PSA: What to do with Expired Medication

This year I will be thirty-five (face-palm) and for all of my adult life I have been lugging around, with every move I've made, all my expired medications. I didn't know what to do with them. I knew I shouldn't just throw it away. I had been told it shouldn't go to the landfill or be flushed and end up in our water supply - so I had that knowledge but I didn't know what to do with them.

Chosen Portion

"The Lord is my chosen portion and my cup;

    you hold my lot.

6 

The lines have fallen for me in pleasant places;

    indeed, I have a beautiful inheritance."

Psalm 16: 5-6

So often in my reading of scripture and especially the Psalms I get tripped up by odd wording.  I've chalked it up to not being much of a poetry fan.  Poetry has often felt to me like modern art feels to most people.  Misunderstood.  But I know that there is meaning, deep and rich, if I just take the time to dig in.

This past year, I had the wonderful experience of spending two semesters studying Genesis with the women of my church and also hearing Exodus (31 weeks sermon series) from the pulpit every week. And there is nothing like being immersed in the first two books of the Pentateuch and seeing stories that have always seemed confusing much more clearly to give you a little more confidence in digging into "hard" portions of the Bible.

So when I read The Lord is my chosen portion I first wonder what David in this song meant by portion. And I have to remember David meditated on the Old Testament, memorized it, loved it.  What is he drawing from?  

Numbers 18:20 says "And the Lord said to Aaron, “You shall have no inheritance in their land, neither shall you have any portion among them. I am your portion and your inheritance among the people of Israel."

The Lord said. Not land (like everyone else), not earthly goods - none of that.

He said ME!  I AM YOUR PORTION.

No matter the condition of my life (hear valley or peak or plateau) God has given his son as a sacrifice for my sin so that God can be my portion.  He gave me the best - he gives me the best; Himself. 

NOW!... to dwell on that daily - to choose that as truth no matter my circumstances and to walk humbly with my Lord.

House Update

I guess this post has been a long time coming but that's sort of how this adventure has been. This summer was full of lots of change and projects. In June we decided to venture into the explosion that was happening in the local real estate market. We worked with a realtor to try and find a home we would first like to move to before listing our house but the more we looked the more we failed to find a house we really felt was worth leaving our first house that we had loved for the last seven years.

Then surprisingly the Lord brought a For Sale by Owner house to our attention as it was directly across the street from our friend's new house. We slowly approached the owners about the property and were mostly denied even the opportunity to look at the house as the owners were still working on updating the house before actually wanting to sale. After some convincing and many many phone calls we were begrudgingly allowed a tour with the high disclaimer that we would have to have "vision".  Little did they know "vision" is the only way I look at a house. After touring the house we felt that it seemed like an option we should consider and after some negotiations and a little bit of finagling to get it appraised we were able to buy it from a wonderfully sweet couple that had raised their family in it. Luckily, our house sold within a week of listing it on the market as predicted by our realtor and we were full steam ahead to move.

Did I mention "vision".... ah yes... well the house we bought needed some updating and some critical wall moving that Phil had agreed we would make happen because otherwise I knew I didn't want to buy the house.

So at 23 weeks pregnant we had bought a new house and immediately started demo.

BIG NEWS! All Glory to God

It has been since October that I last wrote a blog post. Today I realized (thanks Timehop that 4 years ago today I started this blog and posted my first post) and today may be the BEST post YET.

It is amazing to me how time can fly by and also seem excruciating long at the same time.  I have found that the more overwhelmed by God my life seems to be the quieter I tend to be.  Maybe it's because I am more in tune with just how tiny my thoughts are or maybe it's a fear of not adequately expressing the amazing work I am beholding from the Lord.  But it seems to me that this is hardly the time to be quite.  It's the time to yell from the roof tops!

We added JOY to our Christmas decor this year and I love how fitting it is.

CHOOSE HOPE

Some days are just harder than others.  Isn't that just so true for everyone.  One day is good, normal, even average or boring and then the next sort of blows up in your face.

I have been processing over the last couple of months.  Processing is the best way I can say it. Fighting what ifs, battling why, pushing back how comes.  It's hard to press into the Lord in all things.  Everyone has their "thing" too.  Could be money, kids, job, family, health - it's something. And if it isn't today it will creep in at some point.  I'm not trying to be a pessimist here I'm just speaking to my fellow humans who live on this side of perfect eternity.

So what do I know.  For me it always comes down to knowing because my head has been taught well.  I have had sound theology taught to me since I was a baby. I studied and studied AND do you know what is crazy sometimes my dang heart is so slow to follow.  I know truth but man it's hard to grasp faith and hope when their is disappointment, fear and pain.  Right?

