I am glad. Very, very glad.
Glad, not because absolutely everything is alright with the world [which is not the case], but that I have people and friends and tools to remind me of what is lovely and good.
I read about the tragedy at the Indiana State fair and my heart hurts so deeply for the families of the 5 unsuspecting people who were killed there. It made me think about how absolutely fragile our lives are. Things can happen in a split second and change everything. 5 people were about to watch a Sugarland concert, having the times of their lives on a summer night at the FAIR and a gust of wind blew the stage over and crushed them. It was a freak accident, something they would never have seen coming. That really makes me think, we can't just assume that we have forever to go through the motions and hope that life's little quirks will work out in our favor. Time is moving. It doesn't stop for our pity parties or our moments of self-depreciation. Those, in the long run, are like stubbing your toe or pricking your finger. We can't dwell on dumb stuff. I'm not saying that we should live every day being paranoid that "this is the end as we know it." That would be stupid and completely counterproductive. What I am saying though is that we can't waste time hoping that we get dealt a good hand. We have today, right now, to make choices, however big or small, that will dictate how we live. So wake up, know that today, a smile instead of moping can catch someone's eye and remind them that happiness isn't temporary or imagined. Happiness and real LIVING are conscious choices. The nitty gritty, splintery details that bother us as we go through the motions are hardly significant when we look at the big picture. We can spread hope and love and true joy just by deciding to accept that our lives are not our own to tailor and custom-fit to make us comfortable. We are supposed to challenge ourselves with hard decisions and strive to live and love foolishly, without holding back, without stopping to think about how convenient or comfortable something is. Just do what expresses love and joy and true service to this gift of life that we have. No hesitation, time won't wait for you to make up your mind.
I want to appreciate, I want to love without lacking, I want to hold nothing back and live how God truly intended. God bless and comfort those families who lost loved ones this weekend. Help them know that in You lies comfort and hope, and that only through trust in You, they can accept, appreciate and carry on the beautiful, temporary gift of living.
Sunday, August 14, 2011
Friday, August 12, 2011
Me gusta mi vida :)
Hoodie weather starting at 7pm this week
An evening run, however slow it may have been, with Annie
5 mile walks home from work
laughing until I cried because of something I can't even remember
Dwight Schrute
Crossword puzzles
My mother
A conscience
Sore ab muscles
Adorable kids who I get snotty-nosed hugs from every day at work. I love nannying.
The ability to mass-produce grilled cheese for 6 kids in 20 minutes using one griddle.
Becca
These are some major things I am grateful for this week. I'm noticing my tendency to be prone to ungrateful mopiness for no apparent reason, and I don't like that about myself. I get to spend 5 days a week with 6 amazing, beautiful, insane, hilarious kids. I have learned a world of patience and wit. [Kids can out-wit you soooo easily]. I have a country whose definition is freedom and who am I to deserve it? I don't have to worry about debt, being truly hungry, loneliness or despair. I have absolutely everything I need and more, and, sadly, it is incredibly easy to take for granted. I don't want to. I don't want to live wasting my resources and gifts. I have so much to give and countless ways to give it. I just need to decide to start doing it.
I go back to school in less than two weeks. Honestly, the summer totally got away from me. It's felt like a lifetime and 5 minutes at the same time. I feel like I just rolled out of bed to take my last final, pack up my room and leave NOVA for my south bend summer. But school feels like a world away and I can't believe the contrast of my two lives. This coming semester will test me, in a lot of ways. I'm taking 19 credits and working on campus 10 hours a week. I just decided to go underway in the p.o.p. and I'm still mulling over my decision. This semester will test my mind, ethic, and faith. I'll want to give up, I'll want to slack off, but I'm telling myself right now that I can't. I want to charge forward, go energizer-bunny on this situation and let it become a part of me, I don't want to be controlled by my schedule. Im so excited for this change, I can't wait to see what is in store for me.
I'm going to chocago in the morning to hang out with my MU friend, the lovely and wonderful Liz. Liz is so cool. There actually isn't a better word to describe her, because everything she says and does is so unique and awesome. She kinda makes you want to be her. I can't wait to hang out with the ladyy.
