This is Loyalty, this is a Family

Today was a supposed-to-be-blah day that turned into a better-than-blah day.
It was actually a very enjoyable day.
8:30 A.M. - Woke up.... kind of
8:45 A.M - Really woke up and realized I was gonna be late for class.
9:10 A.M. - Stroll into class like nothing was wrong. I love this class, and the teacher. But honestly, we've been going over the same material since classes started so I simply work on homework in that class.
10:45 A.M. - Got myself some early lunch and parked myself outside the Cafe for what was supposed to be a short lunch before my next class. And then Becca joined me. I enjoy her company. We talked about bunches of stuff and I found myself declaring skipping my next class. Oops :). We had a fun time, though. Talked about music and I found out she likes hardcore music just as much as I do. By the time she started with "Oh I love We Came as Romans, too!" And ended with "I just love double bass" I knew we were supposed to be good friends.

Yeah, she's pretty cool.

12:20 P.M. - Went to see Mike Schadt and how the international luncheon was going. It was good to see everyone and plans for this summer look like they're beginning to form. Which, I could use you guys help on! But that'll be a subject for another post.
1:30 P.M. - Work.... which was work! I recently got my own desk and computer! It's nice to have a workspace of my own. For a while I was bouncing around from one desk to another and sometimes the table using a laptop. I wont be there on Friday because I'm going out of town for the weekend. Weeee!
5:00 P.M. - Out of work! Time to go deposit my check and vote!
Deposit check...... Check? Hah
Vote!..... a little harder to check.
First of all my voting center changed so I had to find this new address. Second of all the Address wasn't right! It was in the middle of a neighborhood! I was driving around like Derp Derp until finally I found the Polish center I needed to vote at.
Voting.... Check!
6:15 P.M. - Then I had some plans for that money from my paycheck... remember that project I told you about? Yeah I wanted to get started on it but then I cam home to a dinner-less house. My mom wasn't feeling well and my dad was complaining about being fed so I said FINE! I will go get stuff to make dinner.
I made fiesta chicken. Sissy 2* made it for me last week and I loved it so I decided it would be a good dinner for the fam. They agreed.

It was so yummy!

* Sissy 2 is what I'll call one of my cousins. I have two cousins that I'm very close with and Sissy 2 is the younger. the older we'll call Sissy 1. They're kind of like Thing 1 and Thing 2 so I thought it made sense. We're as close as me and my real Sissy are.

So today was a good day even if it didn't happen like I planned it to.


So here are some ideas for posts I would like to make in the near future.
I have some Valentines Day crafts that I'm going to be doing. Some of them I can't post too soon because they're going to be surprises for my loved ones.... but I'll try and post some of them. And I have some house projects I want to do so hopefully I'll find time to do it.
Oh and this weekend I'm going out of town so hopefully I'll have an update on that.
Here's to hoping I'll keep up with this!

Love Always,
Christina

Letting the minutes pass by!

So this weekend the Lord was pressing on me the importance of letting time pass you by. You can be busy, every day filled with things to do, places to be, people to see and still be missing out on life!
It's a place I've found myself.
I wrote down my schedule and everyday is filled with things to do. School, Work, Bible Studies and Church activities. All good right? Well sure, except for the fact that I feel like I'm not the actually the one living out that schedule.
I seem to rise out of bed only to fall back into it that night. So I heard some friends of mine saying they were going to record what they do each hour everyday. So I've decided to do the same

10 A.M. - Woke up, because I got to sleep in today! Yay! Showered, made lunch, and headed off to class.
11:10A.M.- Got to class a little late, it's okay they were just reviewing. Finished a worksheet, got a 60 { :( } on a quiz.
12:15 P.M. - Met up with some friends and ate lunch. Tried memorizing my new verses for this week... wrote them down a little so I guess it helped. Also I've been writing letters lately. Letters to people, especially people who are away from me. I remembered someone recently said to me that "You make time for the important people in your life" and I've taken it very seriously and I want to put more effort into people.
2:00 P.M. - Last class of the day! Earth Science Lab. I'm beginning to like this class a lot. We were learning about the spectrum of light and we got to draw and color today!

