Haircut!

Business

Hello again. Scrolling through and reflecting on my past blog entries, I came to the conclusion that the majority of my posts are lame or overly hurried. Here, I am about to make up for that.

Life is good as of right now. I have finally finished my training in the process of becoming a volunteer at Carenet Pregnancy Center. This past Monday, I began shadowing some older, more experienced employees at the center and am learning a lot about client confidentiality, organizing and filing client records, proper protocol for answering the phone, watching the parenting/informational videos that the clients may view, familiarizing myself with the specific center I will be at, etc. I was also informed by the director that I will most likely become a peer counselor sometime in the near future. The next step for me is to sit in on 4 or 5 counseling sessions with an experienced peer counselor, then I must do a session for myself while being observed by the director. I am very nervous for this, I feel as though this is a big responsibility, and that I am not qualified. Being a peer counselor, what I will be doing is spending 4 hours on Monday afternoons, and taking care of being available for any appointments or walk-ins that may occur. These clients are women, ranging in age from very early teenagers up until middle-aged women, that come in because a.) they suspect they may be pregnant b .) are pregnant and do not know what to do about it, c.) they need a proof of pregnancy, or d.) they have had a previous abortion or multiple abortions. I will not be handling any post-abortive counseling. I may, and in all likelihood will, encounter woman who have had them but are there for different reasons. I will be helping administer pregnancy tests, gather information about the clients from them, sit in on ultrasounds, provide them with information on abortion methods, risks, and repercussions, and help them make an informed decision about their next step in their possible pregnancy.

As far as my schooling goes, I have just completed my sophomore year online through Regent University in Virginia Beach, Virginia. I am studying psychology, and after I get my b.s. in psychology, I plan to possibly relocate to Virginia Beach to pursue my Masters in counseling. I really think that the experiences I have at Carenet will help me discern whether or not I could possibly do counseling as a career or not.

I am still working at Starbucks, I really do like it. The hours are early (a lot of 5am shifts thanks to all you coffee drinkers out there!), but in being so they allow me to have the time for my other job, my studies, church, family, friends, and travel. And I have the best boss who is flexible with my sporadic travels and sometimes odd schedule! I also am still working for East European Missions Network as an office assistant and am the editor for The Network (their quarterly(I think) newsletter) and also am the editor of 2 or 3 other missionary newsletters which are under EEMN. I truly love this job!

On June 1oth, I will be leaving overseas to spend my 6th summer doing missions work and traveling in Europe. This year I will be traveling to Latvia, Austria, Slovakia, Turkey, Ukraine, and France for various reasons. A highlight will be visiting Turkey, which is someplace I have never yet visited! We will be able to take a day trip to Ephesus, an historic place and one of the wonders of the ancient world.

Besides all of this, I am keeping busy with my friendships, church, more traveling, family, etc. I am still praying about where God wants me in the future, both near and far from this point in time, as it seems as though many doors are closing to future plans I have been making. It is comforting to know that God has it all in His hands and I know there are great things in store for me in my life!

And now, I am off to see Mae for the fifth time at the launchpad!

Big shoes to fill, Abbey..

Happy Birthday, Jer!

Denver Weather

My old ballet school again

I sweated my brains out here every day of the week...Such good memories

Continental Ballet Company

Our old ballet school is behind me! I miss it ..

Chipotle..

in minnesota! Mmm..

Nice teeth

Hey Bingley, your teeth are as perfect as Anoop Desai. So smile bigger!

Guard dog?

No, kip is the guardian of the small. Madeline, as you can see, was in much danger. We salute you, kip, for doing what no other dog dares do.

Miserable

My arms and back are itchy. They have red bumps on them. My throat hurts. I am lightheaded. My stomach is queasy. I have no appetite.
Allergic reaction to something? I am thinking it might be so. I obtained hives all over me when I got stung by that bee in fourth grade, and now we know I am deathly allergic. I am a slave to my Epinephrine-Pen.
Joshua put paint thinner in his fire the other night. I believe I inhaled the fumes which probably contain chemicals. And the smoke from it enveloped my skin.
Either that or something else caused it which I have not a clue about.
Now I must go take a benadryl again. Watch me fall into another two and a half hours of hard, deep sleep.
Praying it goes away soon...

Pretty Girls

They are such pretty girls!

A Long Day

Yesterday was a long day. I wish I could entertain you with a picture from it, but alas, I do not think I took one. I woke up, drove 35 minutes to the other side of town, and sat through a meeting at Carenet Pregnancy Center for 6 hours, from 10am to 4pm. The good thing is, it was my last training session! So next week, I am going to shadow one of their employees and learn more about how to counsel. Needless to say, the meeting was very interesting. It was about birth control and abortion methods. I'd say I'm pretty qualified in both of those areas now...
I then went home, at dinner, then turned around to go to church for an hour and a half. It was a good sermon though. But I suffered a massive headache during the service, and dumb me, I didn't have any medication with me. Where's mom when you need her?
Then we went to Josh's for a fire.
The end.

