still alive...
Okay, so I haven't written here in ages. And chances are, this is how it's going to be from now on. Life is just to busy to actually sit down and write out my thoughts very often these days. I have 22 third graders now, which is way too many for one small classroom, but we're still doing okay. Married life is still amazing and still busy. Rob and I have several cool possible opportunities coming up in the near future, so we are eagerly waiting to see how those things will turn out. Basically, life is just good right now.
I have nothing interesting to say. Just wanted to write a quick hello, in case there's anyone who actually checks this blog. So hi, and take care.
Peace.
Oct 6, 2006
aaaaagggghhhhh!!!
Report cards are coming! Report cards are coming! Run for your lives!!
I finally have an appreciation for how hectic a teacher's life is just before report card time. It's a little overwhelming.
In other news, however, I had been pretty sick and I'm finally feeling better. After two trips to the doctor and two rounds of antibiotics and innumerable Advil, things are starting to look better. My birthday was on September 16, and I've been sick since before then, so it's been quite a while.
Anyway, that's just a quick update on life. If you're in or near St. Augustine, The Edge is this weekend at church, and you should come. Rob and I and friends are leading this month. We're looking forward to it.
Peace.
Report cards are coming! Report cards are coming! Run for your lives!!
I finally have an appreciation for how hectic a teacher's life is just before report card time. It's a little overwhelming.
In other news, however, I had been pretty sick and I'm finally feeling better. After two trips to the doctor and two rounds of antibiotics and innumerable Advil, things are starting to look better. My birthday was on September 16, and I've been sick since before then, so it's been quite a while.
Anyway, that's just a quick update on life. If you're in or near St. Augustine, The Edge is this weekend at church, and you should come. Rob and I and friends are leading this month. We're looking forward to it.
Peace.
Sep 15, 2006
word...
Okay, so a quick word to my faithful readers whom I have so shamelessly left out to dry. I am sorry for the lack of posts. I really wish I had time to write these days, but life gets in the way. Here's my typical day: I am up at 5:30 (no, the sun is not out); I leave the house at 6:30 to be at work by 7:00; the kids show up between 7:30 and 7:50, aside from the stragglers; I am with the 18 little people until 2:00, at which time they depart; I stay at work until around 5:00 (some days I leave earlier, some days I stay later); I get home around 5:30; if it's Monday, Tuesday, or Thursday, I see my husband for a brief time before one or both of us is off to the next activity. Evenings that we are both home are cherished. PS, I don't have internet at home, so any potential posting would have to be done here at the school, and let's face it, after a 10-12 hour day, I don't want to hang around any longer. For those who have been missing my posts, I am thrilled to be missed and love that you actually still check up on this thing. Keep checking... you never know. In the mean time, drop me an email if you're thinking about me. I'm a little better at checking up on that!
Here's a sample of current life in 3rd grade:
4-digit numbers: reading them, using them, adding them, subtracting them.
plants: what their parts are, how they grow, what they need, how long it takes them to germinate
reading: it's a big deal. we do it a lot. big group, small group, individually, long books, short books, picture books, chapter books, text books, fiction, nonfiction, the whole shabang.
FCAT: yeah, we hate that word, but we hear it all the time.
writing (as in stories and paragraphs, etc): they're starting to get it. focus and structure is rare.
Anyway, that's life. My birthday is tomorrow. I'm gettin' old. I've finally hit the age where I'm asking for practical presents, if any. It's kind of sad. Married life is fantastic, my class is fantastic, and all-in-all, God is good to me. That's it. Peace.
Okay, so a quick word to my faithful readers whom I have so shamelessly left out to dry. I am sorry for the lack of posts. I really wish I had time to write these days, but life gets in the way. Here's my typical day: I am up at 5:30 (no, the sun is not out); I leave the house at 6:30 to be at work by 7:00; the kids show up between 7:30 and 7:50, aside from the stragglers; I am with the 18 little people until 2:00, at which time they depart; I stay at work until around 5:00 (some days I leave earlier, some days I stay later); I get home around 5:30; if it's Monday, Tuesday, or Thursday, I see my husband for a brief time before one or both of us is off to the next activity. Evenings that we are both home are cherished. PS, I don't have internet at home, so any potential posting would have to be done here at the school, and let's face it, after a 10-12 hour day, I don't want to hang around any longer. For those who have been missing my posts, I am thrilled to be missed and love that you actually still check up on this thing. Keep checking... you never know. In the mean time, drop me an email if you're thinking about me. I'm a little better at checking up on that!
Here's a sample of current life in 3rd grade:
4-digit numbers: reading them, using them, adding them, subtracting them.
plants: what their parts are, how they grow, what they need, how long it takes them to germinate
reading: it's a big deal. we do it a lot. big group, small group, individually, long books, short books, picture books, chapter books, text books, fiction, nonfiction, the whole shabang.
FCAT: yeah, we hate that word, but we hear it all the time.
writing (as in stories and paragraphs, etc): they're starting to get it. focus and structure is rare.
Anyway, that's life. My birthday is tomorrow. I'm gettin' old. I've finally hit the age where I'm asking for practical presents, if any. It's kind of sad. Married life is fantastic, my class is fantastic, and all-in-all, God is good to me. That's it. Peace.
Jul 27, 2006
new...
I'm married!! YAY! I don't have time for a long post because, once again, I'm sitting in my classroom writing, but I just wanted to let everyone know the new Mrs. Stone is back in town and loving married life. Things are slowly starting to come together for the teaching thing, too. This afternoon's meeting should probably calm my nerves about a few things (hopefully). I've been able to meet two other young, new teachers from my school who are really nice, so I'm looking forward to building some new friendships there. Anyway, that's all I'll write for now. I need to go figure out what I'm going to do with a room full of 3rd graders in one short week! Later. Take care.
-Meg Stone =)
I'm married!! YAY! I don't have time for a long post because, once again, I'm sitting in my classroom writing, but I just wanted to let everyone know the new Mrs. Stone is back in town and loving married life. Things are slowly starting to come together for the teaching thing, too. This afternoon's meeting should probably calm my nerves about a few things (hopefully). I've been able to meet two other young, new teachers from my school who are really nice, so I'm looking forward to building some new friendships there. Anyway, that's all I'll write for now. I need to go figure out what I'm going to do with a room full of 3rd graders in one short week! Later. Take care.
-Meg Stone =)
Jul 17, 2006
this week...
I'm getting married on Friday! You couldn't possibly understand how excited I am about that! We got our marriage license this morning, and I'm not gonna lie, the thought definitely crossed our minds to go find a notary and get married today, but we decided that if we were gonna elope, we should have decided that months ago, and I'm not all about doing the 'fake' ceremony anyway. As far as wedding plans go, everything is falling into place nicely. The one big thing that was really giving me grief has been taken care of, so now it's really just all about waiting. I've got some little things to do on Wednesday and Thursday that will at least keep me busy, but not much to worry about.
You probably won't be hearing from me for a while again. I'm in my new classroom at the moment, taking some time to set a few things up. I don't currently have internet access at home, so the only posting or emailing I'll be doing will be when I'm here at school, for the most part. Friday's the wedding; we'll be gone for several days for the honeymoon in Savannah; then I'm back here mid-week for teacher training stuff; then we might take off again for the following weekend. Anyway, all that to say that even if you normally see Rob and I on a regular basis, we're going to be pretty much MIA for a while. Anyway, hope everyone is well. Take care, and keep us in your prayers.
grace and peace
I'm getting married on Friday! You couldn't possibly understand how excited I am about that! We got our marriage license this morning, and I'm not gonna lie, the thought definitely crossed our minds to go find a notary and get married today, but we decided that if we were gonna elope, we should have decided that months ago, and I'm not all about doing the 'fake' ceremony anyway. As far as wedding plans go, everything is falling into place nicely. The one big thing that was really giving me grief has been taken care of, so now it's really just all about waiting. I've got some little things to do on Wednesday and Thursday that will at least keep me busy, but not much to worry about.
You probably won't be hearing from me for a while again. I'm in my new classroom at the moment, taking some time to set a few things up. I don't currently have internet access at home, so the only posting or emailing I'll be doing will be when I'm here at school, for the most part. Friday's the wedding; we'll be gone for several days for the honeymoon in Savannah; then I'm back here mid-week for teacher training stuff; then we might take off again for the following weekend. Anyway, all that to say that even if you normally see Rob and I on a regular basis, we're going to be pretty much MIA for a while. Anyway, hope everyone is well. Take care, and keep us in your prayers.
grace and peace
Jun 29, 2006
randoms...
I've pretty much "cleaned out my desk", so to speak. I took home all the random personal belongings (cups, hot chocolate, etc.) that I had accumulated here at work yesterday, and today I've gone through and deleted any personal files I had saved on my computer.
I'm drinking Dr. Pepper. That's rare for me. I pretty much stick to Diet Coke, but I don't have any for now, and I was needing some caffeen (that's not how you spell that, is it?). This is what was in the fridge here at work.
I will be unemployed for the majority of July. I'm working here Monday, and I will technically work two days at the end of the month at the school, but other than that, I will be unemployed, and consequently a bit poor.
I forgot to fix anything for lunch today (as I am low on funds, I'm trying to be good about bringing my lunch to work) so I threw some tortillas and some turkey sandwich meat in a bag and brought it with me. I'll find some lettuce and dressing in the fridge and make some sort of creation out of it. It should be interesting. I was creative last night for dinner, too, although it was Mexican, and all Mexican food is the same basic ingredients, so you can't really mess it up. It turned out good.
Rob and I have the final session of our pre-marriage counseling tonight. That has gone well. More than anything, it gives you stuff to think/talk about that you may have otherwise not thought of. And the people doing it are really nice, so that's been cool.
This weekend should be relatively relaxed. We are being given another wedding shower, but other than that, there's not any huge plans, which is awesome. I am looking forward to some time to relax. Tuesday is the 4th, which I'm also looking forward to. This will be my first 4th of July in St. Augustine, as I realized the other night.
Okay, I'm out of randomness to talk about, so I'll end here. Have a fantastic day.
I've pretty much "cleaned out my desk", so to speak. I took home all the random personal belongings (cups, hot chocolate, etc.) that I had accumulated here at work yesterday, and today I've gone through and deleted any personal files I had saved on my computer.
I'm drinking Dr. Pepper. That's rare for me. I pretty much stick to Diet Coke, but I don't have any for now, and I was needing some caffeen (that's not how you spell that, is it?). This is what was in the fridge here at work.
I will be unemployed for the majority of July. I'm working here Monday, and I will technically work two days at the end of the month at the school, but other than that, I will be unemployed, and consequently a bit poor.
I forgot to fix anything for lunch today (as I am low on funds, I'm trying to be good about bringing my lunch to work) so I threw some tortillas and some turkey sandwich meat in a bag and brought it with me. I'll find some lettuce and dressing in the fridge and make some sort of creation out of it. It should be interesting. I was creative last night for dinner, too, although it was Mexican, and all Mexican food is the same basic ingredients, so you can't really mess it up. It turned out good.
Rob and I have the final session of our pre-marriage counseling tonight. That has gone well. More than anything, it gives you stuff to think/talk about that you may have otherwise not thought of. And the people doing it are really nice, so that's been cool.
This weekend should be relatively relaxed. We are being given another wedding shower, but other than that, there's not any huge plans, which is awesome. I am looking forward to some time to relax. Tuesday is the 4th, which I'm also looking forward to. This will be my first 4th of July in St. Augustine, as I realized the other night.
Okay, I'm out of randomness to talk about, so I'll end here. Have a fantastic day.
Jun 28, 2006
old and new...
I am inching my way toward the end of my last full week at my current job. I will also work Monday of next week and hopefully be paid for the holiday on Tuesday, but this is my last full week, and I could not be more excited about not having to answer phones any more. I work for good people, and I have a good office environment, but what I actually do is by no means my dream job. I should be able to get into my classroom some time after Wednesday of next week to begin setting up, hopefully sooner rather than later. Each room is made available on an individual basis, and we are to keep checking the website to find out when ours is available, which is slightly frustrating, but it'll all work out. As I was looking at the website this morning, I came across the list of all the teachers for the upcoming school year, 27 of whom are new hires, and I was excited to see that all grades between 2 and 6 had at least two male teachers. (Probably half of them were newly hired.) That's pretty rare! At RB Hunt where I interned, the only two male teachers in the entire school were the music teacher and the PE teacher.
I started the process of filling out my new employee paperwork this morning. There's a bunch of forms I had to do, and I have to go in for an appointment to do a drug test and fingerprints and more paperwork. [Speaking of fingerprints, my one complaint is that the county hasn't developed a system where they keep fingerprints on file, so if you are hired more than once for the county (eg: as a sub and then as a teacher) you have to have your fingerprints done each time... costing you $61.] I'll also have to attend a Human Resources Orientation to discuss various aspects of my employment (benefits, worker's comp, etc.). Then, of course, there's the actual school orientation meetings that I'll do during our pre-planning week. It's busy, but it's also exciting.
Some advice: Don't plan on getting married between the time you interview/are hired for a job and the actual starting date (if you're a female especially). Do the marriage first if you have the option. It will save you having to fill out your paperwork twice! Getting married and getting the job are both, by all means, worth whatever trouble the double paperwork is, but not doing it twice would be nice, too. Just a thought. Take the advice, if it applies.
Grace and peace.
God is good!
I am inching my way toward the end of my last full week at my current job. I will also work Monday of next week and hopefully be paid for the holiday on Tuesday, but this is my last full week, and I could not be more excited about not having to answer phones any more. I work for good people, and I have a good office environment, but what I actually do is by no means my dream job. I should be able to get into my classroom some time after Wednesday of next week to begin setting up, hopefully sooner rather than later. Each room is made available on an individual basis, and we are to keep checking the website to find out when ours is available, which is slightly frustrating, but it'll all work out. As I was looking at the website this morning, I came across the list of all the teachers for the upcoming school year, 27 of whom are new hires, and I was excited to see that all grades between 2 and 6 had at least two male teachers. (Probably half of them were newly hired.) That's pretty rare! At RB Hunt where I interned, the only two male teachers in the entire school were the music teacher and the PE teacher.
I started the process of filling out my new employee paperwork this morning. There's a bunch of forms I had to do, and I have to go in for an appointment to do a drug test and fingerprints and more paperwork. [Speaking of fingerprints, my one complaint is that the county hasn't developed a system where they keep fingerprints on file, so if you are hired more than once for the county (eg: as a sub and then as a teacher) you have to have your fingerprints done each time... costing you $61.] I'll also have to attend a Human Resources Orientation to discuss various aspects of my employment (benefits, worker's comp, etc.). Then, of course, there's the actual school orientation meetings that I'll do during our pre-planning week. It's busy, but it's also exciting.
Some advice: Don't plan on getting married between the time you interview/are hired for a job and the actual starting date (if you're a female especially). Do the marriage first if you have the option. It will save you having to fill out your paperwork twice! Getting married and getting the job are both, by all means, worth whatever trouble the double paperwork is, but not doing it twice would be nice, too. Just a thought. Take the advice, if it applies.
Grace and peace.
God is good!
Jun 22, 2006
Jun 20, 2006
Jun 19, 2006
days go by...
(That reminds me of the theme song from "Step by Step" from watching TGIF throughout my childhood.) I know everyone is probably sick of me posting with numeric titiles representing the days left until my wedding (it's 32, if you're wondering) but that's realistically all that's on my mind these days. Besides trying to get a teaching job. In an overall sense, the days of the countdown are really flying by. That's not to say that there aren't plenty of times when we're both like "holy crap, can't we just be married already" because there are. I guess it's been in the past week though that I've really been hit by the idea that I'm getting married in just over a month. No doubt I'm looking forward to it immensely, and I'm not "freaking out" or anything, but this is the first time that I've started to get mildly panicky about all the planning stuff. I guess I'm not panicky yet, but I do have the feeling that I may be soon. Getting final head counts; nailing down details about the cake; arranging for everything (flowers, cake, chairs) to be delivered on the day-of, which mostly means assigning tasks to various friends; praying that flowers are delivered on time; etc. Anyway, I just got a phone call about an interview, so I have to go take care of some things. Pray for God's will!
grace and peace!
(That reminds me of the theme song from "Step by Step" from watching TGIF throughout my childhood.) I know everyone is probably sick of me posting with numeric titiles representing the days left until my wedding (it's 32, if you're wondering) but that's realistically all that's on my mind these days. Besides trying to get a teaching job. In an overall sense, the days of the countdown are really flying by. That's not to say that there aren't plenty of times when we're both like "holy crap, can't we just be married already" because there are. I guess it's been in the past week though that I've really been hit by the idea that I'm getting married in just over a month. No doubt I'm looking forward to it immensely, and I'm not "freaking out" or anything, but this is the first time that I've started to get mildly panicky about all the planning stuff. I guess I'm not panicky yet, but I do have the feeling that I may be soon. Getting final head counts; nailing down details about the cake; arranging for everything (flowers, cake, chairs) to be delivered on the day-of, which mostly means assigning tasks to various friends; praying that flowers are delivered on time; etc. Anyway, I just got a phone call about an interview, so I have to go take care of some things. Pray for God's will!
grace and peace!
Jun 15, 2006
furnished...
Aside from a precautionary trip to the emergency room in the morning, yesterday was a pretty fantastic day. Rob and I had both taken the day off for our furniture to be delivered, but to explain the emergency room part, Rob went to the emergency room first thing yesterday morning to make sure he was okay after waking up with chest pains. The pains didn't last, but we stayed and had him checked out, just to be safe. He's pretty much good to go. I told him he had gas. When we were finally able to leave at noon, we went home to find our furniture waiting for us. Rob cooked a great breakfast and we spent the next few hours setting up our new stuff. I left Rob to put together the final piece on his own while I painted a canvas to hang in our kitchen. It was my attempt at mimicking some paintings we both enjoy at one of the local galleries. My version is very elementary, but it works for now. After drying, the painting was hung, the house was cleaned, and we enjoyed some time in the pool. We took a trip to Pier 1, which is a great store, to pick up a few accessories for the living room, and then we had Holly and Kyle over for dinner, as I had cooked my first-ever pot-roast. It turned out pretty well, I think. Rob kept telling me it was aweful in an attempt to get me to stop eating so he could have the rest of mine, but other than that, the response from everyone was a good one. There's lots of things, like pot-roast, that I understand the concept of how to cook, and I am capable of cooking it okay, but I'll have to try it several times before I get everything exactly how I like it. I'd like to mess around with different seasonings and stuff to see what gives it the most flavor because it's easy just to cook most things, but the "art" of it is giving it a great flavor. As I've only ever had to cook for myself up until this point, I haven't done a lot of very "involved" cooking. Dishes have been small and simple, for the most part, because you can't really do most things in small quantities. Anyway, so that's my cooking tangent. I guess I'm just really looking forward to having the opportunity to cook more and to cook a wider variety of stuff. And luckily, I have a cool kitchen to cook in, as well.
