The Beauty and the Mess

We just had a soup cookoff here at work. They do it every year as a fundraiser for cancer research. I had about twelve little cups of soup (I voted for the clam chowder) and a few pumpkin bars. I have so little self-control with food these days. :( My aforementioned Green Tea Diet has done nothing but make me hungrier all the time. I know it's the tea, because my sister is also doing it and has noticed the same results. This might be a sign of my metabolism speeding up, which would be a good thing, but it seems like it's just defeating the purpose. Last night at Bible study I ate a big brownie. I'm not sorry, because it was amazing. Evan kept saying "It's just a brownie," until he realized it's probably been years since I had one that wasn't low-fat.

Anyway, they also had karaoke at the soup event, and Joe Birch (local news personality) came to read the number for a raffle. Then he disappeared. I guess he had another story to cover. :)

I have added comments to all my user pictures. That's a pretty cool feature. I also made some new icons. I would have made more (and uploaded some bridal shower pictures and stuff), but I have serious mouse arm from our database project at work. So please be patient while I heal!

Tonight we're going to the Agricenter corn maze. I've always wanted to go, so it should be fun! It's going to be a very Halloweeny weekend, since I also have a Halloween party to go to and am volunteering at our church's Festival of Melons and Gourds on Sunday night. Oh, and it's also fall-back weekend. Normally that's a very sad time for me because it means I hardly see the sun for several months, but it might be worth it to not wake up in the dark anymore. By the way, we may set a new record high of 86 degrees (F) today. :P Happy almost-November, everyone.

FYI: My friend Lance told me about electoral-vote.com. It's a conglomerate of all the polls...very interesting.

I am very, VERY excited to welcome Em's husband, Daniel, to the LJ fold. :)

We're doing another data-checking project at work. It's boring and endless and I'm about to go nuts. I feel like a robot.

On Friday night I went to a fish fry and bonfire with Myla. It was with the group from my Thursday night Bible study. I hadn't talked to most of the people before, so it was nice to get to know some of them. Plus, Alli and Casey were there. Also, the unstable girl I mentioned last week. After she'd spent all of Thursday's study giving me icy glares, I was prepared for a showdown at the bonfire. First she ignored me, taking Alli aside to tell her that she was so mad at me and that "we aren't speaking." Several minutes later she walked up to me and began a normal conversation like nothing had happened. I will never, ever understand how her mind works. Anyway, other than that I had a fun social time.

I spent Saturday afternoon finishing the wedding invitations, and then Evan and I went to Robin and John's wedding. It was so beautiful! The wedding was in the rose garden at the Botanic Gardens, which is where I once dreamed of getting married. :) The reception room was set up beautifully and the food was great. I even got Evan to practice dancing a little. We did a good job of stepping on each other's feet. It's a good thing our lesson is tonight. :P

Sunday was the close of our missions conference at church. The keynote speaker was Richard Pratt, whom some of you may have heard of - he has several books out, including Pray With Your Eyes Open. He spoke on the passage in Isaiah about beautiful feet bringing the gospel to others. I'd like to post more about it later, because it was good. After church I felt totally lethargic and knew that if I didn't get a nap, I'd never make it through the day. So I went home and slept, then went back to church to help get ready for the Taste of Grace dinner. Taste of Grace is my favorite thing that we do all year. The Sunday School classes make different foods and there's a "contest" to see whose food is the best (my pastor is the only judge, so it's really not a contest). I can't think of any other time when everyone mixes and fellowships on such a large scale. I got to talk to admael and eat some catfish tacos. It was fun. I love my church.

Tash wrote a really insightful entry that was encouraging to me. Go read it. :)

The weather is wonderful today- partly cloudy, cool and breezy. Leaves are starting to appear on the ground. It's like fall is shouting, "Here I am!" I've never been so glad to see it. :)

I forgot to mention that our Sunday school class is starting an abbreviated version of the Crown Financial Series. Evan and I wanted to take it when it was offered to the church in general, but ironically, it cost $55. :P This time it's free. I'm really looking forward to it, since this is the area in which he and I probably need the most work. Last Sunday, as an intro, we talked a little about 401(k)s. I don't have a 401k for several reasons, the main one being that I'm quitting work in several years anyway (God willing). However, I do have a good savings account and save part of every paycheck. I'd always wondered how the heck most people could afford to save and contribute to retirement. Evan pointed out that two-thirds of Americans don't have a savings account. I couldn't believe that was true, but I started asking friends about it, and he seems to be right. I can't imagine not having savings to fall back on in an emergency. Then again, when we're all 75, my friends will be living large on their retirement millions and Evan and I will probably be forced to move back to a little apartment. Oh well. :)

My latest book recommendation is The Secret Life of Bees by Sue Monk Kidd. I read the whole thing in two days. It's that good. I was so into it last night that I got way behind in my cleaning.

