Just Another Manic Monday

I love Monday mornings that start out by waking up late, still hungover from a Nyquil coma, and still feeling like I might be developing bronchitis....

Taking the puppy out for about 15 minutes only to have her not do a thing except sniff around...

And then not being able to find my keys when it's time for work.

Like, really not being able to find them - to the point that I call my husband and he has to drive home from school, give me the spare key he has for my car, and lock the apartment behind me.

Sometimes Monday mornings are just too cliche to even be worth being upset about!

Sammers

A certain someone has decided that I post too much about Sammie here on this blog. Now normally, I would try to prove that person wrong. But seeing as she's my little sister, I would feel way too bad if I did something that mean. Of course, I would never want to do anything to make her feel silly, I will just go ahead and try to prove her... RIGHT!

So here is a completely unimportant and pointless video of Sammie and Dan playing... be sure to have your volume on so you can hear her talking...it's just so CUTE!!

Be on the lookout for more completely pointless Sammie posts coming up.

Willkommen, Y'all!

I wanted to do something special for Dan's birthday, so I looked up events around Texas that fell somewhere close to the actual date of September 27th. So, last weekend, I surprised Dan with a weekend trip up to Dallas!

Dan and I along with our friends Faith and Sean went to Dallas to celebrate Oktoberfest! Oktoberfest, as you may not know, has been taking place in Munich, Germany since 1810. (It began to celebrate the marriage of some Prince and Princess). Although it originally started out in the month of October, they later moved the annual celebration back to September "because the weather was more pleasant." (No, I'm not kidding! Those crazy Germans!)

So, the Oktoberfest we attended in Dallas is modeled after the original Munich event and is one of the largest Oktoberfests outside of Munich. This is what it says on the website: "For over two decades, Addison has extended a heart-felt "Willkommen, Y’all!" to visitors eager to experience a little "Gemütlichkeit’ and learn about traditional music, costumes, dances, activities, foods and beverages of Germany, served up with a slightly "Texas twist."

Oh, Texas...

All four of us have some sort of German blood running through us (or close enough) so we took it to heart and celebrated Saturday afternoon and evening. We sat out on the grass and listened to bands such as Accordian Fusion, and watched people try to bowl with beer kegs. This lady was the MC of it all:

I have no idea what's going on here, but apparently the Germans have some unique instruments.

She looks sort of strange, you say? Here are some other pictures from the weekend:

Yeah, I don't really know what's going on there either. However, I do know that it was a lot of fun! I also know that you can get an awesome hat just like the one above by going here.

We also made Dan's weekend extra special by stopping at Jimmy John's on the way back to the hotel for subs and cookies. Neither of us has been there since college and it was the perfect, delicious way to end the evening.

"Auf Wiedersehen, Y'all!"

Daydreaming...

"Just thinking about how to create world peace...or maybe deciding who I want to be president..."

"Hey Mom, why are you bothering me by taking pictures? You're interrupting my deep thoughts!"

"All right, fine...I guess I'll just take a nap instead!"

Underlying Messages

I have been thinking about something a lot since yesterday. In Developmental Psych, we were discussing the best way to deal with babies who have less than ideal temperaments. This means that they cry a lot, are fussy, or may not enjoy being picked up. We were all trying to think about how you could teach a baby to act better, but my professor stopped us. It turns out that one of the best things that you can do is work with the parents to help change their parenting style to better fit their child's needs. Even more specifically, teach the parents to correctly identify and respond to their child's underlying message.

For example, when a baby cries, he might be crying because he is hungry or tired or something else is wrong. Most parents try to figure out what their baby wants, and hopefully they can discern their needs most of the time. However, a lot of times, parents cannot. And this can cause frustration, anger or annoyance in that parent, who then displays that toward their child. Not only are they not meeting the child's needs but they are actually causing the child to become even more upset, thus perpetuating the cycle.

