amazing...
The weather is so beautiful this week! I don't think it could be any more perfect! That's all I wanted to say today. I thoroughly encourage you to go outside and enjoy the perfection while you can... this is Florida: it won't last long!
Oct 12, 2005
quick post...
I promised a "to be continued" post, so here it is. Friday night Rob and I had a nice quiet dinner of enchiladas and wine, followed by the special outing, which was to Gypsy Comedy Club. It was really a lot of fun. I like birthdays, especially when I get the opportunity to do something for someone I love.
School is going well this week. Nothing terribly exciting to report. OH, OH... except for something really awesome, which has nothing to do with what I'm doing right now, but rather what I will be doing in the future. Judi, my supervisor who does my observations, knows a guy who teaches second grade at Hartley Elementary (south St.Augustine). He and his wife are adopting a little baby soon, and he will be taking off on paternal leave for January and February and will need a substitute. Judi recommended me, and it looks like it might work out! I'm taking my sub training class next Wednesday, so from that point on I will be a St.Johns county sub, which is good anyway, but if I can do this long-term sub job it will be really great. It will not only give me a good two months of experience, but also will give me an "in" with the principal at Hartley. Full-time positions are hard to come by in St.Johns county because of the number of applicants, so any kind of experience or connections you have are to your benefit. Also, Rob made a good point when he said that if I have that job for two months, I will be able to make enough money that I can afford not to work full time for a little while after that so I can go to interviews and what-not. Long-term sub positions make a little better money too, so that would be another plus. Anyway, I'm eager to see how this all turns out. It's looking very promising! I just think it's cool how good God is, because I just prayed about the job thing with the girls on Sunday, and on Tuesday morning I found out about this. How cool is that!
Okay, so that's all for now. I have things that need to be done! Later!
I promised a "to be continued" post, so here it is. Friday night Rob and I had a nice quiet dinner of enchiladas and wine, followed by the special outing, which was to Gypsy Comedy Club. It was really a lot of fun. I like birthdays, especially when I get the opportunity to do something for someone I love.
School is going well this week. Nothing terribly exciting to report. OH, OH... except for something really awesome, which has nothing to do with what I'm doing right now, but rather what I will be doing in the future. Judi, my supervisor who does my observations, knows a guy who teaches second grade at Hartley Elementary (south St.Augustine). He and his wife are adopting a little baby soon, and he will be taking off on paternal leave for January and February and will need a substitute. Judi recommended me, and it looks like it might work out! I'm taking my sub training class next Wednesday, so from that point on I will be a St.Johns county sub, which is good anyway, but if I can do this long-term sub job it will be really great. It will not only give me a good two months of experience, but also will give me an "in" with the principal at Hartley. Full-time positions are hard to come by in St.Johns county because of the number of applicants, so any kind of experience or connections you have are to your benefit. Also, Rob made a good point when he said that if I have that job for two months, I will be able to make enough money that I can afford not to work full time for a little while after that so I can go to interviews and what-not. Long-term sub positions make a little better money too, so that would be another plus. Anyway, I'm eager to see how this all turns out. It's looking very promising! I just think it's cool how good God is, because I just prayed about the job thing with the girls on Sunday, and on Tuesday morning I found out about this. How cool is that!
Okay, so that's all for now. I have things that need to be done! Later!
Oct 7, 2005
lately the weather has been so bipolar and consequently so have i...
The title is a Relient K quote that has been my theme this week. All the rain gets me in a weird mood. Luckily, I think the rain has ended, for now at least.
Sorry for the lack of posting lately. Right now I'm in the computer lab at school watching Theresa's class while she has a meeting with Mrs.Stevens. Life is staying pretty busy. Posting is sort of last on the list of things to do.
Current News: Sunday is Rob's birthday. We're going out to celebrate tonight. I'm really excited, mostly because I get to surprise him. All I've told him is I'm making dinner, and then we're "going somewhere." It'll be a lot of fun! I'll report back after the fact to let you know what we did.
Allie's birthday is in a few weeks, as well. (Happy Birthday, Al!)
I spoke last night at Fusion. It was brief, but I said what I wanted to say, and I think it went pretty well. Rob mentioned afterward that he would have liked for me to say more, but it was really just one of those times where I didn't have anything else to say. I really think God wanted me to keep it simple last night. I'm not sure why, but I'm sure He had a purpose! (He knows what He's doing!) I used the song we sang as kids in church... "The wise man built his house upon the rock..."
... to be continued...
The title is a Relient K quote that has been my theme this week. All the rain gets me in a weird mood. Luckily, I think the rain has ended, for now at least.
Sorry for the lack of posting lately. Right now I'm in the computer lab at school watching Theresa's class while she has a meeting with Mrs.Stevens. Life is staying pretty busy. Posting is sort of last on the list of things to do.
Current News: Sunday is Rob's birthday. We're going out to celebrate tonight. I'm really excited, mostly because I get to surprise him. All I've told him is I'm making dinner, and then we're "going somewhere." It'll be a lot of fun! I'll report back after the fact to let you know what we did.
Allie's birthday is in a few weeks, as well. (Happy Birthday, Al!)
I spoke last night at Fusion. It was brief, but I said what I wanted to say, and I think it went pretty well. Rob mentioned afterward that he would have liked for me to say more, but it was really just one of those times where I didn't have anything else to say. I really think God wanted me to keep it simple last night. I'm not sure why, but I'm sure He had a purpose! (He knows what He's doing!) I used the song we sang as kids in church... "The wise man built his house upon the rock..."
... to be continued...
Sep 23, 2005
survey time!!!
10 favorites...
