Hannah, party of one.

Why I hate the CPI Security Commercial

2012-01-10T20:40:00.000-08:00

Okay, if you're in my family or have watched TV with me recently, you know that there is one commercial on annoyingly often that I unconditionally and irrevocably (yes, I'm doing that) hate. It's the new CPI Security commercial--the one with the blond lady giving a teary-eyed account of the time two guys broke into her house. You know the one. She wasn't supposed to be home, but her daughter had a fever. Yeah, I can basically quote the whole thing because THAT'S HOW OFTEN IT COMES ON.

I tried to find a video of it, but it's one of the few terrible things that isn't on the internet.

Anyway, here are my very legitimate reasons for hating it:

1. The tears. Now, I understand that having people break into your house while your home can be very frightening. I might cry too. So I don't blame the lady for getting a little emotional. But the problem is this: when you see a commercial like this during every single commercial break of a ball game and also every single time you turn on the TV, you begin to lose patience with her. It's like a friend telling you about a home invasion. The first time, you sympathize with them. The second and third time, maybe they get a little emotional when they're reminded of it. But like the fifth time that they start tearing up, you're over it. No one cares anymore. No one feels sorry for you. We get it. You weren't supposed to be home. Blah blah blah. Stop crying.

2. The stupidity of the would-be-burglars. Granted, I don't know a whole lot about the proper way to rob someone, but I'm pretty sure it's not in the middle of the day. Or if it is, maybe don't wear all black. That's for night. You know, camouflage and stuff. Also, they clearly pass a big ol' red sign in the yard that says WARNING: CPI SECURITY. I do know that most burglars are smart enough to either avoid houses with security systems or to disarm them before breaking in. So basically, these two guys are really dumb and probably not a threat to Blondy McCrybaby.

3. I've got a plan in case of a break in. And it's not crying. It's called a big ol' shotgun and a box full of shells.

Also inspiring this post: I'm convinced our house is gonna get broken into. There's all the commercials. Then I had a dream where I had to force people out of our house with the shot gun (I think I may have even shot a guy!) And then, there's the story on Yahoo about the 18 year-old widowed mother of a newborn who shot an intruder after calling 911 to see if it was okay. So I've been going over the game plan in my head. And I'm ready. Bring it on home-invaders! (Preferably in the middle of the day, wearing dark clothing so I can get a good shot. And wait till I'm upstairs.)

Chapter One

2011-12-16T16:59:00.000-08:00

So I've been working on this story on and off for about a year. In all honesty I think I started it several years ago, just one scene that was fairly dramatic and that I thought could lead to something pretty interesting. But then I left it alone for awhile. I revisited it this past summer when I was taking a mini vacay in Aulander and have gotten seven chapters written since.

I'm super hesitant to post this, just because I'm super hesitant to share my work with anyone. I've always been that way. Something I'm probably going to have to get over if I ever want to have any published work.

Anyway, here's the first chapter of my yet-to-be-titled story:

*Some quick disclaimers: Yes, it is set in a real place, Aulander, NC, in a house that is also very real. I write what I know. It's much easier for me to write about a place that I know well than to make up a place I've never seen. No, the main character is not based on myself. Again, I write what I know, and I think every author in some way bases their characters off of themselves, because it's harder to write emotions, personality, quirks, etc. that you have no experience with. But this is not some kind of Stephanie Meyer self fantasy kind of thing. Kennedy is completely fictional. Just so that's clear.

Chapter 1

Kennedy had come out to her Grandma’s house alone for the weekend. She wanted some time away from her family. To feel like a grown up. She was only 16 but she felt, with her newfound sense of freedom (in the form of a driver’s license) that she was entitled to some independence. She had made sure she had enough money for a couple tanks of gas, then packed a small bag and headed East to the miniscule town of Aulander, NC.

Neither of her grandparents had been alive for several years but their house remained in the family, settled into a block on Main Street seeming as aged as the town itself. It was over half a century old. Her dad has grown up there and Kennedy still loved the antique feel it had. It reminded her of her childhood—particularly good memories. There was an office in the hallway where her grandfather used to work; over the desk was a black and white picture of President Kennedy, her father’s favorite president and her namesake. It was the only place where she felt proud of her name, felt like she was named after the Apollo program or something.

In high school she had found that her name sounded incredibly preppy and decidedly white. She sounded like she should be a cheerleader or president of some club. But she despised those things. Not clubs or team spirit. Just the idea of fitting somebody’s mold. Especially a mold she knew she could never fit if she tried. She had thick brown hair that, although beautiful when the curls were styled and sprayed, she kept bunched up in a ponytail. She felt awkward in anything other than t-shirts and, although it didn’t particularly fit her attitude, dressed more or less like a tomboy. Sometimes she wished she could pull off the effortless beauty, and she kept mascara on her lashes and found that she liked playing with shadows that accentuated her green eyes, but her messy hair, t-shirts, and the dusting of freckles she’d inherited from her mother kept her on the other side of the line.

It was late in afternoon of her second full day at the house, while she was staring up at the photo of the president that she felt the silence pressing in on her. The windows and doors were shut and locked and she had turned the television off on principle (her mother’s words about too much TV had stuck with her since childhood.) And it was as if the quietness had been sealed inside with her. It was that rare time of day that she felt an odd uneasiness about being in the house.

So with her journal in hand, she left the house. While it was situated in a small neighborhood of sorts (if a single road through a town could be called that) Kennedy knew there was no shortage of tobacco and cotton fields nearby. Her grandfather had owned nearly all of them and it was hard to go far in any direction without coming across a few. So she got in her car and headed away from town. She turned left when the road ended and sure enough found herself on a deserted road, lined on either side by expansive fields. To the right was a cornfield and to the left, a recently picked cotton field. Although the tall stalks of corn made her uneasy about what could be in the field, the sun was low in the sky over them and she wanted to watch it set. Her wariness made her turn the car around, parking on the opposite side of the road before she got out and climbed on top of the roof to gaze out at the fading sun.

The sky was deep orange now and the trees at the far end of the fields were silhouetted against the brilliant light. As Kennedy let her eyes rest on the dying sun a warm breeze danced across her face and she felt a smile tugging at her lips. This kind of quiet was calming. She let her hair down just to feel the wind brush through the heavy curls and she decided right then that there was nothing so perfect as this moment. Her journal lay forgotten at her side and for several minutes she sat, transfixed with the breathtaking sunset to her left.

The cornstalks swayed and murmured—an eerie sound that reminded Kennedy why she preferred to not have them at her back. But as the hum of the katydids began to gradually grow louder, the cornfield seemed almost to harmonize with nature. She decided that this must be Earth’s lullaby and she imagined Mother Earth singing softly to her creatures as the sun slowly cast the land in shadows.

She waited until the sun had sunk well below the tree line before turning her eyes away. She realized now, that twilight was coming and she scooted down to the hood of her car and leaned back on the windshield to watch the first stars appear in the sky. Something she had always loved about Aulander being so small and isolated was that the sky absolutely lit up with stars at night. She felt closer to the heavens under such a dazzling sky and found herself often thinking of the those who had explored them, wondering at what they must had seen, imagining the awe they felt standing on the moon and looking down at Earth.

Tonight the stars were slow to appear, as the sky was slow to completely darken. Kennedy closed her eyes, knowing it was far too early in the evening for her to fall asleep, and listened to the gentle sounds of the countryside. Her mind wandered back up to the stars and to the make believe games she had played as a little girl. She used to strap on a bike helmet and put on her snow boots pretending to be an astronaut. Then she would explore the woods behind her house, never too deep, and imagine she was on an untouched part of the moon or, when she was feeling particularly adventurous, the red sands of Mars. It was a game she played alone and eventually grew out of, preferring the company of friends to the solitude of the woods. But she always thought of it fondly and sometimes had a hard time keeping the real and the make believe separate.

A sudden noise jolted her out of her daydream and her eyes shot open. She had lost track of time and although the sky was not yet dark, she felt as if several hours had passed. The noise had come from her right, across the barren cotton field. She turned her head to look. She could just see to the edge of the trees in the fading light; everything was still. A soft breeze barely rustled the leaves and she strained here ears for any sound. All she heard were the katydids. After several seconds she returned her gaze to the skies to see if the stars had appeared. Nothing.

