First Christmas

Ah, Christmas. The one holiday nationally referred to as “The most wonderful time of the year.” It’s a time when families gather, friends congregate, and other distant relations recognize each other for once in the past 365 days simply to wish one another a good one; a time to celebrate the first coming of the Christ and declare to the world differently from how we do other days of the year the love of our Savior for all of mankind. 

This Christmas, I have a special something, or someone more like, to celebrate with. I am blissfully wed to my bestest friend, the reason I am particularly excited to celebrate this holiday season. In establishing our own new traditions, which are completely influenced by the sheer anticipation of another first, we decided to begin an “official” celebration on Christmas Eve-Eve. All to thrilled wait for Christmas day anyway, we chose to bestow gifts upon each other early before the festivities with extended family began. Strategically, we opted to gift the “best for first” so that they wouldn’t homogenize with all the others especially during all-encompassing festivities. I’ve never personally been particularly enlivened by the receiving of gifts, but this year was an exception (after the gift was opened of course.) I believe the fun of it was amplified due to our mutual pleasure in giving the gifts, making the exchange all the more worthwhile. 

I don’t normally openly advertise my receptions and distribution of Christmas, but this time I’m too excited not to brag. My sainted husband gifted me this year a potter’s wheel (I very much enjoy pottery and throwing clay as a hobby and ideal, possible future occupation,) however; this is not just any potter’s wheel.  Aaron built me this wheel with his bare, creative hands. Scrounging for any free moment he could find, he delicately and most thoughtfully constructed this fabulous piece of machinery with every ounce of love, meaning more to me than the gift itself. Easily transportable and cleanable, the wheel proves the perfect size for a humbly sized home. Barely smaller than the size I’m used to, I think I’ll find no problem in throwing pottery of the same proportions I normally would on a “normal” wheel. I can’t wait to try it!

Diary of an Insomniac

The brain, is an intriguing and complex organ (I know little about it so that's all I can really accurately say about it.) My brain particularly; however, is rather...unique. This is not to say that yours is not, though mine is unique from yours. To avoid getting all intellectual about it (oh, sweet irony) and in some cases, theological, I'll get on with my downright cockamamie, and absurdly random thought.

My brain has the greatly inconvenient difficulty, borderline incapability of turning off. No, I do not mean that I am nearly immortal/incapable of dying. I refer to the shutting down process a normal human's brain experiences in order to put an individual to sleep and rest and recuperate.

What in the world does that mean?

Well,  this means that I, when trying to make my way toward bedtime and drift off into dreamland, my brain suddenly experiences a degree of hyper-arousal, or "a state of increased psychological and physiological tension." Simply put, I can't mentally find a stopping point to my day. Medical experts say this is typically acquired after an exceptionally stressful or traumatizing event, major life changes, or alteration in health- all of these I've happened to experience over the past year and a half. 

So, here are some of the thousands of random thoughts/unrests that run through my mind on a nightly basis when attempting slumber:
     10:20 pm
I'm tired.
Ugh, the bed is a mess. *makes bed
I'm going to bed now *crawls into freshly made bed *stares at ceiling for a half hour
I'm uncomfortable *strips bed completely and changes sheets.
Much better... It's too quiet. *Turns on Christmas music and Christmas lights.
I need to call the maintenance guy tomorrow *set TO DO alarm on phone for following day
I need to sew that hole in Aaron's shirt *Sets TO DO alarm on phone for following day
I'm working tomorrow afternoon *sets TO DO alarm on phone for following day
    11:30pm
*ends up writing TO DO list on paper with many more miniscule tasks that don't really need to be done soon, but probably at some point within my remaining time on earth.
I'm tired. *goes back to bed
I didn't like dinner. I should note the recipe and avoid it again *end up journaling for a half hour about everything *writes separate list of blog ideas *writes separate list of story ideas
I need to reply to that letter *writes letter
This Christmas music is too cheery for sleep *turns off radio, turns on nature sounds on iPod
I'm cold *layers in hoodie, sweats, knee-high socks
I'm hot *kicks off covers and strips hoodie
I'm cold *pulls covers back up
     1:30 am
I forgot to workout today *does shortened routine
I want to read the next Grimm fairy tale. *reads next Grimm fairy tale.... ends up reading next 5 fairy tales
    3:30 am
I should sleep *passes out in bed, wakes up 3 or 4 times throughout night, awakens early in the morning when husband returns from work, falls back asleep, wakes up again for real.
 
