Friendship Week: Real Life with...Stephanie

Hi Everybody!  If you're just joining us, it's Friendship Week here on Dinkin' Around.  Catch up on the first 3 installments here:

• Friendship Week
• What I Learned from my Mom
• Making Friends 101

Today is the Real Life with the Taylors episode for Friendship Week.  So basically, its Real Life with Stephanie.

Real life moment: these pictures have nothing to do with the blog post.  Also, I'm sorry they're out of focus.

Friendships can be hard.  Any really good friendship is werk.  But it is worth the hard work!  "The hard is what makes it great." (Jimmy Dugan in A League of Thier Own) 

Let's take some time to talk about some challenges we all may face when managing friendships.

Friendship Week: Making Friends 101

If you missed out earlier in the week, we're having friendship week here, on Dinkin' Around. You can catch up on the first two parts of the series here and here.  Welcome!

The first step in having healthy friendships, is to have friends.  Duh.  Sometimes making friends can be hard, though.  Sure, kindergarten was overwhelming, trying to figure out who to play with at recess, but by the time you graduate from college, you think you've got this down.  Making friends is so easy!  Why did I have so much trouble before?  And then you graduate and enter the dreaded Real World, and find that everything you learned about making friends in college is worthless, because college is not real life.  You don't live with a bunch of girls in the same stage of life.  You have a job and surviving to do, and maybe all of the "young adults" you know are married or --even worse-- have kids!  Then you maybe think you're starting to make a friend, but it's just not the same as your college friends.

You know what I'm talking about, right?  Or am I maybe just projecting my experiences on to you?

There are probably a million people more qualified than I am to tell you how to make friends.  But since I love giving unsolicited advice, I'm going to try to keep it to 10 tips on making friends.  Don't expect any insight on "vibes" or maybe even "chemistry."  My personality is definitely more Sheldon than Penny (actually, according to a "personality quiz" I just took, I'm Amy Farrah Fowler), so I don't usually pick up on vibes, and I'm really bad about sending them.  Most of these are going to be obvious.  All of them have worked for me at one time or another.

Friendship Week: What I Learned from my Mom

If you missed the announcement yesterday, we're having Friendship Week here on Dinkin' Around. Welcome!

Some people have told me that I make a good friend.  If this is indeed true, I need to give credit where credit is due:

1.)  Since I am saved by grace and occupied by the Holy Spirit, it is the fruits and gifting of the Spirit inside of me that enable me to be a good friend.  We know that when I display friendship, it is only God working through me, because left to my own devices, I would be living in a fort built with blankets and coloring and not talking to anyone.

2.)  My mamma raised me well.

Mom taught me lots (and lots and lots) of things, but friendship was a REALLY BIG DEAL to her, and it still is.  I'll try to hit the highlights for you.

Friendship Week!

Looking back on the last year and a half (ish), I see that one area in which I have really grown is friendships.  I have developed many new friendships, grown several that I already had, and learned a lot about what friendship is and can be.

I want to be clear that this has all been a gift from God, and not anything I have done.  Well, at least not initially.  God forced good people into my life that I can't avoid that have befriended me and taught me so much about friendship.  I am not a very good initiator (or at least I wasn't) so He gave me initiators-- friends who pursued me faithfully and didn't give up on me.  Please realize, I wasn't trying to avoid them, I am just a naturally shy person that tends to be unsure when it comes to new relationships.  Meeting new people is not an exciting thing for me.

I'm going to go out on a limb here and give a shout out to two friends in particular that have helped me.  Other friends: PLEASE know that you have helped me too, and you mean a lot to me.  The beauty of friends is each one brings something different to our lives, and these friends really helped me in the friendship department.

London Wills and Won'ts

As our travel date gets closer, and plans are beginning to firm up, I get more and more questions from my friends and family about our life in London.  In general, I have no idea what it will be like, but there are a few things I know with relative certainty.  I'll try to list it out for you.

