My Mother

Today, my wonderful mother brought my dog with her to Bellingham to come visit me. I was so thankful to see her in the midst of the stressful, crazy time of finals. We went to lunch and then for a nice walk and then she was just willing to hangout in my room with me and spend peaceful, quiet time together.

My mother is an incredible woman. She inspires me everyday and amazes me with her strength. I am so blessed to have her as my mother.

Here is a list of some of my favorite things about my mother:

1. She is only a phone call away.
2. She is the definition of a mother bear. 
3. She loves me. 
4. She is always willing to serve. 
5. She is a wonderful example of a christian woman.
6. She is stubborn. 
7. She knows how to calm me down.
8. She gives me reassurance at the perfect times. 
9. She can be sassy just like me.
10. She comforts me while I just sit and cry.
11. She sands behind any of my decisions. 
12. She loves her children with all of her heart. 
13. She makes the best blue berry muffins!
14. She is the definition a hard worker.
15. She works hard to make sure that EVERYONE is taken care of. 
16. She gives the best advice.
17. She works very hard to make the whole family stay connected.
18. She would do anything for her children.
19. She has such a calm soul. 

My mother has set a wonderful example for me of what a fabulous mother's qualities are. I am so thankful for all that she has taught me over the years. I love you mommy!

Rose, Thorn, Bud

Man! It's been a while! This quarter has just flew by and it has taken all of my energy. I have much to update you with. Be looking forward to an update blog and a full blog just dedicated to my San Francisco Mission Trip.

Today, I will be introducing, hopefully, a new weekly blog post titled, "Rose, Thorn, Bud." In my small group we call these "Happies and Crappies." In these post I will talk about a Rose, something that happened during my week that was great, a thorn, something that was not so great, and a bud, something that I am looking forward to. I hope to post these once a weekend because I feel that it will provide good closure to the previous week and a great start to the next.

So... without further adieu, here is my first "Rose, Thorn, Bud."

Rose
This summer I will be working for my church again, full time. My brother called me this week and asked what my work schedule was going to look like? I told him that I will be working everyday except for Saturdays and Mondays. He asked me if I would like to nanny for my nephew, Keegan, on Mondays. I am beyond excited for my Mondays with that little nugg now! I am warning you now that there will be a surplus of photos of him scattered about this blog that summer.

Thorn
Every Tuesday I drive about 40 miles to an elementary school that I mentor at. My time there is drawing near and this last week with them I had to report an incidence that I was informed of because I felt that the child might not be completely safe at their home. It was difficult because I didn't know if all that I heard was true but I had to take the precaution in case there was something going on and this child was in danger. I am nervous to return next week because I will be heart broken if I was right. I have been praying for this child's safety and I hope you do to.

Bud
This year is drawing to an end and I am excited to go home for a few months, but I will really miss the people I have met up here this year. I am looking forward to this weekend because my cousin Caroline may be coming up to visit me. If she does we will probably go downtown and visit some of our favorite places. Oh! and another bud is that I only have 4 more hours of my Shakespeare class! Woo Hoo!!

 Well, that's it. My first Rose, Thorn, Bud.

One Word

This quarter, in my school dorm, we are exploring our social identities and talking to others about theirs. My RA created this project called the One Word Project. Here is a bit more about the project explained in an email from my RA, Sarah.

Exciting news!! There is a brand new project in our community - starting this quarter! It's called The One Word Project. The big question is this: Imagine for a moment that someone asked you to trade your name in for just one word..What would that word be?
The One word project is an incredible way to share who you are with the community around you- and get to know others.If you choose to participate, you will first come up with your One Word (and a brief explanation for why you chose it). Second, you have the opportunity to get a photo taken to be put up on our community website. This website is a way to visually represent all the unique and diverse identities within our community here in Mathes.Some examples have been done if you want to know more. Feel free to explore the website at the link below! 

I love this idea! I have always been a fan of exploring our beings and our identities as individuals. This project seemed like it would be right up my alley. Unfortunately, it is not. It is very hard to choose just one word to encapsulate my being. 

So where do I start? Hmm... I want the word to be well rounded and relate to my entire existence on this earth and my overall purpose for being here. These are some words/traits that I want to to relate to.

• Messy and broken but saved by the love of Jesus Christ. 
• A disciple of the Lord placed on his earth to work for him, not being worth of this gift.
• An organized individual.
• Awkward, goofy and silly. 
• Someone who is passionate about making a difference in other's lives. 
• Quiet, introverted, reserved and gentle hearted.
• I am faithful, loyal, and filled with hope.

That is a good start but, a lot of those words somewhat resinate with my soul per say so, I think that I will look into the Word and check if some of my favorite passages have similar themes in them. 

1 Corinthians 13:13- "And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love."

Philemon 1:6 – “I pray that you may be active in sharing your faith, so that you will have a full understanding of every good thing we have in Christ.”

These two both contain the word, faith. Faith is my middle name and I feel that it encompasses so many parts of me. I am faithful. That is my word, faithful. 

From a faithful, 
Alli

Leaps Of Faith

Where to begin...
This spring break I will be returning to work at the church. I am so excited to be back and round all of my friends. We will be adding the finishing touches to our San Francisco mission trip. Here is where I can start to talk about this leap of faith.

When we first planned this trip it was going to be during my spring break, but then we realized that we were going to be gone during Easter the possibly most important Christian holiday around. So we moved it... to my first week of spring quarter classes. MAN! Has that caused me stress. I am such a planner and with this abrupt change in plans I automatically closed myself off to the idea of skipping my classes and going. I told my boss that it would be impossible for me to skip my classes because it would add too much stress. Logical right? I wanted to stay on top of my studies. My social standing is of the up most importance right?

