Wezee

Anyone who knows me well, knows I am not a big fan of cats, primarily because I am allergic to them. This wasn't always the case. I had an orange cat named Barney until I was seven. (Barney's end is a pretty gruesome story, one I will only divulge upon personal request, so as not to frighten any young readers out there.) I was never allergic to Barney, so I guess you can acquire cat allergies. Either way, I don't typically like cats now.

However, I recently befriended a cat in my neighborhood named Wezee. I'm still not sure exactly how you pronounce it...I just call him Weezy. The other day, my friend Heather and I were walking out to my car when I noticed a small cat across the street. He was quickly moving straight towards us. He looked so friendly. He came over and let us scratch him and pet him and he just seemed so happy.

Next thing I know he had jumped onto my car...

...and quickly made himself comfortable.

The other day, my dad was outside walking our dog and he called my cell phone to tell me that Wezee and Higgins had met. I went out there and Wezee was just as friendly as ever. He followed me home and let me scratch him some more.

I'm still amazed at how much I like this cat, but seriously, how could anyone resist that little, contented face?

Summer Busyness

When this summer started out I assumed that I would be pretty bored for most of it since I don't have a job. Boy was I wrong. It has turned out to be pretty busy so far.

One of the first things I did was go to an Angels game with a few friends. My family used to be pretty big Dodger fans, but after the strike way back when, my dad stopped taking us to games, so I don't really feel any allegiance to them anymore. And man, Angels stadium is way nicer than the Dodger's stadium.

All of my life, I have wanted a bobblehead. Well, at least ever since I first saw my dad's old Tiger's bobbleheads in his old room at my Grandma's house in Michigan. It just so happened that they were giving out free bobbleheads at the Angels game! I was thrilled, even though I had no idea who the player was. I brought him home, and my mom put him on a shelf in my room. Unfortunately, I was not aware of this fact. I didn't see Jared as I reached for a book and I knocked him with my arm. I yelled out a loud, "NOOOooooo..." as he crashed to my desk. I think I felt a slight knot in my throat as I picked up Jared's decapitated head.

Thankfully my summer busyness did not end there. Wedding season began and Emily and I drove up to Walnut Creek near San Fransisco to go to my old roomie's wedding. I was a candlelighter. I think my least favorite wedding job ever, but it went fine. We didn't burn anything down, and I was thankful to be included in Lindsey and Nick's wedding. It was a really wonderful wedding too. And no, I didn't take the picture below. Candlelighters don't get to ride in the limo.

Emily and I drove back that Saturday morning and that night we went to Charis and Ryan's wedding. Pretty different than the one we went to the night before. Super casual. It was nice being able to hang out a bit with the bride. And they aren't over...

The very next weekend I went to Big Bear with some friends from Bible study. Four moms, Becky and me, and twelve kids. That's right, twelve kids. That might not sound like a relaxing weekend, but it was. These moms know how to handle their kids.

Here's Elizabeth.

And Andrew and Ian. They are very inerested in nail painting because it is only a girl thing. Here they are watching Becky paint her nails in chrome. It was actually really funny. Becky and I went to get Starbucks before our drive up there and this middle aged guy behind us was all interested in her nails, asking how she got them to look chrome. Then the guy behind the counter was leaning over trying to see himself. It was kinda weird.

Here's ten of the twelve kids.

And Elizabeth petting a goat at the petting zoo.

Wilbur was there.

It was a fun little trip filled with a lot of yummy dessets.

My mom has been busy this summer planting things in the backyard. Here is the sunflower she grew that's taller than her.

I've also had time to do some babysitting this summer for Marietjie and Anton. They have some of the cutest, funniest girls I have ever met. Here's Naomi showing me her play-dough.

One of my favorite times is trying to wake her up from her nap. The day I took this it took about 20 minutes to get her fully awake. There was a lot of tickling involved.

The most recent busyness has been Emily's broken ankle, which she cracked in three places playing baseball. Mariejtie, Anton, Naomi and Olivia came over to visit her.

Naomi thought she would help out by doing the dishes. She just climbed up there on her own and started soaping up the sink. :0)

And there is her cute sister, Olivia.

Well, since things have slowed down a bit because of the ankle, I had to pass the time by painting Emily's toe nails. Why break your ankle if you can't have a little fun with it?

