updates on life...

I figured I'd write a quick post about what's going on in my life these days, for those who care or don't know. I have my second (of three) teacher certification exam tomorrow, which shouldn't be a big deal. Then I have next week totally off, then I start my internship on August 1, which is cool but a little scary. I'm glad I'm interning in the fall though because I get to do the teacher preplanning stuff, which should be quite helpful in a lot of ways. My good buddy Holly interned in the spring, and then even taught for real for a year, and still hasn't had a preplanning period, and she says she really misses that. My only regret, and it's a small one, is that the week of preplanning doesn't actually "count" for anything. Meaning that I do an extra week of internship in comparison to those who do it in the spring. But I think it'll be beneficial enough to make up for that. And what's a week really anyway? So that's that. As of August 1st, I'll be working a full-time job with no pay for 15 weeks. Oh boy.

Other than all that stuff, nothing's really particularly new. I have completed FOUR entire books this summer, and I'm in the middle of two different books of short stories. That's a HUGE accomplishment for me, for those who don't realize. I think what happened, other than boredom, was that I knew reading is a beneficial activity (I'm especially compelled to say this as a future educator) but when I looked at my own life I realized that I pretty much never read for my own enjoyment. The only books that I have read cover-to-cover in the past ten years have either been assigned to me for school or ones that I read for church or something. So I decided to become a reader. Not one of those die-hard crazy people, like a lady I saw the other day who had her book out in the movie theater before the movie started, but just a person who is in the habit of reading on a regular basis. So yeah. The titles of the ones I have finished are as follows: Cat's Cradle by Kurt Vonnegut, A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius by Dave Eggars, Girl Meets God by Lauren F. Winner, and Blue Like Jazz by Donald Miller. I'm in the middle of The Harliquine Tea Set, and other short stories by Agatha Christie (which I had started reading a long time ago and then set aside), as well as Nine Stories by J.D.Salinger. I started Catcher in the Rye (also by J.D.Salinger) but didn't like it for the fact that he cursed every other line, and it was just flat out distracting from the story. His short stories are good, but some of them have abrupt or anticlimatic endings. Overall, not bad though. Agatha Christie has long been my favorite author, but I am starting to appreciate things about her that I never thought about before. For example, in contrast to Salinger and many other writers, she is equally as good at her short stories as she is at her long ones. Rob and I discussed the other day how most writers seem to have trouble switching from long to short stories or vice versa. Christie can do it though. So anyway, enough about that. I would highly recommend all four of the books I read to anyone. All but Cat's Cradle are memoire-ish. A.H.W.O.S.G. (as it is abbreviated at the top of every page of the book) also uses a few more choice words than I would actually prefer, but they come in sperts, so I was able to get over it. Besides, parts of it are completely hilarious. Girl Meets God and Blue Like Jazz are both Christian memoires, but in a really true-to-life sort of way that is very refreshing to read. So thanks for joining me for Meg's summer book review! Didn't expect this to be this long!

So other than that, the summer's been nice. Hot, but nice. Quiet times have been really good for me lately. I'm realizing more and more the importance of accountability and the joy of sharing with other people what I'm learning from God. Rob and Krissy have made these past two weeks really good. Speaking of, Rob and I have been together 8 months now, which is kinda crazy! We always talk about how sometimes it feels like forever, and then again it'll feel like we just met. It's cool how good relationships feel like that. Friendships seem to go that way too sometimes.
I'm on a fruit kick right now. I realize that I'll never actually eat as many vegetables as I should, so I figure I'll do as good as I can with fruit. I like fruit.
"The group" from church has started up playing Ultimate Frisbee again on Sunday afternoons. They've only gone out two weeks so far, neither of which have I joined in on. The first week was raining, and last week was unbearably hot. I might be a sport and play this week. But then again, if I do it once, I'll never be able to get out of it again. It's just not my thing. We'll see.
Rob and I have gotten to hang out with Holly and Kyle a bunch lately, which has been really fun. I'm so glad they're back. Holly spoke at Fusion this week, and it was incredible. It's cool to see how much God has done in her life.
After my test tomorrow, there's a chance Rob might get hooked up with a kiyak (sp?... that can't be right) so we might go out on the water for a while. That'll be fun.
I think I'm out of random things to tell you about, so I'm gonna go now. Have a relaxing weekend! Later!

take...

Take my life and let it be consecrated Lord, to Thee;
Take my hands and let them move at the impulse of Thy love,
at the impulse of Thy love.

Take my feet and let them be swift and beautiful for Thee;
Take my voice and let me sing always, only, for my King,
always, only for my King.

Take my love my God I pour at Thy feet its treasure store;
Take myself and I will be ever, only, all for Thee,
ever, only, all for Thee.

delight...

Krissy and I had a chance to talk for a while the other night about all kinds of stuff God is doing right now in our lives. It was awesome. She mentioned to me how important a particular verse has been to her lately. "Delight yourself in the Lord, and He will give you the desires of your heart." So often we miss out on what that verse is really saying. We read it as "when you are happy being with God, He will give you everything you want." It's the whole Santa Clause image of God. If you're nice instead of naughty, you'll get good presents. That is Satan twisting this verse into something it's not. The key part of the verse is not "He will give you the desires of your heart," it's "delight yourself in the Lord." DELIGHT YOURSELF IN THE LORD! Krissy and I talked about how "delight" is such a huge and serious word that has been dramatically misused in our culture. These days, "delight" sounds like a word you use when talking about frosty-treats from Dairy Queen. But in this verse, the word being used the way it was intended, "delight yourself" means something equivalent to "make your entire life about." So the way I hear the verse is "make everything in your entire life about the Lord, and He will give you the desires of your heart." But to get even more specific, "the desires of your heart" is often misinterpreted, also. I think when you get the first part of the verse right and your entire life becomes about God, God transforms the desires that you have. "Desires" are no longer associated with what car I can get, or what name-brand clothes I can wear, or who I can get to like me; no, these desires are passions after the things of God. He's saying that when your whole life is about God, you will desire the things God desires, and then God will knock your socks off by fulfilling those things. When you desire the things God desires, you are essentially desiring the very best. So what the verse is really saying is "make everything in your entire life aobut God, and He will give you what He knows is the absolute best for you." HOW AWESOME IS THAT!!! That's way better than "if I'm good this year, I'll get some good presents"!

So all that being said, delight yourself in the Lord today. And every day.

i'm a dork for doing all these quizzes...

Your Summer Anthem is Speed of Sound by Coldplay All that noise, and all that sound, All those places I got found. And birds go flying at the speed of sound, to show you how it all began. You're out of your mind this summer, in a good way.

What's Your 2005 Summer Anthem?

flavor of the day...

You Are Strawberry Ice Cream

A bit shy and sensitive, you are sweet to the core. You often find yourself on the outside looking in. Insightful and pensive, you really understand how the world works. You are most compatible with chocolate chip ice cream.

What Flavor Ice Cream Are You?

nothing better to do...

My plans for this morning got cancelled, so as I'm waiting on Rob to finish jamming with the guys at the Vine, I'll fill out this survey.

1. What time did you get up today? around 9:00, but napped when plans were cancelled
2. Diamonds or pearls? diamonds
3. What was the last film you saw at the cinema? Mr. and Mrs. Smith
4. What is your favorite TV show? I guess The O.C.
5. What did you have for breakfast? Cheerios... actually "Publix Toasted Oats"
6. What is your middle name? Michelle
7. Favorite cuisine? Mexican or Italian
8. What foods do you dislike? green beans and various other vegetables
9. What is your favorite chip flavor? Cheddar
10. What is your favorite CD at the moment? I keep coming back to Jack Johnson "In Between Dreams"... other than that, I listen to mixes mostly
11. What kind of car do you drive? 2004 Honda Civic, "Bret"
12. Favorite sandwich? I think it's called the Engenieer from Firehouse Subs... turkey with mushrooms
13. What characteristic do you despise? when a person can't speak without their comments being saturated with cynical sarcasm
14. Favorite item of clothing? Jeans (or a watch if accessories count!)
15. If you could go anywhere in the world on vacation, where would you go? probably back to London
16. What color is your bathroom? white with light-colored wood wainscotting (sp?)
17. Favorite brand of clothing? Old Navy, anything from Target
18. Where would you retire to? I don't know... maybe Tennessee
19. What was your most memorable birthday? hmm... 16th, 21st
20. Favorite sport to watch? ha
21. Who do you least expect to send this back to you? I don't know
22. Person you expect to send it back first? I don't know
23. What fabric detergent do you use? Rob's :)
24. When is your birthday? September 16
25. Are you a morning person or a night person? Night
26. What is your shoe size? 8
27. Pets? not at my house... but a dog, cat, and bird at my parents' house... my dog is Toby, a Yorkie; my cat is Kitty, usually referred to as Miss Kitty, and she's enormous; my bird is a white dove named Daisy.
28. Any new and exciting news you'd like to share with us? none that I can think of
29. What did you want to be when you were little? a singer (really little), then an optomitrist (in high school)
30. What are you today? still a student. soon to be a teacher... if I can get a job
31. What is your favorite candy? MilkyWay Midnight
32. What is your favorite flower? Orchids

poetry...

