It's a NEW YEAR!!!

I CANNOT BELIEVE how quickly 2011 passed, nor how much can change in just a year.  God is so neat that way!  Just full of surprises...

Some of the goals we set for our little family are to get more organized (and stay that way!), and to be more frugal.  I am sure both of those have been popular resolutions this New Year.  Since Andrew is going to be returning to school (he starts classes at MTSU this month), it is important for us to save every penny we can.  We do NOT want to have to take out loans for the classes that he needs to take, especially since we are still working on paying off existing school loans.  And being organized is important as well.  He will need a good, quiet place to study and to work on his online classes.  I do not know if it works this way for everyone, but I am much more able to apply myself to getting work done in a serene, clean, and organized environment. 

Here are the strides I have made so far: 

First, we had to figure out a way to organize our Christmas decorations.  One of the worst parts of Christmas is when the season comes to an end and you have to UN-decorate your house!  But doing it in an organized manner made it a little more fun, and I do not feel apprehensive about having a mess to dig through next Christmas when we are ready to decorate again. 

I did not take pictures of the packaging process, but I opted to take things out of their original boxes and bags and package them in large Zip-lock bags.  Doing this created more space and allows me to see clearly what is in each bag. 

Then, using scrapbooking paper, I created a little folder for the front of each box.  Each folder contains a card with a heading on it indicating what is in each box.  If you pull the card out of its folder, it gives a more specific breakdown of what is in each box.  This way, you do not have to unstack or dig through multiple boxes before finding what you are looking for. 

I used the same idea for Andrew's Army clothing and gear.  I am not sure if we should part with it altogether, but it is definitely going in the attic... if not the trash.

I did the same thing with two long, narrow boxes that I put under the bed.  Both boxes are labeled as "Summer."  One box contains Summer clothing and the other contains Summer shoes. 

Click here to see where I got the idea.  She also has better pictures, as well as pictures of the insides of her boxes.  I love her idea because it is SO functional and helpful, and the pretty paper makes the boxes much more pleasant to look at!  :) 

The next order of business was updating our filing system.  The one we used for 2011 was ineffective at best.  I am not an online bill payer, so we still get LOTS of bills, paper statements, etc., in the mail; thus, we have LOTS of paper to sort through after just a few months into each year. 

I purchased a simple, 19-pocket file folder from Staples (Target had some very pretty ones but they seemed expensive), and dressed it up a little with scrapbooking paper so that we can keep it displayed accessibly on a shelf without it being an eyesore:

It only seemed right that the inside of the folder would match the outside, so I dressed that up with scrapbooking paper as well. 

Here are the labels I used: 

• Automobile
• Bank Account
• Buggie (our dog... shot records, vet receipts, etc.)
• Comcast
• Dental/Medical
• Education/Loans/Bills
• Financing
• Health Benefits
• Insurance
• Licenses
• Other bills
• Prescriptions
• Personal
• Receipts
• Rent/mortgage
• Taxes
• Utilities
• Miscellaneous 

 There are a few more little projects I have done, but it is time for me to get started with the day... will post them soon! 

"May you have the courage to turn your face to the God who meets you in darkness and in daylight."  - Jan L. Richardson

HAPPY (belated) NEW YEAR!!!

Joyful

 "His life is our light-- our purpose and meaning and reason for living." -Anne Graham Lotz

During the season of Advent, we light five different candles.  Yesterday, the third Sunday of Advent, we lit the candle of joy.

Photo from here

 I am a pretty serious person, very introverted and reflective in nature, and also mellow.  But I am also happy most of the time.  And, I am a Christian whose life God has blessed IMMEASURABLY MORE than I ever could have imagined.  Thus, I have joy in my heart.  And I want this joy to overflow onto others.  I want it to radiate so that others see it immediately.  I want them to see the joy of Christ when they look at my.  Because, in my own nature, I am quiet and not typically bouncy or giddy, expressing my joy as my witness is something I have had to commit to prayer and to God.

