This Is Abundant Life

Roommates

2009-08-19T13:40:00.001-05:00

August ’08:

I had an emergency appendectomy two days before Freshman Orientation (I’m sorry, “New Student” Orientation). I had the surgery on Wednesday, was released on Thursday, and started orientation on Friday. I sat out on a lot of the events (like the 2-hour campus tour), missed out on most of the events that weren’t required, and did not move in until the next Monday.

My roommate had been assigned the same day I went to the hospital. I sent her a message online, something to the effect of “Hi, I’m your roommate. I’ll be moving in late because I’m in the hospital right now. So I’ll see you in a few days.”

I did meet my roommate briefly during an orientation event, but not enough to get a good idea of what kind of a person she was. So I was nervous as I hauled my stuff up to my room (on the 4th floor of Arden Hall, which I will get to in a moment). I get along with most people, but I am an odd sort of person, I suppose, and I have met plenty of girls who have undeniable friction with me. I was nervous I’d get a roommate who would think I was weird and be condescending the whole time. Liz had seemed nice enough, and being a theatre major was a point in her favor, but people are different when you live with them than when you meet them for five minutes during “Get To Know Your Faculty!”

I walked into the room. Spacious, with a huge window (that didn’t open, but from which you could see Caribou and Cub and Target and even Perkins if you knew where to look). Because Arden Hall is the only residence on-campus (“on-campus” being a bit of a stretch when you’re 2 miles from the rest of campus) without a kitchen or kitchenette in every room, the school provided a microwave and mini-fridge for all Arden rooms. The building, an old Holiday Inn that had been unused for several years (and apparently had a homeless man living in the basement for quite some time), was still furnished with that ugly speckled green carpeting that doesn’t even match itself and yet seems to coordinate somehow with any other colors you add to the room.

Liz had of course already been moved in for a few days. Her bed was made, her desk was claimed, her stuff was mostly piled in the corner. And there, hanging off the post of the bunk bed, was the clue that I had been hoping for; the signal that Liz was someone I would get along with, someone with a good sense of humor and of adventure, someone who was maybe a little wacky at times but in absolutely the best way possible:

A superman cape.

“Okay,” I thought, “We’re good.”

Out with the old, in with the new.

2008-08-10T03:00:00.001-05:00

I'm feeling the complacency of the summer falling away, like a snake slowly shedding it's skin, and I'm glad for it, because I hate complacency, but I wish it would be replaced with something other than fear and doubt and anxiety.

So what did I do this summer? What have I done this past year, really? Not much to speak of.

I went to Mississippi in June of 2007 and spent a week helping rebuild a house that had been hit by Katrina. It was one of the most amazing, awe-inspiring times of my life. Possibly the top of the list. That fall (starting rather late) I took some classes online and did not do as well with them as I should have. In January I got a job as a warming house attendant, I did that for a month. In May I got a job at a deli, where I still work.

That's it. That's my list. Four things.

I mean, sure, I also finally got my driver's license, and I discovered the Yellow Tree Theatre (possibly my new favorite place), and I saw some friends and threw some "parties" and did some redecorating in my room, and other minor things. But really my list boils down to one week of missions a year ago, a couple of jobs, and some classes that I didn't even focus on as much as I should have.

You know what I didn't do this year? Go to church. Well, maybe a handful of times. I completely lost all feeling of connection to the church I went to and could not stand going there anymore. (I'm actually visiting tomorrow/in 8 hours, for I believe the 2nd time this calendar year.) But did I find another church? Well... I looked up a couple. But I haven't gone. I look at that and think how stupid I am, because I've seen over the years how much of a difference a church makes in my life. But unfortunately not going to church at all was better than going where I went, and the complacency took over and here I am without any type of church I can call my own.

I also didn't write/compose as much as I wanted, or play music/sing, or do photography, or take walks for no reason, or sit in silence, or write letters. My brother has been in Alaska since April and my best friend at a camp in Wisconsin since May and I've written each of them one whole letter.

See what I mean? Complacency. Ugly, lazy complacency. A non-commital shrug of the shoulders to whatever life throws at me.

But now, with school coming up and me moving away from home for the first time, things are changing. And instead of being ambivalent about things I find myself doubtful of my own abilities or ideas, afraid of messing things up scholastically or socially, anxious about keeping my job and whether or not I'll get along with my roommate, and inventing all sorts of issues that I'm sure don't actually exist. This skin really isn't much better than the old one.

So I'm going to try to move out of this doubtful, fearful, anxious stage quickly. And in an effort to expedite the process I'm going to try a few things:

I'm going to write something meaningful every day, whether it's a poem or lyrics or another chapter in my novel or simply a blog entry with more substance than "Today I had cereal for breakfast, and then I played Super Nintendo."

