Everything Glorious

I've been singing the lyrics to this David Crowder song "Everything Glorious"...not the entire song, just these few lines...I really like them.


You make everything glorious
And I am Yours
What does that make me?

How To Be a Good Parent

I really like to watch parents of the students in our ministry and take notes on "to do"s and "to avoid"s.

Here are a few items on that list:

1. Let your child miss school every-once-in-a-while for something fun...
let them spend the night on a school night, let them skip class to go to Disneyland or the beach, give them an early dismissal to go and buy the new NSYNC CD at Tower Records...those are the memories they will have forever--not Tuesday, December 4th's History lesson.

2. Teach your child to choose the event that they won't get to do again...
My mom used to say this when I had a difficult choice to make: summer camp or concert? "Which will you never have the chance to do again?" I loved that...it always made the choice easier...and then I wouldn't miss things like a leadership retreat to play in a soccer game.

3. Always pick your child up on time...
Being the last kid sitting around, knowing the leaders are only waiting for you to leave, sucks. Be there on time. Be a few minutes early, bring a book. My mom was the best at this too.

4. Be aware of the church's calendar of events...
Your child will not always remember to bring a form home, but I guarantee there are summer events happening, and you could call and get those dates and sign him or her up...so, as the parent, be responsible...make it happen.

5. When your child has questions, answer them honestly...
It can be detrimental to your child's development for you to "dumb down" answers or tell them they're too young to know about those things...If your kid is old enough to ask the question, then he/she is old enough for the honest answer...and is probably getting the wrongs facts from friends at school.

And This Christmas Will Be A Very Special Christmas For Me

Tonight, I decorated my very first don't-live-with-my-parents Christmas tree.

Jared, Alanna and Ali came over for dinner (made completely by Jared)...it was delicious...and they even brought apple cider!

Then, Jared and I hung way too many ornaments on my tree while Ali and Alanna kept the conversation flowing...

I really, really love Christmas...so much.

And I love that I came home to a pine-scented house...

Here's a picture of my tree last night:


Here's what it looks like now: (flash)



(no flash)

Next Week at This Time

I will be on my way home from what is sure to be an amazing Spice Girls concert.

I am going to the concert with two old friends...we are planning to buy T-Shirts and sing most of the night at the top of our lungs...

I can't wait.

Coffee Bean and Tea Leaf

Two facts about it:

1. They have delicious blendeds (especially the Espresso Mint Chip)

2. Their soap smells like Desitin. (Yuck!)

Ah, Thank You

One of our High School band students (who went through JH with us) gave me a huge compliment yesterday...

"I my sister grows up to be like one person I know...I hope it's you"

Thanks Landon! That was really nice of you!

Hooray!

I fixed it!
Welcome back, Firefox.
I missed you!

O Christmas Tree, O Christmas Tree

I bought my very first Christmas tree tonight. It's beautiful...It's very full and symmetric.

The guy who helped me (at Target) was covering for someone who was on a break, so he had no idea what was going on--he kept apologizing...he was so nice...but couldn't really work the chainsaw and I had to remind him to put the protective goggles on...that can't be good)

I took so long that all of my students (who helped pick out the lights, the star and the tree skirt, and were going to help decorate), had to go home.

So, my friend Brian came over and put the stand on for me...and then cut the top so the star would fit on (because I couldn't reach).

Right now I'm sitting next to a well-watered, but naked tree...I'm totally dying to wrap something just so there will be pretty things under the tree.

Tomorrow night, I have three friends coming over to have dinner, watch a Christmas movie and decorate my tree...

I left my camera at work, but I will take photos once it's all finished!

Hooray for first Christmas trees!

I Hate Safari

I downloaded a new version of Firefox...and now, for some reason, it won't open.
I'm using Safari right now and I hate so much about the way it chooses to be.
No new tabs, no italic button, no spell-check, no password memory--boo safari, boo!

I really wish I could get my Firefox to work...
You really can't always get what you want.

