The Last Post About Snow in Denver

Well, the weather men were wrong and the second wave of snow never came to Denver. That's good for me because now I should have no problem at all getting out of the airport and into DC. I will have pictures to post later on my trip because I got a digital camera for Christmas. YAY! I love technology but not as much as you you see. But I still love technology.

This is the last day of 2006. Happy New Year Everyone!

So I Lied

Yesterday I said it wasn't as cold in Denver as it was in Kabul but it actually is. Today the low is 7 degrees. WHAT AM I DOING HERE?

SNOW!!!!

So I'm in Denver right now. And for those of you who read Jo's blog, it's cold here too but not as cold as it is there. So as you all know Denver got dumped on last week and kept a lot of people from their Christmas travels including my sister who never got out of Denver and spent Christmas here instead. Anyway, I came out here on Tuesday and today we are getting dumped on one more time. They are expecting two waves of snowing by Saturday adding up to 18-24 inches of snow to the already snow covered icy ground. I really hope I can get out on Sunday. Here's praying.

YES I KNOW THAT MY BIRTHDAY IS OVER

Denver

Merry Christmas and I hope you are all able to get to where you are trying to be for the holidays.

today's my birthday

Personal Blog Post

To my readers:
Stefa- I stole your sunglasses by accident. Also I tried thrice to comment on your blog but it wouldn't let me. Do you have Beta? Cause I do and I'm hearing that has been causing problems for some people. Switch to Beta cause I like it and I'm not switching back. Okay good. Also nice job on updating so much so often. You are by far the winner. Winner! You should totally be Man of the Year for Time magazine. (please read stefa's blog if that makes no sense)

Kendi- Hey will you be back by new years eve or are you staying at home. Cause if you're here we should hang out. Also Isn't it odd how long Stefa's is and everyone else's is really short?

Monty- Same as above. But also when do you leave? Tuesday? Wednesday? Also what is the deal with the Platypus? It's so unattractive and really serves no purpose.

Jen- Wanna hang out?

Jill- Aren't you excited, you're gonna get to see me in 8 days? I mean who cares about seeing family and Christmas and all that when you're anticipating my arrival. YYYESSSSS! PS my birthday is tomorrow.

Jo- Wanna ride bikes?

Courtney- Do you even read this any more now that you've killed your blog with no warning.

Blake- Call me when you're in Denver and I'll let you know where Jen and I are. Also come get your camera.

Tiff- Can you remind Blake to call me when you guys are in Denver please?

Okay I think that's all my regular readers. I know there's few more of you but I don't know how regular you are. Give me shout if you feel as though you've been left out.

'Tis the Season

So it's that time of year again. That's right...my birthday. Tonight is my bash. I think my favorite thing about birthday bashes is the focus on me and how great I am.* But my second favorite thing is the people who come out. The friends that want to celebrate with me on my birthday or at least for my birthday. Rarely is my party ever on my actual birthday. Even when my day falls on a weekend. It's because it's so stinkin' close to Christmas. But because of that in order to make sure it didn't end up clumped with Christmas my family always made a big deal of the day. And so as a result now-a-days I love my birthday and I love those people who help me make a big deal of the day. Thanks guys for coming out and praising me.*

*Please note that many things said in the above paragraph are for humor sake and that I am not really as self-centered as it appears that I am. Although I do really love my birthday and my family really did always make it a big deal and I am really thankful to everyone who is coming out tonight to eat and be merry with me in order to celebrate my 26th year alive.

Just some thoughts from all over the place put in no particular order and made into a post actually I'm surprised you're still reading this title

1. My birthday is in 8 days for all of you keeping track.
2. Is it really this far into December? What happened to October and November?
3. What's the deal with this weather? It's like 60 degrees here! Exclamation Point.
4. I love Christmas. Also I love the cheeriness it bring out in others. It makes me happy to see others around me happy.
5. I expect hugs, kisses, and gifts on my birthday just so you guys know.
6. I love all the parties this time of year. We just had our annual Christmas party 3 days ago. And just in case any one is actually wondering. We've never actually had a Christmas party at our house. But I found it funny that many of you refered to it as our Annual Christmas Party. Party on! Exclamation Point.
7. Tonight for dinner I had ice cream. Being a grown up is fun sometimes. Just call me a health nut.
8. You know what's a funny word...Porcupine. I think if I had written that word orginally I would have made it read...pokeypine. HA! Exclamation Point.
9. Why did I number everything in this post?
10. Bye

Ebenezers Number Two

http://cityguide.aol.com/washington/bestcoffeehouses

Go here and vote Ebs for best coffee house in DC and let's make it number one!

funny

God is neat

I don't usually post posts like this on my blog but I felt like it this time so here you go.

God is really awesome and He has done so many really awesome things in my life lately. So here's a very small list of what's up.

Last week a supporter of mine gave a HUGE financial gift to me. It was enough to pay off both my credit cards.
God Rocks!
Today a supporter of mine called to let me know that they wanted to pay my cell phone for this month. Which was paid in full via online by that supporter this morning.
God is so super!
Then I've been trying to get all my flights and travel plans ready to go for this upcoming Holiday season including plans for Mardi Gras in Feb. And today I totally got everything done. And I got an awsome price with direct flights all done and ready this afternoon.
God is incredible!
Finally I've been fighting with some of my electronics over the last month or so. My laptop has been randomly shutting down for no reason or warning and my email has been randomly kicking me off telling me I have to sign in again. But today none of that happened. Not even once. My email worked like it's supposed to and my laptop worked as well.
God works in mysterious ways!

So that's just a very few surface level praises of the awesomeness of God today but I felt I needed to share.

Last video for the week...I promise

I know this is the 3rd video I've posted on my blog this week. But this is one of the funniest videos I have EVER seen. I laughed out loud. And then I watched it again and laughed more.

untitled

Okay this is a video I made. The song in it is Mad Mad World from the Donnie Darko soundtrack by Michael Andrews. I'm not trying to make any statement or anything like that. I just wanted to make a video. Although I do think it probably reflects a little bit of my mood lately. If that makes any sense at all. All the shots are from DC. Mostly around union station and Ballston. Thanks for traveling with me Kendi. It took me a few weeks to get everything all together but just 2 days to put the video all together. The idea has been hanging out waiting on me for some time. She doesn't know this, but thanks Jen for helping me come up with this idea. Take from this what you will.

I did not call a plumber

This morning a man came to my door. It was much too early and my brain was not all there. First off I was still asleep so he had to knock on the door or rather I should say bang on the door twice before I got up. Not thinking I just opened the door with out finding out who it was. My thought was, "opps that was dumb." It was a plumber. I was so annoyed because I knew no one had called a plumber and this could not be right. I'm sure my face gave my feeling of annoyance away. He then added to my aggravation because he thought it would be a great idea to call me little lady every time he refered to me. I asked him what he wanted and then I also noticed that he had parked in my driveway. My aggravation level only rised as he then continued to call me little lady and explain to me that I had in fact called a plumber and that I should have known he was coming so early. We then actually stood there basically arguing on whether or not I had called a plumber. Something I feel I may have known had I actually done it. And finally, I kid you not, he became annoyed as well, because I wouldn't let him in and he ACTUALLY asked me if the man of the house was home. In my brain I then pushed him backwards down the stairs behind him. In reality I laughed ackwardly and told him and that we don't want a plumber so go away. We then came around to him reading from his notes and he said to me, "Is this not 1234 (my house number)?". I said, "yes it is". And he said, "And this is Edison Street." (he actually stated it like fact) And I said, "Wrong". And closed the door. I feel as though I won.

Heaven

This is a video made by a little girl who's only 14. It's really interesting. And listen carefully because there some really cool and eerie things being said.

And yes I know I need to make a new video because it's been a while. So just to let you know there is one coming.

Know What's Coming Next?

I can't believe it either but apparently Thanksgiving has actually come and gone and so we are now thrusted into the chaos of the Christmas season. YAY!

I'm happy because I jumped on top of things last week and did all my Christmas shopping early. But I know a number of people who went shopping yesterday on Black Friday. Once I did that twice. Twice I did that once.