Monday is typically my cleaning and organizing night, and lately it's become stressful. I'm trying to figure out how my stuff and Evan's stuff will all fit together, but more than that, I want it to all be organized perfectly from the beginning. (Yes, I am Monica Geller.) Of course, this is a ridiculous goal and usually has me in tears by the time Evan comes over from work (around 8:30 pm). Last week he arrived to find me crying because I couldn't find a perfect place for a cassette tape case. He couldn't help but laugh, which was the best thing he could have done because then I laughed too. I think living with him will do me a lot of good. :) At the risk of being wasteful, I think we're going to get rid of a lot of old things once we get new things (like towels and kitchen stuff). There's just no room for all of it, and most of it is pretty decrepit anyway.

Speaking of old stuff, many of my dress shoes have decided to fall apart at the same time. My beautiful black Rampage heels, for which I get compliments every time I wear them, have broken straps. They're only a year old! :( I'll figure out some way to fix them, but in the meantime I can't wear them. Also, my Steve Madden wedge heels are starting to look run-down. What good does it do to buy more expensive shoes? I think a trip to Payless will be in order soon.

I have a good life. :)

I had fun this weekend. On Friday night I went to a game party at Lance's house. (Lance is part of our weekly lunch group.) I got to meet his girlfriend, who's also my neighbor! She's very nice. It's good to know someone in the neighborhood. On Saturday I went to Goat Days with Ryan and Luke (Myla was busy with her face-painting booth) and had a good old country time. After discovering that the Tigers game wasn't until seven, we decided to go home and then reconvene at the game. I'm so glad I got to go, because it was incredible. We have a winning team. The whole atmosphere of the stadium is different. I've been going to these games for seven years, and I don't think I've ever seen such an excited crowd. We actually left in the fourth quarter, because we were all exhausted and it was obvious we were going to win- and we did, 52-21! Yay!

Yesterday was my and Evan's anniversary. He has a new manager at work who's messing up everyone's schedule, so he had to go to work right after church. I was sad not to spend the day with him, but it was probably good because I got to take a nap. :) In the evening I went to IPC to hear Adolph Coors, the head of Coors Brewery, give his testimony. Yes, he's a Christian! It was very moving - he's had a lot of tragedy in his life. Evan met me there once he was finished with work, and we went to Macaroni Grill! :D It was great. I can't believe it's already been a year...it's flown by, which I guess is good. I am so glad we get to have many more years together. *cartoon hearts*

I don't really have anything else to say today.

( Pictures from my Saturday )

If John Mayer had been an office drone, the song would have gone "Why, Monday, why?"

For the most part, this weekend was pretty relaxing. It was the first one in a long time that wasn't planned out beforehand. I spent a good chunk of it sitting by the window with a glass of tea reading Eragon. I also took two long walks because the weather was beautiful. On Friday night Evan and I saw Miracle, which was great. It's hard to believe that was a real story! If someone had made it up, all the critics would have said it was cheesy and formulaic- the coach chasing down the dream he lost, the ragtag bunch of players becoming a team, the unlikely win. But it was all real. Wow! On Saturday night, we watched Lost In Translation with Ryan. My main reaction to it is still, "Huh." It's extremely artsy and unusual, and I'm sure there were many other layers of meaning that I didn't get. There were some scenes and themes that I didn't like, but overall it was an interesting movie.

Oh, and I also slept a lot this weekend. Which was good, since I was feeling a little emotionally unstable. On Sunday afternoon, I went outside to take pictures of the azaleas. Gandalf played in the stairwell, and when I was done, I put my camera in my pocket and carried him up the (carpeted) stairs. At the top of the landing, the camera fell out and down the stairs. I rushed down to get it, and when I tried to turn it on, the lens wouldn't move. Major freak-out time. I called Evan, crying that I had broken my camera. Once I collected myself, I tried it again and it worked. So I guess it's okay, but I was ashamed of myself for breaking down like that. Evan is so great. He's very patient and knows just how to deal with me. I'm so blessed that he continues to put up with me. :)

Sunday school was funny this week. Ashley was teaching and he'd had a rough work week, so we had a Bible quiz of sorts. In one trick section, the answers could be from the Bible or Lord of the Rings. I correctly identified Hasufel as a horse of Rohan and not a Bible character, and everyone was awed at my dorkiness. I told Ashley that my friends would be here next week and would expect a good lesson, so the pressure's on. :) Only four days until Jessica, Jonathan and Dania arrive! Can you believe it?

