Winter wonderland

Not a drop of precipitation on the ground when I went to sleep last night.

Below is what I woke up to this morning! It was beautiful!

Nine days ago I was wearing sandals in Haiti... Today I put on my

knee high mud boots to keep my feet dry when a friend came to pick me up.

This day.

Today I found myself at Lowe's, Staples, and Wal-Mart with the secretary of my office and two cute senior adult ladies from her church. Oh the fun! It really was a fun morning with them. My problem came in at Wal-Mart. It is a store that I never go to! Today it's where they wanted to go so I went.

I had to go pee when I got there. So I went.

Remembering the mussings of my friend Lucy about the usage of a public toilet (you should go read here story). I decided against what I had been taught about the fine art of thigh burning hovering to avoid the germs. So, I sat on the toilet seat.

Got up and went to wash my hands. It was in that moment I realized there should be a new invention. My hands didn't feel dirty... However, my butt that went down on that seat dry and came back up less than dry was thinking through how I needed my butt cheeks washed not my hands!

Of course this doesn't even begin to describe what looked to be about a 4 year old on the babies changing table who had messed her diaper. Pretty sure most grown men don't even smell that bad! Whew... Can't wait to get back to Wal-Mart someday soon!

Standard vs Automatic

New Car is a standard. Old cars have ALL been automatic.

Recently I learned to drive a standard but still mostly drove an automatic. Today it was potentially icey outside so I drove my friend and her kiddos van to church. Normally we just all ride together but she drives. I drove though because I have been driving on the ice with not much of a problem.

We get to the bottom of her hill/driveway and I press the first pedal I can reach from the LEFT side. Because that's what you do when you're driving a standard. When you come to stop you have to press the first pedal to the left or the car dies.

Guess what pedal that is from the left side in an AUTOMATIC? Yes, it is the brake. Guess what my left foot thought it was? The clutch!

Result.

Everyone gets SLAMMED FORWARD!

Oops. My response. "Sorry, there's no clutch in this car."

Just about gave us all whiplash. Other than that driving a standard has been fine!

Car shopping

Car shopping. Due to some mechanical issues with my current car I needed to get another one. I did not think this would be too difficult. A good friend of mine took me in as one of his kids to make sure I saw lots of different cars and didn't get taken advantage of. Over the past month I have driven a million cars. Okay, maybe not a million but a bunch!

The question you first hear when you go to a car lot...

What are you looking for!

*Please disregard if you find this analogy insensitive as it is not written with an insensitive spirit.

That question to me (What are you looking for?) is much like asking Stevie Wonder what's your favorite color? He's blind does he really have one?

I had absolutely, positively NOOOOOOOOO IDEA!!! What I was looking for.

I knew what I wanted.

1. Cheap (used or new)

2. carries lots of people and stuff

3. good APR

4. good gas mileage

5. good ground clearance

6. good ratings

7. warranty of some sort

Problem?

1. nothing is cheap.

2. in order to carry people and stuff you sacrifice MPG

3. APR's were all different

4. ground clearance again involves the mileage issue. higher off the ground worse the mileage.

5. ratings are subjective

6. warranties cost more money!

Stupid car shopping.

That's what I went to bed thinking almost nightly for a month.

Keep in mind it's WINTER!

WINTER = COLD

WINTER = RAIN/SLEET/SNOW

This is what I went car shopping in. The most comical was perhaps this past weekend where we did drive through car shopping. We would see a car. Go park next to it and wait until the salesman came out so I could simply ask questions while sitting in the car rather than standing in the cold asking questions.

I decided it was enough. Found one last Saturday I liked. Went today and drove it home. Pretty excited I have this task complete! Sure do hate to make big decisions like this but I do not want to vomit yet and I purchased the car around 3:30 this afternoon so this is a good sign. Immediate vomiting urges after major decisions are never good.

The look of my new car is not the purdiest car in the world. Makes me think of a little movie clip. I can get 70 miles to the gallon on this hog.

It's functional and meets most of my odd set of criteria. Good price. Good APR. Holds 4 adults pretty comfy. Lots cargo space. Good gas mileage.

