Crested Butte Ski Trip

So, as I mentioned in an earlier post... I went as a leader to Crested Butte with the TBC youth. What a fun time! It was great getting to know Shaun and Abby (our youth pastor and his wife) and Guy (another adult leader) better. It was a whirlwind trip, but full of memories. Of course, I'm sure the most memorable is the missing van keys. But, I'll get to that in a moment. We started out Friday night, so that we could drive straight through the night (hoping the kids would be less restless and would sleep -- in other words... leave the drivers alone. ha) We had an uneventful drive up until we got to Monarch Pass. It was a bit of a tense drive going over. But, we made it just fine. Here's a photo from my passenger seat (I drove the dead-of-night-middle-of-nowhere-Amarillo-to-Raton portion). The van/trailer in front of us is Shaun, Abby, and several kids:

Once we arrived in Crested Butte, it was time to grocery shop. Note to self -- Do not grocery shop after a 20+ hour drive with 18 teens. Talk about delirious decision making. The remainder of our time was spent skiing (well, for some!), playing Catch Phrase in a huge circle, cooking and eating, and hanging out. I did attempt to ski, but between my ineptitude and a so-so instructor, I was doomed. Someday I may try again. But, the second day of skiing of was a great day for the skiiers (lots of powder), so I chose not to weigh down any of our team with a crappy skier. :) Instead, I hung out around the lodge, drank overpriced coffee, and went down to the town to browse the cute little shopping district:

The day of our departure promised a storm in the afternoon. So, Shaun and the rest of us leaders decided leaving first thing Tuesday morning was wise (the kids were supposed to get in a half day skiing). So we start the packing up process with a departure time of 10:30. About 9 am, one of the girls asks for the van keys. Shaun can't find them. We do a little searching. Still no keys. More searching. No keys. Turn the couch cushions and Shaun's room upside down. NO KEYS. Okay, time a for leader meeting. Start looking at contingency plans which range from the ridiculous to the plausible to the most inconvenient. At one point, we think we've found them in the console of the (locked) van. Call a locksmith. Turn out to be Shaun's Xterra keys. Tear the van apart. No keys. We've moved on to just laughing at this point. What else are we going to do? The locksmith turns out to be our saving grace. He moves mountains for us to get things moving in the middle of the day, the day before Christmas Eve, in a small town. After many many phone calls with the rental company, the locksmith, the Gunnison (nearby town at the bottom of Mt. Crested Butte) Chevy dealership, and others, we find out we can indeed get a new key made. So starts the shuffling of kids down the mountain. I sit with a group at the Gunnison McDonalds, Abby sits with a group at the condo while Guy drives back and forth getting us all down. Shaun goes with the towed van to get our keys remade. After an hour or so at the McDonalds, Shaun calls me -- we have a key, he's on the way, Guy is bringing in the last of the kids, and we have a full ten minutes to get on the road before we lose daylight mid drive and therefore don't want to risk Monarch Pass. By the grace of God, we make it safely and we are officially on our way. At the time we originally planned to leave before our early departure decision was made.

We had some amazing kids on this trip. Such a fun group and also well-mannered. They were great at offering to help cook or clean up. Always remembered to say thank you to Abby and I after we cooked for them. And we also got a few compliments on a well behaved group from various locals. Including at the McDonalds where I contained half of them for over an hour during the van madness.

We pulled in to TBC right on time and I rushed home to do laundry and start the second part of my Christmas vacation... Omaha! The rest of the Ski Trip photos (nothing real exciting and all from my camera phone, but pretty nonetheless) can be found in my Facebook album.

MckMama's Rebel for a Cause

I just donated a small amount to MckMama's raffle-way, Rebel for a Cause. She has teamed up to create an AMAZING giveaway based on raffle tickets sold to donate money to three incredible ministries. MckMama has blessed me so much on her blog and in her story of her sweet baby Stellan and the miracle that God performed in her womb. And in her incredible sweet way, she has created a way for her blog readers to recieve something while supporting these awesome ministries. I would be totally blown away if I won this incredible Canon package; but more than anything, I just wanted to be a part of this in some little way. And, yes, my donation was very small. But, one thing that I have learned while raising money for missions trips... God takes a small amount and simply multiplies it. There is no other way to explain it. It just multiplies. Like the fish and the loaves of bread. So, God, multiply my donation and send it on it's way to bless many hearts.

Home for the Holidays at TBC

This past weekend our church did a huge event called Home for the Holidays. It was actually a two day event filled with all sorts of fun! We started out Saturday morning with a luncheon and tea for the ladies. We had somewhere around 25 tables set up. A different woman (or sometimes two) in the church was responsible for decorating and hosting each table. I shared a table with our music pastor's wife, Amanda. I had a lot of fun getting to know her a little bit better while we were setting up the table and then on throughout the morning. Here's a photo of our finished table with our combined decorating items, skills, and ideas. (Excuse the bad and uncreative photography, I just couldn't get a good angle and finally quit trying. ha.)

We were entertained by a thought provoking skit and had a wonderful message by one of our ladies. We also got to sing a little Christmas music. Finally, we had a wonderful lunch catered by Mel's. There were so many fun tables to look at, too. Ours was by far the most simple table, but I think it still looked classy and we did get several comments on it.

Sunday night was the BIG NIGHT. It began with a performance by our children's choir, Awaken. They did a fun little musical... It really was precious. Then we all moved outside. We had three bands come in for concerts. Lindsey Kane is just the neatest girl ever! We (the ladies' ministry at TBC) met her at our retreat this past March when she came in as our speaker and worship leader for the weekend. She just fits so well at TBC and we all wish she would move to Tomball. :) Only if she brings Jenny, her percussionist, with her, though! We love her, too.


Next up was Gatlin Elms. TBC has a strong connection to this band as well. One of the guys is one of our very own TBCers. I had never heard the guys live before and they really were fantastic!


Our headline band was the Robbie Seay Band. These Houston guys are really making a strong statement in the Christian music industry. It was quite cool to see them live, also.


Amidst all the live music we had a live nativity, Santa on Candy Cane Lane, food, hot chocolate, wassail, and lots of fun! It was a huge success, especially for a first year event. We've already started talking about "next year".

And with the end of that, I can breathe normally for a few days. Until it's time to pack and leave for the ski trip. And then on to Omaha! Stay tuned for those updates. I'm sure I'll have some good stories and photos.

i must be crazy.

Just sign me up for the insane asylum, because I just cemented my craziness. In the matter of 3 days, I booked my Christmas vacation solid. SOLID. Let me start at the beginning...

