Finding the Joy in Everything

Wow. My weekend. I don't even know what to say. I had unending company; it was fantastic. We all cooked thanksgiving dishes and went over to the Hamline house (where the girls live) and had a gratitude feast there. Fellowship, food, and games started the night off well, and then we were invited to go out to Pastor Bob's house for dessert and MORE games. We got out there around 8pm... and didn't leave till about 2:30am. After touring town and seeing the tents camped outside of Best Buy, we realized a head start on black Friday shopping might be necessary. Thus, the ladies and myself made a pot of coffee and waited an hour back at the Hamline house until shopping time. Shopping was insane. I mean... INSANE. We could barely find a parking spot at Target, and when we entered, the aisles and circumference of the store made up for one... big... checkout line. We therefore had someone immediately just hop in line while the rest of us shopped, and rotated accordingly. This became our repeated tactic. I never use physical force, but I may or may not have shoved an old lady out of the way so I could grab the last deluxe plush Santa Clause teddy bear. Okay. That didn't happen. But if there ever was a deluxe plush Santa Clause teddy bear, I would push a THOUSAND old ladies out of the way to get the last one. Some of the ladies split and went home at around 7am while a couple of us went to the mall. The salesmen all greeted us with "Good morning!" and I think psychologically we were shocked, it felt like night and yet people were greeting us with good morning chants... I  finally got home at 9am and got in a few hours of sleep. I had to get up around 1ish to clean the apartment, workout, and cook because we were having a LOTR movie night at my apartment... And that concluded my birthday weekend (I believe I was sung "Happy Birthday" a good thousand times or so through the course of the week). After church I camped out at Starbucks, made slight progress on my homework, and now am at home, eating. It's terrible. I know I have less than three weeks to shed some good ol' lbs but as I reach for some fatty food I repeatedly tell myself "I'll start over TOMORROW..." and thus have put myself in an endless cycle. But for reals. I'll start over tomorrow. 


One last bit of news: it looks as though I have been brought out of Alaska for a reason... and it just may be permanent until I feel called elsewhere. I don't know how it is possible to have become content where I am (and I just so happen to be living in one of the most [in my opinion] uninhabitable places on earth), but I couldn't be happier. It made me realize it's not what surrounds me that brings me the "most" joy; and trusting God can bring about a surprisingly satisfying contentment not found by mere physical means. I'm praying about it, but I think I will be putting off graduation to December '12 instead of May and will be living it up here in Grand Forks, possibly taking a class that I need to graduate over the summer, but otherwise just wholeheartedly involving myself with the church and their ministry. This means I will most likely not be coming home again once I return after Christmas break. How I can spend a summer away from Alaska, only God knows, but we'll see what happens. Prayer. Prayer. And more prayer. And possibly some coffee. 

A few pictures from Thanksgiving, Bob's house, and black friday! Those were just a couple of the tents outside of Best Buy at 2:30am, and a mere portion of the line at Target. We were driving by and I was too embarrassed to take some SERIOUS pictures... 

Toodles!!!

Pre-birthday Birthday Presents

My birthday coat from ἡ μήτηρ and ὁ πάτηρ (Mom and Dad)! Lole winter coat from Midwest Mountaineering (the most heavenly store EVER) in Minneapolis!

My Metolius rock rings! Hanging from my pull-up bar in the apartment! I told my little sister this is what I wanted, and low and behold, a beautiful REI box came to my doorstep with exactly what I wanted inside. I truly am blessed with the greatest family. 

In other news, I finally auditioned for being a yoga and spin instructor at the UND Wellness Center, and I think they both went well. I interview officially on Thursday. So exciting! The best part is that, through this whole process, I have been able to meet other people who love yoga (students, instructors) and we've been able to meet outside of class and have impromptu yoga sessions. It's fantastic. It really brings a sense of community, and it's fun growing in abilities with others.  Life is great. I love meeting people and doing new things. I love progressing through this life, gathering new knowledge, applying old knowledge; it's fantastic. 

