Day 6: person I'd like to trad places with for a day

Day 6: Who would I like to trade places with for a day?

This was a really hard one... but then I realized the life that I'd love to pursue as my hobby: neuroscience. Brain mapping. And this woman is the key.

Click to read how awesome she is

oday, Shatz leads a department with 200 people, including 14 full professors, that is awarded about $7 million in grants each year. Her own laboratory has a staff of 18, including six postdocs in physiology and molecular biology. She was instrumental in the creation of the Harvard Center for Neurodegeneration and Repair (CNR) and leads one of its core activities—the HMS center for brain imaging. (The CNR combines the talents of researchers on the HMS Quad with those of physicians and scientists at six of Harvard’s hospital and research affiliates. Launched in early 2001 with a $37.5-million, private, seed-money grant, the center is establishing five core components that will make specialized technologies and training available to all Harvard brain researchers. In addition to Shatz’s imaging center, other cores will provide sophisticated information management, molecular diagnosis of neurodegenerative diseases, automated chemical screening, and translational research—an essential service for helping scientists move basic discoveries into product development. 

Day 5: Photo of favorite memory

 Day 5: A picture of your favorite memory. 

Day 4

Day 4: A picture of my night.

Last night I went put put golfing with our friends Zach and Kristyn :) It was super fun. This place is called Putting Edge- and it's cosmic put put- all blacklights and neon crazyness. Awesome.

Day 3

Day 3: photo of your favorite cast.

This was really hard- I don't watch a lot of tv. But, I did really like Dollhouse when it was on... 

Day 2

Day 2: A picture of you and the person you have been close with for the longest.


My friend Sara Davenport, known her since 5th grade, but good friends since 9th. The mother of my goddaughter- I haven't seen her in way too long :( 

30 days

Day 1:

Fireweed blooming in the background: Homer Alaska- my real hometown. 

1- I'm from Alaska, and have had a hard time adjusting to calling anywhere else home. There's no place that I miss more.
2-I'm a Christian, and believe that every day's goal is to die to self and become more like my Savior, Jesus Christ.
3- For the first time in my life, I'm not in a rigorous academic environment, and have found that I still have a deep passion for learning.
4-I majored in Psychology, and have a deep love for discussing both neurobiology as well as social psych theories and practices.
5-I love to drive: I've driven many long roadtrips. The longest and stupidest so far was 1200 miles in one straight drive alone. The longest one was from Alaska-Canada-Colorado-Michigan.  There was a time span of about 5 or 6 days that I didn't shower or change clothes and just slept in my car. It was fantastic.
6-I've had both "cushy" and manual labor jobs: selling high priced jewelry, hosting million dollar honors at my college, ditch digging and placing water pipeline in 100 degree heat. I learned a lot from both types.
7- May of 2010 was a crazy month for me: I took finals, graduated from one of the most difficult colleges in the country, got married, took a road trip honeymoon and moved to Chicago all in a matter of two weeks.
8-I don't have a lot of people that I've known for a very long time because I've moved a lot- my only true roots are to my faith and to my state.
9- I really hate wearing socks. And shoes. But especially socks.
10- I'm really lousy at beauty-related things: I don't even know how to blowdry my hair. I don't even own a blowdryer. This is more related to my laziness than anything else.
11-Most people think I'm much older than I am: I had to grow up fast. For this reason, I have a lot of child still within me- and I plan on keeping it that way.
12- I love to read books of just about any kind. But I cannot seem to borrow library books and not get a fine. This record has not been broken in the past 7 years.
13-I have PCOS: Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome. (more about that on my health blog here) Between all the family drama that has happened the past 8 months, I haven't had a whole lot of time to deal with it.
14- I have a goddaughter named Brylie, whose mom is getting married soon in Virginia.
15-I really like to do 'housewifey' things like make beaded jewelry, earings, scrapbook, cook, organize. I never thought that I would say that about myself, but life is a constant journey of discovery.