Fast forward a couple years. Children by now can talk and act much more than when they were infants, so parents expect them to be able to voice their needs accurately. However, they aren't capable of doing this. For example, a little 3 year old girl I've done testing with freaked out when a stranger came in a room. She gathered up all her toys next to her and started throwing them at the stranger. Her mother was horrified when she watched the videotape - she couldn't believe how awful and mean her daughter was acting! In reality, though, the little girl was just scared to death of this stranger and was protecting herself in the only way she knew how. She would have gotten calmed down and eventually learned to respond better to strangers if her mother had recognized and acknowledged this fear. However, if her mother had yelled at her and punished her, the cycle would continue. The mother needed to pay attention to her underlying message, rather than her behavior, in order to begin the process of change.

I keep thinking about how this applies to our daily lives. How many times have I snapped at someone for something they did, when in reality it was really because I was tired and stressed out? Or in reverse - how many times have I perpetuated a negative cycle by responding to someone's words and actions, rather than their true needs?

I just wonder what it would be like if we all looked for other people's underlying messages, rather than just taking them at their surface level behaviors.

Sarah vs. Hillary

Completely regardless of your political affiliation, this SNL sketch was hilarious!

Monday Morning and Movies

So I didn't update yesterday as promised, due to the fact that Ike...did not really affect us at all. It ended up going more east than they thought it would, and therefore Saturday was just a really rainy and humid day...but nowhere near what we were told to expect. And from what I hear, it sounds like Ohio actually has gotten it much worse than Waco!

Dan and I watched "The Other Boleyn Girl" this weekend. It was actually really good. I'd heard mixed reviews on it, so I wasn't sure what to expect, but we both really liked it. It makes me want to watch more historical movies because there are so many parts of history I know nothing about.

Other movies we've watched recently:

"Bella": Wonderful independent movie. Unique and a great story.

"Lars and the Real Girl": Watch this! I don't care that the description looks weird, watch it!

"Atonement": Decent, I really liked the book and I'm not sure if I would have liked the movie if I hadn't read the book. Dan felt sort of mediocre about it.

"21": I'd recommend the book over the movie on this one as well, but it's still worth watching. It's neat knowing it's a (sort of) true story and it makes you feel like you too could count cards in Vegas!

More Seriously

Hi all,

I just want you to know that we really are expecting to be fine here in Waco. We are going to get quite a bit of wind and rain, but it really shouldn't be anything to worry about. A lot of evacuees fled TO Waco, meaning that it is a supposed to be a good place to be during the storm!

As far as we know right now, Galveston etc. has pretty much been ravaged. In Houston, 911 operators have received about 1250 calls since last night. About 140,000 people ignored the mandatory evacuation orders, and only 300 people or so of these people were able to be rescued at the last minute - hanging from telephone poles and wading through knee high water.

Of course, hopefully most people were able to remain alive, and all these numbers will change as it gets later in the day and the data gets more clear, but I guess I just want to ask for your prayers for these people and the state of Texas.

Right now, our skies are grey and cloudy, and it's sprinkling a little bit. We're supposed to get rain (up to 6 in) and winds (up to 50 mph) throughout the day, and it will be over by tomorrow mid-morning. I'll definitely continue updating if anything interesting happens (and assuming we still have power). I will for sure update tomorrow as well!

Hurricane Ike

Apparently, we're supposed to get a lot of rain tomorrow. Apparently, lots of people are coming here to Waco to stay while their homes get all wet and blown away.

This is the first hurricane that's really affecting us. They rescheduled all the weekend football games, including the Baylor game, for yesterday and today. Most things this weekend have already been cancelled. Not that we're actually going to get a hurricane here in Waco, but I guess the amount of rain and the high winds will be enough to cause some flash flooding and stuff.

The saddest thing is that tomorrow is supposed to be "Puppy Plunge Day" at the Waco Waterpark. Sammie has been looking forward to it for weeks, and now it's not going to happen.

I'm so sad..Daddy was going to take me off the high dive!

Top 6 Pictures

Leah and Matt's wedding photographer put their pictures online, and they are absolutely amazing. (His name is Reece Booth, and his website is http://www.reecephotography.com/.) I thought I'd share a few of my favorites...there are of course hundreds of others that might be a little more representative of the entire event...but this is my blog, and therefore, I pick and choose as I like.

So here are the Top 6 Photos of the Event:

#6. Yay for a good picture of me with the bride!

