Cosmic Trail Mix

My senior year of college, I lived with Kari.

Kari and I had an unusual way of embracing life.  We ate our weight in baked goods and drank copious amounts of coffee.  We walked 10 miles to get to Target not once, but twice and on multiple occasions we snuck into one of the science buildings and roller bladed through the hallways at midnight.

And we ate good food.  Lots of it.

One night Kari and I concocted a snack.  It was the perfect combination of sweet, salt, crunch and substance.  We were hooked and from that point on we never let our tupperware run dry.  I call our creation Cosmic Trail Mix because Kari and I once decided that one day - when we retired - we were going to open a coffee shop and bakery called Cosmic Peanuts (I don't remember why).

Here is what you'll need to create this mouthwatering and satisfying, yet still (relatively) healthy snack.

Cosmic Trail Mix

1 bag Tiny Twist Pretzels

1/2 box Honey Nut Cheerios

1 canister Unsalted or Lightly Salted Peanuts

1 medium bag Peanut M&Ms

Start with your pretzels ... 

Add your cheerios, gently stir.

Add the peanuts, gently stir and realize that your bowl is not big enough for your concoction.  

Frantically try to keep everything from flying out of the bowl while your husband laughs at you.  

Transfer mix to your dutch oven - the largest pot/bowl/container you own short of your stock pot - and make a mental note to buy a larger tupperware container next time you're at Target.

(Clearly there is no photographic evidence of this because I was trying to catch cheerios and Bruce was just ... laughing.  A lot.)

Ahhhh, Peanut M&Ms.  Thank you for helping me graduate from Ursinus with honors.  I couldn't have done it without you.

Stir / shake / mix with your hands.  This mixture will only get better over the next couple of days because the sugars will mix with the salts and the salts will mix with the sugars and the pretzels just hold everything together like super glue on my favorite sandals.

Your life will never be the same.  You're welcome.

1 Down, 73 to Go!

Today I feel loved and supported.

I was a little bit anxious when I went to bed last night.  I think half of my anxiety was related to first-day jitters, while the other half was just concern that I would sleep through my 5 a.m. alarm this morning.  Lucky for me, Lilly took it upon herself to make sure I was awake by knocking a glass of water onto my head at 4 a.m.

She's so helpful.

I had a relatively slow and quiet morning.  I had laid out my outfit and packed my bag last night so I wouldn't have to think about it and feel rushed this morning.  WHile I was getting ready Bruce brewed a fresh pot of coffee.  I was ready to go at five minutes to seven and headed down to my car.  Bruce was so sweet and agreed to come down to my car and take my picture so I would have a Wear a Dress Tuesday picture.

Those flats may have been the best $12 I have ever spent.

I was concerned about the traffic, but it actually wasn't too terrible.  I was at the hospital and parked by 7:15.

From then on, I essentially sat in an uncomfortable seat in an old auditorium watching videos, listening to presentations, taking quizzes on both, filling out paperwork and signing my life away.  Today was the official Grady New Hire Orientation so we were with a variety of different employees.  Tomorrow is my departmental orientation so I will be spending time solely with the other chaplains.  I'm sure I will have some more nerves as I'm actually getting into the nitty gritty (and not just the corporate side of things).

My Initial Thoughts on CPE

- I really like the other chaplain interns.  There are five of us in total, three males and two females.  So far we mesh well - no one seems overly talkative or quiet when we are together as a group.  We all seem to have similar levels of experience and I feel comfortable when we are in conversation with one another.

- I'm getting used to the Grady Health System campus.  I don't necessarily know my way around completely (and I actually missed my turn coming home and drove around for ten minutes until I found another highway entrance), but I think if I were lost I could find my way back to a familiar place.

- When I left for college, my parents gave me a journal.  They both wrote notes on the inside cover.  My dad wrote, "No experience is ever a waste of time."  I know I have so much to gain from this experience - and I have a feeling so much of what I will learned I might not even realized until years down the road.

