Photo Challenge: Best from February

Another month down and I'm still at this daily photo challenge.  It's a small miracle, really.  I was pretty worried about having any good photos this month given that it feels like all I have done is bury my head in books studying (and sometimes that included throwing said books across the room...) but I'm actually pretty happy with how this turned out.

It's up to you to vote for your favorite photo of the month, which will be in the running for my photo of the year in December!  Comment below.

Photo #1:  Orange  (my OSU gallery wall)

Photo #2:  This Is Where I Relax (sunny afternoon and my comfy chair)

 Photo #3:  Childhood (downtown Dallas, the opposite of my childhood, makes me thankful I grew up in the country!)

Photo #4:  Out and About (in my fancy red shoes)

Photo #5:  Reflection (three reflections of their mama)

Lent Begins

"Until you return to the ground, since from it you were taken; for dust you are and to dust you will return.” ~Genesis 3:19

Since this is Ash Wednesday, I am going to share my plan for Lent this year. For those of you who may not be familiar with Lent, it the period of time during which many Christian churches prepare their hearts for Easter by various means including prayer, almsgiving, penance, and fasting.  The idea is to focus on your life and your faith to ensure that you are ready to celebrate Easter come April.

Warsaw, Poland - 2013

So...what will I be doing to observe Lent this year? 

Well, I'm giving up chocolate.  And no, I do not think that God requires me to do this, or that you are going to hell if you eat those delicious Reese's eggs over the next month.  But I do believe that for me, giving up chocolate is truthfully a sacrifice.  Am I equating Jesus' death on the cross to my not eating one of those eggs?  No.  I am just saying that if making a small sacrifice in my own life allows me to better remember and focus upon His ultimate sacrifice, then it is something I am going to do because it is beneficial to me.

I will also be giving up Facebook.  I know, WHOA.  The thought process behind this is relatively simple.  I spend too much time on Facebook every day and for the next 40 days I intend to use that extra time to do something to prepare my heart for Easter.  Reading a devotional, doing my Bible Study, going to Adoration....whatever it is, I hope to find a way to use this extra time and make this a priority in my life.

Lastly, I am going to be receiving the Lenten reflections from Father Barron in my email inbox.  I'm really excited about this because (a) Father Barron is brilliant and (b) they come right to my email so I will have no excuse to "forget" to read them!  Here is a link if you want to sign up as well.

For those of you who celebrate, I hope that you all find your faith increased during this season!

The "Blessings" Controversy

"My blessing is this. I know a God who gives hope to the hopeless. I know a God who loves the unlovable. I know a God who comforts the sorrowful. And I know a God who has planted this same power within me. Within all of us."  ~Scott Dannemiller

There has been an interesting article going around on Facebook that has caused a great deal of controversy among Christians.  The author's premise is that Christians should stop saying they are blessed when referring to materialistic things.

It has created quite the firestorm.  Just so everyone knows where I am coming from--I agree with the author.  That said, I certainly never think that it is improper to be grateful for the blessings that you receive.  I do not think that the point of the article is to discourage thankfulness, faithfulness, and praise as many who have taken offense to the writing seem to read it. 

I think the point is that we must ensure to make clear that our greatest blessing is the hope and joy and purpose found in Christ, both in our own minds and in the perception that we give to others (especially non-believers).  On that note, we must be careful that when we discuss the blessings in our life--something that I earnestly believe that we should do often with others--we do not miss the big picture by focusing too earnestly on material items.

Sometimes we get so caught up in the world that we forget exactly what God's blessings look like.  And when we describe our material acquisitions like new vehicles or corner offices to others as "blessings", it may make it seem to them (and maybe to us, if we are honest) that these are the reason that we follow God.  And while I am certain that obeying God results in blessings, I am quite uncertain that those blessings are the ones that humans appreciate with the naked eye.

There are many kinds of blessings.  There are the blessings in disguise---those "no" answers to prayers, the broken hearts, the wishes unfulfilled---that later turn out to all make sense.  There are the hard, impossible, horrific situations that we would never wish on anyone, but that in the end bring us closer to God--giving a eulogy at a funeral, facing chemotherapy treatments, losing a loved one.  There are the joyous blessings--new babies and answered prayers and rain falling on fields after a long drought.  And, without question, there are material blessings that God provides--a check that arrives at just the right time, the opportunity to buy a new home, a fancy title at work.  And we should be thankful for those. But it does not end there. It cannot because these things are not the eternal-life giving blessing that we have been given.

