The Ted-Mister!

I forgot to post about Teddy! 

Teddy is our somewhat moody fish that takes residence in our living room. 

He is an introvert at heart.

He is easy to read. If he doesn't like the amount of food you gave him or the size of his little pebble of food he will simply spit it right back out. 

He likes to be watched. 

He doesn't have very good self esteem some days because when he sees himself in the mirror he gets pretty upset. (hehe)

I think he is afraid of bamboo because when he gets daring he swims through the bamboo really really fast, but most of the time he avoids it. 

Hope you enjoy him as much as we do! :)

3rd Grade Lessons

For one of my community internship requirements I got to teach a nutrition class to 3^rd graders. Those 34 impressionable minds were all mine for 30 minutes. I had my lesson planned and practiced. Everything was set up and ready. I honestly don't remember everything that I was taught in 3^rd grade. I thought they would have herd of diseases and medical problems that their grandparents might have. I was taking a chance that my audience would nod and smile when I said vegetables can lower your risk of type 2 diabetes. At least that was what I was used to in college. I learned a lot of new things today...

3^rd grade and college are worlds apart. Of course the boy in the front row says, “umm umm what is diabetes?” Gulp. How can I explain diabetes to a 3^rd grader? Do they know about cells or hormones? I started to talk and all I know is that I said hormones, insulin, sugar, and cells a lot which seemed to satisfy the wondering mind.

3rd  graders are so willing to share. After explaining that vegetables were low in fat and low in calories, I moved on to fruits. I finished with “Fruits are low in fat and calories just like what other group?” 75% of the hands went up just like normal and I called on a boy. His answer was “My brother likes fruits, but I don't eat them very much.” It fit so well to say that in their world. It made me smile.

3rd graders are willing to participate. I think it is interesting the older we get the less we want to be up in front of people. I also thought it was interesting that 3^rd graders raise their hands even when they don't know the right answer. The main goal is just to get picked.

It was certainly a fun learning experience. My favorite part of today was talking about the grain group. I started out with, "we want to make 1/2 our grains whole." and I ended with, "Is white bread a whole grain?" A resounding yes swept across all of their lips. I smiled and said, "nope" and I heard a collective gasp by the audience. I had to revive the troops again by telling them that all the benefits of whole grains are found in brown bread. "I don't like that stuff though" I heard. I guess I didn't do a good job in reviving them, but I hope they remember to choose it next time. 

I Now Pronounce you MR. and MRS. Macomber...

The Wedding Day: 

     In the morning it started out down pouring. The wedding was outside and wasn't until 4:56pm, but the forecast wasn't very promising. We prayed it would let up for the wedding. My mom never slept that night and with some of our super amazing friends were at the reception area at 4am setting up. It was still raining when I arrived at the hotel were all the girls were changing and getting ready around 3:00pm. Then at 3:30pm the clouds broke and the rain stopped and it was just misting which we decided to have it outside anyway. The day only got sunnier and sunnier from then on. It was the perfect temperature. Everything was better than I imagined it. With the help of friends and family mostly everything was hand-made and had a personal touch. 

    At the reception we had an agape feast which was all prepared by friends and family. The food was amazing, the company was amazing, and the weather was amazing. It was an awesome day and will always remember it. But by far, the best part is getting to enjoy a lifelong relationship with my best friend and true love.

One last hug before we walked down the aisle.

I just love this shot. the rose peddles were from the roses I would get from David every Friday (and still get every Friday.)   

David dipped me for the kiss.

Christen was such a help! She handed out programs and had people sign the picture frame as our guest book.  I was so glad she was a part!

they held hands the whole way. 

We took most of our pictures here. It was so pretty! 

David and his bow-tie. (Hehe!) Isn't he so good looking!

we walked to the reception since it was just across the road. We saw the swings and couldn't resist! 

the centerpieces.

we were nice to each other. 

The cake! It was red velvet yummy-ness, and that is coming from someone who doesn't like cake. It's really small because we had a whole dessert table filled with cheesecake, and any kind of pie you can think of!

My Dad sneaked a kiss in front of the camera.

This is one of my favorite shots of David and me. I had no idea our photographers were taking the picture. 

Our flower girl and ring/bible boy were so good. they stood up front the whole time  even though their moms were in the front row. They were adorable :)

The structure David and I stood in front of was built by my dad. 

