Estebam Goes to the Office

Esteban spent Monday with Kendi at work.

Things got a little out of control.

Later the week Esteban also went out to the AG district offices. And then out to lunch. He really loves Mexican food. It's a little spicy but he can deal for the incredible taste. Oh and you may notice that once again he's getting all the women. PIMP!

Adventures of Esteban IV

After a day off to rest it was nice to get back out there and head off to church. Ah Sunday mornings at Ballston.
What a rockin' band! Esteban was thrilled. He loves praise music. It was so strange to find that Juliet and Stef smile just like Esteban. CHEESE! Also he was thrilled to be held up by Pastor Joel. Good thing Dave was there to hold up Joel. PHEW!
After such a great morning of praising God. Esteban and I were glad to just hang out with friends and grab a little lunch with friends. Esteban was super thirsty. It was really nice that we were able to share a soda. Esteban doesn't drink all that much being that he's only about 10 inches tall.
And man he is always getting the love. All the ladies love him. But we did have to have a little bit of talk because he also loves all the ladies. And that can be a little bit of problem. Women are sensative. He can't just be bouncing all over sharing the love like that. He's a little bit of Hussy. It was still nice to share a little lunch. What a great Sunday.

Adventures of Esteban III

So after such an awesome day Esteban was now really into this whole social scene. He couldn't believe how much he'd been missing for so much of his short life. He really couldn't wait until that night. Where would he be headed next?
Next up would be a great visit to Ebeneezers, a local coffee house, for a volunteers dinner. Actually before ever going there he actually made a stop at his home to see Jen but Jen didn't know he was even there.
So off he went to the coffee house. The show was great.
But the people were even more fun. He was thrilled when he got to chat with the lead pastor. Hi Pastor Mark!

Adventures of Esteban II

The gnome was in fact taken secretly with out knowledge of Jen. So all pictures were taken with aid of others and myself in "secret". Enjoy.

After a little help from his friends, Esteban was off to experience the world. On his first night out he thought he'd take it pretty easy and chill out a bit. He sat around on the couch. And caught a little TV. After a night of chillin' out, maxin', relaxin' all cool Esteban was ready to get there and meet the people. See the sights. Live the life.

His first stop was the gym. He knew he was a little heavy so he was happy to get the opportunity to meet with a personal trainer as well as jump on a scale. Honestly he couldn't remember the last time he'd weighed himself.
After such a work out he thought he better go home and get ready for his night out on the town. After all he had a big night ahead of him...

TO BE CONTINUED

The Adventures of Esteban

Yes this is the series that I've been hanging over your heads and so it begins.

Once upon a time there was a Gnome named Esteban. At a young age he dreamed of traveling. But being that he had no joints or muscles he found it to be hard to get around. So day in and day out he sat on his shelf at Target. Then one day his whole life was changed. He was brought home to a loving family. The Charron sisters.
Oh how he couldn't wait for his new life to begin with his new family. How great it would be to sit out front guarding their front door. The trip home was absolutely thrilling for him. And as much as he enjoyed his corner he wondered...Is there more?

So for months Esteban thought and wondered what else could be out there. I mean he knew a few things. He wasn't totally in the dark. He knew about dogs...

He knew about Jens...

But there was so much more that he wondered about. But how would it ever be possible. But then he thought about how his life had begun and how he thought he would never have a family. He would never leave his Target shelf but that dream came true. He just had to have faith and ask for help. But who? Who would help a gnome?
That's when he realized he had to get out there. He had to experience something more. And he knew just what to do. He was going to ask the one called friend. Not actually a parent. But someone he knew and knew she came in and out a lot and probably could show him lots. This is what he would do. And finally he would see the world.

TO BE CONTINUED

Be expecting

So I'm now accepting guesses on what my next series of blog post are going to be. What? That's right I'm about to start posting a series of post that all go together in some way. Anyone care to make guesses as to what it'll all be about?

Antici...
Antici...
Anticipation!

That's Good

I don't usually just copy and paste from another person's blog and put it on my own but this was good. I got this from Pastor Mark's blog about Politically Correct vs. Biblically Correct.

"For what it's worth...whenever I have to have a tough conversation with someone where I have to confront an issue, I almost always reference John 1:14 where it says Jesus was full of grace and truth.

Grace means I'll love you no matter what. Truth means I'll be honest no matter what. Grace without truth is weak and shallow! Truth without grace is counter-productive. But grace and truth is a Christlike combo that will impact people!"

Like I said I don't usually do something like this but if I had been in a service where he had said this out loud I would have said, "Oh, that's good." And something we need to remember. A lot of us avoid confrontation at all cost. Others of us come on too strong. It's hard to find a "happy medium" for such an uncomfortable situation. But it seems like this would be as good as you can get.

