Thirsty for Grace

Welcome, Suzanne!

2010-04-01T16:55:00.003-04:00

So I officially have a new roommate! My dear friend Suzanne officially moved in yesterday.... I am so happy! Chris was a very nice guy and a pretty good roommate- but I was never comfortable with living with a guy, no matter how innocent it was. And now, not only do I have a female roommate, but one who is my friend, and a Christian as well. Yay! Suz is wonderful.... I haven't even lived with her for 24 hours and I came home to a thank you note on our kitchen island, expressing how thankful she is to have me as her new roommate. She's so sweet! I can't wait to see what's in store for us this year!

Besides for having a new roommate, I'm also so thankful to have a day off of work tomorrow! I took off at just the right time, too- this weekend is supposed to be gorgeous weather! :) And I get to spend it with a lot of wonderful friends, as well. There's a good Friday service at our Church tomorrow, and a bunch of us are going to T.G.I. Fridays afterward... then on Saturday night, we're throwing a birthday party for Will. I've been notified I'm the designated cake-baker... so I'm looking for a delicous chocolate cake recipe. If you know of any, send them my way! :)

After the party, I'll be driving home to K-town to spend Easter with my family. I believe it will be my parents and Britt and I, along with my Aunt Darel and Uncle Bob and cousins Dee and Ry. Yay! I love Aunt Darel, for many reasons, one of them being that she always brings delicious appetizers to functions (read- wonderful delicious crab dip, spinach artichoke dip) so I'm really looking forward to Sunday! And I'm excited because I get to wear my cute new spring dress- it's a white dress with a crochet overlay, and I have a turquoise top to go with it. I love it. :)

But most importantly, I'm excited for Sunday to celebrate my Savior- he died, so that I may live. I'm forever grateful for the sacrifice he made for me. I'm not the same person because of him, thank God! And anyone who wants to know more can come to Covenant Fellowship's Bridge course- a 10 week introduction to Christianity. Held at Covenant Fellowship Church, it meets every Wednesday night from 7:00 to 9:00ish. The course begins April 14, you can register at www.thebridgecourse.com if you would like to attend!

I hope everyone has a wonderful weekend... enjoy the terrific weather! :)

To all my wonderful friends :)

2010-03-30T20:46:00.002-04:00

I'd just like to take the time quickly to thank God for all my wonderful friends! You are such a joy and a blessing to me. I don't know what I would do without you all! Your wisdom and caring and encouragement and the million other things about you all are such a gift to me.... I only hope and pray I can be a blessing to you all as well!

THANK YOU, FRIENDS! :D

Crazy busy

2010-03-29T21:09:00.002-04:00

I know I haven't written much lately, and I'm sorry! I've just been crazy busy the last couple of weeks. In fact, I can't even write too much now (I'll try more for tomorrow) but here are some of the highlights of the past month, in a nutshell:

1) Chris is moving out, Suzanne has moved in! Yay! Suz is my friend from CFC.... it will be such a blessing to have a female, Christian friend as my roommate! I haven't experienced that since college, and I miss it terribly. I'm so excited!

2) Finally got to visit Brian and Mary and little David! He's so precious! Babies are such a wonderful gift... it was so nice to catch up with Brian and Mary, I miss them!

3) Celebrated a ton of birthdays this month- cousin Dee on the 2nd, best friend Kayte on the 9, friend Steph on the 11, sister Beck on the 16, sister Britt on the 23, friend Will today, (and new 2nd cousin Audriana! Born today! Congrats Sherry!) and cousin Nikki on the 31st. Whew!

4) Work changes- My only coworker Lauren has decided to stay at home with the baby, so this is her last week. Due to the economy, we won't be able to hire a replacement until September... and that's not even definite. So I'll be busy with work again!

5) Signed up for the NEXT conference for Memorial Day weekend! It sounds like so much fun! I'm looking forward not only to hearing the messages, but the fellowship with all my friends from CFC! I'm rooming with Kayte, Alexis, and Melissa, some of the best girls ever! I can't wait! :)

Ok, that's some of the big stuff.... tons of little things have been going on as well, but I'll leave that for another blog... I'm exhausted and headed off to bed!

Not your average woman

2010-02-28T18:44:00.002-05:00

I think it's important to really know yourself. To know who you really are, what you like, what you dislike, what you truly value and believe in, what your goals and dreams are. It's especially important to know this when you're apart from someone else. You need to really look at yourself when you're alone, because it's all too easy to let someone come along and influence you to be someone or soemthing that you're not.

That said, I have been trying to really come to know myself. And one thing I am quickly realizing is that I'm not an average woman. Not at all. Nor am I an easy woman to understand. In fact, I can almost be contradicting in some of my behaviors and thoughts.

So, how am I unusual? Here are some examples.

1. Most women love roses. They want roses for special occasions. I think roses are boring and plain. Lilies, especially stargazer lilies, are my favorite flowers to receive. They're stately and elegant... powerful too. Lily of the Valley is actually quite poisionous... for some reason, I like that. The flower demands respect, it needs to be handled with care.

2. Most women like diamonds. I don't prefer them. Pearls are my favorite gem. They're a testament to patience and perserverance in the midst of trouble. An ordinary piece of sand that is a nuisance and an irritant to the oyster, over time, is changed to something beautiful and precious. Something worthless is now priceless. It reminds me of my Christian walk. I started out as an ordinary piece of sand. Through God's patience and work, he transforms me into something beautiful and precious. I like that.

3. Most women want an engagement ring, and a big one at that. Quite frankly, I really could care less if I got a ring. I'm not kidding. A big expensive ring is worthless if it comes from someone who doesn't really love me. I'd much rather have a man who loves me and respects me and have no ring and live my life poor, than to have a big expensive diamond ring, and tons of fancy things, and have a man who cheats on me and lies to me and doesn't treat me the way I should be treated. And if I get an engagement ring, I would like it to be small. It needs to pass what I call "the pocket test." If the ring gets stuck when I'm trying to put my hand in my pocket, it's too big, and I don't want it.

4. I would prefer a small intimate wedding rather than a big lavish one. The idea of eloping (although I want to be married by a pastor, no JP business) actually rather appeals to me.

5. I would prefer to rough it out camping than go to a beach for vacation. Not that I don't ever want to go to the beach, I like the beach. But camping and being around the woods and the nature that's in it appeals to me more than the ocean. Give me squirrels and racoons and spiders and snakes any day over crabs, sharks, jellyfish, and sandfleas.

6. I know more about my car and how it works than most men I know, let alone any girls. I can change my own tires, I check my oil, transmission fluid, power steering fluid, window washing fluid. I know the parts of my car so if something breaks down I have a general idea what may be wrong when I open the hood. I know how my engine works and can explain the difference between internal and external combustion engines and 4, 6, and 8 cylinder engines. And I like knowing that.

7. I really enjoy tinkering and fixing things. At college, my roommate clogged the sink by accidently pouring grease down the drain. I took the sink apart and removed the clogged and fixed it. I re-caulked our tub at college because the orginal caulk was all moldy. My current apartment bedroom door literally fell off the hinges because the wood in the hinge was so rotted, and I fixed it myself by sawing off a piece of a dowel rod and pushing that into the hole in the orginal wood, and then screwed the door into the dowel rod. I put together much of my own furniture, thanks to the massive coleman tool kit my Dad got me, along with my drill. I even have a table-top vice. That I have used, by the way. More than once.

These are all some of my unique aspects of myself that although they aren't ideal feminine traits, I love them about myself. They make me, me. And I'm not completely anti-feminine. I hate leaving the house without makeup. I don't need a lot of makeup, but I am honest enough to know that I look better with at least some light makeup on. I'm vain about my hair... I love it. I LOVE shoes, like most women do. I love to dress up in beautiful dresses... I like to dress well in general. I love accessories, be it hair accesories such as my polynesian flower (the maintenance guys at work love that) or my many scarves, or my big colorful costume jewelery. I love animals... of course the cute cuddly ones, but even the creepy things not many people like, such as spiders and rats and things like that. In fact, I decided that my perfect first date would be something involving animals, like going to a zoo or helping out at a shelter or something.

Some other things about me that I've realized lately- I'm not photogenic. This is more disturbing to me because both my sisters are about as photogenic as you can possibly be. Which of course makes me look even worse. But that's life I guess. Another thing is that I love to eat. I have a sweet tooth of ridiculous proportions. I love to hang out with friends and socialize, but I definitely need my space as well. Hanging around the house just reading and watching movies with people I love is one of my most favorite things to do. I can quote movies and sing all the songs from animated movies and broadway shows after seeing them only once (a trait I share with my sisters... it's entertaining to see us all in action! Ask us to act out the Swan Princess sometime... it's a riot!) Also, I love to bake. Not only so that I can eat my delicious creations, but because I love to share them with others and see the delight it brings. I love to serve. My whole family does, I'd say serving is our greatest spiritual gift. Also, I enjoy working out, but strength training is my preferred method. Basic cardio sucks.

There are a million other facets about me that I could list here, but that takes away all the mystery and besides that, I've made my point. The posting above describes a unique, interesting individual, who's worth getting to know, who's worth becoming friends with, who's worth loving. We all need to take a good look at ourselves and see who we really are, what is is that makes us uniquely us. Because if we don't know ourselves, we can't love ourselves, and if we can't love ourselves, how can we expect anyone else to? And isn't that one of the biggest things we all want? To be loved? Especially for who we really are?

Get to know yourself this week. It'll be worth it in the end.

Busy February!

2010-02-27T13:29:00.002-05:00

Bah. I know I've been so behind in posts, and I hate that and I'm sorry! I was just really busy/stressed for a lot of February.... with the bad weather, and lots of events for Church, and looking for a new apartment. Well thankfully, I spoke the truth with my roommate Chris, and explained how I felt about the situation (living with a guy) and that was why I didn't want to live with him anymore, and that I would like to stay in the apartment because I was here first and I love it. Chris was very forgiving and kind about the situation and has graciously agreed, so I'm staying in my apartment! Yay! And Suzanne (my friend from Church) loves it and is moving in with me! So come April 1st or so, I'll be having a new roommie! :)

Some things going on with Church- I have a mentor now, Theresa, whom I love, we get along so well, she's so much fun. We finally got to meet up for chai lattes (both our favs!) at the Cream and Sugar Cafe in Wayne (highly recommend it, by the way!) and really got to talk. Also, both my community groups and my Grow class have been keeping me busy. Early in February, I had planned a service project with my Mon night CG. We made tons of various homemade baked goods (cookies, brownies, rice crispie treats, ect) and packaged 6 different boxes with the assorted baked goods, as well as valentines candy and homemade cards. This was actually supposed to be for our fellow singles groups. However, the huge snowstorm on the 9-10 made that impossible, so we improvised and took 5 of the care packages into the Church on Tuesday, to be a blessing for the Pastors, the staff, and all their families. The 6 package was taken to the city team. So it was nice to be able to bless and thank our Pastors, and now, we'll get to do this again in the future, and hopefully this time get it to our fellow singles groups.

February also brought many surgeries for my friends, so I've been making meals and goodies for some people throughout the month. And while my friend Will didn't have surgery, he's in law school right now and is super busy and overwhelmed with all the classwork, and the many other obligations he has. So last Friday, I took chicken stir fry, fresh bread (with olive oil and cracked pepper for dipping) and homemade apple crisp over to Will (and his roommate Chris) and had dinner with them. Chris is actually the leader of my Tues. night community group, that's where I met both him and Will. It was really nice to enjoy the meal and fellowship with them... I'm already planning more meals to bring the next couple of months!

It's looking like March will be just as busy... for instance, this coming weekend holds two birthday parties and a baby shower! Friday night is Kayte's birthday party (my best friend at CFC) while Sat afternoon is my cousin Sherry's baby shower, and Sat evening is Suzanne's birthday (my soon to be new roommate). March is ALSO my cousin Dee's birthday (the 2) Becky's bday (the 16) Britty's bday (the 23) and my cousin Nick's bday (the 30). Not to mention, Kayte just became engaged to my dear friend and Mon night CG leader Jason, and I was asked to help plan Kayte's bridal shower! I'm so excited for them both. Come to think of it, January/February brought a lot of engagements at Church.... 4 different couples became engaged in the span of a couple weeks! And that's only ones I know of.... there are probably more than that. So that means this summer will be busy as well!

Speaking of summer, I cannot wait for it. I booked the beach house at OC New Jersey again for the beginning of the summer, June 5-11. It's not quite as warm, but it's such a steal! So much cheaper to rent the house, plus it's before the official season starts so there aren't any crowds, and the restaurants and shops haven't raised their prices yet. We had a great time last year, I can't wait to go again. The only bad thing is that Beck won't be with us this year. :( She won't be home again until September, because she's in our friend Christina's wedding, which is Sep. 25. Coincidentally though, that will also be at OC NJ, so we're going to rent the beach house again for that weekend. Although knowing Catherine (my landlady, she owns my apt building and the beach house) she'll let us stay that weekend for free. I love Catherine, she's the best landlady ever!

Ok... I think that's most of the updates from February. Stay tuned to see what March brings! (And hopefully, it's not more snow!!!)

!@#E$@ SNOW!!!!

2010-02-06T17:49:00.002-05:00

I hate snow. I hate it hate it hate it hate it hate it hate it hate it hate it hate it hate it hate it hate it

LOATHE ENTIRELY......

I found a poem by this girl Emily M. It's perfect. It says,

"Dear Winter: SUCK IT."

AMEN!!!

February... shortest or longest month?

2010-02-03T19:55:00.003-05:00

Sigh. I'm sorry I've been so bad at posting lately.... I've just been so unmotivated since Christmas. I've been feeling so lazy and just blah-ish at work.... it's bad now that my co-worker came back. I love her and I'm glad she's back, it's just that now, I have a lot less on my plate, and I can't believe it, but I kind of... well, I miss the crazy hectic pace I had when she was gone. I love having a lot to do, coming into work with purpose, having a list to check off, just roll from one thing to the next to the next... I hate trying to find things to do, I hate being bored at work, and that's what's currently happening. It doesn't help that I'm slightly in-between projects at the moment, and this crap winter weather CERTAINLY doesn't help. :P Luckily, I think the pace at work will pick up shortly. I'll just have to ride this out till then.

Some updates since I've last posted- I'll be moving at the end of March/beginning of April. I'm so sad to leave my apartment, I love it, and I will especially miss my sweet landlady Catherine. But I really won't miss having a male roommate. Even though Chris was pretty ok for a guy, I just didn't like it. So, I'll be moving in with my friend Suzanne- we met through Church, so not only is she a girl, and my friend, she's a Christian! Yay! We haven't found a place yet, though we've been looking around and have found some good prospects. We'll hopefully get to check them out Feb 13.... please pray for us! :)

Speaking of Church, I've been keeping busy there! I've still been attending both my community groups, and I'm really enjoying the 10 month Grow course- we're halfway through now. I planned a service project with my Mon night CG to serve our fellow singles community groups... so I'll be baking up a storm this weekend for that! We're making care packages full of all sorts of baked goodies and candy and notes for the different groups. I'm so excited!

Also, due to the Women's meeting I attended in January, I now have a mentor at my Church. I've always had a mentor-type person at every Church I've been at, and I missed the mentorship/friendship of Pam and Steve and Brian and Mary, the two couples at my former Church. Theresa has been great, we really hit it off through email and we're getting together for coffee next week. I think I'll really learn a lot from her, and her friendship and guidance has already been such a blessing to me.

I've also started finding places to serve within the Church, now that I'm an official member. I prayed a lot about it, and so this past Sunday, I took my place with the audio duplication team. We make CD copies of the sermons for people to take to others who couldn't make it that Sunday, or for evangelistic means. I definitely felt it was the place for me, because not only did they really need the help, but this ministry has a special place in my heart, because I watched my Dad serve our home Church for years in that way. Of course, back then, it was on tape cassettes, not CD's, and he only made 5-6 copies, not the 100+ we do each Sunday. Still, the purpose is the same, and it's a joy for me to follow in my Dad's footsteps. :)

Anyway, although I generally dislike the month of February (does anyone else feel that for the shortest month, it can feel like the longest??) I do have a lot to look forward to. The superbowl is this Sunday, and this Saturday I'm going to have a blast baking the day away with my mom and sister, next Saturday I'll be having breakfast with my friend Alexis, going apartment hunting with Suzanne, and ending the evening with a Valentine's party at Phil's house. I'll be getting together with Theresa next Thursday as well. President's Day, I took the day off, so I can just relax with Britty. Later during that week, I'm going out to lunch with Phil and Christina (we all work so close together, it seemed like the perfect idea!) Towards the end of the month, Steph is going to have an open mic night at her house, so I need to think of what I'm going to do for that. Not to mention I have two Grow meetings somewhere in there.... and my dear cousin AJ is turning 21 on February 27, can't forget that! I surely have to be there to help him celebrate. :) So, although February is normally kind of a bummer month, it looks like I have a lot to look forward to. :)

And how could I have forgotten? February already had a great start. I went to H&R Block today to get my 2009 taxes done... and found out that I'm getting a hefty refund back! :D Woohoo! A lot of that money is going to my vacation account.... my family is looking to perhaps due a cruise around Christmastime. We are usually so traditional, we need a change... I couldn't believe when my Dad suggested it! So that refund will certainly help that fund. :)

Ok, hopefully, I will blog again soon! Till then, enjoy your month of February! Hopefully it's looking to be as good as mine is!

Dead Like Me

2010-01-13T21:12:00.002-05:00

I really like the TV show Dead Like Me. It's a bit depressing I guess, because it deals with death (the main characters are grim reapers) and I don't particularly care for the language, but barring that, I do like the show. It's interesting, offbeat, definitely not your average show. It has a dry sense of humor that I find refreshing. I like George, the main character, I feel like I would be friends with her if she was a real person. Anyway, my sisters got me the DVD set for Christmas and every now and then I've been watching an episode. The one I saw today really got me thinking. Rube tells George that in the game of life, she's been a bowling pin, not a bowling ball. She just sits at the bottom of the lane, waiting to get knocked down. And he says, "I'll tell you what, it sure is better to be the ball." Later in the episode, George is contemplating that. Since the first episode (where she met her untimely death due to be smashed by a flaming toilet seat falling out of the sky from a Russian space center) she's been resentful of dying. Now, in this episode, she thinks back to her life and started questioning her behavior and her actions, like why she didn't do certain things. Basically she asks herself, "Why didn't I live when I was alive?"

And that really hit me. Oftentimes I curse the situations I may find myself in, but how much of it is my fault? My complacency, my fear of just getting up and DOING something? Why don't I try to live more fully, instead of just sitting back and letting life run me over? I feel more like I'm the poor sap at a dunk tank- I feel like so often, I just sit on the stoop, cringing, wondering when someone's going to hit the button and I'll get dunked. And instead of climbing out of the stupid tank when I am dunked, I just get right back on the stoop and do it all over again. And if I AM going to just stay on the stoop of the dunk tank, why don't I even have any fun with it? There's a lot of people who really make the best out of every situation life throws at them, good or bad. I basically just stay miserable no matter what.

Well, no more! I'm tired of not living, I'm tired of waiting around, worrying about what life may or may not hit me with next. I want to do something with my life and enjoy it! I don't want it to pass me by. When I'm on my deathbed, I don't want to look back on my life and wonder why I didn't live more. The time is now, and I'm going to take it. Like Betty says on the show... "Happy thoughts!"

ESV Study Bible!

2010-01-10T17:13:00.002-05:00

Today was commitment Sunday at my Church, where I was officially recognized as a new member of Covenant Fellowship Church. There was a special lunch after the service, and since my family couldn't come, I had my friends Jason, Kayte, and Jackie come with me instead, which was really fun. Also, as a gift for being a new member, I (and all the other new members at CFC) received a brand new ESV study bible!!! I was amazed and overwhelmed. For those of you who don't know, the ESV study bible is like the Rolls Royce or Lamborghini of Bibles. It's phenomenal and I know it can be quite expensive (I know because I was drooling over them at Hackman's Bible Bookstore around Christmastime, when I was in to get an NKJV study bible for my mom for Christmas). It's only one more reason, as if I needed any more reasons, for me to love my Church! I can't wait to go through my new Bible! :)

Enemy Guidelines for 2010

2010-01-04T20:33:00.004-05:00

Man, I need to start the new year off with a laugh, and I was scrolling through my favorites list on my computer and happened to come across this website that my cousin sent me. The Enemy Guidelines is the most hysterical thing ever. Whoever wrote this is a GENIUS! Enjoy! :) I'd say what my favorite is but honestly I love so many of them I just can't pick. :)

http://www.dbooth.net/internerd/dynamic_internerd.cfm?id=17

It's Christmastime, Charlie Brown!

2009-12-15T21:46:00.001-05:00

I love Christmastime. It's a beautiful time physically- all the decorations and lights, I just love it! But it's also a beautiful time spiritually, as we celebrate our savior's birth.

I've been having a wonderful time this season hanging out with friends and family. December 5 was the holiday party for our singles group at Church. We had a blast. Phil was a kind and gracious host in opening his home to us. I arrived a few hours early to help Phil, Kayte, and Jason prep a lot of the food. Jenn Payton arrived a little later to help as well. All went well, with the exception that we accidently clogged Phil's sink. And he has a garbage disposal, which makes things more difficult, so in trying to use a plunger to unclog the drain, we backed up all the water into the dishwasher, which then started leaking all over the floor...... poor Phil! Luckily this happened before the party, so we could adequately clean everything up and put a nice "DO NOT USE" sign on the sink so no further problems were caused. We had a great turnout, and it was a fabulous time of food, fun, and fellowship. My favorite part of the night was when Dave started playing the guitar and we made up our own song... Dave started and then had everyone else "sing" what their worst Christmas present was. It was hilarious. :) We did sing some real Christmas carols as well though.

Earlier that morning was also an important event for me as well- after taking the 10 week membership course at Church, I met with Brian (one of the pastors) and officially became a member of the Church! :) I was very excited, and it was nice how everyone was excited for me. :)

This weekend, I had a lovely day with my mom and Britt as we went Christmas shopping... I'm happy to say that I finished my shopping! We also went out to On the Border for lunch, to celebrate my mom's birthday. Later that evening, we made Christmas cookies (Snickers Surprise and Heath Crunch cookies, yummy!!) and I also finished wrapping all my presents. Because there was an small ice storm on Sunday, I ended up staying at home instead of heading back to Philly like I'd planned, and it was so nice. My dad made us homemade pizza, and we watched Christmas movies and just had a great time. It was a wonderful weekend.

This weekend should be fabulous too, because Becky will be home!!! She's currently on her way here now, she should arrive in Dulles around 6:30 am tomorrow morning. I'm so excited to see her! Even though I saw her a little more than a month ago, I'm still anxious to see her again. So I took a half day on Friday (yay!) to have a little more time with her. Saturday night, we're going to the singles Christmas party at Church, so she'll get to meet all my friends there. I can't wait!

So that's a little bit of what I've been up to lately.... I hope to write more, but I have been incredibly busy with work (I won't get much time off for Christmas, which is a real bummer) and with all the other Christmas events going on, I don't know if I'll have much time to update during December. So if I'm not on again for a bit, Merry Christmas Everyone! :)

Sabrina Ann

2009-12-05T10:38:00.003-05:00

I love Sabrina Ann.

No, Sabrina Ann is not a person, Sabrina Ann is in fact a store. A store which is my guilty pleasure. Every morning, coming home from the gym, I face the store before turning onto Ardmore Ave, and as my headlights illuminate the store window, I gaze at the display with what I would imagine could only be described as naked longing in my eyes.

