A Day in My Shoes

Party Throwing Etiquette

2011-05-13T12:23:00.001-07:00

I don't want to brag or anything, but I think I am a pretty good party thrower. I'm sure that people who have attended one of our parties won't tell you it was the most crazy night they've ever had, but they will probably tell you they had fun and felt cared for. In recent years I have seen that many people think they are good at party throwing, but have a serious lack of party throwing etiquette and this really needs to be remedied before the art of throwing a party is completely lost. The following is not intended to offend those of you who have broken these simple rules of thumb. I am merely trying to inform you and turn you into a better party thrower than you think you are now.

The main issue we are dealing with here is food. It seems recently that any time anyone throws any sort of a party they always include this line on the invite: "BRING A SIDE TO SHARE." Seems like a great concept...it makes party throwing cheaper and easier, but this is not always ok and people are seriously abusing it. I will lay this out for you.

It is NOT ok to tell your guests to bring a side when you are throwing a party recognizing yourself such as graduation, being born, showers, weddings, going away parties, etc. If you want to throw a party to recognize yourself you provide the food and spirits. Could you imagine being invited to a wedding and being asked to bring the food? Wouldn't you just be like, "What? That is so rude!" Well, you're doing the same thing when you ask someone to bring their own food to a birthday/graduation party you are throwing for yourself. In these situations YOU are the host and the host should be responsible for food and drinks. The people you invited just want to come celebrate with you and be fed.

I've been getting a lot of graduation party invites lately asking me to bring food. This seriously makes me consider not going because I don't want to provide food for your celebration. Also, you have to keep in mind that some people have multiple graduation parties to go to in a day and we can't just buy 11 different sides and take one to every party we go to. Then you've also got people showing up who didn't bring anything and feel like they can't partake in the food that's there so they don't eat, get hungry, and leave crabby. No one wants that. They won't be back and before you know it you are tagged as 'the people who throw lame parties.' Also, lets just be honest...you never know what you're going to get if you leave the food up to the guests. You usually end up with 30 bags of chips, a liter of coke, and tons of dessert. If you're throwing a party you want to have a good, well balanced spread and the only way to control that is to provide the food yourself.

Don't worry...to all of you who will be attending our graduation party in a few weeks....food and drinks provided. Duh.

Now, sometimes it is ok to ask people to bring food to share. Here are some examples:

1) A spontaneous friend hangout dinner. "Hey guys, lets grill out tonite. You bring a side, you bring a dessert, you get the drinks, and we'll take care of the meat."

2) Tailgating.

3) Your bible study or small group decides to eat together one week. Every one shares in the bringing of the word. I mean the food.

4) You are throwing a shower for someone. HOWEVER...this is only ok if you limit the asking of people to bring food to family who will be there or the people who have volunteered to help you throw it.

5) Church picnics/potlucks

6) A family party or get-together

7) You and friends from class decide to throw a Christmas party. You can offer to have it at your house if others bring food.

8) A casual summer BBQ in celebration of nothing but friendship.

Also, if you have good friends who have good "party going etiquette" they will most likely say, "Is there anything we can bring?" Tell them that they are the most amazing friends ever and then have them bring something you need.

So you see? Sometimes it is totally legit. If you'd like to run a situation by me I would love to help you figure out if you are in violation or not.

Now onto the next order of business. (Also related to food.) If you throw a party during a meal time, you should serve an actual meal. If your wedding reception starts at 6pm you can't just give me cake. If you invite me over for a party from 11:30-2pm and all you give me is drinks and cookies I am still going to have to stop by Chick-fil-A on the way home and I will not feel cared for or fulfilled by going to your party. I will only feel cared for by the lovely Chick-fil-A staff. They always provide the food.

Ok, so I know what some of you are thinking. Well, some of you are probably thinking that I am a huge fatty and just want to get free food all the time. Could be true. Others of you are thinking, "But I am too poor to provide all the food. I want to have a party, but it gets expensive." There are a couple solutions here. #1- Have a party during a "not meal time," before 11am, 2-4pm or after 8pm, and serve small snacks. Appetizers if you will. That is totally fine. Guests shouldn't expect a meal, they'll still get a little food, and you can spend less money. #2- Throw a party with someone else. Team up with a buddy and share in the costs.

This may sound petty, but it really determines the greatness of your party throwing. People want to be loved. When do most Americans feel loved? When you give them food. Or beer. Just observe these basic rules and you will be good to go. Or you can ignore it, thats fine too. But I will not help you eat those 30 bags of chips you have left over. Those are all yours.

A Little Lost...

2010-12-14T14:16:00.000-08:00

Oh hey.

Haven't blogged since May. Yikes!!

Here is the problem: Twitter.

Thats right, Twitter got me. The "theme" of my blog, if you will, has generally been that I take a funny moment from life and sarcastically write about it to entertain my lovely blog followers. The problem with Twitter is that I can now share those funny moments quickly and just as sarcastically without having to sit here and blog for an hour. (Seriously it takes me a long time to post one of these babies. I've been at this one for 45 minutes almost!)

So, now I feel a bit lost here. I like blogging a lot, but I feel that I have no theme, no inspiration. Ah what to do, what to do. What do other people blog about? Life updates, inspirational stories, travels, reality tv, photography, and my favorite- Crafts! I love those darn craft blogs.

I'll figure something out. Just letting you know what was going on. We'll just have to see what develops....

On a Serious Note

2010-05-28T17:23:00.000-07:00

Just a warning...I am about to get super sentimental. Perhaps even boring, but I just need to express my feelings ok????

I left school today at 3:15 pm and it is just now sinking in that I don't get to go back there on Monday and I don't get to go back in the fall either. I have ended my time as a para at Rosehill Elementary. Here it is:

In 2007 I applied for this job because I needed to do something that would pay me money and there weren't any music therapy jobs anywhere near me. Once I got the job, I was happy to have it, but was bummed that I was only going to be a para. I wanted something more I guess. That first year I did everything I could to try and get out of there the next year. Well, here we are three years later and I am so sad to see my time at Rosehill come to an end. When you work with people and see them every day they become like family and I am so thankful for all the great people I met and gained friendship with. I mean, there were some crazies thrown in there, but everyone's family has at least a few crazies.

The hardest part is leaving the kids for sure. I was with some of them for the whole three years I was there and I got to see them grow in so many amazing ways. My time with them is summed up nicely with this quote from Arrested Development, "I like to think they teach me. " They also provided some pretty great stories that I frequently used to entertain all of my blog followers. I know that this new season in my life will bring more opportunities to learn, teach, and laugh, but today I am going to be sad. I'm sad that it is done and I'm sad that I won't see those kids anymore. They are the best.

Here is what I learned from working at Rosehill:

1. The bottom line is that you get into teaching because you value children and education. When things get tough take a moment to remember that.

2. Assume that you are the only one in a child's day who will show them love and respect.

3. Value the people you work with.

4. Every child has something to say, they just need someone to listen.

5. Our society is weird about hugs, but they are not bad things...if a kid hugs you (s)he probably needs one.

6. Laugh all the time.

7. Get excited about the small victories.

8. Relax.

9. Even when you feel useless, hopeless, tired, and frustrated, you can still be impacting someone.

10. You never know when it will be the last time you see someone. Always make the last thing you say count.

11. Leave people better than you found them.

12. God can use me anywhere...even if it isn't where I want to be.

Although I have learned these things I know that I do and will fail at them daily. I just pray that I would love my class every day for all of the years that I teach. The kids I will get in my classes are put there for a reason and I don't want to close out every year feeling like I could have done better. They deserve my best every day. I know I can't do that on my own.

I wish I could put some of the kid's pictures up here, but I don't feel like that is legal. So, to end I will show you some of my wonderful friends. A few of them threw me a Hawaiian style going away bash today and I love them!

April Fools! Or Not.

2010-04-01T16:51:00.000-07:00

I have a minor fear of April Fools Day. I am always worried that someone is going trick me in a huge ridiculous way and I will look totally stupid in front of a lot of people. I sort of picture it as similar to being on the show "Punked." I don't mind a good "group fool," it's just the being singled out foolings that I am watching out for all day long.

