New camera!

I've been wanting a DSLR for many years now. My friend Becky (who does professional photography) gets a call about once a month answering my 8 million questions (most of which have been asked a dozen times already)!
Well, today, I finally pulled the trigger. Happy birthday to me! I am super excited to learn to use this new camera and, hopefully, improve my photography skills!!!

First harvest

First fruits from the garden! Blows my mind that I got real veggies from seeds I could barely see! I gobbled them up raw!!!

Spring-ing

This has (or is going to be) my spring of changes. I started a new job this year, getting house projects done that I've been planning since I moved in (almost 3 years ago) and getting back to planting!
I have, in past years, tried to grow at least my own tomatoes each year but haven't done this since I went to head school. I'm excited to get back to it this year, and try my hand at a few more veggies too! I like to start from scratch with the seeds! So here is the seed box on day 1. I've got regular tomatoes, cherry tomatoes, green beans and summer squash! Can't wait to see if anything works!

Curtains

It's been two and a half years since I bought my house and I FINALLY decided on fabric and made curtains. I'm really happy with the way it all turned out and it feels a lot more "homey" now!!!

Why I'm Voting "NO"

I'm not into politics.

In fact, it could be said that I pretty much hate politics.

Most politicians, Democrat or Republican, lie about pretty much everything.  And I hate lying.  I don't like the "smear" campaigns either.

I'm not a Democrat....or a Republican.  I never align well with either party or the person running.  At the end of the day, I get frustrated with every part of politics and I just turn my head and walk away.

I do, however, love my church. I love God and Jesus. I believe the bible.  I love my friends (even the ones  who I don't see eye to eye with) and I believe that each of them was created by God to be exactly who they are.  And I believe in marriage. And that marriage is a good thing.  And that marriage between a man and a woman is a good thing.

But when May 8th arrives and I go to vote, I will be voting NO for amendment 1.

I didn't come to this decision lightly.  And, in fact, I know there are going to be people that I consider to be friends who will think I am a "bad Christian" and maybe even some who won't be my friends anymore because of of this decision. But it's my decision.

I've prayed a lot about this particular issue and this is what I feel my heart has heard God saying.  God created all of us... man, woman, gay, straight, black, white, EVERYONE....in His image.  Jesus died for EVERYONE....man, woman, gay, straight, black, white, EVERYONE to have everlasting community with God in Heaven.  THE ONLY WAY for salvation is through accepting Jesus as your saviour.  THE ONLY WAY!  You can't get to heaven by being a good person.  Won't get into heaven by tithing "enough".  Not gonna get there by going to church every week.  And you certainly aren't getting into heaven because you married someone of the opposite sex.  In the same manner you won't be denied salvation because you weren't a good person, or you didn't tithe enough, or you didn't go to church every week, or because you were gay.

I also don't believe that Jesus would be signing any petition to deny rights to someone because they were gay.  The greatest commandment, in HIS words, is to "love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul and all your strength.  and the second is like it.  love your neighbor as yourself".  I can't help but think how much amendment 1 is NOT loving my neighbor.  My neighbor isn't just the family sitting next to me in church.  My neighbor is my garbage man, and the waitress who served me dinner last night, and the patients I take care of at work (this is where I struggle the most to LOVE my neighbor), and my boss, and my pastor, and the police man that gave me a ticket, and on and on.  And Jesus calls me to LOVE all of these people wether they are a family with a mom and dad and 3 kids or they are a drug addict or a prostitute!

I believe in God. I believe in Jesus.  I believe in helping people.  I believe in stopping injustice.  I believe that loving people is the best way to show them who Jesus is.  Mine is not to judge.  Mine is to LOVE!

Amendment 1 does not show God's Love.

I don't believe in amendment 1.

That's why I'm voting "no"!

Rules: Questions for when I meet my Maker

I'd like to introduce you to a new and ongoing collection of blog posts that I am going to make entitled

"Rules: Questions for when I meet my Maker"

These are rules that I believe, if followed, would make LIFE more enjoyable for all of us or just ponderings about certain strangeities of life and things I am definitely going to be asking my Maker about (yes, I realize that I just made up a number of the words in that last sentence....I'm okay with it). So, without further ado...

Rule #1 - Toe Hair

It is in my opinion that there is absolutely no need, anatomically or evolutionarily, for toe hair!

