I just finished a book. Never the Bride.
Now, admittedly, I'm a bit of a cheesy girl who likes her sappy love stories from time to time. So I was all excited to fall into a light hearted little book about someone falling in love 27 Dresses style.
Was it ever not what I expected. The beginning was the same...with the main character going on a series of hopeless dates, crushing on her best friend, and wanting love more than anything. But then God shows up. For real. God shows up, in the flesh. And at first I was all, okay, this is weird. But as it went on...it shows both how God wants to romance us...wants us to continually fall in love with Him, and shows how He knows what He's doing, and we're best off when we relinquish our pens to Him and let Him write our life story.
Oh boy, do I need that reminder sometimes. I know so much of how I want my life to go, what I'm working for and what I want to become of it...but that doesn't mean it's God's plan. And I really should let God have the pen in my life...and let Him take the lead. Letting Him bring me where He knows I should be is what I want...I want what He wants for me because I know it's best. But letting go of that pen...letting go and finding out what God wants for me even when it's not what I want...that's the hard part.
8.31.2009
8.30.2009
glasses
I got new glasses, and I think they're fantastic. When my mom mentioned getting new ones because my old ones were getting a little scratched and I'd had them for a couple years, I started thinking about the thicker, librarian type glasses. I wanted black, square ones that stood out more than my other ones did, and that were bigger frames. I loved my old glasses, but they fit tight around my eyes and I wanted a change.
When I got to Eyemart Express and started trying on glasses, most of the ones like that seemed too huge for my face. I was getting all disappointed that the style I really liked didn't appear to work for me, and then I found these. Love them!
When I got to Eyemart Express and started trying on glasses, most of the ones like that seemed too huge for my face. I was getting all disappointed that the style I really liked didn't appear to work for me, and then I found these. Love them!
browns
I love this family. Kathy was my piano/voice teacher in high school, and her and Bryan have three of the cutest kids in the world, Riley, Ali, and Kaden. This weekend Bryan and Riley got to go on a Boy Scout camping trip...and it rained pretty much from Friday night til Sunday morning. Poor guys! Kathy and her friend went to a woman's worship conference in Green Bay, so I got to hang out with Ali and Kaden on Friday night at Saturday morning! We took a bunch of pictures, here's my favorites.
8.28.2009
rich
Any time is a good time to remember and focus on what's really important in life, but especially with the economy being the way it is. No matter your bank account, it's more than possible to find overwhelming happiness.
thankful
Round two of the thankful parade.
That makes no sense but it was in my head and I had to spit it out.
Who I'm thankful for today, Alex.
He's this constant in my life lately. We've got an ongoing e-mail from January. It takes forever to load on my computer, and it's full of ramblings from the two of us. Some days it's entirely random and pointless, some days it's deep and meaningful, but it's always there. As often as we can write to one another.
He's such a critic. Loves to play the devil's advocate whenever I'm excited about something, and drives me just crazy enough that I think things through and still tell him everything. He's good to have around.
And, you know, he has hot cars. For a purely shallow reason to like him.
So, thanks God, for blessing me, for now, with Alex, and his thought-provoking tendencies.
That makes no sense but it was in my head and I had to spit it out.
Who I'm thankful for today, Alex.
He's this constant in my life lately. We've got an ongoing e-mail from January. It takes forever to load on my computer, and it's full of ramblings from the two of us. Some days it's entirely random and pointless, some days it's deep and meaningful, but it's always there. As often as we can write to one another.
He's such a critic. Loves to play the devil's advocate whenever I'm excited about something, and drives me just crazy enough that I think things through and still tell him everything. He's good to have around.
And, you know, he has hot cars. For a purely shallow reason to like him.
So, thanks God, for blessing me, for now, with Alex, and his thought-provoking tendencies.
8.27.2009
mooch
Last night I had an excellent night at work. It was surprisingly busy...apparently there was something going on in town that I didn't know about. I was happy to enjoy the business though.
I had a table of four older gentlemen all out for dinner and a beer. They were great. I walked up to their table and asked if they were ready to order, and the man to my right jokingly said some of them weren't quite ready, because of their poor eyesight, they couldn't quite read the menu, did we have any menu readers available. I joked back and said no, that's what their friends are for, and he immediately responded that those guys weren't his friends, they just bought him beers.
Now, when I get a table that will joke like that within the first few minutes, I am thrilled. I love tables that open themselves up for me to create a mini relationship with them. If I can create an experience instead of just provide them a service...I see a drastic difference in my tips, and I have far more fun than if all I do is ask what they want and thank them when they leave.