This morning I was driving to work and was reminded by NPR that it was April Fools Day and my heart jumped a little. I had a pep talk with myself with reminders to be extra alert to possible April Fools tricks all day. DON'T BELIEVE ANYONE! I was prepared for the worst.

Upon arriving at school and interacting with a few kids, I realized that I didn't really have much to worry about. The kids seemed to have no idea how to execute an April Fools joke. I suppose I had my adult co-workers to fear, but not much can really be done because we all need to be "good role models" for the students, of course.

For this post I decided to share some of my favorite lines from April Fools Day 2010. I also provided some commentary following each quote. It should be noted that I did not verbalize any of these thoughts to the children. They remained in my head and now they will be just between us.

On my report card I got an F...April Fools! (Probably actually true.)

I finished my work!...April Fools! (This girl rarely finishes her work, so I was on to her immediately.)

My mom died...April Fools! (We had to talk to this girl about not using death as a joke and later I heard her change it to "My mom had a heart attack!" Guess we sort of got somewhere.)

You killed my grandpa!...April Fools! (I didn't realize April Fools jokes could get you arrested. That kid's grandpa gets murdered and guess who they'll come to first!)

Rock Chalk Jayhawk!....April Fools! (Ok, that is just rude.)

There is a plant in Mr. Myer's room...April Fools! (I have to admit, he did get me with this one.)

Do you see Derrick?...April Fools! (This one frustrated me because, yes I had seen Derrick.)

My mom has a candle...April Fools! (This one came from the same kid who made the plant joke...got me again!)

(Pointing down) Your shoe has...April Fools! (What? He was pointing at my shoe and talking about my shoe. Why wouldn't I look? The "made you look" jokes were the most popular today.)

I mean, you have to give them credit for trying. I think they sort of get the idea. If any of you have fears about April Fools Day, I would highly recommend working with kids. Even if it is just for this one day of the year. As you can see, they don't really get it. All you have to do is act fooled every time they say anything and look every single time they point at something that you know isn't there. You could even rename this day to "Made You Look Day" if that would take away some anxiety.

And I'm pregnant. Ha! April Fools! Did I mention that I don't really like fooling people either? I am already feeling bad for writing that and sort of want to delete it.

The Best Idea I've Had All Day

2010-02-01T20:07:00.000-08:00

I was driving home just a bit ago and I was thinking...why don't police officers ever pull you over for being a good driver? No, I didn't get this idea because I was pulled over. I just thought that if I was a police officer it might be fun to pull over like every 15th good driver I saw. You know- someone driving the speed limit, wearing a seat belt, and not on the cell phone. I mean wouldn't that totally make your day if you got pulled over and you were like, "What the heck did I do officer? I wasn't breaking any laws." and he was like, "I know! I am rewarding you for being a great driver! Here is a free ice cream coupon!"

It has so many benefits if you think about it. Number one, the police officer's day is instantly improved. Instead of having to deal with people all day who are pissed at you because you pulled them over, you could deal with some happy friendly people who just got free ice cream! Second, we would be using positive behavior management. Instead of scaring people into not speeding by threatening the punishment of ridiculous tickets to pay that probably weren't included in the pulled over-ee's monthly spending budget, you would be encouraging people to drive well for a reward! Maybe the free ice cream or perhaps a cruise! It's like when you were little in school- sometimes the teacher gave candy to the kids that were sitting nicely. Didn't everyone try so hard to be the one sitting the nicest??? And third, self esteem and community love and unity would blossom! Everyone would be happy and they'd feel good for doing good. Regular people and the cities authority figures would become friends who worked together to make our roads safer.

I have often heard people say, "My boss never tells me what I am doing well. He/she just tells me when I am doing something wrong." This is pretty much a police officer's job description. Tell us everything we are doing wrong and make us pay for it. So why not let us know when we are doing things well once in awhile? Just a nice pat on the back for a great job driving safely and obeying the law.

If any of you have any police officer friends, pass this on. I think I'm onto something here.

Heating and Cooling Part 2

2010-01-19T19:24:00.000-08:00

Yes, that's right...PART 2! I did not intend to have a part 2, but here we are. It is necessary.

Before I go any further, I need to make sure that everyone is caught up on Part 1. You can go back a few posts and read the details, but basically my school has been facing some major problems with the heating and cooling system this year. A few weeks ago we had rooms with temps in the 40's! It is ridiculously inconsistent and today's story will further prove my claims that this has gotten out of hand.

Perhaps you should sit down if you aren't already. Today a life was lost. One of the first grade rooms was 100 degrees when the teacher came in this morning and she found that it had literally fried the class pet. Mrs. G.'s guinea pig could not survive the harsh heat and he perished. Mr. Gary (our custodian) somberly carried the cage out to the dumpster this morning. The children watched, trying to understand and the teacher didn't know what to do. She was mad and sad all at the same time, spreading the word around school that her innocent guinea pig had indeed been murdered. Murdered by the "decrepit heating system that should have been replaced ten years ago." (Quote taken directly from the furnace repair guy.)

When is enough enough? Did it have to come to this? We lost one of our own and this could have so easily been avoided. He didn't even have a chance. Perhaps he died for good, though. His sacrifice has saved all the other classroom pets that dwell in our school. Once the other teachers heard the news they grabbed their goldfish, rabbits, and other class pets and ran with them from the building. Because of our little friend and his death, others have been saved. I don't even know his name, but I will always remember what he did.

You Can't Say That...1st Edition

2010-01-13T18:34:00.000-08:00

I've decided that I hear people say a lot of ridiculous things during my daily escapades around life and I desire to share them when they are extra ridiculous. Hopefully I'll have a "You Can't Say That" post to contribute every so often.

For today's "You Can't Say That"...

Setting: Teacher's Lounge @ lunch

One of the aides was sitting at my table and talking about the earthquake in Haiti with another para. They were talking about all the pictures of devastation that they have seen on the internet and the aide said, "Truthfully, I feel worse for dead animals than I do for dead people because there are more people in the world."

#1 That doesn't make sense.

#2 She is a cat lady.

#3 YOU CAN'T SAY THAT!!!!!!!

Heating and Cooling

2010-01-06T12:11:00.000-08:00

Typically when it is hot outside you turn on the AC and when it is cold you turn on the heater. Not too complicated right? Well, at Rosehill Elementary this concept has for some reason not been grasped yet.

Oh, the daily battles with the classroom temperature. It baffles me and makes me laugh all at the same time. The temperature in our building is usually on the cold side, but it really depends where you are. We have all learned to adapt by dressing in layers or by bringing a sweater just in case. The teachers used to do this trick where you put a wet paper towel on the thermostat. It really does make warm air come out of the vent, but it turns out that it then causes cold air to go into the room next door. Oops. Really gotta put others above yourself in that situation.

This winter has been a bit more extreme and harder to adapt to. Something is always broken. The district guys who fix the heaters have pretty much become a part of our school's staff. Most of the classrooms I am in have cold air blowing into them. I don't understand. It is freezing outside and so the air is on?? Sometimes I think there is some big shot at the district who just sits by the controls all day and when he gets bored he turns up the air to make us miserable. Our head custodian, Mr. Gary, is running around all day responding to teachers whose rooms are too cold or too hot. He has this sweet thermometer that he holds up in the air to find the temp. I think it is fixed because he always ends up telling the teacher that the thermometer reads 70 degrees or something, but we are all wearing three layers of clothing and are still cold.

One day, while it was still cold in most parts of the building, one of the kindergarten classrooms got up to over 100 degrees! All exaggerations aside- the kid's crayons were literally melting on the tables. Then there is my favorite room- the third grade math class I help with. For about five minutes the vent blows out freezing cold air. You can walk by and get minor frost bite. Then for the next five minutes it blows out wonderfully warm air and everyone is fighting to stand by it to warm up. The teacher in that class loves calling Mr. Gary in to check the temp and see how dreadfully cold it is, but of course by the time he gets there we are in the five minutes of warm air time.