These glasses made everything look crazy and projectors look like magic stars and everyone was rainbows.

We also studied our solar system. And then made a scale model in the science building hallway.

Kye and I were responsible for Saturn. We did a pretty bang up job, if you ask me :)

The hallway was measured for 30 meters. Each meter equals 200,000,000 miles.... soooo you do the math :). That one right there is pluto and all the way down there is the sun and , if you can see her, Kye Kye, she's standing where earth is. It's crazy how big it is when you put it in that perspective!

And then there was some of this...

I had Starbucks and I started freaking out. He was lecturing so I had to sit still.... this is what happened.

So! Got home around 4 P.M. knitted and made some bracelets a bit. Around 6 ate dinner and then I've been spending some time on the computer.
I feel like today has gone so fast. But I really like reviewing my day because it makes me realize that I do a lot of stuff. And I shouldn't just let my mind forget it at the end of the day!
If anyone out there actually reads my blog I encourage you to do the same :)

Love Always,
Christina

P.S.
Be sure to be watching this blog because I'm getting super crafty soon and plan to post about my recent adventures. Little hint: It may, or may not include me using my inner carpenter..... Stayed tuned!

Just the little things that make me, me

So the other day I was driving my sister, her friend and myself to a certain location. Her friend and I have this ongoing joke about how she's my "child" and I'm her "adult". So for discretion sake we'll just call her My Child.

They were both having a conversation about little things that they're particular on. My Child commented that she can't seem to eat food without having a light on. Like when eating while watching a movie she'd have to have some sort of light on so she could see her food. It was funny to listen to but then she ended her statement with "Just a part of the little things that make me, me." This made me smile and I stopped to think about what she had said.

I feel like people are too obsessed with being different. Being so different that no one will have anything in common with them. Unfortunately for that group, I like to lovingly refer to them as hipsters, it's becomes such a craze to be different that now everyone strives to be it. To know the latest band before they become mainstream, to be the first to have read that one book, to be the first to live in a hut made completely of hemp, I don't know! It's kind of crazy, I've felt myself swept up into it. Sure I'll wear that sweater, because no one wears sweaters anymore, and if no one wears them anymore it means it's cool. Or really my desire is that I'll make it look cool so eventually everyone will join this train and I'll be the conductor. Then once there's too many people on it I'll deem it not cool anymore and jump off it.

Have you found yourself in this mess?

People are so obsessed with being different that they fail to realize just how unique they are!

First off, you were made uniquely by a Creator who put effort into every detail of you

Your eyes saw me when I was inside the womb. 

All the days ordained for me

were recorded in your scroll

before one of them came into existence.   

              Psalm 139:16

The Lord who made the universe made you! Think of the universe and how intricate it is, now imagine a God with that creativity and power making you! How could you be anything but unique?

Not only did He create you, He created you in His image

God created humankind  in his own image,

in the image of God he created them,

male and female he created them.

             Genesis 1:27

Meanwhile, for those of us who are Christians and have faith in Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior, not only have we been created, but born again, made into a new person internally

You were taught with reference to your former way of life to lay aside the old man who is being corrupted in accordance with deceitful desires, to be renewed in the spirit of your mind, and to put on the new man who has been created in God’s image  – in righteousness and holiness that comes from truth.

           Ephesians 4:22-24

So, you see, there are many things that are unique about you. You were created by a loving father who put time into you. Into your skills, into your fault. He formed your body the way He wanted, and he sees you as beautiful. You are beautiful because the Father's hand formed you. To believe that you aren't is to believe our perfect Father's work is imperfect. It is impossible!

Next time you find yourself worrying about being unique, remember that you already are.

Here's a little video that makes me laugh :). So true sometimes.

Like My Child said, there are just "Little things that make me, me" and I plan on embracing those things and loving them for the Father put them in me.

