a plea.

I need to get something off my chest in this blogpost. It was not something I intended to share with the world yet (or maybe ever), but in light of the events of last night, my current emotional limbo and self-preservation seem less important than speaking out. 

You know that I have Crohn's disease. I have written about it here, here, here and here and will continue to write about how it affects my life in the future. You also know that I have previously said that the Affordable Care Act wasn't perfect (see here and here), but was at the very least a good step forward for many people. 

Last night in the middle of the night, GOP senators voted to remove parts of the ACA in their effort to repeal and replace Obamacare that included protections for children, women, vets, and people like me--those of us with preexisting conditions. Removing these protections will effectively make it impossible for me, and 20 million other Americans, to have health insurance. These people are your children, siblings, friends, family and other acquaintances. This vote sets up the ability for health insurance companies to deny me coverage because of a chronic condition I never asked for or to drop me when they've decided I've reached a lifetime maximum of health coverage. I'm not alone in this. There are stories floating around social media from others who have chronic conditions, cancer, or parents of sick children. Without a clearly defined alternative, there's no indication that our political leaders actually care about the lives of the chronically ill, women, veterans, or children (although I've heard many of them repeatedly claim to be pro-life). 

Let me state that in a way that hopefully drives the point home a little further: without this protection, I will die a very slow, very painful, very young and extremely expensive death because of my chronic conditions. 

I am 26 years old. This is not the first time I've considered my own mortality but that doesn't mean that I should currently be weeping on my bathroom floor paralyzed with fear of what is going to come in the nearer term future if this law continues to be repealed. 

Earlier this week I had a colonoscopy. They are supposed to be a fairly routine, yearly, annoyance in my life to make sure that I'm tracking along nicely with my journey towards health. I expected this one to be non-remarkable. I've been feeling great lately and haven't had any symptoms related to my Crohn's disease. 

What they found was anything but non-remarkable. 

As it turns out I am very sick. Getting close to how sick I was (or maybe worse) than when I was first diagnosed. We are still waiting on the results of tests to really know what the damage is and what I should be doing for next steps, but suffice it to say that the next 6 months to a year of my life are going to be much different than I had anticipated them being. 

I don't know if my life-saving medications will continue to be covered. With my health insurance and a patient assistance plan, one of my medications costs $5 per month. I take this medication only twice per month. Without insurance and patient assistance, it costs nearly $10,000 per month for those two doses. That medication is a one-two punch which treats both my Crohn's disease and arthritis. And it just one of 13 different medications I take on a regular/daily basis to maintain my best version of health, not including the antibiotics, steroids and pain pills that I take when there's a problem. Certainly not all of the others are that expensive but I already spend thousands of dollars per year on medications with insurance, I'm not sure I'll be able to afford any of them without it. 

This post is not about pity. Just as it's not about political ideology. This post is about my fears of a potential existence that I don't want to live. Because it won't be living for me. It will be the most horrific way to die. 

So I'm asking you, can you please help me in stopping the repeal of the Affordable Care Act? Can you call your representatives and let them know that you don't support a repeal? I know it's imperfect...I'm more than willing to discuss revising it, but that is not what current political leadership is doing. Ask them to support a revision which provides protections to those of us who will die without them.  If our leaders continue on this path, they are effectively sentencing me and millions of others to shorter lifespans filled with increased pain. 

I'm only 26. I'm not ready to literally consider my mortality yet. 

full circle

One of my goals for 2017 is to write at least one blog per week. The end of the first week of the year creeped up a little quicker than I expected and yet no blog. Hoping to remedy that immediately...

Shortly before Christmas was my graduation ceremony.

It was quite run of the mill as far as graduation ceremonies go. I've never been much of a fan of graduation ceremonies after having to play Pomp and Circumstance one bazillion times in high school and college with the band. But it was extremely special for 2 reasons:

1. I FINALLY graduated. With a degree. Not the degree I really ever anticipated receiving nor in the time frame I had originally planned. But with a degree that makes me extremely proud, gives me life and allows me to be excited about the work I am privileged to do every single day. 
2. My journey at UNMC ended in the way it began: me crossing the stage at Joslyn Art Museum in front of my family and loved ones. (insert The Lion King's The Circle of Life audio here)

My life is quite different than when I started at UNMC 4.5 years ago. It's also quite different from what I had dreamed for it to be that very first time walking across that stage 4.5 years ago. But it's really truly so much better than I could have ever imagined. 