And you know what the best thing about christmas getting closer and closer...my birthday is also getting closer and closer. I will be 21. Finally I will able drive. I will be able to vote. I will be able to go to the store alone. I will be able to join the military. I will be able to no longer have a babysitter. I will be able to get a job. I will be able to get married again. I will be able to smoke. I will be able to drink. I will be able to sleep. I will be able to swim. I will be able to make jewelry. I will be able to be queen of france. I will be able to ride dolphins. I will be able to drive a truck. I will be able to go to mars. I will be able to do push ups.

I'm really looking forward to this birthday and Christmas Season.
Hope you all had a pleasent thanksgiving. I know I did even with my babysitters.

3 Random Facts About Me

My favorite color is green. Kind of like an army/olive green not a neon or puke green. Those are not my favorite colors.

Sometimes I talk to myself out loud with out noticing until I disagree with what I have just said. And then I laugh cause I'm arguing...with myself...out loud.

One of my favorite things to eat, that is really really weird, is cream cheese on a tortilla. Which I almost NEVER get to eat because it's as about as healthy as eating a bowl of lard...with a tortilla.

An Update for A Friend

I have a friend who doesn't understand updates on blogs that seem to have no point so in honor of that I will now write an update...

today i woke up and was still tired so i just stayed in bed and started reading. then i got bored and started writing in my journal (one of many). then i went back to sleep for a few hours. then i got up and did nothing. then i went downstairs to do nothing. then i ate. then i watched a movie on lifetime. it was sad. then i had a text conversation with someone. then i took a shower and changed clothes because my other close were wet from taking a shower. then i went out. and i talked on the phone to my mom. then i went to church. then i watched a movie thing that was funny. then i came home. then i watched a comedian. then i wrote a blog.

...that has no point.

You're Invited

Guess what? You are invited to the best Christmas party EVER! There will be appetizers, super decorations, Christmas carols, and mistletoe! Please bring a white elephant gift, $5 or less (think funny and cheap). RSVP and feel free to bring friends!

Our Christmas Party is coming up. It starts at 7pm on Friday Dec 8th. And you're all invited!

Shoot me an email if you want to come. And if you don't know my email then you are not actually invited.

Yay Christmas!

XBox 360 Banned Commercial

This was a commercial made to advertise xbox 360. The idea was jump into the game. Pretty cool idea. I can totally see why it got banned but it's all over the internet so I'm not sure how much good it does to ban something simply from TV. Also personally I think it's a pretty funny ad.

TV Shows

Okay so one of my new favorite things on the internet today is this new idea of offering full tv shows on websites with limited to no commercial interruptions. Unfortunately they are really addictive and sometimes distract me like when I'm going to bed. Okay confession time...I actually ended up staying up until really really late last night because I was watching shows online.

Here's my favorite show channels

nbc.com
abc.com
abcfamily.com
the-n.com

A Summary

Okay so a few of you may have seen the post about the comments on Jen's blog. Well I realize that 38 comments can be tad over whelming and confusing so here's a summary of that conversation...

I said Hi. Kendi said chewbacca. I said shaving and big foot. Kendi said cute, evolution, shaving Jen.
I said shaving connection?. Kendi said question, grandma, bread. I said thrice, words, uxorious. Kendi said great, 35,000 cookies in a lifetime. I said stats, baseball beatles. Jen said post, dictionary. Kendi said cookies, random, chilli. I said God, pool, hurt. Kendi said all the time, I think, 45 stitches in my head. I said never, two year, bronchitos, I-T. Jen said your mom, bronchitis. Kendi said face, ra-i-ain. Jen said RIDICULOUS. I said comments, lame, funny. Kendi said agree, crazy, nurve. Jen said ridiculosity. Jo said ouch, spell, going down. I said ?!, fat neck, staring, thumb. Jo said BURITTO!

I don't see what's so confusing about that but I hope this summary clears everything up.

Some of my favorite Pics

Look Holly made a blog! She's so sweet. I wuv her.



This is such a fun picture to me. We all went to Ebs and saw Justin McRoberts and after we just randomly started taking pictures. Jen and I were not supposed to be in this picture but we added ourselves anyway. We're fun.



This is one of my favorite pictures of me and my friend Jen. We had been running all over DC in a race and we were nearing the end on so many levels.

Pumpkin Pi

You're mom is pumpkin pie.

comments are funny

want to read something funny? go to my friend Jen's blog and read the comments on her last post.

Pee-Ann-Oe

So Ellen got a new piano. Well, I shouldn't say new because the piano is actually really old. But it's classically old as opposed to crappy old which would be bad. Why would you ever by something that was crappy old? Or actually why would you buy something that is crappy in the first please. Oh actually I noticed that a lot of people buy crappy cars because they are cheap. They shouldn't but they do anyway. So I guess that's the only thing that is kind of okay to buy crappy old. But that doesn't mean it's right or safe or smart. I'm just saying. Anyway my point is...

What was I talking about? Oh Ellen got a new old piano. It's from the 1800s. It stands up right. Which is surprisingly called an up-right piano. Anyway it was just delivered today and it weighs about a ton, literally. The men who brought it to the house were actually afraid that the stairs wouldn't hold them and the piano at the same time, but they chose to risk their lives to bring us the joy of music. And you'll never guess what happened on the way up the stairs. Well, actually nothing happened. Hmm...that wasn't very interesting.

Anyway so now Ellen has been playing the piano all night long. She's good but it is not even Thanksgiving yet and she has played mostly Christmas carols. NO MORE CHRISTMAS CAROLS ELLEN! But what can you do?


Ahh music.

Jen first thing in the morning

scarey...

More Pix

Rick eating before scaring.



Carving with a doggie. The smallest doggie ever.



The gift of dancing.

Halloween Funness

It was a super Halloween holiday. Last night on Halloween I got to be a part of the Sneskos Scarey House. My throat is killing me today from being so scarey last night. I actually popped up out of a "grave" which was actually a tarp. Along with Jen and Ellen. Now I have great stomach muscles. But before that funness we actually had a party at our house. It was a pumpkin carving party. This is a picture of some people standing around chatting it up. I had to post it because Jen just looks so super in midsentence.

DXAR Conference

This weekend Stefa and I are off to Dallas! That's right. We are headed to the National Chi Alpha District Rep meeting. There we will be discussing Chi Alpha and it's future. Where we are headed. Where we should be headed. How long we want that to take. And the best ways to meet our goals. Should be a thrilling time to talk about the future of our ministry.

Please keep us in our prayers.

A Halloween Cartoon

This is from Very Tasteful. They make shorts like these all the time. They are super funny. Happy Halloween everyone!

ENJOY

announcements

A video made for announcements at AU Chi Alpha. So funny and creative I had to share.

Tribe It

Tribe Compete in the rituals to become the new chief of the tribe.

Play this free game now!!

you know you want to play this game...I am addicted to miniclip...they just added a new feature where you can put the games on your blog...this game is way addictive...and hard.

The first 4 mins of Borat the Movie

Borat!

This Morning

When I opened my eyes it honestly felt more like a relief than anything else. For hours I had felt as though I was just faking it. For hours like I was desperately trying to just keep my eyelids pushed together rather than actually sleeping. It took me a few minutes to focus and have my eyes adjust to the darkness. My mind wondered why my room was so dark still. Surely I had been sleeping long enough. The beaming red light shined from behind me telling me that it was only 5:27 AM.

5:30 in the morning? I am never awake at 5:30. Even when I catch a 6 am flight I am still not really awake. Maybe half awake but as soon as I hit the sits in the plane I tend to sleep again. Point being that 5:30 am is not a time I am usually aware exists.

I decide I should read or do something productive. I reach behind my head and grab my bible. My thoughts are all over the place and my attention is not being kept. I decide instead to first check email. I mean it’s been almost 6 hours since the last time I checked for mail. I reach once again behind me and grab my phone. It’s a struggle because it’s still plugged in to the charger over night. I’m annoyed and frustrated as I yank at the phone and the cord and separate the two.

