Back to School

Obviously from the lack of blogging the past month we've had a bit of a shift in our daily schedule.

Welcome to our life...

Yes... school has started and our life has been consumed by books.

Ok... that's a little bit of a lie. We've had  A LOT of social gatherings in the past few weeks that have also been consuming a large part of our days.

It's been hard to slow down and actually share what our life has consisted of, but fortunately I finally downloaded the 500 pictures we had waiting on our camera.

So get ready for lots of blog posts to come!

but back to life on this particular study day...

We spent the day at Hudson Gardens which is next to the school.

We studied, watched some geese and wandered around the beautiful gardens.

the pumpkin field was by far my favorite

It was a beautiful day, and so lovely to spend it outside studying and just enjoying each other's company!

and as promised... more posts and pictures to come!

Go Carts and Drag Racing

Yesterday Dan, Peter and I had the opportunity to hang out with some of our professors and some of the financial donors of Denver Seminary. Unfortunately Jon was bogged down with homework, but thankfully he let me go with the boys so I didn't miss out on the fun!

The agenda for the day... go carts and drag racing.

Honestly, we figured it might be lame, so we decided we'd stay for a bit and then roll out.  Needless to say we stayed until 10 p.m. and had a BLAST. seriously... so much fun.

Peter lookin fly in his go-cart

Dan (#27) prepping himself 

Both of the boys were in the first wave of racers while I was in the third

So proud of these two! Their times qualified them for the final go around

Then it was time to begin the drag racing. 

Quite frankly I was terrified.

Going that quickly, by myself, no protective gear :)

My first practice round wasn't great  but once I got the feel I had no issue putting the pedal to the medal.

Then the competition started

And I made it to the second round!!! 

Seriously, did not see that coming.

Of course I had to go up against Peter so my chances were quite slim but I was pumped that at least I beat Scott R. :)

Before our race :)

Of course Peter beat me.. but my overall time was faster, it was my dang reaction time that cost me the race.

I just played it off by telling everyone I was helping Peter protect his pride... yeah... that was it.

Now in the beginning of the competition I predicted that Peter and Dan would be duking it out in the end.

Apparently I've have the gift of seeing the future.

Because it came down to my boys.

They were both pumped they had made it to the end

And Peter won it all!!! 

It was a close one:)

And what is competition without awards?

Yes, I got the turtle award for having the slowest reaction time.

because i'm awesome.

and apparently really slow.

Peter is not only fast

but reckless as well :)

1st and 2nd place :)

Such a great and much needed day of fun!

Community Service

Wow, from the title of that post it seems as though I'm paying my debt to society. And maybe in a way, I am.

Since we've been at Denver Seminary we've been beyond blessed with an amazing group of friends. We share laughter, food, fellowship, and most importantly we share life.

We've become more like a surrogate family for each other and I really love that.

Throughout all of this life sharing I've come to realize how much I really enjoying having people over and a houseful of friends. I've also come to realize this is a direct result of growing up with my siblings friends flocking to our home to feed on my mothers amazing food. In essence, I've become my mother. Never letting anyone help, just needing their presence to feed my cooking frenzy.

I love it.

I love serving others with good food and a comfortable atmosphere.

I've also learned that I enjoy serving others that I don't know as well. On the first day of my summer class we had bread and grapes and were asked to serve others.

Everyday since then someone in the class has stepped up and brought a breakfast of some sort and it has been awesome to see people giving of their resources. We've been blessed with yogurt and fruit, breakfast burritos, and donuts. I have so enjoyed letting others serve me and in turn...

And I felt that call to bake.

80 muffins.

My sweet friend Rebekah helped out and is providing the coffee and milk for tomorrow's breakfast :)

While I lack my mother's raw cooking and baking talent, I think I'm beginning to understand why she enjoys ministering to others in this way.

There is NOTHING better than sharing a meal with others and I'm so grateful that life in Denver has shown that to me!

Compliments

Because I apparently enjoy the feeling of productivity I made the choice to take two summer classes. They are both two week intensives and one started on Monday.

