Anyway, making that dress last week was so good for me and after over a year of all these changes I am finally feeling comfortable with who and where I am, I am grateful to be that person as well :)
Friday, November 30, 2012
getting my style identity back
When I first moved to florida last year I was going through a lot of changes, in some ways i lost my identity I was taking prereqs at a community college, i didn't know where I was, i had just moved, I had just gotten married, even my name changed.
I sort of lost any sort of style that I had (except for sundays when I wore nicer clothes) i dressed like everyone here, yoga pants and workout clothes, well with the fall weather, I sort remember who I was (well I know the big picture of who I am but...) I remembered that uhh I dont wear work out clothes...and oh yeah I like to dress up, and I am not that bad at it either (although I have not bought any clothes in a loooong time) so I am working with what I have already.
Anyway, making that dress last week was so good for me and after over a year of all these changes I am finally feeling comfortable with who and where I am, I am grateful to be that person as well :)
Anyway, making that dress last week was so good for me and after over a year of all these changes I am finally feeling comfortable with who and where I am, I am grateful to be that person as well :)
Thursday, November 29, 2012
snap of a finger
Sometimes, you need something and it just appears with the snap of you fingers, or at least it seems as though that is what happens.
For example in Florida it is not that cold, but recently it has started freezing at night, I was cold, we don't have many blankets...so I started using all the towels that we had, and they are pretty thick so we were warm enough. Plus Paul wears all the pajama pants he has at one time.
We keep the windows open so that could have contributed as well.
I was talking about it with someone at school, and they said to go check out down comforters as that would certainly keep us warm. When I was at bed bath and beyond I looked, but the comforters were VERY expensive, and even though we have gift cards still that could cover it, the winter is so short here that I really did not want to spend a huge chunk of gift card money for something we would use for just a few months.
Anyway, so then I was joking about it with someone at church and someone over heard us, and have us a LARGE (huge) down comforter. I guess someone gave it to them and they never once used it...we LOVE it. And truly it sort of felt like I just vocalized what I needed and it appeared, so much to be grateful for!
Now this week the weather is in the 70s again, and windy, and PERFECT! still enjoying that comforter!
(not done but getting there)
Also I made a dress and I am in the middle of painting...more on that to come!
For example in Florida it is not that cold, but recently it has started freezing at night, I was cold, we don't have many blankets...so I started using all the towels that we had, and they are pretty thick so we were warm enough. Plus Paul wears all the pajama pants he has at one time.
We keep the windows open so that could have contributed as well.
I was talking about it with someone at school, and they said to go check out down comforters as that would certainly keep us warm. When I was at bed bath and beyond I looked, but the comforters were VERY expensive, and even though we have gift cards still that could cover it, the winter is so short here that I really did not want to spend a huge chunk of gift card money for something we would use for just a few months.
Anyway, so then I was joking about it with someone at church and someone over heard us, and have us a LARGE (huge) down comforter. I guess someone gave it to them and they never once used it...we LOVE it. And truly it sort of felt like I just vocalized what I needed and it appeared, so much to be grateful for!
Now this week the weather is in the 70s again, and windy, and PERFECT! still enjoying that comforter!
spanish moss I love you!
dress I made!
Also I made a dress and I am in the middle of painting...more on that to come!
Wednesday, November 21, 2012
Tomorrow will mean my fourth Thanksgiving away from family, and even though I know there are much worse things going on in the world than me being absent continually from my family, it certainly makes me remember how much I love my parents and siblings.
I wish I could express specific things I am Thankful for in each of them, but basically I am Thankful for my entire life with them.
I am grateful for my Dad's optimism that he keeps trying and even when it seems impossible to anyone else.
I am grateful for my Mother's dedication to her children and that she always put us first
I am grateful for Sterlings willingness to always share and look out for an include his young siblings
I am grateful Korance always being my friend and someone I can relate to
I am grateful for Ross's honesty, and the fun he brings
I am grateful for Marae's toughness...and that she can tell me when I need a little bit more of it
I am grateful for Janai's gratitude and willingness to express it
Because I am far away from them, I worry and pray often for my family, I hope they are ok, I hope they are making good decisions, I wish I could be near them.
unfortunately I don't even have a picture of ross :(
I wish I could express specific things I am Thankful for in each of them, but basically I am Thankful for my entire life with them.
I am grateful for my Dad's optimism that he keeps trying and even when it seems impossible to anyone else.
