This glorious long weekend was filled with princess tents and blankie monsters. I loved every minute of it!
Since we didn’t have school on Friday, I went to my older sister’s house and stayed with her for the Easter weekend. My older sister has 2 beautiful, well behaved, rambunctious, blonde angels. Hayden is 5 and Willow is 2, just ask, they’ll tell you! I didn’t know of a child who could talk as much as my nephew, until my niece started talking…it is so awesomely impossible to understand... and the cutest thing. For example, my name to her used to be Nana, this weekend it was Danna, Nanna, Banna, Janna, and Panna…she is a good rhymer. Oh and every time she says anyone’s name, she always yells it twice. DANNA, DANNA!!! Like I said, I loved every minute of it!
Ahhhh, kids are such a breath of fresh air.
This morning I got to thinking about the Easter story and how much my wonderful niece and nephew exhibit the Easter story.
I’m sure you all know the basics of the story so I won’t go into much detail. I don’t want to minimize, but here are the basics: Christ suffered, died and was put in a tomb with a big rock in front. After three days God revealed his master plan to the world by not allowing Jesus to remain a victim to death. This story is something that I’m sure you have heard at least once a year since you were old enough to listen, I know I have. Because of that, I think that sometimes it can get a little dry, a little distant (I mean who can really relate to a cave as a tomb and raising from the dead, really??).
Here is where I see my niece and nephew coming into the picture; they are kids. You all know some kids right, some wonderful, innocent, beautiful, hope filled kids? Here is the connection for you, pay attention now; the Easter story is a story to remember and celebrate every April, but the Easter story is also a story to live in everyday for the rest of the year too. You see, it’s like little kids; they don’t know the suffering and pain their parents go through on their behalf, they live the life that was given to them and they live it filled with joy, love and unshakable hope. I think sometimes I forget the Easter story the other 51 weeks of the year, I forget what was done so that I, so that you, could have a life filled with joy, love and unshakeable hope. It is amazing really when you stop to think about the deep Love that gives us this gift.
The challenge is to live this way. I know just as well as you that it is not easy to live in this hope, it is no cake walk to live in the light of the resurrection all the time. Getting caught up on details and failed plans is so easy for me, but then I have a weekend filled with Spongebob, ‘mac and the cheese’ (Hayden’s name for mac and cheese), race-car beds and blonde curls and I remember how life should really be lived.
…Oh yea, I almost forgot….HAPPY EASTER!!!
Sunday, April 24, 2011
Tuesday, April 19, 2011
Love Hard
I love a good wedding. (sigh)
This weekend I attended a very good wedding. One of my very good friends got married and I got the joy of celebrating with her and a whole host of amazing people. For me it was especially fun to see and spend some quality time with people who I don’t often get to see.
It may seem a little weird (until you realize that I went to a small Christian College) but I’ve been to a lot of my close friends weddings and I have a lot more to attend this summer(seriously, a lot!). I keep thinking I’m a little young to be going to this many weddings and that is partially true. I really do think that all of the weddings I’m attending and have attended were very much timed perfectly for that couple however, I’ve learned that I’m not ready for a wedding of my own. I want to be ready, trust me, but I’m still waiting and growing and learning and that’s ok.
I have a couple favorite parts of a wedding. The first favorite is watching the grooms face when he gets to see his bride walk down the aisle. It’s awesome to just take in their reaction. It’s a look of amazing, deep love, emotion, nervousness and joy (most of the time…hopefully!). My second favorite thing about weddings is when the pastor gets a chance to talk to the couple/family/bridal party at the rehearsal dinner. I feel as though this is always a little peek into what the sermon for the wedding will be and most of the time I don’t remember the sermon (don’t judge, I usually only retain bits and pieces). It’s like the shorted version of the message (we can all relate to loving this!)
At Hil and Grant’s wedding the pastor said just a few lines about love at the rehearsal, he later expounded on these thoughts but I didn’t get much past this: Humans are imperfect, human love is imperfect, you will fail, you will fail each other, you will be disappointed, you will disappoint each other. But, with the example that God has given, your marriage doesn’t rest on imperfection, failure and disappointment it rests on God’s gift of perfect love.
I know this is a wedding message but, since my life is not at that stage, I also took it as a message about relationships in general. I know that I’m not perfect and I know that those people I’m in relationships with are not perfect either. That’s just the way it is and luckily we aren’t asked to be perfect. However this isn’t a free pass to not seek relationships, or mess things up in the relationships we have. It’s a challenge and a call to imitate perfect love to each other, even when the situations aren’t easy.
