Today's the Day

So today I go under the knife for the first time ever. I'm getting my nose done. Well not really, but I am getting my deviated septum in my nose fixed so that I can breathe easier and apparently it's a very similar surgery to a nose job :) 12:45pm today is my surgery time, prayers would be appreciated. I've never gone "under" before so I'm a bit anxious about that and I hear that it is a fairly uncomfortable surgery. But in about two weeks, I should be good to go, so that's great! Just in time for December! Maybe I will post before and after pics :)

I can't sleep

I love to sleep. But not only do I love to sleep, I need to sleep. Ideally I get 8-9 hours of sleep per night. I am not one of those people who can function on 4-5 hours of sleep a night nor do I wish I were. I am next to useless when I don't get enough sleep...there are many people in my life who can vouch for that. I am also pretty blessed because I usually don't have a problem falling asleep. It literally usually takes mere minutes for me to fall into a deep sleep once my head hits my pillow. It's a gift.

However, there are those occasional nights when I just can't sleep (these happen more often now that I have a legit job with pretty major responsibilities). My mind is overwhelmed with many thoughts of what I need to do tomorrow, how my surgery is going to go this week (oh yeah, I'm getting surgery this week), how the food drive is going to go on the weekend, etc. Plus, the more time that goes by, the less sleep I know I am going to get, and the more worried I am about my level of competence the next day. So I lay here, not sleeping, but rather writing this blog. I have heard that it helps to write things down when you have a lot of things on your mind. So here it is:

• I need to fit five days of work into three this week.
• I am going for reconstructive nose surgery on Thursday to fix my crooked septum so I can breathe easier. Prayers are appreciated :)
• I have what feels like a million things to do before this surgery.
• I'm not gonna lie, I am somewhat concerned about how my nose will look once the surgery is done.
• I have been helping plan a food drive for the Abbotsford Food Bank at UFV for their home opening games this weekend...we are trying to help "Feed Abbotsford." Please drop off donations if you are around! The food bank is low on food this year!!
• We have been trying to get door prize donations for the food drive and it has not been very successful, if you know anyone who would be interested in donating a last minute door prize, that would be much appreciated!
• I want to be a writer but I am inspired at such inopportune times that I never actually get to write.
• I am itching for excitement. An adventure. Something that will stir my heart.
• Jesus says, do not worry about tomorrow. Okay Lord, I'll try.

Goodnight.

Today...

I'm graduating! Woohhooo!! I've been done school for five months, but today I get to walk across the stage with my classmates in my cap and gown. I'm actually quite excited! I can't wait to celebrate with family and friends! Pictures to come!

Love at first sight?

Lately I have been pondering the question...is there such a thing as love at first sight? I'm not talking about the, "Oh my gosh, he is so hot, I think I'm in love type of love at first sight." I'm talking about the honest to goodness, inexplicable, real love type of love at first sight. These days I tend to lean more towards yes than no. As it turns out, I am a hopeless romantic. The more my heart seeks after the Lord, the more I figure out who I am in Him and the more I realize that this is just part of who I am and I actually think that's pretty great. But it's not just being a hopeless romantic that makes me think that love at first sight is legit. I will try to explain...

Jesus loved us the moment he thought of us. The very second we were conceived he loved us more than we could ever fathom. In other words, Jesus loved us at first sight and continues to love us even now that our ugly, sinful sides have been exposed for everyone to see. Now, here's where I pull this altogether. As Christians, we are supposed to seek after Christ and try to live as He did as a human on Earth. Our purpose is to be as much like Jesus as possible so that our lives are a testament of His grace and love. So, if we are constantly trying to align our hearts with Christ and love others as Jesus did, then it would seem to me that love at first sight is very possible and you could even go so far as to say, a commandment. If we are to love our neighbours as ourselves, then it would seem that love at first sight should really happen on a daily basis. Thoughts?

I do realize that this is maybe a different kind of love at first sight than the more well-known romantic type of love at first sight, and for the record, I believe in that too (for similar, but more lengthly to explain reasons). Maybe I will write a book about it :)

A little recap...if you will.

It has been a few weeks since my last post, so I apologize to my faithful readers (all 4 of them) for keeping them twisting in the wind waiting for my next update ;) I have actually been thinking about what I want to post, but every time I have had a few minutes to maybe write something, I haven't felt overly inspired. My ideas and thoughts generally come at very inopportune writing times - driving, at my desk at work, out with friends or at church. When I actually sit down with the intention of writing, I draw blanks. So rather than writing one perfectly put together blog that has a clear intro, substantive body with a tidy conclusion, I am just going to recap my past few weeks - this is pretty exciting stuff.

In no particular order...