Favorite Color: Green
Favorite Food: Japanese
Favorite Song: Today, "The Luckiest"
Favorite Sport: eh
Favorite Season: late fall
Favorite Day Of The Week: Sunday or Friday
Favorite Ice Cream Flavor: vanilla
Favorite Time Of Day: I love the time shortly after dawn but hate getting up for it.
Favorite Painting: "The Oxbow"... sadly, I no longer have my VisArt book, and I can't remember who painted it.
Favorite Place: the beach at night
9 Currents...
Current Mood: Relaxed
Current Taste: aftertaste of a stale cracker
Current Clothes: favorite jeans and R.B.Hunt Elementary T-shirt (it's Friday)
Current Desktop Picture: a macro-close-up of a white flower with water on its petals
Current Toenail Color: None
Current Time: 5:28pm
Current Surroundings: "the nook" at the house
Current Annoyance(s): personal lack of discipline
Current Thought: I love that Rob's thought was that he wants to take me to Chicago
8 Firsts...
First Best Friend: Allison Adams (still is!); also Melody Neal
First Kiss: Andrew
First Screen Name: meglee786
First Pet: Sweetpea and Cindy (they were both around when I was born)
First Piercing: ears
First Crush: either Colton from church or Josh from 1st grade... but Josh was a bigger deal!
First Music: Southern Gospel (my dad's music)
First Car: 1994 Nissan Sentra
7 Lasts...
Last Cigarette: never
Last Drink: any beverage: a Diet Coke after the kids left this afternoon; alcoholic: a sangria on my birthday last Friday
Last Car Ride: home from school, with a stop at Flagler
Last Kiss: Last night after Fusion
Last Movie Seen: can't even remember.
Last Phone Call: Rob about 10 minutes ago
Last CD Played: a mix CD from Rob from our 6 month anneversary
6 Have You Evers...
Have You Ever Dated One Of Your Best Friends: no
Have You Ever Broken the Law: Yes, but only by speeding and other minor traffic stuff
Have You Ever Been Arrested: no
Have You Ever Skinny Dipped: no
Have You Ever Been On TV: yes!
Have You Ever Kissed Someone You Didn't Know: no
5 Things...
5 Things You're Wearing: watch, neclace, rings, favorite jeans, favorite underwear (I'm wearing other stuff, too, for the record)
5 Things You've Done Today: administered the final portion of a reading curriculum skills test, administered a spelling test, read a Johnny Appleseed book, made applesauce, felt like "the real teacher" (Judy's out of town)
5 Things You Can Hear Right Now: Marilyn's blender, my typing, the fan of my computer, Marilyn popping ice cubes from the trays, the AC
5 Things You Can't Live Without: ice water, sunglasses, blue pens, air conditioning, organization
5 Things You Do When You're Bored: organize, eat, drive, read blogs, sleep
4 Places You've Been...
1. Chicago
2. New York City
3. London
4. Paris
3 People You Can Tell (most) Anything...
1. God (I'm supposed to say that)
2. Allie
3. Rob
2 Choices...
1. Black or White: Black
2. Hot or Cold: Cold
1 Wish...
to always be joyful
10 favorites...
Favorite Color: Green
Favorite Food: Japanese
Favorite Song: Today, "The Luckiest"
Favorite Sport: eh
Favorite Season: late fall
Favorite Day Of The Week: Sunday or Friday
Favorite Ice Cream Flavor: vanilla
Favorite Time Of Day: I love the time shortly after dawn but hate getting up for it.
Favorite Painting: "The Oxbow"... sadly, I no longer have my VisArt book, and I can't remember who painted it.
Favorite Place: the beach at night
9 Currents...
Current Mood: Relaxed
Current Taste: aftertaste of a stale cracker
Current Clothes: favorite jeans and R.B.Hunt Elementary T-shirt (it's Friday)
Current Desktop Picture: a macro-close-up of a white flower with water on its petals
Current Toenail Color: None
Current Time: 5:28pm
Current Surroundings: "the nook" at the house
Current Annoyance(s): personal lack of discipline
Current Thought: I love that Rob's thought was that he wants to take me to Chicago
8 Firsts...
First Best Friend: Allison Adams (still is!); also Melody Neal
First Kiss: Andrew
First Screen Name: meglee786
First Pet: Sweetpea and Cindy (they were both around when I was born)
First Piercing: ears
First Crush: either Colton from church or Josh from 1st grade... but Josh was a bigger deal!
First Music: Southern Gospel (my dad's music)
First Car: 1994 Nissan Sentra
7 Lasts...
Last Cigarette: never
Last Drink: any beverage: a Diet Coke after the kids left this afternoon; alcoholic: a sangria on my birthday last Friday
Last Car Ride: home from school, with a stop at Flagler
Last Kiss: Last night after Fusion
Last Movie Seen: can't even remember.
Last Phone Call: Rob about 10 minutes ago
Last CD Played: a mix CD from Rob from our 6 month anneversary
6 Have You Evers...
Have You Ever Dated One Of Your Best Friends: no
Have You Ever Broken the Law: Yes, but only by speeding and other minor traffic stuff
Have You Ever Been Arrested: no
Have You Ever Skinny Dipped: no
Have You Ever Been On TV: yes!
Have You Ever Kissed Someone You Didn't Know: no
5 Things...
5 Things You're Wearing: watch, neclace, rings, favorite jeans, favorite underwear (I'm wearing other stuff, too, for the record)
5 Things You've Done Today: administered the final portion of a reading curriculum skills test, administered a spelling test, read a Johnny Appleseed book, made applesauce, felt like "the real teacher" (Judy's out of town)
5 Things You Can Hear Right Now: Marilyn's blender, my typing, the fan of my computer, Marilyn popping ice cubes from the trays, the AC
5 Things You Can't Live Without: ice water, sunglasses, blue pens, air conditioning, organization
5 Things You Do When You're Bored: organize, eat, drive, read blogs, sleep
4 Places You've Been...
1. Chicago
2. New York City
3. London
4. Paris
3 People You Can Tell (most) Anything...
1. God (I'm supposed to say that)
2. Allie
3. Rob
2 Choices...
1. Black or White: Black
2. Hot or Cold: Cold
1 Wish...
to always be joyful
Sep 19, 2005
scattered thoughts...