In London, I WON'T:

• Be staying in a flat- we'll be in a hotel
• Be in London proper- we're staying in the suburbs, which will require a train ride then a ride on the Underground to get into the city. I just say we're going to London for the sake of simplicity. But we're close, and will be able to go into the city for dinner and such.
• Be alone.  Tim is working with a couple of teams to install the system.  Some guys will be around more than others.  It is my mission to make them all my friends.  Just kidding... but seriously.
• Have a refrigerator.  While many of the cheaper (but still nice) hotels in the US sometimes have a fridge in the room, there will be none of that in the standard room we are staying in.
• Have a microwave. (See above)
• Have free breakfast.  It's just not really a thing over there.
• Have free WI-FI.  Again... they just don't do that.
• Have a car.  Tim will ride a bus to work, and we will walk or take trains everywhere else.
• Have my hair straightened or curling iron (aaaagh!).  They won't work with the power voltage over there. But can't you just get a power adapter? It's not that simple... those don't work with everything.  So what I'm saying is... this is going to be quite the frizzy-haired adventure.
• Have anywhere to put our stuff.  These hotel rooms are small.  Not really a dresser to speak of, and the closet will be minimal as well.  I may be tempted to hang my clothes on the sprinkler, which is strictly forbidden in the States, so probably punishable by death in the UK, since their safety standards are much more strict than ours.

Many people have asked why we don't get to stay in a flat. This was in consideration, but in the UK, there is apparently some law that a lease must be at least 6 months long, so if Tim's company only needs it for 3... not much cost savings there.  "But they should give you a suite or a bigger room.". We're staying for the whole install because Tim volunteered to stay the whole time.  He did that (partly) because I am coming, which was our choice.  I don't expect his company to shell out extra money just because I wanted to tag along.

However, during our time over there I WILL:

• Need to figure out our laundry. Usually a hotel will do your laundry for you, for a hefty fee.  Tim's company will cover this cost for him, but not for me.  I'll probably have to lug my laundry to a Laundromat or laundry service.
• Have an electric tea kettle. Probably.  So I need to figure out foods that I can cook just by boiling water, and that don't require refrigeration.  Luckily, I have a lose definition of what needs to be refrigerated :). I'm also kicking around the idea of buying a toaster over there because (seriously)... toast can make all the difference sometimes.  Maybe even a toaster oven!
• Have a hair-dryer.  I'll be sailing in relatively uncharted styling waters here... don't expect to see a lot of pictures of me :)
• Eat meals "at home.". Because I can't afford to eat out every meal in the most expensive city in the world!
• Have cell phones with data plans!  But we can't call or text you... because we'll be on a network over there.  But we will have (unlimited!) access to the interwebz at all times, so we are easily reachable through email, Facebook and Skype.  Just remember that we're about 6 hours ahead of you, so 7 in the evening for you is 1 in the morning for us.  Tim was getting my smart phone set up to go, and he asked me if I wanted Twitter.  What?! I'd never really considered it before.  I could constantly post my random thoughts for people to follow?  I'm not sure the World's prepared to handle that kind of brain barf... we'll see. (NOTE: I do not have a smart phone/ data plan now.  Plans over there are way cheaper, and Tim has an extra phone, which is why I will have it over there.).
• Be taking a class.  Like the one that started last week and I started with an F.  Don't worry! The professor let me make up the assignment!
• Be blogging a lot!  I'm hoping for 5 days a week, but since I'm currently struggling to do 3 days a week... we'll see how it goes.
• Be THAT American.  I'll try to blend in (although I won't try to fake an accent).  I just tend to be obnoxious even in the States, so I don't have much hope in another culture.
• Live the dream.  Not everyone gets to go someplace cool for a long period of time.  It will also be a wonderful break from life as we know it.

I'll close by saying how grateful I am to have this opportunity.  The Lord has made the way for this to happen, and it is such a blessing.  When I start to get anxious about preparations, He steps in and takes care of major things for me, reassuring me He's still there and He's the one behind all of this.  I have seen Him work already, and I look forward to seeing what He has planned for us in Great Britain.

Photos from Tim's trip to London in November.

Link-tastic

I'm taking an online class this semester (maybe it is mostly so I can start getting student discounts).  This is the first class I've taken at the community college, and my adviser was kind of new to advising soooo...I got registered for the wrong class.  Not to worry!  Big Time Timmy Jim realized it before it was too late, and I was able to straighten things out.  I'm guessing its a combination of a lot of things (especially that I registered for the class at the last minute) but I had NO IDEA how to access the course until yesterday.  Aaaaand the class started a week ago.  And I missed an assignment.  It was only 10 points, but technically I have an F right now. All because I didn't have the right link. We're off to a great start!

I'm sure it will all work out in the end, but I would hate for this to happen to any of you.  So, I'm going to share some links with you that you don't need at all.  But, they're kind of fun.