I'm sleepy, so I'm going to bed, how about that.
For now, Im grateful to be. Although I am grateful for other things as well, being grateful for existing should always be enough.
An evening run, however slow it may have been, with Annie
5 mile walks home from work
laughing until I cried because of something I can't even remember
Dwight Schrute
Crossword puzzles
My mother
A conscience
Sore ab muscles
Adorable kids who I get snotty-nosed hugs from every day at work. I love nannying.
The ability to mass-produce grilled cheese for 6 kids in 20 minutes using one griddle.
Becca
These are some major things I am grateful for this week. I'm noticing my tendency to be prone to ungrateful mopiness for no apparent reason, and I don't like that about myself. I get to spend 5 days a week with 6 amazing, beautiful, insane, hilarious kids. I have learned a world of patience and wit. [Kids can out-wit you soooo easily]. I have a country whose definition is freedom and who am I to deserve it? I don't have to worry about debt, being truly hungry, loneliness or despair. I have absolutely everything I need and more, and, sadly, it is incredibly easy to take for granted. I don't want to. I don't want to live wasting my resources and gifts. I have so much to give and countless ways to give it. I just need to decide to start doing it.
I go back to school in less than two weeks. Honestly, the summer totally got away from me. It's felt like a lifetime and 5 minutes at the same time. I feel like I just rolled out of bed to take my last final, pack up my room and leave NOVA for my south bend summer. But school feels like a world away and I can't believe the contrast of my two lives. This coming semester will test me, in a lot of ways. I'm taking 19 credits and working on campus 10 hours a week. I just decided to go underway in the p.o.p. and I'm still mulling over my decision. This semester will test my mind, ethic, and faith. I'll want to give up, I'll want to slack off, but I'm telling myself right now that I can't. I want to charge forward, go energizer-bunny on this situation and let it become a part of me, I don't want to be controlled by my schedule. Im so excited for this change, I can't wait to see what is in store for me.
I'm going to chocago in the morning to hang out with my MU friend, the lovely and wonderful Liz. Liz is so cool. There actually isn't a better word to describe her, because everything she says and does is so unique and awesome. She kinda makes you want to be her. I can't wait to hang out with the ladyy.
I'm sleepy, so I'm going to bed, how about that.
For now, Im grateful to be. Although I am grateful for other things as well, being grateful for existing should always be enough.
Tuesday, August 2, 2011
Couch Potato
My name is Mary and I look like a chipmunk and I'm drooling like a baby.
Having your wisdom teeth out may mean catchin some extra z's but man oh man, it is NOT glamorous. At the moment, there are mountains of gauze in my cheeks, my bottom lip feels like it's the size of a basketball, im drooling, and there are two tube socks stuffed with baggies of frozen peas that are tied around both sides of my head. Ever seen the old Christmas Carol when Jacob Marley comes in and ties a kerchief around his whole head, closing his jaw? Observe....
Right?
Anyway, I'm trying not to think and just to enjoy time off work for a few days while my cheeks un-swell.
I haven't written anything on here in a really long time! It's almost time to start packing to go back to school... holy wow, where in the world did the summer go? It's August now, what?? Insane. I'm actually completely excited to go back to school... I miss my friends and DC soooooooo much!!! However, leaving my nannying job will be so ridiculously hard. I got to attached to those kids, I'm going to miss them so much. They're gonna be so big the next time I see them after the summer ends! Ugh. Sad.
I want a frosty, mmmm.
Im getting feeling back in my face slowly. It feels weird. Ooo oo, I asked to see my teeth after they pulled them. It was soooo cool. It;s crazy how deep they go. Go'ds such an architect.
Ohhhhkay, soo I haven't lauded Valerie lately, so now I'm gunna.
