Bummer.

*Sigh*

I've been watching this job posting in Jackson, LA now for a while. It's for a dietitian at a mental health facility that houses inpatient, outpatient, and residential patients. I've been thinking about it and been really interested, but hadn't applied because it's a while before I graduate.

But after talking to a few people about it, I realized how much I think I would enjoy this job, so I decided that today I would apply. I found the listing this morning and committed to filling out an application after classes today.

Well. It's after classes today and in the 4-5 hours between this morning and now, the posting has been taken down!!  I'm so sad!  It would have been a long-shot, but goodness me.  I would have enjoyed working with that population.

INFP/J

I'm slacking off on posting.  I like to post every day just for myself... to look back... to remember.

Today I submitted the final draft of my masters project!  This is a big deal, yall.  All I have left with that is making my powerpoint and my oral defense on May 17th. Almost there.


Is it ever strange to you to think about how you can have the same "fight" (or issue or disagreement or whatever) over and over again? Mine is about cooking. It doesn't take ANY WORK at all for Charlie to hit that button and set me off. No work a'tall.  We had a nice talk last night where I think we actually communicated. That was good.  I also made him take a Meyer's Briggs personality test and we both saw ourselves in the descriptions of our personalities. He's critical/is terrible with affirmation. I crave it and shrivel up like a dead plant if I don't get it. Soooooooooo.

We have some work to do.  Always will.  But it's good to be able to read something like that and think, "Oh, he isn't just being mean" or "Oh, she isn't just a crazy lady" (which I KNOW is the exact phrase that floats through his head).

You can take it here.

y'all.

today was an unbelievably wonderful day.

today was the first day we've reached 60 degrees, and it actually got up to 70. AMAZING.

i wore sandles to my meeting this morning. and just a cardigan. no coat. no jacket. and i was comfortable. when i got home, charlie was in the front of the house with the dogs. and we just sat there for an hour and soaked in the sun. the beautiful, glorious, wonderful, life-giving sun.

and then we got wild and opened every window in our entire house and we were hyper and hi-fiving each other like it was going out of style.

then we went shopping and charlie didn't complain one time. and then we saw a movie that just so happened to be set in Arkansas and we have driven by the town it was filmed in 100 times and kept pointing at the screen and laughing and giggling. it's called "mud" and it was a fantastic film. and then we looked it up at the island in the film was filmed on the mississippi river just outside of eudora! what are the odds?



and then we came home and sat with the dogs on the front porch and watched the neighborhood. i would have sworn yesterday that we lived on an abandoned street, but today everyone was outside. everyone was enjoying this blessed thing we call spring. that you really can't quite appreciate as fully if you don't have a bitter, terrible, miserable winter. it's true. now i know.

minnesoooota is cold.

it's just been an amazing day. weather. quality time with charlie and the puppies. a good movie. just everything.

today was beautiful

hopefully that means my attitude will tone it down a little.

we have some exciting news.  hopefully i'll be able to post it tomorrow... just waiting for one little thing first.

get excited. corgi-of-the-day finals week is coming up soon! (the last one ever... whaaaaa!)  i know it's all of your favorite time(s) of the year!!

Gracie needs a home! With a Loup!

you're hired

i went to see a career counselor today.  he knows a lot, and he was very helpful. unfortunately, it doesn't look like there's a ton of jobs posted online for dear ole' loosiana. i'm pretty sure everyone likes to keep things as internal and non-techy as possible. poor websites. confusing websites. yeeeeeah.

anyone have a connection i can use?  we couldn't even find one minnesota alumni in the state. THE ENTIRE STATE! seriously. i need a connection.

my posts have been boring lately.  i'm sorry.



anyone want to buy me this bathing suit?



i hear it's going to get up into the balmy 60s (possibly 70!!!!!) this weekend.

sass

I think either my tolerance for stress is going down, or my level of stress is going up.  not sure which.

my defense is officially Friday May 17th (shout-out to Melissa!!) yay!  right before graduation. i'm pumped to be able to -really- celebrate graduation at graduation.

i need sunshine.

and a vacation.

and assurance that Punkin can live inside with me forever. she's 10. she's much older than i wish.

sass-a-frass

word(s)

When I work in MSWord, I always set the zoom to 120%.  I do that because that's how my dad taught me to use Word. And I always feel like the view is too large or too small if it's set on anything else.

I'm going to have to go buy some Vitamin D tomorrow.  We had enough supplements to last us from November through February. BUT. It's still winter. VERY WINTER. It makes me feel good that every real Minnesotan is complaining about it and saying this is the worse spring in history. Because I agree. Vitamin D, here I come.

I ate mini-eggs for supper last night. Bleck. Then I remembered that I'm a nutrition masters student. And then I made cookies?!

I just shaved Punkin. The weather betta behave itself now!

Someone asked me what 3 words best describe her.  So I asked her to return the favor. She said "Honest, Level-headed, and Radiant."  If you ask nicely I'll give you three words :) (But I may make you send 3 words back!)

ALSO... Please read this...

Homesick

That about covers it.

Explosions

My brain is going 3000 different directions at once. At 1000 miles per hour. Do the math on THAT.