So that's pretty the much the end of the summer busyness. At least for a little while.

Dunkin' Donuts and Ice Cream (Warning: This is Pretty Long)

Those two things are what my friend Kristin used to describe Massachusetts. Ever since I found out that Michigan was considered to be part of the Midwest, (I still think that area of the U.S. should be called the Mideast, although I guess that would get confusing) and not the East I’ve wanted to visit the East Coast. Well, Kristin has been bugging me for awhile about coming out to visit her in Mass some summer. When I found a very inexpensive, round-trip, no stops flight to Boston, how could I refuse? (Check out travelzoo.com if you’re going somewhere this summer.) I figured out last Wednesday that I could go…the trick was, in order to get the good deal; I had to leave Saturday and come back Tuesday. Thankfully it worked out with the Cooley’s and so at 4:45 in the morning on Saturday, my dad and I were off to the airport.

It was the first time that I had traveled more than an hour on a plane by myself and because I was so late in purchasing my ticket, I was in the middle seat both flights. I figured out why this is the worst seat…although I really didn’t mind it that much. If you want to get out to the bathroom, you have to annoy the person on the aisle, if you want to look out the window, you have to somewhat invade the personal space of the person near the window. On the way there I also figured out that coffee, apple juice and altitude don’t mix. Don’t ask any questions; just trust me on this one.

On both flights I had one friendly person sitting next to me. I know that sometimes strangers can be too talkative, but these people weren’t. The lady sitting next to the window on the way there lives in L.A. but her family lives in Boston and so she told me about all sorts of cool places to visit there (even though we didn’t hang out in Boston, if I ever do go back , I know where to go). On the way back, I sat next to an older man that lives in Boston. He had one of those Boston accents that I like so much and he gave me some gum. At the take-off he looked all excited and he told me that even though he has flown hundreds of times, he never gets sick of that part. I was very appreciative of this because I always feel like a nerd getting so giddy about the take-off. Usually the people around me don’t care.

Right after I got off the plane I saw a cop. They look a little different out in the East Coast. First of all they are state police…and they wear those funny hats. The lady on the plane told me that I would have some culture shock. Well, I didn’t experience too much on the trip, but as I was waiting for my bag I was standing next to a family from Kansas. I have never heard such thick accents. I heard one of the little girls say, “Thar’s ma bayg.” I couldn’t help but smile a little. Well, Megan found me and after I found my bag we stepped outside. The humidity hit me like a thick blanket.

Mr. Cooley picked us up and we started the hour long drive to their house. Even though we didn’t spend time in Boston, we did drive through it and it is a stunning city! Large brick buildings, beautiful architecture, and so much green! As we were flying into Boston and I looked out the window all I could see was a mass of green trees. I thought it might look a little less stuffed with trees on the ground but I was wrong. As you get out of the city, when you’re on the highway, you can’t see any buildings or mountains, nothing but trees as far as the eye can see.

The Cooley’s told me before I came that the trees make you feel a bit claustrophobic at times. I didn’t believe them before, but now I can see what they mean. I wasn’t there long enough to get sick of them, however. As we drove along the sun was shining but it was pouring rain. It looked so pretty.

I got to Mass around 4:00 p.m. and Kristin had to work until 10:30, but it was fun hanging out with the rest of her family that night. It was great to see Mrs. Cooley again after three years! She made us yummy tostadas and then the four of us played a game after dinner. Then Megan and I just hung out in her room and watched a movie until Kristin got home. As we were sitting there talking, Megan commented on how it was so weird that I was in Massachusetts. I felt the same way. It was so cool! There’s no other word for it. I don’t know what it is about taking long trips by yourself that is so fun, but it really is. After Kristin got back we talked and then went to sleep. I fell asleep very happy and content. I slept very well too. Like a rock. I woke up the next morning with two red lines running down the right side of my face. I obviously hadn’t tossed and turned too much.

The next day we went to the Cooley’s new church. I really liked the pastor. His name is Mike Avendroth. He went to the Seminary at Grace. He taught from the Bible with helpful application and he was just very sincere. I liked the size of it, and everyone was very friendly. One girl I met just finished up a year of grad school at Harvard. Her name is Annie and she came home with us along with a couple other people, for lunch. We had Mrs. Cooley’s amazing homemade Barbeque Chicken Pizza (my favorite). It was so fun. The whole Cooley family has this dry humor that cracks me up.