Just as she began to see a tiny point of light overhead, the first star of the evening, she heard the noise again, this time, slightly louder. She jerked her head to the right and was certain she saw the trees move for a split second. Her mind tried to place the sound. It sounded almost like the groaning of great machine. Something in it set her on edge. It was out of place. She had no idea what lay beyond the trees and told herself it could be perfectly reasonable—perhaps there was a factory, or large farm machine. She didn’t know the first thing about farming and it was easy for her to imagine that something used for harvest could make such a sound. But the late hour and the suddenness of the sounds kept her from completely believing her explanation.

Slowly, she sat up. The wind tossed her hair in her face and seemed to set the trees in motion. It sounded again—an almost excruciating groan of machinery. Kennedy hurriedly brushed her tangled hair away to see. It was so loud this time she almost expected to see it at the edge of the field. But she saw nothing. Then she noticed the humming. It was so faint and hard to pick up over the chirping of the katydids; she hadn’t noticed how it filled the silence in between. But she could definitely hear it. Low, constant humming, like an air conditioner or a quiet engine.

The wind picked up again, this time sending chills down her spine and goose bumps across her arms. The trees were moving now. Kennedy felt her heart beat accelerating as she watched, not completely oblivious to the trembling cornstalks at her back. Something was definitely moving in the trees. She thought for a moment that it might be a deer, scared off by the sounds. The figure was several yards from the woods when she realized it was a person. Running.

She scrambled down from her car and fumbled to get the door open. It took several hard jerks before she realized they were locked. In a panic she saw the keys lying in the passenger seat. She could hear the footsteps of the person now, still at the far end of the field, but quickly approaching. Kennedy threw herself on the ground at the back of her car and began frantically feeling under the bumper for her spare key. The magnetic box clung tightly to the metal but she wrenched it free. Her hands were trembling as she pulled the key free and began fumbling with the lock. The footsteps told her the person was only yards away and the adrenaline running through her veins only made her clumsier with the key.

It clattered to the ground as a hand slammed down on the hood of her car.

One Down...

2011-12-04T19:44:00.000-08:00

I finished my paper at 5am this morning. Then I tried to go to bed.

Fail.

So I watched the SNL when Jason Segel hosted. Then I went to sleep. At 6:15am.

Now I just have 4.5 more projects/papers/exams left...

And to get me through it all, check out this lovely picture of the sweet little boy I get to go home to in a week:

Presh.

(Also, keeping me peppy this holiday season: Fairy Tale of New York by KT Tunstall. Thank you Bree!)

Paper Writing, Whiskey, and Michael Buble

2011-12-03T19:45:00.000-08:00

Just a little holiday paper-writing update. First of all, I got an extension on my religion paper and I completely changed my topic with Dr. Vinson's help. Haven't yet started it. Second of all, I'm currently on page three of a 7-11 page paper about Rembrandt and van Gogh. I also just took two shots of whiskey. Thirdly, I'm a lightweight.

So we'll see how this goes. I'm also wearing footy pajamas and listening to Michael Buble on Pandora. Really, this should be great night. My goal is just to get this paper written.

I'll let ya know.

Paper Writing Blues

2011-11-21T17:42:00.000-08:00

It's officially exam time. Sort of.

Thanksgiving break starts tomorrow afternoon and I have promised myself I will have a certain amount of research done by then. So I'm currently sitting in the library, with a couple of Jesus Seminar books open, trying to take notes and figure out what the heck I'm going to write 10-15 pages about.

Not working.

I guess I'm blogging because I can't think of anything else to do, short of canceling this paper topic and starting a new one, which actually sounds like the best idea I've had all day. Ignoring the fact that I'd be starting from scratch and finding all new sources, it's sounds pretty good. It's not like I have a ton of collected thoughts and ideas about the Historical Jesus and exorcisms (my current topic.) In fact, Dr. Vinson, did tell us today that we could choose an aspect of Jesus' life and simply write on it (or something to that effect) as opposed to trying to prove it's historical accuracy.

And another thing. This isn't even my major. I have a 15 page paper on Rembrandt and van Gogh also due a whopping eight days after Thanksgiving break. And I really should be working on that. (And also I love Rembrandt and van Gogh.)

And another thing. I could probably get this Vinson paper pushed back a couple days. Dr. Vinson did have a meeting with me because he was concerned about my stress level. He did tell me that I wouldn't fail if I didn't write this paper. And really, my life would be a thousand times less stressful if I didn't have this paper to worry about... But that would be taking advantage of a man who is quite frankly one of the nicest and most intelligent professors I've ever had. I just like him too much to do that. Except for the whole changing topics and asking for an extension. I'm totally doing that.

In other news...

Jason Segel has joined Twitter. And I'm on a quest to seduce him.

Marry me.

My efforts so far:

"I'm on a quest to confess my love to @jasonsegel via Twitter. But all I can think of is how his was the first penis I ever saw..."

"Day 2 of seducing @jasonsegel. Would it help if I told you I was wearing knee socks under my leggings? Is that something you're into?"

"Day 3: @jasonsegel Let me be the Lily to your Marshall."

"Day 4: @jasonsegel let me be the van Gogh to your Rembrandt. (This only makes sense in the context of my research... I apologize.)"

"I know it's not Day 5 yet, but #howimetyourmother is happening in our room. @jasonsegel I would throw myself in front of a bear for you."

"Day 6: @jasonsegel I'm really good at staying still in a spooning situation so as not to disturb the other spoon."

"AHHHHHH! @jasonsegel SAVE ME FROM THE FRUIT FLIES!!!"

"Unofficial Day 7: @jasonsegel When I shop for motor oil in my PJ's, I look like such a pro, no one even asks if I need help."

"@jasonsegel This just in: I iron clothes in my underwear both out of necessity and because I'm lazy. I mean, sexy."

It's a work in progress. For now, Rembrandt and van Gogh <3

Vacay plans :)

2011-07-30T12:35:00.000-07:00

So I have a whole week off from work (the family I work for is going on vacation!) My original summer plans included extensive road trips to either DC or Florida. But I've been super slack at planning anything and my financial priorities have shifted just a little. Plus I really just want some chillax'n time. My destination of choice:

Aulander, NC.

Yeah... it's really really small

It's where my dad grew up and the house is still there. Since my Grandma died in 2009 my aunt and uncle have bought the place and updated it a bit. I'm actually super excited to see the new carpet and couch (the old couch was the definition of ugly and uncomfortable.)

It's free, there's no internet or cell phone service so I'll have a decent amount of privacy, and it's familiar enough to feel like home. Plus I have family in the area I can drop in on if I get too bored. It will be a nice break from insane children and living with my parents... you know, feeling like an adult time. Just me, lots of coffee, a six pack of Twisted Tea (my new beverage of choice since turning 21) and several books.

I am a little worried about the evenings. My experiences in the house alone at night have been a little eery. Nothing exciting, just a feeling that the house isn't completely empty. Maybe it's all the memories I have there (always full of family.) Or maybe it's a couple different accounts of seeing my Granddaddy (who died in his sleep in 1997) there. But I might be sleeping on the couch with the t.v. on.

It should be a nice quiet week (other than a super exciting small surprise I have in the works for a certain someone and myself.)

7 reasons being a nanny isn't the perfect summer job

2011-07-29T21:29:00.000-07:00

If you are a college student not traveling across Europe or sunbathing at the country club pool with your parents cash, you probably have to spend your summers working. Maybe you're lucky-ish and have a part-time job during the year you can just continue in the summer. But odds are, you are moving home from college and have to find someone that will hire you full-time for three months and then just let you quit and go back to school. It's a suckish kind of position. And if you go to a private college (like I do) that gets out a couple weeks later than every other college in the state, all those precious jobs are gobbled up by the students who got there first. Not to mention, all the normal college-kid jobs like working fast food or delivering pizzas require at least a solid month of getting used to... training, figuring out the schedule, learning everyone's names, etc. It hardly seems worth the three months you'll be there.

But there is one job that I have vied for every summer I've ever been faced with this impossible job market...

A nanny.

There's no real "getting used to" this kind of job. Anyone with babysitting experience knows the basics. There's no clocking in. There's no annoying co-workers with way more experience than you. There's not boring monotonous labor. It's a family after all. You're not working for them so much as helping them out. Creating relationships. Caring for their children. It's all very nice and friendly. And the pay is usually much better than any job you could get in the food industry.

This summer, I finally got this coveted position.

And I'm here to shatter all your illusions of this "ideal" summer job. Two months in and I'm dying to go back to school and back to my part-time minimum wage job at a thrift store.