- My last day of the program is August 13th.  It is 11 weeks long, 74 days (that's total days until August 13th, including weekends and recovery days from nights on call).  1 down, 73 to go.  If all else fails and I get completely overwhelmed this summer, I can just watch that number go down.  I'm really hoping that doesn't happen, though!

- It's going to take me a couple of weeks to get used to my new schedule.  I won't be connected to my computer all day like I have been for the past three years.  However, I don't have to go home and do homework like I have been for the past three years, either.  I'm looking forward to seeing how I organize my time now.  I'm hoping to continue to learn my way around my kitchen, play with my camera some more and organize this blog of mine!

I think that's it for now!  I survived my first day and I haven't been completely scared off yet.  Thank you to everyone for the calls, texts and messages wishing me luck last night and this morning.  Every time my phone buzzed I just felt completely surrounded by love and support (love and support totally trumps nerves and anxiety).  I can do this - I know I can!

Here's to another strong 73 days!

p.s. Send me your WADT pics!  I'll post any pictures I get either tomorrow or Thursday!




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It's Time To Be a Chaplain

CPE starts TODAY!

I feel like it's the first day of school.  Last night I made a quick trip to Target to get some last minute supplies.

- A 1" binder - the administrative assistant e-mailed us early last week saying we would need one for our departmental orientation.  I got one in pink.  Naturally.
- Looseleaf paper for the binder - surprisingly, I didn't actually have any lying around.  I always took notes on my computer in school and never needed any!
- A belt clip for my phone - generally, I can't stand wearing my phone on me (I'd much prefer it in my pocket or purse), but I feel like it's going to be necessary this summer.
- A new printer.  Here's the deal.  When I graduated from college, my chaplain gave me a laser printer.  I had to replace the toner cartridge twice over the past three years and it was $70 each time!  My toner barely made it to the end of the semester and I will need to print reflection papers and verbatims this summer.  I looked online and realized it would be cheaper to replace the printer ($28 at Target!) than to replace my toner.  I got it home and set it up right away (which is a feat in and of itself) and so far so good!

Today is also Wear a Dress Tuesday!  I've been a little bit nervous about whether or not dresses will be okay at the hospital, so I decided to take the safe route and wear a simple skirt, white shirt, black jacket and flats.  To show my commitment to WADT I even laid my outfit out last night so I wouldn't have to think about it this morning (man, this IS the first day of school!).

Thoughts on CPE:

"Clinical Pastoral Education (CPE) is a method of learning and strengthening pastoral competence while serving as a chaplain to persons in crisis in a variety of settings."  I will be serving at Grady Memorial Hospital, a Level I trauma center in downtown Atlanta.  It is a county hospital (meaning you will be treated even if you cannot pay) and the only Level I trauma center within the Atlanta perimeter.


I would be lying if I said I was doing this program for my own personal reasons, because I wanted to explore who I was as a person and who I could be as a pastor.  Hopefully that will happen, but that is not my main goal.  To be perfectly honest, I am doing this program first and foremost because it is required of me for ordination.  I'm ashamed to admit that if this wasn't required, I most likely wouldn't have even thought twice about it.

And that's why I am glad that it is required.

Plain and simple, this program will allow me to explore and strengthen who I am as a person and will help me become a better pastor.  It will stretch my limits and put me outside of my comfort zone.  It will force me into new situations and allow me to minister in different ways.  It will give me experiences that I never would have gotten somewhere else.

I really do not know what to expect for the next 11 weeks.  And I am okay with that.  I am going in with no expectations other than to learn.

I am looking forward to reflecting back on this post on August 13th (my last day) and to see what I learned.  Perhaps I will even realize that I had any imaginary expectations that I don't even realize today.

I will be back later with a full recap - although I imagine it will involve a lot of me sitting in a conference room listening to HR people talk about HIPPA.  Wish me luck and say a prayer - I'm going in!

"I was still lying bed when I remembered an anonymous poem I've seen several times over the years.  It says that after we jump into the darkness of the unknown, faith lets us believe that we will either land on solid ground, or we will be taught how to fly."

Anne Lamott