In Loving Memory

On February 18, 2016, my Grandmother passed away. We knew she was weakening and that she was going soon, but the last day and a half spent at the hospital, leading up to her passing, went by so quickly. 

In this time of intense grief, I am so thankful for the memories and the time we had with her. Her sense of humor, perky attitude, and love for us will be missed beyond belief. 

Praise the Lord she went peacefully, with us around her, holding her hand and telling her we loved her, as she breathed her last. I pray that she's with Jesus now, and that we'll see her again someday. 

About 3-4 years ago when Grandma had a stroke, we took turns staying at her house and caring for her. Those were special times. 

 Dear Squish and I visiting (Great-Grandma for her) this last September.

 I am so thankful Squish and she had a wonderful visit, playing with toys together.

 (Great) Grandma's sense of humor was so special. Here, Squish is giggling at Great-Grandma's pretended horror.

Five days before she passed away, watching a home video from 20 years ago, when I was born.

You can see her remembering the day. Her love for us was so special.

"The Lord gives, and the Lord takes away...blessed be the name of the Lord." 

Grandma, I miss you so much! 

Of My Technique on Cleaning a Room and Getting Homework Done (at the Same Time)

After my CPR/First Aid training only went from 8-2:30 instead of 8-5, I got home early and decided I had a great opportunity to get ahead on some homework. After having a snack and finishing one assignment, I could no longer handle the state of my messy bedroom and unmade bed, and so decided I should remedy the problem before tackling any more homework. 

The following describes the past several hours:

1. See that room is horrendously messy, decide to do a quick tidy-up.
2. Decide to tackle the messy bed first. 
3. Proceed to take all blankets, pillows, and sheets off bed.
4. Realize that I would really like to shift my wooden chest and bed 7 inches in order to make my lamp fit in the corner better.
5. Move bed and chest, finish making bed.
6. Remember I printed off an assignment 20 minutes before and forgot to put it on my stack of completed homework. 
7. Rush upstairs, grab homework, also grab a cookie.
8. Start cleaning up clutter in far corner of room, throw something in the trash on other corner of room, see trash is full, proceed to empty trash.
9. After emptying trash, realize I really need to vacuum that corner, and will do so before cleaning and vacuuming other corner.
10. Place snack basket, trash container, chair, and miscellaneous tea boxes on bed to vacuum corner of room.
11. Finish vacuuming 3/4 room, organize shoes on shoe shelf.
12. Remember that I have been meaning to sew up a seam that is coming loose in one of my boots.
13. Spend 12 minutes sewing up boot.
14. decide to clean up one of the drawers in my desk. 
15. Start organizing drawer, trim the sides of hanging file folders to make them fit better.
16. Realize the contents of my file folders haven't been correctly filed. Remedy the problem.
17. See a piece of correspondence from an adviser at my college, notice that the class schedule I had anticipated for next quarter was not feasible. Freak out.
18. Spend 10 minutes on my school email searching for another piece of correspondence regarding one of the classes offered. Don't find it.
19. Start to freak out even more about classes and graduating on time. 
20. Call Munchette (sister) to tell her my great woes. Talk for 15 minutes, have an emotional breakdown, feel better, realize the world isn't falling apart, conclude conversation. Remember I was cleaning my room.
20. Finish organizing drawer and remember I had a question for Strong Ox (older brother) about filing my taxes.
21. Call Strong Ox and get tax question answered.
22. Almost start filing taxes and then remind myself I want to get more homework done.
23. Spend an hour doing homework.
24. Notice my room still isn't clean.
25. But it's dinner time and I'm hungry.
26. Serve myself dinner, watch a short tv show, then get distracted on social media.
27. Look through old pictures.
28. Notice it's getting late and I still need to take a shower and get ready for church in the morning.
29. Take a shower and decide to write a blog post.
30. Realize blog post is written and my room is only 5/6 clean.

And that, ladies and gentlemen, is how I get things (almost) done. Life of a working college student. 

Ahem, a working college student who is now (finally) officially certified in First Aid and CPR.

A Final Farewell to 2015

Yes, it is January of 2016 already. No, I will not let it prevent me from composing one final post intended for 2015...However, rather than calling it a belated post, I'm going to go with "reflection post." 
The last month of 2015 was jam-packed with family, friends, food, and snow. The following are some pictures I felt documented the season well. 

 Sibling selfies; I felt as though they captured each of these dear siblings well. 

Mozzarella (left), Gubby (top), Polly Wog (bottom right)

 Dear Squish socializing with Great-Grandpa and Great-Grandma! Oh, and with her aunts. 

Just because I'm busy doesn't mean I don't take time to put cute little trees in my room. 

Truly, though, Jesus is the real Reason for the season, and I a so thankful that He came! By His grace alone are we able to live and find true peace!

 We saw an elk on our trip up to the snow -- Since it wasn't hunting season, we shot it with our cameras instead of our bows. 

 God's beautiful masterpiece!