Love Always,
Christina

Review of how life is going

I was looking at old pictures and I decided I would do a year review of how life went. Mostly through pictures with some explanation.

What I did in 2011:

So this past year I have been so blessed to become so close with these two beautiful ladies right here. They have definitely been such a support system for me when I needed it most. They've seen me through a lot of happy, and a lot of crappy times this year. I seriously thank my God for giving me these ladies in more ways than one. Not only has He given me them as family by blood but more recently family by the Spirit. I'll never be able to thank Him enough for that. 

I, along with my mother and sister, was an extra on Burn Notice! See that guy all the way on the left? Like almost out of the pic, left? That's Jeffery Donovan. He's kind of a tool. I wish I could strip him of the Donovan name. There's a way to do that, right?

Spent a lot of time here. Yep, this is where I live.

Went to a lot of Advocate shows. 

Went on a lot of geocaching adventures in some sketchy places. No regrets. I want to do more! 

Spent a lot of time with this face.

 

Baked like there was no tomorrow!!!!

 

Celebrated this chick's birthday

Wore this hat

Had a birthday

Played this game

Met this chick

Became a wizard

Raised baby squirrels

That's what I love about pictures. You don't take pictures to remember times when you were sad, or angry or life wasn't going right. Sure those moments exist, and probably existed while those pictures were taken, but looking back the photos represent a good time. And so when I get down about how things are going or how I view myself I like to look at pictures. The Lord has blessed me, why should I grumble about today?

Making a Mountain out of.... Cookies?

After baking 140+ cookies, I'm finally finished.
I can't give you the exact number. I don't dare count, there are so many. All I know is I baked four batches that made approximately 36 cookies per batch. Give or take a few and that's what you have. A lot of cookies.

Tomorrow is Amanda Hardt (soon to be Amanda Arbia) and Mike Arbia's wedding. Amanda approached me some time ago asking if I would make cookies for the small reception they're going to have straight after the wedding in the church's overflow room. She was sweet enough to compliment me up and down to try and persuade me to do it, but of course I would have done it even without the sweet words.

She left planning and budget up to me and I wanted everything to be great for the wedding so I knew I would have to wait until the day before the wedding to make them. I would have made them the day of but that probably would have given the Bride and myself a heart attack from stress so I opted for a little earlier.

But what I didn't account for, a while back, that time when she originally asked me, was just how busy I was going to be. I forgot that I had scheduled myself 7 classes for the semester and that this would be the first week of class and that the only time during the day I would have would be in between classes. And then I didn't think of the fact that I was going to the rehearsal dinner with my friend Matt, so that would take away time from doing it in the evening.

So I have been juggling.

After rushing home with the ingredients between my 11 and 2 o' clock class I quickly set to making the first batch.

Amanda asked for Oatmeal Chocolate chip cookies. I've never made oatmeal cookies so this was an experiment for me.

I proceeded with the usual steps:
Do I have everything?

• Measuring cups? Check
• Two mixing bowls? Check
• Practically frozen sticks of butter that I'm going ot nuke in the microwave even though everyone says not to? Check, hehe oops
• My handy-dandy GE mixer? Well after searching high and low for the mixing attachy-thingies, Check!
• Copious amounts of paper towels because I'm a messy baker? CHECK! 

And I set to work. By the time I had to leave for class I had 24 cookies done with tray #3 on it's way out.


And let me tell you.....
These cookies are DELICIOUS!


Seriously, I think this may be my favorite cookie recipe ever, now! I was so happy with them I did my "successful baking endeavor" dance and practically shoved a cookie into my mothers mouth.
Batch after batch I was pleased with the results. I soon found a rhythm to everything, I was working like a well oiled machine:
     Roll the dough into a ball
     Place on cookie sheet (repeat 11x)
     Place cookie sheet on top rack
     Turn on timer for 13 minutes
     Wait for annoying buzzer
     13 minutes later... cue annoying buzzer
     Open oven, cookies still not done
     Put 3 minutes on timer
     Walk away
     3 minutes later... I hate that buzzer
     Cookies still not done
     Shut door
     Stare at oven
     30 seconds later decide that small time has made all the difference and start transferring cookies to cool down
     Wrap each cookie individually in saran wrap
     (Repeat process until desired number of cookies is acquired)

I'm excited for people to eat them tomorrow.

