Many of you know that I am currently residing in a two-bedroom apartment with my family. Many of you may also know that there are four members in my family, including me.
So, do the math with me: Two parents minus one bedroom equals two siblings plus one bedroom. That's right. Me and my sister are sharing the remaining bedroom. Not something many of you have done since grade school. Well, not only do I have the pleasure of sharing a room with my sister (something I really don't mind), but I also have the pleasure of sharing a bed with my sister. This, I'm sure, is something not many of you have done at all, save on family vacations.
At first the idea of sharing a bed with my sister didn't seem so bad, and it's only until our house is built. Last night however, I learned a hard lesson. My sister acts out her dreams. Mostly, this results in tossing, flopping, rolling, and other actions that make it difficult for the other person in bed to maintain those precious minutes of R.E.M. Last night; however, I managed to fall asleep and was having this really realistic dream about a terrorist, an underground militia who was trying to wipe me and my friends off the face of the earth, Will Ferrell, and tea with a roguishly handsome nameless captain of the union civil war army. My friends and I were chasing down a mole in our fugitive group when a sharp shooting pain woke me up. Now fully awake, I realized my sister had just kicked me in the stomach. Kicked me in the stomach! KICKED ME IN THE STOMACH!
This morning I told my dad about what had happened starting with my dream (because you know my stories are never short), and ended with the coup de grâce. The kick in the pants my sister gave me in her sleep. My dad laughed, and my sister gave the long awaited explanation. She was fighting bad guys in her dream next door to my dream, and was busy kicking the bad guy in the head.
Of course in real life we all know what really happened.
On a related note, I've contracted my sister to act as my bodyguard.
Sunday, January 23, 2005
Monday, January 17, 2005
AC in AZ
Well folks you heard it here first. Today the high in Peoria, Arizona was 77°. We had to turn the air conditioning on, people were laying out at the pool, and grilling out too.
Of course my goal in this post is to make you all insanely jealous. So jealous the only hope of relief is for you to move down here to live with me.
I will simply sit back and see how long it takes my plan to work.
Of course my goal in this post is to make you all insanely jealous. So jealous the only hope of relief is for you to move down here to live with me.
I will simply sit back and see how long it takes my plan to work.
Friday, January 14, 2005
Raisin Cakes
Hello all! Can I tell you more about my dancing lessons? Will you still listen? Perhaps those of you who know how close dancing is to my heart, how it is one of the ways I am moved to such joy that it can only be from the Lord, perhaps those of you will read on.
I have had several lessons by now, and Lance and I have narrowed the dances I wish to learn to the following four: waltz, tango, cha-cha and salsa. Lance said he was surprised I chose the waltz and tango because people my age tend to chose the dances you can do in clubs. But, I chose them because they are very aesthetic dances, and when I did them for the first time, I fell in love with them. Lance turned on this really beautiful waltz song and we floated across the dance floor, I was transported.
But enough of that. Meanwhile at home I'm just here helping out. I'm eagerly awaiting my paperwork to arrive from Lincoln so I can start subbing at the very least (so I can pay for more dance lessons). I am living a very quiet life, and that is okay because sometimes you can hear the voice of God better in the stillness.
In my quiet time book (yes, I am still doing that with occasional breaks in the Psalms) we have moved onto Hosea, and God's heart for His people, and how deeply He loves them. The chapter opens with Hosea 2:14 which says, "Therefore I am now going to allure her; I will lead her into the desert and speak tenderly to her." I have been led into a desert (quite literally), and God does allure me. In studying Hosea, He nearly terrifies me with the depth and steadfastness of His love for His people, a group in which I am included.
There is something about knowing (in your mind) and hearing that God loves you and will never cease to, and then there is something altogether different about reading about it. But not just reading about it. There are times in the Word when I am not reading anymore, but have put myself in the shoes of the Israelites (or whoever it may be), and am brought face to face with the reality that God is trying to communicate. His huge, all-encompassing, never dying, passionate love for a people who would sooner worship and love sacred raisin cakes then the God of the Universe. Yet how can I condemn them because I love raisin cakes too, they just look less like raisin cakes and more like entertainment, convenience, and any other number of things I turn to for my life.
Then, if I can wrap my human, finite mind around His love for even a moment and move under His banner, there is, perhaps, the greater issue of His plan for His glory. Once I am on my knees submitting and moved by His great love I begin to want to live for His glory. God has also laid out how He wants us to live. In peace, and harmony with love for others because when we are under His banner, we can see others the way He sees them. We can love others the way He loves them. And so, the question I have been grappling with this week (and will probably be grappling with for much of my life) is how can I love my family so that they don't see me, but God? Or see Christ in me. However you want to say it. How can my actions and words show to my family the love and grace bestowed on me by God?
I think that is all for now, thank you for listening. Or reading, as it were.
I have had several lessons by now, and Lance and I have narrowed the dances I wish to learn to the following four: waltz, tango, cha-cha and salsa. Lance said he was surprised I chose the waltz and tango because people my age tend to chose the dances you can do in clubs. But, I chose them because they are very aesthetic dances, and when I did them for the first time, I fell in love with them. Lance turned on this really beautiful waltz song and we floated across the dance floor, I was transported.
But enough of that. Meanwhile at home I'm just here helping out. I'm eagerly awaiting my paperwork to arrive from Lincoln so I can start subbing at the very least (so I can pay for more dance lessons). I am living a very quiet life, and that is okay because sometimes you can hear the voice of God better in the stillness.
