Sorry folks.. I know it's been almost a full month since my last post-- but what a busy month it's been.
So let's see-- I finished finals and my first semester as a sophomore! WOO HOO. I know it's not a huge deal but college is tough and I'm learning that not everyone can or does do it... so I'm going to be proud. :) yayyy. I went home to start my Christmas break and it was lovely. I so enjoyed being back in Columbus with all my precious friends and family.
I spent my first week in North Carolina with Ben's family--staying at his sister & bro-in-law's humble abode. =) lovely parsonage in the mountains...yep! it's as perfect as it sounds. We had a blast. We shopped, toured, looked, played, ate, laughed. Ben's parents did WAAAY too much for all of us of Christmas but I know we're all thankful for every penny they spent and minute they worked. I love being with people and learning about them and one thing I had a chance to reflect on is how unbelievably blessed I am to have wound up with such a phenomenal family to marry in to. I've learned something valuable from each and every one of them and I love to grow closer to them all the time.
When I came back home the Christmas Eve/Christmas planning madness began...
It was errands and trying to see all my friends to exchange presents, making sure I got everyone a gift, worrying about money, etc. I am an easily stressed person to begin with, so adding extra pressures really sends me in to quite a tizzy. I have always been a super type-A, take control, obsessive planner, kind of person but I never really knew the worrying and stress I do to myself could take such a toll on me.
I got through the stress and had the most beautiful Christmas Eve with my mom's side of the family and some of our closest family friends--my dad even joined us. This is where I'm going to throw a special shout out to my parents...all 3 of them. My parents are divorced and have been the majority of my life...but they are two of the best parents on the planet. They have been so beyond classy and mature dealing with blended families and it never ceases to amaze me. It is definitely an unnatural situation but my parents have 100 percent done everything in their power to always make me as comfortable as possible. They have always kept any issues or problems between them and constantly remain a co-parenting unit even though they are apart. This is how I can sit in between my mother and father at Christmas Eve dinner and next to my stepfather, while my dad and mr. john talk about politics and business. What a blessing. That's the greatest present either one of them will ever give me...
After dinner- myself, Mom, John, Jacque and Ben spent the late evening do our tradition of opening presents. We had such a good time and Mom and John spoiled all of us-- as always. :) Ben and I stayed up to clean the house for hours and it quickly became one of my fondest memories with him-- he is kind to me, keeps me consistently laughing and has the most incredible servants heart. He teaches me how to be better ALL the time. So blessed. On Christmas Day I spent a wonderful morning and afternoon with my momma...our other tradition. :) then I quickly rushed off to Macon to spend a wonderful but way too short trip doing Christmas with my dad's side of my family :) had a blast though. But that day I had noticed what looked like a couple of bug bites on my shouder. I did the normal-- apply benadryl so it won't itch, but that just wasn't doing the trick. That night in Macon I showed my doctor- a.k.a my MeMe, who called in all my aunts to help diagnose- they applied cream and sent me into a mini coma with benadryl. :) I shrugged it off thinking it was just bug bites and continued on.
Long story short-- I started having some pain in my rib cage a few days later. It started mild but last Friday it quickly grew worse. At dinner with Ben's parents I was on the verge of tears and by the 1st quarter of the hockey game I was huddled over in the most intense pain I've ever felt. Ben quickly took me to the emergency room where my mom and ben's parents both followed. All this to come to find out I have Shingles-- which were apparently reactivated by stress. I then had to cancel my new years eve trip to south carolina with my best friends and give away my ticket to passion 2012. :( not the most fun things I've ever done but I know this was the Lord's way of slowing me down. I do too much. stress too much and overthink too much... so I am now working on DE-stressing my life. Slowly but surely I am learning.
I am BACK at school for JanTerm and I had my first class today and I am actually quite thrilled to learn more. My class is one of the service-learning JanTerms so it's overall theme is Servant Leadership but my specific section is focusing on Shelter. We'll be learning about all different types of shelter and habitats and the sociology of it all. We also will be doing hands-on, manual labor with Habitat for Humanity as a form of servant leadership. This class is really catering to a pure passion of mine-- which is serving others. Actually Ben is in my class too (he's the TA, so he's a little more high up. haha) but this is a huge part of what we feel is our calling as missionaries. We both have huge hearts for service and helping others and I'm really excited to see what this can teach us and how the Lord will use it to shape our future.
So be on the look out for some exciting JanTerm adventures and updates on Shingles...hoping to be clear of it ASAP.
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