Meet my new to me car 2007 HHR!

I got up early this morning to work on school work. It's the first major day of sit down scholastic of the semester. Last friday night I worked for a few hours but today was the big day to get the semester organized. During that time I...

...called AT&T to let them know my internet connection sucked. They sent a repair tech and it's working good now.

...called the local trader newspaper to list my car for sale.

...researched new or new to me cars to possibly purchase.

...fine tuned my shopping list for the afternoon of getting parts for my new project (loft bed).

...hung curtains in my bedroom.

...Are you noticing a pattern here?

What you see described above is full blown overwhelmedness.

I went to town this afternoon and upon arriving home this evening I decided I was going to get serious and not be overwhelmed and get something accomplished. Since arriving home I have...

...chatted on facebook with best friend in Texas.

...called my big brother to find he was still at work.

...skyped with my mom for the first time.

...watched a new episode of NCIS.

...last but not least - blogged about my lack of scholastic motivation.

At least with all of these events I did have one of my school books sitting in my lap. Surely that must count for something. I started in the early hours of morning and now we're getting into the late hours of the evening. Where does time go?

11:59pm

What does such a time as 11:59pm represent? Well, it's like the new scholastic curfew. I have two online course and one on campus course this semester. Sunday night at 11:59pm is when class is officially over for the week. For the most part.

Friday afternoon I realized that at 11:59pm on Friday is one part of one class is over. Then you have until 11:59pm Sunday to complete a second part. Why does one class have two parts? I have no idea. So, Friday evening I was a little thrown off by this slight kink in my plans.

If you ever wonder what I'm doing Sunday night near the 11:59pm you can probably take one wild guess and be correct. Tonight I finished by 11pm so I'm doing good. There's probably some speculation out there that some of my procrastination tendencies would have changed since I am studying the Bible which I happen to enjoy. While I do enjoy studying the Word, doing an assignment is not study to me. Therefore, procrastination is in full force!

oh well... Better late then never.

Or as my famous line from college goes

Procrastination = deadline driven

The House!

Below are the promised pics of the house you can obviously tell I am living in now. Just look for the stuff everywhere! The house is great! Double click on the video for it to take you to youtube so you can see the whole picture. For some reason it is cutting off the picture in the blog.

Lesson Learned

Do you know why you should never eat chocolate pudding out of a cup?

You can't lick it clean.

Photos compliments of the camera on my new computer.

Still hoping to take pictures of my house tomorrow for folks to see. As well as a couple of birthday presents I am working on for some sweet kiddos I know.

Nothing major

No pictures. At this very moment I think my camera is at my office. Or atleast that's where it was last time I used it last week.

Tonight you will find me sitting in my near completed house! Really, a real house! Walls, toilet, shower, bed (on a bed frame) the whole nine yards. I would say ten yards if I had a stove to cook on. That's a work in progress. Perhaps I will have a functioning stove by tomorrow. That would be great considering I have a pampered chef party tomorrow evening!

A friend is starting to sell it so another friend of mine and I are co-hosting a party. Should be fun.

Currently in the house I have my major furniture. Including a great new TV and electric fireplace I got for Christmas! With that tv I have it hooked up to rabbit ears and can actually get FIVE channels! It's pretty amazing for someone who hasn't had any channels in a few years.

I got the internet hooked up last week at the house as well since I started my online seminary classes today. Pretty sure I don't need more than five channels to distract from what I need to be doing.

Not going to lie but I probably won't have pictures on here until Saturday but I do hope to have them by the weekend. My house really does look great!

If you're ever in the area swing by and check it out.

Hmmm... That's not good.

