April, May, June updates.

This could get really long really fast, so I am going to hit the highs and lows.

The Highs

• Finishing my final spring semester in seminary.
• Winnning free tickets to meet Train and see them at a private concert. (Did I care that I had something like 20 pages of papers due that week? NO! I got to meet Train and be front row at the concert.)



Me and Train

•  Slowing life down long enough to receive love.
• A Saturday afternoon in Tarrytown exploring Sunnyside capped by lunch at Silver Tips and movies in the evening with J & L.
• Finding a new (and much larger, and cheaper) place to live.
• Learning and absorbing new truths about myself and God at the speed of sound (or so it feels).
• Seeing God provide over and over and over.

The Lows

• Getting incredibly, life threateningly ill...and finding out it will take me until at least the end of August to recover fully.
• Having to pack to move. (I hate that process.)
• Weekly doctor's appointments.
• Large amounts of change all at one time.

Its been a crazy period of time. And slowly, I'll have to catch you all up. But that will happen at a later date.

Tonight, I move. I'm excited and exhausted by the thought. I'll see about getting some picks of the chaos and posting them.

My list

I am incredibly overdue for an update. I am sorry. There has been alot happening since April, and really, keeping family and close friends in the loop has felt impossible at times, let alone blogging. So... I will try to get an update up in the next two weeks.

In the meantime... I have been going through a period of ridculous growth and change personally/spiritually/emotionally. Admittedly, sometimes its a two steps forward, three massive steps back kind of process, but that doesn't mean there isn't progress. Amidst this myraid of change, I realized that I need to remind myself of a few things. So in my journal one evening, I wrote a list of 15 things I needed to remember every single day.

Please note as you read my list, that, well, its not YOUR list. These are not things I am reminding you of, they are for me. They are not meant to be adopted by the general public. But it may be helpful to create your own list. What things do you need to be reminded of as you live life daily to be a healthier, more whole person? Where is God at work? What do friends tell you all the time...enough you should probably start reminding yourself and take the pressure off them? Start there and make you own list.

Without further adieu...my list:

1. You have permission to say no.

2. There will always be more things on my to do list than you have energy for. Prioritize, do what you can, and be prepared to get very little done sometimes.

3. You will fail. Get over it.

4. It's okay to walk away for a minute.

5. Use  your words. People can't read my mind and its not kind to always make them depend on your body language and facial expressions.

6. You become a jerk when you're tired. Get enough sleep, or make sure you can leave a situation before you become a jerk.

7. If you need something, ask. The worst they can say is no. (And they are allowed to use that word too.)

8. Eat every couple of hours. You think clearer...and this also helps keep you from becoming a jerk.

9. People you trust will hurt you. It doesn't mean they don't love you and it doesn't mean they aren't worth it.

10. If you think you need medicine (ibprophen, asthma meds, cold medicine), take it. You probably needed it three hours ago.

11. People don't like someone who is perfect, they like someone who is flawed like they are. Messed up is okay and you don't have to work so hard to hide it.

12. It's not always about you.

13. You can't change you. Only God can change you, and only if you let Him.

14. One thing at a time. Seriously, you are not superwoman.

15. People love you. You don't have to prove you are worth loving.