I retrieve the phone finally and turn it on. I pull up the email and have 3 new messages. Only 1 of which is a real message. I wonder when the message was sent and read it aloud just to hear my own voice which is not working well. It is after all only 5:30 in the morning. After looking through emails and deleting the nonsense that I get all the time, I take to writing an email. I just feel like if I’m up, then someone else must be too. I email a friend a deep and holy email. Consisting of 6 sentences that are about changes in life that affect our Christian walks. I’m not entirely sure of what I’m writing because it is now only 6 in the morning. Following the email I close the browser and begin to play brick breaker on my phone. After dying in two games in less than 5 minutes I realize that reactions in early morning are a bit slow. So I give up and take up the reading I intended to do nearly 40 minutes earlier.

Nearing 7 am I notice that I’m blinking so much that I’m missing every other word and am very confused by what I’m trying to read. I decide I could probably go back to sleep now so I close the book and toss it behind me. But before I do I figure I should feed my addiction one last time. No new emails. Oh well. Back to sleep.

8:30 rolls around and the light in my room wakes me again. Should I get up? No. I should once again look for a response to my deep and holy email from earlier. Not only do I have a response but I also have other emails. Life is grand. I read the response, “That sounds so exciting, it is good to know your spiritual life will never be dormant.” That makes me smile. I wasn’t sure my email I’d sent made sense but the response seemed that it did. I look at other emails. Including one about rides for a retreat that I remember I need to pack for. As I open a third email I notice that my eyes are so tired and I am blinking uncontrollably. I think, “Man what is the deal?” Then I remember, oh yeah I woke up at 5:27 AM.

Ice Breakers

This morning I was messing around with my email waiting to go out for work somewhere and while I was waiting I was thinking about the ice breakers we do at my small group. To say the least, they're not really the best ice breakers I've ever heard. So I sent an email to the leaders offering some other options of ice breakers we could use. And now I'd like to answer a couple of them on here.

Pizza or burgers?
Pizza
TV or Movies?
Movies
Winter or Summer?
Winter
Soda or Coffee?
Soda
Dog or cat?
Dog
House or Apt?
house
City or Country?
City
Fast or Slow?
Fast
Music or Silence?
Music

What's the strangest injury you've ever had?
2 years ago when I moved to DC I was in an empty house waiting for new roommates to move in. I was talking on the phone sitting on a freshly shined wooden floor. I was laughing and standing up suddenly with socks on and went sliding. I stood all the way up and immediately lost all balance and hit the floor with full weight on my right elbow. Injuring not only my elbow (which was bruised) but also my whole arm and shoulder. I couldn't use that arm for more than a week. Actually it was tied down to my body. Sucked. But Funny.

C to the 4th degree

Today Stefa and I are headed out to a meeting at Carroll County Community College. Try saying that 5 times fast. Anyway, it's a college located right outside of Baltimore, MD. They want a Chi Alpha there and they already have a base of students to start one.

Now, to some of you you're probably reading this going," Um okay." But to us this is very thrilling. We have been praying for an oppurtunity of a Chi Alpha in or around Baltimore for years. This truly maybe an answer to prayer.

Somethings different...

Is that a new shirt your wearing?





Do you all like? Yes bangs. I know it can be risky but so far so good.
And Jo, it only took me 10 months but I can finally use your Chirstmas present.
Happy Christmas to me.

What did you do today?

Well today I slept in a little because I'm kind of sick. But for those of you that may worry, I feel MUCH better. It WAS alergies.

After I got up I messed around with a video that I am finishing for a project for work. I've been working on it for what feels like a super duper long time.

Then I took a shower and got dressed for the day.

Then I ate lunch. It was early but I was hungry and I didn't really eat breakfast because I got distracted by my editting of the video.

After eating I came back and sent out some emails and made a phone call.

Then I packed up and headed out to a meeting with Stefa. I met with her for around 2 hours. We tried to be creative but I'm not sure how good we did.

After my meeting I ran an errand. I actually just thought of another one I need to do.

Then I came back and did other things on the computer and phone.

Following that my roommate Ellen came home. We hung out and then went to the store and bought milk.
(Man, I live a super exciting life)

Finally I posted this but I will soon leave and go to a bible study.

Two things to note about my day: I spend a lot of time on the compter and phone and I have two heads.

Who Wants to Know Chandler

That's right ladies and gentlemen, it's once again time to play LET'S GET TO KNOW CHANDLER BETTER. Today's show is brought to you by Google maker and owner of everything on the internet.

So I'm a little sick today. I think it's allergies. From the randomness of my symptoms, light headedness, stuffy nose, sneezing, watery eyes, it has to be allergies. So I thought I'd post the top 3 things that I do when ever I'm sick.

In no particular order:
1. I whine...I know how annoying whining can be but I totally do it when I don't feel well. And I don't know what it is but I have to call friends/family anytime I have a cold or the flu and tell them and then whine about why I don't like being sick, as if none of them had ever been sick. It's totally childish but I always do it.

2. I don't eat...I know this is not healthy but I always lose my appetite when ever I'm even slightly ill. I truly have to force myself to eat even just a little bit. Once in high school I had this really bad throat thing. It was two weeks of gagging in pain and no voice. I missed school and was in the doctors all the time. I ate almost nothing for two weeks. I think I lost almost 15 pounds in just around two weeks.

3. I don't like to be alone but I don't talk...Yes this one is odd I know. But when ever I am sick I hate being by myself. And when you have no family near this is hard to accomplish when sick. Usually friends don't want to be around you when sick for fear of getting sick themselves. But here's the twist. I totally hate being by myself when sick but then when someone is here I don't want to talk. I usually just want to watch tv or a movie or read. It's just that comfort of having that other person near. I can't really explain it. But it's probably the biggest pain. I am often alone. And even more when ill. And as a result it just leads to more whining.

Wow, it sucks to be sick. Boo, sickness!

Playing to Win

Playing to win...
Seems like a simple concept. But here's the key you can't play to win if at the same time you're playing not to lose. What?

I don't know what it was that set me off but this is a thought that has been running through my thoughts and prayers the last few weeks. The whole idea of playing not to lose rather than playing to win. Let me give you a really lame example. I play this game on my cell phone called brick breaker. I play it all the time. Usually several times a day. It's simple. The idea of the game is to keep this little ball up in the air and hit the "bricks" with it. As you hit the bricks they disappear. Once the whole level is clear and free of bricks, then you move on to the next level. You get points for hitting bricks, moving onto higher levels, and catching these little pill things that do things to your ball catcher such as giving you guns or extra lives. Anyway, what I noticed is that when I play to win this game, then I am stratigically hitting the ball at different places and making it go to different places on the screen. However, when I am playing not to lose, then all I am doing is randomly moving the little dial back and forth and trying desperatly not to let the little ball fall off the screen which of course is what always happens when I play that way.

My point is this...When we play to win, then we know where we are headed or at least where we hope we are headed. We have a goal in mind and a possible path laid out for our journey. However, when we play just not to lose, then we simply standing in one place. We are headed no where in particular and we are simply trying not to drop everything in our lives. No one should live that way.

But something I noticed is that often times in my Christian life I do live that way. Instead of going out to others with a thought of sharing faith, I often go out with a thought of defending my faith. Who does that help? No one. I don't know about you but I don't like aimlessly roaming around in my life, when driving, when playing a sport. And I think I need to also gain a dislike for it in my faith.

Nervous?

So I had a couple of "nervous" moments this week and I was thinking about all the things that I do when I get nervous. Not only things I do to make myself feel better but also characteristics I have that show others I'm nervous. So once again here's a list.

These are five things I do when nervous. They are in order of #5 I do that sometimes or slightly to #1 I do it everytime or extreme.

5. I eat-- Often when nervous I tend to eat junk. Fries, candy, cookies. The whole idea of comfort foods I guess.

4. I watch TV-- See I watch TV all the time but when nervous I do nothing else while watching tv. No computer or talking just mindlessly watching tv. And I usually watch shows that I normally wouldn't watch like cartoons or the disney channel.