I have to be content to just gazing at the dresses on display from afar for now, because Sabrina Ann is a wedding dress shop. And not just any wedding dress shop- a consignment store! It's a once worn-never worn store, a lot of what they have are actually floor model dresses from other stores. And really, what can be better than thousands of beautiful wedding dresses on display? CHEAP wedding dresses on display! I don't know who is the window dresser for Sabrina Ann, but whomever they are, they should be paid well, because they do a fabulous job. Hence my staring obsession with the window every morning. :P Some of the dresses are just so beautiful.

I'm not even close to being married- I'm single with no prospects in sight, but I really don't fantasize about a wedding day very much. Really, I kind of hate weddings anymore, because I think that the value and meaning has been sucked out of what a wedding should be. Not everyone does this of course, but the world in general has perverted what a wedding is. Really, while the wedding day is a special day of course, it marks the first day of two people's lives joining together to walk as one, and people are there to celebrate that, it's just. ONE. DAY. ONE DAY. That's it. The wedding doesn't matter, it's your life together that matters. The MARRIAGE is what matters. And the world has forgotten this. Now, weddings are just one more excuse to spend tons of money on useless, frivolous things, get drunk, dress up, and one-up other people (men don't do that so much as women. Do you know how many women I've heard gossiping about different weddings, with this being better than that, and she was too cheap on this, and that should have been done differently, blah blah blah... it's disgusting.) It saddens me. It saddens me to go to lavish weddings only to find out that a couple of years later, the couple is divorcing. (Not that people who have cheap weddings last any longer.... after all, vegas weddings are cheap and most of them never last.) I'm not trying to begrudge people a beautiful wedding, or a "special day," I just want people to remember that while it is a special day, they need to remember that it's not the main point. If I ever get married, I want to remember throughout the whole day that in the grand scheme of things that is my life, this is just another day. I pray that all people would work as hard on their marriage and their lives together as they do on making their wedding day "perfect." The world would be a much better place if we did.

Back to my original point... should the day ever come (and I do hope and pray that it does one day come) that I get married, I hope to be able to finally step into Sabrina Ann and try on some of the beautiful dresses that grace the store, and yes, find one that makes me feel like a princess. :) I'm not against everything about weddings!

But don't get me started on engagement rings. :P

Thanksgiving, kitties, and runaway carts

2009-11-28T17:58:00.005-05:00

Happy Thanksgiving everyone!

Hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving weekend. I had a very busy week leading up to Thanksgiving.... I had so much to get done at work. Thankfully, I got everything done, so late Wednesday evening I headed up to my parents house. Thanksgiving day, we had a lovely time with my maternal grandparents and my mom's brother and his family. We had a lot of laughs and of course, a lot of good food.... I think I ate almost half of an entire pumpkin pie all by myself. :P (It was a smaller, 8 inch pie though, so I don't feel like such a pig).

Friday, I had breakfast with one of my best friends, Katie!! She's been getting her phD in Analytical Chemistry down in South Carolina and I haven't seen her since last Christmas, so it was so nice to get to see her and catch up a bit. We went to the APD, such memories of high school :)

Later in the day, my Dad and Britt and I decorated the house for Christmas, and it looks so pretty! I love the way the house looks at Christmastime. Then once my mom got home and we had dinner, we all watched A Christmas Carol (with Patrick Stewart). Oh! I almost forgot- Friday I found a kitten! I opened up the door in the morning to call our cat Kit inside and saw a tiny calico crying piteously under my mom's car. I went out and coaxed it out, and it wanted some loving cause it practically jumped in my arms. It was SKINNY. So malnurished, poor thing, so we brought her in and gave her some food. She's been on our back porch for now but I think we've convinced my dad to let us keep her. :) She's cute, white with black and brown striping, and very loving. She follows us around everywhere.... if we keep her, we're calling her Piper.

Today, I headed back down to Philly for Tabitha and Jamie's wedding. I was setting up and running the mini-reception (for people were were coming to the wedding but not the main reception). I had a little trouble with the setup at first....when I took a cart out to my car to get all the supplies, the wind was blowing stuff off my cart left and right, so I had to chase things across the parking lot, and then, when I turned around, there's the cart, flying full speed down the parking lot! I screamed and thankfully had enough time to run over and throw myself in front of it to stop it.... just in time to look to my right and see Will sitting in his car with a stupefied look on his face like "what the heck just happened?" Well, I wasn't the only goofball that day, chasing a runaway cart, because Will was actually there not for the wedding, but because he honestly thought it was Sunday and he was there for Church! Wow. :) Between the two of us... :P Anyway, it worked out for me because then Will helped me bring everything into the Church. A few minutes later my helpers Phil, Jason, and Mike showed up to help me set everything up. They were so awesome, I'm so glad I had their help! And everything went so well, praise God! I was a little worried. But the decorations were really pretty, everything went really smoothly... we did have a lot of leftovers, but that worked out too because we're having a big holiday party at Phil's house on Saturday, so I sent a lot of the stuff home with him. The extra food will go to his party Saturday, my workplace on Monday, and my membership class at Church tomorrow.

So now, I'm finally home and can relax a bit...hope everyone had as fun this weekend as I did! :)

NaNoWriMo

2009-11-18T19:23:00.002-05:00

So sometimes I hit the "next blog" button at the top of the page and scan other people's blogs. Most don't interest me, however, the first blog that appeared tonight was fascinating. It was titled "Life according to k" and I wish I knew this girl! Her posts were so interesting and she seems like so much fun. I think we could be very good friends, if we met in person.

The second blog I ran into was called "William's Ramblings" and was not interesting to me but for one post halfway down the page. It was titled NaNoWriMo and it immediately caught my eye, because the same thing was mentioned quite frequently in the Life according to K blog.

What is NaNoWriMo, you ask? (Don't worry, I didn't know either!) It stands for National Novel Writing Month (which apparently happens to be the month of November.... check it out here http://www.nanowrimo.org/eng/whatisnano). It's just for fun, a contest that encourages people to write a 50,000 word (about 175 page) novel in one month! That's a pretty daunting task. K of Life according to K has taken up this challenge, while William of William's Ramblings, who is apparently an actual published writer, has not. I so wish I had known about this before now! It sounds so interesting. Of course, it's probably better that I'm not doing it this month, seeing as up to this point I've only been on vacation, sick, or working overtime, so I wouldn't have the time for it.... but I'm putting it on my calendar for next year! I have a year then to think of a topic to write about....

I think the easiest way to write a 50,000 word novel is to write a story about my life. Although I would definitely have to embellish things and just outright make stuff up to actually make it an interesting read..... hmm. This could be interesting! :) Luckily, the purpose of NaNoWriMo is that it's all about quantity, not quality.... so even if what you write is a bunch of crap, it doesn't matter! You can still pat yourself on the back for writing a 175 page novel.

I am SO doing this next year! :)

Stupid sinus infection

2009-11-17T20:00:00.002-05:00

Boo to sinus infections. :(

This one is really bad, too. It must have happened when I was in Bahrain, and flying home made things that much worse. It's only on my left side, thank God, because if I had this insane pressure and achy-ness in both ears, I think I'd throw myself out a window. Thankfully the pressure isn't constant, it comes and goes, so that's something, and I went to the doctor today and was given antiobiotics, so I hope it clears up soon. This morning when I woke up the pressure in my left ear was horrific. I could barely get ready for the day. Thankfully, after taking a short nap before my doc appt, the pressure had cleared and stayed away for the rest of the day, but it's come back with a vengenance right now. :( I'm praying it goes away soon!

On an upside, I just found out that the random 167.00 deposit in my checking account from Lankenau was NOT a mistake, it was a little bonus to all the employees for doing something good. I don't really know what, to be honest, I had deleted the email that had explained this bonus without even reading it and then was left wondering about this money in my account for the past 4 days. I finally found out when the girls started talking about it at lunch. Which is nice, because I can always use some extra cash, and I wasn't too keen on giving it up if it had been a mistake. So yay for me! :)

Ok. My ear is seriously hurting... I'm going to go lay down and hope it clears like it did this morning. Here's hoping! *crosses fingers* :)

Long overdue update

2009-11-15T18:47:00.004-05:00

So, I know it's been almost 2 months since I last updated the blog.... I've been so busy lately and just feeling lazy. And I did actually try to update a month ago- I wrote a big post and then my computer went crazy and I lost the post. It was all I could do to not throw my computer out the window at the time, so re-writing the post was definitely not an option. :P

Since September, here are some things that have happened in my life, just some highlights.

1) I have a new car. Noah didn't actually die, he's still at my parents house, and despite the fact that he's just an old car, he was MY old car and I miss him terribly. I know I sound like a huge weirdo for being so attached to my car, but too bad. I'm now leasing my sister's car, a black Nissan Sentra. My dad repainted it with sweet pink and gray striping on it's side (it used to be red and gray) and I like that a lot better. This car has been dubbed Sweets. For two reasons- one, beck named him Lance, a name I didn't really like. However, on one of my fav TV shows, Bones, one of my favorite characters is called Dr. Lance Sweets. (Everyone calls him Sweets). So it's perfect, my car's name is Lance Sweets. Plus he has a sweet candy pink stripe. :) I love Sweets, but miss my Noah a lot.

2) I've gotten crazy busy at work. My only co-worker lauren went on maternity leave on October 12, so I've been nuts taking over her work as well as carrying my own. I'm managing, thank God I'm a very organized person who's extremely good at multi-tasking, or else I'd be dead by now. My boss has been great though so that's good.

3) I'm getting really involved with my Church- I'm in two community groups, and I'm taking the 10 week Explore class (it's for people who are thinking about becoming members of the Church) plus I'm taking the 10 month Grow class- a class that's designed to help people grow in their faith. I've been loving it. It's been such a blessing to learn and grow with my fellow community group members. Not to mention we have tons of social events- the last weekend of October was the singles retreat (AWESOME experience!!! I had a great time!) this Friday is a game night at Leah and Jackie's house, there's a holiday party the first Sat of December at Phil's, and there's a singles Christmas party December 19. Oh and this coming Sunday is a cookie baking day with my Monday night CG- we're baking cookies for Jamie and Tabitha's mini wedding reception (being held for guests who come to the wedding but weren't invited to the main reception). I'm actually in charge of the mini-reception, I hope it goes well. Yesterday my mom and I were out getting a lot of the decorations and supplies. I had such a good time shopping with my mom!

4) November 4-9 I went to Bahrain to visit Becky!!! Unfortunately due to the travel time, I only had 3 days with her- it went way too fast. I would have loved to have stayed longer, but I was lucky enough to get these couple days off at work (see number 2 above) so I took what I could get. Becky was so wonderful, she bought the ticket for me, since I'm just a poor overworked researcher that no one cares about (no one cares about the research I mean, people care about me. At least I think they do! :P) so that was really nice. I flew British Air, which was awesome. I highly recommend it. The flights went so smoothly. Becky flew me over specifically so I could go to the marine ball with her... it was so much fun! I loved it. I'd put up pics but I'm feeling pretty lazy, plus I have a lot up on facebook so everyone can check them out there. :) I felt like a princess though. It was a nice feeling. :)

So, that's some of the biggest stuff that's happened to me for a while. There should be plenty to update now with the holidays approaching, and it appears I'm over my lazy slump, so stay tuned. I'll try to be better at updating!

It's been a while

2009-10-16T21:09:00.002-04:00

I love reading blogs, and I feel bad that I neglected mine for so long, but I just didn't have the heart to write for a while. I was really in a funk. Maybe it was the changing weather, maybe it was turning 26, maybe it was the stress of my rapidly increasing workload at work, maybe it was being so uncertain about my future... maybe it was a combination of these things. I really don't know. But I do have time tonight, as well as some ambition, so I figured I should update this blog before yet another month passes!

A lot has happened in the month or so since I've written. First off, I sadly am not driving Noah anymore. :( After much discussion with my Dad, we decided the wisest thing to do on all counts is for me to essentially lease Becky's car from her. I don't have the money to outright buy it from her, and it's not fair to her or Britt for me to take it for free, so I'm paying her a small amount each month. It works in both our favors because I have a more reliable car to drive, and she gets some money for the car she can't use while overseas that would have just gone to waste sitting here for two years un-driven. So now I'm driving Sweets, a black with pink stripe (paint job compliments of my Dad :) '04 Nissan Sentra. I miss Noah, but I have to say, the CD player and fast heat is super nice. I'll also LOVE the AC in the summertime.

As far as Church, a lot has happened. I started Explore, the 10 week membership class for Covenant, and I also started GROW, a 10 month course to help people deepen their faith and grow more spiritually. I really like both so far, and have learned a LOT about Christian doctrine. In the space of only 4 weeks, I have grown more than I have in years.... I'm so excited for the rest of the time to come!

Two weeks ago, I went apple picking at Linvilla Orchards with my Newtown Square community group. It was crazy!! I don't know if it was a special day, or if it's normally like that, but it felt like being at a county fair, not an orchard/farmers market. We had fun though, and last Friday, I made homemade applesauce with my mom. :) It was a sweet time that I really enjoyed. I so love spending time with my family. I love and appreciate them so much and never want to take them for granted.

This past Tuesday we had a potluck for my Media community group. It was a great time of food and fellowship. I tried out a new recipe that I got from my mom and dad's weight watchers cookbook- orange chicken couscous. It was soooo delicous and so easy to make! Right up my alley as far as cooking goes. :) I got a lot of compliments on it. Besides for that though, there was some pot roast, chili, cornbread, and here is where I got cut off when my computer died!!!! I was so mad and I didn't realize it had saved! So here Katie, is proof that I did have an update in October, but after I (thought) I lost this, in my frustration, I didn't write again till mid November. Whoops!

Rough Sunday, rough week, Fabulous Saturday

2009-09-19T22:07:00.004-04:00

This week didn't seem to go so well.

It all started on Sunday, when I was coming back to Ardmore after spending the weekend at my parents for my birthday. My car acted up again- I noticed it on the turnpike, but thank God, I managed to get to a Villanova parking lot before it completely stopped. I was upset because the car was doing the same thing that happened not even three weeks earlier- and I had supposedly gotten everything fixed. So I got my car towed to the same place, just to find out on Monday that the car was apparently acting fine- they couldn't find the problem because they couldn't get the car to "act up again." What? What? The car totally stopped dead at a red light on Rt 30- there is most definitely a problem here. So what happened? Did they not find a problem three weeks ago and just told me it was a vaccum hose when it really wasn't? Why did the car seem fine until 3 weeks later? Did they really find the problem this time or just told me some lie to appease me? The car seems to be ok for now, but I feel like I'm on borrowed time here- the car was fine for almost three weeks after the first incident, so what's to say that in another 2-3 weeks it won't happen again? It's frustrating and worrisome, to say the least.

That started the week off on a bad note for me, and just went downhill from there. I felt very blah this week, totally down and out, not myself. I took a week off from the gym, because I completely lacked motivation to go. I skipped community group on Monday (even though my car was still in the shop, I knew I could have called somebody to take me, but I just didn't feel like going) and I had to literally drag myself out of bed to go to work each morning. Plus, each day seemed like a year.... the time dragged on and on and on.

However, after taking time to just relax last night, I felt very much more myself. Mentally, I hated skipping the gym this week, especially because I wasn't being very nutritionally sound this week either. But physically, I think I really needed the break. I excercised again this morning and felt much better about it. Tomorrow I'm going to put together new workouts- I think I was getting bored with them, which probably accounted for a lot of my unmotivation. Plus, I mapped out some more fitness goals, which always helps!

I slept in this morning which was so lovely. I leisurely checked my email, excercised, ate breakfast, showered and got ready for the day, and then called my mom and made a date for a girls day with her! Yay! And it was just what I needed. She got to my apartment a little after noon, and we made sauteed veggies in tomato basil sauce (one of our new favorite recipes) for lunch. I really needed to go grocery shopping (another thing I neglected to do this week in my un-motivated, lazy state) so we went to Whole Foods and picked up a few things. Then we headed to the KOP mall for some shopping! We hit up NY&Co, one of our favorite stores. They didn't have a great selection today (it can be hit or miss for us) but mom tried on a pair of dress pants that looked AWESOME on her, which also showed off that she's been losing weight, which made her super happy. (Both she and my dad have been on Weight Watchers for about 5-6 weeks or so, and they're both doing so great, I'm so proud of them!) Then we went to Charlotte Russe, one of my favorite stores. We both bought these beautiful accessory scarves, and I also picked up three new shirts, and an AWESOME pair of earrings- big dangly ones that look like the eye on a peacock's feathers. Not so coincidently, they look awesome with every shirt I bought today, plus the one I was already wearing. Nice! :)

We stopped in a few more stores to browse a bit, and then went to Blue Pacific, this awesome sushi/chinese bistro in the mall. It feels like you're underwater, because it has soft blue lighting, lots of fishtanks in the walls, and sea decorations all over. They have such great food, I highly recommend it. Normally I get their sushi, but I tried the chinese today and got pad thai. Mom got a delicious seafood noodle dish that was the special. Yummy! Afterward we treated ourselves to dessert and had some frozen yogurt at TCBY.

Later, we went back to my apartment and watched some Bones episodes. Britt got us watching the show, and it's great. Booth and Brennan, the two main characters, have such great chemistry. Actually, I love all the characters on the show. They're a riot. :)

The perfect day ended when Mom had to head back home. :( But before she left, we made guacamole from the two avacadoes I picked up at Whole Foods. It's the first time I made homemade guacamole and it was DELICIOUS! Thank you Whole Foods, for putting the "RIPE" stickers on the avacadoes.... because I really don't think I'd ever be able to tell a ripe avacado from an un-ripe one without that sticker. They were PERFECT for making guacamole. Plus they were on sale. Yay! Which makes up for the ridiculously expensive goat cheese I bought because I read the wrong sign. That's the one thing I hate about Whole Foods..... they sometimes don't have prices listed at all, and often times, if they do, they're not clearly labeled, or the sign is not posted where it should be, so you read the wrong label. That's happened to me twice now, where I spent way more than I ever would have on a food product because their signs stink. Other than that though I like Whole Foods a lot.

Anyway, after having a slow, not so great week, it surely ended with a fabulous day today. I'm so glad and grateful I have such a wonderful, loving family, and that I can spend so much time with them. I really treasured the day I had with my mom today. It was such a blessing.

On that note, I'm heading to bed cause I have to wake up for Church tomorrow, so I'm praying hard that my car gets me to and from Church without any problems! I appreciate any prayers sent in my direction as well! :)

26 years

2009-09-14T17:38:00.002-04:00

Saturday was my 26th birthday. It felt like just another day.... it was just another day. But I felt a little sad as I looked back on my life so far... I don't feel like I've done much with it. I want something more.... I need something more fulfilling. Well, is it that, or do I just need to be more thankful? I am thankful and grateful for my life so far. I've been blessed in so many ways- a loving wonderful family, good friends, good health, an able working body, a place to live, a car to drive, a great education, jobs.... the list goes on. I have so much to be thankful for, and I am extremely thankful for these blessings. God has been so good to me. But I want to get the most out of life that I can. I want to have selfless love and be giving and kind, a true servant to others. I don't want to compare myself to others. I want to help those in need in whatever way I can. I want the light of Jesus Christ in my life to shine through me in everything I do... I want to be a good witness for him. I don't want to be ashamed of Christ, I want people to see him when they look at me, interact with me. I want to be God's hands and feet.

I hope and pray that my 26th year brings me closer to these goals of mine.

Fall is in the air!

2009-09-08T21:21:00.001-04:00

Oh, fall is just around the corner, I can feel it.... the shorter days, the cooler nights, the leaves hinting at changing color, kids going back to school, apple cider ready at County Line Orchard...(best fruit ever there, yum!) I love fall. I can't wait till we're fully immersed in it. Bring it on! :)

Upcoming events and God's blessings

2009-08-26T19:45:00.002-04:00

So after coming to CFC, my social life has greatly expanded! There are so many fun events coming up that I'm really excited for. And as a member of two community groups (Monday night Newtown Square and Tuesday night Media) I have even more opportunities for fun events! Monday night group is my "home group".... it was the one I first attended. I started going to the Tuesday Media group to get to know more people. It's funny, both groups compliment each other very well. Some days I get more fellowship from the Monday group and more leadership/wisdom/mentorship from the Tuesday group, and other times it's reversed. I love it and I love all the people in both groups! They've been so awesome. :)

Upcoming events that I'm so excited for are as follows: this Saturday, we're going to a conference out in Lancaster called 1 single Day.... it's for singles aged 20 and up, and it's held at the farm of Crossway Church of Lancaster. I've never been there, but lots of my friends from CFC highly recommend it. I'm going to head to Jason's house (the leader of my Monday community group) for breakfast, and then we're carpooling to Lancaster. On Monday, the community group is meeting at Phil's house for pizza, and then going bowling, sweet! :) I haven't been bowling in so long but I love it! I can't wait!

Labor Day weekend will be upon us, and my family is packing it full of fun, since it will be the last hoorah before my grandparents head back to Florida, so I'm really looking forward to that. The weekend after is my birthday (26- don't know how I feel about that :P) and then the next day is the big chicken bbq at CFC. And Sunday Sept 20 is a special zills (finger cymbals) class for bellydance that I'm really looking forward to... oh which reminds me, I bought a sword! Now I can practice bellydancing with a sword on my head, it's so awesome! :)

Anyway, these are some of the fun events coming up for me.... I'll try to remember to keep updating as I go!

Onto the God's blessings part of the blog.... as I said before, I've been really trying to deepen my relationship with God, by reading my Bible and doing my devotions and praying more.... and I feel the changes in me already. It's been awesome. :) But life isn't always rainbows and kittens, and bad things happen too.... and last night, as I was headed to Tuesday night community group, my car sort of broke down. I say sort of because it didn't completely die, it was just really sputtering and lurching... it happened as I was idling at a red light... right at Rt 1. Thankfully, I safely crossed over Rt 1 and pulled my car into a convenience store lot. Thank God for keeping me safe! Breaking down in the middle of Rt 1 would have been a disaster... I don't even want to think about it. After calling triple A for a tow, I found out my membership expired. But they could renew it over the phone, thank God for that! Then the tow guy arrived (and I didn't have to wait too long, either) and was SO nice. He stopped at a Wawa to let me pull out cash to pay him, and then drove me home to my house so I didn't have to walk the 1.5 miles back to my house from the shop we took my car to. Thank God for that! THEN my roommate actually had to work morning shift (9-4) at Borders today, so he could take me to work and pick me up... Thank God for that! And the best part? I got a call at 11:20 am from the shop, saying my car was fixed, it was just a broken vaccum line, and the total was only $100.65. Thank God for that! God was so good to me. When everything first happened, I was so tempted to cry and get angry over my situation, but right away I decided to look at the bright side and blessings of things (I was in a safe location, my car hadn't completely died, that sort of thing) instead of crying the blues about the bad stuff. I also tried to remember that I should just be thankful I have a car- in my devotions I've been doing lately, I've been exposed to how blessed I am, and how little others have. So many are starving, have no place to live, are sick or dying, are forced into slavery either in workhouses or sex trade rings... the list goes on and on. How can I cry about my situation when there are so many others who are suffering so much more? They would love to have a car, broken down or not. They would love to have a broken car be their worst problem! I was put in my place right away, which made it so much easier to see the blessings in the midst of my small troubles. And look- God was so kind to me. I only pray that I would be able to sing of God's blessings had my situation turned out differently and hadn't been so good- that's the mark of a true believer. I pray that I can keep growing, that God keeps refining me, so that when real troubles come, when I'm in the midst of really bad storms, that I can still sing praises during those times, that I can still say "It is well with my soul."