Love Always,
Christina

Disciplined can be a taboo word sometimes

I know, I know, it sounds so cliche to say "This year I'm going to be different!", or to make New Year's Resolutions (Revolutions, HAH) that most everybody fails the First of January.

But this time, I'm serious.

For those who know me, I'm not the healthiest person. I'm overweight and honestly healthy choices don't come naturally. I'd rather sit on a couch and watch Netflix or read a good book than go and take a walk or ride my bike or make any effort to exercise at all. Not that Netflix or books are bad things, again for those of you who know me, know that books are my Achilles heel. If my house were ablaze I would probably try and save every last book I own.
I digress.
But, I've decided to finally take control of my health. It's been about three days since I started, and so far, so good! I've tried dieting before, trying to just not eat to cut back calories, but then eat small portions of super unhealthy food. I once tried a taco bell diet, not even kidding. I would order their fresca "healthy" options and tell myself I was doing myself good by choosing the less fatty of the options. While in some weird ways that did work I still wasn't providing my body with the nutrients it needs. I was just cutting out some of the bad stuff, while keeping most of it.
Sometimes I reflect it on my spiritual walk. There are times when I don't want to get rid of all the bad stuff, so I cut out some of it and say to myself "You're such a good person, to give this up. God will be proud." This is of course arrogance and pride to even think that anything I could do would make God pleased with me. There is nothing apart from total and complete devotion to Him and His Word that will make Him pleased. It's not like I would stand before Him one day and He would say "Well, you still did these things, but remember when you didn't lie, that was awesome! That pardons you!"
No, it's nothing like that. It's more like, "Well, you still did these things, but remember when I sent my perfect Son down to earth to die for your sins and took your place in my judgement? That pardons you, and nothing else other than your demise would suffice."
It's a life of obedience and sanctification that comes after the conversion. The Lord requires that we WORK to become Sanctified. Don't get this confused with Salvation by WORKS, you had nothing to do with your own salvation. That was completely the Lord's grace working in your life. But the Lord still does require an ACTIVE Christian walk.

Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses,  we must get rid of every weight and the sin that clings so closely, and run with endurance the race set out for us, keeping our eyes fixed on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of our faith. For the joy set out for him he endured the cross, disregarding its shame, and has taken his seat at the right hand of the throne of God.  - Hebrews 12:1-2

I am loving this verse right now because it has so much to do with what I want to focus on this year! I want to run with endurance, spiritually and physically.

But reject those myths fit only for the godless and gullible, and train yourself for godliness. For “physical exercise has some value, but godliness is valuable in every way. It holds promise for the present life and for the life to come.” - 1 Timothy 4:7-8

I'm starting a study of  Disciplines of a Godly Woman (PDF) with a group of some really solid girls and we've chosen this verse to be our memory verse. Is God trying to tell me something, or what?
So this year is going to be one of Discipline. And I'm starting this blog to keep me accountable.

And since I've started I've already loss 3 pounds! 70 pounds is my goal to lose. So 3 down, 67 to go! :)

Love always,
Christina

I want to reflect a little

I'm going to start carrying a little notepad with me at all times. Often my mind is overrun with things I want to write about, dreams I want to share, questions I want to pose. But often when I have time to sit in front of my computer and actually write these things down my mind has been exhausted of it's inspirations, dwindled away in the drone of excel worksheets and check requests.

As a little girl I always swore I would never let the world make me old, I never understood how adults could enjoy life without scraping their knees after a fall off a bicycle, or sticky fingers after engulfing your favorite treat from the ice cream truck. I swore I would never have a boring job that I had to sit in an office all day. I was going to love life.