(Yes, this is my third post today.)

When I first started at Flagler I took a British Literature class with Dr. Todd Lidh, who is an incredible, fun teacher. Anyway, in that class I discovered that I really enjoy the poetry of John Donne (1572-1631). Ever since then, I have meant to go buy a book of his poetry, especailly since I sold back my Norton Anthology of British Literature. I finally got around to doing that last week before the road trip. I think John Donne is cool because we learned a little about his life in connection with the poems he wrote: his earlier poems are about love and life and death, but all from a very "worldly" perspective. Some even a bit scandelous (sp?). But then he became a Christian and got to know God and became involved with the Church, and it is so evident in his writing. I like his earlier poems, but I especially like the ones after his conversion, mostly the Holy Sonnets. Anyway, for today, here's one of his earlier ones that I like.

Lovers' Infiniteness

If yet I have not all thy love,
Dear, I shall never have it all;
I cannot breathe one other sigh, to move,
Nor can entreat one other tear to fall,
And all my treasure, which should purchase thee,
Sighs, tears, and oaths, and letters I have spent.
Yet no more can be due to me,
Than at the bargain made was meant.
If then thy gift of love were partial,
That some to me, some should to others fall,
Dear, I shall never have thee all.

Or if then thou gavest me all,
All was but all, which thou hadst then;
But if in thy heart, since, there be or shall
New love created be, by other men,
Which have their stocks entire, and can in tears,
In sighs, in oaths, and letters outbid me,
This new love may beget new fears,
For, this love was not vow'd by thee.
And yet it was, thy gift being general,
The ground, thy heart, is mine; whatever shall
Grow there, dear, I should have it all.

Yet I would not have all yet,
He that hath all can have no more,
And since my love doth every day admit
New growth, thou shouldst have new rewards in store;
Thou canst not every day give me thy heart,
If thou canst give it, then thou never gavest it:
Love's riddles are, that though thy heart depart,
It stays at home, and thou with losing savest it:
But we will have a way more liberal,
Than changing hearts, to join them, so we shall
Be one, and one another's all.

first and last...

Okay, so I'm the last one to do this survey, but clearly I have nothing to do today, so here it is.

Firsts:
First best friend: Allison Adams, first and always
First car: 1994 Nissan Sentra. He was good to me.
First date: What you think is a date at one point in your life doesn't necessarily seem like a date later in life. So here are the options: Eric in 5th grade... I invited him to a dinner at my school... how cheesy. Daniel in 8th grade (he was much older than me... three years)... various places during our three-month pseudo-dating relationship. Then there's the unofficial going-on-a-date-with-your-good-friend thing where it's a date but without any romantic aspect (aside from maybe an unmentioned two-way crush)... 11th grade with Adam (also three years older) to Ichetucknee with friends Jessie and Daniel... even though not romantic, definitely the best one up until that point. FINALLY the first thing actually even resembling a real date was Junior year of college with Andrew (this time younger... that didn't work)... we went to Jonny Carinos with Greg and Laci. THE END.
First kiss: Andrew. (I got a late start. I'm glad.)
First break-up by you: long story
First break-up by them: Eric
First screen name: meglee786 (my origional aol account... i was the last person on the planet to get the internet at my house!)
First self purchased album: haha... i think it was the Lion King soundtrack! no joke!
First funeral: One of my dad's uncles I think
First pets: Sweetpea (white mutt that looked like a small greyhound), and Cindy (mom's beagle-mix)
First piercing/tattoo: ears / no tattoos, although I consider one some days... it'll never happen though
First true love: Rob Stone :)
First enemy: Nicole Goodman... teacher's pet... everyone hated her
First big trip: what's big? North Carolina when I was like 6 with my parents. Chicago in 9th grade with band. First really big trip, and first time flying: London and Paris with choir, 11th grade.
First musician you remember hearing in your house: Everybody else had cool answers to this. I think mine was probably the Gathers, or some other Southern Gospel music group.

LASTS!!
Last car ride: last night, home from Fusion
Last kiss: last night
Last Hookup: Depends on your definition of hookup... none, in the "adult" sense of the term.
Last good cry: probably a few weeks ago when I was really sick
Last library book checked out: A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius by Dave Eggars, along with a Time photography book and a random little book called Bitter with Baggage Seeks Same where the creator/author made little diaramas with toy chickens and made up a one-sentance story to go with each of them. It was pretty dang funny.
Last movie seen: I can't keep track anymore. In the theater, I think it was Mr. and Mrs. Smith
Last beverage drink: water
Last food consumed: leftover pizza and a little chocolate candy
Last crush: Robert Stone
Last phone call: I called Ann from work this morning to find out when I'm supposed to work
Last time showered: yesterday... i haven't changed out of my pjs yet today
Last shoes worn: My black and pink Airwalks last night
Last cd played: last night in my car, Jack Johnson's newest (can't think of the name right now), but woke up to Mae
Last item bought: umm... a sandwich wrap from Blimpie yesterday
Last annoyance: the state of our kitchen yesterday
Last disappointment: remembering yet another girl I graduated with who has a baby
Last time scolded: can't think of anything for scolded, but nagged by my mom on Tuesday night about school finances
Last shirt worn: wearing my Fusion conversation-starter question T-shirt
Last website visited: Megan Smith's livejournal

things i forgot...

Last night as I was journaling a similar entry as the last one in my real journal, I realized I left out a few details that are worth mentioning. First of all, on Saturday I shot a rifle. It was the very first time I'd ever shot a gun, and I was admittedly a little nervous about it, not knowing how easy or hard it would be to hit my target. The six of us had a target shooting challenge where the winner was promised $20. We had small paper bullseyes attached to a tree stump to aim at. We each took two practice shots, and then we got six shots each. The targets have a bullseye and then concentric circles labled 1-5 extending outward. The goal was to get all shots inside the 2 or better. While I did not win by any means, I did manage to get all my shots in the 2 to 3 range, save one stray shot that hit the lower corner of the paper. Maybe it's a little hick to say, but it was really fun.

Rob and I have started watching the first season DVDs of "One Tree Hill" so we squeezed in as many episodes as we could while we were at the cabin. It's a pretty good show as far as high school dramas go, but not as good as "The O.C." in my opinion.

One of my favorite things about Saturday was driving the mountain roads with windows down and worship music blaring. There's something special to me about being able to experience God's beautiful creation while singing praises to Him. The weather was perfect and it was just a wonderful experience.

What I miss most about the time I spent in Georgia last summer is being able to watch the fireflies at dusk every day. I was thrilled to be able to see them again this weekend. They really amaze me. I'm convinced God made them just to give us pleasure.

Well, that's about it for the trip. Since I've been back in town I've been trying to get in touch with my work (which only consists of the store owner and one other lady) to find out what days I'm supposed to work. I finally got hold of "the other lady" (Ann) this morning, and clearly there was some miscommunication because I was supposed to go in yesterday but didn't know, and she didn't know that I was out of town on Monday (although the owner knew) so the store hasn't been open since Sunday (we're closed on Tuesdays anyway). Woops. I figure (a) it's not my fault because the owner lost the calendar so we couldn't adequately plan ahead last week, and (b) it's not that big of a deal because I opened two extra days last week while the owner was out of town. So that's the minimal amount of drama that's going on in my life this week. So I'm only working on Friday I guess. Anyway. Tonight will be my soon-to-be world-famous enchiladas for me and Rob. Yummy. I'll post again when exciting things happen.

Oh... ps, I'm reading the book Girl Meets God and it's really, really good. I highly recommend it. It's about a girl who is born to a Jewish father and Southern Baptist mother, neither of whom are "practicing." When she's old enough to decide, she converts to Orthodox Judaism, but later feels God's call on her life and converts to Christianity. The book is basically an honest look at her faith struggle. It's so good. Anyone could relate to her struggle on so many levels.

Later.

i'm back...