I've been keeping an eye on plane tickets to Omaha, Nebraska since about April of this year. I didn't have specific date to fly, but I knew I wanted to go see my cousin. Well, the summer went by and there were no good deals. I looked a bit for a long weekend during the school year... nothing. Until I put in a search for tickets on Christmas day. I found an awesome deal! So, in the matter of few short hours I made plans and booked my ticket for December 25th through January 1st!! So exciting!

Then... I get a phone call from our youth pastor Friday evening. He needs another chaperone / relief driver for the high school ski trip. Free ski trip? Um, yes please. So, now I'm leaving on December 19th at 5 pm (um, did I mention I get off work at 4 pm on the 19th?) and driving to Crested Butte, Colorado! We come back at 2 pm on the 24th (please God, don't let us be late!). I'm pretty excited about the trip! I've never skied in my life (please God, don't let me break anything!) and don't own a single ski item. I've got some borrowing prospects that should work out really well. My goal is to not purchase much besides socks and other personal stuff... Because remember that Omaha trip? I need a winter coat for that! I live in Texas. I use heavy sweaters and sweatshirts for a "winter coat".

By the time I get back, I'll have a whole three days before I go back to work! I think I may be sleeping those three days... ;)

prayer alarms

i'm really horrible at remembering things. i just made a commitment to pray for courtney and her family monday morning, as they face another morning of unknowns with maggie's adoption. but, like i said... i'll probably forget all about it until i read her update on her blog. so, i'm setting the calendar on my phone with an "event" at 9:30 am to pray for them. i keep my phone on silent at work, but it lights up when i get a text or an event reminder, so i usually catch the message on time. i've found this works great for praying at a specific time for a certain issue or just things that i need to make a note to myself about. sure beats writing it on the sticky note that i will inevitably lose!!

after the rant

after i've wallowed in my attitude since about 8:30 last night and posted my rant below. i read this article recommended by my pastor. it makes me feel better than i have all day. go read the whole article. but this is my favorite part:

"So this is no time for Christians to go into the bunkers. No time to wail or moan over our retirement plans. This is a time to repent, to pray more, to give more. It’s a time for Christians to lead, encourage, and minister to a faltering country in a faltering economy.

This is a time for the Church to get serious about Christian discipleship. Enough cheap grace."

oh and read my post below. it was therapeutic writing it and i'd hate for it go unread! ;)

the day after

someone asked me today how i felt about the election results. well, here's how i feel.

i was very sad, disappointed, and angry this morning. this is beyond being bummed that my party "lost" last night. i am deeply concerned for the future of this country. just as adamantly as obama supporters believe that good change is coming, some of us believe that change is indeed coming -- but it won't be good

i was not completely enthralled by mccain. i had issues with him as well. but, obama's politics are way beyond what i can support. this feeling i have has absolutely nothing to do with the color of his skin, his birthplace (wherever that is), or his lack of experience. my concern has everything to do with what he has promised to do and his voting record.

i already donate money to charities and causes that i deem appropriate for my bank account and my beliefs and my wishes. i do not appreciate the suggestion of higher taxes that will force my money to go to programs that i do not agree with or to people who do not work to their full capacity.

i believe obama has marxist tendencies and mccain should have hit hard on that.

my feelings also have everything to do with the people he may very well be placing in his cabinet, in the supreme court, and/or in other prominent positions and what their political history is. i have seen and heard the histories of the men and women that obama has surrounded himself with. many of them scare me. and i see these as being very viable prospects for obama to chose from.

i agree that america is in a hard time. our economic crisis is a huge worry. i am not discounting this problem. but, i don't believe the answer lies in electing a president that is so ill-informed and inexperienced. yes, i believe in the checks and balances of our government. but, both our house and senate are now majority democratic. it will be even harder for the republican minority to make a dent.

after 9/11, anne graham lotz (billy graham's daughter) was asked about how God could allow something like 9/11 to happen. she replied:

"I say God is also angry when he sees something like this. I would say also for several years now Americans in a sense have shaken their fist at God and said, God, we want you out of our schools, our government, our business, we want you out of our marketplace. And God, who is a gentleman, has just quietly backed out of our national and political life, our public life. Removing his hand of blessing and protection. We need to turn to God first of all and say, God, we're sorry we have treated you this way and we invite you now to come into our national life. We put our trust in you. We have our trust in God on our coins, we need to practice it."

well, i just wonder if that's not what's happening now. however, i still believe, that ultimately God is in control. He feels our hurt and anger right now. He has a plan. and He will be vindicated.

it's now time to rebuild the republican party and take it back to the days of ronald reagan. that is what we need now.

having said all that. congratulations to those of you who are overjoyed and excited about obama's election. i truly hope and sincerely pray that the next 4 years are not as dicey as some are projecting. i don't want to see terrorism on our doorstep again or out of control taxes. what's done is done. all we can do now is hope for the best.

so, here's to drinking the kool aid america. i hope we're ready for this ride.

dear mr. obama

this is a really powerful video that has been circulating the internet and youtube for a few months. today, it made front page news on the fox news website. i have a couple friends that are posting it on their blogs as well. from my understanding (and that understanding includes men i have known directly involved in the iraqi war), the majority of the soldiers feel that the war has done good. and if we were to pull out now we would undo everything. this video is one soldier's opinion. it's a shame our mainstream liberal media can't find more of these soldiers, rather than the ones that are disgruntled. not that i am downplaying the tragedies of war. but, i am saying that our media finds the worst of the worst stories and refuse to balance it out with the good ones. anyway, i'll quit rambling (for now) and post the video.

pick a chef 2008

as many of you know (i think), i have several of my recipes posted on recipezaar. i mainly post them out there for easy access. when someone asks for a recipe, it's easy to direct them there. the ones posted are ones that i get requests for quite often. or ones that are a little different and not already on recipezaar. i do like to be the different one, you know. ;) last spring, i was "adopted" in the pick a chef event. a fellow recipezaar-ite chose three of my recipes to make, photograph, and then review. i was pleased to get such high comments from her that this year i decided to "adopt" myself. i made four recipes, but my by far favorite was the creme brulee. it's not quite as good as i've had in restuarants, but pretty darn close. and it was very easy to make. i was also "adopted" this year and once again my recipes were given high praise! pretty cool, eh? you can check out the rest of my recipes here.

vintage aprons

i just found this fun blog. i love vintage aprons! i'm just always too cheap to buy them. but this fun little contest could make me the winner of one! i guess you can go enter, too. just try not to hurt my chances too much. :) enter here.

