Saturday, February 28, 2009
My Brothers
Last night while hanging out together at the Memorial Union, I thought it would be nice to get a picture of my brothers and I, since we haven't had one in years. Little did I remember how hard it was to get just ONE picture of us all smiling at the same time. O brothers, I sure love you in all of your craziness. :)
Thursday, February 26, 2009
Tuesday, February 24, 2009
Sunday, February 22, 2009
Saturday, February 21, 2009
Valentine's Day Weekend
I have felt so incredibly blessed and loved the past few weeks. Last weekend was Valentines Day weekend. Lets just say that Morgan Meyers and I were super lucky gals and got to go to 2 Valentines Day events. Morgan's brother Cole (they're in the picture below) is actively involved with Alive, the "Rock" of Drake University in Des Moines. He invited her and I to come down for their Valentines event. It was a very fun evening, the theme of the entertainment being "America's Got Talent". Lets just say there was quite a bit of hilarious talent. It was great to be able to see some of my dear friends from Drake as well. Here are some pics of the evening:
I played at First United Methodist Church in downtown DSM Sunday morning. This was the first "paid gig" I've ever had. It was a huge, beautiful church. I loved playing in it-- what a treat! Morgan and I left after that to return to Ames to get ready for Valentines event #2! The Renovation guys took us out to dinner, followed by all the teams coming together at 7:30 at Zeke's. The guys had beautiful tables with dessert trays for us. The Renovation guys made us a video (which I posted a few days ago)that made my stomach hurt from laughing so much. Here's Valentines Day #2 (the group picture is the Renovation team- my ministry team at the Rock):
I went to bed Sunday night feeling so loved. Thank you Alive and Rock men so very much for serving us, and making us feel like princesses on Valentine's Day. I have no doubt that God was smiling down on both events. I'm SO thankful for your loving hearts. :-)
I played at First United Methodist Church in downtown DSM Sunday morning. This was the first "paid gig" I've ever had. It was a huge, beautiful church. I loved playing in it-- what a treat! Morgan and I left after that to return to Ames to get ready for Valentines event #2! The Renovation guys took us out to dinner, followed by all the teams coming together at 7:30 at Zeke's. The guys had beautiful tables with dessert trays for us. The Renovation guys made us a video (which I posted a few days ago)that made my stomach hurt from laughing so much. Here's Valentines Day #2 (the group picture is the Renovation team- my ministry team at the Rock):
I went to bed Sunday night feeling so loved. Thank you Alive and Rock men so very much for serving us, and making us feel like princesses on Valentine's Day. I have no doubt that God was smiling down on both events. I'm SO thankful for your loving hearts. :-)
Good ol' Oswald
The Lord never ceases to speak to me through my daily "My Utmost for His Highest" reading. Oswald Chambers had an amazing gift of communicating God's truths. This past week, there have been SO many things that have stood out and clearly spoken to me.
"Has the way in which you have been serving God betrayed you into exhaustion? If so, then rally your affections..... you have no right to say- "O Lord, I am so exhausted." He saved and sanctified you in order to exhaust you. Be exhausted for God, but remember that your supply comes from Him. "All my fresh springs shall be in Thee.""
This one tied in perfectly with the message at the Rock tonight, on the first few chapters of Acts.
"We do not consciously disobey God, we simply do not heed Him. God has given us His commands; there they are, but we do not pay any attention to them, not because of wilful disobedience but because we do not love and respect Him. "If you love Me, you will keep My commandments."
"When the Spirit of God comes He doesn't give us visions. He tells us to do the most ordinary things conceivable. Depression is apt to turn us away from the ordinary commonplace things of God's creation, but whenever God comes, the inspiration is to do the most natural simple things- the things we would never have imagined GOd was in, and as we do them we find He is there."
"Dreaming about a thing in order to do it properly is right; but dreaming about it when we should be doing it is wrong. When we are getting into contact with God in order to find out wha tHe wants, dreaming is right; but when we are inclined to spend our time in dreaming over what we have been told to do, it is a bad thing and God's blessing is never on it..... Leave Him to be the source of all your dreams and joys and delights, and go out and obey what He has said. Dreaming after God has spoken is an indication that we do not trust Him."
