"Ch-Ch-Ch-Ch Changes: Just gonna have to be a different man"

Happy New Year! The dreaded year of 2012 where the world was supposed to have it's ultimate demise, for all of you silly people who did not bother to closely learn or understand the true Mayan idea on death/the end, has come and gone and guess what?!
WE ARE STILL HERE.

That's okay; we still love those of you who got all bent out of shape about it. :)

But now, 2013 is upon us. Typically, I am not one of those people who makes "New Year's Resolutions" or "Looks Back" upon the previous year in order to be a better person for the new one.  Most of the time I feel we are supposed to be constantly re-evaluating our lives each day, each month of the year, so what makes January so special, ya know? However, after the past 12 months, I do feel the need this year to reflect upon the hardest, biggest and best lesson I learned this past year.  

 

Biggest lesson I have learned from 2012 is that STRESS is completely unnecessary and can ruin your life. Stress, as defined in the Webster's dictionary, has many meanings and ALL of them apply to my year of 2012:

 

1. Stress is: a constraining force or influence. The constraining influence and force which dominates more man hours than I spend with my family: Work. Scary things can happen at anybody's job; I know that. No one person is completely safe anymore in the USA once they step out their door in the morning, but the public schools, well, they seem to be a hot spot right now. Threats for shootings, threats for bombs, threats from parents to sue if you do not think their child is the greatest thing since sliced bread and give them all A's, threats from parents who could care less about their child and do not want you to bother them at work anymore about their kid, veiled theats from "the higher ups" if you have too many students fail (regardless of whether that is the actual grade they earned), veiled threats if the other adults you work with are not falling in-line with all the rules, threats on what happens if you do not run your classroom for full 50 minutes, making sure to complete each task and reach all 35 students every day.... I could write a novel about everything and still not reach the whole scope of how demanding and degrading the education system can make you feel.

 

2. Stress is: the deformation caused in a physical body by such a force. Whoa! Let me tell ya, my body offically caved this year. I am 26 years old and have never, ever broken a bone, suffered any strain or injury, never been to hospital for anything etc. and for those of you who know me, you know I work out like a maniac and push my body to the limits and have been doing so for years. As much as I'm a maniac though, Dylan and I have also become very health conscious. We are both very aware of what goes in our bodies and make sure we stay as healthy as possible. But this past year, I cannot tell you how many times I had to see a doctor. Chronic allergies ( I'm allerigc to 60 of the 64 allergens in the lower 48 states), mild migraines (brought on by stress and allergies), anxiety and nightmares ( brought on by stress), severe IBS- if you don't know the acronym, look it up. Not something I want to write out here...  (brought on by stress) and vision strain (brought on by over-work and stress).

 

3. Stress is: a physical or emotional factor that causes bodily tension and may be a factor in causing diseases. Emotional factor... UM YAH! Try being a social worker to 190 students every day. Try sitting in hearings listening to their either deadbeat parents or parents who are younger than I am explain/defend/or just not care about their actions or watch the parents with money pay off the court. Try dealing with yet another group of students who got busted for drugs or alcohol and continue to repeat their offenses. Try writing CPS reports about students who get the energy and water turned on and off at their house because their parents use the money for drugs or they do not make enough or another sibling steals the money. Try writing CPS reports about abuse, both physical and mental. Try getting cussed out by students, realizing the entire time they are so desperate for your attention that they will do anything in order for you to listen. Try hearing over and over a child is perfect and can do no wrong from a parent who does not want to face the facts that their child has issues and needs help. I could go on and on and on and on and on.......

 

4. Stress is: A state of bodily or mental tension resulting from factors that tend fo alter an equilibrium. Yes to both of those. My body is obviously rebelling against all of the stress, and my mind never shuts up or stops trying to deal with things.

 

5. Stress is: strain or pressure to the point of collapse Now, my whole heart and being belong to my Lord in Heaven, and I know God will not give me anything I cannot handle. But I also know the good Lord says to pay attention to what is around you, who and what you surround yourself with. God is there for me anytime I need, but each time I keep putting myself in the same situation, I'm sure He wants to just bang me on the head and say Listen up! Look around! Stop doing this!

 

So..... I stopped and listened. And I have found other doors with the potential to open, other pathways to walk. They are unknown, yes; but I feel a calm presence as I start down them. I feel God guiding me on this new change in life I decided upon in 2013. Thankfully, my family completely supports me. In fact, they have all been wondering why it took me so long to get here. hehe! Bless my Dylan! He probably wanted to hit me over the head every day for the past year too! Instead, he hugged and loved on me each time I broke down. Thank you, husband. Thank you, love of my life. Thank you for telling me it is okay to change and not giving up on me. Getting rid of my stress and the main thing that drives it is my biggest goal for 2013.

