Strengths and Weaknesses

We were given this book to read through and take an assessment on at work a few months ago.  It was called Strength Finders 2.0 and had some interesting concepts.  Basically it talked about how a lot of people know their weaknesses and focus on working to change their weaknesses, but it may be better to work on and grow your strengths instead.

At first I was a little skeptical because I want to work on my weaknesses and feel like I can change things and accomplish something.  That being said…..once I took the assessment I may be changing my mind.  It wasn’t a test assessment as much as it gave you the top five strengths that you are (in the book’s opinion).  The book actually had quite a few strengths listed in it making it so each person’s assessment is unique….it is definitely interesting to take.  

So we received these certificates that listed our top five strengths and a definition of them.  The actual book goes more into detail with how to interact with each other and their strengths and some other good stuff I won’t give away.  What I have discovered once taking the assessment and going over my list of top five strengths is that I actually ENJOY these things that are listed as strengths as well.  

Maybe I wouldn’t have listed them as my strengths, in fact some of them I know that I can be gifted at but they can be scary so I tend to avoid them while knowing I could do well at them (maybe that is a confidence weakness).  So instead of working super hard on my weaknesses and getting frustrated and wanting to improve I have been trying to focus on my strengths and enjoying it.  This does not mean that I am ignoring my weaknesses completely, if anything hopefully deepening my confidence in the strengths I enjoy will not only reduce some of my weaknesses but I will learn how to figure out how I can be most effective in work, ministry, etc…  

Not that these are my only strengths or even that I’m super good at them or anything…. I think they play out in different ways but here are the top five strengths the assessment gave me and that I have been trying somewhat to focus on over the past little bit.

Belief:  We have certain core values that are unchanging. Out of these values emerges a defined purpose for our life.

Individualization: We are intrigued with the unique qualities of each person.  We have a gift for figuring out how people who are different can work together productively.  

Connectedness: We have faith in the links between all things.  We believe there are few coincidences and that almost every event has a reason.

Responsibility: We take psychological ownership of what we say we will do.  We are committed to stable values such as honesty and loyalty.

Developer: We recognize and cultivate the potential in others.  We spot the signs of each small improvement and derive satisfaction from these improvements.

So yeah…I’m not necessarily planning my life around these strengths or anything, but it has been interesting to approach things from a perspective of how fit into my weaknesses or strengths.

Chunky Bunny Socks

I received a really cute pair of Easter socks this year in a gift basket.  I do enjoy some good socks.  These socks were hot pink with a cute little bunny on them. Of course I decided to put them on as soon as I had the option to because they are amazing. When I pulled the socks onto my feet the cute little bunny picture on the socks expanded into a chunky godzilla bunny once on my ankle!!

I knew that I had a larger foot size than the average girl, but I never thought of my ankle being able to expand the pictures on the socks before!  It makes me wonder if my scottie dog socks are supposed to have smaller scottie pictures on them....or maybe my polka dot ones are supposed to be smaller dots!  In fact, I bet this is the reason I can never find small striped socks, the stripes probably expand on my huge feet! Just kidding, I don't think I have fat feet....but the bunny did instantly go from thin and petite bunny to chunky bunny once on my ankle.........

Church Services and Children

I have discovered that attending church services with children is quite the undertaking.  I think I have a new appreciation for couples with young children that attend church services.  Today I attended a Maundy Thursday church service while on vacation in Canada.  The service went well.  I got to hold Asher, my friend’s infant son throughout the service as they were both either helping in it or leading it.  Asher of course chose this opportune moment to pee through his outfit.  It didn’t get on me, except it presented the challenge of changing his diaper.  I do change diapers but he wears clothe diapers.  I love the idea of clothe diapers.  Cheaper in the long run but tons of work.  The newer cloth diapers are not just your old white cloths with safety pins that poke.  I’ve never seen so many snaps on a diaper, you could probably form it into any type of shape of clothing depending on how you snap them.

After figuring out constructing a diaper and changing his clothes I went back into the church sanctuary to sit with my friend who was now back at our seats.  Now that Asher was happy, my other toddler godson, Judah, was running around in the back row at church reorganizing all the hymnals in the pews.  He randomly came across a magazine in the back of the row which his aunt tossed over to me so I hid behind my back sandwiching it between me and the pew so that he couldn’t find it and start ripping it apart. 

So here I am sitting at church hiding a magazine by sitting in front of it leaning against the pew.  This was a perfect plan to keep my godson away from the magazine, and it did work.  Part of the service however included a communion service.  During the communion service we left our seats in order to take communion.  As I stood up to leave my seat the magazine fell down on the pew from behind my back, proudly displaying People’s latest addition of “The Hottest Country Men” with a very attractive picture of Keith Urban on the front.  I’m hoping that the usher I awkwardly locked eyes with once the magazine fell from behind my back didn’t notice it.  But how could you ignore a giant picture of Keith Urban being hidden in church? I look forward to kids and marriage someday....but don't know how they keep up with all of it.  I told my friend and their pastor later that I don't know how young families have energy to keep up with their kids.  They both agreed that once you have kids you just seem to find the energy and patience out of necessity...somewhat driven by guilt.  This is so true... probably in more areas of life than just parenting too.  So good to see my close friends and kids for a week though.  Enjoying Canada and looking forward to the beautiful road trip back through the Rockies to Olympia tomorrow.