One of my favorite quotes is a simple line with two very heavy words: Love Hard. I think this is a urging to love in a forceful way, but also to love when it is hard to love.
Please don’t think that I’m insinuating that Hil and Grant will have a hard marriage and that they need to ‘Love Hard,’ I know they love each other deeply and I wish them all the happiness in the world. I just think that every once in a while even us single people in the world need a little marriage sermon.
This weekend I attended a very good wedding. One of my very good friends got married and I got the joy of celebrating with her and a whole host of amazing people. For me it was especially fun to see and spend some quality time with people who I don’t often get to see.
It may seem a little weird (until you realize that I went to a small Christian College) but I’ve been to a lot of my close friends weddings and I have a lot more to attend this summer(seriously, a lot!). I keep thinking I’m a little young to be going to this many weddings and that is partially true. I really do think that all of the weddings I’m attending and have attended were very much timed perfectly for that couple however, I’ve learned that I’m not ready for a wedding of my own. I want to be ready, trust me, but I’m still waiting and growing and learning and that’s ok.
I have a couple favorite parts of a wedding. The first favorite is watching the grooms face when he gets to see his bride walk down the aisle. It’s awesome to just take in their reaction. It’s a look of amazing, deep love, emotion, nervousness and joy (most of the time…hopefully!). My second favorite thing about weddings is when the pastor gets a chance to talk to the couple/family/bridal party at the rehearsal dinner. I feel as though this is always a little peek into what the sermon for the wedding will be and most of the time I don’t remember the sermon (don’t judge, I usually only retain bits and pieces). It’s like the shorted version of the message (we can all relate to loving this!)
At Hil and Grant’s wedding the pastor said just a few lines about love at the rehearsal, he later expounded on these thoughts but I didn’t get much past this: Humans are imperfect, human love is imperfect, you will fail, you will fail each other, you will be disappointed, you will disappoint each other. But, with the example that God has given, your marriage doesn’t rest on imperfection, failure and disappointment it rests on God’s gift of perfect love.
I know this is a wedding message but, since my life is not at that stage, I also took it as a message about relationships in general. I know that I’m not perfect and I know that those people I’m in relationships with are not perfect either. That’s just the way it is and luckily we aren’t asked to be perfect. However this isn’t a free pass to not seek relationships, or mess things up in the relationships we have. It’s a challenge and a call to imitate perfect love to each other, even when the situations aren’t easy.
One of my favorite quotes is a simple line with two very heavy words: Love Hard. I think this is a urging to love in a forceful way, but also to love when it is hard to love.
Please don’t think that I’m insinuating that Hil and Grant will have a hard marriage and that they need to ‘Love Hard,’ I know they love each other deeply and I wish them all the happiness in the world. I just think that every once in a while even us single people in the world need a little marriage sermon.
Friday, April 15, 2011
Rainbows and Butterflies? I Think Not.
I just hung up the phone from being informed of my most expensive real world experience to date-new brakes. Ouch!
I guess you do what you gotta do, right?!?
This experience fits so well with the topic I’d been wanting to blog about, so I’ll take this time while I’m sitting in Bagel Boy next to the Midas to jot down a few thoughts.
Yesterday while driving I had the radio cranked, maybe a little too loud to disguise the squeaking breaks, and a song I really like came on. The reason I like this song is one particular line in the song that jolts me every time I listen.
“It’s not always rainbows and butterflies, it’s compromise that moves us along.”- She Will Be Loved by Maroon 5.
I love this. It is so cut you to your heart, this is reality in your face, bam here it is, insightful.
Life isn’t always going to be one big ‘Happy Day’ sometimes the only thing we can do is find compromise to keep us moving forward, and sometimes that compromise is an expensive break job.
This last week at school was stressful. Because of the current budget situations, not many people know where they stand when it comes to what they will be teaching next year-their might be a fruit basket upset. Of course my initial thoughts were, ‘how is this going to affect me, oh and…this sucks!’ However, after I’ve thought about the situation more and more I think that the lyrics mentioned above seem very fitting. I know that I would not want to be in the shoes of the people who have to make the decisions, their lives right now are definitely not rainbows and butterflies, they are trying to find compromise and that is not an easy job.
