Oh Lord, You're Beautiful

this may actually be a common practice, but we did something in Church i had never done before.  we were taking communion together... and when it came time to thank Christ for his body, we actually physically broke the bread (which was a wafer).  maybe this is symbolism i have always missed when we tore bread off of a loaf... but it was powerful for me! i have never considered that before as a physical act: to acknowledge that we were both a part of Christ's breaking and, ourselves, very broken.

Oh, Lord, you're beautiful.

homework.  ALL DAY.  on a saturday. 

charlie.  working through football.  on a saturday.

what can you do?  it's character building moments like these that help define life.

also.  i really wish we were at a certain wedding this evening instead.  it's full of people we love and miss.  this is the hardest part about being far away.

my babies

They are clean, their bed is being washed, and Punkin's stuffed-dog-pillow is, too.  

The (very easy-to-clean) couch it is.
If I wasn't afraid of them running away again, I might let them spend the day outside... it is BEAUTIFUL here!

the 1% or 99%

so this was super interesting. 

have you seen it floating around the internet?  at first i really appreciated it.  especially with how debt is such a crazy-massive problem in the states.  i've always been on the conservative side of money.  i love to save up and always have.  fortunately, i'm married to another penny-pincher, so we can pinch our pennies together.  which i suppose is good because we have been... very poor.  ever since we got married.

but i guess i should define poor.  one or both of us has been in school since we got married.  meaning at any point when either of us was able to work full time... we weren't making much.  but i'll get back to this later.

it's really easy to judge.  really easy.  charlie and i were both so blessed.  both sets of our parents felt college (undergrad) was so important that they saved and put us through college... and paid for housing and food and cars along the way.  that's pretty huge.  and puts us in pretty remarkable situations.  situations most people could only dream of having.  and, until i started grad school and excluding our trailer, even with the only full-time job we've collectively had being a close-to-minimum-wage job... we didn't have any debt. 

it would be very easy for us to think we did this on our own.  and we partly did.. we're conservative and spend carefully.  we don't buy ourselves expensive things... we're always thinking about the future.  i was able to get in-state tuition and half of the rest of it covered with an assistantship. BUT.  did we "pull ourselves up by our own bootstraps"?  did we do this by our own power and internal will?

not really.  we were born into really fortunate families.  we were given good educations. we have good role models and amazing support systems.  we have encouraging parents who made sacrifices for us.  we haven't earned a ton of money since we've been married... but we are very wealthy. charlie has had land and employment in his backyard. 

so yes, our decisions have been important... but no.  we can't take credit for the hand of cards we were dealt. 
and sometimes a little debt for school is okay... i'm so thankful i can take out loans so i can learn how to be a nutritionist and do what i love! 
i can't think of a smooth way to end this blog.  sooooooo abrupt stop now.

hungry for the hunger games

 dorkiest title ever.  i'm so clever.

what do i have to say?
 best books ever.  LOVED them.  couldn't put them down.  so good.

 

aaaaand they're making a moooovie!  march 23rd, 2012.  i'm going to be there.

i feel good about how they cast katniss.  she looks like how i imagined her.  i know that's a hard thing any time they turn a book into a movie... because it's hard to capture the character's essence and make them into a real person that fits everyone's expectations... but i think she looks like a katniss.

i know they said gale was good-looking in the books, but i don't think he should be so much cuter than peeta!! but i guess he looks serious and angsty so he'll probably be a great gale.

i know i shouldn't have a crush on a 17 year old boy from a young adult fiction book, but i just love peeta.  and we'll just have to see if he lives up to my expectations in the movie.  i guess i imagined him really big... because he's always protecting katniss.  but who knows?  maybe he'll be great and i'll love him, too.

anyway.  this was a super-dorky post.  but i am really excited about the movies coming out and very grateful to susan for letting me borrow all of her books!
now to find something new to read...

psalm 42

Psalm 42 from Shift Worship on Vimeo.
This is a video we watched in church this morning that I thought might be encouraging to someone.

New Living Translation (NLT)

Psalm 42

For the choir director: A psalm^[a] of the descendants of Korah.

