Moving on Out!

I went to my friend, Stephanie's, baby shower a few months ago. This was the onezie she received for her newborn. The sad yet funny thing is it has applied to me for the past year and four months...

but soon, this will be me...

Yup, i am moving...............................................................................to Seattle!

Third Time is a Charm

Phew! I never thought choosing a title for a blog would be such the dilemma. This is the third title that I have had for this blog. First, it started out as "Endless Possibilites." I planned on focusing on the possibilites, opportunities, and choices in life, that we can do anything, go anywhere, blah, blah, blah. Yes, I still believe this to be true, but wanted it to be more lighthearted. Then, I changed the title to "I am Hysterical" which is a phrase that comes from my mom, but although my mom and i think each other are hysterically funny, it was coming across too egocentric. So i thought of this title as I was falling alseep the other night. My friend, Carrie, introduced me to this prayer by Henri Nouwen, when I was going through a hard time.

"Dear Lord,

Today I thought of the words of Vincent Van Gogh: ‘It is true there is an ebb and flow, but the sea remains the sea.’ You are the sea. Although I experience many ups and downs in my emotions and often feel great shift in changes in my inner life, you remain the same. Your sameness is not the sameness of a rock, but the sameness of a faithful lover. Out of your love I came to life; by your love I am sustained and to your love I am always called back. There are days of sadness and joy; there are feelings of guilt and feelings of gratitude; there are moments of failure and moments of success; but all of them are embraced by your unfailing love.
My temptation is to doubt your love, to think of myself beyond the reach of your love, to remove myself from the healing radiance of your love. To do these things is to move into darkness of despair.


O Lord, sea of love and goodness, let me not fear too much the storms and winds of my daily life, and let me know that there is an ebb and flow, but that the sea remains the sea.” - Henri Nouwen


I have some big changes/transitions (more about this soon) coming up in my life and it is just a great reminder that no matter what happens, good or not-so-good, God remains the same and for that I am so thankful! Hopefully this blog will give you a little insight into my life, thoughts, and feelings through each "ebb and flow" of my life. Thanks for joining me on this journey!

Lent

So, I wrote this on Feb. 26th after Ash Wednesday, just never got around to posting it.

Yesterday was Ash Wednesday and marked the beginning of the Lenten season. I have to say that I haven’t thought much about Lent until recent years. I remember my grandparents talking about Lent and what they were giving up. They’re Catholic so I think growing up I just figured it was something Catholics did. Another encounter with Lent that sticks out to me was when I was a freshman in college. I was working at Panera Bread in Indiana on Ash Wednesday and all these people kept coming into eat with these black markings on their forehead. I figured it was some kind of cult or something, but it seemed that almost everyone that walked in the door had this marking on their forehead. Surely, all of Mishawaka and South Bend, IN hadn’t been mesmerized by whatever this is. Then, somebody reminded me that it was Ash Wednesday and it all made sense.

I remember being in Peru on the World Race over Easter and being away from the “Americanized” Easter things like the Easter bunny, Easter egg hunts, Cadbury eggs, etc. and really being able to celebrate the holiday and the resurrection of our Lord. I think it got me thinking about all these things that I just do because that’s what everyone does and I’ve done it since I can remember. So, I guess that has caused this desire in me to learn more about these celebrations and observances. This Lenten season kind of snuck up on me. I read a few blogs about people trying to grasp how much more Lent is than just giving up chocolate or Facebook for a short time period and it got me thinking.

Wikipedia (the very spiritual source;) says "Lent, in some Christian denominations, is the forty-day-long liturgical season of fasting and prayer before Easter. The forty days represent the time Jesus spent in the desert, where according to the Bible he endured temptation by Satan. Different churches calculate the forty days differently. The purpose of Lent is the preparation of the believer—through prayer, penitence, almsgiving and self-denial—for the annual commemoration during Holy Week of the Death and Resurrection of Jesus, which recalls the events linked to the Passion of Christ and culminates in Easter, the celebration of the Resurrection of Jesus Christ. "

As I have began to look into this new season of Lent, I have noticed many people are challenging the American idea of surrendering something like ice cream (which they only eat twice/week) to deepen their relationship with Christ. They have began to think is it really about giving something up? Or is it about giving? Or is it about loving your neighbor, fostering community, serving the poor? Is a time to focus on disciplines that you keep saying you want to improve on? I guess there really isn’t a “right” answer.