Thank God for Covenant Fellowship Church

2009-08-26T19:34:00.003-04:00

So thankful for Covenant Fellowship Church.

Really, words can't describe how thankful I am that I was lead to CFC. The people there are so wonderful and uplifting.... they've challenged me to spiritually grow just by leading by example. They literally shine for Jesus. I looked at them and thought, "I'm a Christian, but I don't have a relationship with God like they do. And I want that. I want what THEY have!"

And the past few weeks have been amazing. I'm loving my deeping relationship with God, I'm loving the fellowship and leadership I've been experiencing at CFC, I'm loving all the fun things I'm involved in now, I'm loving being loved by all the people at CFC. It's ironic... I was always afraid of going to a big Church because I thought I'd be lost and forgotten and left out.... just a nameless face in the crowd, and that at a small Church, I'd be known, loved, accepted.... but it's been the reverse for me. Not always- Lansdale was a much smaller Church than CFC, about 300 total members, but I loved it there... I just didn't get to be a part of it like I wanted to because I was going home so often. But in terms of the Church I grew up in, yeah, with about 250 total members, it's a smaller Church.... and I never felt more isolated, left out, rejected and beaten down than I ever had before or since. And not just me- it happened to my whole family, and I'd seen it happen to others in the Church too. It breaks my heart to see a Church so segregated and in such disarray. Unity has been absent at Grace for a long, long time.

Anyway, that was a long time ago, and I'm just thankful that God has led me to CFC. He has definitely led me here, it's where I am supposed to be... I can trace God's hand leading me all the way from 8th grade... it's amazing! His hand was always upon me, he was always near, through good times and bad, through times when I was close to him and when I rebelled and stepped away from him, even when I was in situations where I couldn't see him and couldn't understand his ways.... looking back, things are so much clearer now. I don't know exactly why God has led me to CFC.... but I'm so thankful he did, and I'm so excited to find out! :)

Wildwood beach day, breakfast, and baby showers

2009-08-14T22:01:00.002-04:00

I realized that I forgot to post about my beach day last Saturday. My mom and sister and I did end up going, and we had a great time! Lovely weather for it. My mom and sister came up on Friday night to spend the night, since my house is a lot closer to the beach than either of theirs. We woke at 5:15 am, got ready, had some warm cinnamon buns for breakfast (yum!) and headed out by 6 am. We didn't hit any traffic and made great time, getting to my Aunt's hotel by a little after 8 am. My aunt and cousins were only just getting up, so we didn't get out till the beach till about 9:30 or so. But we got a great spot, the weather was wonderful, the water warm, and we had a great time and stayed out on the beach till 5 pm. Well, I went up at 4 so I could get a head start on showering. Considering it was my Aunt, my mom, my four cousins, Britt and I, two significant others, one friend, and two little kids (13 total) we needed some extra time! :) But we were eventually all ready for dinner. We ended up going to Kelly's Pub, which was only a block or so away from the hotel. It had great food and PHENOMENAL live music. The guy was from Philly but I don't remember his name, darn it! Usually I hate live music cause it's too loud and not that great, but this guy was fabulous. For dinner I ended up getting a taco wrap (basically it was a soft shell taco almost) but it was soooo good. :)

After much persuasion, my mom finally let us leave by around 9 pm. I really wanted to go to Church the next day, so I didn't want to get home too late. Leaving around 9 would have gotten us home around 11, 11:30 at the latest.... or so I thought. Just crossing over the Walt Whitman bridge, we were STOPPED. The phillies game just let out, so there was TONS of traffic, and then to top it all off, thanks to stupid Philly's ridiculous construction (to which I saw nothing happening when we finally drove by!) 5-6 lanes of traffic had to merge into ONE LANE. I was SO not happy, especially since I was driving and everyone else was miserable too. We sat there for over an hour to go not even 2 miles. We finally got home a tiny bit before 1 am. We still may have made it to Church the next day, except that we awoke to a HUGE downpour, and I know the roads around here flash flood pretty easily, and my Church is about 45 min away, so we ended up missing Church and going to breakfast at IHOP instead. Which was delicious, but I hated missing Church, so when we came home, my mom and I (Britt wasn't really paying attention :P) had a Bible study for ourselves. Overall, it was a great weekend and ended up being way too short!

This weekend should be nice too. Tomorrow I'm heading to Media to have breakfast with my community group (aka Bible study) girls, which I'm really looking forward to. Then in the early afternoon I'm going to my friend/co-worker Lauren's baby shower! I had such fun picking out the present. :) Even though I know it's a girl, I ended up getting all yellow stuff. I didn't want her to be overwhelmed with pink, and the yellow was precious. I got a soft yellow fleece blanket with chicks on it (Phoebe will be born at the end of October, so a warm blanket will be nice!) plus I got an adorable hoodie bath towel that's yellow and white with little ducks all over it. I did get a little pink stuff though... I bought pink and white bootie socks for her. They're so tiny and cute! :) I hope Lauren likes them!

Anyway, that's what's on the agenda for tomorrow... if I remember I'll try to check in and write about how everything went!

beach day?

2009-08-05T21:41:00.001-04:00

Ooh, just found out my mom and sister and I may do a day at the beach on Saturday! Our Aunt and cousins will be there this weekend so we may head down to Wildwood, NJ for the day. It's supposed to be nice weather and I'd love to get to the beach once more before summer ends... keeping my fingers crossed that this works out! :)

Lancaster Weekend

2009-08-03T19:30:00.002-04:00

So Friday night I headed out to Lancaster.... thankfully the thunderstorm had passed and I had good weather while driving. Since Britt had to close at Friendly's, I stopped by to pick up her key and then hung out at her house reading the rest of Friday night. Saturday we both slept in, and then Britty helped me dye my hair... it was getting that weird copper look to it plus my dark roots were showing pretty badly, so I dyed it raspberry truffle. It's darker than I expected, but I like it, and I'm happy that my hair finally matches my eyebrows. Britt and I met Jess at the mall around 2 pm, and I was excited that I managed to refrain from buying everything in sight and just bought things I needed. Well, with the exception of yet another pair of polka dot airwalks from Payless.... but they were only 7 dollars and I wasn't about to pass that up! Especially cause airwalks are my favorite shoes to wear to work... fashionable yet very comfortable and very practical for wearing in a lab.

After shopping for a couple hours, we had dinner at TGI Friday's, and then said our goodbyes to Jess. Britt and I then spent the rest of the night watching Bones episodes (she got me hooked on that show now.... it's pretty awesome. I love it!) and eating snickers ice cream, yum. :)

Sunday morning we slept in instead of going to Church, due to the extremely crappy weather. I missed not going to Church, but I have to admit, sleeping in on rainy days is the best. :) Britt and I hung around some more, watching more Bones episodes, and Britt made apple feta chicken for lunch, a recipe we discovered while rooming together at college. It's delicious! I had to leave for Philly soon after which sucked, but Britt had to work later that evening. I just spent the rest of the evening hanging around my house..... it was really nice to be lazy for once. :) All in all, it was a very relaxing weekend and I really enjoyed myself. It was so nice to see Jess again, and hang out with Britt, cause we don't get to hang out by ourselves very often. I think this weekend my mom and Britt and I may go to Wildwood for the day on Saturday... we'll see how the weather holds I guess. I hope it's nice because I'd love to go to the beach once more before summer ends!

Chicken payback, bakery house

2009-07-31T16:52:00.002-04:00

Soon I'll be heading out to Lancaster to visit Britt and Jess! I can't wait! :) Hopefully this thunderstorm rolls on by quickly though, cause I really don't feel like driving all the way to Lancaster in the rain. :p

On another note, if you want a good laugh, google "the chicken payback song" and watch this song/music video... it's crazy but really funny. It definitely brings a smile if you're having a bad day! Or even if you're having a good day, for that matter.... :)

One more note- I just had a delicious cupcake today compliments of our summer intern... she got it at this adorable bakery in Bryn Mawr called the Bakery House.... so good. Not that I need to know anymore places that sell delicious desserts! :D

Not so lonely anymore

2009-07-28T17:46:00.002-04:00

Earlier this month I was whining about being lonely. It was true, I was lonely. Sometimes I still am. But to be honest, I haven't been going out of my way to make friends lately, or even catch up with my old friends. I realized I needed to rectify that. So this weekend, I was going to go to a singles picnic at my Church, to meet new people, but my friends Kayte and Jason (from Church) asked me if I could help two girls from the Church move instead. So I did, and I had a lot of fun. It was nicer than the picnic really, because I was in a smaller group and not so overwhelmed. It was basically me, Kayte, Jason, Phil, Josh, Jackie and Leah (the girls moving), Terrence, Susannah, and Celeste. Besides for having a fun day, I was invited to the Tuesday night care group in Media. I currently attend the Monday night Newtown Square group, and while I love it, I decided to check out the Tuesday one to get to know some more people. Plus I wasn't do anything tonight anyway. So that should be fun.

Another thing I'm looking forward to is this weekend- Britt has a rare saturday off (wow!) so I'll be in Lancaster to hang out with her, and on Saturday, we're also meeting up with my former roommate Jess. Double yay! I'm really looking forward to it- Friday can't come soon enough! :)

Saidi stage dance, The Proposal

2009-07-26T09:26:00.002-04:00

I really had a great time at my bellydance class Friday night with Sahra Saeeda. The class I took was focusing on Saidi stage dance. The Said (pronounced Sah-eed) is a region of Egypt. Anyway, I loved it. I am better at Saidi stage dance than regular Egyptian style bellydance. This is probably becuase the movements are more masculinized for the stage. Therefore I don't have to focus on these special, intricate movements so much that are more common to Egyptian style bellydance. It kind of felt like Egyptian style line dancing, in a strange way. And since I have country line danced since eighth grade, it was easy for me to catch on and follow the movements. Also, Sahra was an excellent instructor. She explained things very well and was easy to follow. As much as I enjoyed Jehan's class back in April, I liked this class a little better because I got more out of it. If Sahra comes to Ardmore again, I'm DEFINITELY taking more classes! :)

Yesterday I had to drive back to my parents house to pick up my car, which had been getting work done. So my mom and I went to the movies and saw The Proposal. My whole family are huge Sandra Bullock fans, and this was great. It was cute and funny, we really liked it. I recommend it!

Heart Surgery, bellydance with Sahra Saeeda

2009-07-24T19:13:00.002-04:00

So I am now officially performing open heart surgery on mice. It's pretty awesome, really. It's amazing to have their chest cracked open a bit and seeing their tiny little hearts beating away. It just cements the miracle of life for me. The life on this earth is put together in such an amazing, perfect way. As a biologist, everywhere I turn I see the fingerprints of God. I just don't understand how people can believe in macroevolution.

I was nervous because yesterday, I performed the surgery in front of the LIMR vet, so we could get full approval for the procedure. My hands were shaking at first, but as soon as I made the first incision, I was good. The surgery went so well! And the mouse patient, I am so happy to say, came out perfectly. I was a little worried late yesterday because when I checked him before I left, he was trembling and shaking really badly because he was so cold. A lot of mice actually die not from the actual surgery, but from hypothermia resulting from the surgery (decreased blood flow, anesthesia, pain reliever drugs, all can lower body temp). I warmed the little guy in my hands for a while, and then put him back in a cage with his other brothers, instead of letting him in a cage by himself. I was a little concerned that they'd run all over him, but since he was awake and alert, just cold, I figured this would be better. Their body heat would keep him warm and that was the important thing. I was ecstatic when I checked the cage this morning- not only was he still alive, but he was doing so well, I couldn't even distinguish him from his cage mates! I had to actually pick them up and look for the suture to find the little guy I performed the surgery on. So that was nice to see him doing well.

In other news, I'm attending a special bellydance class with Sahra Saeeda tonight. She's a world famous bellydancer, and it's a real privlege to be able to take a class from her. I'm excited! More info on how it went later, for now I need to get ready cause it starts in about a half hour! :)

Lonely :(

2009-07-23T21:49:00.002-04:00

Now that Beck left for Bahrain (last Friday) I am so lonely. I realized that 50% of my friends left on that plane in Dulles.... and the other 50% is out in Lancaster, super busy with school and work. Even when I'm surrounded by hundreds of other people.... I'm still lonely. The worst kind of lonely there is.

Fun July 4th Weekend

2009-07-08T17:48:00.002-04:00

So I had a great time this July 4th weekend, and it went by way too fast! Here's a recap:

Thursday night, Beck drove down and we had dinner at John Henry's, a cute (and very reasonably priced) pub right by my house. We accidently ordered WAY too much food. We took home half of our nacho appetizers, and half of our cheesesteak dinners. Everything was delicious, but we had no idea the portions would be that big. Later we went to blockbuster and ended up buying some movies- I bought Nick and Nora's infinite playlist, New in Town, and Bride Wars. Then we walked to the Coldstone Creamery I just discovered by my house and got some ice cream. Hard to believe, considering our dinner.... we certainly weren't winning any awards for healthy eating that night! Once we got home, we watched New in Town... a romantic comedy starring Rene Zellweger and Harry Connick Jr. It was ok. The funniest part of the movie was all the Minnesota accents. Not bad though.

Friday, Beck and I awoke early and went to Saxby's coffeehouse (right on my street) for some breakfast, and then enjoyed walking the nature trail and campus area of Haverford College. Again, may I reiterate how GORGEOUS that campus is? I adore it, I'm so glad I live so close!

My mom and Britt arrived at my house around 11:30, so we all ate the leftovers from John Henry's, and then headed to the Philadelphia Premium Outlets. It was PACKED! We enjoyed walking around, and mostly window shopped. Even though they were outlets, a lot of the stores were a little pricey for us. I did pick up some cute things at Charlotte Russe, though. I love that store. On the way home, we stopped at the KOP mall and headed to our all time fav store, NY&Co. By the time we came home, we were pooped! We lazed around a bit and rested, and then Beck and I headed off to Christina's house while mom and Britt headed back home. We had a great time at Christina's. We just hung out at her and Shane's house with their friend Dana. We shared funny stories over pizza, snacks, and Sangria. It was fun.

Saturday, Beck and I got up bright and early again and headed back home. We were taking a casual family picture that morning, so we needed to be home in time to shower and get ready. All of us wore red T-shirts with jeans and sneakers. We headed over to our friend the Heinselmen's house (they have gorgeous landscaping) and my Dad set up the shots, and then my Aunt actually took the pictures. They came out so great! When I go home this weekend, I'll upload some. They turned out better than we'd hoped.

In the afternoon, my mom and I pitched a tent in our backyard. This was my idea, because 1)my mom loves camping and hasn't been in a while and 2) our house is infested with fleas thanks to our stupid Houdini cat who escapes from every flea collar we put on her. I wasn't going to get all flea-bitten while I slept!

We had a nice cookout and went swimming that day, and I built our family campfire, which we enjoyed till about 10 pm. By that time, we were all beat and decided to hit the sack. Getting to sleep was interesting though.... it's been a while since I slept in a tent, and it's a lot harder than I remembered. And the highway seemed extra loud that night. It also didn't help that the cat came meowing at the tent, and then dive bombed it, claws out, right at MY side of the tent... I almost had a heart attack! Luckily, the night was pretty eventful after that. :)

Sunday we didn't do too much... just breakfast at the Bagel Bar, and then a huge cleaning of the house. Well, mom and I did most the cleaning, Britt and Beck had to pack up all their stuff. Considering they'd been home a whole month, they had a lot to do. Plus we had tons of laundry ( to make sure no one was carrying fleas back to their respective living areas) so that took a while. The worst part of the day was saying goodbye to Beck.... she was only leaving to go to DC for the week to check in with work, but it was sad because we know that after this coming weekend, she'll be leaving for overseas again. :( I'll miss her so much. She's my best friend, and I never realize how truly lonely I am until she comes back. Thank God Britt is still here, or I'd be totally lost. It just sucks cause she's out in Lancaster and is really busy with school and work, so I don't get to see her that much anyway. She may as well be overseas, too.

Well, enough thinking about that. From the recap above, it's clear I had a super fun (yet terribly unhealthy) july 4th weekend. I can't wait for this weekend, it's our annual Pyle-Reid Family Reunion. And it's prob our last weekend with Beck before she goes overseas, so I'm going to enjoy every minute!

Where did June go?

2009-06-30T20:51:00.003-04:00

How is it almost July 1st? When did that happen? I feel like it was just Christmas day! This is scary. I know time flies, and the older you get, the faster it goes. If it's going this fast now, what will happen in 10 years? Or 20, or 30? I feel like I'll blink and my life will be over.

This past month has been filled with fun, since my sister Becky has been back in the States on home leave. We've gone to the shore for a week, had cookouts at home, gone to Knoebels for a day, gone out to eat more times than I can count, watched movies, played games.... it's been fun, and it's only going to continue this weekend! This Thursday, Beck and Britt are coming up to Philly and we're going out to dinner, and then Friday Beck and I are going to a bbque at our friend Christina's house. Saturday is our family's 4th of July cookout, and Sunday, my sisters and I are going to the Kutztown Folk Festival. Honestly, though I've lived right outside Kutztown my whole life (well, at least my parents have) I don't think I've ever gone to the festival even once. But it'll be fun to go back to my roots- I'm getting too citified, being so close to Philly. I'm hoping the Main Line snobbery isn't rubbing off on me. Though even if it did, I'm too poor to be much of a snob anyhow. One city aspect that HAS rubbed off on me is my driving though. I'm the classic impatient crazy city driver and my family gives me flak for it CONSTANTLY. :P

Anyway, this should be one busy, fun filled weekend, and then next weekend is our family reunion, which I'm looking forward to. The only sad thing is that Beck will be leaving to go overseas again a day or two after the reunion. :( I don't even want to think about it. I hate saying goodbye to her. It's so hard, and it will be especially harder now since she's been home for a longer time. I'll have to get used to missing her all over again. Used to not being able to call her whenever I want, used to not seeing her at family events, used to not being able to shop or go out to dinner or the movies with her when I'm feeling down. It sucks. :( At least Britty is still here with me, though. That makes it a lot easier. If Beck was my only sibling, I'd REALLY fall apart when she left.

Anyway, I don't want to think about that for now. I'm going to focus on the positive, and that is this coming weekend. Yay! Two more days till fun time!

Brunette again

2009-06-14T18:14:00.002-04:00

Oh by the way, I forgot to update from my post in early May.... I'm brunette again. :) I just couldn't stand the contrast between my black eyebrows and blond head. And also the fact that the top of my head was quite blond, but the ends were brown. It didn't look as bad as it sounds, but I definitely didn't like it and couldn't take it anymore, so on May 29, I bought brown hair dye and had my sister dye it for me. It turned out a dark reddish-brown, and looked so much better. So I was only blondish for three weeks... but that was enough for me!

When I asked my dad how he liked the brunette hair better (because he's always very honest) he said, "I like it alot better Jen. The light hair just wasn't you." And quite frankly, I think that summed it up perfectly.

And the best part was, the darker hair made my yellow swimsuit look a lot nicer! :)

Yay for vacation!

2009-06-14T17:59:00.002-04:00

The worst thing about vacations is that they always have to come to an end. :( Bummer.

Despite the fact that there was really crappy weather here in PA all week, the weather wasn't so bad in Ocean City and we had a fabulous time at the beach house this week. We managed to get a pretty good amount of time on the beach- Sunday, Monday, Wednesday, Friday, and Saturday- and even got in the water a bit. It was on the colder side, but we got used to it quickly. The beach house was as lovely as we remembered, and Catherine let us stay an extra day, so instead of having to leave by 11 am yesterday, we got to stay till 11 am today. That was a nice blessing since yesterday turned out to be a gorgeous day for the beach. I did burn a bit on Sunday, but was much more diligent with my sunscreen after that and am now pretty tan. :) I am happy to note that I did find two lovely swimsuits for this season, and I only had to look through 4-5 stores, instead of 10-12, like normal. I found them at Kohls this year, a bright yellow bikini (that fits me well so it's modest instead of slutty) and a deep purple one-piece. Both look really nice on me and fit very well, and both were on sale for half off! So I'm quite pleased about that. :)

I had such a great time with my sisters and mom (my dad stayed home because he doesn't really like the beach and had a lot of work this week) and wish it didn't have to end. Throughout the week, we watched movies, played games, went mini-golfing, laid out on the beach, took scenic walks, enjoyed some different places for dinner, and shopped the boardwalk. I am unhappy to note that both Brittany and myself were pooped on by stupid seagulls. :P That's what I get for laughing at Heather when she got pooped on at our guard show at Wildwood back in high school! Thankfully though it was on our sweatshirts, and not our heads. That would have been really disgusting.

Anyway, the prospect of getting back to my routine is a depressing one. It's always hard to get back to work after a nice break like this. The only good thing about going back to my routine is going back to the gym. The week break was nice, and I needed it to refresh my muscles and body, but it's definitely time to go back (especially since I ate waaaaay more than I should have this week, and a lot of it was pure sugar!) so I need to get back on the straight and narrow. :) Can't wait!

I hope everyone else has a great vacation like I did this summer!

headed for vacation!

2009-06-06T11:28:00.002-04:00

Finally headed out for vacation!!

My mom and sisters and I are headed out to OC New Jersey today, and I can't wait! I'm just praying that the weather is good though. This is most likely going to be my only real summer vacation, so I want it to go well. Anyway, more updates in a week or so when I get back! :)

Oh crap. I'm Carrie.

2009-05-26T21:09:00.002-04:00

So, who here has ever seen 8 simple rules for dating my teenage daughter?

I came to the disturbing conclusion this weekend that Becky and I may have just walked out of that show. She is so Bridget, and I am so Carrie. I don't know if I like that, because Carrie was usually miserable/moody/grumpy the whole time. Is that really who I want to be? Do I really want to be this miserable cranky person all the time?

Nope. And I know I can change... but I also know it will be a long and difficult road. Siiiigh.

More posts ahead. I'm just too tired to write them tonight. :P

Training

2009-05-17T20:10:00.002-04:00

A few years ago, I NEVER, and I mean NEVER, would have thought I ever would have run and finished a race. Any race. And here it is, years later, and I've run and finished TWO 5k races, in pretty decent time, too. Amazing! :)

So my next goal for myself is to run and finish a 5 mile race. And I have already signed up and started training for one! The media 5 miler is a 5 mile race through the lovely town of Media. I'm assuming the proceeds of the race (it's 20 dollars to sign up to run) goes to the town in some way, but I'm not sure. I signed up with a lot of people from my new Church, and apparently, it's a pretty good time. The whole town of Media is out running or supporting the runners, and it's a lot of fun I've heard. It's the third friday of June (I think June 19) at 7 pm.