I don't want to be sharpened... and yet I do.  The struggle is real.

Guatemala 2014 Medical Mission Trip

We made it home Sunday after 10 days in Guatemala and now almost a week later we are finally recovered enough that I am sitting down to give a little update.

It was a great way to celebrate 7 years of marriage serving alongside my hubby!  I feel so blessed (even though he is a goober and keeps his sunglasses on his nose for a picture at dusk).

Here is the team.

When you go on any mission trip I think managing expectations is one of the hardest parts.  First of all on a short-term trip you know you are going to see far more need than the help you can bring. Second, at least for me, I usually anticipate that all my "plans" will end up different than I imagined.  In this case though, as this was a medical mission trip, it was hard for me to actually have plans since I don't offer any medical skills and was just planning to be a helper.  But I certainly didn't know what was in store for my heart these 10 days.

Let's be Friends!

My mind is circling something. An observation I suppose. Maybe a beginning of a rant... I don't know. I don't want it to be a rant. I often find that people's rants are full of opinion stated as fact and actually lacking in actual fact. See what I did there? :) 

Anyway, my thought that started this need to blog/rant is: "I like Facebook". 

Why you may ask did I have this thought? Well let me tell you. I have recently found myself in a group preparing to go on a trip out of the country together and we don't hardly know one another at all. So I have been friending people trying to ask questions, I can see where they are from, what they care about on a daily basis etc.. So why are these thoughts warranting a blog post? Why is my head swimming with thoughts? 

Medical Mission Trip

I'm excited to share with you that in July Phil and I have the opportunity to join with a group from our church (The Village Church in Flower Mound, TX) to spend 10 days in Guatemala City, Guatemala on a medical mission trip.

As most of you already know in May 2012 Phil graduated PA school and has since been working in a Pediatric ER. One of the reoccurring dreams Phil had as he trudged through school was to serve on medical mission trips as much as possible. This trip is answer to that prayer and dream and I am thrilled, as his wife, to be able to join him even as a non-medical professional and serve alongside him in other capacities.

For everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.
How then will they call on him in whom they have not believed?
And how are they to believe in him of whom they have never heard?
And how are they to hear without someone preaching?
And how are they to preach unless they are sent?
As it is written, "How beautiful are the feet of those who preach the good news!"

Romans 10:13-15

I want to take a step back though and really walk through why go on a short term mission trip rather than just continuing to share the good news here at home. 

So why go? 

Radio Silence

I have created an enormous amount of radio silence on my little blog here.  I don't mean to be so distant but every time I have opened up a post to start writing I stop with the thought... I have nothing to say.  Don't get my wrong I can talk.  But I guess I have been feeling like sometimes I just talk without a good purpose or in a way that really anyone needs to care about.  To be honest that thought is still running through my mind.
Additionally, I think I drive myself crazy with my own thoughts and inner dialog so I figure if I'm annoyed with myself how much more annoying am I to everyone else.

So that being said I have been thinking about personalities a lot for the past several months. A while back posts were going social-media viral about being an extrovert or introvert and I would read the posts and admittedly chuckle at a few but I always ended up thinking hmmm that's just not me; which of course got me thinking why?

I mean aren't I supposed to be either an extrovert or an introvert?
So I took a personality quiz.  I know there are a million out there and when I was in highs school my Mom paid for us to take a very intense one to help us think about our careers. (the results were VERY creepy accurate)

Anyway, this time I took the Humanmetrics Jung Typology test (which is based on Briggs Myers) and this is what I scored.

Low and behold it explains why those darn extrovert/introvert things don't really apply to me.
So this is my report.  I'll let you read it... cause why not!?!  And I'll highlight the most applicable and interesting parts so you can skim or you can scroll to the bottom and just get to the point :)

Extraverted Sensing Thinking Judging - ESTJ

Extravert(22%)  Sensing(25%)  Thinking(1%)  Judging(67%)

• You have slight preference of Extraversion over Introversion (22%)
• You have moderate preference of Sensing over Intuition (25%)
• You have marginal or no preference of Thinking over Feeling (1%)
• You have distinctive preference of Judging over Perceiving (67%)

Ice Storm 2013 = New Bathroom for Me!