After lunch, the Cooley girls, Annie and I took a drive to Orchard House, the home of Louisa May Alcott, the author of Little Women. This was one of my favorite things that we did. It was in Concord I think. Lexington and Concord is where some of the Revolutionary War was fought. I definitely wouldn’t call myself a U.S. History buff. Even though I love it, I don’t necessarily remember everything I learn about it too well. Nevertheless, my emphasis at school was in U.S. History and it was so cool to see places that I have read about. I forgot that Little Women is basically a biography about Louisa May Alcott. The three sisters in the story were based on her three sisters in real life. It was so interesting to learn how her family was in the center of so much that was going on at the time. Even though I don’t think too much of them, Emerson and Thoreau were her teachers along with her father. Her youngest sister May, taught art lessons to the boy who went on to carve the Lincoln memorial. Her parents were part of the Underground Railroad and housed a slave, not to mention they housed John Brown who was a part of Harper’s Ferry. The house was so small and cute. The ceilings and floor were all crooked. I could feel myself going uphill or downhill as I walked across a room. It was fun seeing the desk that Louisa’s father built in her room, which is where she wrote Little Women. The tour guide (who I think was younger than me) told us that after Louisa finished the first part of Little Women it became popular overnight; the equivalent of Harry Potter’s popularity today. Young girls everywhere were dying for the second part to come out, hoping that Jo would marry Laurie. Of course, she didn’t and apparently this was because Louisa never married in real life herself, and since Jo was based on her, she didn’t want her to get married at all. However, the publisher’s thought this would not be a good model for the reader’s and so Louisa had Jo marry the professor, who was based on a mix of her father, Emerson, and Thoreau. It was also fun to see May’s room. Their father made the roof rounded so that it would look more European since she went there for art classes. May had drawn pictures all around her window sills and on some of her walls. It made me feel like I was in the story, looking at pictures that Amy might have drawn. I know, I know, I’m probably a nerd for giving so much detail about this house, but I found it fascinating. The landscape outside was beautiful too.
This is my amazed look that Megan snapped when I wasn’t looking.

Here are some pictures of the house on the outside and some of the trees surrounding it.

The next day we went to Plymouth; that’s Cape Cod area. We went to go see Plymouth Rock (since the Cooley’s hadn’t seen it yet either) and the Atlantic Ocean!

So ya, Plymouth Rock is literally a small rock, with an elaborate memorial type thing built around it.

Someone carved the date 1620 onto the rock, although it wasn’t found until 1740. Makes one a little leery of the genuineness of this rock. It was a lot smaller than we all expected as well. Frankly, it was a bit disappointing. We walked a little ways over to see the Mayflower II, a replica of the real one. It was amazing to see how small it was as well. I don’t know how the Pilgrims fit on it, let alone travel across the Atlantic.

Well, to spare anyone from anymore, I will stop there. The East Coast was just as wonderful as I had hoped. If you haven’t been, you should go and praise God for the many different places He has created!

At the Ball Game....

There are two kinds of people that you can meet at Dodger Stadium.

Normal people who just enjoy America's favorite pasttime:

And crazy psycho fans:

Other than his hair, he might not look to crazy, but don't be fooled....he was definitely of the second variety that I just described. As they introduced the player's at the beginning of the game, this guy raised his right fist into the air and yelled a long "yayyyyyyy!!" after every single one. Okay, so maybe he wasn't a crazy psycho fan, there are definitely worse out there. But I always find it fascinating how some people's looks reflect their personalities so well.

Want to see it from a slightly different angle?

I love camera phones. :0)