The other day we came back from Christmas break. It was like 6 degrees outside and I was running to get into the school. I got in, breathed a sigh of relief, and took off my coat expecting to be embraced by the warmth of the building. The weird thing was that I still felt like I was outside. Then we all get an email that said five of the heating units are out. The principle didn't mention in that email how many units we have all together, so that could have been all of them, who knows. It was 40 degrees in some of the rooms! Everyone had on coats and hats, kids couldn't write because they had their mittens on, teachers pens weren't writing and their dry erase boards wouldn't erase. Everyone's favorite thing to do that day was to put their cold hands on your face to show just how cold their classroom was. I don't like that game.

During lunch one of the heater fixer guys walked through the teacher's lounge. Mistake on his part. The teachers swarmed him and asked what was wrong and when it would be fixed and so on. I over heard him say, "Well, the problem is that your system is decrepit. It should have been replaced ten years ago."

I guess these children and teachers will just have to keep suffering in the cold with our decrepit system because the government keeps taking money away from the schools and gives it to the big corporations who clearly need it more than we do. Ah, but that is for another blog post on another day. :) On the plus side for that heater fixer man, if we did have a better system, he probably wouldn't have a job.

Dear Heidi Klum,

2009-11-20T06:39:00.000-08:00

I don't usually watch Project Runway, but I did catch the finale last night. My question to you, Heidi, is this- What the heck were you wearing?? Let me show you what I saw:

Yikes!! Who told you that looked good? They lied to you girlfriend. That reminds me of my mom going to work in the 80's. I will say that it does look better in the piture than it did on TV, but still shouldn't be happening. Aren't you like one of the leading fashion experts in the world? If this is what is in I must be way behind. I'm ok with that though. I don't want to think that is cute.

Oh well...better luck next year I guess.

Sincerley,

Jen "I just recently became ok with skinny jeans" Fogleman

Dear iTunes,

2009-11-18T17:47:00.000-08:00

You are really going to make me pay 30 cents more to download certain music? I am writing just to ask why. I mean, are you hurting financially? Are the artists? I don't want to assume here, but I think you and all of your musicians are doing just fine. For example...I really enjoy Lady Gaga's new song "Paparazzi," but all of a sudden it costs me $1.29 to download and enjoy it? Does she really need that extra 30 cents from me? Do you? Really??

Oh my dear iTunes. I think you are scamming me. I think you know I like that song and assume I will pay anything for it. Well, you are wrong my friend. You are wrong. I pride myself in being someone who respects the work and talents of others and downloads music legally. You may now be driving me to do otherwise. We can't be friends if you are going to take advantage of me. I'm sorry. I just can't accept that.

Sincerely,

Jen "I just want to hear my jam" Fogleman

Aunt Jenny!!

2009-11-08T19:36:00.000-08:00

My new baby niece, Kamryn Josephine is here! She is beautiful and precious and I already love her so much!

Just wanted everyone to meet her. :)

The Gorilla Pizza Challenge

2009-09-13T09:20:00.000-07:00

If you walk into the Wheat State Pizza in Lawrence, Kansas you will see a 24 inch cardboard circle on the wall advertising their "Gorilla Pizza.'' If you let your eyes wander a little bit more you will see the sign that says, "Take the Gorilla Pizza Challenge!" Translation: Eat one by yourself in one hour and you will get $275.

Of course when my husband's dear friends saw this challenge last week, they were convinced that if anyone could do it, Alan could. On September 12, 2009 Alan walked into Wheat State Pizza and took that challenge. This is his story.

A preview of what is to come.

Buying the pizza.

The gorilla approaches!!

Bite #1

About halfway through plus some crusts...it's all strategy.

Alan's proud supporters (and sponsors for this event)- relaxing and eating pizza...leisurely.

"I'm going to eat your pizza!"

We knew we were losing him when he got into the 'resting on the table' position.

One of the final bites...

We kindly prevented Wheat State from having to clean the floor.

He did give that pizza hell though.

So, my friends, next time you see Alan Fogleman walking down the street be sure to pat him on the back and congratulate him on this incredible feat. No, he did not finish that gorilla pizza or walk away with any money, but I'll tell you what he did do. He took a challenge and he did not quit until his own body forced his hand. He filled himself with more pizza than any human should ever be filled with and he did it with dedication and integrity. His motto throughout this event is one that we should all be applying to our daily lives: "I won't quit. I will win or I will throw up."

It's Time to Say Goodbye to the Summer

2009-08-02T09:12:00.000-07:00

This summer went faster than any summer I have ever experienced. Seriously, it feels like it didn't even happen. All of a sudden 9 weeks of camp went by and we only have one week left! Then I start school at KU and go back to work at Rosehill. Let's not rush though...we still have this week! I just wanted to share some of my favorite summer moments with you all. It was a good one!

I got to spend my whole summer with my best friend!! I also enjoyed making K-State people mad about how sweet KU is.

I also got to hang out with the best kids ever. This is us observing Camo Short Tuesday.

Who doesn't love painting faces at the Renaissance Festival?

Saturday staff lunches!

Being a pacman ghost. Ok, I am lying...I didn't enjoy being a pacman ghost. Everyone runs from you and it is freakin' hot under there!

Shaving cream wars!

Nightstrike with Elvis.

My other best friend came to camp!

Being a Spartan with Will Farrell.

Arguing with Andy daily. :)

4th of July with the fam.

Royals games!

Seeing the Fray!

There is a little taste of summer for you all. It was so fast, but so good. I think I will be ready to transition back into real life when it comes next weekend. Ten weeks of camp food is really doing a number on me.

Happy Trails

2009-05-14T10:44:00.000-07:00

My parents do not like the outdoors. My dad is an adventurous man- he will hike, run, bike, kayak, canoe, or surf with the best of them, but he then likes to have a nice hotel room to return to with a bed. Don't bother asking mom...if it is even somewhat rustic she will think it is gross and awful. The closest we ever got to camping when I was younger was building a fort in the living room to sleep under. They wouldn't even spend a night with me at church camp...I had to be an adopted child of one of my friend's parents.

I do enjoy the outdoors and managed to experience camping with the help of those families that would graciously take me to camp and through those wonderful high school youth group canoe trips. Two weekends ago I took my first "no adults present" camping trip. Well, I suppose all of us that went were adults, but it doesn't seem that way. I still feel like a high school kid and actually get mistaken for one quite often. Alan and I went with 4 of our friends to Ponca, Arkansas to spend the weekend hiking, sleeping in a tent, sitting by the fire, the whole bit. It was fun, but I had no idea what I was getting into.

Sunday morning we got up and headed to a place that one of my friends had hiked many times before. Right when we started I asked him about the severity of this trail and all I remember about his response is that he said there may be some climbing. I immediately demanded his definition of "climbing." That could mean stepping over a tree on the path or it could mean we should have harnesses and helmets. He never really answered me.

For the next three hours we followed a creek (a very full creek) to a small canyon. There wasn't really a trail most of the time and we had to climb over huge rocks and trees and were crossing over the creek all the time. (I think I will actually call it a river from now on, I mean it was really full!) We tried to stay pretty dry by walking on stones in the river, but as you will later find out that was a waste of time.

When we reached the canyon we got to this rock face that was totally vertical and had a tree at the top of it with a rope hanging down. Ah, this was where the "climbing" came in. We had to hold the rope and climb up a vertical rock surface. Who put the rope there? Was this a joke that we were all actually trusting this rope and putting all of our weight on it to pull ourselves up??? I was a little terrified. Once we got past that we had to crawl up another practically vertical incline to get to our lunch spot. A few times we were hanging onto ledges while walking along a very thin one under our feet. When we were sitting up in this weird cave/canyon overlooking the trees below all I did was freak out about how we were all probably going to die on the way back. This was some extreme hiking!! I think I hid my fear well.

