As I mentioned in my Emotional Hoarding and Purging My Closet post, I have gained quite a bit of weight.

According to Wikipedia, "Education is the process of facilitating learning, or the acquisition of knowledge, skills, values, beliefs, and habits."

Personally, I don't think that's what I received when I went to high school, or any school for that matter. I don't know what your experience was like, but my schools focused on three things: dress codes, standardized tests, and preparing for exams.

Administrators say that dress codes are enforced so that students aren't distracted, but they're actually doing the opposite. When students are sent to the office for dress code, they are being taken away from their classes. Yet, teachers continue to do it. I remember getting dress code in elementary school, because my skirt was too short. ELEMENTARY SCHOOL! Don't even get me started on the whole collarbone issue!

Public schools also put way to much time and effort into standardized tests. Instead of learning important life skills, students are forced to learn the material for the next big test. In Florida, we spent so much time preparing for the FCAT that we didn't always finish the planned curriculum. Schools are so focused on their overall grade, that they even began paying teachers based on their students scores. Not only is that not fair for the students, but it's not fair for the teachers either.

Another thing wrong with today's education system, is the pressure put on students to do well on regular tests and quizzes. Nowadays, students are taught to memorize the materials only long enough to take the test. I know from experience, that once I aced that test, all of that information went out the door. I can honestly say, I don't remember a lot from my thirteen years in school. Of course I remember basic math, but I don't remember facts from 5th grade science class or 12th grade government.

Your education needs to teach you the basics, and provide you with the skills to succeed in life, or at least get by. So I have created a list of skills and topics that I think should be taught in high school. I hope to create blog series based on these topics, but those will come at a later time!

Home Economics
Relationships
10. How to deal with grief
11. How to intervene when someone needs help
12. How to make friends
13. How to determine who your real friends are
14. How to get out of toxic relationships
15. How to communicate
16. How to forgive

Please don't hate me when I say this, but I don't like coffee. There, I said it! It's true, I don't like coffee. In fact, I don't like much of anything. I'm super picky and I only drink four things: water, sprite, my Starbucks order, and chocolate milk (but only certain kinds).

I used to never go to coffee shops, but someone once dragged me to a Starbucks. I explained that I didn't like coffee, and they said it didn't matter. They asked if I liked caramel, of course I said yes. So they proceeded to order me a caramel Frappuccino, without coffee. They asked me if I liked whip cream, and I said no. So I didn't order any, and it was a simple as that.

To my surprise, I really liked it. I was basically drinking vanilla ice cream with caramel swirls. Since my first experience, I realized how much I really love caramel. So I always ask for extra drizzle. I now get this drink anytime I'm at Starbucks, or target :) It was really bad when I lived in the dorms at UNF. We had two Starbucks on campus, so I basically got one every other day. Thank you mandatory meal plan!

If you're interested in trying my order, just go to your local Starbucks and repeat after me:
- Grande
- Cream based
- Caramel frappuccino
- No whipped cream
- Extra extra extra extra extra extra extra caramel drizzle
         *Yes I really ask for 7x more caramel

When I was younger, I used to say the same prayer every night before bed. I don't remember learning it, but I do remember how fast I had learned to say it. This is the prayer that I used to say every night, well every night until life took over.

"Now I lay me down to sleep, I pray the lord my soul to keep. If I should die before I wake, I pray the lord my soul to take. God bless everybody, Amen."

I'm sure you've heard or seen a prayer similar to this. There are so many variations of it, but my prayer never changed. I remember I added that last line when my grandfather passed away. I wanted to make a point, even at a young age, that I wanted to make sure everyone in heaven and on Earth was taken care of.

It wasn't until I was older, and began going to church that I realized prayers should mean something. It shouldn't just be the words repeated at the end of the night. And it definitely shouldn't have been a race to see who could say the prayer fastest. I now realize that taking the time to speak to God openly and honestly, is very important. Although I may not do it as often as I should, I believe that He knows what is in my heart.

This is how I pray:

I Give God My Undivided Attention
Each time I do this in a different way. When I'm able to, I like to close my eyes, and close my hands together. Of course, that's not always possible. If I'm driving, I'll turn the radio off. If I'm in the shower, I'll just close my eyes. I just try to do whatever I can at that moment to relax, connect, and pray.

I Request Guidance
Life is full of difficult decisions, so I pray to God to give me guidance. I pray that he guides me to making the right decisions and I pray that the decisions I do make, line up with his plan for me. I also pray that God closes the doors on the things that do not fit into his plan. I pray that he guides me into the open doors. Someone once told me not to pray for one specific outcome, but to pray that God will guide me in making the decisions that will lead to the best outcome for me. I am a child of God, and I know that he knows what's best for me, even when I really want something that might not be.

I Ask for Strength
Strength is something that I lack, both physically and emotionally. I pray that He gives me the strength to get through each day and each hardship. I pray that he gives me the strength to continue on, even when my body tells me no. As someone that deals with both depression and anxiety, I know how easy it can be to give up. So each day I ask for the strength to continue, because I was put on this Earth for a reason; and I know for a fact that reason isn't to quit.

I Surrender
I have a hard time doing this, which is exactly why I started a monthly verse of encouragement. You can check out February's here. I cast all of my anxieties onto Him. I almost always say something along the lines of, "Dear God I know that you have a plan for me, and I know that I need not worry, and that I am supposed to trust you, but I really hope that ________ is in that plan. I know that if this is your will, then it will happen; and if it doesn't, then I will accept that." I know that He ultimately knows what is in my heart, but I still say something like that each time. I don't necessarily say it to remind him of what I'd like to happen. I instead do it to verbally cast away my anxieties, and to remind myself that he has a plan for me, and that everything is going to work out.

I Pray for Others
Every time I pray, I make sure to pray for others. If I'm praying in the morning, I might ask that everyone smiles at least once today. I pray that something good happens in each and everybody's life, no matter how small or insignificant. I make sure to pray for those around me, and those that I know are hurting. I always make sure to pray for my brother and my cousins. I especially pray for my husband. I pray that God gives him strength and takes away his worries, because I know how hard it must be for him to watch me deal with my chronic illnesses.

I Praise Him
I end each prayer with my praises. I thank God for everything he has given me, he will give me, and what he is currently giving me. It can be so easy to only go to God when you need Him for something. But we need to remember to praise him as well. Like anyone of us, he does not need nor ask for recognition for the things that he does, but he deserves it.

There is no right or wrong way to pray, I just wanted to share with you how I choose to pray.

2016 is the first year that I'm not in school and I don't have a "real" job. It's incredibly weird, but I'm hoping to use this time to learn and try new things. I already mentioned some of these goals in my Perfectly Ambitious post, but there's also some new ones as well. I'm realizing that some of the things I'd like to learn will be difficult with my chronic illnesses, but I really want to make this a year of learning and growing for me.

As I mentioned last month in my blog post, I have written a verse of encouragement in my planner for each month of the year. If you missed last month’s verse, you can check it out here.
This month’s verse is Isaiah 41:10.