I had a moment on that stage where the emotions of my time at UNMC quickly came flooding back: the terror of anatomy classes, the utter boredom of biochemistry, being diagnosed with Crohn's disease, the confusion over physiology, surgery, medical leave, M1 year--take 2, the love of neuro core, the looming dread that medicine (my dream since I was 8 years old) was not for me anymore, more sickness, abruptly quitting medical school and switching careers, the relief of being accepted into public health, the adjustment into a new lifestyle, the freedom to pursue things that interested me and to travel, the feeling of healing, the fear of the next steps in my career, the frustration at my capstone, and finally, the utter elation that I had finished. 

The past 4.5 years have been a lot. I really don't have a better way to explain it...there was plenty of awesome intermixed with the not-so-great and some in between things as well. But there was very little time for reflection in the midst of all of that other than what I wrote on this blog. 

So I need to thank you all for helping me survive (and thrive) throughout my tenure at UNMC. I needed this blog as an outlet for all that was going on in my crazy, wonderful life probably more than you needed to be reading any of my thoughts. I also need to thank my friends and family for being incredible support systems and for occasionally (literally) picking me up off the ground helping me move forward when I couldn't get up on my own. 

It's been a ride, but boy am I ever glad that I made it back, full circle, to that stage at Joslyn. 

Grandma + Uncle Dale
@ the hooding ceremony

My capstone adviser, Dr. Tibbits
@ the hooding ceremony

Aunt Lorraine + Uncle Dick
@ graduation

Aunt Jayne
@ graduation

 UNMC COPH 2016 winter graduates 

Annie, the other maternal & child health grad <3

Mom + Dad
@ the hooding ceremony

the very first time I walked across that stage
@ UNMC COM 2016 White Coat Ceremony
August 17, 2012

World AIDS Day 2016

Today is World AIDS Day. It’s the 29^th year of the celebration. This morning I had a vastly different blog post created which I accidentally forgot to publish. In some ways I’m glad that I managed to mess it up because today was a sad and upsetting World AIDS Day and this post is frankly more interesting than the one that I had planned.

This morning I wrote about how I didn’t want anything to do with the day. I’ve celebrated World AIDS Day dutifully for the past 11 years, I volunteer several times per month at Nebraska AIDS Project providing free HIV tests to anyone who walks through the doors, and I just finished leading an organization that provides sexual health education to inmates in the county jail. I haven’t been doing HIV/AIDS activism nearly as long as some people, but I’ve definitely put in some time.

And I’m getting tired. I wanted a break.

But then today I sat in on a meeting to plan a conference for healthcare providers who see children across the state of Iowa. This particular conference is going to be held in a more rural part of western Iowa in order to give a geographically realistic opportunity for continuing education credits for those providers who don’t want to drive to Des Moines or Ames. As we were deciding on the conference agenda, a psychiatrist who is also on the planning committee announced that we no longer needed to have a session on LGTBQ competent care for these healthcare providers because “Gay kids in the western part of the state are just driving across the state to go to the doctor anyway. Plus no kid from a small town is going to come out to their doctor.”

…are you serious?!

Right. So there are a lot of troublesome things in those statements (like why is she making assumptions about gay kids in Iowa and where they go for their medical care or their comfort in sharing their sexuality with the people they are receiving healthcare from…and why would anyone want to discourage healthcare providers from giving better care regardless of who the care is for?...and why is a psychiatrist saying these things?...and really the list goes on), but on this World AIDS Day I was most troubled by the fact that a leader in the mental health community was suggesting that it wasn’t important to give healthcare providers the tools in order to make their LGTBQ patients feel more comfortable disclosing deeply personal, oftentimes stigmatized information.