"Has the way in which you have been serving God betrayed you into exhaustion? If so, then rally your affections..... you have no right to say- "O Lord, I am so exhausted." He saved and sanctified you in order to exhaust you. Be exhausted for God, but remember that your supply comes from Him. "All my fresh springs shall be in Thee.""
This one tied in perfectly with the message at the Rock tonight, on the first few chapters of Acts.
"We do not consciously disobey God, we simply do not heed Him. God has given us His commands; there they are, but we do not pay any attention to them, not because of wilful disobedience but because we do not love and respect Him. "If you love Me, you will keep My commandments."
"When the Spirit of God comes He doesn't give us visions. He tells us to do the most ordinary things conceivable. Depression is apt to turn us away from the ordinary commonplace things of God's creation, but whenever God comes, the inspiration is to do the most natural simple things- the things we would never have imagined GOd was in, and as we do them we find He is there."
"Dreaming about a thing in order to do it properly is right; but dreaming about it when we should be doing it is wrong. When we are getting into contact with God in order to find out wha tHe wants, dreaming is right; but when we are inclined to spend our time in dreaming over what we have been told to do, it is a bad thing and God's blessing is never on it..... Leave Him to be the source of all your dreams and joys and delights, and go out and obey what He has said. Dreaming after God has spoken is an indication that we do not trust Him."
Tuesday, February 17, 2009
A Few of my Favorite "Misunderstood" Animals
Platypus
The White Faced Saki Monkey
Tarsier
Star Nosed Mole
Aye-Aye
Proboscis Monkey
English Angora Rabbit
The White Faced Saki Monkey
Tarsier
Star Nosed Mole
Aye-Aye
Proboscis Monkey
English Angora Rabbit
Monday, February 16, 2009
I Love the Renovation Guys
Here's the video the Renovation guys made the gals for V-Day.
I had cramps from laughing so loud after watching this last night at the V-Day event.
Whoever said laughter was the best medicine was onto something. It's not the best, but it's up there. :)
Another Valentine's Day post coming soon!!
p.s. Check out the traffic counter on the right! Over 1,000 visits!
**High Five to you!**
I had cramps from laughing so loud after watching this last night at the V-Day event.
Whoever said laughter was the best medicine was onto something. It's not the best, but it's up there. :)
Another Valentine's Day post coming soon!!
p.s. Check out the traffic counter on the right! Over 1,000 visits!
**High Five to you!**
Tuesday, February 10, 2009
My life is all ABOUT random things!
This is the latest thing going around facebook. I'm a pretty strange odd-ball person, which makes it pretty easy to think of 25 weird things about myself.
1. I eat a bowl of cereal every night before I go to bed. It’s something I grew up doing with my older brother. At my apartment, I have a spoon that I stole from my parent's house I use to eat cereal with. Eating with any other spoon is just weird to me.
2. I like to write music. My inspiration seems to come in phases, but usually I’ll get the music first, then words but sometimes in the opposite order.
3. I love to watch inspirational sports films. That statement is ironic because I’m not a huge fan of sports themselves. I know, weird. A few of my favorites are “Glory Road” and “Rudy”. After I watch those, I am unstoppable. I’ve started flying a few times after watching “Rudy”. For realz.
4. I’m a musician and all that comes with that: "unpredictable, emotional, dressing funny, fits of madness, talking about weird things, etc." -one of my favorite Jeromy Darling quotes
5. One of my main love languages is music. I love to burn mixes, send song lyrics to my family and friends. I'm good at picking out songs that could really speak to individuals right where they're at.
6. I received my TEFL certification in March of 2008, allowing me to be certified to teach English as a foreign language.
7. I totally loved playing pokemon cards when I was in elementary school. It bonded me and my brothers… (ha- the joys of being an only girl with two brothers!) and I remember thinking there were so many cute pokemon!!! I can remember having a pokemon card tournament in my basement with a bunch of church kids, and it was all boys and then myself and Ruth Anderson representing the girls! W00t!
8. I have a picture with George W. Bush. It was during my boy-hair days, which is why I have never made it public. Haha
9. I play the Irish tin whistle. I was introduced to it at Michigan State, and for that Christmas (2006) my cousin Andrew who had me for our cousin gift-exchange special ordered a tin whistle right from Dublin. I’ve been hooked since.