I think that the best way that I can approach this compromise, regardless of how it affects me, is to realize and embrace that life’s not meant to always be rainbows and butterflies. We are challenged and tried in order that we grow and learn. Without those experiences my life would be rainbows and butterflies but I wouldn’t know how to appreciate those rainbows and butterflies.
I guess you do what you gotta do, right?!?
This experience fits so well with the topic I’d been wanting to blog about, so I’ll take this time while I’m sitting in Bagel Boy next to the Midas to jot down a few thoughts.
Yesterday while driving I had the radio cranked, maybe a little too loud to disguise the squeaking breaks, and a song I really like came on. The reason I like this song is one particular line in the song that jolts me every time I listen.
“It’s not always rainbows and butterflies, it’s compromise that moves us along.”- She Will Be Loved by Maroon 5.
I love this. It is so cut you to your heart, this is reality in your face, bam here it is, insightful.
Life isn’t always going to be one big ‘Happy Day’ sometimes the only thing we can do is find compromise to keep us moving forward, and sometimes that compromise is an expensive break job.
This last week at school was stressful. Because of the current budget situations, not many people know where they stand when it comes to what they will be teaching next year-their might be a fruit basket upset. Of course my initial thoughts were, ‘how is this going to affect me, oh and…this sucks!’ However, after I’ve thought about the situation more and more I think that the lyrics mentioned above seem very fitting. I know that I would not want to be in the shoes of the people who have to make the decisions, their lives right now are definitely not rainbows and butterflies, they are trying to find compromise and that is not an easy job.
I think that the best way that I can approach this compromise, regardless of how it affects me, is to realize and embrace that life’s not meant to always be rainbows and butterflies. We are challenged and tried in order that we grow and learn. Without those experiences my life would be rainbows and butterflies but I wouldn’t know how to appreciate those rainbows and butterflies.
Sunday, April 10, 2011
The Best Things a Girl Can Have
This afternoon my older sister showed me a ring that her best friend gave her. It was a cool ring. Engraved on it was the phrase: Friends are the family you get to choose.
On my drive home I thought about that…it was a long drive.
Friends are really like family. There are some ways that are different but a real friend, a true deep friendship is like family-you can’t get rid of them! :) I can think of a number of women in my life who I count on like family and I know that I’ve blogged about the awesomeness of my friends in previous posts but I would just like to reiterate their value.
A good friend is like everything I love in this life. They’re a cozy coffee shop, an overstuffed chair, an amazing meal, a great book, they are accomplishment and small talk, a good friend is priceless (oh yea she went there….cheesy cliche sappiness). I also think a good friend is sometimes a person that you find when you least expect them to pop up or best of all when you’re not trying to make friends.
I remember going into my freshman year of college thinking to myself, “Self, you are going to meet tons of new people and you are going to make them be your friends!” Well, maybe I didn’t think I was going to make them be my friends, but I knew that I was going to seek out friendships. I would say however, that’s not how it happened. My best friends, the ones I call when I have big news or need support or just can’t sleep, are people who were placed in my path. They are people I did life with, they were not people who I shopped for. I think this is the reason why such good friendships develop. Often times venerability, conversations, silliness, tears, challenges, celebrations and all of the other things that make a friendship real and deep happen organically in everyday situations, they can’t be scheduled.
When I first moved to Clarinda I helped with a small group and I remember wanting so badly to find people I could invest in and start these deep relationships with. I failed. Everything felt so forced and rigid. I think this is probably because I didn’t give us a chance to get to know each other by just doing life together, it’s like a good wine…it takes time!
Of course speaking of best friends I have to mention my sister, we’ve put in some quality years together. And, it just so happens that this weekend my baby sister turned 21 (today actually, you should wish her happy birthday!). It’s a weird feeling first of all because it doesn’t seem like she or I for that matter should be this old, but secondly because she does seem that old. Maggie, don’t take this the wrong way, you are still a child in all the best ways and you are still my little sister no matter how old you get, but you are so grown up. You are mature and you are making decisions for your self and you are in love with and awesome guy and I’m so proud of the life you are making for yourself, you are grown up and I admire the woman you’ve become (this might be a post for another time) .
I got to go down and celebrate with Maggie this weekend (don’t worry it only got slightly out of hand :) ) and it just so happened that one of our best friends came too (Her name is also Anna and her Mag and I were all best friends in high school…kinda neat). There was a moment this weekend when Anna and I were in the backseat and we were goofing around and Maggie looked back and said, “Hey Bert and Ernie back there…knock it off!” It was perfect because it was hilarious but also, this is the perfect picture of our high school experience and the best part was when Maggie looked back at both Anna and I and all three of us laughed because we all knew just how much we all missed moments like that.
