It's a Christmas Miracle

I know I have been to Minnesota before. In fact, I did live there for ten or six years, depending on how you count them. But for some reason I was completely enamored with all the winter wonderland that was Minnesota this Christmas. It was so beautiful.

It was also really great to get to see my family again. I hadn't been up there since August of 2007 which is a really long time for me. Staying again with my brother and sister-in-law, a.k.a. disneyland, wasn't a bad deal either. I felt like a celebrity driving around in my brother's cadillac complete with a working radio and heated leather seats. Plus they have a really cute house on the lake that was totally frozen over. Matt and Shannon each took me out on their snowmobiles and we went all over Coon Lake, on the trails on Viking Drive and way back on the trails though the woods. I thought it was amazingly fast and cool with the scenery seemingly flying by, well, until Matt informed me that we were actually going about as slow as molasses. What the?!?! 

You also can't spend time with the fam without including hockey of some kind. I think because Matt and I grew up partially in Nebraska, the hockey blood doesn't really run through our veins, but it's fun to watch and yell things like "my cousin Jack is my hero," which, he really is. That dude can skate. He scored once and got an assist for the Pioneers, which I think is like the best high school hockey team in the state. This all made my six year old cousin Luke REALLY mad though because he was cheering the whole time for the other team. Loudly. Even though he was sitting in our section. Next to me. With a bright orange Bears hat he liked to take off and swing around.

I'm also a huge fan now of Guitar Hero, and can play a mean "Welcome to the Jungle" on medium speed. You know, we all have our gifts.

Now on to the Christmas miracle. My sister-in-law Shannon had planned this dinner on Christmas Day evening for me and Matt and her so we could spend time with her cousins. Honestly, we weren't too stoked about it, and we weren't too shy about letting her know. I mean, we already were going to a breakfast and a lunch at other family's house, so it was seemingly a bit too much. But we humored her. On the way back home Matt and I were going on and on about our dad and how it was fun to see him but that it's ok that we don't see him at Christmas. We pulled up to the house and there was a Honda Civic with a Nebraska license plate. I commented on this being similar to Papa's car, but didn't think anything of it. Matt said it was weird that the car had a number 4 on it because my dad always numbers his company's cars. And just then he stepped out, looking just like Indiana Jones as he always does lately in the winter. NO FREAKING WAY. Shannon called him a week earlier and invited him to come. So, no cousins, but my own father! Now why didn't we ever think of that? We had a really nice dinner, thanks to her, with my dad and taught him guitar hero, topping off the night with a few rounds of Hearts and 500. And of course, plenty of popcorn. He went back the next day after taking us out to breakfast (I actually had lunch for breakfast, as usual).

I am hardly ever really surprised, so that was something else. A Christmas miracle, I would say!

Here is Matt and Shannon and I saying goodbye to Papa!

Draggin'

This week has kind of dragged by. I was supposed to work today and only have Tuesday and Thursday off. But Anchor called me yesterday and asked me to wait to come in until after Christmas since they don't have a lot of patients right now due to the holiday coming up. Also, there was no sense in me training when I am leaving for Minnesota tomorrow and will probably forget what I learned over the week+ I would be gone from Anchor. So it was good logic by my new boss there. She's got me scheduled for several days after Christmas, praise the Lord. I need the money and something to do. 

I did have a great Monday and Wednesday at MARR, by other place of employment. My officemate is very much into the holiday cheer. I told her I wasn't really big on Christmas and she said "don't worry, keep trying, you'll get there." I liked that. It sounded like I wasn't completely hopeless.

It is weird spending a whole day talking to no one. This happens somewhat often since I was laid off. That's what happened yesterday. Well, I did talk to my roommate on the phone and I did talk to the insurance customer service rep to find out about COBRA benefits. But to have no real human conversation until my small group at 7:00pm is still kind of weird. I got a lot done yesterday, cleaned the house, etc. I long for a week though when I am working and have more to do. Let's pray big for January when both facilities I work at are expected to have more patients! I know they are out there, but they need the resources and motivation to COME IN.

Today since I was unexpectedly off, I treated myself by going to see the movie Twilight. My friends went to see it while I was in DC in November, and since I've read the books too it was a must see. I really liked it, actually. It reminded me though of why I had a hard time with parts of the book. It's the same thing about Christmas I don't like. It's the whole "magic" thing. You know, that unexpected excitement and anticipation of something coming that's awesome and unknown. In the Twilight series it is love between Bella and Edward. They just feel differently with each other and it's unexplainable. It's the same feeling a lot of people get around Christmastime. That there's something different about it, that the unexpected happens, that joy and hope somehow can break through any barrier this time of year. I just don't believe in that. I do believe in Jesus, and the Hope He brings when you're in relationship with Him. But I don't think that's particularly magical. I like C.S. Lewis's description of Jesus as the Lion, he does not always feel safe but He good.

Maybe it's like my coworker said, someday I might experience and believe in this magic, at Christmastime, or otherwise. For now, I am just satisfied in the fact that Christmas gives me a great reason to see my family which lives so far away, and God has blessed me in that I really rarely feel alone and my needs are taken care of this season.

I am now in the shipping business!

In this period of marginal employment, I've been trying to brainstorm ways to make some extra dough. Dave Ramsey says you should get extra jobs and sell everything but the kids when you're trying to get out of debt and increase your cash flow. In my case that would mean selling my cat, and I'm not willing to do that. My next best idea: selling books on amazon.com.

I have A TON of books, mostly from school, that I probably will never read again and don't really need for reference. Surely some other suffering student also has a temporary need for such torture, right? So starting approximately 48 hours ago I put about 15 books online, mostly from school but also books like Kite Runner and the Time Travelers Wife that reading one time was definitely enough. Guess what. In just that amount of time I've already sold six books, including my most expensive one, Statistics for the Social Sciences, Seventh edition. What up!! I am making the most massive post office run tomorrow. I want to be a good seller, you know, keep that feedback up!! I have been really pleasantly surprised by how many books I've sold. So far I've made almost $70.00! 

8 Things

My cousin Beth tagged me a while back to do one of those get-to-know-you type blog entires, which I guess is like the updated version of those chain emails we used to get all the time that you had to forward to all your friends, change your answers, and re-forward. So I'm going to honor Beth's tag below, but I'm going to change it to include one that I found on my friend Ami's blog that I liked better:

8 Things

8 TV shows I love to watch
1. NCIS
2. Simpsons
3. Seinfeld
4. LOST (I almost forgot, but it's only on now like 3 months out of the year)
5. Stormchasers
6. Fox & Friends
7. 90210 (the new version)
8. Sportscenter

8 Favorite Restaurants
1. Mi Taco
2. Five Guys
3. Surin
4. Brickstore Pub
5. Savage Pizza
6. The Vortex
7. Chinese Hot Pot
8. It should be a restaurant but it's not- Stephen's baked beans and ribs, Rochelle's pot pie

8 Things that Happened Today (oh the interestingness of a life marginally employed!)
1. Asked Sox if she was having a good nap sleeping in her favorite spot on her Mommy's bed.
2. Watched two NCIS reruns.
3. Mailed a box full of fun stuff to my friend Carly in Tanzania.
4. Made pistachio bark.
5. Talked to Nathan, Rochelle, Ami, Dave, and Jamie.
6. Printed off a letter to get my HSA started.
7. Scared the crap out of Rochelle when I called in a breathy, serious tone and said "do you have a minute?" (I was just going to ask her to help me write captions on my blog, oops.)
8. Read more of "The Prodigal God" which is an excellent book.

8 Things I Look Forward To
1. January, when hopefully I'll be working more.
2. Seeing my family over Christmas.
3. Learning what it's like to work in a behavioral health hospital.
4. When my roommate gets home from work.
5. The Christmas season being over.
6. Having a full-time job with benefits someday (hopefully next year).
7. Keeping up working out and eating healthy-ish.
8. Going to Mi Taco tonight.