 This little guy...Mini-man shall forever have the power to melt my heart. 

 We dug snow tunnels!

This picture describes their relationship well:

 Gubby picks on Mini-man. Mini-man is oblivious until it's too late. Love these two little men so very, very much.

In short, 2015 was a busy year, full of blessings, hard work, lazy afternoons, grief, joy, growth, and, ultimately, God's sovereignty. 

I can't wait to see what He has in store for 2016! Oh, for grace to trust Him more!

Hold fast to Jesus!

Sonia

2015 Edition of "Warning: Contains Images of the Hunted Looking...Hunted" (A Belated Post)

Wow, life happens and time flies...Anyway, now that fall finals are out of the way, I decided it was probably time for me to post about this year's annual hunting trip. Of the five or so years I have hunted, this year was the most unusually fruitful.

September 1, opening day, found us rolling out of bed at 4:30 a.m., putting on our sweet camouflage pants, finding our compasses, knives, bows, and walkie-talkies, and bundling into the car to head up to the mountains in order to get up there before sunrise. Fun. Stuff. 

Clari and I, 4:45 a.m. Opening Day. Ready to conquer the world...Or, I guess, the deer.

The first part of the morning was extremely slow, but, by 10:30 a.m., Dad, Pollywog (18), and Gubby (11) all had deer. They had shot the deer within five minutes of each other...Needless to say, that rarely happens. 

Dad helping Gubby fill out his first deer tag. This was Gubby's first year hunting. <3

 Dad's deer! Of course, he didn't want to be in the shot alone, so we all, fresh off the blood trail, video camera and all, got in the photo. 

Pollywog's big doe! 

We kept hunting, and just as it was about to get dark, I was stalking through a clear-cut, peered into the edge brush, did a double-take into some trees 20 yards away, drew back, released my first arrow of the day, and before I had time to register my shock had hit nice buck. 

Dad and I with my buck. It was almost 11:30 p.m. by the time we had blood-trailed the deer and cleaned it out. It was also pouring rain...I was super stoked, though! My first buck (there are horns, they just aren't humongous)! 

After our incredibly fruitful opening day, I did not join any more of the hunts due to my catching a cold during our seemingly endless trek back to the car in the freezing, pouring rain with a large buck behind us. 

However, within a few days, Sweet Pea (14) landed a nice buck (her first deer) and Mozzarella (16) landed a nice doe. Six out of the seven hunters were blessed with deer this year. God is so, so good. Here are some more pictures of our adventures. 

 Sometimes we see baby deer and shoot them with the camera instead of our bows. 

 Gubby's sisters love him very, very much. <3

 Clari and I trying to look cool and failing rather miserably.

 So thankful for my hilarious Daddy.

 Early mornings. 

 Group picture! So thankful for family! 

 Gubby looking fully legit. <3

 Sweet Pea and Mozzarella looking fully legit. <3

 Something smelled really bad, so, naturally, Mozzarella had to smell Sweet Pea's feet.

 <3

This is what we do while we wait for the trail to cool...

In short, this year's hunting season was extremely blessed, a bit chaotic, and fully awesome.

 

Convictions, A Graduation, Base Ball, And Family and Friends

Okay, I have had so much on my mind lately that I don't really know how I'm going to organize it into one short post. Oh well, here we go:

First, June 22nd marked my first day as an official employee of the Orthopedics and Neurosurgery clinic's physical therapy reception department (wow, that was long). During the day-long orientation, we went over what the company stood for, its values, and who it was. While watching the short video going over what the company stood for, I felt so inspired and was thinking, "wow, this is such a great place! Where can I sign up?" Then I realized I WAS signed up and this was my first day. I must say, it was a fantastic feeling.

Anyway, I love being there. When I'm working as a receptionist, I have a huge desire to represent the company in a positive way and reflect its values. I want patients to come in and know they are special, know that we truly care about them, and feel welcomed. 

While I'm sure it's a good thing to feel this way, I was also convicted. If I feel this excitement and eagerness to positively represent my department, which is temporal, shouldn't I be even more eager to reflect my Savior and share His love, which is eternal? 

One of my favorite verses, Colossians 3:17, states, "Whatever you do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks through Him to God the Father." This has been one of my favorite verses, and working at this new job has helped me to see what it truly means and convicted me that I am not living it out as I know I should. 

I have so, so much in Christ; so much that I've started to lose sight of just how much. So, to conclude my first thought, I am so thankful to work as a physical therapy receptionist, and thankful to the Lord for pointing out just how much I've been missing the mark. He's helping me to relearn what I have in Him and reminding me of how much He's given so that I may truly live. 

Second, I (finally) celebrated graduating from high school! It was such a blessed time, and although it was humbling to graduate a year "late," I am so glad I did. Waiting an extra year so I could gain experience in PT reception was so worth it. 