It’s realizations like that the make me think doing life together creates something so much more of a bond than scheduling friendships.
It is so obvious to me that we were made to live in community and encourage and rely on one another. I’m grateful for this design and for the blessing of knowing 'big breakfast mornings’, 'belly laugh afternoons' and 'box of tissues' nights with my best friends.
This post goes out to all my girls (Mom, Mag, Sarah, Chels, Anna, Kris, Randa, Al, Bobbie, Heidi, BO, Lindsey, Jess, Hil, Jan, Andrea, and Oh so many more….), thanks for all your ewwwey goooeeey goodnessss!!!
I really hope you have at least one friendship that is brought to mind while you are reading this, if not…maybe we should go get some coffee.?.?
On my drive home I thought about that…it was a long drive.
Friends are really like family. There are some ways that are different but a real friend, a true deep friendship is like family-you can’t get rid of them! :) I can think of a number of women in my life who I count on like family and I know that I’ve blogged about the awesomeness of my friends in previous posts but I would just like to reiterate their value.
A good friend is like everything I love in this life. They’re a cozy coffee shop, an overstuffed chair, an amazing meal, a great book, they are accomplishment and small talk, a good friend is priceless (oh yea she went there….cheesy cliche sappiness). I also think a good friend is sometimes a person that you find when you least expect them to pop up or best of all when you’re not trying to make friends.
I remember going into my freshman year of college thinking to myself, “Self, you are going to meet tons of new people and you are going to make them be your friends!” Well, maybe I didn’t think I was going to make them be my friends, but I knew that I was going to seek out friendships. I would say however, that’s not how it happened. My best friends, the ones I call when I have big news or need support or just can’t sleep, are people who were placed in my path. They are people I did life with, they were not people who I shopped for. I think this is the reason why such good friendships develop. Often times venerability, conversations, silliness, tears, challenges, celebrations and all of the other things that make a friendship real and deep happen organically in everyday situations, they can’t be scheduled.
When I first moved to Clarinda I helped with a small group and I remember wanting so badly to find people I could invest in and start these deep relationships with. I failed. Everything felt so forced and rigid. I think this is probably because I didn’t give us a chance to get to know each other by just doing life together, it’s like a good wine…it takes time!
Of course speaking of best friends I have to mention my sister, we’ve put in some quality years together. And, it just so happens that this weekend my baby sister turned 21 (today actually, you should wish her happy birthday!). It’s a weird feeling first of all because it doesn’t seem like she or I for that matter should be this old, but secondly because she does seem that old. Maggie, don’t take this the wrong way, you are still a child in all the best ways and you are still my little sister no matter how old you get, but you are so grown up. You are mature and you are making decisions for your self and you are in love with and awesome guy and I’m so proud of the life you are making for yourself, you are grown up and I admire the woman you’ve become (this might be a post for another time) .
I got to go down and celebrate with Maggie this weekend (don’t worry it only got slightly out of hand :) ) and it just so happened that one of our best friends came too (Her name is also Anna and her Mag and I were all best friends in high school…kinda neat). There was a moment this weekend when Anna and I were in the backseat and we were goofing around and Maggie looked back and said, “Hey Bert and Ernie back there…knock it off!” It was perfect because it was hilarious but also, this is the perfect picture of our high school experience and the best part was when Maggie looked back at both Anna and I and all three of us laughed because we all knew just how much we all missed moments like that.
It’s realizations like that the make me think doing life together creates something so much more of a bond than scheduling friendships.
It is so obvious to me that we were made to live in community and encourage and rely on one another. I’m grateful for this design and for the blessing of knowing 'big breakfast mornings’, 'belly laugh afternoons' and 'box of tissues' nights with my best friends.
This post goes out to all my girls (Mom, Mag, Sarah, Chels, Anna, Kris, Randa, Al, Bobbie, Heidi, BO, Lindsey, Jess, Hil, Jan, Andrea, and Oh so many more….), thanks for all your ewwwey goooeeey goodnessss!!!
I really hope you have at least one friendship that is brought to mind while you are reading this, if not…maybe we should go get some coffee.?.?
Thursday, April 7, 2011
Spring Rain
This afternoon was a gloomy, wet, snuggle in and listen to the pitter patter, kind of afternoon. I loved it.
