Sciuridae...esquirel...skiouros - aka SQUIRREL

I really like squirrels. I think that they are fascinating!  It is one of the things I miss the most now that I'm no longer a student at Oregon State.  If you're a student there, or have ever been to OSU, I'm sure you know what I'm talking about.  The squirrels there were so friendly and EVERYWHERE.  They would run up to people, but never actually let you close enough to touch them.  Anyway, Squirrels are the one thing in my life that seem to be a constant.

That may see strange, but here is what I mean.  Some of my earliest memories growing up are when I lived in a city called McMinnville, and I remember seeing the squirrels run along the telephone wires outside our house.  Then when we moved I remember seeing some (not nearly as many) at our new place, but then when I started attending Oregon State, my love for them grew.  I like any type of squirrel too: grey ones, brown ones, ones that live in the ground and the ones that live in the trees.

This is Matt's Squirrel

You might be wondering why I'm writing about this.  Well, they have been coming up even more now!  First of all, one of my friends at work, Matt, has a little squirrel that sits on his desk.  His name is "Matt's Squirrel" (and you can follow him on Twitter) and he loves the book Imaginary Jesus.  This little guy has been everywhere, he helps us out in the office and even enjoys lunch with us.  So that's one reason.  The second is my Youth Group AFTERSHOCK back home has "Squirrel Moments" to the point that we put them on a shirt! Or maybe it's because Matt (the same guy I mentioned earlier) says I like squirrels because it's sounds kind of like my last name.

 

(This is a squirrel moment)

No, I like squirrels because they are curious and dedicated.  Two qualities that I find enduring.  We have a bird feeder in our back yard, and so far I think the squirrels have eaten more of the food than the birds.  We've tried lots of things to keep them off the feeder, but they still find a way to get to the food.  Even now, they're picking up the seed that falls to the ground.  They can run up the tree with my dog Jack right on their tail and never miss a beat.  I wish I were like that.  I wish I were persistent when it comes to things I want to see happen.  I often try once, fail and give up.  Squirrels don't do that.  Plus, I like their big bushy tails! ;-)

I looked up squirrels on Wikipedia and realized that one thing that squirrels do is help to plant trees.  That's right, they are one of God's foresters! According to the Wikipedia article, Squirrels have trouble finding food in the early spring because all of those nuts that they buried earlier are sprouting and growing.  Plus, how does a squirrel remember where they put all of those nuts?

Here are a couple videos of just how smart squirrels are! Enjoy!

I think we can learn a lot from squirrels, even if you don't like them.  Here are a few things I've learned:
1) Be persistent - God created us for a purpose and if we give up we might be missing out on something great!
2) Be sure to plant - We're called to plant God's word.  You never know, maybe some of those seeds we plant will sprout and grow, which is awesome, even if we don't get to receive the benefit.
3) Balance and concentration are important - If you take your eyes off of the branch you're leaping to you might miss and fall (which isn't so bad if your a flying squirrel).
4) Having a big fluffy tail is awesome!

Do you like squirrels? What's your favorite animal that you learn life lessons from?

So, There's This Boy...

All last week Facebook was reminding me that my anniversary was yesterday (Sunday, April 10th) which is all well and good, but how could I forget the day that my life completely changed?!  I actually found it quite humorous that it was giving me a warning for an entire week that my anniversary was approaching, I mean, they don't even give you that much warning for birthdays.  It's usually just the day of that it says, "Hey, its 'so-in-so' birthday!"  Well, maybe Facebook is trying to create a world where no one forgets things like anniversaries.  But whatever...

Anyway, "So, there's this boy..."

I don't know how many times I hear these words!  It's kind of fun and exciting because I know where the conversation is going to head.  Here I am, an experienced married woman (HA!) giving advice to lots of different awesome women!  But I think it's funny that most of the time it starts of with those exact same four words, "So, there's this boy..."  Now, if you're reading this and have said those four words to me, thank you for feeling safe enough around me to talk to me about it...I really do appreciate that you value my opinion ;-).

I think that I'm so excited when people (especially girls) want to talk to me about relationships because i remember sitting in those exact same shoes.  I remember back in 2007 when I sat down with my VERY good friend and said, "So, there's this boy....His name is Lucas."  When I hear those words I hope that they'll find the love that I have found in Lucas. 

But often times not too long later (in some cases anyway) the "So, there's this boy" turns into..."AHHH!!  I hate boys!"  Which gives me the opportunity to minister in a different way.  I can be the comforter and the person who sits and listens as often the tears come. 

