Tuesday, October 29, 2013

Digging Deeper: Ideas



I apologize for my absence. I have been in the processing of moving and I have had little time or internet! Do not let yourself fret; I have made arrangements to keep you all fully involved! I realize I missed a Self Study Sunday. There is little I can do since I cannot rewind the days! So, let’s move forward from here. I have put together a small compilation of ideas to help you with your self study process. These can all be easily done on your own, most of them on a regular basis.

First, journaling and blogging both allow you to write out your thoughts and emotions. This is also beneficial for dealing with anger, stress, and grief.  Some people also enjoy “vlogging” (video blogging), sketch journals, or daily photo challenges. There is a way to keep record and cope with emotions that fits your personality.  I recommend doing one of these things on a weekly basis at least.

Another good option for self exploration is dream records. If you are a person who has any memory of their time in dreamland, write it down. In order to do this, it is best to keep a small notebook at your bedside. This way you can jot down your dreams quickly and easily in the middle of the night or when you awaken in the morning. If you have a dream that peaks interest or curiosity in you, there are plenty of resources on dreams available online and at your local library. You should easily be able to learn more.
Humans are naturally very spiritual beings. God intended us to be. Because of this, it is helpful to spend time in prayer or meditation on a regular basis. This allows God to open up doors for us. Being the creator, he knows every aspect about us. What better person to help us understand ourselves? God is a huge part of my life and I wouldn’t be what I am today without Jesus in my life. To learn more about my relationship with Christ, you can check out my devotions and testimony on Missionary Manda’s Musings.
Missionary Manda's Musings

Speaking of meditation, time alone is essential to understanding yourself. I once heard that your must comfortable alone in order to have a relationship with someone else. No person is truly an island, so even when we are in the process of self exploration, others are affected.  Take a few moments alone every day. Take a walk, sit and rest, pray… whatever it is that you enjoy.

I hope this gives you a few fun things to catch you up on my missed time! I have some really fun and exciting news to be sharing soon, so be on the look out!

Sunday, October 20, 2013

Self Study Sunday: Life Time Line



Casseruola Dolce Della Vita
There is nothing quite as revealing as looking at the events in your life that make you who you are. The truth is, no one person's time-line looks the same as another's. So this is our project today, create yours! If you need a little more information, you can check out my inspiration here. The dates are not as important as the events. Write down only the events that matter to you, not what "should" be on it.

Here is a look at mine. Notice how few dates are included.

  • July 1987- Birth
  • Moved to VA. I also associate this time with my Dad becoming a part of our lives. (My dad is actually my step father, but he has never been that to me.)
  • Saved by Grace and called into missions. I have my parents' fabulous neighbor to thank for that.
  • 7th grade- pulled out of public schools and started homeschooling.  This really OPENED a lot of doors for me. See below.
  • 2 mission trips to the Philippines.
  • Teen Summer camp- I decided to go to the tiny Christian university in Oklahoma, Southwestern Christian University.
  • 2005- Mission trip to the place that has always had my heart, Japan.
  • Chris- All you need to know is he was abusive and I was naive.
  • Andrew- My true knight in shinning armor came along.
  • 2007 Left my life and love in VA and headed to OK for school.
  • Dustin- A good friend I met in school who followed my lead and moved back to VA after college.
  • South Africa- I spent my last semester at school interning overseas.
  • 2009- First real job as an Instructional assistant.
  • Jan.  2010 Married my prince.
  • Carlie- God's way of telling me I'm not alone and friends do exsist.
  • Dec. 2010- Benjamin was born!
  • Squash- I miscarried right before Ben's first birthday. It was early on, so the only name we had was "Squash".
  • 2012- The move. We moved in with the in-laws.
  • Nov. 2012- Henry was born!
  • Blogging
So, this is my life in a nutshell. Yes, there is a lot more, but this is what made me!
 Join me for the link up... Share what made you, or do any one of the other ideas I've posted!


Saturday, October 19, 2013

Digging Deeper: Write This

Before you read anything else, get a pen (or pencil) and a piece of paper. Next, write these words "she sells sea shells oy the seashore".

Now, go here and get an idea of what your handwriting can tell you about yourself.

I got several interesting little tid bits from it. I'm not really sure if it true that I'm not following my heart, but its cool how much they can learn from such a simple thing!

At the end of this little article it asks you to write a little more if you want to learn to make your hand writing neater!



Friday, October 18, 2013

Digging Deeper: The Contents

I have always heard that you could tell a lot by the contents of a woman's purse. If this is true, I figure I should be able to learn a little about myself through it. I figured I would bring you for the ride. I have some fun pictures for you too!

This is a picture of my purse. (I change my purse every week to two weeks, depending on the season. It changes less in the Summer.) Although I change my purse regularly, I basically pour the contents from one to another, so that stays the same.The second picture is all the contents of my purse, prior to exploration.

First we will go through the things that were not in separate little bags. Some of these things should have been in those bags, but oh well!

The first photo is of educational flash cards. They were left overs from work that I brought home for Ben.