8 Things On My Wish List
1. Being a full-time missionary one day
2. Having a family of my own
3. A new dishwasher, microwave, and kitchen floor.
4. Going on a mission trip sometime soon.
5. Traveling somewhere new when I turn 30 with Gates and Melissa.
6. A day when there is no more sorrow or pain (heaven, probably, is the closest)
7. Lobbying for more resources for addicts and alcoholics and their families
8. Reform in the Republican party

8 People I Have Tagged, please feel no obligation.
1. Rochelle
2. Jamie
3. Nathan
4. Matthew
5. Danielle
6. Courtney
7. Kate
8. Alli

Angie and Courtney, to me: "hey want to go camping in Dec? It will be the awesomest ever." Me: "Sure, I'll blindly trust you. Sounds amazing!"

Somehow I got roped into going camping last weekend.

True, camping outside in North Georgia is not equivalent to my previous coldest outdoor moment, which took place in the frozen tundra of my second original homestate, and included the Vikings and a large amount of Leinenkugals, brats, and layers of pants. But it was still dang cold. The temperature in Chatsworth, Georgia was a toasty 45 degrees for a high, and about 23 for a low. It was basically just cold enough to make it miserable unless you found a lot of random things to laugh about and had Dave McNay's pants.

You see, Angie, Courtney, and Laura Rod are EXPERT campers. I mean, REI toting, cook your own food over an open flame, sort of campers. I think they hadn't been camping in a while or something because somehow there became an urgent need to go camping one
more time before the year was out. I've always wanted to go camping and I don't mind a certain level of what some might call "craziness" in my life, so I agreed, somewhat reluctantly to go. I was mainly just worried I wouldn't come back with all my fingers and toes. Fortunately I have a lot of friends with camping gear, so I was fairly well prepared.

All in all, it was pretty fun. Especially Saturday, when we went for a nine mile hike in the Georgia mountains. It took about 4.5 hours. I was pretty sure the trail would never end because it was one big loop of doom, but amazingly enough, it did. It was really beautiful and it turns out that hiking is a good solution for feeling cold. Laura Rod bailed on us for the hike, but she did get to see the strange rock formation that is legendary to Fort Mountain State Park. No one has any idea where the rocks came from but they have some good guesses, which include civil war soldiers, Indians, and honeymooners. On the way back from the hike, we went into town to get some more firewood (we weren't that hard core) and came upon the Chatsworth Christmas parade, which blocked every road back up the mountain. The lady at Bi-Lo said that we should just watch the parade, after all, they hand out free camping. I don't think she had a clue of what we had been through that day. Luckily, we came upon a Murray County policeman and we secretly followed him through some back roads and made it "home".

Especially after you see the pictures, you can tell why we ended up packing in 30 min and leaving at 8:30am on Sunday morning, heading straight for the comforts of Cracker Barrel. Camping is probably awesome when you don't have to give yourself a pep talk to get out of the tent to use the bathroom. Although the bathrooms were AWESOME, and heated! We all seriously considered moving our sleeping bags in there. I have never been so grateful for a shower and my bed.

Courtney's amazing flame. What's cool is that she let me light her portable gas grill the next day. But I wasn't doing as good enough job getting the match to the gas so she stuck my hand in there, nearly creating an opportunity for me to have my hand in a similar flame. Neat.

Snug as a bug in a rug! With Angie's cup besides me. Thanks for the surprise cup Angie and to Stephen for the headlamp! I was reading a really good mystery book in this picture about teenagers who got murdered in the woods. Probably not a good choice.

Our "home".

Will this hike ever end?

Happy before the hike and before L-Rod had to leave us!

A Note To Jess

I decided that since you aren't sure if you should keep blogging, maybe I should do it for you. That was made MUCH easier when I went signed into my blog and found that you had selected to stay logged into yours at MY computer. I guess that is sortof like giving me permission to mess with your blog a wee bit.

That being said, I am glad you survived your wickedly cold camping trip this weekend, and I think you should blog about it and include several pictures. I think you won't regret having this catalog of memories to look back on someday. It is always nice to see where you have been and what God has brought you through and you will never know who your writings will impact.

Keep in touch and stay cool over the summer.

Rochelle Marie Ringsmuth Tynes

The end of the blog??

So as you can tell, I haven't been blogging. I just lost a lot of the old love and motivation for doing it, and now EVERYONE seems to have a blog, so I'm having a hard time believing I guess that it's worth doing one about my life. I have no kids, no camera to take pics with (it broke), although I guess I do have very out of the ordinary things happen which I could blog about. The other cog in the wheel so to speak is that it's hard as a counselor to feel able to blog, because there's so many things I can't blog about and I started to get real paranoid that a client was going to find it.

Of course though now that I've taken a five month hiatus, a ton of blogging ideas are popping into my head. Like the other day I was telling a story about this lady who had a panic attack on the plane I was on recently. She was in the middle seat and the flight attendants and me (who was sitting in the window seat next to her) tried to calm her down. Of course I was trying to use my cognitive-behavioral therapy techniques (which are not finely tuned, by the way) by having her breathe slowly and picture something like a beach, etc that might make her feel more peaceful. Only worked for about ten minutes. As I was telling this story to my roommate I said "yeah I wish I had a blog to write this on because that would have been a good one." She said, "you do."

So anyway, if you have any opinions about whether or not I should keep blogging, please let me know.

Adventures of the Fully Employed

On July 23, 2008 I began my first full-time job in a year in a half! I was hired two weeks prior by a company called Talbott Recovery Campus (TRC) which is located very close to the airport in south Atlanta. TRC is a substance abuse treatment facility very similar to MARR which is where I did my clinical internship last year. MARR referred me to TRC once I had exhausted all opportunities to stay at MARR. I am working as a family counselor in the young adult program (18-25 yr old patients). My main role will be to counsel and assess the families' needs of our young adult patients (which are called YAP's) while they are in treatment with us and to provide therapy accordingly.

My first day was really awesome. Mainly, I was concerned with having someone to eat lunch with, and that certainly was granted in the full. All the employees are really friendly and I've gotten a lot of "ooo we're so glad you're here" type of comments. I think they've been understaffed in this area for a while, so I certainly am happy to oblige by offering my newly acquired counseling services for a salary and benefits!!

Probably my most favorite thing so far is the free soda and water, which includes Diet Dr Pepper. They also have free lunch several times a month for various reasons for the staff. Also, every Thursday you can walk down to Anchor Hospital, which is owned by the same company as ours, to receive free lunch for all TRC staff. I know I'm going to fit right in to these perks.

The only thing that's been hard to adjust to is getting up at 6:20 each day. The earliest I regularly got up for MTW work or to go to class was probably 7:30, plus in the past two months I normally got up at 8:30. So this is a bit of a shock. My roommate regularly gets up early during the school year, so she's been coaching me on what time I should go to bed, which has been around 10:30 or so. Last night was Friday night, and Amy and I were having my fave Friday night activity of pizza eating, movie watching, and beer drinking (me). I totally feel asleep during the movie at about 9:30! Amy said this is to be expected especially at the end of a work week with hours like that. Yikes!

Next week I'm going to be receiving more training on how to do family assessments and treatment plans. I'm also going to be sitting in on more groups that will help me get to know the rules of the program and the process groups the patients go to. My team is also going to take me out for a welcome lunch. I'm excited to see what else is in store!

Recap of the adventures of the ex-vacationer

I was officially on vacation from May 3-July 22. It was incredibly awesome and also sometimes incredibly nerve wracking. I do believe that God created us to stay busy, or work, or do things that are meaningful to us. I also think God gives us opportunities to rest. I tried to do a combination of all of those things. Here's the top 10 list of things I experienced while on vaca 08.

10. Checking the mail right after it arrived.
9. Never having to really worry about rush hour traffic.
8. Going to the bank or grocery store when no one is there.
7. Working out whenever I wanted to and having my pick of treadmills.
6. Reading a book called Shadow Divers, which educated me on the world of deep sea diving and WWII German submarines.
5. Going to the pool. Constantly. With friends, or with myself and the other hispanic people in my neighborhood.
4. Touring the CNN Center with Amy Mo and Christina and pretending to be from other states (this was also the day that I got my confirmation phone call that I had been hired. It was so fun to get that with them there!)
3. Watching the new Batman movie with Gates and Mel at the opening showing at 12:01am!
2. Meeting folks for lunch, especially going to Mi Casa with my fave MTW dudes! And the Monday lunches at Ami's.
1. Mexico. I mean, fo sho!!!!!!!