Today happened to be the first day of training for the 5 miler. Everyone was to gather at Christina and Steph's house (they live in Media, and their house happens to be right on the route, at the 1.5 mile mark) and we'd run the first 1.5 miles of the course today. It turned out that only Phil (a frequent and avid runner) and Steph and I showed up to train. Luckily for me, Steph is also more of a slower, 10-11 mile/hr runner like myself, so that was nice to know I wouldn't be left behind! But it was nice to have Phil there, because he pushed us more than we would have otherwise. I didn't know what the course was like, but apparently, it's a 2.5 mile loop run twice through. It's a nice course, but it does have a couple big hills- the worst one being right before Steph and Christina's house. :P The first 1.5 mile is the hardest, so it was nice to run it today and see what it was like. And I surprised myself but keeping up with Phil and not feeling too winded by the end of the 1.5 mile mark! Yay! Of course, that's only about 1/3 of the way for the whole race, but still, that's a good start. I still have a couple weeks to train yet. I'll definitely try to keep running on my own... I'll have to run outside, though... training on a treadmill just isn't the same. Our next training day (together) is two weeks from today, and we're going to run the entire 2.5 mile loop once through. The next week, we'll do 4 miles, and the week after that, the whole course. Then it will be race day! Hopefully I'll be ready by then! :) Keep reading to see how I do!

the endangered swimsuit species

2009-05-15T21:42:00.003-04:00

I hate swimsuit shopping. I absolutely hate it. And it's not even because I feel really fat or ugly (although sometimes I do) it's really because it is SO incredibly hard to find a nice, fashionable swimsuit that actually fits properly and looks nice. Why is it that every designer designs swimsuits that make me look either like a whore (because they're these skimpy tiny string things, or the tops never fit so my cups overfloweth, literally :p) or they make me look like a 75 year old grandmother, because they're hideous patterns with skirts and ruffles and tons of extra material. Where's the happy medium? Where are the fashionable swimsuits that would look nice and FIT nice on a relatively fit, yet curvy 25 year old? If anyone knows where these endangered species of suits might be hiding, please let me know.... I'm getting so tired of hunting for them!

And another piece of bad news (for me anyway).... I really don't think I like my blond-ish hair. Which really really sucks because it really was quite expensive to get done. I think because it was so expensive, I've been really trying hard to like it, but I just can't. With my darker features, and black eyebrows, it's just not cutting it for me. I definitely look better with darker hair.

So, I'm not sure really what I'm going to do about the hair situation yet... I guess I'll think on it a little yet before I do anything. I'll keep you posted, though!

Douglas Preston/Lincoln Child book signing!!!!

2009-05-13T22:00:00.003-04:00

So, another aspect of my busy weeks has been voraciously reading Douglas Preston/Lincoln Child novels- This dynamic duo writes FABULOUS stories... one of which (The Relic) happens to be one of my favorite novels of all time. All the books I've read of theirs have been terrific so far, but none can surpass the Relic in my eyes. :) Last week I just breezed through a trilogy of books they wrote featuring Special Agent Pendergast- a repeat character who first showed up in The Relic, and who happens to be one of my favorite characters. That's the neat thing about their books, a lot of them have recurring characters, like Pendergast, D'Agosta, Smithback, Margo Green, and more. I feel like I know the characters because they've been in so many books. Anyway, the trilogy (Brimstone, Dance of Death, and Book of the Dead, to be read in that order) was amazing. And to my amazing luck, their newest book, Cemetary Dance, (featuring Pendergast again, yay!) just hit the bookstores Tuesday! And not only THAT, but I discovered that they were doing book signings, and that they'd be in West Chester for a book signing May 14! So yesterday I headed to the bookstore for the signing and actually managed to not get lost. Douglas and Lincoln were introduced and talked a little about their newest book, Cemetary Dance, and how they met, how they write to together, stuff like that. Then there was a question/answer session, and then they signed books for everyone. I didn't say much when I got up there, I was so nervous! Ha, it's not often that I'm speechless so that is saying something about how much I like these guys and their books. :) But I got my old, tattered copy of The Relic signed by them, so I was happy! Even though I have tons of new books of theirs they could have signed, I really wanted my copy of the Relic signed. It's so beat up- it actually belonged to my 8th grade English teacher, Mrs. Imboden, so tons of people handled it, and she ended up giving it to me because I loved it so much. And of course I've read it tons of times, so it's definitely seen better days. But I think it's tattered pages are a testimony to the work of art that it is, so that's why I wanted it signed. :) I think it was worth the trip out to West Chester.

The only thing I'm bummed about is that in this newest book, they kill off one of the main characters, Bill Smithback, which seriously upset me. I love his character and he didn't even have a respectable death. (By the way I'm not really ruining this for anyone who may read the book because if you open the front cover of the book, you immediately see that Bill dies. That's how I found out.) If I hadn't been so nervous yesterday, I would have yelled at them for that. :P I'll still read the book, but I have to say, I'm not as excited to read it now that I know that Bill dies. I can't believe I'm so upset over a make believe person... but I am. Hmm. That can't be good. This is probably a good place to end this blog, I think, before I make myself sound like even more of a loser than I already am. :)

P.S. The signing was taped and will be on youtube, so you could possibly see me very briefly on youtube. Interesting.

Some highlights from the last couple weeks :)

2009-05-13T21:24:00.004-04:00

So since it's been quite a while since I've really posted, I'm trying to recall all the cool stuff I've done in that time! Here are some recaps that I remember:

1) Bellydance class with Jehan- FABULOUS. That woman is phenomenal! I had such a great time, the 2 hour class flew by. I picked up some great music from the class, Jehan also does her own CD's (I thought the voice sounded familiar! :) so I picked up a CD of hers to start practicing to. Also from the class I discovered Tarkan- a Turkish singer who besides for being super gorgeous is actually a great singer with terrific songs. I have half a dozen Youtube videos of his songs bookmarked on my computer. My favorite song (and one that Jehan taught us a dance to) is called Shikidim- translated to english it means shake. :) I absolutely love it! I want to get up and dance every time I hear it!

2) Sword and floorwork bellydance class and potluck- last Friday and the Friday before that, I trekked over to Najia's house (my bellydance teacher) for a potluck one night, and the sword and floorwork class the next week. As always, I had a fabulous time, enjoying tons of delicious vegan dishes (I'm getting recipes sent to me soon, yay!) and just enjoying spending time with some of my classmates. I also finally bought a bellydance costume! It was on sale for a phenomenal price, so I gave in. It's gorgeous, covered in sequins and beadwork like you wouldn't believe. All hand-sewn, too. Amazing. The next week, for the sword and floorwork class, I made a vegan chocolate cake for the potluck, and it turned out fantastic! I had rave reviews. Really, you'd never know it was vegan if I didn't tell you it was. And it was so easy to make. The class was really fun, I don't have a sword yet, but Najia had one for me to borrow. It's actually easier to balance on your head than you may think... but it does get heavy after a while. I had a little dent in my head from where I had the sword positioned! It went away after a while, though. :) The floorwork part was fun too, and a GREAT workout. I definitely felt it in my legs the next day!

3) Covenant Fellowship Church- last Sunday, I finally attended Covenant Fellowship Church for Sunday morning worship. I've been regularly attending the Monday night community group since March, and I really liked the people and loved the feeling of connection I had. I really enjoyed the Sunday worship, so I made the decision to continue attending there. It was hard only in that I do love Lansdale Presbyterian Church and all the people there... but I've just felt very disconnected lately because I'm so far away, I can't really be a part of the Church like I want to. Though Covenant Fellowship isn't super close to me either, it's a much bigger Church, so there are many more satellite opportunities to be involved. Lots of people to attend CFC live near me, in Newtown Square, Roxborough, Drexel Hill, Media... I can be connected much easier.

And connected I am! Phil, our "secretary of socialism" according to Brian ;) has quite a list of activities planned throughout the summer! I'm really looking forward to them. Some of the activities planned that I can attend are the Media 5 mile run, a weekend trip to Niagra Falls, a weekend camping trip to some state park (forget where), One S1ngle Day (a single fellowship meeting out in Lancaster), a July 4th bbque... and the list goes on. I'm very exited and will hopefully post things as they come!

4) Becoming Blonde, Mother's Day- So, I'm not actually blonde, but my hair is the lightest it's ever been, that's for sure! Some parts are quite blonde, but I still have brown in it too. Patrick, my mom's stylist, did a very good job blending colors to make it look really pretty, but more natural. It's as light as I can get without looking really stupid, considering I have darker features. The only downside is that it was more expensive than I would have liked, but, since I really like it, I'll let that go. :) The next day was Mother's Day, and I had a great time with my mom. Actually we celebrated early, after my hair appointment on Saturday, we went into Reading and I treated her to dinner at this delicious mexican restaurant, On the Border. Later we met up with Britt at Coldstone Creamery for some delicious ice cream for dessert. Yummy! Late in the evening, when my parents were asleep, I cleaned the house to surprise my mom for Mother's Day. She's quite disorganized and while our house is never really dirty, it always seems to be cluttered. She really enjoyed the surprise when she woke up! Not to mention the expensive perfume she wanted from Victoria's Secret that Britt and I bought her. But we love our mom, so it's all good. :)

Ok, I think that about covers the main highlights of the last couple weeks... and now that summer is almost here, I'll be even busier for a while! I cannot believe it's almost Memorial Day Weekend! I can't wait for it.... not only will I have a four day weekend of fun (YES!) but Becky is coming home!!!! And she'll be home for at least 4-5 weeks, she's on home leave for a bit. Yay! I can't wait to see her! Keep checking in for more updates! :)

It's been a while

2009-05-12T21:26:00.002-04:00

Hmm, I realized I've neglected the blog for almost 3 weeks... I'll rectify that shortly. I don't have too much time tonight, I'm going to bed early cause I've felt so tired lately.... but I promise I'll do some catching up tomorrow! A quick teaser.... I've gone blonde! Well, as blonde as a brunette like me is going to get. It's definitely the lightest I've ever been. Stay tuned.....

Sandy Sprint- 5K race for Ovarian Cancer

2009-04-25T16:57:00.003-04:00

Last night, my mom and sister Britt came down to my house to spend the night, because today we awoke at 6 am to head over to Fairmount Park for the Sandy Rollman 5K Ovarian Cancer race. I ran it last year in 33 min and had a lot of fun, so I decided to do it again. This year, I ended up walking the first mile with my mom and Britt, but got bored with that so they agreed to let me run ahead. I finished this year in 38 min, which was pretty awesome considering I walked the first mile! I was proud of myself. And I was super proud of my mom and Britt, who basically power-walked the whole thing and came in at 5o minutes. We ran in memory of Mabel Hoover, (my friend Jess's mom) who had passed away from her 12 year fight with Ovarian Cancer this Christmas. It was a gorgeous day for the race, and they had a lot of people come out, so that was uplifting. Hopefully they raised a lot of donations!

Later we went out for a nice lunch, and then finished up with some Maggie Moos ice cream. (yum!) I guess the race and the filling lunch did us in, cause we all came back to my house and crashed for 2 hours. I could barely open my eyes from my nap, I was so tired. Though I didn't sleep well last night, since we didn't get to bed till 11:30 or so, and then I was sleeping on an air mattress with Britt who flops around at night like a fish, and then to make things worse, I awoke at 1 am to incredibly painful spams in my left calf muscle. I tried to shake it out, and then the muscle spasm went up again. It was so painful I actually cried out. My left calf is still really sore from it but it didn't hinder the race at all, so that was good. And hopefully it will be ok when I go to my special bellydance class tonight, with Jehan teaching! The session is "shimmylicous dance and drum solo." I'm excited for it, though I am a little tired from today. Hopefully I can gather enough energy to really get a lot from it and make the most of the lesson. More details on that tomorrow, I guess! For now I'm going to lay down and take another nap before I head out. Enjoy the beautiful weather!

Lovely personal day! :)

2009-04-20T12:37:00.004-04:00

I'm so enjoying my personal day today!

I awoke to my Dad having made special apple pancakes and bacon, which was delicious. Then I took a nice hot bubble bath, perfect for a rainy day like today. I've also curled up to read a good book, Carrot Cake Murder. It's part of a series of books called the Hannah Swenson Mysteries. Hannah is the main character who owns a bakery as her business, but is a mystery sleuth on the side. :) I love the books because they are always talking about delicious recipes, mostly baked goods, and so throughout the book, there are actually recipes for some of the confections they talk about. There are a lot of great recipes, too. I can't wait to try some of them! The author of these books is Joanne Fluke, in case anyone looks for them. I've already read Cherry Cheesecake murder, Candy Cane Murder, and Key Lime Pie Murder. See the theme of the titles? :) The only problem is that I always get hungry for baked goods when I'm reading the books. I already have such a sweet tooth, reading about delicious goodies makes it much worse!

I also was enjoying two of my new favorite songs on youtube earlier. One is called "The man who can't be moved" by this Irish band, the Script, and the other is the 1,2,3, 4 song by the Plain White T's. Both have just started playing on the radio fairly recently, and I LOVE them. Here's the links if you'd like to hear the songs:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qw-J8kC5DHo

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m6pW_q1PvH0

So that's been my day so far. I think later I may curl up for a cat-nap in front of our fireplace, and then read some more. Just relaxing has been great and I'm loving it!

Happy Birthday, Dad!

2009-04-19T10:31:00.004-04:00

I had such a fun night at the Indian connection dinner last night! There were more people there than at the Asian connection night, so it was a little more overwhelming, trying to meet all the new people, but I still really enjoyed myself, and it was also nice to see the people I already knew. The cuisine was delicious, my compliments to all the chefs! The samosas were my favorites, which Phil, Jason, and Suzanne made. And Phil so generously opened his home to this event, which was awesome of him! My favorite dessert of the night were these daisy cupcakes that Lindsey made. They were so delicious and so cute! I really need the recipe for that! If I heard correctly, I believe Italian Connection night is next on our list. That will be nice for me since I have some Italian roots in my geneologic tree. I can't wait!

Early this morning I headed home, since today is my Dad's birthday (51!) so I came home to celebrate with the fam. We usually have a birthday dinner for the birthday boy or girl, and tonight, we're having tacos! None of us have had them in ages, and we were discussing that a few weeks ago, so we're setting up a taco bar tonight. Should be fun. I'm about to run out and get a cake for him while my parents are at Church. I ended up coming home too late and they left without me. :P I guess I'm on my own for today. Maybe I can listen to a taped sermon later today.

The best part about today is that for once, I don't have to rush home later this evening, I can stay at my parents house all day because I took a personal day for tomorrow! I haven't had a day off in a couple months, and I've really been feeling a bit weary lately, so I thought the day off would do me good. I'm so looking forward to it! I really don't have any plans, other than just relaxing. Should be nice. :)

Hopefully everyone else had a great weekend, more updates next Saturday for the 5k race and bellydancing with Jehan! :)

P.S. I had to laugh, when I got home last night I was talking with Chris, and I was drinking some of the rice milk I had bought at whole foods that morning (it was vanilla flavored rice milk and pretty delicious!) and he told me good-naturedly that I eat like a hippie. I thought it was really funny, and actually took it as a compliment, since I'm trying to eat healthier.... I guess it's working! :)

Indian connection night, Whole Foods

2009-04-18T17:51:00.003-04:00

So, last month I attended an Asian Connection party hosted by some members of the new Bible Study I've been attending, and I had a great time. Well, tonight is another party, this time, it's an Indian Connection party! I'm really looking forward to it, I love Indian food. Since I don't have any traditional Indian clothes (too bad though, I think Sari's are sooo beautiful and would love to have one) I'm wearing a red top to match my red sandals that look quite Indian. They're decorated with lots of silver, red, and black beads and sequins. They're quite possibly the most awesome footwear I've ever owned. DEFINITELY the most awesome sandals. And I only bought them for like, 15 bucks at Payless. Anyway, I also decided to wear my capris with sequins on the bottom, and my silver ankle bracelets, and my awesome red sequin earrings. This description makes me sound like something out of Vegas I think, but really, it looks good! :) Indian women love jewelery and the more decorative it is, the better. Hence my decision for what to wear. I wish I knew how to make Indian food, but alas, I was spoiled by Roshani, my dear friend who just made all things delicious for me. I don't see her much anymore unfortunately. :( I really miss her. That was one of the bad things about leaving Fox Chase.

Anyway, instead of bringing Indian food, I'm bringing a cherry cheese coffee cake, curtesy of Whole Foods. :) I really wanted to make individual cherry cheese cakes (so easy to make and delicious too!) but the roommie was slow roasting a roast all day so I couldn't use the oven. So store bought will have to do. Speaking of Whole Foods, what a treat! I could have wandered around all day in there. I normally don't shop there, because it is more expensive, but as I'm really trying to eat healthier, there are some things that I can only buy there (like cold pressed, non-GMO coconut oil, and whole grain sprouted bread, that sort of thing) so I went in for a bit today. It really is an awesome store and makes me wish I didn't have to watch my spending so much. I'd love to do all my shopping there.

Anyway, more details on tonight later! I soon have to leave to make it on time. But also stay posted for new events, next Saturday is the Sandy Rollman 5K walk/run for Ovarian Cancer that my mom and sister and I are participating in, not to mention, I'm bellydancing with Jehan that night! I can't wait for the class- shimmylicious dance and drum solo. Sounds intriguing! :) I can't wait!

My Hero

2009-04-07T19:07:00.003-04:00

I love and hate this time of year.

Hate it for the changing weather, and for allergy season. I'm allergic to birch (it developed only about 4-5 years ago) so now I'm stuck in misery for 3-4 weeks when trees are pollenating. I get serious itchy eyes from all the pollen around and it really sucks.

I love it though because I love the lighter days, the beauty of spring, and knowing it's the advent of summertime, woohoo! Plus, I love Easter. It's amazing and really incomprehensible to me to fully understand the nature of Jesus's sacrifice, which is why I and other Christians celebrate Easter. I don't think I'll ever experience and know what Jesus went through, BECAUSE of what he went through, and that's amazing to me! I'm so grateful and thankful for his amazing sacrifice.

Years ago, when I was in college, I discovered Hero! The Rock Opera. It's a modern day musical of Jesus's life and death and it was written, produced, and performed by Christians, so unlike Christian-themed musicals on broadway, this just has more heart to it. I highly recommend it. Many well known Christian artists were a part of the production, including Michael Tait from DC Talk (playing Hero- Jesus), Rebecca St. James as Mary Magdalene, and Mark Stuart (the lead singer from Audio Adrenaline) playing Peter, just to name a few. It is AMAZING. I have both the CD and the DVD of the show. I know almost all the songs by heart and have the CD on my Zune, and I've been playing it constantly at work this week. I love all the songs, but two of my favorites are called "Hero's Agony" and "I Am" (sung back to back), and it's when Jesus is praying in the Garden of Gethsemene. It's so moving to me, and sad. I think the worst part of the whole sacrifice for Jesus wasn't the pain and the humiliation and the betrayal the people, but the separation from God he had to experience. He didn't want to go through any of it, but I think knowing he would have to be separated from God, to have the Father turn away from him, that was the worst part. And although he didn't want to experience that, he did. For me. And for you. For everyone, because he loves us so much. Thank you so much, Jesus! You really are my hero, because you saved me. :)

Asian Connection Party

2009-03-29T11:41:00.003-04:00

So last night was the asian connection party that my new Bible study was having. Actually, it was open to all the different Bible studies that are in the Covenant Fellowship Church, so I got to meet a lot of new people last night. It was so much fun! There was a lot of great asian dishes to try, such as wontons, dumplings, sweet rice with mango and kiwi (that was delicious!) kimchi, and other things I don't remember the names of, but were good nonetheless. :) The food was delicious and the fellowship was superb! I really really enjoyed myself. In fact, I'm going to try out their Church service in the next few weeks to see if I like it, and if I do, I might start attending there regularly. Which saddens me in that I love my Church in Lansdale and will miss everyone there, but lately, I've felt very disconnected from it, since I haven't been able to be a real part of it since I left Lansdale. I really only go and see people on Sundays, and since I don't attend every week, (since I go visit my parents a lot) it makes it even harder. Covenant Fellowship Church may be better for me since I'd be much nearer to people who attend, so I could have more fellowship and become more involved in the Church itself. I've really missed that. We'll see though. Either way, I'll update the blog to let everyone know!

Anyway, the night ended with sharing of delicious desserts (none were really asian though) including the brownie-cookie bars I brought, sugar cookies, chocolate chip cookies, and DELICIOUS warm chocolate chip banana bread. Thank you, Christina!!! (Maker of the delicious banana bread :) And thanks to Phil, who opened his home to the party. I can't wait until the Indian Connection party next month!

Dances and Parties

2009-03-26T18:30:00.003-04:00

So an update on my bellydance class:

When the spring session started last week, I started taking the two hour class, not just the one hour. I love it! In the second half of class, we're learning a full routine, and it's so much fun. Another awesome thing is that two bellydance stars, Jehan Kamal and Sahra Saeeda, are both coming to Ardmore to give workshops and special dance sessions. I'm really excited! I'm saving up my money and cutting out other "extras" so that I can take at least one class with each of them. Jehan is coming at the end of April, and Sahra is coming the end of July. I'll update more once it gets closer to the classes!

Also, I've still been taking the hiphop dance class at my gym, and really liking it, so I was seriously bummed to miss it today. Lankenau only has one way in/out, so if anything happens on Rt 1 or Lancaster Ave (both pretty major roads) it's nearly impossible to get out of Lankenau. Today there happened to be some hold up on Rt 1 so I was stuck at work an extra hour, and by the time I got home, class already started. :( Boo. So I'm going to dance to a new bellydance tape I got instead, starring... Jehan! Whom I will meet in April! It's kind of surreal to dance with people in real life that you've seen dance on DVD (my current instructor Najia has DVDs out too, which she's showed us before). But it's also really cool, too.

Oh another update. Back in the end of January, I attended at Bible study near my house with my friend Jennifer- she's been looking for a new Church and saw that they had this singles Bible study every other Monday so she asked me to go with her. I liked it, and finally made it back this past Monday. Everyone is really friendly and fun, it's nice to meet some Christians in my area. This Saturday I'm going to an "Asian Connection" party they're having (title is because it's centered around Asian cusine.... apparently they already had a middle eastern one, which I'm super sad I missed, and next month is an Indian one.) I'm excited to go and meet some more people, and of course, chow down on asian food! With my upbringing and where I grew up, I don't know how I've managed to develop a palate for all sorts of foods from different countries and cultures, but I'm so glad I did! :)

So those are a few updates, since I haven't written in over a week. Still bummed I missed the free Rita's water ice last Friday.... but I did get a dozen heath bar Hope's Cookies for Britty's bday, so I guess that was a good trade off! Those cookies are practically sinful, they're so good. :) It was nice to spend the weekend with Britty for her bday... Sat night we headed to Lebanon with my mom and our friends Pearl and Rene for a disco dance... yup, a disco dance! I didn't know there was so much different disco music out there! Some people even dressed up in disco attire, guys and girls.... it was hilarious. We dressed normally, for the record. :) We had a good time, though it would have been a little better had I not been feeling a bit sick. :( I've been eating really healthy lately so falling off the wagon on Saturday did NOT make me feel good. :P Luckily I ate better on Sunday, so I was feeling well enough to enjoy a piece of Britty's birthday cake! Ahhh... cake. I just love cake. It can make even the worst day seem better. :)

So that's about it for the updates! Enjoy the weekend, I know I will!

Mercy and Grace

2009-03-15T20:55:00.004-04:00

I went home to see my parents this weekend, as I like and often do, and recently they've started attending a new Church in Hamburg, called Bethany United Methodist Church. I really like it, not just the people and the pastor and the teaching, but the Church building itself. I personally don't prefer modern, contemporary Church buildings. Especially ones that don't believe in outward decorations, like images in stained glass windows and pictures of Jesus and things. Personally, I think that sucks. I absolutely love and adore old Churches, they have so much character, and they're just so beautiful. Bethany Methodist is no exception. The architecture of the Church is just amazing. The old wood, the style of the pews, the fact that the Church is round on the inside, the GLORIOUS stained glass windows they have... it's so pretty. On the outside it looks like a castle or fortress sort of. Here's their website so you can see a picture. http://www.gbgm-umc.org/bethanyhamburgpa/

But as much as I love and admire the old Church buildings, I do know that worship is not about the building, which is why I still love my Presbyterian Church in Lansdale- despite the fact that they're remodeling it, I still think it's plain and ugly. But I love it there because I love the people there. They are such fabulous examples of what it means to be the body of Christ. And Bethany United Methodist is great because not only is it a great building ;) the people and the Pastor are great, too.