#5. Yes, the photographer thought this was worthy of putting on his website, so I figured I'd immortalize it on mine as well. If you can't tell, this is my thigh with the bruise from my fall two nights before. He has a picture of Frank (the arm slice) up as well, but I figured you've all seen enough of that...

#4. I have no idea what is going on in this picture, but it makes me laugh every time I look at it. I need to find out what song was playing at this moment, because we all seem to be really enjoying it

#3. I love this picture because Dan is giving his toast, and you can see how much everyone is enjoying it/ captivated by it. I guess all those days he spends trying to hold high school students' attention have paid off in some great public speaking skills!

#2. This is during my toast - and look they were laughing at what I was saying! Woohoo!

And finally, the number one picture of the evening.... This picture is amazing on several accounts. First of all, Dan is apparently practicing his modeling career. Secondly, I think I must be confused by the fact that Dan is practicing his modeling... Leah is the only one of us who is aware of the photographer. And Matt, well, he's just chillin'. Dan said that Matt's just sitting there thinking to himself "Hey! I'm married!" over and over again. Either way...this is priceless.

Another Day In the Life

It's September, football season has started, and the temperature is no longer consistently hitting 100 in Waco.

With these changes, fall has slowly but surely come for us, and with it the typical school year busy-ness.  The other day, the Dean of Students at Dan's high school pointed out to Dan that he has quite a few responsibilities. Dan responded that yes, that was true. At this point he was the proud sponser of the (now defunct) Frisbee Golf Team, the leader of Community Service Club, and the potential Fellowship of Christian Athletes sponser. All this in addition to, you know, teaching Spanish...

The Dean told Dan that he was going to make him a t-shirt that says "Fogle of all Trades." I told him that the t-shirt should actually just say "NO!" 

As I write this, Dan's playing soccer with a community league that he just joined. Last night, he met with the youth leader of our church to talk about the possibility of getting involved with youth ministry. Is my husband great or what? He is so interested and passionate about all these things that although he knows he has to turn down something, he still can't decide which! 

As for me, I am nowhere near as involved in the extra-curriculars as Dan as, but I have my hands full with school and work. The one exception to my no extras rule is that we are helping to begin a young couple's Bible study at our church, and I will be attending that.

To give you an idea of what a typical Tuesday or Thursday looks like, I'll tell you my day today.  I began at 10am with a child therapy appointment. I have two clients, one child and one adult, who I see weekly that are extra - that is, not part of work. They are both clients I had last year and didn't want to stop seeing, so I just see them now on my own time. 

Then at 11, I had class - Developmental Psychology. Today, I finished up a presentation on Autism. We each present three times throughout the semester on a different topic, and lucky me, I got to go first!

At 12:30, I heated up my Lean Cuisine lunch and then presented a case at our Clinic Staffing, eating bites in between talking. We have a clinic staffing once a month, where one person presents a case - meaning they present someone they are seeing for therapy or an assessment to the rest of the program. Usually these are unusual cases or there is some reason that they deserve to be highlighted. I had an interesting case last year that my supervisor had wanted me to present for awhile, so today was my turn. (Unfortunately I wish I could share more but confidentiality rules are rather strict in these kind of situations)

I ran from there to the science building across campus, to my 2:00 class: Statistics. Turned in my homework and  listened to a lecture for an hour and 15 minutes. Then, back to the clinic again, where I had my adult client at 4:00. Think about what you feel like at 4:00 if you've had a really busy day, then think about trying to listen to someone pouring out their life story to you at this time.  Although I'm definitely interested and don't usually have a lot of trouble paying attention, I sure have trouble wording eloquent responses! I feel like by this point in the day my mind has just been bomboarded with information and I have so much trouble synthesizing it and analyzing it in any meaningful way.

I drove straight to the rec after this and worked out for a little bit while reading a magazine. Ahh yes, this is why I love my magazine subscriptions so much - relaxation time! And working out helps me relieve my stress from the day so much.