Road Trips and Toe Lint

This week I made a road trip to Calgary, Alberta in Canada with my room mate to see some really close friends. It was about a 13 hour drive!  We headed out of our apartment by 5:30 with a car loaded of bags, presents and….cookies, pepperoni, water, coke, m&m’s, gushers, and puppy chow (an amazing mixture of peanut butter, chex mix, and powdered sugar).  We went through a coffee drive through to start the day out right and pulled out of town by 6:00.  We then proceeded to blast some music to sing along with, and had some good conversations for the first 5 hours of the drive.  After 5 hours our voices were a little soar for some reason.

So we listened to a few hours of a book on tape. I think my favorite part of the drive was once we crossed into Canada.  The road was curvy and had a beautiful river that was covered in ice along it with mountains everywhere.  And then we got further into the Rocky Mountains.  I don’t think I’ve seen anything quite as beautiful.  I had thought we would just drive through it like we would any mountain pass I’ve been through, but they just kept going and going, and getting prettier. Hopefully it will be nice on the way back and we can get out for a few minutes for a short hike and lunch or something.  On the way up we were so excited to see the kids that we basically only stopped twice for gas (thank you for good gas mileage!) and once for a brief fast food lunch.

After the Rocky Mountains the landscape basically turned into prairie lands, but with some hills mixed in. There was also snow in the fields, which gorgeous next to the tan prairie lands.

When we pulled into Calgary it was really easy to find our friend’s house, except every street in the area was named the same thing but different:  Prestwick Ave, Prestwick Acres, Prestwick Grove, Prestwick Lane, Prestwick Street, Prestwick Village….we stopped looking for the house by street names and went by house numbers while driving around in circles.

We arrived at the house in time to see the boys before they had to go to bed.  Judah was a little shy at first, but instantly warmed up with Katie chasing him around the apartment for tickles and hugs.  He was so excited to show us his new puppy and chattered a mile a minute….I’m sure he at least knew what he was saying.

We stayed up talking late into the night.  It was so good to make it into town and see them again.

In the morning when I came downstairs Judah came running up with outstretched arms to  be picked up.  I loved it….I like to think it was his way of saying good morning instead of really just wanting to be picked up so he could see Karen cooking the eggs in the kitchen.  We then proceeded to the living room where he cuddled in my lap and watched his favorite cartoon.  He then decided to pick lint out of his toes and hand it to me….how could you turn down a present like that?  We then sat down to a yummy breakfast of eggs and homemade cinnamon bread.  Karen is an amazing cook.

So I will try to keep everyone updated with the trip or write about it when I get back.  For now it’s off to see a little bit of the city and a coffee shop with them.  Looking forward to a week of toe lint gifts and relaxing times with friends!

Last April Fools Day Ever

Every now and then I meet my mom for lunch on my hour break.  I love these days, we discuss life, my church, her church, work....etc. My mom proceeds to ask me every time if I have met anyone.  I meet people, but she specifically means a man. I asked if she really thought I would not mention it to her if I had met a guy and she said yes!!  I promised her I don’t live a secret life and am not hiding men that are in my life from her and that I REALLY just know married people or dating couples.  Then to test the waters I asked her what she would think if I dated a 40 year old?  And then she started worrying that I had met a 40 year old man. My poor mother…..I definitely get my teasing from my dad. In all reality, my mom will know right away if I begin dating a guy, she’s a very important part of my life.

So having not really participated in April Fools Day for a while now; I decided to catch up and send out a text to some close friends and family that just nicely stated “I have a date tomorrow night!!!!”  I got a fun variety of responses and thought some of them were worth sharing:

“Who what where when why? We need to meet this guy first.  If he passes the exam you can proceed with the date”  (apparently Josh has a dating application for me that guys have to pass??)
“Finally”, 
“What!?!! With who!?”,
“Really?? Is this where I offend you by asking if that’s April Fools?  If not, yay!”
“WOOHOO. Who’s the lucky man?”
“At the risk of sounding like a HUGE jerk…april fools?  If not…DETAILS!!”
“Speechless J”  Oh Dad….
“Wooohooo go Annie go!!!”
“With a boy?”

My favorite response by far was my mom’s accumulation of texts:

“With who? How exciting, is he 40?" "Where did you meet? I hope you have fun." "Do you know where you are going? So What’s he like? Does he work? What’s the bio on him?”

I carried it on longer with her than anyone else and had to profusely apologize later.  She asked where he worked so I just threw out that he was a youth pastor in the area (sounded good!), and then asked what her thoughts were on a specific denomination.  Unfortunately the denomination I mentioned only has one church in the area…..so I received a text asking what his name was and saying that if he was the one on the website then he was cute!.... "Sure, that's him".... OOPS!  I then received a text from my dad saying that my mom had called twice to ask about this denomination’s theology, and I received a text from my older sister saying that my mom had called her and showed her the website with his picture. Backfired a little bit.

Honestly, I love my mom, and if a guy came into my life that I was interested in and dating she would be one of the first people to know.  She would also probably have to sit through a few phone conversations of me giving her his “bio” before anything ever really developed, because I would WANT to tell her about him.  I know she only asks because she loves me and is interested in my life.

I don’t think I’ll participate in April Fools Day anymore.....this one will probably have been my last...and now if I did have a real date I don't think she'd believe me.  :)

Some Poetry

A little something that my friend sent me tonight.  I came home to some friends over cooking some indian food at my apartment.  So good.  Anyways, we had some good conversations and one of my friends sent me this Youtube video when she got home.  I thought it was worth sharing. :)