lauren's wedding

i had the honor of attending lauren and russell's wedding this past weekend. liz and i have been friends since 5th grade. life often takes us down different paths and puts different people in our lives, but we are always in the background of each other. there are so many sweet memories of our friendship. and hilarious memories. and wild memories. and... well, you get the point. :)

i was so excited to get to see her family, as well. the boys (andy and john) are all grown up. and while i have semi kept up with them through the world of myspace and a random target run-in a couple years ago -- it was amazing to see them as young men. and so tall. i mean seriously. TALL. and lauren's mom, susan, looked incredible. she was so beautiful in her gold outfit, beaming in joy for lauren and russell.

the wedding was in dallas at arlington hall at lee park. wow. was this place ever amazing?! the chandeliers, the decor, the history -- the entire place was beautiful and exquisite. the ceremony was outside and then we all went across the path to arlington hall for dinner.

i drug amanda with me for the weekend. i needed someone to do my make up. ;) seriously, it was fun to get away for a couple days and just hang out. and besides, i needed someone to get lost with me every time we ventured out (stupid google maps and construction!). our hotel was really nice and we slept like queens in the fluffy beds. on sunday, we dropped in on the state fair on a whim. it was fun to walk around, but it was pretty hot and we were tired. so, we didn't last long, especially since the entertainment didn't start for a couple more hours and we had a long drive ahead of us. and besides, like ellie posted -- it's all about the people watching anyway! ha.

so, here is a sample of my favorite photos. go check out the rest of them here.

my mosaic

this was so fun! here's the rules:

Answer the following 12 questions about yourself:
1. What is your first name?
2. What is your favorite food?
3. What high school did you attend?
4. What is your favorite color?
5. Who is your celebrity crush?
6. Favorite drink?
7. Dream vacation?
8. Favorite dessert?
9. What do you want to be when you grow up?
10. What do you love most in life?
11. One word to describe you?
12. Your Flickr name?
Type your answer to each of the above questions into Flickr’s search. Using only the images that appear on the first page, choose your favorite and copy and paste each of the URL’s into the Mosaic Maker (3 columns, 4 rows)… Enjoy!

mosiac maker is a cool website that lets you take photos from a flickr account or your computer and build them into a mosaic in a variety of sizes. you don't have to sign up to use the free service, just build your mosiac then save it to your computer.

here are my answers:

1. kelly
2. chips and salsa
3. tomball high school (i cheated on this one, went to page 2 because page 1 was mostly a kid's senior pictures)
4. black
5. wentworth miller (sigh)
6. coffee
7. italy
8. creme brulee
9. world traveler
10. friends
11. ecelectic
12. mcmullen (i cheated again. i don't have a flickr account, so i just used my last name. close enough, right?)

and the photo credits... you can click on the link to see the full photo, and if you're really curious, why it showed up in the search for my answer.
1. The "R.Kelly"- Song..., 2. homemade fresh tomato salsa & guacomole, 3. the Stage, 4. Aurorus Reflectus Colosseo, 5. 299496522_fffb454ec4_b, 6. coffee & the city, 7. Venice, 8. crème brûlée, 9. World Traveler, 10. Friends silhouetted, 11. Vienna - Hundertwasser Haus, 12. McMullen County Line Sign (McMullen County, Texas)

ok, now it's YOUR turn. and leave me a comment if you accept the challenge, so that i can come see them!

autumn

yep, this is totally my post from last october. but i was reminded of it after reading queen b's (one of the blogs i unashamedly stalk) post today. and i just want to add starbucks pumpkin spice lattes to this list. it's a major oversight that it didn't make it on the list last year. what was i thinking?! i guess it's a little early to be dreaming of autumn, since the texas weather didn't get the memo on the first day of the fall solstice. but, a girl can dream. anyway, without further ado... my love affair with autumn.

i. love. autumn.

i love...

• pumpkins and gourds
• leaves turning vibrant shades of amazing colors (well, not in texas, but i can still visualize this from when i lived up north)
• indian corn
• cooler weather -- those beautiful crisp days when the sun is shining brightly and the sky is so blue without a cloud in sight
• yummy soups and sandwiches
• thanksgiving day!
• cozy fireplaces (okay, once again, notsomuch in texas...)
• the scent of wood fires burning
• hay mazes
• warm, yummy cider
• fall festivals and craft shows
• the colors -- orange, yellow, gold, brown, red all melded together to create a kaleidoscope of fantastic proportions.

getting back to "normal"

today i had to finish (okay, start) preparing for jamie's shower. so i ran around the woodlands and tomball checking with la madeleine (i'm hosting it in their back room), gathering materials and a gift. things are starting to come back to normal. though, there were several places still closed because they have no power. and there are a lot of down power lines and trees, pretty much everywhere i went.

klein isd is still closed. most campuses reopen wednesday, except for those without power. well, hildebrandt is without power still. i've heard two conditions for those buildings (seeing as how my administration hasn't contacted me yet, i'm going on rumors). some say we will return 24 hours after power is restored and some say 48 hours after. but, they do have to have time to check the buildings and restore food service after power is up.

interesting thing i overheard at target today. as i'm shopping for jamie's gift, i overhear a woman on a cell phone. the cell phone is an important observation. she's also shopping at target -- there were items in her cart. as she's doing all this, she's complaining to the person on the other end of the line about how FEMA has been removing the POD locations. really? you're talking on your cell phone and shopping at target while whining how your free food, water, and ice is disappearing?! amazing. now, believe me, we (as in my family) were not prepared the way we should have been for hurricane ike. we lost everything in 2 refridgerators and 1.5 freezers. everything. we did have plenty of water and food (maybe not what we wanted to eat, but it was food). ice is a whole other story. we needed ice badly and it was very scarce. we rationed our driving so that we didn't need fuel as much as usual. there are ways to survive without FEMA. especially in our area of houston suburbs. and that's all i'm saying. it just takes some responsiblity and maturity. and if FEMA is your only chance of survival through this... accept it graciously and get on your feet as quickly as possible. and don't whine on your cell phone while shopping about the unfairness of the POD moving on.

hmmm...

as i catch up with my blog reading, i saw this post from last friday. i think it's still a fitting reminder.

we have power!!

so, after 131 hours without power -- we got it back today!! we are very excited.

we are also very, very grateful to our wonderful neighbors. after 3 full days of yard work on our part, we were still looking at the majority of 2 trees in the front yard and 3 trees in the back yard. then this morning... one of our neighbors showed up. about an hour later, another couple across the street showed up. we cleaned the front yard of ALL tree debris and got most of the backyard done. the tractor needs a new tube in the tire, though, so it's currently out of commission. the stuff left in the backyard needs to be pushed around with the tractor... so... we're done for the day.