As I began to think how I was going to observe this Lenten season, I didn’t really know what I wanted to do. All I know is that I want it to matter. One of my favorite sayings is “Go big or go home.” I don’t like doing things half-heartedly. So, I either want to give up something that will cause me to turn to Christ not just do it because that is what I am supposed to do.

Then, through some blog surfing, I was brought to this Lenten Prayer Guide by Bob Hyatt. Now, I am an organized person. I LOVE lists and agendas. I love checking things off and I go through post-it notes like it’s my job. So something that gives me direction is good for my soul. Not that I will follow it exactly, but it is a good guide. It has already been helpful. It suggests that the first week, you fast from sweets, treats, and self-indulgence. I can do sweets and treats, not a problem, but as I read further about no self-indulgences (clothes, gadgets, accessories, etc.), I was challenged. I guess I never pictured shopping to be a real problem for me, but I have to be honest that when I read that, my mind went right to the 20% off Maurices coupon that expires Saturday on my dresser at home. I even have a $10 of f coupon to go with it. I seriously thought maybe I’ll just start this late, like on Sunday THEN I can use my coupon. Seriously?? I really need a new shirt (probably very similar in style and color to the rest of my clothes) that badly?? It really put things in perspective, just because I have a coupon doesn’t mean I need to purchase something. I decided to stick with this commitment and forgo the coupon. I am thankful for the reality check.

For the reading today, I read from Matthew 6:19-34. It talks about storing up treasures in heaven, not serving two masters-God and Money, and about not worrying. I think it has become easy for me to get whatever I wanted. I have been blessed to have a decent paying social work job and to live at my parents’ house for the last year. (Yes, I said it has been a blessing to live with my parents). As much as I have tried to stick to a budget and have money saved up, I could pretty much buy what I wanted. I’m not saying this to sound prideful, but am saying this because I think I allowed this to get the best of me. I almost put a 20% off coupon before my relationship with Christ. There’s an issue here.

So, now here I am, 2 1/2 weeks later and can say with confidence that I have reigned in my self-indulgences. I have been much more mindful of what I buy and how I spend my money. I am hoping to continue this habit beyong this season of Lent.

Goal

I'm a goal person and a list-checker-offer. I have a continuing list going at work that I constantly add and cross things off. And if there are too many things crossed off, I then transfer the uncrossed things to a new list. I know, I've got issues. I blame my mother for those.

Anyways, I'm setting a goal to consistently blog this week and then make my blog "public." I am pretty sure that there are only four people that know this exist and I don't think two of them even know the title. So, here we go...

Oh airports, how I love thee

One week ago I spent one week and a half galvanting to the West Coast then going literally cross country to the East Coast. I LOVE to travel! I am actually looking for someone to financially support my travel habits. So, if you're interested, let me know;) Anyways, I love airports. I love people watching. I love trying to figure out where people are going (or why they're leaving) and what their story is. And no matter where you are in the world, you find the same types of people eveywhere. I started to make a list as I waited for my plane to depart in Seattle. These are the people that I saw, see if you can relate:

- the middle-aged man with the overly gelled spiked hair in a Nike jogging suit with ipod in his ear stretching in the middle of the waiting area
- 4 business men dressed in probably very expensive suits talking way to loud about their business plans
- the infamous middle-aged man flying by himself with the Hawaiian shirt and khaki shorts
- the young couple with the uncontrollable 3-year-old boy sprinting away at every chance he got
- the old ladies talking about waiting in line and asking each other questions about the boarding process and how things have changed over the years, I heard a lot of "remember when..."
- the awkward person sitting across from you that every time you look up you happen to make eye contact with
- the man...or woman...i couldn't really tell...they went into the women's bathroom though
- the teen texter
- the preppy lady with heels and Gucci purse talking on her headset
- the annoyed college-age son travelling with his mother and embarrassed that she keeps trying to do things for him
- dad/father standing outside the women's restroom with a bored look on his face holding his wife's and daughter's purses and garmet bags
- Melissa from the Bachelor look-a-like

So, if you've done ANY travel before, I am sure you can relate. More to come on the SkyMall magazine soon.