3. I sleep-- Usually when I go to bed really early. It's due to 1 of 2 reasons. I'm either sick or super nervous.

2. I get really quite-- For those of you who know me, I'm not really a quite person. So, when I just have nothing to say and I miss prime opportunities to make jokes I'm usually nervous or worried.

And the #1 thing that will give away to anyone around that I'm nervous...

1. I stutter-- I also do this when I'm super stressed, scared, or sad. The range is from I just repeat a word or phrase...a word or phrase. To I can't get the word out and have to change what I...what I...the words I was trying to use.

The World Moves With or With Out Us

This is a "video" I made. It's about stuff and people and things and the world around us.

To quote Ferris Buller, "Life moves pretty fast. If you don't stop and look around once in a while, you could miss it."

100 post and 13 jobs

So I've been looking around for something interesting or at least entertaining to blog about. It's been a little while I knew I needed to touch on something. Also I was kind of eager to blog because ladies and gentlemen this is my 100 post. Now to some of you that may make you laugh but I think that's pretty cool. Triple digit posting. Woo hoo!

I noticed that list seem to be popluar on blogs. It gives people a chance to add their own list in comments and a small insight to my life. So here's what I came up with:

I was talking to my friend Jen the other day. Someone had mentioned to her that I used to teach preschool. Now Jen and I are pretty good friends so when she was suprised by this so was I, in that I thought I had told her. So I guess you could say..."Jen, this blogs for you."

1. I unloaded books for a bookstore for YEARS
2. I worked in a restaurant behind a counter
3. I was a waitress later in the same restaurant
4. I sold sweatshirts in a school store
5. I taught VBS for years and years
6. I was a counselor at a summer camp
7. I work at TCBY (mmm...yogurt)
8. I worked at an afterschool daycare (3 different ones)
9. I taught the third grade
10. I taught preschool
11. I was a codirector of a daycare/preschool
12. I worked for Chi Alpha on a campus
13. And I currently work as an administrative aide in Chi Alpha (a job I created)

So there you go. Now you all know a little bit more about me.

Once again a borrowed thought

I once again come to you all with another stolen idea again from my friend Courtney. This time with a list of things I would tell a younger version of my self to do if there was some way to go back in time and talk to me. However I would go a little farther back than just 21. Now the top 10 things I would tell the 16 year old me.

10. Get contacts.
9. Don't quit softball because in college you'll regret being so out of practice.
8. Invest in Krispy Kreme because everyone and their mom is going to love them in about 2 years.
7. Go to church! You're going to anyway in a little over a year.
6. Be nice to your friends and let the small things go. No need to harp or point fingers.
5. Study for math!
4. I know you quit piano in 3rd grade but take it back up and stick with it.
3. Super Nintendo is so not cool. Just wait and see what's ahead.
2. Take the video editting elective at Franklin and stop avoiding things you think will be too hard.
1. Step out of your comfort zone more and talk to everyone. In a few years you're going to be that way anyway. It'll make high school so much better with tons of friends. Don't be shy.

"Aw No Way"

Okay so my friend courtney, note her blog on the side bar to the right, posted a comment about her new mascot, the Temple Owls. I was going to comment on her blog of some other "bad" mascots I knew of of, but after looking up one to find out why they are what they are I found some of the saddest mascots out there and had to make my own post about it. I hope they make you go "aw no way." like they did me.

Cheers

Fair Haven Slaters (VT) -- The town of Fair Haven was a center of slate quarrying for the last half of the 19th century.

Fair Lawn Cutters (NJ) -- I think this is another example of mascot word play based on the school's name. Either that or they're named for the type of ship.

Fall Creek Crickets (WI) -- Also used by the middle school and symbolized by a cricket that resembles Disney's Jiminy Cricket.

Falmouth Yachtsmen (ME) -- This name is also used for the girls' teams.

FAMU Baby Rattlers (Tallahassee, FL) -- The school is on the campus of Florida A&M University, whose athletic teams are known as the "Rattlers."

Frankfort Hot Dogs (IN) -- Symbolized by an angry dachshund. The town's signature event is the Hot Dog Festival, named in part for the school's mascot.

Franklin Electrons (Philadelphia, PA) -- More than likely for namesake Ben Franklin's work with electricity.

Freeburg Midgets (IL) -- I've heard two stories about this name. The first one states that in the early 20th century, Freeburg had a very successful basketball team, yet no one on the team was taller than 5 feet 10 inches tall. Sports writers started referring to them as the "Midgets." The second credits an announcer for coining the name for Freeburg's short basketball team.

Freeport Pretzels (IL) -- The town had two major economic products: beer and pretzels. Since the "Brewers" was deemed inappropriate for a high school mascot, the school went with the other choice.

Glenville Tarblooders (Cleveland, OH) -- This name comes from a football battle cry in the '40s, declaring that the team would whack the blood and the tar from its opponents

Grafton Spoilers (ND) -- This name dates to the 1930's. Grafton's boys' basketball team, a decided underdog, defeated one of the big schools in the state to win the state tournament and "spoil" their opponent's expected victory.

Grambling Kittens (LA) -- Grambling State University uses the name "Tigers" for its athletic teams.

Hereford Whitefaces (TX) -- Named for the breed of cattle, numbering in the millions, that the town is also named after. The teams are called the "Whitefaces," sometimes also "The Herd."

Hesston Swathers (KS) -- A "Swather" is a farm machine used to cut grass, wheat, etc. The school logo is a large and surly-looking machine.

Hickman Kewpies (Columbia, MO) -- According to legend, the Hickman football team was getting beat but they continued to fight on. A newspaper account either stated the players were taking the situation in stride and "smiling like Kewpies," or the players kept "bouncing back up like Kewpie dolls."

Highland Home Flying Squadron (AL) -- This name is used throughout the K-12 school.

Highland Springs Springers (VA) -- I think this is derived from the town name.

I have to say I love the pretzles, hotdogs, and electrons the best.

a day in the life

Here's a basic idea of what my day my look like. I tried to make it as short as possible. It's still on the long side. But I guess 24 hours crammed into under 8 mins ain't bad.

Is college utopia?

So tonight I am out in Charlottesville, VA and UVA. This is our biggest group (in numbers at the large group meetings) in the district. The meeting tonight was more like a conference with almost 300 students rather than just an average Chi Alpha. It was neat though. And what an incredible campus. College campuses are truly their own worlds and that is so incredible to me. It's almost like a little utopia where you learn, live, eat, party...all your friends live there and the world goes on around you all why you get yourself ready to be a "grown up". Awesome. Wouldn't it be cool if you take that with you even into regular life after college?

time

have you ever had an off day? how about an off week? i don't know what it is but ever since i've been a "grown up" (what ever that is) I feel as though i have more and more of these. and it's never anything in particular. for example...this week one of my off things has been that i can't sleep. every now and then this happens. but for me it's usually like i'm laying in bed tossing and turning and i can't turn off my brain but this week it's been more like i can't even bring my self to get into bed and try. now i know there are lots of us out there who have had these weeks. where we're so stressed we can't consentrate. or we're so tired we can't sleep. or we're so overwhelmed we can't get anything done. the ironic thing to me is that if we could consentrate, sleep, and get things done, we wouldn't be stressed, tired, or overwhelmed. anyway, i don't really have any plan to fix this or any advice to give but i do have a thought.

I remember when i was a kid and i thought how much better life would be, how much easier, how much simpler life would be when I "grew up". Well, i did that and i want to go back. i want "i can't sleep" to mean that i couldn't get to sleep until 10pm instead of 9pm. i went my stress of tomorrow to be a math test or what i'm going to wear to the dance. i want to be overwhelmed by how i'm going to beat mario bros. or tetris and if i am going to go to Chris's party or not.

i guess i just don't want to worry about bills. or have to think about the life and death of those closest to me. or process marriage, work, and money all in one package. now i'm not trying to say i hate being my age or anything but i am saying i had one of those weeks and my best solution is coming from my time machine i built last night. hello 10 years old again, here i come.

Think About This

"I think that the film Clueless was very deep. I think it was deep in the way that it was very light. I think lightness has to come from a very deep place if it's true lightness."

