Hello! Long time no talk!

And the weirdness continues...

Okay, so I had an amazing friend of mine recently actually ask me what my silly quirks are.  If you know me, you know there are many, but I discovered in my quest for quirks that I know me better than I used to...which is scary considering how incredibly analytical my brain is..I was going to say "little brain" but then I would be insulting myself...and well...that is not a quirk I tend to have.

So since sharing quirks tend to be fun for the whole family, I thought I'd share them with you in hopes that you would share yours with me.

So here you go..

I know many of you know about my "clean nose" obsession...and I just have to say again...I am right about this...if you don't clean your nose at least twice a day..that's gross...I mean think about it. Even if I had a little brain, I would know this.

I personify everything.  Everything is alive in my head..with names and personalities..even if they are inanimate. And I tend to put words into animals mouths.  If I believed humans could read animal's minds...I would be one of those humans.

I think I am one of the funniest people I know...really...I laugh out loud at my own thoughts all the time. I only share about half of them..if that...but man I can keep myself going all day...inanimate objects and the thoughts of animals can be hilarious..and that's not even all I think about. It's a whole new world inside my head and I'm funny to me...especially when I laugh out loud in public and people look at me funny...its awesome.

I sing ALL THE TIME.  I don't even notice it anymore.  Just today I was walking through Walmart..didn't realize I was singing out loud until 2 people looked at me like I was crazy on the party/gift bag isle...and once again...I think this is funny...if only I'd been singing "Celebration".

I love speaking with different accents...Jersey, British, Southern..those are my specialties..too bad I can't get the Spanish accent down...especially since people get mad at me for not being able to speak Spanish..as if I am committing the unforgivable sin...maybe they would be more forgiving if I could at least speak with the accent.

I love being barefoot. If I could go without shoes and not get worms or burn my feet on the grill that is the ground in Houston, I totally would. I hear its the best way to run...maybe I will try it sometime.

I have a strange aversion to Disney World. I would love to go again someday just to get over it.  You know how if you eat a certain food and then get sick right after you can't eat that food for a really long time..if ever again? That happened to me once with cottage cheese but that's another story.  The only time I have been to Disney World was one of those times...long story..ask me later if you really want to know. So sorry Mickey...I do miss YOU.

When I can't sleep at night, I sleep with my head at the foot of the bed...for some reason this works wonders.  Maybe its like reverse psychology.

I don't like shopping. I go in, get what I need, and get out 2 hours later because I can't decide.  I'm worn out after the first 30 minutes and start to get cranky. Shopping and fun are antonyms to me...unless I get some really great deals and can try them on and buy them within that 30 minutes...that's fun. So if you want to go shopping for "fun" don't call me.

I have a systematic approach to getting ready in the morning. Same routine every day...automatically..I don't even try..it just happens...most likely because I am singing or having some sort of conversation in my head with the mirror. No time to think about how I'm getting ready.

I can watch a great movie 100 times and still want to watch it again.  I used to think when I was little that if you watched a movie again it might end differently. So by not watching it again, you could be missing out on an even cooler ending...so I'd watch it several times just to be sure. That habit stuck..what can I say.

And I think long toe nails are gross. Never understood French manicures on the toes.  This probably comes from the fact that my toes are so tiny that to do a French manicure on my pinkie toe would just be the little white strip...so maybe I'm jealous...or maybe it really is gross to have long toe nails.

I hate the smell of most mens cologne...too bad for most of the men that where them.

I like watching movies with subtitles...it is sort of a multi-tasking accomplishment. And I think part of me while reading/watching is thinking maybe by the end of the movie I will be fluent in that language..sort of like osmosis..but not really.

And for the finale...I tend to come back to conversations that have been long over...its my "little" analytical brain...I just can't help myself.

If you get the chance..I'd like to read yours! ;) I love you all!

Rainy Days and Mondays....

It is Monday and I will admit...it got me down...but only for a little while.  So all that exciting stuff I was talking about in the last post...is a go.  Looks like the plans to go to Rwanda in the summer of 2009 are underway.  I think I might pass out now...lol...just kidding.  So, I guess the Lord doesn't like to do small things through me...He goes for the big guns right off the bat...throws me in to teach  me to swim...makes me leap before I get a chance to think about it...tells me to count my chickens before they hatch and then tells me to trust Him that they will..ok I will stop there..but now you get my point.  He's crazy.  But I guess I wouldn't have it any other way.  The fact that He would use me to do such amazing things is beyond me...if it were up to me, I wouldn't use me, but thankfully its not up to me...because this is awesome. 

