project 365 - Weeks 11 and 12

A little delayed, but here are my shots from weeks 11 and 12 :)

Week 11

Week 12

Spring Break

It's been a good week so far. Dad got this great place in Copper Village so we don't even have to drive to the slopes. We go down the elevator, walk about 100 yards, and get on the lift. It's wonderful!

It's been really great because we've had perfect boarding weather yesterday and today. It's been sunny and warm. The perfect kind of warm though where when you are on the mountain you feel fine, when you stop at the bottom it's a little hot, but then you cool off on the lift. I'm excited that tomorrow it is going to snow all day though, because boy do I love to see it snow. We probably won't board tomorrow, unless I just really want to, and that's fine by me. I got in two good long days, which is about all my legs can take anyway. Tomorrow will probably consist of some outlet mall shopping before I head back to Texas.

At one point today as I was barreling down the mountain at some ridiculous speed I thought to myself "what the heck am I doing?!?". Seriously, sometimes I wonder who came up with this sport. I mean, who was sitting around one day and though, "oh I know, I'll just go up to the top of a snow covered mountain, wax up a piece of fiber glass, strap both my feet into it so I couldn't pop out if I tried, and up and slide down the mountain". It really is sort of an odd idea, but oh so fun.

I love spring break! I don't know what I would do without it.

Friendship

Over the past few weeks I have stumbled across a number of verses about friendship that have really stuck with me so I'm going to share a little bit about them:

John 15:13

Greater love has no one than this, that he lay down his life for his friends.

This is a pretty well known verse. I think most people who have been around church for any period of time have heard it. It is always tied in with Jesus of course, because He is the ultimate example of great love and the perfect friend. He literally laid down his life for us. But how does this verse relate to me? I'd like to think I might throw myself in front of a moving bus for some of the people in my life, but I don't think that's the point. I think that laying down one's life for his friends means putting your friends needs above your own. Putting your life aside to do what a friend needs you to do. Forgetting for a minute what you want and what you need and instead focusing on someone else. It's giving someone something they need regardless of how it affects you. It's giving up something you want for someone else. It's putting another's happiness above your own.

This verse was really laid on my heart recently and since then I've made a conscious effort to put others before myself. I've tried to be there for a friend when they needed me even when it wasn't convenient. I've given up doing things I wanted to do because a friend needed me there more. I stopped thinking about myself for just a little while and spent time thinking about a friend. On more than one occasion I have put my life temporarily on hold to help someone else. And you know what, I never felt like I was missing anything. What I found was that through helping someone else, they actually helped me back. They weren't aware of it, and can't understand it when I try and explain, but I unintentionally gained more than I could have imagined just by putting their needs above my own. Through meeting their needs, I found they met mine. The hard part about this though, is that after investing yourself in another person so much, when they no longer need you to be there you can feel a little lost. At least, that's been my experience.

Philippians 2:3

Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit, but in humility consider others better than yourselves.

This one ties in very well with the first one. The problem I'm currently having is when is enough enough? At what point is putting others before yourself too much. Because I know there has to be a line. Think of others needs first and do things for others, yes; but you can't lose yourself in the process. I think it may be a fine line, and I haven't quite found that yet. I think part of this is assuming the best in people and giving them the benefit of the doubt. It can be really hard to assume the best in people sometimes based on their actions but what i keep reminding myself is that you don't know the whole story. You don't know why people do the things they do. And I'm sure if someone looked at me and my life from the outside some of my actions wouldn't look quite like the way I see them. You just never know the intent behind things, so I guess you just have to give people a little credit and assume the best until given a reason to believe otherwise.

Proverbs 27:17

As iron sharpens iron, so one man sharpens another.

which ties in with:

Proverbs 27:6

Wounds from a friend can be trusted, but an enemy multiplies kisses.

This is one that has taken me many years to really accept. To me, sharpening another person can be painful. It's pointing out the things that need to be changed. It's humbling to have someone tell you that what you are doing isn't okay. It can be so easy to lash out at others when this happens, I know I have in the past. If it comes from a friend though, and comes from the heart so the intent is to help make you a better person, then it's worth listening to. Hard to do? yes. Worth it? I think so.