First Graders

Tattle-taling, whining, bickering, name-calling, bloody noses, runny noses, crying, "accidents", hitting, pouting, complaining, yelling, scratching, pinching, biting...
These are just some of the things I deal with every day as a student teacher in the first grade. It's not really anything more than what any parent deals with every day, but still, one might wonder why anyone would willingly commit themselves to such a line of work.
But really, I'm making it sound worse than it is. I've come to enjoy working with first graders for several reasons.
One is that pretty much anything makes them laugh. Every day when I use the overhead and squirt it with water to rinse it off, they crack up. I mean, they absolutely double over with laughter. Sometimes I just squirt it randomly now because I find it highly entertaining. They also laugh at pretty much any joke. The other day the kids were lining up for recess and the boys were laughing over some pretty sad jokes. We had just been reading about butterfly's and so I stooped pretty low and asked, "Have you ever seen a butter fly?" The response was "Ba ha ha ha ha ha ha!" It was great.
They can be pretty funny themselves. One day I was asking my lower reading group what are some things that are not good for the environment, because we just read an article on protecting the environment. One serious little boy with glasses gave me the answer, "It would be bad to shoot plants." I kind of stared back at him for a second and asked "shoot plants?" making sure that I heard him correctly. And he answered back, "Ya, it would be bad to shoot plants with a gun and put holes in them." And I kind of just said something like, "um...well, I don't think too many people would do that, what are some other ideas?" I was willing myself as hard as I could to keep a straight face.
Another thing is that first graders think that any piece of information that they have never heard before is utterly amazing. A few weeks ago I was teaching them what a line of symmetry is. I drew a number of lines of symmetry on various shapes and it wasn't too big of a deal. But then I asked them, "Do you know that on some shapes there can actually be more than one line of symmetry?" I heard nineteen voices yell back at me, "Whoah!!!!"
It's also funny whenever I put a pretty easy question on the board. I hear lots of little voices yelling, "EASY! That's so EASY!" Over and over again.
And little first grade hugs are always a good thing. :0)

What a Friend

I have really been struggling with setting my mind on God throughout the day at school. It seems like everything moves so fast there and my mind is focusing on teaching and what I have to do next and I start trying to do everything completely on my own.
Rick Holland's message on Sunday night was so good about knowing God. I really do want to be thinking about Him throughout the day. For some reason this hymn has been super helpful.

What a Friend We Have in Jesus

What a friend we have in Jesus, All our sins and griefs to bear!

What a privilege to carry Ev'rything to God in prayer!

Oh, what peace we often forfeit, Oh what needless pain we bear,

All because we do not carry Ev'rything to God in prayer!

Have we trials and temptations? Is there trouble anywhere?

We should never be discouraged, Take it to the Lord in prayer:

Can we find a friend so faithful Who will all our sorrows share?

Jesus Knows our every weakness, Take it to the Lord in prayer.

Are we weak and heavy laden, Cumbered with a load of care?

Precious Saviour, still our refuge; Take it to the Lord in prayer:

Do thy friends despise, forsake thee? Take it to the Lord in prayer;

In His arms He'll take and shield thee; Thou wilt find a solace there.

It helps to know that I can pray to God about anything throughout the day. Listening to this hymn in the morning on the way to school helps me to think about how God is present with me throughout the day and He knows everything that I am doing or thinking about. Nothing is hidden from Him.

Caspian and Tumnus

Ever since I started college I really wanted to get some turtles. At school I really missed having a pet around, and I kind of liked the idea of having my own little pet. When someone told me that we could have small turtles in the dorms I was overjoyed. I started planning for pet turtles immediately. First I had to convince my roommate that the smell probably wouldn't be that bad, then I had to ask my R.D. for permission, finally I had to get a tank, and of course, the turtle. But alas! It seemed the world was against me! No pet stores in the greater Santa Clarita Valley sold the turtles that I was looking for. Besides that fact, my roommate didn't like the idea anyway. My hopes were dashed and I assumed that my chances of owning a turtle were over.
Well, last summer I was over at my friend's apartment and two of her roommates had some turtles. I was admiring them one night and one of her roommates asked if I would like to have her two turtles because she had been trying to give them away! She happened upon just the right person! I called my parents and they graciously agreed to let me bring home the turtles! My dream had come true!
Well, after some serious thinking, I decided to name them Caspian and Tumnus. I love the Chronicles of Narnia series, and even though Prince Caspian and Mr. Tumnus weren't technically friends with each other in the books, they were good friends in general with pretty much anyone they met.
The turtles did well for awhile, but soon they started becoming very lethargic. I had read that turtles need a UV light attached to their tank, but I didn't really believe it was necessary. Caspian and Tumnus always used to get excited when I even took out their food, but when they went a week or so without eating anything, I knew something was wrong. I bought a light and within a couple of days they were new turtles.
I seriously never imagined that two little turtles could be so entertaining! They are so hilarious. One of their favorite things to do is bask in the light and I commonly find them in the position that you see below.

