Just a couple lists...

Awesome things that have happened in my life recently:

1. My nana came to help me at my internship the other day. Let's just say everyone LOVED her and she was a hit! Nana is 100% Irish and has a way with words, humor, and entering people's worlds. So when she came in on Thursday, I knew she'd be able to bring some life to my office!

2. A precious, kind married couple came into my office to donate art supplies (super awesome ones, too!). As if that wasn't enough, they later returned with an original manuscript written by psychologist Carl Rogers. HOW FREAKIN' AWESOME IS THAT!? I love the generous hearts people have. 

3. A plethora of life updates with long time friends and newer budding friendships. Whether it be the first reunion in a week, a month, a year, or anything in between, I surely can say I've been nothing short of blessed with amazing friends who show me what it means to love and who bring me closer to the Lord! What a gift :)

4. I've been getting my nose in a new book! I can't remember the name of it. Oops. But it's really good, I promise.

And other things:

1. I'm mad tired! But am so thankful for a Sabbath tomorrow. Last summer was probs the first time in my life I grew to understand the sabbath and the value God puts on rest. Needless to say, I cannot WAIT to chill tomorrow. Ahhh.

2. It's gonna be a busy week at work. But that's ok. BRING IT.

3. Maybe I should go get some sleep now. I'm pooped!

Happy weekend, friends.

Keep it real, spotted seals!

137.

Meet the Swaggin' Wagon. It's a '95 white Volvo wagon my parents just purchased for their busniess, but after some convincing that it's too cute to be used for traveling to foreclosed on houses and to be driven by a bunch of men with ladders strapped on the roof, it's mine! I'm trading Dora for it. (For those of you who don't know, Dora is the Ford Explorer. Dora the Explorer. Get it? I'm so funny.) 

So back to the point: not only is this new (ahem.."new") car swaggin', it has the best lisence plate number EVER on it. My Papa was a firefighter for years. I could go on forever with stories of the fires he fought, the lives he saved, and the shenanigans he pulled, but that's aside from the point. His badge number was 137. I kid you not, ever since he was assigned that number, those 3 digits have been following us since. Allow me to provide you with a few incidents...

1. 137 is on the Swaggin' Wagon's plate (duh).
2. The day my Papa passed away, the winning lottery numbers had sequences of 1, 3, and 7. The numbers he had been playing his entire life. Go figure!
3. The landline for my internship is a jumble of 3's, 7's, and 0's.
4. My uncle once built a house that was given #317 for it's address.
5. A while ago, on my Papa's birthday, my mom looked right at the clock at 10:37 when she remembered it was his birthday.

This sounds SO stupid, and I have a gazillion more examples of 137, and I promise I'm not supersitious! Sometimes I think we tend to pay more attention or give more credit when something happens involving 1, 3, or 7. Case in point: I love, love, love being reminded of Papa everyday. That darn number can show up anytime, anywhere in my life!

Oh, and PS: There are 5 cars sitting in our driveway. Everytime I look out the window or drive by, I think of how it looks like there is one serious hip happenin' party going on, or how redneck we look (at least all the cars function and are not dead, so I think we get less redneck points for that).

Oops, I did it again...

I'm still not entirely used to this whole blogging thing :) So here's one final life in a nutshell update and then I PROMISE I'll carry on with the daily posts (and by that I mostly mean I promise myself I'll do that. But anyway...moving on...)

- Since it was freakin' HOT all last week, I took the pleasure in going to the beach with the littlest brother of mine! Truthfully, I'm not much of an ocean kind of girl. Don't get me wrong, I do love love LOVE the ocean! I've grown up right next to it my entire life and attend a school within 5 minutes of a beach. The coast has always been to close to my heart to not have access to it. However, if you know anything about me you know that I'm a lake girl at heart! You can't quite water-ski on the ocean the same way you can on a lake, am I right? :) Back to the point: I went to the beach, body surfed in the waves, got awesome beach hair, ate a hot dog, and read me some Bible while workin' on my tan. Since the internship and my job have started, I haven't gotten much sun time. Thanks to my Italian genes I tend to tan prettttty darn fast and it lasts for a while, so hopefully this will hold me over for a while!