I'm going to listen to music every single day. I don't know why I don't do this now. It's such a simple thing and it really makes a difference. I have been sadly ignoring music altogether lately, and that's just got to stop.

I'm going to sit down at the piano, or somewhere secluded where I can sing out loud, and create music every day. Whether it's my own creation or simply me playing someone else's music, there's very little in the world that affects my soul more than music pouring out of my fingers or my voice lifting into the air.

And I'm going to sit in the grass on blue-sky days and watch clouds and birds and flowers and critters and people walking down the street, and close my eyes just to feel the warmth of the sun on my skin, and maybe even sing without caring who hears me.

And I'm going to go out of my way to spend time with others, and share laughter, and maybe even find someone to create music with me.

And, hopefully, I'll find myself confident and looking towards the future with hope and optimism and enjoying the beauty of everything.

BFS Update and a Tasty Meal for One

2008-05-05T19:00:00.004-05:00

I've recently crossed a few things off of my list of Big, Fun, Scary Adventures for 2008. I've got my driver's license and Dad got me a movie box set that includes Plan 9 from Outer Space as a congratulations, as of today I have a part-time job in the deli at the local SuperValu, I've seen Fargo, I've memorized the first movement of Moonlight Sonata, and thus far I have made at least one new recipe a month.

Other things are in progress. I've begun working on "Scenes from an Italian Restaurant" on the piano and I'm getting better and better at "Find My Way to You" on guitar. I'm reading Equal Rites by Terry Pratchett and once that's done I have Henry Huggins and Homer Price for nostalgia's sake and then I will start in on Peter and the Secret of Rundoon which is the last of the Peter and the Starcatchers trilogy by Dave Barry and Ridley Pearson.

I'm cooking just for myself this week and I decided that I didn't want to subsist on frozen pizzas things from cans. There will be some of those as well, of course, but I made the decision to do some actual cooking at least a couple of times. So tonight I made foil packet chicken and a banana boat.

For the chicken, I took a 12x18-ish inch piece of foil and put a little olive oil and just a bit of chopped garlic in the middle. I placed the chicken breast on the olive oil and drizzled a bit more oil on top then added the rest of the clove of garlic, some fresh squeezed lemon juice (maybe a quarter or a third of the lemon), salt, and fresh ground black pepper. I topped it with frozen broccoli florets, a sliced carrot, and some cashews. I sealed it up, placed it on a cookie sheet, and stuck it in a 450-degree oven.

I overcooked mine just a bit (I added more time to the cooking but accidentally set hours instead of minutes. I realized about 10 minutes later that it should have already beeped) but I think about 25 minutes is right. The nice thing is even if you do overcook it the chicken doesn't dry out or anything. The broccoli was overdone but that was really the only issue. Anyway, once it was done cooking I transferred it to a plate and enjoyed it with a nice root beer. It wasn't necessarily the best chicken I'd ever had but it was certainly enjoyable.

After I had finished the chicken, I turned my thoughts to dessert and decided to do a campfire favorite in the oven. Banana boats are very easy and one of my favorite desserts. Just cut a wedge out of a banana (along the whole length of it, so it looks sort like a boat - hence the name), leaving the peel attached on one end, and then filled the cavity with chocolate chips and some mini marshmallows. Then cover the cavity with the peel, wrap it up in foil, and pop it in a 450-degree oven (no baking sheet) for about 5 minutes. You want the fillings to melt but you want to avoid making the banana too mushy. I find they're easiest to eat with a spoon right out of the banana peel, but you can also peel them and put them on a plate. I'll do that if I'm eating it with a scoop of vanilla ice cream.

So that was my dinner tonight. Tomorrow I will probably be back to eating something out of a can.

Attention college students (past/present) and those who like to cook

2008-01-20T18:22:00.000-06:00

I will be launching a blog dedicated to cooking at college and I am in search of recipes that can plausibly be made in a college environment (which can include stoves and an oven) and on a college budget. The focus of the blog is to provide college students with recipes for times when the cafeteria is closed or when they feel like making their own meals or snacks. Speed, cost, and ease of preparation are all major factors, although occasionally splurging on an ingredient or having a longer/more complex recipe is fine.

I'm looking for everything from simple snacks (Nutella on saltines, simple dips, etc) to smoothies and beverages (non-alcoholic) to meals to desserts. I am also interested in ways to make standard college food such as ramen or macaroni & cheese more interesting/varied, as well as in any general tips for the college cook (budgeting, multi-use ingredients, cheap substitutes, etc). If you have any recipes/ideas you think would fit with the blog, I would appreciate it if you passed it on to me. I would give you credit in the blog for finding/creating it and may even link to your blog or website in the post if you wished (although my final decision on linking would depend on the blog or website).