Once I got home and unpacked my day I needed this time of pitter patter observation just to be. Don’t get me wrong, I love a fresh spring day but there is just something about snuggling in and watching a few episodes of Project Runway and then grabbing my latest obsession in book form. I think there’s comfort in unwinding.
Rain is one of the most beautiful and inspiring things. It makes spring interesting when you’re a track coach, that’s for sure. But beyond that, rain is pure, clean, fresh, annoying, cold, wet and down right oxymoronic. Rain is one of the most frustrating and infuriating things.
I think that Rain is kind of like teaching. This is my first year of teaching, so if you are a veteran teacher, I apologize if this seems inaccurate. Never mind, I don’t apologize….this is my blog. If you disagree, start your own blog! :)
I digress…
For example teaching can be so refreshing and exciting and beautiful, just like rain. Teaching can also be infuriating, frustrating, annoying and cold, also just like rain. It’s like enduring a storm, really. There are the ebbs and flows of a school day and the ebbs and flows of a school year then, after the storm blows over we are left with something beautiful, (summer vacation! Ha ha. Just kidding) genuine learning, knowledge, relationships, encouragement.
It is frustratingly wonderful.
As I come to a close on my first year of teaching bear with me as I make one more analogy pertaining to the emotions evoked by the weather outside. I think this year has been a lot of things for me but now, almost in the last month of school, it is like the first rain storm of spring. I’m feeling cozy, comfortable even. You see, all year I’ve been treading to keep my head above water, learning new people and routines and techniques and expectations and time management and the list goes on and on. And now finally, I can breathe a little easier. Not because I have all of these things down or I by any means have everything figured out, I think it is just more familiar, more comfortable. It’s really the feeling I’ve wanted for as long as I’ve wanted to be a teacher (basically since dinosaurs roamed the earth), the feeling of being cozy in juggling everything it means to be a teacher (I’m sure that those of you who are not teachers are saying to yourselves about now, “Self, this girl is stark crazy. How hard can it be to teach middle school? It’s just a bunch of kids you have to corral until the bus comes at 3:20.” To you I say…walk a day in my shoes, it’s…. unexplainable).
Now it’s time for this teacher to curl up in her bed while she listen to the rain and reflects on how something so small and seemingly insignificant can teach her so much.
(pitter patter, pitter patter…)
Once I got home and unpacked my day I needed this time of pitter patter observation just to be. Don’t get me wrong, I love a fresh spring day but there is just something about snuggling in and watching a few episodes of Project Runway and then grabbing my latest obsession in book form. I think there’s comfort in unwinding.
Rain is one of the most beautiful and inspiring things. It makes spring interesting when you’re a track coach, that’s for sure. But beyond that, rain is pure, clean, fresh, annoying, cold, wet and down right oxymoronic. Rain is one of the most frustrating and infuriating things.
I think that Rain is kind of like teaching. This is my first year of teaching, so if you are a veteran teacher, I apologize if this seems inaccurate. Never mind, I don’t apologize….this is my blog. If you disagree, start your own blog! :)
I digress…
For example teaching can be so refreshing and exciting and beautiful, just like rain. Teaching can also be infuriating, frustrating, annoying and cold, also just like rain. It’s like enduring a storm, really. There are the ebbs and flows of a school day and the ebbs and flows of a school year then, after the storm blows over we are left with something beautiful, (summer vacation! Ha ha. Just kidding) genuine learning, knowledge, relationships, encouragement.
It is frustratingly wonderful.
As I come to a close on my first year of teaching bear with me as I make one more analogy pertaining to the emotions evoked by the weather outside. I think this year has been a lot of things for me but now, almost in the last month of school, it is like the first rain storm of spring. I’m feeling cozy, comfortable even. You see, all year I’ve been treading to keep my head above water, learning new people and routines and techniques and expectations and time management and the list goes on and on. And now finally, I can breathe a little easier. Not because I have all of these things down or I by any means have everything figured out, I think it is just more familiar, more comfortable. It’s really the feeling I’ve wanted for as long as I’ve wanted to be a teacher (basically since dinosaurs roamed the earth), the feeling of being cozy in juggling everything it means to be a teacher (I’m sure that those of you who are not teachers are saying to yourselves about now, “Self, this girl is stark crazy. How hard can it be to teach middle school? It’s just a bunch of kids you have to corral until the bus comes at 3:20.” To you I say…walk a day in my shoes, it’s…. unexplainable).