You get the picture. This puts bedtime usually at about 3 am with multiple wake up times throughout the night plus early rising times. Though irritating and dismally tiresome, I find a dorky humor in it all. I have to in order to avoid deeper frustration. (It's about 2:07am as I type now.) And now that I am beginning to drowse again, I completely forget my train of thought. I guess that's it for this one.


 http://www.medlink.com/medlinkcontent.asp
  

Books

What is it that is so comforting about taking a book to bed? Even if not read, is the fantasy of gaining knowledge by osmosis so intriguing that one must secretly stow the hardbound pages of a favorite novel or even picture book beneath the bedsheets in hopes no one else discovers the scandal, or for the truly dauntless, simply leaving said book out in the wide open atop the comforter? This, as every nocturnal dreamer understands, allows the black and white print to float freely through the air above one's head as one sleeps, fabulously shaping the book-sneaker's brain jargon into masterfully composed reveries that will tomorrow prove relief from the stresses of anticipated upcoming hurried schedules.

This is at least what I hypothesize is the reason my younger sister Ellen always hid behind as she methodically stashed a library's contents worth of books in her bed every night for, after all, she is practically fearless (mind you, she only stored them in her sheets to be nearer to her. Easier osmosis, I suppose.) As adorable and encouraging a thought this notion may present itself at first- her feeling the necessity to thief every bookshelf in the house just before bedtime- no longer appeared adorable in the middle of the night when all those books would suddenly dive onto the floor with a heart-stopping crash, ruining every family member's chances of a decent REM cycle for the rest of the night.

I've never been as avid a reader as she, and continue to find it a difficult task even today, though I admit, I've found a book to suit my fancy at least for the time being: Grimm's Complete Fairy Tales.  Morbid, some say? Perhaps, but, sticking to my belief that fairy tales are indeed real (no, I never outgrew that one. I unashamedly admit that my favorite TV show is Once Upon a Time.)

All this to say: Books are magical...

*What is your favorite book? Perhaps I'll add it to my reading list.

A Leap of Faith: Load of Relief

            After just shy of a full year of employment in the residential care field, I have to admit I am all to elated to, as of Monday, November 17th, be relieved of my duties- by choice of course- as a residential specialist. Many are aware of the challenges and stress this particular position has caused, but I also have to admit that I’ve learned quite a lot as a result of this experience. (I’ll relay the lessons later; for now, I’m basking in the freedom I’ve been craving for the past year.)

            I’ve nothing lined up job wise now that I’ve resigned, but nonetheless I feel a magnificent peace about leaving. For some time the idea of leaving has disturbed me and has been a major source of internal conflict particularly this past month, but after receiving multiple recommendations, mainly the strongest urging from my dear husband, which I would take as confirmations to prayer, I feel no guilt which was initially the issue about quitting in the first place. I trust the Lord to provide financially regardless of my unemployment, and look forward to the next adventure in store. (Yes, I’d say this most recent job has indeed been an adventure, no matter how difficult it proved to be most days.)

            It’s been such a long time since I’ve felt this sort of relief. I look forward to being able to spend time with friends and family, focus better on school, improve in my physical health, and actually be able to sleep during the night. Ah, sleep.

Can You Guess This Riddle?

Can you guess this riddle? 
What do these 9 (plus 11 not-pictured) jars of pear sauce and your taste buds have in common?

    Answer: They were made for each other!!!!
    Aaron and I are making and selling homemade pear sauce.

"Pear sauce: it's like apple sauce, but with pears."

      Made with hand-picked pears and your favorite seasonal spices, each jar has been hand crafted with love and warmth straight from the heart.
We have two sizes:
13 oz. jars = $3 each
26 oz. jars = $5 each. 

If interested, feel free to call, text, email, or Facebook message one of us and we'll get you taken care of.
Ingredients: 
Hand-picked pears
Autumn spice blend (cinnamon, allspice, nutmeg)
*Special requests for spices can be made. 
*No added sugar (just what the pear already contained just by being awesome)

    We have had so much fun making this delicacy: though a long process, it's rather rewarding. A happy pear tree has stood proud and tall all by its lonesome near my mom's house for as long as I can remember living in Missouri. No doubt it's been there longer. Aaron and I picked pears last year, though for private enjoyment only since fruit was not as abundant. This year though, it went haywire and produced more pears than one could maintain sanity over! So, we neglected even an attempt at sanity in this harvest. What an adventure it was: We were both beamed in the head with multiple rogue pears, stabbed by twigs, and ambushed by territorial grasshoppers dwelling in the grass in the tree's shadow; however, the adventure not only proved fruitful (pun unashamedly intended), but the beginning of great discovery particularly for my handsome husband who saw for the first time in "the wild" an adorable little tree frog and walking stick, though mostly he remained occupied with the tree frog.
    We had a lovely past couple of days peeling and cooking pears like there's no tomorrow. We even have blisters and cuts to prove it, but regardless of injury to whatever degree, the labor resulted in our full tummies and excess to sell so that you too may enjoy the fullness of pear scrumptiousness.