Once we'd finished lunch we tried to find out if there was a better way back. Mostly I just wanted to avoid that ridiculous rope. We saw a flat trail off to our right and hoped that would lead us down a better way. Turns out the rope would have been a way better idea! We followed the trail for awhile and just kept getting further and further into the brush. There was no more trail. We knew that we had to get down at some point- back to the river. So, when we saw an opportunity- a decline that didn't look as steep as the rest of the mountain we headed down. It was hilarious and ridiculous. We bushwhacked out way down a muddy hill covered with trees and poison ivy. People were sliding and falling and twice I was hanging from a rock ledge with my feet not touching the ground. We would slide into a tree to hold onto and then we would find the next closest one, slide again, and hope that we were grabbing for a tree that was rooted well. It was intense. (I wish I could paint a better picture of what this was really like. Whatever you are picturing as I describe this, multiply it times four. Put more trees and rocks in there. Maybe a steeper hill. Lots of water and wetness.) We were almost to the bottom and my dear husband slid and grabbed for one of those not-rooted-so-well trees. He went rolling through the mud down the rest of the hill and right into the stream/river. Amazing dismount off the mountain! The rest of the way back you could see how no one cared about being wet anymore. We just went straight through the river most of the time.

After six hours in the woods we made it back to the car- covered in mud and each of us having some sort of battle wound acquired from the hike. I want use a better word than "hike." It wasn't a nice little "hike." It was extreme trail blazing. Professionals would question our sanity. I was thanking the Lord that we all were safe at the end of that day. Perhaps you will think I am being dramatic, but we could have died multiple times that day. A good roll down one of them hills or a ledge cracking beneath you and its all over. What a day.

We were supposed to stay one more night, but we'd pretty much had our fill of camping at that point. We packed up camp, stopped at Quiznos, and headed home to tell of our adventure in the woods of Ponca, Arkansas.

I'm Sure it's Nothing

2009-04-03T11:37:00.000-07:00

I have an anxiety about car problems. I fear my tire blowing out or the car breaking down leaving me stranded and alone on the side of the road, completely vulnerable to anyone who is driving down the road looking for a poor innocent girl to murder. I think about what I could do if this was to happen too. I have some escape plans in my head. I think about these things daily when I make the 30 minute drive to work everyday. All the way just hoping that I will make it!!! I have a problem, I know.

Well, today was almost the day that all my worst fears became a reality. Right as I was turning onto the highway that takes me out of Lawrence I heard a loud sputtering or rumbling sound. I turned down the music to listen and could hear it toward the back of the car. My first reaction is always to make up excuses....I thought it was the car behind me and then I thought maybe it was a helicopter flying overhead. Unfortunately, the sound followed me. So either I was being chased by a helicopter (which I might rather have happen) or there was something wrong with my car. I could tell it was coming from the back so I thought it was the tire. It couldn't be because the car was steering fine and it wasn't shaking at all. Since the car was moving fine and didn't smell funny I did what I do best and ignored it. I turned the music up and pretended like nothing was wrong. That always makes it go away.

I got to work on time and heard it again when I got into the parking lot. I pulled into a spot and got out of the car. I couldn't hear it. I stuck my head in the car and I could hear it. I turned the car off and the noise didn't stop. I was baffled. Now my thought was, "Perhaps I should move because I think it is going to blow up!" Out of the car I couldn't hear it at all. In the car I could. I opened the trunk and it was louder. I noticed that my little Rubbermaid box of instruments was moving! I was still baffled. (Not real quick on the up-take this morning.) I thought that whatever was making the noise in my car was making my box vibrate. I opened it up and found my car problem. It was the vibrating pen that I use as a drum mallet with some of my autistic kids in music therapy. It was just bouncing around the box. I felt kinda dumb, but mostly I was just extremely relieved. I am not getting murdered on K-10 today! Well, I do still have to drive home...

Just Catching Up

2009-02-19T11:48:00.000-08:00

Man, this blogger world can get intense. I have people who follow my blog (who happen to be very close friends) threatening to take me off their blog rolls. Someone even threw a brick through my window with this note tied to it, "Post now or die." It is crazy.

In my defense, I would like to point out that my internet access is quite limited. My husband and I make so little money that we are actually labeled as living below the poverty line and had to give up certain luxuries such as the world wide web and all it has to offer. My apologies. This weekend however, I am dog sitting and living large! Internet AND cable! Woohoo!

So here is a quick run down of life since Christmas:

I was a bit busy getting married for awhile there. That was fun and it still is every day.

Then I had to go on this cruise for 7 days. It was just awful. So warm and sunny.

I moved back to Lawrence, the home of the Jayhawks! Alan and I are enjoying our little town home and Jayhawk basketball very much.

I've been commuting to work in Lenexa at Rosehill Elementary and doing music therapy around KC.

I applied for grad school at KU. (I don't know those people. They do look happy though!)

I've been keeping up on this season of 24. It is sooo good. I heart Jack Bauer no matter what anybody says.

I've also kept up on this season of The Bachelor. Mistake.

I decided to work at camp again this summer as this guy's assistant. (Although, I am having some doubts now because he was one who threatened me!!!!!!!!!! Not to mention any names though, of course.) Just kidding, Andy...I understand why you did it.

There we go. All caught up. I know it wasn't much, but I hope I have redeemed myself and mended the wounds that I created in my absence. It may take time to heal, but we will do it together. I won't ever leave you again.

Ok now lets get excited about March Madness!!!!! My favorite time of year! Go KU!

Joy, Love, Hope, and Pees

2008-12-25T17:07:00.000-08:00

There are only a few hours of Christmas left, but I still wanted to wish everyone a happy one! I hope your day was full of good ol' family love and cheer. One of the kids that I babysit drew this picture and it cracks me up. I wanted to use it to convey my Merry Christmas message to you all.

Hope, love, joy, and pees...what more could ask for at Christmas time? Merry Christmas everyone!

Your Mama

2008-12-12T09:06:00.000-08:00

I don't have to do much to keep myself entertained at work. As you may know, I am a paraprofessional at an elementary school. I work with the special ed kiddos and love it. They are so great. My kids give me a good story almost every day and even though I may present these stories to you with a hint of sarcasm, I truly do find joy in every one of these moments.

And with that serious note out of the way...on we go to the sarcasm part.

Today I was working with these two little second grade guys on their spelling and they started telling "your mama" jokes. Now, I realize that I should have done the right thing and told them to stop because what they were saying was inappropriate and disrespectful. Plus, we were supposed to be working. Well...I couldn't help myself. I had to listen and take notes so that I could share these harsh slams on moms with you all. I mean...we all used to do it right? Aren't you just the slightest bit curious as to how the "your mama" jokes have progressed since you used them? I am happy and honored to be the one to bridge the gap between generations for you all.

Here are the most frequent ones I heard from these two guys:

Your mama is so stupid she can't ring the doorbell.

Your mama is so stupid she doesn't know how to answer questions.

Your mama is so fat she doesn't know anything.

Your mama is so fat she doesn't know her ABC's.

Your mama is so fat she doesn't pay her bills.

And now....for my favorite...

Your mama is so stupid she didn't paint the wall green. (I never could figure out if he was actually saying 'Wal-greens,' but none the less, it still doesn't make a lick of sense.)

After that they just kept repeating the same ones over and over and eventually turned it into a song. At this point I realized that the moment had passed and we went back to our spelling lesson.

The Top Ten Things I Will Never Be Able To Do, Even If I Wanted To

2008-12-01T21:03:00.000-08:00

Ah, my lovely blog followers, my deepest apologies for allowing so much time between posts. I hope Andy hasn't taken me off his blog roll...

My mom, sister and I just returned from a little Thanksgiving weekend trip to Las Vegas. They say what happens in Vegas, stays in Vegas, but I found that, for me, it was more like, "The money you bring to Vegas to gamble with stays in Vegas." Obviously I didn't win any money and no, I don't have any stories that should have "stayed in Vegas." (I mean, even if I did I couldn't tell you.) Probably the best thing we saw there was Mystere, a crazy acrobatic show performed by Cirque du Soleil. I was sitting there in the theater watching these people do these crazy stunts and I realized...these are things that I know for a fact I will never ever ever be able to do in my life. It was ridiculous. So, I have put together this Top Ten list to both share my experience with you and to highlight how much cooler these people are than me.

And now...

The Top Ten Things I Will Never Be Able To Do, Even If I Wanted To:

#10- Wear this outfit to work.