10. I have an adventurous heart. I love to travel, experience new things, cultures, people, languages, etc. I have been to Mexico, El Salvador, Canada, Germany and (soon to be) Spain. I hope to be able to experience as much of the world as I can.
11. I have always wanted a pet spider monkey. One of these days….
12. I have been sick about 10 times in the last 11 months or so. Funny, since I never struggled with getting sick before then. I started working at McFarland Clinic a year ago this February, and I’ve pinpointed that since I’ve started working there, I have gotten sick quite often, as I’m constantly around sick patients. Hopefully this means that my immunity is being built up….!
13. I am a trekkie. My mom is a trekkie. I was raised watching the Star Trek series and I LOVE IT! Our family vacation for 2 years in a row was going to Las Vegas and the biggest excitement was always going through the Star Trek exhibition that was there. (That's why my mom wanted to go....!) I can't wait for the new Star Trek movie to come out in May!!
14. I love green. Too much. I’m trying to “broaden my horizons” and get more non-green clothes, shoes, etc. because I just LOVE green! I definitely liked green before it was cool to like green. True fact.
15. If I could travel anywhere, it’d be New Zealand or Kenya.
16. I get cravings for different foods that usually last a week. I'll have a cheerios fling for a week, then move on to garlic bread or something crazy like that. I'm wack.
17. I'm pretty obsessed with mint chocolate. Mint chocolate chip ice cream, Andes mints, OHHHH I'm a huge sucker for mint chocolate. LOVE IT!
18. I’m a creeper. It’s true.
19. I’m a daddy’s girl. Through and through. My dad is my hero.
20. If I could live off one food for the rest of my life, it’d be Life cereal. Just the regular kind, none of that cinnamon stuff.
21. My mom, grandma and I took a cake decorating class together last spring at Hobby Lobby here in Ames. It was so much fun to spend that time together every week and learn how to make some sweet lookin’ cakes as 3 generations!!!
22. I’m amazing at making awkward moments even more awkward.
23. My favorite classical song is “Claire De Lune” by Debussy (my favorite composer!) and I LOVE the song “Sweet Lullaby” by Deep Forest. I have a strange passion for world music. And Swahili. Ok, that was like 3 things in one number. Woops. Ha!
24. I love thunderstorms!!!! I've always wanted to be a storm chaser!! Twister is one of my favorite movies.
25. I love movie soundtracks! Might sound weird, but if you play me any music score from a movie, there’s probably a 65% chance I’ll know what it is from.
1. I eat a bowl of cereal every night before I go to bed. It’s something I grew up doing with my older brother. At my apartment, I have a spoon that I stole from my parent's house I use to eat cereal with. Eating with any other spoon is just weird to me.
2. I like to write music. My inspiration seems to come in phases, but usually I’ll get the music first, then words but sometimes in the opposite order.
3. I love to watch inspirational sports films. That statement is ironic because I’m not a huge fan of sports themselves. I know, weird. A few of my favorites are “Glory Road” and “Rudy”. After I watch those, I am unstoppable. I’ve started flying a few times after watching “Rudy”. For realz.
4. I’m a musician and all that comes with that: "unpredictable, emotional, dressing funny, fits of madness, talking about weird things, etc." -one of my favorite Jeromy Darling quotes
5. One of my main love languages is music. I love to burn mixes, send song lyrics to my family and friends. I'm good at picking out songs that could really speak to individuals right where they're at.
6. I received my TEFL certification in March of 2008, allowing me to be certified to teach English as a foreign language.
7. I totally loved playing pokemon cards when I was in elementary school. It bonded me and my brothers… (ha- the joys of being an only girl with two brothers!) and I remember thinking there were so many cute pokemon!!! I can remember having a pokemon card tournament in my basement with a bunch of church kids, and it was all boys and then myself and Ruth Anderson representing the girls! W00t!
8. I have a picture with George W. Bush. It was during my boy-hair days, which is why I have never made it public. Haha
9. I play the Irish tin whistle. I was introduced to it at Michigan State, and for that Christmas (2006) my cousin Andrew who had me for our cousin gift-exchange special ordered a tin whistle right from Dublin. I’ve been hooked since.
