Sick of Being Sick

For the last two [three?] weeks I have been the victim of a particularly malicious strain of acute viral rhinopharyngitis. This condition has made it more difficult to do virtually everything I have to do the get through my day – work, study, play, talk, and especially sleep. It has even robbed me of my senses of taste and smell. I drank a cup of Starbucks coffee yesterday that I literally could not taste. This terrible disease is otherwise known, of course, as the common cold. But whereas most of my colds seem to last 2-3 days, this one has been going on for weeks. People around campus are starting to wonder, “Do you still have that same cold?”

I definitely have a greater appreciation for my health now, however, than I did three weeks ago. It’s amazing how having to live for 17 days with this relatively minor ailment [though it hasn’t always seemed minor] can change my perspective on things. It makes me think of those among us living with conditions, seen or unseen, that don’t go away like mine [hopefully] will very soon. It causes me to desire a more compassionate spirit, not knowing what the person sitting next to me has to deal with on a daily basis.

Caring God, help us to live lives full of grace and compassion, that we may show all with whom we have contact your mercy, for the glory of your son Jesus. And please take away this darn cold!

Rebecca Romijn Hairstyle

This shows that the new mother, she knows! Romijn's style here shows her beautiful cuts. This style requires curly hair style with long edge down. These goals and more direct than the outward curl glare. Rebecca is the best part of the explosion this short wispy bangs hairstyle. It is part of a combination of feathers.

Maintaining Healthy Teeth and Gums

Did you know that the health of your teeth and gum's can effect the health of your whole body? There is research that shows people who have gum disease, or decaying teeth, have a high risk of heart problems, respiratory infections, osteoporosis, strokes, diabetes, and risk in pregnancy.





Having good oral hygiene helps to keep you healthier, but also helps to keep your breath smelling nicer too. It is horrible to talk to someone who has bad breath, you don't want that to be you. In order to keep your teeth and gum's healthy, you have to brush and floss at least two times a day, preferable three times if you want to take extra precaution.




I was born with bad genetics for teeth. My tooth enamel was soft and chipped off my teeth regularly as I grew up. I was never monitored for how much sugar I was eating, or if I had brushed my teeth enough as a child, which baffles me now given the fact that my mother had dentures by the time she was thirty. That's what they did way back then when people had bad teeth, they would just pull all of them and give you dentures.




Thank God that is not what they do as standard practice today. I have spent more time in a dentists chair than most people. I have also spent more money on my teeth than most people. I would not be exaggerating by saying I have spent over 50 thousand dollars in the past twenty years on my mouth. Dentistry is very expensive.


Even though my teeth were not good genetically, had I taken better care of them when I was younger, I may not have had the huge expense and trauma of all the dental work that I have had to go through in my life.



It is so important to floss your teeth. Much of tooth decay happens from what is left by the brush in between your teeth. I have floss picks in my car, in my purse, and regular floss in my bathroom. Its never too late to begin a new habit. Floss your teeth!




Brushing your teeth with an electric tooth brush will clean better than a regular brush. Electric brushes remove more plaque and help to keep your teeth cleaner. We really should brush every time we eat something. I know that that is not always convenient, but it is the optimum thing to do for your dental health.



There are have been studies done on South American tribal people that had perfect teeth while they ate foods that were natural to their land and culture. These tribal people did not brush or floss their teeth, but still had strong healthy teeth and gum's with no decaying. As time went by, these tribes were introduced to foods that were processed with white flour and white sugar. It was only then that they found high incidence of tooth decay and gum disease rampant among them.




Once again, processed food gets that bad rap. When are we ever going to learn how destructive these foods are to all of us?



Having a bright healthy smile requires having healthy teeth. I have known people that have had bad teeth, and stop smiling as much. That is not good. Smiling is one of the best things to do and to lose that because of embarrassment is very sad. I feel for anyone that has gone through that.