Facebook 25 Random Facts

Yes...yes i gave in. Here's the list of 25 random facts about me that I listed on Facebook.

Enjoy!

1. I love quotes. Whenever I hear/read a statement that I like I write it down. This results in me having pink and yellow sticky notes stuck all over my office with sayings that I like.

2. I live with my parents…awesome.

3. The other day I had to cut words and pictures out of magazines to make a collage of what I wanted in life down the road. Of course, family AND a husband were part of it. The magazines gave me lots of options to choose from including Freddie Prince Jr., Donald Trump, The Jonas Brothers, etc. but despite all the possible celebrity husbands, I chose the man from the Wrangler Jeans ad…tall, rugged, outdoorsy, (hopefully loves Jesus) I’ll take it!

4. I have a nose for roasted almonds. I can smell them anywhere and will almost always buy a pack no matter how much money I have or how full I already am.

5. I just spent 10 minutes de-linting my shirt using scotch tape.

6. My toenails are always painted.

7. I am a sucker for love songs.

8. My parents and my brother are my most favorite people!

9. I’m pretty sure I’m addicted to Tim Horton’s hazelnut coffee. And am convinced Tim Horton’s has the fastest drive thru ever!

10. I've inherited the organizational gene from my mother and have this odd habit of making sure all of our movies/dvds remain alphabetized.

11. I clean or go shopping when I’m bored.

12. I’m acting, sounding, and becoming more like my mom everyday.

13. I travelled for 11 months to over 15 countries around the world last year with 50 other young adults sharing the love of Christ. It was an awesome, amazing, and once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.

14. I ran a 10 mile race in the summer, which is the farthest I have ran at one time. I am running a half-marathon (13miles) in May. We’ll see how that goes.

15. In the fall, I knew 18 pregnant women at one time. Babies, babies, babies.

16. I have had my belly button pierced. It only lasted for about a year and nobody really ever saw it, but it was fun to have anyways.

17. I have no idea what is next in my life. I am anxious and excited for whatever it is. And I’m hoping God lets me in on the secret pretty soon!

18. I love Panera Bread.

19. I usually have chapstick on my desk in my office until I threw it away yesterday because when I went to open it to use it, there was black, fuzzy mold growing on it. Sick! I’m not really sure how that happened with it being like -5 degrees in my office.

20. I have changed my ways and now enjoy carrying large purses, even though I only fill a quarter of them.

21. I am a list maker and get great satisfaction of crossing things off. Just ask my co-workers.

22. My next big trip, I want to travel Europe (especially Italy) or go to Australia.

23. I sometimes break into uncontrollable laughter when I read out loud.

24. I love to play any game, except the ones that you have to lie. I can’t lie worth anything.

25. I used to always wish for a baby elephant when I blew my candles out on my birthday.

That was a little more difficult than expected. Hopefully, enjoyable!

Super Bowl XLIII

So, tonight was the 43rd Super Bowl. I didn't really care who wins, but chose the Steelers because my brother was rooting for the Cardinals and of course, I couldn't root for the same team. Yes, I am 25 and he is 21 but sibling rivalry never ends! Anyways, here's a list of some of my observations/comments/thoughts/things I learned:



1. It appears that President Obama wears shimmering eye shadow.

2. Kurt Warner is the better looking quarterback, by far!

3. The beer and Doritos industry seems to be doing quite well despite the declining economy.

4. Defense DOES win championships. (I heard one of the announcers say this and since I was the only one rooting for the Steelers at the party I was at, I kept bringing it up...over...and over...and over again.)

5. The Super Bowl was evidence of a declining economy. That must have been the reason they chose Bruce Springsteen. I'm sure old acts must come at a cheaper price.

6. John Madden's extremely large face and hands are distracting.



7. Coach Mike Tomlin has very nice skin.

8. I know 100 yards is a long way especially when you have 200 pound men chasing you, but oxygen, seriously #92?

9. I thought I had lots more comments, but I guess I don't. This will have to do for now.