If there is one particular phrase I have heard over and over since the construction on my new house began six months ago it would be this. Hmm... That's not good. Or Hmm... That ain't right. Hmm... is the bad news indicator! It's a dead give away to the fact that something has been messed up. Yesterday afternoon Mike went to turn on the bathtub which he thought was working. Only to find NO water coming out. What did I hear? Hmm... I cut him off before he can finish and asked what now? He replies there's no water coming out. But he'll fix it tomorrow. Sure enough this was one of those he could and did fix today. No pictures but I do have a toilet that flushes. When the water is turned on. It's getting close. Yet, it's still a ways away from moving in. Wall colors. I picked out what I thought were great colors with the help of more artistic people. We had been working long hours on the house for a couple of weeks. On top of my normal job and school work at night. I was exhausted. We had been sanding sheet rock for two days now it's time to paint. Ceiling paint goes up first. Mike begins to spray. Stops and what do I hear? Yep, Hmm... This time it was followed by "you might want to come look at this." Celing looked similar to post it note yellow. Not the lovely shade of cream I had picked out. No tears, yet. A little investigation shows that they mixed the wrong paint for us. Mike assures me it's no big deal we can go the next morning to get the right color. We went ahead and finisehd spraying out the whole ceiling in the wrong color so it had an even coat on it. Then it's wall time. Mike begins to spray and I hear his machine turn off. This time the Hmm... is skipped all together. I simply hear, "Lindsey (followed by silence)." I walk back to my room where he started and literally. Not joking. It looks like someone has melted Hershey chocolate bars and has smeared them on my walls. (Don't forget we have exhaustion, post it note yellow ceilings and now chocolate candy bar walls.) The eyes begin to water up at this point. I said that's not the color I picked out. Optimistic Mike says maybe it will dry lighter. He finishes spraying the whole house and go behind him and roll it. He assures me we can buy new paint if I hate it. Mike leaves for the day. I cry. Lots. Call my mom to explain the awful situation. She too assures me to just go buy new paint. Got off the phone with her and went home for the evening. While we were getting dinner plates my friends ask me about the paint. Tears almost came rushing out again. All I could say was the ceiling color is wrong and I hate the walls. The next day was Thanksgiving and I didn't go back until that night. They weren't that awful anymore. Note to self... Never panic over paint until 24 hours later. They were still a little dark but not too bad. Needed a second coat so I decided to go ONE shade. Barely even notice a difference lighter. Mike begins to spray. Machine turns off. All I can think is YOU HAVE GOT TO BE KIDDING ME WHAT NOW? This looks like an off white! Mike said what do you want me to do? I said spray the house it's going to be my new favorite color! Ended up not being too bad. I think I liked the darker better but they still look fine. That's the latest on the house situation. Hope you enjoy the pictures!

Make a Smilebox slideshow

Slight Train Wreck

Pictured above is an excellent portrayal of what occurred last night due to my error in communication. A sweet lady in my church lost her husband about 3 weeks ago. Last night I decided to go visit with her for a bit. The plan was to go there and visit then head back to the office to work on school. This plan was discussed with my friend P who makes sure I stay safe. I generally always try to let someone know where I am at all times or at least the general plan of what I'll be doing.

Well, the visit turned out a bit longer than anticipated. I got to hear this sweet ladies heart... She spoke of the first time she met her dear husband up until the very last breath he took while laying in their living room. We discussed life and all that it entails. More than anything I got to hear what she calls her "Journey" in life. Which is a phrase I have often used myself for life. It is a continual journey. This particular sweet lady has had several other deaths in her family over the past few months. Under normal circumstances she herself should be a train wreck. While there were tears shed in our chatting last night she never lost the joy in her eyes. Her hope is set on things far above that of this earth. It was refreshing to sit with her.

What I did not know was the train wreck I was causing. I left my cell phone in the car. My friend P who always makes sure I'm safe had no clue if I was safe or not. Typically I get back to there house around 11pm where I am staying until my house is complete. The phone rang at 12:20 at this sweet ladies house and it was the husband of my dear friend. He was home with kiddos while my friend was out looking for me. They had also called another couple to see if they knew where I was. That couple was out searching for me as well. Train wreck!

I got home around 12:40. Went straight to bed still unaware of the complete train wreck. This morning I apologized to my friend for causing her to panic. She had a less than favorable face to make at me and had less than favorable words to share. She was scared to death that I was not safe. I felt awful.

Then my other friends who had been out looking for me as well called to make sure my dear friend did not kill me as she had insisted she was going to do last night when I got home.