There's so much happening with Boston and with West, Texas and with an earthquake north of Japan and blah. bleck.

Aaaand then my list of things to do today which may or may not include getting someone "excused from their job"? Sooooooo.

I just can't concentrate right now. I've been going from assignment to assignment to masters project to emails (that I actually need to answer) to scheduling appointments to reading journal articles to making a rubric for the class I TA to listening to the news I have on in the living room to looking outside at the 6-8 inches of snow we have to scheduling my Masters Defense for May!! Whaaaat! It's still snowing, peeps. My brain is exploding.

Love one another

I think I've probably had a post titled that before.  My family has a video of me wandering around the house singing, "Looooove one anoooooooothuw" to no tune in particular.  But I am dancing. So that's pretty cool.

I had another weird bus ride home today.  It's snowing outside. Heavy, wet, fat snowflakes. The sidewalks are super-slippery. It's just an allaround yucky day for April 18th. I wore my big winter coat.

When I got to the bus stop the little bus coverings were crammed full of people, so I just stood in the snow letting the snow blow into my back and legs. My coat's pretty warm, and since the wind was blowing against my back, it wasn't too bad.  But I watched a man in a wheelchair sitting outside in the snow. He looked Native and he also looked like he was possibly homeless.  He didn't look like he had enough strength to wheel himself with his arms, so he was just scuttling around by shuffling his feet.  He rolled by me, and stopped next to a young student who was smoking a cigarette.  The man in the wheelchair looked at the student and said, "Hey, can I buy a cigarette from you?"  He was shaking change he held in his hand. The student didn't look at him. He asked again, "Hey... can I please buy a cigarette from you?" Still nothing. And one final time, he said it louder because he though the student just wasn't hearing him.

Nothing.

Not a look.

Not a glance.

No acknowledgement he was even there.

The man started scuttling back toward me in the wheelchair.  I called out to him, "If I had a cigarette, I'd give it to you!"  He smiled at me.  My public health-self had to follow that up with, "You know those are bad for you!"  He nodded.  He then asked if I had an extra quarter so he could afford his bus fare. I gave him one.

When the bus pulled up, the students all started racing for the bus. Yes, it was snowing. Yes, I raced toward the bus, too. But we all just... went around him.

Not a look.

Not a glance.

No acknowledgment he was even there.

When I entered the bus, I was greeted by a woman sitting in the row behind me. An older black woman with wild grey hair.  "Well, hello, darlin! I haven't seen you in so long!  Has it been years? Howya doin?"  Having worked with elderly folks with dementia before, I went right along with her. How are you? How have you been? Where are you headed? Do you know where that is?

"Oh, dahlin I been prayin for you ever since we last met."  She then asked me if I had a dollar.  I didn't, so I gave her a bag of almonds. She wrinkled up her nose and said she couldn't chew them because of her arthritis.  I believe her. I also believe her teeth probably couldn't handle them.  But it was all I had (and I prefer giving food over money, anyhow).

I got some strange looks on the bus. I'm not sure if they thought I really knew her or not.

Every day when I leave class, I ask God which way I should go.  There are a few different paths, and I always want to take the one He wants me on. I'm pretty sure I went His way today.

I was just overcome with... how much God loves us. I really felt like I was feeling a portion of the compassion God feels for people today. Not that I do it perfectly. Not that I do it every time (I probably miss it more than naught). And not that I feel it that strongly every day. But when I looked at this man in the wheelchair and this older woman, I could see God in them. I could see God's fingerprint... His image in them. His love for them.

Let's look for that in one another. Let's not look through people, but AT them. God, teach me how to do that.

You are more beautiful than you think

Watch this



 I think we all have a long way to go.

Aaaaand this is just ridiculous.



Keep watching the video. It gets better as it goes.

Meet Punkin's Baby.

Let's call her... Baby Punkin. I can't come up with anything clever right now...

Boston

Tons of news about the Boston Marathon today. Not many answers yet. Lots of people grieving the condition of humanity. A few reminding us that a small group (probably) committed the travesty--by hundreds at the race themselves raced into the chaos to help their fellow man. Is there evil in the world? Absolutely. But it's good practice to search for the face of God in the midst of it.

bones

Fabric Softener

Fabric softener. That's all it took.

We found a plant-based brand, so it shouldn't have all the chemicals in it.  And now our laundry smells clean instead of smelling like mold.

THANK THE LORD.

I wasn't handling stinky clean laundry very well.

I think next time I'll just make my own detergent though. This has been a PAIN.

I trimmed my bangs today. It makes me miss my hairdresser from home :) Because my hair has also faded from the -lovely- highlights she put in, and is now again mousey-brown. I like being blonde! SUN, WHERE ARE YOU?!

I'm also loving the BUN trend that's going around now.  I LOVE buns, apparently.



I discovered these little beauties that make making buns (with my HUGE wad of hair) a little (read: lot) easier.


Love it.

silence is golden.

The elephants that live upstairs are a'stompin.

I really wish I knew what they did up here. How can ANYONE make that much noise? HOW? Do you never sit down? Do you spend every second at home either blaring music or throwing furniture around your house?