Now it’s time for this teacher to curl up in her bed while she listen to the rain and reflects on how something so small and seemingly insignificant can teach her so much.
(pitter patter, pitter patter…)
Wednesday, April 6, 2011
Just for Fun
Here are the ABCs of me!
P.S. I stole this from another blog I follow. Hey, they say that imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, right?!?
A. Age: 23…Is it bad when you have to do the math to figure this out?
B. Bed Size: Queen. My oh so generous mother gifted it to me! Thanks mom!
C. Chore You Dislike: Dishes! I love to cook but hate the dirty dishes that all my kitchen creations create.
D. Dogs: None, sadly (I’m much more of a dog person than a cat person)
E. Essential Start to Your Day: Hitting the snooze ;)
F. Favorite Color: Blue- although, I’m almost ready to start claiming green as my favorite color...
G. Gold or Silver: I think silver
H. Height: 5’10 1/2'', but if you ask my basketball coach from college I’m 5’9’’…the shortest post in the NAIA
I. Instruments You Played: Clarinet. However, I don’t feel like I can really claim this because I only played for 2 years in middle school.
J. Job Title: Middle School Teacher, Coach, Babysitter, Therapist, Event Planner, Bouncer, Life Coach, Public Speaker, Etc. :) No, really I’m just a teacher and coach.
K. Kids: Someday…and I can’t wait!
L. Live: Clarinda, Iowa
M. Mom's Name: Most people call her Wonder woman or Kim. Her real name is Kimber or Mom.
N. Nicknames: In high school it was Andee, but now it’s just Ms. A.
O. Overnight Hospital Stays: Nope!
P. Pet Peeves: Ending a sentence in a preposition (which I do all the time in by blog posts…Yikes!) and I feel like I have more, but I just can’t think of them right now.
Q. Quote From a Movie: “Sir, what is your deepest fear?”
“Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate, but that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness that most frightens us. Your playing small does not serve the world. There is nothing enlightening about shrinking so that others won’t feel insecure around you. We are ALL meant to shine as children do. It’s not just in some of us, it’s in everyone. And as we let our light shine we unconsciously give others permission to do the same. As we are liberated from our fear, our presence automatically liberates others.”- Coach Carter and Timo Cruz from Coach Carter.
R. Righty or Lefty: Righty
S. Siblings: Two sisters: Maggie and Sarah and one brother: Jake.
T. Time You Wake Up: 6: 30 ish
U. Underwear: Bah ha ha funny question…I’m not sure how to answer this. Those of you who have lived with me will smile while you are reading this!
V. Vegetables You Don't Like: Brussels sprouts and mushy peas. Ewwww!
W. What Makes You Run Late: I’m usually not late.
X. X-Rays You've Had: I think the only one I’ve had was when they thought I broke my thumb my junior year of college during basketball practice right before nationals.
Y. Yummy Food You Make: Hmmm lately I’ve been into stir fry but I love to cook and bake so I guess anything that comes from my kitchen I want it to be yummy.
Z. Zoo Animal Favorites: I like the zebras. They are just awesome and I have a pair of gloves in honor of said awesome zebras. :)
P.S. I stole this from another blog I follow. Hey, they say that imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, right?!?
A. Age: 23…Is it bad when you have to do the math to figure this out?
B. Bed Size: Queen. My oh so generous mother gifted it to me! Thanks mom!
C. Chore You Dislike: Dishes! I love to cook but hate the dirty dishes that all my kitchen creations create.
D. Dogs: None, sadly (I’m much more of a dog person than a cat person)
E. Essential Start to Your Day: Hitting the snooze ;)
F. Favorite Color: Blue- although, I’m almost ready to start claiming green as my favorite color...
G. Gold or Silver: I think silver
H. Height: 5’10 1/2'', but if you ask my basketball coach from college I’m 5’9’’…the shortest post in the NAIA
I. Instruments You Played: Clarinet. However, I don’t feel like I can really claim this because I only played for 2 years in middle school.
J. Job Title: Middle School Teacher, Coach, Babysitter, Therapist, Event Planner, Bouncer, Life Coach, Public Speaker, Etc. :) No, really I’m just a teacher and coach.
K. Kids: Someday…and I can’t wait!
L. Live: Clarinda, Iowa
M. Mom's Name: Most people call her Wonder woman or Kim. Her real name is Kimber or Mom.
N. Nicknames: In high school it was Andee, but now it’s just Ms. A.
O. Overnight Hospital Stays: Nope!
P. Pet Peeves: Ending a sentence in a preposition (which I do all the time in by blog posts…Yikes!) and I feel like I have more, but I just can’t think of them right now.
