2011 Where did you go?

I believe that one of my best abilities is to laugh at myself.  When I read my last blog post from December 31st 2010 I just had to laugh.   AT MYSELF! It was a busy crazy year I was in school Spring, Summer and Fall Semesters and graduated with my Masters in December.  Dan and I were able to get away for a few days in February to Norfolk, VA for what I deemed History and Hockey we toured historic sites in the morning and then went to a hockey game one night.  Then in May we went to Louisville for my sister and brother in law grand opening of their new youth center The HUB.  My limited summer vacation was spent recovering from Gallbladder surgery before I started my internship for school. We had a special time celebrating my grandma's 85th birthday in November.  I did read a lot more last year 83 books but still room to be more intentional with what I read, how i manage my time, my relationships.  Looking forward to what 2012 will bring. 

Endings and Beginings

Can't believe that it is New Year's Eve 2010. This year has gone by so quickly. One of my aspirations for 2011 is to blog more but its been hard knowing what to blog about. It seems most of my friends blog about their amazing talents and their cute kids. Part of the reason I was not consistent with posting was sometimes it so hard to say what you are really feeling and going through. I went through a lot of health things in 2010 they had been going on for a while but I finally got a diagnosis this spring. Then in the fall my thyroid was diagnosed as under-active which also explained alot of what I had been going through. I was on facebook today and one of the scrapbooking sites I follow had a link to another scrapper/blogger who is doing something called New 52. She will blog/ scrap about something new that she does each week. This idea really resonated with me. One of my other aspirations for 2011 is to be more intentional with each day, in my relationships, with what I read. So I'll try to begin blogging more intentionally in 2011 and try something new each week. And I have decided that it is okay that my blog is not about one specific thing because I am a very complex person :) My hope is that as you read it you will get to know me and this journey I am on that it would encourage you on your own journey. HAPPY 2011!

My first date

This past week April 26th marked 8 years since my first date with my husband. He FINALLY asked me out on Thursday night by saying if your not doing anything would you like to hang out tomorrow. I had meet him in February and started really like him around St. Patrick's day when he said to a friend look it's my favorite Julie ( I learned later that his eldest sister was named Julie). We went to Applebee's on our first date and then he suggested putt putt or bowling. So we went bowling. He told me later that night he doesn't like bowling but that I made it fun. Wow it has gone fast, this summer we celebrate our 5th wedding anniversary. Not only was this my first date with my husband but it was my first date(ever).

Cheap The High Cost of Discount Culture

I checked out a book from my library yesterday titled "Cheap The High Cost of Discount Culture" by Ellen Ruppel Shell. I read the intro and most of the first chapter and can't wait to delve deeper into this book. The author traces Americans role as citizens and consumer and how the desire for a bargain has changed the shape of our whole culture. Craftsmanship was once prized but now everything is either cheap or unobtainable luxury the are is no middle ground. The author also states that there would be no cheap with out China and explains the Chinese word heixin or "small black hearted ones" this is what the Chinese call those who make, sell,and profit from substandard and counterfeit goods.
I find this interesting because I grew up with a mom who coupons and still loves a good bargain and a dad who bought me a pair Clark's shoes that are falling apart after six long years of wear. I struggle with getting a good deal verses quality. My bargain today a pair of summer PJ's marked down at Walmart from $12 to $1 and made in Indonesia. What was the cost to the factory worker who made them, to ship them from Indonesia to America, to get them from the ship into my local Walmart super center? I think it was more than a dollar.

Holy Week

http://www.esvstudybible.org/maps-charts

My Bible has a chart that shows the Harmony of Events of Holy Week from the four gospels. You can check it out at the link above. The things that really stand out to me, speak to my heart during Jesus's include Matthew 23:37 where Jesus laments over Jerusalem "O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the city that kills the prophets and stone those who are sent to it! How often would I have gathered your children together as a hen gathers her brood under her wings, and you would not!" I can almost hear the longing and pain in his voice. I also love John 13-17. One of the things that always sticks out in my mind was learning that all 6 of Jesus's trials both Jewish and Roman were conducted illegally the one before the Sanhedrin took place in the middle of the night with hurriedly gather false witnesses.

Palm Sunday

I love Palm Sunday. For me celebrating it helps prepare my heart for Good Friday and Easter. Try to imagine a week like that, on Sunday you enter a city with people praising your name and by early Friday morning they are demanding your death. As Easter comes I'll post more about Holy Week.

Powerful Beyond Measure

"Our worst fear is not that we are inadequate, our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness that most frightens us. We ask ourselves, 'who am I to be so brilliant, gorgeous, talented and fabulous?' Actually, who are we not to be? You are a child of God: Your playing small doesn't serve the world. There is nothing enlightening about shrinking so that other people won't feel insecure around you. We were born to make manifest the glory of God within us. It is not just in some of us, it is in everyone and as we let our own light shine we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same. As we are liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others."

~Marianne Williamson, her book "A RETURN TO LOVE", 1992
I first heard the beginning part of this quote in the movie Akeelah and the Bee, which is an excellent movie. I identify with it and am inspired to try to be my best self and let my light shine.