Here's why:

1. Your opinion doesn't matter

I mean really. You do what the parents want. If they say to feed their kids candy and popcorn and soda as their lunch (these were actual words spoken to me) at a 10am movie, that's what you have to do. If they say the four year-old is not allowed to nap even when he's super sleepy and cranky, you have to keep that kid awake (and endure the temper tantrum that will ensue.) And you know why? Because kids are tattle tales. They will tell their parents the events of the day and you will get ratted out.

2. There are no definitive hours

They may say 9:30 to 4:30. And you may think you'll have your evenings to yourself. But ultimately, your schedule revolves around the parents' schedules. So if dad "loses track of time" you may be stuck with the kiddos for an extra couple hours. And even if you do get to go home before 6pm, once you're there you'll be so exhausted from the day (see 3-7) you will have no energy to do anything other than scarf down some food and go to bed. It's also a horrible waiting game you play when it's 5pm and you're trying to figure out if you'll need to entertain this four year-old (without making it look like you let the kid watch t.v. all day) for another few minutes, half an hour, or an hour. And don't even get me started on the can you stay late? phone calls. Believe me, it's a lot harder to say no to it's our anniversary and we'd really like to go out to dinner without the kids than you might think.

3. You are not their mother...

... so they will not listen to you. It took me about four weeks to convince my kids that I was in charge. With older kids, they just straight up don't listen. With younger kids, they will just break down in tears and scream for their mom or dad, refusing to listen to anything you say regardless of how nice you're trying to be. It would get ridiculous with my kiddos. Ridiculous to the point of tears (mine, not theirs.) You're in an incredibly helpless situation: you literally can't do your job. What do you do when a four year-old screams and cries every time you say, finish your lunch, or put on your shoes? You lose your mind, that's what.

4. You are expected to entertain. All day.

I think a lot of parents neglect the fact that they themselves do not entertain their children for extended periods of time. And yes, I've heard the two big arguments:
a) I manage a household AND take care of my kids.
b) A nanny is paid to entertain my kids.
Both true. However, a nanny is also paid to look after your kids and make sure they are safe. Don't think you're paying $10/hour for pure entertainment. This is why the job can get so tedious. Have you ever tried to entertain a four year-old for eight hours? Somehow, nanny has come to mean the same thing as playmate. The list of things you can do with them is not only small but headache inducing:

Color (scribble your way through an entire coloring book in five minutes)
Read books (that you've read twice already)
Play a game (that a four year-old isn't capable of understanding or playing)
Practice the alphabet

Yeah. Try that for eight hours. A human adult cannot mentally deal with this on a regular basis. Thank goodness for t.v.

5. Your day revolves around (insert ages of children here)

All of the above. Plus trips to the pool, library, bowling alley, etc. that might otherwise be fun if not for the fact that you are their solely for the child's enjoyment, not your own. That means pulling an inner tube around in two feet of water, hauling 31 children's books to the circulation desk, calling the guy at the desk to come get your bowling ball that stopped halfway down the lane because it was thrown by a four year-old. For me, this has also meant meticulous shaving every single morning because I'm a very hairy person and you never know if you're going to go to the pool that day. And no (as stated in 1 and 4) I can't just sit by the pool and let the kids play with each other, I have to engage.

6. Kids are annoying

Yes, kids can be sweet and precious blah blah blah. They can also be incredibly annoying. The following are a few things I've learned about the four year-old I watch:

a) He counts everything. Wrong. He then uses his wrong number (usually 41) to justify something stupid. Me: Finish your waffle. Child: But there are... 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 7, 11... 23 pieces left. And I just don't like 23. (Mind you, there were four pieces of waffle left.)

b) He's a picky eater. Spoiled eater is a better term. Waffles for breakfast. Mac&Cheese and yogurt for lunch. And it's always a fight to get him to finish anything. His favorite excuse? It's just yucky.

c) He says no. To everything. It's the most annoying habit: Me: Let's read books. Child: No. Me: Let's color. Child: No. Me: Let's do letters. Child: No. Me: Well what do you want to do? Child: Okay, let's read books. Me: [facepalm]

d) He does everything in his power to make me hate every four year-old anywhere ever.

7. Kids are gross

And they have no regard whatsoever for personal boundaries or hygiene. I have dealt with more bodily fluids with this child than I ever have with my dog. Urine, not so bad. Poop, I will throw up in my mouth. And why have I encountered tantrums over washing hands and brushing teeth?

Because being a nanny sucks.

*I am incredibly thankful for my job this summer and I do work for a very very nice family. I love their kids (in the sense that I care about their well being) and this post should not discount the sweet things they sometimes do. I'm very thankful for the financial opportunities this job has allowed me.

Old photos

2011-06-27T12:31:00.000-07:00

So I've discovered a fantastic store in downtown Raleigh called Father and Son Antiques. It's packed full of awesome stuff from vintage clothes/hats/shoes/purses to furniture to books to novelty toys. It also has bowls full of old photographs hidden around the store. And did I mention it's three stories?!? It's one of those great Saturday afternoon kind of antique stores.

In my most recent visits, I bought several old photographs:

I love the little boy who blinked :)

This man reminds me of someone. I can't quite figure out who.

This is my favorite. Simply beautiful.

So cute! I found this little guy hiding by counter and threw it in with my pile right before I checked out. I love the little cap and sweater!

I picked this one because of the names: Dave? Joe, and Jess.

Another beautiful one. I love trying to figure out the context of this picture.

Wonderful Things 41-60

2011-06-18T20:41:00.000-07:00

41. New purses

Simply Vera. $2.00. MegaThrift. Heck yes.

42. Calligraphy

I've always wanted to write like this.

43. Ukraine

I went in 2005 and 2007 to Word of Life Camp. It was incredible. I left my heart there.

44. Belize

Sweetest kids. Awesome trip.

45. Baby howler monkeys

We met this little guy in Belize! What's cuter than a baby monkey?

46. Kenny Chesney

No shoes. No shirt. No problem.

47. Hot chocolate

Salted :)

48. Blankets from the dryer

I basically love all things straight from the dryer. Even in the summer (because my parents house is always super cold.)

49. Breakfast

Ham and cheese omelet, cinnamon toast, and coffee. My mom makes it best :)

50. Hockey games

More specifically, hockey games with my dad where my home team plays my home away from home team and we sneak down to awesome seats because the unexpected after-Christmas snow kept everyone from coming to the game :)

51. Sweatpants

I could live in these.

52. Jason F.

I was 16. He was in his 20's. We both worked at the Olive Garden. And I had the biggest secret crush on him.
(The guy loved dogs and cute babies, AND had a beard. Who wouldn't love him?)

53. Bubble baths

Preferably in a claw-foot tub.

54. Phone calls from Lauren

If you can't tell from the picture, we are sisters.

55. Jim Bob

My first puppy :) 1995-2006

56. Penny

My second puppy :)

57. Road trips

I know, UNSAFE! But come on--it's a town called Farmville!
This was on my Spring Break road trip in 2010: Wilmington, NC; Washington, DC; Baltimore, MD. I discovered that I absolutely love taking road trips by myself--seeing how far my car will take me :)

58. Almost missing the shuttle in freezing weather but catching it despite all odds being against you

And it was all to see this little guy! 2-25-09

59. Sitting next to the cute guy on the train

This is not the guy. This is a guy from hotguysreadingbooks.
But it's always nice to have an attractive seat companion on the train.

60. The cute guy sitting next to you on the train

Again, this bearded ginger is courtesy of hotguysreadingbooks.
And I know he's not on a train, I'm just saying, if a cute guy is going to sit next to me on the train, I'd like it to be this one.

LIFE for Orphans

2011-06-17T22:55:00.000-07:00

So now that it's summer and I'm working all the time, I have a nice amount of money coming into my checking account regularly. But I've felt really convicted to not hold onto it. I've been praying for a gracious heart (not complaining about the kiddos I'm watching even when they throw tantrums all day or the money I think I deserve) and a selfless attitude towards what I have. This job, after all, was a complete gift that I did absolutely nothing to get. I don't want to hold onto the money I'm making. I don't have the right.

My favorite ministry (that I've decided to start giving a portion of my paycheck to) is LIFE for Orphans.

I promise to get scans of one of the newsletters up here soon, but for now this Facebook picture is going to have to do to explain the beautiful ministry that is LIFE.

Anya, Lynn, Andrei, and Anya Z.