So that's really all I have to say for now. I know it was random and rather pointless, but I just felt like writing about the happenings of yesterday. Here's a question for you: what's your favorite meal? If you give me your answer, and if you come to my house at some point, I might just make it for you!
grace and peace
Aside from a precautionary trip to the emergency room in the morning, yesterday was a pretty fantastic day. Rob and I had both taken the day off for our furniture to be delivered, but to explain the emergency room part, Rob went to the emergency room first thing yesterday morning to make sure he was okay after waking up with chest pains. The pains didn't last, but we stayed and had him checked out, just to be safe. He's pretty much good to go. I told him he had gas. When we were finally able to leave at noon, we went home to find our furniture waiting for us. Rob cooked a great breakfast and we spent the next few hours setting up our new stuff. I left Rob to put together the final piece on his own while I painted a canvas to hang in our kitchen. It was my attempt at mimicking some paintings we both enjoy at one of the local galleries. My version is very elementary, but it works for now. After drying, the painting was hung, the house was cleaned, and we enjoyed some time in the pool. We took a trip to Pier 1, which is a great store, to pick up a few accessories for the living room, and then we had Holly and Kyle over for dinner, as I had cooked my first-ever pot-roast. It turned out pretty well, I think. Rob kept telling me it was aweful in an attempt to get me to stop eating so he could have the rest of mine, but other than that, the response from everyone was a good one. There's lots of things, like pot-roast, that I understand the concept of how to cook, and I am capable of cooking it okay, but I'll have to try it several times before I get everything exactly how I like it. I'd like to mess around with different seasonings and stuff to see what gives it the most flavor because it's easy just to cook most things, but the "art" of it is giving it a great flavor. As I've only ever had to cook for myself up until this point, I haven't done a lot of very "involved" cooking. Dishes have been small and simple, for the most part, because you can't really do most things in small quantities. Anyway, so that's my cooking tangent. I guess I'm just really looking forward to having the opportunity to cook more and to cook a wider variety of stuff. And luckily, I have a cool kitchen to cook in, as well.
So that's really all I have to say for now. I know it was random and rather pointless, but I just felt like writing about the happenings of yesterday. Here's a question for you: what's your favorite meal? If you give me your answer, and if you come to my house at some point, I might just make it for you!
grace and peace
Jun 13, 2006
magnification...
God is glorified in my weakness. I was reading 2 Corinthians 4 today, as I missed it Sunday morning in Bible study, and I understood that concept a little bit more today. The commentary I read said:
God's grandure is magnified in my insignificance because by doing great things through an otherwise incapable tool it is made evident that it is some power outside of said tool doing the work. The saw and hammer and even the nails are not what builds a house; rather, it is the builder himself. And with the knowledge that all saws and hammers and nails are relatively equal, the skill of the individual builder is made all the more evident because it is clear that it is not the supurb quality of the tools that makes a given house more impressive than the next, but rather the skill of the builder. I don't know if that analogy makes sense to anyone else, but it works for me. I'm no better a hammer than the next, but the Builder Who uses me is amazingly talented, so the finished product is pretty impressive. For that matter, I (the hammer) have no room to brag on the finished product, as I had no control over it whatsoever. The successful outcome can only be attributed to the Builder.
Random analogy of the day concluded.
God is glorified in my weakness. I was reading 2 Corinthians 4 today, as I missed it Sunday morning in Bible study, and I understood that concept a little bit more today. The commentary I read said:
The treasure of gospel light and grace is put into earthen vessels. The ministers of the gospel are subject to the same passions and weaknesses as other men. God could have sent angels to make known the glorious doctrine of the gospel, or could have sent the most admired sons of men to teach the nations, but he chose humbler, weaker vessels, that his power might be more glorified in upholding them, and in the blessed change wrought by their ministry.
God's grandure is magnified in my insignificance because by doing great things through an otherwise incapable tool it is made evident that it is some power outside of said tool doing the work. The saw and hammer and even the nails are not what builds a house; rather, it is the builder himself. And with the knowledge that all saws and hammers and nails are relatively equal, the skill of the individual builder is made all the more evident because it is clear that it is not the supurb quality of the tools that makes a given house more impressive than the next, but rather the skill of the builder. I don't know if that analogy makes sense to anyone else, but it works for me. I'm no better a hammer than the next, but the Builder Who uses me is amazingly talented, so the finished product is pretty impressive. For that matter, I (the hammer) have no room to brag on the finished product, as I had no control over it whatsoever. The successful outcome can only be attributed to the Builder.
Random analogy of the day concluded.
38...
That's the number of days till I'm married! 38! Barely over a month! I'm so unbelievably excited. Rob and I start our pre-marriage counseling tonight, which I'm not going to lie, I'm not really all that excited about. I understand that it's a good idea for people to receive some guidance before they get married, and I have no doubt that it will in some way benefit Rob and myself, but I sort of feel like they're going to explain to us a bunch of things that Rob and I have already worked through on our own. I think we have a fairly strong and healthy relationship in pretty much every area, we've learned how to work through problems together and deal with our differences, so for as arrogant as this sounds, I feel like the counseling may be a little pointless for us. But we're going regardless, and like I said, I'm sure we'll learn something in the end. It is a little funny to me though that we're starting our counseling sessions one month before the wedding. You would think that would have been done sooner. The counselors took forever to get back with us though, so here we are, 38 days out and just now starting. In the event that we're horribly incompatible and advised not to marry, I'm curious to know if they plan to foot the bill for the things that have already been paid for the wedding?? Hmmm?? I'm kidding, obviously. One of the cool things about mine and Rob's relationship is the enormous amount of support from those who know us. I think practically every person we know at one time or another has commented on how well we compliment each other or how well we work together as a couple, which is a huge encouragement to me to be even more confideint in the fact that this is the exact will of God for us. I don't think we've ever been told "Gosh, you guys seem like an odd match"! Even people who only know one of us, or who don't really know either of us, have told us that we fit each other well. That's cool to me.
On another note, we should have furniture in our living room tomorrow!!! I can't tell you how happy I am about that! Not having a couch is getting old. Until now, we have only had one relatively comfortable chair and one folding butterfly-chair that sort of swallows you whole when you sit in it, with our tv sitting on top of a milk crate. The tv will remain in the same condition for now, but at least we'll be able to sit comfortably to watch it. We haven't so much as rented a movie since I moved in because of the furniture situation. And of course, the first weekend that that is a possibility, Rob will be out of town. So the girls might be invited over on Saturday for a movie so I don't wind up spending the entire weekend alone. I've learned that I have to make plans to be social, otherwise I just wind up falling off the face of the earth into my hermit-like existance. While I don't usually mind the anti-social life, I know it's not always healthy. And I've quickly realized from living alone how easy it is for me to fall out of touch with everyone. So as much of a chore as it can be for me, I'm trying to remain a part of "the group."
Rob and I had another wedding shower last Saturday, thanks to which we have plates to eat off of and more than two cups in the cabinets! It's really amazing how generous everyone has been to us. We are very thankful.
Anyway, so that's all for now. I didn't get the job at Hartley, so the wait for job interviews continues. I know something will come along, I just hope it's soon.
38 days.......
That's the number of days till I'm married! 38! Barely over a month! I'm so unbelievably excited. Rob and I start our pre-marriage counseling tonight, which I'm not going to lie, I'm not really all that excited about. I understand that it's a good idea for people to receive some guidance before they get married, and I have no doubt that it will in some way benefit Rob and myself, but I sort of feel like they're going to explain to us a bunch of things that Rob and I have already worked through on our own. I think we have a fairly strong and healthy relationship in pretty much every area, we've learned how to work through problems together and deal with our differences, so for as arrogant as this sounds, I feel like the counseling may be a little pointless for us. But we're going regardless, and like I said, I'm sure we'll learn something in the end. It is a little funny to me though that we're starting our counseling sessions one month before the wedding. You would think that would have been done sooner. The counselors took forever to get back with us though, so here we are, 38 days out and just now starting. In the event that we're horribly incompatible and advised not to marry, I'm curious to know if they plan to foot the bill for the things that have already been paid for the wedding?? Hmmm?? I'm kidding, obviously. One of the cool things about mine and Rob's relationship is the enormous amount of support from those who know us. I think practically every person we know at one time or another has commented on how well we compliment each other or how well we work together as a couple, which is a huge encouragement to me to be even more confideint in the fact that this is the exact will of God for us. I don't think we've ever been told "Gosh, you guys seem like an odd match"! Even people who only know one of us, or who don't really know either of us, have told us that we fit each other well. That's cool to me.
On another note, we should have furniture in our living room tomorrow!!! I can't tell you how happy I am about that! Not having a couch is getting old. Until now, we have only had one relatively comfortable chair and one folding butterfly-chair that sort of swallows you whole when you sit in it, with our tv sitting on top of a milk crate. The tv will remain in the same condition for now, but at least we'll be able to sit comfortably to watch it. We haven't so much as rented a movie since I moved in because of the furniture situation. And of course, the first weekend that that is a possibility, Rob will be out of town. So the girls might be invited over on Saturday for a movie so I don't wind up spending the entire weekend alone. I've learned that I have to make plans to be social, otherwise I just wind up falling off the face of the earth into my hermit-like existance. While I don't usually mind the anti-social life, I know it's not always healthy. And I've quickly realized from living alone how easy it is for me to fall out of touch with everyone. So as much of a chore as it can be for me, I'm trying to remain a part of "the group."
Rob and I had another wedding shower last Saturday, thanks to which we have plates to eat off of and more than two cups in the cabinets! It's really amazing how generous everyone has been to us. We are very thankful.
Anyway, so that's all for now. I didn't get the job at Hartley, so the wait for job interviews continues. I know something will come along, I just hope it's soon.
38 days.......
Jun 9, 2006
liturgy and freedom of expression...
My good friend Quinn (with whom, along with his wonderful wife Shelly, Rob and I have the pleasure of hanging out tonight) posted a link to an interesting article on Liturgy yesterday. There are some good points in the article, no doubt, but I think I would have to disagree with the overall opinion behind it. The article starts with a quote from an interview with Garrison Keillor, and that's probably the part of the article that I most sympathize with. It makes reference to individuals who make a habit of saying big, showy prayers in a corporate setting. I have known such individuals and have been in such situations where this takes place, and it's one of those things that nearly makes me sick. It's exactly what Jesus warns against when He tells us not to pray as the Pharisees pray, speaking loudly on street-corners, using fancy language, all for the purpose of impressing people. This can hardly even be considered prayer; it's merely a public speech. Anyway, like I was saying, this is the part of the article that I'm totally on-board with. Keillor's preference, in consequence to this idea, is in favor of liturgy because it avoids the possibility of individuals taking pride in their own speech. Liturgical speech is not one's own words, therefore no one can boast in it. This is a great concept, and to this point, I'm still totally behind it. The writer of the article, who I believe goes by Al, continues on to divulge his personal opinion in support of this idea. First, let me say that I am not in any way against the idea of using liturgy. I think it's great, and it definitely provides things that can be lacking in non-liturgical settings. My issue with this article, however, is that Al makes it sound as though liturgy is the only appropriate form of speech to use in corporate worship settings, and that personal or inspired speech should be left out all together. This idea I cannot get behind. I completely understand the idea that when using "personal" non-liturgical speech in any public setting, there is the risk of the speaker becoming self-focused rather than focusing on the Spirit of God, but I do not believe that this presence of risk is reason enough to outlaw the use of non-liturgical speech all together. I believe there is definitely a place for liturgical speech within worship settings, but I also believe that God has created us each differently, and with different gifts. We are all members of the same body, but we are, in fact, different members (i.e. foot, hand, mouth, etc.) I believe some people are given the gift of being able to speak well, and put ideas into words so that those ideas are easily or effectively communicated to a group. If these same individuals are allowing their speech to be directed by the Spirit of God, there can be great benefit in the words they say. I believe to use solely liturgical speech would cause us to miss out on these benefits. In the article, Al makes the point that our own personal words are not adequate, and that when we use personal speech we deem our vocabulary to be sufficient. While he is right in the fact that our words are not sufficient, I don't believe you can say with any more truth that the liturgical words are sufficient. They may not be our own words, but they are still human. I don't believe there is any combination of any words in any human language that is "sufficient," regardless of who puts the words together.
I could keep going on and comment on every point the article makes, but I'll end it here. This gets the main point across. I guess ultimately what I came away with from reading and thinking about this article is the idea that Rob and I have talked a lot about in recent weeks: all of creation is broken. Nothing we do will ever fulfill the perfect worship that God deserves because we are broken by nature. Consequently, even our worship is broken. We will never get every detail exactly right. And that's okay. I think what is more important than getting all the details right is having the right heart in whatever you do. As long as your heart is desiring to please and worship God to the best of your ability in whatever you are doing, I think that's what matters. Someone whose name I can't remember (maybe a saint or someone like that) once said something to the effect of "God, I don't exactly know how to please You, but I think that my wanting to please You pleases You." That's what I think. I believe God sees through the outside stuff to our hearts and our motivating desires. So in whatever way you feel led to worship God, take inventory of what your bottom-line desire is. Are you striving to please God as best you know how, or are you trying to make yourself look good or just do what's comfortable? Whichever it is, be honest about it. God likes honesty.
My good friend Quinn (with whom, along with his wonderful wife Shelly, Rob and I have the pleasure of hanging out tonight) posted a link to an interesting article on Liturgy yesterday. There are some good points in the article, no doubt, but I think I would have to disagree with the overall opinion behind it. The article starts with a quote from an interview with Garrison Keillor, and that's probably the part of the article that I most sympathize with. It makes reference to individuals who make a habit of saying big, showy prayers in a corporate setting. I have known such individuals and have been in such situations where this takes place, and it's one of those things that nearly makes me sick. It's exactly what Jesus warns against when He tells us not to pray as the Pharisees pray, speaking loudly on street-corners, using fancy language, all for the purpose of impressing people. This can hardly even be considered prayer; it's merely a public speech. Anyway, like I was saying, this is the part of the article that I'm totally on-board with. Keillor's preference, in consequence to this idea, is in favor of liturgy because it avoids the possibility of individuals taking pride in their own speech. Liturgical speech is not one's own words, therefore no one can boast in it. This is a great concept, and to this point, I'm still totally behind it. The writer of the article, who I believe goes by Al, continues on to divulge his personal opinion in support of this idea. First, let me say that I am not in any way against the idea of using liturgy. I think it's great, and it definitely provides things that can be lacking in non-liturgical settings. My issue with this article, however, is that Al makes it sound as though liturgy is the only appropriate form of speech to use in corporate worship settings, and that personal or inspired speech should be left out all together. This idea I cannot get behind. I completely understand the idea that when using "personal" non-liturgical speech in any public setting, there is the risk of the speaker becoming self-focused rather than focusing on the Spirit of God, but I do not believe that this presence of risk is reason enough to outlaw the use of non-liturgical speech all together. I believe there is definitely a place for liturgical speech within worship settings, but I also believe that God has created us each differently, and with different gifts. We are all members of the same body, but we are, in fact, different members (i.e. foot, hand, mouth, etc.) I believe some people are given the gift of being able to speak well, and put ideas into words so that those ideas are easily or effectively communicated to a group. If these same individuals are allowing their speech to be directed by the Spirit of God, there can be great benefit in the words they say. I believe to use solely liturgical speech would cause us to miss out on these benefits. In the article, Al makes the point that our own personal words are not adequate, and that when we use personal speech we deem our vocabulary to be sufficient. While he is right in the fact that our words are not sufficient, I don't believe you can say with any more truth that the liturgical words are sufficient. They may not be our own words, but they are still human. I don't believe there is any combination of any words in any human language that is "sufficient," regardless of who puts the words together.
I could keep going on and comment on every point the article makes, but I'll end it here. This gets the main point across. I guess ultimately what I came away with from reading and thinking about this article is the idea that Rob and I have talked a lot about in recent weeks: all of creation is broken. Nothing we do will ever fulfill the perfect worship that God deserves because we are broken by nature. Consequently, even our worship is broken. We will never get every detail exactly right. And that's okay. I think what is more important than getting all the details right is having the right heart in whatever you do. As long as your heart is desiring to please and worship God to the best of your ability in whatever you are doing, I think that's what matters. Someone whose name I can't remember (maybe a saint or someone like that) once said something to the effect of "God, I don't exactly know how to please You, but I think that my wanting to please You pleases You." That's what I think. I believe God sees through the outside stuff to our hearts and our motivating desires. So in whatever way you feel led to worship God, take inventory of what your bottom-line desire is. Are you striving to please God as best you know how, or are you trying to make yourself look good or just do what's comfortable? Whichever it is, be honest about it. God likes honesty.
God is faithful...
I mean that on multiple levels this morning. Not only is it just a generically true statement, it is also something I am learning a lot about these days. First of all, God constantly reveals His faithfulness in my life. Constantly. I have an amazing soon-to-be husband whom I love and who loves me. (The interesting paradox about that is that I love him more than I could ever imagine, yet I love him more and more each day.) God has given us an incredible home, the provisions for which still blow me away. I have a fabulous community of believers around me, and a wonderful church. I am blessed with a decent-paying job, as well as prospects of a "career" in the near future. My family and soon-to-be family are amazingly supportive. Overall, my life is just cram-packed full of blessings because of God's faithfulness to me. What's even more interesting, or valuable to learn I guess, is that God's faithfulness is NOT dependent upon my faithfulness. I am horribly unfaithful to God in certain areas of my life, yet His faithfulness never changes. There never comes a point when God says, "Well Meg, you've let me down too many times, so I'm not going to be active in your life for a while." It's a good thing, too, because I fear I would find myself in that place far too often if that's how it worked. Holly spoke last night at Fusion on the importance of being in the Word, which was seriously convicting for me because that is the area where I have been struggling the most with faithfulness lately. A point she brought up (as did Rob during worship) was that rather than abusing the grace that God shows us, His grace compells us to serve Him more and draw closer to Him. That's how I feel. I realize that God's faithfulness does not change despite my lack thereof; yet rather than being like "well okay, I guess it really doesn't matter what I do," I am instead compelled to be more faithful because of His unchanging faithfulness. So I determined last night before I went to bed that I was getting up this morning without hitting the snooze so that I could have time for my quiet time. This morning I read in Nehemiah 9, which was amazingly appropriate. The whole chapter is the nation (people) of Israel collectively confessing their sin before God. The whole chapter, if summarized, goes something like this: "God, we sinned against You, yet You did not forsake us. We sinned against You again, and You did not forsake us. We sinned against You, and You, because of Your grace, did not forsake us. We sinned against You, and because You are a God of mercy and love and grace, and You are slow to anger, You did not forsake us. We sinned against You again, and You did not forsake us." The whole thing just reminded me of myself. Every day I let God down. I fail to keep the commitments I make to Him. I fall short. Yet, because of His grace and mercy and love and kindness, and because He is slow to anger, and because His faithfulness never changes, He does not forsake me. And that makes me want to serve Him more.