i've uploaded more photos to the facebook album. check them out here!

oops...

so... i just realized that it is wednesday, not tuesday. so, that means... we've been without power for 103 hours. i thought my first estimate seemed not as long as it felt!!

and, i posted a few photos on facebook with captions. you can see them here, even if you don't have facebook. (click on the photos for the captions...)

another day...

i'm still alive despite the lack of electricity and running water. let me just say it's been 76 hours since we've had power (and will probably be longer). just throwing that out there. ;)

klein isd (and most other districts) have pushed their start date to monday. i found out that hildebrandt (my building) has sustained a good amount of damage. the covered walkway outside my side of the building is torn up. the roof caved in over one of the computer labs on the other side of the building from me. and the roof leaked pretty badly in the main hallway; so that carpet is probably ruined.

we spent the day yesterday working in the yard. we didn't get very far. there's a lot to clean and, of course, we had problems along the way. one of which was a malfunction of the generator. it blew up our directv receiver. yea.

i went to amanda's to take a shower and use her internet last night. and then i managed to talk her into going to la hacienda for dinner. there was a 20 minute wait! and then the kitchen closed at 8. it's so weird to have a curfew imposed by the counties. i believe 10 pm is the general rule. but one of the main underlying meaning behind many of the city and county officials' decisions -- let's not be like new orleans was in the hurricane katrina aftermath. so far, we've done well. hopefully, we've died down in the national news a bit as well.

today is more fun in the yard (i'm ready to go back to work instead of this! ha).

i'm off to town to get fuel and non-perishables at the store. pray for me. ha. this could be a whole other adventure to post when i get home. or whenever i get internet next...

hurricane ike part three

i'm really not sure why i started this running timeline of hurricane ike. probably out of sheer boredom sunday evening. but, now that i'm online for a few minutes, i'll post it here for posterity. i'll split the timeline by each day and post them seperately. i started with friday evening / saturday, so keep scrolling until you find part one.

Monday, 6 am
Dad leaves to pick up the tractor from Trinity. I go back to sleep; it is too dark to do anything anyway. Our water is completely gone. Not even a trickle when you turn the faucet.

8 am
It’s a beautiful day. Thank goodness for nice weather during these days without power. Hear on the radio that one particular power company will be down for a minimum of 3 weeks as they have to rebuild their plant (or something). Gee… I hope that isn’t the one that supplies our company.

9 am
It’s time to face the refrigerator... Nothing is remotely cold anymore. We fill up about 5 trash bags from 2 refrigerators and freezers (keep in mind they are not full bags, otherwise they would be too heavy). We do find a handful of salvageable items. Half frozen tamales cooked on the grill becomes our lunch later on.

1 pm
Dad has brought back a generator from a welding machine. It takes a little while to get it running, but finally we are able to plug in one refrigerator, run the septic system, and charge cell phones. Unfortunately, we were unable to save anything in our deep freezers. We’ll let those refreeze once we have power and throw the contents out later. Trash pickup is tomorrow and the load is already heavy without those bags.

5 pm
Find out we are among 5,972 other households in our zip code without power. That puts us in the group of lower outages than most zip codes. Not sure if that’s good or bad. However, it does confirm that we are NOT on the power company grid that is rebuilding. Hallelujah!

5:30 pm
Got to watch a little of the news while the generator ran. Lots of devastation all around us. We’ve also realized that the phone line is out – so no internet access, despite the generator! Talked to my grandma in Chester. Just as the news yesterday suggested, Ike visited them in the form of thunderstorms and power outages Sunday. Of course, all of their power has been restored.

6 pm
Dad brought Arby’s home for supper!! Definitely a highlight of the past couple days.

hurricane ike part two

i'm really not sure why i started this running timeline of hurricane ike. probably out of sheer boredom sunday evening. but, now that i'm online for a few minutes, i'll post it here for posterity. i'll split the timeline by each day and post them seperately. i started with friday evening / saturday, so keep scrolling until you find part one.

Sunday, 6:30 am
My parents start to leave for Trinity. We’re worried that the cows are out and that the RV is turned upside down. Or worse. Dad’s truck gets stuck in the backyard. I try to pull it out with my truck. No such luck.

8 am
My parents leave in my truck. I go back to bed. Not really tired, but what else is there to do?

10 am
Neighbor knocks on the door. We have water! I take a shower.

11 am
I decide to head to Tomball in my mom’s blazer… Again, what else is there to do? I throw my laptop in with me, hoping for power at Starbucks so that I can use their Wi-Fi. Target, Lowes, HEB, and Wal-Mart are the only places open. Water is really high on 2920 just before Tomball – but that’s not unusual when we get a ton of rain. Power seems to be out in most of Tomball. The signal lights are ripped down and hanging at some intersections. Can’t find Wi-Fi; not even in the hotel parking lot. Other than no power, Tomball seems to have fared well. Nothing interesting happening, so I head home the opposite way I came to check things out. Loooong line at the tool rental place; they must have generators left. Or people are renting bulldozers and such to clean up the mess.

Noon
Get home. Read some more. Finish my book. Take a nap. Listen to the radio – find out that Klein ISD won’t open until at least Thursday the 18th. I suspect it could be longer, but I guess it depends on how quickly power is restored.

3 pm
My parents get home. Amy and Glenn come over to pull my dad’s truck out of the mud. We stand around and chat. They leave as Kim and the kids pull up. We chat. After they leave, we warm up leftovers on the grill.

7 pm
Sit around and listen to the radio for awhile. I’m jealous of my friends that text and say “we have power!!” We still speculate that it will be a few days for us – there is nothing of priority around us to put us at the top of any “list”. No hospitals, schools, or shopping centers. Our food is definitely at the end of it’s life – even in the fridge and freezer. It’s not really cool in either one of those anymore.

8 pm
Head back to my room and my open window to read. Hoping that “cool” front the weathermen are promising hurries up!

hurricane ike part one

i'm really not sure why i started this running timeline of hurricane ike. probably out of sheer boredom sunday morning. but, now that i'm online for a few minutes, i'll post it here for posterity. i'll split the timeline by each day and post them seperately. i'll start with friday evening / saturday:

Friday Evening
I watch Fox News all evening reporting live from Galveston. Geraldo is the main entertainment as he practically gets blown away by the wind. Finally a little after midnight, I shut down my laptop. I crawl in bed and watch Fox News until I fall asleep.

Saturday, 4 am
We lose electricity. I wake up because my fan turns off. I go back to sleep.

Saturday, 5:10 am
I’m fully awake now. The wind is pretty fierce.