It matters that patients are comfortable with their healthcare providers in sharing their sexual history, regardless of who they are having sex with. And it also matters, especially for gay and bisexual boys and men, that they feel comfortable disclosing what sex their sexual partners are to their doctors because almost 70% of new HIV cases in the United States are attributed to transmission between men who have sex with men (MSM)¹. If healthcare providers don’t have the skills to ask this information, they will not be able to discuss STD risk reduction techniques and they won’t be able to talk about appropriate STD testing schedules.

We should be encouraging more providers, not fewer, to improve their comfort level in talking to youth about their sexual preferences and sexual histories. We should be encouraging more providers to provide LGTBQ culturally competent services so that their patients can get appropriate care to be as healthy as they can be. And we certainly should be making sure that members of the healthcare community are able to talk about these topics in an accessible and accurate way since, especially for the rural youth that sparked the conversation, they are not getting this information in schools (or sometimes from other trusted adults) and misinformation is spreading.

This year’s theme for World AIDS Day is “Leadership. Commitment. Impact.” Today I am learning that there is still work to be done in Iowa regarding the commitment to HIV prevention. Today I am learning that although I might be tired, there’s no time to take a break. We have come a long way in 29 years since World AIDS Day began, but we still need more leaders (in the healthcare field and otherwise) to embody the World AIDS Day theme….”Leadership. Commitment. Impact.”

I had a bit of a moment with that physician and (as calmly as I could possibly muster) mentioned that perhaps its even more imperative that rural physicians have this training so that their patients feel more comfortable with them so that the LGTB youth don't have to drive halfway across the state to visit a healthcare provider. I'm not sure we ended in the same place, but I'm sure there will be continued conversation and teaching moments over the remainder of this conference planning. I know for sure I'm not going to give up or take a break again anytime soon... 

Bonus: If you’re looking to get yourself tested so you know your own status, use this handy resource to locate something near you: https://locator.aids.gov/. There were over 25 sites within 10 miles of my house, so I think that for many of my readers there should be something close. If you can’t find something, please let me know and I will work on finding something for you.

¹HIV/AIDS Basic Statistics. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. 2016. http://www.cdc.gov/hiv/basics/statistics.html

a writing hiatus

I have a lot of opinions, emotions, and words. A lot of them. All of the time. But I haven't been writing any of them down for public consumption for the past 6 months. That's been weird for me. And now I sort of don't know how to get back into the groove of writing things for others to read.

So much has happened in the past 6 months in my life and in the world. I want to write about some of those things and publish the things that I've written in the meantime, but it seems overwhelming to figure out where to start. I hope to eventually write a condensed version of those happenings, but I'm also working on not feeling guilty that I let down those of you who are loyal readers for taking this hiatus.

The blogging break began because I was just so exhausted. Exhausted literally, exhausted from writing during my final session of graduate school and my thesis, exhausted from preparing for a launch of two curriculums I helped write and presentations at a national conference, and exhausted from spending every waking moment applying to jobs, looking for a new home, and trying to transition my job to a whole new department who knew nothing about what I did. And then after all of that, I was exhausted from learning all the new things in my career (a career which I adore, by the way...hopefully more on that later) and finally dealing with all of the adulting things that I had neglected while I was trying to finish my degree.

As I look back at the past 6 months, I'm really not sure how I got through it honestly. A heck of a lot of support from my friends and family, I guess. I know I've been saying this for years, but I've seriously got to learn to say "no" to things. It's a problem and it really became apparent this summer. Something had to give.

It turns out, the thing that gave was my writing.

I guess I didn't realize how much I missed it until recently when I did my 3 month job performance evaluation at work and my boss asked me what my professional goals were. I didn't have a good answer for her at that moment (and I still don't....if you have ideas of what my professional goals should be, please send them my way!), but later in the week I woke up in the middle of the night and realized that I whatever I end up doing 10 years from now, I have to write. I'm still working on finding a way that I can fit that into my current job responsibilities and what that means for future professional endeavors, but I also know that I need to make writing a priority in my personal time too.

So thank you to the people in the past few months who have been lightly suggesting that I get back into writing. Thank you to the other people who keep checking in on the blog to see if I've written anything. And thanks to those of you who think I have something interesting to say on occasion.