...feels like home...
"...there's something in your voice that makes my heart beat fast... hope this feeling lasts the rest of my life..."
-----
We had ladies' Bible study tonight, and at the end Kathy gave us a copy of something Mrs.Phyllis uses a lot. It's originally from this little pamphlet thing called "Not I but Christ." It lists some characteristics of certain sins that identify a "self life" or one that is focused on "me" instead of Christ. Some of the sins are a secret sense of pride, love of human praise, the stirrings of anger or impatience, self-will, carnal fear, a jealous disposition, a dishonest or deceitful disposition, unbelief, and selfishness. Each one is accompanied by a brief description. As I read through them, I was reminded, NOT for the first time, of how personal or private or even hidden most of my sins are. Many of the descriptions on this sheet used the word "secret" or referred to these sins being "a spirit of..." That's me. People look at me and see a good person. I'm definitely not saying that I never do things that affect other people... that's certainly not the case. But MOST of the things I struggle with are not things that other people can see. I'm not sure where I'm going with this. It was just on my mind tonight. I think it's just the whole idea that it doesn't matter how good people may think we are, what really matters is what is in our heart. This all reminded me of a quote from Girl Meets God, a book I read this summer. The author, Lauren, is speaking of her experience as a Jew in this passage:
I think that sums up the reality of it. No matter how good we think we are, or how good other people think we are, we are still completely detestable in comparison to the holiness of God. He is so completely perfect. We are COMPLETELY imperfect. Like Kathy said tonight, partial disobedience is total disobedience. There's no middle ground. God is perfect and we are sinners. Period. I have to remind myself of that. Sometimes I let Satan tell me that if other people don't see my sin, then I'm fine. If it's not affecting someone else, then I'm fine. That's SUCH a LIE! What is awesome though is that we, as Christians, are no longer defined as "sinners." God changed our name and now we are His. He has made us holy, which is a complete contradiction in logic to everything I just said. Such dichotomy! We, sinners, can now be seen as holy by the perfectly holy Creator. Simply amazing!
That's all I have to say about that for tonight. I'm not even sure where that all came from! I guess it's just what God was speaking to me. That's not even what our Bible study was about! Anyway, just thought I'd share.
-----
I had an observation today at school. That's where my supervisor from Flagler comes to watch me teach a lesson and evaluates how I'm doing. This was my second one. My first one I really wasn't nervous about at all, and it went pretty well. This one, for whatever reason, I was kind of nervous about. It was a "bigger" lesson, so that may have been a factor, but I was nervous, none-the-less. Anyway, I taught the lesson, and it went well, although I'm never sure if other people feel the same way, so I was still a little apprehensive about hearing what my supervisor had to say. But she spoke with me after the lesson, and everything she said was just so encouraging. She complimented specific things about the lesson, as well as general things about me as a teacher, both of which were greatly appreciated. I was really put at ease by everything she said. What was cool was that some of the things she mentioned were things that I had consciously thought about and wondered if they were going well or if I was doing good enough, and she specifically pointed them out as things that were in fact going well. When that happens, I am very encouraged. It just seems like such confirmation that this is where I should be. So needless to say, it was a good morning.
-----
There's a verse that God has frequently and consistently brought to my mind over the past three years. I won't say too much about it now, as this post is growing in length, but here it is.
"Hope deferred maketh the heart sick: but when the desire cometh, it is a tree of life." Proverbs 13:12
This just reminds me that God knows the desires of our hearts, and He understands that our hearts are in pain when we have to wait for what we want. But the cool thing is that we get to experience such a huge blessing when the time comes for us to receive whatever it is that we are waiting for.
-----
I think I'm speaking the first Thursday of October at Fusion. We're meeting at the beach pavilion that night. My current idea for the message is based on the song we sang as kids in church... "the wise man built his house upon the rock... and the rains came tumbling down." If it all works out, it should be a lot of fun and hopefully a simple message that people will remember and learn from.
-----
So that's all for tonight. None of these thoughts are particularly connected in any way. That's how my brain was working today. Hope you enjoyed. Later.
...feels like home...
"...there's something in your voice that makes my heart beat fast... hope this feeling lasts the rest of my life..."
-----
We had ladies' Bible study tonight, and at the end Kathy gave us a copy of something Mrs.Phyllis uses a lot. It's originally from this little pamphlet thing called "Not I but Christ." It lists some characteristics of certain sins that identify a "self life" or one that is focused on "me" instead of Christ. Some of the sins are a secret sense of pride, love of human praise, the stirrings of anger or impatience, self-will, carnal fear, a jealous disposition, a dishonest or deceitful disposition, unbelief, and selfishness. Each one is accompanied by a brief description. As I read through them, I was reminded, NOT for the first time, of how personal or private or even hidden most of my sins are. Many of the descriptions on this sheet used the word "secret" or referred to these sins being "a spirit of..." That's me. People look at me and see a good person. I'm definitely not saying that I never do things that affect other people... that's certainly not the case. But MOST of the things I struggle with are not things that other people can see. I'm not sure where I'm going with this. It was just on my mind tonight. I think it's just the whole idea that it doesn't matter how good people may think we are, what really matters is what is in our heart. This all reminded me of a quote from Girl Meets God, a book I read this summer. The author, Lauren, is speaking of her experience as a Jew in this passage:
And on Yom Kippur, people pray, corporately, for God's forgiveness. Part of the Yom Kippur liturgy is a long confession, Vidui, a long list of sins committed: bribery, slandery, lust, gossip, insolence, envy, theft. Once, a Jewish man went to his rabbi and asked, "Why am I confessing all these sins? I didn't commit half of them. I haven't stolen anything or bribed anyone or told lies." The rabbi looked at the man and said, "If you understood the glory and grandeur of God, you would realize you had committed each of these sins, every day of your life.