As Christians, we are called to joy.  And we have SO MANY REASONS to be joyful!!!

The light of Christ in our hearts manifests expressions of joy in our lives.

Photo from here... And it is worth taking a few minutes to check out the rest of her house too!!!

 "Shout for joy, O heavens; rejoice, O earth;

burst into song, O mountains! 

For the Lord comforts His people

and will have compassion on his afflicted ones." 

-Isaiah 48:13

This photo also from here

"And there were shepherds living out in the fields nearby, keeping watch over their flocks at night.  An angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified.  But the angel said to them, "Do not be afraid.  I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people.  Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; He is Christ the Lord.  This will be a sign to you: You will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger."  Suddenly a great company of the heavenly host appeared with the angel, praising God and saying, Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace to men on whom His favor rests." 

-Luke 2:8-14

One Day Closer

Yesterday was a lazy Saturday, and it is looking like today is going to be a lazy Sunday... and those are often the best kind!  Andrew has drill this weekend so I have the house to myself today.  And other than a few loads of laundry, I have not done much of anything!  (:

The first thing I did after waking up this morning (AFTER having my first cup of coffee) was flip the page on our new advent calender.  I made this Christmas Countdown last week, and am very pleased with the result!

We started, obviously, with 25 days, and now we are working our way down to 1!  And then to CHRISTMAS!!!

Each day has a little snippet of the Christmas story on it.... The versions from the books of Luke and Matthew, and some of the prophesies from Isaiah.

I painted a wooden clipboard, and hot glued the big bow to the front to disguise the ugly clip. I had the Christmas-themed scrapbook paper left over from last year.  The bow was also a left over scrap.  I cut the numbers out with a Cricut.  The clipboard cost only a dollar.  The whole project was very easy and cheap, and hopefully we will get a few years out of it! 

For our coffee table, I set out both last year's and this year's December editions of REAL SIMPLE magazine.  And then I filled a glass vase (originally used for our wedding) with plastic, gold ornaments and pine cones.  I snagged the pine cones from our neighbor's yard and then sprayed some canned snow on them. 

For practicality and pizazz, I made some Christmas-themed coasters, which I also put on the coffee table.

I did not invest much into our tree this year, since I have just a hodge-podge of ornaments that do not really go together.  We put black and white photos on the tree to spice it up some... some of Andrew and me, some of my family, some of his, etc.  I would love to perfect this idea, and start putting pictures of Christmases past on it each year.

This is the message of Christmas:  We are never alone.  ~Taylor Caldwell

Table of Delight

" When the present is difficult, we too easily forget past experience of God's bounty, the tables spread with blessing when we were most conscious of our poverty and need.  If we choose to remember the grace of God toward us in the past, the present is transformed by hope, and dry placed become rich with the soul food for which we long.  The gift of memory keeps us on the path.  The wilderness of silence and solitude beckons us to discover once again that God loves and yearns for us.  We are lured again and again by the Lover of our souls, whose unconditional love always waits to take us back, to forgive all our unfaithfulness."  - Elizabeth Canham,  Feasting with God in the Wilderness p. 17-18

Keep Going

"Would you tell me, please, which way I ought to go from here?"
"That depends a good deal on where you want to get to," said the Cat.
"I don’t much care where--" said Alice.
"Then it doesn’t matter which way you go," said the Cat.
"--so long as I get SOMEWHERE," Alice added as an explanation.
"Oh, you’re sure to do that," said the Cat, "if you only walk long enough."

~ "Alice's Adventures in Wonderland", Lewis Carroll

Something I hear so often from friends in this stage of life (young adulthood) is that they are looking for their purpose... that they do not know what they are meant to do or where they are meant to go in life.  

I understand feeling like we are made for something great, and feeling like we have unreached potential inside of us... But, more than that, I agree that we just have to move SOMEWHERE.  The same principle applies spiritually... If we do not move forward, we fall backward and become stale.  Our spiritual life, and our physical life, is a process... a journey... not an isolated incident or happening. 

