Birthday boy!

Today is Daniel's 28th birthday (on February 28th, no less)... so he gets a birthday shout out! 

Happy Birthday Daniel!!

I am so thankful that God has brought us together.  Who would have thought that day on the pier that we would be here now? But we are and it has been such a blessing! Thank you for always making me feel better when I'm down, for being silly with me, and for being supportive of me through this whole Physical Therapy school thing! 

Oh, yeah, and thank you for telling me about the Butchart Gardens! Without you, I would have missed out on the most beautiful place ever.

XOXO

Don't be Negative Nancy!

As I mentioned before, I had a Physical Therapy grad school interview last week. I was super nervous but the day before, I went to a mock interview at the career center. It went GREAT. Seriously, my "interviewer" had nothing but good things to say about me.  She liked my personality and she said that I was really good at being positive about everything. So I was feeling pretty darn good. I've got this!!

Come Friday, I had my real interview.  Well guess who decided to show up for that? Negative Nancy. All my positive answers flew out the window and all of a sudden I felt like I answered way more negatively than I meant it to come out.

Interviewer: "Were there any places that you didn't enjoy interning?"

Me: (What I meant to say: Well, I learned a lot from all my internships but my least favorite internship was at the hospital) What I really said: "I HATE THE HOSPITAL."

Interviewer: "How do you solve conflict when you are working with other people?"

Me: (What I meant to say: I solve conflict by trying to approach the problem from the other person's perspective. Putting yourself in their shoes really helps you to understand why they are acting the way they are.  As a Physical Therapist, I believe it is really important to be able to work with other people. You can't always have your way so it is necessary that you are able to compromise on things when they aren't vital.) What I really said: "I HATE PEOPLE AND I DON'T KNOW HOW TO RESOLVE CONFLICT."

Ok, so maybe my answers weren't quite like that, but I feel that I represented myself a lot more negatively than I meant to.  Definitely something I am taking note of so that I can improve for my next interview!!

Do you have any funny interview stories?

YOU Are Enough.

source

I've written on eating disorders before here, but because I found out this week is National Eating Disorder Awareness week, I thought I'd write about it again! Many of you know that I am very passionate about preventing eating disorders. I firmly believe that the only way to truly prevent eating disorders is to STOP promoting the myth that your appearance is everything. To stop our obsession with dieting. To stop counting calories. To stop BELIEVING that you must look or be a certain way to be beautiful.

Because you don't.  I can tell you that beauty is on the inside, like most people will.  But do we really believe it? I don't think so.

In many cases, eating disorders stem from some desire inside to be DIFFERENT than you are now. Whether it is to be thinner or healthier or have more self control, it's because we believe that the way we are isn't good. But remember-- God made you.  He made your face. He made your hair. He made your body. He made your teeth. He made your hands and feet. He made you and you are ENOUGH.

I wish we could change the world. But I can't. Our culture will probably expect women to have perfectly tanned and hairless skin, unnaturally straight teeth and three-foot eyelashes. Oh, yeah, and you must have a thin yet curvy body.  Oh, but you can't take too long getting ready either.  Or eat too little. Or too much. Or workout too much. Or too little. Sound ridiculous? It is.  Our culture has taken the beautiful women (and men) that God has created and told them that that's not enough. ENOUGH of that! 

When doubts come: you are enough. You may not have the perfect hair, but no one really does. Your body may not be perfectly hairless, but no one's is. Your body may not be perfect, but it is perfect for you.

While I have diverged from eating disorders a bit, the point I'm trying to make is this-- as long as we are dissatisfied with ourselves, there will always be a problem. Whether it is an eating disorder, or an obsession with tanning, or a lack of self confidence, it's all the same. It's letting this world strip you of who God has made you to be and turn you into something fake.  Enough!

Being Content in a World That Is Not

Every year, our church puts on a youth retreat for President's Day weekend. Last weekend we were blessed to once again have a successful and refreshing retreat. The classes were on the subject "Being Content in a World that is Not" and they were just what I needed to hear! 

To kick the subject off, we talked about materialism and the way it makes us feel like we need stuff to measure up or even to be happy. Just take a quick look at Psalm 78:18-31 and you will see how upset God was when the Israelites complained that they didn't have enough. But think how all of us would probably be the exact same way as the Israelites! God might not give us everything we want but He will always give us enough.

Our speaker pointed out that materialism makes us less happy, less friendly, less empathetic, less grateful, less happy in relationships and causes us to feel less sense of purpose.  As a believer, our goals should be totally opposite all those things! So really, materialism is hindering your spiritual goals! 