If you read my last blog entry you found out I joyously have a bit more time on my hands these days; and in case you don't know me too well then let me tell you extra time means I get a LOT done.  I'm not really very good and just "sitting around and eating bon-bons" as my husband would say.  Even when I am watching TV I like to be "doing" something.  So for some Christmas presents I have been making creations which is what dominated most of my time while iced in alone for four days (can't show you those yet, maybe after Christmas I'll blog about those).  Phil, my husband, works in an ER about an hour away so that means a couple things...
1. He HAS to go to work.  You can't really call in when you work in the ER.
2. You also can't drive back and forth when it is super icy and it's midnight so he stayed in a hotel and the dogs and I hunkered down trying to keep warm.

Arden was not a fan of the ice.

Frozen things are cool but I couldn't stay out long I'm a wuss. 

Change is in the Air

The past few months have flown by in a sort of whirlwind that has almost had my head spinning.  In fact, my last blog was in August and let me tell you since then my world has been rocked.    Let me give you a little update.

As you may know this year Phil and I were blessed to take several trips.  Starting in April we went on a cruise, followed by a weekend in May to Boston and then in July we went to Hawaii.  (I haven't yet blogged about Hawaii... but it's coming don't worry along with TONS of photos.)  These trips were truly amazing, fun and eye opening for me.  Within all of them there was a massive reoccurring theme that "something in my life had to give".  As we would approach returning from these trips rather than having a sense of excitement to return home I would panic, melt down and become very anxious that I was returning to a stress level that wasn't healthy and was in these moments crippling.  As the realization settled over me that I was over-committed, over-stressed and I was the only one who could change that.  So I began to pray, talk with Phil and walk toward making changes.

5 min Friday - Small...

It's that time again.  Five Minute Friday.  Last week I had a little more to say than 5 minutes of writing so I took a pause to blog about that.

TODAY'S PROMPT:
Small...

Choosing to Not be Offended

WARNING: This may be offensive to some.

It's interesting to me how easily offended we are.  Mostly I mean women.  I know we are in general emotional creatures; we have hormones that tend to fluctuate (uh em... I mean rage), we are sensitive in a way men simply can't understand.  But ladies, why are we so easily offended?  Our toes are so easily stepped on.  Our feelings are so easily crushed.  Our hearts are so easily shattered. AND goodness knows our soapboxes are ENORMOUS!  Maybe I am stepping up on mine now but I hope that I am speaking in love and that it falls on soft hearts and open ears.

5 min. Friday - Story

TODAY'S PROMPT:
Story...

5 min. Friday - Beautiful

Okay, so here is the deal I said I was going to join in this and so today I am actually doing it.  I have felt so busy lately that I haven't blogged at all.  BOO!  But today I join in and this link up I think is definitely worth it. Check it out by clicking the image below.

Today's prompt.
Beautiful...

Potential Roller Coaster

PREFACE/DISCLAIMER:  I reread and tried to edit this post but it is sort of beyond editing, it's insane.  Enjoy.

I have found almost everything humorous today.  I have giggled, chuckled, almost cried laughing at multiple things throughout the day; and if I'm honest this isn't my typical state of being.  I would say today things just happen to be funnier than normal but I don't think that is the case.  I can truly say I am a little worried for tomorrow.  It kind of is like when you know you are "homoronally" pissed and irritable   You know it but it doesn't change the fact that your are still pissed and irritable   Well today I was the opposite of that.  Everything is funny.  Here are some examples.

Cruisin'

Wow am I behind on blogging.  I haven't blogged in so long it is crazy.  Honestly, for me, blogging is like journaling and journaling is like therapy.  So the break in posts isn't a good thing for my heart and soul.  Writing is a a way for me to process my thoughts and feelings and blogging makes me edit and review.

The past few months have been so busy.  We have been traveling, Phil changed jobs, my freelance jobs are keeping me on my toes (and at my computer); it's been busy.  I feel as though I have been out of town more than I have been in town but I love the life adventure I have been experiencing.

Our first trip was a cruise!  I had never been on a cruise before so I was pretty excited.  And we had a great time so I was not disappointed.

Our ship the Carnival Magic.

Cruises are a funny thing though.  They are kind of like summer camp.  Or have you ever seen the movie Dirty Dancing?  It's just like that; a bunch 'wealthy' adults being entertained.  It seemed too cheesy - too fake and people were eating it up (figuratively and literally). So sometimes I had a bit of a hard time with that. I met folks from Indonesia, Philippines, Panama, Australia, England, Nevada - everywhere. Many, perhaps the majority, of the crew on board were from less fortunate countries and lives working hard (very hard - long hours) to make and send money home.  They were away from their homes, families, children for months at a time.   I didn't intend to make this post to have a social commentary but it was something I walked away with in my mind so I thought it was important to at least acknowledge that the dynamics of the boat were strange for me, often humbling as I vacationed in luxury.