I hate that I caused so much chaos but I have thanked God all day for being reminded last night just how much I am loved by people in my life. My safety would have been of no concern if there was no love involved. To my family who wonders if I am being taken care of out in TN. Rest assured I am being watched after.

Moral of the story... Communication is the key.

2nd moral of the story... Age does not remove curfews! :)

3rd moral of the story... Next time I go visit the sweet lady from church

just take pajamas and spend the night!

True Story

I'm sure to someone somewhere in this world a raccoon is just so cute and cuddly. They look similar to a cat with the hair and long tail. However, when I think of raccoon I picture more of what is found in the next picture!

Let me share a brief story why...

No really, it has to be brief because I have school to be working.

Friday afternoon we had a group check into camp. We fixed them dinner but most of their group showed up around 8pm and not 5:30 as they had planned. Supper was a little late. I got back to the office about 9 and worked on a few things. About 10-11 I worked on school work. Then at 11 one of my summer missionaries from last year called. We chatted close to an hour.

So, it's 12 o'clock. I'm a little tired since I've been at work since 9am. I go out to my car. Something seems to be moving in my back seat perhaps a gust of wind has blown through (not sure how b/c the windows were up). As I am opening the door I look back into the back seat to see a shadow movie. Then the shadow is JUMPING TOWARDS ME! I am almost certain it looked just like the picture above! (Okay maybe that's a little dramatic). I jump out of the way as what appears to be a raccoon comes jumping out of my own car at me! Paralyzed I just stood there. Too shocked to scream or cry. My heart was going 90 to nothing. I had almost been mauled by a coon.

Moral of the story...

Always close the sunroof on your car...

Recent drive

Since my nephew was little I have called him Booger Butt. Sometimes it comes out as Booger Roo. I use to love saying that to him on the phone when he was with my mom. I could hear him put the phone down and laughingly say, "Nana, she called me booger butt." He and Nana would laugh about it and then he could carry on the conversation with me. Now, he knows exactly who he's talking to when I say, "Hey Booger butt whatcha doin'?" Yes, perhaps it's not the prettiest name but it makes him giggle. Which makes me smile.

On the drive home from church this past Wednesday I was on the phone with Ty. The conversation started as all do with him by calling him Booger Butt. I was riding with my dear friend and her 4 kiddos. They are great. However, using the word butt is not appropriate for their ears. As a whole I do try to stick with that but I didn't think much about it because it's what I always call my nephew. When I got off the phone they began to ask why I called him that so I explained it to them. Then one of their kiddos begins to tell me about a floor matt they saw in a magazine the other day. She thought I would have liked it. Her mom, my dear friend rolled her eyes because she knew what matt she was talking about. I asked what it said... Then I almost fell out of my seat in the car from laughter. Below you will find what the matt said. Now that's just funny to me!

A couple of pics

Just thought I'd throw in a couple of pictures from this week.

No, I do not know how to sew on my own. With the help of my dear friend though it goes alright when I sit down at a sewing machine. My dear friend decided that she'd like to try quilting. Then she ran across an organization collecting quilts to give to homeless children. For those who are like me and are quilting ignorant here's a brief explanation. Each of the four matching squares is a block. We asked ladies in our church to help make the blocks. Then once we received those my dear friend penned them together while I sewed them together. Next step is to actually turn it into a quilt. I will be there for moral support and a fountain Pepsi to offer my utmost support but that part will be done by the one who actually knows how to sew!

I've sewed a few times only at the table with my dear friend near by to offer help. More times than not I get a little... Okay, that's a lie. I get ALOT frustrated when I sew. My biggest issue was running the dang sewing machine. For the life of me I couldn't figure out how to get that little string to make lines. This time around i really wanted to figure this out. I asked my dear friend to sit down and show me once more how to thread the machine. In .5 seconds she does it and says, "that's all you do." I looked back at her and explained that she might have well just done brain surgery on someone and then looked at me like okay it's your turn now!

She goes to the other room to continue pinning all the blocks. My determination kicks in. This is ridiculous. It's a little piece of string... I can do this! I take the string out backwards. Seeing how it goes through all the different spots. Finally, it made sense!! Now the bobbin is still a little hard but I'm going to master that one day too.