#9- Ride on the back of this snail.

#8- Stand on a large ball for more than 2 seconds without even moving.

#7- Hold onto someone while swinging upside down a million feet in the air. (Ok, not a million, but it was freakin' high!)

#6- Swing and flip from bar to bar with multiple other people trying to complete the same task...a million feet in the air.

#5- Balance myself on one hand on a small platform...a million feet in the air.

#4- Balance a very strong man upside down on my shoulder. (And let's face it, I couldn't be the other guy either.)

#3- Hang very high in the air by one hand while using my feet to flip a large metal cube around.

#2- That.

And, the number one thing that I will never be able to do even if I wanted to is....

I can't even explain what is happening here. It is real though...I saw it.

There you have it folks. I know you thought I was talented, but I have finally found some people who can out do me. The pictures don't really even do these people justice. The things they could do were crazy!!!!!!!!

I suppose I shouldn't be so negative, though. Maybe if I start now I could do one of those things. At least get that outfit and wear it to work.

A Little Voting Day Advice

2008-11-04T08:43:00.000-08:00

The day is finally here. It is Election Day 2008 and this is supposed to be a big one!

Well, if you haven't gone out and voted yet or are still on the fence about who to vote for, I wanted to provide you with some last minute insights on the candidates.

I work at an elementary school and the election is the hot topic here today among the students. Seriously, these kiddos care about it and are not shy about sharing their opinions. I didn't have to bring it up once, they brought it up every time. I stood in the hallway this morning as the kids came in and they bombarded me with their opinions on who I should vote for. Some of them were literally mad that they aren't old enough to vote. Impressive.

So here is what I found out. It seems that Barack has the popular vote around here. Out of the 5 or 6 kids I talked to in depth (as in depth as you can get with a second grader) only two of them were for McCain. Each time any one of them told me who they favored I made sure to ask "why?" and these were the answers that I got:

Why Obama?
"He's cool"
"He's nice"
"He's funny"
"He'll lower our taxes"...to this I said, "not if you are rich" and she
replied with, "well, I'm not rich." Fair enough.

One of our autistic students just drew a picture of Obama and was chanting his name loudly. I think we all know his thoughts.

Why not Obama?
"He will kill people."

Why McCain?
"I like him"
"Because my dad's name is John"

And, my absolute favorite, when I asked one kiddo why I shouldn't vote for McCain he said, "He's going to die." Haha, I laughed a lot at that one.

I hope this helps all of you voters out there. These kids are pretty passionate about their decisions even if they don't actually have any good reason to be. Who knows, maybe they are on to something. Or maybe they just have passionate and vocal parents. :) Happy voting day!

Helping to Lower the Mouse Population One Trap at a Time

2008-10-20T22:28:00.000-07:00

Oh my that was dramatic. I am still flustered as I document this event.

So for like three weeks now there has been a mouse living in my house. This is one bold mouse, too. He walks around like he owns the place.

Last week I ventured out to the store and stood staring at the array of mouse traps that there were to choose from. I decided to go the humane route and get one that doesn't kill the mouse, it just traps it and you let it go. Mistake. I did catch one, but freaked out when I had to let it go. I went outside with my gloves on ready to go and then just ended up throwing the whole trap in the trash can. The mouse sprung out at me just as I slammed the lid shut. I'm sure he got out and came back in the house too. I put the trap back later because apparently there was another mouse and I frequently saw him just walk right by it. He had figured me out. I finally got fed up and bought some good old fashion head snappin' mouse traps today. It was time to show this mouse whose house he was in.

I left around 9:00pm this evening to go watch The Hills with my lovely friends and when I came home I prepared myself to see if we'd had a catch. Trap #1 behind the door- clear. Trap #2 in the breakfast nook- clear. Trap #3 behind the chair in the living room...I think I see a tail...I think I see a little gray body....Ah I killed the cute little mouse!!!!!!!!!!! He was so small. He just wanted a little bite of the peanut butter that was laid out before him and then SNAP! right on the face/nose. It was very traumatic to see this.

Once I'd finished screaming and standing on the couch staring at it, my ever so patient fiancé had to talk me through the disposal of the mouse. It took quite a bit of talking too. I put a paper towel over the whole trap...backed up...bent down and reached...backed up...bent down again...had Alan count to three...twice, then I threw it in a bag and took him outside. Ha! Following that I had to clean his blood off the carpet. Sick.

So, that is my story. I wanted that mouse dead, but once I saw him lying there I shed a few tears and my heart was sad. It had to be done you say? Perhaps this is true, but if you just killed everyone that annoyed you in life you would probably be put in jail and you for sure wouldn't have very many friends. That is something to think about.

Hizah!!!!

2008-10-06T16:50:00.000-07:00

It was a lovely fall day. Alan and I, along with two of our dearest friends stepped back into time through the simple act of handing a man in tights an $18.00 ticket, that we got for free, and stepping across the threshold of time. The Kansas City Renaissance Festival is an experience like none other and I want to share our journey with you all.

Before I begin, allow me to set the scene. Picture this...leather shops, beer stands, shirtless men, more push up corsets than you can handle, and the faint smell of pot hanging in the air. Ah yes, we had arrived. Goodbye 2008, hello 14th century!

First of all I would like to explain the type of people who work at the Renaissance Festival.
#1--Older people who really are talented, and enjoy acting, at a healthy level, in their spare time.
#2--"The theater kid." You remember them from when you were in high school...playing a character, costume changes, stage names, and being on stage in the spotlight is their LIFE!!!
#3--They wish that they had actually lived during this time period and may believe that they did at one time. They have their own costume for this event and constantly speak using Old English in their day to day speech.
#4--"I thought I'd meet a lot of chicks doing this job." You know that guy. He definitely picked the wrong place for this...unless you dig chicks with horns. He just ended up being really sweaty and pushing little kids on the medieval swing all day.

Now for the people who attend the Renaissance Festival:
#1--Serious fans. They have a season pass, their own parking space, an "I am the Renaissance Man" t-shirt, and have the daily schedule of events memorized.
#2--Theater kids who didn't make the cut. They show up in their homemade costumes and run around over using the Old English accent too loudly and attempt to show these people what they missed out on by not hiring them!! During our journey we saw an actual actor insult one of these types due to her lack of legitimate "Renaissance dialogue."
#3-- Cute families with their kids on leashes.
#4--Pot smokers.
#5--People who got free tickets and didn't really know what the Renaissance Festival was, but didn't have any plans on Sunday so they figured they'd check it out.

I'll let you guess what group we were in. Let me say though, we were not disappointed in our decision to attend this event. We were a little sad that we had forgotten to wear our capes, but satisfied none the less. I will just highlight some of our favorite moments.

The first was definitely the axe throw. You literally paid two bucks to chuck an axe at a wall. Seemed dangerous. The Deeb had a great time watchcing the weaker people attempt this dramatic feat. It was pretty funny. They hurled those darn things as hard as they darn well could and the handle would just loudly hit the wall and the axe would fall to the ground. When my strong and handsome fiance stepped up you know he gave an impressive show. He stuck 2 out of 3. I should mention that we also payed to throw ninja stars. The guy running that station got so into his part that he decided not to wear deoderant. Just embracing the renaissance culture...can't hate him for that.

The second event that is worth mentioning was the "Barbarian Warriors" section of the festival. Basically they give kids-of all shapes and sizes- a foam sword or axe, tell them not to take head shots, and release them into a fenced off clearing where they can just run around and "fight." This was quite entertaining to watch. Alan and I decided to train our kid to actually know how to sword fight, send him in there and let him DOMINATE everyone!! While he is in there we will go drink beer.

And now for the grand finale event that pretty much gave us our renaissance fill for the next year...or two. A joust! This is when the Deeb got really excited and attempted to join the renaissance culture by taking his shirt off. It was back on in about two minutes. The Master of Ceremonies got us all riled up while we chose our favorite jouster, a kid in a cape/robe in the front row yelled constantly with all his might in his best Old English accent, and a woman in front of us educated us on how different this show would be than actual jousting. The Deeb wanted to see a for real joust to the death, but she insisted that it would be too bloody and that a lot of people would sue. (She was one of those "serious fans" that I described earlier.) Finally, the show began and despite our cheering, the jouster of Alan's and my choice fell from his horse. Then the tides turned and Sir Matthew arose and forced Sir Marcus, under the blade of his sword, to surrender his win and challenged him to a "joust to the death" at the hour of 5. Unfortunatley, we could not stay around for that.