So it wouldn't really be vacation without a bunch of fun and that we had.  It felt like we were always on the go, something to do or see.  We went to magic shows, comedy shows, fancy dinners and casual meals.  We laid in the sun, went down the water slides got massages bought watches and perfume and had a marvelous time. The cruise was 7 days with 3 stops to Jamaica, The Cayman Islands, and Cozumel.

In Jamaica, Phil and I floated the river.  The river looked very dirty because it had been raining in the mountains and that was stirring everything up as it came down the mountain.

The river was very still and we were tied to a group of 10ish with a guide that basically paddled us down the river.  He was a really nice guy that liked to go by Shrek.  

These are a few pics of the view up through the mountain.

My favorite part of the cruise was our second stop of the trip at the Cayman Islands where we went on a Stingray excursion.  Originally I thought this excursion would be boring and with too many people and while there were SOOO many people I didn't even care I just loved watching the stingrays.  I even got to hold a couple!!!!

I'm READY!!!! --- see all the people.

snorkle kiss.  haha.

Cayman was the most beautiful place and the day was perfect.

The whole Gang!

Me and my Buddy.

Other than what was your favorite part of the cruise the other main question I am asked is did I get sea sick. Well yes I did!  Not completely sick but off enough to wish I had gotten a prescription.  

I took this video below one day to show how much the boat was moving.  This is our door knocker.  Keep in mind that I completely stopped the sign and just let it pick up speed on it's own.

And here are a few other random photo favs.

So that's it.  As our maitre d' would say, we had "fun fun fun"!

What do you want to know about home schooling?

Hey everyone, I am working on a post about my experience being home schooled.  Since I seem to have a lot of friends thinking and considering home schooling for their children I thought it might be useful for me to share my experience and what I know with whomever is interested.

Before I write what I think you might want to know I thought I would try and find out what you really do want to know.  So I am asking!

Here is a brief outline of what I thought I would share:

• Why we were home schooled.
• The transition from public school to home school.
• Co-ops/Socialization
• Curriculum

Leave a comment and let me know what most interests you.

Chemical Free Cleaning

I think I have fallen in love with white vinegar!  I decided the other day that I wanted to experiment with some DIY natural cleaning products.  So I did a little research and found that white vinegar was an ingredient most commonly referred to.

Here are a few things that I have played around so far.

• Laminate floor cleaner (used it to spot mop and was quite pleased....looking forward to the full floor mop up)
• Kitchen counter cleaner (not for marble!!!)
• Air freshener
• Dog ear cleaning solution (afterward the dogs kept sniffing each others ears which was cracking me up)
• Stainless Steel sink cleaner
• Gnat trapper (worked better than I expected)

I found this site which, as it is aptly titled, has a TON uses for white vinegar!!!

Here are a few fun things I found out while researching.
1. When a recipe calls for alcohol it can be rubbing or drinking like vodka.
2. Lemon is a great ingredient to add it is a fresh smell, degreaser, and whitener.

So I bought a spray bottle at Walmart to mix up my first solution of white vinegar, water, and lemon.

So there you have it.  My potion a la clean!  I have to admit though there is a part of me that has been so {fooled/tricked/taught/reliant} on the harsh chemical cleaners that I don't feel like things are clean and sanitary unless they smell like chemicals, have a label on the bottle shouting antibacterial.  I might need to make a label for my bottle... or become a chemist. hmm.  I mean seriously sometimes I just want to swab the counter after I wipe it down and look under the microscope to see how clean it is.  Needless to say the complete transition to chemical free or perhaps more likely chemical-less in my house will be a slow process as I retrain my brain but I think I'll get there one day.

Next solution to try is white vinegar and baking soda for a good scrub down for the bathroom tub.  oh boy.

Photo a Day Challenge

Well I've tried it once before but to no avail but I am trying again this month to follow a photo a day challenge. Each day already has a pre-assigned topic for you to shoot. I am joining The Idea Room in this challenge and it is really fun because you post your photos on Instagram with the hashtag (# symbol for those who don't know) and then you can look in the category of all the other people's photos who are also participating. I think it is really neat to see how people interpret the topics differently. Also it's neat because several people (my sis and cousin) are also participating so it's like a little daily interaction that we probably wouldn't necessarily have otherwise. So this being the 6th, it's day six of the challenge and so far I have posted a photo every day.

Here is the challenge list and my photos for each day so far.