Pro-other-peoples-lives

I am pro-life.
I have never hidden that.
This is a great article for pro-lifers and pro-choicers alike.
Seriously.
This lady is magnificent.

Check it Out Here

When to Begin

Its hard to think of my life being anything other than what it is right now.

My husband and I are free to take spontaneous trips, go to Shari's at 1:00am for milkshakes, and sleep in when he has the day off without interruption.

Of course we are busy with church and school and he works a lot, but we still have lazy days in our sweats and cook dinner together and go out with friends when last minute plans are made.

But when you have kids that all changes. Or so I have heard.

I absolutely want children. I always have. I want biological children and I want to adopt. I would hope that I would make a great mom... someday.

Its hard to know when that someday is. Mr. Dunn and I have obviously talked about it. We said 5 years from when we got married. Part of it has to do with school. I have heard how hard it is to do college and kids at the same time.

But its so hard to know when. When am I ready? The idea of being a mom and being responsible for a life, a soul is overwhelming to say the least. It feels like I was just in high school, far too young to be thinking about these things. Now, it has snuck up on me. And I am completely unprepared.

They say you are never fully prepared. You are never fully ready. I enjoy the way things are right now. I enjoy our marriage right now. I guess that's a clue that I am not ready. That it isn't time. And that's ok. Its ok for me to enjoy the now and let the future wait.

I just wish I knew when the right time was.

I Guess This Happens A Lot

In high school, I never really was set on what I wanted to do.
I thought about elementary teacher, counselor, nurse, athletic trainer...
I just never could decide.

Once I graduated, I went to Chemeketa and played around. Classes were not a priority. And so I failed a few and had no motivation because I didn't even know what I was going for.

Then I felt a pull towards Salem Bible College (now Northwest University, Salem Campus). I have spent the last 4 years here.

I met my husband here.
I met myself here.
I met my God here.

And in the process, I thought I had met my career. I wanted to teach Bible College students. I was going to go on and get my masters and then my doctorate. And I wanted to go back to the college I had graduated from and teach.

So this last term I helped teach a freshman level class. I lectured, did grades, gave tests. I enjoyed it.

But I didn't LOVE it.

Its not that I don't love my school, or my professors, or my fellow students. I just realized that teaching didn't give me as much joy as I had maybe thought it would.

Then I started coaching at my old high school.
And I cannot express the kind of joy that it brings me.
I love it.
And I love my girls.

So I decided something. Since I can't make a living coaching high school girls basketball, I want to find something that I can do along with coaching that will bring me that much satisfaction. And teaching isn't it.

So here I am, 5 years into school, about to graduate in May with my Bachelors in Christian Leadership and I am looking at other Bachelors degree. Another 3 or 4 years of school? And what in the world would I even go for?

I have friends who have done the same thing. But I feel like I wasted time. I feel like I should've known sooner. I guess I can't look at it that way. I guess this happens a lot.

My Pinterest Christmas

Being in college has its pros and cons.
One of the cons is that I am broke as a joke most of the time.
This sucks for many reasons, one of them being that I love to give gifts more than I love getting them and when Christmas comes and I am broke, it takes away some of the joy of the season because I cannot give a gift to everyone I would like to.

But this year, I was able to stretch my gift giving a bit farther because of my beloved Pinterest. Here is a simple gift that is so easy to make.

 I designed it myself on the computer. It has my husband's birthday on it with his name, my birthday and my name, and our anniversary. The bottom says "What a Difference a Day Makes".

It literally took me 10 minutes, and most of that is because I am a perfectionist and wanted to get the exact right font and color. I was able to make one for my sister, cousin, grandma, and my mom. I also made one for my mama with all four of her children and their birthdays. Everyone loved it and I customized it to what they would like as far as color and font.

All it cost me was the frame to put it in and I will be honest, I spent $1 at the Dollar Store.

So there ya go. A cute, personal gift that is almost free and everyone will love. Thanks Pinterest!

Spock, the betta, getting his 15 minutes of fame.