 

So I am excited about 2013! I m excited to turn my life around and not live under this heavy yoke. I am excited to learn how to live life free of self-inflicted stress and self-inflicted worry. And if you have any of these feelings as you read, please stop what you are doing and take a good, long look at your life. I know you cannot just stop immediately doing the thing which causes you stress. Trust me, if that were true, I would have stopped back in August! But, you can look to the future and truly work hard at figuring out another lifestyle, another way to be. :)

 

"Getting over a painful experience is like crossing the monkeybars. You have to let go at some point in order to move forward."     C.S. Lewis

 

 

 

 





Winter Wonderland

 "Over the ground lies a mantle of white... in the lane, snow is glistening. A beautiful sight! We're happy tonight! Walking in a Winter Wonderland.."

Woke up Christmas morning to snow everywhere in Lubbock, TX. Who knew?! Perfect weather for a wonderful Christmas spent with family in Lubbock. Goober did not quite know what to do with the snow. He went bounding outside, but immediately turned around to give me a WTH look and refused to go out. I had to walk out with him. Not to worry though; once he realized the snow was not going to hurt him, Goobz loved it and spent the morning playing in the snow. He was a wet rag by the time he was done. :)

My mother-in-law made sure the house looked festive for the holidays. My in-laws gifted Dylan with a very nice NIKON camera with multiple lenses and features. He tested them out the whole time we were there, creating beautiful shots. We are beyond excited to take this guy out on our trips to the mountains and to Europe this summer!

My in-laws also have a German Shepherd named Shiloh. The dogs are good to each other for the most part. Shiloh is older than Goobz and puts up with his constant shennanigans to a point; then, we have to separate them. I don't blame here either; Goobz wears me out so I can only imagine how she feels as he pulls on her ears and tries to bite her nose.

 

 



We spent lots of time with The Carey side of the family. My father-in-law, John, has 2 other siblings who both have children. Jill now has a granddaughter, McKenna, who is just precious! Dylan is fortunante to have both his grandparents on this side alive and well. We do nothing but eat and cook here... pretty crazy.

 Just something about a little kid opening presents that makes you smile!!

Helping Grandma Jill do the dishes! Loved her apron!

Smiles with Nana

 

Family, friends and food

 

McKenna with cousin Tarah

 

 Goobz had had enough after 2 days of constant people in the house, along with little children. My poor dog has been around maybe 6 people max and never children. He was hiding by the time we left...

All in all we had a very nice Christmas! Spent good time with family and friends in Lubbock and spread lots of Christmas cheer!!! Thanks to everyone in Lubbock for a wonderful Christmas 2012!!

"Tidings of Comfort and Joy"

  Christmas time is wonderful and magical. Christmas time allows everyone, no matter how old they are, to become a child again. A child who sees the world as innocent and wonderful, reveling in the bright colors, tantalizing smells, merry songs and the smiling people you see wherever you go. However, Christmas can also bring back old wounds, bring back pain for loved ones who are no longer with us, etc. Sadly, tragedy can strike at any time of the year as evidenced in the CN elementary school shooting. As both of us find our hearts torn between excessive happiness and extreme sadness, we have tried to let these words pour over our souls and drench us in the unfailing love of our Savior who is greater and bigger than any evil or pain the world can throw at us.

Dylan and I have both found Comfort in our favorite Christmas song of the year "God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen." 

"God rest ye merry gentlemen let nothing ye dismay. Remember Christ our Savior was born upon this day. To SAVE US ALL from Satan's power when we were gone astray, O tidings of Comfort and Joy, Comfort and Joy. O, tidings of Comfort and Joy.

From God our heavenly Father this blessed angel came. And unto certain shepherds brought tidings of the same. How that in Bethlehem was born the Son of God by Name, O, tidings of Comfort and Joy. 

King forever! Ceasing never! Over us all to reign! Glorious now, behold Him arise. King and God and sacrifice. Hallelujah! Worship Him God most High!

O tidings of Comfort and Joy, Comfort and Joy. O tidings of Comfort and Joy!"

-version by Barenaked Ladies and Sara McLaughlin-

Dylan and I have also found much Joy this season too! God has blessed our small Carey Family very much these past few months. Dylan is privileged to work with an amazing group of dentists and associates whose hearts are all on fire for Christ and who strive to give of their time and resources to help others in need. The Christmas gathering for CMDA Council this year was uplifting, bringing courage, strength, resolve and love to all of us who work to make these goals a reality each and every day.

 Dylan surprised me the other night with tickets to the Mummy Exhibit at the Witte Museum. It was incredible! The collection was a little small, but the specimens were top notch! We saw mummies not only from Egypt, but South America, Oceania and Europe. My favorites were the ones from the Andes in Chile and Peru. The altitude preserves so much more of their skin, clothes, hair, teeth etc. than the desert. Many of these mummies had visible tattoos!! Dylan was quite impressed with the teeth. Most of the mummies all had their wisdom teeth and massive overbites or underbites. (They have a technical dental term, I just cannot remember at the moment. Something about Class 3....) My other favorite was a Hungarian family they found from the 1500s. This family had all been buried together in a basement. The clothes they were buried in were still around their bodies. More importantly, all of the family had died from tuberculosis, and they were being studied today in order to help find a cure. Absolutely AMAZING what the combination of nature, God and science can do these days! I was also impressed because they had samplings of each bone and skin type for you to feel. The bodies look like beefy jerky, but in all actuality, both the skin and bones are quite smooth. Some feel like smooth rubber while others feel like suede leather. Fascinating!!

