My Eyeballs are Actually Burning...

In celebration of Mardi Gras, my roomates and I prepared luncheon feast of dirty rice and cajun sausage...had a glass of wine, and ate a truffle for desert. It was so good...but the food is not causing me to be a little on the sleepy side, and my body is telling me to take a nap, so much so that my eyes are burning...unfortunately there is this thing called Work that seems to be getting in the way of such a notion

Anyway....Happy Mardi Gras to you all

Laisser le bon rouleau de temps!!!!!!! Don't forget to have some pancakes for dinner.

Why Fashion is Fun...


So here's the deal everyone. I am totally going to bring back the legging look. I think the world has gone long enough with the absence of leggings and I think it's time for them to make their comeback...and I'm going to help.

I don't claim to be any type of trendsetter or even someone that other people think they should dress like...in fact i would probably more often find myself on the list of "what not to wear." But here's the thing...I don't dress so other people think it's cute. I dress because it makes me happy.

So here's to leggings and the first pair that are on their way to my house!

What's wrong with this picture...

Three days ago I was sledding and listening to Christmas music (because you have to listen to Christmas music when it snows) and Today I am wearing a skirt and flip flops. Crazy Southern Missouri weather...

and just in case anyone was wondering...I'm in a really good mood today. I think it's the anticipation of American Idol and Figure Skating tonight wahoo!!!! : )

I wish I knew more...

Sometimes I wish I knew more about kids and the whole pyschological side of things. I wish I understood how kids develop. I wish I understood their needs better. I think it would help me help them more. I had a pretty "Leave it to Beaver" type of childhood. Yeah I did stupid crap, but my parents were always there to kind of tame my craziness. I never dealt with a lot of issues that kids that I come into contact with are dealing with.

I think there is a kid that I know who could probably use some counseling, but I don't know that there's anyone in the area that I would want to recommend them to, or if the guardians would be willing to do something like that. And I know I'm definitely not qualified to give any type of real counseling to anyone.

If anyone knows any type of resources that would help know where to direct people who need this kind of help...or any good books I could read that'd be awesome.

I just hate to see people struggle like this.

On a completely different note, I couldn't help but laugh at myself earlier today as i was reading a little bit today about fasting as a spiritual practice. I was getting pretty into it, and am seriously contemplating doing some sort of fasting and prayer time. The funny part was that as I was sitting there reading it i was also eating little miniature dove chocolate candies. I wonder how great of an idea it will feel like when I have gone two days without solid food...

The Church...

I don't know how exciting this will be to read, or if it will even make sense...but it's something I feel like I need to get out...so we'll see if writing it down makes me feel better.

I love the church (and by that I mean the Body of Christ.) I don't know when I developed such a love for it but I did. Maybe it's why I do what I do. But here's the deal...there are some things that happen within the church that sometimes make me sad, confused, and frustrated.

I know a church that is going trhough the Worship Style struggle right now. They are going through the process of trying to add a contemporary service and whether they are going about it eh right way or not, there are things happening that are hurting people in very big ways.

When I was in NC the church I was serving was going through the same struggle and I saw a huge rift divide the people of that congregation and almost everyone was hurt by decisions made. And here i am watching (from the sidelines) another church go through the same thing. The parallels in these two situations are amazing. It's almost like deja vu. I wish I had a magic wand that I could wave and make all the pain and hurt go away and help people get to the place they need to be, but I can't. (and I'm not sure how much good it would do anyway)

I agree that these are good conversations to have, but people get so wrapped up and lost within them. I sometimes wish people would put half much energy into spreading the Gospel to the lost as they did worrying about what song they want to sing on Sunday morning, what words "work best" for them during confession, and if they should kneel for communion or do "drive-thru" It's just so frustrating. I mean do you think God looks at his church and says, "YES! That's what I created you for."

ack...I'm too tired to write any more about this now...but it just saddens me to see the hurt in these struggles.

Fun, Fun, Fun...

So it snowed! I am usually not a lover of snow, but it's been a nice change to our winter of 70 degree days. Since it's so hilly here people don't get out and drive around a lot in the "weather" as they call it. Since there isn't a lot going on around town, I've pretty much speant the past couple days inside.

Yesterday we watched 4 movies and ate curry. It was way fun. Today I got up and went to church. EVen though there weren't too many people there I still had over 20 people at Bible Study. So that was fun. I came home and Laura Aaron and I started watching the Fellowship of the Ring. When the first disc finished we decided to go sledding...well I kinda talked them into going with me. since there were no sleds to be found we used a laundry basket and top to a tupperware container. A few bruises later clad in ripped pants, leg warmers and carring our now broken ghetto sleds we have now returned to sitting on the couch and watching movies. It's been great. It's so fun to sit around and do nothing, but it's even more fun to have the Rooses here with me to enjoy the nothingness.

check it out...

I'm going to Haiti this summer on a mission trip and if you want to help support it, or find out more info you can log onto our mission team's web site

www.walkforhaiti.com

Team bios should mostly be up by now!

Being The Minority...

Holy Smokes...it's been 10 days since I blogged. And since my dear friend Carrie has told me that I am letting her down by not writing...here goes.

As to the title of this blog. I know that I don't get a lot of opportunities to experience being a minority. I'm a middle class American white girl who works in a middle class Lutheran church full of white people...which means that most of my days are spent with middle class american white people. But in the past week I have had two experiences where I was in the minority, and it was great.