So become a floss and brushing fool. Keep your teeth and gum's healthy and clean for your mouths sake, and the sake of your whole body. Make it a life long commitment.




Till Monday,
Queenie

In Transit

Last Sunday we decided to begin scouring the city for a congregational home, a place to worship for our final year of seminary.

We awoke to an early alarm and bustled our way to the nearest bus stop, caught the #55 to the Red Line, and let Chicago’s elevated train cars carry us across the city. Our hands cradled the books we’d brought, which made for a nice ride and an even nicer metaphor. The Red Line is as good a classroom as any. As the neighborhoods pass by, so do the different populations of passengers who file in and out of the sliding doors; ride the El for a day and you’ll learn more about this city than a hundred books could teach.

At the Addison stop passengers spill out into the streets, and so do we, to a congregation only a few blocks from baseball’s Friendly Confines. The preacher reads the lesson from Luke’s gospel, a vivid story of the divisions between God’s people, the wide chasm between rich and poor, a canyon between the classes that exists in our world as much as Luke’s. Yet the final word, grace of graces, is not a sentence but a sending. “Go in peace,” the preacher tells us, “serve the Lord.”

As we re-board the train to return home, I notice a sign over the exits that could fit over church doors as well as the CTA’s. It reads, in big, block letters: “OUT TO STREETS AND BUSES.” Indeed.

Learning to Trust

I spent last week at the Synod Ministerium for the Upstate New York Synod. Synod Ministerium is a chance for all rostered leaders in the synod to meet for fellowship and continuing education. This year the presenter was Dr. Craig Satterlee, LSTC’s homiletics professor, which was especially nice for me. With all the new in my life, it was wonderful to have a familiar face around.

Dr. Satterlee’s presentation was on “Preaching in Times of Transition.” His final lecture dealt with how clergy can take care of themselves during times of transition. After each of the lectures was a time for questions and discussion, but it was not until this topic that the conversation really took off. I sat and listened as seasoned clergy (one man in the room had been ordained fifty-one years) struggled with the same questions my classmates and I ask. How to maintain balance? How to set healthy boundaries? How to keep a strong prayer life? How to trust God?

As I sat in that room, thirteen days into my internship, it was strangely comforting to hear experience clergy asking the same questions I struggle with. It helped me remember that this path I walk is not mine to control. I will never reach a point where I am suddenly magically a pastor. Instead it is about being open to do the work I am called to; knowing I am not able and trusting in God to get me through.

Plus Size Dresses

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Elegant Blue Bridesmaid Dresses
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Ugly Bridesmaid Dresses Party

Taking Care of Yourself When Feeling Sick

I have been knocked down by a sinus infection this past five days. I ended up having to take some antibiotics so I could recover and get back to feeling good. I am rarely sick, and because of that, I find that I have little patience for it. I am so used to feeling good, that being sick is a very big contrast for me.





I am a big believer in doing all you can to naturally prevent illness, such as; eating healthy, exercising regularly, getting plenty of rest and sleep, drinking lots of clear water, and practicing your positive thoughts and actions. These things will help to keep you healthier, but if you catch a virus or infection, other steps need to be taken.



When your body is fighting something, some of the things you want to stay away from are usually the things your body won't want anyway, like sugar, coffee, rich food, and alcohol. That tells you a lot about those things....they aren't good for you.




I never want coffee when I am not feeling well. It is very acidic and most likely will make you feel worse. Sugar and alcohol are the same. They cause your body to become more acidic, and that will not help you when you are sick.




It is amazing how smart our bodies really are. When you get sick you most likely will want little to nothing to eat. Or you will want something that is bland or easily digestible. Your body needs a lot of energy to heal itself when you are sick, and digesting food requires a lot of energy, so your body will lose its appetite to focus on healing.


I also try to stay away from taking medications unless absolutely necessary. This last week it was absolutely necessary. It is difficult to get rid of an infection without the aid of antibiotics. If used occasionally, and not abused, they are miraculous. Too many people take antibiotics when they don't need them, and that can be a problem.