( Talking about myself in the third person. )

Someone bought me 6 months of extra userpics!!! Thank you so much, whoever you are. I'm so excited! Maybe my recent fit of icon-switching brought this on? :) Tonight I shall have fun with Photoshop. Woo hoo! Oh, this is my new "shoes" icon, changed for spring. These are my favorite flip-flops ever.

Gosh, I have a lot of stories to tell, so I'll just dive right in. On Friday I got off early- yay! I went to Michaels to buy art for the kitchen wall, which I had been meaning to do before J, J & D visit. I got one of those French pop-arty posters like they have on Friends. Except it's in Italian. Anyway, I like it.:) Then I went to the mall to look for green flip-flops, but became so tired that I forgot what I was there for. So I went home and took a nap. Then Evan and I went to Ryan's, hung out a while, and then we all went to my parents' church. The passion play was very good...they even had live animals! (There were bunnies and I wanted to visit them afterward, but we didn't know where they were keeping them.) Afterward, my dad treated us all to Steak & Shake. It was a nice evening.

Saturday, Kathy (and Daniel) and I went to lunch and a movie with MaryElaine, since her birthday was last week. We saw Ella Enchanted, and like the rest of the friends list, I loved it! Much better than I'd expected. After the movie I went thrifting and bought a few shirts. Later, Evan and I went to dinner and then rented Runaway Jury. It was good, but kind of long.

Easter was great, but also long. The orchestra had to be at church at 7:45 am. We had about half an hour of continuous playing per service, but it went well and I was happy. I like church. For lunch, those of us whose parents were absent/busy had lunch at American Cafe. Then Evan and I went to my parents' so I could be there to start the meal for them. I got to do my laundry, which means I have free time tonight! Yay! Ryan came later, and we feasted and watched the Nick & Jessica variety show, which was also more entertaining then expected. Also, my mom got me a Selah CD as an Easter present, and it's very good.

I just saw a guy who looked like the scary giant from Happy Gilmore. You know, "Guns don't kill people...I kill people." Except he was wearing a suit.

Do you have people on your friends list whom you really think should know each other? I do, so here's a short list of my LJ Friend-ups. In the case of the first pair, I've actually mistaken their entries for each other's several times, so I have long meant to bring them to each other's attention. Maybe it's just their writing style, but still. :) If anyone is new to LJ or just wants more people on their friends list, let me know and I can recommend someone to you. New friends are fun.

I thought I'd get online tonight (gasp) and catch up on LJ so I could make a nice relaxed post instead of an "I'm insanely busy and would lose my head if it wasn't fastened on, but surely I can think of something to say" post. :)

The long weekend has had its ups and downs so far. I've been struggling with the fact that Evan and I rarely have dates anymore because we are poor. So on Friday night, we had a candlelight picnic in the living room. Then we played Scrabble instead of watching TV. It was nice and free. I guess I have to practice making the simple things more special.

On Saturday I had lunch at Molly's with calypsobard. It was fun and the food was amazing. After lunch we came back to the apartment to visit with Gandalf and started looking through old yearbooks from our common high school. It seemed like we knew a lot of the same people. Finally she asked me what street I lived on in high school. It turns out that we lived on the same block for ten years and never met - until we did so on LJ through Shana. It's definitely one of the weirder things I've ever discovered.

That evening our group of once and current RUFers went to the school to hear Ravi Zacharias, the famous apologist. His free appearance had been advertised to every church in town. When we got to the doors of the theatre, there was a guy announcing that it was for students only, but they'd let the general public in later if any seats were left. The longer we waited around, the more amazing the crowd got. There were at least 200 people. Groups from Arkansas and Kentucky were turned away. I was strangely moved by the way the Christian community was making an appearance. :) Needless to say, we didn't get in, so we all went to Garibaldi's (some of the best pizza in town) and then back here to watch Wayne's World (the movie that never gets old). It was good fellowship. :)

Today was a special day for me. I joined my church! I interviewed last week, but didn't want to talk about it here in case something went awry. All went well, and this morning I took a happy walk down the aisle. My pastor said, "It's about time," when I arrived at the pulpit. Everyone came up and greeted me with surprise that I wasn't already a member. Evan hugged me a lot and said he was proud of me. I'm very happy. :) I feel complete, but in a way like I didn't know I was missing a piece. It's hard to explain. I feel like it's a step toward something. Many things. ;)

The rest of today was relaxing. Evan and I were invited, individually, to other activities, but decided our one full day together was more important. So we just rested and watched the Patriots game. Despite the fact that they beat my Titans and my Dolphins, I am rooting for them. (Sorry, Lori and Shelley.) I mean, everyone likes the Patriots, right? They're patriotic. Not liking them seems un-American. Besides, I'm an AFC girl. Speaking of which, doesn't it seem weird that the expansion teams have been the ones dominating the last few years? Jacksonville, Philadelphia, Carolina, Baltimore, etc. What's the deal with that?