Sorry for the lack of posting recently. I was out of town for a Fourth of July vacation with Rob. We went up to spend some time with his family in their cabin in Suches, Georgia. We left on Friday after we both got done with work and stayed through till Tuesday afternoon. It was a wonderful time of relaxation and fun. The cabin is up on a mountain, so the last leg of the trip there (around 2:30 am) was a winding one. I spotted several deer, but Rob was unable to catch sight of them, as he was more importantly watching the road. We were greeted by Grandma Jessie and Mrs. Barbie (Rob's mom) and headed directly for bed as soon as we walked in the door. The next morning Rob's Uncle Keith arrived prior to the two of us waking up. Saturday was spent seeing the area, and more or less just bumming around the fire and the cabin. Sunday we attended a church service at the lake, which is apparently a regular event for those who are staying on the mountain. We then headed down to the valley, Dahlonega, to get lunch at a Mexican restaurant. The afternoon was relaxing, then later that evening we went to the Woody's home (long time friends of the family) for a barbecue. It was a good time. It was cool to see a bunch of families who have been friends for an incredibly long time all together and enjoying each other's company. Probably the coolest part of the evening was towards the end when everyone gathered inside around the piano and we all sang old hymns together for hours. It's such a connecting thing to me when families sing together. It was really neat. Monday, the Fourth, we said goodbye to Grandma Jessie and Keith as they were leaving, and then the four of us went into Dahlonega for "Family Day" where they have a bunch of tent vendors and what-not set up in the town square. I think the event was smaller than it normally is, but it was still fun. And while there, Rob surprised me with a really nice Willow Tree figurine that he says reminds him of us. I really like it... it was really sweet of him. We went back up the mountain and waited for the rain that had settled in again to stop, but later in the evening we went to see the fireworks, but again had to make accomodations for the rain. The fireworks were entertaining, if nothing else, because it's at the local school and they set up all the fireworks on their outdoor basketball court and a bunch of guys run around and light them by hand, all while this countriest-of country man talked to the crowd on his karaoke-type microphone. I was certain one of the men with lighters was going to die before the night was over. Especially when they had to do an all-of-a-sudden finalie, setting off hundreds of fireworks at once to get them finished before the rain began to pour. After getting home and drying off, Rob and I played team Rummy with his parents (girls v. guys) and had a great time laughing and joking around. He and I both agreed it was probably the best time of the trip. Tuesdsay we ate lunch at the Mexican place again and then headed for home. It was a great trip. I would close this post out with a better summary statement, but I'm about to be late for my leadership meeting, so I have to go. Later.

so here's my update...

I know I haven't posted in quite some time. I don't get a chance to post on days that I work, and in the last week my days off have either been spent catching up on sleep or doing things slightly more important than posting on my blog. Anyway, just wanted to write a quick post about what we talked about in Bible study tonight. Katie wrapped up Ephesians for us (at least I think it's wrapped up... there might be one more). We talked about the armor of God, but in a different way than I have ever thought about it. The biggest thing that stuck out to me was that Christ IS our armor. We receive the armor/Christ at the point of salvation. We don't have to ask for the armor on a daily basis; the deal is we have to use it. Another thing that stuck out was that it's not our job to defeat satan... that's God's job in God's time. Our job is to defend ourselves against him. That's encouraging! So anyway, that's really all I have to say. I'll try to post again soon with random updates on what's going on in my life, but I don't feel like writing much more tonight. So until next time, grace and peace!

blueberries...

The blueberries are ripe! I picked some with my dad today when I was at my parents' house. There are few things in life that are better than ripe, fresh-from-the-bush blueberries.

Today was a good day. I especially enjoyed Pastor Ron's Father's Day sermon this morning. Back on Mother's Day he preached on Ephesians 5:22-24, which is about wives submitting to their husbands, which may seem like a risky Mother's Day topic, but he promised that the guys would "get it" on Father's day. So today was 5:25-32, talking about "husbands love your wives." It was really good. Everything he said was clear and specific and the Truth of God. As I was listening to him speak, I was thinking how cool it is that God has so blessed me with awesome examples of Godly couples living out the commands of Ephesians 5. Specifically, I was thinking of Billy and Phyllis Robshaw. (They were sitting in front of me, but I would have thought of them anyway!) It's cool to be involved so closely in ministry with them because we get to see them at all different times, even voulnerable times, yet their example has never waivered. They are a faimily that truly has a grasp on the love of God and the role that it sould play in their relationships with one another. Krissy and I were talking about this the other day. We said that you can go through life seeing families that are there for each other and provide for each other, etc., and think "oh, that's a loving family." But then you see a family that is just overflowing with love because it is the love that comes from a passion for Christ, like the Robshaws, and you think "Wow! That's what love is!" It gives you a totally new perspective on things. It's a cool system God has planned out for us in Ephesians, if we would just believe Him and follow it. People always get caught up on the "wives, submit to your husbands part," which I just don't get. Someone said once, and I have always believed, that it is the easiest and most fulfilling thing in the world to submit to the one who is loving you with the kind of love described in verses 25-32. What more could a girl want than to be loved by a man the way CHRIST HIMSELF loved the church! We couldn't possibly come up with a better plan than this one... which is why the world is so confused. They keep trying to make things work using a different plan, when this is what we are designed for. Anyway, it was a really encouraging sermon. Interestingly, we're doing that passage at Bible study tomorrow.

sick...

Yeah, I haven't written in nearly a week because I've been lying on my couch wishing someone would shoot me and put me out of my misery. I started getting a soar throat last Thursday, but as I am prone to allergy problems, I tried to wait it out for a few days while taking allergy medicine to see if I would get better. But alas, I did not. It got worse and worse, until Tuesday morning I woke up knowing that I needed to see a doctor or my throat was going to close up and I would die in my sleep (okay, maybe a little over-dramatic). So I called my mom to find out which doctors I could see in St.Augustine that would be covered by my insurance. From this initial phone call of the morning, talking was far too much of a chore. I struggled to make my words comprehensible. I was miserable already, but I proceeded to spend the majority of the day making a rediculous amount of phone calls. Mom gave me several doctors to call. I called them and either they didn't take my insurance or weren't taking new patients or whatever. I was frustrated. I called Mom back and she gave me more names. I called them. After a few more with no luck, and one that couldn't see me for possibly 48 hours, I finally found one who could get me in that afternoon. I was relieved. So I went to my appointment, and after sitting in the wating room for nearly an hour, the receptionist called me up to the desk to tell me that she had called my insurance company and that my coverage had been terminated last September. I'm supposed to be covered until I graduate. So I called my mom, who called the insurance company. Turns out it is our responsibility to inform my dad's work each semester that I am in fact still a full time student. They, in turn, are supposed to inform the insurance company. We were unaware of any of this. So I couldn't use my insurance, had to pay for the doctor's visit, and for my prescription. It was crazy. So to wrap up this long story, I'm on an antibiodic for now and waiting to see if it helps. The results from my thraot culture should be back tomorrow, so if anything is wrong, they will give me a call. So far, improvement in the way I feel has been slow. I think I'm starting to feel a little better today. It's hard to say because the pain sort of shifts from one place to another. First my tonsils, then my ears, then I just can't swallow. But for the moment, other than being rediculously congested, I feel relatively okay.

Sorry for this being a complaint post. This has been my week. I'm fairly confident I'll start getting better soon. Until then, more movies, soup, and advil.

good stuff...

So here's a few points of cool news that I thought I'd share with you today. First, I helped Rob rearrange his place last night (it looks pretty good, if I may say so) in preperation for the good news of today, which is that Kyle and Holly are moving down today. Kyle will be staying with Rob for about a month and a half, and Holly will be staying with Kathy in her new house (I'm not sure for how long). It'll be nice to have our Holly back after a year of her being away, and Kyle will be a nice addition to our group, as well. Other cool news (indirectly, as it doesn't affect me at all) Krissy's friend, whose name I forget, stopped by the house yesterday to inform Krissy that she recently found out she's pregnant. It's cool to see the utter excitement and joy that a new-mom-to-be experiences. Lastly, I start working at an art gallery downtown on Monday. Mullet Beach gallery... as in the fish, not the hair style. I wish I had thought to go talk to the lady sooner. I had spoken with her over winter break and was going to work for her then, but our schedules didn't work out, and then Greg informed me the other day that she was still looking for someone to work for her for the summer. Until he mentioned it, the thought hadn't even crossed my mind. So I stopped in yesterday, but the owner wasn't there, so I went back today. Our conversation was basically,

"Hi, I'm Megan. We spoke before. Do you still need some help for the summer?"
"Yes, I could use someone 3-4 days a week. When can you start?"
"Immediately."
"Okay, see you Monday at 11:00."

I left out a few details, but that's about how quickly I got the job. That beats the heck out of this stupid interview I've been waiting for. Sure, the other job would have been more hours and better pay, but they keep putting me off again and again, so I'm not making any money sitting around waiting on them.

So that's all the news. Tonight Rob and I are making dinner for Holly and Kyle, and then there's Continuation at my house. I'm looking forward to Continuation tonight because last night as I was doing my quiet time I asked God to show me what we should focus on tonight, and the scripture I read seems really appropriate for our group and current situations. I think it's a word we could all use right now, so hopefully it is received well and God uses it. I'm confident He will. His Word never returns void.

Grace and Peace.

missing...

