what the heck is laminin?

Steph did it ... so me too :)

i am: so wiped out from my weekend.
i think: I am ready for the end of school.
i know: Jesus is Lord.
i want: my apartment complex to release me from my lease!
i have: a fat rasberry on my butt.
i wish: for my economy stimulus check to get here!
i hate: the word hate.
i miss: my friends who don't live in CST.
i fear: the future.
i feel: the winds of change a'comin.
i hear: the fan going, the computer buzzing, the click clack of the computer keys and Chris sending me a message.
i smell: the mixture of stink from softball tonight and clean from washing up.
i crave: an abundance of sleep which I won't get because tomorrow is Tuesday.
i search: on Google, mostly.
i wonder: what God has in store for me to figure out about Him.
i regret: not trying harder in college.
i love: laughing.
i ache: from little sleep and diving and sliding tonight at Veteran's (stoopid!!).
i care: about my students.
i always: strive to do my best, even when I don't want to be there.
i am not: ready for all of this.
i believe: in a thing called love.
i dance: when I'm hyper or super excited.
i sing: all the time.
i don’t always: pray.
i fight: for my kids.
i write: a lot of emails.
i win: because Jesus already did!
i lose: weight when I try.
i never: put my clothes away immediately (i'm trying!).
i confuse: religion with relationship. (mm that's a good one, Steph. I'm keepin it)
i listen: and try to remember what they say.
i can usually be found: with others.
i am scared: of the dark.
i need: to know when.
i am happy about: my current relationship situation.

Fun stuff! Now it's your turn!

first day jitters?

we opened the new sanctuary today. we had our first worship service there.

but today is palm sunday.

palm sunday was and is a celebration of jesus entering the city. Hosanna in the highest! we are supposed to celebrate jesus.

today did not feel like this to me. i mean, it is a big deal that we opened the new sanctuary, but i felt like a stranger in my own land. so weird.

why am i troubled by this? i can't figure it out. the best way i can describe it is how i just told my mom a few minutes ago.. i didn't feel like i was at my church - being in that sanctuary didn't feel like being at my church. that's probably a first for me. its kind of scary and troubling.

mom said that it will probably take a little while for us to get used to the new sanctuary. but why should it? why can't it feel like home immediately? when a person is in the presence of the Lord, they should feel comfortable, at home, and at the same time, disturbed.

i am conflicted. i hope it settles.

random thoughts for a friday night

i've never been drunk, but there are moments & times when i think i really want to be. or at least want to drink enough to forget my worries.. sounds like a country western song.

vacations are the bomb dot com. i want to make enough money (or save enough money) every year so i can spend sufficient time away from my day to day life and travel a little bit - even if it's just for a conference or just across texas.

i am so grumpy right now and so badly do not want to go to soccer practice in the morning (yes, saturday morning) why do i want so badly for soccer season to be over? i think i am worn out. every time i look at my date book, i get a little stressed out. (see random thought #1)

ugh i think i need time with my girls. isn't it interesting how women live in community? (not that this is a new thought or fact) we so strive and yearn for relationships with others & so need friendship and companionship with other females. i think i lack most there (at least right now in the grand scheme of life). i spend the majority of my time (so far this semester) at work, at soccer (i work with two men and a bunch of highschool girls) and with chris. i've gotta plan some girl time before march is over or i might go crazy.

i told you it was going to be random, didn't i?

a joke before i go -

What did the man say to the houses that were on top of him?





"get off me, homes"
:o)
all my love -

Shaquille O'Neal has ruined my second favorite NBA team... That's right. If you hadn't heard, Shaq got traded to the Phoenix Suns. I am frustrated by this!! WHYYYYYyyyyy... blehhh...

the new face of the Suns.. what a great reputation to bring to a great team...