Eyelashes keep crap out of my eyes.

Even my longer and thicker than humanly normal arm and leg hair can be argued to keep me warm (or cool me off).

But toe hair serves no purpose besides

looking grose,

sticking out through my sandles,

and adding a step to the already arduous daily routine of shaving!

What's even stranger is that its not always there. Some days "my" toes look waxed, and other days I swear I could dread "my" toe hair. This is seriously going to be one of my questions when I meet my Maker!

*** It should be noted that any knowledge of and/or understanding about toe hair can neither confirm nor deny the presence or absence of toe hair on my own personal toes. These thoughts are merely speculation and observation!

oops....

I fell off the wagon. In my defense, I've had a LOT going on. Here's what's been going on over the last month!

I started running...

Went to camp (camp Celebrate from an earlier post)

Kept running...

Went to California for 5 days (where I ran EVERY day)

Still running...

Went camping for a weekend

A little more running...

Had surgery to get my tonsils taken out

okay, no running since then!

Its been almost 2 weeks since my surgery and I've FINALLY turned a corner and feel functional again. I just KNEW that while I was recuperating from surgery I was going to blog all the time and catch up on editing photos, etc. Yeah, I was wrong about that in a big way! All I could focus on was trying NOT to swallow and making it through the day until I could just go to bed again.

The good news, I lost 11 lbs in 12 days! Ha....I may write a book. I think I'm going to call it The Vicodin Cleanse! I couldn't eat without taking the meds, but once I took the meds I had no interest in eating.

Anyway, I'm about 90% better now, returning to work on Thursday and moving on with life...tonsil free!!!

I tried as hard as I could to rack up miles before surgery since I knew I'd lose a lot of time during recovery. I was able to get almost 30 miles in. Not quite as much as I'd hoped but still pretty good. So, now I've got 70 miles left in my challenge. Its a bit daunting but I'm up for the challenge. I won't be able to really start running for another 2 weeks but I'm hoping to get a few laps in of a slow "trot" until I'm back in the game!

Wish me luck!

and for those of you so inclined...i'd love some inspiration and accountability to keep running so leave me a FB message or a text if you think about it!

Perseverance!

I was off my routine last week because I was at camp for work (see previous post) but I DID pack my running gear for the weekend in hopes of getting in at least 1 good run.

Well, I did exactly that....1 good run. It was tough fitting in a run into such a crazy weekend but one of my co-workers and I decided to take some time on Friday morning to get out there.

It was fun to have someone to run with, and a new place to run as well. We ran on the road just outside of camp which is this long winding, basically flat road that goes by farms and fields and beautiful EVERYWHERE.

Because we didn't get to start as early as I'd hoped, it was already pretty hot and I didn't know how far to run so I just decided to go until I felt like I was going to die and that would probably be about the right distance.

Well, we ran for a while, and I definitely felt like dying. Later on I was able to clock it with my car and I ended up running 1.8 miles! Go me!

I spent the rest of the day with a horrible migraine. I'm may have to rethink the outdoor running in the heat thing. Just glad I was able to push myself further than I thought. Honestly, if i'd known how far I'd gone, I probably would have stopped running a lot sooner!

Celebrate!

This past weekend I attended Camp Celebrate, a camp for pediatric burn survivors hosted by the NC Jaycee Burn Center. This was my second year and it was just as much fun as the first year!

The camp is held at Camp Kanata...a YMCA camp in Wake Forest!

After all of the kids register at Triangle Town Center Mall the get to ride fire trucks in a parade the whole way up US 1 into camp! Fire stations from all over the state show up to volunteer for the parade and for the entire weekend. Its so much fun and such an honor to have them support and love these kids the way they do!

The Wake Forest FD cooked us dinner Thursday night! It was super yummy!

The theme for camp this year was "bringing back the 80's". Natalie and KC are two of the nurses in the burn unit and the 3 of us made up the "medic's" for the weekend. Here we are sporting some of our 80's headgear for the weekend!

There were a few articles in the N&O from the weekend if you are interested in reading more.

http://www.newsobserver.com/2011/05/21/1213530/burn-survivors-see-camp-as-a-balm.html

http://www.wral.com/news/local/story/9628571/

This is one of the parts of my job that I really love and I hope to be able to participate in this camp for many years to come!

and then there were 3!