So I feel a bit sluggish and bleh right now, but I have a reason. I just did a cleanse and my whole system in internals are feeling fresh and babyish, but my aunt and cousin sent me a care package with baked goods (aka: cookies). Normally I don't eat that type of stuff, but 1) I'm poor and 2) I was glad to get a care packaged! So, I ate them. Afterwards, my stomach felt horrid, I was queasy, and just plain miserable. I still feel miserable. I am NOT doing that anymore. Also, call me crazy, but I have a new food plan! A mix of food combination/raw food diet. Google it. As many of you know, I've taken on the world's task of exploring diets,         

eating regimens, exercise routines, detoxes, cleanses, you name it! I know portion control and moderation is the ultimate key to wellness, but for some reason, I cannot moderate on certain foods such as refined sugar and junk food. If I have a little... it turns out to be a lot. Therefore, I've adapted many different eating routines such as all-organic, raw foods, low-carb, low-fat, no-sugar, vegetarian, and vegan. I finally stumbled upon food combining, and it really made sense to me. Not merely the "food will putrify in your system if you drink milk or eat an apple AND a banana within the same two hours", but just the eating regimen in general made sense. Fruit for breakfast. Fresh veggies and carbs (breads, beans, potatoes, rice, starchy veggies, etc.) for lunch, protein and fresh or steamed veggies for dinner. I've heard that protein should be your last meal of the day, due to the length of digestion it takes and how it works overnight. Therefore, I MUST try this new system of eating. I will let you know how it goes (I usually give things like this a month minimum, unless they turn out to be well [I've been vegetarian this whole semester]). Oh to be a single woman...

Toodles!

-Donica

Mumford and Sons!

This Halloween weekend I had the opportunity to go to Minneapolis for the weekend (because I have a car).  It... was... AWESOME. So much happened and I wish I could just sit here and tell you all about it but I'll have to just hit the main points. I had three students I've never met before come up with me (they pitched in for gas) and we made it safely to Minneapolis. That night Kevnea, Ronnie Rainey, and I went to a place in Dinkytown (an artsy area by the U of M campus) called Mesa Pizza, and they have precooked pizza (sounds gross, but just wait till you hear the rest) of the weirdest varieties. Alfredo, taco, potato, quesadilla, nacho, spaghetti, chicken pot pie, and tonnnnnnnns of other kinds of pizza by the slice to choose from!!!! And they all tasted so good! After that, Kevnea dropped Ronnie and I off downtown at First Avenue where we attended a MUMFORD AND SONS CONCERT.


This was a fantastic night. I was nervous because we paid a butt-load for our tickets (125 each... they were originally 20 bucks...) and I didn't want to be disappointed. I wasn't. King Charles and Cadillac Sky were the opening bands, and I had never even heard of them. Ronnie and I had a plan to get to the front of the crowd, but that didn't work. We were, in the end, separated and I was pushed off to the side of the stage, but it was right up front. It turned out to be the best place in the house, here's why:


The opening guy, King Charles, stepped out onto stage in tights and a 17th century style suit with his massively long hair piled on top of his head. Needless to say, laughter erupted from the crowd. It didn't help that no one had even heard of this guy before. He came out and in an English accent said, "I must tell you, Cadillac Sky and Mumford and Sons are two of the most incredible bands in the world." He barely got this sentence out because people were laughing at his appearance. So, to spite us, he began to sing acapella.  Everyone silenced. We were shocked. This guy was amazing. He went on to do an amazingly fun performance. HERE'S THE BEST PART: During his performance these guys kept walking around me and squeezing by, and a couple of them were breathing down my neck.  One guy asked if I was single and looking and said he was single and looking... I declined his inference. I was tired of them brushing me and invading my personal space (or lack there of). Well... next thing I know, they left. I thought " I wonder where they went to... there's no room to move anywhere..." and as I thought this, Cadillac Sky began to play on stage. I looked up and there before my eyes were the guys who were bursting my bubble. CADILLAC SKY. HOW DID I NOT KNOW. I also got touched on the shoulder and winked by Marcus Mumford and shook King Charles hand. Why, you ask? I asked this myself. Turns out the door I was standing by happened to be the door the bands go in and out of to enter the stage. AWESOME NIGHT. Mumford and Sons were incredible, and they ended playing a song with King Charles AND Cadillac Sky all together. So fun. I loved it. So that was that.


I also had many other adventures in Minneapolis but don't have the time to write them (or the heart to put you through all of it). But I'll leave you with a video of King Charles and Mumford and Sons. If you want to see videos of the concert I was at, youtube "Mumford and Sons at First Ave" and "King Charles at First Ave".


 Toodles.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3KkUeRPjc-Y


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kIB0T8rUJxI