I have grown so much as a a daughter of the King, as an individual, and as a working professional. I already talked about the first two quite a bit, but I've also learned what it means to be a working professional. My "real" senior year taught me what it means to be professional and how to maintain that image. My final "senior" year taught me that, in the midst of your professionalism, don't lose yourself. My professional policy has changed from "polished, polite, and punctual," to the more wordy "have integrity, do your best, and be yourself."

Diploma! 

 One must celebrate graduation in one way or another. I choose froyo and good buddies.

...and older sisters. :)

Third, and perhaps more quickly, I recently enjoyed participating in another 1867 vintage base ball game as a crank. Not a cranky person, but a spectator, by the way....

I love volunteering with Peachy. (formerly known as "HB"." I finally got to use her new blog name!)

Even more special is volunteering with my littlest sister, Sweet Pea (14), who isn't (quite) so little anymore. 

Fourth and finally, here are a few pictures of some of the things I've been up to lately...Friends and family-wise, that is. :) 

Breakfast and shopping date with my dear friend HK! :) She just got back from Brazil and we had a grand time catching up and smelling all the new candles at Bath and Body Works and trying on all the clothes at Maurice's. 

Peachy (yay, I get to use her blog name again!) and I house-sat for my pastor for 9 days. We had a grand time, although I must say it is SO good to be home at last. 

And finally, today found me running errands with Mini-man (9) and Sweet Pea (14). One of our stops was JC Penny's, and Mini-man was such a great sport while I was searching for clothes. He kept hiding behind the rack I was looking through and parting the clothes, loudly proclaiming "rawr!" 

Oh! I almost forgot! I recently met victoriously with one of my life goals. As most of my readers know, my family has grown up water skiing and such. Also known by many is the fact that I know how to skii but could never stay up for more than 10 seconds before freaking out and crashing. Let it be known that I can now successfully ski for an extended period of time, even around corners. Let it also be know that I enjoy it. 

Okay, I think I'm done now...Not that I don't have more to say...Just that I should probably stop before you die of boredom (if you haven't already, that is).

Hold fast to Jesus!

Sonia

(Still) Holding on to the Ride

Life. Such a small word with such an immense meaning. It can be difficult to find the balance between simply living life to survive and living life to actually live. To enjoy the moment. To totally focus on Christ and how to best serve Him in the here and now. I keep having ups and downs in that arena...

So, things have been (very) crazy as of late, as my few and far between posts may indicate. This week is finals week at college, so I actually (which doesn't make much sense) have a few minutes to do a blog post...One can only study so long on a beautiful Sunday afternoon. Be prepared for a few selfies...

Before I bombard you with pictures, though, let me overwhelm you with wordiness...

As my current reader(s) know, I decided to hold off graduating from high school an extra year so I could get work experience through an internship in a medical setting. Through the skills center I attended, I was placed (first) in the medical organization's forms department. For four months, I scanned, filed, and faxed in a cubicle for hours on end. It was a great experience, the ladies I worked with were very nice, and I am very thankful for it; however, as 1st semester was concluding,  I knew I did not want to intern there for another four months -- I learned that doing paperwork and not seeing people was not for me. 

I nearly dropped out of the skills center at this point to graduate high school at the beginning of the year. BUT, the medical organization I was interning at found an opening for an intern in the physical therapy reception department and I ended up staying the rest of the school year. Best. Choice. Ever. God is so, so good. I loved working in PT reception.

Now, four months after nearly giving up, I am going to be starting as an official (per diem at this point) employee at the physical therapy office. I met with my other employers, and they are both willing to work with my new, unpredictable schedule.  SO excited and a bit nervous. Going to school full-time with three jobs is a bit hectic. God is good though, and so far I am surviving (and trying to actually live in the moment). God has done so many amazing things through all of this and worked out all confusingness with nearly unbelievable results, which would take about ten years to write into a blog post.

Okay, I'm done...Pictures:

 Taking Mozzarella (16) out for her birthday; that girl never fails make me laugh...

 College friend, ready for summer break too!

 My sister-in-law has some cute cows...But I think they were trying to sample my shoulder.

 Trying to enjoy the awesome weather while studying for my biology final.

Philippians 4:4-7, "Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, rejoice! Let your gentle spirit be known to all men. The Lord is near. Be anxious for nothing,but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let  your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all comprehension, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus."

Fantastic Sibling Moments Post#8: "My Worst, Worst Job"

The other day Mini-man (8) was having a very serious conversation with Munchette. It went as follows:

Mini-man: Munchette, you know what my worst job is?

Munchette: What?

Mini-man: Loading the dishwasher....But do you know what my WORST worst job is?

Munchette: No, what?

Mini-man: (very seriously) My worst job is loading the dishwasher and my worst worst job is cleaning up dog poop.

Sigh, with a puppy in the family, Mini-man has (very seriously) been enlightened as to his very WORST, worst job.

Love that kid. <3

Gubby (11) and Mini-man walking Sam (sweet, sweet dog who won't be with us much longer) and Pooky, then only a few months old.