I think that sums up the reality of it. No matter how good we think we are, or how good other people think we are, we are still completely detestable in comparison to the holiness of God. He is so completely perfect. We are COMPLETELY imperfect. Like Kathy said tonight, partial disobedience is total disobedience. There's no middle ground. God is perfect and we are sinners. Period. I have to remind myself of that. Sometimes I let Satan tell me that if other people don't see my sin, then I'm fine. If it's not affecting someone else, then I'm fine. That's SUCH a LIE! What is awesome though is that we, as Christians, are no longer defined as "sinners." God changed our name and now we are His. He has made us holy, which is a complete contradiction in logic to everything I just said. Such dichotomy! We, sinners, can now be seen as holy by the perfectly holy Creator. Simply amazing!
That's all I have to say about that for tonight. I'm not even sure where that all came from! I guess it's just what God was speaking to me. That's not even what our Bible study was about! Anyway, just thought I'd share.
-----
I had an observation today at school. That's where my supervisor from Flagler comes to watch me teach a lesson and evaluates how I'm doing. This was my second one. My first one I really wasn't nervous about at all, and it went pretty well. This one, for whatever reason, I was kind of nervous about. It was a "bigger" lesson, so that may have been a factor, but I was nervous, none-the-less. Anyway, I taught the lesson, and it went well, although I'm never sure if other people feel the same way, so I was still a little apprehensive about hearing what my supervisor had to say. But she spoke with me after the lesson, and everything she said was just so encouraging. She complimented specific things about the lesson, as well as general things about me as a teacher, both of which were greatly appreciated. I was really put at ease by everything she said. What was cool was that some of the things she mentioned were things that I had consciously thought about and wondered if they were going well or if I was doing good enough, and she specifically pointed them out as things that were in fact going well. When that happens, I am very encouraged. It just seems like such confirmation that this is where I should be. So needless to say, it was a good morning.
-----
There's a verse that God has frequently and consistently brought to my mind over the past three years. I won't say too much about it now, as this post is growing in length, but here it is.
"Hope deferred maketh the heart sick: but when the desire cometh, it is a tree of life." Proverbs 13:12
This just reminds me that God knows the desires of our hearts, and He understands that our hearts are in pain when we have to wait for what we want. But the cool thing is that we get to experience such a huge blessing when the time comes for us to receive whatever it is that we are waiting for.
-----
I think I'm speaking the first Thursday of October at Fusion. We're meeting at the beach pavilion that night. My current idea for the message is based on the song we sang as kids in church... "the wise man built his house upon the rock... and the rains came tumbling down." If it all works out, it should be a lot of fun and hopefully a simple message that people will remember and learn from.
-----
So that's all for tonight. None of these thoughts are particularly connected in any way. That's how my brain was working today. Hope you enjoyed. Later.
Sep 17, 2005
o happy day...
I had absolutely the best birthday I can remember... save when I was like 5 or 6. My kids at school were looking forward to it as much or more than I was because they wanted to know what I was bringing for them! (When it's a kid's birthday, they can bring in cupcakes for the class, so it was automatically assumed that I would do the same. I brought ice cream sandwiches, which they were equally excited about. Like I told Rob, I think it's just the fact that it's sugar!) Anyway, first thing Friday morning, I woke to find really cool birthday cards and a "happy birthday" banner from my roomies. Then at school, when I got into my classroom after my morning duty, a few of my kids gave me cards and little presents. It was really sweet. They were home-made cards... those are the best, especially from 2nd graders. Judy, my directing teacher, bought lunch for me (because we order out on Fridays... except I'm always broke) and the second grade team all had lunch together. Judy also made brownies, and Katie, the other second grade intern, gave me a little bag of goodies, and there was a card signed by my team. It was nice. Then, after lunch, Judy gave me a book that she had gotten for me this week at our school's book fair, and all the kids had signed the inside cover. I about cried when I read it. The class sang me the "cha-cha-cha" version of Happy Birthday... it made me laugh. (For those who don't know, that's the normal version of Happy Birthday with "cha-cha-cha" thrown in between the phrases of the song. 2nd graders get a huge kick out of that minor alteration.) The class enjoyed the ice cream sandwiches at recess that afternoon.
After school, I came home to find flowers and a gift waiting for me from Rob in my room. He got me a Poloriod camera, which I am very much enjoying! (I'm going to have to stock up on extra film at some point.) Veronica gave me a home-made card with a picture of an elephant inside, which made me really happy, and she brought home some "birthday cake ice cream" too. Marilyn played dress-up with me for my date, except in the end we came back to the outfit that I had more or less picked out at the beginning. I think she was a little disappointed that she couldn't come up with something more creative for me, but the process was fun anyway. And we were all pleased with the final outfit. And she helped me accessorize, so it was all good. So Rob and I spent the rest of the evening out together, which was really enjoyable. I finally came home around 2:00am and hung my recently-taken Poloroids on the side of my bookshelf and then gathered up the piles of clothing not belonging to me (from the many attempted outfits of the night) before eventually putting myself in bed. Today I woke up and spent half the day with my parents and we just hung out around town. Later I went swimming with my roomies, and then had a "loner" evening of outlet mall and Barnes & Noble. It was great.