ALSO. How does one have BLARING music on until 3AM (why don't her roomies complain?) and then get up at 6AM and make just as much noise.

HOW DOES SHE DO IT? GO BACK TO NEW YORK CITY WHERE THEY LIKE NOISE.

help!

So, after my Environmental Health class, I decided Charlie and I needed natural laundry detergent.

Well. Natural laundry detergent from Whole Foods (the cheapest one) DOES NOT SMELL GOOD.

In fact, after I wash our clothes and sniff them (using a naturally scented "fabric softener" too!) our clothes smell closer to neutral mold than clean clothes.

HOW DO I FIX THIS?  I can't bring myself to throw it out.

I've tried adding some drops of essential oils (both rosemary and peppermint) to the wash and dry cycles.

NOTHING.

heeeeeelp meeeeeeee

atmosphere

tired.

today i found out i start my summer internship on june 17th. yay!

i also found out that i get to go to a public health conference in kansas city from june 9-11. just in time to ride up to minnesota with my mom (and maybe aunts and cousin!)

it all came together perfectly today.

that's how it seems to work. chaoschaosuncertaintychaosuncertaintychaoschaos

and then clarity. all at once.

right now i'm thinking about a certain person i love who needs to be reassured of this.

after chaos comes clarity.

after uncertainty comes sense from it all.

i'm speaking that into the atmosphere.

I am about to eat lava cake.

yessssssssss.

it's yucky weather here.

but it's got to warm up sometime.

i finally got the name and contact info for my preceptor this summer.

yay!

maybe i'll have a start date soon.

i love my family so much.

all of 'em.

This represents Crystal AND Fox :) 

I have a very pretty mama. I wish I could have her in LA to walk the crawfish ponds with

sisters are the best

Baby Caleb (Oct 2010)

These people :)

My Auntie

We need an update with BABIES!

The best grandmother I've ever known

seeeeesters. we're going to be wild in NRLA.

daddy

I love these two

GREAT parents!

who teach us about great love

Cuzzies!

Fox!

the newest member

and the second newest member

a first bath

Welcome Baby Asher

Dear Baby Asher,
I'm sorry I'm a month late writing you a welcome note.  I was able to come visit you when you were about 2 weeks old.  That was so special.  You were precious and peacefully sleeping on your mom when I arrived in Kansas City. And you were pretty much sweet and peaceful the entire time I was visiting.

Asher, I want you to know how much you are loved. You have two AMAZING parents, and you have a pretty cool big brother, too.  Having a big sibling is fun... I'm sure you're going to love it. Most of the time. (At least that's how I felt about having your mom for a big sister :))

You are so special and unique and God has such good plans for your life.  We pray that you will always know him in such an intimate, special way and that you'll look to Him for wisdom, for guidance, for joy, and for peace.

I can't wait to watch you grow up and develop your personality and your interests and your future.  We're so happy you've joined the family!!

Love,
Aunt Stephie, Uncle Charlie (and the dogs)

1 month of classes to go

Let's see.

 5 more Papers. (including finishing my Master's Project. It's 63 pages including appendices right now. WHAAAT!)

 4 more Presentations (including my Master's Project).

 3 more assignments.

 AND THEN I'M FINISHED WITH THE CLASSES PART OF SCHOOL!

 Not tooooo bad, my friends. Not too bad.

 ALSO.. a little happy birthday shout-out to my Louisiana mama. Happy birthday!
 

Maple syrup

I forgot to blog yesterday.

Sad.  I was close to completing the challenge.  Oh well.  I kind of like blogging every day despite the challenge.  I love to look back on past years and remember the silly little things.

The other day I spoke on the phone with a girl who was trying to decide where to go to grad school.  She had just found out she was accepted into Minnesota, and had some questions for me to sort through making such a huge decision about the next 2 years of her life.  She asked questions about lodging and transportation and field experiences and relationship dynamics within the program and financial aid and the atmosphere of the program.

I took me back to 2011 when I was accepted into the program and had all the same questions and was excited and nervous and ohmygoodnessOURentireworldwasabouttochange.

And now, 2 years later I'm getting ready to graduate and I've made great friends and had such a great experience and connected with AMAZING professors and leaders in the field and God has provided the money and means we've needed at EVERY step of the way and somehow moving to the cold North has taught Charlie a ton of things he'll be able to use down south.

It's been such an incredible journey.

One I wouldn't give up for anything.

GIVE ME A BABY!

I must be starting my period soon.

time management

Lately, I have really enjoyed staying on top of (ahead of) my work.  It's been an amazing feeling since last semester I thought I was going to drown.

I've already finished the research and powerpoint for a presentation I have NEXT Wednesday. And started the research for a paper I have to write due on May 8th. WHAAAAAAT!

I think it's my Masters Project that's doing it to me. It's just so nice when you are actually able to stay on top of things.

Nooooow... if only I could integrate this into my cleaning schedule...

Farewell

I think the loud upstairs neighbor is back. (She's been out of the state since Charlie and I got back from our amazing winter vacation).

I can tell because I hear:

1) a dog running around

2) stomping like an elephant

3) and LOUD MUSIC.

Byebye peace and quiet.  I will miss you.