Part of me still longed to travel with the group. Jim kept asking, is there anyway that you can go? Like anyway? And my response was no, until I dreamed up the idea of going for half of the trip and only missing two days of classes. Jim agreed that that would work and that he would be glad to arrange a separate flight for me.

Over time as the trip has gotten closer I have continually kept feeling this tinge of discontent into my heart. I internally longed in my heart to travel with my group to San Francisco for the whole time. So I started to pray, A LOT! My biggest fear was that I was desiring to go for myself and my own personal gain, not for the Lord's glory.

One evening I was talking to my mother, honestly, with where I was and what I was thinking. She basically ended up saying, go. If you feel it in your heart, take that risk and go the whole time. So, I emailed Jim and asked if I could go for the whole trip. He responded, yes.

So it was official, I was going the whole trip! But it sure made my tummy feel a bit unsettled. I think that I was concerned with my studies and the fact that this whole thing was out of my hands. I still couldn't tell if I wanted to go just so I could be with my friends or if it was for the Lord's glory. I was feeling guilty about missing school and fearful that I might be giving up a portion of my  education. For some reason I felt selfish.

This past week, though, I have had a new thought on my mind and an unusually sense of peace in my heart. I am realizing that this is a big leap of faith for me. I know that this is in God's hands and if I am doing it for His' glory than everything will work out in his perfect plan. This trip has caused me to have to humble myself, and really focus on my purpose of being on this earth. I am here to live for the Lord and show other's Christ's love, and this trip is exactly that. It is an opportunity to be a servant. I am ready for that and I know that God is going to teach me so many things throughout this trip. I can't wait to see what he has in store for us.

Here are some pictures from our trip last year to San Francisco.

Too excited and so thankful,

All-i

A New Me

Change can be gradual and change can be immediate. Change can be hard and change can be easy. But the one thing that I know about change is that it is in God's will and that I learn from every second of it. These past 5 years have been filled with change and (I never thought that I would say this, but...) I am very thankful for it.

There has been financial, geographical, relational and family, emotional, and physical changes. My physical change is one of the most predominant changes that outsiders can see.

I have always been overweight according to the doctors standards. Growing up I was the "plus sized" girl. One time one of my friend's mothers took us shopping and on our way to Old Navy the mother asked me, "Alli, do they cary your size here? I know that when people are your size it can be a bit difficult." Seriously?! At that time I was a frustrated 7th grader who was already struggling with identity and body image issues, why did she have to focus on my body shape. So my summer before sophomore year I decided that I wanted to embark on a journey of creating a healthier lifestyle.

On August 12th of 2009 I stepped on a scale and snagged my starting weight for this weight loss journey. My weight was at the highest it had ever been, 212.7 lbs. I was a 5' 9" girl with a BMI of 31.5 (very overweight). I started my new lifestyle with just changing the food that I was consuming. My goal was to loose between .5-2 lbs a week until I reached 175 lbs.

The journey was slow and frustrating at times, but it was also exciting and rewarding too. I remember one time, I was about 6 months into my weightless pursuit, I was in the grocery store picking up some grubb and I ran into a man who worked with my father. I called out his name and he just looked my me with a puzzled face so I introduced myself. He was in shock of my body transformation and asked how I did it. It was the best feeling knowing that my transformation was making process.

It has almost been 4 years sense I have shed the weight and I am now around 178 lbs, and BMI of 26.5. (still overweight but only by 1lb). I have a new sense of, not only confidence, but health. I am able to do so much more now! I am not 100% okay with my body, but I am getting there. If I can do it you can too!


Grace and Peace,
All-i Rose

Friends

I leave back for college on Monday and I am filled with mixed feelings. I love my time in Muk-Town. I have friends who I feel comfortable to be 100% myself around. My family is close by and I can be at my church almost everyday. At school I haven't found my group yet and classes are hard, but I like meeting people in my classes and learning more about myself.

I guess I am feeling extremely nostalgic this evening. I think that these past 8 months I have been focusing on what I am loosing instead of what I have been gaining... I feel that I am loosing my connection with people at home when I am gone instead of realizing that I am maintaining those friendships and gaining new ones at school. This next quarter I am going to try to focus on the positives  that occur in my life and attempt to continue to be myself and give myself the benefit of the doubt. I am constantly too hard on myself. I focus on my faults and continually question my actions. This break has made me realize, after some self reflection, that I am a decent person if I have been able to make the connections with people here that I have. I need to continue to spread God's love, and with his direction I will discover my group and grow as a person.

Here's to creating new relationships,

Alli

Friends

Let me introduce you to one of my best friends. His name is, Jim. I have know Jim for 8 years. He was my youth pastor at my local church. Jim has greatly impacted my life in many ways, and I am so thankful that the Lord introduced us. 

Jim, two of the interns and I went to Pike Place Market today for a day trip. It was my "after break/send off back to school" celebration. We used to go every year from 6th grade to 12th to the market and water front, but this year I could go. I was at the University. In 2009 Jim, my friend Jesse, and I took a picture on the pig and today we recreated it.

We have changed a lot between those 4 years, but one thing that stayed the same over those 4 years of our friendship. It has grown stronger, and one thing that I know is that we will always be friends. We have tons of crazy stories, maybe one day I will share some with you. But for now I want to just say thank you to God for introducing me to such great people.

Happy, 

All-i