I am grateful for my Mother's dedication to her children and that she always put us first
I am grateful for Sterlings willingness to always share and look out for an include his young siblings
I am grateful Korance always being my friend and someone I can relate to
I am grateful for Ross's honesty, and the fun he brings
I am grateful for Marae's toughness...and that she can tell me when I need a little bit more of it
I am grateful for Janai's gratitude and willingness to express it
Because I am far away from them, I worry and pray often for my family, I hope they are ok, I hope they are making good decisions, I wish I could be near them.
These are pictures of when my parents came and picked me up from my mission, I am so grateful they came and for the time I got to spend with them
Monday, November 19, 2012
my emerging american identity
I was listening to NPR today, I know listening to NPR again...the elections over...
anyway they were interviewing country singer and played a few snips of their music
I have never been a big fan of country music, but it was nice.
It let me to think about how my perspective of this country has changed in that last few years.
When I was in high school, I wanted to be anything but American. This was just when the obesity epidemic was emerging and I was embarrassed. Everything foreign looked appealing and better looking. Perhaps because of my own insecurities with who I was, I sort of shunned my national identity and clung the the European identity of my ancestors (ahem majored in history with an emphasis on Europe).
But the truth is that I am American, I can't really identify with any other country or nationality. I was born here, my parents were, and so were my grandparents...and some of my great grandparents (although not all)....and some of my ancestors go all the way back to before the Revolutionary War. You don't need to have ancestors from the US to be american, but in my case I do have that background, and as I become an adult and become secure in who I am I am also accepting that I can love where I am from and I don't have to fight my identity to be different.
Not to say I would not jump at the opportunity to live abroad again, but living abroad actually seems to reinforce to me my national identity...and its a good thing...
now for some patsy cline (I am NOT a texan FYI)
anyway they were interviewing country singer and played a few snips of their music
I have never been a big fan of country music, but it was nice.
It let me to think about how my perspective of this country has changed in that last few years.
When I was in high school, I wanted to be anything but American. This was just when the obesity epidemic was emerging and I was embarrassed. Everything foreign looked appealing and better looking. Perhaps because of my own insecurities with who I was, I sort of shunned my national identity and clung the the European identity of my ancestors (ahem majored in history with an emphasis on Europe).
But the truth is that I am American, I can't really identify with any other country or nationality. I was born here, my parents were, and so were my grandparents...and some of my great grandparents (although not all)....and some of my ancestors go all the way back to before the Revolutionary War. You don't need to have ancestors from the US to be american, but in my case I do have that background, and as I become an adult and become secure in who I am I am also accepting that I can love where I am from and I don't have to fight my identity to be different.
Not to say I would not jump at the opportunity to live abroad again, but living abroad actually seems to reinforce to me my national identity...and its a good thing...
now for some patsy cline (I am NOT a texan FYI)
coming home from my mission...back to america
be prepared!
provident living -living with the future in mind
That was the focus of church yesterday, even though we do that already, sometimes almost to a fault it reminded me that there are some holes in our preparation that need to be fixed.
So this month we are going to work on getting a more comprehensive food storage together, and organizing it.
We are buying an extra can each time we go to the grocery store, and putting together a 72 hour kit as well. I also have been thinking maybe for Christmas we should buy a pump water filter, I have not done any research on it yet, but in an emergency in Florida we will likely always be near water (we live just a few hundred yards from Lake Alice, but that water would NOT be suitable to drink, so if we had a pump filter that could be helpful.
We already have 2 -20 lbs bags of rice that we cook with one brown one white, a 20 lbs bag of pinto beans, and last year we bought a 50 lbs bag of oats...we probably have about half of that left....so if the gas was on we could probably survive for awhile, but if not we need to think about how we could cook what we have....I guess that is why we are stocking up on cans.
I try and clean/organize one thing in our house each day...so today I went through the cans we have and organized them by year of expiration that way we know what we have and we know how long it will last. I will take a picture tomorrow because I am pretty proud of my efforts.
Another thing we have is plants, since we live in a small apartment we have our plants in buckets, but they do actually result in significant extra nutrients to our diets...and their seeds could be useful too.
There is a lot of uncertainty in the world today (and always), thinking about the future and planning for it does not mean it will work out as planned, but I believe that it will be helpful and is important. Of course another part of provident living for us is going to school, it is giving us important skills that will allow us to work in increasingly competitive markets, and hopefully by me being a nurse if Paul is for some reason not able to work I will be able to. Emergencies always happen, and we can do a little now to hopefully make a difference later.