Ran my third mile tonight....

And while it seems hard to believe, it was actually a bit easier. NOT EASY, just easier!

My lungs didn't burn so much, and I didn't collapse and die at the end. Progress is being made!

Finished up in the rain. VERY refreshing!

"Day 2"

I ran my second mile today.

It wasn't any easier than the first. Maybe tomorrow will be! Ha!

However.....

I decided that I would be doing my "miles" in my neighborhood. I have this teeny tiny little neighborhood and the entire circle is only 0.4 miles. So I walk half a lap (0.2 miles) to warm up and then run 2.5 laps around for my mile.

Tonight it was so fun because I saw tons of neighbors out in their front yards with kids, folks walking their dogs, mom's pushing babies in strollers, and a few other "runners". It was so fun to get out in my little community and see people. I'm hoping that as the summer goes on I will be able to get to know these folks more and more and build relationships with them.

2 down, 98 to go!

I'm sorry....did I really sign up for this?

So today was my "day 1". Officially the running starts this Saturday but I'm going to be out of town so I started today.

Lets just state the facts here.

1. I have "pretended" to be a runner for a lot of years now.

2. At one point in time, I actually could run 5 or 6 consecutive miles outside without dying (though it was usually a close call)

3. This is NOT that "one point in time"!

For a while now, I have only run on the treadmill and only done about 3 miles at a time. Today that changed. Not only do I want to reach my 100 mile goal for the summer, but I'd like to try to do it outside. The problem is, running outside is SOOOO much harder. Its not air conditioned, there are bugs, and the ground simply will NOT propel itself under foot like the treadmill does!

But I did it. My first mile, non-stop, outside! And as my feet hit the last steps of pavement leading up my driveway, the skies opened up and poured down cleansing rain! I will consider this the Lords way of giving me a fresh start!

1 down, 99 to go!

RunWithMe

Earlier in the year I got to hear 3 of the sweetest boys stand up at our missions festival and talk about how they were raising support for a Christian school in Malaysia and an orphanage in Cambodia. Last summer they had set out to run 100 miles and through that goal they were able to raise over $2000!

This summer they have asked others to join them and have added another missionary to the list of who they are supporting. Go check out their blog at RunWithMe!

I've been able to get to know their parents a bit through my sunday school class at church and this family is pretty amazing! They spent 5 years over in Malaysia and now they are back stateside!

I'm excited, and a bit nervous, to join in the adventure this summer! If you would like to support me just send me an email to let me know. I'm asking for $0.10/mile ($10 for the entire 100 miles) or whatever you are able to give!

I'm also asking for prayers and encouragement. HA!

Elon College Freshman Girls Small Group Reunion Weekend

Alternately titled: Who needs therapy when you have great girlfriends?

Alternately titled: Why is crying so therapeutic for women?

Alternately titled: I can't wait until next year.

I'm pretty sure I was the first to cry. I'm also pretty sure I was the last one still crying. I'm positive I was not the only one that cried. But let me start from the beginning...

For at least 2 years we have been trying to plan a reunion of the girls who were in our Freshman Girls Small Group bible study together. It was a group that, at the time, we all just liked being part of, but would all realize in the years to come was pivotal in each of our lives.

Almost 13 year to the day of our first meeting, about a thousand emails, and almost no formal planning whatsoever, 6 of us from the original group gathered together at a lake home owned by one of the girls' in-laws. We each needed to be there for very different reasons, and yet we all had come for the exact same reason. 13 years ago a bond had been formed that would forever bind us to one another.

Between the 6 of us there are 7 1/2 children, 5 husbands, 3 dogs, 2 cats, and 1 single girl. Yes, in case you hadn't picked up on it, that last one is me. And in case you don't pick up on it by the end, that same last point is the basis of all things involving tears on my end of the weekend.

Courtney's known her husband practically her entire life and their son just turned 1.

Katie met her husband in college and their daughter will turn 1 in just a few weeks.

I introduced Sara to her husband when we were in college and their son will be 3 in December and a second is due in February.

Anna's known her husband since high school and their daughter is 2.

Susan met her husband shortly after college and their kids are 2,4 and 6.

And then there's me.

Don't get me wrong, I've traveled the world, gone to grad school, I stay out as late as I want (which, lets admit, isn't very late), spend money on whatever I want...and I do it all alone.