Upstairs Neighbor

The woman who lives upstairs (I've never met her) is awake all the time.
All the time she's awake and walking around...well not so much walking as stomping.
She likes to stomp to her bedroom at 6am. She likes to stomp to the kitchen at midnight. She loves to vacuum around 11pm, making sure to walk loudly enough that she can hear her footsteps over the noise of the vacuum.

I don't really mind, since evidently I am awake at those times too...but it's always funny when someone new comes over to my house and hears her traipsing around. I like to thumb-point at the ceiling and say "I know, crazy..."

I also like to alternate these two nicknames when referring to her:

Sir Stomps-a-lot
Lead Foot

She's stompin'-it-up real nice right now.

TV Shows on My List

I've just finished the first season of 30 Rock. (I watched the entire season in under 24 hours...yikes!)

Here's what's next for me:

Seinfeld
Gilmore Girls
ER
7th Heaven
Alias (Katie, this is my way of asking to borrow it when you finish)
Amazing Race
Project Runway

Also, I'm kinda thinking about Golden Girls

Any other suggestions?

P.S. I just saw that Alex Mack is out on DVD...and Perfect Strangers comes out in February...

Three Questions For You

1. If you could be anything in the whole world (and you could not fail) what would you be?

2. What are the top five things on your Christmas list this year?

3. In your opinion, what celebrity is least likely to ever host Saturday Night Live?

I Think This Commercial Is Funny

Oh, Thank You

I really like the new toilet paper that we have at the church.
It's really soft...not thin and cheap like the old brand.

I'm sure the person who ordered this paper assumes that no one noticed, but I did. And I'm appreciative.

Best of Christmas

I finished my Christmas playlist.

If you bring me a disc, I will make you one...you won't regret it.

Hot Friday Night

Tonight, I watched TV on DVD. For about 5 hours.

Around 8:30 I was almost asleep on the couch, until I thought about how delicious Teddy Grahams would be. So, I went to the grocery store...in my Christmas pajamas and Ugg boots.

Of course, when I get in line, this super cute guy (full beard--so cute) gets in line behind me. I'm officially embarrassed...I mean, let's review: I'm wearing Christmas pajamas, Ugg boots, and a blue jacket and I'm purchasing 2 boxes of Teddy Grahams (chocolate and honey), a pint of low fat ice cream, and a box of Ritz crackers.

Did I mention it was 8:30 on a Friday night?

Oh yeah, I'm awesome.

Making the Perfect Mix

I've been trying, for a few days, to make a Christmas mix of my favorite Holiday songs...for some reason, it's more difficult than I expected...it's so important to have them in the right order...to make sure each song plays in to the next with a smooth transition (not too loud, not too fast, not two Franks in a row)...

Once it's finished, I'll post the playlist and I guarantee, it will put you in the Christmas spirit!

I Love Lucy

I was just watching an I Love Lucy episode...Ricky said something about the rent...$125 a month.

$125 a month.

Crazy.

Ten Things I Bet You Didn't Know About Me

Well...maybe you did...

10. I really love when someone says "I remembered this is your favorite..." or "I know you like..."

9. I cry at every episode of Grey's Anatomy. And I love that.

8. I puke a lot...maybe I have ulcers?

7. I would rather watch TV on DVD than read a book...but I would rather talk about a
book than the TV on DVD

6. I really like to learn things I don't know...preferably things that no one else knows or cares about

5. I drink Coke with all breakfast foods...unless it's French toast, that requires Dr. Pepper

4. I threw a large nut at a kid once and hit him in the nose. He cried. I got sent to the Principal's office.

3. I have never finished an entire bottle of vitamins. I start taking them and never finish...then they expire

2. I have been to over 30 weeks of summer camps since sixth grade

1. I enjoy crossing things off of to-do lists. Sometimes I will make lists and
include things I've already done just so I can cross them off.

25 Things to Do While I'm 25: An Update

Here's the list...Here's what I've done so far...These will be done soon...