I mean that on multiple levels this morning. Not only is it just a generically true statement, it is also something I am learning a lot about these days. First of all, God constantly reveals His faithfulness in my life. Constantly. I have an amazing soon-to-be husband whom I love and who loves me. (The interesting paradox about that is that I love him more than I could ever imagine, yet I love him more and more each day.) God has given us an incredible home, the provisions for which still blow me away. I have a fabulous community of believers around me, and a wonderful church. I am blessed with a decent-paying job, as well as prospects of a "career" in the near future. My family and soon-to-be family are amazingly supportive. Overall, my life is just cram-packed full of blessings because of God's faithfulness to me. What's even more interesting, or valuable to learn I guess, is that God's faithfulness is NOT dependent upon my faithfulness. I am horribly unfaithful to God in certain areas of my life, yet His faithfulness never changes. There never comes a point when God says, "Well Meg, you've let me down too many times, so I'm not going to be active in your life for a while." It's a good thing, too, because I fear I would find myself in that place far too often if that's how it worked. Holly spoke last night at Fusion on the importance of being in the Word, which was seriously convicting for me because that is the area where I have been struggling the most with faithfulness lately. A point she brought up (as did Rob during worship) was that rather than abusing the grace that God shows us, His grace compells us to serve Him more and draw closer to Him. That's how I feel. I realize that God's faithfulness does not change despite my lack thereof; yet rather than being like "well okay, I guess it really doesn't matter what I do," I am instead compelled to be more faithful because of His unchanging faithfulness. So I determined last night before I went to bed that I was getting up this morning without hitting the snooze so that I could have time for my quiet time. This morning I read in Nehemiah 9, which was amazingly appropriate. The whole chapter is the nation (people) of Israel collectively confessing their sin before God. The whole chapter, if summarized, goes something like this: "God, we sinned against You, yet You did not forsake us. We sinned against You again, and You did not forsake us. We sinned against You, and You, because of Your grace, did not forsake us. We sinned against You, and because You are a God of mercy and love and grace, and You are slow to anger, You did not forsake us. We sinned against You again, and You did not forsake us." The whole thing just reminded me of myself. Every day I let God down. I fail to keep the commitments I make to Him. I fall short. Yet, because of His grace and mercy and love and kindness, and because He is slow to anger, and because His faithfulness never changes, He does not forsake me. And that makes me want to serve Him more.
Jun 6, 2006
progressing...
If you haven't heard by other means, I have an interview at Hartley Elementary tomorrow morning. Hartley is the school where I worked earlier this year, and I really loved being there. It's also in my neighborhood, which is an added bonus, in the event that I get a job there. Pray for God's will in the interview!
If you haven't heard by other means, I have an interview at Hartley Elementary tomorrow morning. Hartley is the school where I worked earlier this year, and I really loved being there. It's also in my neighborhood, which is an added bonus, in the event that I get a job there. Pray for God's will in the interview!
Jun 2, 2006
morning...
sun bright and sky sapphire blue. clouds hug eastern horizon for warmth like I hug morning blankets, deciding whether to face the day or merely lounge. golden rays urge puffs of white to come out from hiding. “time to get up,” says sun to clouds, says sun to me. the earth awakes. the earth is reborn. the day begins.
sun bright and sky sapphire blue. clouds hug eastern horizon for warmth like I hug morning blankets, deciding whether to face the day or merely lounge. golden rays urge puffs of white to come out from hiding. “time to get up,” says sun to clouds, says sun to me. the earth awakes. the earth is reborn. the day begins.
happy friday...
I would love to say that this is about to be a post chock-full of insightful writings and things of great interest, but unfortunately, that is just not the case. I feel like writing, although I have nothing really to say, so I'll just give the general update of what's going on in my life. Monday was a holiday, so this was a short work week, which was really nice. Today marks the end of my first week in the condo, which is absolutely glorious. Being there, however, reminds me of how "anti-social" I am. Not "anti-social" meaning that I hate people or anything; it's just that I seem to thrive or refule when I'm able to be on my own. I guess that's only the case when I have things to keep me busy though (unpacking, organizing, etc.), because when I'm alone and have nothing to do I get lonely pretty easily. I think I most enjoy mornings to myself. I like having the whole place to myself in the mornings so I can turn on lights and make noise as I please withouth having to be concerned if I'm waking anyone up. And I have to admit, I like the freedom of walking around half-dressed when I feel like it. Although I haven't met him, I think Donald Miller and I have similar personalities. In Blue Like Jazz he writes that he lives in community because he knows it's healthy for him. He would be perfectly fine being alone all the time, but he knows it's healty to be around people sometimes, so he makes a conscious choice to do so. That's me. I could probably be perfectly content without human contact for extended periods of time (execpt Rob), but that's probably not the healthiest thing for me, so I sometimes force myself to partake in social activities. Yesterday, however, was one of those days where it was better for me to have some alone time. I was sort of feeling it all day, and when a severe sinus headache was thrown into the mix, I knew it was best for me to stay home last night. So I skipped out on Fusion and organized the spare room instead (I have a lot of stuff).
Today is finally Friday, and while it was a short work week, it has been a busy one, so today's arrival is much enjoyed. I am looking forward to a relaxed evening to start off the weekend. Tomorrow I am very excited that I will be able to sleep in. There's no painting to do, no unpacking, no putting together of furniture, nothing. Last weekend I was up at 6:30 twice and 7:15 once, putting my new home together. I enjoyed it, but I am also planning to enjoy a lazier morning tomorrow. When I do finally wake up, I will probably take a long bath, as that is an option afforded to me at my new place. Rob's mom, sister, brother-in-law, and nephew will be coming into town around lunch time, so we will have lunch, let them check out the condo, and then caravan up to Jacksonville for a wedding shower at my parents' house, for which I am super excited (free stuff!). We will then make the trip back to St. Augustine where I'm sure Rob and I will have fun unloading all our new goodies. Ms. Barbi will stay at the condo with me, and Megan, Truman, and Scott will stay with friends Jacob and Erin. And then Sunday resumes the usual weekend activities: church, Bible study, lunch, frisbee, meeting.
That's all my news for now. Have a fantastic weekend!
I would love to say that this is about to be a post chock-full of insightful writings and things of great interest, but unfortunately, that is just not the case. I feel like writing, although I have nothing really to say, so I'll just give the general update of what's going on in my life. Monday was a holiday, so this was a short work week, which was really nice. Today marks the end of my first week in the condo, which is absolutely glorious. Being there, however, reminds me of how "anti-social" I am. Not "anti-social" meaning that I hate people or anything; it's just that I seem to thrive or refule when I'm able to be on my own. I guess that's only the case when I have things to keep me busy though (unpacking, organizing, etc.), because when I'm alone and have nothing to do I get lonely pretty easily. I think I most enjoy mornings to myself. I like having the whole place to myself in the mornings so I can turn on lights and make noise as I please withouth having to be concerned if I'm waking anyone up. And I have to admit, I like the freedom of walking around half-dressed when I feel like it. Although I haven't met him, I think Donald Miller and I have similar personalities. In Blue Like Jazz he writes that he lives in community because he knows it's healthy for him. He would be perfectly fine being alone all the time, but he knows it's healty to be around people sometimes, so he makes a conscious choice to do so. That's me. I could probably be perfectly content without human contact for extended periods of time (execpt Rob), but that's probably not the healthiest thing for me, so I sometimes force myself to partake in social activities. Yesterday, however, was one of those days where it was better for me to have some alone time. I was sort of feeling it all day, and when a severe sinus headache was thrown into the mix, I knew it was best for me to stay home last night. So I skipped out on Fusion and organized the spare room instead (I have a lot of stuff).
Today is finally Friday, and while it was a short work week, it has been a busy one, so today's arrival is much enjoyed. I am looking forward to a relaxed evening to start off the weekend. Tomorrow I am very excited that I will be able to sleep in. There's no painting to do, no unpacking, no putting together of furniture, nothing. Last weekend I was up at 6:30 twice and 7:15 once, putting my new home together. I enjoyed it, but I am also planning to enjoy a lazier morning tomorrow. When I do finally wake up, I will probably take a long bath, as that is an option afforded to me at my new place. Rob's mom, sister, brother-in-law, and nephew will be coming into town around lunch time, so we will have lunch, let them check out the condo, and then caravan up to Jacksonville for a wedding shower at my parents' house, for which I am super excited (free stuff!). We will then make the trip back to St. Augustine where I'm sure Rob and I will have fun unloading all our new goodies. Ms. Barbi will stay at the condo with me, and Megan, Truman, and Scott will stay with friends Jacob and Erin. And then Sunday resumes the usual weekend activities: church, Bible study, lunch, frisbee, meeting.
That's all my news for now. Have a fantastic weekend!
May 31, 2006
a hero...
What does it take to be considered a hero? That's the question that was in my mind as I watched and read several news articles on cnn.com today. One article was concerning a former Marine who defended himself against a group of robbers who attacked him on the street. Someone was quoted in the article refering to him as a hero. He wasn't a hero! He kept himself from being killed! There's a big difference to me. "Hero" gives me the idea of someone doing something very risky for the benefit of someone else. I don't think a natural defense mechanism counts as heroic. Even better was the article about that race horse with the broken leg... Barbaro. They called the jockey a hero for slowing down, which supposedly "saved the horse's life." Okay, so even if it did save the horse's life because the guy slowed down, it's a horse! Don't get me wrong, I love animals and everything, but I still think it's pushing it to call the saving of an animal life "heroic." Then there was the story about the fire fighter who rescued a cat from the roof of a three-story home that was on fire. The word "hero" was not specifically used in this article, but you know someone was thinking it. Saving a cat. How cliche. At least there was a fire involved and the people were taken care of first. The headline story for CNN today was about military groups in Congo brutally raping women. A hero would be someone who went into this situation determined to make a difference for the protection of these women, no matter the personal sacrifice it would take. Someone willing to risk their life to defend those who are helpless, to fight this injustice. (*Marilyn's voice in my head*) That's a hero. Not a cat-rescuer, or a horse racer, or even someone who defended themself.
Okay, sorry to sound so accusing and pesimistic about the news today, but that was my prevailing thought as I was reading today. What are your thoughts on heros?
What does it take to be considered a hero? That's the question that was in my mind as I watched and read several news articles on cnn.com today. One article was concerning a former Marine who defended himself against a group of robbers who attacked him on the street. Someone was quoted in the article refering to him as a hero. He wasn't a hero! He kept himself from being killed! There's a big difference to me. "Hero" gives me the idea of someone doing something very risky for the benefit of someone else. I don't think a natural defense mechanism counts as heroic. Even better was the article about that race horse with the broken leg... Barbaro. They called the jockey a hero for slowing down, which supposedly "saved the horse's life." Okay, so even if it did save the horse's life because the guy slowed down, it's a horse! Don't get me wrong, I love animals and everything, but I still think it's pushing it to call the saving of an animal life "heroic." Then there was the story about the fire fighter who rescued a cat from the roof of a three-story home that was on fire. The word "hero" was not specifically used in this article, but you know someone was thinking it. Saving a cat. How cliche. At least there was a fire involved and the people were taken care of first. The headline story for CNN today was about military groups in Congo brutally raping women. A hero would be someone who went into this situation determined to make a difference for the protection of these women, no matter the personal sacrifice it would take. Someone willing to risk their life to defend those who are helpless, to fight this injustice. (*Marilyn's voice in my head*) That's a hero. Not a cat-rescuer, or a horse racer, or even someone who defended themself.
Okay, sorry to sound so accusing and pesimistic about the news today, but that was my prevailing thought as I was reading today. What are your thoughts on heros?
May 30, 2006
home sweet home...
So I'm all moved in to the new place, and it is glorious! I worked my butt off all weekend, moving stuff and unpacking and putting furniture together and painting, but it's so worth it. I love love love the condo, and I've enjoyed having the weekend to myself and being able to spread out and organize my stuff the way I want. Rob will be home today, so he'll finally get to see the place with furniture in it. (Well, the bedroom has furniture. The living room is still pretty barren.) I miss him like crazy! A week is a long time not to see each other!
This is the view from our place. Pretty cool, huh? You should see the sunrise here. It's amazing!
Our bedroom was my "project" this weekend. It started off a lavander-purple, and we were given permission to paint it, so I took advantage of the opportunity. I'm really excited about how it turned out. The picture doesn't really do it justice.
So if you're ever in St. Augustine, call me and you can come hang out at what I believe to be the coolest condo in the city. Maybe I'm a little bias.
So I'm all moved in to the new place, and it is glorious! I worked my butt off all weekend, moving stuff and unpacking and putting furniture together and painting, but it's so worth it. I love love love the condo, and I've enjoyed having the weekend to myself and being able to spread out and organize my stuff the way I want. Rob will be home today, so he'll finally get to see the place with furniture in it. (Well, the bedroom has furniture. The living room is still pretty barren.) I miss him like crazy! A week is a long time not to see each other!
This is the view from our place. Pretty cool, huh? You should see the sunrise here. It's amazing!
Our bedroom was my "project" this weekend. It started off a lavander-purple, and we were given permission to paint it, so I took advantage of the opportunity. I'm really excited about how it turned out. The picture doesn't really do it justice.
So if you're ever in St. Augustine, call me and you can come hang out at what I believe to be the coolest condo in the city. Maybe I'm a little bias.
May 26, 2006
May 25, 2006
Finish the sentences...
1. The last person I kissed was: Rob (who else would you expect?).
2. Never in my life have I: been west of the Mississippi.
3. The one person who can drive me nuts, but then can always manage to make me laugh: I guess I'm supposed to say Rob, but he doesn't really drive me nuts too often... except for when he tickles me... I guess that counts. He sure can make me laugh though!
4. The high school I went to was: Trinity Christian Academy... good ol' TCA.
5. When I'm nervous: I make myself get over it.
6. The last time I cried was: about two weeks ago, I guess.
7. If I were to get married right now my bridesmaids/groomsmen would be: Allison and Kent.
9. My hair: is short and very dark brown. It's usually pretty cool (I think) but it's in need of being cut right now.
10. When I was 5: I was like the cutest kid on the planet... obviously.
11. Last Christmas: was the first one that Rob and I got to spend together... the first of many to come!
12. When I turn my head right, I see: the postage machine.
13. I should be: working, I guess, but there's not much to be done right now.
14. When I Look Down I See: the brown wood and black leather surface of my desk.
15. The craziest recent event was: hearing that Rob's train was super late last night.
16. If I were a character on Friends I'd be: Monica. Without a doubt.
17. By this time next year: I'll be 57 days away from my one-year anneversary.
18. I love: God. And Rob. And my family. And Rob's family. And my friends. And my coworkers (the girls anyway!). And St. Augustine. And my life in general!
19. I have a hard time understanding: how Rob can store so many random trivia facts in his brain!
20. One time at a family gathering: Joe shot a water mocossan in the pond. Yeah, we're a little bit hick-ish.
21. You know I like you if: I laugh at your jokes on a regular basis.
22. If I won an award, the first person (people) I'd thank would be: whoever it was who helped me accomplish whatever the award was for. (I'm certian I wouldn't have earned it completely on my own!)
23. Take my advice: don't stress out over stuff. Worrying doesn't ever help a situation get any better. Trust in God's faithfulness instead.
24. My ideal breakfast is: anything typical of a breakfast menu... omlets, or pancakes (specifically blueberry, or banana-chocolate chip), or French toast, or scrambled eggs and grits (yes, I was raised in the South), or FRUIT SMOOTHIES!!! MMMMM!
25. If you visit the place I grew up: you might be sorely disappointed... it's not that exciting.
26. Soon I plan on visiting: Savannah. Honeymoon... Heck yeah.
27. If you spend the night at my house: if it was tonight, you'd be fighting for space... there's a bunch of people at the Oviedo house. If it was after tomorrow, you'd be at my new place, which is freakin' awesome... but you might be sleeping on the floor (which I guess would be the case at the Oviedo house, too) surrounded by cardboard boxes and possibly smelling fresh paint!
28. I'd stop my wedding if: someone died. That's about what it would take though! We won't be stopping for anything short of that!
29. The world could do without: cigarettes.
30. I'd rather lick the belly of a cockroach than: have all my skin peeled off slowly.
31. The most recent thing I bought myself is: a matress, which technically is for me and Rob.
32. The most recent thing someone bought for me is: a Bible with the books of the Apocrypha. Rob bought it for me since I was poor from having bought our matress.
33. My favorite band/musician is: David Crowder Band.
34. My favorite brunette is: am I allowed to say me?
35. My favorite redhead is: Greg.
36. My family is: pretty great and slightly crazy.
37. The animals I would like to see flying besides birds are: turtles.
38. I shouldn't have: ???
39. Once, at a gay bar: I wish I had a great story to tell here, but I don't.
40. Last night: I packed some boxes, ate dinner, and went to bed rediculously early. But I probably won't sleep much this weekend, so it's okay.
41. There's this guy I know who: looks like a young Jay Lenno.
42: I don't know: much about sports. Or pop-culture. Or history. Or politics.