On that note let me now offer you some very deep thoughts from Danny aka Dan Quayle.

"If you give a person a fish, they'll fish for a day. But if you train a person to fish, they'll fish for a lifetime."
- Dan Quayle, former U.S. Vice President

"It is wonderful to be here in the great state of Chicago"
- Dan Quayle, former U.S. Vice-President

"It's time for the human race to enter the solar system!"
- Dan Quayle, former U.S. Vice President on the concept of a manned mission to Mars

"I love California, I practically grew up in Phoenix."
- Dan Quayle, former U.S. Vice President

So now you ask me...
Why would you post something like this? Go ahead ask. I'll wait...

1 Year After Katrina

Today is the 1 year mark for hurricane Katrina. Just to make a note there are still many many place all along the coast that if you dropped into the today you would not be able to tell that it has been a whole year for the disaster is still a disaster. Please remember these people if only for today.

A Post About...nothing

So I was going to make a new post today because I realized I had not posted in a while. But what was I to write? I did not know. So I looked to other blogs for my inspiration, however to my surprise as I went through my 7 blogs that I check regularly on 5 of them were not updated in anyway. What's happening to us? Do we no longer care about the blog and the world around it? It's truly a sad thing to watch for a friends new blog and have it NEVER come (ahem...monty). So I apparently have no creativity today and could not come up with any of my own thoughts let me just plug one of the few updated blogs...
Check out my friend Jo's blog. She got married! On top of a mountain! And if you believe me, then come back here and let me make you an offer on some ocean front property in Ohio. Nice.

Saved by the Bell

First off someone has WAY TOO much free time on their hands. Who had all these clips? Where'd they find them? They had to have watch every season over and over to get this much stuff. With that said let me also say that this still remains today to be one of my all time favorite shows. And please Rachel and Ross had nothing on these two. They were on an off again over and over. But don't worry in the end. (and I'm talking the way end...like through saved by the bell: the college years) They do end up together. Actually they go to Vegas to get married and of course are chase by the mofia and insanity happens. They even bring back Lisa for the episode as the maid of honor. Jessie however is not in the episode at all until the last minute. They don't say this in saved by the bell but Jessie was actually not around cause she was out flimming Strip Tease with Demi Moore. But can I just say that it doesn't matter to me how close we were, if you don't RSVP and you're not there at all but suddenly you surprisingly show up in the middle of the wedding and run down the aisle interupting everything and then expect to be a bridesmaid you have another thing coming. I mean seriously, how important do you think you are. Anyway, I digress. Now watch the love that was Zach and Kelly. One last side note: What's funny to me is there are two shots where Zach looks all sad and you assume it's because he misses Kelly by the way this video is editted but those scenes are actually from a summer season where he dated Stacy Carossie and that's why he's sad. Like I said I love this show. Enjoy:

Snakes in a theater

What's wrong with people?

http://www.local6.com/news /9717727/detail.html

10 Usual Things I've Done More Than Once

1. Gone to sleep
2. Used the bathroom
3. Walked around
4. Watched TV
5. Eaten food
6. Gone up stairs
7. Yawned
8. Taken a shower
9. Talked
10.Cleared my throat

Remember I haven't just done these once most of them I do all the time. Some of them I even do multiple times a day. Huh...these are not nearly as fun as the unusual things. Sorry.

10 Unusual Things I've Done More Than Once

1. Stayed up 24 hours
2. Snuck into a building in the middle of the night and figued out how to get up on the roof
3. Laid down to roll under a gate that lifted up less than a foot high in order to get into Tiger Stadium in the middle of the night
4. Gone through a store line holding a magazine. Paid for other things holding the magazine. Talked to the cashier holding the magazine. Walked out to my car holding the magazine. Gotten in the car and realized I was still holding the magazine which I then had to go return.
5. Sneezed and hit my head on something
6. Fallen over just standing in one spot
7. Been in a car accident that has totalled my car but wasn't my fault
8. Eaten food of the floor (I'm glad my mom doesn't read my blog)
9. Backhanded some one in the face because I'm telling a story and using my hands
10.Fallen down a flight of stairs and taken at least one other person with me

Let me just point out that not only have I done all these things but I've done each one at least twice most of them 3, 4, or 5 tiimes. I'm special. Let me know how special you are. Thanks for the idea Courtney.

I can't sleep. I really want to but can't. This is so annoying because it is like the third or fourth night in a row. Stinkin sleeping. You'd think that something so basic would be easy. But I guess it can't always be that way. Amd now a song...
SLEEP
SLEEP
SLEEP
I WISH THAT I COULD SLEEP
ONCE I KNEW BOO BEEP
I BET THAT SHE COULD SLEEP
SLEEP SLEEP SLEEP

Procras...

So I was going to write a blog post all about procrastination and what it can do to you and how it can really screw you up in work and life. I had a lot of thoughts on it but I think I'll do it later. Oh and I wanted to tell you guys something else but I'll just tell you later...

My point is this: Procrastination is

A thought I can't shake

I don't want to be too deep. At least not over the internet. But this is a thought that has been going through my brain for some time. So, here it is...
Do you ever wonder what's going through peoples' minds. I mean what is the thought process that goes through peoples minds that causes them to do somethings. I honestly think that there are billions of people in this world that never pre-think a plan of action or a word coming out of his or her mouth or a decision made.
Now I'm not the innocent of innocents and none of us are but there some things done this world that even if I had a millions years and hundreds of resources I could never come to the same conclusion that people in this world came to, will come to, are coming to. And truly it ranges from every level from the silly and minor (I think I'll drink this milk even though it looks chunky and smells bad) to the serious and major (9-11).
What's interesting to me is that there are lots and lots and even more answers out there. And lots of people are giving answers to big quanders. We're offering answers as to why we're at war, why rachel and ross took so long to get back together, why the ozone is disappearing around us, why I'm too big to play in the balls at McDonalds, etc. But I think a major problem with this is even after we give an answer there are still so many more questions that we as humans choose to typical ignore or we look past them or we put them on a back burner or we get so self focused that we actually never even know they are there such as did we ever really know the question...where did the answer really come from...who's right...who's wrong...how many possible answers are there...who does this hurt...where does this lead us...how will we get there...how long will it take.
Do I have a solution to my questions or this thought process? No...because then everyone and their mom would be calling my house looking for answers. But I still wonder how we got to where we are...in some places...why we stay there...will it ever change?

Do YOU know how to ice skate?

Too bad Lassie didn't know how to ice skate, because then if she was in Holland on vacation in winter and someone said "Lassie, go skate for help," she could do it.

Ten Ways to Drive People Nuts

In no particular order. And yes I have done a couple of these... 1,2,5,7,10
ENJOY

1. Push all the flat Lego pieces together tightly.
2. Name your dog "Dog."
3. Reply to everything someone says with "that's what YOU think."
4. Declare your apartment an independent nation, and sue your neighbors upstairs for "violating your airspace".
5. Forget the punchline to a long joke, but assure the listener it was "really funny."
6. Highlight irrelevant information in scientific papers and "cc:" them to your boss.
7. Invent nonsense computer jargon in conversations, and see if people play along to avoid the appearance of ignorance.
8. Finish all your sentences with the words "in accordance with the prophesy."
9. Ask 1-800 operators for dates.
10. Set alarms for random times.

Gas Prices

People have been complaining about the rising price of gasoline recently, but I have always thought that gas was a good value! Obviously others need a little convincing. So the article in this week's "Auto week" magazine brought it all to light. What if you were to buy a gallon of . . .