Also in past news, 2008 has begun. (you been under a rock?) Things have been really good so far! Extremely busy, but really good. Soccer is flat out wearing me out!! My team (the JV) has three losses already!! >:o( For the past two years, I've ended the season with one loss, each season. So, hopefully, the girls will pick it up and start winning games so we can turn our record around and not suck. :) (We're not undefeated in district this year.. booo...)
I'm so stinking ready for Spring Break! I'm flying to California to hang out with Kat for 5 days. It's gonna be great!! And then after that, I'm so ready for summer :o)

For now, I'm so ready for bed. Gnight!

more jokes!

How did the dentist get to the North Pole?

He took the Molar Express!! :o)

And....



Why does a chicken coop have 2 doors?

Because if it had 4 doors, it'd be called a chicken sedan!!

hahahahahaha.......

Happy New Year!!!!

Phew! Life has been fast and furious (seemingly) over the past few weeks. Lots of Christmas parties, seeing good friends, & preparing for the coming of the Christ child!!

I love this time of year. There is so much love & laughter shared, plus lots of FOOD. :o) I'm always game for food. The seasonal music always puts me in a good mood too. I actually find myself listening to Christmas music in the summer sometimes!! The lyrics are so raw & blatantly talking about Jesus & God, but the entire nation, no matter what radio station you're listening to, plays these Christmas songs! I love that. It's just a nice warm, fuzzy feeling.

As I was sitting at work .. just now .. I pulled up an article that you all need to read. It's so stinkin hilarious, but awe-inspiring. The title of it is: Galaxy blasts neighbor with deadly jet;
‘Death star galaxy’ could obliterate the atmospheres of planets. Click here to check it out. It not only makes you feel completely insignificant, the writing will make you laugh! Go ahead and check it out and let me know what you think :o)

There's a really good chance that I won't post again this month, but no promises.

Just in case,
Have a very Merry Christmas & celebrate '08 !! (Hey I kinda like that..)

an update with photos

Well, it's been awhile since I last blogged, but it's been busy for sure. I'll pick up where I left off...

I went to San Francisco for a conference at the beginning of November. We had a really good time!!










The Golden Gate Bridge from "Dave's spot."










A small market at the top of Nob Hill.










Ben Lee in concert










Hangin' with Kat and eating icecream that should be served with an insulin shot.

The next week, we had one of our first Young Adult Ministries functions at the bowling alley. It was first suggested that we have a 70s night bowling, but I reminded them that none of us really remember the 70s and it would be more appropriate to have an 80s bowling night. So we did!! It was a lot of fun!









Just some of the crew bein' silly. As you can see, some people decided not to dress up...









Karen was going for the whole "Dazed and Confused" look.

A few weeks later, I attended the area meet for our special olympics bowling team in Conroe. As always, we had a blast!! The kids got their medals, we ate lunch, and headed home. As usual, I tried to sleep because I was just totally wiped out.













Note the multiple seat belts just in case of an abrupt stop..


That same night, I went to a super fun party with some of my soccer team friends (the one I play on, not the one I coach). Sorry, no pictures there. And I also attended the saddest Aggie soccer game ever. It was the second round of the NCAA playoffs and we played UT for the third time this season. If my foreshadowing didn't give you the result, we lost and got kicked out of the playoffs. It sucked. Especially since Texas got knocked out the next round. Grrr... However, a fun day/night overall.

Later in the month, along with the rest of this nation, I celebrated Thanksgiving. It was really just nice to have a holiday from work!!! We had brunch with Mom, dinner with Dad and then we watched BloodDiamond. I think I just wasn't in the mood to watch that after Thanksgiving dinner.... I think I would have rather watched football.. again. :oP

The holiday didn't last nearly as long as I wanted to though. Monday, after school we started soccer tryouts. As much as I look forward to soccer season, I almost dread tryouts. It's just long hours and mentally tiring! That lasted all week, and finally on Thursday, we were finished with tryouts!! Which meant that Friday, I got to go home at the normal time... Which I guess at this point in the year, is no longer the normal time... Sigh... ;-) But that's okay! Friday night was relaxing and well deserved after my full week.