So there's the far-too-detailed account of my birthday weekend. Sorry for boring you. I really did have a great birthday though, so I thought I'd tell you all about it, whether or not you cared. Peace out!
I had absolutely the best birthday I can remember... save when I was like 5 or 6. My kids at school were looking forward to it as much or more than I was because they wanted to know what I was bringing for them! (When it's a kid's birthday, they can bring in cupcakes for the class, so it was automatically assumed that I would do the same. I brought ice cream sandwiches, which they were equally excited about. Like I told Rob, I think it's just the fact that it's sugar!) Anyway, first thing Friday morning, I woke to find really cool birthday cards and a "happy birthday" banner from my roomies. Then at school, when I got into my classroom after my morning duty, a few of my kids gave me cards and little presents. It was really sweet. They were home-made cards... those are the best, especially from 2nd graders. Judy, my directing teacher, bought lunch for me (because we order out on Fridays... except I'm always broke) and the second grade team all had lunch together. Judy also made brownies, and Katie, the other second grade intern, gave me a little bag of goodies, and there was a card signed by my team. It was nice. Then, after lunch, Judy gave me a book that she had gotten for me this week at our school's book fair, and all the kids had signed the inside cover. I about cried when I read it. The class sang me the "cha-cha-cha" version of Happy Birthday... it made me laugh. (For those who don't know, that's the normal version of Happy Birthday with "cha-cha-cha" thrown in between the phrases of the song. 2nd graders get a huge kick out of that minor alteration.) The class enjoyed the ice cream sandwiches at recess that afternoon.
After school, I came home to find flowers and a gift waiting for me from Rob in my room. He got me a Poloriod camera, which I am very much enjoying! (I'm going to have to stock up on extra film at some point.) Veronica gave me a home-made card with a picture of an elephant inside, which made me really happy, and she brought home some "birthday cake ice cream" too. Marilyn played dress-up with me for my date, except in the end we came back to the outfit that I had more or less picked out at the beginning. I think she was a little disappointed that she couldn't come up with something more creative for me, but the process was fun anyway. And we were all pleased with the final outfit. And she helped me accessorize, so it was all good. So Rob and I spent the rest of the evening out together, which was really enjoyable. I finally came home around 2:00am and hung my recently-taken Poloroids on the side of my bookshelf and then gathered up the piles of clothing not belonging to me (from the many attempted outfits of the night) before eventually putting myself in bed. Today I woke up and spent half the day with my parents and we just hung out around town. Later I went swimming with my roomies, and then had a "loner" evening of outlet mall and Barnes & Noble. It was great.
So there's the far-too-detailed account of my birthday weekend. Sorry for boring you. I really did have a great birthday though, so I thought I'd tell you all about it, whether or not you cared. Peace out!
Sep 10, 2005
all things new...
Well, school's going well. I absolutely love my kids. They drive me crazy sometimes, but they really are incredible. I'm honestly surprised sometimes at how much I love teaching. Before starting my internship, I would feel uneasy every now and again about whether or not I really wanted to teach. But now that I'm in it, I really do love it. It's kind of weird.
Last night Rob took me to Rock the Universe, which was a blast. We went with several other people from church, and it was really a good time. We only wathced David Crowder Band, and then we rode the few rides that were open still (namely the Mummy, which was pretty good actually), but Crowder was worth the drive. Granted that's the band that I've seen the most, and I've already seen them a couple of times this year, but they are always so good. I'm so excited about the new album coming out this month, too! They played one of the new songs last night, and if everything on the album is that good, it'll be way fun.
So Friday's the big 22 for me. Normally, I'd say "that's weird," but honestly this time it's not. I guess sometime in the past year I just sort of started feeling like rather than being 21 I was "almost 22" so actually turning 22 now isn't much of a big deal. And it's not like anything changes at 22. 25 will be the next "big" birthday. Lower car insurance, able to rent a car, etc. Anyway, all that random information for nothing, except to say that my birthday's coming up. When my kids found out, the first thing they wanted to know was "what are you bringing?!" because the kids always bring cupcakes on their birthdays. I think I'll treat them to ice cream sandwiches.
I got to see my family last Monday for Labor day. While I was really looking forward to seeing Cody, I think my favorite was being able to see my newest neice Allison. She's so perfect. And pretty. Most babies are cute, but she's just really pretty. And she's happy. I love happy babies. I'm really looking forward to watching her grow up. And I'm really impressed with Amy and David as parents. They're so cute. It's so clear that she is absolutely the center of their world. I love it.
Well, back to the Texas v. Ohio football game. I'm admittedly not a huge sports fan, but I really don't mind watching football. And I figure if I stick with watching it, I might actually learn something about the game, as I really only understand the basics. At least I realize that the yellow line doesn't really show up on the field. C'mon girls, that makes us look really bad.
That's it for the night. Hope everyone has a good week.
Well, school's going well. I absolutely love my kids. They drive me crazy sometimes, but they really are incredible. I'm honestly surprised sometimes at how much I love teaching. Before starting my internship, I would feel uneasy every now and again about whether or not I really wanted to teach. But now that I'm in it, I really do love it. It's kind of weird.
Last night Rob took me to Rock the Universe, which was a blast. We went with several other people from church, and it was really a good time. We only wathced David Crowder Band, and then we rode the few rides that were open still (namely the Mummy, which was pretty good actually), but Crowder was worth the drive. Granted that's the band that I've seen the most, and I've already seen them a couple of times this year, but they are always so good. I'm so excited about the new album coming out this month, too! They played one of the new songs last night, and if everything on the album is that good, it'll be way fun.