So, with this gentlemen, I stepped right into the opprotunity he left for me with that comment, and said something about him being a mooch, and walked away as they laughed. When I came back up again to take their order, he told me I'd given him a new nickname, and all his buddies were calling him Mooch now. I bantered with them and made sure to give them good service, and when they were done eating I printed out their seperate checks, and instead of just writing "Thank you! : )", like I normally do, I put "Thanks, Mooch!" with a wink face.
Mooch asked me to keep his receipt with that on it, and each guy gave me four or more dollars when all their bills were under ten dollars. As they were leaving, Mooch thanked me for the good time. That's what I love. He didn't tell me the food was great, he didn't comment on my simple service alone, he thanked me for making their time at the restaurant entertaining. I'm so thankful I work in a place where the food is good and our runners and bartenders are prompt, because it allows me to really have the time to create those relationships and experiences.
I had a table of four older gentlemen all out for dinner and a beer. They were great. I walked up to their table and asked if they were ready to order, and the man to my right jokingly said some of them weren't quite ready, because of their poor eyesight, they couldn't quite read the menu, did we have any menu readers available. I joked back and said no, that's what their friends are for, and he immediately responded that those guys weren't his friends, they just bought him beers.
Now, when I get a table that will joke like that within the first few minutes, I am thrilled. I love tables that open themselves up for me to create a mini relationship with them. If I can create an experience instead of just provide them a service...I see a drastic difference in my tips, and I have far more fun than if all I do is ask what they want and thank them when they leave.
So, with this gentlemen, I stepped right into the opprotunity he left for me with that comment, and said something about him being a mooch, and walked away as they laughed. When I came back up again to take their order, he told me I'd given him a new nickname, and all his buddies were calling him Mooch now. I bantered with them and made sure to give them good service, and when they were done eating I printed out their seperate checks, and instead of just writing "Thank you! : )", like I normally do, I put "Thanks, Mooch!" with a wink face.
Mooch asked me to keep his receipt with that on it, and each guy gave me four or more dollars when all their bills were under ten dollars. As they were leaving, Mooch thanked me for the good time. That's what I love. He didn't tell me the food was great, he didn't comment on my simple service alone, he thanked me for making their time at the restaurant entertaining. I'm so thankful I work in a place where the food is good and our runners and bartenders are prompt, because it allows me to really have the time to create those relationships and experiences.
everything
I love human videos. I always have, it's like a mini-musical. Puts human faces and emotions into a song. This one is a song by Lifehouse called Everything...and it's so good. I cry everytime, right about 4:41. It's such a perfect example of God's love for us and how much He's fighting on our side, even when we won't acknowledge Him. I love it!
8.24.2009
zits
I am a zitty person. I just always have been, even when I never skip a day of washing my face and keep my hands off it as much as possible and do all the normal things you're supposed to do to prevent breakouts. I'm just zit-prone, it happens, I deal.
I'd always used ProActiv, and it worked pretty well for a while, far better than anything else I'd tried, but I was still always sometimes zitty. Recently though, my aunt, who has very similar skin to me, gave me a nearly empty bottle of Rodan & Fields's Unblemish cleanser to try.
The stuff is magic. My face was crystal clear. Not a single zit.
I loved it, but I was still trying to decide if it was worth the price difference, or if ProActiv did a good enough job for me to deal with. And then my sample bottle ran out, and I could find constellations in the zits sprouting up all over my face despite the fact that I was still using ProActiv.
Oh it is DEFINITELY worth the price difference. There's a bottle en route to my house as we speak.
I'd always used ProActiv, and it worked pretty well for a while, far better than anything else I'd tried, but I was still always sometimes zitty. Recently though, my aunt, who has very similar skin to me, gave me a nearly empty bottle of Rodan & Fields's Unblemish cleanser to try.
The stuff is magic. My face was crystal clear. Not a single zit. I loved it, but I was still trying to decide if it was worth the price difference, or if ProActiv did a good enough job for me to deal with. And then my sample bottle ran out, and I could find constellations in the zits sprouting up all over my face despite the fact that I was still using ProActiv.
Oh it is DEFINITELY worth the price difference. There's a bottle en route to my house as we speak.
8.23.2009
drama
Phil's mom, Kathi, is a drama coach at our church, and she's brilliant.
We always have a play in the summer, and this is the first year in a long time that I wasn't in it. We got split into two different groups this year because there's so many of us, so the college kids did a play for Easter, and the high schooler kids did Kathi's drama on Friday. The one we did at Easter was one Kathi found, but normally she writes everything we do.