Today was probably one of the best new things I've done in a long time!! Julie emailed me, among others, and invited us out to celebrate Wesley's birthday today to Soggybottom ATV Ranch. We had SO much fun. I've always been hesitant to ride 4-wheelers and such because of some friends' past experiences and just hearing scary stories about 4-wheeling gone bad, but today those concerns were alleviated!








the crew after we all had ridden once or twice (look at our pants!!)

so there was a lot of mud out there...

Overall, November was pretty great. And December looks promising too. ;) Kat is coming to town this next weekend and Wendy and Ginger might make a trip down, too! I just love visitors! :)

(Yes, I left out the guitar hero/christmas cookie/ornament party we had the other night, but I don't have any pictures from it, so I couldn't include it... but it was fun, and if you weren't there, you missed out.) :o)

As I sit here and procrastinate... and procrastinate... and procrastinate some more........

I just finished watching Dancing with the Stars online from last night's showing. And I am just SHOCKED. I didn't get to watch the show on Monday night so I couldn't vote, so the outcome just makes me feel almost guilty. Sabrina & Mark got kicked off. Dad-gummit. I, along with so many others, including the judges, thought that they would make it to the finals!! Jane & Toney should have gone home tonight... or Marie & Jonathan!! Grr this just pushes my buttons. They're the best, they should have made it. Grr Now I'm gonna have to watch every time just so I can make sure my other favorites make it!!

I'm going to San Francisco tomorrow for a conference. It's now 9:30pm and I'm not packed. So I'm gonna go do that now...

a little joke .. .. ..

What do you get when you take the circumference of a pumpkin and divide it by it's radius?

Pumpkin Pi.

:o)

Trunk monkey is hilarious . . . if you want to see them all, go to you tube.

Saturday Night Live makes me laugh, but The Muppets on SNL?? Now that is comedy!!!

what would YOU do??

I went to Whataburger tonight after my soccer game and ordered a burger and a drink. That's it. No fries, because I knew I didn't want to eat them. So I sit and wait, because Whataburger is a happenin' place.. and I wait.. and then I get my food! The lady brings it out to me and says, "I think he messed up your order, so I put some fries in there." Oh no!!!! I felt so bad... I told her I really really didn't want them and wasn't going to eat them, could she please take them back? And I guess for food safety, they can't take food back once it's been given to the customer, so now I have an order of fries sitting in my Whataburger bag.

It's so frustrating, because the lady thought she was doing me a favor by giving me the fries, and I guess I should feel blessed because it's a free blessing, ya know? But at the same time, I feel bad because I'm pretty sure I'm just going to throw them out into the woods behind the apartment (I know it's eventually going to just sit in a landfill, so why not give it to nature a little bit sooner and without the plastic garbage bag?). I don't have a roommate to give them to, and I think it would be totally awkward to just give them to someone in the complex that I don't know. I mean, picture it..

"Hi - Excuse me -- I have some extra fries from Whataburger, do you want them?"

.... Shady!!!

Random thoughts

For whatever reason, I've had some serious topics on the brain today.

For example, President Bush used a veto this morning (or last night) that denies a bill being passed that raises funds and provides health care for almost 4 million children.

CHILDREN. And he said no!! What am I supposed to think?? Granted, I don't know all of the costs and little nuances of it, but I know that these children need healthcare!!!!! I think the bill would add another tax to cigarettes, but I'm pretty dang sure that if the bill were to raise the tax on alcohol or something else I buy on a regular basis like (not that I buy alcohol on a regular basis...) .. toaster struedels.. just so that 4 million children could have health care... I'D PAY IT!!!! How ridiculous!!! Arghh...

Another thing I thought about on my way home tonight...
As I drove by Grace Bible, I saw a sign that said Pray to end Abortion. Yes, let's!!
But as I continued to drive, I started thinking further on this topic.. (I thought about abortion, not prayer) back in the day, before abortion was really well known.. like wayy back before the 1930s, abortion wasn't really an option. Women who got pregnant pretty much had to go through with the pregnancy and then once the baby was born, well, I don't know what they did with a kid they didn't want, but that's beside the point. They had to go through with it! There was no "quick fix" for pregnancy or even for allergies, the flu or diarrhea for that matter. We live in a society today that allows and encourages a "quick fix" for whatever ails us. We have the geek squad for our computers, band aids for our boo boos, a spare tire in the trunk when we get a flat, we can go shopping from the comfort of our home and with a few clicks on the keyboard! What if we didn't have these quick fixes? What if life was a whole lot harder??