So Friday's the big 22 for me. Normally, I'd say "that's weird," but honestly this time it's not. I guess sometime in the past year I just sort of started feeling like rather than being 21 I was "almost 22" so actually turning 22 now isn't much of a big deal. And it's not like anything changes at 22. 25 will be the next "big" birthday. Lower car insurance, able to rent a car, etc. Anyway, all that random information for nothing, except to say that my birthday's coming up. When my kids found out, the first thing they wanted to know was "what are you bringing?!" because the kids always bring cupcakes on their birthdays. I think I'll treat them to ice cream sandwiches.
I got to see my family last Monday for Labor day. While I was really looking forward to seeing Cody, I think my favorite was being able to see my newest neice Allison. She's so perfect. And pretty. Most babies are cute, but she's just really pretty. And she's happy. I love happy babies. I'm really looking forward to watching her grow up. And I'm really impressed with Amy and David as parents. They're so cute. It's so clear that she is absolutely the center of their world. I love it.
Well, back to the Texas v. Ohio football game. I'm admittedly not a huge sports fan, but I really don't mind watching football. And I figure if I stick with watching it, I might actually learn something about the game, as I really only understand the basics. At least I realize that the yellow line doesn't really show up on the field. C'mon girls, that makes us look really bad.
That's it for the night. Hope everyone has a good week.
Sep 2, 2005
pressin' on...
Well, for the first time in a long time, I'm sitting down at my house in front of my computer, and I have nothing else that demands my attention at the present moment. It's kinda nice. After a long, busy week, Rob and I finally squeezed in a date night. We were able to do the First Friday Art Walk at long last. I'm pretty sure December was the last time I went, which is a long time to go without doing something I really quite enjoy. However, I will say that I think the art itself gets less and less impressive each time I go, but the event itself is still fun. I think I just like that I have an excuse to walk the majority of the downtown area in a given evening. And I like that so many other people are out doing the same. It's a cool sense of community somehow. I love St.Augustine. I definitely believe I'm made for it.
Rob moves into his new place tomorrow. It'll be a long day, I'm sure, but I'm really excited for him. Then Sunday he and I are teaching Sunday school. Monday, as we all know, is Labor Day, which gloriously means I have the day off, and we'll be heading up to Fernandina to see the family. I'm most excited to spend some time with my fabulous 7-year-old nephew Cody. He's awesome. He's always sure to provide some good conversation. I miss him.
So anyway, I've finished my cup of cookies-n-cream ice cream, and I really don't have anything else I feel all that compelled to talk about right now, so I think I'll go. If you're someone I haven't spoken to lately, leave me a message to say hi. Later.
Well, for the first time in a long time, I'm sitting down at my house in front of my computer, and I have nothing else that demands my attention at the present moment. It's kinda nice. After a long, busy week, Rob and I finally squeezed in a date night. We were able to do the First Friday Art Walk at long last. I'm pretty sure December was the last time I went, which is a long time to go without doing something I really quite enjoy. However, I will say that I think the art itself gets less and less impressive each time I go, but the event itself is still fun. I think I just like that I have an excuse to walk the majority of the downtown area in a given evening. And I like that so many other people are out doing the same. It's a cool sense of community somehow. I love St.Augustine. I definitely believe I'm made for it.
Rob moves into his new place tomorrow. It'll be a long day, I'm sure, but I'm really excited for him. Then Sunday he and I are teaching Sunday school. Monday, as we all know, is Labor Day, which gloriously means I have the day off, and we'll be heading up to Fernandina to see the family. I'm most excited to spend some time with my fabulous 7-year-old nephew Cody. He's awesome. He's always sure to provide some good conversation. I miss him.
So anyway, I've finished my cup of cookies-n-cream ice cream, and I really don't have anything else I feel all that compelled to talk about right now, so I think I'll go. If you're someone I haven't spoken to lately, leave me a message to say hi. Later.
Aug 27, 2005
it's been a while...
Sorry for the lack of posting recently. Life has just been too busy. I am in my... third week of teaching, I think. It's going really well. I love second grade. I've been teaching math primarily, and just helping out with everything else that goes on in the classroom.
Last weekend was the Fusion leadership retreat that has become an annual event for the month of August. We stayed in town this year, which worked out way better than I expected. I just keep being amazed by the awesome people I get to work along-side in ministry. I am so blessed.
This weekend I am in Ft.Lauderdale with Rob visiting his family for his dad's birthday. It's always a good time here. The Stone family is full of wonderful people and I really enjoy being around them.
This week Fusion is making the move to Thursday nights at 8:00, which is such a blessing. Being late at night didn't bother me when I was just in classes at Flagler, especially when I lived in the dorms, because I never had to wake up rediculously early on Thursdays. But now that I have to BE AT SCHOOL at 7:30, and now that "school" is not a two minute walk from my bedroom, it's way harder! This will be a welcomed change.
A week from Monday is Labor Day, which means the annual gathering of millions (almost) of my family members, most of whom I really don't know, or at least not all that well. I am actually looking forward to it. Family gatherings are much more interesting to me as an "adult" than they were when I was a kid.
Other events of September include Rob moving to a new apartment, Rock the Universe, and my birthday. The remaining days of August seem rather uneventful. I am looking forward to the next weekend that I have absolutely nothing to do. That, too, will be a welcomed change!
Sorry for the lack of posting recently. Life has just been too busy. I am in my... third week of teaching, I think. It's going really well. I love second grade. I've been teaching math primarily, and just helping out with everything else that goes on in the classroom.
Last weekend was the Fusion leadership retreat that has become an annual event for the month of August. We stayed in town this year, which worked out way better than I expected. I just keep being amazed by the awesome people I get to work along-side in ministry. I am so blessed.
This weekend I am in Ft.Lauderdale with Rob visiting his family for his dad's birthday. It's always a good time here. The Stone family is full of wonderful people and I really enjoy being around them.