Listen to your body when you are not feeling well. Don't eat or drink things that will make you feel worse. Drink lots of fluids, get plenty of rest, and if you need a doctors care, get an appointment.




There is nothing like feeling your best. Whenever I find myself down with a sickness, I am so thankful that most of the time I feel fabulous. There is no truer saying than "without your health you have nothing". I have so much empathy for anyone that deals with chronic illness. It is a blessing to have good health, and I never take it for granted. I am truly blessed.



Till Thursday,
Queenie

All My Love, All My Life: Commence Panic!

Hi folks (*blows kiss, takes deep breath.) This post has been kinda hard for me to write (hence my blogging absence lately) because it involves some moments of the wedding where I acted, um, how shall we say? Less than favorably? I'm not saying my breakdown wasn't justified but I'm still not proud of it. Don't judge.

Anyways, where were we in my crazy wedding saga? Oh right, I'd hopped in my mom's rockin' Subaru station wagon to be chauffeured the short ride up to the venue, blithely, innocently unaware of the chaos waiting for me ahead. I arrived on schedule, ready to take all the bridal party and family portraits before the ceremony, which was set to begin at 4:30 pm.  What I found was not the organized bustle of our vendors putting together the wedding as scheduled but rather pure and utter madness.

Thanks to the rain, both our rental and catering companies were very, very behind setting up.  I witnessed my dad, still in his work clothes, frantically hanging cafe lights and lanterns.  I saw our caterer still arranging the bar and our DOC desperately trying to arrange two large tables in a room only big enough for one of them that were to hold the guest book/card and cookies/lemonade tables, both of which were supposed to be set up outside. Our florist (who had all our bouquets) was nowhere to be found. And then...

My heart sank when I looked at the tent and my mom approached me with a look that was half sympathetic and half mildly crazed despair  and told me that somehow the dance floor was about half the size we had requested.

Oh, F*CK.

She was currently on the phone with my MOH's parents, who live in town, to ask them to drive half an hour out to Home Depot to buy plywood to fill out the dance floor since the ground was so wet from the rain, not to mention the band needed a dry space to set up their equipment.  Our rental coordinator was calling every other rental company he knew, trying to get more dance floor pieces.

* PANIC (AND NAUSEA) ENSUED!

I had a knot in my stomach the size of a corn dog at a county fair in Texas as I literally watched the wedding I had been planning for 15 months crumbling in front of my very eyes.  Believe me when I tell you, folks, it was bad. 

Kevin from Aviator Rentals, who clearly felt horribly when he saw my face collapsing, assured me they'd come up with something to make the dance floor work and to go wait out of the rain in the Tannery (ceremony site) so Kelly (our photographer) could start taking photos.

It took every ounce of self control and lots of deep breaths for me to listen to him but I followed his instructions, praying something would work out and hoping that this would be the worst of the drama.

Closed Circle Photography

Dodging rain drops :)

Yeah, right.  I walked back up to the Tannery and was consoled a bit by my dear, dear bridesmaids.  Then my bouquet was offered up to me by the florist, who had finally arrived.

And this, my friends, is where it gets kinda ugly; I looked at the bouquets and promptly burst into tears, turning my back on the florist and walking out of the room.  Yeaaaaaah.

*embarassed blush

What, might you ask, did the tear-inducing, drama-causing, fury-spawning, offending bouquet look like?

Closed Circle Photography

I know. I know.  Now you all think I'm absolutely nuttybonks.

The bouquet is actually quite lovely. It was really just the combination of everything going wrong at the same time; the bouquet was simply the straw that broke this bride's resolve to stay calm.

However, in my defense...it's not anything close to the pictures I had emailed for inspiration. To prove I was not a completely psycho bridezilla, here they are:

(Source)

(Source)

Ohhhhh me oh my, I still get a bit wistfully jealous when I see beautiful, colorful bouquets like this...

