The Year's Top Ten

Due to my job and ministry schedules, I have chosen to date my "year" from Senior Salute to Senior Salute (May 2, 2009-May 8, 2010). Here, in order of appearance, are my top ten most memorable moments:

1. Watching Stephen play Brom Bones in Sleepy Hollow.
2. Brien and Andria's wedding.
3. Summer Camp - specifically hanging out with my cabin!!!!, playing cards with Rachel, and my very long walk (and awesome view of the waterfall) with Isabelle!
4. Lake Powell (Too many moments, I decided this needed another blog entry)
5. Watching Laura star in Pygmalion
6. Bridal Showers, wedding dress shopping, all that went into putting together our wedding
7. Our Wedding Day (spending time with my bridesmaids!!! and FAMILY and of course marrying my husband :o)
8. Jamaica (7&8 deserve their own blog entries too!)
   
9. Praying for Laura and Kara the last night of i2i
10. Encouraging, praying with and speaking into Kara's life at the Salute

I'm looking forward to all the moments in this new year!

Missing childhood...

Things I miss:

• crying without need to explain (even to myself)
  
• the lack of fear that had me scurrying up trees and skating down steep hills with nary a care
• finding joy in the simple things, like my rock collection... Yeah, that simple.
  
• always knowing I was the greatest writer - even when everything I wrote wasn't worth the paper I put it on (trust me)
  
• knowing what I wanted to be and believing with everything I had that it would happen - even when it changed every day, week, year, whatever, it was POSSIBLE and it was happening!
  
• my imagination
• choir
• acting
• sign language
• England
• pizza on Friday nights
• pizza!
• reading for hours on end
• sleep

50 things about me:

1. Unless I initiate it's probably not a great idea to talk to me in the morning, especially on a topic I really don't want to discuss.
2. I apparently think very highly of myself (see 1.)
3. My dad may say on occasion that it's not a good idea to talk to me in the evening either.
4. It's possible that it may simply be a good idea not to talk to me.
5. I can get up on time and still be late to work.
6. I'm not sure if I'm going to succeed as a teacher (see 1. and 5. and, well, 4.)
7. I blog at work.
8. My parents are SAINTS - my mom especially (nothing against you, Dad, it's just that Mom puts up with WAY MORE from me!)
9. I know I need to grow up because I hate feeling like I'm being treated like a kid or that I am incapable of being a grown-up when I run out of time and have to have my mom do things for me.
10. I am a fully capable baker and cook with very little time on my hands to do either.
11. Sometimes I yell, and I don't always know why.
12. I have to eat every 3-4 hours to keep from being nasty.
13. 12. isn't always true. Sometimes I'm just nasty.
14. Some days I'm in tears because I scare myself.
15. I am a sinner saved by grace.
16. I can't spell occasion the first time - ever.
17. I watch too much NCIS.
18. I love teenagers.
19. I love Jesus and would be an even bigger mess without Him.
20. I want to live in Greece for a year.
21. I want to live in a musical.
22. I know how to type and actually enjoy doing it.
23. I wish I knew Spanish.
24. I wish I had kept up with my piano lessons.
25. I was born in England, and I really want to be there sometimes.
26. I think 2 Timothy is an incredibly challenging book.
27. Pride and Prejudice is my favorite novel.
28. I'm a military B.R.A.T.
29. My abs hurt right now because I've started learning Pilates as of yesterday.
30. I miss pizza.
31. I miss ice cream.
32. I need to save this and get to work. (I did - break time again)
33. My joints pop.
34. When I set my mind to something, I get it done.
35. If I think something is pointless it's very hard for me to get it done.
36. I have amazing friends.
37. I love to laugh.
38. Samwise Gamgee is one of my literary heroes.
39. Edmund Pevensie is another.
40. I blow my nose a lot.
41. My hands need lots of moisturizing.
42. Making this list is making me feel better. (I'm shootin' for 50 now...)
43. I enjoy list making.
44. I really love checking things off of a to-do list. (I even write things on them that I got done but didn't plan to do, just so I can check them off!)
45. Praying is like breathing for me - I need to do it or my soul will shrivel and die.
46. I don't pray enough.
47. I don't drink enough water either.
48. I love singing.
49. I love to dance.
50. I love life - all of its joys, sorrows, happy times and sucky times, every heartache and every reason to jump for the sheer pleasure of being excited about something! I want to live my life to its fullest by Jesus' definition and I will - with that goal in mind, His strength behind me, and His love to carry me through the good and the bad.

A Valuable Piece of Advice...

For all of my millions of readers: to those few thousand of you thinking of taking the LSAT at the University of Denver, a word of advice:

1. Get there early - when you read "8:30 a.m." think "7:30 a.m." - not because they start on time (because they don't - praise God or I would have wasted $129), but because DU has really limited visitor parking.
2. When reading the instructions and you see the word "snack" - think Double Cheeseburger with fries, a coke, and maybe some apple pie because it's longer than "snack" would imply.
3. Don't bother with a sharpener - they don't do what their name implies - just take a half dozen pencils - one for each section of the test.
4. Skip the questions that take too long (some very good advice I received on Tuesday) - even if it means skipping a whole passage and 7 questions because instead of English it seems like the passage is in Greek or Latin or some equally dead language.
   
5. At the 5 minute warning, stop panicking and just do what you can - actually it's kind of comical how little you can get done in 35 minutes when it's 9:30 a.m. and your brain doesn't turn on until 3 p.m.
6. No ball point pen means no ball point pen - take pencils, people and listen to the instructions!!!! (seriously, how many times did she say no pens and someone was writing with one???)
7. Don't forget your water bottle.
8. When crossing the DU campus don't look the Rushers in the eye and enjoy the chiming bell in the clock tower - the latter is reason enough to go to a campus like DU on the hour :)
   
9. Praise God when you don't get a parking ticket because you didn't listen to #1 and you didn't have enough change.
   
10. Remember - the outcome of this test does not affect your life's happiness - God's going to use you where you're at - fact - no matter how smart the LSAC thinks you are.
    

Blessed Reminders

So the day is over. The big event for our high school students is complete. I certainly got my exercise today. I must say, I was able to get all the work I needed to get done today in good time. I actually had 30 minutes to spare! I was surprised. Quite different from my dream! I can still feel my "emotional glutens," but I am doing much better over-all. It helps that I enjoy what I do and look forward to Wednesdays :)

I have a few observations from the past few days that I would like to share:

1. It is good to not think about work just before going to bed.
2. Check lists are indispensable.
3. There is nothing like a good masseuse, especially when you carry your stress in your shoulders. In fact, I could use one right now-this is the worst my neck has felt in a while!!
4. When I need to unwind, I know there's someone willing to listen to all my crap who happens to be one of the most soothing presences in my life (AND I am tremendously grateful for you:)
5. Volunteers are indispensable.
6. When a game is complicated, it's important to alert your leaders of the rules beforehand! (Sorry, guys!)
7. I am not a motivator - if I do any speaking in the future, it probably won't be motivational speaking.
8. No matter what I do, I will always have Vasomotor Rhinitis *sigh* or should I say *sniff*
9. No matter how stressful things get, there are always people who care about me - even when I go nuclear - and I'm working on that.

I am extraordinarily blessed,
in more ways than one.

Tomorrow is Thursday. I love Thursdays.