I attended a Methodist Church while at college, and I loved it. My favorite pastor in the world, Pastor Steve Taylor, preached there while I was at school, and I miss him a lot. He's at a Church in Ephrata now (Methodists move their pastors pretty frequently). Anyway, one cool thing about Methodists is that they're open to not just men preachers, but women as well. If you have a heart for preaching, your gender doesn't matter. And it just so happens that Bethany Methodist has a woman Pastor, Pastor Andrea. She's actually still in seminary, but for being a new Pastor, she's really great. I really enjoyed her sermon today. One of the things she mentioned really struck me. It was about mercy and grace, and how they differ. She said,

"Mercy is God NOT giving us what we actually deserve, and Grace is God GIVING us what we don't deserve."

I really loved that, and it really is true. What we all deserve is pain and suffering and punishment for all our sins, yet God took that on himself so we don't have to- his mercy is so great. And in doing that, he offers us the opportunity to accept that gift so we can freely be and walk with him, pure and blameless- his grace is so abounding.

Thank you Father, for your infinite mercy and grace!

A taste of Heaven.... Hope's Cookies

2009-03-08T15:23:00.003-04:00

Just had lunch with my mom and her friends Pearl and Rene, with whom she went to Jamaica with.... they were driving by the Ardmore exit on the way home from the airport so I asked them if they wanted to stop for lunch with me, that way I could hear about the trip. We ate at Kelly's, a cute airy Pub in Bryn Mawr. Right next to it happens to be a Hope's Cookies/ Peace of Pizza store.... so I picked up three Hope's cookies for dessert.... a sugar cookie, a triple chocolate chunk cookie, and a Heath Bar Crunch cookie. They are soooo delicious, and without meaning to, I just ate them all. :P They're addicting! Good thing I didn't buy more than three! (Which was already too much as it is!)

But seriously, if you ever pass a Hope's Cookies store.... go for it. I don't care if you're dieting or what, get yourself a cookie! It's like a little bit of Heaven. And the Peace of Pizza is really good, too. Mmm-mmm! :D

Bellydance in the Middle East

2009-03-07T08:52:00.003-05:00

So last night was my special small group bellydance class and traditional middle eastern dinner at my instructors house. I was really looking forward to it. I'd never been to my instructors house before, so I didn't know what to expect. She and her husband have a duplex and they live on the first floor, her studio is on the second floor. And it. is. AMAZING!! I felt like I was actually in a middle eastern house. She had such beautiful things- rugs, tapestries, paintings, scarves, potteries, silver, she had so many of her absolutely GORGEOUS bellydance costumes and veils on display... it was beyond description.

The food was absolutely delicious, as well. Surprisingly, though I come from Pennsylvania Dutch country (notorious for bland, meat and potato type people who eat the same bland foods and do NOT like variety) I love to try new foods, and usually end up really enjoying them. My sisters, especially my older sister, is the same way. Everything was vegan, so no animal products whatsoever.... but we still had a delicious selection. We had various types of hummus (the black bean hummus was my personal fave) these delicous dates with coconuts, pita, tabouli (made by yours truly, with great reviews, yes! ;) kachuri (I'm sure I'm spelling it wrong but it's my FAVORITE type of Indian food ever) peach mango salso with guacamole chips, grapes and other fruits... the list went on. Najia (my instructor) also had a variety of middle eastern teas, some she brewed expressly herself. They were delicious.

Upon arriving, we actually had more of the middle eastern appetizers and teas, while chatting and getting to know each other (Najia has many different classes in different areas and these small private parties are open to everyone from these classes, so I didn't know many of the women there). There were ten of us altogether, including Najia. We all gave personal input on things we'd like to practice and learn more about.... we wanted to go over the chest shimmy (one of the hardest moves for me) various shimmies and figure eights, belly rolls and vibrations (this is so much harder than it looks!!) and veil work. We worked for about two hours, and I'm pleased to say that I had a HUGE breakthrough in my bellyrolls! It takes so much control with not only your breathing but actually isolating and controlling the actual ab muscle you want to move. I think it helped that I was a singer for so many years.... you learn to really use your diaphragm as a singer, which greatly helps for bellyrolls. Bellyrolls are also hard for women because you're doing the exact opposite you normally do in real life- women are also holding their stomachs in to appear thinner! So it's weird to just let it all go. :)

We ended with veil work, which, like everything in bellydance, appears easy, effortless, and graceful, when in reality, it can be pretty hard. We learned veil exchanges, which I really liked. After the veil work, we enjoyed the middle eastern dinner, and Gretchen performed in costume for us (Gretchen is a student of Najia's who's been studying bellydance for 3.5 years.... she's really good! And her yellow sparkly costume looked so gorgeous on her). Then Najia performed for us, using veil and sword as props.... Najia is so talented, she can dance while balancing a sword on her head, keeping it there as she slowly dances down into a split! Wow! I've also seen her do that move while balancing a HUGE serving plate of LIT CANDLES on her head! It is so amazing to see. And then.... I was asked/prodded to try an improv veil dance! So I tried it... it wasn't that fabulous, but it wasn't that bad either! Not bad for never really hearing the music before, and still being pretty new to bellydance. I was glad to do it though. It was great to get feedback from the other women there.

At the very end, we "shopped" through some of Najia's things she has for us to buy, and I bought a gorgeous new hip scarf. I only had one black one that isn't that great, so I could use a new one. This one is a shimmery aqua color with royal blue and gold bangles on it. It's so pretty and makes up my favorite colors, so that's why it caught my eye. :)

Overall, the night lasted four hours which seemed to fly by. I had such a great time and can't wait to do it again. I'm so glad I ended up picking Najia's bellydance class for Main Line School Night.... it's been so great and I'm loving every minute of it! Who knew that what I thought would just be a fun thing to do for four weeks whould end up being my new hobby? :)

Click on this link to see a picture of my instructor, Najia, in one of her beautiful bellydance costumes with the tray of candles on her head! http://s95204971.onlinehome.us/najia/index.htm

Cardinal Hip-hop

2009-03-06T23:23:00.004-05:00

Ha, I like all my post titles to match what I talk about... this title sounds interesting, no?

When I came home from the gym this morning, I saw two beautiful cardinals hopping about and chirping at each other in the bushes by my house. I was just stopped for a moment by the beauty of them. I think cardinals are some of my favorite birds.... they're rare to see sometimes, but when you do, they're breathtaking. Such a vivid red. It reminds me of the beauty of the black widow spiders I took care of at college... they're dangerous when provoked, but they are glorious spiders, honestly. They are the deepest, fathomless black you can imagine, and on the abdomen is their trademark, vivid red hourglass. It's amazing how God works. You would think to yourself, "now, if the trademark hourglass is on the abdomen, how does that help me see it? Wouldn't I just see a plain black spider?" NO! Because the black widows hang upside down in their webs... so their vivid warning sign is apparent for all to see. How clever. :)

On to the hip-hop part of my post..... my gym offers many different classes, and when I joined, I noticed one called Hip-hop funk, a dance class offered Thursday nights. I wanted to try it, but always chickened out. This week, I finally bucked up and went for it. And I had a BLAST! It was so much fun, and I actually wasn't that bad! It's like a hip-hop line dance class. And I've been a country line dancer for years and years, so I pick up on line dances super quickly. The music and moves were just different, that's all. It was a lot of fun and a great workout. I'm definitely going to make it a weekly thing, I can't wait till next Thursday! :)

Snow, chocolate chip cookies and llama cacti

2009-03-04T20:37:00.002-05:00

Sooo....

I was so excited last weekend for Sunday and Monday, when I'd be shopping and going to the movies and hanging with my cousin and my sister and just having a great time.

However.....

Apparently, my cousin either didn't get the memo about Sunday, or (and it was most likely this) my sister and I were trumped by a boy. Dee had some boy she likes over at her house to celebrate her bday with her, so Britt and I decided to forgo shopping so we could pick Dee up at 6:30 and go to the movies. Well, the boy then decided to stay later, so not only did Britt and I not get to go shopping, we didn't get to the movies, because my Dad came back from dropping my mom off for the airport and told us to stay in due to an incoming snowstorm.

Gaaa!!! I was really annoyed at the change of plans, but yet, we still had a great evening anyway. My dad made his delicious homemade pizza, and we watched Eagle Eye, which was really good. Plus Britt and I had picked up some Ben & Jerry's ice cream (on sale, sweet!) so that made the night a lot better too. We awoke on Monday to lots of snow, so Britt and I stayed in and watched movies and played Disney Scene-It. While it wasn't my original plans, it was a nice relaxing day where I had fun and best of all, got to spend quality time with my sister and Dad. It was nice. I ended up staying over till Tuesday morning and just drove back super early for work. So because of that, yesterday evening was my first official night with my new roomie.

And we had a blast! He's great, and we really do get along super well. We ended up making homemade chocolate chip cookies, yummy! And then we watched the Emperor's New Groove, which we both LOVE and can literally quote almost word for word. Seriously. Plus, Chris pointed out some funny things in the movie that I had never seen before.... for instance, at the dinner were Yzma and Kronk are going to poison Kuzco, and Kronk gives them all "poisoned wine", Yzma throws her wine on the cactus she's standing next to. Of course, it's actually extract of llama, so when Kuzco turns into a llama and the screen goes back to Yzma, you see the cactus is now in the shape of a llama! I loved it! So great and I totally missed it before. :)

So I'm really happy with my roommate decision, and thankful that everything has worked out so well. I need to remember this the next time I start to stress about something!

Oooh, only two more days till my special bellydance class and dinner. I'm excited! I could definitely use the one on one instruction.... I know I've said it before, but if you want to do it right, bellydance is MUCH harder than it looks. And I use lots of muscles I never knew I had.... my back always screams at me whenever I'm done with class. :P

Ok, signing off for now... I'm exhausted and will probably fall asleep super early tonight... it's what I get for staying up late yesterday stuffing myself with cookies and watching the Emperor's New Groove. :)

P.S. Thankfully, the snow didn't cause any problems for my mom and her friends headed to Jamaica. They got there fine with no problems. Whew!

I don't wanna gain the whole world, and lose my soul

2009-02-28T18:28:00.004-05:00

This morning as I showered I had a great prayer time with God.

It's such a peaceful time, and a perfect time in my day where it's just me talking with him, no interruptions. And I was very honest in my prayers today.

At the beginning of this year, with resolutions being made by everyone, I took a good, hard look at myself. (See my January 5th Resolutions on a Roll blog). And I realized I didn't like who I was. I was full of unforgiveness, bitterness, anger, resentment, and jealousy, towards many different people. I wanted to change. I've often said I wanted to change, but I guess I didn't really mean it. This time, I did. At the beginning of this year, I really laid my heart out to God and told him of my desire to change. I really wanted to be able to forgive these people who hurt me, because only then could I be free from this bitterness and grief, and only then could I really forgive myself.

And you know what? God really has been working in me. Looking back on these past two months, I've felt lighter, better. I can feel the change in me. I've been able to think of certain people with better feelings, so I've been feeling better all around. It's amazing to see how the health of your heart can affect your whole spirit. It's so easy to lose focus on that, and slowly, your soul slips away from God, leaving you sick and miserable. I know, I felt that way. It's so much better to let go of everything, be it physical, material, mental or emotional things, and give it all to God. I love the song by Toby Mac that says it so well- I don't wanna gain the whole world, and lose my soul.

I encourage everyone to take a good look at themselves and their lives and see areas where they need to change. Things in this life are so transient, they pass away in an instant. Better to focus on the eternal, which is lasting and forever.

Peace and love!

Move in = success!

2009-02-28T18:21:00.002-05:00

Moving Day!

Surprisingly, the move for Chris went very well, and very quickly. It was over in less than two hours. A great success!

I made cupcakes for the occasion, as a sort of welcome present for Chris but more as a thank you present for everyone who helped him move (there were six of us total) and they went over very well. The extras I brought home for my family, since my cousin AJ just turned 20 yesterday and Dee is turning 17 on Monday... we can celebrate their birthdays with cupcakes! Well, I'm also going shopping and to the movies with Dee and my sister Britt tomorrow (also for Dee's bday) so I guess the cupcakes will be more for AJ. I'm really looking forward to tomorrow. I could use a nice, relaxing day full of just fun. Especially because I don't get to see Britt that often (she works so hard with both school and work she's not home much) and I don't get to see Dee very much, either. So tomorrow should be a lot of fun. I can't wait! What a great way to bring in the month of March! :)

How is February almost over?!?

2009-02-26T20:02:00.003-05:00

Wow. I just realized today that February is almost over, and March is almost here. Spring will be here before we know it! I for one am looking forward to spring... I can always breathe better in the spring/summer and I'd love that right about now. I don't understand how it is that someone as consistantly congested as I am in the winter needs to blow her nose so much. It's awful and I hate it. However, I can wait a little longer for spring to come.... with the advent of spring comes warmer weather, and while I am looking forward to that, I'm not really looking forward to the sweltering temperatures my apartment can reach in the summertime. :(

So anyway February was an interesting month. As everyone now knows, I found a new roommate, Chris, and he'll be moving in this Saturday. I'm baking special cupcakes as a welcoming present/bribe for his friends to help him move so there's less for us to do. :D I found some interesting new workouts I've been trying and have been feeling great! Not when I do them, of course, they're really tough workouts... I definitely feel the burn! But afterwards, I love the feeling of a great workout. I've been continuing my bellydance classes and really like them... I even signed up for a special 4 hour class this coming Friday (March 6) at my instructors house... it's a small group of only 10 people so we get more one on one instruction, which is really nice. We're going to have a traditional middle eastern dinner before we start the class, which I'm really looking forward to; I love learning about new cultures, especially when it deals with food. :)
I'll let you know how the class went next week!

Also, in January I attended a bible study with my friend Jennifer that's hosted by a Church she attended (she's been looking for a new Church lately). It's pretty close to my house and while I felt a bit of an age difference among some of the people there, I did like it and have decided to go back. I unfortunately missed this Monday's meeting due to not feeling so well, but I'm going to go to the next one in two weeks. I'm looking forward to it. I love my Church in Lansdale, but it's hard to get out there for special functions all the time. So it will be nice to have a small group of Christians nearer to me that I can get to know as well.

Wrapping up, I'm looking forward to this weekend, though it will be busy! Tomorrow is my cousin AJ's 20th birthday, yay! But I won't be able to be home since I'm helping Chris move in on Saturday. After that, I'll be heading home. Sunday my younger sister and I are going shopping and to the movies with our cousin Dee, who will be turning 17 on Monday, so we'll be celebrating her birthday with her. Sunday is also the day my mom is leaving for a vacation to Jamaica! Her friends surprised her with that THIS WEDNESDAY! Talk about short notice! However, everything worked out and she's really excited to go. I'm excited for her as well, though I am a little jealous, too. But I took a vacation day for Monday so I could have an extra day to hang out with my sister (since it's her spring break week) so I'm looking forward to that.

I hope everyone else has an enjoyable weekend as well! Enjoy the last two days of February! :)

There's gotta be somebody

2009-02-22T19:38:00.003-05:00

Ugh. Sometimes I feel like I'm being beaten over the head with stories of love and happiness, and it just really sucks. If I see that stupid E-Harmony TV commercial with Joshua and Tanylee one more time, I think I may throw my TV out the window. It's so hard to watch for people like me, the singleton who has barely had any relationships and just gets to watch everyone around me fall in love and be so happy, while I'm just stuck watching. I feel like the kid in elementary school who always gets picked last for the team. With every kid that gets picked, your heart just gets tighter and tighter with the pain of knowing that you're not wanted. That everyone else has something better than you, something that makes them special, something that you don't have.

I don't mean to cry and whine all the time. Quite often I just buck up and go about my business and find some hope in my heart that God hasn't forgotten me. But sometimes, especially around times like stupid Valentine's Day, it gets harder to be positive and hopeful, and I just need to vent.

But I love Nickelback sometimes, cause they have some great songs, and this is one of my new favorites and perfect for how I'm feeling right now.

This time, I wonder what it feels like
To find the one in this life, the one we all dream of
But dreams just aren't enough
So I'll be waiting for the real thing, I'll know it by the feeling
The moment when we're meeting, will play out like a scene
Straight off the silver screen
So I'll be holding my own breath, right up 'til the end
Until that moment when, I find the one that I'll spend forever with

'Cause nobody wants to be the last one there
'Cause everyone wants to feel like someone cares
Someone to love with my life in their hands
There's gotta be somebody for me like that
'Cause nobody wants to do it on their own
And everyone wants to know they're not alone
There's somebody else that feels the same somewhere
There's gotta be somebody for me out there

Tonight, out on the street, out in the moonlight
And dammit this feels too right, it's just like déjà vu
Me standing here with you
So I'll be holding my own breath, could this be the end
Is it that moment when, I find the one that I'll spend forever with

'Cause nobody wants to be the last one there
'Cause everyone wants to feel like someone cares
Someone to love with my life in their hands
There's gotta be somebody for me like that
'Cause nobody wants to do it on their own
And everyone wants to know they're not alone
There's somebody else that feels the same somewhere
There's gotta be somebody for me out there

You can't give up, looking for a diamond in the rough
You never know, when it shows up, make sure you're holding on
'Cause it could be the one, the one you're waiting on

'Cause nobody wants to be the last one there
And everyone wants to feel like someone cares
Someone to love with my life in their hands
There's gotta be somebody for me,
ohhhNobody wants to do it on their own
And everyone wants to know they're not alone
There's somebody else that feels the same somewhere
There's gotta be somebody for me out there
Nobody wants to be the last one there
'Cause everyone wants to feel like someone cares
There's somebody else that feels the same somewhere
There's gotta be somebody for me out there

3.5 years and fifty pounds later

2009-02-15T17:32:00.002-05:00

So for those of you who don't know this, I've been working hard to change my body and get healthy since my senior year in college. I'd say I started changing my outlook around August 2005. What happened was the craziness of college completely got to me. One day I stepped on the scale and almost had a heart attack when I saw how much I weighed. And though I tried to hide it in the clothes I wore, I knew I definitely needed to lose weight. It's strange how the weight just kind of creeps up on you, and bad habits form, including not excercising because I was "too busy" and just waaaaay overeating. It's amazing how easy it is to overeat. I literally had to count calories the first month or two I started making changes, because I was just eating so much extra and I didn't even realize it. In October 2006, I really started taking things seriously when I joined the gym at Fox Chase Cancer Center. I received a lot of support from my friend and sort of trainer, Matt. Not to mention receieving support and feedback from other members, such as my friend Loretta, and the women of my aerobics class. Once I joined the gym, I really started changing physically. It was so awesome! Every 3 months, I would keep motivated by having Matt take all my measurements and run me through some fitness tests, so I could see my progress and how I changed. It was amazing! I loved seeing myself improve.

I was so sad to leave the FCCC gym when I got my new job at Lankenau, but I had found another great gym right by my house- the Ardmore location Philadelphia Sports Club. It fit me perfectly and I felt very comfortable there. I've also made some new friends, which makes going more fun and also keeps me accountable.

This all leads up to this past Wednesday. I had to go to the doctor for a checkup, and the nurse weighed me. I hadn't weighed myself in quite a long time, I really do believe it's just a number, and I was seeing results physically so didn't care about the number on the scale. But it was awesome when the nurse said I weighed 133 lbs!! I was ecstatic! I literally can't remember when I weighed that little- 8th or 9th grade probably. I know I weighed more than that in 10th grade. The best part is, being 133 lbs means that I have lost FIFTY pounds since I was my heaviest. Yes folks, I had once weighed 183 lbs in college. I didn't think I looked it back then, but now that I look back on pictures of myself during that time, I can definitely see it. It's so great to know that all my hard work has paid off!

And so lastly, I want to encourage anyone reading this to start today and work on changing your body for the better as well. It's hard work, definitely, but it pays off in so many ways. Cheers for good health! :)

My new roommate

2009-02-08T19:18:00.002-05:00

So, I thank you Britty and Katie for giving me advice! And I have decided to go with Chris as my new roommate. I really got along well with him, and quite frankly, I am sick to death of showing my apartment to people who seem interested and then don't take it for some reason or other. I am very glad I'm not a real estate agent. And another reason I decided on Chris is because it helps me out of my comfort zone. I tend to be a very safe person, I don't like living on the edge and making risky decisions. I tend to rationalize and think things through. I don't like feeling uncomfortable for any reason.

But when I think about times that I've either been forced out of my comfort zone or wandered out on my own, I didn't die. Lighting didn't come down and strike me, I was never so miserable I was scarred for life. Usually, I found out that when it was all said and done, I had a good time, or I learned something new, or I changed for the better in some way. One recent example is fitness in my life. I was gradually changing things about me in areas of diet and fitness to become the best me I can be. However, at the gym, I started to stall. I was hiding out in the upstairs room that had limited weight (only 25 lbs) and I stopped seeing changes because I wasn't working hard enough anymore. I needed heavier weights to change again. But that meant going down to the first floor weight room, which was very scary to me. That's where all the ripped guys and girls were who really looked like they knew what they were doing. I didn't feel I belonged there... I didn't want to look foolish. But then I read an article by one of my favorite health and fitness gurus :) Brad Pilon. And in his article he was saying that if you never get out of your comfort zone, you'll never change. It's a matter of your priorities and what you really want for your life. Right there, I realized he was right. I still wanted my body to change, so I knew I'd have to buck up and head to the first floor weight room. And you know what? No one laughed at me. No one stopped and stared and made me feel weird or strange or like I didn't belong. I could work out better (and made some new friends in the process) and change for the better. And I'm really glad I did.

In the case of my new roommate, I'm apprehensive only because I don't know what to expect. Besides for my Dad, I have never lived with a guy before in my entire life. But I think it will be an interesting experience from which I can learn a lot. Perhaps living with Chris can help better prepare me for learning how to live with my future husband (if I ever get married). I've learned how to live and compromise with other girls, now maybe it's time to be tested if I can compromise sharing living quarters with a guy. While the process may be uncomfortable for me at times, I think I'll learn a lot from it. The best part is, if worst does come to worst, I can always move out. I'm hoping though that it doesn't come to that! :)

So, thanks everyone for their prayers and concern and advice for me during this time of roommate searching. I've really appreciated all your help!

Roommate update.... advice wanted! :)

2009-02-04T18:15:00.003-05:00

So here it is, a few weeks after my initial posting about looking for a roommate, and I still don't officially have a new roommate- however, I did meet with someone today who liked the apartment and will take it if I offer it... to him. I've never had a male roommate before, and while I would prefer a female roommate, all the girls that I've shown the apartment to have decided on something else. I think overall, girls are just super picky. And Chris (my potential new roommate) is not. He seems super chill and very nice , clean, respectful, and low key. The best part is, he's a Christian. That's why he answered my ad (I mentioned I was a Christian in the ad I posted). And we seem to have a lot in common- we are both dorky sci-fi lovers, and we both love to read. Overall, I think once I get over my initial weirdness factor, I could get along with him really well.

But I posted this only because I'd like feedback from my friends who read my blog: do you think I should go ahead and have a male roommate, or keep looking for a female roommate? As my friends I truly value your opinion and would love to hear your advice. Thanks!

Stepping back

2009-01-24T14:13:00.002-05:00

This past week, I felt like I was going crazy. Trying to give things over to God can be so hard for me. Even though I know it's for the best, I still cling to things and want to try to do things for myself as long as I can. Finally on Tuesday I just gave up. Work was sucking bad, everything that could go wrong was, and I felt depressed and miserable. So I did what was really hard for me- I stepped back and let go. I took the craigslist ad for a roommate off the web for the rest of the week so I could just let go and breathe. Stop worrying about it and let it in God's hands. And I did feel better after that, and work started to go a little better too (it was still a really rough week though, whew! I'm glad it's over). It was nice to let it go.