My little cousin, Kellen, rang a bell and ran down the aisle with this sign right before my dad and I came down. It was too cute. 

I gave this handkerchief to my dad right before the ceremony started. It totally caught him off guard and my funny-always-joking dad was almost in tears. He showed everyone at the reception and even carried it to church a couple of Sabbaths after the wedding to show people who couldn't make it to the wedding. 

This was the bible McLane, our ring/bible boy carried down the aisle. It is really special to me because it is the bible my Grandma Van Gelder gave to me.  

These were the wedding programs all 200 were hand cut and folded. It was a lot of work and couldn't have done it without my cousin, Jessie, all her friends, and my good friend Jamie.

I love this picture of my sister, mom and I. This was taken on a balcony over looking the lake right after all the rain stopped before the ceremony :) 

My Mom and I. Without her I wouldn't have had a wedding. She found the location, arranged all the flowers places where everyone was staying, and got all the decorations. I'm so lucky she helped out so much!!

Grandma's Goal

    My Grandma has been in the hospital since January. That's 6 months now. When she went in for surgery on her hiatal hernia the doctor nicked a part of her bowel and the whole area got infected. The doctor then went in to remove the graft they put in, since it was infected, then he nicked another portion of the bowel during that surgery. It's amazing she is still alive. A fistula formed between her bowel and the skin. She has been in the hospital waiting for it to heal without another infection. The terms I was studying in my medical terminology book was spilling into my life with every phone call from home.

    I was finishing up my last semester in college when all of her surgical procedures happened and a large part of her healing process. I felt so disconnected and useless. I called once on her birthday, but as I was applying for my internship, studying for tests, and working, I only made time for grandma in my prayers. The things that I felt were nothing compared to my grandma's life were consuming my time.

   I felt disconnected in other ways too. So many good things were going on in my life. I got engaged, passed my four year comprehensive test, got and internship, graduated from college, and yet when I called home it was more bad news. Grandpa had cancer, got his bowel removed, and now has to change a bag for the rest of his life. Grandma's medicine was making her memory go and  she was very depressed. The people that made up the largest portion of memories in my life were slowly going downhill, and I was far away from it all. 

   Once I graduated, I came back home to plan the wedding, finish up a class, and get everything ready for my internship. The first time I visited grandma when I got back home she was doing well mentally and was in high spirits. Her wound had about a 1/2 inch to heal upwards over a large portion of her abdominal area, but she was making progress. The next time I visited she was discouraged and depressed. She thought she would never make it out of the hospital. The following time I came she thought that I surprised her and that I just got back from college. She hadn't remembered my visits before. I just got off the phone with her and she was asking me about the large gash that I got when I flipped the lawn mower on a bank where it rolled over me (praise God the blades were not facing me). She remembered that from when I visited her last. She told me she misses watermelon and being in a home and riding in a car- the simple things in life.

My Grandpa holding Grandma to comfort her.

   I am amazed with my grandma. She is truly a remarkable woman by hanging on so long to one day becoming better and walking out of the hospital. She inspires me to keep going in my everyday ho hum tasks of life. I thought I didn't have an impact on her and that she was so far away only my prayers would reach her, but through it all I found that, even though every visit was different, she has always told me, "I want to make it to your wedding." There are signs on her hospital wall that say things like, "Eat, drink, and walk to make it to your goal- Sarah's wedding." The whole time I was away I had no idea that she had made my wedding her goal. The doctor already gave her a one day pass for July 15th and I am so blessed to know that my grandma will be there supporting me in just another special way.

 

My Best Friend

I always want to be with him. He makes me laugh when he talks in funny accents at the grocery store and makes puns on just about everything he hears. He does the dishes and opens doors for me because he loves me. Sometimes when I am busy he comes up behind me and gives me a bear hug and smothers my cheek with kisses. He stands up for what is right and is a spiritual leader. He let me cry on his shoulder when I found out my Grandma might not make it. He listens to me when I talk about my day. He gets me a single rose every Friday with a special note attached. I can sing freely around him and say what's on my mind. I love him, and I thank God for giving me such an amazing best friend.

Trampoline Summers

When I was a little girl I used to lye on my trampoline what seemed to be all summer eating saltines, apples with cinnamon and sugar on them, and drinking strawberry juice. I would watch the clouds pass by in familiar shaped objects like bunnies and balloons. I loved those blue skies and sunny days. Summer felt so long and so rewarding.