That sweet woman in the middle is Lynny Gulley and the three others are just a few of the orphans she has helped through this ministry which focuses its attention on orphans who have "outgrown" the orphanage and are on their own for the first time in their lives with almost nothing. Lynn explains the mission of LIFE best:

"LIFE for Orphans International answers the needs of orphans in Eastern Europe who must leave their orphanage when they reach the age of 18 years old. Research documents that these orphans have little to no life skills, very few have vocational skills, there is no guidance or pathway plan given, and there is no one waiting in the wings to help them live... until now! LIFE partners with the local churches both in the U.S. and Latvia to provide relationships and support through mentoring, assistance with housing and personal needs, food, teaching in life skills, and guidance and support in gaining more education."

The conditions in which these kids are living--the horrible little apartments the government gives them in rundown druggie neighborhoods--aren't fit your dog. I'm completely serious. I wouldn't let my dog stay in the apartments some of these 18 year old kids are living in. LIFE (Life skills, Independence, Family, and Essentials) helps get them in decent apartments, back in school, and out of debt. Lynn (I keep saying Lynn, but really there is a whole group of board members at LIFE who all of course contribute to the wonderful work this ministry is doing) is giving these kids, who have never had parents to love them, who have been abandoned by their families and by the only home they've ever known, hope for the first time--hope for a better life.

Please please please comment if you want more info--Lynn is more than happy to tell you anything and everything you'd ever want to know about LIFE--or if you'd like to donate to this ministry. I know, I know, I hate when people tell me all about their organization just to ask for my money in the end. But please know that money given to LIFE goes directly towards helping these kids: food, clothes, education, transportation to school, decent housing, etc.

LIFE for Orphans International
P.O. Box 5483
Cary, NC 27512

"For I was hungry and you fed me, I was thirsty and you gave me a drink, I was a stranger and you invited me into your home." Matthew 25:35

Favorite/Wonderful/Marvelous Things 21-40

2011-06-11T20:34:00.000-07:00

21. Changing Autumn leaves

So this isn't exactly the view I get, but I absolutely love driving home from school and seeing the changing leaves on the trees I'm so fortunate to see everywhere in NC. It means I'm probably going home for an NCSU football game and the weather is cooler so I can wear sweaters and sweatshirts (my favorite things to wear always) without looking like an idiot. Plus it's just beautiful :)

22. Cursive

Not much to say. Doesn't everyone love cursive?

23. Romance

Yep. This is what romance looks like to me. And I love it :)

24. Old Photographs

Whether I find them at antique stores or in an attic or photo album, I freak'n love old photographs. I feel like they all tell some kind of story (like this one that shows my dad as the mascot at his sister's prom with my grandparents.) So I end up with a bunch of old family photos and b&w pics of people I don't know hanging around my room or tucked into journals. A little weird? No, not at all. A little awesome? Yes.

25. Antique stores

Like I said, I like to find old things that used to belong to people I don't know. So naturally I love antique stores. The big ones with lots of stuff at reasonable prices, not the ones that want $50 for a magazine. There are some good ones in Winston Salem. Besides MegaThrift it's the best place to mindlessly go shopping.

26. Fairy Tales

This one in particular.

27. Dreams where you get the guy

Like the one I had where I was married to Tim Tebow. It was beautiful.

28. Pretty dresses

Yes, this is my junior prom dress. I love it. I still have it. And I'm still looking for an occasion to wear it again.

29. Red high heels

Who doesn't love a pair of red high heels?

30. Leaving a pencil in your hair and then forgetting where you put it

I did this at a Barnes and Noble one time and spent like five minutes looking for my pencil. It wasn't funny at the time but somehow it made it onto this list because it's kinda funny (when you're not in a bad/frustrated mood.)

31. Eli and Peyton Manning

The Manning brothers: how cute are they? I can't say I'm much of an NFL fan, but these guys are hilarious... and everywhere. Plus my new nephew is named after one of them :)

32. Philip Rivers

Can we say best QB to ever play at NCSU? Yeah, I like him.

33. S'mores

Yum.

34. Sentimental jewelry

Not the best picture (it's not like I keep pictures of my sentimental jewelry lying around) but the little diamond necklace I'm wearing belonged to my Grandmother <3

35. Cute panties on sale

Heck yes.

36. Christmas

Our Christmas tree is better than everyone else's Christmas tree.

37. Escaping Salem for the day

Salem, I love you. But sometimes I just need to get away for awhile.

38. Typewriters

I had to use my own for this one. My pride and joy that sometimes works: 1940's German typewriter. Mostly it just sits on my desk and looks awesome. Every now and then I try to pound something out on it, but it needs some work.

39. Calla Lilies

Aren't they pretty?

40. Grilled cheese

The best one I ever ate was bought from some hipsters in the parking lot of the Greensboro Coliseum after Winter Jam. Delicious.

Movie Reviews

2011-06-11T11:09:00.000-07:00

I'm no movie critic. But I like to think I have pretty decent taste in movies. And coming home after breaking up fights between two boys for 8 hours every day leaves me wanting to nothing except veg in my bed with my Netflix. That being said, I've been going through a lot of movies lately.

Remember Ed Burns? Well I ended up watching one of his films, Looking for Kitty:

Not sure what this picture has to do with the plot... There are no legs in this movie.

It wasn't as bad as I thought it was going to be... until the end. Which was stupid.

So this guy Abe comes to NY looking for his wife Kitty who walked out on him. He hires Jack (Ed Burns) as a PI to help him find her. Now the good parts of this movie are as follows: Abe really believes in his marriage and is dedicated to finding his wife and rekindling their relationship; Jack is dealing with the death of his wife (not sure if it was recent or not) and Ed Burns does some pretty good acting in the staying up all night, looking through their old stuff, crying in a more or less manly way department; there is a fairly interesting relationship developing between Abe and Jack; both Chris Parnell AND Rachel Dratch are pretty significant characters.

Yeah, this alone is almost a good reason to watch this movie.*
*Don't get excited, this is not a scene from the dumb movie.

The bad points: Abe abruptly gives up his search because Jack tells him he deserves better; Jack ends up sleeping with his not really hot neighbor friend and she moves out of his building the next day; Rachel Dratch and Abe don't hook up because Rachel ends up sleeping with her boss at a party and feels really depressed about it; everyone who hooks up with anyone ends up being married which is the final point of the movie making it essentially about adultery. Seriously. That is what I gleaned from this movie: be careful who you sleep with because they're probably married. And so are you.

Like I said, I didn't exactly hate it and I can finally give Ed Burns a little credit in the acting department. But still... he really needs to work on his writing/directing skills.

In addition to low-budget indie films about adultery, I also watched...

Cute (considering I hate chik flicks). Surprised me by making me cry.

Yes. Yes. Yes. Mark Wahlberg. Reese Witherspoon. Lifetime movie premise. 1996. Enough said.

I like to make fun of crazy Tom Cruise, but I actually really liked this movie.
(Cute little Cameron Diaz probably helped.)

Next up is Anne of Green Gables for a belated Mother's Day date with my mom :)

Peyton Luke

2011-06-08T05:29:00.000-07:00

Peyton Luke Hoffert has arrived! My sister delivered a healthy baby boy around 11am Monday, June 6th. He is the sweetest most perfect little baby and looks just like his brother did when he was born :) I'm thrilled to be an aunt for the second time (and fully plan on spoiling this one just as much as Owen.)

He looks a lot less like an alien here. 6lb 5oz.

The happy family

In case you're wondering, yes, I did photoshop out the shininess of my face in this picture.
It was hot.

Crayon Drawings and Why Ed Burns Sucks:

2011-06-01T20:27:00.000-07:00

To start off, this is the beautiful artwork I created with Jack's help (he told me what to draw, colors, shapes, etc.) As you can see, we also named all of the creatures/objects I drew. Again, that was mostly from Jack's creative little mind.

Behold: the giant cow with zebra stripes, a t-rex tail and spikes. She had ten babies.
(The little "Killer" in the bottom right is courtesy of Parker)

We call this one: the difference between American and Russian rockets. Also lots of space cows.

In addition to creating these masterpieces, I did, in fact, take the kids to the movies. We saw Hop which was actually pretty good (although I'm using that word to mean it was entertaining to a four year old, two nine year olds, and a 20 year old and it didn't have any "scary" parts.) The fun part was that we saw it at Raleighwood which is this fun little theater where you order a meal with your movie! They have big comfy chairs and tables and a waitress that comes around and takes your order. Plus they show cartoons before the movie since everyone has to get there 30 minutes early so they have their food by show time. It was great! (Warning: it was also super expensive; only go there if someone else is paying... which was the case today.)

