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.  

Happy Thanksgiving :) + ABC's of Thanksgiving

Happy Thanksgiving friends!  As I reflect on the day I can't help but think about how thankful I am for so many things and how much I'm blessed.  I'm SO thankful for John and Comet and the rest of my family.  I love sitting around a table, enjoying great food and having good conversation.  I also saw an idea on a friend's blog about her ABC's of what she's thankful for, so I'm going to steal it :)  My sisters are sitting here and are influencing some of the answers...

A = Attitude. 
B = Books.  I love to read.  Biggest Loser.
C = Comet.  He's my boy.  My sister Cate & my brother Caleb.  And coffee.  And Chipotle. 
D = Devotion. 
E = My sister Erin and Hannah's boyfriend Ethan.
F = My faith, my family & my friends.  I love my parents and my sisters and brother. 
G =  Grace.  Giving the homeless people my lunch. 
H = My sister Hannah & good health.  And honesty.  
I = Intelligence.  Inspiration. 
J = My fabulous husband John.  He is my everything. 
K = Kisses & Hugs. 
L = The gift of life. And love. 
M = Marriage. 
N = Night.  I love sleeping.  
O = Opportunities. 
P = My parents. 
Q = Quilts.  I love snuggling up with a homemade quilt. 
R = Respect - I am continually thankful for people who are respectful of my opinions. 
S = School.  It's frustrating sometimes, but it's so great.  And Samson. 
T = Straight teeth.  I'm so thankful my parents paid for my smile. 
U =University of Minnesota. 
V = Vision.  And voice.  I love to sing.  And volunteering. 
W = Water that's clean. 
X = Xcel Energy Center.  John loves hockey, therefore I love hockey :)
Y = My youth group kids.  And youth group in general. 
Z = Zoo's.  I love going to the zoo. 

Worthy.

I struggle daily, if I'm honest with myself, with feeling worthy.  I am a person that is extremely scared, even deathly afraid of failure.  I am a perfectionist.  I am afraid to let my family and friends down, but ultimately to let myself down.  It weighs on my heart and hurts me.  I am going to fight it and I'm going to win.  I am going to see my world as more than black and white, failure or success.  I am going to come out on the other side more of the person God intended me to be, living out the life He intended for me.  I'm posting this list for me as a reference.  It'll be a place I can come to when I'm struggling, read my words and find hope and know that the grass is greener on the other side. 

If I fail, I'll just take it over. 
If I have to go an extra semester, that's fine. 
If I gain ten pounds, I'll still be beautiful. 
If I sin, I can be forgiven.
If I fail, people won't be disappointed.
If I have to cut something out of my schedule, it's ok.
If someone else is disappointed in me, I have to brush it off.
If I feel pressured into something, I have to do what's best for me and my family. 
If I feel ugly, I have to tell myself I'm beautiful.
If I feel useless, I have to tell myself God has a plan for me.
If I feel like I can't do something, I have to give it my best effort. 

If I feel used, I have to pull myself up.
If I feel depressed, I have to pick myself up.
If I feel overwhelmed, I have to take one step at a time.
If I feel stressed, I have to take one thing at a time.

If I don't feel worthy, I have to tell myself I am.
If I don't feel loved, I have to tell myself I am.
If I don't feel good enough, I have to tell myself I am.

God didn't promise a life full of happiness, but He promised He would always be there for me.  He is the one and only, that I know I can always count on.  He made me in his image and I need to start acting like it.  I am good enough, worthy, loved, "as is".  I am accepted "as is". I can enjoy life and life it to the fullest.  I strive each day to honor him and praise him, but he still accepts me "as is".  What a beautiful thought. 

My Sweet Family

Today is a special day at our house.  It is Comet's 2nd birthday and John and my 3rd anniversary.  I couldn't ask for a better family!  I love how I'm a plan everything to a T gal and God mixed my plans up because His were way better than mine :)  He's got a sense of humor, I'm sure of it.  I feel so blessed!

Comet

He's my boy.  I love him SO much!  I had never had an indoor dog until John and I decided to get him and I seriously didn't know what to think of it.  Now he sleeps in our bed and eats our food with us.  He's so spoiled.  I have yet to feel the love of having a child, but I think Comet resembles how I'll feel.  He listens to me when I need to talk to someone, especially when I don't want anyone to talk back to me, he takes me on walks, he tolerates the costumes that I buy for him and make him wear, he sings with me, he does tricks, he shakes when I get home because he's so excited, he barks are squirrels and loves to snuggle.  He is the best dog ever!  I wouldn't trade him for anything.

John

He's my man :)  I seriously wouldn't trade him for anything and truly believe God had a perfect match for me.  He's so handsome, he loves Jesus, he's hardworking, he keeps things in perspective for me, he loves me for me, he will someday be a great dad, he has a wonderful smile, his sense of humor cracks me up, he provides for me and Comet, he helps me with my homework, he laughs at my terrible jokes, he'll dance to rap music with me, he takes me on dates, he pursues me, he doesn't let me get away with saying "I'm fine", he pushes me to be my best, he doesn't let me quit, he lets me cry on his shoulder, he doesn't walk out when I get irrational, he is strong, he's SO smart, he strives to make me happy even if it means doing a stupid little dance or joke, he helped me train for a marathon, he's driven.  He is my hero, for real.  I love him more than anything.  I thank God for him everyday.  What a wonderful gift I've been given.