I'll often find them with one of their back legs and one of their front legs stuck out like they are surfing. Once I found Caspian (the smaller one) facing the other direction on top of Tumnus with all of his legs sticking out in the air. It looked like he was trying a balancing act.

They have completely different personalitites too. Caspian is feisty, Tumnus is a little slow moving unless there is food; than he goes crazy! I have to hold a piece of food on either side of the tank and wait until they are separated, than I drop Caspian's food in first while I have to tease Tumnus with his food for awhile distracting him from Caspian's food. Caspian takes forever to eat his piece and if I dropped them both in at once, Tumnus would eat his and then go steal Caspian's. He eats his food in one gulp. If he misses the piece he bumps his nose on the glass. And if you keep moving your finger along the water line on the outside of the tank, they'll follow it and try to bite your finger. It's so cute to see their little pink tongues.

One day (before I started separating them during feeding time) I dropped one long pellet in and Caspian bit one end, then Tumnus came over and grabbed the other end with his mouth and they had a little game of tug of war pulling back and forth. It was so funny.

The last thing I'll say is about Tumnus. Late at night, after feeding time, Tumnus does his nightly ritual. He blows bubbles onto the surface of the water and then eats them. It is really strange, but, what can I say? They are weird turtles, but I love them. :0)

Banana Clips

So, the other day, Haley and I were talking about American Idol and how we hate the fact that Senjaya has remained on the show, beating out people that were much better singers than him: Chris Sligh, Gina Glockson, well, basically all the people that have been kicked off have been better than him. But what was most surprising to me was the fact that he was still on the show even after his mohawk incident. (Which people have been calling a fauxhawk? Fake mohawk I guess?) I've never seen anything more grotesque than Senjaya shaking his whatever-you-want-to-call-it-hawk back and forth to the beat of the song.

Well, Haley informed me that Senjaya was wearing a banana clip. Now, I had heard of this particualr kind of hair accessory before but I was never quite sure what it was. I had some vague idea in my head and I knew that it was supposed to be some hideous thing from the eighties, but I didn't realize how hideous.

I found the following picture on this website: http://www.irishstepdancingwigs.com/banana_instuctions.html

Apparently, those bountiful curls on Irish step dancers are not natural.

I just want to ask this girl if it is really worth it. I mean, look at that thing. How is it even possible to walk, let alone dance with that thing attached to your head?

Apparently, banana clips come in various styles. You could get one of the stylish hairpieces shown above, or you could choose from one of these ornamental varieties.

Nowadays, if you want to blend in with the crowd, it is probably best to buy one of these:

Available at Walgreens for only $2.49.

Wow Haley, now I see why you were laughing so hard.

Spring Break #2

No, this is not my second post about spring break. It is my first post about my second spring break! That's right, I got two! The first one was inbetween my first and second student teaching assignments, and this one is because the school I am now student teaching at is on their spring break! God is so gracious in allowing me to have extra time off of school to do work and relax.
Monday was nice because I got to sleep in really late and I was able to spend a couple of hours reading outside. Something I LOVE but never get to do. Then on Tuesday I was able to go running. Not that I love to run, but I have not exercised in months! Seriously, I am the most out of shape person. A few weeks ago I went to the movies with my friend Melissa and I thought I was late. I ran down all the stairs of the parking structure from the third floor and all the way across the street and then I remembered that I had left my money in the car! So I ran all the way up and down again and I was coughing halfway through the movie! Really sad! On wednesday (the day after my run) I got out of bed and could barely move. All of my muscles ached, and my legs are still killing me. Pathetic.
Anyway, really interesting stuff huh?
Well, yesterday was the most fun. I went to the beach with Haley! I know she's going to post about it on her own blog and since I don't want to steal her thunder (especially since she's a better writer than I am) I will just post a few pictures and note a few things.)
The funniest thing I saw was this...

I can't really tell you what that is, but there you go. Haley and I got to ride on a ferris wheel! I love ferris wheels because I used to be deathly afraid of heights and it was one of the first "scary" rides I conquered. :0)

We actually got to take a little ferry over to Balboa Island. It was so cute, it could only fit three cars on it. And it was only .60 cents!