Okay, now on to explaining the fairly horrible things I said about Mr. Ed Burns who, if you forgot, looks like this:

Take a good hard look at that pretty face because I'm about to ruin it for you.

Let me begin by saying that I find Mr. Burns incredibly incredibly attractive. He is probably the sexiest man in hollywood in my book. Everything from that kinda weird shape of his eyes to his stupid New York accent and raspy voice. He's just so darn handsome. I can't help it.

Here's the problem: he's pretty terrible at everything.

Ed Burns is an actor/writer/producer. And he's not very good at any one of those three jobs.

1. Actor

You might be thinking, where have I seen that guy? Unfortunately the most likely answer is in 27 Dresses (there are so many reasons I hate this movie that I can't really begin to explain without starting a whole new blog dedicated to chickflicks) where he plays the dashing boss that everyone's in love with. A better answer would be Saving Private Ryan, which is where I first saw him. Now I don't know if it was the magical combination of Tom Hanks, Steven Spielberg, and WWII that helped him out, but this is honestly his only good role. Really. Do you remember a lot of good acting in 27 Dresses? How about Echelon Conspiracy or The River King, a movie I saw on Hulu if that tells you anything about its quality. Really, he just plays the same guy. Badly. He was also on Will and Grace for a few episodes and in the beginning of The Holiday. Again, playing more or less bad characters. And playing them badly. So it could be just that he's in a lot of bad movies and therefore his acting just seems pretty terrible...

... or he's just bad at movies.

2. Writer/Producer

Please speak up (or comment) if you have seen or heard of any of the following movies:

Newlyweds

Nice Guy Johnny

The Lynch Pin (TV series)

Purple Violets

The Groomsmen

Looking for Kitty

Ashe Wednesday

She's the One

The Brothers McMullen

Sidewalks of New York

I'm going to take some liberties here and say that generally no one has heard of these movies, much less watched them illegally online, much less paid to see them. Guess who wrote/produced all of them?

Yeah. Him.

Granted, they're indie films, whatever that means. I like to think it's some kind of hipster thing... like if they ever went mainstream they would lose their artistic meaning or whatever hipsters like about non-mainstream things. They're probably meant to be watched while sipping coffee and wearing wool hats and striped shirts and vests and all that. And before you think that I'm judging all of these movies because I totally am know that I watched half of The Groomsmen before it got too unbearable and I had to turn it off. I also have to admit that Looking for Kitty is in my Netflix queue because it was the only Ed Burns film that looked a tiny bit not terrible and I want to give him the benefit of the doubt before I completely write him off as the worst contribution to hollywood ever (which will probably come into conflict with the sexiest man in hollywood title I gave him earlier...)

3. Actor (again)

You didn't think it could get worse did you? Well you were wrong. Because of those ten movies listed above, Ed Burns stars in every single one. Yeah, not only is he a bad actor in other people's movies, he makes terrible movies himself and then decides that he is the best person to play the leading role (or very close to it.) In IMDB he is listed no farther than four people down on the list of actors in all of his movies. Yeah. He writes bad movies for himself to star in.

So there you have it. Ed Burns is a man that I love to look at but generally hate as a person.

I think Looking for Kitty is next up on my queue so I'll post something if it happens to be any good. For now, I've got Love and Other Drugs to watch :)

Quickie

2011-06-01T06:00:00.000-07:00

Coffee's brewing and I've got a solid ten minutes before I have to leave. So, just to prove that I'm serious about this whole blogging thing, I thought I'd squeeze in a quick post.

To be completely honest (which I guess is a good thing to be on a blog) I haven't had my quiet time. It might not be such a big deal, but yesterday ended in a not so great way with me skipping the first PBC summer bible study and spending the evening curled up in bed with my Netflix account. Not really the best decision I could have made. So this morning should have been, in theory, a bit more productive/structured.

But it wasn't.

And to go with the lack of togetherness, I am now running a little late (if there's traffic.) Maybe while I'm watching Kung Fu Panda I can think of more stimulating and exciting things to writing... or more interesting ways of presenting the boring things I like to write about :)

(Ed Burns explanation coming soon.)

I'm back :)

2011-05-31T21:24:00.001-07:00

I know I'm the worst at blogging. Considering that I had to check my Facebook for the link here (because I forgot the easiest blog name to remember) I'm not exactly optimistic about starting up again. But it's my last summer before I have to live in the real world, and I might need a place to vent and sometimes complain about the lovely kids I'm spending my summer with.

Here's the scoop: The Williams family found me via The City (you know, Facebook for PBC) and asked me to nanny for them this summer. Total and complete answer to prayers in the middle of a crazy exam week. And a little upside to not getting the amazing Smithsonian internship in DC. So I've got two boys, Parker (9) and Jack (4) from 9:30-4:15 four days a week. Today was my first day.

Mike (the dad) conveniently planned out the entire week for me and the boys with a lot of time spent at the pool. Wonderful. I brought two books and a journal (as well as a ridiculous amount of sunscreen) in anticipation of chilling out at the pool while the kids burned up some energy. I kept Jack entertained until around noon when Parker came home and after lunch we packed up to go to the pool. Parker, being too cool to ride with the babysitter in her awesome car (I told them it looked like a rocket) decided to bike to the pool ahead of us. While I'm trying to get the dumb booster seat in my car to take Jack the whopping one mile to the pool, Parker comes back and tells us that the pool is closed until 4. Apparently it won't be open all day until more kids get out of school (the boys are in private school.)

Great.

So now I've got two bored kids in a house. It's too hot to play outside (Parker informs me after just five minutes in the backyard) and even though I have permission to take the kids places, it feels weird straying away from "the plan." Especially on my first day. So we are stuck in the house. Parker is okay by himself and goes upstairs (I have no idea what 9 year old boys do when the Wii is broken, but he stayed up there for like an hour; I like to think he was reading.)

Jack is another story. Don't get me wrong, he's very sweet. But he is also hard to entertain. And he asks a lot of questions. Poor kid not really, he did pretty well when I basically made him play by himself so I could relax for a few minutes (playing with a four year old is not all fun and games you know.) But then he was hungry and then he didn't know how to do a coloring page and then he didn't want to eat all of his banana and then he didn't know how to play a game and then he didn't want to play with Parker...

I managed to get them outside for a while by breaking out the sidewalk chalk (I was really the only one interested) and trying play basketball with Parker, which actually turned out to be pretty fun. He's a funny kid. But Jack didn't want to play and then Parker started picking on him and blah blah blah I'm never having kids.

4pm finally rolled around at which point Parker immediately rode his bike to the pool and I got Jack to show me where his Crayola Colorwonder markers were. Funnest activity of the day! I think I'm gonna start out with that tomorrow because we only had 15 minutes of awesome coloring time before Mike came home. I even feel like I taught Jack a few things about art and encouraged his creativity--I would ask him what color each piece of my landscape should be and he picked out wacky colors :)

I know this post is super boring, but it's a start. It makes me feel better knowing that no one reads this so I'm not really boring people to death.

Tomorrow there is a possibility of going to the movies so I am stupidly googling the closest movie theaters to their house because they live 1000 miles out off of Six Forks and I am not super familiar with the area (my sister will say this is dumb since I've lived in Raleigh my whole life, but she sometimes forgets that I spend the majority of my year in a different city learning all of those roads.) Anyway, there will be some definite driving (three boys tomorrow!) and hopefully a nice long movie to fill the afternoon.

Also, I'm going to continue with that whole list of awesome things I started... But in the meantime, here's a little unrelated treat for your eyes that requires a little explaining:

You're welcome.

The explanation comes tomorrow. For now, invisible and non-existent readers, feast your eyes on the always handsome, often annoying, and rarely talented Mr. Edward Burns. (You might think that description is confusing, to which I would say shut up and look at his pretty face.)

The Little Things...

2010-05-29T19:49:00.000-07:00

So a while back I started making a list of the little things in life that I love. As of now there are 247 items on it. And ever since reading 1000awesomethings.com I have wanted to post my list somewhere. And seeing as how I haven't updated since January, I thought this would be the perfect forum. So here goes (in steps.) 1-20 Little Things in Life (that I love) :

1. Sunflowers

Seriously, a huge field of sunflowers: breathtaking.

2. Coffee

Okay, I know this picture is weird, but Moravian Love Feast buns plus a hot cup of coffee equals the best thing in the world! Come on, you know there's nothing better than a hot cup of coffee in the morning!