So, here is my advice to the, "So, there's this boy..." group:

Take your time...if he's the right guy he'll come to you.  Be sure to pray about him and you, both as individuals and as a possible couple, but ALWAYS keep God in the conversation...OK, you don't have to be one of those couples who is always like, "Hey Babe, wasn't Romans so amazing today!  Paul is..." and that's all you ever talk about, but God should be the foundation of your relationship/

And for the, "AHHH!! I hate boys!" crowd:

Take your time...the right guy will come to you.  Be sure to pray about him and you, both as individuals and as a future couple!  Yes, pray for your future love...ask God to be making you exactly who God wants you to be for him and pray that God will be making him exactly who God wants him to be for you.

That's my advice...you know from that very experience, 1 year married, 25 year old woman (who still acts like a kid!)

This was from our wedding...Two becoming One with Christ (the White sand on the bottom) being the foundation of our relationship

 

 

 

 

 

So, tell me about your boy, girl or your current great dislike of the opposite sex. :-)

 

Daydream Believer

I love daydreaming.  It's probably one of my favorite past-times.  I think it happens the most while either in the car or on a jog.  I'll think about anything and everything; things I think would be fun to do, places I'd like to see, movies I'd love to produce and talk shows I'd love to be interviewed on about the movies I'd love to make.  While some think that this is a strange thing to do, it's really quite normal for me to be talking to myself in the car...I always wear my bluetooth headset so I don't look COMPLETELY crazy.  So I guess this is my theme song???

I think that dreaming is a gift that God truly gives us.  Without dreaming movements like Campus Crusade for Christ, the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association and even that church that made the movie Facing the Giants, wouldn't have reached the world in the way that they have.  I've been thinking a lot about this because of a book one of my friends suggested I read.  It's called: The Dream Giver by Bruce Wilkinson.

It's a great book about a guy named Ordinary from the land of Familiar; yeah, it's a parable and a story.  The book is about the journey that Ordinary goes on to leave Familiar and go out in the world to pursue his Big Dream given to him by The Dream Giver (God).  It talks about the people trying to keep him where its safe, times of doubt, giants that he must face and fight, and the work of faith through it all. 

This book really, truly touched how I look at aspects of life and the trials I may face while working toward my dreams.  While there were parts that I may not have fully agreed with (if you want to know what those are, just ask), overall I loved this book and would recommend.  It was a super quick read (I'm a slow reader and read it in only a couple days) and well worth it!

I read this book because it was a recommendation from a friend... 
How about you? Do you have any books you think I should read?

Want to walk a mile in MY shoes?

I am not the most girly person in the world, I'll be the first to admit that.  I'm totally ok with it too, but there is one thing that I LOVE that is kinda girly...shoes.  I really like shoes.  Late last fall, Lucas and I went shopping and I found some really amazing Kenneth Cole flip-flops for like $4! 

Aren't they totally cute?

Anyway, yesterday was the first day above 60 degrees so I was really excited about finally getting to wear my really awesome flip-flops!  However, my feet were NOT happy with me!

Don't get me wrong, the foot-bed of these flops are super comfortable, but I don't know if it's because my feet have been hidden inside of shoes since November, but the pretty flowery straps caused super huge bruises on the tops of my feet.  I've heard the saying, "Pain is the Price of Beauty," plus, they are Kenneth Cole...which means that yes...they were designed by a man...need I say more!  Anyway, I told myself, "Suck it up Katie.  Everyone LOVES your shoes, keep wearing them! It'll get better."  Well, it didn't. 

By the time I got home from my day of work at around 7:30, I could hardly walk from my car to the house without tears in my eyes.  I kicked off my shoes, sat down on the couch and watched Modern Family with my husband.  I showed him my feet and he couldn't believe it either.

Well, now what?  I still think these shoes are awesome, but they hurt my feet so much! I wore my super comfortable flops today to give my feet a break, but I think like everything else, what hurts me only makes me stronger, right?  I'll give them another chance in a couple weeks.  I realized I'm really mean to my feet.  Years of running (often times without socks...stupid, I know) have taken their toll that's for sure.  When my feet are unhappy, I'm unhappy, so why do I do this?  It might be like the age-old question, "How many licks does it take to get to the tootie-roll center of a tootsie pop?"

The World May Never Know!

What about you?  Have you ever worn shoes that hurt your feet just because they were cute, or anything like that?

Strengths Found!

 1+2+3+4+5 = Katie!