I was just sitting here in "the nook" at my house and I started realizing several things that I miss. Not in a really bad "now-I'm-depressed" sort of way, just things I miss having around or what-not. I miss Christina, with her "mom" speeches. I miss Jess, with her rolling up the rug and dancing in the living room. I miss our banner paper being on our wall for everyone to write on. I miss the hymns I sang growing up. (Growing up I would have killed for a decent praise chorus... I guess it's hard to get the best of both worlds.) I desperately miss singing in a really good choir... or any choir at all, for that matter. I miss playing in band/orchestra, which is something I never thougt I'd say when I was in it. For the last two, I think what it is that I miss most, aside from just enjoying the way 40-300 musicians sound together, is the challange of learning new music. Often difficult music. The closest I've come lately to having to think hard at all about music was sight-reading the alto line for the verses of "Jesus Paid it All" last Wednesday when I sang it in church with Rob and the band. And even then, I basically knew what it was supposed to sound like. Okay, so that turned into a bit of a tangent. Back to the list. I miss the excitement brought by the ice cream truck when I was a kid. And it was cool how nice our ice cream man was. If there was a big group of us kids buying ice cream and one kid didn't have any money, he would give him a popsicle. That's nice.

Speaking of frozen treats, I just finished one of my famous banana-strawberry smoothies. It was delicious! Very satisfying after my walk to and from downtown. It's hot out! Also, Tuesday night Rob and I went to Cold Stone after dinner and I had the Apple Pie A-la-Mode... it was incredible! I do believe it's the best combination I've had from Cold Stone. Wade, our friend from the youth group, works there and he recommended to me that I should have it made with French Vanilla instead of Sweet Cream, so I followed his advice, and it was fabulous. So if anyone decides to try it out, I would recommend the same.

Okay, I have nothing else even remotely interesting to say, so I'll stop here. Have a fabulous Thursday afternoon! Peace!

the non-post...

rocky beach

I don't really have anything to say this evening. I just wanted to put up a picture for whatever reason. So there you have it. One picture just for you.

a post, in two parts, take two...

I just got done writing up this post and then when I hit the publish button there was an error and it didn't publish, nor did it save. I hate that. And it only happens with posts that I'm really excited about posting. Not that this one is really important or anything, but I was still in the mood to post it. So here goes take two. Hopefully it will be as good as the first go-around. I have made myself a pb&j to ease the pain of having to re-type it!

The first part of this post is a little random. Over the past few days some random quotes have stuck out in my mind, all relating to the feelings associated with being in love. I just thought I'd share some of them with you. I relate to them. They make me smile.

One of the amazing things about Rachel was that I wanted to kiss her every time she was talking about something interesting, which was all the time. It was sexy. It was weird.

-Will (Hugh Grant), "About a Boy"



I'm thinking it's a sign that the freckles in our eyes are mirror images and when we kiss they're perfectly aligned. I have to speculate that God Himself did make us into corresponding shapes like puzzle pieces from the clay.

-"Such Great Heights" by Postal Service (I don't actually know who wrote the song, but the Postal Service does one version of it. Rob can tell me who deserves the actual credit for it.)

****

I really like hymns. I was thinking about that a little this weekend. Tonight I was flipping through a book of hymns that I have and singing through some of them. I like doing that sometimes. It reminds me of songs I haven't thought of in a while, and it's a fun way to spend some time with God. I find myself drawn to songs (whether praise choruses or hymns) that talk about nature or creation worshipping God and showing His glory. Tonight I was stopped by "This is My Father's World." I didn't sing this song much growing up that I remember. I first came across it when I got a Chris Rice CD where he plays a bunch of old hymns on the piano. I liked the tune, so I looked it up in a hymn book to learn the words. Here it is.

This is my Father's world,
And to my list'ning ears
All nature sings, and round me rings
The music of the spheres.
This is my Father's world!
I rest me in the thought
Of rocks and trees, of skies and seas
His hand the wonders wrought.

This is my Father's world
The birds their carols raise;
The morning light, the lily white,
Declare their Maker's praise.
This is my Father's world!
He shines in all that's fair;
In the rustling grass I hear Him pass
He speaks to me everywhere.

This is my Father's world
O let me ne'er forget
That tho the wrong seems oft so strong
God is the Ruler yet.
This is my Father's world!
The battle is not done;
Jesus who died shall be satisfied,
And earth and heav'n be one.

rude...

I struggle with the line between being straight-up with people when they need it and being rude. I was thinking about that this week. Tracy and I discussed it a little. When such a situation arises that calls for being straight-up, I don't think I generally wind up being rude because I typically have seen the situation coming for a while, so I've already thought about it a lot and have decided what I should say. The problem comes when a situation arises too suddenly to give it much thought. If I act in haste, I'm rude. Also, if a particular situation comes up repeatedly, I tend to lose patience for it, so then I'm more blunt with the people involved, which comes across as rude. None of this has actually been an issue too much recently; it's just something that has been on my mind. And it's something I can see that may be an issue in the near future. Okay, well there was this one instance this past week where I made a comment that was a little less tactful than it could have been and it was overheard by people who were not intended to hear it, and I think they may hate my guts now (not that I've ever been too concerned about who hates me or not). Had I been speaking to those people, I wouldn't have changed WHAT I said but I may have changed HOW I said it. What I said was true and needed to be said, but I suppose for the sake of not hurting feelings or stepping on toes, it could have been said in a gentler way. For my lack of tact, I apologize. I am sorry if people were offended. I have been reminded by this situation to consider the effects of what I say, and hopefully this lesson will help in any upcoming situations.

home again, home again...

So here's a recap of the events of New York City. (For any details that I leave out, see Rob's posts.) The train ride up was delayed and long. Not horribly unbearable, though. We arrived in the City Thursday night and got to see the last inning of a Yankee's game, which was cool, even for a non-sports-fan. We then returned to the hotel for a much-needed night's rest. Our hotel, by the way, was the Mariott in Times Square. You couldn't ask for better accomodations than that! Friday morning we went to Rockefeller Center where they were filming the Today Show. Some people hung around and watched that while others walked around to see nearby stuff. I had hopes of going in H&M clothing store because I've been there every time I've gone to NY and it's awesome, but they weren't open yet, so I went across the street into St.Patrick's Cathedral. I love that place. It was nice to be in there that morning... I circled the interior to admire the incredible architecture and windows and statues; I "played Catholic," as Chistina and I say, by lighting a candle near one of the statues... I really needed the prayer that was posted there... it was about being kind and patient with others... it was appropriate for that day; finally, after admiring everything, I sat down in one of the front pews and prayed for a few minutes while my group finished up. It was so peaceful. Rob and I have talked before about this, but I was reminded of it as I sat there staring up at the vast ceiling of the place: Cathedrals are cool because they are designed to awe you with their enormity (is that a word?). They're so huge, so magnificant, that you are instantly taken back by them. That's how we should be about God. Every time we're in His presence, we should just be blown away and amazed. Having even the briefest of opportunities to worship in a place like St.Patrick's reminds me of that.

Anyway, after that, we ate Chinese and then went to work at a food pantry. I like doing that type of service work because (a) I feel really humbled by it, and (b) I feel like I've really been able to help out in a big way. It's very satisfying. We then went on to do this subway evanglism thing, which was an interesting experience. At first I was really appalled by the activities that the evangelist guy was proposing to us. I mean, I'm not really big on evangelism being something obnoxious, and that's what this was sounding like. The more I heard him talk about what we were going to do, the more negative my attitude became. But we got on the subway, and, to my surprise, it worked out better than I had expected. (What we did is sort of a long story, so I'll skip that part, but to say the least it was unconventional.) We got done with the actual evangelism activities, and then we stood in the hallway of the subway station and the choir sang "I'm Proud to be an American" and handed out tracts to those who passed by as we sang. It's cool how quick people were to take something from us as long as we were singing, but if we stopped, there was no chance they would take anything. It was interesting. Friday night we saw a show called "All Shook Up" which surprised us all with how good it was. It was all Elvis music with a story line put to it. It was really fun.

Saturday morning we had some free time first thing, but most of the kids opted to sleep in. My girls went with Mrs.Nettles (PRAISE GOD FOR HER!) which left me free to go out to breakfast with Rob, Tracy, & Phil. That was by far the most relaxing point of the week. Tracy was my sanity on the trip! I'm so glad she was there. The four of us have decided that now that the craziness of their wedding is over we all need to hang out more. It's funny how well Tracy and I get along in combination with how well Rob and Phil get along. Definite potential for some good times. Anyway, after breakfast, we met back up with everyone and headed toward the harbor where we were supposed to take "The Beast" boat ride. There was a bunch of miscommunication, however, so that didn't actually work out, which I was fine with because I wasn't looking forward to getting soaked, which is supposedly what happens on that boat ride. So we killed a little time (I don't actually remember what we did) and then went to see "Phantom of the Opera." It was good I guess, but that's just not really my show. We had dinner at John's Pizza Palace, which while I am not all that excited by New York pizza, it was a really cool building. I think it was origionally an old church (it has a really cool stained glass ceiling) and may have been a theatre at one point. Immediately afterward, we went to do a church service at a Crisis Center in Brooklyn, which was by far the most awesome part of our trip. The worship was just amazing, despite any shortcomings on our part. The whole thing was just completely annointed by the Holy Spirit, and that was evident to everyone. Devon mentioned to me the verse that talks about I believe it's Isaiah's vision where he says that the train of God's robe filled the whole temple, which represents His presence, and she related that to what took place that night. She's so right. I always describe situations like that as being "thick" with the Spirit. It's like when it's really humid outside and you can feel the air sort of pressing in on you because the air is thick. The Spirit was so thick you could feel it pressing on you. It reminded me of when I was in Chicago in ninth grade. We ministered at the Pacific Garden Mission in downtown Chicago, and it was the same way. In both cases, it was the end of a long day in the middle/end of a long week, we were exhausted, and that was the last thing in the world we felt like doing. But we did it, and God moved mightily. I love it when God does that. I love that He is not limited by our meager expectations of Him. We left the Crisis Center and went to see Ground Zero. It was a very solemn time, as to be expected. That was the last event of the day, and then we headed back to the hotel.