She has an incredible gift. She knows each of us kids, and she writes us into everything. Our real personalities shine through in everything, and the skits are witty and always have a biblical message. The shows are always full of laughter...lined with both cheesy and clever humor.
One thing I noticed specifically this year, and I don't know if it's because I was a normal audience member instead of an actor, was how much Kathi really knows about everything. Seriously EVERYTHING. She can relate salvation and following God's plan for your life to complex science theories and cupcakes. She knows about science and baking and boats, not to mention knowing practically every Bible story and how to weave them together into a play called Pair-A-Bulls Cruise Line.
It's occurred to me that that's a big part of what makes someone really good at writing...and writing anything, not just a play. It's knowing lots of different things from lots of different subject areas, and knowing how to pull them together to make something really entertaining and thought-provoking.
Haha...maybe someday I'll be able to do that.
We always have a play in the summer, and this is the first year in a long time that I wasn't in it. We got split into two different groups this year because there's so many of us, so the college kids did a play for Easter, and the high schooler kids did Kathi's drama on Friday. The one we did at Easter was one Kathi found, but normally she writes everything we do.
She has an incredible gift. She knows each of us kids, and she writes us into everything. Our real personalities shine through in everything, and the skits are witty and always have a biblical message. The shows are always full of laughter...lined with both cheesy and clever humor.
One thing I noticed specifically this year, and I don't know if it's because I was a normal audience member instead of an actor, was how much Kathi really knows about everything. Seriously EVERYTHING. She can relate salvation and following God's plan for your life to complex science theories and cupcakes. She knows about science and baking and boats, not to mention knowing practically every Bible story and how to weave them together into a play called Pair-A-Bulls Cruise Line.
It's occurred to me that that's a big part of what makes someone really good at writing...and writing anything, not just a play. It's knowing lots of different things from lots of different subject areas, and knowing how to pull them together to make something really entertaining and thought-provoking.
Haha...maybe someday I'll be able to do that.
8.19.2009
haircut
I have an addiction called One Tree Hill.
...I'm realizing a lot of my blogs start with me mentioning things I'm addicted to. I wonder if I should be concerned about that...
This addiction started at the beginning of the summer when my roommate Laura started watching my roommate Amanda's seasons of OTH. I would see bits and pieces of it while it was on in the living room...and then I got suckered in and started watching the seasons myself.
It's really not all that good. Honestly, some of the acting is beyond terrible, and now that I'm in the 5th season things are getting to be all too predictable. But...they still make it possible to connect with the characters. And connecting with the characters is what makes me like a show. However, I still enjoy Bones and Grey's far more than One Tree Hill...shows where I connect with the characters and the writing and acting is actually good.
Point of this is, I'm getting my hair cut. And I'm getting it cut like Haley, one of the characters on the show. This season she has perfect short hair. I've been trying to grow mine out again but it really doesn't look that great grown out. I don't have thick, gorgeous hair. I have hair that's fine will never look full when it's long. So, short hair it is. And I love love love Haley's hair this season. I'm also getting it colored like hers...just a bit darker than mine already is.
Problem with this is, I can't get it cut until after my friend Kim's wedding, because we all have to have updos and I'm doing my own hair and have no idea how to make short hair look good all up. Oh well, it's only a month!
...I'm realizing a lot of my blogs start with me mentioning things I'm addicted to. I wonder if I should be concerned about that...
This addiction started at the beginning of the summer when my roommate Laura started watching my roommate Amanda's seasons of OTH. I would see bits and pieces of it while it was on in the living room...and then I got suckered in and started watching the seasons myself.
It's really not all that good. Honestly, some of the acting is beyond terrible, and now that I'm in the 5th season things are getting to be all too predictable. But...they still make it possible to connect with the characters. And connecting with the characters is what makes me like a show. However, I still enjoy Bones and Grey's far more than One Tree Hill...shows where I connect with the characters and the writing and acting is actually good.
Point of this is, I'm getting my hair cut. And I'm getting it cut like Haley, one of the characters on the show. This season she has perfect short hair. I've been trying to grow mine out again but it really doesn't look that great grown out. I don't have thick, gorgeous hair. I have hair that's fine will never look full when it's long. So, short hair it is. And I love love love Haley's hair this season. I'm also getting it colored like hers...just a bit darker than mine already is.
Problem with this is, I can't get it cut until after my friend Kim's wedding, because we all have to have updos and I'm doing my own hair and have no idea how to make short hair look good all up. Oh well, it's only a month!
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