Nerding Out Moment #1: Fabulous Words

This quarter in school, I'm taking two paralegal classes. In addition to being fascinated by the materials and information presented, I am totally nerding out over some fabulous words I'm learning. Here are a few of them, as defined by Black's Law Dictionary:

Malfeasance: "A wrongful or unlawful act."

Surplusage: "Redundant words in a statute or legal instrument; language that does not add meaning."

And....My favorite so far: Scintilla: "A spark or trace--'the standard is that there must be more than a scintilla of evidence.'"

That said, I shall continue my studies, hoping to avoid committing a malfeasance, surplusage, and coming to conclusions with only a scintilla of evidence. 

(with limited time and resources, this is best picture I could find to describe my feelings over my increasing vocabulary)

Pain and Joy: God's Blessings

Today marks two months since our grandmother passed away. Honestly, sometimes it feels like forever, and other times, it feels like she passed away just yesterday. I have to keep reminding myself that I can't just hop in my car and visit her for an hour. 

As the days have passed, the grief is not nearly as sharp, and a lot of pain has, as the cliche goes, faded to memory. Not entirely though. Throughout the day, little things trigger sweet memories of her and her love for us. Often, I'll be going about my day and remember a joke she made or something she said. 

When I see all the different shades of green in God's creation, I think of how Grandma used to say how amazed she was that God created so many different shades of green. I pray that she is with Jesus now, delighting in a perfect world, where the colors are beyond our imagination, where there is no more pain or sadness, but only pure, sinless, joy. 

While one life in our family passed on,bringing great sadness, another entered the wold, bringing incredible joy.

Just over two weeks ago, my nephew was born. He was diagnosed with a rare and serious heart condition, but thankfully, his condition is not as sever as we first expected, and after having surgery in September (and possibly another one later on), he should be able to live a fairly normal life. He (we'll call him Precious for now) has completely captured his parents', Nana's, Papa's, and all his aunts'and uncles' hearts. Squish, his big sister, is completely in love with him as well, often asking if she can "gently hold Baby [Precious]." 

So you can appreciate his preciousness, here are some pictures. 

Proud Uncle Gubby!

 Sleeping peacefully <3

 Selfie with my niece and nephew!

Sleepy smiles!

And so, after not posting for two months, there is a choppy, discombobulated snippet of my life.

Hold fast to Jesus!
Sonia