If we were to lose everything tomorrow, we should still be blessed because we have knowledge of the Creator of the Universe, his plan to do good for us, and his unconditional and unending love for us.  Would we be able to consider ourselves blessed because of the peace of knowing Jesus, even if we were alone and abandoned and ostracized?  The truth is, at least for me, all too often I fail to mention this blessing, opting instead to talk about the fancy new car that God has allowed me to acquire.

In my mind, that was the author's point.  And I think it is a good one.  Would we honestly believe that we were blessed if we lost all of those "blessings" that the author critizices?  If we ended up homeless and jobless and living off of what we could scrounge up in a trashcan, would we still claim to be blessed because we know the Father?  Would we smile and love our neighbor and feel that sense of peace that faith brings?  I think that if we are truly Christians, the answer has to be yes. 

And I think this is the concern that the author expresses---that we may forget this critical fact if we focus too much on our earthly possessions rather than the true blessing we have been given.  Aside from any worldly thing, we have an otherworldly, Heavenly blessing bestowed upon us as believers.  And it is that blessing upon which we should focus.

May you all be truly blessed today.

We Survived

Well, folks, the Texas Bar Exam is officially over.  I know that the first question everyone wants to ask is, "How did it go?"  The answer is that I have no idea.  No one ever knows.  Truth is, I could have passed by 50 points, or by 1 point, or failed.  I am willing to say that I feel CAUTIOUSLY optimistic, but that's as far as I'm going.  We'll find out on May 1.  I can tell you that win, lose or draw, I am never doing that nonsense again.  I'll go live under a bridge in a box first.  Sheesh.

In more positive news, I want to say that I could not have been more touched by all of the people who were rooting for me and thinking of me and putting up with me and praying for me.

The last two months have been filled with texts and phone calls and cards and packages full of a lot of cookies and chocolate and love.  You guys are the absolute best.

The day I left for Austin,  lunch and 2 dozen warm cookies were delivered
to my house courtesy of ND Friend and Super Mom

One thing is for sure, God knew I was taking the bar exam!  I had prayers from friends who are Methodist and Catholic and Baptist and LDS and Episcopalians and pretty much anything in between.  Prayer chains and Novenas and Namaste from a yoga studio.  You guys are the absolute best and I am so grateful to have you all in my life.

And a special shout out goes to New Roomie who, bless her heart, has had to deal with my study habits and lack of being an actual functioning human being for the last 2 months.  And to The Boy from Texas who is the only person in the world who might be happier than me this test is over.  He has had to put up with crying and yelling and bad moods and more crying and he's been a trooper. 

Not Enough Room...

My Thoughts on Sochi 2014

I'll admit that I didn't get to watch as much of the Olympics this year as I normally do thanks to this little thing called the Texas Bar Exam.  But, as I do every 2 years, I wanted to give you a few thoughts on the parts I was able to follow.

1.  The accommodations.  Hey journalists, shut up about the hotel rooms not being the Ritz.  I feel like this kind of behavior is why people talk crap on Americans.  When you are in another country, things are just different.  It's not just Russia.  Most of the time in Europe, the bedrooms are tiny.  So are the beds.

Learned that one first hand sharing a double bed with Cousin Swiss Mister and Cousin Whitney the hottest time of the year in Rome.  Was that fun?  No.  Did I care?  No.  Because I was in Rome, and when in Rome...

Oh, and in Europe they also don't have ice and make you pay for water and the men wear freakin' capris.

You know what you do?  You go on your merry way smiling for the camera in front of the Vatican while a nice man in short pants snaps your picture with your expensive water happily in your purse.

Cousin Whitney and Me - Rome - 2009

Now, don't get me wrong,  The water that was a strange shade of gold that I saw in some news reports from Sochi?  That's not acceptable.  The guy getting locked in the bathroom and having to claw his way out, borderline not acceptable, but it made for a great story so I say okay (that reminds me I need to blog about the time I got locked in my apartment and they had to break the door down with an ax...).  The fact that they had twin beds, no fluffy duvets and community bathrooms?  Suck it up, princess.


