The Reason for the Season

Around Christmas time, we all seem to focus on the presents we will receive. We spend days browsing catalogs and ogling at storefront windows to create the perfect Christmas wish list of all the things we want. What we seem to forget is why we get these things.
With Christmas comes a season of giving.

As per the typical Christmas Eve routine, we headed to church with the family last night. And sticking with tradition, we are told something relevant to Christmas, whether that be the Christmas story, Jesus’s lineage, or a major worldly celebration of the holiday. Last night hit me a little differently; it was the first Christmas service that really hit home. We talked about giving. We watched this video, and I think it describes perfectly why it is the giving that is important.




I also found this video on Facebook several days ago, and like the last, I couldn't help but tear up.



Now you may be laughing at me, “why on earth did these make her tear up?” and it’s not because these videos are sad. It’s simply because they are so moving. It’s amazing to me how powerful giving to others can be and expecting nothing in return.

Giving: /giv/ verb freely transfer the possession of (something) to (someone)

**key word: freely
As in: neither getting nor expecting anything in return.

“Remember the reason for the season” sticks as a typical holiday reminder – but who knew how prevalent this reason was.

What God gave us (as in the collective body of the people of the earth) was this:

“But the angel said to them, ‘do not be afraid. I bring you good news that will cause great joy for all the people. Today in the town of David has a savior been born to you; He is the Messiah, the Lord.’” Luke 2:10-11 (part of the Christmas story)

“For God so loved the world that he sent his one and only son, so that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life.” John 3:16 (The gift)

And here’s the kicker.

“For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Jesus Christ our Lord.” Romans 6:23

In order to explain first, we need a few definitions, but I’ll keep them basic.
Wage: something you earn.
Sin: any wrongdoing or misstep in human error that causes us to be imperfect, unlike God, and away from Him,
Death: physically from this earth, we will all die. Beyond that, there is a spiritual death. In this sense, death is separation from God.
Gift: something we are freely given, we owe nothing in return.
Life: opposite of death, being with God forever.
Jesus Christ: God’s one and only son who was sent to forgive and save all of mankind for his.

In short, we earn death or this separation from God. BUT. God sent Jesus Christ as a gift (that we need not repay) and when we transfer our trust to God, we are given forgiveness and eternal life.
Because God sent his one and only son as a gift, we shall not be condemned to hell but are saved in Christ and we get to spend our life forever with Him.

This act of giving that comes with the Christmas season is not to spoil children or spend money on those we love or any other reason but this: we give to serve as a reminder of what God gave us: the gift of eternal life in Christ.

Now if that doesn't just amp up your holiday spirit, I don’t know what will!

Merry Christmas to all and to all a good night.

When will my reflection show...(right now).

As the semester has come o a close, it only seems fitting that there be a time of reflection (aka now). I suppose there are really only three major things I feel I should reflect on. Now this is not necessary at all, nor is it necessary that you read these; however, I feel like looking back, you can learn from where you have been or just reminisce on awesome things that happened, and both of these options are equally cool.

So number 1. School. HOW EXCITING. Except not really. Okay, not at all. I mean, don't get me wrong, school is great and all and learning is swell. But school really sucks. Particularly because I didn't do as well as I had hoped this semester. Not saying my grades were bad by any means (unless you're asking me or my father - I got the "I'm disappointed talk" - I mean, I'm a typical A student with B's here and there). I was still above agerage, so I suppose thats okay. BUT, I will say that I have learned (while in the past it has been okay for me and I have slid by), procrastinating things is really dumb and actually really sucks. Also, in a not sassy but just honest and true way, I didn't learn anything this year. So you say, "you learned absolutely nothing?" Okay, of course I learned something. I learned that even though I didn't pay much attention in Humanities, I retained some of the information to win Trivia Crack questions about art. I learned that a group and a team are the same thing but in a management class the definition differs by a few insignificant words (almost like a "the vs. a" sort of thing) and therefore "has a completely different meaning". I learned that there are 5 core marketing principles (don't ask me what they are, because according to Dr. Yoon, no I "do not understand"). Oh. Okay, I did learn one thing, and I thought it was pretty cool. I learned about mapping out a project for project management, which was cool. I think I only liked it because it was the ONLY thing I actually DID all semester (as in everything else was concepts and little to no execution, or discussion, or hands on, etc.).

