A Whole New World

My eyes were definitely opened this morning. I knew I wanted to find a church here in Philadelphia, and was hoping to find something similar to FBC Dallas. Before I moved here, I researched Baptist churches in Philly. Let's just say that at most of these churches I would stick out like a sore thumb. The closest thing to a Baptist church is a Presbyterian church so I researched those too. I found FBC Philadelphia and it's pretty close to my apartment. Can't tell too much about the church from their website but I'll give it a try. This morning though, I decided to try out Tenth Baptist Church. It's in the Rittenhouse Square neighborhood, which is a pretty nice area. The sanctuary was pretty small with very drab colors. Quite a contrast to the red carpet at FBCD. The extent of their choir/musical instruments is an organ and what I assume was a small choir. They were in the back balcony so I never saw them. I'm so used to an orchestra and a huge choir. We also used those books (hymnals) to sing from as opposed to screens. I haven't used a hymnal since high school I think. Not only were there environmental differences, there were also differences in the services. They have some doctrinal "things" they do such as readings and songs, etc. The service was very nice, but I'm not sure if it's the place I want to go. Especially if this dude will say a 5+ minute prayer each week. Whoa! That dude covered it all! I think I'm going to try out FBC Philly next week. Keep your fingers crossed.

This afternoon I hit up the gym that I joined yesterday. It's one block east of me, so it's super close. It's a funny layout too. It's not large on one level, but has several small levels. It's easy to get lost in there though with all the different rooms. I decided to jump on a treadmill and when I walked into the room, it smelled like bad breath. Good thing my nose acclimated to it. I now remember why I always run outside. Even with a TV attached to my treadmill, I just can't do it. I made it 2 miles on the treadmill before I'd had enough. So, I decided to do some weight training. I need to get over my dislike of the treadmill if I'm going to run the Cowtown Half Marathon in less than 2 months.

After the gym, I decided to do some laundry. I felt like I was back in the dorm all over again. I HATE laundry facilities. I am so spoiled that my apartment in Dallas has a washer and dryer in it. I had to drag my clothes down to the basement, put my clothes in the washer, pay my money, go back upstairs and wait for the clothes to wash, go back downstairs to put the clothes in the dryer, pay my money, go back upstairs and wait for the clothes to dry, go back downstairs to pull the clothes out to find that some weren't dry. But I said forget it and pulled them out anyway. The main thing that wasn't dry was my towel and it can dry in the bathroom. Such a pain in the rear. At home, if things weren't dry, you just turn the dial and let them dry again. Without having to pay more money.

So today was a day of trying new things here in Philly. The rest of my weekend has been spent studying. I feel like I'm back in grad school, except I have more reading to do. It helps that it's stuff I enjoy, but it's still reading and I still hate reading. Tomorrow morning I go to Methodist Hospital to observe surgery all day. Then Tuesday I'll be in the same doctor's office observing clinic. This week should fly by.