A,B,C, it's easy as 1,2,3!

So, I was on Jolene's blog the other day and decided I wanted to copy her ABC thing. Maybe you'll learn something about me!

A- Attached or single: Of course I'm attached! I've been married for an entire 4 months tomorrow! Yay!
B- Best Friend: David first, then Jenny Sue.
C-Cake or Pie: If the cake is icecream, I'll eat it anytime!
D-Day of Choice: Saturday, it's the funnest! I can sleep in too!
E- Essential Item: I'd have to agree with Jolene, I feel totally lost without my cell phone.
F- Favorite Color: Just about any shade of green! It's so springy and happy!
G- Gummi Bears or Worms: Gummy bears! Brachs!
H- Hometown: Austin, TX
I- Indulgence(s): Icecream, chickflicks and gummy bears. That's a good night! Especially if I'm snuggled up with my hubby!
J- January or July: July by far!!! I hate snow and I love warm/hot weather! Swimming time! Yay!
K-Kids: I think I'm going for 5. That's what both me and David have in our families and anything less seems incomplete. But, like Jolene, some people change their minds once they have them.
L-Life is incomplete without: My husband, family, friends, the gospel, rollerblading and other outdoor activities.
M- Marriage Date: December 22, 2007
N- Number of Siblings: 3 brothers, 1 sister
O- Oranges or Apples: Oranges! I like the juice.
P- Phobias or Fears: Spiders! I hate their creepy crawly nastiness!
Q- Quote(s): Always take time to stop and smell the dandilions. Quote from my mother.
R- Reason To Smile: When I come home to find pretty tulips that my hubby got for me.
S- Season: Summer! I love swimming, camping, laying in the sun, reading on a blanket, tossing a football. It's the greatest time of year!
T- Tag Three: Anyone who reads this & wants to do this! ALL OF YOU!!!
U- Unusual habbits/behaviors: I have to spin the ball in my hand once before I serve in volleyball, but other than that I never do anything weird. I'm the most normal person you'll ever meet! (smile and wink)
V- Vegetarian or Oppressor of Animal: Ummm...I'm from Texas. What do you think? Bring on the steak!
W- Worst Habit: Grinding my teeth.
X- X-Rays or Ultrasounds: I don't know if this is asking what I prefer or what I've had done. I've never had an ultrasound. But I've had plenty of xrays at the dentist and then once when they thought I might have broken my nose. I don't know what I'd prefer.
Y- Your Favorite Food: Just about anything mexican. I love the spiciness. I am also beginning to love cheese more and more the longer I'm married to David!
Z- Zodiac sign: Leo

Surprise Visit!

So, I got a call yesterday from a former mission companion, Alison, who told me that Dina-Marie, a former investigator of ours was in Utah for a conference this weekend! Wow! That was crazy! So, we got to visit and hang out. We got icecream and went to Comedy Sports lastnight. Then, today we went up to Sundance to do touristy things and then a quick visit to Temple Square before she had to catch her flight back to California. It was a fairly brief visit, but wonderful! Dina has not yet gotten baptized, we worked on that a lot. But she is still living the Word of Wisdom. Yay! So, she is slowly on her road to getting dunked. Here are some of the pictures we took as we enjoyed our visit and catching up.


Kimberly & Dina at Sundance


Kimberly, Dina & Alison


Kimberly, Dina & Alison at Temple Square

Recreation Therapy

I have been asked so many times what Recreation Therapy is. Am I a PE teacher? Is it like sports medicine? The answer is a big fat NO to both of those. The textbook definition that my professor made us memorize and quote to people again and again is this, "A holistic approach of therapy using the mode of recreation to help people change physically, mentally, spiritually, intellectually and socially."

So, then the questions come, "How did I get into this?" and "What do I do?" How I got into this can be a very long or very short explanation. I'll go with a shorter version. I have always had a difficult time sitting still and looking at paperwork. So, I knew I needed to be doing something active. I used to think that something was Occupational Therapy. I found that when you do OT working with younger kids, you get to do really fun games and activities. However, that required more school than I really wanted and also put a lot of confinements on me. I wasn't happy working with little kids all the time. I wanted a more mature population. So, I was searching for undergrads while in college. I tried speech therapy and elementary education. Neither suited me. Then I stumbled across Therapeutic Recreation. I started looking into it. It was like a puzzle piece that was destined to be fit together. I immediately signed up for it and have stayed involved ever since.