....and who know something like this could happen as well
That was the focus of church yesterday, even though we do that already, sometimes almost to a fault it reminded me that there are some holes in our preparation that need to be fixed.
So this month we are going to work on getting a more comprehensive food storage together, and organizing it.
We are buying an extra can each time we go to the grocery store, and putting together a 72 hour kit as well. I also have been thinking maybe for Christmas we should buy a pump water filter, I have not done any research on it yet, but in an emergency in Florida we will likely always be near water (we live just a few hundred yards from Lake Alice, but that water would NOT be suitable to drink, so if we had a pump filter that could be helpful.
We already have 2 -20 lbs bags of rice that we cook with one brown one white, a 20 lbs bag of pinto beans, and last year we bought a 50 lbs bag of oats...we probably have about half of that left....so if the gas was on we could probably survive for awhile, but if not we need to think about how we could cook what we have....I guess that is why we are stocking up on cans.
I try and clean/organize one thing in our house each day...so today I went through the cans we have and organized them by year of expiration that way we know what we have and we know how long it will last. I will take a picture tomorrow because I am pretty proud of my efforts.
Another thing we have is plants, since we live in a small apartment we have our plants in buckets, but they do actually result in significant extra nutrients to our diets...and their seeds could be useful too.
There is a lot of uncertainty in the world today (and always), thinking about the future and planning for it does not mean it will work out as planned, but I believe that it will be helpful and is important. Of course another part of provident living for us is going to school, it is giving us important skills that will allow us to work in increasingly competitive markets, and hopefully by me being a nurse if Paul is for some reason not able to work I will be able to. Emergencies always happen, and we can do a little now to hopefully make a difference later.
....and who know something like this could happen as well
thankful
I was going to write about how thankful I am for my family, and of course it is true, despite the fact that I am far away from them and I have not seen them for quite some time, I can think of very few things on my list that would rank as high as family. However maybe I will post about that another time.
Today I am grateful for the Sabbath Day.
Paul works/studies hard all week, I study as well, but he is much better than I am about it. He is stressed out of his mind right now as finals are coming up and understandably so. We don't get a lot of time together to just, well, be together, so Sunday Paul makes the sacrifice to not study and set aside the day. Although Sunday is set aside, it is always a busy day. We have lessons to prepare, church, getting ready for church, recently baptisms after church, meetings, missionaries, family calls, preparing for the week, home teaching, and often socializing. By the time all this happens there is rarely any time leftover, to re-group and prepare for the next week.
Yesterday both Paul and I were feeling the strain, and decided to try and do something to calm us down, and relax. It was so nice, I can relax on my own, but its so much more fun when Paul is around. Even though we stayed up later than intended so we are both tired today, I do feel mentally refreshed and renewed. What a wonderful opportunity to do that. I hope we can do this more often.
I know that while I am feeling renewed Paul is feeling overwhelmed, I generally do not help this, and forget all of the ways that he uses his time to help me. So I am going to try and eliminate those for these next few weeks and try to help him instead of vice versa to hopefully show him how Thankful I am for all of his help.
Its a goal, we will see how it goes.
Today I am grateful for the Sabbath Day.
Paul works/studies hard all week, I study as well, but he is much better than I am about it. He is stressed out of his mind right now as finals are coming up and understandably so. We don't get a lot of time together to just, well, be together, so Sunday Paul makes the sacrifice to not study and set aside the day. Although Sunday is set aside, it is always a busy day. We have lessons to prepare, church, getting ready for church, recently baptisms after church, meetings, missionaries, family calls, preparing for the week, home teaching, and often socializing. By the time all this happens there is rarely any time leftover, to re-group and prepare for the next week.
Yesterday both Paul and I were feeling the strain, and decided to try and do something to calm us down, and relax. It was so nice, I can relax on my own, but its so much more fun when Paul is around. Even though we stayed up later than intended so we are both tired today, I do feel mentally refreshed and renewed. What a wonderful opportunity to do that. I hope we can do this more often.
I know that while I am feeling renewed Paul is feeling overwhelmed, I generally do not help this, and forget all of the ways that he uses his time to help me. So I am going to try and eliminate those for these next few weeks and try to help him instead of vice versa to hopefully show him how Thankful I am for all of his help.
Its a goal, we will see how it goes.
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