"Illuminations"

Josh Groban recently released a new CD called Illuminations. I'm a fan of Josh Groban and I think he has a great voice. There are several songs on this CD that I really like. Here are my four favorites:

1. Hidden Away
2. Higher Window
3. Straight to You:
4. Galileo (Someone Like You)

This CD is worth checking out if you like Josh Groban, or good music in general. Just my two cents!

Dream jobs

Ever since I was a little girl I always knew I wanted to grow up, get married, have a bunch of kids and be a stay-at-home mom. I don't think there would be anything better than being a mother. However, now that I'm paralyzed from the neck down, this dream doesn't really seem to apply to my life anymore. This was extremely painful at first since it was my dream, but I've gotten over it and although it's disappointing, it's okay now.

Here are three other jobs that I contemplated when I was younger:

1. Meteorologist: when I was in elementary school I really wanted to be a meteorologist when I grew up because I found things pertaining to weather really fascinating.

2. Photographer: when I was in high school I took a photography class and I loved it! It was so fun learning how to develop film and to work in the darkroom. I decided that I wanted to be a photographer when I grew up, and although this was, and still is a dream of mine. I decided I needed to be more realistic about what I wanted to study in college. I knew I ultimately wanted to be a mom when I grew up, so I decided to put my dream of being a professional photographer aside, and settled on being an amateur since I knew I'd eventually have my own kids to practice on.

3. Hairstylist: I've always loved hair and makeup and think it would be great to be able to know how to do professional makeup, cut and color hair, style hair, do up-dos and braid in elaborate/fancy ways. Braiding tutorials on YouTube very popular right now and I love watching them, even though I'm not able to use my hands.

4. Nurse: after my first year in college I decided I wanted to be a nurse. It wasn't something I'd ever considered before, but after I decided to become a nurse, my mind was made up and I never looked back. I was so excited about becoming a nurse and I looked forward to being able to care for others. I still knew I wanted to be a mom, but I planned on working as a nurse until I had kids, and I knew it would be a practical degree to have just in case I ever needed to go back into the work field.

Now that I'm disabled none of these professions apply to my life, so I've had to regroup and form a new dream. I've decided that what I want to be most of all really isn't a new dream at all. My dream is to be somebody's wife. That's something I could still be and do a really good job. I know our marriage and life wouldn't be like everyone else's, but what I have to offer is an abundance of love and joy and happiness. There are so many people who are unhappy in their marriages, even though they seem to have "everything." My accident has given me a perspective on life where I have the ability to put the cares of the world on the back burner so I'm free to love purely and without the distractions that make some people unhappy.

Miracles

Jesus performing miracles anciently

At the beginning of the year I started reading the New Testament since that is what we are studying in Sunday School in my church this year. I've enjoyed reading about the life of Christ, and I especially enjoy reading about all of the miracles that are recorded in the scriptures. Now that I am lame as it is described back then, I often wonder what it would be like to be one of those people who came face to face with Jesus and was healed by Him. It would be awesome to witness, but a completely other thing to actually be the one to experience being healed at the hands of Jesus.

A lot of people think that miracles only happened in ancient times, and that they have ceased to exist. Although it's true that miracles don't happen the way they used to, where Jesus is physically laying his hands on people healing them or telling them to, "take up thy bed and walk," miracles still happen today. I know that miracles have happened in my life since it's a miracle that I am alive after surviving an accident where I probably should've died.

I think this quote is really true. Small miracles happen in our lives every day. Many of them are so small that we often overlook them and don't even realize when these little miracles happen. Things as simple as being blessed with protection as we go about our daily lives can be classified as a miracle, as well as when things work out in a coincidental way.

So although miracles happen differently than they did 2000 years ago, they still exist! Never forget that miracles happen!

Train wrecks and redemption

We've all heard people say, "It's like a car wreck/train wreck – you don't want to look, but you just have to." That's the way I feel about a lot of celebrities who go through rough times. Their lives are so public that everything they do, good and bad, is there for everyone to see.

The latest train wreck is Charlie Sheen. Can we say ridiculous?! This 45-year-old father of five is out of control, in my humble opinion! Every time he opens his mouth he just makes himself seem more and more crazy!

But Charlie is not to be outshined by other notable celebrities of recent days, like:

Lindsay Lohan. When is this poor girl going to learn?! Just when you think things are going better for her, she pops up in the media again and has done something else stupid like driving while intoxicated, breaking parole, not showing up for court or most recently, stealing a necklace. She used to be cute! What happened?!

Mel Gibson. In the 90s he seemed like such an on the ball guy. He had a great professional career, and he also seemed to have it together in his personal life, too. He'd been married to his wife for a long time and they had seven children together. In 2009 Mel Gibson and his wife divorced after 28 years of marriage. I don't think any of us will soon forget his rants that were played over and over on television where he used the most vile language and said the worst things about his girlfriend, among other things. Talk about embarrassing!

Christina Aguilera. She's had her ups and downs, but she was in the news last month when she botched the national anthem at the Super Bowl, and this past Monday night she was arrested for public intoxication. Is she the next star to be headed for a downward spiral?

Britney Spears. Who can forget when she shaved her head?! She seems to be doing a little bit better these days; at least she hasn't been in the news for anything heinous recently. Only time will tell if she's really learned her lesson or not.

I don't want to paint the picture that just because you're in a rough patch in your life that all hope is lost. Redemption is possible! Take a look at Robert Downey Jr.:

We know him as Iron Man and Sherlock Holmes, but it wasn't too long ago that we knew him as this, the party boy who was addicted to drugs and spent time in jail:

Robert Downey Jr. has now been clean and sober since July of 2003, and I hope he can keep this up because I've had a soft spot in my heart for him ever since he was in the movie Heart and Souls in 1993. Does anyone else remember that movie?

The point is, redemption IS possible, but it's really hard to climb out of a hole once you fall in.

March :(

Today is March 1. I'm sure most people are happy when March arrives, but I'm not! I absolutely hate the month of March! Here are a few reasons why:

First of all, although the first two thirds of March are still technically winter, the weather is warming up just letting everyone know that spring is around the corner. (Did I mention that I also hate spring, or at least the first half or so of it?) At the risk of making myself sound like a Negative Nancy, I'll stop saying "hate" and replace it with dislike!

I really dislike the transition between winter and spring. Although I don't like being cold, I love winter. It's my favorite season, so I get sad when it's over because I know it's going to be another nine months before cold weather, Christmas and the possibility of snow come around again.

I don't like temperatures in the 40s and 50s. The air feels balmy and it's too cold to be warm, and too warm to be cold. Once the end of April rolls around I'm usually okay because the temperatures are warm enough that I can sit outside and bask in the sun. (I think there's a good chance I'm partially cold-blooded because, like lizards, I love to sit outside and sun myself.) I spend so much of my life in the fall, winter and early spring months like this, cold and covered up to my eyes:

and I long for warmer days when I can go out and soak up the sun, like this:

Another reason I don't like the month of March is because I went through a bad breakup with a boyfriend in March. I was cheated on, lied to and treated horribly. The weather in March reminds me of the feelings I felt and how awful that time in my life was.

I have to say that I AM glad that I live in a part of the country (Missouri) that experiences all four seasons, though. I wouldn't like it near as much if I lived in a place that was always one extreme or the other.