**I'll warn you now, this will be full of words. If you're looking for picture-laden posts, click on an old one. (-:
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Did you know that for my 14th birthday I got my favorite surprise for my birthday? My family was driving up to Manchester College for a hall of fame dinner and we took a pit-stop in Chicago to hello to my grandparents since they were there for an overnight trip. The family was packing up to leave and my mom took my bag out of the back and said "You get to stay here tonight."
I GET TO STAY!??! IN THE BIG CITY!?!?! AND I GET TO SEE JOSEPH AND THE AMAZING TECHNICOLOR DREAMCOAT!!?!?!? [which I had already memorized by listening to the cassette tape over and over and over the year prior] STARRING DONNY OSMOND?!?!?! [who wore an inexcusably bad wig, but I'm still to this day smitten by his voice] AND EAT DINNER AT LOWRY'S?!?! [Probably my first super-fancy dinner and I got to get dessert too! A chocolate box with white-chocolate mousse and fresh berries. Yes, I remember.]
Thus began my love affair with musical theatre.
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My junior and senior years of high school, I auditioned for district and state choir. I spent most of high school choir lusting after older boys durning the morning detentions I received from Mr. Latimer for talking during women's choir time. I was a bit chatty. So, I didn't really take myself very seriously in choir. I only went to the morning rehearsals to learn the audition music so I could spend some extra time with my friends.
Surprisingly [seriously, I was SHOCKED] I got in! I remember being so surprised and excited that I was literally shaking with adrenaline. What, the what? eeeeeeeee!
Then I went and oh.em.goodness. I was singing with an 8-part choir with about 20-people in each section and EVERY PERSON knew his or her part. And the male voices! Oh, to sing with good tenors and basses! *swoon*
Thus began my love with really good choral singing.
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When I was a junior in high school I tore my ACL playing basketball. My left knee took me out of playing basketball and track my junior year, so since I wasn't in season I got to go on my first BIG TRIP to San Juan, Puerto Rico.
I went with my church and we did some construction, but mostly I assisted the two doctors [Paul and Marla] who were with us and I took temperatures, weights and measurements of lots of children and adults. I got to sit in the room as Marla asked questions to patients. I got to take rectal temperatures of babies after Paul showed me how to accomplish this task [quite glamorous, no?].
I also swam in the ocean, tried out my mad Spanish skills [they no longer exist], and reveled in the beauty of the small island.
Thus began my love affair with health care.
Thus began my love affair with traveling.
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Twice in college, I applied for programs through the Lilly Grant Pathways program at Manchester. The summer of my sophomore year I went to France and Switzerland for two weeks. The summer of my junior year I went to Reno, NV for ten weeks at a BVS site working with recovering drug addicts.
We had to read Let Your Life Speak by Parker Palmer. It messed my life up. Vocation, what??
Thus continued my love affair with traveling.
Thus began my love/hate affair with listening and exploring my calling.
Thus began my love affair with building relationships.
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After college, I applied and got a job at McPherson College [sister school to Manchester] as a resident director.
The first year, I worked with students as RAs and with student activities. I was so busy, but I enjoyed working with students. I got to be creative. I got to build relationships. I got to be on an academic calendar *sigh*. I got to live in a dorm. I got to bake for students to seduce them into spending time with me. I got to be available for emotional and physical crises.
The second year, I stepped into a leadership role with the other RDs. I'll just say I wasn't mature or educated enough to be successful in that role and I needed some major hand-holding. Never-mind the fact that I don't want to be told what to do and Im' naturally stubborn. This was probably the most difficult year I've been through. The frustration sucked all the joy out of the parts I should have enjoyed.
Thus began my love of baking for people.
Thus began my debate over student development and my future.
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When I moved back to McPherson and had no friends, MegB stalked me and we socialized over coffee.
Thus began my love affair with coffee.
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I bought my first digital camera.
Life was never the same.
Thus began my love with photography. Or at least taking pictures. (-:
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Massage, massage, massage: it's changed my life. Totally, completely, surprisingly--I am changed.
Before I went to massage school I made a visit to Arizona and toured a school there. I knew that I was NOT into energy work. I was NOT going to be kooky. I do NOT want to make contact with your chakras.
Then I found BTI and I didn't have to do those things. I was introduced to the concept of stirring the depths of a person by touching the surface. I bought into the emotional benefits of massage as well as the physical benefits, mostly because I lived it.
*I should talk more about this. I feel like I have lots to say. Feel free to hold me accountable to that.*
Thus began my exploration of alternative medicine.
Thus continued my love with health care.
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The non-inclusive things I love learning about and doing with my life:
-musical theatre
-choral music
-health care
-traveling
-coffee
-building relationships
-student development
-photography
-alternative medicine
-massage
So where does that leave me?
Exactly.
It leaves me loving a lot of random things and not being able to figure out what it all means. WHAT DOES IT MEAN? [double rainbow]
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