I find myself losing grip on that ideal. Through different trials and storms I've lost the desire to live a life I love.  Instead I've become focused on "growing up" and "being successful". These things aren't bad in themselves, no. But my definitions have changed.

"Growing up" used to mean becoming taller than the neighbor boys so that when they would pick on me, maybe, just maybe I could push them over. I wasn't the most delicate young lady in the world, I knew how to start a fight, and how to finish one. Scars were trophies and a little dirt never hurt. From the time schoolwork was done to the time the sun was setting the world outside my front door became mine. No boundaries could keep me back, imagination so strong that a tree turned into a pirate ship that I captained, warding off the swarthy ruffians who dare challenge Christina the Kid.

I made friends. The girl down the street was the first friend to invite me to her house. My mom watched as I made the voyage four houses down. The first time felt like an eternity. The second time my feet found their familiar rhythm. Several times and I didn't even look behind me to see my mom almost teary-eyed. I was six. I didn't know that was one of my first steps into growing up. Independence. Something that even at that tender age I ached for. I wanted to know who I could be, what I could do, on my own. Eventually that back and forth between my house and hers became so familiar I could recount the details of the grass and street. From the tree stump used as a meeting grounds in the empty field between houses 3 and 4, to the rocky area in front of house 3 where I fell over my bike handle bars and scraped up my chin and heel of my hand. That injury I remember well because as my mother coddled me, my father scoffed and commented "She's just a little scraped up, the fresh air will do it good..." and laughed swatting at my knees playfully. I laughed, too, I was a daddy's girl and wanted to be tough for him. I gained more scars. My first scars ever were from when I lost control of my scooter and skid on my knees down the pavement eventually stopping on my elbows. I still have the scar on my left knee.

Then as I grew older I gained some different scars. There was a house diagonal from my house on the right. It was a renters house so different families moved in from time to time. If kids moved in, we usually became friends and they became apart of the usual gang. Then Mike. He wasn't my first crush, but he was the first one that made me realize that maybe I wasn't girly enough. He was the reason I had my nana buy me my first pair of high heels. Black chunky wedges, something you would see Baby Spice wear. Oh, Lordy, they were awful. Why Nana EVER bought them for me, is beyond me. My mother wasn't happy, either. As I tried wearing them around him I was quickly finding out they didn't work well with climbing trees and running through neighbors yards. But Mike and I were becoming friends fast, and I was blissful. Then he moved away, only staying with his aunt and uncle for a little while. My heart broke a little when I waited for him outside my house on the day he said he would meet me so we could venture into the woods at the back of my neighborhood. I knew something was up when he didn't show, he always did. I walked up to the house, feeling that something was wrong. When his aunt opened the door and told me that , no, he wasn't there, he had moved back up to Maine with his mom, I said thank you, always taught to be polite, and ran home crying.

I saw Mike only one more time. The day I was moving from my childhood neighborhood. He showed up. I can't tell you the feeling. The only way I can honestly describe it is that I felt like I was going to throw up my heart. Right there in front of him. He was still cool, still cute, dark hair, light brown eyes and a smile that quirked up in the corner. He said "Hey" and I pretended a cool indifference and returned with a soft "Hey". He noticed the moving trucks and the "Sold" sign in front of my house, and now I still question to this day if it was my imagination, but I swear his face fell. He asked without looking me in the eye when I was moving and I didn't look at him as I replied "Today". "Will you come back to visit?" He asked finally looking at me. "Yeah, of course, how could I not?" I replied with a small smile. He smiled lightly and nodded. "Well make sure you let me know when you do." And with that he nodded and headed back into the renters house.

I never did.

The last memory I have of Mike is leaning halfway out of the jeep window watching him as he waved from his front yard. This time I was leaving, but I was still just as sad. It was like when I used to rip the scabs off of the large scars. It had healed a little, but hurt like heck when it was touched.