Sunday we did a church service at Harvest Christian Fellowship in Manhattan. It went pretty well. We went to lunch at Carmines, an Italian restaurant. That was the best food I have had in a long time! I was completely impressed. We then did a prayer walk and delivered some gift boxes to the fire and police departments. That night we went to see "Stomp" in the Village. It was awesome! I have been wanting to see Stomp for years, and I was finally able to. I think what's most impressive about the show, aside from their obvious musical talent, is their endurance and stamina. That's a really long time to do what they do. They all had the arms of body-builders, and while hidden by baggy pants, I'm positive their legs were tree trunks! Also enjoyable was how they got the audience involved at the end of the show. They would clap/snap/stomp a rhythm and we had to repeat it. Thanks to Mr.Cordell and my many years of "counting and clapping" I was able to keep up quite well! Anyway, that was it for Sunday.

Monday morning started somewhere around 4:00am. We had to leave the hotel at 5:45 to go sing on "FOX and Friends" morning TV show. That was pretty cool. While there, we got to see the Oscar Meyer weenie-mobile. They also gave us free hotdogs, which really doesn't excite me at 6:00am, but all the guys were really psyched. Back-tracking a little, the first event of my morning was around 5:00 when I decided to go downstairs early in hopes of getting a Venti Chai Latte from Starbucks to help me wake up. (It turned out that they don't open till 6:00. I was bummed.) Anyway, when I was waiting for the elevator at 5am, I was weirded out to see two guys there, one with beer in hand. In my delirious 5am state, I thought to myself "who drinks a beer first thing in the morning?" But as I stood there waiting, I deciphered through their f-word-laden conversation that this was not, in fact, morning for them, but rather a very late night. The three of us entered the same elevator, and upon entering, the dude with the beer apologized to me for swearing. But in their drunken haze, I doubt they realized that following the apology, the frequency of the word in question did not diminish whatsoever. Back to the TV show. We finished singing/filming and headed for the Intrepid, which is an air craft carrier turned museum that stays in NY harbor. We got to sing for the Memorial Day service that was going on. As cheesy as it can make you feel singing in a public place like that, I thought it was cool that we didn't just sing patriotic songs, but also sang worship songs. That was the last major event of the trip. Later that afternoon we gathered up our luggage and headed for Penn Station to board the train to go home. The train was on time, and the trip home was much more bearable than the ride up.

So that's my story for now. I'm sure I will remember other little interesting things and post about them later, but this is most of it. New York is awesome, but I'm glad to be home.

Peace!

make you banana pancakes...

It's been a while since I posted, which is not to say that nothing exciting has happened, but rather that I have been WORKING! (I know, it's amazing.) My temp job wound up lasting four days instead of just two, which was cool. It was basically data entry, so nothing exciting, but it definitely kept us busy the whole time. "Us" referring to myself and a lady named Emily who was placed on that job with me. She was really nice and I enjoyed working with her. She had been teaching at UF, but is going to be teaching at Flagler starting in the fall in the psychology department. Like I told Rob, she's the most normal psychology professor I've ever met! Very friendly; asked a LOT of questions, but not in a nosy way. I got to talk with her about church a little, which was cool. Cool parts about the job were (1) we got paid for our lunch breaks, (2) they bought us lunch, (3) we got off early twice but got paid for full days. You really can't beat that. (The phrase "couldn't beat that with a stick" was in my head, but I didn't think it fit well enough!) Wednesday and Thursday we ordered lunch from this sub place that was really good. They sold your normal coldcut subs, but the ones we got were hot chikcen subs. Wednesday I had a chicken teriyaki (sp?) sub and it was incredible! Thursday I had cajun chicken, which was good, but I'm not such a fan of my lips being on fire when I'm done eating. So enough about the job.

Wednesday was Krissy's 21st birthday. Also on Wednesday, we led the high-schoolers at Powerhouse, and that went really well. I can't remember if we did anything specific Thursday evening... I just remember everyone was over at the house, which isn't out of the ordinary. But later that night us girls took Krissy out to Fridays for a drink and dessert. I'm not a big drinker, nor will I ever be, but I am starting to draw specific conclusions about what kinds of drinks I like. Fruity is fine but really sweet isn't, etc. Anyway. Friday was mine and Rob's six-month anneversary. I got off work early by chance that day, which was perfect because I was cooking dinner so that gave me plenty of time to get everything done. I made chicken enchiladas and spanish rice with beans. Rob brought a bottle of white wine, which I found out I enjoy far more than red. We just hung out around his house and had a relaxing evening, which I think was exactly what both of us needed. We played music for a while, and then rented a movie. When I say "we played music" that means he played and I sang along. We watched "Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind" which is really good. Overall, it was just a wonderful day.

Saturday was a busy day. Rob had to work in the morning, but then he came with me up to Jax for Christen and Bobby's wedding. Then we had to be back here for the Saturday evening service. Then we went back to Orange Park for Krissy and Jenni's birthday party at Krissy's parents' house. We had intentions of everybody going skating afterward, but Skate World closes too early. So we came back and bummed around here and watched a movie. Sunday, in contrast, was a nice relaxing day. After Sunday school, we went out to eat, and then me, Rob, Krissy, Marilyn, and Greg (and occasionally some others) spent the entire afternoon on the front porch. It was nice. Monday after work I ran around doing errands for the NY trip, and then got to go to Lisa and Luis' new house for Bible study. Their house is very nice. And Bible study was awesome! Then there was more porch time. Today I got to sleep in late, but I actually have several things that need to be accomplished today, so I'm gonna go get on that now. I will be headed to NY tomorrow, so posts for the next week may be few and far between as I am not taking my computer. I hope everyone has a wonderful week. Peace out!

Holy Sonnet XIV (14) by John Donne

Batter my heart, three-person'd God; for, you
As yet but knock, breathe, shine, and seek to mend;
That I may rise, and stand, o'erthrow me, and bend
Your force, to break, blow, burn and make me new.
I, like an usurp'd town, t'another due,
Labour to admit you, but oh, to no end,
Reason your viceroy in me, me should defend,
But is captiv'd, and proves weak or untrue.
Yet dearly I love you, and would be loved fain,
But am betroth'd unto your enemy:
Divorce me, untie, or break that knot again,
Take me to you, imprison me, for I
Except you enthrall me, never shall be free,
Nor ever chaste, except you ravish me.

because it's tuesday...

self-portrait, beach

Today I feel productive. I had an interview this mornig with the tourism bureau. I was the first interview of four, so I have to wait a few days to find out if I get a second interview, and then if I get the job. It seems like an interesting job. I think it would suit me for the summer if I got it. A little later this morning I went by the staffing office to give them my tax information and get directions to my job for tomorrow and Thursday. It's a bit of a drive, but it's only two days, so I'm fine with that. I'll be up far earlier than I have in a while though! As for the rest of today, as I have now completed lunch, replied to emails, and written a post for your enjoyment, I believe I will go read for several hours. Then I will enjoy a wonderful dinner prepared especially for me (those are the best kind). Tomorrow is Krissy's birthday, and I have a little something planned for her, but I will not divulge what that plan entails in case she reads this today. Tomorrow night the Fusion leadership team is leading the Powerhouse service (the high school service) before doing our regular Fusion. That should be fun. I'm singing with the worship team as well as giving a testimony. I'm looking forward to it. That's all for now. Happy Tuesday to everyone!

beautiful rain...

It has been an incredibly pleasant Monday at the Oviedo house. Good news of the day: I have a temp job for Wednesday and Thursday (and possibly Friday, but probably not); I passed my FTCE exam; and I have an interview tomorrow morning. Additionally, I met with Mrs. Johnson today, the teacher I will be interning with in the fall. She is such a nice person. I am really looking forward to working with her. She gave me some books to look over for the summer. I got my forms all filled out for the New York trip, which I am also looking forward to. Oh, and when I was at Target I discovered the new Reeces Peanut Butter Cups that only have one gram of sugar! They're really good! Well, that's all my news for today. Looking forward to Bible study tonight. Ephesians is so good! Much love!

thinking back...

"We should stay here."