Now, the question, "What do I do?" Since college I have gotten my certification and license as a practicing recreation therapist. I work with troubled youth in a residential treatment center. I plan groups to do with the kids a few times a week where we do challenge activities, sports, games, etc. We do activities that force the kids to build their social skills, listening, communication, teamwork, leadership, support, trust, etc, etc. Then, the last 10 minutes of the group we sit down and we talk. How did we do? What could we have improved on? How could this help in our lives and in our therapy programs? I could go on and on with questions we think about. But, I think you get the idea. This gives the kids a chance to reflect on themselves, how they are growing, and what they can continue to work and improve on.

My favorite quote from one of my clients after stating that he hated recreation therapy was this, "They trick me into learning things." So, I guess that gives you an idea of what I do for a living.

Here's an example of a group I did on Tuesday. It's called the "Golden Rule". I gave each kid a piece of paper and told them to write their name in the right hand corner. Then I gathered back up the papers and redistributed them to different people. I then told them to then write their name on the left hand corner. Then, they needed to write down something that they wanted the person in the right hand corner to do within the confines of the gym. Then I gathered up the papers again. I read aloud what person A wanted person B to do. Then I asked person A to go do it. Some of the kids complained about doing it. I asked them, "why? they expected person B to do it, why couldn't they?" Then they would go do whatever it was. They did things like running 8 laps around the gym and then spinning in 10 circles and playing basketball with an imaginary friend and singing the "Sound of Music". Then we talked about what the Golden Rule was and how they could apply it. We decided we wanted to give it a try. We played a game of basketball. There was only about 2 or 3 kids that stuck with it. Others were fouling, pushing, yelling and provoking like crazy. Well, it made for good comments afterwards.

So, there you have it! I trick people into learning things by letting them have fun and then think about what happened!

David

This is David. I'm from WA and aside from spending endless hours studying, I enjoy wrestling. My family is also quite fond of Brasil (intentionally spelled that way). I have one brother in Brasil now and my older brother and I were both there a few years ago. Growing up I enjoyed wrestling and was, if I do say so myself, quite good. That's about as much as I can think to say now.

Welcome!

Welcome friends! So, I decided it was high time to start a blog for David and I. After following my sister-n-law's blog so faithfully, it made me jealous that she had such a cool trend going and I didn't. So, alas. Here it is!

Right now I can't say that our lives are all that interesting. I work full time and David goes to school full time. So, in the little time when we are not doing our full time activities, we get to spend time together. Our most common time spent together is playing games and watching movies. Though, I am a very competitive person and don't take losing too well when David beats me at a game. Lastnight, for example, David thrashed me at a game of both "Ticket to Ride" and "Monopoly". Though it was all luck that he had won both games, I was defeated and, therefore, upset. Someday we will figure our a way to enjoy our games and have me not get so upset when I lose.

So, right now, I sound like a real enjoyable person. Maybe I should tell a little bit more about myself so that I don't quite sound so bad. My name, as some people may be wondering, is Kimberly. I am a proud Texan, though many of my friends like to remind me that I have lived in Utah much longer than Texas because of college. I will never claim Utah. I enjoy diversity and warm weather, and Texas is much better at that. I grew up all over the place. Sure, I was born in Utah, but I've also live in Illinois, Kentucky, South Carolina, and, finally, Texas. I moved there my sophomore year of highschool. One of my highschool friends gave me a shirt that says, "I wasn't born in Texas but I got here as soon as I could". I think that sums up my feelings quite a bit.

I also really love to rollerblade! I have always wanted to fly and the wind rushing in my face as I rollerblade is the closest I have ever come to it. It's like a feeling of freedom, like no one can ever tie you down. One of my dreams is to go hang gliding. I think that will give me an even greater sensation of flying, but for now, rollerblading will do.

Okay, I can't tell you all about me in one entry, but you get the jist. There will be more to come!