Oh, and also, I love to watch the presentation of the trophies. It brings back happy memories of band victory. I get a little weepy.

I'm feeling rambly and could go on for some time, but I'll spare you. Tomorrow I'm off work. I plan to take care of some chores in the most relaxed way possible, and maybe visit my mom. Happy MLK day!

Ah, the quiet of Monday morning, before I am inundated with work.

This was a nice weekend. Evan and I had our date on Friday night. We had dinner at Dixie Cafe and then went ice skating at the rink in the former Mall of Memphis, which is closing on Christmas Eve. I skated for the first time at that rink. I had my first "date" there when I was fourteen. I went there with my youth group to play broomball. I wanted to go one more time before they closed. The mall was deserted except for about five other people at the rink. It was eerie. We had a good time, though. Since he's from Chicago, he used to skate a lot. He looked at home on the ice. It was neat to see another side of him I hadn't known about before. :) ( Some ice skating pictures- not very exciting. )

The rink closed fairly early, so, inspired by the ghost-town mall, we rented 28 Days Later. After about twenty minutes, we were very, very sorry. It was indescribably gory and terrifying, instead of the edgy sci-fi-ness that I had imagined. We turned it off. I guess I'm wimpy, but that was the scariest thing I have ever seen, worse than The Ring. From now on we're going to stick to cool action movies.

On Saturday morning I had that inner-city lunch thing at my church. I bought a journal, gel pens, and some art supplies for my sponsored girl, and she loved them, so I was happy. :) Then Kathy and I bought a Christmas tree and put it up. Later, Evan and I went to a series of one-act plays with her and Daniel- our first double date! It was fun.

On Sunday morning, after I left for church, Gandalf pulled the Christmas tree down. Kathy has begun a series of negative-reinforcement exercises which seem to be working, but I still don't trust him alone with the tree. We're shutting him in the bedrooms during the day until he proves himself. Cat people, any tips on keeping the cat from destroying your decorations? Anyway, it was a quiet Sunday- playing in both services, lunch at McAlister's (yay!) and then we went to see The Last Samurai in the afternoon. It was much better than I expected, and I highly recommend it. I'm sure steveisright will yell at me for saying this, but it was sort of like Braveheart set in Japan.

My church has a small library. I'd never gone in there for some reason, but I went yesterday morning before service. They have so many books I've wanted to read! I checked out Francine Rivers' Unafraid for starters- I need to finish the Tolkien. It's a race against time.

Finally, because there aren't enough references in this post, check out what Nicole's professor said because it is cool.

Hola! Estoy muy cansada. Here is how my weekend went. Short version: It was good.

Long version: Friday night Evan and I went to McAlister's. There were no open tables, and in our wanderings we ran into Miriam, a friend from my freshman year of college. I really like Miriam. We had drifted apart when we stopped having classes together, and I always wondered what happened to her. We ended up eating with her, and she and I had a great time and exchanged phone numbers. Yay! I thought that was providential. :) After dinner Evan and I went to Michaels to get scrapbook paper for the crop I was going to the next day, and back home where he printed out my California photos for me. Turns out he's a whiz at Photoshop. I'm not surprised. :) Ryan called and said some people were getting together at Tyrell's. I wanted to see Ryan, so we went. However, I was the only girl as usual, and the guys quickly launched into their favorite topic, "That Girl Is Really Hot." Then one of them made a very mean crack at Evan and I about a pregnancy test, which made me so angry that we left soon after. I'm more thankful for Evan every day. To hear those other guys talk, they won't date anyone short of a supermodel, and they wouldn't have any morals while doing so. I don't know what Evan's doing with a plain girl like me, but I just thank God for him. When I told my mom about the evening, she asked why I even associate with these people. I told Evan I don't want to anymore. He agreed. :P

On Saturday I went to a crop for charity, sponsored by my work. (For the uninitiated, a crop is a bunch of scrapbookers working on scrapbooks in a party-like atmosphere.) I won several borders and an awesome door prize, pictured below. I had decided to start working in 12x12 format, and I love it! It's so much more versatile. The hours flew by and I finished the layouts for all my California pictures. Woo hoo! Unfortunately, I hurt my back arriving and leaving the crop. My scrapbooking box weighs about 50 pounds and I didn't have anyone to help me carry it. I've been kind of a weakling ever since. :( Anyway, then I went home and rested, and later went to my parents' house to see my dad before he left town on business. Evan spent the day working on the car. I don't know how he did it, but he straightened out the smashed side panel, re-mounted the bumper, welded a bunch of stuff, and installed new headlights. The car is running as well as it did before the wreck, and doesn't look much worse, either. He totally amazes me.