Sometimes life, and faith, requires that we "walk long enough," even without having a clue where we are going! 

Word from the Wise

I love this quote. Plus, my dad is Swedish, so it seems fitting.

:)

I begin class tomorrow and am INCREDIBLY nervous. I am just owning my nervousness now. It is useless to deny or resist it. I am plum nervous.

Stay tuned for an update on how it goes tomorrow!!!!

Monday musings

Well, I start school this week, so my jitters have officially begun. This is typical of me. I get VERY worked up over, well, pretty much everything. I sometimes let nervousness, feelings of intimidation, and fear overshadow my excitement.

And then I have to remind myself...

I truly am excited.

And I can do it. :)

And enjoy it.

And it will be worth it.

Two, four, six, eight...

"I've learned people will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel." - Maya Angelou

The past few weeks, my job has left me feeling incredibly drained.  There is a particular situation that has been going on with a client that has totally affected my life at work, and even when I am physically away from work.  I have woken up in the middle of the night thinking about this situation, what the solution may be, what I should have done or should be doing differently, etc.  Even when my body is not at work, that is where my mind has been.

And today I read this:

When I feel responsible FOR others...
I fix.
Protect.
Rescue.
Control.
Carry their feelings.
Don't listen.

I feel...
Tired.
Anxious.
Fearful.
Liable.

I am concerned with:
The solution.
Answers.
Circumstances.
Being right.
Details.
Performance.

I am a manipulator.
I expect the person to live up to my expectations.


When I feel responsible TO others...
I show empathy.
Encourage.
Share.
Confront.
Level.
Am sensitive.
Listen.

I feel...
Relaxed.
Free.
Aware.
High self-esteem.


I am concerned with:
Relating person to person.
Feelings.
The person.


I believe if I just share myself, the other person has enough to make it.
I am a helper-guide.
I expect the person to be responsible for himself and his own actions.
I can trust and let go.


I have read similar things before, and these are things I know, but today they really resonated.  I have crossed certain boundary lines with this particular client that I told myself I would not cross.  I learned a lesson.  And I am now reminded that I am not responsible FOR my client.  I am TO be the best social worker, encourager, and guide, that I can be.  But I am not to make decisions FOR, or do things FOR my client, and I should not feel responsible FOR the things this client chooses to do or not to do.  And it certainly should not rob me of my personal time, time with my husband, and sleeping time!  If I feel responsible FOR a client, it seeps into my personal life and negatively impacts those around me.  I have learned my lesson and will not let this happen again.  I will not let a client have such power over my mind and emotions, and I will not attempt to have that kind of power or control over a client... even in the name of "helping" him.

"We are all something, but none of us are everything." - Blaise Pascal

Thought for the Day

"Act as if what you do makes a difference.  It does."  - William James

Photo from here

Let the Countdown Begin

Graduate school begins ONE MONTH from today!!!!

Holy cow.  I have not said anything until now, just in case plans fell through, but I am definitely starting graduate school at Trevecca on April 28th.  I will be in the marriage and family therapy program there, and cannot wait to be a student again!  I guess technically we should all be students of something every day, as a way to learn and grow our whole lives.  But I will OFFICIALLY be a student.  Again.  YAY!!!!

"Anyone who stops learning is old, whether at twenty or eighty. Anyone who keeps learning stays young. The greatest thing in life is to keep your mind young.”
- Henry Ford

Photo from here

After working with older adults for the past year, I sooooo understand and agree with Mr. Ford!  The mind is such an important thing. Our minds are important enough for us to go out of our way to make improvements on them, and to expand and challenge them each day.  

The Power of Words

Here are some words of wisdom from one of my favorite pastime: Word searches!

I do not know how well you can read the second one; it is a little small. Michael Johns' words truly capture my ideal of what social work is... or what it needs to be. He says this:

"Economic development is not about getting foreign governments or agencies to build new bridges for third world nations; it is about helping unleash the individual in these societies so that he may build these bridges himself."