So I figure its about time I tell you...I think I met someone...and I think most of you know what that means...I probably wouldn't post that just anywhere at this point, but since all of you are my friends and not just some crazy internet people..though I don't see why they would care...I wanted to fill you in.  Now if you know me, you know we are still just friends..lol...but if you know me, you also know that it is a pretty big deal for me to say I met someone..even if it is prefaced with an "I think". So there you have it...now don't tell anyone..haha...

Much Love...

hi!

Well, I am sitting at my desk really late on Tuesday night and I am thinking of all of you.  There are so many sites now adays to keep in touch with people like myspace, xanga, of course, and facebook, among many others I have gotten invitations to join.  The appeal to joining more than one to me is that there seem to be many different people on each site, so I join to keep in touch with everyone. I looked today to see who I am subscribed to here and who is subscribed to me and realized I have been doing you all an injustice by not giving you more attention.  So, I will try from now on to keep you all updated and I would love stay in touch with you and continue to know what is going on in your lives. And I will try to start leaving more comments so as to feel more "connected" to you than just reading about you and never saying anything to you.  You are my friends..I would like you to stay that way.  So if you don't hear from me for a long time, feel free to leave me a nasty message reminding me (well, not too nasty...its just a blog.)

So here's what's up with me...

I am still in youth ministry, obviously..it wasn't forever ago when I last wrote...and I love my job.  I am in the process of praying about a 2 year plan to take a trip to Africa with a team of youth to help teach youth  ministry there..apparently it is a need...and we may be able to meet it. So this is exciting for me.

On a closer to the present note, we are just finishing up a Summer of Service, where our entire church has been going out and doing service projects in the community as a family every other wednesday..this has been awesome and I am sad to see it come to an end especially since I have been gone most of the summer. 

We recently got back from NYC which was amazing..only a few complaints but a lot of praises...and then I have been really sick for the last several days.  That stunk, but was nice to sleep again after weeks of little of it. Got caught up on all the new releases..finally watched Ghost Rider which just made me laugh.  I couldn't decide if the demonic parts freaked me out or not...

And soon I am off to visit Rachel Johnson Wentling in San Diego, CA which should be pretty much awesome. It's one of my favorite cities in the US and she is one of my favorite people.

So there you have it folks, I will keep you updated...many blessings and I miss you all...

Senator's Camp 2007

Hello All!

So I haven't written in a really long time..though I have been reading your updates.  I just got back on Sunday from a 7 day wilderness trip with my student leaders.  It was pretty much the most awesome week ever and I think I could live out in the wilderness indefinitely were it not for the bugs and the possibility of hypothermia should you accidentally set up your tent in a possible flood spot...which about happened our last night.  On our trip we did such things as rock climbing, rappelling down a 200ft. cliff, jumping off a little wooden stand over the river to grab a trapeze 100ft up, hiking up and down rocky cliffs with 50lb packs, not showering for 6 days, and using the bathroom out in the woods with rocks for toilet paper as well as Bible studies and a lot of time alone with the Lord.  It was awesome.  I love this trip every year because of the simplicity of living...though we smell really bad after just a few days, I love not worrying about anything, or even thinking of anything but life in that moment with those few people with me. That is the world for a week...no traffic, no lights but the sun, moon, stars, and occasional flashlight, no sounds but the song of all nature and our own laughter and conversation.  I love the smell of cedar in a bonfire and if it weren't for it raining every day, we would have had a fire every night, but even the rain made the trip more fun and adventurous...and cut down on the extreme stench of ourselves.  It is interesting that when you all smell bad together, you stop smelling the stench with the exception of the occasional nose to underarm close call.  Last year I saw a wild boar while going to the bathroom.  This year I was not so blessed.  Though I did watch a little spider for a while..I never knew they had so much personality.  I learned to respect nature more this year.  I found myself wanting to perserve it, feeling bad if I ran into a spider web...realizing the damage we do in just walking through. I think I will write another children's book about it.  I think I will call the main character Speeder as suggested by a friend.  When its done and published I will let you all know and you can buy it to help me live..lol.  Anyway, the Lord also showed me what His kingdom looks like through the lives of these teenagers this week.  I have never been so thankful to be a part something so beautiful.  These teens are amazing and were amazing examples of the character of Jesus toward each other and every challenge that came at us.  When it rained, they played..did not complain. When things got hard, they encouraged each other, did not complain. When our packs were "stolen" and we had to find eating utensils in a junkyard, they had the best night of the whole trip, did not complain.  I want to cry right now just remembering.  I saw the kingdom this week. I saw the joy of the Lord through any circumstance.  I saw the love of Jesus over come all obstacles.  The Lord is good...and He has given me the blessing of being a small part of these amazing teens lives. I praise Him.  Here are some pics of the trip....

I could go on and on about the awesomeness but you get the jist.  May the Lord bless you as He has blessed me.

Much Love to you all...