Baptisms are my favorite.

I absolutely adore baptisms. Not only because I have a ridiculous love of children (which I admittedly do), but because of just everything a baptism signifies. It's a new beginning, a chance to reaffirm your place in your church life and community, as well as the simplest, most accessible form of stating your beliefs. Families come together for baptisms in a way only matched by weddings, which is just awesome to see. It's also just weird to think that in a few years, Handsome and I will be doing that ourselves. We'll be choosing the Godparents and dude, we'll have had a kid! Being Shepadoodle parents is definitely enough for now, though. Between grad school and the puppy, we're definitely busy enough! It'll be a new chapter in our lives, though, so we're looking forward to it as a far-in-the-future thing.

Speaking of new chapters...

For those who don't know (which is almost everyone, as we kept it pretty close to the vest for once in my life), Handsome was laid off at the beginning of the month and had to begin job hunting again, adding stress to the finals I was already freaking out about. He was about to start job hunting anyways, as the job was not as advertised, and we spent almost the same amount apart as we had when he was still up in DC. On the plus side, he was able to come on vacation with me and Rosie this past week! He actually went through the interview process and was hired while we were up in Norfolk, then had the meet and greet yesterday and is now working on getting the clearance stuff done! He'll be supporting the Navy, and thus indirectly supporting Tweedle Dee! I'm super proud of him for getting a job that he will love.

We had a wonderful vacation in Norfolk. We celebrated my parent's 31st wedding anniversary! (And my little cousin-in-law and OT-inspiration's birthday from afar.) I love that my parents been able to have such a wonderful, long union, as have Handsome's parents. :-) It's a wonderful example, one that Handsome and I definitely hope to emulate in the future. We also got to see my cousin and his fiance, whose wedding we won't be able to make, unfortunately. Handsome has no vacation time for the first six months of his employment, so we'll actually be spending our Christmas and Thanksgiving down here, too! I'm kind of excited to do the Charleston Christmas thing. We'll be visiting the Biltmore for sure at Christmas time, and hopefully we'll be able to go to see Savannah, too. I think Rosie will be super excited to not travel-- she is NOT a traveling puppy if she can help it.

Classes start again on this Wednesday, and I'm super excited that I got into an elective I really wanted to take! I can't wait for the opportunity to combine learning and service. :-)

Cheers,
Woozel

The End of the Semester!

I am so excited that it's almost the end of the semester! I have my last final on Wednesday, and after that, I will officially be done with my first semester of OT school. Despite being more than slightly brain fried from anatomy, I am still so in love with pretty much everything we've done so far in school. (Okay, I have to admit I'll be happy to be done with Human Anatomy, but still!) Surface Anatomy was one of my favorite classes, and I super much look forward to starting the pediatrics unit next semester. <3

It's hard to believe my summer in Charleston is almost over. I look forward to fall, so Handsome and I can start running again. I actually like running with Rosie, and I'll learn to run with Handsome. :-) I'm kind of an anti-social work-out person, unfortunately. I love just running with my iPod and only having the puppy for company usually, but since Handsome's the opposite, I'll try it his way. :-) Either way, fall will be a welcome change, and it's not too far away!

Handsome and I are both going home to Norfolk for a week next Thursday, and we are SO excited. We've been talking about Level 2 fieldwork, and it sounds like the Norfolk area is going to be a good place for me, so he and I are deciding if we're going to just relocate together there. I am pretty much 100% set on doing a Peds rotation, so CHKD would be an awesome place to do fieldwork, hopefully. I'll have to see! It seems off to be thinking about it when it's a year and a half away still, but I have less than 6 months until we need to really start thinking about it seriously.

When we get back home, we're going to take advantage of the nice break I have between classes and hopefully do some legit exploring around Charleston! I sadly haven't had the chance to introduce Handsome to the MUSC campus, so we're going to rectify that situation as soon as we get back from Norfolk. :-) We'll also take Rosie to the beach out at Isle of Palms and try introducing her to the ocean again, this time with her booties to protect her paws from the hot, hot sand!

On that note, time to get back to studying!

Cheers,
Woozel

So excited for New York!

This is going to be one of my few political-leaning or religious-ish posts, as in, pretty much the only one ever on this blog that I plan on making, unless SC or VA joins the fight for marriage equality.

Avenue Q + Marriage Equality = Love and Happiness

I am 100% in favor of same-sex marriage under the law, and I am so excited that so many couples were able to marry yesterday in New York. The religious studies part of me understands why the churches may be against same-sex marriage, but I get absolutely incensed when I hear people on the radio trying to explain using Judeo-Christain-Islamic theology to state why the government, which is supposed to be separate from the church, should oppose marriage equality. I don't believe that the churches should be required to officiate a wedding that goes against their teachings, but that to me includes marrying people of a different faith than theirs (like trying to have a rabbi marry a Catholic couple.. I feel like that would be awkward). I think some things, though, are basic human rights under the government, and I truly believe that marriage in the secular sense, as a legally binding contract that affords protection and benefits under the law, should be one of them.

Family can take many forms. <3 it.

I think of friends I have known over the years, homosexuals and bisexuals alike, who have been together for longer than some of my other friend's marriages have lasted. I don't believe that God hates homosexuals, in any incarnation one believes in God (except for maybe the Westboro Baptist Church's God, who I'm pretty sure should be better referred to as anti-God most of the time). I know there's theology for and against same-sex relationships, and that you can find liberation theology for almost any oppressed group in the world. I feel, though, that the most important laws God provided, the 10 Commandments, are in no way violated by legal protection for another incarnation of His love, and that to me is the most important set of rules to keep in mind. Jesus spread a message of hope and love above all else; it seems the height of hypocrisy to spread a message of hatred and intolerance in His name.

The look of love and happiness on his face is priceless.

I believe in working for a bright faith, that looks in the world, sees it as it is, and can still find hope and grace and acceptance in God's love. I think same-sex love and marriage is just another step towards finding bright faith in all corners of the world. I am just so excited that there is now another state allowing same-sex marriage, and hope that those states that currently only allow civil unions take the plunge to make it marriage friendly. I know my stance goes against that of some of my friends and family, but it is fully what I believe in and support, and I pray that I see same-sex marriage accepted throughout the nation within the next decade.

The happiness you can see on their faces makes me want to cry. In a good way.

~Cassi