Days 5, 6, & 7

Day 5 ~ Bird

Day 6 ~ You

Day 7 ~ Someone That Inspires You

Because I can't choose just one person. 

Day 3 and 4

Day 3 ~ Something You Wore Today

My trusty, old Rainbows

Day 4 ~ Fun!

Fireworks at Emily's party

Day 2

Day 2 ~ Skyline

Remembering Dad

     So, it's crazy, this past month, the month Dad died, 8 years ago, was filled with random people telling me memories of Dad. All of these random encounters served to give me encouragement. There is just something remarkable about seeing your parents through the eyes of others. It makes me happy to hear other's memories. And the timing of when these memories were shared makes them even better. 

     Someone at church, who was good friends with dad, told me, this month, that he thinks of my dad often, when he is drinking coffee. He just remembers coming to visit and drinking coffee and talking. It was so sweet, just someone telling me that they miss him too, and that he is not forgotten. A simple memory of evenings spent talking over a cup of coffee. 

     Another lady at church gave me encouragement, by saying that I take after my father, and she knows he would be proud of me. 

     (This didn't happen this month, but sometime this year) I was at work, demonstrating Crazy Aaron's Thinking Putty to some customers, I knew them, they were a former teacher and her husband, who knew my dad long ago. Her husband told me that I just reminded him of Garnett; that the way I talked reminded him of my father. This is high praise for me!

     Just two days ago, I was driving to school, late as usual, and had to stop on our back road for some road work. The guy in the work van pulled up beside me to tell me that the back-hoe would be off the road in a bit. Then asked if I was Garnett's daughter. Since there aren't that many (ok, any) conservative Mennonites who live on that road, he obviously knew I was. I said yes, and he told me that he went to school with my dad. And that he never knew anyone finer, that "[my] father was number one." He went on to say that if he could be half as good as my father, then he would have turned out well. It was certainly a very fascinating encounter!

     These random encounters over the past month served to remind not to just forget about Dad, and I'll confess, the longer it goes, the more my memories fade. Time has a funny way of doing that to memory. But, these reminders, around the time of his death, meant a lot to me, and have made me reminisce about my childhood, and to ponder the gifts given to me from the short amount of time that I got to know my dad. I don't spend enough time being appreciative, but perhaps, this month, I honored my father with memories.

A Photo A Day in May

This past month has been crazy!! And May is shaping up to be the busiest month so far this year. So, I decided to do a relatively simple challenge for this month. Take one photo every day. It turns out there are tons of different lists for photo a day things, and I had lots of fun looking through them on Pinterest til I found the one I wanted to do (admittedly, I did go with the second one I clicked on, but hey, I did have fun looking). Here it is.

And, of course, the first photo is peace. 

I cannot take credit for this picture. It was a snapchat from a friend that I took a screenshot of this evening. Tonight, a bunch of friends and I just hung out after school and saw a gorgeous sunset. It was a peaceful, fun evening. So, it's not a typical picture of peace, but the pervading feeling of the evening was peaceful; I left school feeling peaceful. So, I think this works. :)

Challenges of March and April

     The challenge I chose in March was oil pulling. Now, if you've never heard of oil pulling, here is what it is. You put oil (coconut, sesame, etc) into your mouth and swish it around for 20 minutes. It is supposed to be really good for your teeth. I've read that people who oil pull don't have to brush their teeth anymore, that their bad breath is eliminated, and that it is great for tooth whitening. Those are the down to earth claims. I've also read that it can cause weight loss, heal your eyes, reverse cavities, heal cancer [ok, I made that one up]. Google it, you will find tons of info!

     So, how did oil pulling work for me? Well, since my goal was basically to find out if it really did help with bad breath and teeth whitening, my standards were set pretty low. And, those weren't met... I didn't really have too much trouble keeping the oil in my mouth for 20 minutes, which is a common complaint. I tried to do this while I was showering and doing my hair, (approx. 20 min). So, my teeth weren't noticeably whiter, and I still felt the need to brush my teeth. Maybe I used the wrong kind of oil, but since it was coconut oil (the kind that is solid at room temperature, the best kind ;) ) I don't think that was the problem. Perhaps I was expecting a miracle, and this is likely something that takes time to really see results.

     I won't keep oil pulling, it's too annoying, for the amount of time it uses. Now, to be honest, I didn't oil pull every single day, and since it seemed like it wasn't working, it kind of fell through the cracks. Plus, as I said previously, teeth whitening was high on my list of results. I found a better way to do that. Activated charcoal. (I saw it on Pinterest). Mom had some tablets, so I opened one up and put it on my teeth for 5-10 minutes, and my teeth were noticeably whiter. Quick results convince me ;) The pluses of the charcoal are that it really doesn't have a flavor, your teeth can be way whiter in 5 minutes, and it's much cheaper than buying whitening strips. Downside? Only one, charcoal makes a huge mess... The sink still looks a little gray, and my toothbrush will never look the same. But, hey, small price to pay for white teeth, yeah?

     April's challenge is going to be really hard for me!It's a running challenge. While I'm sure I won't actually be able to run 3 miles by the end of April, I will follow the plan, and since it's time based rather than distance based, I think that will work better for me. I do not like to run, but being healthier is important, so I can run every day for 30 days, right? Hopefully... Anyway, April 1, I'll start this. To be honest, I'm terrified about telling anyone that I'm doing this challenge, because I've done such a poor job of sticking to the previous ones. Accountability :/ Gotta motivate myself to do this somehow... 

     Alright, so, that is all for tonight, and March! See you in April.

Your Turn: 

 - What motivates you to run, or exercise, or stick to something like this? Any tips would be great!

February

     So, when I look back at February, I'm not exactly sure where it went. I certainly did not update the blog twice. I didn't do a 30 Day Challenge. I didn't memorize a passage from the Bible. 
     I did, however, eat sushi and snowboard a double black diamond. Unfortunately, I have no pictures to prove either of these things. I've been listening to audiobooks, so I'm still working on that one. 
     This month has been crazy busy, and this is what fell through the cracks. I have a few pictures of February that pretty well describe the month.

Snowboarding at Snowshoe at the beginning of the month. It was great fun! And the mountain is beautiful!

George Mason University granted me admission for the fall semester! Which brings along with it a whole lot of busyness; there's a lot of stuff to do to get ready!!

It snowed, a lot. I spent a lot of time shoveling snow, stacking wood, and doing wintry stuff.

Spent lots of time with this girl in between classes and stuff! Speaking of school, although I did graduate in December, I am working at the school as a T.A. for 5 classes, and am taking 2 classes. I'm there 4 days a week.

I received a lovely Valentine from my oldest nephew. I felt pretty special :) I don't believe I've ever gotten a Valentine from a boy before ;)

Question for you:

- Usually February and March crawl by, not this year... Is it just me or is this winter going by way faster than usual? 

- Any advice for getting ready to leave home for college?