I'm back. And this is my official declaration that the writing hiatus has ended.

on having the feels

Recently one of the clients I had at Nebraska AIDS Project was having an extremely bad couple of weeks and his visit to see me to get tested for HIV was just the icing on the cake. He wasn't a terribly happy client and he kept apologizing to me for his mood. After the third time he apologized for being a "rain cloud," I interrupted him and told him to stop.

Why do we feel the need to apologize for not being happy?

I am a highly emotional person and find myself often apologizing for the ups and downs of my emotions. It wasn't always like this. When I worked at Church Health Center (and other times I've worked with children), I frequently reminded the kiddos that it was okay to experience their emotions. It's okay to cry. It's okay to even be angry so long as they don't take out that anger on themselves or others. It's okay if they're not happy all the time. It's also okay if they are actually happy, but they definitely are not required to be.

At some point in childhood we learn that we need to get up when we fall down and that tears are not okay. We learn that we must hide our anger, sadness, disappointment, despair, panic, fear, and frustration from others and only work through those things behind closed doors. We learn that it's only acceptable to show "positive" emotions such as joy and hope around others.

I have to say that this isn't really the best coping mechanism for overall mental health and wellness generally...

This hiding of my emotions is so hard for me, but I've also had 20 years to practice the skill. There are very few times when I feel comfortable enough around people to be that vulnerable and truly express the roller coaster that is my daily emotional life. I'm pretty sure those around me who I do open up to probably are exhausted by trying to keep up with my current emotional status. But I also realize that being able to experience all of those emotions within a short period of time allows me to be a much more compassionate person.

I have found that I am much better at treating others with grace about their emotions. I told my client that there was no need to be happy for my sake and that he didn't need to apologize for being sad/mad/frustrated/scared. He was entitled to feel all of those things and whatever others he wanted. As soon as I said that, relief washed over him and he looked as though he was actually breathing for the first time during our interaction. There was no need to pretend to be okay anymore. I believe that when others truly embrace their emotions, it makes them much more powerful, but when I do, it seems like a weakness (let's be honest...this is because women are accused of being "hysterical" at the very first sight of any emotion other than happiness and I don't particularly want to be branded as hysterical). I'm truly grateful to the creators of "Inside Out" for normalizing emotions and starting a nationwide conversation about mental health. Sometimes I like to imagine that my own memories are colored yellow, blue, green, red, and purple (or some combination of those colors/emotions). Leave it to a children's movie to make adults get in touch with feeling all the feels.

I know that I will need the grace I extend to others for myself in the coming weeks as I continue saying goodbyes to my medical school friends and then again when I leave UNMC after graduation in August. I will need reminders that embracing emotions makes me a stronger human and better at my profession. So if you see me in the coming months and I tell you that "I'm fine/well/alright" please take a second to stop and ask me how I'm doing. Because I'll need your help to fully embrace all of the emotions I've got swirling about.

my friends didn't go to the chapel, but they did get married

Mer + me @ Megan & Matt's wedding

The past two weekends have been filled with many emotions (mostly love and happiness) at the weddings of four of my favorite people in the world. [To be clear, there were two weddings with two people involved in the marrying process at each one...that last sentence could otherwise be confusing...] It was also a time to start saying goodbyes to some of my closest friends over the past 4 years.

I am so incredibly excited for both Megan and Matt as well as Sydney and Tom. It truly was an honor and a joy to be able to be present to celebrate their nuptials and upcoming adventures as husbands and wives while moving to new places to start residency. I could only hope to someday be so lucky to find a partner who loves me as much as the love shared in those relationships.

Megan and I were in classes together since our first semester at Hastings College, although we didn't really become friends until much later. She was my roommate during some of the hardest months of my life and somehow put up with me during it (and still claims to be my friend after!). I still remember the first time she told me about Matt while we were at Hastings College. And after their first date. I was also there for the first two years of med school where they put up with me being sort of a third wheel at some family-like dinners when Matt would come to visit. Matt is an amazing partner to Megan and has been a wonderful friend and support to me since the first time we met.

Megan & Matt's ceremony

first dance 

HC alums + one current student 

Julie(a) & Chelsi + me

<3   

so excited for the two of you!