The best thing that was said to me all week.

05-14-05...

Blue sky, porch shade. Breeze-shuffled branches. Hammock taut, suspending me. Tiny spider resting suspended amidst hanging plant. Now and again the mosquito, clearly confusing mid afternoon for dusk. Afternoon of Eggers. A Heartbreaking something-or-other; Ends with Genius; First half, last half... never the whole thing at once. Two chapters in, pause to write this. Flops on chair for easy access. Phone close for who knows why. Pens, just in case... always.
I like our seashells.
Why is that one getting dried out?
Odd chairs... like marshmallows.
Hawks circle on wind currents. Far removed from the surface. I like hawks. Small birds twitter and chase. The ones that wake me at 6am.
Tires sound funny on brick streets.
Music --live maybe-- drifts from the Winery. Maybe not live; too varied. Circular, fountain-esque sprinkler in neighbor's yard. Like the ones I ran through... that was forever ago... getting old. Flippant striped awning of sprinkler house. Detestable honeysuckle blossoms asymmetrically draped across needless archway. Who really likes the smell anyway? And it really is pointless. Like that gate with no fence in Canton.
**phone call**
Unexpectedly good day. Never noticed that bird-feeder. Enough writing, more Eggars. I like him. Maybe two books in one month. Unprecedented! Right word? Don't know. Don't care. Back to reading now.

a jumbled mess...

So I think this being bored and by myself thing that I've got going on lately is really taking a toll on me mentally. I'm for real. As an introvert, I already spend too much time over-analyzing situations and drawing inaccurate conclusions in my head and what-not, but leave me by myself with nothing to do for twelve hours a day and it becomes far worse. Multiply that by three weeks and you have Megan starting to lose her marbles. So that's where I am right now. So for anyone in my life who thinks I've been a little weird lately, you're right, I have. And I apologize. As for the over-analyzing thing, that really is something I'm struggling with. It's everything, even the tiny little insignificant things, everything's getting to me right now. And I'm overly emotional about everything, too, which is very unlike me. Emotionally right now I feel just like I do during horribly stressful times like finals week. And from the logical viewpoint, I have no reason to be that way. I think I just don't know how to handle such a drastic change in routine. I'm used to being crazy-busy with hardly any down time, with a house full of equally busy people. Now I'm bored out of my mind, the house is empty most of the day, and "to add insult to serious injury" I'm broke as a joke, so there's not even a lot for me to do. I know, the logical advice, first off, would be for me to spend the time I can with people. Like tonight, the girls all went out, and I stayed home. I don't do groups well. I can only tolerate any group of people for a short period of time before the simple fact of being in a group stresses me out. That's odd, I know. I've only ever met a few people who feel the same way as me about that. The second part of the logical advice that people are likely to give me is the part that I should pay more attention to. There are things that I could find to do... things that don't even cost money. My big plan for tomorrow is to go to the library and check out a book and read it. I successfully completed a book already in my time off, which is a big accomplishment for me. Hopefully I'll find another good one that will keep my interest. Additionally, I need to be reading my Bible more. I've been semi-consistent with my quiet times, but not as much as I would hope. And even beyond my quiet times, if I have all this time on my hands, why not get in the Word more?

Okay, so this post is more like Megan giving herself advice, and potentially not very interesting for everyone else to read, but I think it may have helped me to put this in writing. Thanks for listening.

the little allison...

allison harper lee

This is my baby niece Allison. The picture was taken when she was only three days old. She is now nearly four months... and has taken a liking to screaming. Mom, who has been baby-sitting weekdays, is not such a fan of that. But Mom is done as of tomorrow. Next week the other grandma will be in town watching her, and after that it's summer for Amy (my sister-in-law) because she teaches.

Here are a few things I am looking forward to in the near future: getting a job; trip to NYC with the youth choir; trip to Atlanta for the 4th with Rob (and seeing the Briants); tonight's episode of the O.C.; potential of going to Cornerstone on Saturday; potential of going to the Bright Eyes concert in June; the up-and-coming six-month anneversary. All terribly out of order. Things I am not looking forward to: attempting to get my finances in order; writing an essay for my scholarship; going to Jacksonville tomorrow to do a chore requested by my mother; baby screaming at me when I get there; conflict of interests and events next weekend. Sorry nothing remarkably interesting to write about today. Such is my life. Erica has departed for New Jersey and won't return until the end of August, so we are down to four for now. Marilyn is trudging her way through Design 1 for summer term. Krissy and I are both looking for jobs and are enjoying the sleeping in late, although she has her internship, so she legitimately has more to do with her days than I do. I hardly see Nicole. Christina sounds like all is well in Orlando. And last we heard, all was well for Jess in New York. So that's the room mate update. Peace out.

number three...

look what the tide brought in...

Okay, I think this is the last picture post of the day. This was taken near the pier here in St. Augustine (you can see the pier in the upper right corner). I want to put together an online album of all my photos and then put a link on my blog... if anyone has any suggestions of what program to use, please let me know. I'm clueless. I guess I could check out other people's blogs and see what they're using, but if you have a suggestion let me know.

sweethearts...

rob and meg

photography...

self portrait, mirror

So this is me. I don't guess I've posted a picture of myself before. I finally decided today to scan in a bunch of my photography so that I could post some of it here, so more photos will appear in days to come.

Info about my work, for those who care:

I do traditional gelatin-silver prints (meaning not digital). My camera is a Nikon N75. I use Agfa 400 film. I prefer printing on Ilford RC pearl paper, but I also print on Ilford Fiber, both glossy and matte. (The paper makes a world of difference.) I use both condenser and cold-tone enlargers, but generally prefer the cold-tone. That's about all the technical information. For now, all my printing is done in Flagler's dark room. Maybe one day when I grow up and have my own house, if I'm still really into it, I'll be able to have my own dark room. For now, I just make do.

dance...

Happy Cinco de Mayo! I would have said the whole greeting in Spanish, but I couldn't remember what the word for "happy" was and neither Christina nor Erica is here to ask. Speaking of which, Erica is with the group from church in Mexico right now. How cool to be in Mexico for Cinco de Mayo! Well I think it's cool anyway. I'm looking forward to Phil and Tracy's party tonight. It should be lots of fun. It's at Habana Village Cafe, which I think is more Spanish (as in Spain) than Mexican, but that's close enough I suppose. I don't think there's really any true Mexican places around town anyway. I would say I'm looking forward to a nice Sangria as well, but I'm not sure how the crowd that will be there tonight feels about such things, so maybe that will wait until another time. I'm sure the menu is all wonderfully planned out anyway.

It's been raining for the past... oh I'd say 36 hours. I am, consequently, thoroughly unmotivated to do anything at all. I do, however, like how the leaves of the tree outside our window twitch when impacted by the raindrops. It's interesting. It's not as though I have by any means had a lack of sleep this week, but all I want to do when it rains is sleep. I'll try reading instead. I have 40 pages left. I'll finish today.

For those who didn't get the official memo, this is David Crowder's blog. (also linked on the side as "rock you like a hurricane") As much as I love David Crowder, I wanted to check it out a few times before I really avidly recommended it, but I have now and it is indeed worth-while. So if you're a fan, or if you're into the technical stuff that goes into recording music, or if you're just bored, check it out. He even talks about Bhor's model of the atom, although I'm not quite sure why. To be expected, I suppose.

That is all for now. More to come later, I am sure.

reading...

He was not looking at her, but he had a perspiring radiance that I attributed to his being so near to her.

Cat's Cradle

big deal...


Cat's Cradle

I am nearing what is possibly one of the biggest accomplishments of my life. Yesterday I began reading Kurt Vonnegut's Cat's Cradle and completed half of it. If I follow in a similar fashion today, I may very well finish a book in only two days! That will be monumentus as it will be a first for me. Even if I don't finish today, the mere fact that I read half a book in one day is huge in my world! Anyway, just wanted to share my excitement. (Sorry for the tiny picture.) Later.

settled...

I think I've decided on what I'm talking about tomorrow night. Unless, of course, God has something else in mind that He drops in my lap by tomorrow. But I finally feel fairly confident about the topic. It's a combination of the two I mentioned in a previous post. I had one idea all planned out and everything already, but I just didn't feel any peace about it, so I went out to the porch today and read through stuff again, and it finally came together. Speaking of the porch, the weather these days is just incredible! I wish it would stay just like this.

Looking forward to:
1. Fusion on Wednesday
2. Phil and Tracy's Cinco de Mayo rehearsal dinner on Thursday
3. Phil and Tracy's wedding on Friday
4. The Edge on Saturday
5. Mother's Day on Sunday

headlines...

For all those who enjoy reading funny things online, the onion is a satire-type magazine that my quirky-yet-loveable new roommate Marilyn suggested to me. You might enjoy.

tuesday...