This week Fusion is making the move to Thursday nights at 8:00, which is such a blessing. Being late at night didn't bother me when I was just in classes at Flagler, especially when I lived in the dorms, because I never had to wake up rediculously early on Thursdays. But now that I have to BE AT SCHOOL at 7:30, and now that "school" is not a two minute walk from my bedroom, it's way harder! This will be a welcomed change.
A week from Monday is Labor Day, which means the annual gathering of millions (almost) of my family members, most of whom I really don't know, or at least not all that well. I am actually looking forward to it. Family gatherings are much more interesting to me as an "adult" than they were when I was a kid.
Other events of September include Rob moving to a new apartment, Rock the Universe, and my birthday. The remaining days of August seem rather uneventful. I am looking forward to the next weekend that I have absolutely nothing to do. That, too, will be a welcomed change!
Aug 13, 2005
the saga continues...
Today was my first official "Saturday in the life of a teacher." I spent most of the morning (well, I guess it was really mid-day) planning out my lessons for next week. (I'll be teaching math this week. It'll be fun.) Realistically, planning lessons for 2nd grade math isn't that hard, but since I'm doing my internship, I have to do all this really detailed crap for my portfolio proving that I am capable of writing lesson plans and all that, so for the remaining 13 weeks it will be more complex than in real life. I guess it's better to be over-prepared though, rather than under-prepared.
Tonight and tomorrow morning the Sign Choir will be doing our song (Shackles) again for church. We did it last week at the Edge, and it was a lot of fun.
That's all the random information about this week that I can really think of for now. In my next post (whenever that may occur) I'll tell you about some stuff I'm looking forward to in the next few weeks. Until then, live well and take care! Grace and Peace!
Today was my first official "Saturday in the life of a teacher." I spent most of the morning (well, I guess it was really mid-day) planning out my lessons for next week. (I'll be teaching math this week. It'll be fun.) Realistically, planning lessons for 2nd grade math isn't that hard, but since I'm doing my internship, I have to do all this really detailed crap for my portfolio proving that I am capable of writing lesson plans and all that, so for the remaining 13 weeks it will be more complex than in real life. I guess it's better to be over-prepared though, rather than under-prepared.
Tonight and tomorrow morning the Sign Choir will be doing our song (Shackles) again for church. We did it last week at the Edge, and it was a lot of fun.
That's all the random information about this week that I can really think of for now. In my next post (whenever that may occur) I'll tell you about some stuff I'm looking forward to in the next few weeks. Until then, live well and take care! Grace and Peace!
Aug 7, 2005
ms.lee...
I have finished my first week of being a "teacher." My internship started last Monday, and the kids came to school on Friday. I'm really excited about it. I think it's going to be a really good experience for me. And my class seems to be a really good one. The kids are really cool, and we honestly have very few who seem to be "high-mantenance." Other than some drama two doors down from my class, the first day went really well.
This week was crazy busy. Not only was it my first week of internship, I also wound up having something scheduled for every evening. That was a little overwhelming. This coming week looks nearly as busy, but not quite. Hopefully things will slow down a little soon. I just fear that if I never get a break I'll burn out, and then I'll feel like I need to quit one of the things I'm doing, which really is not what I want to do. Anyway, I'm sure everything will work out soon. Until then, pray for my sanity! Actually, no, pray for me to feel rested. That's most important right now.
I'm really excited about Fusion for this next school year (I think it's going to be awesome), but at the same time I'm curiously looking ahead to what's next. I'm seeing some of my friends who are slightly "ahead" of me in their position in life (married, employed, etc.) who are transitioning out of our "college-age" ministry into other things, and I'm beginning to wonder if my transition time is fast-approaching as well. It's just that so many things change as you finish up college and move on to other parts of your life. A year ago I could not have begun to understand what this feels like, but now I'm starting to "get" it. I'm not worried about it... I know God has awesome things in store for me; I'm just curious. I'm excited to see where He's going to take me!
So that's all for now. I'm sure I won't get much time to post this week, so maybe I'll have something good to say by the next post. Enjoy your week!
I have finished my first week of being a "teacher." My internship started last Monday, and the kids came to school on Friday. I'm really excited about it. I think it's going to be a really good experience for me. And my class seems to be a really good one. The kids are really cool, and we honestly have very few who seem to be "high-mantenance." Other than some drama two doors down from my class, the first day went really well.
This week was crazy busy. Not only was it my first week of internship, I also wound up having something scheduled for every evening. That was a little overwhelming. This coming week looks nearly as busy, but not quite. Hopefully things will slow down a little soon. I just fear that if I never get a break I'll burn out, and then I'll feel like I need to quit one of the things I'm doing, which really is not what I want to do. Anyway, I'm sure everything will work out soon. Until then, pray for my sanity! Actually, no, pray for me to feel rested. That's most important right now.
I'm really excited about Fusion for this next school year (I think it's going to be awesome), but at the same time I'm curiously looking ahead to what's next. I'm seeing some of my friends who are slightly "ahead" of me in their position in life (married, employed, etc.) who are transitioning out of our "college-age" ministry into other things, and I'm beginning to wonder if my transition time is fast-approaching as well. It's just that so many things change as you finish up college and move on to other parts of your life. A year ago I could not have begun to understand what this feels like, but now I'm starting to "get" it. I'm not worried about it... I know God has awesome things in store for me; I'm just curious. I'm excited to see where He's going to take me!
So that's all for now. I'm sure I won't get much time to post this week, so maybe I'll have something good to say by the next post. Enjoy your week!
Jul 29, 2005
'ello...