- Internship is going well-- definitely getting better! Running and planning programs, meeting people with amazing stories, learning the ropes...not too sure whether or not this is a field I'll go into, but the experience has been great! Tomorrow I teach my first pilates class. Um what was that, Steph? Sometimes I'm not quite sure what I got myself into, but if people can experience wellness and happiness then I'm game for helping in any way I can!

- On Sunday, my older of the two brothers, Matt, and I went back to the church our family had been going to for a while. I don't really know what happened, but my fam fam kind of made a switch when I was away at college. I've done some church hopping since I've been home this summer, and it's official: Stroudwater is my home! It was so wonderful to be back-- the two of us definitely will continue to go there til it's time to head off to college (for the BOTH of us...how weird is that!?)

- I can't wait to reunite with my Freeport buds (via Fatboy's, breakfast dates, coffee runs, barbeques, welcome home parties, and typical LL Bean shenanigans).

- I ALSO can't wait to see my lovely Gordon friends!! Miss them so much. Shout out to you reading this extremely long winded post.

Ok, folks.That's all for now. More exciting posts to come soon. For now, I gotta grab a snack before "The Bachelorette" begins!

Life update!

So, I realize I haven't written in a few days...oops! This whole blogging thing is still new to me. But in a nutshell, here's what's been going on and running through this little noggin of mine...

- Internship is going well...tomorrow I teach my first pilates class. Don't know what I got myself into, but here goes nothin'!
- I went back to my job at a quaint little jewelry store in downtown Freeport on Saturday. Thankfully they were kind enough to give me a few hours here and there! It's always great when a poor college kid like myself can earn some extra dough. Bonus: playing dress up with all the pretty earrings, necklaces & more!
- I've had some pretty great encounters with long lost friends this week. Catch up sessions make for great cure-alls!
- My hermanitos and I made Dad a hip happenin' Fathers Day gift!
- Right now I'm watching The Bachelorette (TV guilty pleasure...but not really. I really do enjoy watching it!!)....Ryan needs to go home, Chris looks like Sid the Sloth from Ice Age, and Croatia looks realllllly beautiful! Adding that to my wanderlust list. Fo sho.

Will write more tomorrow. Good niiiiiiiight err'one :)

Notes from the Intern: Lessons & The Like

Yes, I will admit it. It was a little dry at first. Ever seen that movie Enchanted? I sort of felt like Giselle, being plopped in a sea of unfamiliarity, and yet aside from being captivated by a whole new set of things to learn, was majorly distracted by the fact that I didn't even know where to start let alone had the resources. So, out of my element I was, not terribly sure how to navigate through something so foreign.

But that's the thing-- I'm a big girl, right?! I'm supposed to suck it up and find my way. So that's exactly what I did...and so the list of lessons begins.

1. Growing familiar with the culture of my program. I'm working in peer support; where most of my education so far has mostly touched clinical methods, peer support is more about relationships and opening up the conversation. And I like it. A lot.
2. Listening to stories...it's humbling. I've heard of lives pierced with loneliness and hopelessness, yet amidst it all, there is so much hope in the journey of recovery.
2a. Recovery is not about the destination, it's about the journey.
3. The faith and patience of a pal go a long way.
4. Art provides an escape.
5. The human heart longs for companionship, as we were designed not to be alone but to be relational beings.
6. A simple smile rings volumes.
7. Meet other people on their turf.
8. Find commonalities-- and if you can't, discover new things for yourself.
9. Don't measure your success. Just be faithful, devoted, and hang in there.
10. Be slow to listen, slow to speak, slow to assume.
11. Be patient.
12. You can never be too engrossed with a curiosity to learn.
13. Elevate the needs of others above your own.
14. Encourage others.