• Realized my love for Creedence Clearwater Revival. They are legit, that's all there is to it.
• Bought my first pair of True Religion jeans.
• Bought my second pair of True Religion jeans. I had no idea what I was missing out on all these years. First of all, they are too long (in a good way) - that never happens. Secondly, the denim is unlike anything I have ever felt - it doesn't feel like if I wear them too many times the denim will get thin and make a hole on my bum. Thirdly, they stay up without a belt - no more hiking up my jeans every time I move. I am hooked. And the best part, I got both pairs for less than the price that one pair usually costs.
• Got called in for last minute nose surgery due to a cancellation. I was supposed to go for surgery on Oct 15, but they cancelled my appointment the morning before. Now I am scheduled for Nov 19.
• I'm not gonna lie, I was bitter about having my surgery cancelled after I rearranged my life to fit in in with two days notice. BUT, I decided to have a better attitude about it and thought perhaps this was an opportunity from the Lord. Turns out it was. The night of Oct 15 when I was supposed to be recovering from surgery, I had a mini breakthrough. I won't go into details, but I will say that the Lord spoke to me in amazing ways and for the next few days I was able to just relax in His presence and find hope in the moment. Then the next night I went and served soup and hot drinks to homeless people in Surrey with an organization called Night Shift. I went by myself, which for anyone who knows me well this is way out of my comfort zone. God gave me confidence though to just be there and talk to those people, even if it was just a hello. It was a truly humbling and awesome experience.
• Through a very wise person who has been helping me over these past few months, I came to realize that I tend to focus on the future way too much. I am so focused on where I "should" be, what I "should" be doing, or how I "should" be living that I lose sight of the here and now. Jesus clearly states, "Do not worry about tomorrow..." But without really being aware of it, that is pretty much what I have been doing. It's encouraging to find these things out about myself - it explains a lot and is also a good reminder to focus on the moment, living in God's presence and will for my life, and finding my hope and peace from that.
• I realized that my creative outlet is writing. I love to write and wish I could do it as a career - maybe someday. For now, I have blogspot.
• I sometimes pretend that my creative outlet is playing music. I dabble with my guitar from time to time and can play a pretty decent 'G' and 'D' chord, but my dreams of bringing my show on the road will probably remain just that...a dream.
• I have also realized that I would like to marry a musician, but not just any musician. A tall, God fearing, a little rough around the edges, with a cool urban style, ridiculously talented but completely humble, funny but in a subtle way, quiet but confident, and extremely good looking musician. I have heard it's good to know what you want. I'm just saying.
• My love for scarves has been affirmed. My neck feels lonely without them.
• One of my dear friends asked me to be a bridesmaid in her wedding and I could not be more honoured!
• I listened to my first Christmas songs of the season. 60 days to go! They should really make two-month advent calendars.
• I went to the Needtobreathe concert in Seattle this past weekend and it was AMAZING! I had pretty high expectations going in, but they were exceeded by far! Live music is just the best! The concert was at this tiny little bar in downtown Seattle that held maybe 300-400 people, so we got pretty close to the stage and had a great view!
• I decided that I could live in Seattle - it's great, especially on a beautiful, sunny, crisp fall day!
• I love it when people love the music I recommend. I love music - it inspires me. So when people like the music that I share with them it makes me happy.
• I tried to "rebound" by getting two dogs rather than a boyfriend, but my parents and friends talked some sense to me, so I am still dog-less and single.

Well that's all I can think of for now. I do have words of wisdom though. If you don't know what your creative outlet is, pray about it and try and find out what it is. God has given us all creative tendencies, but they just look very different from person to person. Knowing what your creative outlet is, is a great way to feel inspired, connect with God and get to know yourself better in Christ (in my opinion at least). Okay, that's all.

Happy Thanksgiving!

With it being Thanksgiving and all, I thought I should write a Thankgivingingy blog. I am thankful for many things. Family, friends, shelter, clothing, food, health, a car, a job...but most of all, I am thankful that I don't have to live this life on my own. And in those times when I get overwhelmed with my circumstances and the world around me, I can find peace in knowing that God is with me. He has a perfect plan for my life that he is orchestrating through me and the events and people around me. And in that, I can find a hope that comes only from the Heavenly Father. I am unbelievably thankful for that!

I hope whoever reads this (and whoever doesn't :) had a wonderful Thanksgiving with friends and family!

A different kind of broken...

So I played in our annual University/College of the Fraser Valley Alumni game this past weekend. I have played a little bit of basketball lately, but would not consider myself in shape by any stretch of the imagination. We ended up losing by six...pretty respectable considering the fitness level on our team as a whole was quite similar to mine (with a few exceptions). We kept the shifts to 3 minutes or less and did not even attempt full court defense. I always pray going into these types of things for no injuries...diving into playing competitive basketball against a bunch of girls who the last thing they want to do is lose to the alumni team is just asking for an injury. Everyone escaped injury free except my poor nose. Here are a few before and after shots...

Here I am, excited to play...

Ready to play...

After the elbow connected directly with the bridge of my nose. Instant blood, instant bruise & instant headache...

I have played basketball for over 15 years and not once have I gotten an elbow to my nose, but of course, in the most meaningless of games, it happens. I don't know if it is broken or not. It's not crooked, so that's good, but it's definitely swollen and black and blue. The ironic thing is that I am actually on the waiting list for nose surgery to repair my crooked septum that I have had forever...maybe this will get me in sooner? :) Oh well...it was super fun and so great to see so many alumni girls out!

PS: I don't know why there are underlines in this post...they just showed up and I don't know how to get rid of them. I'm not a fan.