adventure.

stephanie: charlie.... i'm so excited we're going on this adventure together {meaning moving to minnesota}

charlie: adVENture?! we are NOT adventurous.

s: i'm adventurous!

c: no, you're not.

s: welllll what do you call going to thailand for a month not knowing anyone? or going to costa rica for a semester without a real plan? or how about moving to louisiana without knowing anyone but you?

c: that's not adventure.

s: what would YOU call it?

c: mmmm... not adventure.

s: wellllll then. what do YOU call adventure?

c: adventure is waking up at 6 in the morning and drinking coffee.

s: so i'm only adventurous on the days we have an early patient at work?

c: noooo... because you also have to work outside.

s: sooo... you have to wake up early, drink coffee, and work outside. THAT'S adventure?

c: well. you could also just be outside.

s: well, i'm glad we have that settled.


{LOVE my husband.}

minnesota.

soon, we will be moving here.




you may ask? welllllllllll
i was accepted into the university of minnesota's masters in public health nutrition (along with the Coordinated Masters program in dietetics) for the fall of 2011!!! orientation starts august 31st, and classes begin september 6th.

i have wanted to do this for SO long... and God has truly opened every door along the way for me. from the time charlie and i decided that i needed to pursue this, i had one month to pull everything together, from finding programs i was qualified for, to taking (and passing) the GRE, to finding ridiculously specific online courses for me to take this spring, references, transcripts, one month to do EVERYTHING. and, at times, i honestly felt like i was doing it for nothing... i had no confidence that i would get in. but i promised God that as He opened doors, i would walk through them.

this program is a really organic fit for me. when i was at the garbage dump community in Nicaragua, the cry of my heart was exactly what this program is doing and teaching. i am SO thankful for supportive family and an AMAZING husband who is willing to leave the only thing he's ever known to go on this adventure with me.

Thank you, God, for giving us the desires of our heart.

(nerd alert)

sooo i'm avoiding my biochemistry homework. i get kind of freaked out thinking about learning it.. maybe just because of its name... or maybe because i couldn't remember any organic chemistry when i tried to hop into organic 2 at lsu. but this one's online, and i'm just SURE the motivation is gonna hit me like a ton of bricks any minute now.

however, i did read the first chapter and had a nice little picture.

so one thing i DO remember from organic chemistry is that carbon is required for life. if you're living, you've got lots and lots of carbon. chains of it. hooked together. (and i know this is super dorky) but it got me thinking. carbon is so perfectly fit for this job because, in its outer shell, it has 4 valence (outermost) electrons. which means it has an innate desire to bond with four other atoms.

God created the basic element of life with a need for... relationship. carbon is incomplete by itself. but when it comes together with other carbons and oxygens and hydrogens... life happens.

an attempt at vulnerability

i'm not perfect.
(although sometimes i try to appear that way...)
i want people to like me.
sometimes i try to fit in.
i can be stubborn and am almost always opinionated.
my greatest fear is rejection.
i am anxious about change.
i get anxious about feeling like things will NEVER change.
i am very emotional.
VERY.

this video is worth your time.

stalling out (and far from over)

MuteMath - Stall Out (Flesh And Bones Electric Fun DVD) part 8 from Alex Khozyaskij on Vimeo.

how lovely are your dwelling places, oh Lord of Hosts! my flesh and my heart sing for joy to the living God! psalm 84:1-2

steph: the white girl

for christmas, my dear squeenchy mother-in-law gave us 3 of her favorite books. one of them?
he's the author of "stuff white people like"... this is like a sequel. welllllll. i started browsing the topics in the book and laughed heartily over and over again. I AM SO WHITE!

although there were MANY funny things i recognize in the broader white community, here are a few of the things i was shocked peg me as a white girl.

LIKING:
-foreign accents
-unpaid internships (costa rica! and i wouldn't have wanted to be paid for it!)
-punk rock (apparently we've all unashamedly dabbled in it at one point?)
-promising to learn a new language (i REALLY want to nail down Spanish.)

it only gets weirder. white people like
-BERRY PICKING? how did he know?!
-community supported agriculture?! (charlie and i have been planning out how he could start one of these!)
-whole wheat (duh.)
-anthropology (but their stuff is SOOO pretty!)
-monty python (although he EVEN knew women hate it because the men in their life quote it FAR too often!)
-losing weight (how is that ALWAYS on my list of things to do?)
-trader joe's! (i've never even BEEN there and love it!)
-products made by people named tom (but they give away shoes!)
-world music (arahdna, anyone?)
-sweaters (has anyone seen my cardigan collection?)
-road trips (charlie and i are planning one up to canada! uhhh, melissa, leslye, can we stop by?!)
-not vaccinating children (maybe not completely. but we're going to seriously look into it.)
-swimming (swimming lessons? for 7 years?)
-HUMMUS! (really? only white people?)
-heirloom tomatoes! (i've been asking charlie to plant some!)
-where the wild things are! (i bought that for my fox-e nephew!)
-long distance relationships (umm... maybe he modeled this book after my life?)
-growing their own food (charlie's ordering spring and summer vegetable seeds like a maniac. if we don't end up selling in a farmer's market, we're going to be eating a fully vegetable diet!)
-the office
-being offended (for other people! i take a lot personally even when it has nothing to do (directly) with me)
-thailand (seriously?!)

almost 40 of the 92 things i strongly identified with. i think 40 is more than coincidence.

ha. i always knew i was pasty. hope you were as humored by this as me!

twothousandeleven

so this is the new year...
i don't feel any different.

but i did want to post, since i haven't at all this year.

i've been on a hot tea kick.


anytime my tummy hurts ^
in the morning with a little bit of splenda and milk^

^mixed with v

right before bed with a little bit of honey^