That being sais, at the start of the semester, and really all last year, I was pretty cool with being a business major and then, eventually, obviously working in business. But after this semester, I'm not so sure. Now, perhaps that has to do with my performance this year, but looking at it, what do I want to spend the rest of my life "doing". In business, would I actually even be doing anything?? I suppose that's the real question. I don't want to spend my life not using my brain behind a desk in a cube of an office for the next 40 years. So I've got some thinking to do on that one.

Number 2. The good ol' anterior cruciate ligament. How fun. Especially when it tears. So if you don't know already, tear in ACL = MRI. MRI says just the tear = surgery. Paige doped up. Doc: "we found two tears in your meniscus that didn't show up on the MRI" = "crutches for 6 weeks" = h8ing life for a long time. BUT. Honestly it hasn't been that bad. Yeah, don't get me wrong. Crutches definitely suck, and I miss not being able to run. Wait, what? That's right, I said it. I MISS BEING ABLE TO RUN. 2 more months and I'll be able to run. And I couldn't be more excited. Maybe that's weird. I don't care.

This event in life has really changed my outlook on everything and given me an appreciation for the littlest things. Like being able to stand on two feet. Or functioning on your own. And if I didn't realize it before, I have some truly amazing people in my life. And I knew they were great and wonderful before I tore my ACL, but it's been proven in ways I cannot explain. These people in my life are what hold me up (literally) and mentally and emotionally and any other way you could think of.

My best friend goes to physical therapy with me. I mean, who does that?? Okay mainly it's because we're never apart so it would be inconvenient not to, BUT STILL. And sometimes it's hard because I have this whole new piece in my leg that I have to make function like I've had it for 20 years in 6 months. And she's always there supporting me. And that's an unbelievable feeling.

And finally, number 3. 100 Days.

There are now two parts to this 100 days.

3. a) I started a challenge in late July to post what made me happy for 100 days. Yesterday was my 149th post. I can't stop, nor do I want to. As cheesy as it sounds, this has actually made me happier. Life is happy. Sometimes life will getcha down, I get that. It gets me too, trust me. But overall, I'd say my general perception of life is grand. It's great. http://turning394paiges.tumblr.com/
This is what happy is.

3. b) It has been *officially* 100 days since my friendship with this lil' nugget began. And it is one of the greatest things that has ever happened to me. 512% true. And there is no hope of me doing justice to her character by my feeble attempts to explain how extraordinary this woman is. So here is a list of words to describe her, but it only skims the surface of her soul.

A: adorable
B: beloved
C: captivating
D: dependable
E: enchanting, extraordinary
F: forever
G: godly
H: hardworking
I: irreplaceable
J: joyful
K: kind
L: loyal, limitless
M: meaningful
N: nuggetO: outstanding
P: passionate
Q: quirky
R: reliable
S: strong
T: tubular
U: unparalleled
V: vibrant
W: witty
X: x-factor
Y: youthful
Z: zesty

p.s. Happy Christmas Eve eve

anterior cruciate ligament

So for those of you that don't know. I tore my anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) last Friday in the First Round of the NCAA Tournament. We played Augustana. Although not being able to finish that game was terrible, I knew my team would finish it for us and get the win [and we did!]. We moved on to play Central Missouri. Snow covered the field as the opening whistle blew. Unfortunately, we were unsuccessful that game and thus, our season ended.

I had an amazing season. Not to say that I played amazing every game, but it was a great soccer season to be on the UCO Women's Soccer team. I love those girls with all my heart.

I already wish I was back. The second I tore it, I wanted to get up and keep playing. I think that's going to be the hardest part of this journey. Not the recovery itself (not that I'm saying that will be easy) but being able to keep my passion for soccer alive and not give up on getting back to the game. I know that every day that passes, I will continue to long to run and play but I won't be able to. I have to understand that my body won't as easily be able to do what it used to right away. The mental part of recovery is going to be tough. But lucky for me I have a whole team by my side.

 me tearing ACL:

Surgery is today. Actually, in less than 3 hours. I'm not nervous yet. Actually, I'm quite excited. Not for them to cut my leg open, but because once I have surgery, all I can do is get better and start recovering. Which is all I want to do. All I want is to be better. So off to surgery I go! Wish me luck! ☺

And here are some season pictures! (If you need a laugh, look at my face & triple chin)

Welcome to November

Semester update folks.