Jill + me @ Megan & Matt's wedding

my UNMC family @ Megan & Matt's wedding

Sydney and I met at lunch on the very first day of orientation week because we shared a M2 buddy. We were both clueless as to what we had gotten ourselves into and I specifically remember that we were both really concerned about what school supplies we needed to get--binders or notebooks? Laptops...? I'm pretty sure Tom has his eye on her from the very first time he saw her, but instead she (very loudly) insulted his (disgusting) mustache during Movember and perpetually denied any possibility of them dating. Somehow from there (with a LOT of patience from Tom), they eventually began dating [took you long enough to figure it out, Squid]. Sydney joined Megan and I for pre-exam sushi dates and was a fellow TA with me for SMDEP. This past year I was able to work with Tom with Decreasing the Donor Deficit, one of the groups I work with as the Service Learning graduate student. I know that Tom is also a great partner for Sydney, they compliment each other well and Tom frequently keeps Sydney (and the rest of us) laughing.

Syd & Tom's ceremony

first dance

Megan + me @ Sydney & Tom's wedding

Tom made this quote wall with quotations
Syd put in cards to him. The last one was
asking her to marry him! 

Waiting ever-so-patiently to get a photo with
the couple while they talk to (more)
important guests.

so excited for the two of you! <3

I'm eternally grateful that I didn't need to say all of my goodbyes at the weddings and that they were able to be predominantly happy memories, but I know that I will miss these friends so very much. I look forward to staying in your guest rooms when I come visit Salt Lake City and Chapel Hill! <3 Thanks for the many hours of laughter and your friendship. Congratulations on being old married people now!

P.S. I hope your honeymoons are the bomb diggity right now!

so I went for a walk...

This past weekend I went to a lovely wedding of some wonderful people (more on that in another blogpost) and needed to retrieve my car the following day. My roommate was otherwise occupied and it seemed ridiculous to pay for an Uber/cab when I was fully capable of walking to get it. I didn't have anything else to do and it was nice outside, so I headed out for the 1.5 hour trek...

Never in my life have I been more terrified for my safety than in that hour and a half (and truthfully, I've done some dumb/not-super-safe stuff in my life).

There were cars that slowed down to very obviously give me a once over. There were men yelling profane things out of their cars at me. There were men honking at me. There was even one man who slowed down, followed me for a bit, and then even parked his car in front of me to block my path. When I did not welcome his advances, he began yelling horrendous things at me. Not only was the slowing down, following me and blocking my path terrifying enough, his reaction to my lack of interest in him was just a more violent escalation of what already felt like a violent invasion of my space.

I'd like to say that this was an isolated incident. That it just happened that on Sunday the men in Omaha were especially rude.

But I know it's not.

Most women have their own version of this story. Most of us have many versions of this story. I learned how to hold keys in my hand in the attempt to protect myself from an attacker when I was in early high school for goodness sake. It's engrained in our culture as women. There are books (Everyday Sexism by Laura Bates), hashtags (#whenIwas), and Twitter accounts (@EverydaySexism) devoted to this topic <--those are just the ones I know off the top of my head. It's not isolated to the United States either; it's quite pervasive in many countries. We are told as women that it is our responsibility to keep the street harassers happy so that they don't hurt us--never mind our own safety or comfort in responding to those who put us in that situation in the first place. We are taught that it is our responsibility to not get raped.

Who is teaching the street harassers that it's their responsibility not to make people feel so uncomfortable, fearful and vulnerable? 

Not that any of this information should be pertinent, but for those of you whom I know are asking if this is somehow my fault...

• I did not walk through any "bad" neighborhoods of the city.
• I put bad in quotation marks because all too often "bad neighborhood" is a thinly-veiled euphemism for communities who are impoverished and/or are minority racial or ethnic groups. In this case, I was walking partially through a suburb and otherwise through gentrified areas--both of which are predominantly filled with white, middle class people. 
• I was not wearing revealing clothing.
• I had a sweatshirt and capri workout pants on. Pretty much the only skin showing were my calves and my face. My calves are pretty great, but not that great to attract the attention of drivers.
• I was not walking at night.
• It was the middle of the afternoon/early evening. Super sunny outside. A little too much wind for my taste.