A Cake Full of Blessings (simply because cake is tasty)

I recently summarized in a Facebook status update that some rather beautiful blessings have been bestowed upon us:

CAKE BATTER... About mid-summer, I received an electric bill in the mail (not an uncommon occurrence, as one can imagine), so eager to pay the thing off ASAP, I peeled the envelope open immediately, but was flabbergasted at how high it was: almost twice as much as usual. Seeing as it was the weekend, the company would be closed until Monday, and my impatient pay-it-off-now self decided to pay it. After all, there had in fact been a day when I forgot the oven an all. day. long. which in my mind could have very well shot the bill up. When I'd asked my husband about it, he didn't think it abnormal. He actually thought it more accurate since we had the AC on more than usual lately. So, I wrote the check, turned in the payment, and forgot about it.
The next month appeared seemingly out of nowhere and that cute little "Empire Electric" bill materialized itself into another tangible deadline in our mailbox. Opened that sucker up and guess what... NO BILL!!! It seemed that we were over-billed previously which completely paid off the next bill, plus a small part of this month's.

FROSTING....For quite sometime we've had a couple people offer on more than one occasion to sell a washer & dryer to us cheap. For some reason though, the opportunity to actually go through with such a transaction never arose. That some reason; however, would be this: Our neighbor in the apartment below/across from us informed us they'd be moving out soon and offered us their washer and dryer- for free (as long as we helped load up the moving truck, of course)! I believe anyone would see this as a more than fair deal, so of course, we accepted the offer. We already have the washer in our possession. It's fancy (in my mind anyway).

SPRINKLES... Ever since Aaron moved his things in at the end of last semester, one of the burners of the stove was rather awkwardly faulty. Anytime any other burner was turned on, but especially when the oven was put to use, this one little burner in the back right corner would heat up simultaneously (without deliberately being turned on) and often get hotter than it normally would on its highest setting! We ignored it for awhile, despite our poor teapot's tortured screams anytime we forgot to move it to another burner. Eventually we had the maintenance guy look at it, but of course, it wouldn't misbehave for him. The real breaking point to finally get it fixed though was one day while I was baking something in the oven, stove off, and the dumb thing melted 3 of my 4 stove covers, causing the apartment to smell like burning paint chemicals. What a headache. In response to our crisis, the maintenance man, who's been so patient and helpful with us, seeing as we seem to file a work order every other week, calmly assessed the situation, and decided (at no cost to us) that he'd completely replace the entire oven-stove unit.
It was like Christmas at 8 years old when he wheeled that beauty into our apartment. Shiny, right out of the box, all expensive looking. Oh, but don't worry; we broke that thing in real fast. Not so shiny now.

The Lord is our provider, even in (to some) the simplest ways. In my opinion though, those are pretty big deals.

A General Update for the Curious

I acknowledge that it's been quite a while since I've last written anything at all so here be the general update.


I'm married now and loving it. Sure, there are many things to get used to like how to juggle schedules, cooking for two people regularly rather than the sporadic snacking I'd do alone before, how
to fold laundry a little differently, find a happy medium for the in-home temperature, and living with a man in general since there's not been one in the home for so many years. It's fun to learn about each other though. Communication is always a challenge for any couple, but both Aaron and I find it an intriguing thing to continually discover how to more effectively reach out to each other so that we continue to grow closer.
It's fun to have our own apartment. We've enjoyed turning it into OUR home via decorations, mismatch color schemes, and general messes. Oh, and don't forget the armory he brought along to make it truly one of a kind.

We still work as overnight residential specialists; same days, same hours as each other making carpooling manageable.

I'll be returning to school part time in the fall at OTC in pursuit of an Associates of Arts degree. Don't ask what the plan is after that because I quite frankly don't know yet, though I am still slowly but surely working towards ASL Interpreting certification. Aaron also has some credits to finish in the fall.

A personal goal of mine has finally been reached: I have published my very first book! Working on it for the past year and a half had me slightly discouraged seeing as it is only 32 pages long, I wondered if I'd ever finish it. It has finally happened though and available for purchase on Lulu.com for $4.95. The book is entitled For Such a Time As This by Danielle Kiefer.
http://www.lulu.com/shop/danielle-kiefer/for-such-a-time-as-this/paperback/product-21697911.html 
I'm thinking I'd like to write more now that I have a general idea of how self-publishing works. I'm no expert by any means, but it's a fun idea nonetheless. What to write? No clue...yet.