2.  Women's figure skating.  I have to say that I thought the finals were one of the best athletic events I've watched in a long time.  Great competitors, great performances.  The top 3 skaters were basically flawless.  Could I have seen Yuna Kim beating the adorable little Russian girl?  Sure. Her program was beautiful, artistic, graceful, all those words that Dorothy Hamil or Peggy Fleming (not sure which was commentating with Scott Hamilton) said 9,000 times.  Could I see the Russian beating Yuna Kim?  Sure.  Hands down the hardest, most athletic program of the night.  In the end, the three medalists skated their best.  And this is a subjective sport.  There is no clock to objectively give us a winner.  I'm sick of the controversy, let that 17 year old Russian enjoy her gold medal.  (For the record, I was going for Yuna, so I feel I am unbiased.)

3.  Upsets.  Sometimes, the favorite doesn't win, kids.  That means that sometimes, Bode Miller goes home without a gold.  And Sean White is left off of the podium.  I think we get so used to the super stars winning that we forget what my mom used to tell us (that drove me bananas then but is the truth) "any team, any day."  That's why we play the game.

4.  Sacrifice.  I think that one of my favorite parts of the Olympics are watching these athletes and recognizing the sacrifices they (and their families) have made over the years to be there.  When you think about the years of work, early mornings, lifting weights, probably never eating raw cookie dough out of the package (clearly the reason I could never be an Olympic athlete right there)....it's amazing.  And inspiring.

Runners Tell All: My Running Story

Today I am linking up with Runners Tell All to share my running story.

I always hated running.  No, y'all, seriously.  I constantly whined about having to run at basketball or volleyball practice.  I detested running the hill except for the fact that Mr. Franklin chasing people with scissors was pretty hilarious.  And I legitimately was threatened with failing PE my last 6 weeks of high school when I refused to run track (but one of the two best secretaries in the whole world, June May, told me to come be her assistant and not to worry about failing because she was in charge of grades) my senior year.
 

But that all changed the summer of 2008 when I lived in San Francisco.  For some reason, I decided to take up running.  Maybe it was all of the fancy food and free booze that I was partaking in at the law firm where I was working and my fear of leaving weighing 200 pounds.  Maybe it was the breathtaking views of the Bay from my awesome neighborhood.  

Maybe it was just fate.  But whatever it was, I'm sure glad I got bit by the bug that summer.  I ran my very first race (the Progressive Marathon at the SF Marathon) on my last weekend in the City.  There is nothing like a race atmosphere--the excitement and energy and adrenaline.  I was hooked and haven't stopped since. 

Countless 5Ks, mud runs, Remember The Ten, Bay to Breakers, a marathon relay, and two half marathons (number three coming in April!) later and I have to admit, I still love it!

San Francisco Half Marathon - 2011

Bay to Breakers - 2010

St. Paddy's Day Run (Chicago) - 2013

Remember The Ten (Stillwater) - 2012

Hot Chocolate Run (Albuquerque) - 2012

OKC Half Marathon - 2013

A Little Secret

First off, I'll be sitting for the Texas Bar exam this Tuesday - Thursday, so any positive thoughts you might want to send this direction (or to the Man Upstairs) would be greatly appreciated.  Now back our regularly scheduled programming.

Before every final in law school, we had to gather up in the forum of the school and sit around forever listening to speeches about how to fill in a scan tron, what to do in case of a nuclear attack or something catastrophic like that (keep writing and don't worry from what I can remember).  And during those little lectures, I always wore headphones and listened to my iPod.

Today, I'm going to let you all in on a little secret and reveal what song I listened to before every test.

First, we have to flash back to my very first finals in law school.  Picture it, Albuquerque, 2006.  As I was driving to school completely terrified of what was about to happen, I decided I needed some pre-game, pump me up kind of music.  I fell back on my high school basketball playing days and went for the song that began our warm up track when we ran out for warm ups.

Well, after that first set of finals I was pretty sure that I was going to have to come up with a new plan for pre-gaming because I was fairly sure I had bombed them and might get kicked out.  After one particularly ridiculous criminal law final involving attack llamas--still remember that traumatic experience 8 years later--I remember laying in my room in the dark convinced I had blown it and lost my scholarship.

Law School Graduation 2009

But turns out, I kinda rocked those first finals and somehow ended up ranked first in our class.  (I still question the accuracy of this, but I feel like 5 years later the statute of limitations has probably passed.)  As I was raised by an extremely superstitious father (he wore the same shirt on pig show day for YEARS even after it had holes in it and ag teacher (where do I even start with him?), I was not about to mess with a good thing.  So I stuck with my song, playing it on repeat over and over again before very final.  And since that worked out, I then did the same each day before the New Mexico Bar Exam.  And this week I'll play the same song on repeat every day before the Texas Bar Exam.