In my quiet time book (yes, I am still doing that with occasional breaks in the Psalms) we have moved onto Hosea, and God's heart for His people, and how deeply He loves them. The chapter opens with Hosea 2:14 which says, "Therefore I am now going to allure her; I will lead her into the desert and speak tenderly to her." I have been led into a desert (quite literally), and God does allure me. In studying Hosea, He nearly terrifies me with the depth and steadfastness of His love for His people, a group in which I am included.
There is something about knowing (in your mind) and hearing that God loves you and will never cease to, and then there is something altogether different about reading about it. But not just reading about it. There are times in the Word when I am not reading anymore, but have put myself in the shoes of the Israelites (or whoever it may be), and am brought face to face with the reality that God is trying to communicate. His huge, all-encompassing, never dying, passionate love for a people who would sooner worship and love sacred raisin cakes then the God of the Universe. Yet how can I condemn them because I love raisin cakes too, they just look less like raisin cakes and more like entertainment, convenience, and any other number of things I turn to for my life.
Then, if I can wrap my human, finite mind around His love for even a moment and move under His banner, there is, perhaps, the greater issue of His plan for His glory. Once I am on my knees submitting and moved by His great love I begin to want to live for His glory. God has also laid out how He wants us to live. In peace, and harmony with love for others because when we are under His banner, we can see others the way He sees them. We can love others the way He loves them. And so, the question I have been grappling with this week (and will probably be grappling with for much of my life) is how can I love my family so that they don't see me, but God? Or see Christ in me. However you want to say it. How can my actions and words show to my family the love and grace bestowed on me by God?
I think that is all for now, thank you for listening. Or reading, as it were.
Thursday, January 06, 2005
Dancing Fool
Well, I had my complimentary dance lesson. My instructor and I focused mainly on the Salsa and the Rumba. It was fun. I have three more lessons coming up in the next four days with my private teacher...whose name is Lance. I am also going to three group classes, and if I am brave enough, three dance parties. I cannot believe I am doing it because I was too scared to before.
On an even better note, (I know, you are asking yourself, "How can there be something better than private ballroom dancing lessons with a teacher named Lance?") I stopped by two churches today and picked up some information. The first church I went to was very promising. Of course it's hard to tell without going to a service. That is something I will need to work out with my family... Anyways, I had a really encouraging conversation with the receptionist, so we'll see what happens from here.
On an even better note, (I know, you are asking yourself, "How can there be something better than private ballroom dancing lessons with a teacher named Lance?") I stopped by two churches today and picked up some information. The first church I went to was very promising. Of course it's hard to tell without going to a service. That is something I will need to work out with my family... Anyways, I had a really encouraging conversation with the receptionist, so we'll see what happens from here.
Wednesday, January 05, 2005
Tripping the Light Fantastic
Well, I seem to write in little bursts don't I?
Okay, okay, okay. Tomorrow night at 6pm, I am one complimentary lesson closer to my dream of becoming a Ballroom Dancer! That's right! I am taking a lesson tomorrow, and I'm very excited. I'll let you all know how it goes.
Click here for background on the phrase, which I'd only heard my dad use.
Okay, okay, okay. Tomorrow night at 6pm, I am one complimentary lesson closer to my dream of becoming a Ballroom Dancer! That's right! I am taking a lesson tomorrow, and I'm very excited. I'll let you all know how it goes.
Click here for background on the phrase, which I'd only heard my dad use.
The Stuff of Blogging
It's been quite a few days since I've posted something hasn't it? There is something about starting and maintaining a blog, and there doesn't seem to be anything in the world quite like it. I often find myself thinking what events I should post in my blog, and, of course, how to relate them to you my audience. Even the smallest occurrences shine with the possibility of postworthiness.
Perhaps this is what being famous is like (something I secretly long for); give your public (in this case the people who read my blog) a little bit of you at a time. For, if I give you too much, well it is just a bit awkward to have so much of oneself available online, but if I give you too little, then I am inaccessible and hardly worth following (in the strictly blog or fame sense). Preferably I would only post about events that are deep or funny or witty or entertaining in some way. If I cannot then I must take the most daily, prosaic (a word borrowed from Lauren's blog) things and write about them in such a way that they are deep or funny or witty or entertaining in some way.
How does one do it? For example, there have been several things that have happened to me since my last post, but I didn't think I could write about them. There was one thing I sat down to write, but by the time I was nearly finished, I couldn't bear to post it. It was too blasé.
But as I mature as a blogger, perhaps I will become more comfortable with posting the more daily stuff of life. And what can be a more appropriate window into my newly uprooted life than the daily things? Perhaps this can be considered my first attempt at writing in this way.
So there you have it, your daily dose of fluff. Enjoy.
Perhaps this is what being famous is like (something I secretly long for); give your public (in this case the people who read my blog) a little bit of you at a time. For, if I give you too much, well it is just a bit awkward to have so much of oneself available online, but if I give you too little, then I am inaccessible and hardly worth following (in the strictly blog or fame sense). Preferably I would only post about events that are deep or funny or witty or entertaining in some way. If I cannot then I must take the most daily, prosaic (a word borrowed from Lauren's blog) things and write about them in such a way that they are deep or funny or witty or entertaining in some way.
How does one do it? For example, there have been several things that have happened to me since my last post, but I didn't think I could write about them. There was one thing I sat down to write, but by the time I was nearly finished, I couldn't bear to post it. It was too blasé.
But as I mature as a blogger, perhaps I will become more comfortable with posting the more daily stuff of life. And what can be a more appropriate window into my newly uprooted life than the daily things? Perhaps this can be considered my first attempt at writing in this way.
So there you have it, your daily dose of fluff. Enjoy.
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