So this semester has definitely been a wild ride. Let's just say that me being my goody-two-shoes self  all  *most* of the time decided that I was bored. Not that being good is a bad thing, but a lot of times, I sacrificed my happiness or what I wanted in order to "do what was right" or whatever.

Example.

Paige wants to sit at home on Saturday night and watch a movie with her best friend.
*drunk phone call from another friend that they need a ride*
"I'll be right there" *Paige gets up from AWESOME movie and drive to pick up said drunk-o*
*Paige doesn't get to finish movie*
*Paige is kind of sad*

Now I'm not saying that going to pick up a drunk friend is wrong, or that it is the most horrible incident in my life. I'm just saying that perhaps wasn't my first choice of activity for Saturday night.

So I said, "I'M GOING TO HAVE A FUN SEMESTER."
My rationale: I didn't have a fun, crazy, screw-up, wild freshman semester so I can have one now.
My sad, sad realization when I was too far gone: Once you're a junior, you can't afford to just decide to take your fun semester.

Now, I'm also not saying that I went out and got belligerently drunk every night and never went to class and partied every weekend and did all these other crazy things I don't know exist that college kids do. But yeah, I actually went to parties, and maybe I skipped a few classes. SUE  ME, it's college. It happens. SO sometimes I procrastinated. And sometimes that was really sucky at 11 pm on a Sunday night.

HOWEVER.

In a lot of ways, it's been a truly awesome semester. For example *in Hermione's voice*

I met these people

mostly, I met this woman. 

She has seriously been the biggest blessing in my life. Although I have only known her for a few months, I am closer with her than many people I have known my whole life. She is my rock and I am #blessed to have her in my life. I can't even begin to imagine trying to get through this semester without her. From that weird girl on the team, to friends, to sisters, I love you more ( + 1 of whatever you say times infinity).

I have gotten to spend so much time with her. She is seriously the most fun human I know, she always knows how to put me in a good mood and I can always have a great time with her. She is the most talented soccer player I know. I can count on her on and off the field and during this semester, I have gotten so close to her and I am so thankful to have her in my life.







And, being honest, a lot of great things have come out of this semester. I had probably the best experience with my soccer team this year, and that is super awesome.

SO GUESS WHAT. Tomorrow, we leave for the NCAA tournament, aka the national tournament, aka HOW EXCITING. okay, so because I am so pumped, here is a random sample of fun soccer pictures, YAY.

 Basically these people are pretty much the coolest.

Okay, well Iiiiiiiii think that's all for now folks!
So, um, adios. ☺

#100HappyPaiges

Once upon a time there was a girl named Paige, and although she generally seemed to have a happy disposition, this was not always the case. Often, she, like so many before her, had bad days. And one day she thought to herself, "I'm done having bad days!"

So she stopped.

haha just kidding. Because everyone has bad days, and that's not just something you can choose to stop doing...(technically speaking).

So Paige is scrolling through her Facebook news feed (or whatever it's called nowadays) and she sees this post from a friend.

"Day 67 of my 100 days is ________. *insert picture* [post talks about why pictured thing makes her happy]." And I (Paige..) think to myself, "wow, this seems really cool."

So I looked into it. (100happydays.com) And it definitely sounded really cool. Basically the premise is this: Be happy for 100 days. What? That seems really hard. What if you have a really bad day? You can't help that. What if something disastrous happens, something you can't recover from. Well, there's the challenge. Now, starting out, it's probably close to impossible to be happy 100% of the time. Okay, definitely impossible. When someone messes up your order at Starbucks Monday morning, our mindsets automatically go to something along the lines of "Monday's suck, I hate today, blah blah blah."

NOT ANYMORE.

So this website, and I suppose yourself, challenge you to find one thing that makes you happy each day. Just one. That's like picking a letter out of alphabet soup. So you find your happy thing for the day and you post a picture of it. whaaaaaaat. that sounds so easy right!

it is.

okay, well most of the time it is. I'm not gonna lie. I've been doing this challenge for about 60 days and a couple of those days, at the end of the day when I sat down to think of my happy for the day, it was very difficult. But that's the cool thing about this challenge. That even on your darkest days, you need to recognize that something good came out of that day. Maybe it was just hearing your favorite song on the radio and that's it.

