I’ve been wanting to cut my hair for a while now. My long hair and I were not getting along but yet I needed to be able to pull it back when I do massage. So I just decided to cut it off short enough to where I don’t have to worry about having to pull it back anymore. I absolutely love it! Kim Cornwell, you’re amazing. She’s the only person I trust near my head armed with a razor blade. She works some serious magic with that thing. The razor, hair, and tatoos were flying but the end result was one happy client. For the past few years I can’t seem to make up my mind whether I like my hair short or long. I grow it out for a while and then chop it off and then start all over again. I think this time around, the short hair may be here to stay, at least for a little while. Thanks Kim!

This past week marked the beginning of many new things the lives of the Allen family so it’s seemed appropriate to write a corresponding blog. I just got a new job as the Justice and Mercy Administrative Assistant at Superstition Springs Community Church(soon to be Mission Community Church). We’ve been attended SSCC since January and we absolutely love it. The church has such a passion for bringing justice to people all over the world in the name of Jesus. I feel so blessed and undeserving to get to be a part of all God is doing in and through the people of this church. The new Justice and Mercy Director is Shane Dieke. He was hired on a few weeks ago but had to take a detour to Russia to pick up his newly adopted son and daughter, Jaiden and Zecharia. I’ve yet to meet him face to face but he’s a native Texan so he’s okay in my book. He spent about 18 years working for Campus Crusade for Christ and has an amazing heart and passion for missions. I think we’re going to make a great team.

With me going back to work, this means Jackson is in daycare during the day. There’s a daycare at a church just down the road from SSCC. He’s done so great there. We bought him a “Cars” lunchbox and backpack to get him all excited for his first day and he carried them in so proud. When I dropped him off, he headed straight for a group of boys his age and started playing with them and when I picked him up, he cried because he had to leave the slide. (But only for a few seconds) He’s really doing great there. Any working mom can tell you it’s hard to leave your babies in someone else’s care and it’s so important to find someone you trust. I definitely feel like I’ve found that and that’s very comforting.

Life will be pretty crazy for us for the next couple of months. If you’re our friend and you’re wondering if we’ve fallen off the face of the earth, don’t fret. We’re still here, just trying to keep up with our hectic schedules. Between our jobs, my school, and then life in general, things probably won’t slow down until I graduate in August but we’re enjoying the ride.

I’ve officially completed half of my massage therapy program at the Arizona School of Massage Therapy. It’s a good feeling and yet it reminds me of the six more months that are still to come. Don’t get me wrong. I really am loving school and I so enjoy learning things that I’ll be using everyday once I graduate. (Much better than the rest of my college experience where every class involved me asking myself, “When am I EVER going to use this?”) Class has actually been a nice break from my normal routine of playgrounds and cartoons with Jackson. Not that I don’t enjoy that too and I never want to take that time with him for granted but I’m learning about something that I’m truly passionate about and I get to talk to real adults in the process!

We’re about to start our “clinic” which is where we have a five hour shift every weekend where we do massages for the public. You have to have so many hours of hands on experience to be licensed so that’s what this is. I’m looking forward to the invaluable experience I’ll gain from it but giving up five hours every weekend makes me a little aprehensive. With Tim working during the day and me going to school at night, we usually only see each other for about an hour in between if we’re lucky. Then, if we have something going on during the weekend, we may only get to spend time together while we’re sleeping. I only have class four nights a week so that helps but it still doesn’t leave us a lot of family time. Thank goodness this program is only for a year. I’ll be so glad when I finally have the evenings off. I won’t know what to do with myself!.

When people hear I’m in massage school, I always get volunteers to “help me with my homework”. So for those of you who would like to volunteer, I do have a massage table at my casa and would be happy to give you a massage. The more experience, the better. Technically I cannot do massages for payment since I’m not licensed but I do accept tips. I am a stay at home mom so we might have to coordinate around Jack’s nap time or when Tim can be here to watch him but we’ll find a time. You can also go to the Arizona School of Massage every weekend and pay $25 for a 50 min massage. Quite a deal.

So, no…unfortunately I did not compete in Iron Man. But I did, however, get the chance to massage the athletes once they completed the race. It was incredible to see these men and women who had trained for months finally cross that finish line and for many, it was a HUGE accomplishment and it showed. Just to give you an idea of what they went through to get to that finish line, the race began with a brisk 2.4 mile swim in Tempe Town Lake. They then hopped on their bike for a mere 112 mile bike ride and topped it all off with a 26.2 mile run. Not my idea of a fun day but their feelings of accomplishment were quite contageous. I was so proud of them even though I had never met them before in my life and it was such an honor to help them to cool down and stretch out after such a grueling race.

The last lady that I worked on was such an inspiration. She had just finished 10 minutes before the cut off time. You could tell she was not a natural athlete, nor was she super thin or toned. She was in tears but yet had the biggest smile on her face. She said she felt like she was going to barf but never have I seen a nauseous person filled with so much joy. Her family was there to support her and they were obviously very proud of such an accomplishment. I confess, I teared up a bit. You would have thought she’d come in first place as proud as she was. It was such a cool moment and so amazing to be able to work on her. I love my school and I love massage therapy and moments like that remind me why!

So, we just had our first reflexology class last night. I REALLY think I’m going to enjoy this modality. Wikipedia defines it as is the practice of massaging, squeezing, or pushing on parts of the feet, or sometimes the hands and ears, with the goal of encouraging a beneficial effect on other parts of the body, or to improve general health. First of all, I love to have my feet massaged so the whole learning process will be quite enjoyable and on top of that, it’s just amazing how God has put our bodies together so intricately and intentionally. So my lungs are in my foot? What? Yeah, that’s cool. We’re really only going to learn the basics of reflexology during our training but I think it’s something I’d like to do some continuing education in order to be a little more advanced. I love being in school and actually taking classes that are in direct correlation with my career!

As of August 4, 2008 I am now a student at the Arizona School of Massage Therapy. (ASMT) As Tim (my husband) began talking about potentially going back to school himself, we were discussing how exactly we could make that happen. Having been a stay at home mom for the last year+, it would mean me going back to work. Having only completed up to my Junior year in college, I don’t have a whole lot of earning potential so we began to talk about some different options. When I first began college back in 2003, I thought I wanted to be a physical therapist. I love learning all the anatomy and physiology and the thought of helping people to heal totally fascinates me. Although, I soon realized that six years of school was not the route I wanted to go and so changed my major a couple of times and never really landed on anything that struck me as what I wanted to spend the rest of my life doing. My college career and thoughts of future careers then got put on pause once I got married and soon after had a bouncing baby boy.

But once I again started really thinking about what I wanted to do…something that I would love doing even if I didn’t get paid to do it, I realized that massage therapy would be a perfect fit for me. First of all, it’s only a year of school, part time to get licensed and then once I’m licensed, I can work only part time and make the same amount or potentially much more than I would working a full time job, leaving time for life and family. Not only that, but I get to work with people and help them to heal and/or just relax and feel good. I feel like God totally dropped ASMT in my lap, knowing that that was the best place for me. It’s such a great school. All the instructors are so passionate about massage and helping us to become the best massage therapists we can be. Sounds a bit cheesy but it’s such a good feeling to know that you’ve found where you’re supposed to be. We had our first hands on evaluations last night and I’m pleased to say I scored 22 out of 25. Our instructor has never given a perfect score so I was very happy with that…not perfect but helps me know what to work on. I’m always up for constructive criticism.

I’ve given Tim a couple of massages already and he says they’re great but he’s a bit biased. Maybe as I get a bit more experienced, some of you can be my clients and judge for yourself. I can always use some guinea pigs.