Valerie is the busiest person I know. Seriously,no joke, I have NO idea how she maintains even semi-frequent bouts of sanity. If I were she, I would have ABSOLUTELY no social life, much less be able to be a delightful friend/girlfriend/sister/daughter. I'm sure I would be a grumpy terror. Valerie is just so lovely. She belongs in a Jane Austen novel. Not as one of the sitting duck-type girls who spend their days sewing and playing piano, but as the Elizabeth Bennett type-- the dazzling heroine who captures peoples attention not just with her beauty [which is great] but also with her passion and intellect and enthusiasm for life and understanding the dimensions of reality. The heroine who sweeps Mr. Darcy off his feet because he's positive that she's the iron woman of the century. Valerie is totally the iron woman of the century. She photographs thousands of people and has something unique and genuine to say about EACH of them. She has so much room in her heart for people and passions. Work consumes her life sometimes, but she finds so much beauty in it and so much appreciation for the down time. Constantly humbled at a tough price, but she's grateful for everything. She's such a role model for me. I just love her.
Thank goodness it's Shark Week. I'm easy-chair bound for the next 24 hours... Bring on the jaws.
I'm grateful for living in America. The standards of care and cleanliness and living are unbelievable compared to EVERYWHERE else in the world. I did nothing to deserve being born in this country. Thank you baby Jesus.
I'm going to go ice my face. Hey, at least I wasn't bit by a shark! I just saw an episode about this lady whose entire butt got bitten off by a shark. That would be the worst. And way more awkward than chipmunk cheeks.
Having your wisdom teeth out may mean catchin some extra z's but man oh man, it is NOT glamorous. At the moment, there are mountains of gauze in my cheeks, my bottom lip feels like it's the size of a basketball, im drooling, and there are two tube socks stuffed with baggies of frozen peas that are tied around both sides of my head. Ever seen the old Christmas Carol when Jacob Marley comes in and ties a kerchief around his whole head, closing his jaw? Observe....
Right?
Anyway, I'm trying not to think and just to enjoy time off work for a few days while my cheeks un-swell.
I haven't written anything on here in a really long time! It's almost time to start packing to go back to school... holy wow, where in the world did the summer go? It's August now, what?? Insane. I'm actually completely excited to go back to school... I miss my friends and DC soooooooo much!!! However, leaving my nannying job will be so ridiculously hard. I got to attached to those kids, I'm going to miss them so much. They're gonna be so big the next time I see them after the summer ends! Ugh. Sad.
I want a frosty, mmmm.
Im getting feeling back in my face slowly. It feels weird. Ooo oo, I asked to see my teeth after they pulled them. It was soooo cool. It;s crazy how deep they go. Go'ds such an architect.
Ohhhhkay, soo I haven't lauded Valerie lately, so now I'm gunna.
Valerie is the busiest person I know. Seriously,no joke, I have NO idea how she maintains even semi-frequent bouts of sanity. If I were she, I would have ABSOLUTELY no social life, much less be able to be a delightful friend/girlfriend/sister/daughter. I'm sure I would be a grumpy terror. Valerie is just so lovely. She belongs in a Jane Austen novel. Not as one of the sitting duck-type girls who spend their days sewing and playing piano, but as the Elizabeth Bennett type-- the dazzling heroine who captures peoples attention not just with her beauty [which is great] but also with her passion and intellect and enthusiasm for life and understanding the dimensions of reality. The heroine who sweeps Mr. Darcy off his feet because he's positive that she's the iron woman of the century. Valerie is totally the iron woman of the century. She photographs thousands of people and has something unique and genuine to say about EACH of them. She has so much room in her heart for people and passions. Work consumes her life sometimes, but she finds so much beauty in it and so much appreciation for the down time. Constantly humbled at a tough price, but she's grateful for everything. She's such a role model for me. I just love her.
Thank goodness it's Shark Week. I'm easy-chair bound for the next 24 hours... Bring on the jaws.
I'm grateful for living in America. The standards of care and cleanliness and living are unbelievable compared to EVERYWHERE else in the world. I did nothing to deserve being born in this country. Thank you baby Jesus.
I'm going to go ice my face. Hey, at least I wasn't bit by a shark! I just saw an episode about this lady whose entire butt got bitten off by a shark. That would be the worst. And way more awkward than chipmunk cheeks.
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