Taking down the man

I would like to point out that I am very blessed to have good friends. And family. And people that are both friend and family. One of those such people is Rochelle. And how do I know that she is such a blessing to me, you might ask? Because she understands the necessity of passions, especially when it comes to taking advantage of all things coupon related, and opportunities to take down the man.

One of such opportunities came up during the first week of July, when for some reason, Starbucks published a coupon in the sunday AJC (Atlanta Journal-Constitution) good for a free hot or iced regular starbucks coffee to be used once a day from July 1-14. Score!!! I don't get the paper and am not always on the up and up with coupons, so Rochelle who is an expert on both, called and left me two 9-1-1 emergency messages with this news so I could go out and find one. Fortunately Amy Mo's parents get the paper and don't care about Starbucks, so I was able to snag the coupon. It is SO awesome. I've been completely rearranging my days around when I can get a free Starbucks. For me, it's all about sticking it to the man. I think Starbucks is taking over the world. You know, like Wal-Mart and stuff. Now I can take them down by actually trying to use the coupon daily. For Rochelle it's a quest to discover which 600 Starbucks are closing. She always asks all the employees to make sure it's not her Starbucks that's closing (it's probably mine actually, since it's new). Rochelle and I were together last Wed to go to the pool with the kids. Since we had to drive to the pool anyway and we had the kids in the car, of course we had to drive by Starbucks to get our free drink. It was so sweet driving up both of us flashing our two free coupon cards (see inset). Immediately we heard the tired, flat voice of the Starbucks employee say "hot or iced." It's great. Only three more days to go!!

I survived the Peachtree Road Race 2008 (and I got two sweet shirts!)

Our yearly quest to run the world's largest 10k and have the coolest shirts centered upon a Ringsmuth tradition this year.

To honor my many family members who are a part of the Ringsmuth Riders Unicycle Club, we created the Ringsmuth Riders Track Club, complete with an uncycle with feet icon. The back of the shirt sported a tribute to a personal fear of mine that I've become sort of well known for, which is being worried that if I ran too fast or too long, I might explode. I also like the word neat. All such affinities were used.

The Thursday night before the race (which is on the 4th every year), consisted of massive amounts of spagetti, planning, laughing, and ironing. Thanks to Courtney who printed out all the designs for everyone! They turned out pretty awesome. The next day we all got up before 6am to take MARTA to the race. A lot of us got in a really good time group (Christina and Jamie even had consecutive numbers-what are the chances???) and were all together in the 20,000's for the race. It was a TON of fun hearing the comments from other runners. One person even offered to hold my lung for me if it exploded. Wow. That's servanthood.

I really enjoyed running and walking the race this year, even though the finish line was far from the flat Piedmont Park and ended up the long hill on Juniper. I finished in 1.24.01 or so, which is pretty awesome for me. I think that's my best Peachtree time.

We finished the morning off with an amazing breakfast at Courtney's, and then that night we all sported our official Peachtree shirts at the Decatur fireworks festival. More compliments ensued. Atlantans are really appreciative and admiring of Peachtree runners. It's really the most fun 10K ever. Otherwise, there's no way in hainesville I would ever do it.

More happenings of the Marginally Employed

Although I am starting to see a hint of boredom in my still-looking-for-a-job state, I have enjoyed getting to spend more time with friends and family.

One of ways that I have been spending time with people is by going to the pool. I am totally addicted to the pool and why not, when we live in a state that''s consistently above 90 every day of the summer. After going to Mexico and getting a nice tan, I've been pretty motivated to keep it. I'm skilled at whipping out my beach bag, lathering on the sunscreen, and getting a good book together at any hint of a chance to lay out. I've also been going with Rochelle and her kids to the pool, which adds a new element to the word "laying out". It's more like, well, actual swimming. And if you want to see serious "beach bag" talent, just watch her get together three sets of floaties, toys, towels, swimming shoes, etc plus the stroller and a six week old. It's mind-boggling. Usually she does it entirely by herself too. Wholly crap. It is soo fun and hilarious hanging out with them. The kids just say the funniest things out of nowhere. Probably the funniest was Evan asking his mom at dinner to pick up his "blood towel" which really was just a folded up paper towel he was supposed to hold on his knee to help soak up some blood from a scratch. We were like....sick...blood towel, really? Luckily Rochelle convinced him to get it himself. It was pretty fun though, especially said in his innocent little voice. He also loves to play with bungie cords, which he for some reason calls "hookers." Last time I asked him how many hookers he had. He said "mmmmmm, about 20." I actually gave him one of my hookers once, but I digress. During one of my days over there, enjoying also the company of Stephen who has been working on Atlanta lately, we brainstormed the idea of having a southern food cookoff, complete with fried chicken amazingness (Stephen), mac & cheese (Rochelle & Stephen), bacon green beans (Rochelle), potato salad (Julie) and peach cobbler and ice cream (me). It was OUT OF CONTROL good. We've been talking about biking the Silver Comet Trail, and that would have been a perfect activity to bike off this southern-load.

Also during this part-time job interim, I was able to accomplish my post-graduation goal of watching movies all day. Amy Mo and Courtney were happy to oblige and watched them with me. The deal was for all of us to pick out movies that we hadn't seen but we loved and weren't sure the others would like. This ended up somehow in two awesome movies (the ones I picked- The Village & The Best in Show) and two 80's movies of questionable awesomeness (Can't Buy Me Love and Say Anything). I normally detest all things 80's, but somehow I found myself laughing and enjoying this movies. And, when you start the day off too with IHOP and finish it with Five Guys Burgers and Fries, it's basically amazing no matter what.

I do have some good developments in the job front. I was offered a part-time job at Anchor Hospital, which I can start really anytime I want to sign up for their next new employee orientation. They are kind enough to give me all the time I need to think about it, because I'm waiting to see what pans out with Talbott Recovery Center which is a full-time job. Talbott is similar to MARR, my internship placement from last year, and the job would be right up my alley. They called me yesterday to schedule a second interview, so we'll see!

Drug Screen Queen

In this interim of waiting to find a full-time job, the Lord has provided two part-time jobs for me to continue gaining experience, keep me busy and off the streets, and fill my hands with some much needed dough!

On Monday nights I head up to New Hope Counseling Center which is located in Cumming (a name that everyone except Atlantans seems to think is dirty, and hilarious..whatev), about 35 miles from my house. With my car's air conditioning not really working up to par and not having a radio, I make the best of the drive up 400 North with the windows down and ipod blaring my new podcast downloads. BTW- has anyone ever heard Cartalk on NPR or the podcast of the show? It's so hilarious. People call up and talk to Click and Clack about their car problems. They are just like me too. This guy called up yesterday to talk about a noise his 1993 Toyota Tercell was making upon acceleration, which Click and Clack said sounded like grinding walnuts (the guy actually made an audio tape of it and played it on the air). The hilarious part- it had been going on for three years!!

Anyway, I digress. Last night was my second night helping to lead counseling groups for this center. All the patients there are mandated to counseling through Forsyth County's Drug Court program. All my clients in the group are trying to avoid felony drug charges and will be in counseling with us for 18 months. You would think I would be super nervous about leading the group, but what I'm the most nervous about is the drug screens. When the drug screens are on the schedule (it's random, no one knows till you get there), I take all the woman and one by one go into the bathroom with them and do the screen. It's so we have eyewitness accounts that they are not tampering with the urine. I had to do it last night for the first time and it went amazingly well. They all have good attitudes about it and even helped me if I missed a step (it has to be labeled correctly, etc). I'm not like, exactly prepared to invade their space like that, but you know, in this business I'm just learning to roll with it.

Then the group went off without a hitch!! Score. I think I'm getting better at all of this!!

Missions

One of the things that makes me sad sometimes about finding a full-time job is that I will be saying goodbye in some ways to my full-time work with missions. I've been involved in overseas missions at least since 1994 when I went on a week-long trip to Zacatacus, Mexico with my church. I remember being 14 years old and a Christian for just about 2 years, having to give my testimony in front of hundreds of people. I had no idea what I was doing but hopefully I said something impacting! In college I actually met missionaries and learned that they were not "super human" but really just people like any of us who are trying to follow Christ and live out his calling. I got to go to Australia for two months and do things like ride horses in a rain forest, pet kangaroos, hold koala bears...Oh yeah wait...all the while building relationships with students to tell them about Christ.

