RT Retreat.

This post is a little late, but I recently got these pictures back from a friend at work and had to share. When I was 30 weeks pregnant, the recreation therapy (RT) department at work had a little retreat. We floated the Provo River, zip-lined through Provo Canyon, and ate dinner together at one of my favorite places, Brick Oven. I loved every minute of spending time with these folks in such a gorgeous setting (And don't you worry. . . I wore a full-body harness while zip-linging to alleviate the pressure on my belly. There was minimal to no risk for me or baby!) 

Half the department is pregnant!

All of us together.

Ready for adventure!

On the zip-line. What a rush!

Love that glorious sunshine.

In case you didn't know, I work full-time as a recreational therapist at an adolescent residential treatment center. I love what I do and, as you can imagine, I'm a pretty big believer in the healing power of wholesome recreation and leisure.  I feel so lucky and grateful that my smooth, healthy pregnancy has allowed me to continue doing all the active things I'm used to and love doing. I had no hesitations being involved in this retreat or any of the other adventure outings we provided for the residents at work this summer. At 23 weeks pregnant, I spent the night in Moab with a group of boys and took them hiking and river rafting (those rapids were a joke!) At 31 weeks, we went canoeing. And most recently, at 35 weeks, I camped overnight and hiked with the boys to a landing up Big Cottonwood Canyon to supervise outdoor rock climbing. Gosh, I just love seeing teenagers experience new and rewarding things and can't imagine a job quite as rewarding as the one I've got :)

Richly blessed.

Tonight, I went out for dessert with Jada and Mari (and their husbands) for Jada's 25th birthday. They are my co-workers and I am incredibly grateful to work with and beside them. But the truth is, they are much more than that. They have seen me at my most vulnerable. I have cried, laughed, played, worked, crafted, and learned with them. They have supported me as I've tried to find my way as a staff in health care services. They have taught me how to be assertive, direct, and consistent. They have shown me how to be authentic, compassionate, and non-judgmental. They have listened to me talk out my issues and offered advice when I needed it. They have encouraged me to take control of my physical health and challenged me when I've wanted to give up. They know all about me and my life right now. They are some of my closest friends. I will forever be grateful for the time I've spent at New Haven and the things I've learned, but I am especially thankful for the relationship I've built over the last year with these two.

Thank you for loving me and making sure I know it. Thank you for supporting me in my growth as a staff. Thank you for reaching out to me on our days off. Thank you for challenging me to take care of myself and my body. Thank you for making me laugh every time I'm with you. But mostly, thank you for being my friends. I am richly blessed to know you!

Happy Birthday, Jada! I am so ridiculously glad you were born .

Dollar skate night.

I usually work on Thursday nights at New Haven, but yesterday I took the night off to go Christmas caroling with the eight to eleven-year old girls from church (I just got a new calling, or assignment, to serve as a leader for activity days!) After we were done singing and dropping off goodie plates, I hurried home so JD and I could go skating at the Classic Fun Center in Orem. I knew Thursdays were dollar skate night because I'm the rec night coordinator at work and have looked up tons of information about fun, inexpensive things to do in Utah County on Thursday nights. It's a rare occasion for BOTH of us to have Thursdays off so we jumped on the chance for some good, old-fashioned fun! 

It was all fun and games until my skates failed me and I took a hard fall on my tailbone. I could hardly move and had to use all my willpower to avoid tears. JD helped me take off my skates and I limped out, trying to hold my head high. Ha! My tailbone is still aching majorly today, but I would do it again anyway. Can't beat four bucks for date night!

Pumpkins, vegetables, boots, candy, cars, and more.

Lately, we've been busy bees.  I took my girls on a hayride to a pumpkin patch. We've discovered the magic of a food co-op and love having fresh fruits and veggies from our Bountiful Basket. 

JD traded one of his snowboards for a fancy-shmancy-remote-control-gas-powered toy car. He loves working on the little engine in all the free time he doesn't really have.

Since October is his birthday month and we're going to Texas soon, we decided it was about time he got a pair of cowboy boots! When he wears them, my little country girl heart pitter patters a little faster. I love a man in boots :) Naturally, he insisted we go country dancing so he could "test them out." We haven't been in ages and don't rememer a lot of the steps, but it was still a fun date night.