So there you have it...another day in the life of Kristi and Dan. I admit that I don't typically have such a starring role in everything throughout the day, but that's a pretty similar schedule to my normal Tuesdays and Thursdays. (MWF I'm at work).  I am sure that most of you reading this probably have much harder days than me - I mean hey, I didn't even start until 10am!! But I will tell you, both Dan and I come home completely exhausted every single day! I guess that's what school does to you...and why summer exists....!

Our Award

Dan and I went to a young couple's Barbeque this weekend, hosted by a couple from our church. They gave out prizes to couples for different things, such as "Who woke up earliest this morning?" The couple that won that one got up at 5:00am. The couple that won "Who woke up latest?" woke up at 9:30am. We are so pathetic! Since when did we become old enough that no one gets up past 9:30?! Dan and I had gotten up at 7:30, so it's not like we can even talk, but it just makes me so sad...I remember the days of sleeping in until 11:00am.

Anyway, guess what we won?

Drumroll please....

"Longest married couple!"
Haha, it's true. Except that, when they got to this category, out of 8 couples there (and 8 prizes to be given out), 6 had already won prizes. So even though they had all been married longer than us, they didn't count in this category. We were up against one other couple, and lo and behold, they got married in March!

So, you may now refer to us as the couple with the title of "Longest Married Couple" at Fellowship Bible Church.

Thank you, thank you very much.

Entrepreneurs in Dominica

So most of you have probably met or heard me talk about my friend Andrea. About a year ago, she visited Dan and I out in Waco and we had our first trip to Rudy's BBQ together... this is a picture of us being really nervous about eating in a restaurant that has picnic tables and serves you a loaf of white bread with your meat!

Don't worry, we've since adjusted, and now Dan and I routinely take visitors to get a taste of Texas BBQ.

Well, I think the experience helped Andrea realize how important bread is to people, no matter where you live. Andrea moved to Dominica so her husband, Kyle, could go to medical school there. While they were there, she started up a bread baking business with another girl, Ashley. They were a big hit on the island. Although she and Kyle are back in the United States now, their fame lives on. Ashley's newspaper published a feature article about their business!

http://www.jacksonsun.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=%2F20080903%2FLIFESTYLE%2F809030301

(Yes I know, I still can't figure out how to put links in that are just links and don't look like this. Hey Josh, wanna help me out??)

The article tells their story and also includes some of their recipes. Enjoy! I have more if you're interested, and they actually have a cookbook they made as well if you like them.

The Saminator Strikes Again

Yesterday I came home from class and made the mistake of setting my bag on the floor when I got inside. A little while later, I was in the kitchen making dinner, and all of a sudden it occurred to me that I hadn't seen Sammie in a while. I walked out to the living room to investigate, and there I found...

She was eating an apple that she'd taken out of my bag! She'd already eaten over half of it by the time I noticed.

The funny thing was, apparently it tasted so good that she didn't even stop once I saw her. She kept chowing down, trying to get as much in as possible before I stole it away!
Yum, yum, yum... :-)

Yes, I did take it away, but don't worry - she gets plenty of other exciting treats such as ice cubes and the ends of carrots I'm chopping. She's gotten to the point where she runs to the kitchen every time she hears one of us start to get out ice cubes...but you can't beat the cost and nutrition of that treat, so we do give her one almost every time!

Labor Day Weekend

This weekend, I:

- Got everything done on my to-do list, except for finishing my presentation, but that's okay because it's not due until Thursday. And it was an ambitious to-do list.

- Wore my CONTACTS for TWO WHOLE DAYS in a row!

-Baked pita bread, that actually came out just like regular bread (i.e. no pocket), but I sneakily sliced them down the middle with a knife and no one was the wiser, and we had delicious pita pockets every day for lunch.

- Wore white pants and white shoes for two and a half days in a row to celebrate the end of being allowed to wear them (I know my etiquette), until this had to be cut short because I spilled on my pants. [Insert absolutely no one being surprised here]

- Went to my favorite restaurant in Waco to celebrate my 8-monthiversary with my husband.

- Watched Youtube videos on Autism for almost three hours

-Updated the background on my blog. Thoughts? I'll change it back if you hate it.

"I don't wanna get up! It's so hard to get out of bed after a long weekend!"

Tomorrow is going to be such a rude awakening....