The coolest thing we saw all day was the dolphins. If only the water wasn't so cold we could have swam with them they were so close! And there were tons of them! They kept popping out of the water, every time we could see their back fin. Before we left, one jumped completely out of the water! It was so cool. And a bunch of them were spouting water out of their blowholes! It was something I had never seen before at the beach, and they were there almost the whole time that we were there. God was so gracious in allowing us to see that part of His creation! He is so amazing in all the different things He had made. We have such a creative God! Unfortunately I wasn't able to get pictures. But that's okay, it wouldn't have been as cool as seeing them in person anyway.

We ended up the day by going with Mariejtie to coffee near the church. So fun! I love talking with both of these girls. Well, I may or may not write more about spring break later, but I'm done for now. For some reason I am having major issues posting anymore pictures. At least I got some of them on there.

Testing Something

Seasons!

People say that there are no seasons in Southern California. I beg to differ! These pictures are of the same street and tree in my neighborhood and as you can clearly see...there are FALL colors and SPRING flowers.

Finally!

So, it has been a loooong time since I have put anything on here. A reflection of how crazy this semester has been so far. It's not so much that I have a ton more work, there is just less time to do the work that I now have. Anyway, over all, I have really enjoyed student teaching. Way more than I ever thought I would.

I was reading C.S. Lewis' book, Perelandra, right before I started student teaching and I read something in there that almost perfectly described how I felt about student teaching at the time. It says, "The thing still seemed impossible. But gradually something happened to him which had happened to him only twice before in his life. It had happened once while he was trying to make up his mind to do a very dangerous job in the last war. It had happened again while he was screwing his resolution to go and see a certain man in London and make to him an excessively embarrassing confession which justice demanded. In both cases the thing had seemed a sheer impossibilty: he had not thought but known that, being what he was, he was psychologically incapable of doing it; and then, without any apparent movement of the will, as objective and unemotional as the reading on a dial, there had arisen before him, with perfect certitude, the knowledge 'about this time tomorrow you will have done the impossible.' The same thing happened now. His fear, his shame, his love, all his arguments, were not altered in the least. The thing was neither more nor less dreadful than it had been before. The only difference was that he knew - almost as a historical proposition - that it was going to be done. He might beg, weep, or rebel - might curse or adore - sing like a martyr or blaspheme like a devil. It made not the slightest difference. The thing was going to be done. There was going to arrive, in the course of time, a moment at which he would have done it. The future act stood there, fixed and unaltered as if he had already performed it. It was a mere irrelevant detail that it happened to occupy the postition we call future instead of that which we call past. The whole struggle was over, and yet there seemed to have been no moment of victory...No sooner had he discovered that he would certainly try to kill the Un-man to-morrow than the doing of it appeared to him a smaller matter than he had supposed."

I'm starting to realize that I think it's kind of impossible to become very godly if we are never willing to get out of our comfort zones. One of my biggest struggles in life has been the fear of man, and the thought of having to get up and teach in front of a group of strangers, another teacher, and, once a week, a supervisor, absolutely terrified me. But I thought, somehow, I will most likely get through it. And now there is only a week left of my first assignment and it wasn't that bad at all. God truly helped me get through it and even greatly enjoy it! I had a wonderful teacher to learn from and a great class and now I am really sad to leave! The kids in the class are really sweet and some of them are so hilarious. There is this one kid who kind of reminds me of a little Taylor Hicks. Anyway, we kind of joke around sometimes and it's gotten to the point where he's a bit sassy with me. In class on Friday I can't remember what he said to me, but I was like, "Excuse me?" And he said, "What? You make fun of me, so now I'm getting back at you." Then I told him that you don't get to get back at the teacher. That's the privilege of being the teacher. Anyway, it was kind of funny, but I'm a bit worried that I'm not strict enough. I really try, I think it's kind of hard because I feel too young to be a teacher and the kids think I look too young to be a teacher also! Oh well! Now I'll see how first grade goes.

All in all, God has just been showing me how faithful and gracious He is, even when I am so unfaithful. I am so thankful that I have hope in Him!

Christmas Decorating Day!