I think I would, and many others, would rely on God a lot more.. and would have a stronger prayer life.. and would have a stronger fear of God.

Sometimes, sometimes, I wish life were a little bit harder. We'll see what He gives me now that I've asked. (yikes!)




stay tuned for pictures from the David Crowder Band concert!! yeah!

I know.. it's been awhile, huh?

I saw this song performed on Dancing with the Stars, and even though it's kind of .. not my style? .. I really like the lyrics. I'll explain why after you read the lyrics :o)

People always comin' up to me and askin'
"Dolly, what's your secret?
With all you do, your attitude
Just seems to be so good
How do you keep it?"
Well I'm not the Dalai Lama, but I'll try
To offer up a few words of advice

Chorus:
You better get to livin', givin'
Don't forget to throw in a little forgivin'
And lovin' on the way
You better get to knowin', showin'
A little bit more concerned about where you're goin'
Just a word unto the wise
You better get to livin'

A girlfriend came to my house
Started cryin' on my shoulder Sunday evening
She was spinnin' such a sad tale
I could not believe the yarn that she was weavin'
So negative the words she had to say
I said if I had a violin I'd play

I said you'd better get to livin', givin'
Be willing and forgivin'
Cause all healing has to start with you
You better stop whining, pining
Get your dreams in line
And then just shine, design, refine
Until they come true
And you better get to livin'

Your life's a wreck, your house is mess
And your wardrobe way outdated
All your plans just keep on falling through
Overweight and under paid, under appreciated
I'm no guru, but I'll tell you
This I know is true

You better get to livin', givin'
A little more thought about bein'
A little more willin' to make a better way
Don't sweat the small stuff
Keep your chin up
Just hang tough
And if it gets too rough
Fall on your knees and pray
And do that everyday
Then you'll get to livin'

The day we're born we start to die
Don't waste one minute of this life
Get to livin'
Share your dreams and share your laughter
Make some points for the great hereafter

Better start carin'
Better start sharin'
Better start tryin'
Better start smiling
And you better get to livin'

Okay, so if you didn't figure it out, it's a new song by Dolly Parton. And even though she doesn't come right out and say it, and she tries not to step on toes, but I know she's trying to put forth the Message! And she, as a musician and actress, has put herself on the line by offering these potentially-if differently worded-harmful-to-her-career-image lyrics to the public. I applaud that and respect her for that brave attempt.

Also, the song, though I don't think myself a hermit too often, reminds me of how I should be living my life - to the fullest!! And sharing the joy and love that I receive with others.

Receive the joy I have !!

I thank my God every time I remember you. In all my prayers for all of you, I always pray with joy because of your partnership in the gospel from the first day until now, being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.
And this is my prayer: that your love may abound more and more in knowledge and depth of insight, so that you may be able to discern what is best and may be pure and blameless until the day of Christ, filled with the fruit of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ—to the glory and praise of God.

-Philippians 1:3-6, 9-11



Gin & I with LA in the background!! (it was really bright outside)

Happy 4th of July!

"There was only one night game a year. On the fourth of July the whole sky would brighten up with fireworks, giving us just enough light for a game. We played our best that night, because I guess we all felt like the "big leaguers" under the lights of some great stadium. Benny felt like that all the time. We all knew he was gonna go on to bigger and better games, because every time we stopped to watch the sky on those nights, like regular kids, he was there to call us back. Ya see, for us, baseball was a game. But for Benjamin Franklin Rodriguez, baseball was life." -The Sandlot

for jen . . .

I have really really slowed down at blogging over the past year or so. I don't know why.. I just haven't. So.. here's a new one :o)

But as I was perusing the internet this afternoon, I came across an article that furthers my belief that Facebook is better than myspace.