1. Make a mosaic table
2. Have my very first Christmas tree, stockings, and Christmas morning at my own house
3. Get some students to think about their community and the world around them
4. Learn to speak a foreign language
5. Visit London
6. Watch a movie in an LA Cemetery (Cinespia)
7. Relax
8. Make a trifle
9. Take dance lessons
10. Be a good small group leader
11. Go indoor sky-diving
12. Learn to use a sewing machine
13. Ride in a helicopter
14. Spend the night at Montage
15. Go to baseball games at Fenway Park and Wrigley Field
16. Watch 3 full series of TV on DVD
17. Learn to play the guitar
18. Work with Habitat for Humanity
19. Buy a pair of Christian Louboutins
20. Apply for graduate school
21. Learn to cook
22. Visit Kenya
23. Be a good friend
24. Get a full-body massage
25. Visit the Grand Canyon

My Night at Montage

I just had one of the best birthday parties of my life...

Katie, Amanda and I spent the night at Montage. It was unbelievable. Katie and I spent the day at the spa...and then checked in to a beautiful room. We only left the room for 45 minutes...to sit and chat in the jacuzzi.

We ordered dinner, dessert and breakfast from room service.
We laid around in comfy robes, in a giant bed, watched Waitress (and the Bachelor, though it was not my choice)...that's it...it was everything I hoped it would be.

(we didn't use this bathtub, but it was just so pretty!)

I'm Not Sure

"most of what we are is what people expect us to be"

I can't decide whether I agree or disagree...what do you think?

Christmas Time is Here...Happiness and Cheer

I love Christmas.

I love watching laying under a blanket, watching a Christmas movie...the room dark save for the tiny glow from the lights on the tree.

I love walking through a store and seeing Christmas decorations. Even if I'm not buying anything, I walk through the aisles looking at everything.

I love to listen to Christmas music. The day after Thanksgiving to Christmas Day, it is all Christmas music, all the time. I own a wide-array of Christmas albums (Frank Sinatra, Martina McBride, Christina Aguilera, NSYNC, Crystal Lewis). I love to listen to these albums because they are only 25 songs that artists typically choose from. The best part about Christmas, though, is that everyone has their own arrangements...their views of Christmas classics. (In the same way that everyone has different opinions on Santa, decorations, traditions...)

I am very excited for Thanksgiving this year...but mostly because it means Christmas time is here.

Untypical

I am of the belief that Christmas decorations should not surface until after Thanksgiving...but we are doing the first of four Secret Santa weeks on Tuesday...so I had to do it...

But it looks so cute!

Leaders Are Learners (Copyright Rick Warren)

I am always amazed at the places my lessons are hidden.

Tonight, while watching Gossip Girl, I really felt like God was teaching me something...I know this sounds unbelievable and ridiculous...but I honestly feel as though my heart was being nudged toward something I've been feeling and fighting for a while.

You see, Serena learned a valuable lesson tonight...and I need to follow her example. Believe me, I know how lame this sounds...

If you watched it, you know what I mean...if you didn't, that's probably okay.

It's really a bummer when people say lessons aren't deep enough for them...I think, if you are looking to learn, you can learn anywhere...(for good and for bad)...

Here is London...

I really wish I were standing right here...looking at this in person.
I wish I were wearing a scarf and a big coat and walking up toward Leicester Square...
I would enjoy a delcious Peppermint Hot Chocolate whilest reading a book or looking out the window at passers-by.
Then I would have a delicious Chicken Ramen with my friends...before heading off the the Stags to chat the night away.

I'm sure this is not what life is like there right now...but it is exactly what my dream of that life is...

I miss you, terribly.

HIV 101

We watched this video in my small group tonight. I think it was eye-opening for me and most of the students.

It is worth your 10 minutes.

Oh, Internet...

Today, I was looking something up on the internet...I don't even remember what it was...but on the side of the site, there was an advertisement...

"Learn Turkish Like a Secret Agent"

So, the internet really can make dreams come true...who knew?

Something I've Been Thinking About...

I spent the weekend at High School camp...it was very cold, and very fun. I love when I get to be a part of events as an extra set of hands. I'm not in charge (don't get me wrong, I also love to be in charge), but I get to stand in the background and help where needed, but also relax and hang out.

From the sidelines, I get to see things that I might have missed if I were in my typical "program" mode.