Before writing this blog post,  I had no clue who Michael Johns' was.  I did not want to appear to endorse someone with whom I was totally unfamiliar, so I did a little Googling.  Michael Johns is a health care executive, and a conservative policy analyst and writer.  He also happens to be one of several founders and leaders of the U.S. Tea Party Movement.  Pretty spiffy, huh?  Judging from the "About" section of his blog (which is worth taking a look at, even though it has not been updated since October), he is quite a great man. 

In my Googling, I also discovered that there is a Michael Johns who was a contestant on American Idol's 7th Season.  Please do not be confused.  The two are not one in the same!  The singer Michael Johns is actually from Australia, and you can find his American Idol audition video here. 

Snow, Snow... Go Away

When it comes to work, and probably to life in general, I am definitely a type A personality:  a goer, a doer, a list maker.  I love the feeling of satisfaction when I make a checklist of things to do at the beginning of the day and, by the end of the day, each item on the list is marked off. 

Beautiful. 

With that being said, the snow has kind of thrown a kink into what would normally be a "going" and "doing" kind of week.  Instead of home visits and doctors' appointments, my week has consisted of paperwork and phone calls.  Toward about the middle of the day yesterday, these phone calls, and spending minute after minute on the phone with clients began to seem a bit...

Pointless. 

And then, while I was particularly bored during one conversation with a client, I read this, from The Upper Room: 



"LET ME DESCRIBE what it means to be truly present. Being present involves letting go of our constant preoccupations, immersing ourselves in the here and now, and giving ourselves wholeheartedly to whatever is at hand. . . . It’s about becoming more aware, alert, awake to the fullness of the immediate moment. If we are with another person, it means engaging with him or her with all of our heart, our mind, our soul, and our strength. Such wholehearted attention requires patience, time, and disciplined effort. And it is one of the greatest gifts that we can give to those around us."

- Trevor Hudson
A Mile in My Shoes 

 

Wow. Talk about stepping on toes. It was more like punching in the face. If all I am going to be doing for eight hours straight is making phone calls to people whose lives I am supposedly interested in improving, then I ought to be as present as present can be.   

The excerpt above reminded me of a quote from Mother Teresa that reads, ""It is not the magnitude of our actions but the amount of love that is put into them that matters." - Mother Teresa

Anyone can spend a day making a few phone calls and typing down a few notes regarding anything "important" the person on the other end of the line may have said. But people, no matter their age, can tell when you are really listening. They can tell when you really care, and when you are just counting down the minutes on the clock. They can tell when you love them. And that is what matters.

I believe in weekends! :)

"I believe in pink. I believe that laughing is the best calorie burner. I believe in kissing, kissing a lot. I believe in being strong when everything seems to be going wrong. I believe that happiest girls are the prettiest girls. I believe that tomorrow is another day. And I believe in miracles." - Audrey Hepburn

My husband emailed this to me, saying that he, "saw it, and was reminded of," me!

What a sweet reminder of how much I am loved!

Have a happy Saturday!

A Thought to End the Day

"Love is extravagant in the price it is willing to pay, the time it is willing to give, the hardship it is willing to endure, and the strength it is willing to spend. Love never thinks in terms of "how little", but always in terms of "how much." Love gives, love knows, and love lasts." - Joni Eareckson Tada

Gotta LOVE Wednesdays :)

Andrew and I had our engagement picture session yesterday. It was so much fun. The pictures were taken by Chesley Summar, whose work you can see here (and whose work now includes our engagement photos... YAY). We were outside for the session, which worked out wonderfully. The weather was perfect yesterday, and we had such a good time. Chesley was so patient with Andrew and me... in spite our being complete photography novices. And, in light of the fact that Andrew has always hated having his picture taken, he was such a trouper. I cannot wait to see all the pictures!

"Satisfaction in individual love cannot be attained without the capacity to love one's neighbor, without true humility, courage, faith, and discipline. In a culture in which these qualities are rare, the attainment of the capacity of love must remain a rare achievement."
- Erich Fromm, The Art of Loving

picture from here