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.