Yes, that's right. After the stressful week of finals, I decided to start up with class again two days later. I also apparently don't enjoy giving myself a break.

However, this class has been absolutely phenomenal.

Seriously.

The instructor is fantastic, my classmates are great, and it is probably the most laid back atmosphere you could ask for.

The class is Groups in Counseling and our instructor, Reggie Moore, does a fantastic job of modeling and facilitating the type of leader one would hope to be. There is structure, yet at the same time it is flexible to allow for movement and a change of pace. In three days I already feel that I've gained a lot of insight.

One of my favorite parts is Reggie's way of confronting others, yet in a way that encourages and empowers others to rise to the occasion.

Today was no different.

He was conversing with one of the men in my class and ended paying him a compliment.

The man said "thank you"

And Reggie came back with " Now you hold on to that. I know in five hours you're going to want to do something that will negate or muddy that compliment, but that still won't take the truth of it away."

ummm. wow.

This hit me. hard. I began to analyze why we tend to mess up or continue to disbelieve when others compliment us. Even if we take the compliment at first, we later find justification for it to not be true.

Is it because we are so afraid of not fully living up to that compliment? We feel the need to prove others wrong?

Do we really see ourselves in such a poor light?

I think for me personally I feel that deep down I don't truly possess the quality that I'm being complimented on and I'm terrified someone might find out how untrue their words are. I think I'm also scared that while their words may be true in the moment what if something happens later that might make them regret giving me those words?

Compliments are a tricky business, but I truly want to get better at accepting them and learn to believe them.

A pretty lofty goal, but one that needs to be accomplished.


How are you at taking compliments? Do you find it easy to accept or do you negate them?

Dance the night away

This Saturday we got our early decade groove on.

neon colors: check

ridiculous teal eyeshadow: check

out of control blush: check

curled hairsprayed bangs: check

Our good friend Mary Ellen threw the shin dig and it was so much fun!

No party is complete without some pigs in a blanket

so much amazing food, so little time.

Some DenSem girls gettin' their groove thang on.

Kelly and Dave showing off their cuteness

The lovely ladies taking a break for the seizure inducing strobe light :)

I think a little break from the ins and outs of seminary life was much needed for all of us!

Hopefully this means many more to come!

Monday's Meditation: Pipe Dreams

I have a lot of dreams or goals that I'd love to accomplish in my life.

First of which is figuring out what flower this is!!! Seriously... it was gorgeous and on a tree in our neighbors yard. I WANT these flowers. I NEED these flowers. and I MUST have them.

I also have dreams of having kids, staying at home with them, traveling, and just having a lovely long life with my husband.

And most recently I'm coming closer and closer to reaching my dream of grad school for psychology. It's been a goal I've had for years. And I'm so close to getting there, and yet I've found a new dream creeping up on me.

As many of you know, I really enjoy working out, exercising, and being healthy in general. I spend the majority of my free time at school looking up fitness tools, and researching different theories, aspects of training... etc.

Really I love it.

I enjoy watching the biggest loser, I enjoy reading fitness blogs, and weight loss blogs. I love to see people transform and I thrive and feel proud of complete strangers when I see the whole process of their weight loss or reaching their fitness goals.

So, even though it may just be a pipe dream, I really want to be a personal trainer. That, or teach some sort of fitness class at a club. And quite frankly I think that psychology fits in perfectly with this dream.

I have always love helping people with issues in their lives. I enjoy helping others find clarity and peace in their lives. And I think that being a personal trainer would just emphasize that in a different way. I'd be physically seeing those changes and people dealing with those issues.  There is just so much more to fitness and weight loss than the actual weight. So much of it is emotional and mental and the fact that people just have to work through issues. And that's where I come in :)

I'm not sure if this will every happen, or if it's just something I'll always think about. But right now I'm strongly considering looking into it while we are out in CO. It could be the perfect part- time job I would need while getting my Masters.

In other fitness dream news... I finally finished P90X... woo hoo!!!! And of course now I'm on to the next insane schedule :)

Oh and if you know what flowers these are ... please let me know. I'm dying here!

Something to think about: What are some dreams or goals you've had? What would you like to accomplish in life?