Q. Quote From a Movie: “Sir, what is your deepest fear?”
“Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate, but that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness that most frightens us. Your playing small does not serve the world. There is nothing enlightening about shrinking so that others won’t feel insecure around you. We are ALL meant to shine as children do. It’s not just in some of us, it’s in everyone. And as we let our light shine we unconsciously give others permission to do the same. As we are liberated from our fear, our presence automatically liberates others.”- Coach Carter and Timo Cruz from Coach Carter.
R. Righty or Lefty: Righty
S. Siblings: Two sisters: Maggie and Sarah and one brother: Jake.
T. Time You Wake Up: 6: 30 ish
U. Underwear: Bah ha ha funny question…I’m not sure how to answer this. Those of you who have lived with me will smile while you are reading this!
V. Vegetables You Don't Like: Brussels sprouts and mushy peas. Ewwww!
W. What Makes You Run Late: I’m usually not late.
X. X-Rays You've Had: I think the only one I’ve had was when they thought I broke my thumb my junior year of college during basketball practice right before nationals.
Y. Yummy Food You Make: Hmmm lately I’ve been into stir fry but I love to cook and bake so I guess anything that comes from my kitchen I want it to be yummy.
Z. Zoo Animal Favorites: I like the zebras. They are just awesome and I have a pair of gloves in honor of said awesome zebras. :)
Sunday, April 3, 2011
Life according to Rapunzel
The past 72 hours have been a whirl wind of goodness and naturally I’ve learned something I deem at least partially worth sharing, so don’t mind if I do.
Friday at school was our day of celebrating the week of conquering the mountains we call ITBS. After four long days of asking, provoking and even forcing students to, “Go back and Double, Triple, Quadruple check your work!” We deserved a celebration!
The afternoon was filled with ice cream sandwiches, Gator ball, a Pie thrown in my face (yup, it really happened!) and a movie. We showed the movie Tangled to the 5th grade (it was mostly me forcing this idea on my team selfishly because I’ve wanted to see this movie for a LONG time). Sadly however, I was running in and out of the movie for most of the afternoon so I was disappointed that I only caught bits and pieces of the movie.
Luckily for me, the celebration continued after the 3:20 bell and after track practice (which seemed much longer than it should have because I smelled of curdled milk thanks to the afore mentioned pie being thrown in my face). I hustled home(showered!) and made a yummy meal for myself and one of my best friends from college. When she arrived I was pumped to see her and show her a little glimpse into my life here in Clarinda, but I knew the night was headed toward greatness when she pulled out the movie Tangled and said, “We’re watching it tonight!”
It was a moment of great joy for me….I’m such a girl. I was rather disappointed about my lack of focus earlier in the day when it came to this movie, so it was just what I needed to feel like I had finally accomplished my goal of enjoying the movie.
Now is the time where I have to interject that the movie was not really the greatest reason I was excited to have Kristin come visit me. She is a beautiful, amazing woman who blesses me so much. She is the type of friend who can pick up right where we left off without much explanation and I love that about her. We had an awesome, relaxing, fun weekend together.
Now back to this Tangled mess…
For those of you who have not seen this movie, I would highly recommend it regardless of age or affinity for cartoon movies. It is charming and spirited and just too cute. My favorite part however, is the philosophy sprinkled throughout the movie that gives it a whole new depth.
There is a part of the movie where the main character, Rapunzel, is waiting to finally behold what she has dreamed about for so long and Eugene asks her something along the lines of how she is feeling. She expresses something that I think we can all relate to.
She says, “I’m terrified. What if it’s not everything I dreamed it would be?”
Eugene reassures her, “It will be.”
Rapenzel answers, “And, what if it is?”
He answers, “Then the best part is that you’ll get to find another dream."
I think of my life when I hear Rapunzel’s sentiments.
When I was growing up, all I wanted was to be a teacher and coach, find a husband, settle down and raise a family with the love that I was raised with. I look at myself, and now is the time when I’m standing on the cusp of this dream. I’m getting where that dream is within reach and I’m terrified.
What if it’s not everything I dreamed?