That's me with my hair pulled up for the first time in a long time! I'm standing on the porch of MY HOUSE! Unique feature of this house is found right there on the porch. Most porches have a simple safety railing on the porch. I have a privacy fence on mine! Yes, I am standing straight up and not bending at all. That's how tall my railing is. Not sure exactly how it got that tall but I'm not complaining. Soon, hopefully soon, I'm going to have a closet in that house. No, I'm going to have two closets! I can't wait!!

Two perplexing issues to me

Two things in life I don't believe I have ever fully understand.

1. Jazzercise or Aerobics (can you see ME doing that in the picture?)

I don't remember all the circumstances around it but in high school for a period of time one winter when it was too cold to workout outside one of our coaches thought doing jazzercise/aerobics would be a great idea. Hold the phone. I did not do jazz to anything. I refused to do it. This particular coach thought she would show me who was boss. I was sitting a chair in the back while everyone did that mess. I sat there shaking my head. Not gonna do it! She tells me to come to the front row. Not expecting my surprise. I had no problem coming to the front row. And I brought my chair with me. Sat down right in front of her. Assuring her again I did not do that and she wasn't going to convince me otherwise. I sat in the chair the remainder of that class. I do believe that was the last time she brought a jazzercisse video to athletics class.

Yes, I'm sure there would have be athletic benefits to it. But what you need to remember is that I did not want to do that. Period. End of story. Pretty sure if you were in my mom's office as she is reading this you'd probably see her laughing out loud! She raised me, she knows! If you could see my dad reading this from his recliner he's just shaking his head and belly laughing. He raised me, he knows! (Not to mention the fact mom says I got this trait from him). :) There was absolutely nothing in that coaches power to get me to do that. There was no threat in the world that would have worked. I had it settled in my mind I was not going to participate in that. Hence, dragging my chair to the front row to sit down.

Which leads me to the second thing in life I'll never understand.

2. Obedience

As shown by my very true first story obedience has never been real high on my spiritual gift survey shall we say. Pretty sure if Seiring is reading this she too is getting a good laugh. Seeing how she drove 4 hours to my college graduation yes to show her support but more so to make sure I really did graduate. She knew this mindset in me that often got in the way. I know people who have no problem doing exactly what they're told when they are told to do it. Whatever gene that is I'm pretty sure mine has gone dormit or has just plain disappeared. I have questions. Lots and lots of questions. I have an insatiable desire to understand. I didn't see how jazzercise was going to benefit me. Thus, I wasn't going to do it.

If you can convince me that something is beneficial and worthwhile then you'll never have to think twice about my obedience. It will be done in a heart beat. But at the ounce of a question you better take time to help me understand before I pull the chair to the front row and sit down.

Tonight is one of those obedient issues.

I've gone back to college for a Master's in Biblical Counseling. I pretty much hated every minute of my academic career after they removed nap time come 1st grade. It was shot for me. I made it through elementary due to recess time. I made it through middle school and high school because you had to go to class to play sports. I made it through college because I was too scared to call my Mama to tell her I had dropped out. Now onto my Masters!? What?!?

That's what I think almost everyday that I have to pull out my books to work on my classes. I have nine hours and it's midterms this week. (Yes, I am fully aware I should be studying and not blogging but I needed a break). Tonight I was reminded again about this thing we call obedience. I do not want to be doing school. I want to be hanging out with people. I want to be watching TV or movies. I want to be doing something.... ANYTHING... other than sitting by myself working on SCHOOL! But it is for the sake of obedience that I am doing school. I do not know for sure what I have gone back but I simply know it is something the Lord drew my heart to do. It is out of a heart of obedience I will continue this scholastic endeavor and lonely nights for the next 3.5 semesters. Hopefully in that time frame God will show me what this is all about before I pull my chair to the front row leaving my books in the back and say forget it, I'm done!

Maybe one of God's major points is just to teach me another lesson in obedience even when I don't understand. If only I could've learned this lesson years ago. Perhaps my younger years could have proved less stressful to those around me.