10. I have an adventurous heart. I love to travel, experience new things, cultures, people, languages, etc. I have been to Mexico, El Salvador, Canada, Germany and (soon to be) Spain. I hope to be able to experience as much of the world as I can.
11. I have always wanted a pet spider monkey. One of these days….
12. I have been sick about 10 times in the last 11 months or so. Funny, since I never struggled with getting sick before then. I started working at McFarland Clinic a year ago this February, and I’ve pinpointed that since I’ve started working there, I have gotten sick quite often, as I’m constantly around sick patients. Hopefully this means that my immunity is being built up….!
13. I am a trekkie. My mom is a trekkie. I was raised watching the Star Trek series and I LOVE IT! Our family vacation for 2 years in a row was going to Las Vegas and the biggest excitement was always going through the Star Trek exhibition that was there. (That's why my mom wanted to go....!) I can't wait for the new Star Trek movie to come out in May!!
14. I love green. Too much. I’m trying to “broaden my horizons” and get more non-green clothes, shoes, etc. because I just LOVE green! I definitely liked green before it was cool to like green. True fact.
15. If I could travel anywhere, it’d be New Zealand or Kenya.
16. I get cravings for different foods that usually last a week. I'll have a cheerios fling for a week, then move on to garlic bread or something crazy like that. I'm wack.
17. I'm pretty obsessed with mint chocolate. Mint chocolate chip ice cream, Andes mints, OHHHH I'm a huge sucker for mint chocolate. LOVE IT!
18. I’m a creeper. It’s true.
19. I’m a daddy’s girl. Through and through. My dad is my hero.
20. If I could live off one food for the rest of my life, it’d be Life cereal. Just the regular kind, none of that cinnamon stuff.
21. My mom, grandma and I took a cake decorating class together last spring at Hobby Lobby here in Ames. It was so much fun to spend that time together every week and learn how to make some sweet lookin’ cakes as 3 generations!!!
22. I’m amazing at making awkward moments even more awkward.
23. My favorite classical song is “Claire De Lune” by Debussy (my favorite composer!) and I LOVE the song “Sweet Lullaby” by Deep Forest. I have a strange passion for world music. And Swahili. Ok, that was like 3 things in one number. Woops. Ha!
24. I love thunderstorms!!!! I've always wanted to be a storm chaser!! Twister is one of my favorite movies.
25. I love movie soundtracks! Might sound weird, but if you play me any music score from a movie, there’s probably a 65% chance I’ll know what it is from.
Monday, February 9, 2009
Love Love Love
Neato story-o. (I'm trying to improve my Spanglish...)
A gal on our team (Renovation) needed to go to the doctor because she had been very sick, but she didn't have health insurance and couldn't pay for the visit. I found out about it, emailed my team late that night asking if anyone was able to chip in some $ to get her a doctor's appointment. When I woke up the next morning, I had 6 emails from team members, saying "I'll chip in $10" or "I've got $20 for it!" The last email I opened up (this was merely 8 hours after I sent out the email the night before) said "I'm going to swing by a blank check for her to take to the appointment." She got into the doctor that very day!
This was SO encouraging! I teared up when I saw my team's response to the need. God gave me a clear picture of what love is all about that day.
(this was about 2.5 weeks ago)
A gal on our team (Renovation) needed to go to the doctor because she had been very sick, but she didn't have health insurance and couldn't pay for the visit. I found out about it, emailed my team late that night asking if anyone was able to chip in some $ to get her a doctor's appointment. When I woke up the next morning, I had 6 emails from team members, saying "I'll chip in $10" or "I've got $20 for it!" The last email I opened up (this was merely 8 hours after I sent out the email the night before) said "I'm going to swing by a blank check for her to take to the appointment." She got into the doctor that very day!
This was SO encouraging! I teared up when I saw my team's response to the need. God gave me a clear picture of what love is all about that day.
(this was about 2.5 weeks ago)
Thursday, February 5, 2009
Songs for February, Peeps!!
Here we goooooooooooo!!!
