A Quote to Ponder.

“Feelings of worth can flourish only in an atmosphere where individual differences are appreciated, mistakes are tolerated, communication is open, and rules are flexible--the kind of atmosphere that is found in a nurturing family.”

~ Virginia Satir

Facts About Me

Lind Point Trail, Virgin Islands National Park, St. John

Ten Facts (in no particular order)

Fact #1:  I am a lover.  All the hate in the world makes me sad.  I just think everyone should start giving out free hugs to each other.

Fact #2:  I am a student.  Currently I am pursuing a degree in Family Social Science major and Family Violence Prevention minor.  I don't know what I'm going to do with it, but I'm trusting there will be light at the end of the tunnel.

Fact #3:  I am one the luckiest woman in the world to have my wonderful husband John and my baby Comet.  I couldn't get through every day without them both.  I love going on vacation with John because it provides unadulterated time for each other.

Fact #4:  Music is one of my passions.  I am connected to some form of music most of the day.  I love to sing and play the piano and guitar.  I love singing Blink 182 duets with John.

Fact #5:  I love Jesus.  I am so thankful for his hope, compassion and justice.  As hard as it is sometimes, I try to live my life to his standard and let him lead me where he sees fit.

Fact #6:  I love giving food to the homeless people.  I love volunteering at Feed My Starving Children.  I love hanging out with the high school kids from my church family.  I love to make cookies for my neighbors.

Fact #7:  I don't crave the latest technology, or new clothes or shoes.  I love the GoodWill and Half Price Books.  I'm cheap.  It irritates John sometimes and I keep telling him I could be a wife that spends all his money.  

Fact #8:  I am a photographer.  I love capturing the perfect moment, the perfect emotion.  It was hard to find a picture of myself because I am always the one behind the camera.

Fact #9:  I have learned to love hockey because it's John's passion.  I LOVE watching him play.  It's so graceful and powerful at the same time.  He thinks I'm crazy when I talk about it, but the sport is like a dance that a player has to practice for years to perfect.  I love playing with John too.  It's so romantic to go out on a local rink by ourselves. Makes my heart flutter.

Fact #10:  I crave face time with my family and friends.  I wish I had more time for it and I miss them when we haven't been able to talk.  I love laughter and good conversations. 

I want to cheat and add more because my brain juices are flowing, but I'll stop.  I hope you learned something new about me :)

Love/Hate = College

I have a very strong love/hate relationship with college and I start back tomorrow after a three week Christmas break.  I have mixed emotions about starting.  I'm so excited to start new classes, but I'm not sure I'm ready for the busy schedule and seeing John less.  I think my attitude would be completely different if I was in a different place in my life.  If I wasn't married I'd be excited about seeing my friends and living the college life.  I just have to keep looking forward and trusting that I will be able to finish.  I look forward to the day John and I can have similar schedules and start thinking about expanding our family.  Until then, I'll be excited about learning new things and expanding myself as a person.  With that in mind this semester will probably be challenging.  I have six classes!

Preparation for Working with Families
Family Systems and Diversity
Global and Diverse Families
Principles of Holistic Health and Healing
Intro to Intimate Partner Violence
Gender Violence from a Global Perspective

I'm pumped for the subjects I get to study, even excited for the books I have to read.  I'll try to continue school updates throughout the semester :)

 

So long, Facebook.

Last week I came across a year-end reflection question asking, "What was your biggest time waster in 2010?"  My response would be facebook, up until about the end of October when I decided to get rid of my account.  I was sick an tired of a lot of things on the social networking site and truth be told when I'd go on to check one thing, that would lead to another... and another... and another.  I was extremely sad when I learned about some of the cyber-bullying that used facebook as a means to spread rumors and attack others.  Some of the groups that I got invited to made me sick to my stomach (Dear Lord, This year you took my favorite actor, Patrick Swayze, you took my favorite actree, Farrah Fawcett, you took my favorite singer, Michael Jackson.  I just wanted to let you know my favorite president is Barack Obama.  Amen.  <--I was invited to join more than once!) I understand everyone has freedom of speech and I am SO thankful for it, but sometimes people take advantage of it.  I'm also not trying to take a political stand.  I'm just saying it's rude and hateful and terribly immature.  It's not even a funny joke.  Wishing someone's death is never okay and I doubt that's what the founders of the United States were trying to protect.  I also thought some of my friend requests started to get a little out there.  People I never talked to were adding me and it was becoming a means of finding out what everyone was up to without having any actual contact with that person.  The site really started taking away from face-to-face contact with the people I really cared about and wanted to further a deep relationship with.  Now I know that there are numerous arguments for all these issues like "I could delete down to just my close friends and family", "I don't have to join groups I don't want to" and "I don't have to look at what certain people were up to", but deleting my account all together was what was best for me and I hope there's respect for that as I respect those who have an account.  Thus far life without facebook has been fabulous.  I miss looking at and posting photos and having easy access to my family and close friends, but it has forced me to be more deliberate about important relationships in my life.  I am healthier mentally and emotionally without it.  As far as missing photographs I decided to start a blog strictly devoted to that.  If you're missing my photographs or would just enjoy a look, consider yourself invited :) Click here.  I wish there was a way to have the best of both worlds, but until then I will be facebook free.