March 28th, 2012

3/28/2012

3-28-12

28-03-2012

March 28th, 2012

No matter how you write it, the date is the same.

One of the big lessons I learned in the Human Services Program was that reflection is a powerful learning tool. Reflecting on past experiences allows one to notice mistakes and successes. The date on the calendar today made me stop and think for a few minutes this morning.

Today's date has been burned in my mind since May 12th of last year (the day I booked my flight to Ireland). When I booked my original roundtrip flight to Ireland, March 28, 2012 was the return date.

I thought for sure that I'd be in Ireland until today. I had no reason to think otherwise. Then God surprised me and brought me home after only 2 months. I know now that being in Ireland for only 2 months was His plan the whole time, but it took me a while to figure that out.

There are two major things I learned while I was in Ireland. One of them is to trust God. There were days when I had to depend on God for absolutely everything in my day. Those days were challenging to say the least, but I learned so much from them.

Upon returning home, my trust in God was tested yet again. I began searching for a job. It took me 3 months and 56 job applications to find one, but I found one (or rather, God brought the right one to me).

God has shown me that if I put all my trust in Him, he will take care of me and provide for me. I never could have imagined the last 12 months of my life panning out the way they did. I am thankful for everything that has happened, both the enjoyable things and the challenging ones. I know that God has been the one orchestrating everything in my life over the past year. Things did not happen the way I would have chosen, but I'm so glad they happened the way they did. I trusted God to take care of me and he has come through in ways I couldn't have imagined.

Since I've been home, God has poured out his blessings on me. The list is much longer than this, but here a few of the big ones that come to mind...

-I've been able to spend time with my best friend and support her as she prepares for her wedding

-I've been able to reconnect with old friends

-I've made new friends

-I have a job (that I really enjoy!)

-I was able to spend Christmas with my family

A year ago at this time, I had not even thought about traveling, let alone going to Ireland. I can't wait to see where God has me a year from now!

(I'm not sure why the formatting is so weird on this post)

16-24

#76. Have you ever played Qwirkle? It's pretty fun!

#77. Stacy & I made Shamrock sugar cookies on St. Patty's Day! I brought some of them to work to share.

#78. Playing a little speed.

#79. My co-worker Kelli-Jo brought me this amazing chocolate cupcake with homemade peanut butter frosting!

#80. This is Dan and me :)

#81. Gorgeous sunny day! This is looking out the window in my office.

#82. Homemade pizza. It's got pesto sauce, chicken, artichoke hearts, tomatoes, fresh basil & mozzarella cheese. Delicious!

#83. My junior core had a reunion in Bellingham! I love these people.

#84. Wedding craft day!

10-15

#70. I Skyped with my friend Kayla! She's currently teaching English in South Korea.

#71. Ticket to Ride! I learned this new game today...very fun!

#72. CCS is doing a company-wide competition for 5 weeks. The goal is to eat 5 fruits and/or veggies a day for 5 weeks. I started the week of strong...but have already missed the bar on a few occasions. We'll see how the next 5 weeks go. The employee who hits the '5' mark on the most days wins some kind of prize.

#73. I worked on my project for 5 straight hours tonight...I was awarded 9 stickers for my efforts. Usually I only get 2 or 3....9 was a big deal. haha!

#74. I packaged these little birdies up and sent them flying all the way to Ireland! Calvary Waterford...be on the lookout!

#75. I was able to spend some time with the Schofields tonight. This is me, Laura, and baby Jack :)

3-9

#63. Jancola Family gathering...a large family calls for large amounts of food!

#64. I went to Country Village for the first time today. This giant chicken is out in front of Country Village.

#65. Sour Patch jelly beans...one of my favorite candies! They only come out at Easter and I will be stocking up for the year :)

#66. I woke up to a little bit of snow this morning!

#67. Rock, Paper, Scissors, Lizard, Spock! Carrie and I love the Big Bang Theory so I printed this out and put it on her door for her. We will now be settling everything this way. Well, once we learn it.

#68. The perfect pick-me-up during my lunch break.

#69. (blurry ipod picture). I went to Azteca with some friends to celebrate a friend's new job. I love Azteca!

25-2

#56. Happy early birthday dad! Yes, that's the Twilight Zone on Blu-ray.

#57. I came home to my very own sticker chart! Carrie (my cousin/roommate) has been encouraging me to work on a project lately. I now get stickers as rewards for working each day. Don't you love how bright it is?

#58. I found scrabble cheeze-its at WinCo. How could I say no??

#59. Carrie got a new laptop. She has made the switch from a Mac to a PC...this is how she was feeling about it on the first day. She's made progress since then and is getting along quite well with her new computer.

#60. Happy Leap Day! I tried bubble tea for the first time today...SO weird! Not sure I'll have it again.

#61. Gas is officially over $4 per gallon. Yuck.

#62. Lauren came over for dinner tonight and we (as we always do) played some games afterward. I introduced her to Qwirkle...she loved it.

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