- Diet Snapple 16 oz for $1.29 = $10.32 per gallon
- Lipton Ice Tea 16 oz for $1.19 = $9.52 per gallon
- Gatorade 20 oz for $1.59 = $10.17 per gallon
- Ocean Spray 16 oz for $1.25 = $10.00 per gallon
- Quart of Milk for $1.59 = $6.32 per gallon
- Evian (water) 9 oz for $1.49 = $21.19 per gallon
- STP Brake Fluid 12 oz for $3.15 = $33.60 per gallon
- Vicks Nyquil 6 oz for $8.35 = $178.13 per gallon
- Pepto Bismol 4 oz for $3.85 = $123.20 per gallon
- Whiteout 7 oz for $1.39 = $254.17 per gallon
- Scope 1.5 oz for $0.99 = $84.84 per gallon
So next time you're at the pump, be glad your car doesn't run on Nyquil or Scope or Whiteout!

a missions trip

so i have now been back from my missions trip to louisiana (mostly New Orleans) for almost two days. and i have been trying to figure out a blog post to make about my experience but i honestly don't know what to say or how to say it. so let me try by saying this. i have been on a number of missions trips in my life. once when i was in highschool i went on a week long out reach in new orleans. when i was in college i went on a couple of trips here and there including mexico, arkansas, and guatemala. the point is this...I have never been on a missions trip that was this hard, this exhasting, this draining, this life changing, view changing. so here's the shortest description of my trip possible. 5 of us went to new orleans for 6 days. 2 days we gutted a house that had 9 feet of standing water in it for more than a week. for 1 day we did out reach in downtown baton rouge with the church we working with. for 1 day we visited fema parks and handed out food to those in need. and for the last full day we were there we cut grass in the new orleans ninth ward so that these people would not be charged by the city for not keeping up their yards. it all sounds basic but it was hard. it was physical and emotional and spiritually exhausting. there is still a huge need in this city. PLEASE DO NOT FORGET THE CITY OF NEW ORLEANS. If you want to check out more in detail what we did feel free to hit my friend Tim's blog.

QUESTIONs

If you could make some, produce something, invent something, write something... Whatever, and you knew that it would change/affect the world forever. But you did not know if it would be for the better or only make things worse, would you still do it? Would you still make that thing and change this world? How about this... If you could make something and you knew it would change the world for better but you had to sacrifice everything including your own life, would you do it? Would you bend until you broke and then some, would you lose your family, lose your friends, lose your stuff to make the world a better place? Or what about this... What if you knew you could change the world for better. It could be affected in a way the would change the face of modern culture and affect future generations but you had to sacrifice the ones you love, would you do it? You'd be safe and well but people around you friends and family and loved ones would go out battle the evil, fight the good fight bend till the broke and all you could do is stay away and offer support from afar. Offer support in prayer, in emails, in packages, in general love. Would you do it? Would you let it happen? Would you take the challenge? Would you change the world?

I miss...

A few weeks ago my friend Courtney posted on her blog about how no one seems to blog any more. I thought it was an odd thing to say but I have to say that now I've been noticing things and have to agree. There are really a lot of people posting less and less. Even my friend monty just posted about wondering why he doesn't post as much as he used to. I miss it. I miss the bloggers and the commenters. You know what else I miss? I miss the post pictures and wish it would flippin work all the time. And I miss old school musicals like the ones that were made back in the day...Jazz Singer, Singing in the Rain, etc. I also miss old friends. Mostly college friends...Konni, Katrina, Susan. And I miss having my mom and dad pay for everything and not having to have a job and having summers off and family vactions and school dances and regular nintendo and being able to eat what ever I want and...well I think you probably get the idea.

It only took 11 months

When I moved from Baton Rouge, I left behind a really nice sound system for your tv. I missed it because I truely appreciate television. I figured I'd just buy a new one when I got here. Then a couple of days ago after being her almost 2 straight years I finally bought another system and hooked it up. It only took 23 months.

I have a favorite watch that I've had for almost 6 years now. I wear all the time for and during everything. The battery died sometime in late Janurary. Today I got it fixed and am now wearing it again. It only took a little over 6 months.

Last September our last roommate moved out. She took some shelves that we had been using to put a stereo system. We just crammed it on to a small table instead where it didn't really fit and we had to use a stool for the speakers. Last friday I finally book the new dvd shelf we needed to put the stereo on and put it together all in the same day. It only took about 10 months.

Last August my roommate and I decided we needed to hang some stuff on our walls. I thought mirrors might be nice so I went and bought some funky curvey mirrors to hang up. I've tried several times to get around but not until this past tuesday did I finally get them up. (thanks Jen) It only took 11 months.

Man, I really need to stop rushing things. I'm doing everything way too fast. Slow down. That's what I always say. I mean I bought a cabinet for me room last november and I have yet to assemble it. I was thinking about doing it this weekend. But I better hold off. It's only been 8 months after all.

Dance Party

Look! We got surround sound today. IT'S A LITTLE LOUD!! But really cool. I got it for my xbox and I almost killed myself trying to put it all up. This is obviously not a picture of our actually system but it was the best I could do from online and this is the same kind of system. I think we'll have to have a dance party with our awesome system. Don't be jealous, just come over. Hmmm...dance party.

"We're on a mission from God"

Anyone enjoy a little Blues Brothers? But seriously...
Next sunday marks the start of the missions series for our church and I am heading up one. I will be running a school supplies drive to send supplies to Kabul Afghanistan. We'll try to give some kids a chance by giving all we can. Afghanistan needs all the help it can get when it comes to schools and education. I know you've heard the saying "the children are our future" well it's never been SO true as it is in this country. Afghanistan is filled with kids. Actually around %70 of the Afghanistan population is "children".
So, if you read this blog please pray for this school supply drive. And if you have any interest in helping or running a drive similar to this some place please make a comment and I can help you get it set up and started.
CHEERS

A post not about my sisters wedding

So this was going to a post filled with wedding pics from my sisters wedding but guess what...THE STUPID PICTURES WON'T WORK AGAIN!!! It's so frustrating. Isn't odd how some things can just drive you nuts. I mean there are probably billions of people out there who are not only not bothered by the pictures adding tool on blogger isn't working but also billions of people who have NO IDEA what it even is or means.

A Post for Courtney

Look pictures of Courtney!
Yesterday was her birthday. I wanted to make sure everyone knew. I think she looks pretty good for 80. Man, Courts what ever you're doing keep it up.

A New Post

I wish I had a donkey.

My New Obsession

I realize that this sounds like I'm going to advertise a perfume or something but honestly I just want to share the thing I am most into now. And it's youtube.
I have a channel on it. And I spend quite a bit of time going through it. I think it goes along with my newest passion of video editting. But still this website is incredible and if you have never been to it, you are seriously missing out. Here is my current top favorite on youtube right now.

Seriously Though

So my mom admitted to messing with my blog and making it impossible for me to post pictures. Thanks goodness I have such helpful friends who share with me what's really going on. Stupid Pictures.

But seriously...I have a question
When do we get to go on vactions to the moon and mars? I mean movies since in the 80s have been promising these trips. But it seems to me that the moon would be way way too cold. Like just when I'm in an airplane it's way cold outside the plane when we're up high. And just in case you're wondering the moon is higher than an airplane. And Mars...c'mon. WAY TOO HOT! Hello!! This is absurd. I just don't how we will ever enter the "future" with out vacations to these places. "They" seriously need to figure this all out and soon before the future passes us by.

note*I am more intelligent than this post appears.

A Need For Answers

Does anyone know why my post picture option won't work? When I click on it in posting nothing happens. Everything else works but not that.

a trip, a storm, a wedding

Okay so I did in fact get out of DC and into the sky and made my way to Denver. Once I got to Denver I then waited for my Aunt and Uncle and met my mom and dad. After which we all packed into a minivan and drove over two hours to Breckenridge where we would stay for the next five days.
But let me back up. When I went to the airport last week I had a surprise. I had to wait in almost two hours worth of lines. It was because of the storms from the day before. I waited for just the ticket for almost an hour and then in the security line for over an hour. I didn't even have to check bags! I just wanted to get the ticket from the little machine! It should have taken 10mins and it took almost 50! Then after I had waited in those lines I got to my gate only 10 mins before my flight was SUPPOSED to leave, however there was something wrong my plane and I, as a result, had to wait for it to be fixed for over 30 mins. I have never had to wait for a plane that long that was not a layover plane.
Now, I went to Denver for my sister's wedding. It was sort of rainy for the first few days we were there but we didn't think much about it. See, my sister's wedding was outside on that saturday. But it was supposed to be at 6pm and it had been raining in mid and early afternoon. The day of the wedding it rained at about noon and then was beautiful again. Then surprisingly it rained again around 4pm. Then at 10 till 6pm it started drizzling. The grooms men were already at the outdoor location. The bridal party went in through a garage and by the time we had walked underground from the car to the door where we were to walk out to the wedding area it was pouring rain.
Here was the really big problem (obviously it was raining) but also we had no cell phone except my dad and he had no phone numbers. We had no idea what the plan was, where we were supposed to be now, how we were supposed to get there, where the grooms men. After lots of phone calls and confusion and running around in the rain and getting wet we found everyone. Later we found out that the grooms men had been told one thing and had ended up standing up front for almost half an hour before we ever even got there!
Everything was really fun after we worked out all the bugs and found the boys and got where we needed to go. And now my sister is married! Whoa. Strange but COOL!

