Crafty

I've decided to try and be more crafty these days. I'm currently making some gifts and it has been a lot of fun. I've noticed that I am so much more excited to give these homemade gifts than to give things I buy. Even though most of the things I make are far from perfect I still love them. Today I made 6 cards for upcoming birthdays and mothers day along with two mothers day gifts. Tomorrow I plan to sew 3 upcoming birthday gifts - should be exciting. I've realized that even though I am not the most creative and artistic person around I still should try. When I put forth the effort to make these gifts I feel better and the process of making them helps me to relax and take my mind off the crazy day. Not to mention the huge benefit of saving money!!!! Thanks to the people who inspire me to find my creative side and encourage me to try even if I'll never be as good as them :-)

Currently Me

So, I'm not sure anyone ever reads this, but I guess to some degree it's more for me anyway.

Anyway, I stole the following questions off someone else's blog. In fact, I don't even know this person (sure hope she doesn't hate me for stealing) but was reading her stuff because she is a friend of a friend (you know the whole blog community idea). I enjoyed reading what she said and started to think about my own answers to these questions. I have many other things I should be doing right now (laundry, making baby food, packing for another wedding weekend, cleaning up, working in the yard) but its nice to sit and ponder my life for a bit. Here goes:

1. What have been the proudest moments in your life?
My wedding and when my daughter was born. I always thought I wouldn't get married and when I met Jim I felt so lucky and honored. Committing my life to him before family and friends was a very great day. When Amalea was born I have never felt more proud. It was a tough day, but she is so amazing and beautiful and I feel proud of her everyday as she grows.

2. What would you do if you won the lottery and money were no object?
First, I would go back to Kenya and work with the kids there more - that was one of the best experiences of my life. I would adopt children. I would buy a house that could be filled with multiple families and start a communal living situation. I would buy my friend Lindsay a new car (and selfishly probably buy myself one too). I would go visit friends I haven't seen in awhile or pay for them to come visit us. And I would put money aside so my children could go to college one day.

3. What are the roads you didn’t take because at the time they seemed wrong to you, unfamiliar, too rocky, or just less traveled?
Initially I didn't take the road to becoming a teacher, but instead pursued something else. It didn't take long for God to get through to me though and now I teach and absolutely love it. I couldn't imagine doing anything else with my life.

4. What did you daydream about as a kid?
Camping and being at the lake. I have always found peace when sitting by a lake.

5. What childhood pursuits or pastimes would you like to pick up again?
Riding my bike everywhere. I used to ride all around the neighborhood and adventure all over - I wish I did that more now.

6. What makes you feel free, serene or full of nervous excitement?
This sounds silly, but I feel free when I am playing with Amalea. I am totally crazy and weird, but I don't even care at all - it's wonderful.

7. What would your perfect day contain?
Chocolate, my husband, my daughter, lots of laughter, adventures outdoors, and good food.

8. List the women you most admire.
My mom for her strength in fighting a disease every day and my grandma Lorene for her attitude and spirit when life was hard.

Friends and kids

I don't have a lot of friends that have children yet and the friends I do have with children I hardly ever see. I got to spend time last week with two of my friends and their kids and it was very refreshing. I needed that morning with other moms. We didn't do anything terribly exciting, but that is what I needed. I needed to spend time with another mom doing normal daily things. It was so nice to watch the kids eat lunch, to see them playing, to see how it's ok to have toys all over the floor, how to handle it when the kids get a bit out of control, and most of all it was great to be with people I love and can learn from.

Confidence

My students are writing an essay right now about a dream that they have and how they plan to accomplish it. One thing I have noticed is that so many of them talk about lacking confidence in themselves to actually achieve their dream. I have started to think about what confidence is and why so many people, myself included, lack it. How can one balance having confidence in themselves without becoming too prideful or arrogant? Why is it that a lack of confidence comes across as shyness? Why is it that people who lack confidence are often characterized as "quiet" and sometimes even "bitchy"? What exactly is confidence and how does one gain it - or can it be gained?
These are just some of my thoughts.

Lent

I've been spending some time struggling through some commitments for Lent this year. I started by doing the traditional giving up of something and though that was going well it wasn't really helping prepare me for Easter in any way. It ended up being really easy to give up what I chose. So, then I decided that I would try to be more intentional about spending time reading something "spiritual". I read a lot for my job and often that leaves me not wanting to spend more time reading, however that also means that I don't really practice the discipline of reading and studying. For the purposes of Lent I choose to read a spiritual classics book, however I was really struggling with it. I felt like a lot of it went over my head and I didn't feel like it was leading me into a spiritual experience. Then Jim gave me the book Praise Habit and I have been faithfully reading it every night. For a lot of people the idea of a daily reading is not a big deal, but for me that is really huge. It's something I honestly haven't done in a lot of years. I read novels and things for fun, but I am not good at reading spiritual things - however, so far Praise Habit is going really well and I am enjoying the challenges it is presenting and enjoying the time of study and reflection it provides.

Obama

Copy the link below and watch this great video made by Obama supporters. Imagine America through new eyes, imagine change.

http://my.barackobama.com/page/invite/yeswecanvideo

Lunch

Jim and I went out for the first time just the two of us on Friday. My parents were in town and we finally decided to take them up on the offer to watch Amalea so Jim and I could have some time together. Of course we talked often of how odd it was to not have her there with us and we wondered what she was doing (and called to find out). It was really good for Jim and I to have that short time together and it really reminded me of how important he is to me. I am the kind of person that gets so wrapped up in things that I forget about everything else around me so the time with just us was very needed. Of course Amalea did wonderful and had fun with her Oma and Pop - it's not like we had anything to worry about.