Receptionist Duty

I really like covering for the receptionist at work. 

And I really don't like the quality of camera on my new(ish) phone.

Two seemingly unrelated things, I know.

When Michelle is gone sometimes I cover for her and that means I can arrive at work an hour later because I normally stay an hour longer in such cases.  Last Thursday (and tomorrow!) was just such a day, so I decided to use that hour and go to Starbucks to read.  I sat outside by the fountain and it was so nice!

(Here is where the sadness of my camera phone comes in.  I really miss the camera on my old one, but a smartphone was just really impractical for me.)

Anyway, here are a few pictures of the morning.

While I was looking at the fountain a hummingbird came by and flittered around, drank some water then zoomed off.  I just can't get over God's creation.  The speed on that little bird!  Amazing!  It's just so sweet to think of how God cares for and provides water for these little creatures.  Then we know He can definitely take care of us!

A breeze came by and I got a face full of jasmine scent!  Mmmm...is any smell better?

A classic short soy chai.  Say it three times fast.  C'mon!  The barista's can't do it most of the time.  ;)

Anna is letting me borrow Martin Lloyd Jone's commentary on Ephesians 1.  So good!  It's the first time I've read anything by him and he is so readable!  Even his commentary which you would think would tend to be more academic.

I'm looking forward to tomorrow morning!

The Friend Files

Cheesy title for a series of posts, I know, but at least I didn't name them "Wind Beneath My Wings."

I decided to interview some of my friends.  Why? Because they're wonderful and you should know them.  I have learned a lot from each of them, and they make me laugh, and they are just cool.  I am thankful for each of them!

First up is the fabulous

Megan Fremont

She was also the first one to answer the questions so she is going to win some kinda prize.  (I'm serious Megan.)

She crazy.  Well, she can be, but I mostly put that because I feel like that's something she would say.

Megan and I became friends...mm...6ish years ago?  We first met at SCV Bible Study in Crossroads and eventually we were roommates along with our friends Melissa and Jen.

Megan is one of the most faithful friends I have.  She moved back to MN right before she got engaged to Jason but we still email every day. (And I got to be in her wedding this past June!)

This was at Peet's, where we used to go hang out every Sunday before night church, when we were no longer roommates.

And here are her answers to some questions I asked her.  ;)

What is your full name? 

Megan Christine Fremont

Is there any significance behind it?

 Not that I know of!

Any funny stories in connection with it?

 I tried to have people pronounce my name Meegan for a while. It didn’t catch on.  :) Also, mom wanted twins really bad named Matt and Megan. She didn’t get twins so she still kept the names!

What is your favorite book?  Why?

Hmm.. Besides the Bible I take it? It changes so very often…. At the moment I think It’s Unbroken. Mostly because it’s a true story/biography. It’s so well written and such an incredible story of a POW in WW2. But a classic that never changes would be the Anne of Green Gables books because I can (as most females do I think) relate to Ann so well in her awkwardness or her honesty  gets her in trouble. It’s just a must read!

Where is your favorite place to eat in the greater L.A. area?  Why?

I’m forgetting after 2 years away! But Egg Plantation (why? Because of their strawberry stuffed French toast!), Stone Fire, and Pink Berry! Not sure if Pink Berry counts.. but in LA there are frozen yogurt places every two feet and in MN they aren’t to be found. I really miss it!

Have you ever left the country?

Yes 

Where did you go?

New Zealand, Caribbean, Dominican Republic 
What did you do?
I did a semester of school in New Zealand, went on a cruise with my mom and sister in the Caribbean, and went to Punta Cana on my honeymoon!

What is your dream job? 

Oh man I wish I knew!  

Are you doing your dream job right now?

No 

What do you do?

 I work in purchasing for a medical research and development company

Who do you look up to?

Stephanie Niednagel and Emarie Britton and my mom 

Why?

Stephanie always has so much on her plate but isn’t overwhelmed or doesn’t show it at least. She always had answers or advice and time for me. Emarie Britton because of her love for [her husband] Sam and she always talks him up. My mom because the older I get the more I appreciate what she has gone through in life (lost her mother when she was very young, lost her first husband when she was young and had an 18 month old, married my dad and moved away from her family to be near his family) and her crafty/cooking skills I have come to depend on and wish to have.

What is the craziest thing you have ever done?  Details!

I think either moving to New Zealand for 6 months, or moving to LA for 5 years right after coming back from New Zealand. I was very very shy and grew up in a very rural farm area in Eastern Montana. No one could believe that I went to New Zealand and they really couldn’t believe I moved to LA!

    What is the first concert you ever went to?

Rebecca St James :)

         What are you thankful for?

Besides the Lord, salvation, etc? I’m thankful for my husband Jason!

      If you had a baby elephant, what would you name it?

When I was little I had two stuffed elephants named Elly and Nelly… I might stick with those names ;)

I love ya Meegan.  Thanks!

DIY: Refrigerator Word Magnets

Almost a year ago now, I'm guessing, I pondered over the idea of joining the Etsy world.  I came up with a few things I might sell, some better than others.  One of the not so good ideas was making and selling refrigerator word magnets.  I actually followed through on making these.  I made a TON.  And then I decided not to sell them, so they are still covering our fridge.

I just think these are so fun!  People come up with random, funny sentences or phrases.  So I thought I would give a simple DIY on the ol' blog today.

First I bought magnet sheets at Office Max.

Avery Ink Jet magnet paper to be exact.

Then I got out some Mod Podge...

and some sponge on a stick thingy's...

and then I cut out a ton of words, phrases, sentences, and paragraphs from magazines that had fun fonts or crazy words and I mod podged them onto the magnet paper with the sponge on a stick.

The most tedious part comes after the mod podge dries...cutting out each individual word!

As I cut out the words I separated them into little baggies by type of word such as, adjectives, nouns, verbs, conjunctions...etc.  You don't need to do this if you're just going to keep them yourself.  Unless you want to know how many you have of each type of word.

Don't forget to cut out lots of a's, and's, the's, in's, for's, to's, you know...those kinds of words that you use a lot.

That's it!  Pretty simple.  It just takes a long time.

Have fun making crazy sentences!

Photography Workshop

Last week I had two nice surprises.

First off, I had heard about Lukas' upcoming photography class and I really wanted to go, but it was just a tad more than I could afford at the time. I actually had already been to one of his workshops before, but it was shorter and a couple of years ago. At the time I knew basically nothing. I showed up with a camera that I THOUGHT was an SLR only to discover that it wasn't. Talk about embarrassing. That workshop was helpful, but now that I had come a bit farther, I really wanted to go again. Enter Jessica:




This lovely, sweet girl is in my small group and her parents, as a birthday present, signed her up for the workshop. The Van Dyke's were kind enough to offer a "bring a friend" deal for a lower price and Jessica was looking for a friend to come with her. She was kind enough to invite me along!

It was a fun day just getting to know Jessica better on the ride to and from L.A. One of the things I discovered is that she is a natural at photography!

The other surprise was that my dear friend Amber and her husband, Andrew were our models for practicing our newly acquired skills! This made it much more comfortable for me to get right in their faces. :) I had the privilege of being in Amber's wedding. And she means a lot to me. She spent the night at the hopsital with me and my family the night before my dad went to Heaven. You don't let go of friends like that! So without further ado, here are the pictures. Warning: I went a little overboard...

(Side note: I would love to be able to practice practice practice! If any of you readers out there need pictures taken for whatever occasion, let me know! Since I'm practicing it would be free. I'll even get you a Starbuck's drink for your trouble. :)