In pursuing a full-time job in counseling, I am not sure when my next tangible missions experience will be. That seems sort of strange. You would think that God would make it clear how my passion for missions and counseling would mix, but He seems content to keep most of those details at bay at this point, which is probably for the best =).

I was praying about this yesterday and I realized for the first time how so many people in the bible had just "normal" jobs. Like farmers, fisherman, wives, fathers, mothers, shepherds, etc. It seems as though they were doing their careers wholeheartedly, however, were also prepared to go and do what God asked of them when His timing was right.

This encouraged me to remember how much God has used me for His glory through missions in my short life so far. I've been with Mission to the World for almost seven years, and in all that time I've helped to coach and recruit missionaries to serve short-term for the gospel. I've gotten to serve elsewhere in Europe and Africa several times. If God has called me to a more secular job that is not directly related to the great commission on the outside, then why not embrace it wholeheartedly as an opportunity to fully do what God has asked as many, many others have done. Meanwhile, I can still be prepared to look for opportunities my job to serve him on a more missional level.

I have gotten interested primarily in how missions can be used in counseling, and there has been several "chance" encounters over the past few months where I have met missionary counselors who live either full-time in the states or abroad, working tiredlessly to serve those who are in full-time ministry and their mental health needs. I got an email just last week about an MTW disaster response team that is sending counselors to Myanmar to work with those effected by the cyclone. My friend Laura D volunteers with the Red Cross and does similar things in the states when tragedy strikes.

How will God use me in this? I do not know. But I do know that even if I never live 100% in another country as a missionary, there are still plenty of ways that He can use me just as I am here in Hotlanta.

Waiting

Ever since I took my National Counselor Exam on April 12, I have been anxiously awaiting for my scores to come in the mail. I have to pass this test to begin the process of becoming a licensed counselor through the state which like gives you credibility and employers actually want to look at your resume. So yeah, it was a big deal. I studied and studied and had like a ton of people praying for me and I felt fairly confident that I passed, but you never know.

It was supposed to take 4-6 weeks to get them back. The six week mark came and went and we went to Mexico. My first thought on the flight back was about those dad gum scores. Did they come? Did I pass?

We got home and I tore through the mail, feeling a hugh rush when I saw the "NBCC" logo, which is the organization that I took the test through. The envelope was soon open and I saw the word: PASS. Ahhhhh!!!!! It was such a good feeling. I did a little dance in the kitchen.

The scores came with a bunch of other instructions in what to do next now that I've proven, at least academically, that I can be a counselor. One of the papers said that I had to wait another 8 weeks for the NBCC to do everything they need to do to get my scores to the licensing board, which means more waiting before I can get my associate counselors license. What? Eight more weeks? I was a bit disappointed. I am so ready to get that credential!!

It really was a good reality check though in how much I was just focusing on this one aspect of my counseling career. Really, God can find me a job regardless and I'm in the same boat as the hundreds of others who graduated in May and are trying to be gainfully employed.

God has a lot to say about waiting in the Bible. And isn't it true that we're always waiting for something? How often has the thought of "I'll be fine once _____happens" entered my mind? What would it take to be calm and peaceful just for today? Fortunately, the Bible also has a lot to say about that. This process is frustrating sometimes, but I'm learning so much about how to focus on God's presence and not on what I want to fix or change in my life all the time. I can be complete and happy in Him if I keep my focus strong. It's also helping me to wait for the harder things that seem less tangible, like marriage and kids and a new car.

One of my fave verses on this topic:
"For to set the mind on the flesh is death, but to set the mind on the Spirit is life and peace." ~Romans 8:6
"

Puerto Vallarta!

I knew it would be awesome, and relaxing. And Puerto Vallarta surely did not disappoint!

Thanks to my friends Magdalena and Paul, we spent a week at their condo for free. It was in the heart of Old Town, right on the edge of the Malacon, which is the boardwalk area of PV. We basically laid by the pool, laid by the beach, swam in the water, slept, ate, read, read and read, got massages, walked and enjoyed the beautiful weather by working on our tans. I've never really spent a lot of time working on my tan before, and to be honest, it is hard work. You're always putting on more suntan lotion, and sometimes it's hard to get your book at the right angle when you're trying to flip over and make sure the tan is equal. It's rough, I know.

One of the things I've always wanted to do was go parasailing. I remember seeing pictures of my mom and Aunt Ann doing it in PV, and I missed my chance to do it when I went on a cruise after college several years back. They basically had parasailing all over the beach, so all we had to go is walk out and go. If you've never been, what happens is you are strapped in to a harness that is attached to a parashute and a really long rope that goes into the ocean and tied to a speedboat. The speedboat takes off, and pretty soon you are up in the air. By the way, it's REALLY high. I was pretty sure for a while there that I was not going to make it. But once I stopped looking down at the ocean and started looking up at the mountains and the scenery, it became pretty fun. I was higher than all the condos, that's for sure. Once I had relaxed and started enjoyed it, it was pretty much over. I thought it was worth it though. I'd totally go again. I celebrated the end of my life threatening adventure by munching on some shrimp on a stick complete with lime that Amy Ro let me leave on her towel for safe keeping (not really).

The food and beverage selection was quite awesome, and everywhere took dollars which was a bonus for us. We drank margharitas as big as our heads, and they had flavors like mango and pineapple which were new to me. I'm normally not a huge margharita fan, but I think I'm now won over. I also had a Pina Colada for the first time. Score! I proclaimed that I was going to hunt down the recipe and make them at home...to which Amy Mo said "you mean, like go buy some Pina Colada mix?" ooooops. Right.....Anyway, we also ate at this place called Pancake House twice, which had pancakes with chocolote and kahula in them, awesome eggs benedict, and my favorite- some excellent coffee! No, for the record we did NOT go there to nurse hangovers. We were pretty tame, of course! I did get to try some new Mexican beer, and Sol was my favorite.

Here are some pictures from our fun trip! I'm ready to go back...

Sox goes to the vet

From the beginning I have wanted Sox to be low maintenance. What else does she need in life that I don't give her? And she's not my child, dangit, she's my cat. However, I do admit I am obsessed with petting and talking to her, but I don't think that's harmed her quite yet. In light of all this, I certainly have never taken her to the vet. She's healthy and never goes outside. Probably the worse thing she's been exposed to is the shock mat or getting accidently locked into Amy's room. But now that I'm done with school I figured it would be good to try to get her her yearly shots and ask the vet why Sox insists on peeing on the right-hand side curtain every three weeks. It does result in that curtain getting regularly cleaned but it sure is dad gum annoying.

All this week I've been getting prepared by telling Sox that "you're going on a little trip" in my weird, high pitched this-is-how-I-speak-to-Sox-only voice. Luckily Amy is sweet and doesn't bug me when I talk in this voice. It happened a lot this week. I was just trying to get her ready.

She somewhat willingly went into Christina's cat carrier that I borrowed for this occasion on Wednesday morning at 8:15am. I loaded her in the car and listened her to meow all the way to Tucker Animal Hospital which was only like three miles. I went inside and checked her in. Then she was called back and I went with her for support. Mostly the check was super fast. I don't know if this is typical, but I was there for like 30 minutes. She didn't complain too much and let the tech pet her and pet her to calm her down. The tech said "she did good." She did flip out when they stuck something up her butt, but who wouldn't? I'm not really sure what that was about. They were all real nice though. I found out that she weighs 10.1 pounds, which according to the vet is healthy and NOT FAT. Thank you very much Kendra, et. al, who insist that Sox is packing the pounds.

Recommendation about the curtain issue from vet: get a urine sample from Sox over the next few weeks. Apparently I can do this if I completely empty her litter box. He said she would still go without litter. Then I use the syringe and squeegie the stuff into the bottle and bring it in to rule out any kind of infection, etc. Low maintenance...what???

That's going to be a post-Mexico activity for sure.

Now I know I am officially done!

Last weekend was Memorial Day, obviously. It was my first weekend in a very long time where I did so many fun things without regard to time or what I needed to do or what I was neglecting to have fun. I could totally tell I was officially done with school! It was an incredible feeling.