Please do not patronize me by saying "well it's not all guys...blah, blah, blah." There were hundreds of cars passing me. Not. A. Single. Woman. driving past made me feel unsafe in any manner. No women slowed down and gave me the once over. No women yelled profane things out their windows. No women honked or threw anything at me. No women were offended when I politely declined their advances and none of them responded in a violent way either (by cursing at me, following me, or otherwise asserted their dominance). 

I'm so incredibly sick of the culture where this sort of behavior is tolerated and is supposed to be welcomed by women (comments such as: it's just a compliment, etc. further this notion). It might not be all men, but it's enough that even in 1.5 hours in a relatively small city, I was made to feel like a piece of meat to be oogled at. It might not be all men, but I also don't hear/see enough of you that claim it isn't you telling all the others to shut up and quit making women feel unsafe. If you aren't doing the street harassment and want claim that it isn't all men, actually do something to change the culture so that I believe you. I don't have any concrete suggestions for those of you men who want to help, but calling out other men who are doing these behaviors is certainly a good first step...

I should to be able to take a walk on a nice afternoon and not fear for my safety. Street harassment is not a compliment and I'm tired of pretending as though it is for fear of my safety if I politely ignore such comments. 

**I also want to note that certainly men are victims of violence and sexual assault at the hands of women or even other men. I'm not discounting that in any way. But street harassment is certainly not as pervasive for men as it is for women. 

Surprise 2.0

Two years ago I was able to surprise my Dad when he won an award for his volunteerism and last night I was able to do the same for my Mom! 

When I surprised my Dad, I wrote about how terrible I am at surprises. Turns out that in the past two years I have not gotten any better at not spoiling surprises. It was sort of a miracle that I succeeded yet again!

My Mom was honored last night at the YWCA's Tribute! to Women Award banquet. This is where women of all ages (15+) are thanked for their service in and with the community of Hastings.

I'm in the midst of my finals this week (and also on my way to Tulsa for an unrelated presentation), so my Mom was sure I was stuck in Omaha either finishing finals or preparing for my trip. I even sent her a few texts with questions on what she thought I should be packing for my trip to throw her off. But instead, I was already in Hastings preparing for the surprise!

(It should probably be noted here that I was in desperate need of a haircut and I trust my stylist from Hastings so I made an early afternoon appointment with her because I didn't have the time/energy to deal with getting it cut in Omaha in the middle of finals/preparing for the trip...I made sure to notify the whole staff of the salon that under no circumstances could they mention that I had an appointment to anyone because there are too many people in Hastings that know me and one of them would somehow inevitably ruin the surprise...so I'm getting my haircut and guess who calls to make an appointment for her very own haircut?!?! MY MOM. What in the world are the odds of that? Ridiculous. I'm convinced that somehow her weird Mom spidey senses kicked in and knew I was there. We all had a good laugh about it but thankfully my secret was still safe.)

The nominees in the "rockstar" category

After spending the rest of the afternoon in a coffee shop I know she doesn't frequent and taking very strange routes around the city I was sure she wouldn't be driving, I finally arrived at dinner with my Grandma. I talked to a few people whom I've known since college and high school and finally Mom came in. It turns out that I was somewhat shielded by the people I was talking to and so she didn't even notice me until she was basically at her seat.

SURPRISE SUCCESS!

Tears abounded (because that's what my Mom and I do). So much excitement. More conversation with the people around the room that I knew. And then there was food (salad, bread, glass noodles with steamed vegetables, and some sort of Kalhua ice cream for me). I was too busy eating it to take pictures of it though. Then the announcement of all of the honorees. I was impressed with the number of incredible women I knew sitting around that room. Many of those ladies have been my role models throughout life whether they realized it or not.

leave it to me to make a photo look ridiculous
photo cred: Sharon Brooks :) 

After we had all packed up and said our goodbyes after the ceremony, Mom and I were having a quiet moment at home and in her typical truest humble fashion she mentioned that she's honored for the recognition, but that she's sure someone else in the community deserved it more than her.

No Mom, this time we get to celebrate you and all that you do!

Hastings Noon Sertomans (minus me!)
(L-R) Marcie Kemnitz, Becky Matticks, Deb Sharrick & Jim Sharrick

(P.S. I just read her nomination and it's hilarious... My Mom is awesome. I'm so excited that I was there to be able to celebrate alongside you!)