I can say right now that what I’m living is not what I pictured and that frightens me. Just like Rapunzel, I know it would have been easier if I had just stayed in my tower and never journeyed to a place where I could possibly realize my dream, I could have played it safe. You see, it would have been easier that way because it is the most frightening thing in the world to come face to face with something that you have thought about, dreamed about, prayed about and waited for. What if I’m not happy? All that dreaming, praying, waiting…wasted?
Now I know that wasted is a strong word and not really the case in this situation. All of the praying, waiting, working was refining and I’m a different person for enduring this process of growing up. But I can’t help but think there has to be more to my dream than what I’m living right now.
Rapunzel finds the strength to stand in the face of her greatest fear. She finds this strength through true love (or else it wouldn’t be a Disney movie). I continue searching for the strength, but I think I’m receiving it in small portions bit by bit. And, I think I’m finding it through love too.
Now don’t be shocked that I may have a new love interest in my life, I don’t. I’m receiving this love through and old love interest, the first one who won my heart. I’ll let you guess who this might be.
Friday at school was our day of celebrating the week of conquering the mountains we call ITBS. After four long days of asking, provoking and even forcing students to, “Go back and Double, Triple, Quadruple check your work!” We deserved a celebration!
The afternoon was filled with ice cream sandwiches, Gator ball, a Pie thrown in my face (yup, it really happened!) and a movie. We showed the movie Tangled to the 5th grade (it was mostly me forcing this idea on my team selfishly because I’ve wanted to see this movie for a LONG time). Sadly however, I was running in and out of the movie for most of the afternoon so I was disappointed that I only caught bits and pieces of the movie.
Luckily for me, the celebration continued after the 3:20 bell and after track practice (which seemed much longer than it should have because I smelled of curdled milk thanks to the afore mentioned pie being thrown in my face). I hustled home(showered!) and made a yummy meal for myself and one of my best friends from college. When she arrived I was pumped to see her and show her a little glimpse into my life here in Clarinda, but I knew the night was headed toward greatness when she pulled out the movie Tangled and said, “We’re watching it tonight!”
It was a moment of great joy for me….I’m such a girl. I was rather disappointed about my lack of focus earlier in the day when it came to this movie, so it was just what I needed to feel like I had finally accomplished my goal of enjoying the movie.
Now is the time where I have to interject that the movie was not really the greatest reason I was excited to have Kristin come visit me. She is a beautiful, amazing woman who blesses me so much. She is the type of friend who can pick up right where we left off without much explanation and I love that about her. We had an awesome, relaxing, fun weekend together.
Now back to this Tangled mess…
For those of you who have not seen this movie, I would highly recommend it regardless of age or affinity for cartoon movies. It is charming and spirited and just too cute. My favorite part however, is the philosophy sprinkled throughout the movie that gives it a whole new depth.
There is a part of the movie where the main character, Rapunzel, is waiting to finally behold what she has dreamed about for so long and Eugene asks her something along the lines of how she is feeling. She expresses something that I think we can all relate to.
She says, “I’m terrified. What if it’s not everything I dreamed it would be?”
Eugene reassures her, “It will be.”
Rapenzel answers, “And, what if it is?”
He answers, “Then the best part is that you’ll get to find another dream."
I think of my life when I hear Rapunzel’s sentiments.
When I was growing up, all I wanted was to be a teacher and coach, find a husband, settle down and raise a family with the love that I was raised with. I look at myself, and now is the time when I’m standing on the cusp of this dream. I’m getting where that dream is within reach and I’m terrified.
What if it’s not everything I dreamed?
I can say right now that what I’m living is not what I pictured and that frightens me. Just like Rapunzel, I know it would have been easier if I had just stayed in my tower and never journeyed to a place where I could possibly realize my dream, I could have played it safe. You see, it would have been easier that way because it is the most frightening thing in the world to come face to face with something that you have thought about, dreamed about, prayed about and waited for. What if I’m not happy? All that dreaming, praying, waiting…wasted?
Now I know that wasted is a strong word and not really the case in this situation. All of the praying, waiting, working was refining and I’m a different person for enduring this process of growing up. But I can’t help but think there has to be more to my dream than what I’m living right now.
Rapunzel finds the strength to stand in the face of her greatest fear. She finds this strength through true love (or else it wouldn’t be a Disney movie). I continue searching for the strength, but I think I’m receiving it in small portions bit by bit. And, I think I’m finding it through love too.
Now don’t be shocked that I may have a new love interest in my life, I don’t. I’m receiving this love through and old love interest, the first one who won my heart. I’ll let you guess who this might be.
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