 ¹ As the deer longs for streams of water,
      so I long for you, O God.
 ² I thirst for God, the living God.
      When can I go and stand before him?
 ³ Day and night I have only tears for food,
      while my enemies continually taunt me, saying,
      “Where is this God of yours?” ⁴ My heart is breaking
      as I remember how it used to be:
   I walked among the crowds of worshipers,
      leading a great procession to the house of God,
   singing for joy and giving thanks
      amid the sound of a great celebration!
 ⁵ Why am I discouraged?
      Why is my heart so sad?
   I will put my hope in God!
      I will praise him again—
      my Savior and ⁶ my God!
   Now I am deeply discouraged,
      but I will remember you—
   even from distant Mount Hermon, the source of the Jordan,
      from the land of Mount Mizar.
 ⁷ I hear the tumult of the raging seas
      as your waves and surging tides sweep over me.
 ⁸ But each day the Lord pours his unfailing love upon me,
      and through each night I sing his songs,
      praying to God who gives me life.
 ⁹ “O God my rock,” I cry,
      “Why have you forgotten me?
   Why must I wander around in grief,
      oppressed by my enemies?”
 ¹⁰ Their taunts break my bones.
      They scoff, “Where is this God of yours?”
 ¹¹ Why am I discouraged?
      Why is my heart so sad?
   I will put my hope in God!
      I will praise him again—
      my Savior and my God!

Dear Charlie (and Louisiana),

  






I am sitting in a
computer lab waiting for you to get off of work, and it has me thinking about our new life together.  Not even two months ago we were cozy in our little home with our country life and Grand Isle and crabbing and MooMoo and tons of family functions and taking the dogs running in the swamps and birding and our crazy-flexible schedules.




Now, we're cold and living in a neighborhood with the dogs inside and have instant access to parks and lakes and dog parks and gardens and museums and waterfalls and malls and every restaurant in the whole world.  The land of many apples and orchards.  And living with one car (Seriously.  I can't believe we did it.) And you working a job that has hours (and spending 12 hours a day looking for jobs and interviewing with people you don't know and who don't know you which I know is 100 worlds apart from where you came).  And me having 10238234 meetings every week. And you venturing out and finding places to shoot and hunt and buy local produce.  And learning our area like you were born here.



That's a lot of change.  And you did it for me.  Even mostly with a smile on your face. 

You gave up a lot, Charlie.  And I recognize that and I respect that. 

 There was a time when I was still learning you (I suppose I will always still be learning you) when I was trying to determine what your values were.  I never doubted that land and Louisiana was up there on your list.  But this sacrificial action made your words come alive (as you're always encouraging me to look at your actions as a means of determining your motives.) 

  
You've never given me a reason to doubt you.  You are more solid a rock than I could ever deserve.  And you literally are being my foundation during this time.  Thank you for your sacrifices.  I genuinely pray that this time will be as beneficial and wonderful for you as it has been so far for me.  I pray that this time wouldn't be about ME, but about US.  Because I'm rather fond of us, Charlie.  There is no one I would rather spend time with and share my life with than you.  Just think about where we came from... think about how God brought us together.  That US is pretty fantastically destined to do great things and love a lot of people along the way :)

(Oh, and happy late birthday :))

really?!

I have been in Minnesota for around a month-and-a-half now.  Close to two.

School started off slowly, but has really taken off.  And this program is AWESOME.  Can I just tell you the things I am already involved in??

1. Classes. Including Medical Nutrition Therapy and Public Health Nutrition Leadership. Who ever knew I would think tube-feeding was so interesting?

2. My field experience (hours going toward my RD license.)  I am working with a program called Cooking Matters where we teach low-income individuals (moms and grandmothers in my class) about how to cook healthy, low-cost meals and about nutrition.

3. The Latino Infant Nutrition Initiative.  I haven't gotten too far into this one yet, but it is a great organization.  I am helping them launch an obesity month in Puerto Rico including a march through the city (probably San Juan...?)  Doesn't this sound crazy?!

4. Latino and Hispanics in Dietetics and Nutrition... I did a little bit of research for one of their publications.

5. I am also on a group dedicated to abolishing the sales of raw milk in Minnesota... people don't realize it's pasteurized for a reason, apparently.

6. The Philips Neighborhood Clinic.  I am going to be volunteering in a low-income neighborhood and acting as a student nutrition clinician in a free, student-run clinic.  I'll be working with preceptors and other students in different disciplines (med students, PT students, social workers, etc) to help people in the community!