1. Be Ok- Ingrid Michaelson
2. A Dustland Fairytale- The Killers
3. Pleasing to You- Desperation Band
4. This is Life- Jared Anderson
5. Half-life- Duncan Sheik
6. I Am- Jill Phillips
7. When I Think About the Lord- Shane & Shane
8. Lonely People- Jars of Clay
9. Keys to the Kingdom- Group 1 Crew
10. You Found Me- The Fray
11. College Kids- Relient K
12. Light On- David Cook
13. Steady Now- Brandon Heath
14. Reason Why- Rachael Yamagata
15. Whatever You're Doing (Something Heavenly)- Sanctus Real
16. Get Up- Mary Mary
17. Daylight- Remedy Drive
18. That's Not My Name- The Ting Tings (I hate and love this song at the same time. It's really weird.)
19. House of God, Forever- Jon Foreman (Wonderful song Paul used in his message last Friday night at the Rock)
20. I Surrender- Vineyard Music (This was a special at Faithwalkers 2 years ago.)
1. Be Ok- Ingrid Michaelson
2. A Dustland Fairytale- The Killers
3. Pleasing to You- Desperation Band
4. This is Life- Jared Anderson
5. Half-life- Duncan Sheik
6. I Am- Jill Phillips
7. When I Think About the Lord- Shane & Shane
8. Lonely People- Jars of Clay
9. Keys to the Kingdom- Group 1 Crew
10. You Found Me- The Fray
11. College Kids- Relient K
12. Light On- David Cook
13. Steady Now- Brandon Heath
14. Reason Why- Rachael Yamagata
15. Whatever You're Doing (Something Heavenly)- Sanctus Real
16. Get Up- Mary Mary
17. Daylight- Remedy Drive
18. That's Not My Name- The Ting Tings (I hate and love this song at the same time. It's really weird.)
19. House of God, Forever- Jon Foreman (Wonderful song Paul used in his message last Friday night at the Rock)
20. I Surrender- Vineyard Music (This was a special at Faithwalkers 2 years ago.)
Wednesday, February 4, 2009
A Refreshing Article Blurb
I was refreshed to hear an author speaking up against the "Twilight" series, as I've had issues with how her series are doing harm to teenage girls- and women in general. Although I think Stephen King was too blunt and could have used kinder words, it was nice to see someone else was noticing the effect of this series of books which have swept the country. I read two of the books and stopped, knowing they were doing more harm than good.
"Horror writer Stephen King has served up a fright for Twilight author Stephenie Meyers, insisting she "can't write worth a darn".
King, the writer of classics like Carrie and Misery, has gone public with his critique of in-vogue Utah-based novelist Meyers in the upcoming issue of USA Weekend magazine.
He starts by complimenting J.K. Rowling on her Harry Potter books, and then slates Meyer.
He says, "Both Rowling and Meyer, they’re speaking directly to young people... The real difference is that Jo Rowling is a terrific writer and Stephenie Meyer can’t write worth a darn. She’s not very good.
"It’s very clear that she’s writing to a whole generation of girls and opening up kind of a safe joining of love and sex in those books. It’s exciting and it’s thrilling and it’s not particularly threatening because it’s not overtly sexual.
"A lot of the physical side of it is conveyed in things like the vampire will touch her forearm or run a hand over skin, and she just flushes all hot and cold. And for girls, that’s a shorthand for all the feelings that they’re not ready to deal with yet.""
THANK YOU, S.K.!!!
"Horror writer Stephen King has served up a fright for Twilight author Stephenie Meyers, insisting she "can't write worth a darn".
King, the writer of classics like Carrie and Misery, has gone public with his critique of in-vogue Utah-based novelist Meyers in the upcoming issue of USA Weekend magazine.
He starts by complimenting J.K. Rowling on her Harry Potter books, and then slates Meyer.
He says, "Both Rowling and Meyer, they’re speaking directly to young people... The real difference is that Jo Rowling is a terrific writer and Stephenie Meyer can’t write worth a darn. She’s not very good.
"It’s very clear that she’s writing to a whole generation of girls and opening up kind of a safe joining of love and sex in those books. It’s exciting and it’s thrilling and it’s not particularly threatening because it’s not overtly sexual.