On a daily basis I feel like I am surrounded by co-workers who tell me how lucky I am not to have a spouse at home upset about how much I work, married friends who remind me how much harder married life is than being single, pastors who preach about being content in the life you have and trust in God's plan for my life of singleness right now. And most of the time, all I want to do is scream, cry, and run away. But I don't. I smile. I nod. I agree that they are probably right.

Which is why I needed this weekend. There is a closeness, an easy vulnerability, a knowledge of each other without ever having to explain yourself that somehow formed between all of us when we weren't even paying attention.

Instead of having to put on the brave face, the smile that I was screaming behind, I finally let my guard down the crumbled. And they knew.

We all cried this weekend. Some for the people that are in their lives, some for the people they'd lost, and some for the people we wish were in our lives.

But we also laughed. A LOT!

p.s. court....no pictures!

Product Review - Amy's Organic Soy Cheeze Pizza

As most of you know, I'm lactose intolerant. It started about 2 years ago. And in those two years, I developed a hand full of other food allergies.

So I've been cutting more and more things out of my diet, scrabbling to find things to replace them with and have decided to take baby steps towards eating an all natural diet.

I was never a big pizza eater before. I LOVE cheese but hated the greasy oiliness that it created on a pizza.

I decided to give this Amy's pizza a try, though, and I am EXTREMELY pleased!

This pizza isn't in the least bit greasy or oily (I assume because the cheese is actually soy) but it tastes wonderful too. The Crust was crunch and the sauce was sweet. This may be a new favorite treat!

(I was even able to find some coupons for Amy's pizza's)

And this, too, shall pass!

On December 30th I wrote a blog post that basically outlined what a crappy year I had had. But, hopefully, you also read about my HOPES for the coming years.

Part of that post was centered around what a difficult year my FATHER had and all that he had gone through on the road to recovery. Just before Thanksgiving he had returned to work and was doing REALLY WELL as he regained strength little by little, day by day.

Unfortunately, after only about 2 months, all of his symptoms have returned. He deteriorated quickly back to the point he had been at his worst.

My parents called the neurosurgeon in California and scheduled the same round of tests and procedures that worked the last time. The are scheduled to fly out tomorrow morning and begin tests on Monday morning.

Mother nature has a confusing sense of humor. Pittsburgh has been dumped with close to 2 FEET OF SNOW in the last 24 hours. Snowed in, and without power, they now don't know if they will make it out tomorrow. In all my 18 years of living in Pittsburgh I don't remember ever being truly snowed in or without power.

Please keep my father in your PRAYERS as they TRY to get to CA and then for everything they will do out there. Please pray that this time, his results will last MUCH longer!

On a happier note...

The Lord has been teaching me (a very stubborn and slow to learn student) so much about faith and trusting HIS timing!

How amazing His lessons are, though. Sometimes, it seems, He must push us to our very limits in order to get us to trust and lean solely on Him!

I am happy to announce that, in HIS PERFECT TIMING, I was offered a job (and accepted it) at UNC hospitals working in the Jaycee burn center.

(I can see that "oh my gosh, that's going to be really horrible" look on your face right now...but don't worry, I am REALLY excited about it)

They are currently taking care of some patients from Haiti! What an honor!

The doctors in the video links (Dr. Jones and Cairns) will be my attendings. I am so excited to work with them and the rest of the team.

Thanks for all of your support and encouragement throughout the process!

THIS, is going to be a great job!

"NO" Guilt

Are you one of those people that thrives off of staying busy?

Do you find yourself always saying "yes" when asked to join, commit, volunteer, etc.?

Do you feel like you could be a founding member of a group called 'Over Committers Anonymous'? ***

Me too!

I've always been one of those people that loves to join in. I hate to miss a good time or an opportunity to help someone out. In fact, about 5 or 6 years ago, one of my friends and I actually joked about starting a group called Over Committers Anonymous (OCA) but then figured we were just adding to our own demise because we would never be able to say "no" to the invitation to join our own group.

But lately, I have really been striving to be intentional in the way I spend my time and who I spend it with.

This, however, comes with an overwhelming feeling of guilt about saying "NO"!!!