Before you get offended or start leaving me mean comments, let me explain (and also remind you that I do have a myspace page).

I like Facebook better because it's not often that you receive some creepy stranger's request to be your friend. I don't know how many times that has happened to me on myspace, but it's gross and creepy and weird. Also, Facebook (so far) doesn't have hackers that log onto your profile and send out messages all about porno and how to get the newest Coach purse or iPod. I do like Facebook because it is clean. Literally: there are no backgrounds to upload, videos to add, music to express your latest mood, etc. (of course, this is not completely true with all of the latest applications that Facebook has offered. I'm pretty much boycotting these as much as possible. . . I did, however, sign up for the song one... I just like music) :o)

Facebook is also pretty dang honest. I'm not saying there aren't predators out there on Facebook, but you don't usually turn on MSNBC to watch the latest How to Catch a Predator and find that he or she had been chatting up some 13 year old on Facebook.. It's almost always myspace, which just supports my thoughts that myspace is dirty.

But, I guess one thing I do like about myspace is the variety of musical artists and bands and the simplicity available to them to share their music. If myspace was all about music, I'd definitely still be a fan.

Yeah, so .. there are some thoughts for you about that article. Enjoy.. or don't. Your call :o)

almost there...

After an awesome weekend spent with friends (yay for Michael, Ginger, Karen, Thomas, James and more), a second win for the Spurs on Sunday, and a well spent birthday (it was sweet), the Spurs have made my Tuesday. :)

Tonight, the Spurs won in game 3 over the Cavs and I am hoping (although others are doubting) that the Spurs will win again on Thursday for a 4-0 sweep of the Finals this year.

GO SPURS, GO!!

Jesus loves the Spurs :)

Spurs win game 1 vs the Cavs. These women of God are awesome. ;o)

I started baking this cake tonight because I was afraid the mix would go bad on me.

Its delicious strawberry goodness turned out slightly ... lopsided somehow, but maybe because it was predicting something..

I'm thinkin' that my cake knew the Spurs would beat the Utah Jazz in lopsided Game 5 of the series (109-84!!!)to win the series 4-1 and move on to the NBA Finals!!!!!

GO SPURS, GO!

Well, it's been a long while since I last posted. Almost a month! I can't say that I've been overly busy, just normally busy.

Since I last wrote, friends have graduated and moved away, they've gone off to start summer internships or summer camp-ships, or just have gotten married. It's funny how in college, May, August and December are times of change for every student. New class loads, new jobs, new lives. And when you graduate, you just kind of assume that will end for a while and you'll become part of the working world where nothing really has a definite end. There are no mid-semester breaks, holiday breaks, or summer breaks - it's all just a plain calendar with every work day reserved as .. a work day. Of course, unless you join back into the school system and that stays part of your life. (I swear, I'm not complaining about my summer break!)

I guess I just assumed that things would stay the same for a while. Wrong!!

I attended a wedding this last weekend with a bunch of people I knew from highschool. Now, I won't pretend that I have ever really been "friends" with these people, but I did hang out with them in the large group setting and at church and what not, but they didn't really know me and still don't (which I'm okay with). But, while at the wedding, when I looked out at the dance floor or around the room, I became jealous a little. Certainly not because my friend got married, I'm only miniscule-ly (?) jealous of that. But more so because they were with their friends and they were having a great time. I couldn't help but think about what the day will look like when one of my really good friends gets married and we all get to meet up and celebrate and have an awesome time together reminiscing and just hanging out again.

Basically, this weekend made me .. yearn for my summer.

I can't wait to hang out with all of my friends, even though we'll never all be together at once. Ginger and Wendy are coming to visit and I'm sure I'll get a chance to see Menges and Kat this summer and probably even go see Patrice!!

All of this makes it sound like I have no friends around here, which is not true. I get to see Karen and Thomas and Cheryl and probably even Lauren on a pretty regular basis.

Anywho, sorry if that was sallow or sad, but it was on my mind this weekend, and that is what a blog is for. :)

I'm already blessed to have the friends that I do.

Off to soccer camp!!