I felt a lot better about it, so I placed the ad on craigslist again last night. And by this morning I received a couple of really positive responses. I also met two different people this morning, both of whom were really nice, and I think would be good roommates. I'm also showing the apartment to another girl tomorrow who sounds really nice. So God had everything in control right from the start. He was just waiting for me to let go and step back and let him work. I thank God that he puts up with me, cause I don't make it easy!

Sigh

2009-01-18T17:06:00.003-05:00

So, my roommate search is proving to be harder than I orgininally thought, which has me in a myriad of emotions including but not limited to frustration, worry, fear, depression, and hopelessness. Ironically, sitting here on my parents computer desk are notes from an old sermon given a couple weeks ago, which I do remember. It was titled "Waiting Well" and is about the importance of waiting on God, how it refines us and is a huge learning experience for us. Waiting is the classroom of the Christian life, according to the sermon. I know this in my head, I do.

But knowing something and doing something, or not doing something, as the case may be, are two different things. I know I'm supposed to be patient and wait on God and give all my worries to him, and I know I've stated this before, but it's SO hard for me. I am not patient, and beyond that, I am not good at being very dependent on anyone other than myself or a few select others. So of course God would want to refine those characteristics in me, and of course, though I know this, I try to do things my own way, at my own timing, all the time. This goes nowhere and only leads to the aforementioned emotions listed above.

Sigh. All I can ask is PLEASE pray for me during this time. I desperately need it!

I need a new roommate

2009-01-15T20:07:00.003-05:00

So my roommate of almost two years has bought a house, and is moving out the end of February. Though she kindly offered to rent me a room in her new house, I decided to stay in the apartment that I love so much! Plus, I hate moving. Though almost as much as moving, I hate looking for roommates. First, I'm nervous that I'll even be able to find someone, and then, I'm nervous about living with that person. What if we don't get along? What if they drive me crazy? What if THEY'RE crazy? (My sister Britt can speak for THAT one... she sure had a crazy roommate already. Literally crazy. Those stories she can tell you.....)

Anyway, I'm currently stressing about a roommate. :P I know I should just pray about it and put it in God's hands, but darn it, it's HARD! I'm not the most patient or trusting person in the world. I've heard that God does things to help you grow in things you lack, so situations that involve both trust and patience arise for me alot. You'd think I'd have learned by now to be trusting and patient, hmm? Yes well I'm definitely still a work in progress. :P

Still, it makes me feel better to know that I have people praying over the situation with me. It helps me to trust better. I think Romans 8:28 is a good verse for this week: "All things work together for good, for them that love the Lord." And, no amount of worrying can add a single moment to my life. So I guess I just have to give it over to God. I'll keep you all posted on what happens!

Meet the Robinsons

2009-01-07T19:46:00.002-05:00

Tonight I was flipping through the TV channels and came across Disney's Meet the Robinsons movie. I'd heard a little about it from the Disney Channel (yes, I'll still watch stuff on the Disney channel, I'm a dork, but so much other stuff on TV is just pure junk.) Anyway I never really thought much about the movie, I thought it looked kind of stupid, actually. But since I didn't have anything else to do, and I'd never seen it before, I sat down to watch.

It's actually a great movie! I really liked it. It had great messages in it. It made you think about how your choices affect your life, and how events in your life can shape you and make you who you are, and how you react to those events is important, too. I'll admit it, I actually cried a little during the movie. Although I'm really dorky and emotional when it comes to things like this. :)

Anyway, the point is, it was a really cute, family-friendly movie, and I highly recommend it!

Resolutions on a roll

2009-01-05T19:48:00.002-05:00

So in my last post, I talked about a few New Year's Resolutions I had for myself, and I'm not wasting any time with them! The longer you wait for things, the harder it can be to start something new or reach for goals you've set for yourself. I told myself that after the holidays, I'd really start to reach out for my goal to apply to vet school this year. So last week I sent off my college transcripts and application to the Community College of Philadelphia, where I'm hoping to take a general stats class this spring semester. Once I do that, all my academic requirements will be filled for applying for vet school. I'm really praying I can get a class for this spring!

Also, I just applied to a local cat hospital to become a vet assistant on the weekends. While I'm not loving the thought of having to work every weekend, I thought long and hard and decided that my future goal is more important to me than my present comforts, so I'm sucking it up and doing it. I think the experience I get will be really worth it. So I'm praying that this works out, and that if it doesn't, I find another great opportunity!

Last but not least, I started thinking about the GREs and I just contacted UPenn admissions to check if I needed to only take the general GRE, or the Biology GRE. I'm kinda hoping it's just the general GRE.... being out of school for 3 years, a lot of my biology facts have slipped through the cracks. :P

Anyway, that's my progress so far, as far as my goal for vet school goes. I'm quite pleased!

Another resolution I spoke about was improving my attitude. This one is a little harder to tackle... nothing is as clear cut as my other resolutions. But none the less, I've thought a lot about it.

Almost three years ago, I was in a relationship that I really regret, for hundreds of reasons. When the relationship ended, I was left with feelings of extreme anger, bitterness, and unforgiveness, that I never really resolved. I recognized it, but it still didn't really get resolved. All of those negative feelings have just been eating away at me, and I really think that they're the root of why I'm turning into this person that I hate. I've become so much more cynical and nasty than I've ever been or want to be. I want to be gentle and kind and caring. It's really important to me to let God's love shine through me, but I've been doing such a horrible job of that lately. At best I'm looking like a hypocrite. But really, how can any love shine through me when my heart is filled with such hatred and anger and bitterness?

It's good that I've realized this, because realizing that there is a problem is the first step, and the second is realizing what the problem is. Only then can the problem be fixed. And one of my biggest problems is that I'm wrestling with unforgiveness.... and the main person I'm not forgiving is myself.

I think we're always hardest on ourselves, and I'm a classic case of this. When said relationship ended, my pride suffered severely. I felt like the biggest fool. I knew better! I'm a smart girl, why did I let myself get treated so badly? I wanted to be so mad at the other person, but deep down, I was most angry and bitter with myself, because while I wanted so badly to shift the blame, I knew it all lay on me.

And really, that's a burden to bear. And while I prayed about it, and asked forgiveness for it, and God forgave me for it, it was like I said, "No, God, I want to carry around this heavy burden. I really don't want to be forgiven because I need to be punished. Thanks for the forgiveness, but I don't deserve it, I'll carry this heavy load around to punish myself instead. I know that's what I really deserve." Isn't that strange? It's so funny. I grew up in a Christian home, I understand things so well in my head.... it's understanding them in my heart that is so much harder. God's grace is overwhelming and overflowing, and though I was so parched for it, I ignored it. Despite knowing that no one is deserving of such a gift. It was my arrogant pride that was so injured in that relationship, and it was my pride that was keeping me so injured. How proud was I to assume that I was so undeserving of God's grace? How could I throw such a blessing, such an amazing gift back in his face? It takes a lot of arrogance to say, "thanks God, but your perfect gift, your death on the cross for me, that doesn't mean anything. You suffered and died for nothing, cause I don't want it." By not accepting God's forgiveness, that's essentially what I was saying. I think Satan uses guilt and pride to blind us to the truth so often.

This weekend, I had a real heart to heart with God, and while I'm not completely healed, I finally feel like I'm on my way. I realize it's a process, not just a step. But I feel a lot lighter than I have in a long time. Hopefully, over time, I'll fully heal, and be the person I want to be!

Anyone else have any resolutions they'd like to share? I'd love to hear them, feel free to post a reply or email me with them!

Happy New Year

2009-01-01T15:11:00.006-05:00

Happy New Year!

I realize I didn't write a lot in December, though with the holidays it's quite a busy month. Since Becky was coming home to visit, I took the whole week of Christmas off of work, so I was working double time at work to get everything done. Then there was the usual Christmas shopping, cookie baking, Christmas parties, that sort of thing. Also, my Dad (who loves filming home movies, with the actual reels of film on projector screens, that kind of filming) had an elaborate plan for this Christmas- my family was making a home movie set in 1964. We made our tree and living room look for sixties with our decorations and props, such as a super old TV from back then (it had been stored in one of our barns for years) and we pulled out our old tabletop rotary telephone. We had sixties clothing and tried to copy their hairstyles and makeup, and my Dad even shocked us by buying all sorts of sixties games and presents from Ebay and wrapping them up for the set. It was a blast, opening games like Mystery Date, Hands Down, and Tip-It.... plus there was this little radio and a camera, both of which had originally came out in the sixties. He even had magazines from the sixties! Needless to say, we had a blast, and the movie turned out great. We all watched it on the screen last night and are really pleased with how it came out!

I was also happy to see a lot of my friends over my break, I got together with one of my best friends, Katie, and finally met her boyfriend Steve (they met in South Carolina where Katie is working on her PhD so I hadn't met him before) and we had a blast. Also my family had an open house for my sister, so I met up with a lot of people from my home Church as well as friends from school that I hadn't seen in a while. It was a lot of fun and the time went so fast! I couldn't believe it when I had to return back to Philly to go to work on Monday. The only thing I was happy about was being able to go back to the gym.... I definitely ate way more than my share of goodies over my week off!

Though I had a lot of fun over the break, some things weren't that great, the biggest one being that my dear friend and former roommate, Jess, has been having a hard time lately. She's had a lot going on, the hardest thing being that her mother was very sick from battling ovarian cancer. I'm incredibly sorry to say that her mother (who had been battling ovarian cancer for 12 years!) went home to be with the Lord around 3:15 pm on Christmas day. She was incredibly brave and courageous in her fight and she will be very missed. I pray that this New Year will bring Jess and her family peace during this hard time.

Speaking of the New Year, I wish everyone the very best for 2009. As it wouldn't be a New Years Post without posting a resolution, I resolve to continue with working on my health and fitness (I'm very pleased with my progress, but there's always room for improvement!) and to get all my ducks in a row and apply for vet school this year. And last but not least, I resolve to work on my attitude... which hasn't been very pleasant lately. I definitely need to work on that!

So in closing, I hope everyone had an enjoyable time for the holidays, and many blessings for the New Year! Here are some pictures to enjoy from some of my December adventures :)

Playing the Tip-It game

My Dad's side of the family on Christmas night

Our house in sixties mode :)

Me in my sixties dress, reading my sixties magazine (cigarette is fake though! :)

Some of the decorations at Christmas Village

Britt, myself, and Beck, freezing our butts off at Christmas Village!

Some of our delicious Christmas sugar cookies... my family's favorite!

Becky's home!

2008-12-21T19:45:00.002-05:00

Yay, Becky's home! After nine long months of not seeing her, my family and I drove down to the Philly airport yesterday to pick her up. It's so nice to have her back home! We have lots of fun things planned- cookie baking, watching Christmas movies, visiting Christmas village, doing some last minute Christmas shopping, going to Christmas parties and events, meeting up with friends.... this week should be fun filled and wonderful!

But above all, let's not forget the real reason we celebrate Christmas. It's so easy to get caught up in the fun and commercialism of Christmas, but without the birth of Jesus Christ, who came to save us all, though we don't deserve it.... that's the real reason I celebrate Christmas. Christmas, the celebration of my savior's birth... thank you Father, for such an amazing blessing!

Merry Christmas, everyone! Don't forget the real reason for this season!

Wonderful Weekend

2008-12-15T17:07:00.002-05:00

I had such a lovely weekend! Friday started gloriously, because I knew I had a half day at work- the other half was the holiday lunch for LIMR. It was held at Yangming, a really nice Chinese restaurant in Bryn Mawr. Everything was delicious and it seemed like everyone had a really good time. Also really nice was that I got to leave for home early, so I made awesome time driving to Kutztown, since I missed the bulk of the traffic. Saturday, my mom and I went out to lunch at Red Lobster for her birthday, which is tomorrow. Then we did some Christmas shopping. It seems that no matter how hard I try to NOT buy anything for myself, I succumb. In NY&Co, one of my favorite clothing stores, I bought the most awesome shoes ever! They're (fake) cobra-skin platform high heels. I can't wait to wear them! And the best part was, they were on sale for $7.00! Yay! :)

Sunday was a busy day. We woke up early and went to the early service at Church, and then we did some grocery shopping. After coming home I wrapped up all the Christmas presents I had, and then we made Christmas cookies! Yum yum yum. We made peanut butter cookies, andes-mint chip cookies, and our family favorite, sugar cookies. We get very elaborate with our decorations. I'd put pics up but they're on the computer at my parents house.... so that will have to wait till Friday, when I'm home again.

Only 4 more days of work before I have a wonderful whole week off! Yay! And the best part is, only 5 more days till Becky comes home!!!! I can't wait!! :)

I love the Christmas season! :)

2008-12-10T21:29:00.002-05:00

Oh, I just love Christmas, and the whole Christmas season! For purely commercial reasons, I love all the lights, the decorations, the trees, the music. I love the time with family. I love celebrating my savior's birth! Christmas has always been my favorite holiday.

One of my best Christmas presents this year is that my sister is coming home again for Christmas! She works overseas and I haven't seen her since March (that's the longest I've ever been away from her in my entire life) and I miss her so much. We didn't think she'd be able to come home for Christmas again this year, since she came home last year, but somehow she managed it, yay!!! So we're picking her up at the airport next Saturday, December 20th. I can't wait.... only 10 more days!!!!

Enjoy the holiday season everyone! More posts to come on all my holiday fun! :)

The opening of my eyes, re-awakening of my dreams

2008-12-06T17:38:00.003-05:00

Twice this past week, I've been faced with the unsettling fact that I am a predictable creature of routine. Well, I've known that about myself for quite a while, but lately, I've been thinking more often about it, and been feeling.... discontented. I want to change that. I have to wonder, am I a predictable person who follows routine and constancy because I really want to, or because I'm afraid to take risks? I've always thought it was my nature to be predictable, to love and thrive on consistency and routine, but the way I've feeling in recent months, I'm not so sure. I think I've been using it as an excuse to cover up my fear. Fear of trying new things, fear of taking risks and getting hurt or failing. Although I do have a nature of consistency, I don't want to use it as a crutch. I don't want to look back on my life, or go through my life, feeling discontent and feeling regrets because I've been afraid to do something. Afraid to reach out for something I really want, for whatever reason.

My eyes have been opened a bit this week. First, I received an email from a nutritionist/fitness expert, Brad Pilon, who stated that unless you get out of your comfort zone, you'll never change. You'll never get what you want. And he's right. I like staying in my comfort zone, not because I really enjoy it, but because it's easy. I'm being lazy, and I'm allowing fear to rule my life. Another eye opener I had was when I was reading a book this week. The female protaganist is an adventurer, flitting from one thing to the next. She meets the male protaganist, who has closed himself off from all risks, and has settled into a life of boring routine. In the book, they have this conversation, and Isobel states that there's a risk in everything worth doing.

She's right. I can continue on in my life, doing the same thing day in and day out, because it's easy, comfortable, and low-risk. But it's also boring. It's easier to be single, I think. But is it better? In some ways, yes. But I think life can be so much richer when you share it with someone else. I want that. I tolerate my current job, I like certain things, but I know I can't do it my whole life. It will suck my heart out of me. I love working with the animals too much to give it up, but I can't do research with the animals my whole life. As much as I try to keep them comfortable and safe, there are times when I can't do that. And it kills me inside. It literally breaks my heart. Some days, when I'm alone in the animal room, I'll hold some of the mice and weep over them. They're just tiny mice. Important to not many people. But they're important to me. I love them, I love all animals, and I always have. I've wanted to be vet since I was eight years old, and I wanted that for so long. Until I started getting older, and realizing all the obstacles ahead of me. The rigorous schooling, all the money involved, how hard it is to get accepted into vet school. And I got scared, and I let that dream go. And I settled. I settled for something less than I wanted, something less than I dreamed of, and I'm paying for it. Every time I hurt a mouse, instead of healing it, I hate myself. Even as I write this I'm crying over them. Research is a necessary evil, it has saved so many lives. I don't regret that, but I do wish we never had to do it in the first place. Oh Eve, if only you could have seen all the affects of your taking that fruit. So many people forget that the world was a perfect place in Eden, where death and sickness didn't exist. Because of our sin, sickness abounds. Research is needed, and while I'm happy I can help humanity, I'm sick of hurting the animals that I love so much.

Since leaving college, I've been searching. Searching for what to do with my life that would make me happy and joyous. Searching for the calling God had given me. And it seemed so elusive. I'd shoved all memories of my childhood dreams aside. People kept telling me I should do this, or that, and I'd believe them for a while, and look into what they suggested, but nothing seemed right. I had no drive for it, no passion. Not for being a pharmacist, or a doctor, or a physician assistant. Then as I started at Lankenau, people noticed me with the mice. How much I cared for them in even the littlest things, how I'd wrap them in a blanket of gauze strips after performing ultrasounds, how I check the little pups after I wean them from the mother to make sure they're eating and drinking right. And they mentioned how I'd make a really good vet, and all of a sudden, my dreams rushed right back. And it finally felt right. Kind of like coming home after a really long trip, or finding your way after being lost for a while. That sense of peace and relief and knowing.

I'm glad I've re-awakened those long ago dreams, but I am a little scared. Forget that, I'm a lot scared. I have a lot of hard, hard work and sacrifice ahead of me if I want to pursue this goal and succeed. Before I even start, I need to take a stats class, to fulfill my scholastic requirements. I have to take the GRE's, and do well. I have to start looking for vets to volunteer for, so I get more experience with animals and so I can get a good recommendation for vet school. Then I have to apply, and the hardest of all, get in. I also have to look for all the scholarships I can, because vet school is extremely expensive. I've discovered that there are few vet schools in the US, and you're best bet is getting into the school in your State. Unfortunately, UPenn is the only vet school in PA, and it's quite expensive. Not only that, it's located in the city, which I despise. I dread going to school in the city, and even worse, living there. But it's a sacrifice I'll have to make if I want to succeed. And I do want to succeed. I do want this. I know there are risks. Risks of trying and not succeeding. Risks of hefty school loans that will take YEARS to pay off. Risks of putting other aspects of my life on hold so I can achieve this goal. But like Isobel said, there's always risks in something worth doing. And I truly believe that this is worth doing.

Dr. Jennifer R. Pyle, D.V.M. I like it. :)

Counting my blessings

2008-11-30T11:31:00.002-05:00

Man, was I really miserable a week ago.

I hate when I get miserable like that and want to fall into the old "woe is me" routine. Last Saturday I was just plain angry miserable, but Sunday I was depressed miserable because the tax problem I thought had been fixed arose again. I was frustrated and upset and scared, too. Would it ever be fixed? By Tuesday night I was really moping around my apartment feeling sorry for myself, when I finally snapped out of it. Why was I sitting around feeling sorry for myself over such a small thing? Why was I so angry over the weekend about such stupid, insignificant problems? Sure, it's understandable to get upset over things, but to dwell on them the way I did certaintly wasn't healthy for me. Or pleasant for anyone in the near vicinity of me. And was worrying about my tax situation really helping? There are so many verses in the Bible saying to lay down your worries on God, he'll take care of it. Can worrying add a single moment to your life? I know from experience that the answer is NO.

So I took a good look at my blessings Tuesday night, and could finally fall asleep in peace. So was it a surprise that I finally had email contact with a real person on Wednesday morning, who can help me with my tax problem? :) When I finally stopped worrying about the situation and handed it completely over God, things started happening. And even though I know that in my head, when situations like this arise, it's still so hard for me to not want to do it all myself. Sometimes in my faith, I'm still so like a little child.

Anyway, since I started thinking of all my blessings, such as my health, my family, my salvation, my apartment, my job, my car, my friends, my Church, my able working body, ect. I had a great Thanksgiving. This whole weekend was just wonderful, I was so looking forward to a 4 day weekend. Thursday, my parents and my sister and I headed up to my Aunt and Uncle's house for Thanksgiving. It was a huge get together... the meal was for 23 adults and 3 young children! But everything went really well. Normally, we do holidays with my Dad's side of the family, but this Thanksgiving was with my mom's side, and it was really nice. When we got home from that, Britt and I headed up to our other Aunt and Uncle's house (Dad's side) to play games with his side of the family. We watched the Andromeda Strain, as well as playing the Match Game. It was a great time.

Friday, my family hides away for black friday craziness. My mom had to work, but my Dad and Britt and I went to lunch, and then came back and decorated the house for Christmas. We did it in record time this year! It went so smoothly. Which was nice, because my mom came home from work sick, so it was good we got everything done so fast so she could rest in bed. Later that evening, my Dad and I watched the Santa Claus. It ended a great day.

Saturday, my mom was still sick, but my Dad and I headed out to pick out our Christmas tree. We love concolor firs for Christmas trees. The needles are soft, not prickly, the trees have a citrusy scent (kind of like tangerines or oranges... smells so good!) and the way the trees grow, the ornaments just hang really nice on the tree, as opposed to Douglas firs. So we picked out the perfect tree and came home and set it up. Later, my Dad and Britt and I made Christmas cookies and caramel corn popcorn. Sooo delicious! And to end the evening, Britt, myself, our Aunt Dani, and our cousins Dee, AJ, and Joey went to the movies to see Madagascar 2. It was ok, but definitely not as funny as the first one. This second one was kind of weird, actually.

Anyway, it was a great weekend, and I really don't want it to end! But in three weeks, I'll be looking at a week long break for Christmas already! I hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving, and enjoy a wonderful Christmas season!

EXTRA miserable!!!!

2008-11-22T14:16:00.003-05:00

So I leave the gym this morning to discover my tire is quite low, almost bordering on flat. So I go to the Sunoco by my house to fill the tire with more air. I couldn't find the air hose, so I parked and went inside to ask if they even had an air hose. They said they did, and then asked "Do you need any help?"

Shoot me now. Please. Because like an IDIOT, I said yes.

BIG MISTAKE. I KNOW this, I've been burned before. Single young girl+ old car+ city mechanics = rape. They take you for all they can get. And, they did.

Instead of leaving with my tire filled with air, ($.50) or leaving with the hole in my tire patched and filled with air ($22.00) I left with a new tire I DIDN'T NEED OR WANT, which means I also paid the exhorbitant B.S. "labor fees" plus being told I need an oil change and I have a small oil leak ($137.00). And that $137.00 was just for the tire and labor fees, I didn't do anything about the SUPPOSED oil leak or oil change. What the?????? Just LAST weekend, I took my car to a mechanic at home and spent $131.00 on a new muffler, the labor of getting it put on, plus a general checkup of the car PLUS removal of a broken joint and welding of the exhaust pipe. God only knows how much I'd have been charged for that at this Sunoco. Probably over $1,000 plus the promise of my first born child. I was so livid when I left there, and I've been really mad about it since.

Grrr. I suppose I'd better try and calm down, because bursting my blood vessels and having to go to the hospital would make me even MORE miserable. If that were possible. Which at this point, I'm not sure of.

Miserable.