43. A better name for me would be: ...I don't know... and I'm scared to ask for anyone else's opinion on that!
44. When I go back to school I'll: be the teacher and not the student!
45. My birthday is on: a Saturday this year.
46. What I really want for Valentines day: is something that is not cliche.
47. I'm wearing: black and white.
48. Tomorrow I am: getting the keys to my house!!! Heck yeah!
49. The last thing I ate was: a cracker with seafood spread. Sounds like an interesting morning, huh?
50. I really want to learn: Latin. And Japanese. And how to play an upright bass. And how to be a great wife.
1. The last person I kissed was: Rob (who else would you expect?).
2. Never in my life have I: been west of the Mississippi.
3. The one person who can drive me nuts, but then can always manage to make me laugh: I guess I'm supposed to say Rob, but he doesn't really drive me nuts too often... except for when he tickles me... I guess that counts. He sure can make me laugh though!
4. The high school I went to was: Trinity Christian Academy... good ol' TCA.
5. When I'm nervous: I make myself get over it.
6. The last time I cried was: about two weeks ago, I guess.
7. If I were to get married right now my bridesmaids/groomsmen would be: Allison and Kent.
9. My hair: is short and very dark brown. It's usually pretty cool (I think) but it's in need of being cut right now.
10. When I was 5: I was like the cutest kid on the planet... obviously.
11. Last Christmas: was the first one that Rob and I got to spend together... the first of many to come!
12. When I turn my head right, I see: the postage machine.
13. I should be: working, I guess, but there's not much to be done right now.
14. When I Look Down I See: the brown wood and black leather surface of my desk.
15. The craziest recent event was: hearing that Rob's train was super late last night.
16. If I were a character on Friends I'd be: Monica. Without a doubt.
17. By this time next year: I'll be 57 days away from my one-year anneversary.
18. I love: God. And Rob. And my family. And Rob's family. And my friends. And my coworkers (the girls anyway!). And St. Augustine. And my life in general!
19. I have a hard time understanding: how Rob can store so many random trivia facts in his brain!
20. One time at a family gathering: Joe shot a water mocossan in the pond. Yeah, we're a little bit hick-ish.
21. You know I like you if: I laugh at your jokes on a regular basis.
22. If I won an award, the first person (people) I'd thank would be: whoever it was who helped me accomplish whatever the award was for. (I'm certian I wouldn't have earned it completely on my own!)
23. Take my advice: don't stress out over stuff. Worrying doesn't ever help a situation get any better. Trust in God's faithfulness instead.
24. My ideal breakfast is: anything typical of a breakfast menu... omlets, or pancakes (specifically blueberry, or banana-chocolate chip), or French toast, or scrambled eggs and grits (yes, I was raised in the South), or FRUIT SMOOTHIES!!! MMMMM!
25. If you visit the place I grew up: you might be sorely disappointed... it's not that exciting.
26. Soon I plan on visiting: Savannah. Honeymoon... Heck yeah.
27. If you spend the night at my house: if it was tonight, you'd be fighting for space... there's a bunch of people at the Oviedo house. If it was after tomorrow, you'd be at my new place, which is freakin' awesome... but you might be sleeping on the floor (which I guess would be the case at the Oviedo house, too) surrounded by cardboard boxes and possibly smelling fresh paint!
28. I'd stop my wedding if: someone died. That's about what it would take though! We won't be stopping for anything short of that!
29. The world could do without: cigarettes.
30. I'd rather lick the belly of a cockroach than: have all my skin peeled off slowly.
31. The most recent thing I bought myself is: a matress, which technically is for me and Rob.
32. The most recent thing someone bought for me is: a Bible with the books of the Apocrypha. Rob bought it for me since I was poor from having bought our matress.
33. My favorite band/musician is: David Crowder Band.
34. My favorite brunette is: am I allowed to say me?
35. My favorite redhead is: Greg.
36. My family is: pretty great and slightly crazy.
37. The animals I would like to see flying besides birds are: turtles.
38. I shouldn't have: ???
39. Once, at a gay bar: I wish I had a great story to tell here, but I don't.
40. Last night: I packed some boxes, ate dinner, and went to bed rediculously early. But I probably won't sleep much this weekend, so it's okay.
41. There's this guy I know who: looks like a young Jay Lenno.
42: I don't know: much about sports. Or pop-culture. Or history. Or politics.
43. A better name for me would be: ...I don't know... and I'm scared to ask for anyone else's opinion on that!
44. When I go back to school I'll: be the teacher and not the student!
45. My birthday is on: a Saturday this year.
46. What I really want for Valentines day: is something that is not cliche.
47. I'm wearing: black and white.
48. Tomorrow I am: getting the keys to my house!!! Heck yeah!
49. The last thing I ate was: a cracker with seafood spread. Sounds like an interesting morning, huh?
50. I really want to learn: Latin. And Japanese. And how to play an upright bass. And how to be a great wife.
May 24, 2006
against my religion...
So, for as non-protestant of me as this sounds, I've started reading through the books of the Apocripha. I love the additions to Esther. Those chapters give a lot of insight to the personal side of the story, rather than just the bare-bone facts. I've also read most of the way through Tobit (I have three more chapters to go). It's an interesting story. Parts of it are funny, like the guy getting blinded by bird poop, and the fact that it notes when the family dog went along with them on their journey. There's also a really clear picture of someone who uses their monetary possessions to benefit God's work and the welfare of others, rather than using his money for selfish purposes. Then, there's a really great wedding story about two people who God intended for one another "since before the foundations of the world." Tobit and the additions to Esther are the only books I've read so far, but I'm really looking forward to reading the rest. I'm interested to develop my own personal opinions on these books which aren't included in my Bible without just being told "these are good" or "these are bad." I'm a big believer in finding the spiritual value in everything, so unless something clashes really badly with me, I have a feeling I will enjoy most of what I read.
That's all for now.
So, for as non-protestant of me as this sounds, I've started reading through the books of the Apocripha. I love the additions to Esther. Those chapters give a lot of insight to the personal side of the story, rather than just the bare-bone facts. I've also read most of the way through Tobit (I have three more chapters to go). It's an interesting story. Parts of it are funny, like the guy getting blinded by bird poop, and the fact that it notes when the family dog went along with them on their journey. There's also a really clear picture of someone who uses their monetary possessions to benefit God's work and the welfare of others, rather than using his money for selfish purposes. Then, there's a really great wedding story about two people who God intended for one another "since before the foundations of the world." Tobit and the additions to Esther are the only books I've read so far, but I'm really looking forward to reading the rest. I'm interested to develop my own personal opinions on these books which aren't included in my Bible without just being told "these are good" or "these are bad." I'm a big believer in finding the spiritual value in everything, so unless something clashes really badly with me, I have a feeling I will enjoy most of what I read.
That's all for now.
May 23, 2006
isn't it pretty...
This is the Nikon D50. I wish I had it. It's not that I'm absolutely dying to have it or anything... I think it's just that I'm sitting here a little bored at work. I've already looked at all the home-decor crap that I can think of this morning, and I've read 53 pages of my book, so now I'm poking around on my proverbial wish list. I was actually looking at it because I couldn't remember how much it cost. Somehow it seems much more affordable now than the last time I looked at it. I guess perspectives change based on employment status! Things always seem much farther out of range when you don't have a steady income! It's still not like I'm goint to go out and buy one tomorrow or anything, but it might be a goal to save toward in the near future.
Speaking of home-decor crap (I say "crap," but I really enjoy it), I picked up a set of sheets from Target yesterday with one of the gift cards Rob and I received at our engagement party, and I also got the paint for our bedroom. I'm pretty excited about seeing it all come together this weekend. Granted, it won't be all together, as I'll have a living room void of furniture for a while, but at least the bedroom will look official soon. As selfish as it sounds, Rob and I are really looking forward to loading up on some good stuff in the upcoming weeks. I move this Saturday; the following Saturday is a wedding shower with my family; the following is one with ladies from church in Jacksonville. It's only once in your life that people so freely give you all the stuff you want and need... I figure we should enjoy it while it lasts! In all seriousness though, our families have already been so generous. We could not be more thankful.
4 days till move in. 59 days till marriage. Can't wait.
This is the Nikon D50. I wish I had it. It's not that I'm absolutely dying to have it or anything... I think it's just that I'm sitting here a little bored at work. I've already looked at all the home-decor crap that I can think of this morning, and I've read 53 pages of my book, so now I'm poking around on my proverbial wish list. I was actually looking at it because I couldn't remember how much it cost. Somehow it seems much more affordable now than the last time I looked at it. I guess perspectives change based on employment status! Things always seem much farther out of range when you don't have a steady income! It's still not like I'm goint to go out and buy one tomorrow or anything, but it might be a goal to save toward in the near future.
Speaking of home-decor crap (I say "crap," but I really enjoy it), I picked up a set of sheets from Target yesterday with one of the gift cards Rob and I received at our engagement party, and I also got the paint for our bedroom. I'm pretty excited about seeing it all come together this weekend. Granted, it won't be all together, as I'll have a living room void of furniture for a while, but at least the bedroom will look official soon. As selfish as it sounds, Rob and I are really looking forward to loading up on some good stuff in the upcoming weeks. I move this Saturday; the following Saturday is a wedding shower with my family; the following is one with ladies from church in Jacksonville. It's only once in your life that people so freely give you all the stuff you want and need... I figure we should enjoy it while it lasts! In all seriousness though, our families have already been so generous. We could not be more thankful.
4 days till move in. 59 days till marriage. Can't wait.
May 22, 2006
thoughts on love...
Most people, if asked, would probably agree that love is wonderful. But if asked to define it, I'm not so sure that the average person would have a really clear idea of what they think love is. Here's what I think, and please be aware that there is probably much more I could say as to my opinion of love, but this is the abbreviated version. First of all, love isn't just a feeling. Sure, it might start that way, with mere attraction or a crush or whatever you want to call it, but for it to be considered "love" in my opinion, it must move pretty significantly far beyond that. Love is a deep care for another person, but not a type of caring that can be swayed by feelings or emotions. This is a choice. You choose to care about the other person. You choose to care, even if you don't "feel" like caring sometimes. You make the decision (in the case of marriage) to care for them for the rest of your life. If you follow the idea of love that God laid out in 1 Corinthians 13, you also decide that the other person is more important than yourself, and their benefit is more important than your own. You decide that you will do everything it takes to benefit them above yourself. You decide to commit yourself to them unconditionally. If you truely make this kind of decision, I don't believe you can ever then not love that person. I guess all of this comes from me working in a law office where I daily hear about people's divorce cases, and how two people who used to be "in love" now hate each other with a passion. I just can't comprehend that. It doesn't make any sense to me. It blows my mind to think that people can make such a dramatic shift. If I can be so bold, though, I would venture to say that most of these people confused an emotional attraction for love. I have a hard time believing that people who have made an every-fiber-of-your-being commitment to one another would so easily reverse their decision to the polar opposite. This goes along with the idea of pre-nuptual agreements. People who do those, in my opinion, already have the idea in mind that they are not going to stay with the person they are marrying. It can't be real completely-committed love if you know that you aren't going to stick with it. Okay, so now I'm rambling. I don't know how many people would agree with me on this stuff, but those are my thoughts today. Leave me a comment and tell me what you think. Feel free to disagree if you want. Peace.
Most people, if asked, would probably agree that love is wonderful. But if asked to define it, I'm not so sure that the average person would have a really clear idea of what they think love is. Here's what I think, and please be aware that there is probably much more I could say as to my opinion of love, but this is the abbreviated version. First of all, love isn't just a feeling. Sure, it might start that way, with mere attraction or a crush or whatever you want to call it, but for it to be considered "love" in my opinion, it must move pretty significantly far beyond that. Love is a deep care for another person, but not a type of caring that can be swayed by feelings or emotions. This is a choice. You choose to care about the other person. You choose to care, even if you don't "feel" like caring sometimes. You make the decision (in the case of marriage) to care for them for the rest of your life. If you follow the idea of love that God laid out in 1 Corinthians 13, you also decide that the other person is more important than yourself, and their benefit is more important than your own. You decide that you will do everything it takes to benefit them above yourself. You decide to commit yourself to them unconditionally. If you truely make this kind of decision, I don't believe you can ever then not love that person. I guess all of this comes from me working in a law office where I daily hear about people's divorce cases, and how two people who used to be "in love" now hate each other with a passion. I just can't comprehend that. It doesn't make any sense to me. It blows my mind to think that people can make such a dramatic shift. If I can be so bold, though, I would venture to say that most of these people confused an emotional attraction for love. I have a hard time believing that people who have made an every-fiber-of-your-being commitment to one another would so easily reverse their decision to the polar opposite. This goes along with the idea of pre-nuptual agreements. People who do those, in my opinion, already have the idea in mind that they are not going to stay with the person they are marrying. It can't be real completely-committed love if you know that you aren't going to stick with it. Okay, so now I'm rambling. I don't know how many people would agree with me on this stuff, but those are my thoughts today. Leave me a comment and tell me what you think. Feel free to disagree if you want. Peace.
May 19, 2006
temporary satisfaction...
As I am looking forward to moving in about a week, I am constantly daydreaming about arranging furniture; painting; unpacking into a new, clean, empty house; organizing... (Hi, my name is Megan, but you can call me Monica. You know, like the anally-organized sister of Ross and wife of Chandler.) Anyway, since I still have about a week before I get to do any of that, I satisfied my organizing and cleaning urdge this morning by rearranging the stuff on my desk at work. This will make me sound really lazy, but I shifted my printer from the left side of my desk to the right because the power switch is on the far left of the printer, so this way I won't have to get up to reach it. But in my defense, I have to switch it frequently because of my printer's uncooperative temper. And now I can access the envelop feed slot without having to move my phone. I'm sure you care. After rearranging everything, I proceeded to --get this-- clean my phone and keyboard with disinfectant wipes. I'm sort of paranoid about germs on phones, and my keyboard was obnoxiously dirty. It kind of weirds me out. I'm not sure what the previous employee did to it, but it's possibly the dirtiest keyboard I've ever seen. Anyway, now I'm organized and germ-free. And I currently have a small plant decorating the corner of my desk, as well. I'm not sure if it's staying there, or if my desk is just a holding place while its real home is occupied, but I kind of like it. Anyway, all this randomness because the office is busy this morning, which, oddly enough, prevents me from being able to do much of my "real" work. Anyway, that's all for now. Later.
As I am looking forward to moving in about a week, I am constantly daydreaming about arranging furniture; painting; unpacking into a new, clean, empty house; organizing... (Hi, my name is Megan, but you can call me Monica. You know, like the anally-organized sister of Ross and wife of Chandler.) Anyway, since I still have about a week before I get to do any of that, I satisfied my organizing and cleaning urdge this morning by rearranging the stuff on my desk at work. This will make me sound really lazy, but I shifted my printer from the left side of my desk to the right because the power switch is on the far left of the printer, so this way I won't have to get up to reach it. But in my defense, I have to switch it frequently because of my printer's uncooperative temper. And now I can access the envelop feed slot without having to move my phone. I'm sure you care. After rearranging everything, I proceeded to --get this-- clean my phone and keyboard with disinfectant wipes. I'm sort of paranoid about germs on phones, and my keyboard was obnoxiously dirty. It kind of weirds me out. I'm not sure what the previous employee did to it, but it's possibly the dirtiest keyboard I've ever seen. Anyway, now I'm organized and germ-free. And I currently have a small plant decorating the corner of my desk, as well. I'm not sure if it's staying there, or if my desk is just a holding place while its real home is occupied, but I kind of like it. Anyway, all this randomness because the office is busy this morning, which, oddly enough, prevents me from being able to do much of my "real" work. Anyway, that's all for now. Later.
first reactions...
Type your FIRST REACTION when you hear these 35 words (don't spend time thinking - just your gut reaction please)
1. Cigarette: gross
2. Sex: in 63 days!
3. Relationships: mine's amazing!
4. Your Last Ex: disappointing
5. Power Rangers: Zachary (my nephew)
6. Marijuana: "whoooaah... duuuude"
7. Crack: bad
8. Food: wish I had some now
9. President: my opinions sway
10. War: "huh... what is it good for? absolutely nuthin!" and Leslea dancing with votive candles!... over and over and over!
11. Cars: civic. blue.
12. Gas Prices: unfair
13. Halloween: dorms. FSDB kids.
14. Bon Jovi: ?
15. Religion: we've distorted it.
16. My Space: addictive.
17. Worst Fear: rape
18. Marriage: desperately looking forward to it!
19. Fashion: I do my own thing
20. Brunettes: me
21. Redheads: cool
22. Blondes: allison
23. Work: ready for a new job
24. Love: wonderful
25. One Night Stands: sad
26. Pet Peeve: messy people
27. Pixie Stix: crack for kids
28. Kit Kats: yumm! fun and tasty!
29. Porta Potties: haha... I saw a truck at the gas station the other day with like 15 of them on a trailer!
30. High School: glad you only do that once!
31. Pajamas: bottoms optional lately
32. Wood: sawdust... "The Shop"... Canton, GA... wax... stain...
33. Surfers: St. Augustine staple
34. Pictures: i love them
Type your FIRST REACTION when you hear these 35 words (don't spend time thinking - just your gut reaction please)
1. Cigarette: gross
2. Sex: in 63 days!
3. Relationships: mine's amazing!
4. Your Last Ex: disappointing
5. Power Rangers: Zachary (my nephew)
6. Marijuana: "whoooaah... duuuude"
7. Crack: bad
8. Food: wish I had some now
9. President: my opinions sway
10. War: "huh... what is it good for? absolutely nuthin!" and Leslea dancing with votive candles!... over and over and over!
11. Cars: civic. blue.
12. Gas Prices: unfair
13. Halloween: dorms. FSDB kids.
14. Bon Jovi: ?
15. Religion: we've distorted it.
16. My Space: addictive.
17. Worst Fear: rape
18. Marriage: desperately looking forward to it!
19. Fashion: I do my own thing
20. Brunettes: me
21. Redheads: cool
22. Blondes: allison
23. Work: ready for a new job
24. Love: wonderful
25. One Night Stands: sad
26. Pet Peeve: messy people
27. Pixie Stix: crack for kids
28. Kit Kats: yumm! fun and tasty!
29. Porta Potties: haha... I saw a truck at the gas station the other day with like 15 of them on a trailer!
30. High School: glad you only do that once!
31. Pajamas: bottoms optional lately
32. Wood: sawdust... "The Shop"... Canton, GA... wax... stain...
33. Surfers: St. Augustine staple
34. Pictures: i love them
May 16, 2006
exectutive...