(L-R) YWCA board member Marcie Kemnitz,
nominee Becky Matticks, and nominee Deb Sharrick

#UNCSW60

Last year I went to the United Nations Commission on the Status of Women with the ELCA Young Adult Cohort (you can read about my experiences here, here, here and here). If you want to learn even more, you can also read the ELCA Young Adult Cohort blog, which is a lot of people's reflections on their experiences at various years of CSWs. <---there's some powerful writing and observations in there. I highly suggest it as top notch blog reading material! 

I didn't go back for this year's CSW, but I have several friends who did (I also may possibly be Twitter stalking a few people that went that I didn't previously know, but I now have a bit of a cyber crush on...definitely a few people I want to be real-life friends with someday!). 

This year they made these incredible videos about their experiences as people of faith at CSW and in the world. They were edited/produced by Pastor Jason Chesnut out of Baltimore (The Slate Project...which works to re-imagine "church" in the 21st century by meeting online and in person). 

There's some good stuff in there. Altogether the videos are only 6.5 minutes, so you should definitely take the time to watch. I know for me it was a treat to watch the people I look up to make a difference in the world in their short time at CSW! I will admit to you all that I am incredibly proud to know these folks and be working alongside them in the world. 

Birthdays & Holiday celebrations abound!

The past month included so many celebrations, that I decided to include them all into one post. First up, Mom's birthday!

We spent the weekend exploring Omaha. The weather was a little rainy and cold, so we had to opt for indoor activities only (although I just recently got my zoo pass and I really want to use it!). First up was the Durham Museum. They had special exhibits on the early days of JFK's presidency and also Buffalo Bill Cody and the Wild West Show (no one should be all that surprised that this wasn't my favorite exhibit I've ever seen...). It's been several years since I've been to the Durham, so it was nice to be back. I even got Laura some note paper made from elephant poop! Clearly I'm the best gift giver in the history of gift giving...who wouldn't want elephant poop paper?

just waiting to board our train!

the dining car...you could get a whole meal for $2.00! 

no trip to the Durham is complete without a
trip to the soda counter!

Then we tried out the new Flagship Commons food area at Westroads Mall. Essentially it's a fancy food court with burgers, falafel, ramen, tacos, sushi, pizza, salads, a coffee shop, a bar, and more! We all tried something different, but I have to say that my ramen was seriously delicious. A few weeks later, Mom and I went back to try the sushi--it wasn't the best effort by Blue (Yum Roll), but it was still pretty good.

Yoshi-Ya Ramen: vegan ramen

Mom and I split up 10 lbs of strawberries from The Fruit Club and I made all the delicious things with them (plus ate about half of them plain). Strawberry vanilla scones, strawberry oatmeal cookies and chocolate covered strawberries.

Strawberry vanilla scones...I'll be making these again! They made my
apartment smell heavenly! 

chocolate covered strawberries...I shared exactly 1 of these with Kelsey :)

Next up was celebrating Taryn's 16th birthday (and Easter part 1)! I seriously CANNOT believe how old this one has magically become. I'm happy to have her back close to home and am excited she's doing well at D-T. She is one of the more incredible artists that I know and I love getting mail from her because I know it always includes a drawing. For her birthday gift, Grandma took a trip into Hot Topic and realized it wasn't quite her scene...which resulted in an email that I still giggle at! :) I hope it was the most sweet 16, T! 

Finally, Easter part 2 rolled around. The little red-headed munchkins made it down to hOmaha for a good time. J got into lots of trouble with Uncle Jim and spent most of the morning asking when he got to go on the Easter egg hunt. D was a boss at finding Easter eggs and also created some incredible sidewalk artwork with paint/chalk. We attempted to play frisbee, but it was too windy. Mostly we just ate way too much food.

I found my very own bunny!

We got matching suckers (like ring pops) with bunny faces.
Thanks Aunt Jayne for giving me the fun candy, so the fairy
godkiddos and I can be silly!

I am not nearly as good with sidewalk chalk markers as Danni is.
But John got a little artwork in there at the bottom too!