Going to Denver...Hopefully

Well, it's finally here. Tomorrow I hope to go out to Denver and head into wedding chaos of my sister. I say hope to because it is raining like crazy out here. Lots of flooding and mudslides and water and more water. Honestly it really hasn't affected me personally that much except that I'm trapped inside and it's dark outside a lot. I guess I've been lucky. But I am crossing my fingers that I will have no trouble getting out tomorrow. Woo Hoo Denver!

Something I Love

Can I tell you something I love? TV. I really do. I know there are a lot of people out there who really don't enjoy tv and think it's a waste of time to even have it on. But I am NOT one of those people. I have been watching it my entire life. From the early days of cartoons, through reruns of old old shows to reruns of shows that were just on the week before. To educational show to reality tv. From shows way before my time to shows that are before their time. I mean I have a life. I do other things. I read good. I write good. I even draw good. But I still love tv. I am after all part of this millinial generation, point being that I can multitask. I can have the tv on and write or work or email or clean all at the same time. In fact I'm doing that right now. Back in the day I loved cartoons. Bugs Bunny, The Jetsons, Flinstones, Smurfs...Heck when I was about 9 I think we went shopping for a new tv and I picked one out because it was the only one in that store showing a smurfs episode. My favorite shows now are not as animated as ones before. Now, I love gilmore girls and House and shows like that. But I will always love tv. No matter when it's from or how much it changes. The facts of life from the early 80s is still one of my all time favorite shows. And here's a small treat of a video about I Love Lucy. Starring Lucille Ball, one of the funniest women ever.

Time For Excitement

So, I know that a few of you, esepecially those of you who aren't in DC, are still wondering what the excitement was. Well it was that my friend Jo came in for the weekend! Why is this surprising or exciting? Well, Jo is not usually here. In fact she has not been in the country in over two months. She's in the midst of a deployment to Afghanistan. She will be back for good next April. She just came in for some meetings. That's right she flew for 43 hours just to see me or something like that. Oh wait no that's silly. She actually flew 43 hours to go see Nacho Libre. Which was pretty funny if you are wondering. It's not as good as Napoleon Dynamite but still pretty funny. So, that's why Jo came in. No no that's not right either. Oh yeah she actually flew 43 hours to be the National Gum Chewing Champion. What? Explination will come if you attend NCCs variety show. Anyway, that's why Jo came in. To maintain her Gum Chewing title. Okay I'm glad we straightened that out. And just in case any of you are wondering she's gone now. Back to work she went. See you later Jo.

Exciting News

Hey so I actually have some really exciting news to tell everyone about BUT I can't right now. But live on the edge of your seat and anticipate it. Cheers!

New Background

You may notice that I have put up a new background and changed a couple of things like some of my Links and the bottom line and the subtitle. I kept it green though. Only the best is what I always say. I really need to shower. And go to the post office. Probably I should do it in that order. Obviously I can't do them simultaneously, that'd just be weird. Oh and I really need to fold clothes. I have them all in this basket but they're all clean so don't worry. K. Bye.

A List

Altoids
Peanut Butter
Chocolate
(mmm...peanut butter and chocolate would be good together)
Toilet
Hair Remover
Bandaids
Toothpicks
Cheese
Tomatoes
Pickles
Sonic
Pizza
Kite
AC
Mayo
Clippers (Not the team)
Puppy
Weights
Salad
Gas
Beans
Bread
Ham
Film
more Chocolate
27
videos
cds
chair
milk
Orange Juice
Lean Cuisine
Pasta

Bang, Smack, Crack, Boom

So I have become the biggest cluts over the last couple of months. I honestly have no idea what my deal is. I think honestly that drunk people trip and fall down less than I do. Today I fell down my stairs. I'm talking slipping and sliding on my butt down the last 3 stairs. Oh my gosh it hurt so bad and now I have a monster bruise on my rear end and elbow. And a couple of weeks ago all with in 2 days I sliced open my finger with a paint scraper and I busted my elbow (same one as today) on the edge of a house. Yeah I said a stationary giant brick house. I'm sure people run into houses all the time, you just don't hear about it is all.

New Orleans 8 months later

These are photographs taken by myself and a few friends as well as video that I took only two weeks ago. Some of this may be hard to watch. You've been warned. Also in the video part you may hear me make a couple of jokes. I do not take this lightly and those jokes are just made in jest. It was the only thing I could say to help myself deal with what I was looking at.



This years hurricane season starts in 1 week.

Believe it or not

Believe it or not these are all drawn with chalk on the ground. That guy is kneeling on the solid ground that is not dug up it just looks that way.

You Know What's Nice?

Fresh sheets that are cool and crisp and smell laundry fresh. MMMMM...sheets.

You know what's nice?

When you're sleeping and it's raining and you don't have to go anywhere and then it's all sunny the next morning when you have to get up. That's nice.

When I Go to the Office I...

Post on my blog...
Make phone calls...
Read Building Church Leaders and Protrait of a Leader...
Answer the phone and redirect the call because I don't actually have any answers for anyone...
Think about how hungry I am...
Play with the height of the chair...
Put postits on things for my boss to look at later...
Mess around with the video camera and then get frustrated because I forgot one stupid little thing and I can't do what I want and need to do with it and so the tape has to stay full because I can't pull anything off of it...
Wonder if it's going to rain...
Answer the phone in the middle of my post. Hello I'm posting here...
Send an email to someone to see if he can figure out why this word document is in Japanese...
Think about how much my finger hurts (I sliced it open yesterday)...
Think about my soar muscles and that I need to work out more...
Look at my shrek bandaid...
Think about how good shrek was...
Think that I may want to see the new Cars movie by Pixar...
Look at our budget...
Look at some support raising things...
Stop everything to go the restroom...
Think about how incredibly quiet it is here...
Wonder why my boss went to a meeting that she said would probably be very short and yet 1 and 1/2 hours later she still hasn't come back...

Weather or Not

Okay so I realize that the weather above is not the right one but it is for what I'm going to talk about. Which is the stupid weather here in DC. Now I don't want to out right complain and complain being that it's not like it's 108 degrees here like it is where my friend lives, but it is still messed up. See, I'm from the deep south where summer temps begin in march or april. By the middle of may people are swimming. Now, I don't miss the sweltering heat for long but when it's 80 one day and 50 the next and then 70 less than 24 hours later, things are getting out of control. Today I am wearing a sweatshirt but I really shold have the AC on and be hidding from the heat. Doesn't the earth no that summer is right around the corner...literally. Seriously Summer lives over on Elm St. right around the corner. Anyway, the point is that I'm tired of these nutso temps and ready for some real summer weather. I want to go swimming and be able to stand outside at night and not have to wear a longsleeve shirt. If I get any whiter I may be ghost like pretty soon.

