the second anyone suggests a girl weight-lifting.

Yeah...gross! I know because I used to think this way! About ten months ago, my husband took me to the gym and promised me that I would not become huge if I started lifting. He swore I would not start looking like the woman pictured above. Skeptically, I decided to start lifting and doing general crossfit exercises.

I have now come to realize that grotesquely muscular women are only becoming that way because they are taking steroids, binge eating, etc. However, the strongest women in crossfit do not look like that. Yeah, they are definitely ripped and muscular but not in a disgusting way (at least I don't think so).

Meet Samantha Briggs:
 

She can deadlift 375 pounds.
Back squat 275 pounds.
Clean and jerk 198 pounds. 

She just won the women's side of the crossfit games - an international event. She is now labeled as the fittest woman on earth. Yet, she still looks like a woman!

Check out these stats and other female stats here: http://games.crossfit.com/





Since I started lifting, I have become so much stronger and yet have remained feminine.

October: 2 pull-ups, 45 pounds for my 5x5 back squats, 35 pounds for a 1x5 deadlift
August: 11 pull-ups, 165 pounds for my 5x5 back squats, 180 pounds for a 1x5 deadlift

And I am still making progress! I'm working on learning how to do thrusters and power cleans, adding weight each week to my squats and deadlifts, and trying to become more and more fit. My husband has been there to train, encourage, and motivate me each step of the way. We joke that the couple that trains together stays together!

I guess my point is that if I were going to start becoming huge and "man-ish", at ten months in to this new lifestyle, I would have started to develop that look. If that is your fear, I just want to convince you that it is only a perception and definitely not a reality. I still run too and I'm not opposed to doing other stuff on the side, but I have definitely seen the most results overall through doing olympic lifting and crossfit exercises.

Great Expectations

Not the book! I read that once; it took FOREVER to get through...but actually, this post is more about setting high expectations. In America, it is only too easy to slip by without trying. In college group projects, if you don't pick up the slack, someone else will. But you still get the great grade! What good fortune! We  have the No-Child-Left-Behind Act that encourages teachers not to let students fall behind...really it just encourages teachers to edit grades just enough that students pass. It is now socially acceptable to not care too much about physical appearance; people can walk in to stores looking like a hot mess with their bedhead and pajamas.

What happened to cause this? I believe it is in part due to the lowering of standards and expectations. Time and again it is shown that when expectations are high, people will rise to the occasion to meet them. But if they don't have to "rise" to the occasion, why bother, right?

Since the general standards and expectations are lower, people need to set for themselves the higher standards, making themselves the benchmark of greatness. This takes self-discipline, motivation, and commitment but the results are invaluable. People striving for excellence in all that they do achieve things they never thought possible. The goals they may originally deem impossible to meet, get accomplished and in turn become even higher goals. People who do this gain self-respect and pride in who they are. They realize what they can accomplish. They learn and grow as an individual and cause those around them to grow as well.