But that's not it! How awesome is it that you were able to find something good that happened in a day full of gloom? It's not about changing your life. It's about changing your mindset. Instilling positivity into every day.

Lemme tell you about my experience. Like I said, I've been doing this challenge for quite awhile now. At first, it was hard. Sometimes it took me forever to find something happy. But within about a week, I realized that this was something really cool. I began to notice a change in myself, in my days. I was [am] incredibly stressed all the time. But it didn't [doesn't] seem to matter as much. I truly feel like I haven't been having bad days, bad weeks. My days are good. almost all the time too!

You don't think that finding one happy thing a day could do this right? I didn't think so either. It seemed like such a trivial challenge. I thought it would be fun to try. I figured I'd give up within a week. But i didn't! Of course, I missed a couple days here and there (usually because I fell asleep before I even had time to post something) but I always went back and made them up. It's weird to think that such a small thing can (and I don't want to be dramatic here but I genuinely think it's real and true) turn your life around. That's right. I said it. It can turn your life around.

So it's my challenge to you, readers, world, humanity.

Find something that makes you happy every day. Post a picture about it. On facebook, instagram, tumblr, on a word document your keeping to yourself. The point of posting is not to brag to the world that you're happy. It's to share your happiness with the world.

If you need some inspiration or are curious to how it works, you can look at mine (turning394paiges.tumblr.com) or you can just search the hashtag #100HappyDays!

Find one thing every day that makes you happy.

HARRY POTTER IS THE COOLEST.

“Mr. and Mrs. Dursley of number four, Privet Drive, were proud to say that they were perfectly normal, thank you very much.” However, the Wizarding World of Harry Potter was quite unordinary; in fact, it was extraordinary, exquisite, and everything in between. Just picture Diagon Alley. No, wait, here, I’ll just show it to you.

Now, picture yourself walking through it….oh wait, you can actually walk through it. Check it out….

Woah. Crazy right! Look at all these random people. They’re actually walking though Diagon Alley. Trust me, I did it too. Proof? I took this picture, doiii. ☺ SO EXCITING RIGHT!!!!

YES. Obviously that’s exciting. And if you don’t think so then stop reading now because that’s lame and crazy and I can’t have crazy people trying to comprehend the absolute AWESOMENESS that is Harry Potter.

Okay, so here’s the deal. There is (was) a Wizarding World of Harry Potter at one of the parks at Universal Studios in Orlando. And then, people (aka me) were all, “WE WANT MORE!” So Universal was just like, well, OK! Let’s do it! So they built another park. AND IT’S FRIGGIN COOL. (Duh, it’s Harry Potter) And it opened in July…and I went in July…so it was packed. So there’s this ride there. The Escape from Gringotts (the wizarding bank). Aka it’s brand new. And it takes you through (in the 7^th book) Harry and his “posse’s” [get this] escape from Gringotts [wow]. And if you’ve seen the movie, it’s a pretty intense, awesome, radical scene. So we get in line for this ride. The park opened July 8, 2014. I went on July 16, 2014. So it’s brand new. So the wait time was about 5 hours (and that was us being one of the first people in the park). So naturally, Paige (that’s me!), takes on the endeavor of live tweeting her progression and status as she waits in line. Check it.

Paige Matacchiera @paigeamber29 · Jul 15

The five hours was well worth the wait

Paige Matacchiera @paigeamber29 · Jul 15

Guys that was so good. Maybe I cried a bit.

Paige Matacchiera @paigeamber29 · Jul 15

And here we go! pic.twitter.com/q9ObaTCN8e

Paige Matacchiera @paigeamber29 · Jul 15

People are applauding as they get off! #goodsign

Paige Matacchiera @paigeamber29 · Jul 15

Doing calf raises in line to pass the time #stayingfit

Paige Matacchiera @paigeamber29 · Jul 15

But I got some cool shades pic.twitter.com/SsoasoLEDE

Paige Matacchiera @paigeamber29 · Jul 15

Thought I was in... just to find another line.....

Paige Matacchiera @paigeamber29 · Jul 15

GUYS. IM IN. pic.twitter.com/nVJ2siYpqY

Paige Matacchiera @paigeamber29 · Jul 15

The things some people wear to these parks......