I will also be compiling a list of basic college staples; things like ramen that are easy to make and keep well, ingredients that get a lot of use, etc. Any ideas for this list are also appreciated.

Know of a good cookbook or recipes website? I will be keeping a list of resources for more cooking ideas.

Thanks for taking the time to read this.

BFS Update #1

2008-01-14T18:07:00.000-06:00

Alright, time for my first official update on my year of doing Big, Fun, Scary things.

New Items
Visit Bethany at Gustavus
Volunteer at the 2008 GOP convention
Learn to make our stew and bread from memory.
Try variations on our bread (such as cinnamon-raisin or making good hamburger buns)
Write letters to people.
Go to the Farmer's Market regularly.
Compile a list of tasty (and simple) recipes for one, especially those possible in a college dorm.
Try out various microwave cookbooks (via library) and find one suitable for college life. Get my own copy.
Be able to play "Find My Way To You" on guitar confidently (in other words, practice it a bunch)
Obtain a capo
Make at least one new recipe each month (including things I've had but never made myself)
Move to campus for the fall semester (this is kind of a given to happen, but still)
Learn/improve on "living-on-my-own" things e.g. mending clothing or the best way to clean things
Enjoy my meals more by actually paying attention to the food and not watching TV or doing computer things while eating.

Improving health overall: well, I'm sort of battling with what I will call Winter Crud. Cold-ish type thing, but lingering. Cough and all. Apparently a lot of people are dealing with long-lasting coughs and such. In general I'm feeling better now, I've had several good days in a row, so I may be done with the worst of it. In any case, because of it (and a couple other things) my appetite (and hence my food choices) has been inconsistent. Although apart from my raspberry ginger ale (my beverage of choice when I'm sick) I haven't been drinking as much pop. And I've discovered that we have some stevia (sold as a "nutritional supplement in the US but mostly known as a sweetener), which mixed with water is very pleasant. We have some sugar-free syrups (like for snow cones) that I'm going to try adding as well. Not much happening in the way of exercise, either. Sleeping is getting better, though. Not great, but better.

My room organization has started, thus my room is messier now than before. But everything should be put to rights before long.

No real progress yet on my driver's license, but the deal now is that my dad will pay for behind-the-wheel training (so I don't have to rely on my parents to teach me everything), and once that's done I can take the test. And once I get my license, my dad's going to buy me the Ed Wood box set, which includes Plan 9 from Outer Space. So I'll kill two BFS birds with one stone.

I have a part-time job now as a warming house attendant for the city, although I'm not crossing that off my list because the job is seasonal and said season ends in mid-February. But I am actually scheduled for hours, which is nice, because when I was hired it wasn't certain whether I would get scheduled hours or just be a sub. I'm working at least one day a week at Welcome and probably more, and I'm on the sub list as well. And having held a job will make it much easier to get another one once the season ends.

What with being sick and all I'm making some headway on Buffy. I've moved onto season 3 (of 7).

As far as reading, I've been deliberating over which book to read. I think I'll probably start in on The Book of Atrus again. I didn't get very far in that one due to various things. But I don't have the other two books and I'm currently in debt to the library (thanks to several misplaced books and no cash flow). Although now that I have a job I could probably actually pay that off.

Dad's home, so I'm off to watch something with him (probably Eddie Izzard). I'll do a BFS update at least every Monday, but possibly more frequently.

The Year of doing Big, Fun, Scary Things Together - 2008

2008-01-07T12:09:00.000-06:00

I've decided to join in on the Year of Doing Big, Fun, Scary Things Together. Last year was the first year for this event, which is hosted by the Office of Letters and Light, the same people responsible for bringing you National Novel Writing Month and Script Frenzy.

BFS 2008, as it is known, is a community of people all attempting to accomplish Big, Fun, and/or Scary Things during the 2008 calendar year. The rules are fairly simple: You post your list of Big, Fun, Scary Things in the BFS forum at nanowrimo.org and if you accomplish any of them by 11:59:59 PM on December 31st, 2008 then you are a winner and get a certificate to that effect. I thought I would put my list up here and use this blog to track my progress.

This list is longer than my official BFS list on the NaNoWriMo website. I went through and picked out the biggest goals for the official list, but I'm still going to try to accomplish all of this by the end of the year.