Saturday, 5:20 am
Amanda texts me. We chat back and forth for a few minutes, deciding Hurricane Ike isn’t so great.

Saturday, 5:30 am
A tree falls in the front yard. But, it is way too dark to see exactly what happens. The wind is too fierce to open the door fully and look safely. So, we sit in the living room listening to the radio and the wind. This goes on for another couple hours.

Saturday, 6:30 am
I text Jamie. They are safe and they have electricity! Lucky ducks.

Saturday, 6:45
Daylight starts breaking through the rain and wind. We can see which tree is in the front yard now. It’s extremely close to the house and we’re lucky it didn’t break off further down the trunk. We discover 3 more trees down. Are pretty certain one has taken out part of the back fence.

Saturday, 7:30 am
I go back to bed for a couple hours.

Saturday, 9:30
I pick up a book and read by the window light. The hurricane winds are over. They have slowly ceased over the last few hours.

Saturday, noon
Dad and I decide to take out the Teryx and check out the neighborhood. We’re pretty sure we got the worst on our street. Probably small tornados were touching down around our house. Though one of our neighbors nearly had a tree in their bedroom – it stopped just short of that. Decker Prairie Rosehill Road is a mess. Several power lines down. Most of them have trees sitting on top of them. 2 houses have trees lying on their roofs. Allenwood has several trees uprooted and laid over. Amazingly no one seems to have a tree in their house, though.

The rest of the day:
Play dominoes, warm up fajita meat on the grill, read more, chat with neighbors in the yard, text friends to find out how they fared. My cell phone is not working well; calls in and out only go to voicemail. Texting works better, but I usually have to send the text 6 or 8 times before it goes through.

never forget...

quotes from president bush's statement in his address to the nation
september 11, 2001, 8:30 pm, edt

"Today, our nation saw evil, the very worst of human nature. And we responded
with the best of America -- with the daring of our rescue workers, with the
caring for strangers and neighbors who came to give blood and help in any way
they could. "

"This is a day when all Americans from every walk of life unite in our resolve for justice and peace. America has stood down enemies before, and we will do so this time. None of us will ever forget this day. Yet, we go forward to defend freedom and all that is good and just in our world. "

timeline and images on the morning of 9/11
9/11 remembrance video

love this.

i really enjoy reading the confessions of a pioneer woman blog. i just absolutely love her. love. her. today's post was just a wonderful story. i have to share. i can't be the only one sniffling over here. maybe it's just pms... nah... this one is a great story.

hmmm...

okay, seriously, i don't know if i can do this. but, i'll give it a shot because i've been tagged by courtney. is there really 6 interesting, random things about me?! oh and another thing... i don't have 6 blogging friends that will actually do this. oh well. i'm still game. except for the part where i started this entry 6 days ago and am just now coming back to it. but, i won't mention that.

here's the rules:
1. post the rules on your blog
2. write 6 random things about yourself
3. tag 6 people at the end of your post
4. if you are tagged, DO IT and pass it along

and here are my random things:

1. i have major issues with the misuse of grammar and the misuse of apostrophes. i know, strange. this is a random fact all in itself, because why in the world would i choose those two things to be picky about in the english language?! obviously, all lowercase letters don't bug me. ;) but, seriously -- when people use "good" when they should use "well" that just grates on my nerves. it's all i can do to not correct perfect strangers when they incorrectly use those words. and apostrophes! come on people. apostrophes are for contractions and to show possession. please, stop using them to make a word plural!! thank you.

2. i was born in chester, illinois, home of popeye the sailor man. it's true. elzie segar was born and raised in chester. he based his characters on real people that lived in the town with him. after he died, his son took over the strip and a few years ago created a dog for swee'pea named chester to commemorate the town. every year, the weekend after labor day i believe (hey! that's this weekend!), the town celebrates with the popeye picnic. popeye enthusiasts come from all over the world to participate. it's much more than bringing food to the local park and sitting on a blanket-- it's a full blown 3 day event with a huge agenda.

3. i have a good eye for layout and precision. when i'm making invitations, programs, newsletters, websites, etc, i will obsess over the slightest off center detail. and i can usually eyeball it exactly without the help of rulers and / or guidelines. i often notice these minute details in printed publications. they drive me crazy. typically no one notices it until i point it out to them.

4. i have an etsy shop. but i never sell anything, probably because i don't promote it to anyone. and i keep telling myself i'm going to go back and make the "shop" area creative and classy and cool, but i never do. so, it's totally uninteresting. oh, and i keep meaning to add more button magnets, becuase i think it's totally lame that there is only one set on there. i also have more ideas of projects to add. but, alas, there are not enough hours in the day.

5. i despise slow internet connections. which is exactly what is happening to me today at work. it just totally frustrates me and wears on my already thin patience.

6. i majored in marketing and minored in general business at sam houston state university (i have no school pride, by the way -- it's kinda sad. kinda). i was 6 hours (2 classes) from having a second minor in family consumer sciences. i never noticed this until about 3 years ago. it apparently slipped the attention of my advisor as well (thanks, dr. abshire. way to advise me). it's not even worth going back for now. but it sure would be nice to say that i had it. so, i kinda pretend that i do. after graduation, i went on a couple interviews, decided that wasn't what i wanted to do and subsequently entered the alternative certification program through region iv. i became certified in business and then this past spring break tested to become certified in family consumer sciences.

whew. six random facts! so, if you're still with me.... i tag:
~ kim
~ julie
~ teri rae
~ erin
~ random blog stalker
~ random blog stalker

{i know there are stalkers out there... ;)}

rapping police officer

either we were all a little delirious after 5 days of inservice or this is truly funny. i'm going with a little of both. ;) we ended our last meeting this week with the video below. we all nearly died laughing so hard!! i think even those of you that don't teach will get a laugh out of this...

praying them home

sunday afternoon:
if you keep up with world news, you may have heard about the very current conflict in the republic of georgia. family friends are currently part of a small team there on a missions trip and they are very close to the conflict. you can see a glimpse of the last few days via ellie's blog. currently, they are hopeful that the airport will be open for them to fly to amsterdam today at 8 pm cst (monday, 5 am in georgia). if it is closed, they will head back to catch the last convoy out to armenia 7 hours later.

sunday evening:
update: it seems they are on their way home!

monday morning:
the team didn't quite get out when i posted last night's update. the delay was at the tbilisi airport (bombs dropping on or near the airport forcing them to deplane, but then replaning later on), but now the team is on their way home. an email came in this morning from them while on layover in amsterdam! ellie's blog has the email posted.