3. Bookstores

I admit, there's not some private little bookstore that I love going to. But there is Barnes and Noble. I LOVE the bargain section!

4. Vincent van Gogh

If you know me at all this needs no explanation. I. Love. This. Man.

5. Grandmother

Dorothy Annetta Perkins Tieche

6. Long naps on rainy days

I love falling asleep to rain. Seriously, I have a thunderstorm CD that I listen to every night. It's glorious. (And doesn't this picture just make you want to go curl up in bed right now?)

7. Thunderstorms

I love everything leading up to a storm: the dark clouds in the distance, the wind blowing, a low rumble of thunder, an occasional flash of lightning... then the first drops of rain. I love love love thunderstorms.

8. Nephews

This is mine. Need I say more?

9. Dark chocolate

Mmmm...

10. Tim Tebow

I know, I know. You probably hate him like the rest of the world. But I shamelessly love Tim Tebow.

11. Leather journals

My dad got me a journal exactly like one of these for Christmas a few years ago. That journal is, in fact, where this list was started. There's just something so magical about writing in a real, leather, unlined journal :)

12. Cotton fields

I should be more specific: Eastern North Carolina cotton fields. They remind me of family in Aulander, and driving down those long, empty roads lined with cotton fields. (And stopping by the side of the road to pick a soft, fresh piece of cotton.)

13. Fuzzy socks

You know the kind: thick, plush, $4 at AC Moore. Yeah, love those on a cold day.

14. Snow days

You know you love 'em. And if you live in NC you know that even the chance of snow will get you a snow day. What's so great about them? Waking up early to see if class is cancelled, putting on as many layers as you can find, tackling friends in the snow, rolling down hills b/c you don't have a sled, playing until you're too wet and cold to move, going inside famished b/c you forgot to eat breakfast in your rush to play in the snow, peeling off all your wet clothes and hanging them up in various places around your room, realizing your phone fell out of your pocket while rolling down hills, throwing on a jacket and slippers to check outside for your phone, hot chocolate and/or coffee with whatever you can find in your fridge, watching movies all day long snuggled up in your bed... Yeah, snow days are great.

15. Russel Crowe marathons

The fix to any bad day.

16. Cheesecake

Yum. I don't think anything else needs to be said.

17. Narnia

I wish I could live in Narnia with the fauns and talking beasts and centaurs... I love centaurs. But seriously, ever since I read the books and watched the BBC movies (with robot Aslan and sweet, buck-toothed Lucy) I have been absolutely in love with Narnia!

18. Heat Lightning

After evening worship at Impact, sitting in the gazebo by the lake, talking about the awesome power of God, being still in His presence, staring out over the calm water lapping at the shore... and suddenly there's a flash of lightning on the horizon. There's nothing like it.

19. Sunsets over lakes

Living on the east coast, there are only so many settings in which to watch the sunset. I choose lakes.

20. Sunrises over oceans

Again, the east coast limits settings for sunrises. But I've driven three hours at 3am in order to see the gorgeous event. There's nothing like watching that big orange ball come up over the horizon. Plus the beach is usually empty at that hour which is also nice :)

Lyle the snow monster

2010-01-31T14:12:00.000-08:00

On day 1 of snow I went sledding

On day 2 I made a snow monster

Trash can body, flower pot eyes, peanut butter lid eyes

Ignore how disgusting I look... it was before my shower.

The snow monster lives!!!!

Thanksgiving 2009

2009-11-27T20:54:00.000-08:00

Some of my favorite pics from Thanksgiving:

Box full of letters from Granddaddy to Grandma

1936-39

Sweet boy

Owen and Nana

Yum!

Early Christmas shopping :)

Movies I want to see...

2009-11-15T11:25:00.001-08:00

Okay, heard this was hilarious (and clean!)

Plus I love me some Ewan McGreggor (yum!)

I wanted to see this when it came out

But now it's finally at the $1.50 theater

(and the $2.50 theater in W-S)

So now I'm re-motivated to see it

Okay, I know this is lame

But Salem got us tickets to the premiere for $4

and last year at the Twilight premiere it started snowing!

I'm hoping for another magical weather night!

The End of an Era

2009-10-05T13:16:00.000-07:00

October 1, 2009

My Grandma "Skippy" Jenkins

left this earth

She's finally dancing in heaven with her Savior

and reunited with my Granddaddy Herbert

after 12 long years

We love you Grandma!

Rest in Peace...

2009-09-14T18:09:00.000-07:00

Patrick Swayze

Died peacefully in his home

Monday, September 14, 2009

He was 57

Thursday Thirteen

2009-08-27T20:17:00.000-07:00

Where: Futon in the common room 

When: 11:18  

On the radio/TV: Penelope (the movie)  

On the menu: Tortilla chips  

On the agenda: Homework all night

Accomplished today: Sent the email to Justin I needed to for Emmaus  

Cool moment of the day: Sleeping in

Made plans for: Selling a textbook tomorrow

A first today: Went to first IV meeting

Not-so-cool moment of the day: My Salem email not working

Debating: What to wear tomorrow  

Waiting for:  The movie to be over so I can finish my homework

This day in history: August 27, 1883: The biggest volcanic eruption occurs Krakatau, a small uninhabited volcanic island in Indonesia. It was heard from 3,000 miles away, and shot 5 cubic miles of earth 50 miles into the air. It also created 120-foot tsunamis and killed 36,000 people.

How much do I love this boy?

2009-08-19T05:00:00.000-07:00

SO MUCH!!!

As Lauren kindly pointed out

I haven't been updating my blog regularly

So until I finally decide to go through my PA trip pictures

I'm stealing pics of my

ADORABLE

nephew from my sister

Isn't he darling?

Thursday Thirteen

2009-08-06T13:29:00.000-07:00

Where: Couch in the den  

When: 4:28 pm  

On the radio/TV: Wife Swap  

On the menu: Cantelope  

On the agenda: Coldplay concert with Lauren

Accomplished today: Ordered all my textbooks for school  

Cool moment of the day: Sitting outside for my quiet time in not-too-hot, not-too-humid weather with no mosquitos :)  

Made plans for: Trip to Pennsylvania with the Jennings next week!  

A first today: Watched Baby Einstein (with a one year-old) 

Not-so-cool moment of the day: Textbooks costing a bajillion dollars USED

Debating: Laundry?  

Waiting for: Lauren to come over  

This day in history: August 6, 1945: Atomic bomb is dropped on Hiroshima

This photograph MADE my day!!!!

2009-07-16T13:20:00.000-07:00

Okay, here's some background:

Fernand Cormon was a French painter in the 1800's

He ran an art school called Atelier Cormon

This is a picture of one of his classes

That's him (Cormon) at the easel

(not the circled figure)

and Henri de Toulouse Lautrec in the left foreground

(in the hat)

And that circled figure?

That wonderful passionate artist?

That amazing man enthralled in the canvas?

That psychologically troubled genius?

Vincent van Gogh!!!

While trying to find a rare photograph of him that I came across in a book

I found this little gem

It's not conclusively proven

that the circled figure is in fact Vincent

But here are the facts:

The best date for the picture is 1885-1886; Vincent came to Cormon's studio in June of 1886
The man in the picture is dressed not in a suit like everyone else but in a simple wrinkled shirt
He's holding the same wooden board Vincent used as a palette
Unlike the other students, the man is actively engaged in what is going on and eager to learn from Cormon

Jim Foley believes you can see the resemblance

in this self portrait of Vincent

However

I think this portrait of Vincent

done by Henri de Toulouse Lautrec

is a more accurate representation

of Vincent's passion

I would readily defend this picture as genuine

and finding it was the

absolute

best thing

of my week!!

Rest in Peace...

2009-06-25T17:33:00.000-07:00

Farrah Fawcett

1947-2009

and

Michael Jackson

1958-2009

Congratulations Penguins!!!

2009-06-12T21:12:00.000-07:00

For winning the Stanley Cup!

Sidney Crosby became the youngest captain to ever lift the Stanley Cup

[which weighs 35 pounds in case you care]

And Evgeni Malkin won the Conn Smythe Trophy

AKA: the MVP

[and thanks to 10 points in this series, a free movie for me]

Also...

I got to go out with my girls

[Reem, Erin, and Jessica]

to celebrate Jessica's graduation!

Congrats girl!

Pics to come soon!

My summer...

2009-06-03T15:43:00.000-07:00

...is going great!

But first, check this out:

Modest bathing suits

[Basically it's a dress made out of bathing suit material]

This is not a joke!