Improve my health overall
Specifically:
Half an hour of heart-rate-raising physical activity 2-3 times a week
Lose weight at a healthy rate. My ultimate target is around 120 but I don’t want that to be the focus so much as actually improving my health.
Alter diet so I consume less pop and more fruit and veg.
Fix erratic sleep schedule (eventually to be in bed at 11 and up no later than 8)

Get my room organized/set up
Specifically:
Get my closet organized for clothes storage and eliminate my dresser.
Get necessary shelving/bins so everything has a place.
Set up a craft area in another part of the house so my craft supplies don’t take up space in my room.
Set up reading area under my loft bed

Get my driver’s license

Find a decent a part-time job

Pay off my Distance Ed courses

Get my rabbit a larger cage and an outdoor playpen

Prepare for and begin teaching piano to friend’s children

Find a church or Bible study/small group

Put at least 50% of any earned income left after expenses into savings (providing there is no less than $20 pocket money per month)

Archive all the Evangelical Press Association tapes

Finish the EPA member map

Books to read/finish/reread:
Myst
LotR
HHGTTG
Lemony Snicket
Chronicles of Narnia
Good Omens
At least one other novel each by Gaiman and Pratchett (probably Stardust and a Discworld book)

Never be not reading a book without a good reason (like NaNoWriMo)

Obtain my own copies of all the Ator movies

Obtain my own copy of Plan 9 from Outer Space

Finish BtVS series

Movies to watch:
Shawshank Redemption
Fargo
As Good As It Gets

Piano:
First movement of Moonlight Sonata (memorized)
Take Five, Dave Brubeck
Hallelujah
Drops of Jupiter
Joy to the World (Three Dog Night)
Scenes from an Italian Restaurant

So that's it. Wish me luck.

The Most Wonderful Time of the Year

2007-12-19T21:03:00.000-06:00

Some of you may have noticed that I didn't really keep up with my writing blog like I said I would.

Basically, NaNoWriMo failed. School work took priority, and then I just sort of got caught up in other things (like my brother and sister-in-law moving into their new house, and seeing friends over Thanksgiving). I wrote about 5,000 words and the satire just wasn't coming out. I'm not sure if that project will be revived.

I did go see Twelfth Night at Cooper, and I ended up ushering two nights, and it was like old times. I also saw The Tempest at Armstrong, which was good but not as good as I wanted it to be. But still enjoyable.

I did day care for my brother's church, which was wonderful. I spent most of the time with Austin, who is Autistic, and I will write a post that once I can find the notebook that Austin was using while he was "science-ing".

Bethany is home from school and we should be hanging out tomorrow. We were going to go to a sneak preview of Charlie Wilson's War tonight but she ended up not leaving campus until almost 5:30 so my parents decided they would just spring for us to go another time, which meant we didn't have to rush and also meant Bethany got to spend time with her family before rushing out the door to see other people, which is always nice. I was feeling bad about tearing her away from them so quickly, but all is well now.

Tonight I watched an episode of Little Mosque on the Prairie which I enjoyed quite a bit. Hogfather also came today, which is a miniseries based on Terry Pratchett's Discworld novel of the same name. We caught it on TV and very much enjoyed it. One more thing to add to our collection of foreign television.

Christmas is next week, which is exciting. I've finished all the wrapping of my presents (except one for a friend that has yet to arrive), and they are all sitting under the tree, so now I'm simply awaiting Christmas because my favorite part of the season other than getting to see and spend time with my family and friends is being able to give them all their presents. I also very much enjoy wrapping presents, so if you need anything wrapped and don't feel like doing it just bring it over and I'd be glad to. I'm completely serious.

I still have a cheesy movie party to plan. I'm thinking maybe the 27th.

And I promise that I will feel bad about not writing here more. And maybe I actually will write here more, but no promises there.

NaNoWriMo Activate!

2007-11-02T11:43:00.000-05:00

November is upon us. The task to write 50,000 words in 30 days has begun. I am currently exactly on pace at 1667 words netted yesterday. Today I will attempt to write another 1667.

As my life and spare time will ultimately be devoted to writing (in between the little girls coming over, and oohing and aahing over my brother's new motorcycle, and spending a day with some of my cousins and such, and providing child care for my brother's church during their banquet, and helping my brother and my sister-in-law move and paint, and Thanksgiving, and picking out Christmas trees) I will be spending more time on my other blog (Between Drafts) than here and will in fact be trying to update it every day or two. So go ahead and navigate yourself there and read on about what I'm up to these days.

In the meantime, I'm off to prepare for the little girls that are coming over in an hour, which among other things entails making sure the leaf piles in the yard are suitable for jumping into.