Day 01 - A picture of yourself with fifteen facts.
Day 02 - A picture of you and the person you have been close with for the longest.
Day 03 - A picture of the cast from your favorite show.
Day 04 - A picture of your night.
Day 05 - A picture of your favorite memory.
Day 06 - A picture of a person you'd love to trade places with for a day.
Day 07 - A picture of your most treasured item.
Day 08 - A picture that makes you laugh.
Day 09 - A picture of the person who has gotten you through the most.
Day 10 - A picture of the person you do the most messed up things with.
Day 11 - A picture of something you hate.
Day 12 - A picture of something you love.
Day 13 - A picture of your favorite band or artist.
Day 14 - A picture of someone you could never imagine your life without.
Day 15 - A picture of something you want to do before you die.
Day 16 - A picture of someone who inspires you.
Day 17 - A picture of something that has made a huge impact on your life recently.
Day 18 - A picture of your biggest insecurity.
Day 19 - A picture of you when you were little.
Day 20 - A picture of somewhere you'd love to travel.
Day 21 - A picture of something you wish you could forget.
Day 22 - A picture of something you wish you were better at.
Day 23 - A picture of your favorite book.
Day 24 - A picture of something you wish you could change.
Day 25 - A picture of your day.
Day 26 - A picture of something that means a lot to you.
Day 27 - A picture of yourself and a family member.
Day 28 - A picture of something you're afraid of.
Day 29 - A picture that can always make you smile.
Day 30 - A picture of someone you miss

Reading Plans.

Hello friends. This post is solely dedicated to my reading goals. Last August I made a facebook status inviting my friends to suggest things to read to me. That's actually my favorite use for facebook: I treat it more like data collection than a valid means of communication between people. I have almost 1600 friends, so taking polls is actually both really interesting and often helpful. (especially noting that I have a lot in common with many of my friends).  So- thank you to everyone!

That being said: Here's my proposed list. I have no time table on it as of now, given that in my circumstance I actually like to read, so if I have the book I'll naturally go from there. 

First: before any other goals, I want to do the daily Read- the Bible in 2011. My church here, which is incredibly awesome, Harvest Bible Chapel, has a fairly standard reading plan. The chance to do this everyday with my husband, as well as many other believers is one I'm not going to pass up. So far it's been day 8, and I'm well on track. 

Pastor James began our series "Get Healthy" with the verse in Deuteronomy, where Israel is commanded to love God with all their heart, soul, mind and strength. It was eye opening to me, because as Piper said-  If any of our means of loving God is decreased, our love for God is diminished. (paraphrase kinda...) THe point being that we need to be healthy: with our will, our emotions, our intellect, and our physical bodies. If any of these areas are not surrendered, and not growing, then we cannot love God as fully as we should. 

So my reading list is diverse: it's best to learn about all different kinds of things. And so I have a bunch of different kinds of reading material. 

As always, please, please, please- add suggestions. 

Biographies:

In the Sanctuary of Outcasts: Neil White

Brother Andrew

Hudson Taylor

The Hiding Place

Dietrich Bonhoiffer

Julia Child: my life in france

Hitler

Freud: A Life For Our Time Peter Gay

The Nazi Officer’s Wife Edith Hahn Beer & Susan Dworkin

Fiction

David Sedaris - Dress Your Family in Corduroy and Denim

Neil Gaiman - Smoke and Mirrors

Two Rivers by T. Greenwood 

the pillars of the earth by ken follett

CS Lewis: Perelandra

CS Lewis: Great Divorce

CS Lewis: Til we have faces

CS Lewis: Screwtape Letters

CS Lewis: Chronicles of Narnia

Dostoevsky: Crime and Punishment

Dostoevsky: brothers K

Dostoevsky: notes from the underground

Percy Jackson Series: Rick Riordan

Good Omens: Neil Gaiman and Terry Pratchet

Letters from Earth: Mark Twain

Enders Game

1984

Brave New World

Lord of the Flies

Atlas Shrugged

Hitchhikers Guide 

A Canticle for Leibowitz

Non-Fiction

Standing Naked in the Shower by Nathan Bryce

CS Lewis: Mere Christianity

CS Lewis: the four loves

CS Lewis: the problem of pain

CS Lewis: a grief observed

CS Lewis: surprised by Joy

Darwin: Voyage of the Beagle

Malcolm Gladwell: The tipping point

Lewis: abolition of Man

Ravi: Jesus Among Other Gods

Ravi: Has Christianity Failed You?

Ravi: The End of Reason

Ravi: From Oprah to Chopra

Defining Right and Wrong in Brain Science: Essential Readings in Neuroethics (Dana Foundation Series on Neuroethics)

Moral Minds: Marc Hauser

Poetry

Elliot: The Four Quartets

Elliot: Choruses from the Rock

2011

2010 was a super awesome year for a lot of reasons :) I got married, I graduated college, moved away from Michigan, got to take two super awesome roadtrips, one with my friend Victoria last January and one with my husband as our honeymoon. I've grown in old relationships, formed new ones, joined a fantastic church and have seen God's plan directly unfold in many areas of our lives. That's jaw dropping.