I think it really hit me when Angie and I were eating pancakes on her deck on Saturday morning. She invited me over to see her beautiful new flower garden that adorns all the edges of her deck just outside her front door. We got to eat outside with all the flowers, peach pancakes, and orangina juice. Now that's a memorable breakfast!! After that I REALLY didn't want to move off that deck, not to mention start our crazy bike ride which was the main activity for the day. Soon we were pumping up our tires and filling up water bottles and we were off! Angie and I met Courtney and Kate in Candler Park, and there we headed through neighborhoods and paths until about 6 miles later ended at the Decatur Arts Festival. It was a beautiful but hot day, so we had to go to Jake's to get ice cream and get some water refills for sure. Even though this is the farthest I had ever biked, I was feeling pretty good and ready for the trek home. However, I still don't know if we took like a detour or what but the way home was pretty....er....ahh..intense. We did only neighborhoods which were pretty darn hilly. Praise God we did make it. When we got back to Angie's she and I just laid on the couch and tried to drink more water and eat cheese. Wow. It was a ton of fun and I survived!!!

I also got to hang out with Gates and Heather that night and eat at my favorite pizza place Pepperoni's. On Sunday my PSI friend Morgan and I drove to Macon to see my other good PSI friend Alison, who just moved there with her husband after graduation. Her new house was really awesome and reminded me of the old south, which is kind of just the feeling of Macon in general.

I also got to watch two movies and have a cookout last weekend with some more cowboy golf (thank you Matt & Shannon!) which is TAKING THE SOUTH BY STORM.

It's such a blessing to be able to take this time just to rest and enjoy life again. I'm glad God created us to have a need for both rest and work! I'm going to certainly get some sweet rest when Amy Mo, Gates, and Amy Ro and I leave for Puerto Vallarta this weekend!!! Cause I still haven't gotten my massage....

Not exactly...

Today at Target this woman said to me, "Ooo, I really like your perm." What the crap?

I said, "Um, actually it's natural." To which she then of course, acted incredibly surprised and stared at my hair as I walked away.

Wow. I get a lot of random comments on my hair, but that was a first! Most people at least give me the benefit of the doubt and ask if it's natural before beginning the jealously comments and questions about whether or not if I hate it (with the assumption that I do). Why do people always assume I hate it? I like it a lot, for the record. I've also noticed that most of the people who really love my hair are from the older crowd, like 60 and up. Was curly hair like all the rage back in the 1950's?

Other happening's this week

I mentioned in the below blog, that I've had two job interviews and also helped save a child this week.

If my roommate Amy Mo had a blog, she would definitely put the child story on there. She found him Sunday night after all, crying on his big wheel near the dumpster and pool by our house. She had gone to take the trash out while I was putting my pajamas and getting the On Demand ready to watch the CSI season finale. I was laying on the couch just kind a chillin' and then realized that Amy never came back. She claims that I was not worried but I was a little worried. As I was considering whether or not to go out there to see if she was alive, she came in and was talking to someone. I sat up and she had a little five year old boy with her. All he would say is that he missed his mom and that he came over to our neighborhood through the lake. We had no idea what he was talking about. He didn't know his number or where he lived. But he knew his mom's name. With a little luck, I'm BFF with Kendra who's the president of our board, and she had a master list of residents and found his address. So with the boy and the big wheel in tow, we brought him back to his confused mother, who was quite appreciative. Fortunately it looks like he probably just biked a bit too far and forgot how to get back. But it was kind of weird. Good thing Amy has some mad counseling-kids instincts and befriended him.

I also got to go to two job interviews. One of the jobs is with New Hope Counseling Center, which takes drug and dui court referrals from Forsyth County. I know a guy who interns there while he works at MARR, so he hooked me up by bringing in my resume. I had a great time there and really liked the staff. I actually went to the interview after the birth of Elijah, but God gave me the strength I needed to be attentive and ask questions. All the work is part-time contract, but you can work your way up and get quite a few hours leading groups and doing individual therapy for people with problems with drugs and alcohol. My favorite thing! I have to go to some training next week but then I'll start doing groups one night a week after I get back from Mexico. Depending on how that goes, hopefully I will be able to pick up some more counseling hours!!

I'm still praying about the other job opportunity, and I'm still looking for other part or full-time work in Atlanta as a counselor. I know God will provide the open doors! It's quite an adventure, that's for sure.

Baby Elijah's Birth

I would have to say that this has been one eventful week. I've had two job interviews, helped rescue a child, and witnessed my cousin Rochelle's delivery of baby Elijah!!

Several weeks ago, Rochelle emailed me and asked if I would like to be present for the birth of her fourth child, Elijah, who was scheduled to come into the world on May 19, which was the day she was supposed to be induced. The email pretty much flipped me out. I didn't know WHAT to think. I had NEVER considered doing that unless the Lord is gracious and allows me to have children of my own someday. But the more I thought about it, the more I figured it would be a once in a lifetime opportunity. Rochelle was telling me how laid back she was during the process, and I was pretty convinced it wouldn't be like tons of screaming and blood, so I went for it.

Last Sunday, she called me at about 11:45pm and said the hospital was ready for them and they were headed in. I had already packed my stuff so I could just jet out the door (quietly, my roommate still has a job and all) and drove up to Kennesaw. She was really cool during all the prodding and checks and everything that goes into an induction. After a while, all there was to do was sleep so we tried to do so. I probably slept about 1 1/2 hours, but it was cool trying to sleep to the thump-thump beating of little Elijah's heart. At about 12:00 the next day, Rochelle was ready to push. At 12:29pm, Elijah was totally out, caught by the two nurses, right before the doctor showed up. I'll spare sharing all the details that occurred during and after that half hour, to save what's left of the dignity that quickly flees during childbirth!! It was one of the most incredible experiences. I was wiping away tears and got to hold Elijah just minutes after he was born. The only thing I thought was gross was the placenta. There was NO WAY I was touching that thing!

This experience was definitely one of the most special of my life so far! You can click here to see more pics of the fam with the new baby. I love this family!!

Graduation!!

I have been officially done with all of my schoolwork since Monday, May 5. I should have been done on May 2, but I got an urgent email from our clinical director on that Monday saying that she was "very frustrated" by my handwriting and lack of totaling up my internship hours in the correct columns. Fortunately my math was right, but I had to drive over to school that afternoon in the middle of Atlanta traffic to rewrite the sheets. In hindsight, she could have said that I couldn't graduate, so ultimately I was grateful. And aware of the fact that "doing things in the way that seem easiest to me" isn't always going to be the way that my director wants it!! Isn't that the case with academia.

But now that is all over. In a whirlwind weekend of friends and family visiting and celebrating with me, I had an awesome time at my graduation ceremony in Chattanooga and at the party that Rochelle hosted at her house on the following day.

The graduation day was really special. About an hour before the ceremony started, the students and professors met for communion and fellowship, where the students had a chance to express their feelings about the experience they had at PSI. It reminded me of what a sweet time it was for me and others and what a special school it is, especially to have Christians represented from all sorts of churches and denominations, learning together for the same purpose- to care for another's soul through counseling. The communion was interesting. We had wine in a cup that looked like one of those to-go creamers, and then it had a waffer on top underneath a thin layer of plastic. So you peeled off a layer, took the bread, and then peeled off a layer of the creamer container and took the wine (actually, it was juice). Always something interesting when not in your own Christian tradition!

The ceremony itself was like a worship service. We sang hymns, announced the candidates and had our degrees conferred, and the professors prayed for us in a commissioning prayer. It was my first graduation I have ever attended at a Christian school, and certainly Christ was indeed the center. A lot of the pictures here were taken after the ceremony on the steps of First Presbyterian Church in Chattanooga which is where the ceremony was held (PSI has two campuses- ATL and CHATT, and the cities take turns hosting the graduation).

The next day was beautiful and Rochelle and many others helped to put together a wonderful party in her awesome backyard. We had yummy pork and dessert and sides and lots and lots of cowboy golf. Probably the highlight was Rochelle's presentation of the video montage she made out of video clips sent in by family members on both sides. I was so surprised. And cried from beginning to end. What else could I do when it started with her precious kids saying "I love you Aunt Jessie" followed by the most heartfelt and hilarious words from sooo many family members? It was incredible.

All around, I left the weekend with my heart full. I loved getting to see my family too and showing them my house and more of my life. We had many fun meals together and Matt and Grandpa even fixed my deck door- score! It certainly wouldn't be a weekend with those two without leaving something better than they found it. Also, major props to Sherrie for navigating Atlanta traffic all weekend which included not only dodging cars but Matt's running commentary on her every move. And Ann, did you all really get to the airport like at 5:30am or did you sleep there the night before like Matt requested?