Paige Matacchiera @paigeamber29 · Jul 15

So close pic.twitter.com/4IvQZQz1c0      

Paige Matacchiera @paigeamber29 · Jul 15

3 hours down, 1.5 to go

Paige Matacchiera @paigeamber29 · Jul 15

Some girl just said "I dont wanna ride this.." im sorry. What. Are you insane. #bye

Paige Matacchiera @paigeamber29 · Jul 15

They only let a certain number of people in Harry Potter world #exclusive

Paige Matacchiera @paigeamber29 · Jul 15

Lets play a game: how many more delays will there be before paige rides the escape from gringotts

Paige Matacchiera @paigeamber29 · Jul 15

We have once again returned to normal operations. WOOHOO ONLY TWO MORE HOURS TILL I RIDE IT

Paige Matacchiera @paigeamber29 · Jul 15

Getting a death glare from a 12 year old across the line... dont look at me like that I didnt make this line stop

Paige Matacchiera @paigeamber29 · Jul 15

Gringotts is experiencing more delays....oh the things I do for you harry potter

Paige Matacchiera @paigeamber29 · Jul 15

Snoozin' while we wait #lines pic.twitter.com/gq4tZHE6jF

Paige Matacchiera @paigeamber29 · Jul 15

The girl next to me is explaining everything about harry potter to her friend.... if you aren't a fan, leave. I WANNA RIDE

 Paige Matacchiera retweeted

Chelsea Ratterman @Cinephile_Chels · Jul 15

@paigeamber29 I eat Ravenclaws for lunch. #slytherinpride

Paige Matacchiera @paigeamber29 · Jul 15

Got some butterbeer #happy pic.twitter.com/XGKh4yfYtK

Paige Matacchiera @paigeamber29 · Jul 15

She's a Ravencaw. She says, "the cleverest"

Paige Matacchiera @paigeamber29 · Jul 15

20 bucks shes a hufflepuff

Paige Matacchiera @paigeamber29 · Jul 15

Making my sister get a pottermore before I let her ride this ride

Paige Matacchiera @paigeamber29 · Jul 15

Girl in her Gryffindor gear. Got the lanyard, the shirt, and my personal favorite, shorts with Gryffindor on the butt pic.twitter.com/SqrNI9L27p

Paige Matacchiera @paigeamber29 · Jul 15

Live tweeting from the line, it might be awhile but fingers crossed for some twitter worthy news

Paige Matacchiera @paigeamber29 · Jul 15

I AM SO EXCITED

Paige Matacchiera @paigeamber29 · Jul 15

And so the 5 hour wait begins

Paige Matacchiera @paigeamber29 · Jul 15

"We are pleased to announce that the ride is restored and fully operational...." *entire line erupts into loud cheers*

Paige Matacchiera @paigeamber29 · Jul 15

Gringotts ride delayed.......

Okay, so maybe I’m a little insane…. But really I just love Harry Potter so you can’t actually hate on that. Anyway, as I waited in this 5 hour line, the anticipation built up higher and higher and my expectations for this ride were through the roof. I mean, this ride had to be GOOOOOOD for how long I waited. I cried. *I CRIED.*I CRIED*  It was amazing and perfect in every single way. I can’t even begin to describe how spot on, wonderful it was.

Okay. What else happened?

BUTTERBEER.

So good.

So good.

Honestly, I didn’t think I would like it. People described it as “butterscotch-y”…ew? NO. heaven. I can’t describe it. It’s indescribable. Also delicious.

Olivander’s wand shop. Okay, so you know in the movies. And Hagrid’s all, “You’re a wizard Harry.” And then they’re shopping for wands. And then this happens:

Okay, well that happened to me. LEGIT. It did. Swear. My wand is 11¹/₂” Ivy with a dragon heart string core. (so what? I’m a nerd. Just deal with it). Usually, you can only buy character wands (so like Harry’s or Draco’s or the Elder Wand, etc. you get the gist) unless you get chosen to get “fitted” for a wand. WELL I DID. So I got a special wand. JUST FOR ME. That’s really cool.

Basically I went to HP World 2 days and they were the best 2 days of my life. Here are some pretty rad pictures of the rest of it. ☺

 

Ze castle                                                                     Hagrid’s Hut

WOW SO COOL IM SUCH A NERD AND I DON’T EVEN CARE CAUSE IT’S AWESOME.

I left HP World incredibly happy. Nothing could bring me down. “All was well.”

☺