Fowl Play

2007-08-28T17:25:00.001-05:00

(I apologize for the pun)

Today I decided I wanted some pasta with the Alfredo-like sauce we make and some of the chicken that was leftover from the fried rice last night. The sauce didn't go well for me, although the dogs were happy enough with it. I was going to start over but then discovered we only had about a tablespoon of butter left. So I decided to take a culinary step back and do something easier and with less room for mishaps.

Ramen (chicken flavor) with the leftover chicken (nuked). Not terribly appealing after having my mouth set on Alfredo, but it did have pasta and chicken.

I stuck the bowl of chicken in the microwave, hit "quick min" on the display, and walked across the kitchen to stir the Ramen, keeping an ear on the chicken. After a little while I heard a large pop from the microwave. I went over to turn it off and pull out the chicken so it wouldn't overheat. The door of the microwave opened to reveal a piece of the chicken had actually popped out of the bowl. I pulled the (seemingly) now-calm bowl out of the microwave and dropped the fallen soldier back amongst his comrades. Apparently he'd had quite enough of this being thrown around, because that's precisely when he detonated with a mighty POP!

Searing hot chicken-shrapnel flew into my wrist with explosive force (as shrapnel is prone to do), and for a split second I wasn't sure what had happened, only that my wrist was now burning and my glasses had been spattered with some cloudy liquid. The injury proved to be very minor and after treatment I was able to continue my noodle preparations.

Finally, the poultry volcano lay dormant, and I was able to enjoy my Ramen with no further insurgencies.

I should be sleeping

2007-08-21T00:46:00.001-05:00

This is me, up at 12:45 AM. In just over 8 hours I will be at the library unpacking boxes full of books, DVDs, CDs, and other media and sorting them onto the appropriate carts. In about 7 hours, I will be getting up. So I should probably have gone to bed by now and really should be dozing peacefully at this moment. But I'm not.

I'm attempting to make these, but so far it's not cooperating. The buttercreams are chilling currently and we'll see if that helps, the attempt at dipping them will be tomorrow.

Other than that, well... I got my permit in the mail today. It's very flexible (and the picture's decent). And I have lectures to watch and historical things to read and papers to write and tests to take. But all that's almost done (just in time to start all over again with a new batch of classes). Many of my friends are leaving me in the next couple weeks, which is sad indeed, but also exciting. I'm looking forward to hearing stories from them.

But now, I think I'm going to attempt to sleep.

"Pedestrians and animals are unpredictable"

2007-07-17T02:10:00.000-05:00

That's what it says in the Minnesota Driver's Manual.

Here are a few more gems from the online version of the manual (and this is besides the grammar, mechanics, sentence structure, and self-contradictions):

"It is illegal to stop or park on the freeway except in event of an emergency. Running out of fuel is not considered an emergency." (Yes, I know what they mean. This is just worded poorly. So, you're not allowed to stop if you run out of fuel?)

"It is helpful to know, before you begin driving, where you need to exit the freeway."

"It is illegal to drive through a line of children who are crossing the road, even if a school safety patrol is not present."

And my personal favorite:

"Stationary objects, potholes, guardrails, bridges, roadway signs, hedges, or trees won't move into your path but may influence your riding strategy."

It's good to know that those roadway signs won't jump out at you unexpectedly.

M-I-S-S-I-S-S-I-P-P-I

2007-07-04T00:11:00.000-05:00

One small confession: I didn't take this picture. Or any other picture I might post from the trip. In fact, I didn't even take a camera with me. But you will see some of my photography soon. I promise.

This one was taken by my new friend Rachel, who was from the other church at the site. It turns out that she lives in Darwin and writes and does NaNoWriMo and ScriptFrenzy and is random and crazy (in the good way). We got along quite well. This is their van decorated for the trip back. So don't point out the misplaced apostrophe to me. I wasn't there.

I still don't think I can put in words what this week was. Normally when I come back from a mission trip I'm bursting at the seams on a spiritual high and ready to change everything and can barely contain all the things going on in my heart. This week was different, though. I came back home with a sense of... well, rightness. Not bubbling over, but peaceful. A sense that I am doing okay, that my life is headed in a good direction. And that peace has stayed despite receiving some unpleasant news from a friend when I got home. News which I spent a few hours being furious about and crying about. And then I let it go. And that's a big deal for me. God is working in my life in new ways, and I'm excited.

Here's a basic rundown of the trip (I'll go into more detail later):

Saturday, June 23: Leave Crystal, MN at 6:00 AM and spend the whole day in the vans (there were four vans total), with stops of course. We stop in St. Louis at the Gateway Arch briefly, then head onto Marston, MO where we stop at a Super 8, ending our day at about 11:30 PM.