Job search parallel

I realized that looking for a job is like dating. You just keep putting yourself out there and making yourself available, looking as good as possible until finally something works out.

A Tale of Two Boils

I had never been a part of a seafood boil before, and then randomly last weekend, I went to two in 24 hours.

The first one was with Christina's wonderful family. Raymond Sr and Jr were boiling and frying some amazing shrimp that came straight from the Atlantic Ocean, via Raymond Jr's fiancee's dad's boat. They were all camping at Stone Mountain last weekend and they welcomed me into their campsite for dinner. Never fear, this campsite was not without the modern conveniences. I was endlessly intrigued by the 5 flashlights, portable grills and ranges, several lanterns, and of course, the wind-up radio and portable adult size potty. Because you never know when you have to go!!

A seafood boil consists of usually at least shrimp and some other kind of seafood, boiled in with potatoes, sausage, and corn. So it's sort of like a weird stew but it's not soup like. At the campside we ate them on plates with forks, at the second boil, well, you'll see.

Fri night was my campsite extravaganza. I left feeling full, happy, and grateful that I could go home to my bed just 15 minutes away. The next morning I got a phone call from my friend Shannon who had won tickets off the radio to go to a really awesome crawfish boil in Smyrna. Her husband hates seafood, so she was trying to find someone to go with her. I had to baby sit for my cousin that night and she lives over there, so I thought, sure, why not?

This one was a little more fraught with peril. First of all, as soon as I got to Smyrna, it was POURING RAIN. I got out of the car and made my way to the restaurant, dunking under overhangs and cursing myself for not bringing my umbrella. Shannon wasn't there yet but would be momentarily. We both realized once we got there that the boil was supposed to be outside. Crap. We somehow squeezed our way inside and waited. And waited. When the rain let up, the servers tried to reconstruct the boil, but many folks were bailing. Not us. We drove 30 min to get there dangit! They gave us a huge pile of food, complete with crawfish and shrimp, and granted us access to as many damp paper towels as we wanted, explaining, "all of our wetnaps blew away and we can't find them." Okey dokey. As soon as we sat down, it started to rain again. "To the truck!" Shannon exclaimed. We brought everything in the truck. Shannon had to move a cooler she had in the cab of the truck (with a cake inside for a church function to be attended later) and put it in the bed so we could sit inside and eat. It was hilarious. The food was soooo messy. I guess at this place you eat it all with your hands. Crawfish is weird too. You only eat like 1/8 of it and it's sort of gross to open. By the end we had seafood juice all over our pants, our hands, our faces, and the truck. Shannon volunteered to drive to a gas station to clean up (it was still raining). When we got to the gas station, she discovered that the cooler was missing. WHAAAT. Now the tailgate was open when we were driving, but we didn't hear the cooler fall out. We quickly wiped ourselves down with paper towels and drove slowly back, straining our necks looking for the cooler. We never found it. Apparently someone had stolen it while were sitting there. We just kept staring at each other in shock. So someone in Smyrna enjoyed a nice cake with a platter than night!! What the crap. Shannon was ticked and rightly so! As anyone would do it this situation, we vowed never to go back to Smyrna.

Luckily, babysitting that night was not very eventful. But I was thankful for my gum and to wash my hands really good!

Honor bestowed upon me & Goodbyes

Today was the celebratory pizza lunch for all those who participated in the MARR basketball bracket. In case you have never read my blog before today or have not talked to me in the past month, you need to know that yours truly here won the gall darned bracket- oh yeah baby!!! Midwest rules! Anyway, early in the morning, Bill, my supervisor and bracket organizer extrodinaire, told me that he "had something for me at lunch" with a gleam in his eye. I also have been told that the winner gets carried around the building on someone's shoulders. This is what happens when you work with a bunch of crazy guys.

Anyway, as I went throughout the morning I sort of got nervous. What in the h_ll would they do to me? Plus I spent a lot of the morning with Janet, our family program director, putting packets together. She said that one of her first days at MARR was going to this pizza lunch and she remembered them carrying the winner around on their shoulders. Oh Nelly. I was pretty convinced that was a hoax until then.

What happened? Fortunately just a lot of pizza eating, and the awarding of a sweet trophy that Bill made. It was a coffee can spray painted black that said "MARR Bracket Winner" in white writing and a sweet toy basketball super glued to the top. It was an honor. I had to make a speech, but it stunk. Believe it or not I don't do well with spontanous speeches in front of people.

It was on display for the rest of the afternoon, but my hall-mate Rick who is across from me kept stealing it. He's just jealous.

I also had my last supervision with Bill this afternoon. It was really, really great. I know I have gotten closer to being an excellent clinician because of his guidance and listening ear. We did our "goodbyes" today, which is a MARR tradition. Basically, when a patient is transitioning into another phase and will be working with a new set of patients, they say "goodbye" to each of the guys in the group by saying their name and individually encouraging them and appreciating them without giving words of advice. You end it by saying, "and with that I say goodbye" and then the person does it back to you. It's really powerful especially in a group setting. The staff do it too when someone is leaving. It's one of my favorite things. So it was a really encouraging day, and my heart now is very full =).

Getting more excited

As of today I have finished my last APA style paper and have written my last journal assignment. I have but a mere book report, one more summary paper, and a take home final to finish. Next Friday is my last day at MARR. I'm bringing a bag tomorrow to put all my personal stuff in to take home with me. We also have our final-four bracket pizza party tomorrow at MARR. Since I won the bracket (the midwest rules), I'm supposed to be carried around the building on someone's shoulders, but I'm faaaairly certain that is not true. I'll keep you posted.

Yesterday we had a meeting about graduation. I was able to get all of my tickets for the actual ceremony, an invitation to join the PSI alumni organization, and five graduation invitations. I'm not sure what I'm supposed to do with just five of them. I mean, when you have an extended family the size of Alaska like I do, five doesn't really cut it. But they looked really cool. You could also get a PSI class ring. I think I'm going to pass...although I really want a PSI car decal. I've got to get on that.

I was struck yesterday again by the uniqueness of my school. One of the exit forms we had to fill out at the meeting was a sheet with our contact information, information about where we were going to be working (if we had a job), and how DeAnne (our dean of students) could be praying for us during this transition. The thing is, I know she will pray. She is the most sincere person I have ever met with things like that. I really need a job and have been trying to trust God in his provision for all of that and not being overwhelmed with worry. So filling that out and asking her to pray, knowing that she will was pretty cool. I've definitely never heard of a school asking you to complete a form with your prayer requests. It's awesome.

Let me know if you would like a graduation announcement...first come, first serve!!

Guess what I got yesterday...

My cap and gown!!!

A bunch of us went and picked them up yesterday during our break from vocational class. We had to try on the gowns before we took them to make sure they fit. The masters degree gowns are a bit different. Mainly, the sleeves are really puffy and hang down strangely.

You also get a hood, based on the color scheme of your degree program. The other side of the hood is supposed to be your school colors. My packet came with instructions telling you how this worked. When I was opening it up, I was reading it to my roommate Amy Mo, who is also a counselor. Here was the conversation, last night, with her, as I chose for some reason to bring this up right before she needed to go to bed:

me (as I pull the hood out of the bag): "ooooh I guess counselors are burgandy and gold."

Amy: "yup."

me: "it says the other side is supposed to be your school colors so that means mine will be blue and silver."

Amy: blank stare and watches as I flip it over.

me (with puzzled look): "it's white. Why doesn't my school have colors? Did your school have colors?"

Amy (who went to a normal state school): "Yeah, it had colors. I don't think PSI has colors."

me (disappointed, and wracking my brain as to why I thought we not only had colors but that they were blue and silver): "we don't?"

Amy: "No..because you don't have sports teams. That's what you need colors for."

me: "Hmmmm. Neat. Good call."

Yeah, I'm pretty sure if we did have sports teams, it would be sorta lame. I mean, we're all counseling students. So people are way too nice. It would probably be like "oops, sorry I didn't mean to tag you out. How did you feel about that? Did any childhood regression occur as you walked back to the bench?"