We took one more lap around ye old fair and then left the gates of the past and stepped back into 2008. Our world. Sometimes it is good to leave the world for awhile and experience something new with good friends. Just know that you don't need a cape, a corset, or pot to fully understand the people and culture of this time. All you need is an $18.00 ticket, a friend who is willing to take his shirt off for a few minutes, and a strong, handsome man who can chuck an axe into a wall. The Renaissance Festival will provide you with the rest. Hope to see you there next year.

False Advertising

2008-09-21T13:57:00.001-07:00

Yesterday my fiance and I were driving out to Youthfront Camp West for a fun filled day of paintball supervising. Well, he was paintball supervising and I was hang out supervising. What?

Anyway...we got off at exit 202 and there was a sign there that read, "HUGE Garage Sale This Way!!" Then it provided some nice arrows just to get us going in the right direction. This sign was of interest to us because Alan and I will be moving into a place of our own soon and we are a little short on the dough, if you know what I mean. I felt good about this particular sign because it did say HUGE sale and most of the houses out in this country like setting were pretty sweet. Sweet houses=sweet stuff to sell at garage sales.

I ran into Alan right in the middle of my 'hanging out time' at camp and he kindly reminded me to go check out the HUGE sale. Around 4pm my friend Alli and I decided to venture out and find the HUGE sale. I was pretty excited. The whole way there I was dreaming of all the wonderful things I would find there and trying to figure out how I would get them back home. As we ventured down the road we passed some big beautiful houses and I knew we'd hit the jackpot. Signs directing us to the HUGE sale kept coming..."Keep going!", "This Way!", "You're Getting Closer!" Our anticipation mounted.

We eventually reached a stop sign and in front of us were now two signs. One that again pointed us onward to this HUGE sale and another that said, "Dead End." We soon realized that this road dead-ended right into the driveway of this HUGE sale. We were in a bit of an awkward situation because we couldn't pull the ol' "drive by and if it sucks just keep going" trick. Nope, if we went forward we had to commit to getting out of the car and checking out this HUGE sale. Well, right when we pulled up we knew that this was a mistake, but the kids had already spotted us and gone in to tell mom and dad that they had costumers. Here is what we saw at the HUGE sale: one small rack of really old clothes and a couple tables with really small worthless items on them. I was so disappointed at what the word HUGE turned out to mean. So, we spoke a few words to the family and made a two courtesy laps around the HUGE sale, knowing that there was no effing way we would ever buy anything. Then we had to figure out an escape route. Alli handled our exit beautifully. We began walking towards the car, she looked at the family, waved and said, "Thank you!" It was beautiful. On the way out we passed another car on its way to the HUGE sale and we considered waving her off, but could see that dreamy, hopeful look in her eyes and we just couldn't be the ones to crush her garage sale-ing dreams. Hope she didn't make a special drive out for that one.

In conclusion, we may not have come away from the HUGE sale with anything to write home about, but not all was lost. I got to ride in Alli's new car, Alli got to drive her new car, we saw some lovely sights, had some good laughs, and ended up with a pretty decent story. If I wouldn't have gone to check out the HUGE sale for myself I would have still been dreaming up all of the possible items they had that I missed out on. The lesson learned? If God presents you with a very clear sign that says, "Dead End" take it literally and save yourself some gas.

seriously?

2008-09-16T17:52:00.000-07:00

ok it has been over a year since i have blogged. its like, i am cool because i have a blog, but i'm not actually that cool because i never blog. i apologize to all of my fans out there...which i think is just me...i will try to turn over a new leaf and write more. i did give the blog a little make-over. i think it will help.

so i am para-ing it up these days at good ol' rosehill elementary. it isn't my dream job, but i love those darn kids and i have a good story almost every day. nothing too good today. i started my morning by changing wet pants. that's always a nice way to start the day. :)

yesterday i attempted to sue my dentist. my hope was that he wouldn't show up in court, but there he was! scared the poop out of me. (not literally.) i did my best to stand up for all those who have ever been screwed by insurance! i think i would have made you proud. i didn't win completley, but i didn't lose either. i know i made him feel at least a little bad because i cried the whole darn time. a legal victory? Not really. A moral victory? Absolutely!

don't worry, this post was mostly just a warm-up. they will only get better.

What a Day.

2007-08-09T17:18:00.000-07:00

dang. like 11 weeks of summer just flew by and are gone. i've just been at camp for 11 weeks and it is done. the way time flies always blows my mind. seriously.

it was a really good summer overall. i loved being at west. it was a good change. i always love the little things...like the amazing sun sets over the lake here, staff being ridiculous before events, discs flying and hitting cars in the parking lot, shaving cream wars. there were some pretty hilarious moments here too: me putting aloe in my eyes, "just say it, " dustin calling me out with the spirit stick, disc in the lake, micah and aaron "boxing," the raves, bobs and statues, the fireworks display, "the sween team," the handicapped boy's phantom birthday, snake babies, aaron's inapprop shirt, all out week 10!!...man i pretty much just laugh here all the time. it is good.

now it is done and life transitions. i got a new house in kc and a job as a para in shawnee mission. i am sad to leave this place, but it will be good. i learned so much and God proved over and over again to be so faithful. i felt joy and i felt free.

Darn Near Perfect, a Way in the Wilderness

2006-12-12T11:56:00.000-08:00

There are moments in life where you can just stop, look around and think, “Man, everything is just about perfect right now.” You know what I am talking about…you look around and you can’t help but smile. Your heart is happy and everything that is happening is good. All is right with the world. These seem to be very quick moments that you want to hold onto forever. Those are incredible and wonderful moments!

There are two things I now know about these said “perfect moments” that I have just realized in the last few days. Number one is that they are the sweetest when you are coming out of a bad few months or rough time in life. It is like you don’t know the exact moment, but stuff just got better and all of a sudden you see so clearly a perfect and wonderful moment where life is good again. It makes the all crap you went through worth it. Completely worth it.

I have two “perfect moment” experiences that I can remember from the last year. One of them came after a long and horrible healing process that followed an awful break-up. I struggled for over a year with trying to get over this man that I loved and cherished very deeply, but then lost for reasons I couldn’t understand. I struggled with sadness, anger, jealousy…the whole mess. Then spring break came and I went to New Orleans on a CRU hurricane relief trip. On the last day of the trip our group worked so hard and so diligently to finish gutting a house for a family that we’d met that morning and we did it! We stood by our ridiculously huge pile of trash and walked away that day feeling like we helped and loved someone. It felt so great to serve the Lord by serving people in need. That night a group of us went to Café Du Monde in New Orleans and this is where the moment happened. I was sitting around a table with my favorite people, in New Orleans after a sweet day of work, drinking hot chocolate and laughing…sounds cheesy, but it was so good! Amidst the laughter and powdered sugar I stopped and realized that at that very moment life was perfect. The place, the day, the people…I was blessed and loved by God and it was good. The guy I had been getting over all year was even there and I had this moment. That is God’s grace right there. There was also a new guy sitting next to me that I would soon be in a relationship with. That was a good moment…for sure.

Here it is...

The second perfect moment that I clearly saw happened just a few nights ago. This semester has sucked. I don’t know why or what specifically sucked, but it did. I went through some weird spiritual stuff and some weird relational stuff and there was just no reason for it other than God was doing a work in my life and it was some hard stuff to face. I felt dark and anxious inside and lacked a joy that I usually felt in my heart. I couldn’t shake it no matter what. I couldn’t find joy anywhere. So…in short…it was awful. The other night, though…a moment. I was on big group date night with a very special man and it was very enjoyable. We went to dinner and then ice skating in Kansas City. When all the couples got onto the ice skating rink most of us made our way to the middle and started being so cute. There was Christmas music playing, Christmas lights, and people just being fun. My date and I were twirling around and laughing and it was so good. To look around and see my friends being so fun and to see that for the first time in a long time the man I was with and I were truly enjoying each other, was an amazing moment. I felt joy and love…cheesy again, but so true. Life in that moment was perfect. My date even said to me, “This is like a New Orleans moment.” He felt it too.