Even though I will never understand jazzercise nor will I ever participate in it I hope God continues to teach me about obedience and the joys it truly can bring.

May-October 2009

Make a Smilebox slideshow

Sorry for the delayed life happenings. It's been a busy 5 months to say the least.

- A friend's little girl experienced a moment of faith through baptism.

- Summer staff came to work with us for 10 weeks and we had a great time of orientation!

- The garden grew some serious beans!!

- Ran away to Boston to see best friend from big VA and her husband. Arrived Friday around lunch and departed Sunday around 11am. Quick but great trip! Saw Fenway Park, REAL whales, Cheers Pub, and lots of Boston history! Road the subway EVERYWHERE.

- Got kicked out of my basement apartment. :(

- Getting a house built for me on campus complete with cool wrap around front porch! :)

I think that hits most of the highlights over the past few months. The summer came and went. Lots of hours but saw the Lord do many things through many different people. The bug isn't working so hot right now but haven't had time to check into the problem. One problem is I ripped the drive side door off and now it won't shut. You have to hold it shut to drive down the road. So, the fact it doesn't want to start right now is not too big of a deal.

Another day...

Continuing from yesterday...

I thought of a verse for The Gambler that was left out.

Know when to hold'em

know when to fold'em

know when to walk away

know when to run

know when to laugh

know when to speak

know when to smack them

right in the mouth...

"smack'em in the mouth" is a favorite phrased used by one of the cooks that works with us during the summer time. I know, I know... But don't I work at a Christian camp? Yes, I do! That's the beauty of it. We do all love the Lord dearly but we also love to laugh and have fun too. Consequently sometimes we say silly things like "smack'em in the mouth."

Speaking of laughing, speaking and smack'em in the mouth. That makes me think of one of my all time favorite actors. Tyler Perry. I needed a good laugh tonight so I looked up some of his stuff on youtube. HILARIOUS!

The first clip is a phrase I think of often... Jesus just saved yo life. Oh the things I would do and say if it were not for my Jesus. I do and say enough with him in my life. I'd be in trouble without him.

The second clip made me laugh so hard I cried the first time I ever saw it. I think I might have wet myself a little I was laughing so hard. "They don't know me... I'm old school. I will beat them and ask questions later!" That's just funny.

The third clip is one for my mom. It is her personal favorite!

The thing about TV shows and movies is our ability to relate to characters. I think that's what draws me to Madea is she laughs, she speaks, and she smack'ems in the mouth! Cracks me up! But of course what is okay for entertainment value is not always deemed to be appropriate in the real world.

I do hope you enjoy and get a good laugh out of these!

Before you think my video choice is completely trash check out this next link.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pSsRZE8aPjg&feature=related

Sorry, but it wouldn't let me post the video on here. It's really a good song. And a reminder that we do have a Father who listens intently to our hearts. He is not distant even in difficult times.

*Disclaimer: the Bible does not condone smacking people in the mouth. Unless you were my mom growing up. :) Haha! I do apologize if you find these clips offensive. But they do make me laugh out loud. And I still love Jesus while I'm laughing at this stuff!

The Beauty of a Child...

That picture is not of any baby that I know just one I found online. The past two evenings I've had the joy of holding a newborn for a bit. A friend of mine here in Tennessee has a baby that is all of 9 days old today. For the life of me I have absolutely no understanding of how anyone could ever not want a baby. I realize they can get expensive and cause a good amount of stress in the life of parents. I realize it's probably a little scary to take one home from the hospital. But how in the world after looking at one do you just not want one?

I've found myself both last night and tonight not just holding the baby. I like to hold her in front of me and just look at her. The tiny hands and feet. The eyes, ears, nose, and mouth that are so precious. The innocence. The dependency to survive both physically and emotionally upon those that surround them. It just fascinates me.

The reality that the Lord knew completely of that child long before she was born. The reality that God formed that baby in her mother's womb. The reality of God's design to give women the ability to grow a child within their own body. How do you see that happen over a period of nine months and not believe that there is a God?

The beauty of a child is one that always has and I guess probably always will make my heart melt.