Only two weeks to go!!

Never again will I have to do this

I am on my way to Alison's house in Smyrna to work on my very last group project ever in my life. We have to present on how people with criminal backgrounds have a hard time finding jobs and why and what would you do if someone like this came to your counseling office for vocational help. We're going to show parts of the movie Crash, which I'm excited about. But I just got done watching the carjacking scene, which is what I wanted to play, and I seemed to have forgotten how much those folks enjoyed the F word. Hmmmmm. Well, maybe I can just present it as part of the pathology we have to analyze.

I also wanted to share the verse that I've been clinging to over these past few days. I found it in my new fave devotional "Jesus Calling."

7"Blessed is the man who trusts in the LORD,
whose trust is the LORD.
8 He is like a tree planted by water,
that sends out its roots by the stream,
and does not fear when heat comes,
for its leaves remain green,
and is not anxious in the year of drought,
for it does not cease to bear fruit."
~Jeremiah 17:7-8

What's been going on

Basically, just this.

It's what I've been staring at, reading, sleeping with, throwing around, hugging, and now, leaving behind.

Yes, it is my study guide for the NCE, which stands for "National Counselor Exam."

All three years of my graduate school career can sort of be summed up in this three hour test of doom that took place yesterday morning at 8:30 in the Mt Paran Grand Hall, Atlanta, GA. I survived it, despite being consumed with many "rational" worries, including but not limited to, my car not starting when I went to drive to the test, or there being a horrible wreck on 285 East, thus rendering my efforts to make it to the test useless. If you were even a minute late you were not allowed to take it. This increased my worries. However, I think a lot of people were praying for me because I didn't feel anxious at all during the test. Just bored. And tired. There were definitely questions I knew, some I didn't know, some that had choices of answers that all seemed right or wrong. So I picked the best answer and moved on. I'll know how I did in about 4-6 weeks. I know. Brutal.

However, today I've enjoyed a day of complete relaxation. I had a great morning at church, enjoying a break from 1st grade sunday school and seeing my friend's baby get baptized. Then I lounged around in the afternoon watching episodes of CSI and NCIS on Comcast On Demand. Then tonight, Amy Mo, Christina, Laura D and I went to see Big Boi perform with the Atlanta Ballet at the Fox. It was sort of like watching one-half of OutKast perform a concert with ballet dancers, but it was so awesome. Not to mention the fact that Christina totally spotted Andre 3000 who turned out to be sitting just TWO ROWS ahead of us. What-up holmes!! (a totally appropriate saying for this venue). The show included songs like "Bombs over Baghdad" and "Kryptonite" with a finale of "I like the way you move" where people just danced in their seats for like 20 minutes. It was sort of like a mellow-er Club 1150, mostly I think because there were still quite a few white people there.

Of course, after being inspired by what we just saw, we totally had our own dance party in Laura's sweet Nissan on the way home, complete with Krispy Kreme donuts and decaf coffee. Wow, it just doesn't get any better than that.

Back to the grind tomorrow. Only three weeks to go!!

Almost there

I realized today that it is almost exactly two months until my graduation now. I think I only have like eight weeks of class left or something.

I'm sort of in shock that soon I will probably have to leave MARR and find a new job. Although I guess there's always a shot I could stay there, I'm trying to keep my options open. It takes A LOT of work to find a job. Sheesh. It took me weeks to get my resume polished. Thank God for my friend Nathan who was able to help me format it right. Fighting with Microsoft Word definitely is not a mood booster. I'm finding too that some websites require that you retype the content of your resume into their database in order to apply for jobs. This process takes FOREVER. I think when I find a job online I'm just going to google the company and find their HR rep and email them directly. I don't think I can keep retyping this stuff.

I'm trying for the most part to take each day to get chunks of stuff done so I don't get overwhelmed. My real priority right now has been studying for the NCE (National Counselors Exam) which is on April 12. You have to pass this test to be able to start the process to get your counseling license. So it's basically a big freaking deal. And I get test anxiety. Amy Mo tells me I need to think more positive. I agree. And the sticker study chart she made me helps. There's nothing like looking at the chart and seeing cute smiley faces and safari animals to remind you that you've done your studying today!!!! It doesn't take much =). I'm having a hard time thinking of rewards though for each week that I do my 30 minutes a day of studying. Most of the rewards I think of require recruiting others to do things that I like, for example, going to Mi Taco or watching A & E intervention. I know to recruit others besides like Amy and Christina and Jamie or they are going to be tired of weird Mexican food and shows about substance abuse.

Oh, speaking of, I just started this great book on substance abuse called Broken. It's really facinating.

Ok, that's all for now!

Pretty hilarious and probably true

Check out this new blog that my friend Brent found that highlights stuff white people like.

Also, I forgot that in my below post about personal weirdness, I was supposed to challenge other blog-writers to document their personal weirdness. So I officially challenge Simon, Beth, Rochelle, and Andy to keep it in the family.

I am now relaxed

I am sitting here with some Ghirardelli Hot Chocolate I got from San Francisco, with my cat at my side, my blanket on my lap, the space heater on my feet, all the while watching several reruns of my new fav show "Project Runway" (thank you cable!).

It's been a full two weeks.

I've had many things going on with extra clients, internship requirements, not doing schoolwork, then doing lots of schoolwork, then a test, then now....nothing. With spring break around the corner, things are looking brighter!!

Feel free to read on for highlights from the past two weeks!

Fab kitchen courtesy of fab visitors!!

My bro and sister-in-law came to visit the weekend of Feb 16, and it was soooo awesome to have them here! They braved not only a very flat air mattress and my cat's nighttime escapades, but painting my kitchen!! Instead of honey-mustard yellow, it is now a nice sand-colored Gobi Desert with pretty red accents. I finally have been able to hang the curtains that my sister-in-law Shannon made for me. Matt also fixed a ton of stuff around the house and installed a new showerhead in my bathroom. That took him all of two seconds. It would have taken me at least two days to do it probably. I definitely just need a Matt around sometimes!!

We also got to eat some yummy burgers, tots, and Raspberry Wheat Beer at the Vortex, Shannon got to do some shopping at Ten Thousand Villages which is one of my fave stores too, and it wouldn't be a weekend without seeing Rochelle, Steve and Julie.

I am so blessed to have family like this in my life!! Everytime I am in my kitchen I will think of them.

Of course, Matt's constant commentary on everything is pretty funny too. He was not impressed by my kitchen floor, and told me many times I had to get it replaced. Finally he stopped when I asked him to finance it. He also could not believe that we have a cable package without the Do It Yourself network and the NFL network. He was impressed by my car still running with 192,000 miles, and I think he also liked my friends a lot!

Here were some of his funny sayings though from the weekend:
"Oh my God....are we driving to heaven???" (as said about the highest point of spaghetti junction on I-85 South)
"Jess, the 80's called, they want their mood ring back!" (when asked about my ring)

Well Happy Valentines Day to you!

Being single, I don't really celebrate Valentine's Day. However, this year I was able to spend V-day night at dinner with my friend Lisa and a few others at Figo, which probably is my favorite Italian place in Atlanta. Lisa was leaving to spend the next year in Cambodia with International Justice Mission, working to help women who have been exploited through sex trafficking. Lisa just graduated with her Masters in Social Work, which is a very similar degree to mine so we always have lots to talk about! Lisa and I spared everyone our counselor-ese though and just enjoyed the company of her before she flew off to the land of motorcycle taxis!

Of course, I couldn't leave the ultra-cool and ultra-liberal Edgewood area without an incident, again, with my bumper stickers. This time it was from a woman who was walking behind my car with her boyfriend. I was in the car waiting for them to walk around so I could back out. When they were taking a while I looked behind me and noticed they were looking down at my bumper. I knew something was up. They walked by and then she caught my gaze. She proceeded to look me straight in the eye and flip me off. Wow. That was bold. So of course I had to step it up a notch. I rolled down my window and said "I'd be happy to talk about it if you want" referring to my bumper stickers, one of which says "Equal Rights for Unborn Women." She looked back with her mouth wide open. She tried to say something like "what about the women's rights? They have rights too." And I said, "right, I agree, I just think they should be equal. That's why the bumper sticker says that." She just stared, and then her boyfriend led her away. I called out "have a good night."