What's up

So this past weekend was Chi Alpha's Winter Conference. Many of you were praying for it so I thought I'd offer a little info about what went down. It was the largest retreat we've ever had. There were 340 people there. We were overflowing and had to actually get a couple of hotel rooms to for the extra people. Awesome! Dick Foth was our speaker and he really hit the nail on the head on felt. He spoke about who God is and who he wants to be in our lives. It was really powerful. It was kind of a back to basic time. Dick told some really amazing stories both funny and moving. As far as weather goes it was also really freezing cold but unlike last year when we got about 2 feet of snow it stayed dry just way cold. Also I was way lucky to have Jen there for almost the whole time. As well as Kendi and Theresa helping out on Friday night for registration. What a blessing. Thanks for all who were praying.

Then this week I was supposed to be out of town all week, however, the ice and snow caused me to cancel at least part of my work plans.

But what I'm currently looking forward to is this coming weekend. That's right! This weekend I am headed home for Mardi Gras. I haven't been down to New Orleans for Mardi Gras in 3 years now. But before those 3 years I had never missed a Mardi Gras in 23 years. Seriously my first Mardi Gras I was at I was only 4 months old give or take a few weeks. Should be lots of fun and I'm also really excited to take Jen down with me. Woo Hoo! Mardi Gras weekend!

Video? What?

Okay so you don't have to watch this video but this is blowing my mind and I had to comment on this. This is a totally short uneventful video that I made for a conference that Stefa and I went to back in October. It's only 21 secs long if you do want to watch it. Here's the crazy thing though...it has a 180+ hits on it. It makes NO SENSE. And the only tag for it is bling. And I have other bling videos and they have like 7 hits. I feel like something so odd is going on and I really can't figure out why it has so many hits.

Anyway, I found it crazy strange and thought I'd share. Anybody have any thoughts on why it's been watched so many times?

19 ways to entertain yourself ALWAYS

1. At Lunch Time, Sit In Your Parked Car With Sunglasses on and point a Hair Dryer At Passing Cars. See If They Slow Down.

2. Page Yourself Over The Intercom. Don't Disguise Your Voice.

3. Every Time Someone Asks You To Do Something, Ask If They Want Fries with that.

4. Put Your Garbage Can On Your Desk And Label It "In."

5. Put Decaf In The Coffee Maker For 3 Weeks. Once Everyone has Gotten Over Their Caffeine Addictions, Switch to Espresso.

6. In The Memo Field Of All Your Checks, Write "For Smuggling Diamonds"

7. Finish All Your sentences with "In Accordance With The Prophecy."

8. Don t use any punctuation

9. As Often As Possible, Skip Rather Than Walk.

10. Order a Diet Water whenever you go out to eat with a serious face.

11. Specify That Your Drive-through Order Is "To Go."

12. Sing Along At The Opera

13. Go To A Poetry Recital And Ask Why The Poems Don't Rhyme

14. Put Mosquito Netting Around Your Work Area And Play tropical Sounds All Day.

15. Five Days In Advance , Tell Your Friends You Can't Attend Their Party Because You're Not In The Mood.

16. Have Your Coworkers Address You By Your Wrestling Name, Rock Bottom.

17. When The Money Comes Out The ATM, Scream "I Won!, I Won!"

18. When Leaving The Zoo, Start Running Towards The Parking lot, Yelling "Run For Your Lives, They're Loose!!"

19. Tell Your Children Over Dinner. "Due To The Economy, We Are Going To Have To Let One Of You Go."

You may be asking yourself, is this a lame email fwd that Chandler got and laughed about and put on her blog because she thought it was funny even though I've seen it before or at least seen emails similar to it? And the answer would be yes.

As jo puts it...
I don't even know what to say.

Happy Groundhog's Day

Looks like spring will be early this year. First time since 1999. Amazing...oooo...aaaaa.

Groundhog Facts
GROUNDHOGS:
are also called woodchucks, marmots or whistle pigs
are mammals and belong to the squirrel family
usually have grayish brown fur and bushy tails
can grow to be two feet from head to tail and weigh 5-14 pounds
live in burrows underground which can have more than one entrance
are herbivores - that means they eat plants like grass, clover, and alfalfa.
hibernate, like some other animals, during the winter to avoid the cold weather
communicate danger by making a loud whistling sound
have several enemies, including foxes, bobcats, and humans.
are said to be able to predict the weather
have a holiday named after them - Groundhog Day - because of this special "ability" to forecast weather.

Now you know and knowing is half the battle.
Yo Joe!

Altered Perspectives

Ever look at something one way for a really long time? Like not just a few hours but years and years and then just one day your perspective changes and your views are altered forever? And you know it's never just on that one thing. No everything that's connected to your first idea also now must be reexamined. It's almost like now you're double checking yourself. I know that I often think, "How did I miss that? What else can I see here?" And I don't just mean things that I'm actually physically looking at like a shirt that looks good in the store but when you get home it's herendous. No, more I mean life expectations. Or chances that we take. Or plans that we make. And the craziest thing is that just the smallest thing can alter one's perspective forever. It only takes a minute to wreck a car but that experience can change the way you drive or look at cars forever. It only takes two people, a few words, and a piece of paper to get married (really if you think about it) but it can alter one's perspective on life forever. I don't know...I just guess that to me the human brain and just how we view ourselves and things around us and how our brain processes it all is amazing and truly we should be in awe of the creator of something so amazing.
There have been so many times in my life that my perspectives have been altered. I'm sure in smaller measures it's happening everyday all day long. But some major alterations occured on a few occasions that I thought I'd process out loud.
When I gave my life to Christ. My whole world view and purpose in life was changed forever. It was as if I was now walking around on my hands because my entire world, or what I knew as my world turned upside down.
When I graduated from high school. I don't know. Maybe it's just me but my graduation from high school was so much more altering than my graduation from college. Maybe because I truly felt like an adult leaving home and moving away.
When I moved to DC. Talk about culture shock and major adjustments on my world view.
When I connect with friends who become some of my best friends. That alteration broadens everything just because now I've added some of their thoughts and views into my life.
And finally (only in this post not in reality or my life) when I stepped out of 9-5 job (or acutally a 7:30-4:30 job) and joined missionary ranks altering so many perspectives forever.