The second photo is of my handkerchief, nail file, lip balm, and pen. These three things actually say a lot about me. The handkerchief comes from tendency to be old-fashioned. In fact, I wrote about bring hankies back, here. As for my nail file... I will have to admit, I am a little OCD. As far as things on myself goes, I strive for perfections. I hate ragged nails, pimples, and stray hairs (I keep tweezers in the car, bathroom, and my room). I used to be ridiculous about my nails though. The lip balm comes from my college days. I love Soft Lips (I've done several giveaways!). I like to keep my lips soft, moisturized, and kissable. Last, who doesn't need a pen?! I got this one from work. It has a light on the end!

The third photo is of my son's "wallet". Basically I carry around his pennies for him.

The fourth photo brings us back to work again. Those scrap papers are work notes and fliers. You can also see my badge, marking me as official. I usually leave this in the car, but I forgot to take it off because I was excited that it is Friday.

The last photo is of my sunglasses. If you don't already know, I'm thrifty. I got these awesome specs from the Dollar Store. I mean, why pay more when your kids will likely break them?! I can't live without my glasses. I feel like the wicked witch in the sun.... MY EYES!!!

Now for the bags! On your left you will see my favorite ipsy bag. I filled it with all kinds of goodies. Most importantly you see my collection of cards and family photos. I mean, I need my money and my loves! Next you will see hand sanitizer, because lets face it, kids are nasty. You will also see my Soft Lips lip gloss. There is also some blister wax for my feet. I have a consistent problem of buying shoes I love that don't love me. Lastly, there is mints. I got those so I could use them before kissing my husband or give him one when he has what I call "breath tentacles". However they have been used for bribery for my eldest.

On the right side you see another ipsy bag. This one is actually one of my least favorite. I fill it with stuff for Benjamin. Henry has a whole separate diaper bag devoted to him still. Crayons, Play-doh, and action figures are pretty common things to find in my purse. I figured giving them their own bag would reduce the mess. As you can see, I also have mini dinosaurs in there too!


So, what do you think the contents of my purse say about me? Im pretty sure that it gives away my life story! Mom, wife, educator... thats me.


Tuesday, October 15, 2013

Saving Money, Changing Lives

This is a sponsored post. Opinions are mine.

As you know I am always in the process of learning. Whether in school or personally, I think it is an important part of life. For my friends furthering their education via universities and colleges, I know how costly that can be! Believe me, I have plenty of school loans to show from it!

When CampusBookRentals.com asked me to partner with them and share a little bit about the benefits of renting text books, I was excited about the opportunity and a little jealous that I didn't get that option when I was in school!


There are so many great reasons to rent! Here is just a few:
-save 40-90% off of bookstore prices
-free shipping both ways
-can highlight in the textbooks
-flexible renting periods

Plus, if you rent with CampusBookRentals.com, they donate to Operation Smile with each textbook rental! How about that!? You can change lives and save money. Sounds like a good deal to me.

If you are wondering, "Operation Smile is an international children's medical charity that heals children's smiles, forever changing their lives.[... They are] a mobilized force of medical professionals and caring hearts who provide safe, effective reconstructive surgery and related medical care for children born with facial deformities such as cleft lip and cleft palate." If you would like to learn more about Operation Smiles, please check out their website.

Back to saving money! If your like me, you like earning money too! If your in college this is even more important! This is why they also created RentBack. RentBack is their new initiative that allows students to rent the textbooks they own to other students just like themselves! It could get you two to four times more money compared to what you might make through buyback options like, selling your books back to the campus bookstore at the end of the semester. You can find more information about this at RentBack.com.


If your in college I hope this allows you to save a little! I know we are all pinching pennies right now!

This post was sponsored by CampusBookRentals.com. I have never had the privilege of using their services, but the opinions about being able to rent books and help others are all mine. I have no further affiliation with the company.

Sunday, October 13, 2013

Self Study Sunday 2



Casseruola Dolce Della Vita

Here we are again! Please join me for Self Study Sunday! I'd like to remind you that if you decide to link up, please share a link to your site below! I have several good options to choose from this week. I love the questions myself!

Digging Deeper: Quiz


Remember a few days ago when we did that quiz about "The Big Five"? I've got another one of those for you. It has a more detailed questionnaire. You can find this "Understand Yourself" quiz here.

Here are my results, just in case you were curious. These are based in 0-100 scale. Please take the quiz to understand my results!

Extraversion 78
Agreeableness 67
Conscientiousness 83
Neuroticism 59
Openness to Experience 82

Saturday, October 12, 2013

Digging Deeper: Question 2

Today I have another "thinker" for you to try. As you may have guessed, Ive done a lot of research in order to give give you good, creative ideas for self exploration. You can find this question on its original site, here.

"What would I do if I had three wishes?"

First off, I'd ask for a a job for my husband that he loves, has family friendly hours, and is paid well. I don't really want to have the easy track with "free" money for the rest of my life. Beyond that, Andrew needs to get out everyday! haha!

Second, I want a roomy house with a yard (thats paid for). I know I just said I don't want free money, I don't. That is not money.

Third, I want Henry and Ben to sleep through the night, every night. 8:30 to 7:30 would be acceptable.

I don't think any of these are unreasonable. So, if you wish to donate, let me know. Ha!!! What would be one of your three wishes? What do you think about mine?