Sunday was a nice day. The sermon was excellent, and our pastor said something that made me feel better about the giving situation at church. Lunch was at American Cafe, which was excellent. Evan came home with me afterwards. My back and wrist were hurting and I felt crummy, physically, so we spent the day resting and talking. It was nice. :) I also got my winter clothes settled in my closet. I love taking out my winter clothes. Yay! In the evening we went to a study at IPC, where a surprising number of people showed up, including Luke and Myla! I seriously hadn't seen Myla in months. I was so, so glad to see her. After the study, a whole bunch of us went to eat, including Casey, and my friend Chris (not the Chris I've mentioned before), who's just finishing meteorology school. I was glad to spend time among such cool people. :)

( fotos del fin de semana )

Hola! I've had an important realization that I think may apply to many of you. I was feeling my typical dread of another work week, and thinking, "Gosh, do I really hate my work that much? Why am I increasingly miserable and tired during the week but happy and energized on the weekends?" I finally figured out the main cause: work = no sleep. On Sunday evenings, which are my emotional and physical peak of the week, I've just had two consecutive nights of 8 or more hours of sleep (followed by days of activity instead of sitting in a cubicle). Coincidence? I think not. Unfortunately, there's no way to fit in more sleep. In my schedule, sleep is the only thing that can go. So it goes. Whoever said "You can sleep when you're dead" probably said it out of obligation, not a thirst for adventure. :P

I had a wonderful weekend, and here's the story. Friday night Evan and I had our second official Night Out. We went to Chick-fil-A because I wanted salad, and then we went to see Underworld. When we got to the theater, it seemed strangely dark. Evan got out of the car to investigate, and as soon as he did, all the lights came on and thirty people appeared out of the dark, cheering. It was funny. Anyway, the movie was intriguing, if slightly gross at points. Then we went back to the apartment and watched the new Friends episode because he hadn't seen it yet. It was a nice evening.

Saturday was extremely busy. I was worried that the stress of getting from one place to another on time would ruin the day, but everything went smoothly. Evan came over before noon, which was a new record for Least Time We'd Spent Apart, :) and we and Kathy and Daniel went to the Tigers game. After just a few minutes in the new student section, with the sun right in our eyes and the action at the other side of the field, we climbed to the top of the regular section, which was a breezy and pleasant spot that allowed us to actually see the game. It was a great game, too: we won 38-16! Woo hoo! We're 3-1 now! I think the last time that happened was 1999.

Evan and I left the game early so we could get ready for the symphony. That didn't take as long as we had expected, and we were able to meet my parents for dinner ahead of schedule. We had a nice leisurely dinner at El Porton and then went to the church, where we hooked up with Ryan and his sort-of girlfriend Rachel. The symphony was totally amazing. I don't even have words for how awesome it was. At intermission I saw admael and got to introduce her to Evan and my family, which was exciting. :) Buenos tiempos. Then, very tired, Evan and I went back to the apartment, where we watched a hilarious SNL skit with Chris Kattan as Gollum, predicting the outcome of last year's Super Bowl. "We loves the Raiderses!" "No, we hates the Raiderses!" LOL. It was a wonderful, relaxing day, and it was so nice to go out and do stuff with Evan. We have such a good time together. :) *cartoon hearts*

Yesterday I went to church, where big things happened which I want to discuss later. Afterward we went to lunch at Abner's, that local capital of fried chicken. Then I went home for a couple of hours. Emily called to officially asked me to be in the wedding, and gave me exciting news- Kathy and I are going to be co-maids of honor! I wasn't expecting that, so I'm pretty excited. :) At 5 I went back to church for our annual Taste of Grace Food Festival, which was delicious, and to the service afterwards. And after that, I went to Evan's and we watched the Matrix Revolutions trailer several times. Ah, love among the dorks.

It was 48 degrees this morning, so I'm wearing my boots for the first time this season. Hello boots! I've missed you!