People actually wear these!!!!

Aside from laughing at modesty,

I've also been rediscovering the joy of sidewalk chalk:

Snoopy looked way better before he got run over

My attempt at Starry Night

Celebrating summer

[Those clouds aren't really accurate...

When I was doing this there were NO clouds out

and I got a lovely sunburn on my back where my pants and shirt don't meet]

Celebrating a good season

So also this week

[last night as a matter of fact]

I had an encounter with a

HUGE

SUPER SCARY

KILLER MOTH!

Okay, so it wasn't this big

but this picture scared you for a minute right?

Right?

[if anything that creepy little kid should have freaked you out some]

Anyway, this giant moth comes into the house

and perches on the hall light

Everyone else is in bed

and I don't want to turn out the light

because then Mr. Moth will just flutter somewhere else

So I had to leave the light on

and write a note for my mom to find

telling her about he devilish harry-antenna'd beast

Thankfully she killed it in the morning

I made her a little thank you note:

And finally...

Evgeni Malkin pulled through again

[but this time his team actually won]

He got 3 assists last night

[The Penguins won 3-2]

bringing the tally for the bet up to

6-1

[Crosby also got an assist]

3-0

2009-06-01T09:42:00.001-07:00

Is the score to our little bet so far

Malkin scored in last night's game

But they still lost 3-1

Malkin also got into a pretty great fight in the last few seconds

Satan tried to break it up

(adding the hilarity of it all)

Malkin will not be suspended

Game 3 is tomorrow night

The Bet:

2009-05-31T14:45:00.001-07:00

Lauren and I have a small bet going

concerning the Stanley Cup Finals

[sorta]

Who will get more points in the series?

Crosby (left) or Malkin (right)

Lauren's got Crosby

I've got Malkin

A goal counts as 2 points

An assist counts as 1

The wager:

Loser buys winner's ticket to

Year One

plus a snack from Target

So far I'm ahead 1-0

[Thanks Malkin]

2009-05-28T04:27:00.000-07:00

My dislike of the Redwings > My dislike of the Penguins

My dislike of Crosby > My dislike of Malkin

My dislike of Jordan Staal... doesn't exist

Conclusion: I'm pulling for the Penguins with the hopes that Crosby will somehow not play. I can stand Malkin with his less-than-perfect face and not-prestigious hockey family. But pretty-boy, great-with-kids, straight-A-in-high-school, youngest-captain-ever-named hockey-god, Crosby... I can't take much more of him. Plus, everyone knows that Russians make better hockey players :)

2009-05-26T12:03:00.000-07:00

Some non-hockey updates:

New haircut...

adorable right?

I'm babysitting on/off for this family

with an adorable son named

August

and I just applied for a job at

JoAnn Fabrics

extra cash for the summer

[and next school year]

Speaking of school...

I got all A's last semester

and my schedule is all set for next semester

Russian MWF

U.S. History MWF

Creative Writing TTh

Art History TTh

College 200 Th

Speaking of Art History...

I've decided to study a new artist (besides van Gogh)

so...

Michaelangelo

Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec

are the new guys

that I'm reading up on

Yeah... I am a nerd.

And now some hockey news:

Game 4 tonight

Here are my thoughts:

I'm wearing my favorite shirt

and my cutest pair of underwear

Victoria's Secret of course

I got a super cute haircut

as seen above

I got the cute guy at the bank today

I slipped and fell in the parking lot but no one saw me

and

I avoided the Mormons walking around my neighborhood today

So...

tonight should be a good night

I hope

Evgeni Malkin....

2009-05-25T06:37:00.000-07:00

Better watch his back while he's in Raleigh

cause my front bumper

(and by mine, of course I mean mean my mom's)

got his name on it

that kid's just too good

I can't make Crosby any promises either

They both helped the Penguins win game 3

6-2

[cringing with embarrassment]

Game 4 is tomorrow night

Cole's back

Ruutu's back

Scott Walker is not hurt (apparently)

There's a touch of desperation to this game

So I think our chances

at least for this game

look good

Evgeni Malkin

2009-05-22T19:34:00.000-07:00

So for awhile I've noticed

that Evgeni Malkin

(superstar of the Pittsburgh Penguins)

looks like someone I know

Thanks to my awesome friends, Reem and Erin and Jessica

I've figured it out

sorta...

Malkin:

and Philip Arve:

I went to high school with him

didn't really know him

but I think he's a pretty good match

right?

and speaking of Malkin....

He helped the Pens beat the Canes in Games 1 & 2

getting a hat trick in Game 2

(bringing the score to 7-4)

Game 3 is Saturday night in Raleigh

and also

Tuomo Ruutu:

(super physical player and my favorite)

is still out with a sprained ankle

boo

SCOTT WALKER!!!!

2009-05-15T14:48:00.000-07:00

Got it done for the Canes!

He scored the game-winner in OT

in Game 7

Thursday night!

Canes win 3-2

and play Crosby and the Penguins in Round 2

Game 1 is Monday night!

P.S. this is Joni the Frog:

my mom sent him to me today

[I'm pretty sure this one won't die]

and in the background you can see my lovely mostly cleared off wall

I'm almost completely packed up

and officially done with my Freshman year of college!

I'm moving out tomorrow!

Looks like I should have gotten a fish...

2009-05-13T21:04:00.000-07:00

and named him Crosby

and then let him die

because Sidney Crosby and gang slaughtered the Caps tonight in game 7

6-2

looks like the Staal brothers might be facing off in the Conference finals

(that is of course if the Canes can win tomorrow night)

maybe I should stop trying to decided the fate of hockey games by killing small animals

just a thought...

Jussi the Bear...

2009-05-13T07:05:00.000-07:00

This is Jussi the Bear

My mom sent him to me in a lovely "Exam Package"

(which also included yummy goldfish and mint milanos as well as the two sections of Sunday's paper I wanted to read... they were crumpled up and used for packing, but whatever, I still got to read them)

Jussi the Bear, unlike Jussi the Frog, cannot die

So he was supposed to be the good luck charm for the Canes

He had an off-night

The Canes lost 4-2

Game 7 is tomorrow night at 8pm

I cannot believe they let it get to game 7

when a few days ago they led the series 3-1

Maybe I should get a frog and name him Zdeno

Then he can die the next day

and the Bruins will consequently lose

[But for serious, I am sad about my frog]

(and if you check out the link, a frog would not accurately represent Zdeno Chara. I'd have to get like a lobster or something)

On the bright side...

I just finished my English exam!

Two more to go and I'm done with my Freshman year of college!

Awww... look how cute we were!

2009-05-12T07:58:00.000-07:00

Christmas 1995

Me (5), Jim Bob (>1), Lauren (8)

And now that I got your attention...

The Capitals won game 6 in OT 5-4 last night!

David Steckel got the game winner

Sudden-death overtime is not healthy for a college student stressing over exams

The series is tied 3-3

Game 7 is Wednesday night

The Canes play game 6 for the series tonight at 7:30

It was an omen...

2009-05-11T11:06:00.000-07:00

Jussi the frog's death was an omen

that Jussi Jokinen's time was over

at least for one night

The Canes lost 4-0 Sunday night

They still lead the series 3-2

Game 6 is Tuesday

There were a bunch of great fights though

The Canes got 17 penalties

One was for "instigator"

I'm still not sure what that penalty looks like

And here's my sweet darling nephew:

He slept for like 7 hours Saturday

So precious!

Also... I'm home for good in a week!

One Jussi wins, the other loses

2009-05-10T11:05:00.000-07:00

The win:

Jussi Jokinen scored the goal that put the Canes ahead in Friday night's game 3 against the Bruins.

The Canes won 4-1 and now lead the series 3-1.

This is the first time all season the Bruins have lost three games in a row.

Game 5 is tonight at 7:30

The loss:

My pet frog, Jussi, died today.

I got him yesterday.

Jokinen does it again!

2009-05-08T14:07:00.000-07:00

Jussi Jokinen scored the game winner in overtime Wednesday night

Canes win 3-2

Lead the series 2-1

Capitals lost 3-2

still lead the series 2-1

Games 4 tonight

2 hat tricks, a cute nephew, and other fun things :)

2009-05-05T09:50:00.000-07:00

Sid the Kid and Alexander the Great:

[that's Sidney Crosby and Alex Ovechkin for those of you who don't know]

Both got hat tricks in Monday night's game

Caps win 4-3

Caps lead series 2-0

and check out Crosby's molestache...

he's only 21 so I guess he can't do much of a playoff beard

but this is creepy and gross

shave it off Sidney

This picture is actually from the Canes' game 1

but it's pretty funny

This was posted on facebook by one of my friends who is a Boston fan

So I like to think of it not as a fail for Ruutu

just a misfortunate consequence of skating really fast

[Ruutu's face didn't actually hit the cross bar. He was fine.]

