Resolutions by Mail

I teach an English class at night. For our first class of 2012, I had the students write out their resolutions or goals for the year and address an envelope to themselves.

I told them that in a month I’d mail them their envelopes with their resolutions. Now that it’s officially February, I’m putting the letters in the mail today.

I figure it would be a good time to see how the resolutions are going after a month. And it’s probably a good time for all of us to dust off those month-old resolutions, or congratulate ourselves on a job well done.

Happy February!

The Eagle Has Landed

Though I cannot explain why, I have become completely fascinated by this “eagle cam,” shown at this website. It’s a live, video feed of an eagle’s nest in Virginia. Two of the three eggs recently hatched. It is beyond cute to see the mama eagle feeding these two little fuzzy-headed baby eagles. (Well, as cute as something can be being fed pieces of a floppy, dead fish.) My mom is loving the eagle cam, too. So far, we’ve called each other at least on two separate occasions to say, “Check the eagle cam! She’s feeding the baby eagles!” I have the link bookmarked, and I check in on the eagles more times a day that I care to admit. Just don’t do what I did. Don’t check the video feed at night, and then wonder why you can’t see anything. (The feed is live, which means it will be dark at night. I know, it’s obvious now.) Happy eagle stalking!

Rainbow Sky

I’ve been a little bit in a funk the last couple days.

I think it’s mostly because a dear friend of mine is dealing with a very tragic and unexpected loss of a close family member. I feel just heartbroken for her (and a little helpless, too, since I live so far away from her).

But, last night, I happened to go to the window, and I saw this very beautiful rainbow that took up the whole sky. It’s a wonderful reminder that though things aren’t always perfect, things will still be ok.

And on a happier note, Husband and I have a fun outing planned for tomorrow, and I can’t wait. We are both ditching work. (Well, since we are not the rebellious types, we are both taking a vacation day, but ditching sounds much more exciting.)

Happy Wednesday.

Daily Affirmation

I just found this video recently, and I can’t help but smile every time I think about it: Jessica's Daily Affirmation (If the link doesn’t work, go to YouTube and search for “Jessica’s Daily Affirmation.”) And apparently I’m a little late in hearing about it, since the video has gotten almost 4 million (!) views. These are my thoughts: - I love the enthusiasm. - I love the hand motions. - My favorite part is the ““I…like…my…whole…house!” line, complete with an enthusiastic clap. - In a close second is the “I like my pajamas!” line. - I’m almost embarrassed to tell you how many times I’ve watched this (probably close to 10, and counting). - She has reminded me that “I can do anything good.” Enjoy!

Free Lunch

Who says there’s no such thing as a free lunch? Last week, Husband was coming home from a military trip and he was passing through another city. He and a fellow pilot stopped for lunch at a fast-food restaurant, and they both happened to be in their flight suits. An older gentleman paid for their lunch. Husband tried to politely decline, saying that it wasn’t necessary, but the gentleman insisted. Husband told me this story when he came home, and it truly made my day. I’m thankful for this man for doing something so nice for my husband and for reminding me that small gestures can mean so much!

New Year's Goals

I just have to accept that I’m way too sentimental to stop making New Year’s resolutions. And, if you asked Husband, he’d say that I’m a little addicted to setting goals. When I asked him on our last anniversary what our marriage goals should be, he got a confused look on his face and replied, “Let me get this straight…you make New Year’s goals, Lenten goals, and now you want to make marriage goals??” (The answer was “yes,” but I figured I should cut the poor guy some slack and just forget it.) So, in short, yes, I’ll be making New Year’s resolutions this year. I’m not sure whether they’re technically “goals” or “resolutions,” but here they are regardless: 1) Read more Specifically, I want to finish reading the Bible. I’ve had “read the bible” as my New Year’s resolution for more years than I can count, but I think this year I will actually finish it. I started reading it on a somewhat sporadic basis a couple years ago, and I have about a quarter of it left to go. In other words, by the time I finish reading it, I will probably have forgotten everything I read, and I’ll have to start again. (But I guess the point is to continually read it, right?) 2) Write more Sometimes when I start feeling unsettled or just a little “off,” I’ve come to realize that it’s usually because I haven’t written lately. Writing makes me feel energized and happier. So I figure I should take that as my cue to write more often this year, both on the blog and just in general. My overachiever self feels like there should be a third goal, but I can’t really think of a good third one. So two it is. And now I have to ask… Is anyone else overly preoccupied with making New Year’s resolutions each year, or am I the only one?