Last wednesday was my dear Heidi's 21st birthday. For those of you who don't know, Heidi was a foreign exchange student from Germany who lived with my parents for a year while I was in college. She has since moved back to America and is going to college here. So anyway I made the 5 hour drive north for her 21st. Many of her friends gathered together in her dorm room and then we went out for dinner where I was told by many of the young whipper snappers that I was an old lady at my age...I'm 25 people!!! This is when I first experienced being in the minority that evening. I was the only one who could rent a car without being penalized! I wanted to tell them that soon they too would be 25 and old and realize that it's not so bad! Then after dinner there seemed to be a mass exodus so they could all go study. I told Heidi that was no way to spend her 21st birthday and that we had to at least stay out a little longer. I've never been on a college campus where so many people actually studied. It was weird. So Heidi and I went out by ourselves and enjoyed spending a little time together. We were sitting at a bar and the door opened and I heard a girl say, "HEIDI!" There were three college students standing there and after my explaining that it was my german sister's birthday, She introduced me to her friends...all from different countries. Apparently it's only the non-americans who can go out on school nights in Kirksville! So here I am for the second time in the evening, a minority...only this time it's because I was surrounded by (even younger) non-americans. And let me tell you. It was fun. They were funny people and we laughed and talked and closed down the joint. Needless to say I had a pretty good time with people that didn't exactly fit into my demographic!

Then the tables were turned. After I left Kirksville MO, I headed south to the Lake of the Ozarks for the LCMS Missouri District Convention. When I walked in to register, they asked me if I was one of the youth delegates! AHahaHA. I mean I'm not exactly old, but I don't think I necessarily look like a high school student either. I went from being one of the oldest people at a gathering to one of the youngest. Anyway it was good. the conference was great, and if I had time I would talk about the awesome essayist that was there...well at least I liked him, but unfortunately I have to work, so for now I'm signing off!

If you feel so inclined...

Today a very close friend of mine told me that her mom was diagnosed with cancer this week. I love this family a lot and I'm wishing I knew how I could be a better friend to her at this time...but I'm so far away. Please pray for my friend and her mom and her family. We know that God can work out amazing miracles...and I'm bold to ask for that right now.

Apples To Apples...

So last night was game night at my house. I'll admit that I'm a little on the nerdy side and get pretty exicted about things as simple as game night. Last night there were 8 of us gathered in my front room enjoying a little social activity. Someone brough Apples to Apples. I had heard alot about this game and was actually looking forward to playing it. When the game first came out the only person I heard promoting it was Delilah and I thought maybe the game would be really lame...but everyone kept saying how fun it was. And seriously...it was fun. I highly recommend giving it a go!

Today Laura and Aaron and I cleaned out my garage. Wow...my world is becomming more and more organized, which I will admit is a little strange for me. I'm used to chaos and disaster...I can function in the midst of it...but I do have to say that this organization thing isn't too bad of an idea either. I just hope it lasts...

So here I sit on a Saturday afternoon...tired from not enough sleep and a lot of work this morning...here on my couch, watching aaron play nintendo, laura is knitting, and I'm trying my hardest to stay awake and not procrastinate any longer on the Bible Study I have to get done for tomorrow morning...

Pure Joy!

My computer is fixed. (and yes I am that attached to my machine that having it fixed can create a feeling of pure joy in my life!) After trying everything I could try, and trying it again I gave in a took the silly computer in. This morning I dropped it off with my favorite techies. I thought I'd be without for a couple days.

Two hours later the phone rings and the computer is fixed and ready to be picked up. So I gladly grab my keys and make the drive to pick up my machine. When I got there I asked the guy what was wrong with it. He said he wasn't sure because all they had to do was restart the machine. He asked me when the last time I had done that was...I reminded him that we had done it at least twice when I was in the shop yesterday and informed him of the 5 or 6 times I had done it later in the night hoping to see a change. He shrugged his shoulders and gave me the bag.

So I'm giving myself the credit for this one...all of the virus scan and spyware detectors that I ran last night must have given them the hands up that they needed to finish the job...kind of like opening a jar. You know the ones that you get that are really hard to open and you try and try until you finally give up and hand it over to the person standing in the kitchen with you and after they barely touch a finger to it, it pops open and you respond with the inevitable "I loosened it for you!" I like to think that's what I did for the computer guys. I think they knew it too...because they didn't charge me. And that my friends is a beautiful thing!

I give...

So today my computer decided to start doing something freakishly weird. The only website it won't let me in to is my gmail account. I can get into my gmail...just not on my machine. I tried running a virus scan and everything came up clean. Then I thought maybe I had some cookies that were clogging things up so I went in and cleaned up all my disk space. I condensed my files...I defragged the computer. I downloaded 3 spyware programs. And all of this has helped me none. I decided it was time to call in the big guns so I called up to the local computer store where I got my computer. They tried to tell me over the phone to do all of these things that I had already done...so they told me to come on up. Of course when I drove up towards the building there were about 6 police cars, a fire truck...and an ambulance. Apparently there had been an accident and I wasn't even able to get into the parking lot...so I had to drive around for 30 minutes...only to get to the computer store and sit there for an hour while they tried to figure out what was wrong. Unfortunately they still don't know what the problem is, so I have to drop off the machine for them tomorrow...which means money. I'm not feeling so excited about that. But we'll see. So if anyone has had just one internet site not open on your computer and you have words of wisdom for me so I don't have to spend money tomorrow...I would really appreciate it. I've done all I can do.