Aforementioned lucky shirt

I know by now you are all annoyed and wondering, "What freaking song was she playing??"  I never told anyone what I was listening to.  I'm sure that people either thought that it was something along the lines of (a) George Strait because I was definitely the country girl in the school (completely fair assessment) or (b) some last minute lecture because they thought I was some major nerd (I was not, for the record).

Probably no one expected this classic.....

Hehehe.  Yep.  It's kinda terrible.  But it's my jam. To which I can sing every word.  No lie.

Maybe it had nothing to do with anything.  Maybe it was lucky and the reason I did end up #1 in that class.  Whatever it was, this girl ain't messing with a good thing!  So let's all cross our fingers and say our prayers that it will work for me one more time this week.  And now, I'm off to Austin.

"....I am number one, no matter if ya like it ready take this sit down and write it..."

Family Farm Friday #88: I'll Take The Stock Show

Last week I saw an interesting conversation on Facebook that had people pretty polarized.  It all started when a mom suggested that her kids should not show animals this summer so that the family could go on a vacation to Disneyworld.  Now, let's start with a reminder that I'm all for everyone having their own story and making their own decisions. And I'm not harping on someone about making decisions differently than I would make. 

But that said....I'll take the stock show.

Growing up, we did not go on family vacations.  We went to stock shows.  And while I've never been to Disneyland, I'm pretty sure that the roller coaster rides, churros, and fake mouse ears can't replace what the stock shows gave me.

 

At those stock shows (and the months leading up to them), I learned what it meant to work hard.  My brother and I got up early, went to bed late, busted our butts in between dealing with weights and drench guns and feed regiments and wash racks. I also learned that not everyone worked that way.  I remember countless times it would be 8:00 at night and I'd come into the dorms covered in feed and hay and manure and lord knows what else, while some of the other girls would be all dressed up, make up on, and hair fixed.  And while I can't say that it happened this way all the time, but I lot of the time it was those of us who spent the week covered in manure who ended up smiling come the end of show day.  Not a bad thing for a kid to learn.

 

 

 

 

At those stock shows, I was surrounded by adults who became like family to me.  There were women who would haul in enough food for an army and be sure that we didn't go hungry by dishing out posole and beans from a crock pot in the tack pen.  There were men who helped sheer my sheep and haul our show boxes in and out and had no problem telling me if I wasn't doing something right.  There was an ag teacher that became one of my very favorite people in the world with his glare for people who showed up late for feeding, and his Rainman-like remembering of the weights of seriously every lamb in the barn, and his uncanny ability to sniff out coffee somewhere in the barn before anyone else was even awake to make it.

At those stock shows, I made friends from across the state.  Friends who have known me since I was 10 years old and who are still in my life 20 years later.  Friends whose babies I have held and funerals I have attended and weddings I have stood up at.  Friends who I never would have met were it not for the yearly "family vacation" to a stock show.

 At those stock shows, we spent quality time with our family.  After one particularly long, and I mean LONG night at the barn, that I'm fairly sure involved my dad breaking his toes after kicking something, I remember him saying that we might look back at parts of this showing deal and remember the fights, but we'd also look back and always remember him being there.  And he was right.  I remember the fights for being funny now, but I remember all of the time and money and sacrifice that he and my mom made so that we could go to those stock shows.  And that was a gift that is priceless in my mind.

 

And there's certainly more that those shows taught me.  Competitiveness.  Being a humble winner and a gracious loser.  Lucky shirts and lucky halters and the smell of sawdust and Revive.  That post-Led Zeplin concerts are probably not a great place to be in the dark.  A lot about love was learned at those dances and the dorm steps and the dairy barn alley where certain curse words were hurled at BFF when he hurt a girl's feelings.  How to change a trailer tire that blew every year on the way to Albuquerque.  How to talk to the police when things got a little rowdy at a street dance (and a certain someone needed me to lead him back to the dorms by the arm!)  That life is not always fair.  That I was never going to be as high maintenance as some of the other girls who hauled in a crap ton of clothes and shoes and fancy belts.  And that the best place for a bed was in the back corner (and the best friends to have were those that always got there early to snag them!)  What it felt like to be handed that bright purple banner and shiny belt buckle.

 

 

So, all this to say....I'm sure Disney World is great.  But I'll take the stock show.  Every single time.

What Will Your Verse Be?