*

So I don't think I've officially posted about the following, so I will now. I get to go to NYC in just a few weeks with the youth choir at my church. My friend Kathy was supposed to go as a chaperone, but she couldn't because of her work, so she asked me to go in her place! How awesome is that! I've been to NYC twice before, but I'm still really excited to go. Not so sure about the train ride, though. That's the way we traveled last year and it was miserable, but I'm hoping things will be different with a big group of people rather than just four of us. It'll probably be like any long bus trip I've been on, so I guess that's not too bad. I do really wish we were flying though. I've only gone on one trip in my entire life that required flying, but I LOVED it. Anyway, I talked to Mrs. Donna yesterday (the director of the youth choir, and Phil's mom for those who know him) and she wants to do a service project where we bring shoe boxes of small gifts to the Police and Fire Departments in NY, so I'm now in charge of getting those together before the trip. And, during my conversation with Mrs. Donna, she was sure once again to throw in a comment about her seemingly-overwhelming desire for Rob and I to get married! (The first time she told me that was the first day I met her! But that's just how she is.) Funny to me how if two people meet, start dating, and after only five months decide to get married (get engaged) people are like "oh my gosh! can you believe that?! they've only been together five month!" But then you have two people who don't jump right on that let's-get-married-even-though-we've-only-been-together-five-months bandwagon and people continually make the suggestion that they should. Am I the only one that sees the irony in this? Don't get me wrong, I'm thrilled that so many people think it's a good idea for me and Rob, but the irony of it is just funny to me. Anyway, that was my random tangent of the day! I'm going to go finish my smoothie that I made and see what productive things I can do today while I am still unemployed. Later!

happy may...

"i'm here" explodingdog.com

random thoughts of today...

I am in love with... Rob Stone. Crazy in love. I had a wonderful time visiting the pier yesterday. Very redemptive after watching Family Guy ;)

I am encouraged by... many things, but specifically right now my good ol' friend Quinn and his new blog. Lots of good stuff to read. Also encouraged by studying Ephesians currently. It's awesome. I like when I get to lead Bible study because I get deeper into the scriptures we're looking at. Also encouraged by Louie Giglio. I've been listening to a sermon series of his in my car this week instead of music. What a communicator of God's message!

I am praying for... my girls and everyone else who is on mission in Mexico this week. I know God is using them in huge ways.

I am committing to... being healthier. I am giving up sugar (for a while), and have been several days without it thus-far. (Yes, the sugar-free ice cream at Cold Stone is a reasonable substitute.) I plan to shop and eat healthier in as many ways as possible.

I am waiting on... the job God has for me for the summer. I had an interview today with a staffing agency, and I hope to hear from them with a job placement in a day or two.

I am preparing for... Wednesday night when I am speaking at Fusion. Thoughts are still whirling around in my head, but as of right now, the plan is for me to speak on Christians being the "stones" of the temple of God built upon Christ the cornerstone. (See Ephesians 2:19-22) But we all know how plans go... they really don't matter because it's all up to God! I may incorporate something about grace compelling us to do good works, as that was my first idea, but I may not. We'll see.

I am..... hungry. So I'm going now. Peace out!

good times...

So I bought my first-ever pair of Airwalks today. The slip-on kind. They're black with pink trim. I like the statement on their hang-tag. It said, "we made this for you. feel the love. mad styles since 1986." I got them for half-off at Payless because I bought another pair of shoes, too. Two pairs of shoes in one day... life is good. I also got a minor problem with my car fixed today... quickly and for free... can't beat that. And I had a spicy chicken soft taco supreme from Taco Bell for lunch... surprisingly good.

On Thursday nights Rob and I are in the habit of watching "The O.C." at 8:00. So we were sitting on his couch last night, like every other Thursday night, awaiting the voice that says, "Last time on the O.C. ..." and what do we hear in its place??? "The President of the United States." I have no objection to the President addressing the nation, but during prime time??? Can't they put it on during the middle of the day where if you really wanted to watch it you would have to make a special effort, and it wouldn't interrupt any quality television, only soap operas? That would seem logical to me. But the good news came today that next Thursday will be back-to-back episodes, the one we missed out on and the one that would have shown next week anyway.

I just read an article about Copeland in the latest issue of Relevant magazine. I really enjoy Copeland. I like what Aaron is quoted as saying: You need to "do whatever makes you the most positive, loving and Christlike." The article mentions the fact that Copeland is Christian guys playing in a band without being a "Christian band." I liked that it said "They prefer performing in clubs and smoky bars because that is where they can best identify with people, and on the other side of the coin, it is where there is the greatest need to hear Copeland's messages of pain, spirituality, faith, and hope." They seem to be good guys.

Other exciting news: I got to see my niece Allison yesterday. She's cute. Learning how to scream, though. But it's just one of those things little babies go through. I think she'll outgrow it quickly. Amy was practically dying yesterday because she so badly wants Allison to laugh (as she hadn't quite mastered that yet), but Mom said this morning that Allison laughed for the first time last night for David and Amy. That's exciting. I think those little "milestones" are cool. I look forward to the day I'm a parent marking down all the cheesy little things I find to be amazing about my child. Other exciting news: Mom took me shopping at Old Navy yesterday and I got some good stuff. That's always cool.

Sad news of the day: Christina is packing up. We will seriously miss her.

Looking forward: going on a date tonight... dinner and watching "Hitch-hiker's Guide to the Galaxy." Sure to be a good time.

sorry...

Public apology to my roommates for my over-reaction in the last post (the comments have since been removed). I do love you girls and I'm sorry I didn't approach things better. Thanks for hearing me out when we talked though. Love you all.

drizzling...

Yes, there are probably a million other things I should be doing besides posting right now, but this alone is what I feel like doing. I could be cleaning the bathroom, cleaning under the kitchen sink (which desperately needs to be done), finishing my resume, doing my quiet time (as I have not done it yet today), filling out the application for my next FTCE, .... the list goes on. As for the cleaning options, I have been telling myself for days that I would do those things.

***

I led ladies' Bible study last night. I think it went well. We had lots of good discussion, which is what I always hope for in Bible studies. Looks like I'll be leading again next week because half of the girls will be away on the Mexico mission trip, and the others who will be left didn't want to take next week. I'm speaking at Fusion next Wednesday, too. Not sure on what yet. The following Friday is Phil and Tracy's wedding, which is very exciting, and the next day is the Edge. All in all, that should be a fun weekend.

That's all my news for now. Grace and Peace.

good weekend...

Well, my last-ever finals are over! Life is good. I spent this weekend in Ft.Lauderdale with Rob's family for his sister Megan's baby shower. Rob and I and Megan's friend Erin all rode down on Friday evening. Saturday, the females did the shower thing, which was fun. By the end of it I was sort of done with all the girlieness, but then it was nice to sit around with the other three "under-25" girls and sort all the good stuff that Megan got. (The average age of those in attendance at the party was probably 60... church friends and family members.) Sunday Rob and I led worship at the church where his family attends... small, older-generation Nazarine church... a lot different than leading at Fusion, but it's still fun. After a relaxing lunch with the family, we headed back home to St.Augustine.

Today has been nice and relaxing. I got to sleep in, and then didn't have anywhere to go. I made some calls about potential summer jobs, but so far no luck. I had a nice lunch with Rob, despite slight chaos involving ducks. Then, I came home and reviewed the stuff for ladies' Bible study because I'm leading tonight. I like leading Bible study because all there really is to it is telling what I learned from the verses and then having other people share their thoughts. It doesn't rely so heavily on me, like speaking at Fusion, which I'm doing a week from Wednesday. I don't mind speaking. Truth be told, I probably would hardly ever volunteer for it without being asked, but when I am asked I don't turn it down because I know that those are specific opportunities that God is giving me. I try not to tell God "no" any more than I already do! Still working on not doing it at all.

God's will is a cool thing I think. It happens in the little things of life. As I was praying last night I acknowledged that God knows what He's doing by not telling us everything all at once. For example, He tells us to go somewhere without telling us a purpose, but He has intended for something good to happen to us if we go. If we are obedient, and therefore are in the right place at the right time, whatever it is that God had planned for us will happen. I think that's why I don't tend to get so worked up about "What is God's will for my life?" because I know that He accomplishes that will little by little in the day-to-day stuff. All I need to be concerned with really is doing the little things He tells me to do. That's sometimes easier said than done. Sometimes I don't want to do the little things He tells me to do... because I don't see the purpose in them, or I just don't feel like it, or it seems too inconvenient, or whatever. And other times I want to worry about all the other stuff besides just being obedient. But if we keep our focus where it's supposed to be, God's will happens. That's cool.

concerns...

It's weird when you feel particularly concerned for certain people but can't really do anything to help their situation. Right off hand, there are five people that come to mind that I am concerned for right now. Three that I'm freinds with currently, two from the past. All completely different situations. None of which I have any direct influence over. The most I can do, for those I speak to, is to be a positive influence in their lives and speak the truth to them and let them know of my concern. As for the two from the past, one of them I have no real desire or reason to speak to; the other, even if I wanted to speak to, it would be weird to call after so long and just be like "hey, how's life? I'm a little worried about you." Come to think of it, I guess there's a lot of people from my past that I could say I feel concerned for. Such is life, I guess. We all take different paths, some of which are not quite as good as I would hope. Anyway, these are my thoughts tonight, spawned from various conversations and situations of the last several hours. The end.