Real Life with the Taylors: Kitchen Cabinet Update

Hi Kids!  I hope everyone had a good weekend.  I spent mucho time with friends, which is always lovely.  We also made great strides in our kitchen cabinet makeover. In fact, let's take a moment for another episode of Real Life with the Taylor's.

The cabinets got painted months ago, and then in one very tense evening before Bunco, I tried to hang the cabinet doors by myself.  This method is not recommended.  Thankfully, Autumn came to my rescue and we got 'er done.  But they've been sitting without knobs and pulls for about two months now.  Until Sunday night, that is.

Pinky and the Brain

I'm going to be honest with you... at this stage in the game, I really thought I would have a blog post for you on "tips for beating the winter blues."  I mean, I quit my job, the holidays are over, and it's January.  In the past, January alone was enough to get me down.  Add to that the fact that Tim and I are sharing a car, which should leave me "isolated" and you have a recipe for a seasonal affective disaster.  Right?

I though I would be telling you about how I'm being intentional about spending time with friends so I don't isolate, eating citrus fruit because it's good for you and the smells are supposed to be energizing and boost mood, how I try to get outside and get some sunshine every day, and how I am burying myself in God's Word for a steady dose of Truth.

The reality is, I don't feel depressed at all!  I'm not being "intentional" about spending time with my friends, I'm just letting it happen.  When they ask me to do something, I say "yes." I'm not isolated, because some days I take Tim to work so I can have the car, and when I don't, my friends come over here.  I am eating citrus, because it's delicious (and I can almost feel the vitamins entering my body).  And of course I'm spending time in God's Word, because I always do.  It's just nice that life has slowed down a little to help me hear what God's saying.

What I am saying is... thank you, Lord!  I was so worried about taking care of myself, but I learned that if I just back of and let Him, HE will take care of me.

So, since I don't have that blog post to write, I was going to have an awesome post for you about a miracle stain-removing potion for your laundry.  I spent some time yesterday taking pictures, spraying, and washing.  And...it turned out to not be such a miracle.  So no post there, either.

Guess what that leaves us with?  You guessed it-- The Dogburts!

Stream of Consciousness

I've been trying to spend my season of free-time (Mindy yells at me when I say "unemployment") to spend lots of time with friends before we leave for 7-14 weeks.

It has been wonderful.  I don't know how I ever had time to work before!  Steve and Amy and the kids came over on Saturday.  Their kids love Tim.  When they see me, they're like "Oh, hi Stephanie.  Where's Tim?"

Egg Curry with Blessy

A couple of months ago, Tim was in London for a week on a site visit.    Autumn was "babysitting" me, and Blessy's husband, Tony, was in Germany. Blessy has been wanting to learn how to make bread, and I have been wanting to learn how to make egg curry.  So the 3 of us teamed up with Yohan and made a ridiculously delicious meal.  

So now--two months later-- I am sharing egg curry with you.  At least the best that I can remember.  Let's get started, shall we?

Top 10 Favorite Posts

As last year concludes and this year begins, I am noticing a lot of bloggers summarizing their favorite posts from 2013.  I considered doing this, but I realized I gained several new readers this year, and they missed out on some of the fun of the early days.  So, I dug through my memory and decided to share my 10 of my favorite posts that I have written in the life of this blog.

I don't know that these are my 10 best posts, and certainly not the 10 most popular.  They are just some of my favorites, for various reasons.

The results my surprise you...

Here we go, in order from oldest to newest.

2014 Goals

Well kids, this is my third day at home by myself without having to go to work. Here's a quick run-down of how my home alone days have been.

Day 1:  This was rough.  I didn't know what to do with myself.  So I ran a million errands, visited a friend, and looked for a job.  Also, I went to Zumba.  Zumba was the right choice.

Day 2: So much better. So much more settled.  I got a lot done, and didn't get very much done all at once and in the same day.  I also started watching season 1 of Call the Midwife, which may have influenced the "didn't get very much done" part of my day, but it also reminded me of why I quit my job!  To go to London and be a nurse (because its about nurses in London, so... win/win).  It was horrifying and inspiring and beautiful and terrifying.  Just as life is/should be.

Day 3: So far, its mostly been cold.  Writing this may or not be the first productive thing I've done all day.  Ok, let's be honest... it's not.  I also made pancakes.  And a fire. These two activities were totally unrelated...the fire was intentional and in the fireplace.