7. I will also be assigned to a community outreach site in the Philips Neighborhood.  I asked to work in a meal-program of some sort.

But seriously.  How crazy and amazing is this list of things?  And this is only the first semester.  I am so blessed to be given all these experiences and really meaningful opportunities to make a difference in people's lives as I learn to be a dietitian.  And how awesome is it that most of my learning is hands-on??  I do spend quite a bit of time on homework and studying, but the majority of my time goes into personal interactions with people.  Awesome.

corn soup

i know we have batted the idea around of using our blogs to share recipes... and since ashleigh asked for a corn soup recipe, i thought this might be a good time to start sharing!


3T butter/oil
3T flour
1 onion, chopped
1 bell pepper, chopped
1/4 cup fresh parsley, chopped
3 garlic cloves ,chopped
1 can rotel tomatoes, diced
1 lb shrimp, peeled and de-veined
5 cups chicken broth
1lb frozen corn (you know we love corn.)
salt, pepper, cayenne to taste

make a roux with butter and flour. add onion, bell pepper and cook until softened (5 min?). add parsley and 2 cups chicken broth. slowly add the juice of the rotel tomatoes, stirring well. add the garlic. add the tomatoes and cook a little. add the rest of the chicken broth slowly bringing to a simmer. add the corn and simmer for about 30 minutes. add the shrimp and simmer until shrimp are cooked through.

we add enough red pepper and black pepper to make ours pretty spicy.  we also cut our shrimp into bite-sized pieces so we can have shrimp with every bite!

(we really have like 12 containers of this in our freezer. we're such corn-and-freezer-loving-loups :))

IT'S FRIDAY!!!!!

(also... epic fail that i failed to blog about my dear husband on his actual birthday... but seeing as he despises his actual birthday anyhow... i'll blog about him on his non-birthday.  aka sometime this weekend.)

well THAT sure expains a lot...

when i was in college i took a "personality" test called Strengths Finder for iLead.  they have narrowed down strengths into 26 categories, and after taking an assessment, they determine what your top 5 are.  the premise is that people are much more successful and productive when they focus on their strengths rather than their weaknesses. 

when i was in college my strengths were:
achiever
connectedness (that the world has greater purpose and we're all a part of that plan)
input (it's like collecting things... including information or knowledge)
learner
intellection (deep thought)


I actually kind of hated my results.  i felt like they were very "me" focused and that... basically... i was a big nerd.  i always complained to my boss, Becci about this.  i told her i didn't like my "strengths" and that i didn't see how they could help me or benefit anyone else either.

well.  fast-forward 6 years and here i am in grad school in a Public Health Nutrition Leadership class and they've asked us to take it.  so i decided to take it again rather than just depend on my old results.  i took the advice of our teacher and tried to answer "extremes" on the scales on the test rather than answering moderately.  i was really nervous when i pressed submit because i was afraid i would get the same old nerdy scores.

but then they came up.
i'm still achiever.  of course.  that one will probably plague me forever.

i'm still connectedness.  this one is just part of me, too.  i see life as a very connected thing.  i see people and people groups as needing one another and being part of the same great story.

i'm still intellection.  which i don't think i understood when i took the test back then. but i definitely spend a LOT of time just thinking and processing.  everything.

and then i added two great ones:
Developer and Strategy.

I want everyone to know their potential and have an opportunity to reach it.  ...and strategy. with every single thing that happens... i think of every single outcome.  my brain follows these webs of "what-if" to the n-th degree.  about everything.

this explains so much!!  strategy + intellection = scary.
every conversation i have i dissect and review it.  i think of everything i could have said or they could have said and how that would have changed the conversation.  i think about everything that has happened and how if one thing had changed, it would have changed everything.  i think about the future, and how each decision i make has a ripple effect.  it's like i see these mazes of possibility.

in some ways this makes me sound pessimistic because i can see potential barriers.  or because i can think of every single bad thing that could ever happen. ever.  what i've got to get better at is putting plans into place so i (or someone else) can overcome the barriers i can see out there in the future.  i've always kind of felt guilty that my brain works this way, but it has been such a relief to understand myself a little better and to know it's not a BAD thing!  i can use it as a strength!

if you've read this far, i owe you something nice.  and you are an impressive friend.  my maze-like brain just needed to unload this :)