On the other hand, contentment is a state of being that is related to happiness.  It comes when we listen and obey to God. It comes when we accept a situation for what it is.  It comes when we are satisfied with what we have and learn to have inner peace.  Those things sound a whole lot better than what materialism brings.

Lastly, I will share with you this wonderful idea that our speaker quoted:

Wealth consists not in having great possessions, but in having few wants.  

Picture Diary

I love people! I've been so blessed in my own life to have so many people that I love and that love me. I constantly am reminded of how blessed I am.  While this is by no means comprehensive, here are a few pictures that I have taken recently that remind me of how blessed I am...

For a silly and wonderful family who loves to wear wigs and doesn't mind me posting it all over the internet...

For going to Starbucks with Bekka, where we steal drinks made for "Becha" and "Daniel"...

For Starbucks dates...

For surprise selfies by Justin...

For this crazy Lexie who embraces my weirdness and adds to it...

For the sweetest friends and sisters, Jessica and Julie...

For beautiful flowers for Valentine's Day!

Oh, how He loves us!

Maybe you are having the most romantic day ever and someone is making you feel so  very loved. That's great and I'm happy that you feel that way because those moments are wonderful. Maybe you are feeling so lonely you feel like that you can't keep going. I'm so sorry if you feel that way. But however you feel, today and every other day, I know only one assurance that makes it all okay: He loves you. He loves you more than anyone else can ever love you. When people let you down, He still loves you. When you do something terribly wrong and no one will forgive you, He will. God has made us to seek love, but guess what? Only He can fill it for us. No one else can.

Life is messy, love is hard, and people are imperfect. How thankful I am that when everyone else let's me down, my wonderful, majestic, all-powerful God still loves me. When the world causes my heart to feel unsure, God steadies it...  

But in all these things we overwhelmingly conquer through Him who loved us. For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor any other created thing, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord. Romans 8:37-39 

Know therefore that the LORD your God, He is God, the faithful God, who keeps His covenant and His lovingkindness to a thousandth generation with those who love Him and keep His commandments. Deuteronomy 7:9 

See how great a love the Father has bestowed upon us, that we should be called children of God; and such we are. For this reason the world does not know us, because it did not know Him. 1 John 3:1 

By this the love of God was manifested in us, that God has sent His only begotten Son into the world so that we might live through Him. In this is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins. Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. No one has beheld God at any time; if we love one another, God abides in us, and His love is perfected in us. 1 John 4:9-12

I'm Freaking Out!

Ugliest picture ever! You're welcome.

Next week is my first Physical Therapy school interview and I'm freaking out!!!!!! Ahhh! I honestly have never really been to a real interview for a job, so I have no experience.  I've been looking up interview tips specific for PT school but so far found nothing to be immensely helpful.  I guess one important thing they say is to relax.  Of course you are going to be nervous, but so is everyone else.  You want your personality to come out so that the interviewers will know if you are a match for their program. But just HOW exactly do you relax?

I also saw many people said to ask questions of your interviewers.  This is one I would never have thought of and it makes me nervous. I guess this would be questions about the school and program that will make it seem like I am interested in what they have to offer and whether I feel like I would be a match.  

There are a boatload of tips on how to master the interview process. I guess my biggest concern is that I haven't really spent any time preparing, which I should have done!! I know that it's terrible but I am sometimes just horrible about procrastination! I tend to avoid projects that I find stressful, which leads to them becoming more stressful. Any tips?

Favorite Meatloaf.

Let me be honest-- I could not get a picture of my meatloaf that didn't look downright disgusting.  So today you are receiving a recipe without a picture.  Sorry! This recipe is just so good and SO easy. 

Favorite Meatloaf
1 cup finely chopped onion (~1 large)
1/4 cup Italian dressing
2 lb extra lean ground beef
3/4 cup ketchup, divided
1 pkg Stove Top Stuffing Mix for Chicken
1 cup water
2 eggs
1/2 cup cheddar cheese

Cook onions with Italian dressing in a large skillet for 8-10 minutes. Remove from heat and cool slightly.

Combine meet, 1/4 cup ketchup, stuffing, water, eggs, and onions; mix well.  Place meat mixture in a 14x9 baking dish and shape into a 10x5 oval loaf.  Spread with remaining ketchup.

Bake for 1 hour at 375 or until cooked through.  Sprinkle with cheese and cook 2 minutes.