Plus, you know your husband loves you when he buys tickets to look at dead bodies for date night! :)

Christmas movies!! There are 4 that must be watched in The Carey house over the month of December. First is Chevy Chase Christmas Vacation. This movie is beyond stupid, but Dylan just loves it. He does nothing but laugh the whole time; sometimes he laughs so hard he cries which makes me laugh too. The more I watch it, the more it grows on me. Second, Home Alone. Such a classic! Third, The Grinch. The animated one is my favorite, but we will watch Jim Carrey version if cannot find the animated one. Fourth, the claymation animated Rudolph the Red Nose Reindeer with Burl Ives is my favorite Christmas movie!! I even found a dog toy in the shape of Bumble, the mean snow beast who has a toothache and needs Hermie the Elf to fix it! Too cute!!! (Goobz destroyed Bumble in a matter of minutes so alas, he is no more.)

My boys playing with each other. Or rather, Dylan is lying on Goober's blanket. Goober hides toys and bones in there to dig them out. Goobz is mad right now because Dylan won't get off the blanket. Goober cannot get his toy, so he is digging on top of Dylan. They are both so silly and stubborn!

Even more exciting, Dylan bought a used jeep! We both made a deal when he graduated a year and half ago: When we paid off all of Dylan's loans (both undergrad and grad school), he could get a jeep, which he has wanted since he started dental school. Dylan estimated it would take 2 years, so long as we both put the bulk of our paychecks each month into loans. Well, it took a year and a half! 6 months earlier than we thought!!! It is used, but runs like a dream and was for a great price! Dylan is in hog-heaven, and I am just so proud of him for paying everything off and sticking to his promise! Crazy thought to think we are debt-free at the age of 26! :)

Last, but certainly not least, THE HOBBIT. In all seriousness, we should all take a minute to just revel in how amazing, how epic, how moving this film was. If you have not seen it, get over your aversion to Sci-Fi, because this is beyond that. We are talking about a series of books written in the times of the Middle Ages. There are beasts and beings who are not human, but that is okay. They do not take away from anything! In fact, they simply enhance the idea that there is a constant battle between Good and Evil every day. Good comes in all shapes and sizes, from all manners of people. Evil can come in any form too; something God reminds us of constantly in the Bible. You do not have to have read the book to understand what is going on. Plus, the landscape of New Zealand is enough to make you drool and the score is gorgeous.

Lady Galadriel: Gandalf, why the Halfling? Why the hobbit?

Gandalf: Because I am afraid, and he gives me courage. 

A.B.C... It's easy as one, two, three, Montana??

Yet another episode of what the American education is doing for our youth:

I went into CVS on Sunday to pick up my prescription. This nice, early 20s young man rung up my purchase. I have the CVS card so he needed my keys to get me the discounts etc. and on my key ring is my Marshall teacher tag. He asked me if I liked teaching there, and of course, I gave the neutral reply. 

He then asked me what I taught. "AP World History", I replied. He stops filling the bag, looks me in the eye and says very seriously, "I don't know anything about history." This is the typical response for most people I meet. I just nodded and said "Yeah, I'm not usually a favorite subject." We kind of chuckled and right as I was about to leave, he gets excited and says "Wait! I did learn something new the other day about history."

I look at him expectantly and he says in all seriousness, I kid you not:

"I learned Montana is a real place a few days ago. I mean, who knew? I just thought it was somewhere they made up so they could put all those Western films together or something..." 

All I could think to say was "Seriously?" in the most sarcastic and flabbergasted voice ever! The man behind me, a gentlemen in his 40s, starts to laugh. And the youth just keeps going! He then says:

"I'm dead serious! And, Montana is in the USA! That like, blew me away! I thought it would be somewhere else...out in the middle of nowhere ya know. But nah, it is one of the 50 states."

By this point I know my mouth is hanging open, staring at the young man in complete shock and horror at the words which keep coming out of his mouth. The man behind me is seriously rolling with laughter by this point. I turn around to look at him, and he just laughs harder. 

I can honestly think of no smart reply to this statement at all, so I grab my bag and make to leave. The youth then stops me by putting his hand on my arm and says "Please don't judge me. I'm from The Valley. All we do is cheat down there."

I gave him my meanest teacher glare with the left eyebrow going up and just left. I got halfway out the door and then panicked! This young man has no clue where Montana is but he just filled my prescription!!?? Um, no. I sat down over in the corner of CVS and checked my prescription: size, weight, color and all to make sure he had not screwed that up. Everything checked out, but I resolved right then and there to NOT go back and get help from that young man. 

Good grief people!! Is San Antonio the only place where people act like this? I am beginning to become seriously concerned. This is the 3rd incident in a matter of weeks. A little hamlet in the Swiss Alps, around the city of Bern, is beginning to look more and more appealing every day...