Christmas decorating day. It used to be the first Saturday in December, but in recent years it has moved up to the day after Thanksgiving. As the turkey utters its last gobble, the Christmas tree is pulled out of the garage by my dad and sister. Actually, that makes it sound too easy. In fact, it’s a great struggle to get the tree down from the rafters. Yes, I said down from the rafters. We now have a fake tree. No more sweet-smelling piney goodness. But at least we have a perfect looking tree with no huge gaps or diminishing pine needles. Although a little imperfection can be nice.
My mom works pretty hard on Christmas decorating day. She makes sure that every single crevice of the house is graced with some sort of Christmas decoration. Last year, she had me take pictures of every room so that she could remember where everything was placed. Throughout the year, she would ask me, “You still have those Christmas pictures, right?” “You didn’t delete my Christmas pictures did you?” Somehow, I managed to keep those pictures on the camera all year, but I never actually transferred them onto a computer. Sadly enough, a few months back we lost the camera. Poor mom.
My mom is so attached to the Christmas decorations, that somehow there are always a couple of items that get left up all year. One of our Christmas ornaments hangs from a light in our downstairs bathroom perpetually. A few years back we made some little snowmen out of socks and rice. One of the snowmen got overstuffed and has been dubbed “Fatty.” My mom has tried to make Fatty one of her year round decorations, but Emily and I have kept this desire at bay. It’s taking things a little too far to have a snowman out all year.
Every family member takes part in decorating the house. My dad meticulously puts on the Christmas tree lights making sure that every branch is covered. Every year, half of the Christmas lights aren’t working so we made a little trip to Michael’s. Emily and I are in charge of putting the garland on the banisters, putting ornaments on the tree, and setting up the little nativity scene figures that my Grandma Shaw painted. One of the donkeys lost an ear, so this year Emily and I named him Malchus. I'm pretty sure we ripped that name off the Archers who had a wooden giraffe with a missing ear...who is now owned by Melissa Johnson and all the girls over at that apartment. Oh well.
We managed to finish the Christmas decorations a bit early this year, around 6:00 p.m. which is pretty amazing considering how decked out the house is. By the time we were finished, Emily had found this taped-off-T.V. Christmas movie called The Christmas Toy that was done by Jim Henson. We hadn’t seen it since we were little and I remember really loving it. I don’t remember being scared of the characters as a kid, but some of them really creep me out now. Since we were working all day we went out to eat at Coco’s where we were seated near some ladies who looked as if they were straight out of the early eighties. As my dad put it, their hair was about 10 feet tall. I saw one man walk by and do a double take. We finished up the night by watching a Christmas movie. Yay! The Christmas season has started!

Thanksgiving

So I know that a lot of people think that it is cheesy to go around the table after Thanksgiving dinner and have each family member say what they are thankful for, but this happens to be my favorite part of Thanksgiving. When I was younger, I actually thought that this was something only my family did. Imagine that. Anyway...I am always so encouraged by hearing what each of my family memebers thanks God for. It reminds me just how much God has given me and how ridiculous it is for me to complain about anything! I especially like hearing what my aunt, uncle, and cousin have to say, because there is only so much that you can tell about a person if you only see them a few times a month. It's been exciting to see how God has been working in their immediate family this year. Practially each one of us mentioned how God's grace in our lives is so amazing. This year, besides how thankful I am that God has saved me, I was hit with how thankful I am for my family. It's a good reflection of how God loves us, to look at our own family's love for us. My parents and sister love me unconditionally even when I don't understand why, and they see everything about me. What's even more amazing is that God knows us completely, even better then we know ourselves, and He still has chosen to love and save us.
It was fun too to do our yearly things. Emily and Jeremy and I went and played frisbee in the park. On the first throw, Emily chucked it right into someone's backyard, so Jeremy had to hop over and get it. We actually couldn't find our frisbee earlier, so we had to go out and buy one, and by the time we got to the park, we only had about 15 minutes to play...but it was still fun. Than later on we played Catchphrase. We get extremely loud playing Catchphrase...my poor Grandma couldn't hear half of what we were saying because we were screaming. It's always the "kids" against the adults, even though we're outnumbered 3 to 5, but we still managed to win. And then we played the cardgame "Hand and Foot," which without fail my mom calls "An Arm and a Leg." Anyway, I was thankful for another good Thanksgiving!