2008-11-21T20:14:00.003-05:00

Ugh. I spent most of this week sick with a miserable cold, yet still trudged off to work to bust my butt to get tons of stuff done before the holidays roll around. Being sick I didn't make it to the gym at all, so I feel like a lazy cow. On top of that, my mom calls me today to tell me that she heard that this kid I used to have a crush on in 8th grade (who I really have no idea why I liked. He had the personality of a wet mop. In fact, he reminds me very much of Lurch from the Adams Family.) has a girlfriend he's been dating for 2 years. And then I realized that my truly horrible ex-boyfriend (not just man bashing here, yes, he is a horrible person. Not just saying that cause he's my ex. Almost everyone who knows him agrees with me. I'm pretty sure Heather thinks he's the worst person in the world) also has a girlfriend who he's been seeing for at least 2 years (right after he "cut me off" by leaving for med school and never speaking to me again, not even to officially break up with me), which forces me to think upon my singleness, at state in which I've lived in for almost exactly 24 years of my life, and wonder what in the world is wrong with me??

If I didn't feel like enough of a fat lazy cow already, I'd be falling off the wagon and stuffing my face with cake and ice cream to try to drown out my sorrows. In fact, even though I feel like a fat lazy cow, I'd still be stuffing my face with cake and ice cream, if I had any in my apartment. But I don't, and I'm too lazy/miserable to go out and get some.

And please, no comments trying to make me feel better. I really don't want to hear it, and it never makes me feel any better.

God works in mysterious ways

2008-11-18T20:14:00.002-05:00

I have an old car, a 93 Dodge Shadow, that I love. It's a great car that runs well, has good gas mileage, it still looks really nice, and best of all, it's cheap. I have no car payments, as well as ridiculously cheap insurance. It's awesome!

However, older cars do need tune ups and replacements and general maintenance, and I have become quite skilled at being in tune with my car's needs. And about 3 weeks ago, I noticed that my car sound a lot harsher when it was running than normal. I assumed it was that it needed a new muffler, as it still had the original one. So this weekend I took it into a shop near my parents, and within a day, it was done, yay!

However, upon picking it up, I discovered that God was looking out for me. My car did need a new muffler, yes, but the noise I was hearing wasn't from the muffler. It was from a broken joint on my exhaust pipe, which happened to be running right next to my gas tank. Had the joint completely broken off, or even partially fallen off, it could have been hitting the gas tank, and the metal joint against the metal gas tank could have caused sparks, so I could have possibly been looking at a potential car fire, or worse, an explosion. Yikes! Now that was the worst that could happen, and might not have ever occurred. But still, I was really glad that I didn't ignore the seemingly harmless albeit annoying loud noise my car was making. So I'm really thankful that God was looking out for me in this! :)

Amendment

2008-11-10T17:04:00.002-05:00

As I was reading my devotional book last night, I realized I need to amend a few statements I said in my previous blog (Jekyll and Hyde, horses, and silversmiths).

I kept saying that being horrible and sinful was my true nature, when in fact, it's not. It's my old, familiar nature. It's the nature I was born into, but was never meant to have. I was never meant to be a sinner. The fall in Eden did that. But because now that I'm a Christian, the fight in me is God ripping away that old familiar nature to reveal the true me- a child of the King. :)

Jekyll and Hyde, horses, and silversmiths

2008-11-09T19:52:00.007-05:00

A few days ago, when I got home from a miserably long day at work, I realized something. I am truly a horrible person. Truly. And since as Christians we're supposed to strive to be good, and be like Jesus, realizing how deep down I'm truly horrible threw me into a moment of dispair. My thoughts were running rampant and I struggled as always with myself. And then I came upon ANOTHER realization, one that made me feel a lot better, and was God-breathed into my subconcious, I'm certain, because the way I was feeling that day, I wouldn't have thought it on my own.

Let me explain. When I realized I was horrible, it's not that I'm horrible all the time. I struggle to do good, kind things, and behave in a manner similar to that of Jesus. And when I say I struggle, I do mean it. I practically have to bite off my tounge to not scream at people and tell them how I really feel sometimes, I have to practically sit on my hands to not slap someone or throttle them when they're being rude or nasty or obnoxious. And honestly, truly honestly? Often times, I want to be horrible. I want to be nasty sometimes. Sometimes, when I'm in a truly awful mood, it actually gives me pleasure to make everyone around me miserable too. (They do say misery loves company). When I realized I was horrible, it was a realization that deep down in my core, left to my own devices, and certainly if I was not a Christian, I would be the horrible witch that is residing in my soul. I wouldn't censor my thoughts and feelings and actions the way I do now and so I can tell you with absolute certainty that I would have little if any friends and more enemies than I could count. If you think I'm exaggerating, I can assure you I'm not. One day inside my head would convince you of that. Actually I guess you can just read the examples above to get a little glimpse of that.

So now it would make you wonder why I'm trying to convince you all how horrible I am. Why am I so horrible? Well, it's like Paul said. It's easier, certainly. I suppose because I was born a sinner, I have more of a tendency to want to be bad than good. But because of Jesus, although I want to be bad, I know it's wrong. So I struggle with myself, against myself, to rise above the sin that's in me so that Jesus and his goodness can fill me and shine through me. It's a daily battle that leaves me exhausted by the end of the day. Deep down inside of me, inside my heart and soul that no human can see but God can, I'm horrible. But because of God's grace and constant work in me, you don't see that. Sure, like everyone, I let my anger and temper and stubborness get the best of me sometimes, and people get a glimpse of the horrible nature I'm hiding. Well, not hiding exactly, subduing may be a better word. The thought that crossed my mind that made me feel better was God telling me that while I hate this constant struggle in me, while I hate to look inside myself and see how horrible I want to be and actually am sometimes, the fact that I'm struggling is awesome! Because my struggle means that Jesus is residing in me and working in me. That's the key! It's the reason why I hate when I'm being horrible, even when I want to be horrible. It's God working in me, influencing my life, making me better. He's scraping away all the rough edges, polishing me up, molding me into his image. I'm certainly not the finished workmanship God is desiring for me, no, I still struggle mightly with anger, unforgiveness, bitterness, grudges.... the list goes on. I'm exactly like Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. Except I was born Mr. Hyde- nasty and cruel and horrible- and through Jesus's influence, am becoming more like Dr. Jekyll-kind and gentle and good.

While I'm using metaphors to give you a description of my true nature, another great one is that I'm completely like a wild mare. Wild, independent, and untamed. And if anyone has seen wild horses, or horses that have been mistreated, you can see the great power they have. They can easily kill people or other horses in their fear and rage. In my true nature, I'm like that. Jesus is like the bit in my mouth, God is the master who tames me. Taming an unbroken horse requires great skill, patience, and love on the part of the trainer. It requires constant effort and usually needs to be repeated quite a bit. God has been taming me, Jesus is the bit that directs me where to go. And sure, like any horse, there are days when I want to act on my independent nature and go where I want to go. But that bit in my mouth is always there, and in the end, like the horse, I subdue to it. Although I'll admit quite often, I subdue to it only because every other option I've tried hasn't worked. :P And sometimes I subdue to God, albeit sulkily and miserable because of the circumstances surrounding me. What gives me great hope is that I know that I am made uniquely me. On better days, when I want to dispair at my horrible nature I keep fighting with, I am reminded that God made me this way. He made me to be very independent, so he knows I struggle with humbling myself. He made my fiery spirit, so he knows I struggle with my anger and temper. He made me capable of deep, loyal love, so he knows I struggle with bitterness when I'm betrayed. And yes, there are plenty of times when I struggle and my bad nature wins. But there are more times when I struggle and my good nature wins. And each time that happens, I look a little more like Jesus.

To end this blog, there are verses in the Bible that say that we as Christians are being refined, like silver. Honestly I can't quite remember where they are in the Bible, but they're there. In one of my online devotionals a while back, I read this story about a group of women in a Bible study who were discussing these verses. They wondered how silver was refined. What exactly is the process? So one woman set to find out. The next week, she came to the group in awe. Turns out that refining silver is hard work. In order for the silver to be refined and pure, to have all the impurities removed, the silversmith has to put the silver in an extremely hot fire. This helps melt all the impurities away. He can beat the silver on an anvil to shape it in the shape he wants. Painful! And during this entire process, the silversmith can't take his eyes off the silver, or else it could ruin. And most importantly... the woman asked the silversmith how he knew when the silver was done, and fully refined. He replied, "When I can see my reflection in it."

Amen. God shapes us and molds us in sometimes the most painful processes ever, but we can be assured and fearless because we know that he never takes his eyes off of us the entire time. And at the end, he sees himself in us. If that's not a beautiful hope, I don't know what is. :)

What do you say in a moment like this?

2008-11-08T16:07:00.003-05:00

I remember a country song sung by Reba a few years back titled "What do you say." It was a sad song, and it's so true. I didn't realize how much till today.

I spoke to my dear friend and former college roommate Jess on the phone today. The poor thing is dealing with so much right now, more than anyone should have to handle. Her mother (whom she is really close to) has been struggling with ovarian cancer for years. However, the struggle has been much worse lately. Jess was speaking to me while at the hospital, at her mother's side. The doctors give her about 6 months now, if that.

On top of this, Jess has been going through a divorce that her husband has been making incredibly difficult. He seems to be getting some perverse pleasure in dragging it out and making her miserable, probably to punish her for divorcing him (although she had good reason to.... I won't air her private affairs on here, just trust me on this one). Some other things besides the divorce have had Jess struggling mightly with financial issues, as well.

My heart was (and still is) breaking for her. She is under so much stress and worry and anguish. I don't know how she feels, and don't know what to say or do to help her. "I'm sorry, I'll be praying for you" just doesn't seem sufficient. And it really sucked being on the phone, because I couldn't even give her a hug.

I'm so sad for her, hurting for her. I feel so helpless to do or say anything that could possibly help her or make her feel better. I will be praying, and will try to make myself available to her whenever she needs anything, but that may be a little difficult during the week as I'm in Ardmore and she's in Lancaster. Still, I'll do what I can. I just wish there was more I could do.

For any believers out there, please keep my friend Jess and her family in your thoughts and prayers. I know they could really use them.

Catch up, Happy Halloween

2008-10-30T07:54:00.003-04:00

Ahh, the past week has been so busy! I can't believe I haven't blogged in a week and a half. Time to rectify that and let you know what I've been up to.

First, work's been crazy busy. It seems we never finish a project before another one is handed to us, so right now, I'm juggling a lot at work. And the one project I was just handed is NOT working at all. It's frustrating and annoying.

So my mental state is being pushed to the limit at work, and my physical state wasn't too great either. Two weeks ago I had experienced a decent pain in my right lower abdomen. After a lovely doctor visit I found out I had a decent sized cyst on my right ovary. Thankfully, after a follow up visit yesterday, I have found that it has broken up, but my doctor is still putting me on the pill to prevent the cyst from coming back.

Despite these problems, I headed to Lancaster for the weekend to visit my sister Britt and..... to see HANSON!!! It was great. The Chamelon Club is actually kind of small, it's basically a narrow old warehouse renovated to hold concerts and things. There was the lower level, where the stage was, and two upper levels looking down on the stage. Although Britt and I were in the back of the crowd on the first level, we were still closer that I'd ever been to the stage before. Close enough to read Taylor's T-shirt, which at first glance looked like it said "I love moving men." We were dying! Though we were fairly certain that's NOT what it said, so we kept trying to read it, and finally, I saw that it said "love movement" which made a little more sense. Anyway, they were great, they played more of their newer songs but three of the older ones (all of which I loved and could still sing every word to :) and I was so glad I FINALLY got to see them in concert.

And while I may think I'm a big Hanson fan.... many people beat me in that department. The girl in line in front of us not only drove 5 hours to get to the concert (from NY) but she's seen them 13 times previously and has a Hanson TATTOO! And I saw another girl in line with a Hanson tattoo as well. So you may think I'm crazy for still liking Hanson, but clearly, I'm not that crazy! :)

So tonight is my final bellydance class (at least with MainLine School Night) but my instructor has a studio right in Ardmore and I've been toying with the idea of signing up for some more classes. I really like it, it's been a great learning experience and tons of fun. I'm so glad I signed up for this class!

Anyway, this will probably be my last post for October, so have a happy Halloween to all! Can you believe the holidays are already upon us???

Gus Gus!

2008-10-20T20:09:00.004-04:00

So when I was looking for my Elmo cookie pictures I came across some pictures I took of one of my really fat mice at work. I have two boys that were monsters at 8 months old. Amazingly, they're actually bigger now than they are in this picture, although they're almost a year old now. Well, only one mouse(I named him Gus, after the tubby mouse in Cinderella :) is in the pictures, but they are both big boys. I do love them, though. They are just so cute. All of my mice are special to me!

Corn chowder and Halloween sugar cookies!

2008-10-20T19:43:00.003-04:00

Sunday was a great day! Since my aunt had a ton of corn fresh from the field, we took some to make homemade corn chowder. Yummmmm. I love it, but most of all, I loved the time I had making it with my mom. She used to make it all the time for our high school to sell in the snack bar at our football games.... it was always one of the first things to go. :)

After we made the corn chowder, we made sugar cookies! I love them, and it's a tradition in our house to make sugar cookies for the holidays. We have cookie cutters for Halloween, Easter, tons for Christmas, Valentines Day, and all the national holidays like Memorial Day, Veterans Day, and Independence Day. It's so much fun making the cookies! And they are so delicious. For our halloween cookies, we made cookies in the shape of pumpkins, bats, and cats. We made little jack-o-lantern faces with sprinkles and icing for the pumpkins, and even for the bats. I took some into work to share and got rave reviews. :) And last December, I made homemade sugar cookies in the shape of Elmo for my former lab manager. They were for her son's preschool class to celebrate his birthday. That was quite an effort, since I had to handcut the cookies ( I didn't have a cookie cutter in the shape of Elmo) and I had to be very detailed in the icing and decorating so people knew it was Elmo. Thankfully, they came out great. :) In fact, here's a picture!

Anyway, after all the corn chowder making and cookie baking, we watched a home movie of Christmas in 1990. It's so funny seeing how people have changed since then! It was a great way to end my absolutely wonderful weekend. I had such a great time. And I can't wait for this weekend either, because the Hanson concert is Sunday! Can't wait!!!! :)

Zills

2008-10-18T22:10:00.003-04:00

How could I have forgotten to mention how my bellydance class is coming along? :) At the end of last week's lesson, I bought zills (aka finger cymbals) from my instructor, with the instructions that I should put them together sometime during the week since we would learn how to play at the next lesson. While I did practice some of the bellydance moves this past week by walking around my apartment with a yearbook on my head while carrying a pumpkin on my hip (gets you to feel the natural movements) I managed to forget about the zills in my purse until an hour before I needed to leave for class. Whoops! Luckily they were easy to assemble. The most important thing is marking them so you know which finger they go on. They're placed on the middle finger and thumb of each hand, and since your thumb is fatter than the middle finger, you need to make sure you have the right cymbal fit for each finger! Because another important thing is making sure they're tight on the finger.... you don't want them flying off as you're dancing, that would not be good. :)

I was surprised to learn that there is more to playing the finger cymbals than I thought. First of all, you need to have them correctly on your fingers so that there is a 30 degree angle between them on the thumb and middle finger. This is so that they don't clomp together, like castanets. Correctly played, they sound like bells, which they should, since zills is the Turkish word for bell. Also, you want to play them by keeping your thumb relatively steady, while sliding the cymbal on your middle finger down over the cymbal on the thumb. Luckily, this is less complicated than it sounds! And the last thing is that you want to play most of the rhythms with your dominant hand. And so, with all this in mind, I can actually play the zills rather well! We learned how to play a very common rhythm found in bellydance that I'm practicing this week. The hardest part now is trying to play these rhythms while also trying to perform bellydance movements with the rest of my body. It's pretty funny to see, but as they say, practice makes perfect! :) I'll try to update next week on my progress!

Campfire!

2008-10-18T21:57:00.002-04:00

So it appears that many of my blogs have been my raving about the wonders of fall (can you tell it's my favorite season? ;) and one of my many favorite things is campfires. Tonight my family gathered in the backyard for a campfire, set up by yours truly, the campfire making queen. Thank you, girl scouts. :P There were sixteen of us gathered around the fire, which was perfect and toasty warm for a cool autumn night like this. We had hotdogs to roast over the fire, along with chips and dip and maracroni salad, mmm. We also had boiled corn on the cob over the fire and then slathered butter and parmesan cheese on them. And of course, there's always smores! It was so much fun to sit around the campfire with friends and family. Later in the evening I went back up to my aunt and uncle's house to visit the kittens, who've grown a lot in the past two weeks! They're eating actual food now, they don't have to be fed from eyedroppers anymore. Newly christened Teddy (the chocolate brown boy, cause he looks like a teddy bear) and Pepper (cause she's all black) they came running to the door as soon as we walked in. They're so adorable, still so soft and fluffy with that downy kitten fur. They are precious. :) All in all, it was a perfect night. Yay for fall!

The beauty of Haverford College

2008-10-11T18:13:00.003-04:00

Wow..... who would have thought we'd experience such gorgeous weather in the beginning of October?? Although I'm looking forward to the advent of cooler weather so I can finally wear the awesome new winter coat I bought recently at Target, I'm willing to put it off a bit to enjoy some last minute wonderful fall days! :)

Today was a free day all for me (though I fear those days shall soon be coming to an end, since I've been looking and applying for a part time job) so I wanted to use it well. I slept in, read a good book, ran some errands, and took a long beautiful walk outside to fully soak up the delightful weather.

I'm not sure if I've written about it here, but if I did, I apologize because I'm going to say it again- Haverford College, which is literally a block from my house, is a gorgeous campus and a veritable treasure trove in terms of the beauty of nature. I'm constantly amazed and awed by the beauty that is there, since it's an island of serenity amidst the chaotic busy-ness of the urban jungle that surrounds it. The entire campus is lovely, and I truly explored it today for the first time. All the buildings are stone, (the pic to the left are buildings on their campus) and have such an old feeling to them when you see them for the outside. I felt like I was walking around castles and fortresses of ancient times. They even have lamposts with lamps that you would have seen in colonial times! I walked past their library- Magill Library, I think it's called, and I would have loved to have gone inside. (I would have loved to see it from the inside to determine if it was nicer than the library at Mansfield University... I LOVED that library.) From the outside, it looked like a cathedral-castle, tucked into the trees the way it was, with high arches and barred windows.... the entrance to get there even had a stone curving bridge-type walkway that gave me the feeling of approaching the entrance of a castle. (See the picture below). It's also a much larger campus than I first thought. I walked around a for a good hour and I don't think I saw the entire campus.

The nature trail is a bit of heaven for me. When I walk it, I feel at home. If ever I'm feeling homesick for Berks county and my parents house, that's where I go. It feels like I'm back there again, walking on the beaten dirt trail covered with leaves and erupting tree roots, as you follow the path of the creek that's there. I love it so much, and today was no exception. It was so nice to just walk under the trees with the warm sunlight filtering through, listening to the birds chatter in the trees above me, feeling like I was at home. This picture to the right isn't of the nature trail, but it's of a scenic spot next to the library. It sort of reminds me of something out the "The Secret Garden." :)

On college ave, (pic below) the long entranceway leading to the campus from Lancaster Avenue, there's a huge elm tree with a bench underneath it. In the spring and summer, when the leaves are there, you could sit under the tree and no one would even be able to see you. It's pretty close to the duck pond that's at Haverford, and sitting at the bench today made me nostalgic for Millersville. Millersville also has a beautiful campus, with a lovely pond in the middle of it (nicer than the pond at Haverford, since it's centrally located and has much much lovlier landscaping around it). I used to sit on a bench under a gorgeous cherry blossom tree that grew next to the Millersville pond, the one that sat a few feet away from the gazebo that was there. It was tranquil and wonderful. I loved to sit there a few moments when I found myself especially stressed from school. It was fun to watch the ducks and the antics of the crazy, fearless squirrels (which I noticed Haverford has in abundance as well!) and just to take the time to think things through. We also had some huge shade trees surrounding the pond that reminded me of the Elm I sat under today. Sadly, Millersville had to cut down the one tree because it was so old it was in danger of falling over. I was sorry to see it go.

Anyway, it was a wonderful time today for me to reminisce and just enjoy the scenery around me. I hope everyone else took advantage of the gorgeous day today! :)

Bellydance

2008-10-10T20:16:00.002-04:00

I signed up for a 4 week bellydance class through mainline school night, and yesterday was my first night. I got a little lost getting to the school (I really didn't realize that Conestoga high school in Berwyn would be so far off the beaten track, sheesh!) but once I got there, I was ready to try out the magic of bellydance!

My instructor is incredibly talented. She moves so smoothly, like liquid. Watching her makes me believe her bones are made of rubber, and compared to her, I look like a mummy, so stiff and stilted. :P It's much harder than it looks! She explained that in order to do the moves correctly, you really have to understand the history behind bellydance and the culture it comes from. Understanding the women of the middle east, and how these moves are completely natural for them, helps to visualize and feel the movements. I've been trying and practicing and it has gotten a little easier, though I definitely need more work!

I think one of the reasons it's hard for me to catch on to the movements is that bellydance is an expression of sensual femininity. It's embracing and celebrating who you are as a woman. I don't know how to embrace that feeling, really. Growing up in the U.S. it's hard to embrace yourself fully as a woman, because everywhere we turn, we're faced with people telling us we have to look and act a certain way in order to be beautiful. That we need to be a certain size, a certain shape, wear certain clothes, do certain things. Day after day we see and hear people telling us we're not good enough, but we should do this or that to become better. I try not to listen to that, but it's so hard. It's hard not to believe that.

More than anything, I hope this class helps me to forget what the world says about who I should be, and start accepting myself as I am.

Kittens!!

2008-10-07T19:00:00.002-04:00

Sometime last week I discovered that my aunt, uncle, and cousins had discovered and are now carrying for two orphan kittens. They were so tiny that my aunt and uncle have been feeding them every couple hours with kitten formula and an eyedropper, because they were too young to even lap up milk yet. So Sunday afternoon, Britt and I went up to see them.

They are SO CUTE!!!! One is all black, and one is a chocolate brown color. They both have pretty blue-gray eyes. I checked them out and while it's still a little early to tell, I'm pretty sure that the black one is a girl and the brown one is a boy. They were just adorable. At one point, I was holding the black one, and she started sucking on the neckline of my shirt! Kittens will do that if they're separated from their mother too early. It's a comfort thing. It was so cute, though, and I felt very maternal holding such a tiny helpless kitten. After sucking on my neckline for a while, she curled up on the side of my neck and fell asleep. :) The brown one had passed out in Britty's arms a few minutes earlier. After a while they woke up again and were ready to play - they are very curious and playful, watching them is a trip. :) I so wish I could keep one of them, but I don't think Chico would appreciate that very much. They're pretty harmless to him now, but once they're grown, they won't be so harmless! I love them though, and I think my aunt and uncle are going to keep them, so I'll at least get to visit them every time I go home. :)

Fabulous first weekend for October!

2008-10-07T18:38:00.003-04:00

Ahh, it's officially October! Definitely a good month. :) One of my favorites! And I rang in the beginning of the month in a totally awesome, fun-filled way!

Thursday night, my mom, aunt, and cousin Dee came to visit me (and because Dee was going to shadow me at work the next day). We went out to dinner at a sports bar in Ardmore that I love called JR Monahans. They have really good food, a great atmosphere, and FABULOUS desserts. Thursday night was no exception. My aunt and cousin split the resees peanut butter tower, and my mom and I split the toll house cookie dessert. It was a big toll house cookie all warm and delicious topped with ice cream and drizzled with fudge. It was soooo unbelievably good. :) Later that evening Dee and I watched "Last Holiday" a cute romantic movie starring Queen Latifah and L.L. Cool J.