You see what I'm talking about? Yup, there's no color.  I really wanted (and had expressed this desire to the florist) bright pops of yellow in my bouquet and what I got was an almost all-white, traditional bouquet.  And to add insult to injury, I thought (and still think) it was really small.  All in all, a complete disappointment.

Sadly, the bridesmaid's bouquets were also upsetting, as once again, they were nothing like the inspiration photos I had provided.  Pretty, yes.  What I had envisioned and pictured? Not even close.  Siiiiigh....Can you tell I'm still a little bit bitter about the whole thing?

I am happy to report that my bridesmaid's somehow managed to pick me up off the floor and set me straight. It took about five minutes of crying and comforting before I was able to get over it (because I had to) and come to terms with that fact that while things were far from perfect, it was still my wedding and I would make it work like Tim Gunn on steroids, dammit!

Looking back on the day, I totally regret not being able to rise above all the stress and mishaps but at the time, I just couldn't. And yeah, it still super-duper-mega sucks that I cried unhappy tears at my wedding but hopefully, I made up for it with all the joy and happiness at both the ceremony and reception.

That's the good thing about the low points on your wedding day, there are so many high points to make up for everything else,  I was able to get back into the spirit of the day after a few minutes.

While Kelly snapped detail shots of the ceremony, I peaked out the window at everyone still furiously, franticly setting up, wondering how the rest of the day would fare and praying the rain would stop so Mr Trail Mix and I could have our first look outside as planned...

Closed Circle Photography

Follow along, if ya want!

All My Love, All My Life: Get My Pretty On

All My Love, All My Life: Post-Dinner Partyin', Yo!

All My Love, All My Life: Rehearsal's Done, Let's Feast!

All My Love, All My Life: We Rehearse

All My Love, All My Life: Commence Panic!

Hi folks (*blows kiss, takes deep breath.) This post has been kinda hard for me to write (hence my blogging absence lately) because it involves some moments of the wedding where I acted, um, how shall we say? Less than favorably? I'm not saying my breakdown wasn't justified but I'm still not proud of it. Don't judge.

Anyways, where were we in my crazy wedding saga? Oh right, I'd hopped in my mom's rockin' Subaru station wagon to be chauffeured the short ride up to the venue, blithely, innocently unaware of the chaos waiting for me ahead. I arrived on schedule, ready to take all the bridal party and family portraits before the ceremony, which was set to begin at 4:30 pm.  What I found was not the organized bustle of our vendors putting together the wedding as scheduled but rather pure and utter madness.

Thanks to the rain, both our rental and catering companies were very, very behind setting up.  I witnessed my dad, still in his work clothes, frantically hanging cafe lights and lanterns.  I saw our caterer still arranging the bar and our DOC desperately trying to arrange two large tables in a room only big enough for one of them that were to hold the guest book/card and cookies/lemonade tables, both of which were supposed to be set up outside. Our florist (who had all our bouquets) was nowhere to be found. And then...

My heart sank when I looked at the tent and my mom approached me with a look that was half sympathetic and half mildly crazed despair  and told me that somehow the dance floor was about half the size we had requested.

Oh, F*CK.

She was currently on the phone with my MOH's parents, who live in town, to ask them to drive half an hour out to Home Depot to buy plywood to fill out the dance floor since the ground was so wet from the rain, not to mention the band needed a dry space to set up their equipment.  Our rental coordinator was calling every other rental company he knew, trying to get more dance floor pieces.

* PANIC (AND NAUSEA) ENSUED!

I had a knot in my stomach the size of a corn dog at a county fair in Texas as I literally watched the wedding I had been planning for 15 months crumbling in front of my very eyes.  Believe me when I tell you, folks, it was bad. 

Kevin from Aviator Rentals, who clearly felt horribly when he saw my face collapsing, assured me they'd come up with something to make the dance floor work and to go wait out of the rain in the Tannery (ceremony site) so Kelly (our photographer) could start taking photos.