Marine core issued K-bar: best wit Jiffy Peanut Butter in a Camry.
That's dedication. We later slept in my car in 9 degrees in the back of a
truck stop somewhere by the border of Oklahoma. 

2010 had lots of valleys as well. Both my own parents and my in-laws marriages quickly unraveled and are now in divorce proceedings. My friend Daniel Parker was killed in a tragic biking accident right after I got married. Moving and living in Chicago has been a difficult transition for me.


I'm a big believer in goals. Goals give us framework, perspective, understanding, aspirations. They give us hope- knowing that we are not condemned to make the same mistakes as the past; as a Christian I believe that we're enabled through the power of God to become more and more the person we should be, something worth rejoicing over. Goals are a healthy part of everyday life: organization, structure, time management.


This past January 1st I looked back at some of my 2010 goals, and pondered how the year had unfolded.  This year I plan on posting them here: constant review, reminders, encouragement. My goals for 2011 are as follows:


1) Be consistently growing in the Lord:
-daily, meditative time in the Scripure.
-weekly memorization.
-intense times of prayer of thanks, adoration, petition.
-study of Christian biographies
     - Hudson Taylor, Dietrich Bonhoiffer, Jim Elliot
-read the Bible in 1 year, and have a journal that goes along with each day for my notes/thoughts/prayers. (so far, so good!)
-Grow in expression of the fruits of the Spirit: especially love, patience, joy.
-Be a better servant: be more gracious rather than harsh and judgmental.


2) Be a better wife:
   -be less demanding
   -be eager to serve instead of reluctant
   -esteem my husband more in the little things
   -pray for Jason more faithfully

This is super creepy. 

3) Get Healthy:
   - cut out sweets
   - go to the gym, learn pilates to do at home
   - take a gym class at the YMCA, meet people there
   - blog my journey (my other blog post, related to my PCOS       syndrom is here)
   - my goal is to lose 40 pounds this year.


4) Encourage my friends and family more.
5) Take time to record important times and memories, through scrapbooks or albums
6) Write out my testimony more fully than its present state
7) Blog more frequently

96% Complete! So Close. 

8) Go to North Dakota (this will leave Hawaii as my last state I've never been to!!)
9) Consolidate our stuff, declutter our belongings, including the stuff I have in Alaska
10) Learn more crafty, useful things
11) learn to play chess and other skill games
12) Organize photo albums and recipe boxes






Also, here is my current list of things I'd love to do in my lifetime. I made this about 2.5 years ago, and it changes over time. The ones in smaller print are ones that I've removed- they just aren't important to me anymore. I might still enjoy doing them, but not something I'd really to seek doing.

✓ Graduate from college

-work in some medium at a prison

-go to Jerusalem

-get my other tattoo designed and inked

✓get married

-go back to Vegas

-be in Times Square for New Years

-see all of 50 states

-go scuba diving

-Wall of China

-have a godly family

-Sing Wicked

-go back to Nome, Alaska

✓drive to Alaska

-see my goddaughter love God

-do missions work

-go back to Prague

-go to Ireland

-backpack around Europe with my husband

-go to Russia

-get a professional camera and learn to take better photos

-see the tombs in Egypt

-Visit every major city in USA

-learn another language

-meet David Berkowitz

-meet a spy

-see my children defend Christ

-worship God in other cultures

-go to my friends' weddings

-see Brylie grow up

-see someone die peacefully

-see someone born

-see Falldorf, Germany

-meet the German Falldorf's

✓be a virgin on my wedding day

-skydiving

-hold a tarantula

✓have sex

✓have faith

-witness a miracle

-be free of worldly possessions

-see all of the Louvre

-go to the top of the Eiffel Tower

-meet a child sponsored

-help establish a church

-hold a bat

-go to a Broadway in NYC

-drive a convertible across Utah

-go to Berlin

-go back to Normandy

-Scrapbook things that are important

-be able to follow and submit joyfully

-learn how to really ride a horse

-show true thankfulness

-Research Columbine and other school shootings

-Visit Cathedrals around the world: Cologne, Barcelona, Chicago, Avignon

-Do urban ministry

-have a saltwater aquarium

-Host a student ministry small group

✓learn how to make amazing salsa

✓be daily convicted by my husband

-visit a giant tree house

-ride a gondola in Venice

-white water rafting

-Change someone's life

-swim with a dolphin

-ride a different city's metros/subways for hours to people-watch

-swim in the Mediterranean

-visit the famous castles of Europe

-learn how to milk a cow

-travel by hot air balloon

-see the Hollywood sign

-participate in Evensong in Westminster Abbey

-Memorize a good deal of the New Testament