"A lot of the physical side of it is conveyed in things like the vampire will touch her forearm or run a hand over skin, and she just flushes all hot and cold. And for girls, that’s a shorthand for all the feelings that they’re not ready to deal with yet.""
THANK YOU, S.K.!!!
I'm So Excited!!!!
I CAN'T wait for this movie to come out in May!!!! I grew up watching this show and these movies.
I'm a trekkie. It's true.
:)
I'm a trekkie. It's true.
:)
Tuesday, February 3, 2009
My Yesterday Experience
This is a flashback from my English class I went to yesterday morning.
Walk into class. Teacher has us move desks into a circle, for discussion. Teacher intends to talk to us about an article only 2 students had read (due to assignment confusion). We end up talking about whether or not guys should wear yoga pants for 10 minutes. I know-- WHAT?!
Teacher ends up continuing the enlightening conversation by asking students to raise their hands if they're enjoying the class so far. All but myself and Angie, a friend sitting next to me raise their hands. Teacher singles out Ang, asking her if she didn't raise her hand.
Ang: "No, I didn't."
-class gets completely quiet-
Teacher: "Well, why not? You don't enjoy this class?"
Ang: "Honestly, no I don't."
Teacher: "Well why not? Is it the assignments or is it me?"
Ang: doesn't answer
Teacher: "Is it the assignments you don't like?"
Ang: "No, the assignments are fine."
Teacher: "Oh, so it's me you don't like."
Ang: "I didn't say that and I don't appreciate being put on the spot in front of the whole class!"
Teacher: "Well what don't you like? What would you change?"
Ang: "I'm not comfortable talking about this right now. You're the teacher and what you decide to do, I will follow. I just think the classes could be a little more productive, like right now I could be doing homework instead of just talking about random things in here."
Teacher: "Well, I'm disappointed about this. We'll call class quits for today since we really can't get anything done (since nobody had done the reading for discussion.)
It was about a 20 minute long class. Since when is it ok for teachers to ask their classes to raise their hands if they're enjoying the class? That's what evaluations are for at the end of the semester. Singling people out too? And asking them why they don't enjoy the class, in front of the entire class? I'm sorry, but not ok. That easily could have been me, as I was the other person who didn't raise my hand. I understand that she is a graduate student teacher and doesn't have a lot of experience, but isn't that just common sense? I think my standards for people in general are just too high...
Walk into class. Teacher has us move desks into a circle, for discussion. Teacher intends to talk to us about an article only 2 students had read (due to assignment confusion). We end up talking about whether or not guys should wear yoga pants for 10 minutes. I know-- WHAT?!
Teacher ends up continuing the enlightening conversation by asking students to raise their hands if they're enjoying the class so far. All but myself and Angie, a friend sitting next to me raise their hands. Teacher singles out Ang, asking her if she didn't raise her hand.
Ang: "No, I didn't."
-class gets completely quiet-
Teacher: "Well, why not? You don't enjoy this class?"
Ang: "Honestly, no I don't."
Teacher: "Well why not? Is it the assignments or is it me?"
Ang: doesn't answer
Teacher: "Is it the assignments you don't like?"
Ang: "No, the assignments are fine."
Teacher: "Oh, so it's me you don't like."
Ang: "I didn't say that and I don't appreciate being put on the spot in front of the whole class!"
Teacher: "Well what don't you like? What would you change?"
Ang: "I'm not comfortable talking about this right now. You're the teacher and what you decide to do, I will follow. I just think the classes could be a little more productive, like right now I could be doing homework instead of just talking about random things in here."
Teacher: "Well, I'm disappointed about this. We'll call class quits for today since we really can't get anything done (since nobody had done the reading for discussion.)
It was about a 20 minute long class. Since when is it ok for teachers to ask their classes to raise their hands if they're enjoying the class? That's what evaluations are for at the end of the semester. Singling people out too? And asking them why they don't enjoy the class, in front of the entire class? I'm sorry, but not ok. That easily could have been me, as I was the other person who didn't raise my hand. I understand that she is a graduate student teacher and doesn't have a lot of experience, but isn't that just common sense? I think my standards for people in general are just too high...