We also went to  Blickenstaff's, a huge toy and candy store, for the first time. It was such a fun environment, but the candy was a bit overpriced. Luckily, we got a free pumpkin with our purchase! There's no such thing as too many pumpkins in my book. We picked a bunch from my in-laws' neighborhood garden and they're all crowded together on our front steps. I'm planning on painting and decorating them soon, but I've been too busy lately on other projects.

I finally got to go to Color Me Mine for shift bonding with my co-workers. I could seriously paint pottery every week if it wasn't such a big blow to my budget.

Also, JD's been grilling our food whenever he can. Corn on the cob, shishkabobs, chicken, you name it. . . so yummy.

I'm loving this fall-time season. Seriously, what's not to like about fresh veggies, a cool breeze, college football, and changing colors? Life is good.

Ps. We're leaving for Texas in four days! Stoked.

"You're saving me."

At work, we have community meetings in the evenings where the girls report on their daily goals and can do emotional "check-ins" if they want to. Staff are encouraged to participate. Last week, I checked in with the girls about how I was feeling in anticipation of my birthday. Essentially, I rambled on about how sometimes I don't feel like I'm living up to my potential and how I feel like my life is passing too quickly and I'm not doing all that I can to live my best life. I talked about how I don't always feel like I'm making a difference to anyone and I struggle with feeling like I'm not doing enough good in the world. At the end of my rant, one of the girls said, "You may not be stopping wars in Mongolia (?), but everytime you work, you're saving me."

Gosh, I love my job. I love the company. I love my co-workers. I love the girls. And sometimes it's really long and tiring, but everyday it's worth it.

(This is my shift. Favorite people ever.)

Only Happiness?

Sometimes I feel like posting without pictures is lame, but today all I have is words. I started reading a book this evening my mother-in-law gave to me months ago called Aspire: Discovering Your Purpose Through the Power of Words. It's moving and powerful and has already got me thinking about how much influence words have. I'm feeling overwhelmed by the idea of being a licensed therapist in just a weeks' time and needing to know all the right words to say at all the right times. I'm also worried (because I'm a talker and sometimes say too many words) that I won't allow patients the opportunity to find their own words and be able to process through hard things. Sometimes I want happiness so badly for the girls I work with (and for myself) that I push away sadness and pain and hurt and anger and fear. While helping my husband write his research paper on motivation tonight, I ran across this quote from a book I read in one of my recreation classes:

When people want only happiness, they can actually undermine their own development because their quest for happiness can lead them to suppress other aspects of their experience. Wanting to be happy can lead people to avoid it (i.e.suppress) sadness when a loved one dies, or to avoid fear in the face of peril. The true meaning of being alive is not just to feel happy, but to experience the full range of human emotions.

-Edward L. Deci, Why We Do What We Do: Understaninding Self-Motivation

I remember reading this a few years ago and feeling touched by the sentiment. Tonight, again, it spoke to me. Even though being stressed, anxious, or sad isn't always wonderful, I am grateful for the opportunity to live. To experience. To understand.

Thank goodness Heavenly Father knows we wouldn't learn happiness just by being happy. I'm so glad He's in control, and not me.

Happy day!

Yesterday was such a happy day. I was offered an internship starting in January at New Haven, a residential treatment center and boarding school for teenage girls. I am super excited about working with the rec therapist there and feel really good about the things I'll learn and the experiences I'll have. I'll be busy and stressed and pushed to my limits, but it will be so awesome! I am thrilled to say the least. To celebrate, JD and I went to Cafe Rio. How can it not be a good day when you have a pork barbacoa salad for dinner?!

(On the down side... JD has a burnt, swollen lip. He went fishing all day on Friday and didn't wear any chapstick with SPF on his lips. They were really red when he came home and they eventually blistered over. He hasn't been able to eat very well and the pain is bad enough to keep him up at night. He is constantly running cold water over his lips and loading them with vaseline. It's so sad! I haven't kissed him in like 5 days because it hurts too much! Bah.)