This is really one of the only pictures of us from that night.

So, along time ago in this entry I said that there are two things I know about these perfect moments in life and here is the second one: God blesses us with these moments of joy and a healed heart, but he ultimately wants us to desire the sucky times that precede the perfect moments. It is during the bad times that he is shaping and perfecting us. He brings us to such a low point that we can’t help but to rely solely on Him. The other day in church our pastor referred to trying times in life as being times when we are “brought into the wilderness.” He said that God takes us into “the wilderness” where we have nothing and there he can begin to work on us and train us to be faithful. As humans we hate being in “the wilderness.” We resist it, want out so badly, and rejoice when we finally do leave that time. But you know what? Here is the kicker…while we freak out and want more than anything to not be in those awful times in the wilderness, Jesus continued to return there. He trusted God so much and had such a desire to be shaped and made to be just like his heavenly father, that he sought out times in the wilderness. Despite the discomfort and hardship that it brought, he knew that ultimately it was preparing him to be faithful.

That hit me. I hated this semester because it felt so bad. I love being joyful and I do seek out the joyful moments. I am not saying that the “perfect moments” in life are not good. They are a blessing and it is a time for you to really see how God got you through the wilderness. He promises to do that and so we should rejoice when we see that promise fulfilled in our lives. We shouldn’t be so resistant and scared of the other times though. We should always be ready and willing to go into the wilderness and trust that God is going to do something good there. Consider it joy my brothers, right?

When life is rough it is ok. We are where we are for a reason and God will not leave us in the wilderness with more than we can handle. He is preparing us to be faithful. He is bringing to light the things that hinder us from knowing Him better. It is painful and the darkenss often seems to have no end in sight, but be encouraged- there are so many perfect moments promised too! Life to the full!

I praise God that I got through this semester and I am so elated to have the majority of the trials it held past me. The other night when I was surrounded by friends and my heart felt nothing but joy in that one moment where I could say life was good again, I almost cried. God brought me through and I was so gracious. The good times that follow the bad show even more the sweetness of our maker. So now instead of clinging to that perfect moment and trying to hold onto it I need to embrace where God has me today and be willing to let Him continue to refine and purify me even if it hurts. He loves me and that will not change. God is in the wilderness and He is in the perfect moments. He just is.

Snow Day!!

2006-11-30T10:48:00.000-08:00

ah, the first snow...everybody loves that day! pretty soon we will all hate snow and the winter, but for this first one of the season we are all darn excited. i work in the little kid schools now and it is way more likely for them to cancel little kid school than it is for them to cancel big kid school. i remember one year they cancelled the busses on campus at big kid school before they cancelled classes. some people were trapped on campus, their homes miles away. ridiculous. but! today is a different story...for me anyway. while my roommates get up early to finish homework and study, i get to stay in my sweat pants all day! holler. no complaining here. everybody loves a good snow day.

church was really amazing the other day. tim keel, the pastor talked about james 3:1-12. the main point of it was telling us to love people with our words. it asked how can we use the same tongue to praise god that we use to hurt others? good point. he touched on sarcasm, criticism, and gossip and gave a loving alternative to each one: sincerity, encouragement, and covering. man, it really hit me. i am good at loving people with my actions, (most of the time) but i do not do it well with my thoughts or words. i am really good at gossip and not standing up for a friend. i am also an expert sarcasm speaker and i guess sometimes that can hurt people. stuff that doesn't need to be funny i make funny. why? the criticism happens mostly in my head, but that isn't good either. i can't encourage a friend with my words and in my head think they are ridiculous. that isn't love at all. my prayer for this week has been that i may have more compassion on my friends. that i would love them with all my heart and be able to offer them sincerity and love in all i do. it is hard, but good to have in my mind. i love god and offer praise to him...i want the same tongue that speaks those praises to love my friends too.

so there it is. life is good and god is faithful. i am blessed and i am loved. god is faithful, god is good.

Turkey Turkey Turkey

2006-11-23T21:53:00.000-08:00

Ah yes, another thanksgiving day has come and gone. it wasn't the best one, but it was pretty darn good. what really makes a thanksgiving good anyway? it is a day that we set aside to give thanks right? well geeze, i have a ton to be thankful for. i am blessed beyond belief because i have a marvelous family and our table today was full of delicious food. not to mention, we were in a warm house and we all have cars that we drove over to grandmas. PLUS we all have jobs and friends and so much more than that. so...let me re-phrase my first attempt to describe my thanksgiving day: it was amazing and full of more blessings than i probably noticed! i am thankful and should be so every single day when i wake up in a warm bed under a roof and can then walk to a cupboard that is full of food. i can also call my parents and siblings any time i need and they will be right there no matter what, loving and supporting me. dang. i wish i could understand how sweet that is. unfortunately i don't think any of us know how to appreciate stuff until we don't have it anymore. sad right? well, lets stop that! praise the lord for all the blessings you have! even if life seems to be sucking, we are still promised peace and love from our heavenly father. he'll give life to the full! his grace is sufficient.
happy turkeys!

Ah Life

2006-11-12T20:33:00.000-08:00

yeah, life has sort of had me down this semester. it has been a bit rough, but God is faithful and i know that this is all a part of his plan to make me love Him more. it is hard for me to even explain what was so bad. a big part of it had to do with an amazing relationship that some how went bad and the rest has just been a spiritual battle i think. i've lacked a lot of joy in my heart even when nothing around me had changed at all. sometimes i just feel a dark heaviness in me. i don't know. God is good and He promises peace and joy and life to the full! He loves me well and He will fight this battle for me. that is comforting and i pray that i would believe that! i am blessed.

it was funny to me to read that last entry that i posted. it was quite awhile ago and stuff sure has changed. i was dating a boy and was pretty much head over heals for him. i don't know what happened, but it got real messed up. i think we sort of rushed things/i freaked out/we were both very selfish. i don't know, but i miss what it was. i miss who he was. i miss how he loved me so well. i miss being able to encourage him. he is amazing, but i don't know where that man went. we had a good relationship and i don't know where that went.

i pray for us a lot, but i am getting to a point where i don't know if there is hope anymore. i don't know if it will be fixed, or if i even want it to be fixed. as of now, i don't. he freaked on me recently and doesn't want to talk for a few weeks. that is fine, but i might be gone when he decides to come back...

hold fast to what is good.

I Hate that Freakin' Bird

2006-04-15T11:42:00.000-07:00

Ah yes, that freakin' bird. You know that means I am at home. We have so many pets, it is ridiculous. We could never have pets when I was younger. We only had one stupid cat that was real mean to everyone except mom. Then it died and we get nothing. Ok, we did have hermit crabs I guess. Thank goodness for Buddy, that's all I'm sayin'.

Well...it is April already. That is crazy. I am at home this weekend for Easter and so far that is going well. I enjoy being somewhere where people take care of you. It feels good to be taken care of right? Yes, I think so.

I love life right now...it is so good. Tate is home again and all of my friends are blessings. Of course there is also the new boyfriend, who is pretty amazing as well. I am way excited for camp, which happens soon, but pretty sad that life changes soon also. I'll be walking down that hill! Time flies, eh? Well, this is somewhat boring, so I will go ahead and just end it there.

God is so good and we all need to trust Him MORE! He knows what He is doing, believe it or not. That is all.

Spring Break New Orleans Baby!

2006-03-25T17:37:00.001-08:00

Spring Break has once again come to an end. It was definitely one of the best I have ever had. It was so good!

I headed down south to New Orleans, Louisiana for my fourth Katrina Relief trip. It is pretty amazing that you can still see so much distruction even after so many months.