Over the past couple of weeks, I've been looking at each of my strengths as given to me by Strengths Finder 2.0.  Here is the quick rundown again of my top 5 Strengths:

Belief

Learner

Responsibility

Harmony

Developer

(The links on each go to the post about the individual strengths)

I think that these strengths are in a pretty good order of how they are listed, as each one builds on the next; well, maybe it should be a pyramid but Belief on the bottom....Anyway, what I mean is that my belief is the base of everything I do.  Not only does it dictate what job I have, but also how I live my life and what I hold as valuable, but then not far off from that is learning more about my beliefs and other things that I find interesting, but all the while, still guided by my beliefs.

Then responsibility comes into play in how I accomplish what I say I will do.  This is in my work and in my personal life, each of which requires learning new things as well as staying inline with my beliefs.  Then comes the harmony; this helps keep me grounded and listening to those around me.  And finally Developer, the one that I'm still developing, but I like to keep others encouraged, but in order to do that I need to listen to them, hold them responsible for their actions, learn about them but still guided by my beliefs.  

One of the beliefs that I thought would be there and isn't:

Competition - I like it when there is a winner and something to shoot for.  

Well, now that I've talked about my strengths, what else should I talk about?  Any thoughts?

Potentially There Is Potential

Strength #5: Developer

"You can do it!" Those are words that can either be encouraging or frustrating, and I say them all the time (or at least something like it), or do I?  My fifth strength is called "Developer" which basically means that I like to encourage people to find their potential and try to help them improve.  There are defiantly times where I can see this happening, but unlike my other strengths this was the one I had the most trouble accepting at first.

When I first saw that I was a "Developer" I didn't even know what that meant.  I was very confused by it, because I still think that I'm working on this strength.  It wasn't until I read the personal insights about developer that it began to make some sense.  My developer strength is one of the main reasons I worked in youth at my church and why I enjoy spending time with my discipleship group, I like it when people grow!

What better place for me to work than an organization that is shaped around seeing people develop and grow in their walk with Jesus!  But like I said, while this is a strength, I think it's one I'm still developing (yes, I'm developing my developer strength).  Here is what I mean:

I get excited when people grow and learn, it helps me get energized, but at the same time I don't think I'm all that good at it!  There is a big downside to this strength, I often forget to include myself in those I want to see grow; I become OK with being stagnate.  I'm in a constant tension of not feeling like I'm growing and at the same time being excited about others getting stronger.  The book Strengths Finders 2.0 suggest that people with a Developer strength find themselves a mentor to help them in their development.  I'm working on finding someone to come alongside me too, to help me grow in my strengths and abilities so that I can better equip those that I'm invested in.

Do you get energized when you see others succeeded and grow? Maybe you're a developer too? Have you ever thought of coming alongside someone to help and encourage them as they learn?

Off Key, but In Harmony?

Strength #4: Harmony

No, I don't sing well and if I try to pick out a harmony in a song I quite often fail miserably at it; I'm talking about a different type of harmony.  I've heard that the third child is often the peacemaker in a family...or maybe I made that up because I'm a third child and like to keep the peace.  Whatever the case, it is one of my strengths, to create harmony.  According to Strengths Finder 2.0 when you have high harmony, "You look for areas of agreement.  In your view there is little to be gained from conflict and friction, so you seek to hold them to a minimum." 

When I first saw this come up in my top 5 strengths I was convinced that that fully understood what they were talking about.  I don't like to be the one to make waves, and I hate it when people get upset, especially at me.  But then when I read more about the Harmony strength I realized there is a lot more to it than just relating with others in conflict.  I want there to be harmony in my work too; not just with the people but with how I accomplish tasks.

I appreciate it when tasks and work load makes sense; when it has a starting and an ending and defined steps along the way.  It makes me feel comfortable when I know what I'm supposed to do and how to do it.  That is why when I have questions I ask people who know how to do things, that are smarter than me, or have done it before.  It is refreshing to me that I can follow a step-by-step plan for things. 

One aspect of harmony is I hate putting myself in situations that may cause conflict.  I think that this is why going out on campus to share my faith has always been so hard for me.  I don't want to make people feel upset.  However at the same time, it helps me, because I want to make sure that they know that they are heard.  It's a really tough place.

So, a final though...this is why when I was in college and was in a Market Research class that required us to make cold calls for a phone survey I HATED doing it!  I didn't like to annoy the people I was calling as well possibly make them upset.  I, myself, got very upset and spent several nights crying when I would have to make phone calls. 

What do you think?  
Are you one to make Harmony, or do you like to provoke debate just to do it?  
Do you know someone with harmony as a strength, and do you enjoy being around them or do you find them frustrating?