by the way...the picture is just the close up shot of the side of an elephant

INFORMATION

At my ripe old age there are lots of things I've learned. And now I shall share a few of those things with thee.

Thee and the are not the same word.
Fire is hot.
When you see a dogs teeth, it's not smiling.
Just because you knock on a door doesn't mean anyone will open it.
God's in charge. That includes when you're driving, working, playing, even sleeping. Pretty much all the time God is in control.
Mud is gross and to avoided unless you pay lots of money and are in some fancy salon type place and sitting in what looks like a baby pool.
There are 5 NFL teams with Birds for mascots.
You just tried to figure out what the 5 mascots are.
If you were born before Jan 1990, you are now an adult.
When you're hungry, eat.
When you're thirsty, drink.
When you're tired, sleep.
Eat and sleep almost rhyme but then they don't.
This is the end of my post.

LOL

LQTMS- laugh quietly to myself
SGITUALIMM- so gross I threw up a little in my mouth
WASQ- what a stupid question
BFW- Bored from waiting

yes i wrote these
-Chandler

17 things you didn't know you didn't know

1. Money isn't made out of paper; it's made out of cotton.
2. The 57 on Heinz ketchup bottle represents the varieties of pickle the company once had.
3. Your stomach produces a new layer of mucus every two weeks -otherwise it will digest itself.
4. The Declaration of Independence was written on hemp paper.
5. 40% of McDonald's profits come from the sales of Happy Meals.
6. Every person has a unique tongue print.
7. Ketchup was sold in the 1830s as medicine.
8. The 'spot' on 7UP comes from its inventor who had red eyes. He was albino.
9. 315 entries in Webster's 1996 Dictionary were misspelled.
10. On average, 12 newborns will be given to the wrong parents daily.
11. Warren Beatty and Shirley MacLaine are brother and sister.
12. Chocolate affects a dog's heart and nervous system; a few ounces will kill a small sized dog.
13. Most lipstick contains fish scales.
14. Orcas (killer whales) kill sharks by torpedoing up into the shark's stomach from underneath, causing
the shark to explode.
15. Leonardo da Vinci could write with one hand and draw with the other at the same time.
16. American Airlines saved $40,000 in '87 by eliminating one olive from each salad served in first class.
17. There are no clocks in Las Vegas gambling casinos.

decisions

So I've been trying for sometime to figure out to blog some of my thoughts on the new year. And I guess the best thing to say is that there are lot of new decisions that need to be made. I don't think that most of us realize how many decisions we make daily. Which is probably a good thing that we don't realize it because they could drive us crazy. Like paper or plastic, should I drink milk or water, should I slow down or speed up, should I respond to that email now or in 5 mins, should I use this brush or this comb, should we go left or right. These kind of decisions are just ones that we make most of time by how we feel about them at the time. Which is good that we are all able to do that, otherwise we'd all go nuts.



But with all that said there are still a lot of choices in our lives that do in a way drive us crazy and we can't always just do what ever we feel. It's not a paper or plastic kind of decision. It's more of a life affecting choice. And there are more now than ever before. And I'm really not here to take a stance on what I think about all that and the number of choices we have today. Instead I'm just putting thoughts out there about my own personal journey down decision road. Covering all areas such as what's the next step perfessionally, what's the best choice health wise, what do I want to prioritize this year.

I guess mostly I'm just talking and putting out there my thoughts. I know that just in my group of closest friends, there are tons of decisions being made by each of them right now. And it's exciting and scarey as heck. But honestly...isn't wonderful that we have the freedom to even the choice to make those decisions?

And so I end with...
Good Luck on your decision making in 2007
Remember to Pray
And never be afaind to ask for help

The Small Things

So it really is the small things in life that can make you the happiest. Case in point. Over the holidays I went to Wal Mart with my mom and I bought brand new bath mats for our bath room at my house here. We haven't had brand new mats since I've lived here. They are so soft and clean. And when I was taking off the tags I noticed they still smelled of new rubber like a tire store which here's an odd fact about me...I LOVE NEW RUBBER SMELL. The point being that it's small things like a new mat that make me happy daily.

Denver Pictures as Promised

Here are some pics from Denver. These are my sisters two Labs: Bronson, the black one, and Freita, the blonde one. And that's my sister at the bottom. Hi Jenny!

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.