One thing I noticed this week was a group of students who have amazing hearts for others and for their world. I love that. I am so proud of who they are...

I'm so proud of their parents. I look at these teenage boys who are kind and accepting...raising their hands in worship to God, approaching the speaker with tears in their eyes to ask questions about the Bible, and sitting in the cafeteria with bow ties, dinner jackets and running shorts...I really hope that I raise kids that are like that...I know they will be crazy and make mistakes...I know they will fight and cry, I know that I will fight and cry...but I hope that, in the long run, they are filled with compassion and a desire to follow God...

I also feel like they are shining examples of what a good Student Ministry can do in the life of a student. I know that parenting plays a huge role in who they will grow up to be...but I also know that the presence of a loving, caring adult (who is not their parent) takes them to the next level. Someone willing to take time to listen, to pour in to them. I strongly believe that the compassion and selflessness shown in our students are, in part, a result of the compassion and selflessness they are being shown by these adults.

I know that this is true because this is my story. My parents are great: so supportive and loving...but I know that I would not be in ministry today, I would not have a heart for Africa, so many other things that make me who I am today, without the other adults I had in my life...the adults who loved me, modeled God's love in my life...

Students, I am so proud of who you are. I hope that you take some time to pour these learnings in to the next generation...and encourage them to do the same...

Irrational Fear #7

I have a tremendous fear of hitting someone with my car...

I don't think that I am a reckless driver, I am pretty sure that I will hit someone who is attempting suicide.

I have a fear that I will be driving down a darker street and have someone come running out of the bushes or trees, right in front of my car...and get hit.

I will be incapable of getting out of the car to see if he is alright.
I will, instead, call the cops and sit in the car until an ambulance arrives.

This is a ridiculous fear...but it's completely true...

Free Rice

This is a great website, despite what Zack Barker says...

Maybe try to match the correct definitions and give rice to another country...Who knows, while helping someone in another country, you may actually learn something...

Baby It's Cold Outside

I'm up at Chi Alpha, this weekend, with HSM. I invited myself to be a part of the band, since it's my weekend off from Wildside.

Camp began this afternoon, but we drove up last night to get set-up and sound check. The band is made up of some of my very favorite people: David Hughes, Gecko Luke, Zack Barker, Dominik Michalzik, and Mark Reinhardt (who went home sick and is now being covered for by Carson Leith).

Yesterday, the ride up to camp was filled with some sweet love songs of the 80s (such as "Everything I Do" by Bryan Adams) and 90s (such as "Sometimes" by Britney Spears)...and a lot of laughter.

It's simultaneously fun and awkward being the only girl in the band...we are staying in a giant house, and I get my own room (fun)...but when I got up to go downstairs this morning, I saw Luke in his underpants (awkward)...

It's cold...really cold...and I love it.
I love wearing a long sleeved shirt and a sweatshirt...and a beanie...and thick socks and boots...I'm totally over-dressed, but I just love it too much and I don't have enough cold weather in my life...

Supervillains: An Over-Generalization

Why is it that supervillains have alliterated names?

Lex Luthor
Doctor Doom
Green Goblin
Gabriel Gray

And, hero aliases are also alliterations:
Peter Parker
Bruce Banner
Clark Kent
Matt Murdock
Peter Petrelli


On a side-note, did you know that Captain America was created to fight Nazis? Awesome.

Irrational Fear #6

I have a huge fear of breaking my neck.

I think it spawned from my mother always threatening that it would happen...not that she would do it, but that by some freak accident I would become paralyzed.

She would say things like "Don't ride your bike without a helmet, you'll fall and break your neck" or "Don't climb trees, you'll fall and break your neck"...

Now I find myself thinking about it...

Yesterday, we were throwing apples in the office. I actually thought, I'm not going to walk back down there. They could throw it and it could hit me in the back of the neck and I could be paralyzed.

I'm bound to make an over-protective mother...

Organic Discipleship

I wrote an article for Simply Youth Ministry.

You can read it here.