It took every ounce of self control and lots of deep breaths for me to listen to him but I followed his instructions, praying something would work out and hoping that this would be the worst of the drama.

Closed Circle Photography

Dodging rain drops :)

Yeah, right.  I walked back up to the Tannery and was consoled a bit by my dear, dear bridesmaids.  Then my bouquet was offered up to me by the florist, who had finally arrived.

And this, my friends, is where it gets kinda ugly; I looked at the bouquets and promptly burst into tears, turning my back on the florist and walking out of the room.  Yeaaaaaah.

*embarassed blush

What, might you ask, did the tear-inducing, drama-causing, fury-spawning, offending bouquet look like?

Closed Circle Photography

I know. I know.  Now you all think I'm absolutely nuttybonks.

The bouquet is actually quite lovely. It was really just the combination of everything going wrong at the same time; the bouquet was simply the straw that broke this bride's resolve to stay calm.

However, in my defense...it's not anything close to the pictures I had emailed for inspiration. To prove I was not a completely psycho bridezilla, here they are:

(Source)

(Source)

Ohhhhh me oh my, I still get a bit wistfully jealous when I see beautiful, colorful bouquets like this...

You see what I'm talking about? Yup, there's no color.  I really wanted (and had expressed this desire to the florist) bright pops of yellow in my bouquet and what I got was an almost all-white, traditional bouquet.  And to add insult to injury, I thought (and still think) it was really small.  All in all, a complete disappointment.

Sadly, the bridesmaid's bouquets were also upsetting, as once again, they were nothing like the inspiration photos I had provided.  Pretty, yes.  What I had envisioned and pictured? Not even close.  Siiiiigh....Can you tell I'm still a little bit bitter about the whole thing?

I am happy to report that my bridesmaid's somehow managed to pick me up off the floor and set me straight. It took about five minutes of crying and comforting before I was able to get over it (because I had to) and come to terms with that fact that while things were far from perfect, it was still my wedding and I would make it work like Tim Gunn on steroids, dammit!

Looking back on the day, I totally regret not being able to rise above all the stress and mishaps but at the time, I just couldn't. And yeah, it still super-duper-mega sucks that I cried unhappy tears at my wedding but hopefully, I made up for it with all the joy and happiness at both the ceremony and reception.

That's the good thing about the low points on your wedding day, there are so many high points to make up for everything else,  I was able to get back into the spirit of the day after a few minutes.

While Kelly snapped detail shots of the ceremony, I peaked out the window at everyone still furiously, franticly setting up, wondering how the rest of the day would fare and praying the rain would stop so Mr Trail Mix and I could have our first look outside as planned...

Closed Circle Photography

Follow along, if ya want!

All My Love, All My Life: Get My Pretty On

All My Love, All My Life: Post-Dinner Partyin', Yo!

All My Love, All My Life: Rehearsal's Done, Let's Feast!

All My Love, All My Life: We Rehearse

All work and no play... I mean reverse that

In my second week I went to the library for a reserved book, thinking I could squeeze in a quick read before the library closed. I snagged my book from the reserve and as I round the corner, I start to hear some noise.

Half of my junior class was in the library studying for class; Pentateuch, Greek, and I had to read a chapter for Pastoral Care. Little did I know my night had just begun. We closed the library an hour later, probably doing more talking than studying.

Still full of conversation and in definite need of more study time, about six of us went to someone’s apartment. Surrounding a bowl of Sun Chips and some people taking advantage of our host’s Red Bull, we went to work… kind of. We did study, some more than others, but more importantly we laughed, and we did not let the stress of school get us too worked up. We found random YouTube videos and talked about our classes and professors and what we’ve experienced in these first couple of weeks.

Finally deciding it was past my bedtime I walked back to commuter housing. Sneaking into my room and trying to climb into the top bunk without making too much noise, I could not help but laugh, I thought I was going to be here 4 hours ago.