So I've made the executive decision not to sort any more files today. At least for now. I usually get bored around 4:15 and start sorting again. Anyway, I've got a lot on my mind today that I could vent about, but I'm debating how much of it I should say or whether I should keep most of it to myself for now. I guess what would be best for me to say is that God is clearly preparing Rob and myself for something new in the near future. I don't think either of us have a clear picture of what that is yet, but all sorts of issues are tying in together lately to the point that it cannot be coincidence. I don't believe in those, in case you haven't heard me say that before. Anyway, I'll save the ranting for later. For now, pray for God's guidance in our lives, as well as many lives around us. I should probably leave it at that.
So I've made the executive decision not to sort any more files today. At least for now. I usually get bored around 4:15 and start sorting again. Anyway, I've got a lot on my mind today that I could vent about, but I'm debating how much of it I should say or whether I should keep most of it to myself for now. I guess what would be best for me to say is that God is clearly preparing Rob and myself for something new in the near future. I don't think either of us have a clear picture of what that is yet, but all sorts of issues are tying in together lately to the point that it cannot be coincidence. I don't believe in those, in case you haven't heard me say that before. Anyway, I'll save the ranting for later. For now, pray for God's guidance in our lives, as well as many lives around us. I should probably leave it at that.
interesting...
It's been an interesting day from the get-go. First of all, Krissy was up this morning with the three of us regular early-morning risers, which is completely out of the ordinary. She has two interviews in Jacksonville today, for which I am very excited for her. Krissy told me this morning, "There are some people that make me a happy morning person, and I think you're one of those people!" That humored me. I'm not sure why she thinks this is true... I barely speak to people in the mornings. I'm not grumpy, but I wouldn't classify myself as "happy" in the mornings either. I'm just sort of neutral, I guess. I get up and I get going because I know I have to. That's all. (Which I guess sums up a lot of things in my life... it's not that I'm happy or upset about them, I just do what I have to do and that's it.) I had my quet time before I left the house, and like yesterday, it was really good. I love that. I feel like there's a lot of times that I just get in the habit of doing my quiet time because I feel like I should, yet I don't necessarily feel like I'm getting much out of it. I love times that it's really meaningful, which it has been so far this week. Before arriving at work this morning, I swung by the Gate station to pick up a Chai Latte, and on the way in I saw Mason (my church's youth pastor) which was random. He asked me if I was stopping in for my morning pick-me-up and I nodded. As I was checking out with the cashier, I noticed the woman in front of me buying a bottle of wine... keep in mind that this is at 8:00am! I thought that was a little odd. It was wine and cigarettes, actually. But the cigarettes are slightly more understandable at 8am. Anyway. Then all morning at work was like a mad-house. One of the real-estate closings this morning, aside from the four adults, contained three children under the age of what I assume was about 3 1/2 (all from the same family), as well as a parakeet! Meanwhile, we had two other meetings going on, which exceeded our number of available meeting rooms; the phone was ringing off the hook; I was trying to copy files at our only copy machine, which happens also to be our fax machine, as well as a printer that is available to all of the computers in the office, so needless to say I was interrupted multiple times. My printer is tempermental and has chosen not to cooperate today. I got a super-serious email today that I had to take time to reply to. I just got off the phone with a man who won't take no for an answer. A guy (the second one this month, actually) from Tire Kingdom just stopped by our office to try to sell us their car care crap for an entire year, and lucky me, I'm the receptionist, so I'm the one who gets to deal with these people. Anyway, all that to say it's been an eventful day. I left the office for lunch for the sake of my sanity, so Rob and I enjoyed an hour of peace at TGIFriday's. And clearly now I'm back at work, dealing with irate phone calls and tire salesmen. Other than that, however, it has slown down a lot. As for now, I need to get back to work, so I'll end this post here. Hope everyone has an awesome afternoon. Peace.
It's been an interesting day from the get-go. First of all, Krissy was up this morning with the three of us regular early-morning risers, which is completely out of the ordinary. She has two interviews in Jacksonville today, for which I am very excited for her. Krissy told me this morning, "There are some people that make me a happy morning person, and I think you're one of those people!" That humored me. I'm not sure why she thinks this is true... I barely speak to people in the mornings. I'm not grumpy, but I wouldn't classify myself as "happy" in the mornings either. I'm just sort of neutral, I guess. I get up and I get going because I know I have to. That's all. (Which I guess sums up a lot of things in my life... it's not that I'm happy or upset about them, I just do what I have to do and that's it.) I had my quet time before I left the house, and like yesterday, it was really good. I love that. I feel like there's a lot of times that I just get in the habit of doing my quiet time because I feel like I should, yet I don't necessarily feel like I'm getting much out of it. I love times that it's really meaningful, which it has been so far this week. Before arriving at work this morning, I swung by the Gate station to pick up a Chai Latte, and on the way in I saw Mason (my church's youth pastor) which was random. He asked me if I was stopping in for my morning pick-me-up and I nodded. As I was checking out with the cashier, I noticed the woman in front of me buying a bottle of wine... keep in mind that this is at 8:00am! I thought that was a little odd. It was wine and cigarettes, actually. But the cigarettes are slightly more understandable at 8am. Anyway. Then all morning at work was like a mad-house. One of the real-estate closings this morning, aside from the four adults, contained three children under the age of what I assume was about 3 1/2 (all from the same family), as well as a parakeet! Meanwhile, we had two other meetings going on, which exceeded our number of available meeting rooms; the phone was ringing off the hook; I was trying to copy files at our only copy machine, which happens also to be our fax machine, as well as a printer that is available to all of the computers in the office, so needless to say I was interrupted multiple times. My printer is tempermental and has chosen not to cooperate today. I got a super-serious email today that I had to take time to reply to. I just got off the phone with a man who won't take no for an answer. A guy (the second one this month, actually) from Tire Kingdom just stopped by our office to try to sell us their car care crap for an entire year, and lucky me, I'm the receptionist, so I'm the one who gets to deal with these people. Anyway, all that to say it's been an eventful day. I left the office for lunch for the sake of my sanity, so Rob and I enjoyed an hour of peace at TGIFriday's. And clearly now I'm back at work, dealing with irate phone calls and tire salesmen. Other than that, however, it has slown down a lot. As for now, I need to get back to work, so I'll end this post here. Hope everyone has an awesome afternoon. Peace.
May 15, 2006
real stuff...
So I was reading Holly's latest blog entry this morning, and I got to thinking how seldom it is these days that I post anything of any real quality that has anything to do with real issues. For people who these days I only communicate with through MySpace or my blog, they know very little of my life. So I figured it was high time to talk about some real stuff.
My quiet time this morning, which I actually did today, was in the first 6 verses of John 15. It's the part about Jesus being the vine and us being the branches. I've read it a million times, but today it was different. (I love days like that!) How 'bout this verse that's thrown in the middle of this passage that I've never noticed before: "3 You are already clean because of the word which I have spoken to you." Where did that come from??!! Why haven't I seen that before?! I love it though. Christ has already made us clean. It's not something we're working toward. We (as Christians) have already been justified to God through Christ. He has spoken His word over us, therefore it has become Truth. We are clean because He has declared us so.
The other key issue I pulled from this passage today is that our life HAS TO BE derived from Christ. It's not an option. We're Christians, so we ARE the branches He describes here. The branches CANNOT continue living apart from the Vine. This passage reemphasized the same thing that God was speaking to me last Thursday at Fusion, as well as a few Mondays ago at Bible Study. The idea being that I must hunger and thirst after Christ. Not that I just want Him; I need to need Him. He needs to be my very existence. He needs to be my life blood, my air. So often I think I live as though Christ is just a convenience or a benefit that I am afforded, rather than living like my very existence depends upn Him.
So those are my thoughts. This is what I'm working on in my life right now.
So I was reading Holly's latest blog entry this morning, and I got to thinking how seldom it is these days that I post anything of any real quality that has anything to do with real issues. For people who these days I only communicate with through MySpace or my blog, they know very little of my life. So I figured it was high time to talk about some real stuff.
My quiet time this morning, which I actually did today, was in the first 6 verses of John 15. It's the part about Jesus being the vine and us being the branches. I've read it a million times, but today it was different. (I love days like that!) How 'bout this verse that's thrown in the middle of this passage that I've never noticed before: "3 You are already clean because of the word which I have spoken to you." Where did that come from??!! Why haven't I seen that before?! I love it though. Christ has already made us clean. It's not something we're working toward. We (as Christians) have already been justified to God through Christ. He has spoken His word over us, therefore it has become Truth. We are clean because He has declared us so.
The other key issue I pulled from this passage today is that our life HAS TO BE derived from Christ. It's not an option. We're Christians, so we ARE the branches He describes here. The branches CANNOT continue living apart from the Vine. This passage reemphasized the same thing that God was speaking to me last Thursday at Fusion, as well as a few Mondays ago at Bible Study. The idea being that I must hunger and thirst after Christ. Not that I just want Him; I need to need Him. He needs to be my very existence. He needs to be my life blood, my air. So often I think I live as though Christ is just a convenience or a benefit that I am afforded, rather than living like my very existence depends upn Him.
So those are my thoughts. This is what I'm working on in my life right now.
info...
Okay, I know these are cheesy, but some days I just enjoy filling them out, so here's not one, but two surveys with which I have killed my time at work this morning.
Been Drunk: no, but got pretty sick from combining different kinds of drinks once
Smoked Pot: no
Kissed A Member Of The Opposite Sex: yes
Kissed A Member Of The Same Sex: no… other than cheeks
Crashed A Friend's Car: no
Been To Japan: no, but would love to
Been In A Taxi: yes- in NYC!
Been In Love: absolutely!
Been Dumped: yeah, I guess
Done Cocaine: no
Shoplifted: haha… I stole a sidewalk chalk when I was a kid!
Been Fired: um… not exactly
Been In A Fist Fight: no
Snuck Out Of My Parent's House: not for real
Been Tied Up: do we mean literally? Then no.
regretted Having Sex With Someone: no because I haven’t had it to regret it
Been Arrested: no
Made Out With A Stranger: no
Stolen Something From My Job: no (the pens are free)
Celebrated New Years In Time Square: proudly, YES!
Gone On A Blind Date: no
Lied To A Friend: maybe… can’t think of a specific time
Had A Crush On A Teacher: not that I recall
Celebrated Mardi-Gras In New Orleans: no, but I’ve been to New Orleans
Been To Europe: YES! I love it there!
Skipped School: not in high school… skipped a few classes in college
Slept With A Co-Worker: no
Cut Myself On Purpose: no
Been Married: no, but getting married!
Been Divorced: no
Posed Nude: no
Killed Anyone: no… and if anyone had, would they answer yes on a random internet survey?
Thrown Up In A Bar: no
Purposely Set A Part Of Myself On Fire: um, no, definitely not
Eaten Sushi: yes
Been Snowboarding: no because it rained that day :(
Flashed Anyone: no
Met Anyone From Online: no
Had Sex: no. and shouldn’t they have asked this before all the other sex-related questions?
1. EVER BEEN GIVEN AN ENGAGEMENT RING? Yes!
2. LONGEST FRIENDSHIP? Allison (since we were babies!)
3. LAST GIFT YOU RECEIVED? A Copeland T-shirt from Rob
4. HOW MANY TIMES HAVE YOU DROPPED YOUR CELL? Usually my response would be “not many” but I’ve dropped it at least three times in the past week, which is odd
5. WHEN'S THE LAST TIME YOU WORKED OUT? Hahaha. I guess Ultimate Frisbee counts… there’s lots of running involved… so a week ago yesterday.
6. THING YOU SPEND A LOT OF MONEY ON? Food, I guess.
7. LAST FOOD YOU ATE? cookies
*what happened to 8?*
9. ONE FAVORITE SONG? “The Fox” by Nickel Creek
10. WHERE DO YOU LIVE? In a house with 4 other girls… but not for long!
11. HIGH SCHOOL YOU ATTENDED: Trinity Christian Academy
12. CELL PHONE SERVICE PROVIDER: T-Mobile
13. FAVORITE MALL STORE: Old Navy
14. LONGEST JOB EVER HAD: Umm… Bryn Alan Photography. Or maybe Turnberry James Custom Cabinetry.
15. DO YOU OWN A PAIR OF DICE?: no
16. DO YOU PRANK CALL PEOPLE?: no
17. LAST WEDDING ATTENDED?: yesterday… Nate and Lauren Robinson
18. FIRST FRIEND YOU'D CALL IF YOU WON THE LOTTERY: other than Rob, Allison.
19. LAST TIME YOU ATTENDED CHURCH: yesterday
*what happened to 20?*
21. BIGGEST LIE YOU HAVE HEARD? dunno
*what happened to 22?*
23. WHERE'S YOUR FAVORITE PLACE TO EAT WITH FRIENDS? Flavors Eatery!
24. CAN YOU COOK? yeah
25. WHAT CAR DO YOU DRIVE? Civic
26. BEST KISSER? What is this question asking? Do they want a name? Or are they asking “Are you the best kisser?” And if so, compared to whom?
27. LAST TIME YOU CRIED?: Saturday. I was being a baby.
28. MOST DISLIKED FOOD?: Cucumbers or celery.
29. THING YOU LIKE MOST ABOUT YOURSELF?: umm… my wicked-cool sense of style! Haha.
30. THING YOU DISLIKE MOST ABOUT YOURSELF: I’m socially awkward.
*what happened to 31?*
32. LONGEST SHIFT YOU HAVE WORKED AT A JOB? Umm… I guess 9 hours… which is every day now. The furniture job might have been longer at times.
33. Favorite MOVIE? I don’t really have favorites so much. I guess Notting Hill.
34. CAN YOU SING?: I like to. I guess I’m okay.
35. LAST CONCERT? Switchfoot
36. LAST TIME CLEANING YOUR ROOM? I try to keep it relatively clean rather than having to specifically clean it.
37. LAST MOVIE RENTED?: Rob and I rented “Everything is Illuminated”
38. THING YOU NEVER LEAVE HOME WITHOUT?: keys, unless Rob and I are walking downtown
39. FAVORITE VACATION SPOT? Favorite trip was to London, so I guess that’s it.
40. DO YOU LIKE CHINESE FOOD? LOVE IT!
*what happened to 41*
42. IS YOUR ROOM CLEAN?: my half is!
43. LAPTOP OR DESKTOP COMPUTER?: desktop at work (this one) but laptop at home
44. FAVORITE COMEDIAN?: Seinfeld?
45. DO YOU SMOKE?: no
46. SLEEP WITH OR WITHOUT CLOTHES? some clothes
47. WHO SLEEPS WITH YOU EVERY NIGHT? Just me. Krissy’s in the room, but not the same bed!
48. LONG DISTANCE RELATIONSHIPS WORK? Not likely.
49. HOW MANY TIMES HAVE YOU BEEN PULLED OVER BY THE POLICE?: none!
50. PANCAKES OR FRENCH TOAST? Both! Yum!
51. DO YOU LIKE COFFEE? No, absolutely not. No lattes, no cappuccinos, no frappiccinos, nothing.
52. HOW DO YOU LIKE YOUR EGGS? scrambled
53. DO YOU BELIEVE IN ASTROLOGY?: I could talk about how this question is phrased poorly, but instead I’ll just go with a simple “no.”
54. LAST PERSON YOU TALKED TO ON THE PHONE?: Rob… oh, but that’s only if you mean a personal call… I answer phones at work.
55. LAST PERSON ON YOUR MISSED CALL LIST?: Rob
56. WHAT WAS THE LAST TEXT MESSAGE YOU RECIEVED?: “I hate my job”
57. MCDONALDS OR BURGER KING? BK
58. NUMBER OF PILLOWS?: two… one for my head and one for draping half my body over
59. WHAT ARE YOU WEARING RIGHT NOW?: green button-down dress shirt with gold-ish stripes; light brown dress pants; my “fancy” brown shoes.
60. PICK ANY LYRIC OR SONG: "Here’s my life”
61. WHAT KIND OF JELLY DO YOU LIKE ON YOUR PB & J? grape
62. CAN YOU PLAY POOL?: no
63. DO YOU KNOW HOW TO SWIM?: yes
64. FAVORITE ICE CREAM? Honestly, vanilla
65. DO YOU LIKE MAPS?: umm… yes?
66. TELL ME A RANDOM FACT ABOUT YOURSELF?: I have 67 days till I get married!
*what happened to 67?* (how weird that my answer to the above was 67...)
68. EVER ATTEND A THEME PARTY?: umm… a Halloween costume party… but not really a theme party. Oh wait! Yes I have! We had an 80's dance party for Jess!
69. WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE SEASON? fall
70. LAST TIME YOU LAUGHED AT SOMETHING STUPID? What classifies as stupid? Last night I had a good laugh with Rob concerning his late-night logic and the fact that he speaks out his dream conversations when I wake him up.
71. WHAT TIME DID YOU WAKE UP THIS MORNING? About 6:15
72. BEST THING ABOUT WINTER? Everyone looks good in winter clothes!
73. LAST TIME A COP GAVE YOU A TICKET? Never. Aside from parking tickets on my street.
*what happened to 74?*
75. NAME OF YOUR FIRST PET? Sweetpea
76. DO YOU THINK PIRATES ARE COOL OR OVERRATED? Well, considering I’m around JP all the time, I’m going to go with overrated.
77. WHAT ARE YOU DOING THIS WEEKEND? Potentially and hopefully moving! And doing a retreat type thing for Leadership.
79. WHAT IS THE THIRD LETTER OF YOUR NAME?: g
80. HOW OLD ARE YOUR PETS?: My pets live at my parents’ house, but Toby (the Yorkie) is seven I think, and Miss Kitty is 16! Holy Cow! Oh, and Daisy (the White Dove) is at least 11! Wow! I hadn’t thought about that!
81. WHAT COLOR IS YOUR BACKPACK? black
82. ARE YOU SICK?: not currently
*what happened to 83?*
84. IS THE BATHROOM OPEN?: umm… yes?
*what happened to 85-86?*
87. ARE YOU SMILING?: not particularly
88.Do you have on eyeliner? Not today
89. DO YOU MISS SOMEONE RIGHT NOW? Not particularly. I always miss Rob though.
90. IF YOU COULD GO ANYWHERE IN THE WORLD WHERE WOULD YOU GO? Back to London; Japan; Boston; back to Chicago
91.DO YOU HAVE A LIVE JOURNAL? Blogspot.