Living at Home

Now that I live at home again, one fact has been confirmed. My parents are funny. I always knew they had funny quirks, but I guess that it has become more obvious too me in recent years. Tonight, at the dinner table, we were eating hot dogs. Neither my mom nor my dad like ketchup on their hot dogs. Just mustard and onions. Both of them. They think it's strange that I like ketchup on my hot dog. Maybe it's just me, but I thought that was pretty normal.
My mom messes up idioms like no one else. She invented a new one last night while we were eating at BJ's. She was telling us about a lady she works with that "swears like a fish." My dad and I were cracking up, but somehow we finally managed to tell her that it is "swears like a sailor." She also says, "When it rains, it snows", "like two ships bumping in the night", and "he was born with a silver tooth in his mouth." There are more where those came from, but these are her some of her classics.
This is kind of a random thought, but I was just thinking that it is interesting how most families keep their weight scale thingy's in their bathroom. I assume this is for privacy's sake in not wanting anyone to find out their weight. But really, I've never understood the point of that either. I mean, pretty much you look like what you weigh. It's not a huge mystery. I wonder what it would be like if someone put their scale in the kitchen. The whole family could line up and weigh in before Thanksgiving dinner. "Mmmm...sorry Aunt May, it looks like you won't be getting any stuffing this year." Hmm...maybe that's why this isn't a popular trend.

So today, I finally became convinced that it is definitely worth it to spend money on a good haircut. I went to Supercuts today because I really didn't want to spend a lot of money on just a trim. Well the girl I got, who looked to be about 12 years old, (first tip off right there) doesn't know the meaning of "just a trim" and long layers. She butchered my hair and I am in no way exaggerating. Next time I will take a better look in the mirror before paying such a person a tip. I never thought I would be the kind of person to cry over a haircut, in fact I laughed at people who did, but I can laugh no more. My mom convinced me to go to a nice salon right away and get it fixed. I really didn't believe that anyone could do anything with it, but those a bit more pricey salon people really know what they're doing. I learned my lesson.

The Extra Hour

I have just got to say, I am thankful for daylight savings time! My neighbors next door are a young couple that are apparently obsessed with Halloween. They created a musicians graveyard out front. Come on over if you want to pay your respects to Johnny Cash, Tupac Shakur, Biggie Smalls, Ringo, and a few others. There's also a lovely little headstone that says, "U must die." Hm... Anyway, they are having a massive Halloween party tonight and I don't think I will ever fall asleep. So ya, I'm thankful for that extra hour. It's kinda funny though, that extra hour. I don't think I know a single person who actually takes advantage of it. If anything, it seems that people stay up later than they normally would.
I remember when I used to dress up for Halloween...it was fun, but now I really like what my Bible study does. We have a Reformation day party. This year it was really cool because John Glass came and talked about John Calvin and showed us pictures of Geneva. It was encouraging remembering what happened long ago on what is now Halloween. It's a great reminder of men who stood firm for the truth, God's Word and His glory, no matter what opposition they faced. It was very convicting to me, as lately I have easily been caught up in school (and Lost, pathetic as it may sound) and other things...and not in what really matters most. Jesus said in Luke 21:34, "But take heed to yourselves, lest your hearts be weighed down with...cares of this life, and that Day come on you unexpectedly." It's really easy to get caught up in the "cares of this life" but I want to focus on Jesus instead.
Hm...it sounds like the techno music is starting up...maybe I should try and fall asleep fast before it gets louder.

Addicting

So I held strong for two whole years. My parents, my sister, and even occasionaly her friend Chloa, begged me to watch it. But I always said no. I did not want to get sucked in and neglect my homework forever. But summer's with nothing to do will lead you to do crazy things. I finally caved in and watched a few episodes of Lost. That's all it took. There was no turning back. I still have two third's of the second season to go, and then life can finally return back to normal. One episode a week. Seriously, even my dreams are about Lost. I think that might be a sign that things are going a bit too far...

A little update...

Wow, so it has been a really long time since I last posted. I kind of forgot my username, and I really didn't try that hard to remember it, but I finally put forth some effort, and here I am. Anyway, life is going good. I started the credentialing program at Master's. Actually I'm well into the program, and it really is not that difficult. I've come to the realization that horror stories (about anything) are rarely true. Well, maybe not about anything. But at least they aren't true about the credentialing program. Of course that may partly be because I don't have a 20 hour a week job anymore.
The really exciting surprise about this semester is that I am still able to go to SCV Bible study. My class that was supposed to last until 9:00 p.m. actually gets out around 7:30 p.m. because we all voted on skipping the hour dinner break. So I get to Bible study right around the time they're doing prayer requests. It worked out great. God is good and faithful!