Yesterday was Independence Day, the 237th birthday of our beautiful nation for which so many have fought and died in order that we may enjoy the freedom that so many can only dream of. This holiday has prompted me to share a prayer request (something I should probably do more often). Keep my younger sister Ellen in your prayers as she protects us now via stationing in South Korea, as well as all the other soldiers who currently serve or have served on our behalf. I am so proud of her, but miss her terribly.

Much Accomplished= Much Twinkling Smiles

 I'm getting married soon. 43 days, 13 hours, and 37 minutes to be exact. Yes, it's quite exciting, but right now I'll be honest and say that I will cry Niagra Falls worth of happy tears when it's all over: the planning, the deadlines, the people who never return my phone calls... I won't miss those things.
I will admit that I internally screamed a cry of horrific relief (horrific for the imaginary bystanders caught off guard by the sudden, murderous shrill) after much productivity today and now feel like a limp noodle. My wedding to do list is steadily shrinking, though today it finally dropped suddenly to a mere 4 out of 15 things to do this month *standing ovation.

This sort of relief I've not felt in at least a few months. I must bask in it for a bit......................................

Okay, too much basking. Getting sunburn now.

I guess it's not much of a blog entry. I was just excited to have gotten so much done this week and particularly today. I feel my body oozing into jelly. *smiles all over.

The Countdown

This Picture Worth These 1,000 Words

I've always heard it said, “A picture is worth 1,000 words.” and every time I've ever heard the phrase, I'd think of a picture, or at least the one who delivered the term was referring to, and try to come up with 1,000 words to describe it. Often, I'd never be able to, just because I' didn't know the circumstances under which the picture was taken. I'd try to come up with descriptive words about what I thought was happening in sort of a list format, but after thinking about it again recently and looking through my own pictures, I decided that this one in particular truly is worth 1,000 words, and here they are:

“Neither one of them had ever expected to find anyone they truly felt they could spend the rest of their lives with. No, the thought or even secret hope either or both may have harbored in the past had been so suppressed by this point in their lives that the idea of marriage almost seemed like a joke to laugh at. Sure, others could marry and that'd be fine, but for Danielle and Aaron, the concept was too quixotic.

Danielle was a quiet, often diffident being. Though inside she entertained enormous dreams for her future, she had come to a place in life where she felt it necessary to bury said aspirations for the sole purpose of defending herself in fear of more ridicule than she'd already been receiving from her newfound “friends” at this new college she's recently transferred to. Aaron was also a rather private individual in the eyes of those outside his inner circle, though he didn't necessarily seem it from Danielle's perspective. Why? Well, he'd volunteered to lead a Spring Impact trip from Central Bible College to St. Michael, Alaska; a trip which Danielle had more or less been “dragged into,” though really, it was a new calling she'd soon realize God had placed on her life.

They met in passing and greeted one another in the most perfunctory manner. Neither of them cared to know each other, so needless to say, there was no love at first sight; however....

Monday, February 25, 2013 amidst ministering to the natives of St. Michael, an extraordinary thing occurred: Danielle experienced the most amazing, supernatural freedom divinely bestowed by God- a freedom from fear that she hadn't realized she'd been enslaved to for the majority of her life. Suddenly she was filled with a heavenly joy and unrelenting laughter. No matter how hard she tried, she couldn't stop and it was then that she suddenly became the most beautiful creature Aaron had ever beheld. At the same time, Danielle then thought, as she had never believed before about any human being, “This guy is HOT!”

Feelings were relatively easy to suppress the rest of the trip, though during the return journey and getting stranded in Unalakleet for a day, their mutual interest (but still unknown to each other) was given encouragement to develop by common mentor Dr. Henry Rieber. And over the next week, the interest became too great to contain. One night while studying together with two other friends also present, Aaron resolved to confess his affections, so the following evening he requested that Danielle meet him in the library to “exchange class notes they'd both missed.” After exchanging notes (yes, they really existed) he took a deep breath and, “Danielle, I need to tell you something.” As he proceeded to explain that this was something he'd been prayerfully considering, the preface alone excited Danielle, though her assumptions that it concerned the recent trip would rapidly be proven wrong.

“I like you.” Well, that was certainly unexpected. Danielle sat silent and stunned for a few minutes, all the while leading Aaron to believe that he'd just made a fool of himself when truly she was thinking to herself Great, now I have to tell him the truth...

“I like you too.” This response startled Aaron which caused the both of them to erupt in uncontrollable laughter.