Sunday, June 24: We continue traveling and arrive at the camp in Hattiesburg, MS on schedule at about 3:30 PM. We clean the cabins, learn about the work sites, sign up for things we're interested in, and get to know the other people there.

Monday/Tuesday, June25/26: I am working at the Cox house. Our project is to re-roof the house.

Wednesday, June 27: We have a day off. We go to New Orleans (French Quarter) and then stop at the Gulf on the way back. We go to the service at Ebenezer Missionary Baptist Church, which partners with World Servants, and enjoy an ice cream social afterwards.

Thursday, June 28: I work with the nursing home outreach in the morning. We get back to the church for lunch early and make ironed bead things (these things) to kill time. Back to the Cox house in the afternoon. We go to Ebenezer's annual cook-out, which is potluck, and enjoy lots of Southern home cookin'.

Friday, June 29: Last day at the Cox house. Lots of work is being done. My job is finished in the early afternoon, and I go back with a few others to the camp to help repaint the buildings there. After dinner we all pile in the vans and go around to look at the finished projects.

Saturday, June 30: We eat breakfast and eventually (after many, many goodbyes) leave. We drive to St. Louis, MO and stay at a Super 8.

Sunday, July 1: We travel, and travel some more. We arrive back home at 7:11 PM (4 minutes ahead of schedule).

WATCH THIS SPACE

2007-07-02T16:25:00.001-05:00

I just got back from an amazing trip to Hattiesburg, Mississippi. I don't know how to write it all down yet, but I'm working on it. This is just a placeholder to let you all know that something exciting is coming soon. Like an empty billboard. Except I won't be trying to sell you things.

Yes, Virginia, there is a Cookie Fairy

2007-04-23T22:17:00.001-05:00

Rule of life #1: A house should never be without cookies.

I woke up this morning and went upstairs to be met with the aroma of fresh-baked chocolate chip oatmeal cookies, thus proving the existence of the Cookie Fairy. Chocolate chip oatmeal cookies, by the way, make a halfway decent breakfast.

Rule of life #2: See a theatrical production every now and then.

I'm excited for the play, for ushering and seeing it and watching other people enjoy it. Anna and Colin's invitation was entertaining, and Ms. Banker hadn't mentioned it so the majority of the class was really confused at first, which made it more entertaining. But the best part was that after they left someone asked (about Anna) "Is that her real face?"

Rule of life #3: Go outside on sunny days.

Since there was no Roundelay (I stuck around in case someone showed up but no one did, as I expected), I ended up walking home. The 40-minute walk was much more enjoyable than usual. The clouds were so fluffy and pure white and low it seemed as though I could have plucked them right out of the sky and it would have been the softest material in existence. The sun weaved in and out of the clouds; I marvelled at how bright the colors of the world were the first time it peeked out from behind its fluffy white shield. The little kids were just leaving the elementary school as I walked by. I was helped across the street by a little 4th- or 5th-grade patrol with a bright orange flag who very shyly and barely audibly said "you're welcome" when I thanked her. I smiled, remembering my own days as a patrol and the "perks" I loved so much: hot chocolate on cold days, being late to class and let out early, feeling responsible, and, most importantly, going to Camp Snoopy at the end of the year.

Rule of life #4: Remember there's always another side to the story.

I was talking to Jeanne (one of my various "moms") when I heard 5-yr-old Randy bawling in the background, "He threw the basketball at me and it hit my thumb". Jeanne quickly questioned Reid (an older brother) if this was true. Reid's response: "Well, yeah, but I did it because he was throwing rocks!"

Rule of life #5: Eat fresh fruit, especially on summery days.

Eating fresh fruit in summer is like milk and cookies or waffles and syrup. Fresh fruit in general is wonderful, and people should realize there are more than apples, oranges, grapes, and bananas in your local grocer's produce section. There are cherries and peaches and pears and blackberries and raspberries and balck raspberries and strawberries and plums (red, black, lemon...), and pineapple that doesn't come from a can. Exotic fruits that you didn't even know existed. Try one.

“Life is better than death, I believe, if only because it is less boring and because it has fresh peaches." ~ Thomas Walker

This is a little random.

2007-04-02T00:17:00.000-05:00

I have something that's been driving me slightly nuts lately. I thought I'd share it and maybe someone out there can help.

When I was little I had a doll that came with a video, and you would sit and watch the video (which was about the doll) and the doll would react and say things, and ishe would also react to me w/o the video (if I remember right). She was a fairly large doll, I'd say at least American Girl Doll sized if not bigger. She was a "hard" doll (No plush body or anything) and I think she wore pink. I could swear her name was Mirabel, and that's the name my mom came up with when I asked her too, but I can't for the life of me even find a mention that such a doll existed.

