YA

I must dedicate this post to Laura S., promoter and fan of young adult reading for those of us already in our 20's or otherwise past the "young adult" stage.

Yes, we all know that there are Twi-hards of all ages, including the ever-publicized Twi-moms, but the Twilight series isn't the only redeemable and/or popular young adult series these days. My recent favorite? Hunger Games. If you've heard of them or not, read them! Just succeeded in getting Stephen to read them, and while he moaned about the tween-romance factor, he did admit that the story was both original and suspenseful. AND, they announced the movie release date for March 13, 2012, which I anticipate will result in an increased fan base, similar to the Twilight phenomenon. People are already calling Hunger Games "the next Twilight," but it has a very different vibe. While science-fiction-y to be sure, you won't find Hunger Games in the new "Paranormal Romance" section at Barnes and Nobel (at least, if it was put there, it was by mistake).

Next on my YA reading list? Maze Runner by James Dashner and I am Number 4, by Pittacus Lore (a pen name of the two co-authors). Of course, you may have heard of I am Number 4 due to the movie adaptation coming out next month. As most of my friends know, I am an avid reader of books-made-into-movies, so needless to say, I'm looking forward to this one. Again, I must thank Laura S. for these recommendations.

I'll leave you with these closing remarks...

TEAM EDWARD! ...

TEAM PEETA!

On a more serious note...

Well, I knew it was only a matter of time. Yesterday I had my first I'm-not-going-to-be-able-to-get-a-job break-down. I guess it only makes sense after a cheerful Friday morning seminar about interviews and the job process, full of hopeful promises of insane budget cuts and scary contracts. I tried to let it go to God, but I failed. Really, that's pretty much what happened. I prayed and "let go" but still had my emotional breakdown.

Today I resolved to really dig deep with God with this issue. Honestly, I was just blown away by his faithfulness. I tend to find that when I am weakest in my trust for Him, He just blind-sides me with the never-ending list of reminders of His faithfulness. In my life, and in our marriage/relationship, God has never, ever ceased to amaze us with His faithfulness in provision more abundant than we ever could have dreamed. Why do I doubt? Sometimes I trick myself into thinking I'm really just doubting myself, not God, but does that really make sense?

More than moving me to trust in provision, God did something more. He spoke that I should not only believe for basic provision ("just give me a job, any job, please!!") but for more than that. I sometimes limit His provision by asking for less in hopes that it will be "easier" to give. Why though? Why ask for less from the God who created everything and is in control of every last detail? I am choosing (with an added measure of grace) to believe for more than just a job, but the right one, the perfect fit. Even now, I start mentally making allowances such as "Ok, well it doesn't have to be PERFECT, maybe God just wants me to have a learning experience. Maybe just close to perfect is OK." I guess I just need to continue to pray for grace to believe for more and to believe whole-heartedly.

God will provide. I know this as fact. I do not doubt it. I just have to truly believe it in every small moment, training my mind to believe the truth rather than lies, remembering the character of God and the love of Jesus that is behind it all.

If...

If you could physically transport yourself to any place in the world at this moment, where would you go?

If you could eliminate any one type of insect permanently from the earth, what would you get rid of?

If you could have lived through any war in history (without actually fighting in it), which would it be?

Now, when Stephen answers these questions, he goes into I'm-a-scientifically-minded-left-brained-analytical-thinker mode and seriously considers every aspect of the question, leaving me with a well thought out answer that I can never beat. "It isn't a competition," he insists. But when I blurt out, "Spider!" he reasons that he would not want to eliminate any insect in the world because of how they affect the ecosystem etc. etc. (I'm probably misquoting him on this explanation, as I'm sure it's much more science-y and complicated than that, but I'm sure you are getting my point.) This usually results in the rapid revision of the question by yours truly in order to elicit a more carefree, of-the-moment, response. "Okay, okay, so if you could eliminate any insect from the earth without it affecting anything else, which insect would you eliminate?"

This type of question asking and subsequent discussing is now a daily occurrence. With the new year, we decided to get out of our monotonous conversation pattern of "How was your day?" "Pretty good, not too exciting. You?" "Same, kinda tiring," and attempt to purposefully connect everyday. So, we have created a set of questions that we answer everyday, our "high" and "low" point of the day, something we noticed about the other person, and something we are thankful for slash how we saw God move. We added to that a "fun" question from a new set of books I found called "If... Questions for the Game of Life," where the above questions came from.

So, to recap, here are our "questions" of the day that we answer:

1. Highlight of the day (sometimes we list more than one)

2. Low point of the day (ditto above)

3. Something we noticed about the other person (pretty broad really)

4. Something about God or how we are thankful

5. "If" question

Surprisingly, even just the highlight and low point discussion has been way deeper and more elaborate than answering, "How was your day?" The part about the other person is usually fun or encouraging, which is nice, and the fourth question helps us remember to seek out God continuously. The "If" questions have been especially fun, and help us learn even more about each other, even if just from the style of the answering and the "why" behind it. I will probably continue to share my favorite "If" questions as we go along because they really are a lot of fun! Plus, you can get all three "If" books in the series (500 questions each) for only $25 on Amazon. In case you're interested!