My friends, my real true friends, haven't really held back in telling me when I am headed down the wrong path. Usually it takes some overreacting and many more conversations for me to listen. But, I am trying much harder to take a step back now and look at what they are saying from their perspective first. Your real friends are supposed to help sharpen you ... but you have to let them. It may hurt to hear it, but if it comes from a friend you can trust that what they are saying is with the best intention to help you become a better person and not to harm you.

Ecclesiastes 4:9-10

Two are better than one, because they have a good return for their work: If one falls down, his friend can help him up. But pity the man who falls and has no one to help him up.

This is one of my favorite verses because it is so true. We were made to walk this life with others. We are supposed to have friends, that's how we were designed. I'm pretty sure I couldn't do it without my friends, I know I've told them that before. I fall down plenty and I need someone there to pick me up. I'm lucky enough to have people like that in my life. I have some of the best friends in the world.

Cowboy Boots!

Sorry for all the posts today, but just so you know, you can probably expect to see a few more yet haha. I told you had a lot of things I wanted to blog about (this is more for me to remember my life than anything) but I just haven't had time. Today is the first day in many weeks that I am spending at home so I thought it would be a good one to catch up on some of this blogging.

Thursday night I went to the rodeo with Tony to see Rascal Flatts. We got there early so we could walk around the Livestock show and eat before the rodeo started. I had mentioned to him a few days before that I sort of wanted to own a pair of cowboy boots. We had talked about it a few times, but I wasn't sure I should buy some because they are pretty expensive and hardly something I really need. I just think they are cute (especially with a sundress or jean skirt hehe).

Well, when we walked in to the Livestock show the first thing we saw was the Cavenders booth, so Tony suggested we go look. I sort of just stood there staring at the boots for awhile thinking and rethinking this decision, so finally Tony picked up and pair and told me to try them on. At this point one of the employees came over to help, and when we couldn't find the first pair in my size he offered up a different pair which looked very similar, but had a more pointed toe. I actually liked them better than the first so it worked out well.

I put them on and Tony pretty much convinced me to buy them. I probably would have bought them anyway, but I would have stood there and debated the purchase for at least half an hour first. That's what I do. I put them on, he told me they were cute and to buy them. I asked like 4 times if he was sure, while looking in the mirror, and then I ended up getting them. We were in and out of there with a pair of boots in 15 minutes haha.

I ended up getting a bag for my shoes and wearing the boots the rest of the night. I love them! They are cute, and make me feel like such a Texas girl hehe I'm really glad I got them :)

So, my new thing for the month of March is owning a pair of cowboy boots! :)

Lipizzaner Stallions

A couple weeks ago I went with Kate to see the Lipizzaner Stallions. When she texted me to ask if I wanted to go see the "Lipizzaners" I responded with "who's that?". I had never heard of them before. The show was at the Toyota Center and we had tickets to the suite, so I figured why not go. Even if I had no idea what to expect, it would be a good new thing I could try.

I would pretty much describe this as "horse ballet". The whole first part they played classical music while people rode the horses in choreographed movements. They had lots of neat steps they could do that made it look like they were skipping, or doing a side step. It was pretty cool

Then they showed off all these moves the stallions used to use in battle. They had a bunch of different kinds of kicks they could do that were used for different purposes. I don't know how they trained these horses to do this on cue, but it was neat!

My favorite was when they had them leap off the ground with all 4 legs. I swear it looked like they were taking off and flying. So cool!

Does this not look like a flying horse?!? haha

Anyway, it was really different than anything I had seen before. Definitely a neat experience. (plus a great new thing to try for February!)

Chickpea Croquettes

When my mom and I were visiting Boulder in December we ate at this great vegetarian restaurant called Leaf. We ended up sharing the falafel in a pita. It was a pita filled with chickpea croquettes, red pepper hummus, lettuce, tomato, and red onions. It was one of the best things I have ever eaten in my life; seriously, I loved it!