Did anyone else ever have or hear of this doll, or can anyone find mention of it? It's been bugging me for quite a while now.

At the 'Bou

2006-12-01T20:47:00.000-06:00

Today I spent two hours at my Caribou Coffee. There are two locations that are about the same distance from my house, but I like one of them better. This is the one I refer to as "mine". It's been there longer, so I know it more, and I don't know what it is but something about it seems much cozier than the other one, slightly more nestled into its settings. I went after school with my friends, and I discovered I had a card with $5 on it so I got a Ho Ho Mocha (which I've been craving since I realized the holiday drinks are back). My friends all headed back for various activities and I didn't feel like walking home, but our car was in the shop until four so I sat, with my notebook open, and did absolutely nothing but sit there relaxing and writing about whatever came to mind. Normally I would use these bits and pieces and spend time crafting them into an interesting post, but tonight as I sit here with my grape pop and my fake fireplace (the real one's upstairs) I think I'll just let you in on what I wrote down.

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Quiet is not a word I like. Quiet, to me, is empty and cold and eerie. Quiet is the absence of an atmosphere. A quiet house means no activity, no signs of life; no dishwasher running after a family meal, no dogs running or snoring or howling to be let outside. Quiet is void. Life needs background noise.

There's a cute little boy sitting with his mother here. He can't be older than four, with blonde hair and piercing blue eyes, the color of the lake on a bright and almost cloudless sunny day when the one whispy cloud around for miles just starts to block the sunlight. He is still in all of his snow gear, coat and hat and mittens. He talks like a little boy, one who still doesn't form words exactly right, discovering words and naming everything in sight. He is very excited about his cocoa, and wants to know if the other people here are drinking cocoa, too. Both his hands together don't quite fit around the cup and every time he takes a drink his face disappears, except those piercing blue eyes. Every so often he catches me watching him and beams, his eyes sparkling, and I can't help but smile back.

A young woman, probably college-aged, has been sitting here since before I got here and poring over a textbook. One of the employees just brought her a free cup of coffee. That's one of the things I like about this place.

Mash and Doug just walked by, on their way to Walgreens, since school is now out for them as well. As I noticed them, my attention was drawn to an old couple sitting here together, staring out the window and talking as they sip their coffee. They are facing away and I cannot tell their emotions, but it almost seems to be a ritual.

The little boy and his mother are leaving. He wants to finish his cocoa here, but his mother has finally coaxed him into bringing it along, and he is run-walking, in that way only little kids do, after her. I've lost site of him now behind the low wall by the door, but I can hear him proudly proclaiming "cup!" as they pass by the shelves of travel mugs.

That young woman is now meeting someone who appears to be a tutor. They're trying to figure out how to sit at the table. It's rather amusing, but I think he noticed me watching. I hope to get better at being inconspicuous about this.

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At that poing Doug and Mash came into Caribou so I went over and sat with them while they had their coffee (mine had been gone for over an hour), and my mother showed up with our car just shortly after she left. So that's all I wrote.

Wishing you happiness and warmth. Coffee is good for both.

Hands and Feet (and ears) of Christ

2006-09-01T00:28:00.000-05:00

You'd be surprise how much can fit into a 200-square-foot garage.

Denise is a very nice woman who's been through a lot in life including debilitating carpal tunnel syndrome, divorce, alcoholism, and sons who simply put have no concern for her whatsoever. She was recently evicted from her 4-bedroom house across the street from my church, and has found a small apartment. She's lived there two months. She also very much likes to talk.

When she moved, Denise's sons helped pack and label boxes and bring them to the apartment. Apparently that's when their courtesy ran out. Denise has two garages there, and all the boxes and furniture and odds & ends were simply thrown in without care. You've never seen such an awful mess. Denise couldn't do anything about it, and worse she didn't know where anything was. Not even plates or silverware.

So today my youth pastor and several of us kids went to her apartment and pulled everything out of one garage, sorted it out, labeled things clearly, and put it back so she can get to everything, as well as carrying up three flights of stairs miscellaneous things she needed in the apartment. That one garage took us five hours. We didn't get to the second.

Most of us pulled out boxes and sorted, but one girl had the job of going through boxes with Denise and deciding which things went upstairs, which went back into storage, and which got thrown away. The latter pile was not as big as it probably should have been, but progress was made. She also was the one who listened while Denise talked, which, as I mentioned before, Denise does quite well.

We pulled out craft supplies, electronics, old pictures... I even found a box full of non-perishable food. It broke my heart to see boxes that were ripped and waterlogged (every time it rains the water floods into the garages).