shower and birthday fun

whew! saturday was a busy day! here lately, my saturdays have consisted of pure laziness, i'm ashamed to admit. but this past saturday was quite different. in fact, i had 4 invitations for saturday night! what a social calendar, i have. ha. anyway, saturday morning started off early when i got up to make watermelon fruit bowls for kelsey's linens and lace bridal shower. **if you click on the photos, you can see them much larger.**

after a quick shower, i headed over to mimi's house to help set up the brunch.

we had a fun time with all the ladies and, of course, eating. :) below, the bride-to-be with the hostesses -- mimi, myself, kelsey, and shelby.

i headed home from there and watched a bit of the olympics and took a quick nap. i had to rest up, saturday was also amanda's birthday! we headed down to the galleria area (i hadn't been there in years!) and went to the fox sports grill for dinner with several friends. great food and of course the important thing was having the texans game on one tv screen and the astros game on another. and, actually, i caught michael phelps winning his first gold medal (and shattering the world record for the event) of the 2008 olympics on a third screen! i looked up just in time!

here's amanda about to enjoy her birthday sundae. see that green envelope sitting next to her? that would be from me: a birthday card containing tickets to the maroon 5 and counting crows concert!! woohoo! the fun thing about that gift is that i get to benefit from it also! :) ulterior motives... what?


after dinner, amanda, sherry,and i headed over to the movie theatre to watch mamma mia. it was soooo good. i was even able to get past my aversion to meryl streep, it was so great! being in the galleria area still and at 10:45, we had some interesting people watching to do, as well. ;)

it was a great saturday. and a pretty good way to end my last weekend before i head back to staff development. i'll be at work wednesday and friday, though our official first day is the 18th. the kiddos return on the 25th.

so annoyed...

i love the cool little gadget that allows me to list the blogs i read and gives me updates on their last posting. saves me from stalking everyone -- now i know when a new post is up at just a glance. but, there is one blog that refuses to link properly. i have tried and tried and tried to get it to post to the thompsons and it won't!! ugh. i give up. see, it works here in this blog, but if you click on my bloglist on the right side... it won't link! and, yes, i'm using the exact same text for both links. ;)

please pray!! (update july 22)

please pray for my friends, steph and kyle, and their baby girl suzie. suzie was born 3 months early friday, july 18th. she is currently in NICU at a hospital far enough away from home that steph and kyle were given a room in the ronald mcdonald house across the street. their faith through this is truly inspiring...

tony snow

this makes me sad.

www.foxnews.com

praise God!!

it's a girl!!

smoke on the mountain

i love the ad players. i've been to a small number of performances: Driving Miss Daisy, Pride and Prejudice, and The Heiress. but there have been so many more that i have wanted to go to. i always drool over the website, but usually miss out. sometimes i just suck it up and purchase a couple tickets and decide that someone will go with me if i beg enough. :)

one particular performance that my mom heard about was Smoke on the Mountain Homecoming. it's the third installment of the sanders family taking place in 1945 at mt. pleasant baptist church. the sanders family reunites for a bluegrass gospel singing when the son takes over the pulpit for his brother-in-law.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/adplayers/2594941204/sizes/l/

so for mother's day, i bought the two tickets and then presented her with a little promotional poster so that she would have something to open. she actually cried. because for some reason (that she still clings to, no matter what i say), she thought that this performance was over christmas and i had let us miss going at all. anyway, last night was the night. we had been talking about chinese food the day before so on amanda's recommendation we went to kim son. i had the best lemon chicken and the second best vegetable fried rice ever. unfortunately we didn't get to linger and enjoy an appetizer or dessert. we had a little traffic and accident bottleneck on both 290 and 610 (gotta love houston traffic, ugh.). anyway, i still highly recommend kim son. and the prices were very reasonable for great food in downtown houston.

it was a really fun night and we really enjoyed the ad players interpretation of smoke on the mountain. i just wish we could have seen the first two installments that have run over the past years. maybe they will bring them back. the performance was filled with old baptist hymns that we were singing along with. sometimes even out loud when the characters would pull the "congregation" (the audience) into their performance. there was plenty of laughing and also a lot of Biblical truth as the characters would step forward and tell personal testimonies.

if you have never been to the ad players (and you're one of my houston readers), GO!! you won't regret it. smoke on the mountain runs through august 31. who knows, you just might see my mom and i there again. ;) the 2008 / 2009 season was printed in our program last night, though it doesn't seem to be on the website yet. there are several great performances coming up. John, His Story and the houston premeire of Last Train to Nibroc are two of the performances for the season. also for the kiddos -- check out the children's theater, currently performing Samson.

finally...

i have a new laptop! after putting it off for a very long time (after this happened), i could no longer stand it. i had to strike a deal with my dad to swing it, but luckily i have the best daddy in the world and he helped me work it out. so far, i'm liking it. i desperately wanted a macbook, but i abandoned that dream in the reality of affording something in the very near future. so, i went with another hp. i really liked my hp and had no problems until chris spent a day with it and... well... let's just say it was never the same. although -- i should have attempted a repair long before i did -- had i done that, it may have been salvaged. oh well. so, here i am with the vista operating system. hopefully, that doesn't ruin my excitement over my new laptop...

vbs photos

just a few photos from vbs 2008. hopefully more coming as others post their own photo galleries.

just fyi...

312 VBS kids and 100 volunteers have not killed me... yet.

we're having a great week. so far, good feedback on all things. hopefully photos will be coming... oh and kim and i are having a blast with the walkie talkies... the unfortunate others with radios are probably regretting the fact that we were put in charge, therefore earning us this privilege.

vacation bible school

i have had many things going on the past couple months. a few changes. and just a lot of busyness. one of those things is directing vacation bible school at my church -- tomball bible church -- this year. i'm directing with a friend of mine, kim. we've had a lot of fun and we're really excited about next week. we've made a few changes -- hopefully for the better. and we have a fun ongoing skit for every morning. our stage looks great. the music is awesome. our coordinators are mostly under control as far as their workers go. rooms are decorated. copies of various activities and bonus verses have been run. things are going pretty well. but, please pray for us next week. this is the biggest children's outreach that we do. tbc is kinda known as being one of the best vbs programs in the area. having said all this -- if you think of me next week, please pray:

• for patience -- i lack patience, especially when i'm tired and hot or when i think something is already clear enough.
• to make quick and wise decisions when needed.
• the ability to take care of the needs -- seen and unseen -- of our volunteers.
• for a great turnout of community kids, as well as our own tbc kids.
• to bring children to know Jesus and to foster a relationship with him.
• for all of us to be well -- satan has been working on some of us, physically!
• to appreciate all the work going into this week from all of our volunteers -- even when their attitudes make me want to scream.

