I am the decision maker round these parts!

From here on out I'm making my students' decisions for them.

It's just they're not very good at making their own decisions.  AKA- they always choose wrong. 

I have one senior who has yet to turn in an assignment in the four weeks that school has been in session.  He's a sweetheart to me and always says what I want to hear, but I know it's only that.  Telling the teacher lady what she wants to hear so she gets off his back for good.  The poor kid is so deficient in credits that he has given up completely on the idea of graduation.  Instead he occasionally shows up to class, sleeps through our Othello reading, and never turns in assignments.  Oh, you poor fool.  Let me make your decisions for you.  Do your homework.  Stay awake in class.  Come after school to get help.  Please.

Or how about this kid who told me to F off when I took his cell phone away last year?  He proved himself by coming in to apologize and we've had a positive relationship ever since.  I was even excited when I saw he was on my rolls again for this year- heck, I'm rooting for the kid!

Today I found out he got suspended for beating the crap out of another student of mine.

Oh, please.  Seventeen year olds.  Let me make your decisions from now on.  I promise, I'll make better ones that you are making.

Makes me wonder how difficult it is for parents to watch their own children make bad decisions.  Or, on a grander scale, how difficult it is for God to watch his children screw up time after time after time and not just step in and make their decisions for them.  Must be tough to be God.  It's a gig I don't think I'm quite up for.

The good news is, not everybody makes bad decisions.  Like Danielle.  She makes very good decisions.  Especially blogging decisions.  When I read this post she had sent over to me I thought, "Well dang!  I wish I had written that!"  I mean, this chick has gotten it all figured out.  Plus, she's a fantastic writer.  And you know what?  I appreciate good writers.  And I appreciate people who make good decisions.  Hence... I appreciate Danielle.  Take it away, sweet cakes!

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Hello, lovely readers of Life of Bon! I’m Danielle from the Pure Joy Blog and am thrilled to be writing this post… if you are reading it, I love you already.  No, really, I do! 

I don’t have any really cool talents or crafts to show you all so I thought I’d share with  you a little about me.  Also, I’m going to share with you a little about my take on each one of these things: Faith, family, food and fitness.  Why? Cause I love these things and they all happen to start with the letter F.  Catchy, huh?

Me:

I’m Danielle, a college student and nanny.  I am going to school to be a Physical Therapist because I love to help people.  I just started my blogging adventure a couple months ago and so far I love it.  Bloggers are just so sweet and welcoming (like Bonnie here!).  I'll just have to get my their/they're/there straight to keep it that way.  Random facts about me: I love Pinterest.  I do not like animals (go ahead, hate me now).  I love tennis shoes.  I judge people by their tennis shoes (oops).  I love cooking and scrapbooking.  I love to read.  My goal height is 5'7"-- which I have not reached yet.  People keep telling me it's no longer possible for me to reach it, but I just can't believe that. 

Faith:

My faith comes first.  Loving God isn’t just about going to church on Sunday, it is a life-changing experience.  My blog is an attempt to put into practice these two verses:

Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance (James 1:2-3).

Be joyful always, pray continually; give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus (1 Thessalonians 5:16-18).

Now I’m just warning you: I am not doing this because I am the type of person who is happy and bubbly all the time, because, sadly, I am not.  Which is why this blog is such a good thing for me.  It helps me get perspective and be joyful instead of being a pessimist. 

Family:

These crazy people are my family.  My family is pretty weird sometimes.  Our favorite family movie is Series of Unfortunate Events (if you have seen this movie, you will understand our humor, if not, you need to watch it).  We go to bed extremely late.  On Friday nights, we stay up even later and eat massive amounts of food.  We fight a lot.  But most of all, we love each other.  All I can say is that if you have a family, please don't take that for granted for you are enormously blessed.

"Being part of a family means you are part of something very wonderful. It means you will love and be loved for the rest of your life."  

Food:

I LOVE food.  I could go on and on about food, but I’ll spare you.  But I will share with you my very, very favorite recipe that I made this summer. You're welcome.  If you are wondering what the heck a Panzanella is, don't worry, I didn't know either.  Basically, it is bread salad.  It’s perfect for summer, so hurry up and make it! (-:

Pesto Panzanella
6 cups ¾-in rustic bread cubes
3 heirloom tomatoes, in 1-in chunks
3 thin slices from a large red onion, quartered
3 tbsp. snipped fresh basil
3 tbsp. white wine vinegar
2 tbsp. basil pesto
(to make your own: http://danielleatpurejoy.blogspot.com/2012/09/resourceful.html)
½ tsp sea salt
Freshly ground pepper, to taste

Toast bread cubes on a baking sheet for 5-10 minutes at 450^oFor until toasty and firm. Let cool.

Place bread in a large bowl with tomatoes, onions and basil. Stir together remaining ingredients, drizzle over the salad, and toss to coat.

*Note: I cut this recipe in half.  Also, I substituted balsamic vinegar for white wine vinegar.

Fitness:

My journey to fitness has been kind of weird.  I will start off by saying, I was the least sporty girl ever.  I played two years of soccer when I was little and I think I cried practically every game.  I did ballet for years and when I quit, didn't know how to stay in shape.  I mean, I couldn't just start working out, could I?? Luckily, my best friend was a total fitness freak (and now a wonderful fitness instructor!) and from her example, I joined the gym.  I got into it, seriously into it, so that I was even doing gym classes like Pilates and Boot Camp.  But I didn't run.  In fact, running for five minutes in Boot Camp was enough to make me throw up.  So when said best friend asked if I wanted to do a 5K Mud Run with her, I thought she was crazy.  But you know what? I wanted to.  I started running with my mom and we ran every single day that summer.  At first, we could only make it a couple minutes without doubling over.   But we got better and better.  I did the Mud Run, which was a gloriously dirty run combined with obstacles IN THE MUD.  So. Much. Fun.  Two years later, I am still running.  I have done a 10K and am running another one at the end of the month.  The moral of this story? If I can run, you can do anything.  Cause I never, ever thought it would be possible. 



A moment of personal triumph for me.  Covered in mud (-:



So there you have it, me condensed to a blogpost.  Now come by and say hi at www.danielleatpurejoy.blogspot.com!  Can't wait to hear from you all!

JOYfully yours,

Danielle