Please pray for me as I take my Teacher Certification Exam on Saturday morning! Thanks.

the light...

There is indeed a light at the end of the tunnel. My portfolio is done. My presentation is tomorrow evening, and while it will no doubt be stressful, it's really not that big of a deal. I also have an exam tomorrow, so it will be a busy day. Saturday is my K-6 certification exam. Next week are my final exams. Then it's over! I'm DONE with college... except for my internship, but I'm looking forward to that. I'm too tired to write anything else, so I bid you all a good-night.

changes...

I'm sitting here at work with nothing to do (as if that's out of the ordinary). Marcie is out of the office today, though, so there's even less to do. Theoretically, I should be making adjustments to the content of my portfolio, but I'd rather sit here and mess with my blog. So what I was going to say is that I considered changing my blog template, but the only one I liked looks exactly like Niki's with a different color scheme (green of course), so I didn't want to be a conformist and have my blog look just like everyone else's. I did update my music list on the left, however. I thought it would be appropriate to take off the bands that I haven't listened to in ages and add on the ones that currently tend to be played in my car.

success...

I finally created my official Blogger profile. You can view it under the "about me" link in the box near the top of the page. Although, for most of you who actually read this, it will not be new information. And it's slightly incomplete, for instance I like far more bands than I actually listed under the music section of the profile, but maybe eventually I will have a more complete list for your viewing pleasure. Anyway, it was fun to make.

two days in a row...

Yes indeed. Two posts in two days. It is truly amazing.

Part of the verse of the day today says "Let your gentleness be evident to all" (Philippians 4:5). I like that. It reminds me of what Krissy and I were talking about (during the college basketball game) yesterday. We were basically talking about evangelism through love, and how the real way to help people come to know Christ is through loving them. Erica will be speaking on that topic in a few weeks at Fusion. I just think that the most important aspect of being a Christian in a non-christian society is living in a way that the difference in our lives is clearly evident. That's my little blerb for today.

I have three tests tomorrow. Have I studied for any of them yet? Absolutely not.

let me introduce myself...

"Hi, my name is Megan. I'm sure you don't remember me since it's been forever since you heard from me!" Okay, so I know it's been forever since I've put up a post, but life has been keeping me busy. And for the record, last Tuesday I wrote up a beautiful and lengthy account of all the latest happenings of my life so that all three or four of you who actually read this would be up-to-date, but when I hit the button to submit my post, it disappeared. I was quite annoyed and have not had any time to recreate said post. So I'll "spread it out for you in a nutshell." Since College Weekend, which was basically the last thing I wrote about, I had a two-day "spring blink" which was entirely rainy, save Thursday which I spent doing laundry. I did get to see Copeland in concert, however; Rob took me up to Five Points that Friday night. It was a good time. The next day we took a drive down to Daytona for some photo supplies, and we spent the majority of the rainy day shopping. We went to church on Saturday night to avoid the Sunday morning Easter crowd, and then went to the sunrise service at the beach on Easter, which was followed by a surprisingly enjoyable breakfast at IHOP. Registration the following day was the easiest thing I've ever done: I handed the Registrar girl my ID, said "I'm interning for elementary ed," she punched a couple of numbers into the computer, and I was done. Beautiful. This past Friday Rob and I had dinner at Harry's, and had intentions of doing the Art Walk, but the rain canceled those plans. Saturday I woke up early to do a beach clean-up project which I had been elected to head up for Kappa-Delta-Pi, but due to the early morning rain it wound up being just me and one other girl. (Rain wins again.) But we did what we could, and it actually went pretty well. Later that day was Phil and Tracy's shower, which was really nice. Rob and I put together a game for it where we asked Phil and Tracy questions about each other to see who knew the most. We then presented them with prizes which consisted of random dollar-store finds... including matching dollar-store lingere. Tracy's face was priceless. Quinn and Shelley also got married in Jacksonville on Saturday. Quinn's the first person I grew up with that I actually stay in any kind of contact with to get married. It's kinda weird. But I'm definitely very happy for the two of them. They're perfect for each other. Speaking of, Rob and I ran into Quinn and Shelley last week at the Copeland concert. It was nice to get to talk with them and catch up a little. Anyway, then Saturday night was the Edge, which was great, as usual. The UCF Campus Crusade band was there, which consists of two of Rob's friends who actually grew up here at Anastasia. Then came Daylight Savings Time. It is definitely of the devil. Sunday was a little hard to wake up, but today was far worse. So anyway, now you're all caught up. This week I have my intern meeting, three tests, and an extra day of work. Saturday is yet another wedding, which I haven't actually been to one recently, so I'll enjoy it. And hopefully I'll also be going to the Jacksonville Museum of Modern Art, too. Sunday is my dad's birthday. Next Wednesday is my portfolio presentation, upon which my very existence hinges. Friday is a party for the people on Fusion Leadership. Saturday is my K-6 teacher certification exam (AAAAGGGGHHHH!). The following week is finals. Then Ft.Lauderdale for Megan's baby shower. Then SUMMER!!!!!!! Oh my gosh I can't wait! Nine days of school, then finals. If I make it through, it will be possibly the most anticipated summer ever.

finally...

At long last, a very relieving end to my week has come. Actually, for as busy as I have been this week, it has been a relatively good one. Not too stressed out, as I was last week. And God has definitely blessed me in lots of little things over the course of the past several days, so that's really cool. It's cool that God is so good to us, even when we don't deserve it. I guess it's like the prodigal son, which Rob reminded me of yesterday... from a Bright Eyes song, oddly enough. Part of the song talks about this guy who is in the hospital from overdosing on drugs, and his dad is there in the room with him, and he tells his dad he's sorry for being so stupid, and his dad is like "there's nothing you could do that would make me not love you." God sees us that way, and that's cool to me. What's ironic, however, is that (in my opinion) when someone tells us that ("there's nothing you could do that would make me not love you") it makes us want to do better. I mean, we could be like, "Sweet, I can do whatever I want," but that's not how it seems to work. The fact that we are receiving unconditional love seems to make us want to work harder at deserving it. On the other hand, if we are told that we will only be loved if we meet certain requirements or expectations, it's like we blow it off and say, "Well forget that. I'll never be good enough. And I don't need them anyway." Funny how that works. But a good thing, because I know I could never deserve God's love. And that makes me want to try. hmm.

I had no idea I was going to write that when I sat down at my computer a few minutes ago. I like posts like that. Well, that's all for now. I think Rob and I are headed up to Jax Beach to go to Al's Pizza, which I've never been to, but have heard lots about. It should be tons of fun. Later.

the latest...

So I got my official intern placement in my box today. Very exciting. I actually knew about two weeks ago where I was being placed because I ran into the VP while I was doing my practicum. Anyway, I'm going to be working with Mrs. Johnson at R.B.Hunt, who is a second grade teacher (perfect), and current teacher of the year, so she must be doing a pretty good job. I met her when I first found out I was being placed with her, and she seems very nice and very helpful. I am looking forward to my internship for the sheer fact that it means I don't have to take any more classes, but now I'm definitely encouraged that it will be a good experience.

My throat is hurting today. I hope it's just my sinuses being weird and not me getting sick. I don't have time to be sick.

I had a wonderful surprise last night... I am now the proud new owner of my very own, very handsome orchid plant. It was accompanied by a nice letter and a great mix cd, and of course the handsome boy who brought it to me, who had to lie to get me to find it on my front porch. I'll forgive him though :) Orchids are my absolute favorite flowers. I decided today that God put them on the earth simply for my enjoyment if for no other reason. They're out of the ordinary, and actually a little weird in a way, which is probably why I'm so drawn to them! I think as much fun as receiving them last night was finding one of the blossoms on my windshield this morning. It made me smile. So despite the craziness of school right now, this has been a very nice week.

College weekend went very well this past weekend. (And Easter is coming up in another two, although plans have not been determined for that as of yet.) My parents and Rob's parents met over the weekend, which seemed to go over well. I built a pinhole camera this week, and hope to get a decent picture made from it tomorrow. I have had two tests so far this week, and other than the regular stuff, all I have left is to finish the case study I am working on. I say "all" as if that's a small task. It's really not. The improv team is "performing" or whatever you call it at Fusion tomorrow night, which should be fun. And I hope to see the one-act plays at school this weekend. Also, the pictures from everybody in my photo class and Photo 1 are hanging in Flagler's art gallery this week, so I hope to get over there at some point and see them.

So that's the latest on my life. Thanks for reading. Hopefully more to come next week, as I hopefully will not be as busy. Later.

at last...

at last! my love has come along!
my lonely days are over
and life is like a song...

I love that song.