Day 3: First Love

The question for day 3 asks who my first love was. That's hard to answer mainly because love has a lot of different operational definitions. However, for the purpose of this question I am going way back to kindergarten. His name was Zach Irby and all I remember was that he had jet black hair, tan skin, and would sometimes wear gold chains to school with his parachute pants. In my little five year old brain, he was perfect. Of course, I am aware now that he was simply my first crush and I have luckily been able to experience the difference between a crush and true love since then. It's also safe to say that when I was growing up I gave my heart away too easily. It doesn't really matter who my first real love was, all that matters is that I am married to my love now! This warrants another picture of my hot husband doing something manly.



I probably won't be keeping up with the challenge over the weekend, but I plan to pick back up on Monday. Have a great weekend every one!

Blogging Challenge Day 1

Things have been super crazy with Brooke and school lately, so what better time to take a challenge that requires me to spend more time blogging? Actually, doing something enjoyable for ten to twenty minutes every day is a great way to reduce stress; therefor it only makes sense that I should take this blogging challenge to reward myself for the long hours I put in studying and diaper changing. Here are the rules if you would like to also take the challenge! I may not do it every day, but I will try. (Thanks for passing this along Suzannah!)

Day 1: Introduce, recent picture of yourself, 15 interesting facts
Day 2: Something you want to do before you die
Day 3: Your first love
Day 4: Your parents
Day 5: A song to match your mood
Day 6: A picture of something that makes you happy
Day 7: Favorite movies
Day 8: A place you've traveled to
Day 9: A favorite picture of someone you could never imagine your life without
Day 10: Something you're afraid of
Day 11: Favorite tv shows
Day 12: Something you don't leave the house without
Day 13: Something that means a lot to you
Day 14: A picture of you last year - how have you changed?
Day 15: Bible verse
Day 16: Dream house
Day 17: Something you're looking forward to
Day 18: Favorite food
Day 19: Something you miss
Day 20: Picture that always makes you smile
Day 21: Favorite Picture of yourself ALL TIME Why?
Day 22: What's in your purse?
Day 23: Favorite Movie
Day 24: Something you've learned
Day 25: Picture of your favorite band/artist
Day 26: Your Dream Wedding
Day 27: Original Photo of the city you live in
Day 28: Pet Peeves
Day 29: 3 Wishes
Day 30: a picture of yourself this day and 5 good things that happened since you started the challenge


Day 1: I have already introduced myself via the "about me" section. Here is a picture of me giving Ms. Brooke some loving.



15 interesting facts seem like a LOT. I'll do 7.
1. I love interior design almost as much as I love Psychology.
2. I have four tattoos, all small and discretely placed.
3. I love our church home, North Point Church, and am so glad to have found a place where believers seem to be genuinely living out love.
4. My husband proposed after only 3 months of dating.
5. I used to want to move to a big city, but now I'm honestly happy right where I'm at.
6. Life isn't about me, and I didn't truly know what joy was until I figured that out.
7. I tried out for the NPC Worship Team and have a second audition coming up next week. Whatever happens, I am just excited that I sang on stage by myself- it was way out of my comfort zone!

Mon raison d'être

When I began this blog I was certain that I would post content mainly related to the integration of theology and psychology. However, as my different posts took shape, some of them were purely religious while others were secular in nature. Some were personal and talked only about familial experiences and some were just for fun. I tried to narrow my subject matter, but I just couldn't seem to commit!

I went through a couple different titles for the blog with the most recent being “La Famille Batson”, which gave tribute to my French ancestry and gave the inkling that posts would be mainly about our family. However, that is not exactly a match with content either.

Because I want to call the blog something that accurately reflects the content being published, I am changing the name once more. All I can promise from what I will write about is that I will write only about things that I believe are crucial and central to existence. For this reason I am renaming the blog “Raison d'être” which is literally, “reason for being.” It refers to anything that is central to our existence. It’s a perfect fit, and it still sounds beautiful because, well, what doesn’t sounds alluring en Français!?



One of my prime raison d'être....Thomas and I promising to "train our child in the way she should go..." (proverbs 22:6).

Gossip Girls

How strange. Last night I was lying in bed thinking that I wanted to blog about gossip. This morning I got up, sleepily turned on the nationwide news, and was surprised to see them doing a report on, you guessed it, gossip. That is not a common topic to report on, so I knew I would now definitely be posting on it. After all, it had already been on my mind and what the media had to say about gossip just drove my thoughts all the way home and walked them to the door. The popular morning news show (whose name I have politely omitted) reported that gossip “can actually be quite healthy” (this statement was not backed by research). One man on the show said “if someone is not a gossip, I won’t talk to them....because if someone isn’t gossiping, they must be dead! Every one gossips!” The show went on to talk about how gossip is a harmless pastime that can, at times, even serve as a bonding agent in relationships.


The truth is that gossip, like a tick, has imbedded its heinous little self into the core of our culture. While it does come naturally to most of us, it is far from healthy. Gossip has ruined many lives, broken thousands of hearts, and shattered relationships worldwide. Eleanor Roosevelt once said, “Great minds discuss ideas; Average minds discuss events; Small minds discuss people.” I happen to whole-heartedly agree.

High school was full of it, and I had hoped that would be the end. To my horror, I discovered the world of gossip was only growing larger. When I worked at a bank for several years, some of the individuals I worked with there were harsher gossips than those that I went to school with. I wish I could claim to never have partaken, but there were times I would listen intently, and even pass along something that was none of my business. Each time it happened I wanted to slap myself silly. I have since made it a goal to never discuss individuals’ lives in a hurtful manner. None of us are exempt from the temptation, but all of us are responsible for bettering ourselves and our character.

So how do we avoid it? One rule of thumb I follow is that if I would not want it said about me, I would not say it about someone else. I am also aware that if someone is gossiping to me, they will likely turn around and gossip about me. Trying to put ourselves in others’ shoes really plays a central role in halting gossip. In The Purpose Driven Life by Rick Warren, there are two statements that really apply. The first is, “Gossip is passing on information when you are neither part of the problem nor part of the solution.” And the second, “Your character is essentially the sum of your habits.”