Blogolution (and other New Year's Resolutions)

Blog Resolution. Resoblog? Blogolution? Either way, I resolve to blog at least once a week this year. Not just for the benefit of any curious readers (few as there may be) but also to chronicle pieces of our life as a bit of a journal to look back on. This is going to be a year full of changes. Already, I feel the temptation to "check out" as transitions loom ever nearer. Which is part of another resolution of mine--to live more in the moment and be content in the present even when the future dominates daily life and discussion.

Changes we anticipate:

- Moving to a new city.

- Finding my first "real" job.

- Starting the adventure of medical school.

- Meeting new people and finding a new church.

- Moving away from college friends and the Waco bubble.

That being said, we are about to head into our last six-seven months in Waco. Whether it came quickly or slowly, my last semester of college is finally here!

Update

I feel like I'm severely neglecting this blog. However, since I don't think many people actually read it, it's hard to be motivated. Not gonna lie.

Here is an update on our lives. (A little late, but it made it to facebook and twitter in a timely manner, so what can I say?) Stephen got into Baylor College of Medicine early decision! Which means we are moving to H-town (Houston) next summer. I've begun my own job search for teaching positions in Houston elementary schools, so if you have any connections, let me know! Oh real life. What a blast.

I feel like I should take the time now to share some anecdotes that sort of explain why I haven't been a very faithful blogger. In other words, stories about my 40-hour-a-week job that I don't get paid for (student teaching internship.)

Just today for example, sweet little Maria asked me, "Miss, do you still live with your mom?" I replied, "No, Maria, I don't live with my mom anymore." She almost leaped out of her chair in excitement as she replied, "Miss! Does your mom live in Mexico?!" No, no she does not. Some background for you... Maria regularly threatens her mom to call immigration if she punishes her. As in, her mother is an illegal immigrant and eight-year-old Maria uses that threat to get whatever she wants. Welcome to my third grade classroom.

Another Maria story. Recently, I baked sugar cookies for my class to make "landform cookies" since I'm such a nice third grade teacher and like to make class fun even if sugar + eight-year-olds = mass chaos.

When it was Maria's turn to come to my small group table and make her cookie, she asked, "Miss! Did you make these?" I replied, thinking her response cute, "Yes, I made them." Her immediate response was, "Miss Pickett, do you have sons or daughters?" So of course the fact that I bake means I have children. Perfect. I said, "No Maria I don't. I am married, but I don't have children." She looked puzzled and replied, "But, but Miss... why you marry your husband if you no have children?" I feel like this story speaks enough on it's own without any further elaboration.

Needless to say, my loving husband never gets tired of all these crazy stories and endless venting. All in all, we both can't wait for this internship to be over!

the muscle couple

Move aside Jillian and Bob. We just placed an order for P90X. That's right. We are intense. Pretty soon you won't even recognize us because we will have ultimate "beach bodies." Well, at least we'll burn off the calories from the 3-sticks-of-butter cake-disguised-as-muffins I'm currently baking. Mmmm!

I'll keep you updated on our progress once the DVD set finally comes in the mail. $20 shipping ought to count for something, right?

the summer of spontaneity

If you know us, or if you don't, you should know that spontaneity isn't the first word most would use to describe the way we live. We just aren't spontaneous people. I (Laura) am a list person; my desk (and whole apartment for that matter) is covered with lists and post-its. I am a planner. Stephen, on the other hand, while not an avid list-maker, is all about the meticulous, carefully calculated decision making. At the grocery store, he calculates which size is the better deal by dividing price by ounce in his head in order to make the most cost-effective decision.

That said, we have made not one, but two, rather large spontaneous decisions this summer. The first being our puppy, Mia. July 3rd, a random summer Saturday, a dog wandered around our parking lot. When attempting to contact his or her owner using tag information, we got the "ding ding ding this number is not longer in service" message. Stephen commented, "Well, we may have ourselves a dog." My response was, "Wait, really? I want to get the dog I want though! Can we get one?" Now, please know that I am not heartless. I would have kept that dog and loved it well, but I also wanted to get a puppy of our own, so when the little Yorkie ran off with purpose towards a different apartment, we let him go. This led to a quick internet search, a speedy trip to the bank and an immediate drive off to Dallas to pick up our new Chiweenie puppy. We named our 2.4 lb black and white puppy Mia. She fits right in with our family because she has a little sass to her.

Spontaneous decision numero dos: trip to Vegas. Las Vegas may not be quite as cute or soft as baby Mia, but it certainly was a spontaneous decision to jet off for a last-minute vacation. It was an average Friday afternoon. As Stephen and I sat in our respective seats in our living room (Stephen on his lay-z-boy and I on the couch) we thought out loud about our weekend plans and the upcoming school year. We toyed around with the idea of going to Choctaw, OK since Stephen had been itching to play some poker. Instead, we looked up some flights on Expedia.com and found a great deal on a trip to Las Vegas, leaving at 7 am the next morning. This led to a quick hotel reservation, a phone call to Mia's babysitters (my parents), and another speedy trip to the bank and an almost-immediate drive off to Austin where our flight was to leave from the next morning. We had a great time in the wild city, which was actually tamer than we expected (in a good way.)

We enjoyed our jaunt in the world of spontaneity and encourage anyone to try it, especially if it goes against your nature. It's thrilling and surprising, and you really won't regret it. We intend to have more spontaneous adventures, even if that is a bit of an oxymoron--we're planners, what can we say?