and if by chance you are reading this and want to bring your children, your neighbor's children, or just some random kids you pick up off the street -- go to our website and register those little darlings! i promise they will have a blast. and i shall update next week with all the fun (and maybe some not so fun) that occurs. if you're lucky -- i'll include some photos... :)

this is so heartbreaking. however, because of the transparency of this family, i can almost see God knitting another incredible testimony.

the chapman family
in memory of maria
the service

be sure to watch the video at the second link. precious.

you know what bugs me?

and my true friends know that this is a very dangerous question... ;)

but, seriously...

i was on myspace earlier and looking at random people's pages (not neccessarily ones on my friends list -- so don't go stalk them and figure out who i'm talking about -- i'm speaking in general terms here). i am really annoyed by the vulgar, profane, and generally disgusting graphics, phrases, backgrounds, etc (and i'm talking about the extreme stuff here -- the "f" word repeatedly, suggestive photos, vulgar comments, etc). but, you know what is worse? the ones that then post under their "about me" section how they are "Christians" and "Jesus is my hero!" and "I love God!".

now, we all know that i'm not a perfect person. and i don't pretend to be on my myspace page (or anywhere for that matter -- i'll be the first one to tell you that anyday). and i laugh at my share of off color things, i mean let's be real -- some of it is darn funny. but, it really bugs me at the number of people i saw with really offensive junk on their page and then they talk about how God is number one in their life. basically -- if you're going to talk the talk, you better walk the walk.

so, that's my vent for the evening. you can all relax now. i'm done. for now, anyway.

how well do you know me?

Create your own Friend Test here

only in tomball...

so, i went to target this evening. my first priority when i got there was the bathroom. i desperately needed to go. of course 3 of the 4 stalls are full and the 4th is "out of order". sigh. so, i stand by the paper towel dispenser praying i don't pee all over myself -- i mean, i seriously needed to go. i had drank a dr pepper on the way home from work and then about 3 glasses of iced tea at dinner... so i was dying. anyway, i'm impatiently waiting... and finally a door opens. out walks this woman with a pregnancy test in her hand. yes, folks, that's right -- a pregnancy test. i'm sure my mouth was hanging open at this point. in fact, i almost forgot that i needed to pee so badly. i mean, how random is that?! so, she smiles at me, says hi, and wraps her test up in a tissue, sets it on the shelf above the sink and washes her hands. meanwhile, i'm still standing there, because the woman in stall #2's little girl decides she's done waiting on her mom and needs her own stall. so, she beligerantly stares at me (okay, maybe i imagined that -- i was in pain by this point) while she waltzes in to my stall. ugh!! finally, it was my turn and i quickly got out of there. i texted amanda afterwards to tell her my story and as she eloquently put it "only in tomball".

i passed!!

i totally winged a certification test this afternoon. i was attempting to gain certification in another subject area -- which will open doors to teach a few more subjects.

a little back story --
at one point, during my 5 year career at sam, my degree was food science and nutrition. well, that was short lived because i soon realized that i would need a masters to be able to do anything worthwhile (i.e. a registered dietitian). i was not interested in more school at that point. enter my marketing major. immediately after graduating, i started looking into getting my alternative teaching certificate through region iv (in texas, regions are what districts are to individual schools). little did i know (i didn't realize this until about 3 years after i graduated -- big thanks to my advisor, not), i was six hours -- yes, that's right, two measly classes short of a minor in family and consumer science (the big umbrella under which food science and nutrition is housed). i still have a strong interest in nutrition and about a year ago decided that it would be fun to teach a nutrition type class. i'm not talking about home ec (though the fcs certification does cover that subject), but a real nutrition/food science/food prep class. i even signed up for the test, but never went through with it -- pretty much just chickened out.

which brings me to today's exam --
i finally signed up for the exam about 2 weeks ago. i scheduled it for today because it was the last day of spring break. i went into this exam with no preparation. there was a study guide on the website, but it really talked about the structure of the test. there was very little about the material i should study -- oh, except for the list of about 3 dozen different textbooks. riiiiight. i just decided to go on common sense. i totally don't recommend this for, say, a math certification test... however, family and consumer science deals with consumer behavior, nutrition and food science, food preparation, hotel/restaurant management, child development, elderly care, sewing and textiles, interior design, etc. well -- i had a nutrition/food science/consumer behavior schooling background. i have quite a bit of restaurant and food prep experience. child development was covered a bit in my education classes. i've done a bit of sewing. so all of those mini experiences mixed with common sense -- i figured i could do a pretty decent job winging it.

still... during the exam there would be some tough questions where i thought -- crap. i just wasted an afternoon, gas, and money taking this stupid test!! then, there would be the easy ones -- yes! i am so going to pass!

so, you're given 3 hours to test. i finish in a little over an hour. i walk out and the proctor says, need a break? um... no... i'm finished. so he goes to his computer and drones on about how i'm lucky to get my results so quickly, the testers down the hall (taking a different exam, i'm sure) had to wait all morning for their results... blah, blah, blah. so, finally he prints, hands me a paper, and says congratulations! i was slightly surprised and even said "really?!" haha.

so... needless to say... i'm quite excited! and a little proud of my accomplishment. :)

i've been MIA...

yep... i've definitely been missing. seeing as how i do not have a computer to call my own right now, i bum computer time when i can. klein isd blocks my regular haunts (myspace, blogs), so work is not an option. my dad's laptop is not too healthy -- it heats up way past what is probably safe for me and the hard drive; and last night i swear i saw a puff of smoke come out of the side vent. the desktop is just slow. in fact, as i type this my fingers are a good 3 to 4 letters ahead of what is appearing on the screen. very strange. i try to keep up on my blog friends that i like to stalk. in fact, i've even taken to printing posts from my shrapnel so that i can read them later and really absorb what i'm reading. gila has an amazing writing talent, and i'm hooked on her aftermath story of being an unwilling witness (and thus seriously injured) of a roadside bomb in jerusalem. of course, i'm still hooked on cf husband and a little closer to my own life is clay and megan's trip to eastern and western europe as they prepare to be missionaries there.

anywho -- another reason i have been MIA -- not much exciting going on. yet, i am SUPER busy. well, actually, i guess there are a few things to share.

chris, his dad, a couple other guys have started a company (yes, my husband is embarking on yet another job). i won't go into all the details, but it is an oilfield company (of course, what else is there? ha). they've got quite a few irons in the fire as far as the company is concerned, but things are looking good.

