I want to begin this entry thanking God for all of the happiness I see around me and what He is doing for the people who I'm close to. Both of my best friends are married or soon to be married. I have had the blessing of watching their relationships unfold.
The joy that we have in Christ is ever present. Over the years my trials have involved fixing my joy to the eternal and not on the things of this world. God gives and He takes away, but He is always the giver of joy. Here is the wake up call peoples, sometimes the trials that we are supposed to take joy in (James 1), will last years if not the rest of our lives. You should find this sobering.
My life is full, and I am happy. Until we are in heaven our happiness on earth will always have that bittersweet tinge, but accept it nonetheless.
These are the thoughts that are on my heart this morning. My cat Max is looking at me as if I should be petting him and not typing. My family and I put up the Christmas tree last night.:) We listened to good music and made fun of each other's babies first Christmas ornaments. My family is large and those special ornaments now take up a section of the tree.
My sister Kiana, is in the linear stage of development, meaning she places her tree ornaments in a straight line regardless of shape and they are only three feet off the ground.
I have to stop boring you here because I have to clean out my car so I can take my siblings Christmas shopping.
Since my last post yesterday, I realized that I didn't really share anything about my life outside of school. Prepare to be bored. Caution: Drooling on keyboard from falling asleep will result in shock burns to your face..... Avoid reading this if you have narcolepsy.
I go to school Monday through Thursday, until mid- afternoon. After my last Thursday class, I shave in the public restroom, mainly because hermit hair is unsightly to the public and detracts from my tips at Chedder's. I have, to this day, fed most of the mid-west, honey buttered croissants and Chicken fried steak. I have to wear a tie and ironed shirt! Since last December my serving skills have gradually improved, I have only spilled mango tea on one designer purse over the past three months and people actually believe I know what I'm doing. I get asked by the new fresh off the street servers if I know where the ketchup is and I ussually direct them by pointing in a sagely manner to the back of the kitchen where a swarthy non-English speaking individual directs them the rest of the way into a cold refrigerator or bathroom. Run on sentence for effect.
In retrospect, I have learned much from this tenure in the serving world. Patience and a thick hairy hide are necessary for little things such as, 1. My sanity. 2. Understanding that clean nails are never going to happen. 3. Ironing oily food into an unwashed shirt will cause it to last longer than I will be alive.
I can't believe how long its been since I wrote here. If anyone still reads this I apologize for my declining writing habits. Semesters of science will be one of my excuses, but I know that it is a rather lame one.
Years go by and I sometimes I feel swept away in the tide of life. At other times I find my feet firmly planted on the river bed and I watch others go on with their lives. I praise the Lord for sustaining me through so many storms. He has blessed immensely in school.
In my last post I was still a community college student wondering and dreaming about where I am now. Today I am a senior at the university and, God willing, in three more semesters I will have my bachelors of science in Nursing. Through this semester I have felt very overwhelmed by my class workloads and it is very apparent to me that I'm not the sharpest spoon in the drawer.
My first clinical was in a nursing home and my patient was in the dementia section of the home. I have many stories about my interactions with this patient and the other residents, but I'm afraid that my wordiness will put you to sleep if it hasn't already. My experience with those people left me feeling very blessed. I'm not very appreciative of how God gives. Our ability to think, process, and move are ultimately dependent on Him. I am so arrogant not to notice this DAILY.
Because this is my blog, and I have free range to change subjects whenever I want to. I also want to mention how much I miss Summit, and S2. That chapter of my life seems so long ago, but the memories are ever present.
Whoever reads this, I pray God blesses you. If you could pray for me I would be grateful. The nest two weeks are promising to be stressful and I have two assessments that will determine whether or not I proceed to second semester nursing. If I fail, then you can look for me in the mountains......
Well, I think its been quite some time since my last entry. I can't believe how fast the days are going by! I have less than two months until my semester is over and less than four months until Summit! I guess tests every week and keeping up with homework deadlines have distracted me from the calender. I think I need a new way of keeping track of my days. I'm open for ideas.
My classes have been going well so far, except for my speech last Monday. Picture a train wreck, and then a hurricane going back over the train wreck, and then the plagues of Egypt happening all over again. That was what my speech was like. It was on poetry too! A very professional speech and debate teacher told me that, "If I learned from it, then it was time well spent." I will take her word on it. At the beginning of my next speech, I will hand out complimentary earplugs just in case!
Today has been very good for me. Art class was in the morning and once I got home, I left for my first day working part time at the horse barn. I am now a hay extraction and relocation expert! It felt good working hard outside again. The last time I've been able to do that was at Summit Semester. Dusty hay will make you itch, sneeze, and cough, but knowing that your feeding horses is fulfilling. Lifting those heavy bails will make anyone a buff stud muffin too!
I hope all of my friends are well and I'm sorry it has been so long. :) Proverbs 3:3-6 Deo dum spiro fido, Ian
This year is already moving quickly! January was like a blur now that I look back. God is still keeping things interesting in my world.
Noelle and her brother Sean visited last month. It was A- mazing! My family was merciful to them, meaning, they left our house alive. Genevra was relentless in her attention grabbing ways! She has this habit of randomly hugging people and if you are sitting within jumping distance on the floor, there is a good chance your lap will be occupied. I will say that Noelle and Sean both handled every situation admirably. We went sledding, sat by the fire with cups of tea, and last but not least, talked for more than an hour without shame! It felt like Christmas!
This month has and promises to be exciting and challenging. The Anatomy and Physiology class I'm taking as a Physical Therapy requirement, is proving to be difficult, but I'm still enjoying it. There are so many different things to learn about the human body that I have a hard time memorizing all of them! Yes, even the not so pleasant aspects about anatomy are interesting. I will be dissecting fetal pigs and other various cute cute Disney animals(evil grin ). For those that are slightly shocked by my ruthless demeanor, I am doing this for the good of mankind! There might be someone out there with a sore knee, not naming anyone in particular, or a car crash victim that will need my help one of these days. I'm sure they will feel that they are in good hands when they find out how many cute little animals I pulverized to be in a position to help them.
Well, this entry has grown very large. I have a prayer request for this Friday. I will be teaching my first fencing class at a new classical school in Wichita. Nineteen students have signed up so far and the age range varies from around six to mid thirties. I would appreciate your prayers so that I don't disappoint my students and that God will bless the class and protect us from injury.
Noelle, Sean, Genevra, and Kiana in my sister's messy room. Noelle and I murderizing Ashokan Farewell.
). For those that are slightly shocked by my ruthless demeanor, I am doing this for the good of mankind! There might be someone out there with a sore knee, not naming anyone in particular, or a car crash victim that will need my help one of these days. I'm sure they will feel that they are in good hands when they find out how many cute little animals I pulverized to be in a position to help them. 