Just the other day, a friend called me looking for a baby sitter for her cousin's baby. This particular baby is extremely LOW maintenance and she knows that I really love cuddling this sweet little girl. But she needed someone for the ENTIRE day, and I already had plans for the morning. For a moment, I even considered backing out of my morning plans just so I didn't have to say no to the babysitting job (a little backwards I know). And after I told her I wouldn't be able to do it and hung up the phone, I felt guilty!

I even ended up calling her back to tell her I could do the second half of the day if she needed me to.

Why is it so hard to say 'no'? And why do I even have to have a reason to say no? Couldn't I just say "I don't think I want to do it"? (even though I would have liked to watch this particular little cutie pie).

Do you have "NO" guilt???

Curling: the making of a future Olympian

On Friday night my friend Bobby organized for a group of us to go to a

local indoor ice rink and attend a "Learn to Curl" clinic.

At first, I was really skeptical. I'd seen curling on t.v. and, to

be quite honest, it looked like a joke.

People in sneakers shoving huge rocks across ice while others used

brooms to "sweep" it into position. I mean, SERIOUSLY?!?!

The whole "sport" was a joke, right?

But I went anyway. And I am SOOOO glad that I did.

We had such a fun night.

The evening started out with a 30 minute classroom instruction session.

And then we moved out on to the ice.

Here I am trying to move one of the stones.

Each of the stones weighed over 40 pounds!!!

Now that we were on the ice, we were taught how to put our feet in the starting block, how to use the brooms for stability when throwing your stone, and how to NOT fall over when actually throwing the stone (you wear a silicone liner on the bottom of one shoe to make it super slippery...and it works! It was extremely hard to stay on your feet when that thing was on)

After a lot of practice in form and function, we were finally let loose to put all the steps together.

Here I am pushing off out of the starting block

Here I go sliding, and forgetting to let go of the stone!

Once you let go of the stone there was almost NO chance of staying vertical!

And last, but not least, here is me after I released my stone. This is also where I spent a good portion of the evening, on my butt on the ice.

This must have been a picture of my 4th or 5th try because most of my first throws ended with me sprawled out flat on my belly across the ice.

It was SO hard, but SO fun. We laughed really hard all night long and will have some great stories to tell for a long time.

Oh...and I almost forgot. NBC-17 was there to film the whole evening. AND they will be airing the footage locally during the 2010 winter olympics. There were quite a few times that they had the camera pointed right at me, and one time particularly that I did that graceful spread eagle across the ice move. So keep your eyes peeled during the olympics, maybe you'll see me!

new year challenge

"...forgetting the past and looking forward to what lies ahead." Philippias 3.13

I came across this verse in my daily devotion on new years day.

It struck me as so perfect for a verse to take me from the hardest year of my life (2009) to, what I hope to be, one of the best years of my life (2010)!

So my challenge (NOT resolution) to myself is to to look forward to the joy and blessing that lies ahead for me and not dwell and the hardships of the past.

This, in no way, means that I will "forget" what I have learned by coming through those rough times, but I am choosing not to dwell on how crappy it has been.

Help to keep me accountable to this! This is me formally giving anyone and everyone permission to gently "remind" me to dwell on blessings and not on hardship!

Won't you too look towards how He is blessing YOU this year?!?!

NYE 2009

New Years Eve has always been a big deal for me. I think it's because its one of those holidays when people DON'T go home to families but instead opt to celebrate with friends.

This year my friend Eric had a bunch of us over for a pot luck dinner. He made some super yummy beef and veggie stew and everyone else brought fantastic yummy sides.

After dinner at Eric's I stopped over at my friends Rob and Meredith's house for their annual party.

And finally, around 11 I landed at my friend Jason's house for a quiet countdown with friends. It turned out to be a really fun night.

Back row: Lori, Me, Erin

Front Row: Laura, Jay, Jason, Su-Anne, Bryan

New Years day couldn't have been better. I got up at 8 (who know's why I didn't sleep in but oh well), cleaned the house, went to "Virginia" to cook breakfast with Jason, Su-Anne and Erin, went to the gym and ran 4 miles (yes, 4 miles and I kept breathing the entire time), and then landed at my friend Todd's house for the rest of the day/night to watch all of the bowl games with great friends.

What an absolutely perfect two days with friends. I wish every day could be so sweet!

I am really excited about 2010 and how great it is going to be!