Marathon Training: The End

I always imagined that my marathon experience would end with me triumphantly crossing the finish line. Instead, it ended unceremoniously a few weeks ago when a long run became a very short run because of some knee pain. When I got back from my trip, my knees were feeling quite a bit better. But, I couldn’t, in good conscience, keep going with my long runs and risk permanent damage to my knees. (Because, after having them my whole life, I’ve grown rather fond of them.) So, I quit marathon training before my knees could quit on me. Thankfully, I have a wonderful family that supported me with the crazy idea to train for the marathon in the first place, and they have been equally supportive when I decided to stop. I’m so very lucky. I am a bit bummed about not being able to do the marathon, but I know in my heart that I am making the right decision. And I am still so glad that I did the marathon training, even with knowing how it ended. My goal, in starting it, was to prove to myself that anything is possible, and there’s no way I could deny achieving that! Before I started this, I could barely run 2 miles, yet somehow I made it to 16 miles - twice! Every mile was a victory, and it made me realize that we can do so much more than we think we can. I know that this lesson from marathon training will impact other aspects of my life. Marathon training has proved to me that the challenges or goals in my life that once seemed impossible are actually in reach. I only hope that my experience has inspired someone else along the way to run after their big dream, no matter how difficult or crazy it seems. I can’t wait to dream more big dreams. (My knees just hope that the next ones don’t include them.)

Sharing Stories...In English

My favorite volunteer experience was teaching English (called ESL or English as a Second Language) to refugees and immigrants in the last state we lived. I taught a night class for adults once a week. Over the course of the year I volunteered, I came to know people from over twenty different countries and four different continents! The experience was rewarding, humbling, inspiring, and sometimes comical (especially when I’d have to resort to using charades to explain something). A few weeks ago, I saw a sign in our local library advertising a new ESL class that was starting. I called the point of contact and asked if they needed any help. She laughed and said, “Of course!” And now I’m happily teaching ESL again, one night a week at a nearby church. Though the people are different, their enthusiasm to learn English is much the same. This week they learned about the past tense. One of the suggested activities in our book was to discuss how they met their spouse, and each student shared her story. The result, surprisingly, was a lot of laughter.

We laughed at one woman’s story, where her poor husband had to ask her father 4 times before finally getting his blessing to marry his daughter. Another woman made us laugh as she explained how she rejected her husband on 2 separate occasions before she even considered dating him.

I’m looking forward to hearing more of their stories and learning more about them. And they might just (hopefully!) learn a little English in the process.

My Olympic Moment

I’ve always been crazy about the Olympics. There is something about the games that have always captivated me, even at a young age. When I was a kid, I used to make my parents watch me dive into the pool (over and over), and then I’d make them give me a score, just like in the Olympics (“9.6!” “9.2!”). It wasn’t until I was older that I realized the scores were very arbitrary, since all of my dives probably looked exactly the same – a little clumsy. Then as a teenager I was determined that my best friend (also a teenager) and I would be going to the summer games - solo. Little did I know that my mom wouldn’t let me drive out of our small town, let alone take a long jaunt to see the Olympic games. But that didn’t stop me from saving a few dollars in a white envelope that I cleverly labeled as “Olympic Money.” Later, when I was in college, I happened to be walking through the student center one night, when I saw a sign advertising a talk given by an Olympic-medal winner. I glanced at my watch, and I happened to be there just in time for it to start. I took my seat among a crowd of other students, and I listened to this Olympic swimmer talk about his experiences in the Olympics and in life. He talked a lot about his faith and how it motivated him to do all that he accomplished. I was already feeling inspired. Then, he did something so unexpected and amazing that I thought I might self-destruct from excitement. He passed around his medals for each person to see and touch! First came the gold. I treasured my few seconds in holding it. It was heavier than I thought, and I know I must have broken out in a ridiculously large grin. Next came the silver medal. By this time, I had seen other people putting the medals on, and I figured I’d do the same. So, for a few brief seconds in my life, a real Olympic silver medal hung around my neck. I hadn’t earned the right to wear it, but I still felt incredibly grateful for the chance. I know many Olympians keep their medals in glass cases to preserve them. But I thought it said a lot about this athlete that he wanted to share them with the rest of us, and it made for a moment that I’ll never forget. My love affair with the Olympics continues. Just this weekend Husband and I watched some of the Olympic trials, and we saw three Americans break world records. (I might have had to wipe away a few small tears at those moments.) I told Husband that one day we’d go see Olympic games in person. I’m going to pretend that I didn’t hear what he said at first (“Don’t you think you’d see them better on TV?”) and remember what he said the second time (“Ok, we’ll go sometime.”) Thankfully, he’s not as strict as my mom was, and we probably won’t keep a white envelope for saving the money. But the same excitement about the Olympics is still there.

Inspiration from a frog

I was looking through some of my old pictures, and I came across this one. I took it a while ago on a layover in the Atlanta airport. It inspired me then, and it still inspires me now. (I mean "inspired" in the general sense, since I neither eat flies nor date a pig. Just for the record.) I think you get the picture (no pun intended).

Enjoy!