There were points of frustration and of sheer exhaustion. But we got through it, and at the end of the day life was a little bit easier for Denise. And I looked around at my friends, the ones who had sacrificed one of their final days of summer to help this woman, who didn't complain about the work, who honestly humbled themselves and did the work of Christ, and I was overwhelmed by it. By how much of a difference they made, we made, in that small sacrifice of our time and energy. It was hot and exhausting and frustrating, but beyond that it was fulfilling, and it was amazing, and it was God.

Before too much time passes we'll be back there again, tackling that second garage.

Quotable

2006-06-18T18:29:00.001-05:00

Time is a great healer. Unless you've got a rash, then you're better off with some ointment. ~Holly, Red Dwarf

The rains came down and the floods came up

2006-05-09T12:38:00.000-05:00

The basement flooded after the storm. I didn't notice this until about 11 PM, so I was up until midnight with that, then couldn't sleep until 3. Long story short, my head still hurts, my temperature's crawling back up, and this morning I was dizzy and almost fell over. So I stayed home.

So here I am, sitting in my room in lounge pants and an oversized "Kenton, Ohio" shirt, and wondering if I have anything interesting to write about. And since nothing noteworthy has occured recently, I'll tell you the story of how I learned to curtsy.

My father is involved in (and now executive director of) a large organization called the Evangelical Press Association, which has an annual convention in early May (my parents are in Orlando for it right now, in fact). It's held in a different city each year and in 1995 it was in Washington, D.C. I was six, my brothers were nine and twelve. We went along this time, and one day while we were there we were walking along on our way to the White House for a tour when we noticed some street performers. It was George Washington and his niece, and they needed volunteers to learn to dance. I don't know if we volunteered or if they just noticed us, but my brother David (nine) and I were chosen. I went with George Washington's niece, who taught me how to curtsy. I was even wearing a shirt that had kind of a skirted bottom, so I had something to hold on to. Then, after I had learned to curtsy and David to bow, we switched partners and George Washington taught me to dance a minuet, while his niece danced with my brother.

Then we went left and went to the White House for the tour. All I remember of that is red velvet ropes and that the guy in front of me was wearing a blue shirt.

The rain comes, beating on my skin

2006-05-08T21:34:00.000-05:00

Watched Foster's, did some other stuff, went to Chambers.

During Chambers it started raining.

Glorious, brilliant rain that pounded hard and splashed back up about half a foot, with blinding lightening and deafening cracks of thunder. A gorgeous Minnesota storm.

This is what I've been waiting for all spring. We've had some good storms, but this is the perfect kind of storm. And if I weren't sick I'd go run around in the rain and dance and laugh. But I am sick, so instead I took a shower.

But it stormed, and the lilacs are blooming, and the Lily of the Valley in my yard is budding, and the apple blossoms are full and fragrant. Minnesota springs are definitely my favorite season, although August is nice, too.

My mom can be motherly from 1500 miles away. She's in Florida at the moment, but with me sick she's been calling and checking up on me (or rather, saying she call and forgetting, so I call her). She even had me take my temperature and call her back just now, and I'm suppose to call before I go to bed. I suppose it's nice now, but I hope it doesn't continue too strongly when I move out.

I've barely eaten anything today, so I'm off to find food and watch my brother Dave and his friends Tony and Byrdie play some stunt video game. And then to bed (calling my mother first, of course).

Cake or death?

2006-05-08T14:27:00.000-05:00

Ummm... I'll have the cake.

Yes, I've been listening to an overwhelming amount of Eddie Izzard lately.

Anyway, here it is, my first official post on my new blog. And I really have very little to say. So let's start with some basic background information so you people know where I'm coming from.

Age: 17
Gender: Female
Location: Minnesota
Family: Mom, dad, two older brothers: Luke and David. Luke is married to Katie.
Pets: Two dogs, who are currently howling at a police siren. Blue Heeler and probably German Shepherd/Malamute. Hope to get a rabbit soon, we had one but the neighbor's dog got it.
Activities/groups: Roundelay, my school's literary magazine; Concert choir; Chamber singers; NaNoWriMo; Avalanche, my church's senior high youth group
Aspirations: Open a bookstore with a cafe or run a bed & breakfast; go to New Zealand for a year; visit Ireland, Scotland, Italy, various other places; write a novel; be part of a band/musical group; have degus and/or chinchillas as pets
Favorites: show - The West Wing; ice cream flavor - Pavarotti; ice cream brand - Blue Sky Creamery; season - spring; movie - Benny & Joon; computer game - Sims 2, Oregon Trail II; stand-up comedian - Eddie Izzard, Mitch Hedberg; cartoon - Foster's Home for Imaginary Friends

which is on right now, so I'm gonna dash.