i wrapped up my part of the committee for western days a couple weeks ago. western days is an event that our church started doing for the first time one year ago. it coincides with -- the rodeo of course. it's a fun filled day of food, games for the kiddos, petting zoos, pony rides, and a snake exhibit. i worked on the craft vendor area (much like like i did for fall festival -- lining up crafters and getting them settled that day). it was a busy weekend and the weeks before were busy preparing, but i love it. :) my friend lisa from sunshine farms was a big hit. she was at fall festival, too, and i know she had some repeat customers. if you ever are wanting some fabulous homemade/handmade soaps, lotions, sugar scrubs, body talc, etc -- check out her website. chris loves her caribbean bay bar soap and i love, love, love her patchouli line. i've been out to her farm too, great fun for a pretty, sunny afternoon!

next week is spring break!! thank goodness. it's a rough week at school. it was all i could do not to call in a "mental health" day for tomorrow. the kids are just nuts. i tried to do something a little different with them today and give them a break from our long-winded typing tutorial. well, i was met with whines and grumbles and total disregard for the directions. so, after a disastrous first period, the rest of my classes went right back to typing in the tutorial. sigh.

well, i'm off to scour my closet for something to wear tomorrow. if i don't torture myself with that tonight, i'll be staring at my clothes in the morning -- which means i will be running very late! :)

psstt...

i just put up a handful of posts that had been on my myspace blog. they are from 2006, but i just thought they deserved to be in one place with the rest of my posts. click on 2006 under blog archive to find them.

bump and update

my laptop. in a kagillion pieces. one itty, bitty crack deep inside constituted this massive disassembly. i am now told that there is a great possibility the reconstruction may not be so easy. it seems my computer "technicians" can't quite remember where all the pieces go and how they fit back together. anyone want to donate to my "new laptop fund"?

UPDATE:
well, this past monday the laptop was put back together after an attempted repair. remaining after the reassembly was 6 screws and a small unidentifiable metal peice. after a brief test it seems the repair and the hours (literally) of putting it back together were in vain. my laptop is h-i-s-t-o-r-y. the good news is i have ordered an adapter to (hopefully) pull all my files off of my hard drive. the bad news? because of other expenses right now, there will be no new computer -- laptop or desktop -- in my future. :( so goes my life...

caleb

just wanted to share yet another blog that has touched my heart. please read teri rae's post about caleb and his recent diagnosis of lymphoma. i went to his own journal on caring bridge and was impressed by his entries, his thoughts, and his faith during his battle with cancer. please read about him. thanks. :)

this could be a problem...

my laptop. in a kagillion pieces. one itty, bitty crack deep inside constituted this massive disassembly. i am now told that there is a great possibility the reconstruction may not be so easy. it seems my computer "technicians" can't quite remember where all the pieces go and how they fit back together. anyone want to donate to my "new laptop fund"?

UPDATE on february 10 --
9 days later... it still looks exactly like the above picture. i am sad.

my evenings...

fox news. my laptop. and my chocolate lab hogging 3/4 of my chair. i'm pretty much a nerd.

confessions of a cf husband

as courtney said on her blog earlier, one of the neat things about blogging is reading your friends' blogs. and then checking out blogs of their friends. basically, you could go in circles for hours. however, sometimes you stumble on something really amazing. such is the case here. courtney posted a link this morning to the blog of a husband telling the story of cystic fibrosis, a needed lung transplant, and a precious wife and baby girl.

please take a few minutes to visit them and their story. i did and i was so moved by their story that i want to link to them as well. and they will be in my prayers daily.

to give you a brief overview -- tricia has had CF her whole life and while preparing for a much needed lung transplant, nate and tricia discovered they were pregnant. nate's blog is now devoted to keeping family and friends updated on tricia and gwyneth's progress. this family needs our prayers! visit them here: http://cfhusband.blogspot.com/

worship

i wrote this a little over a month ago when i got to work one morning (relax, i get to work an hour early so i wasn't totally ignoring my classes... ha). i kept forgetting to email it to myself so i could post it here. i have to do that since anything fun and entertaining (myspace, facebook, blogs) are blocked by the klein isd filters.

i was thinking about worship on the way to work this morning. I was listening to a CD that i burned with only 4 songs on it. i was too lazy to add more the other night, yet i wanted to burn it so that i could listen to a couple of my new favorite worship songs. one of the songs is “Jesus paid it all.” this is an old hymn (words written by elvina hall in 1865) revived, very recently, by Christian artist kristian stanfill. these are some amazing lyrics.

it reminds me of something that was said by our new worship pastor at TBC a couple weeks ago. at least i think it was him that said it… i racked my brain this morning and i’m thinking it was him. anyhow. he said there are two thoughts on the idea that some worship leaders lead their congregation to repeat the same stanza or phrase over and over. some feel it’s repetitive. some feel it’s more of a meditation on the words. to be honest, i’ve never really had an opinion on it, simply because i enjoy singing. and a lot of times, i am in a state of praise and worship and i am meditating on the words. i guess i’ve kind of done that subconsciously so it’s never really been “annoying” or “repetitive”. still, his words stuck with me. and i began to analyze the lyrics this morning in the bridge of this song as stanfill repeated them multiple times. it’s the most passionate part of the song. the part where he (and i, while i'm singing) cry out to God.

o praise the One who paid my debt
praise, exalt, honor, celebrate, love the one -- jesus, my savior, messiah – who paid my debt – my debt, my death. he didn’t pay my library fine. he experienced the death i deserve. he was hung on a cross. with nails in his hands and feet. he wore a crown of thorns. a CROWN of thorns. we easily get annoyed when we walk too closely and brush against a vine with a couple thorns. he had hundreds of thorns on his head. his forehead. not one of the most callused areas, in fact a pretty tender area of flesh. yet, he did ALL of that – for me. so that i wouldn’t have to.

and raised this life up from the dead
he breathed life into a soul that was lost, lonely, dead. so that i should live for him. why wouldn’t i give him my all when he paid the ultimate sacrifice for me. my soul should continually rejoice and praise him. i am not dead. i am alive in Jesus Christ. my God. my Savior.

isn't that simply amazing? and beautiful?

i’m a visual person. i learn by visual prompts and i do better with maps than i do written instructions. so, i guess it makes sense that while i am singing and worshipping, i visualize in my head. i tend to "see" the lyrics in my head in pictures. or sometimes i just picture myself at the feet of jesus or at the throne of God. so, borrowing another favorite lyric, if you see me in church "with my hands lifted high to the sky, when the world wonders why, i'll just tell them i'm loving my King!"