This Man

This man loves Disneyland. Just look at him, he can hardly contain his excitement about this train ride..

My Feet...

My nephew, Noah, who is 6 informed me that my sandals look egyptian. What a kid.

Road Trip

Christy and i are driving to california, well specifically LA, and im enjoying an interesting read and some all natural apple licorice.

Driving

Driving with Noah and Julia to see Bolt at the dollar theater..

Birthdays

Abbey is two now and adorable.

Hiking

We took the tram up sandia peak, its snowy up here. And im hungry.

Sling

A family walk with 13 people and 4 dogs. A few people chuckled at us as we passed by. I carried madeline in the trendy sling, which are the most amazing, comfortable things ever. Welcome to my family, I can't wait for the rest to come, it is going to get chaotic!

Good Old Paul Bunyan

Last night Paul Bunyan was a big topic in our conversation. After a (somewhat) controversial sermon at Calvary, Christy, Mia, Brian B., and I all settled in at Dion's for food. Well, as always, we talked one another's heads off. Brian was supposed to be there for only about 25 min. because he had to drive to another city far away that night, but alas; we lost track of time. We ended up talking for close to two hours.

Brian wanted to talk to us about a book he had been reading on John Bunyan, the author of Pilgrim's Progress. I thought he said Paul Bunyan, the big lumberjack from tall tales with his blue ox. I began telling all of my table mates that there was a ride in the Mall of America in Minnesota with Paul Bunyan towering over it. Then Brian corrected me, "no, I meant John Bunyan, you know, the guy who wrote Pilgrim's Progress...". We all ended up in much laughter. So then he went on saying, "so as I was saying, I was reading a book about Paul Bunyan..." and we corrected him again. More laughter. I guess we all just wanted to talk about that manly lumberjack last night.

Oh, and Christy thought he said John Bunny, hahahahahahahaha. Christy, Christy, Christy, you are too funny.

All in all, I declare last night good, and so it was.

Berry Tart

I made this.

master's chair

Master Monique sitting in the master's chair..

Babies

Airielle and Jeremiah had a baby last week, so now I am an aunt 5 times over. Madeline Rachal is now 8 days old and perfect. Someday I will possess one of my very own.

Chocolate

I made chocolate truffles today. Almond Chocolate Cream, Double Chocolate Cream, and Black and White Cream. Bridal shower tornado here I come!

Road trip!

We drove to kansas city missouri this weekend, it was a blast! My good friend laura lives there. I love her, what an amazing woman! We have 12 hours to drive today to get home, what would we do without music?

20!

I am no longer a teenager. I am 20. And look, i got 20 pink roses.

I believe.

Gotham's white knight.

And

I am officially still addicted to Rockband.

Slacker

This is just what I am. I has officially been 34 days since my last posting.

This new year brings a few changes to my life. But please do not be mistaken, these are not "New Year Resolutions", because frankly, I am skeptical of those commitments. Rather, it is instead just mere additions to my life.

First of all, I have my own car. This has it's pluses, but personally I believe the drawbacks outweigh the positive aspects. I enjoy the freedom of having an automobile all to myself, however with that comes hefty car payments, car insurance, and gas. And more gas. Then it's empty again and I have to put more gas in my car. I will say this, though, I am very happy that gas prices are so low. Now I must own up to you that I bought my car before 2009.

I am now just beginning training to be a volunteer at Carenet Pregnancy Center, a pro-life ministry which counsels mothers (who are often in crisis situations) on their options. I will most likely be a peer counselor, and basically what I will be doing is, after extensive training, counseling the mothers on their options, how abortion is performed, the harms of it, and also talking to them about their spiritual lives, if they have any. I am very excited for this, as I hope to get my master's in marriage and family counseling once I graduate with my B.S. in Psychology.

Airielle is going to have her baby in less than three weeks! I am so very excited for her! Just 3 weeks ago or so we threw a baby shower for her, which was quite fun. They are having a girl, and they think they will be naming her Madeleine.

I just returned from a family vacation to Maui, Hawaii. It was an amazing time, the weather was perfect, the ocean warm and clear, and my stomach always full of food. I only have two months to get back into shape so that I can look presentable for John and Nichole's wedding.

John, one of my many brothers, and Nichole are getting married on March 20th. I am going to be a bridesmaid, and everyone is busy with wedding preparations already.

One of my best friends, Laura, is engaged! I am sooooo happy for her! I have not seen her in almost a year, but will be visiting her in February.

Christy got a puppy a month ago, Harvey Dent "Tutu" Moberly. He is adorable.

(See picture below for a glimpse of what I look like, sideways, holding Harvey)

That is all that I can think of that is happening in my life at this point.

Oh. One last thing; I am in my last 4 days of living out my teenage years.