When Fulcrums Attack

Okay so, wow, probably close to 2 months ago I was at a friends' house and we were hanging out and for some reason a conversation about fulcrums came up. Anyway after some discussion not only did we all make theories about our fulcrums but a few of us also tried to find our fulcrums...
Next, just about a week ago one of my friends told me a story about the use of her fulcrum to help her break into her room. That's right, had she not know her fulcrum perhaps she would have had to sleep out side because she may not have been able to balance on her window sill and break into her room.
Finally last night I went to a Chi Alpha service intitled fulcrum prayer. And this is actually what I want to talk about. Greg, who was speaking at the Chi Alpha meeting, was talking about the importance of prayer and where and how he personally prays. One of the things I found most interesting was when we talked about our own personal prayer experiences.
Prayer is a weapon. One of the most powerful weapons out there. Really a direct line to God. But at the same time prayer is also one of the most dangerous things out there. I have a friend who said one time that the most dangerous thing he'd ever done, and he's in the army and has been to Iraq, was to pray a prayer asking God to bring him and his family closer to the Lord than ever before using any method and no matter what. Here's a shorten version of what he said...
He thought he was close to God. He had plans of going into ministry and was a strong Christian. But then he got called up and ended up in Iraq as a scout and realized that he was actually far from God. He thought he knew but not until he had been in Iraq for those first few hours did he realize how much closer he could be and needed to be and by the time he got back he was different. Other things in his life also happened this way, including a death of a young family member, moving far away, and an opportunity in ministry and every time he was drawn closer to God. All this to say: God is so big, prayer is so powerful, and you may think you're close to God but you can be closer...I can be closer...he wants us to be closer to him.
The trick is balancing God, prayer, and life all the same time. Finding that place and time to talk to God. Finding that balance between talking to God and listening to God. Asking for God and thanking God. Complaing to God and realizing God helped you. Finding your fulcrum of prayer.

No More Lungs

So I am pretty much better except for the fact that I can not stop coughing. Actually I was coughing so much I coughed up a lung. I was very surprised when they started talking and dancing around to say the least. The lesson here is, "people can come up with statistics to prove anything. 14% of people know that." (Homer Simpson).

Sometimes I Lie

Okay so I told you all that I was basically better just one post ago...well, that doesn't seem to be all that true. Actually I seem to have something different now but I'm it's worst. I have no voice, my throat is killing me, and I am still blowing my nose. I'm very afraid that I may have bronchitis which I have more often than I should. I hate being sick.

Movies

Today I have been having my own personal movie day. I was very busy yesterday so I thought it'd be fun to just sit around here all day and watch movie after movie. Here's what I watched so far: 13 Going On 30

and Mean Girls

Interestingly enough these movies came out at the same time and mean girls actually did better at the box office because they both aimed at the same age group but Lindsay had bigger pull than Jennifer.

WELL

JUST IN CASE ANYONE IS CHECKING...I'M NOT SICK ANY MORE. I'M STILL BLOWING MY NOSE BUT THAT'S IT. ALL BETTER OTHER THAN THAT. I DON'T KNOW WHY I WROTE THIS IN ALL CAPS. I THINK IT'S CAUSE THE CAPS LOCK WAS ON AND SO I JUST WENT WITH IT. ALSO IT WAS HARD TO NOT HIT SHIFT AT THE BEGINNING OF SENTENCES AND FOR I. I DID IT A FEW TIMES AND HAD TO GO BACK SO IT DIDN'T LOOK LIKE i. I LIKE CAPS LOCK. I FORGET TO USE IT THOUGH. USUALLY IF I'M GONNA MAKE A WHOLE WORD IN CAPITAL LETTERS I JUST HOLD DOWN THE SHIFT KEY. I MEAN IT'S USUALLY JUST LIKE 4 OR FIVE LETTERS ANYWAY. CAPS LOCK SEEMS LIKE A WASTE. ALSO I DON'T KNOW WHY I TYPED 4 AND THEN WROTE OUT FIVE. I DO THAT A LOT I NOTICED WHEN WRITING TWO NUMBERS. THERE'S NO REASON THAT I'M AWARE OF. STRANGE. IT IS, HOWEVER, MORE PROPER TO ACTUALLY WIRTE IT OUT THAN JUST TO TYPE THE NUMBER. LIKE IF THIS WERE SOME IMPORTANT DOCUMENT THAT THE PRESIDENT OR SOMEONE WAS GOING TO LOOK AT. I PROBABLY WOULD ALSO NOT HAVE WRITTEN GONNA EARLIER OR WRITTEN THE WHOLE THING IN CAPS IF THE PRESIDENT WAS GOING TO READ IT THOUGH. OH WELL.

Being sick SUCKS

You know what is REALLY NOT fun...being sick. Being sick sucks.

This is the common cold. And it's hanging out inside of me. EEWWW gross.

Snakes on a Plane

Sometime this year, there will be a movie, starring Samuel L. Jackson, called SNAKES ON A PLANE. Here is the IMDb entry. Here are some production stills. Here is a brief interview with Samuel L. Jackson:
Beaks: One of those films that you’re working on right now is... well, it’s called "Pacific Air 121"—
Jackson: Snakes on a Plane, man!
Beaks: Exactly.
Jackson: We’re totally changing that back. That’s the only reason I took the job: I read the title.
Beaks: Snakes on a Plane! That’s everything!
Jackson: You either want to see that, or you don’t.
And there's not even a tv trailer out yet, but there are already [two] [t-shirts] people made, the second care of this comic.
This is gonna be the movie with the most snakes on a plane, ever!
Also, some people are already trying to turn it into a slang term. Snakes on a plane!

The only movie that might be better than Snakes on a Plane? UNICEF's movie depicting the aerial bombardment of Smurf Village. What?!!
It opens with the Smurfs dancing, hand-in-hand, around a campfire and singing the Smurf song. Bluebirds flutter past and rabbits gambol around their familiar village of mushroom- shaped houses until, without warning, bombs begin to rain from the sky.
Tiny Smurfs scatter and run in vain from the whistling bombs, before being felled by blast waves and fiery explosions. The final scene shows a scorched and tattered Baby Smurf sobbing inconsolably, surrounded by prone Smurfs.
"We wanted something that was real war - Smurfs losing arms, or a Smurf losing a head -but they said no."

Jack Handey and God

If you ever drop your keys into a river of molten lava, forget em', cause, man, they're gone. -Jack Handey

Pastor Mark actually used this in a sermon. How rad is that? Yeah I said rad...I'm bringin' it back okay.

Funny Photos

I don't think I need to explain any of these. They are all way funny. I love the one about the edges of the sign being sharp. People are funny. Who makes these signs?

Big Picture

Occasionally I just feel like writing something more significant than I usually do. I mean obviously mario bros is important as well as the topic of pizza but sometimes... I don't know I just feel like being deeper or more creative or both. Earlier today I was just cruising through blogspot and I passed through a blog by a women who started her blog to get out her thoughts of the loss of her son. He apparently was born with some strange condition and didn't live for more than 20hrs but her whole blog was about her daily feelings about it for one year and (stay with me here) it was one of the most up lifting blogs I've ever come across. What? Yes I read that I mean I wrote it and I realize it sounds crazy but it's true. She considered herself to be a pessimist according to her profile but in fact her words were not that way at all. She stood strong in that God would take care of her as well as her dear passed son and her husband whom, according to her blog, took it much harder and his yet to move past it. Maybe he should start a blog. Anyway, why do I post about this stranger up in Canada who lost a child last year? Good question. I guess my answer would be...Often times I find that it's very easy for me to get totally wrapped into myself. I'm slightly aware of those other things that are accuring around me, like my best friend Konni had a bouncing baby boy last monday (Welcome to the world Gabe), but those thoughts are usually passing and the prayers are not the focus of my time. What ever affects my world the most becomes the focus. Reading this girl's blog can help you refocus. Maybe even step back and see a few things. Also it helped me to remember something that I have to reremember again and again in the last month...I Always Have A Choice. It's seems like such a simple idea but to be aware of it all the time is an effort. See, over the last month there have been a number of things going on that I have needed to actively be reminded that You choose to be in a good mood or bad mood. The bottom line: It's your choice how you live your life. The BIG picture is more important than many of realize or remember. Don't get me wrong...the details are important. If they weren't, then I'd be out of job. The trick is looking and focusing on both at the same time and then balancing it out by piling on the good, the awesome, the friends and family, the encouragement, the humor, and the love.


Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own. Matthew 6:34.
After all today is the tomorrow you worried about yesterday.