92. ARE YOU IN HIGH SCHOOL?: haha… no
93. DO YOU HAVE A CRUSH?: yes and no… I’m passionately in love… it depends on whether or not you count that as a crush.
94. WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE NICKNAME FOR YOURSELF?: does Meg count?
95. WHAT COLOR IS YOUR BATHING SUIT?: green / green plaid / blue and colored stripes
*what happened to 96?*
97. DID YOU GO ON VACATION LAST MONTH? No. Do normal people go on monthly vacations or something? My next real vacation will be my honeymoon in July.
98. HAVE YOU EVER BEEN ON A CRUISE?: no
99. DO YOU HAVE A SISTER?: no, but two sisters-in-law by way of them marrying my brothers, and a soon-to-be sister-in-law by me marrying her brother.
100. ARE YOU UPSTAIRS?: no (what a way to end.)
Okay, I know these are cheesy, but some days I just enjoy filling them out, so here's not one, but two surveys with which I have killed my time at work this morning.
Been Drunk: no, but got pretty sick from combining different kinds of drinks once
Smoked Pot: no
Kissed A Member Of The Opposite Sex: yes
Kissed A Member Of The Same Sex: no… other than cheeks
Crashed A Friend's Car: no
Been To Japan: no, but would love to
Been In A Taxi: yes- in NYC!
Been In Love: absolutely!
Been Dumped: yeah, I guess
Done Cocaine: no
Shoplifted: haha… I stole a sidewalk chalk when I was a kid!
Been Fired: um… not exactly
Been In A Fist Fight: no
Snuck Out Of My Parent's House: not for real
Been Tied Up: do we mean literally? Then no.
regretted Having Sex With Someone: no because I haven’t had it to regret it
Been Arrested: no
Made Out With A Stranger: no
Stolen Something From My Job: no (the pens are free)
Celebrated New Years In Time Square: proudly, YES!
Gone On A Blind Date: no
Lied To A Friend: maybe… can’t think of a specific time
Had A Crush On A Teacher: not that I recall
Celebrated Mardi-Gras In New Orleans: no, but I’ve been to New Orleans
Been To Europe: YES! I love it there!
Skipped School: not in high school… skipped a few classes in college
Slept With A Co-Worker: no
Cut Myself On Purpose: no
Been Married: no, but getting married!
Been Divorced: no
Posed Nude: no
Killed Anyone: no… and if anyone had, would they answer yes on a random internet survey?
Thrown Up In A Bar: no
Purposely Set A Part Of Myself On Fire: um, no, definitely not
Eaten Sushi: yes
Been Snowboarding: no because it rained that day :(
Flashed Anyone: no
Met Anyone From Online: no
Had Sex: no. and shouldn’t they have asked this before all the other sex-related questions?
1. EVER BEEN GIVEN AN ENGAGEMENT RING? Yes!
2. LONGEST FRIENDSHIP? Allison (since we were babies!)
3. LAST GIFT YOU RECEIVED? A Copeland T-shirt from Rob
4. HOW MANY TIMES HAVE YOU DROPPED YOUR CELL? Usually my response would be “not many” but I’ve dropped it at least three times in the past week, which is odd
5. WHEN'S THE LAST TIME YOU WORKED OUT? Hahaha. I guess Ultimate Frisbee counts… there’s lots of running involved… so a week ago yesterday.
6. THING YOU SPEND A LOT OF MONEY ON? Food, I guess.
7. LAST FOOD YOU ATE? cookies
*what happened to 8?*
9. ONE FAVORITE SONG? “The Fox” by Nickel Creek
10. WHERE DO YOU LIVE? In a house with 4 other girls… but not for long!
11. HIGH SCHOOL YOU ATTENDED: Trinity Christian Academy
12. CELL PHONE SERVICE PROVIDER: T-Mobile
13. FAVORITE MALL STORE: Old Navy
14. LONGEST JOB EVER HAD: Umm… Bryn Alan Photography. Or maybe Turnberry James Custom Cabinetry.
15. DO YOU OWN A PAIR OF DICE?: no
16. DO YOU PRANK CALL PEOPLE?: no
17. LAST WEDDING ATTENDED?: yesterday… Nate and Lauren Robinson
18. FIRST FRIEND YOU'D CALL IF YOU WON THE LOTTERY: other than Rob, Allison.
19. LAST TIME YOU ATTENDED CHURCH: yesterday
*what happened to 20?*
21. BIGGEST LIE YOU HAVE HEARD? dunno
*what happened to 22?*
23. WHERE'S YOUR FAVORITE PLACE TO EAT WITH FRIENDS? Flavors Eatery!
24. CAN YOU COOK? yeah
25. WHAT CAR DO YOU DRIVE? Civic
26. BEST KISSER? What is this question asking? Do they want a name? Or are they asking “Are you the best kisser?” And if so, compared to whom?
27. LAST TIME YOU CRIED?: Saturday. I was being a baby.
28. MOST DISLIKED FOOD?: Cucumbers or celery.
29. THING YOU LIKE MOST ABOUT YOURSELF?: umm… my wicked-cool sense of style! Haha.
30. THING YOU DISLIKE MOST ABOUT YOURSELF: I’m socially awkward.
*what happened to 31?*
32. LONGEST SHIFT YOU HAVE WORKED AT A JOB? Umm… I guess 9 hours… which is every day now. The furniture job might have been longer at times.
33. Favorite MOVIE? I don’t really have favorites so much. I guess Notting Hill.
34. CAN YOU SING?: I like to. I guess I’m okay.
35. LAST CONCERT? Switchfoot
36. LAST TIME CLEANING YOUR ROOM? I try to keep it relatively clean rather than having to specifically clean it.
37. LAST MOVIE RENTED?: Rob and I rented “Everything is Illuminated”
38. THING YOU NEVER LEAVE HOME WITHOUT?: keys, unless Rob and I are walking downtown
39. FAVORITE VACATION SPOT? Favorite trip was to London, so I guess that’s it.
40. DO YOU LIKE CHINESE FOOD? LOVE IT!
*what happened to 41*
42. IS YOUR ROOM CLEAN?: my half is!
43. LAPTOP OR DESKTOP COMPUTER?: desktop at work (this one) but laptop at home
44. FAVORITE COMEDIAN?: Seinfeld?
45. DO YOU SMOKE?: no
46. SLEEP WITH OR WITHOUT CLOTHES? some clothes
47. WHO SLEEPS WITH YOU EVERY NIGHT? Just me. Krissy’s in the room, but not the same bed!
48. LONG DISTANCE RELATIONSHIPS WORK? Not likely.
49. HOW MANY TIMES HAVE YOU BEEN PULLED OVER BY THE POLICE?: none!
50. PANCAKES OR FRENCH TOAST? Both! Yum!
51. DO YOU LIKE COFFEE? No, absolutely not. No lattes, no cappuccinos, no frappiccinos, nothing.
52. HOW DO YOU LIKE YOUR EGGS? scrambled
53. DO YOU BELIEVE IN ASTROLOGY?: I could talk about how this question is phrased poorly, but instead I’ll just go with a simple “no.”
54. LAST PERSON YOU TALKED TO ON THE PHONE?: Rob… oh, but that’s only if you mean a personal call… I answer phones at work.
55. LAST PERSON ON YOUR MISSED CALL LIST?: Rob
56. WHAT WAS THE LAST TEXT MESSAGE YOU RECIEVED?: “I hate my job”
57. MCDONALDS OR BURGER KING? BK
58. NUMBER OF PILLOWS?: two… one for my head and one for draping half my body over
59. WHAT ARE YOU WEARING RIGHT NOW?: green button-down dress shirt with gold-ish stripes; light brown dress pants; my “fancy” brown shoes.
60. PICK ANY LYRIC OR SONG: "Here’s my life”
61. WHAT KIND OF JELLY DO YOU LIKE ON YOUR PB & J? grape
62. CAN YOU PLAY POOL?: no
63. DO YOU KNOW HOW TO SWIM?: yes
64. FAVORITE ICE CREAM? Honestly, vanilla
65. DO YOU LIKE MAPS?: umm… yes?
66. TELL ME A RANDOM FACT ABOUT YOURSELF?: I have 67 days till I get married!
*what happened to 67?* (how weird that my answer to the above was 67...)
68. EVER ATTEND A THEME PARTY?: umm… a Halloween costume party… but not really a theme party. Oh wait! Yes I have! We had an 80's dance party for Jess!
69. WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE SEASON? fall
70. LAST TIME YOU LAUGHED AT SOMETHING STUPID? What classifies as stupid? Last night I had a good laugh with Rob concerning his late-night logic and the fact that he speaks out his dream conversations when I wake him up.
71. WHAT TIME DID YOU WAKE UP THIS MORNING? About 6:15
72. BEST THING ABOUT WINTER? Everyone looks good in winter clothes!
73. LAST TIME A COP GAVE YOU A TICKET? Never. Aside from parking tickets on my street.
*what happened to 74?*
75. NAME OF YOUR FIRST PET? Sweetpea
76. DO YOU THINK PIRATES ARE COOL OR OVERRATED? Well, considering I’m around JP all the time, I’m going to go with overrated.
77. WHAT ARE YOU DOING THIS WEEKEND? Potentially and hopefully moving! And doing a retreat type thing for Leadership.
79. WHAT IS THE THIRD LETTER OF YOUR NAME?: g
80. HOW OLD ARE YOUR PETS?: My pets live at my parents’ house, but Toby (the Yorkie) is seven I think, and Miss Kitty is 16! Holy Cow! Oh, and Daisy (the White Dove) is at least 11! Wow! I hadn’t thought about that!
81. WHAT COLOR IS YOUR BACKPACK? black
82. ARE YOU SICK?: not currently
*what happened to 83?*
84. IS THE BATHROOM OPEN?: umm… yes?
*what happened to 85-86?*
87. ARE YOU SMILING?: not particularly
88.Do you have on eyeliner? Not today
89. DO YOU MISS SOMEONE RIGHT NOW? Not particularly. I always miss Rob though.
90. IF YOU COULD GO ANYWHERE IN THE WORLD WHERE WOULD YOU GO? Back to London; Japan; Boston; back to Chicago
91.DO YOU HAVE A LIVE JOURNAL? Blogspot.
92. ARE YOU IN HIGH SCHOOL?: haha… no
93. DO YOU HAVE A CRUSH?: yes and no… I’m passionately in love… it depends on whether or not you count that as a crush.
94. WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE NICKNAME FOR YOURSELF?: does Meg count?
95. WHAT COLOR IS YOUR BATHING SUIT?: green / green plaid / blue and colored stripes
*what happened to 96?*
97. DID YOU GO ON VACATION LAST MONTH? No. Do normal people go on monthly vacations or something? My next real vacation will be my honeymoon in July.
98. HAVE YOU EVER BEEN ON A CRUISE?: no
99. DO YOU HAVE A SISTER?: no, but two sisters-in-law by way of them marrying my brothers, and a soon-to-be sister-in-law by me marrying her brother.
100. ARE YOU UPSTAIRS?: no (what a way to end.)
May 10, 2006
yay...
WE HAVE A HOUSE!!! YAY! So yeah, the condo we saw last night was just as fantastic as I thought it would be. The husband and wife who are renting it out (who are super nice) signed our application, so it's official now! We write a check and sign the lease on Thursday, and then I'll move in as soon as they're done with a few last minute maintanence things. We're sooo excited!
WE HAVE A HOUSE!!! YAY! So yeah, the condo we saw last night was just as fantastic as I thought it would be. The husband and wife who are renting it out (who are super nice) signed our application, so it's official now! We write a check and sign the lease on Thursday, and then I'll move in as soon as they're done with a few last minute maintanence things. We're sooo excited!
May 9, 2006
mint hot coco...
It's cool how God works. I've had the same conversation with several friends lately talking about how we wish God would just tell us what we're supposed to do or what's going to happen, and how we think that would make things a lot easier, but the reality is that God has a better plan than just telling us everything all at once. I mean, where's the fun in knowing what all your Christmas presents are before you open them? So Rob and I have been searching out different options of places to live over the past week, and on Thursday we went to look at a place that we were fairly confident was "the one." It's a condo in the Conquistador condos in the Shores. We had looked at one in "phase 1" that was much smaller, and when we saw this one, in "phase2," we immediately loved it. (Its only downside was the awful teal countertops in the kitchen.) I sent in the application information so the lady could check out our references and everything, and I'm fairly certain that we would have gotten it, were it not for the fact that she decided to rent it to her business partner's niece, or something, who is coming to college here. I found this out yesterday at 4:00, and I was really quite disappointed. And then I was kind of stressed because I was like "Great. Now we don't have anywhere to live. We have to start the search over again." I spent the last hour of my work day finding more rental listings online and making phone calls. I left work and drove by one place that I had been told about. On my drive I was praying: "Okay God, I'm giving this to You. I know You have something for us. I don't know what it is, but I know You have something. It's up to You, not up to me." So I looked at the one place, which was nothing special, and I drove home. All the way home and for a while after arriving there, I continued to make phone calls, mostly leaving voice mails for people. Finally, I came across a number and listing that I had written down last week. I don't recall if I had left a voice mail for this one, or if I somehow skipped it and never called, but anyway, I called it yesterday. It turns out that it is a condo in the same complex and same phase as the one we liked, which makes it cool already... but wait, there's more. The people who own this one are a husband and wife who lived in the condo themselves, but they found a house, so they are now renting out their condo. The cool part is that they do custom cabinetry, so they have replaced all the cabinets, put in marble countertops, and also put in hardwood floors and redone all the baseboards. (Please recall that the only downside of the other one was the countertops. Hmmmm.) So due to the upgrades, the rent is a little higher but still within our budget. And it'll be worth it, too. We plan on staying wherever we go for at least two years, so it would be nice for the place to be as nice as possible for a reasonable price. Anway, we should find out today if we get in there, but I feel really confident about it. And even if for some crazy reason this one falls through too, God has reminded me in the last 24 hours that His plans are bigger than mine, and I just need to trust Him. He's so good to me.
It's cool how God works. I've had the same conversation with several friends lately talking about how we wish God would just tell us what we're supposed to do or what's going to happen, and how we think that would make things a lot easier, but the reality is that God has a better plan than just telling us everything all at once. I mean, where's the fun in knowing what all your Christmas presents are before you open them? So Rob and I have been searching out different options of places to live over the past week, and on Thursday we went to look at a place that we were fairly confident was "the one." It's a condo in the Conquistador condos in the Shores. We had looked at one in "phase 1" that was much smaller, and when we saw this one, in "phase2," we immediately loved it. (Its only downside was the awful teal countertops in the kitchen.) I sent in the application information so the lady could check out our references and everything, and I'm fairly certain that we would have gotten it, were it not for the fact that she decided to rent it to her business partner's niece, or something, who is coming to college here. I found this out yesterday at 4:00, and I was really quite disappointed. And then I was kind of stressed because I was like "Great. Now we don't have anywhere to live. We have to start the search over again." I spent the last hour of my work day finding more rental listings online and making phone calls. I left work and drove by one place that I had been told about. On my drive I was praying: "Okay God, I'm giving this to You. I know You have something for us. I don't know what it is, but I know You have something. It's up to You, not up to me." So I looked at the one place, which was nothing special, and I drove home. All the way home and for a while after arriving there, I continued to make phone calls, mostly leaving voice mails for people. Finally, I came across a number and listing that I had written down last week. I don't recall if I had left a voice mail for this one, or if I somehow skipped it and never called, but anyway, I called it yesterday. It turns out that it is a condo in the same complex and same phase as the one we liked, which makes it cool already... but wait, there's more. The people who own this one are a husband and wife who lived in the condo themselves, but they found a house, so they are now renting out their condo. The cool part is that they do custom cabinetry, so they have replaced all the cabinets, put in marble countertops, and also put in hardwood floors and redone all the baseboards. (Please recall that the only downside of the other one was the countertops. Hmmmm.) So due to the upgrades, the rent is a little higher but still within our budget. And it'll be worth it, too. We plan on staying wherever we go for at least two years, so it would be nice for the place to be as nice as possible for a reasonable price. Anway, we should find out today if we get in there, but I feel really confident about it. And even if for some crazy reason this one falls through too, God has reminded me in the last 24 hours that His plans are bigger than mine, and I just need to trust Him. He's so good to me.
May 8, 2006
my abc's...
A) Is for age: 22
B) Is for beer of choice: Sam Adams Cherry Wheat (one of the few I really enjoy)
C) Is for career: hopefully teaching
D) Is for your dog's name: Toby (but he lives at my parents' house)
E) Is for essential item you use/wear everyday: cell phone/keys&car/my calendar!
F) Is for favorite song at the moment: don't know... but favorite lyric at the moment is "use me up, and throw me away..."
G) Is for favorite games: balderdash
H) Is for Hometown: Jacksonville. I live in St. Augustine
I) Is for instruments you play: clarinet (I know... you're pretty jealous, aren't you)
J) Is for favorite flavor of juice: currently cranberry-blueberry
K) Is for kids: someday... 1-2
L) Is for the last girl you hugged? umm... Nena?
M) Is for marriage: IN 74 DAYS!!! YAY!!!
N) Is for name of your crush: Rob... I am marrying him, after all
O) Is for any overnight hospital stays: none
P) Is for phobias: umm... I don't like roaches at all... but it's not quite a phobia
Q) Is for quote: "Use your talents; they for use were made. What's a sundial in the shade?"
R) Is for biggest regret: I don't think I really have any. I regret times I've spoken without thinking first and consequently hurt people.
S) Is for your status: counting down the days till marriage! (did I mention it's 74)
T) Is for the time you wake up: the alarm went off at 6:00... I woke up some time around 6:30
U) Is for your fav. underwear: I have lots of favs... it really depends on my mood... but I'm not likely to describe them here anyway
V) Is for the vegetable you love: broccoli! and I like asparagus too
W) Is for your worst habit: lack of sensitivity/compassion
X) Is for x-rays you've had: only my teeth I think
Y) Is for yummy food you make: chicken enchiladas... mmmmm!
Z) Is for your zodiac sign: Virgo
A) Is for age: 22
B) Is for beer of choice: Sam Adams Cherry Wheat (one of the few I really enjoy)
C) Is for career: hopefully teaching
D) Is for your dog's name: Toby (but he lives at my parents' house)
E) Is for essential item you use/wear everyday: cell phone/keys&car/my calendar!
F) Is for favorite song at the moment: don't know... but favorite lyric at the moment is "use me up, and throw me away..."