Truth be told, it's not easy when you're given a task you feel so inadequate to do. I'm the kind of girl who wants to do things well and does not want to give people anything less than what they deserve. Thankfully these past few days I've been showered in kindness and support from other employees and I have a better feel for what I'm doing! I'll keep posting those little lesson nuggets, and more updates as it all unfolds :)

Monday: Not my favorite day...

but this one's an exception, because I got a letter from a darling friend. Thanks Megan!

Today was just one of those mornings when the second my alarm clock went off, all I could think of was my burning desire to go back to sleep the second I got home from my internship. But, thankfully, I just got home and I feel energized 3 cups of coffee later to do laundry, clean my room, and enjoy some time with Jesus before my mom and I go "lupine stealing" (that's what she referred to it as, anyway...lol. Oh ma). 

I'll write more later.

For now, happy Monday, hooligans!

Graduation day!

When we were little, we would spend rainy afternoons playing Lego's, sunny summer days swimming and splashing at the lake, and log hours into playing outside in our big wooded yard. And where some things have changed, others have not; one of those very things being how close me and my not-so-baby brother are. Well, readers, today he graduated from high school, and you can call me the proudest big sister on the planet!

Keepin' it classy since the 1990's.

Matt and I are only 3 years apart. We spent the first 9 years of my life (and 6 of his) just the two of us. Growing up, we never fought. Not to say we always got along, but we were happy little campers! Together, we experienced losing our first teeth, the joys of the first snowfall, jumping off the dock into the lake at the same time, the birth of our younger brother Nick, working hard at school, the loss of our Papa (the first time either of us had faced death), the pure joy and excitement of being at YL camp, worshiping together, laughing til the point of tears, "The Office" marathons on rainy days-- I could go on forever! As we've grown older, we've only gotten closer. He may be my younger brother, but there certainly have been times when we've experienced role reversal, and he's been the one who has been there for me, to offer advice or to  make me laugh or to give some consolation. He's got a heart for serving others, for using his God-given gifts of music and hands on work, and for just being who he is in his identity in Christ. I hope that as the next years of his life unfold as he goes off to college and experiences independence for the first time that he will continue to seek that identity on a deeper level. Needless to say, he's the bomb dot com and I can't believe he graduated from high school!! Watch out, world. You don't know what's comin' at ya!

Pre-grad ceremony. World's worst jumping shot.

YAY! On his way to receive his diploma :)

Aaaand here we are. The 3 amigos (terrible picture...little guy isn't even looking at the camera. Oh well!)

I'm 8 days into half marathon training.

Excuse me. What?

I know 8 days doesn't sound like a big deal where it's right on the cusp of "she's going to stick with it" and "doubt she'll keep it up", but a few short years ago I never ever envisioned myself saying anything remotely close to this. I used to despise running; ask me to go take a lap and I probably would have punched you in the face. I played field hockey and softball in high school, but rarely did much training out of season (tisk tisk, I know). It wasn't until my junior year or so when a friend encouraged me to start running, and painful as it was to take this beached whale to the pavement, it was the most invigorating, empowering feeling ever. There was no one I was up against but myself. It was an escape from the stresses of things that seriously harshed my mellow. I knew I could only get better, and that motivated me. So, since then, I've been obsessed! I certainly am not the fastest one out there, but I'm determined to improve (and fall more in love with it!) as these next few months unravel until the half marathon in the fall with some lovely pals :) Bring it on, hilly roads of Freeport! 

Oh...and to those of you out there who have never given running a shot, try it! 

The first pair of running shoes I wore out...many good, challenging miles in these suckers!

I feel like I need an introductory post or something...

Just to get the ball rolling. Smell what I'm stepping in? A couple friends and I thought it would be a delightful idea to hop on the blogging bandwagon, and alas, here I am. Bring on the  memories of my senior year of college, scribblings of the great thing God's teaching me, and the random thoughts that run through my mind on a daily basis. Ready or not...here I come!