Now when I look up at the sky in short intervals through windows of class rooms or rushed walks to the next place I have to go to the clouds are stratus-shaped or cumulonimbus clouds. On rare occasions they are shaped like kidneys or femurs, but never bunnies or balloons...

I don't wish it back. I can't quite put a finger on it, but this is the summer that I define my childhood summers as. It might be the independence I felt in being the boss of my day. I could eat what I wanted, wear clothes three times in a row, dig holes with my dog, climb trees, catch toads, or just lye on the trampoline and watch clouds pass by in great fascination. It could possibly be that time made no difference in my day. I had no meetings to attend, no planes to catch, or work to go to. Or it might have been because there was no school. I didn't have to read any chapters in my Medical Nutrition Therapy book, or study for an exam on Monday, or meet hard deadlines for papers.

I was free.

Letting God be God.

Money. It's a crucial part of life and I hate it.

This semester I am not living in the dorm (woo hoo!), but paying rent isn't exactly my favorite thing to do the first of the month. I guess living off campus has given me a better understanding of the position I find myself in.

Three words: poor college student.

The purpose of this blog is to focus on the first word: poor. Believe me, I am not writing this to get hand-outs or promote awareness of my condition; My mother already knows so I am set.
I am happy to find myself in this situation. Naturally to avoid going deeper into debt I am working a couple of jobs. One employer recently told me they had no budget to pay for me grading their papers for their class, but still wants me to do the work. The original agreement was not very attractive in the first place...

Employer: “you will be paid to work in the FitZone, and you can grade the pa

Me: “oh wow! Yeah that sounds great. So essentially I am getting paid double at one time?”pers for my class and another professors class”

Employer: “No, you do both jobs but get paid for one. Although, when you have a lot of papers to grade and go over the time of your FitZone shift you can get paid for the time you go over to grade the papers,”

Me: “Oh, I see. Sure, if it helps you out I will do it.”

But now it's just volunteer hours...

Employer: “we have no budget to pay you for working over.”

Me (thoughts: I should have seen this coming...)

Employer: “So could you get all this grading finished within your shifts this week?”

Me: “I understand. I will try my best.”

Anyways...I digress. I guess what I was getting at was now I am doing charity work along side needing charity. It's a good thing, really. It keeps me humble.

Senior classes are hard and with work and soccer (which recently finished!) on top of that is a struggle, but I am not writing this to complain. I know others are in my very shoes walking around with the same weight.

It has been tight. Having enough money for rent, groceries, gas, and unexpected things that come up during the month is hard to stretch over a small paycheck. This last month was especially hard, but I had figured everything out. I was barely going to scrape by with a full stomach, the gas above empty, a place to stay in, a few pennies in the bank, and oooh no! Tithe! I forgot about tithe.

I had to choose whether or not I was going to give tithe...The math was not adding up. It made no sense to give it. I mean God would understand, right? He wants us to use our logical thinking... he wants us to stay out of debt...hmm... but I know I should give. It was a struggle, but I gave. It didn't solve the problem as soon as I gave, but somehow I made it through. People inviting me to lunch when I didn't have any food, discovering a local pantry that gives free food, and even some people taking the time to listen to me when I was emotionally and mentally spent, and of course these verses: “Therefore do not worry, saying, 'What shall I eat?' or 'What shall we drink?' or 'What shall I wear?' For after all these things the Gentiles seek, For your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things, but seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things shall be added unto you. Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about its own things. Sufficient for the day is it's own trouble.” - Matt. 6:31-34.

I think it is important for us to let God be God. How can we know that he is right along side us when we never give him the opportunity to reveal himself? If we never trust in him fully how can we say we have a strong relationship with him? Trust comes through experiencing his power and his willingness to support us with all that we need. He wants us. He wants all of us.

Based on Mark 12:43-44. The widow's two mites. Jesus: “assuredly, I say to you that this poor widow has put in more than those who have given to the treasury; for they all put in out of their abundance, but she out of her poverty put in all that she had, her whole livelihood.”

I want Jesus to say that about me. I love the line, “her whole livelihood.” All that she has worked for, all that she stands for, all her worth, and all that she knows she gives to Jesus.

Step out and let him catch you. If I didn't I would never have felt his warm embrace and his solid grip he has on me.