Friday at work went really well, Dee did a great job and we went over a lot. Like me, seeing the mice was her favorite part. :) As a treat we went to the King of Prussia mall after work, and had a blast! I mostly window shopped, but did find a great pair of jeans for only 19.99 and since I could use a new pair, I bought them in a hurry. Before coming home we stopped at the ColdStone Creamery in the mall.... their ice cream is so good. I got the cake batter ice cream with fudge and brownies.... delicious! I love cake, I can't resist it. Ice cream is a very close second. So give me ice cream that tastes almost exactly like cake batter, and I'm in heaven! :)

Saturday it was heavenly to sleep in. Dee and I lounged around in the morning and watched "Forrest Gump" and then I had a quick interview for a part time job (which went well, yay!) and then, Dee and I headed toward Allentown to meet my mom and sister at Dorney Park! I got two free tickets for Dorney from Ben F.M. for doing the radio commercial, so that's why we went. We had SUCH a great time. It was gorgeous weather and the park wasn't too crowded, so we didn't have to wait too long to get on the rides. I haven't been there in a while so there were two new roller coasters- the Talon and Voodoo- that I hadn't tried before. I liked them but Steel Force is still my absolute favorite.

Now that it's October, starting 6 p.m. the park starts "Haunt" for halloween. There are actors dressed up in scary costumes wandering around the park, and there are 3 indoor haunted house type mazes and 3 outdoor ones. Kill hill, a scary clown based indoor maze, was definitely the best indoor maze, and cornstalkers was DEFINITELY the best outdoor maze. They're more startling than scary, and there were plenty of times when I was expecting someone/something and nearly jumped out of my skin! The neatest thing was that the park has fog machines set up, so it really gives the park a creepy ambience as you're wandering around. We stayed till 11 pm and had a really fun time.

Overall, it was a fabulous weekend and a perfect way to start October! :)

I've been tagged!

2008-09-30T19:47:00.003-04:00

Yay! I've been tagged by Mary to list 6 random things about me. Then the rules are that I should tag other people, however... I don't really know many other bloggers besides Brian and Mary! All the other people who I actually know read my blog are non-bloggers, and the other blogs I love to read are fitness and writing blogs, I don't actually know the bloggers themselves. However, because I think it's fun, I'm still going to list 6 random things about me! The hardest part is narrowing it down to only 6...... :)

Well, here goes!

1. My favorite US President is (and always has been) Theodore Roosevelt. He was so cool and accomplished so much. He was so awesome, he finished giving a speech despite being shot! (Thankfully that assassination attempt failed... whew!)

2. Starting October 9, I'm going to be taking belly dance lessons! (Only for a couple weeks, it's through Main Line School Night, but it still sounded fun!)

3. I know more about car maintenance and repair than most guys I know (thanks Dad!)

4. I pretty much can quote the entire script of the movie Zoolander

5. I really, really dislike when people who are clearly not friends with me add me as a friend on facebook or myspace for the sole purpose of being either nosey or trying to have a million friends.

6. BBQ sauce is my favorite condiment.... I'll put it on almost anything.

So, there are a few random things about me to wrap up my September blogs. Can you believe it's almost October? Where did the time go!? However, it's all good, because with October comes cooler weather, which I'm looking forward to so that I can wear the sweet new coat I bought at Target on Sunday! Yay! :)

So many things to love about fall

2008-09-28T20:20:00.004-04:00

There are so many things I love about the fall season, but one of my favorites is hot spiced apple cider. Mmmmmm. And here I sit, cozy and toasty warm, sipping hot spiced cider on this warm fall night while watching the Hayley Mills version of The Parent Trap (love this movie!) It's a lovely autumn night indeed... I can't wait for more! :)

Free Credit Report.com

2008-09-27T17:30:00.002-04:00

I try not to watch too much TV, and when I do, most commercials really just annoy me. But some are very clever and I love watching them. One such commercial (or actually commercials, cause there are a few of them) are the freecreditreport.com commercials. They are so funny.... I wonder if the guy always singing the songs actually came up with the jingles himself, or if he's just an actor? Either way, I always stop what I'm doing and watch the commercial, despite the fact that I've seen them a hundred times. And then I'm constantly singing the songs the rest of the day. :) I don't know who thought of those commercials, but whoever did, they're a marketing genius, cause I always remember freecreditreport.com! :)

How could I forget?!?!

2008-09-24T19:01:00.003-04:00

I can't believe I forgot to post something as huge as this.....

Over labor day weekend, I acquired two highly prized (to me at least) concert tickets at the chameleon club in Lancaster. And the tickets are for.....

Hanson!!!!!

Hahaha, I'm sure anyone who reads this is probably thinking one of three things:

1) Why in the world is she excited about seeing Hanson

2) Hanson is still in the music business??

3) Mmmmbop

Well. I have loved Hanson since they came on the music scene 10+ years ago. I jumped on the teen-crazed Hanson bandwagon with abandon, I could sing every song (inlcuding the mumbly song Mmmbop, and yes, I do still know it and can still sing it :) and I wanted to see them in concert so badly, but never got the chance.

Hanson dropped from the boy-band scene to become more of an Indie band, and really matured in their music and sound. I love all their music, from the old to the newest stuff. One of my favorite new songs is "Go" and I like it because it has a bit different sound- because Zach (the youngest brother) is singing the lead vocals (instead of Taylor, the middle brother).

In May, my sister Britt had texted me telling me that they were playing at the chameleon club, but I waited too long to get tickets and missed my chance. I was so upset. So when Britt told me they were coming again for their walk around the world tour, I immediately hopped on the computer and snagged two tickets. YAY!!!!! :D

The concert is at the end of October, so stay tuned for a blog about how it went!!! I can't wait!!!!

What I wonder every day

2008-09-18T17:30:00.003-04:00

So sometime back in June I wrote a blog about the Princess Bride (one of my favorite movies, and just one of the best movies in film history) and today I'm going to blog about one of my other favorite movies, Ever After. I LOVE that movie. But my inspiration came from one of my favorite pieces of dialog in the movie, between Leonardo Da Vinci and Prince Henry. Prince Henry verbalizes everything I've ever thought about love in a way I could never seem to phrase. He hits it dead on.

Henry: "Do you really think there is only one perfect mate?"
Leonardo: "As a matter of fact, I do."
Henry: "Then how can you be certain to find them? And if you find them, are they really the one for you, or do you only think they are? And what if the person you're meant to be with never appears? Or she does, but you're too distracted to notice? "
Leonardo: "You learn to pay attention."
Henry: "Then, let's say, God puts two people on earth, and they are lucky enough to find one another. But one of them gets hit by lightning. Well, then what? Is that it? Or perchance you meet someone new and marry again. Is that the lady you should be with? Or was it the first? And if the two of them are side by side, were they both the one for you and you just happen to meet the first one first, or is the second one supposed to be first? And is everything just chance....or are some things meant to be?"

Amen, Henry. I wonder this same thing every day.

Fabulous Birthday Weekend!

2008-09-16T18:24:00.002-04:00

Unfortunately, both my sister and I forgot our digital cameras (stupid, I know!) and while we did take lots of pictures with store bought disposable cameras, I can't post them here, bummer. You'll just have to use your imagination.

Anyway, we got off to a later start on Friday then we wanted, so we didn't reach the beach house until 10:3o pm. However, what a beach house! It was so nice. Way nicer than what we normally stay in at a beach. Actually, Ocean City is just way better for us, considering most of my times at the beach have been spent at Wildwood, NJ, because my younger sister's twirling squad would perform on the boardwalk one week every summer, so.... that was our vacation. So coming to a fabulous large new beach house in lovely Ocean City already made the weekend great! It was so incredibly sweet and generous of Catherine (my landlady) to allow us to use her beach house free of charge for the weekend. She is so nice.

So if the lovely beach house wasn't enough, we had fabulous weather Saturday and Sunday. Sooo nice. Sunny, warm, a nice breeze coming off the ocean.... ahhh. Saturday morning we got up and had breakfast at some restuarant on the boardwalk, then browsed some of the shops a bit. Then we hit the beach! It was so nice. The water was a little cold, but it felt refreshing after laying out in the hot sun. We stayed on the beach for 4-5 hours or so, then headed back to the beach house to get cleaned up for dinner. We ended up at Jay's crab shack.... it was delicious, and the owner (that'd be Jay) was really friendly. We had a good time. We then headed back to the boardwalk, where we played mini golf, and I actually won! That's amazing, as I normally really stink at mini golf. Then we went shopping again, picking up some fudge at Laura's fudge shop (BEST fudge ever, their snickers fudge is my favorite!) and of course, hitting up a pirate store! Both Britt and I got pirate-related T-shirts, I got a cool leather bracelet (reminds me off my college friend Nikki.... man I miss her!) and I also got a "I heart Pirates" vinyl sticker that is now plastered on the back side window of my car. :)

Sunday was very much the same as Saturday. We awoke to gorgeous weather, then headed to the boardwalk for breakfast. Breakfast was not nearly so healthy as Saturday, since we passed a monkey bread stand and were hooked. Monkey bread, for anyone who hasn't had it before, is absolutely delicious. It's sort of like cinnamon rolls. It's small pieces of dough rolled in balls that are all stuck together. They're coated in butter and cinnamon sugar and brown sugar and baked so it's all gooey and melty and delicious. You can put icing over it or eat it just so. I learned how to make it many years ago when I was in girl scouts using an oven made out of a cardboard box with coals inside. I kid you not. Thanks to girl scouts, I can make something useful out of almost anything!

We hit the beach again on Sunday, and was treated to an air show over the beach from 1-3 pm. It started by having paratroopers jump out of planes (4 paratroopers in all) and every one landed in the designated spot blocked off on the beach. They had very impressive landings. Much better than I'd have done, I'm sure I'd have landed in the water somewhere. :P

Then there were acrobatic planes.... that was intense! I swear they were going to hit each other sometimes, they got so close.... but they never hit. It was amazing to see all the stunts they did with those planes.... better them than me, though! I'm sure I'd have passed out or gotten sick had I tried to do that. It was so neat to see though.

We were sad to have to leave, it would have been great to stay a few more days, but we had a fabulous time and really made the most of our weekend there. I think the best part was that it wasn't so crowded, now that it's the off season. Though there were plenty of people there, it was that extreme busy-ness that normally floods the summer. I loved being able to walk the boardwalk and not feel claustrophobic!

Anyway, there's my general recap of my birthday weekend. I really wasn't anxious to turn 25, but I must say, this past weekend was a great way to ring it in! :)

Happy birthday to me, I'm going to the beach...

2008-09-12T17:05:00.003-04:00

Sing the title to the tune of the happy birthday song. :)

So, I'm 25 years old today.... a full quarter of a century. Yikes. It went so fast! And I'm not sure what I have to show for it....

I look back nostalgically on my last 25 years (oh, those were some good times!) and look forward to my next 25 with a mix of excitement/anticipation/trepidation/fear. When I realize just how fast these past 25 years went, I'm afraid I'll blink and miss what happens next! I don't know, some days I'm so happy and content where I am, and other days...... I feel the void of something missing and discontentment darkens my days. Hmmm. I'm not 100% sure what to do about that.

Anyway, enough pondering for now... in two hours I'll be heading to Ocean City NJ with my mom and younger sister to spend the weekend at the beach house my sweet landlady so kindly offered to us. It should just be a nice relaxing weekend with them, no matter what the weather, and I'm really looking forward to it. A detailed blog report to come in a few days. :)

my horrible secret........ and my radio clip!

2008-09-08T19:50:00.004-04:00

Ok, so I've posted lots of things on this blog, some very trivial and silly and some very serious. Today I'm going to post something that I ordinarily would have never talked about before as it was something I was extremely self-conscious of. I know it's giving you all a glimpse of my vanity and while I know beauty is only skin deep and it really is on the inside that counts.... it's hard not to want the outside to look good, too!

So, here is my secret. Ever since middle school, I had been incredibly self conscious of my upper lip and chin....specifically, the hair there. :( Being of mediterranean descent, I have lots of dark coarse hair. Thanks Mom. Not only did I get your bad skin, but I have dark coarse hair on my FACE! What made it worse was that I couldn't even tell myself no one noticed- I definitely got teased about it (thank you, Tony Roth, Billy Reichle, and Jeremy Reinhardt... even though I know Tony was the evil mastermind behind it) Ever since that day in eighth grade, I had been obsessive about waxing, tweezing, bleaching... I was trying to make absolutely certain no hair could be seen. However, that was MUCH easier said than done. It was a tireless effort where no matter what I did, things just seemed to get worse, and I could never completely get rid of/hide the hair. I hated it.

So, why am I basically telling anyone who has internet my horrible secret? Simple.... thanks to laser hair removal, it's fixed for good now! I don't have to worry about telling people and then having them stare at my problem spots, because I don't have any anymore! I know some people would just say I'm being vain. Maybe they're right. But I feel a lot better about myself now.... I'm more myself. At the end of my rope, I had researched a lot of places and came upon Bella Medspa, a laser hair removal treatment center that had a location right in Ardmore. They had great prices and were extremely professional and helpful. I had a great experience with them and in turn, wrote a good review on their website... and like I said in a previous blog, they then asked me to help them out by doing a radio ad!

So for anyone who didn't hear the ad on the radio, Bella Medspa has a picture of myself in the Ben FM studio, as well as an online version of the radio clip. It was a lot of fun, and so not only do I have great results, I got to be on the radio too! :) Here's the link to Bella Medspa's website if you'd like to check out my radio clip!

http://www.bellamedspaonline.com/blog/2008/08/12/laser-hair-removal-customer-testimonial-recording-for-ben-fm/

"Jen's Favs" CD

2008-09-06T20:19:00.003-04:00

While I am sadly behind in the times, and do not have iTunes or an iPod or MP3 player or a fancy cell phone or hi-tech computer, both my sisters do have at least one or two of these items. Both of them definitely have (and love) iTunes. For my 25 birthday (eek it's almost here!) my younger sister Britt made me a CD of some of my favorite songs. Now, I am a Christian, and I do love Christian music. However, I love all other types of music as well and I'm not one of those Christians who only listens to Christian and classical music and bans everything else. First off, there is a lot of good music that is not "Christian" and secondly, how can we as Christians relate in any way to people with different beliefs if we closet ourselves up and have nothing in common with them? With that said, this CD actually holds no Christian music (though I have tons of favorite songs of the Christian genre... maybe Britty can make me another CD ;) Anyway, some of my favorite songs include:

-Under Pressure (the version with Queen and David Bowie is the best, I love David Bowie's voice. Despite being utterly creepy looking in the movie "The Labrynth" he completely transfixed me and I've loved him ever since. Weird, I know)

-Peace of Mind (By Boston.... I want to play the guitar so badly just so that I can play the intro to this song)

-Wonderboy (Tenacious D- such a silly song but I LOVE it and can sing it word for word ever since I first heard Mitch, Shaun, and Monty sing it at Karaoke back in college)

-Sweet Child O' Mine (Guns & Roses)

-Adiemus (a haunting song by Enya we performed in indoor guard back in high school- my favorite routine EVER)

-Hero (Enrique Iglesias)

-Mortal Kombat theme song (love that movie... I have a weakness for sci-fi movies and if you combine it with heart pumping music, I'll love it even more :)

-Untitled (Simple Plan). If you haven't seen the music video to the Untitled song by Simple Plan, do it now. Here's the link- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y2lhkCQkhu8 it's such a fantastic video, very haunting, I get goosebumps everytime I watch it. It's a really powerful message and I love the song. One of the most sobering things is how you see how the event in the video affects the whole family.

There are a few more songs on the CD, and I have to give Britt a shout out of thanks because it was an awesome, thoughtful gift. I love it Britty and have been listening to it constantly! :)

Concert, Amen, Good God

2008-09-06T12:38:00.003-04:00

Last night I drove up to Philadelphia Biblical University to attend a free concert, featuring Christian music artist Shaun Groves. I met my friends Brian and Mary Hand (Brian attends PBU, which is how I found out about the concert) and we settled in, not really knowing what to expect. I'd heard of Shaun Groves, and had heard one or two songs of his on the radio (and liked them) but really didn't know much about him.

It turns out that Shaun is a very talented singer, guitarist, and pianist, but more than that, he's incredibly witty and charismatic. He was so funny and held the audience in the palm of his hand. He had some goofy songs (one about shopping at a flea market in Montgomery) and other serious songs. At one part during the concert, he had some of the lyrics of his songs projected on screens so we could sing along. One song that particularly touched me was called "Amen." Here are the lyrics.

My body breaks beneath the weight
Of toil and trouble, fears and fights
Sickness in me, world against me
I cry to You tonight

Christ have mercy
Lord have mercy
Holy Healer
Strength within
Pass me not
Forsake me not, Lord
Amen

My enemies are whispering
They pray my name may die
So few to trust, so few are just
I cry to You tonight

Christ have mercy
Lord have mercy
Faithful Brother
Closest Friend
Pass me not
Forsake me not, Lord
Amen, Amen

My heart is dim, It’s always been
I turn from what is right
Passions of youth tear me from truth
I cry to You tonight

Christ have mercy
Lord have mercy
Sinless Savior
Judge of men
Pass me not
Forsake me not, Lord
Amen, Amen

It was a beautiful song, with words that echo feelings I've often felt. Sometimes it feels like I have the world on my shoulders. Sometimes it feels like God is so far away. Thankfully for me, God is merciful and gracious and forgiving, and constant. Though I may feel oppressed and far from God, he is near and willing to take me as I am, flaws and all. I just need to reach out and accept his love. And that's a promise he's made to not just me, but to everyone.

That's a good God.

Labor Day Festivities

2008-09-02T20:14:00.003-04:00

Ah, Labor Day Weekend... such a great time, signaling the end of summer. I took Friday off so I could have a four day weekend, which was looovely! I started it off by sleeping in, which was so nice. Then I hit the gym, showered and packed my things, and headed toward Kutztown. I ended up going out to lunch with my mom, and then coming home to the power out, so I took my Dad out to lunch later so he could get something to eat. It was nice to have the separate times with my parents. Luckily the power came back on quickly though. Friday night I just mostly relaxed, which I needed. Saturday, my mom and sister and I went to the movies and saw Tropic Thunder. There were parts of it that were really funny, but lots of parts that were really crude. And there was a lot of bad language I thought was really unnecessary and kind of ruined it for me. Overall, Zoolander is still my all time favorite Ben Stiller movie.

Saturday night, we had a cookout and then a movie night in my Dad's shop (located right next to our house). See, my Dad has loved photography and film for a long time, and for as long as I can remember, he's had movie film and the movie projector that he can show our homemade family movies with. So he set up the screen and projectors in his shop. Britt and I ran the concession stand, handing out fresh popcorn and candy and drinks. Everyone loved it. Saturday night we watched the 30's Frankenstein trilogy (my Dad gets a lot of movie films off E-bay now) followed by some home movies. We did it again Monday night, where we started out with a Tom and Jerry cartoon, followed by the Towering Inferno, followed by family movies. Saturday night was really special, as we got to see movies of my Dad and his brothers and sisters and my grandparents when they were young. The neatest thing was seeing my great-grandmother Lillian on film. She passed away before I was born, so I never knew her. It was a neat moment to watch her on screen.

Sunday we had a big family breakfast, including my cousin Dee, who had slept over the night before. Later in the day we went shopping a bit, where I picked up a cool purse, some books, and an awesome pair of boots I can't wait to try out.... come on, colder weather! :) And then later, we had another cookout, followed by swimming, and then a campfire, set up by yours truly. :) At least I know I learned one thing in girl scouts! It was so nice sitting by the fire, making smores and hanging with my family. We had such a good time.

Monday was yet ANOTHER cookout, followed by the movie night again. I didn't make it back into Philly until late at night, but it was worth it for such a great weekend. Hopefully everyone else had an enjoyable labor day as well!

Mice and Jesus

2008-08-27T20:00:00.003-04:00

Sometimes, I can find God in the simplest things.

I love my mice at work. I don't think I would like my job nearly as much if I didn't get to play with them and take care of them every day. I adore the young pups when they're around 2 weeks old. They are just so adorable and soft and funny to watch. Around two weeks old they're dubbed "popcorn mice" because they're so jumpy, they bounce everywhere, like tiny little Tiggers (from Winnie the Pooh). Yet I love my old mice too, I have two boys who are going on 10 months old who are so fat. I'm not sure why, they don't have special food to make them that way, or have a genetic knockout or anything. But they look like black beanbags, they're that fat. If I hold them, they take up the entire palm of my hand. It's pretty comical to see. Anyway, young or old, I take good care of all my mice and love each one.

But sometimes it's hard to love them, because as we're using them in the context of research, I need to study them and yes, sometimes sacrifice them. It's here where I'm reminded so much of God.

The mice remind me of Jesus. It seems funny, but it's true. The mice are sweet and innocent, and have been born into the lab for a purpose, and that purpose is to save human lives. Like Jesus, they are innocent creatures who were born to die, to save us. Now of course, I'm NOT saying that the mice are in any way equal to Jesus and all that he did for us, I'm just saying that as I work with my mice, I'm reminded (and so thankful and grateful) for the sacrifice Jesus made for me.

And in a tiny way (again, NOT equating myself with God) I'm reminded of how God must have felt to see Jesus on earth. To watch over him, and take care of him, all the while knowing his purpose and then letting it happen. It can be really hard, and I'm sure God's heart was breaking as he watched his son suffer for all the wrongs we've done. My heart breaks a little every time I have to take a mouse. I have to always remind myself of the people who will benefit from this little life.

So to end this blog, I think it's a good reminder for us to be thankful for all the sacrifices made for us- for the ultimate sacrifice Jesus made for us, and for the small sacrifices these research animals make for us.

Concert time!

2008-08-26T19:59:00.004-04:00

This past Saturday, I and my sister Britt and our friend Paula drove up to Montage Mountain for a Taylor Swift/Rascal Flatts concert. I was really excited, as Rascal Flatts is one of my favorite bands. They're so talented and I love their songs. I've never seen them in concert before either, so that made it even more exciting! I had seen Taylor Swift before, last August I saw her at the Allentown Fair along with Jack Ingram, Kelly Pickler, and Brad Paisley. THAT was an awesome show!! I loved it. Taylor Swift is so cute, plus, I have a lot of respect for her, as she writes her own songs. In fact, for those who read this who don't know, she's the youngest country artist to ever have written/co-written every song on her platinum selling album. Wow!

So we get to Montage Mountain and it is PACKED. There were soo many people! But we made our way through the crowd to find our seats, which turned out to be AWESOME!!! We were in the 27 row, which is really close to the front for a concert. If I had thrown a baseball as hard as I could, I could've hit the stage, we were that close. Which was great because it was such a great show! I had such a good time, I'm so glad I had that time with Britt and Paula. Taylor sang a new song that will be on her upcoming album (out in November) that's been debuted at the Olympics. I really liked it alot, I believe it's called "Change" but I'm not 100% sure. And Rascal Flatts was AMAZING. The opening was phenomenal, and it was so high energy and they sang almost all my favorite songs, some of which are "Feels like Today," "God bless the broken road" and their cover of "Life is a highway" which they did for the Disney/Pixar movie Cars. We had such a great time!

Anyway, Britt and Paula took a million pictures, so if I ever get some from them, I'll post some for your viewing pleasure.

Myrtle Beach pictures!

2008-08-20T19:09:00.008-04:00

Here are some pictures of my trip to Myrtle Beach, enjoy!

Britt, Beth and I

All of us at Planet Hollywood

The view of the beach from our hotel... it was so close, and the weather was great the whole week!

All of us (me, Britt, Danielle, Kyle, Paula, Maria, Steve, and Beth) at Captain George's Seafood Buffet.... absolutely DELICIOUS :)

Our hotel.... it was so nice, even if it was a little smaller than last years