Friday, December 30

Done! done-done-done-done-DONE!

This isn't even remotely close to as important as the work Christ did, but it is finished. Kinda.
Most, some or maybe none of you know that I'm going to start taking master degree courses long distance from Covenant Sem. Primarily I'll work on Systematic Theology courses. (Quoth Mentor Dave as he looked at my course schedule: "Yeah, that's a good idea. All of these have LOTS of reading. Get it done now.") Sooo...

My application essay (for the non-degree program) is FINISHED! Yea! (Ok, kinda finished, but it just need another set of eyes to edit it. Then it will be emailed off.)

I have to set small deadlines to accomplish anything. So, yes, this is much easier of an app essay than the one I may do in a year, but it's still done. Now the scary part begins.

Wednesday, December 28

Joke of the Day

What did the Snowman say when he recieved two pieces of coal for Christmas?









"I can see, I can see!"


(Yes, cheesy, but light. Just the ticket for my last day of work for the week!)

D'oh!

I'm an idiot - one of the best gifts I got was "Dear Frankie" -- from my sweet brother. One of his little known talents is gift buying. I plan on watching "Frankie" sometime tonight, which is what brought it to mind.

Tuesday, December 27

Breaking the blogging silence (i.e., laziness.)

Well, it seems as thought not much has happened since I last blogged, but thinking about that statement for 2 seconds proves me wrong.

LSG came home - Although I didn't get to see her for almost the entire first week she was home because I picked up those hours at the other job. I'll be really happy when I see my next paycheck, though! I worked two nights and a day (about 13 hours) the week leading up to Christmas. Keep in mind I log somewhere around 3-6 hours a week during the typical season. So, even though I didn't even get close to 20 hours (part-time) it felt like I lived there.

Friday was pretty good, because I didn't have much planned - that evening our church did have a wonderful Christmas Concert, in which Melodee sang wonderfully from Handel's Messiah (not. an easy song) and I sang "It Came Upon a Midnight Clear." I'm happy with the result, but I'm happiest that I took a fairly substantial step forward in reducing my nerves prior to singing. (I've literally had my knees shake while I was singing at a wedding.)

Saturday was wonderful and horrible all at the same time - I had some sort of stomach thing going on, so I spent most of the day sitting in front of the TV with a blanket and reading Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince. The wonderful part was that I really didn't have to go anywhere or do anything, so I could just nurse myself back to health. I was SHOCKED at the end of HP (AMANDA!!! I can't believe that character DIED! There HAS to be some mistake. I'll just write to Rowling and she'll see how she was wrong and she'll write an addendum). I'm a purist - ha! Or, rather, I don't keep up with Harry Potter enough to know any spoilers, so the end of that book had me thinking, "no...this will be a joke or something."

Christmas Sunday was wild, crazy and great.

I got my sister, brother and GPB new jackets that haven't been released by Northface yet and won't come until May, but they really rock. Pops got a Leki walking stick from me that he's wanted for a year and I got mom an Astaire/Rogers DVD pack - some really great movies we love.

LSG and GPB gave me the beautiful watch I shamelessly hinted about when we girls took this trip. Mom gave me the work clothing (business casual) that she graciously bought me during that trip (delayed gratification is really worth it.) I'm a happy, happy girl. My New Year's resolution is going to be "I will only buy clothing that is classic." Specifically my goal is to search online sales for clothes every other week or so. And Dad got me a bracelet that is very, very pretty. My aunt got me When I don't desire God - How to fight for Joy by John Piper in our big family exchange. Amazon Wishlist Rocks.

Alfred's sermon was absolutely one of the best I've heard.

Yesterday, my eldest cousin and his wife - with the first great-grandchild-not-yet-born - and his sister and her husband (yes, also my cousins) and various other cousins and aunts met for coffee. We howled at old videotape of Christmases past --mostly at the little cousins (all around 4-6 yrs at that time) falling down, pushing each other (when adults weren't looking, of course) stealing Easter chocolate, and "helping" each other open gifts. The biggest laughs of all: Jr High late 80's hair. Hello, Aquanet!

Then I went home and cleaned out my closets of clothes I haven't worn in this past year as I talked to LSG and let the doggies out to play - I'm housesitting. "Grandpa" Piper just oozes "Get outta my way, young pup! you are so exuberant and annoying!" every time Migo comes to play! It's hilarious.

And finally, last night LSG got us hooked on what she has threatening to hook us on for the last 3 months: LOST. And are we ever hooked! :)

God is good, and so gracious - I don't deserve it.

Friday, December 23

Cute little story

It was the day after Christmas at a church in San Francisco. The
pastor of the church was looking over the Nativity scene when he noticed that
the baby Jesus was missing from among the figures.

Immediately he turned, went outside, and saw a little boy with a
red wagon.

In the wagon was the figure of the infant Jesus. So, he walked up
to the boy and said, "Well, where did you get Him, my fine
friend?"

The little boy replied, "I got Him from the church."

