People Have Layers

Writing the title of this post, I'm reminded of the movie Shrek, when he is relating to the Donkey that ogres are like onions in that they have layers. People, like ogres, have layers too. (Although I'd like to think that my layers are various types of chocolate than an onion.)

I rethought this principle today as I was discussing life with a coworker of mine. Initially, she had come in after school to bring me some student work. We started talking about school, which led to talking about her son who is a senior in high school. As we talked and the story unfolded, I became surprised that she had been holding all of this under the surface of every conversation we've had the past 6 months:

Her son has been heavily involved in drugs and alcohol the past 2 years. FINALLY, he was caught with drugs at school which led him to juvenile detention and then an in-patient/out-patient drug rehabilitation program. She takes him to AA meetings twice a week because he can no longer drive a car. She drives him 3 times a week to his drug and alcohol counseling in another city. She is helping him to complete his required 24 hours of community service. She's trying to help him keep it together with school. All the while, she's doing this on her own and working FULL TIME!

How is it that I've been friends with her for years and never knew this about her life? It makes me think of how much we all hold under the surface. Every one of us has struggles that we're trying to make it through. Generally, we don't go telling everyone we know about our problems. But, we all have them. So much of a person's behavior is about what is under the surface: Those thoughts, problems, and issues which we'll never know. We need to be more careful about how quick we are to judge people for their behavior. We never know what is going on in those inner layers.

Weight Gain vs. Weight Loss

(I feel like the one on the end.)

Maybe it's the fact that I ate WAY TOO MANY COOKIES over the holidays. Maybe it is my inactivity level in recent months. Maybe it's the birth control I'm on. Maybe it's stress or lack of sleep.

Whatever it is, I have gained weight. And I'm left wondering: WHY is it so easy to gain weight, yet so tough to lose it? Let's be honest, we can all gain about 5 lbs. after a particularly fatty Thanksgiving or Christmas dinner. Why does that weight stick? It takes an hour to eat and then 5 months to burn off after countless hours of eating healthy and exercising. Do you see the disconnect too?

I'm having the January blues. I feel incredibly motivated to get outside and work out. But when push comes to shove, other things are taking the place of exercise. Any tips on how to stay motivated?

I'm a HAM

Last weekend, Evan and I took a 9-hour class in order to become amateur radio operators (aka HAM radio operators). It was a grueling 9 hours, but I ended up only missing 1 on the test. (You can miss up to 9 and still pass.) Evan and I both are officially ham radio operators and even have our own call signs. We feel pretty hard core. I now officially am a ham. I think this also makes me some sort of geek, but I'm not sure I qualify yet. While I know enough about frequencies, antennas, ohms, and volts to pass the test, but I still don't own a ham radio, nor have I transmitted via radio yet! :)

For those of you not familiar with ham radio, Wikipedia has a fabulous, concise explanation of what it is:

Amateur radio, often called ham radio, is both a hobby and a service in which participants, called "hams," use various types of radio communications equipment to communicate with other radio amateurs for public service, recreation and self-training.

Amateur radio operators enjoy personal (and often worldwide) wireless communications with each other and are able to support their communities with emergency and disaster communications if necessary, while increasing their personal knowledge of electronics and radio theory. An estimated six million people throughout the world are regularly involved with amateur radio.

The term "amateur" reflects the principle that amateur radio and its skilled operators are committed to helping communities without financial compensation; whereas commercial radio operates for profit.

Signing off, this is KF7GZK.

Happy (Belated) New Year!

(The following is an email I sent out last week because I was too busy to send out Christmas cards!)

A belated) Happy New Year!

Evan and I hope this email finds you all thriving and well. Although my plan this year was to send out Christmas postcards like I did last year, time constraints severely limited me. Therefore, I decided to send a New Year's email instead.

Last year was a very busy and important year for Evan and I. Here are a few important events:

*Evan and I moved back from Hawaii so I could teach German at my former high school in the Seattle area. This meant that I was busy with German Club and planning a month-long exchange trip to Germany summer of 2009.
*Evan and I got engaged in April. Evan pretended he had a head injury and was spitting fake blood in order to be down on one knee and totally surprise me with a ring. Not at all romantic, but a good story nevertheless! And I was DEFINITELY surprised!
*At the end of April, I lost my German teaching position.
*At the end of May, I found out I was being transferred to teach English in the same district. HURRAY!
*In June, I left for 1 month to Europe with 17 students. We traveled to Germany, Poland, Czech Republic, and Austria.
*In July, I got back 10 days before our wedding and after being sick with the stomach flu for 12 days in Germany. Not fun!
*On August 1st, 2009, Evan and I tied the knot after 3 years of dating. What a fun day and momentous occasion! I'm so grateful to all our family and friends for the love and support. It made our day priceless.
*In September, I started teaching English and Evan went back to school to prepare to apply to an RN program.
*In December, Evan's brother, Christopher, married his sweetheart, Lyn.

Evan and I definitely have had a busy year! We've had so many adventures with friends and family. We've zip-lined, hiked, surfed, rock climbed, mountain climbed, traveled, learned, grown, and have become even better friends. What a big year!

Here's to more adventures in 2010!

Best wishes,
Sarah & Evan Stout