A group of us went back to Pass Christian, Mississippi where we had been before and got to see our Bonnie again as well as some sweet people from the community. It was a blast. Danielle and I washed dishes for two days straight! I am just glad that Bonnie won't have to do it now. We then finished the week in New Orleans and gutted out almost two houses in two days. The group I was in was so great. Real hard workers and real loving hearts. It was a great great great experience. I say it again....it was great! Another plus was that I got to see my Tate again! She is da bomb and she hooked Danielle and I up with some VIP sleeping quarters. Thanks girl....I love you so much for so many reasons!!

Also, Andersen Cooper from CNN talked on my cell phone.

So...needless to say break was awesome. God once again showed His power, love, and grace through this tragedy and I was able to serve Him along side some amazing people! Sweet huh? Yes!

Human Anatomy= The Plaza

2006-02-27T12:58:00.000-08:00

I pretty much really love this color.

Ok, so Emily Ashcraft pretty much figured me out and found the Jen Blog. Sorry Tate, I hope you aren't mad that one of your fans is looking at my blog and Emily I am sorry I kept this from you. It really was such a dilema in my heart. Anyway...let's all be friends??

Pretty funny story:
Today I got to my Human Anatomy Class and went up to my usual seat in 130 Budig to sit by my peeps that are in there. I am sitting there pulling out my notes and all of a sudden there is a fountain of carbonated beverage raining down on me. I am totally not exaggerating...it was a flowing fountain that could probably be put in The Plaza. My friend Al, who was next to me opened up this flavored water crap and it totally exploded, rained on her head, and sprayed anyone within a ten foot radius. It was incredible and hilarious. Everyone looked at us and I was crackin' up as Al looked up at me with carbonated water running all down her glasses and said, "Well, I guess I am not going to be in Anatomy today." Poor Al. It was good though. Real good.

So...there is my life I guess. Pretty exciting eh?? I must now continue my afternoon of homework and diligent studying. (I am also a liar.)

The Light at the End of the Tunnel

2006-01-25T22:01:00.000-08:00

I am now in my last semester of college. Scary?? Uh, yeah. Really good too though, because that means soon I will be done with homework and crap like that. Sweet.

So...life is amazing right now and God gets the credit for that. I am ready to live up this last semester here at good ol' KU and then see where life leads. Well, I got an internship, so I guess the next step is actually already planned. Yeah, its good.

This was a lame entry and it has been awhile since I've written anyway. I guess to summarize the last month, break rocked. I loved being home, DCC was a blast, and the Mississippi trip was incredible in so many ways. I got over some certain boy issues and encountered some new ones. Life will always give ya somethin' eh? So, thats it. I loved break and am sad it's over, but I am ready to live it up and party hard! Oh...wait...I'm not actually going to do that. Not in a bad way anyway.

Goodnight to you all. (Or just you, Tate)

NU= Da Bomb Also

2005-12-29T15:45:00.000-08:00

Last night the world watched as the Nebraska Cornhuskers took on Michigan in the Alamo Bowl. There was quite a bit of excitement in the air, for these Huskers were ready to take the whole win. None of this "splitting of the National Title" business that occurred in 1997. No, no my friends...this one was ours. All of it. The game brought cheers, yells, frustrations, tears, joy, and finally, success. I must admit, I myself thought the game was over for sure when with 14 minutes left in the 4th quarter Michigan scored to make it 28-17. Our men were up for the challenge and proved themselves when they intercepted one of Michigan's own touch down passes (suckas!) and picked up a fumble. Did I forget to mention the successful two-point conversion. That's right...why don't you review that one, Michigan. Don't mess with us. Seriously. So...when all is said and done. Nebraska ended their not so good of a year with a bang. The drunk people I was watching it with were quite happy.

On another note...a friend of mine left me a message yesterday saying that she wanted me to call her because she had "news." Hmmm, wonder what that could be. Ah yes, another childhood friend engaged to the man of her dreams. Lovely. The slightly funny thing here is that when both of my now engaged friends were single I was the one in the serious relationship. Then they find great guys, I get dumped, and they get rings. What happened here?? Its ok...we can all laugh about this together. I know that my guy is out there somewhere. Hope he shows up soon. Sort of. I do still have some "single living" to do. Take that how you want.

Well, going over to grandma's for some good old fashioned home cookin'! Only one more day of work and then I head back to the daily drama of my life at KU. Excited or not that excited? I can't really decide yet. I have rather enjoyed my time here at home.

Nebraska Reunions

2005-12-27T22:47:00.000-08:00

Tonite was really fun. I am enjoying being home a lot more than I thought I would. Mostly because I am far from any drama and also because I have gotten to spend a lot of time with people I haven't seen in a long time. Last week I hung out with some swing choir buddies (cool crowd, I know) and we tried to resurrect some of our dances. Not a good idea. Fun though. Tonite I spent time with my friend Heather, who was recently engaged, and that was sort of fun. At first it makes you want to be engaged and then you see them together and realize that engaged and married people are so boring. Actually, a lot of dating people are boring too. All they want to do is snuggle and look deep into each other's eyes. I want to continue being a fun person when these life events happen to me. Lets just hope they do happen! Anyway...I digress. I went bowling with a bunch of people from highschool after that and it was a blast. That made me feel ok about not being engaged. I had a freakin' good time. Most of the peeps I was with think I am a weirdo, but thats fine. I feel like that makes bowling more fun for them. Maybe? One of them goes to K-State, so who is he to talk?

So...I got to go to work tomorrow. Oh yeah baby...rollin' in the dough. Is that how you spell dough when you are referring to money?? Who knows. I must sleep now. Nebraska plays Michigan tomorrow...that'll be good.

On to another day. Goodnight.

Tis the Season

2005-12-25T09:57:00.000-08:00

Ah yes, Christmas day. It is pretty picture perfect over here at 6318 North 105th Avenue, I must say. Laurie Wilson enjoys being quite festive. We've got the Christmas music blaring over the speakers and heard throughout the house, the table is set with our beautiful Christmas dinner ware, the tree is all aglow, stockings hang over the fire place, and Christmas cookies decorate every visible dish in the house. Yes, that's our Christmas.

We opened presents last night and I definitely got The Golden Girl's DVD's season 2 AND 3! Yes!! No ipods for me, I just need my girls.

We all went to church this morning and our pastor tried to do some weird interactive service thing. It was a good idea, but most people were pretty awkward about it. Luckily all of my CRU emcee experience allowed me to get up there and handle it rather well.

Well, over the river and through the woods to grandmothers house we go. Actually, it is around the block and in the driveway to the Norton's house we go. We are off for Christmas dinner and probably a lot of gift certificates. Good times! I shall leave you with this Christmas message, "Celebrate Jesus, Celebrate!"
Merry Christmas to all and to all a good...Day?

KU= Da Bomb

2005-12-23T22:57:00.000-08:00

Yes that is right...KU is da bomb. The Jayhawks pretty much dominated the Fort Worth Bowl this evening and it was a beautiful thing. Hello, Brian Murph-dawg going 85 yards on a punt return and getting a touchdown?? That man is amazing. Cornish had a career high night as well and we all found out that he is real cute. So...yeah, they the bomb. First bowl win since 1995. This one time I was playing NCAA Football on the playstation with this boy I was dating and I ran like 99 yards for a touchdown when I faked a punt return. That was a beautiful moment.

So, I hung out with my ex-boyfriend, Justin #1, tonite. That was good and weird. He still looks pretty darn good and does still like boys too. It was fun to catch up I guess, but a little weird to look back and see where time has taken us. We are but a vapor, we are but a vapor. Well, before we go down this road of sentimental-ness too far, I should go.

Tomorrow is Christmas Eve. It is actually my 22nd one. Whoa, I am totally getting up there. Hope Santa hits up this crib!

whoa...look at me...i'm a blogger

2005-12-22T22:54:00.000-08:00

Am I really doing this? I mean, I just got an account so that I could post stuff on Amanda Tate's blog. I am not trying to be her and have a blog. Even if I did there is no way it would ever be as popular as hers. She pretty much rules the blog world. Yeah...its all hers. I won't mess with it. For real.
Why am I up? Gotta work with spitting up and popping babies at like 9 tomorrow morning. Sick.