Well a few weeks ago I decided to try and make this myself at home. I figured this could be one of my new things I try during the month of February (as part of my new years resolution). So I did some research and came up with a recipe to make the chickpea croquettes. It was SO easy and they turned out perfectly!

The whole meal was easy to put together. Once you have the mixture for the chickpea croquette, it takes 6 minutes to cook, then you just load up a pita with hummus, tomato, lettuce, and red onion. YUM!

The best part is that it is so easy to make this chickpea mixture, and then you can keep it in the fridge so it makes a really easy meal for more than one day.

Falling Apart

it's true ... right?

please tell me it is

Moving Forward

Texas Children's Hospital

Sorry it's taken me so long to get around to posting about this, but I've been busy (I sound like a broken record, I know haha). Last week was my first week volunteering at Texas Children's Hospital. I am SO excited about this volunteer position, I really think I am going to love it!

I shadowed someone last week to get a feel for the hospital and what to do. The lady I shadowed has been there 11 years, so she knew everything there was to know. The whole thing is really laid back, which I really like. Basically they have this board with cards with kids information on them. These are kids whose parents have requested someone come in or the nurse has. The card has their name, their age, and their sex. You choose a few you want to visit, dig through the closets to find some games or books that a child that age might like, then you go visit them. You can hang out with them in their room and play games and chat, or if they are able, you can take them to the play room on the floor. Some are just babies, so you just hold them (um, my personal favorite! haha). If a nurse needs help keeping a kid distracted, you can pop in help. Like I said, very laid back. The point is just to hang out with kids when the parent needs a break, or when there is no one there with them.

Tomorrow will be my first day by myself. I'm a little nervous, but I also can't wait. I'll keep you posted on how it goes (though I can't guarantee it will be any time this week haha)

Project 365 - Week 10

Shots from week 10:

Check Yes or No

Two funny stories from my day:

Our district made the decision that students in grades K-5 needed to do a science project, complete with trifold board, every year. K-3 can do a class project, while 4 and 5 make their own for the science fair. Yesterday we completed our project and found out which packing material was the most protective by wrapping eggs inside each type, dropping them from a given height, and then recording what happened. The kids LOVED it! It was so much fun!

Anyway, I took some pictures while they were doing it to put on our board. Today we worked on putting all the information together. I have a boy in my class who is a twin. He comes up to see the pictures I printed to glue on and he notices one of him and completely serious he says, "hey! That looks like (insert twin brother's name here)". I laughed and said of course it does. He then went on to say, "it's so weird, even when we were babies in pictures he looks like me. I never know if it is him or me." I just laughed out loud. Um, of course it looks like your brother, you are identical twins! Too cute!

I don't think I've blogged about it yet, but I have a love triangle going on in my second grade classroom. Little boy A loves little girl. Little boy B loves little girl. Little girl likes both boys. Little boy A is constantly worried about what little boy B is doing with little girl. Today, little boy A comes up to me and looks completely heartbroken. I ask what is wrong and he shows me this note he has given to little girl:

This of course led to a discussion about no kissing at school, but only after I took a minute to contain my laughter. Little boy B volunteered to be my spy (I totally didn't ask). He said he was making sure to watch them at all times because he is worried this might happen if he looks away.

These kids are 8 years old! Goodness gracious!

Project 365 - Week 9

I am so incredibly behind ... I'm behind in blogging, posting photos, writing lesson plans, grading papers, pretty much everything. I just can't keep up. This is my fault of course, as I have taken to spending my time having fun rather than sitting home and working or laying around or worrying etc. It's a good thing, but I have to admit, I am extremely behind in pretty much every area of my life at this moment. I need some catch up time desperately. That's sort of what I'm doing tonight. I'm playing catch up ... or at least I'm trying to.

So, here are my photos from last week ... finally!

Hopefully I'll get around to doing some blogging soon. I keep starting posts and then not having time to think them through and finish them. I guess at the very least, next week on the plane to Colorado I can get some things ready to post. Speaking of which, I freaking cannot wait to go see my dad and go snowboarding next weekend! YAY :)