I'm a Nerd

This is really interesting to me:

an emigrant is someone who leaves one country to settle in another while an immigrant is someone who comes to a country where they were not born in order to settle there

The Double Flush

There are four stalls in the women's bathroom at the office, each of them equipped with a low-flushing toilet. If you are not alone in the bathroom, that's bad news for both of you...because each of you will have to double-flush, making it sound as though you just pooped. Oh, and if you try to flush at the same time, nothing happens...that makes for a triple-flush.

And, to make matters worse, you will have to push the sink button down at least three times to sufficiently wash your hands...

Every time I visit the bathroom, this is frustrating to me. I always want to say "I'm not pooping!"

Irrational Fear #5

Here are links to #1-4.

In 1996 a movie came out that changed my view of public-bathroom use.

Scream came out when I was a freshman in high school...I saw it in the theater three days in a row.

The scariest part, to me, is actually a pretty forgettable scene to most people.

Sidney (Neve Campbell) goes in to the school bathroom during class. She's in there alone (or so she thinks) and hears her name being whispered, seemingly through the air conditioning. She looks around, but doesn't see anyone...then we see the feet step off of the toilet and hit the ground...

Oh man...SO scary!

This fear doesn't affect my everyday life...since most days I am not in a public bathroom alone.

But, I can not go to the bathroom during a movie without slight fear of hearing "allison, allison"

Fresh With Jeff Corwin

Just when I thought I couldn't love Jeff Corwin anymore, I stumbled upon his new show.

I was watching Trading Spaces and left the room to finish getting ready...when I came back in, this Christmas-came-early present was on the TV.

Fresh with Jeff Corwin...here's the description:
Jeff shares his knowledge with viewers about how to have fun while planning and preparing tasty healthy meals on a budget and a busy schedule. No one leads a busier life than Jeff. His personal taste has always been finding ways to eat light and right.

Oh, and here's the TV listings, in case you want to catch an episode...or season pass it...It's on Discovery Home, not the Food Network.

Most Attractive Cartoon Character

I'd have to say Dimitri from Anastasia...
Who would you say?

Lars and the Real Girl

I loved it. A lot.

Irrational Fear #4

Here are the previous irrational fears. #1...#2...#3

And now, #4.

I have a terrible fear of driving over bridges. I will drive on them, but almost every time that I do, I think about it collapsing. I know the odds are about a hundred million to one that it will actually happen (I looked for the actual number, but could not find it), but I am always a little scared.

I think, what if this bridge broke in half? What if there was an earthquake? How far would I fall? Would other cars fall on top of mine? What would happen then? How do I get back up to where I am now?

Oh yikes.

What's worse than driving over a bridge? Stopping on one...oh man, that just really makes for bad odds...so much more time spent there waiting to fall...

Please note the fact that this is called "Irrational Fear"...I'm well aware of the fact that this is a stupid thing to fear...but I think about it...and if it ever happens, I won't be completely unprepared and in shock, since I will have been thinking about it and planning my escape for years.

My New Favorite Website

I read about this on Brian's blog...and spent about ten minutes clicking through...
It's fake superheroes...and each one is defeated by the next...here are the rules:

Player 1 draws a character with a power. Player 2 then draws a character whose power cancels the power of that previous character. Repeat.

I can't wait to spend more time looking at them tomorrow...


Here's the link to the first hero...

Click on the DEFEATED BY link in the left above to see the rest.

Thank you, Brian, for this internet gold.

If I Could Turn Back Time...

Just a reminder...it's "fall back" tonight...

We're All in This Together

Taffy and Alanna...well done...this was SO fun!

All Play and No Internet Makes For a Dull Blog

This last week has been packed...

I had a costume party with my small group, sang at the high school praise and worship night, wrote an article for SYM (proposed title..."What Kind of Ship Never Sinks: Discipleship"), sang at Crave, wrote a workshop for the JH Fall Retreat (called Thinking Outside of Yourself), learned the choreographed dance to "We're All in This Together" from High School Musical...oh, and co-programmed the weekend services...

It's been a jam-packed week...and as we sang and danced tonight, my legs felt like lead. My head has been pounding all day, but I have still managed to watch two episodes of Heroes Season One...and am prepping for a third before bed.

I'll get back on my blog game tomorrow...