G) Is for favorite games: balderdash
H) Is for Hometown: Jacksonville. I live in St. Augustine
I) Is for instruments you play: clarinet (I know... you're pretty jealous, aren't you)
J) Is for favorite flavor of juice: currently cranberry-blueberry
K) Is for kids: someday... 1-2
L) Is for the last girl you hugged? umm... Nena?
M) Is for marriage: IN 74 DAYS!!! YAY!!!
N) Is for name of your crush: Rob... I am marrying him, after all
O) Is for any overnight hospital stays: none
P) Is for phobias: umm... I don't like roaches at all... but it's not quite a phobia
Q) Is for quote: "Use your talents; they for use were made. What's a sundial in the shade?"
R) Is for biggest regret: I don't think I really have any. I regret times I've spoken without thinking first and consequently hurt people.
S) Is for your status: counting down the days till marriage! (did I mention it's 74)
T) Is for the time you wake up: the alarm went off at 6:00... I woke up some time around 6:30
U) Is for your fav. underwear: I have lots of favs... it really depends on my mood... but I'm not likely to describe them here anyway
V) Is for the vegetable you love: broccoli! and I like asparagus too
W) Is for your worst habit: lack of sensitivity/compassion
X) Is for x-rays you've had: only my teeth I think
Y) Is for yummy food you make: chicken enchiladas... mmmmm!
Z) Is for your zodiac sign: Virgo
May 5, 2006
i love this man...
Rob and I had our engagement photos taken on Tuesday. It was really a lot of fun. My friend Brenna got married about a year ago (maybe a year and a half now) to a guy named Perry who is a photographer. I hadn't spoken to Brenna in quite a while, but we got back in touch with each other recently, and she informed me of her husband's profession when we were talking about my upcomming wedding. So I was able to meet him, and we decided to use him for our photos. Anyway, all that background info to tell you that Tuesday was a lot of fun because it was the four of us roaming around downtown, with Brenna acting as the "hair patrol" and Perry following us like the paparazzi. This photo is probably my favorite, but there's a whole bunch more where that came from. Here's a link to our favorites.
In other news, I caved today. I gave in to the pressure. I conformed. Yes, my friends, I am now (reluctantly) a member of Myspace. The main reason for this act of conformity was that I wanted to see the pictures that Rob posted this morning, but I couldn't see them without having an account. So here's the link: www.myspace.com/meg786. I will admit I did have fun designing my page, though. It's pretty cool, I think.
More pictures will surely be posed here soon. For now, enjoy the album I linked to.
Rob and I had our engagement photos taken on Tuesday. It was really a lot of fun. My friend Brenna got married about a year ago (maybe a year and a half now) to a guy named Perry who is a photographer. I hadn't spoken to Brenna in quite a while, but we got back in touch with each other recently, and she informed me of her husband's profession when we were talking about my upcomming wedding. So I was able to meet him, and we decided to use him for our photos. Anyway, all that background info to tell you that Tuesday was a lot of fun because it was the four of us roaming around downtown, with Brenna acting as the "hair patrol" and Perry following us like the paparazzi. This photo is probably my favorite, but there's a whole bunch more where that came from. Here's a link to our favorites. In other news, I caved today. I gave in to the pressure. I conformed. Yes, my friends, I am now (reluctantly) a member of Myspace. The main reason for this act of conformity was that I wanted to see the pictures that Rob posted this morning, but I couldn't see them without having an account. So here's the link: www.myspace.com/meg786. I will admit I did have fun designing my page, though. It's pretty cool, I think.
More pictures will surely be posed here soon. For now, enjoy the album I linked to.
May 4, 2006
finding God...
Let me preface this post by saying that, for the most part, until I moved to St. Augustine for college, I listened to nothing but Christian music. I definitely believe this had its benefits for me, but I do not believe it is the only way to go. In the last several years not only has my musical taste broaded substantially, but also I have realized the value of listening to "non-Christian" music. The following is what Derek Webb had to say in an interview with Relevant Magazine:
Just a thought.
Let me preface this post by saying that, for the most part, until I moved to St. Augustine for college, I listened to nothing but Christian music. I definitely believe this had its benefits for me, but I do not believe it is the only way to go. In the last several years not only has my musical taste broaded substantially, but also I have realized the value of listening to "non-Christian" music. The following is what Derek Webb had to say in an interview with Relevant Magazine:
Don’t let your local Christian bookstore do your thinking for you and believe that everything they have there for sale is good and spiritually beneficial to you. If anything, we have proven that the Church unfortunately is identified with really poor art. The Church certainly does not have the market cornered on beauty. A lot of what we do is not very beautiful. The art we make is not very good. A lot of the songs I have heard on Christian radio are just outright misrepresentations of the character of God.
I think you have to learn to discern and look elsewhere and say, “I need to learn how to engage with a God everywhere I can find truth and beauty, regardless of the intention of the maker of that art.” I really believe that is a more biblical worldview. It also keeps us from being people who live in fear. There is no room for living in fear. There is no reason to be afraid. There is no reason to be fearful of secular music. We should learn how to chew on the meat, spit out the bones, to discern the truth and beauty, to commend that rather than to be just completely fearful and put all our security in these categories that don’t mean anything. It’s a dangerous way to live.
Just a thought.
May 2, 2006
philosophy...
Rob posted today, and in his post he referenced Anselem's Ontological Argument. While I'm never very good at remembering the names of specific philosophers or the names of the arguments they made, this is in fact one of my favorites. Here is the concluding statement of the argument:
If it's your first time reading that, it may take some rolling around in the head to really get what it's saying, but once you get it, the point is really quite logical. I've only taken one philosophy class (and might I add that I made an A), but I am very fascinated with most of what I learned. I wish I had had the opportunity to take more classes. I love the logic used in philosophy... that is, after all, the point of it. Additionally, I like writing using very structured methods. Our exams in my philosophy class were written essays arguing our stance on a given issue. We were taught to respond using the "point, counter-point, rebuttle" method, wherein you make your point, give the converse argument (the counter-point), and then disprove the counterpoint, making clear the "accuracy" of your first point. Oh, how I love structure like that! (Okay, so I'm a dork.) Anselem, in his Ontological Argument, sort of mixes things up. He goes more like "counter-point, rebuttle, point." That sounds illogical, but really it makes a lot of sense:
I love this stuff! Yeah, I'm definitely a dork. Anyway, there's no point to this post. Just writing what I was thinking about. Later.
Rob posted today, and in his post he referenced Anselem's Ontological Argument. While I'm never very good at remembering the names of specific philosophers or the names of the arguments they made, this is in fact one of my favorites. Here is the concluding statement of the argument:
Therefore, if that than which nothing greater can be conceived exists in the understanding alone, the very being than which nothing greater can be conceived is one than which a greater can be conceived. But obviously this is impossible. Hence there is no doubt that there exists a being than which nothing greater can be conceived, and it exists both in the understanding and in reality.
If it's your first time reading that, it may take some rolling around in the head to really get what it's saying, but once you get it, the point is really quite logical. I've only taken one philosophy class (and might I add that I made an A), but I am very fascinated with most of what I learned. I wish I had had the opportunity to take more classes. I love the logic used in philosophy... that is, after all, the point of it. Additionally, I like writing using very structured methods. Our exams in my philosophy class were written essays arguing our stance on a given issue. We were taught to respond using the "point, counter-point, rebuttle" method, wherein you make your point, give the converse argument (the counter-point), and then disprove the counterpoint, making clear the "accuracy" of your first point. Oh, how I love structure like that! (Okay, so I'm a dork.) Anselem, in his Ontological Argument, sort of mixes things up. He goes more like "counter-point, rebuttle, point." That sounds illogical, but really it makes a lot of sense:
Anselm now employs a form of reasoning called reductio ad absurdum. This is a very useful technique. In a proof of this sort, we begin by assuming the opposite of what we want to prove. Then we derive a contradiction or an absurdity from this supposition. And from this we conclude that our original assumption was false.
I love this stuff! Yeah, I'm definitely a dork. Anyway, there's no point to this post. Just writing what I was thinking about. Later.
defend those who are suffering...
Marilyn and Krissy (who have taught me so much about what it means to love people the way God instructs us to) both went to the Save Darfur rally in Washington, D.C. over the weekend. Here's an article that was in the New York Times about the rally.
Here's another article on aiding Darfur. I'm posting this one, rather than linking, because I have a specific point to make:
I hate this phrase, but for lack of a better one, I was really "moved" by this article. These Jewish community members are loving people. God's way. Defending those who cannot defend themselves. Speaking up for those without a voice. So the question becomes, where are the Christians? I realize that this article is specifically focused on the Jewish community so it is logical that other groups would not be the focus, but I still wonder why we aren't making this kind of impact. Why aren't churches across the nation defending the helpless in such a huge way that people can't help but notice? (I'm certainly not saying we should do it to be noticed, rather that we should do it to the extent that people taking notice is the natural outcome.) As Marilyn and Krissy have helped me learn so clearly throughout this past year, if we are to love as Christ loved, we will feed the hungry, give to the poor, defend the helpless, and fight for the cause of the oppressed. "Love is not self-seeking," says 1 Corinthians. And it hates evil. And if it hates evil, one would assume it would do something to combat evil.
Are we really loving these people?
Marilyn and Krissy (who have taught me so much about what it means to love people the way God instructs us to) both went to the Save Darfur rally in Washington, D.C. over the weekend. Here's an article that was in the New York Times about the rally.
Here's another article on aiding Darfur. I'm posting this one, rather than linking, because I have a specific point to make:
April 30, 2006
Muslims' Plight in Sudan Resonates With Jews in U.S.
By NEELA BANERJEE
PORTLAND, Me., April 27 — When immigrants from the Darfur region of Sudan turned to their neighbors here for help in spreading the word about the carnage in their homeland, they found an unlikely but surprisingly effective ally in Adam Zuckerman, an 18-year-old Jewish high school student.
Over the last year, Mr. Zuckerman has raised $6,000 to support the Save Darfur coalition and to charter a bus to take protesters to a Darfur rally in Washington on Sunday.
Mr. Zuckerman has helped organize a trip for Darfuris to enlist the support of Representative Tom Allen, Democrat of Maine, and has spoken on panels all over the state. He has also testified before the Maine Legislature as part of a successful campaign to divest state money from companies that do business in Sudan. The Darfuris in Portland, who are Muslim and mostly new to the United States, seem grateful to Mr. Zuckerman. They have made him an honorary member of their community association, and some attended a Passover Seder at his house.
Still, some of them seem bewildered by the work of a young Jewish boy against the killing of Muslims in a faraway corner of the world. Jewish groups, congregations and lay people like Mr. Zuckerman have taken a lead role in organizing grass-roots responses to the killing in Darfur, an impulse, Jewish leaders and lay people say, that flows from the legacy of the Holocaust and from religious traditions of social activism.
"If you're not standing up for people who are oppressed, then your belief is just words," said Mr. Zuckerman, a senior at Deering High School and a member of congregation Bet Ha'am. "
Members of Bet Ha'am, a Reform congregation, tend to be involved with social issues, said Rabbi Alice Dubinsky. Still, there remained a question of whether people would want to hear about politics during the Sabbath. But Darfur is so grave a situation, Ms. Dubinsky said, that "we have no right to rest on the Sabbath."
"In Judaism, there is no distinction between the religious and the ethical," she said, "so you can't be a religious Jew without acting to bring justice."
A year ago, Ruth Messinger, president of American Jewish World Service, gave a speech about the Darfur crisis at Bet Ha'am, drawing parallels between the Holocaust and what was happening in Sudan. In the process, she inspired Mr. Zuckerman to action.
Ms. Messinger felt compelled to do something in part because the Committee on Conscience at the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum issued a genocide alert for Darfur in early 2004.
American Jewish World Service, an international development fund, gives money to relief agencies working in Darfur, but a more political response seemed necessary because "it became increasingly apparent to us that providing humanitarian aid to victims of genocide was not enough," Ms. Messinger said.
In July 2004, the American Jewish World Service and the Holocaust Museum founded the Save Darfur Coalition, an alliance of more than 160 secular and religious groups calling for international intervention to halt the violence that has killed at least 180,000 people and displaced more than two million.
A range of groups are represented on its board, including the National Association of Evangelicals, the International Crisis Group and the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops.
On Friday, President Bush met with several Darfur activists, including David Rubenstein, the coordinator of the Save Darfur Coalition, who asked him to appoint a special envoy to Darfur and to push the United Nations to send a multinational force. The genocide in Rwanda hangs over Darfur and has led to a louder, broader outcry, Jewish leaders said.
"I think high up in the reasons is embarrassment over 900,000 people being slaughtered in Rwanda and the fact that it took 8,000 French landing there to stop it," said Rabbi Steve Gutow, executive director of the Jewish Council for Public Affairs.
Darfuris are sprinkled throughout the United States; one of the biggest concentrations in the United States of the Fur tribe, about 80 to 100 people, is in Portland. The violence, Darfuris say, started long ago but worsened in 2003, when militias backed by the Arab-Islamist government razed villages.
"The killings happened daily, daily, daily," said Mansour Ahmed, leader of the Fur local community association. "We are surprised that the world is standing by."
Outrage over the silence resonates with Jews.
"This sense of loneliness is something that Jews know very well," said Rabbi Ammiel Hirsch of the Stephen Wise Free Synagogue in New York. From the time Mr. Zuckerman was a small boy, his parents have taken him to synagogue, observed Friday evening Sabbath at home, and volunteered in the community. When he was a Hebrew-school seventh-grader, he learned about the Holocaust and other genocides.
"The worst part is that we're letting it happen again," he said recently.
He has spoken at school, at his synagogue, at colleges, anywhere that will listen to him. He carries pictures showing the atrocities in Darfur. As they traveled to speaking engagements and to meetings with legislators, Mr. Zuckerman and the Darfuris got to know one another, and that began a smaller transformation. The Sudanese grew up immersed in the Arab news media, which meant that they barely saw Jews as people, said Izzeldin Abdullah Adam, 39, a Darfuri who lives in Portland. Now, Darfuris here say they believe Jews and other Americans care more than many Muslim states about what is happening in Darfur.
"We're brothers in humanity; they know genocide," Mr. Ahmed said.
Nagmeldin Arbab, a 20-year-old refugee, added, "The Jews understand Arabs more than others."
Rabbi Dubinsky and other Jews deny that their interest in Darfur is motivated by anti-Arab sentiment.
About 15 Darfuris will be on the bus from Portland to the rally in Washington, largely paid for by a grant Mr. Zuckerman received from American Jewish World Service. The other day at the Zuckerman house, Darfuris, students, Bet Ha'am congregants and others were going over the details of the trip. One by one, they explained why they were going to the rally. To take a stand, some said. To put pressure on the Sudanese government, the Darfuris said.
Then Mr. Zuckerman's father, Barry, spoke. "In a lot of ways, my son has mentored me, he's educated me," he said. "I need to go."
I hate this phrase, but for lack of a better one, I was really "moved" by this article. These Jewish community members are loving people. God's way. Defending those who cannot defend themselves. Speaking up for those without a voice. So the question becomes, where are the Christians? I realize that this article is specifically focused on the Jewish community so it is logical that other groups would not be the focus, but I still wonder why we aren't making this kind of impact. Why aren't churches across the nation defending the helpless in such a huge way that people can't help but notice? (I'm certainly not saying we should do it to be noticed, rather that we should do it to the extent that people taking notice is the natural outcome.) As Marilyn and Krissy have helped me learn so clearly throughout this past year, if we are to love as Christ loved, we will feed the hungry, give to the poor, defend the helpless, and fight for the cause of the oppressed. "Love is not self-seeking," says 1 Corinthians. And it hates evil. And if it hates evil, one would assume it would do something to combat evil.
Are we really loving these people?
Apr 27, 2006
no one's home...
I wish I was home today... for a number of reasons, but at the moment because I would like to post some fun pictures or something, but alas, I have none here with me. So in leiu of a personally interesting picture, here's a totally random one.
I also wish I was home so I could finish settling into my new room. Technically, I'm settled in, but while I'm on the packing-and-cleaning kick, I'd like to organize the stuff that I will still need for the next month. As of now, it's all a little haphazard. "Oh, I'll just stick this over here in this corner for now because that's where it fits." You know. Another good reason to be home is so my landlord can come by and check out the place in the ceiling that has leaked during every rainstorm for the past year that I have finally gotten around to calling about. Hopefully she can either let herself in today, or she can come by after I'm off work. She said she'll get back with me today, but I haven't heard from her yet. I'm hoping she doesn't forget. She doesn't have the best track record. She did return my message this morning though, so that's one point for her. Also if I were home, I would be sleeping. I've not exactly been "deprived" of sleep lately, but I do feel that I could use a little more. Realistically I always feel like that I guess. I'm probably deficient of some vitamin or mineral or something. I never feel any different even when I'm taking vitamins regularly, though. I don't know what's wrong with me. Maybe I just think about it too much. Anyway. So all in all, I would have liked to have spent the day at home. That's all I was saying. Oh, and there's new people moving in... one today and one tomorrow I think. And Krissy and Marilyn are probably almost in DC by now and will be gone the remainder of the week. So for now, no one's home.
I wish I was home today... for a number of reasons, but at the moment because I would like to post some fun pictures or something, but alas, I have none here with me. So in leiu of a personally interesting picture, here's a totally random one.
I also wish I was home so I could finish settling into my new room. Technically, I'm settled in, but while I'm on the packing-and-cleaning kick, I'd like to organize the stuff that I will still need for the next month. As of now, it's all a little haphazard. "Oh, I'll just stick this over here in this corner for now because that's where it fits." You know. Another good reason to be home is so my landlord can come by and check out the place in the ceiling that has leaked during every rainstorm for the past year that I have finally gotten around to calling about. Hopefully she can either let herself in today, or she can come by after I'm off work. She said she'll get back with me today, but I haven't heard from her yet. I'm hoping she doesn't forget. She doesn't have the best track record. She did return my message this morning though, so that's one point for her. Also if I were home, I would be sleeping. I've not exactly been "deprived" of sleep lately, but I do feel that I could use a little more. Realistically I always feel like that I guess. I'm probably deficient of some vitamin or mineral or something. I never feel any different even when I'm taking vitamins regularly, though. I don't know what's wrong with me. Maybe I just think about it too much. Anyway. So all in all, I would have liked to have spent the day at home. That's all I was saying. Oh, and there's new people moving in... one today and one tomorrow I think. And Krissy and Marilyn are probably almost in DC by now and will be gone the remainder of the week. So for now, no one's home.