I know, I know. I've been home all week and this is the first time I've posted. I'm a terrible person. It's just that every time I thought about doing it, I realized I had absolutely nothing of interest to say. So rather than waste your time reading it, I just didn't write it. I had you in mind. It was for your best interest. Having said all that, I still have little to say, but a post was requested, so alas, I write.
This week has been relaxing, which, of course, is nice. Rob did some serious cleaning in his room last weekend, and also moved my painting from there to his kitchen, so now that we could actually see the room and how blank it is, he and I concluded that it needed something. We had already discussed painting the room and have a color palate in mind, but that requires money and time, which neither of us really have, so that is postponed for a while. So in leiu of the walls getting a fresh coat of paint for now, I was commissioned to furnish wall hangings of my own design. (I like when I get to decorate for other people AND they leave the decisions about it up to me!) So my first project of the week was a "painting" (for lack of a better name for it) to go above his bed. By Marilyn's engenious suggestion, I purchased a 2'x4' piece of hardbord from Home Depot for a whopping $2.25, which is WAY better than the cost of a massive canvas from Michael's. (Hardboard is a thin piece of wood, much like the stuff wooden clipboards are made from.) Anyway, I covered the entire thing in newspaper --which happens to be in French, which I don't think Rob has noticed yet-- and then decopaged (sp?) random pictures on top of it... some from magazines, some that I took and played around with in photoshop. Then I painted over the whole thing with blue paint, leaving thin spots for the pictures to show through. I finished it by painting some scriptures on it in random places. I think it turned out pretty cool. It's one of those things, though, that I really had fun doing, therefore I like it, but I'm never sure if it's actually as cool as I think it is or if I just like it because it was fun to make. Anyway, Rob says he likes it, and it is now hanging on his wall, so that's all that really matters, I guess. Since hanging it, the opposite wall seems all the more blank, so my current project is something to hang on that wall. Currently, I have four re-used canvases that have been covered in newspaper (this time English) and I'm painting each a solid color. I plan to hang them all together, or possibly two-and-two to form two columns. I'll have to wait till they're on the wall to decide if they look good or if they're too plain. But as they're re-used, and I always have the option of adding more to them, it's no big deal if my vision for them is a bust. Nothing lost.
Other than painting this week, I took my FTCE last Saturday, and visited my baby niece Allison; I spent the day with my parents here in St.Augustine on Tuesday, which was nice; I got my license renewed (the new ones look funny) and had lunch with my mom on Thursday; and that's really about it, other than the usual. I read through the book of John in my quiet times this week. It was really good, but a lot of information to take in. I glanced ahead at next week's topic, and although I can't remember right now what it was, I was really excited about it, so maybe I'll have some insightful things to say about that next week. For now, I'm off to finish the canvases I think. Or maybe I'll eat a cookie instead, and watch a movie. We'll see.
I know, I know. I've been home all week and this is the first time I've posted. I'm a terrible person. It's just that every time I thought about doing it, I realized I had absolutely nothing of interest to say. So rather than waste your time reading it, I just didn't write it. I had you in mind. It was for your best interest. Having said all that, I still have little to say, but a post was requested, so alas, I write.
This week has been relaxing, which, of course, is nice. Rob did some serious cleaning in his room last weekend, and also moved my painting from there to his kitchen, so now that we could actually see the room and how blank it is, he and I concluded that it needed something. We had already discussed painting the room and have a color palate in mind, but that requires money and time, which neither of us really have, so that is postponed for a while. So in leiu of the walls getting a fresh coat of paint for now, I was commissioned to furnish wall hangings of my own design. (I like when I get to decorate for other people AND they leave the decisions about it up to me!) So my first project of the week was a "painting" (for lack of a better name for it) to go above his bed. By Marilyn's engenious suggestion, I purchased a 2'x4' piece of hardbord from Home Depot for a whopping $2.25, which is WAY better than the cost of a massive canvas from Michael's. (Hardboard is a thin piece of wood, much like the stuff wooden clipboards are made from.) Anyway, I covered the entire thing in newspaper --which happens to be in French, which I don't think Rob has noticed yet-- and then decopaged (sp?) random pictures on top of it... some from magazines, some that I took and played around with in photoshop. Then I painted over the whole thing with blue paint, leaving thin spots for the pictures to show through. I finished it by painting some scriptures on it in random places. I think it turned out pretty cool. It's one of those things, though, that I really had fun doing, therefore I like it, but I'm never sure if it's actually as cool as I think it is or if I just like it because it was fun to make. Anyway, Rob says he likes it, and it is now hanging on his wall, so that's all that really matters, I guess. Since hanging it, the opposite wall seems all the more blank, so my current project is something to hang on that wall. Currently, I have four re-used canvases that have been covered in newspaper (this time English) and I'm painting each a solid color. I plan to hang them all together, or possibly two-and-two to form two columns. I'll have to wait till they're on the wall to decide if they look good or if they're too plain. But as they're re-used, and I always have the option of adding more to them, it's no big deal if my vision for them is a bust. Nothing lost.
Other than painting this week, I took my FTCE last Saturday, and visited my baby niece Allison; I spent the day with my parents here in St.Augustine on Tuesday, which was nice; I got my license renewed (the new ones look funny) and had lunch with my mom on Thursday; and that's really about it, other than the usual. I read through the book of John in my quiet times this week. It was really good, but a lot of information to take in. I glanced ahead at next week's topic, and although I can't remember right now what it was, I was really excited about it, so maybe I'll have some insightful things to say about that next week. For now, I'm off to finish the canvases I think. Or maybe I'll eat a cookie instead, and watch a movie. We'll see.
Jul 22, 2005
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!
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!
Jul 19, 2005
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.
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.
Jul 14, 2005
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.
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.
Jul 11, 2005
Jul 9, 2005
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
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
Jul 7, 2005
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.
(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
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