"And why did you take Him?"

The boy said, "Well, about a week before Christmas I prayed to
the Lord Jesus and I told Him if He would bring me a red wagon for Christmas
I would give Him a ride around the block in it."

Thursday, December 22

Ha! I thought this was good

You Are French Food

Snobby yet ubiquitous.
People act like they understand you more than they actually do.

Wednesday, December 21

It's almost embarrassing

It's been so long since I've blogged my friends are emailing me! I guess the good thing is that I know they check my blog!

I've been picking up hours at the second job, so the retail life has obliterated my typical routine. If you were wondering, it's been a REALLY good season for retail. I'm not sure about the rest of America, but it seems like everyone is throwing down tons of money for materialistic happiness.

Anyway, I'm going to go to bed right now - the head has started aching. But I'll be sure to blog a little more frequently next week.

Tuesday, December 13

Tuesday Quote

“Yeah, everyone loses in this one.”

The Subway girl, on why the stickers were discontinued. Seems you can buy completed coupons on Ebay. Obviously, Subway didn’t want their sandwiches stolen (It seems as though the stamps are stolen, likely by employees), so they discontinued the promotion. Unfortunately, as Subway Girl noted, Tuesdays were their busiest day (2 stamps on Tuesdays deal) and now the business has dropped. I counted 4 people in there, and only a few months ago the line went out the door.

Saturday, December 10

Serious Pride; (Or) "It seems Lewis hit a nerve."

Ok, I can't wait until Tuesday.

Saturday Quote:

"Of all the elements of Christianity, the most repugnant is the notion of the Christ who took our sins upon himself and sacrificed his body in agony to save our souls. Did we ask him to?"

He[Aslan] is an emblem for everything an atheist objects to in religion. His divine presence is a way to avoid humans taking responsibility for everything here and now on earth, where no one is watching, no one is guiding, no one is judging and there is no other place yet to come. Without an Aslan, there is no one here but ourselves to suffer for our sins, no one to redeem us but ourselves: we are obliged to settle our own disputes and do what we can. We need no holy guide books, only a very human moral compass. Everyone needs ghosts, spirits, marvels and poetic imaginings, but we can do well without an Aslan.

~Polly Toynbee, The Guardian

Narnia

Well, interestingly, the person I thought would HATE this movie absolutely gushes.

MaryAnn Johanson is not a Christian - In fact, I think of her as the Dooce of film reviews. She's funny and oftentimes nails the movie, just as I would expect a critic to. I'm usually disappointed by critics - they've seen so many movies that what they do like is far too cutting edge for me. Ms. Johanson is often immensely critical of movies I think are awful and sometimes even critical of movies I somewhat like (I overlook cheese fairly easily). More importantly, she gives great reviews to great movies.

So, I waited for her to review this movie. And for a while I didn't think she would even review it, it being overly Christian (she believes that Christians "misunderstand that the allegorical stuff of Lewis's book far predates Christianity"). But She gives is two BIG thumbs up, which makes me look forward to it even more.

Thursday, December 8

Friday Photo



This was taken last year - but the weather is just as cold! I need to get out and take a few more photos. LSG, remind me to kipe your digital when you're back. ;) (I expected it to be spelled with a 'y')

Wednesday, December 7

Wednesday

Hm, ok. I'm having difficulty thinking up posts because all I've done lately is buy christmas gifts or look for christmas gifts. Since three of the 8 people I'm getting gifts for regularly read this blog, I can't really say what I'm buying. BUT I can say, I love giving gifts.

The hardest one to get a gift for is my cousin's wife. She's beautiful and lives in New York, and with people like her (she's INCREDIBLY fun to be around) you just want to spend tons of money, because, well, people in NY spend a lot of money. I don't have tons of money to spend, but I also don't want to get her something that looks and seems cheap. So, I've been looking, but I've got to get going, otherwise I'll be WAY too late.

All the other gifts, I've got to keep secret, at least until about December 17th.

I'm REALLY bad with secrets/gifts. I can keep secrets (especaially if they're painful or serious) but good secrets, where it's just a matter of time? horrible.

Tuesday, December 6

Criminey.

I can't believe it's already Tuesday. As Christmas nears, time seems to fly away.

So, Tuesday Quote

Peace and Justice are just two sides of the same coin
~Dwight D. Eisenhower

I have to say that I'm very grateful to the one who completed true justice so that we could have peace!

Friday, December 2

Friday Photo


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Quick Shots

Friday Photo will be up tonight. In the meantime, a few interesting moments from yesterday

1. I noticed that Forever 21 prints "John 3:16" on the bottom of their bags. Now LSG has another reason to shop there! This conversation thread leaves me baffled and sad.


2. The reason I noticed the John 3:16 - I put my workout clothes in it. I went running with my co-worker. At noon. In 8 degree weather.

and 3. It's beginning to feel a lot like Minnesota. Montana rarely stays this cold, but we're in for a week of it, they say.
With octaves of a mystic depth and height