Whatev Edgewood,.....I am not the one who is close-minded for the love of pete!!

Weirdest of the Weird

Like a way long time ago Ami challenged me to write weird things about myself. When I was at Figo I asked the gals for suggestions because I think all of us think we're pretty weird, and I wasn't sure what things were truly, honestly, uniquely weird enough to put on the blog. Ok, here's what we came up with.

1. I really, really, love feeling words. "Feeling" words are words like precocious, ecstatic, furious, betrayed, terrified, worried, conflicted, etc. In our everyday language, we rarely use these words in conversation. Instead we usually say "I feel like..." or "I feel that...." Pay attention. You'll totally notice it! In my first counseling skills class, we learned how to identify the feelings of our clients based on the content of what they were saying. We were instructed to take "feel like" and "feel that" completely out of our vocab. Yeah. Kind of unrealistic, but I'm getting better! So basically I feel overwhelmed by having to do that. Or somethin'.

So guess what I got a few weeks ago at MARR from my supervisor. A feeling words cube!! You can fold the sides to get different feeling words!!! I love it. It's on my desk.

2. It has been said that I am totally obsessed with my cat. That in a room I am always looking at her or petting her or talking to her or something. I don't think it's overkill, but what can I do. Sox is sooooo cute!! And remember, she's not too spoiled. I've shocked her with a shock mat. Oh yeah, I guess that's pretty weird.

3. I think I have really weird but catch-y sayings. I'm not sure where they come from, and I don't mind when others use them when they want to. I think some of the latest is "doom 2008" & "things that are awesome...that".

4. It's probably weird that I still wear my mood ring that I got in California. It does the coolest things though. I notice it quite often throughout the day. Mood ring usually says "mixed emotions."

5. I like to talk to strangers sometimes, especially if I'm by myself. I just like finding something in common and strike up a conversation. It's fun how easy it can be. I reign it in though sometimes and when I'm tired I don't always do it. People do it back to me though, so I guess somehow there's something that seems approachable. I'm not sure why. That's not always a good thing though because sometimes I'm like "whoa ooooo-ver share people!"

6. I have little fashion or designer sense with no desire to learn about it. I am dressed and my house is designed completely with the help of others. If I had my choice I would always wear t-shirts, jeans, white socks, and my house would have bare walls and lots of free furniture.

If I missed something feel free to comment!!

The ducks let us down

Rochelle..uhhh..reminded me that I never really put pics of her on my blog. In order to remedy this, she likes to send me pics that I not only would NEVER put on my blog, but they're so hideous I normally delete them immediately.

I can't believe I'm doing this, but this is the latest one she sent me. I've seen it before and I believe it's entitled "two ugly babies." Yes. Clearly.

Rochelle and her kids came over Monday night for dinner and duck feeding. Evan was kind of sick, so he wasn't super into it, but Julia and Harrison gave the ducks their best shot with the bread they were throwing. Unfortunately I guess the ducks were like extra full or something because not only did they not paddle over, they actually flew away in the other direction! Whatever ducks, I say. That was some awesome bread.

It's always fun getting to hang out with them and make dinner for someone. I know this is going to sound crazy and I'm about to get a million volunteers, but it does get old just making something lame just for yourself. I love getting to think about what to make and then have someone enjoy it besides me! Maybe one day when I have a family of my own this won't seem special, but for now, it is my treat. Which works great for Rochelle too, since cooking isn't anywhere near her fave activity.

4 things email

This email has been circulating quite a bit in my circles (circulating in my circles...hahaha that's awesome), so I thought I would respond by putting in my blog, thus freeing myself from deciding who will have the privilege to read it....

Four jobs I have had in my life:
Newspaper delivery girl
Orange Julius drink maker
Tour Guide at the Oak Hill Home at Berry
Missionary coach


Four movies I have watched more than once:
What About Bob
About a Boy
Lars and the Real Girl
So I Married an Axe Murderer


Four T.V. shows that I regularly watch:
The Office
The Today Show
LOST
Seinfeld


Four places I have lived:
Lincoln, NE
Arden Hills, MN
Mt. Berry, GA
Hotlanta


Four places I have been:
Brisbane, Australia
Nairobi, Kenya
Tranas, Sweden
Rome, GA


Four people who e-mail me (regularly):
Ringsmuth family birthday reminders
My school
Rochelle
My Kenya teammates


Four of my favorite foods:
Soynuts
Fiber
Quesadillas at Mi Taco
Coffee


Four places I would rather be right now:
Alcatraz
Croatia
On my brother and sister in-law's sweet pontoon
Thailand


Four things I am looking forward to this year:
Graduating from grad school
Working at hopefully just one job and working only during the day
Having more free time
Painting my kitchen

I have a problem

I am so fargin' obsessed with our new cable.

On Sunday at 3:00 I was at home and waiting for my brownies to bake and there were THREE shows I wanted to watch simultaneously:

1) Law & Order Criminal Intent rerun (it was an all-day event on TNT)
2) American's Next Top Model rerun (again, all-day event)
3) The Superbowl pregame show on FOX

So I chose.....

I am Lauren

I think it's true that you never know what you know until you have to train someone else.

I have been at my internship at MARR for nine months now. It's incredibly hard to believe that a) I have been there for that long and b) I am leaving in three months and c) I love working in addictions so much. I still have no idea what kind of job I will end up with in May, but maybe I will find a way to use all of my newfound knowledge.

Apparently there is a way I can go ahead and use that knowledge to benefit others. We have a new intern at MARR who is working in the family program with me and the other staff. I realized last Friday, during our weekly staff meeting, that I will be helping to train her. WHAAAAAAT. Wasn't it just, like, yesterday that I had no idea what a first step was? Or what spirituality means? Or what a white chip is? He-llo!

I guess in some ways I should have been expecting it. The counseling interns sort of rotate in and out depending on their school schedule and requirements. So we always have two interns- one is a veteran and the other is the new kid on the block. When I was hired in May Lauren was my MARR BFF and mentor and she left in December....and now it's February and Dionne is new on the scene. So by default that makes me...the new Lauren?!?!?

It's going to be kind of weird. Dionne's going to listen in on some of my phone calls on speaker so she can get an idea of what I'm saying to these families. She also complimented me on something I said in group the other day when I was trying to help a guy who has a hard time trusting women. I guess I left an impression. Suddenly I realized though the weight of what I'm about to embark on and the fact she will be watching and learning. Have I really learned enough to inflict my knowledge on an unsuspecting intern?? Wow- time has really flown by.

And so as I have had a sponsor, it is now time for me to be the sponsor. In AA they would say "and then you realize that you can use your experience to help others." All I have to do is the next right thing.

Differences- big and small

Well, Jamie and Nathan are now married. Here are some fun pictures from last weekend!

I am officially in "transition" week. Jamie got married and moved out last Saturday, and Amy is currently packing in order to move in this Saturday. So basically, it's just me and Sox for the moment.

It's interesting what you miss when someone you're used to being around, isn't. A few times I would drive home and wonder if Jamie was going to be there. Once I woke up in the middle of the night and thought "huh, I never heard Jamie come home....oh dangit, she's in St. Lucia!" Luckily, the brain does change and will eventually move on from friend/roommate Jamie to just friend Jamie.

I have also been adjusting to my new solo coffee ritual. For the past almost six years, I typically have made coffee for the both Jamie and I each morning. In addition, I am responsible for buying the filters and creamer, and she is responsible for buying and grinding the coffee. As of this morning, I am officially out of coffee. And quite frankly, I have no idea what kind I should buy. Should I stick to what she bought? Or try something new? The options are endless. Never really having to survey the coffee aisle at Kroger, I will be checking that out for sure tonight. I have learned how to grind it though, fortunately. I will also now be buying fat-free creamer instead of sugar free. I think it's actually going to taste worse. Awesomeness. Amy has no input, because she doesn't like coffee.

In addition to getting Amy on Saturday, I am also getting digital cable televison. Comcast is supposed to stop by between 2-5pm. Amy and I came to an agreement that we would bump the household up from basic cable. Rock on! Oh....sweet...TNT and Law and Order reruns...I have missed you so!! I'm also pumped to watch A & E "Intervention" in case I don't get enough of that at MARR. I do have to limit though somehow, because I still have three months to go until I graduate. Maybe Amy will be willing to help me with that...??