Apr 25, 2006
roomies...
It's official. I have a roommate. I am sharing the same four walls with another person for the first time since April 2004. But it's Krissy, so it'll be cool. (Come to think of it, she's only the second person I've ever shared a room with.) We both got the majority of our stuff moved into the room surprisingly quickly yesterday. Oh, but the best part of the story is that after Bible study last night, we went DUMPSTER DIVING! Yes, for the first time ever, I proudly hoisted myself up onto the side of a dumpster and plundered through its contents. It's not nearly as bad as it sounds though. It was the dumpster that only contains cardboard, so it wasn't really gross or anything. And we were only on the side... we didn't crawl around in it. Anyway, we needed boxes to pack up our stuff, as both of us are really moving soon. I boxed up anything that I can live without for the next month and shoved it into the far corner of the closet. Mostly that contains books, teaching stuff, and random craft/hobby stuff. Moving out actually shouldn't be too much trouble now because so much is in boxes already, besides my clothes, which I'll just leave on the hangers and throw in the back seat of the car. I'm really looking forward to moving. I like the idea of change. I even enjoyed just changing rooms because I haven't done so much as rearrange my furniture in the two years I've been in the house because my room was so tiny it just wasn't possible. When I lived at home, I would rearrange every six weeks or so, so to go for two years without is a big deal for me! Anyway, random thought for you. Okay, I've jammed some paper in my printer, so I have to go attempt to fix it now. Later.
It's official. I have a roommate. I am sharing the same four walls with another person for the first time since April 2004. But it's Krissy, so it'll be cool. (Come to think of it, she's only the second person I've ever shared a room with.) We both got the majority of our stuff moved into the room surprisingly quickly yesterday. Oh, but the best part of the story is that after Bible study last night, we went DUMPSTER DIVING! Yes, for the first time ever, I proudly hoisted myself up onto the side of a dumpster and plundered through its contents. It's not nearly as bad as it sounds though. It was the dumpster that only contains cardboard, so it wasn't really gross or anything. And we were only on the side... we didn't crawl around in it. Anyway, we needed boxes to pack up our stuff, as both of us are really moving soon. I boxed up anything that I can live without for the next month and shoved it into the far corner of the closet. Mostly that contains books, teaching stuff, and random craft/hobby stuff. Moving out actually shouldn't be too much trouble now because so much is in boxes already, besides my clothes, which I'll just leave on the hangers and throw in the back seat of the car. I'm really looking forward to moving. I like the idea of change. I even enjoyed just changing rooms because I haven't done so much as rearrange my furniture in the two years I've been in the house because my room was so tiny it just wasn't possible. When I lived at home, I would rearrange every six weeks or so, so to go for two years without is a big deal for me! Anyway, random thought for you. Okay, I've jammed some paper in my printer, so I have to go attempt to fix it now. Later.
Apr 24, 2006
great weekend...
I never love Mondays, but they certainly are better when you can at least say that you had a great weekend. Which I did. Friday night Rob took me to eat at Flavors Eatery, which has the best food ever, and afterward I had the party at the house with the girls, which was a lot of fun. Marilyn really went all-out with decorating the house with hot pink everything and getting all kinds of desserts and stuff together. Lisa was the game organizer, which she's great at. Andi was there and led a special prayer for mine and Rob's marriage, which was really sweet. She's a great person. Anyway, by the end of the evening I wound up with some nice gifts and a few crazy ones, compliments of Laci. (I told Rob he doesn't get to even hear about those for quite a while!) I spent some time at Rob's on Friday night, went home, came back the next morning for French toast, then went to Jacksonville to shop for a bride's maid dress with Allison. We found the perfect one. I'm really excited about it. I did a little random shopping of my own, and returned to Rob's for us to go to Erica's graduation party. After the party, it was a pretty chill evening, which was nice. Sunday was church, Bible study (which Rob and I taught), leadership meeting/lunch, Krissy's graduation party, ultimate frisbee at Treaty Park, finally shifting locations to the beach. After the beach, we all wanted to eat dinner, but after trying THREE different places unsuccessfully, we went our seperate ways, with Rob, Mike, and I settling for Wendy's drive-through. For as busy as the weekend was event-wise, it was surprisingly relaxing, which I love. Oh, two other events that I missed were that Veronica moved out on Sunday and Erica moved out this morning. Veronica will be back in St. Augustine soon, so it's not quite as big of a deal, but Erica is back in New Jersey permanently. I had to say goodbye to her this morning before work. I'm not really very good with goodbyes. Partly because I've never had to say too many permanent goodbyes to people that I've been close with. Also, I think I'm just not a very sentimental person, so I don't get really "upset" about goodbyes, which I think is what is generally expected. It is weird though, knowing that I've been around someone daily for the past three years and now I may not see her again, or at least not for a long while. Christina and Jess have both left, but I lived with Erica much longer. Not to say that I was necessarily closer to one of them than the others, just that I lived with Erica longer. Anyway, that's my random thought of the day. As far as this week goes, new people will be moving into the house on Thursday, so in order for them to move straight into "their" rooms, Krissy and I will be moving into the middle room together. It seems a little hectic since both of us only have about a month left in the house, and I considered asking if I could avoid doing this, but I figure this will make it easier on the new girls, and besides, it will give me a jump-start on boxing up some of my stuff since I'll be moving in a month anyway. I will surely have to make some adjustments to (1) having a roommate for the first time in two years and (2) being in the less dark, less quiet room, but I think it'll be okay. And it's not for long anyway.
Well, that's all my interesting news for now. Two hours to go in the work day. I'm sure you can tell I'm workng very hard today. In all honesty, it's been a fairly busy day. It's just now started to slow down a little. Okay, gotta go. Later.
I never love Mondays, but they certainly are better when you can at least say that you had a great weekend. Which I did. Friday night Rob took me to eat at Flavors Eatery, which has the best food ever, and afterward I had the party at the house with the girls, which was a lot of fun. Marilyn really went all-out with decorating the house with hot pink everything and getting all kinds of desserts and stuff together. Lisa was the game organizer, which she's great at. Andi was there and led a special prayer for mine and Rob's marriage, which was really sweet. She's a great person. Anyway, by the end of the evening I wound up with some nice gifts and a few crazy ones, compliments of Laci. (I told Rob he doesn't get to even hear about those for quite a while!) I spent some time at Rob's on Friday night, went home, came back the next morning for French toast, then went to Jacksonville to shop for a bride's maid dress with Allison. We found the perfect one. I'm really excited about it. I did a little random shopping of my own, and returned to Rob's for us to go to Erica's graduation party. After the party, it was a pretty chill evening, which was nice. Sunday was church, Bible study (which Rob and I taught), leadership meeting/lunch, Krissy's graduation party, ultimate frisbee at Treaty Park, finally shifting locations to the beach. After the beach, we all wanted to eat dinner, but after trying THREE different places unsuccessfully, we went our seperate ways, with Rob, Mike, and I settling for Wendy's drive-through. For as busy as the weekend was event-wise, it was surprisingly relaxing, which I love. Oh, two other events that I missed were that Veronica moved out on Sunday and Erica moved out this morning. Veronica will be back in St. Augustine soon, so it's not quite as big of a deal, but Erica is back in New Jersey permanently. I had to say goodbye to her this morning before work. I'm not really very good with goodbyes. Partly because I've never had to say too many permanent goodbyes to people that I've been close with. Also, I think I'm just not a very sentimental person, so I don't get really "upset" about goodbyes, which I think is what is generally expected. It is weird though, knowing that I've been around someone daily for the past three years and now I may not see her again, or at least not for a long while. Christina and Jess have both left, but I lived with Erica much longer. Not to say that I was necessarily closer to one of them than the others, just that I lived with Erica longer. Anyway, that's my random thought of the day. As far as this week goes, new people will be moving into the house on Thursday, so in order for them to move straight into "their" rooms, Krissy and I will be moving into the middle room together. It seems a little hectic since both of us only have about a month left in the house, and I considered asking if I could avoid doing this, but I figure this will make it easier on the new girls, and besides, it will give me a jump-start on boxing up some of my stuff since I'll be moving in a month anyway. I will surely have to make some adjustments to (1) having a roommate for the first time in two years and (2) being in the less dark, less quiet room, but I think it'll be okay. And it's not for long anyway.
Well, that's all my interesting news for now. Two hours to go in the work day. I'm sure you can tell I'm workng very hard today. In all honesty, it's been a fairly busy day. It's just now started to slow down a little. Okay, gotta go. Later.
Apr 21, 2006
festivities...
Don't be alarmed by the picture. I just thought it seemed appropriate considering I'm being given a lingerie shower tonight! I expect that it will be lots of fun. (Hopefully I don't receive anything with built-in hips like this one though!) The girls are throwing the party for me at the house tonight, and if all goes as planned, it sounds like there will be quite a few people there. Allison's coming into town for it, which I am as excited about as the party itself. Tomorrow she and I are going shopping for a bridesmaid dress, which should also be fun. Other events of tomorrow include Flagler's graduation (particularly important to Krissy and Erica), followed by Erica's graduation party in the afternoon. It'll be a busy but fun weekend. I'm looking forward to it!
Don't be alarmed by the picture. I just thought it seemed appropriate considering I'm being given a lingerie shower tonight! I expect that it will be lots of fun. (Hopefully I don't receive anything with built-in hips like this one though!) The girls are throwing the party for me at the house tonight, and if all goes as planned, it sounds like there will be quite a few people there. Allison's coming into town for it, which I am as excited about as the party itself. Tomorrow she and I are going shopping for a bridesmaid dress, which should also be fun. Other events of tomorrow include Flagler's graduation (particularly important to Krissy and Erica), followed by Erica's graduation party in the afternoon. It'll be a busy but fun weekend. I'm looking forward to it!
Apr 18, 2006
family and furniture...
Easter weekend was very nice. After being the Stone family representatives at a funeral Saturday morning, the rest of the weekend was spent with my family. We went to Mom and Dad's house and stained our new bedframe to match the rest of our new bedroom furniture (which I can't wait to actually have in our new apartment). Mom and Dad also bought us a kitchen table and chairs which is really cool. I'm excited that the next place I live will have a little more feel of permanence... not completely permanent, but a lot closer. Maybe "a sense of personal ownership" would be a better way of describing it. It will be our stuff and our apartment, not a little bit of my stuff and a little of my roommates', and my little corner of the house.
Sunday morning we attended church at Westside, which was fun because I got to inform lots of people who watched me grow up that I am engaged. They were all really excited for me. After church, we headed up to Fernandina to visit the "big family." It was nice, aside from Joe whipping out the shotgun to kill a water mocossan in the pond. (Thanks for showing off our classiness, Joe.) I guess even though firing a shotgun isn't the safest thing in the world to do around kids, neither is leaving a water mocossan to crawl around where they're playing. I suppose this was the lesser of two evils. Anyway, other than that, the day was really quite nice. The weather was beautiful, which really is all you could ask for. The kids got to hunt Easter eggs, and we all enjoyed fried chicken and fish with all the possible sides. My Mema's health has been less than outstanding lately, so all afternoon I couldn't help but notice that she continually had a look of concern on her face, accompanied by short attention for most things. Over the past year, her hugs have become more serious in nature every time I tell her goodby. It's like she's making sure it's a good one in case it's the last. That makes me sad. You wouldn't really get it unless you've known her for a while, but she's always been one of those "invincible" people in my life. Nothing keeps her down. But now it's like she's expecting to go any minute. Rob said something to her about how we would see her in July (at our wedding) if not before then, and she made some comment to the effect of "Only if July's not very far away." Obviously it's natural for the health of older people to deterirate, but it's just weird for me to watch that happen to her.
In other, less depressing news, it's interesting and cool for me to see how some of us younger members of the family (meaning me and my cousins... not the little kids) are growing up. ("Duh." I know. Sounds obvious.) And it's little things that are making me take notice. Like Shawn. He's just graduated high school (last year, I think). I definitely believe that once you enter college (or the workforce, whichever) you are instantly the same age as anyone in at least a five-year age range from you, which I think helps people become much more comfortable being outgoing with a wider variety of people than they had been before. I suppose it's just the different level of interaction that you gain with people of different ages once you're out of high school. Anyway, all that to say that Shawn is seeming very grown up these days. He's now the age of some of my friends. He hugs me now. That's new. Much more outgoing than before. Speaking of which, my brother David hugs me now, too. I would attribute that to his graduating high school also, but if that's it, he's about 17 years late! I think for him it was the birth of his daughter Allison. It's like something clicked and he was suddenly more conscious of the fact that we're related and it wouldn't hurt for us to have some sort of relationship. He never said that exactly, but I was at his house one day about a year ago, and he hugged me and mentioned that he didn't know if he had ever even done that before. Again, I think it partially has to do with us being the "same age" now that I'm a part of the adult world. I don't know if that makes sense to anyone besides me! But he hugged me and congratulated me on mine and Rob's engagement on Sunday, which was nice. It's funny to me that David, Michael, and I all came from the same parents. Besides the obvious difference in lifestyle between them and me, there's also the random stuff like hugging or lack of. My brothers aren't physically affectionate in any way, while I, on the other hand, still kiss and hug both my parents. Anyway, that was totally random. I'm done with that tangent now.
All in all, it was a great weekend. Monday was long, as they usually are. Tonight I am looking forward to hanging out with the girls from Bible study a little at Cafe 11 before going over to Rob's. Tomorrow Rob and I are having dinner with the newley-married Holly and Kyle, which I'm also really looking forward to. Thursday is Fusion, as always, but this week I believe it is off-site at the pier. The weekend is going to be jam-packed. Friday the girls are throwing me a lingerie party, for which Allison is coming in town! A party and my best friend... it doesn't get any better! Saturday she and I will look for a dress for her to wear in the wedding. Then it's a graduation party for Erica. Sunday Rob and I are teahing Sunday school, then we have an early leadership meeting, then Krissy's graduation party. Sunday evening might actually be free, which will be nice. Then it all starts over again on Monday. Such is life.
Grace and peace.
Easter weekend was very nice. After being the Stone family representatives at a funeral Saturday morning, the rest of the weekend was spent with my family. We went to Mom and Dad's house and stained our new bedframe to match the rest of our new bedroom furniture (which I can't wait to actually have in our new apartment). Mom and Dad also bought us a kitchen table and chairs which is really cool. I'm excited that the next place I live will have a little more feel of permanence... not completely permanent, but a lot closer. Maybe "a sense of personal ownership" would be a better way of describing it. It will be our stuff and our apartment, not a little bit of my stuff and a little of my roommates', and my little corner of the house.
Sunday morning we attended church at Westside, which was fun because I got to inform lots of people who watched me grow up that I am engaged. They were all really excited for me. After church, we headed up to Fernandina to visit the "big family." It was nice, aside from Joe whipping out the shotgun to kill a water mocossan in the pond. (Thanks for showing off our classiness, Joe.) I guess even though firing a shotgun isn't the safest thing in the world to do around kids, neither is leaving a water mocossan to crawl around where they're playing. I suppose this was the lesser of two evils. Anyway, other than that, the day was really quite nice. The weather was beautiful, which really is all you could ask for. The kids got to hunt Easter eggs, and we all enjoyed fried chicken and fish with all the possible sides. My Mema's health has been less than outstanding lately, so all afternoon I couldn't help but notice that she continually had a look of concern on her face, accompanied by short attention for most things. Over the past year, her hugs have become more serious in nature every time I tell her goodby. It's like she's making sure it's a good one in case it's the last. That makes me sad. You wouldn't really get it unless you've known her for a while, but she's always been one of those "invincible" people in my life. Nothing keeps her down. But now it's like she's expecting to go any minute. Rob said something to her about how we would see her in July (at our wedding) if not before then, and she made some comment to the effect of "Only if July's not very far away." Obviously it's natural for the health of older people to deterirate, but it's just weird for me to watch that happen to her.
In other, less depressing news, it's interesting and cool for me to see how some of us younger members of the family (meaning me and my cousins... not the little kids) are growing up. ("Duh." I know. Sounds obvious.) And it's little things that are making me take notice. Like Shawn. He's just graduated high school (last year, I think). I definitely believe that once you enter college (or the workforce, whichever) you are instantly the same age as anyone in at least a five-year age range from you, which I think helps people become much more comfortable being outgoing with a wider variety of people than they had been before. I suppose it's just the different level of interaction that you gain with people of different ages once you're out of high school. Anyway, all that to say that Shawn is seeming very grown up these days. He's now the age of some of my friends. He hugs me now. That's new. Much more outgoing than before. Speaking of which, my brother David hugs me now, too. I would attribute that to his graduating high school also, but if that's it, he's about 17 years late! I think for him it was the birth of his daughter Allison. It's like something clicked and he was suddenly more conscious of the fact that we're related and it wouldn't hurt for us to have some sort of relationship. He never said that exactly, but I was at his house one day about a year ago, and he hugged me and mentioned that he didn't know if he had ever even done that before. Again, I think it partially has to do with us being the "same age" now that I'm a part of the adult world. I don't know if that makes sense to anyone besides me! But he hugged me and congratulated me on mine and Rob's engagement on Sunday, which was nice. It's funny to me that David, Michael, and I all came from the same parents. Besides the obvious difference in lifestyle between them and me, there's also the random stuff like hugging or lack of. My brothers aren't physically affectionate in any way, while I, on the other hand, still kiss and hug both my parents. Anyway, that was totally random. I'm done with that tangent now.
All in all, it was a great weekend. Monday was long, as they usually are. Tonight I am looking forward to hanging out with the girls from Bible study a little at Cafe 11 before going over to Rob's. Tomorrow Rob and I are having dinner with the newley-married Holly and Kyle, which I'm also really looking forward to. Thursday is Fusion, as always, but this week I believe it is off-site at the pier. The weekend is going to be jam-packed. Friday the girls are throwing me a lingerie party, for which Allison is coming in town! A party and my best friend... it doesn't get any better! Saturday she and I will look for a dress for her to wear in the wedding. Then it's a graduation party for Erica. Sunday Rob and I are teahing Sunday school, then we have an early leadership meeting, then Krissy's graduation party. Sunday evening might actually be free, which will be nice. Then it all starts over again on Monday. Such is life.
Grace and peace.