Fast forward a month; April 1, 2013: Danielle and Aaron had spent the past few weeks sharing conversation mainly over post-homework walks. They both understood the significance of what they were doing and what it could lead to and after long pondering over the timing of when to date (yes, they had decided this was what they wanted to do at some point). So after discussing the question, “What's the difference between dating and what we're doing now?” Aaron fell silent. Danielle, frustrated with his sudden absence of spoken word, passive-aggressively demanded an answer to which Aaron suddenly asked, “Danielle Amundsen, will you be my girlfriend.” Again, the answer could be nothing short of profuse laughter (That answer meaning Yes.)

Fast forward another 7 months; November 19, 2013: Is was Danielle's 21^st birthday and Aaron had decided he was going to make it the best birthday she'd ever had because in year past, her birthdays weren't exactly the most outstanding. He picked her up around 8AM dressed as an elf in order to themes her birthday Lord of the Rings- her favorite- and took her around town for scavenger hunts, puzzles, and other challenges (assisted with by other friends.)

This is the best birthday ever, Danielle thought to herself, but unbeknownst to her, it still wasn't over. At the end of the day, Aaron took her to one last place; along the way in order to gather puzzle pieces, Danielle was to go to significant locations which included where they first met, first became a couple, first dance, and now where they shared their first kiss. They walked along the sidewalk that passed Central Bible College and stopped at a telephone post. Aaron held a small wooden chest, which he'd been using to gift her each puzzle piece. Danielle's excitement increased by the nanosecond. Finally! The puzzle will be complete! Aaron began speaking of sentimental things, asking her to remember the time he said that the first person he kissed would be who he married. Of course she remembered, but she still failed to put two and two together.

Then, Aaron got down on one knee, opened the chest and said, “Danielle, will you marry me?”

Her response? A euphoric symphony every secret hope bursting to the surface as more jubilant laughter escaped her soma. It was pure, heavenly elation at best. (Don't worry, Aaron did give her the last puzzle piece which made a folding block of pictures of the two of them.) And now, they are to be blissfully wed in the beautiful state of Alaska on June 1, 2014.”

My New Years Resolution...

First of all, it is with great pleasure that I can say, "Glory be to God!" because yet again He continues to bring me healing. Thank you to everyone who prayed for and encouraged me along the way. I've been in much better health than I have been over the past six months and continue to improve.
Though no doctors have been able to "diagnose" my condition, some of what contributed were newfound allergies/sensitivities to MSG (the worst), gluten, and dairy. As long as I avoid those, I'm good for the most part.

Another praise report; I am working again. For confidentiality reasons, I state only this: I've been hired as a third shift residential specialist for Burrell Behavioral Health. Though the job proves difficult, it's worth it in any way.

By the way, HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!! I kind of missed that one and didn't do much but work on wedding invitation all night. Saw a couple fireworks from my window and that was about it. I don't know about everyone else, but I've never been one for New Years resolutions; however, I, without truly labeling it as such when it was made, but can now refer to it as a resolution, I have resolved to acquire a college degree this year. I've never been one to enjoy school. Since kindergarten, this distain has acted as an obstacle to my motivation to always 'do my best' academically (though there are some grades I ended up with I am so proud of  that to others look like a failure) and so I was never enthusiastic about the idea of going to college. Yet here I am....

Today, after having attended Columbia College Chicago, Central Bible College, and Evangel University (briefly), I find myself blissfully typing away whilst sitting on a random, delightful, little, purple chair-bench at Ozark Technical Community College with this goal in mind:
Acquire the A.A. Degree

This goober's
getting an
education!

Though in today's society and A.A. may not get me the furthest I could possibly go, it's a college degree nonetheless, something for the longest time I was convinced could never be mine. So before anyone begins pushing me for a job-worthy B.A. from elsewhere, I want you to know that I will be so proud of my A.A. Already a lot of blood, sweat, and tears have gone into this degree already (if you'd like an elaboration of the italicized, I'd be happy to dissect it for you.)

I'll admit that I'm conflicted about being here: I don't like school, yet I love to learn. I already have 2 1/4 years under my belt of specialized education under my belt, but here I am just trying to get in my Gen. Eds now. I have to be on campus (originally wanted to be online), but I'm more motivated on a campus setting. I've been to three other places of higher education and now I'm transferring yet again, but now I'm doing something productive with my life; I didn't feel like I was before. I'd go as far as to admit that I felt like a failure.

So here I am, waiting to go to class (American Government & Politics to be exact) and eager/scared to gain some knowledge.

 New Years Resolution: to finish strong.