This picture... I stole it from my mom's facebook

But it's so cute!

Come on, have you ever seen a cuter baby?

It's official: Owen = most adorable nephew ever!

[he and Lauren came up and spent the day in Winston Salem with me Friday... so fun]

And finally....

Me and my future suite-mate, Bree

It was Spring Cocktail Saturday night

so naturally, we got all dressed up

and ditched it early to hit a midnight movie:

17 Again

[yes, I have been converted to a Zefron fan... he's so pretty]

Fun weekend

Round 2...

2009-05-03T23:40:00.000-07:00

Cam Ward shut out the Bruins tonight

3-0

[after an embarrassing 4-0 loss Friday night in Game 1]

[Corvo, Cullen, and Staal (on an empty net) got the goals]

*LaRose got a goal that didn't count.*

The series is tied 1-1

Also, check out this guy: Zdeno Chara

(don't ask me how to pronounce his first name, I have no idea)

He's 6'9'' and weighs 255 lb

Freak

[Didn't stop the Canes though]

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Alex Ovechkin helped the Caps win game 1

3-2

Tomas Fleischmann got a goal as well

[I'm just having some fun with these "glamour shots" of the players]

The Caps lead the series 1-0

Game 2 is Monday at 7pm

Round 2!

2009-04-28T23:16:00.000-07:00

The Canes won game 7

beating the Devils 4-3

in the most

AMAZING

and nerve-racking

finish ever!

Jussi Jokinen

(quickly becoming one of my favorites)

got it done with 2:21 left in the game!

His goal tied the score 2-2

Only minutes later, Eric Staal scored the game winner!

I feel like it's wrong to be so pleased with this picture

but I love it!

The Canes face the Bruins in round 2

Also, the Caps won their game 7

2-1

My favorite boy, Alex Semin scored

and so did Sergei Fedorov

The Caps will play the Penguins in round 2

Game 7

2009-04-26T21:59:00.000-07:00

Thanks to Ovechkin, Green, and a few others

The Caps beat the Rangers 5-3

The series is tied

Game 7 is Tuesday

Cam Ward also got it done...

Shutting out the Devils

4-0

Staal, Whitney, and Jokinen helped out

The series is tied

and the Canes will go for Game 7

(Tuesday)

They're still in it!

2009-04-24T19:16:00.000-07:00

My favorite Russians got it done...

Alex Ovechkin and Alex Semin

(I love love love this picture so I had to use it)

both scored tonight

helping the Caps win 4-0

Props should also be given to Simeon Varlamov

(Caps goalie)

and Matt Bradley

(2 goals)

The Caps are still in the playoffs

trailing the series 3-2

Games 4 & 5

2009-04-24T05:31:00.000-07:00

2 Games

4 amazing goaltenders

But still bad news for my teams:

Marty Brodeur (who I hate) shut out the Canes last night

1-0

Cam Ward also had a big night with 41 saves

Unfortunately there were 42 shots

The Devils lead the series 3-2

Game 6 is Sunday

Henrik Lundqvist ...

Won the game for the Rangers 2-1

only letting one goal in from Alexander the Great

(That's Alex Ovechkin for all you non-hockey fans... which I know all 2 of you who read this are)

Simeon Varlamov was in goal again for the Caps

and did a great job

just not good enough

Rangers lead the series 3-1

Dr. Gossett and Jussi Jokinen

2009-04-22T07:03:00.000-07:00

Me, Dr. Louise Gossett, and Kat

We got to eat lunch with her!

She used to teach at Salem

and

She knew FLANNERY O'CONNOR!

It was amazing!

(Thanks Dr. Zehr)

Okay so here's the whole story:

Kat and I both LOVE Flannery O'Connor

(20th century American author... if you don't know her, look her up)

Our wonderful English professor, Dr. Zehr, knows Dr. Gosset who was good friends with Flannery

So we got invited to have lunch/tea with her

And we got to pick her brain about Flannery

(she was more than eager to talk about her)

So much fun!

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I would usually wait until tonight (when there's news about the Caps) to post about the Canes...

but my roommate's still asleep

so I don't really have anything better to do...

Plus it was an AMAZING game!

I caught the 3rd period:

Canes are up 3-1

No problem right?

Wrong.

The Devils score 2 points

Suddenly there's two minutes left and the game is tied

I don't like OT's

(they make me nervous)

Well lucky for me we have a fellow named Jussi Jokinen playing for us!

With .2 seconds left, Jokinen scores the game winner!

The best part?

The winningest goalie in the NHL

Martin Brodeur

storming off the ice and throwing his stick at the boards

Frustrated Marty?

Game 3 update and a funny story...

2009-04-20T19:33:00.000-07:00

The Capitals won tonight 4-0

I missed the game

But this picture pretty much sums it up:

Semin (28) scored two goals and had one assist

Backstrom (19) had two assists

Laich (21) scored once

Poti scored once too but I wasn't fortunate enough to find a picture with all 4 of them

Also, this isn't from the actual game

It's just a convenient picture to describe the scoring situation

The Rangers still lead the series (2-1)

Hurricanes lost last night in overtime 3-2

But Ryan Bayda got his first goal of the season :)

(Chad LaRose got the second goal)

The Devils now lead the series 2-1

Okay so here's the funny story that wasn't funny when it happened:

Saturday was laundry day for me

It tried to kill me

More than once...

Dragged my clothes down to the basement (3rd and 2nd floor laundry rooms were being used)

Forgot my detergent

Walk up three flights of stairs to get detergent

Come back down, pick up laundry, begin to drag it across basement to laundry room

(This is where the picture comes in)

The cap to the detergent apparently wasn't on tight

I spill almost the whole bottle of liquid soap on the floor

Then I slip

And fall in it

Then I try and get up

And slip again

My only clean pair of sweat pants are now soaked in liquid soap

I have to use my dirty laundry (aka: my towels) to clean up the soap

When I finally get to the laundry room...

I put my clothes in the dryer

Instead of the washer

(they look the same)

Then I go upstairs to take a shower

And shatter (okay not shatter but hit really hard) my shin on the corner of my drawer

Not a fun day

A few home-cooked meals and Russel Crowe are helping me cope with the sucky weekend

Game 2 news:

2009-04-18T13:55:00.000-07:00

Special thanks to Tim Gleason...

...for scoring the game winner (2-1) in overtime Friday night

Canes win game 2!

Series is tied 1-1

(Staal got the other goal of the game)

The Capitals lost to the Rangers 1-0 today

The Rangers lead the series 2-0 now

Boo

This one's for Lauren....

2009-04-16T17:55:00.001-07:00

Marc, Jordan, Eric, and [I don't know the youngest's name] Staal

Jordan (Eric in the background)

Yes, he is getting make up put on, but it's for an NHL media tour... they all got it done

Marc and Eric

So which one got the looks?

Even distribution?

I think not

Game 1 update:

2009-04-16T06:39:00.000-07:00

Jodan Staal is pretty much the only one who should be smiling right now

The Penguins beat the Flyers 4-1

While the Hurricanes lost 4-1 to the Devils

While both Semin (left) and Ovechkin (right) got goals last night

the Capitals lost to the Rangers 4-3

Better luck in game two boys!

The Stanley Cup Playoffs....

2009-04-14T18:53:00.000-07:00

Start tomorrow!

I have my bracket all filled out... but it won't upload.

Here it is in a nutshell:

Hurricanes will end up facing the Capitals

and win

and go to the finals against...

(I don't really know anything about the Western Conference)

I'll keep you posted

and

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I just love having his beautiful face on my blog

No real news

The week for me :)

2009-04-09T08:18:00.000-07:00

My wonderful BFF Susan came and spent the weekend with me!

I just wanted to put a picture of Owen up...

This is my new favorite :)

The Hurricanes beat the Islanders 9-0 Tuesday

This picture isn't actually from the game...

But Eric Staal got a hat trick and Tuomo Ruutu scored 2 goals

Good week...

Happy Easter!

Some Interesting Things...

2009-04-01T10:27:00.000-07:00

The Barreleye Fish: its skull is transparent!!! How cool is that?!? It's so it can see directly above it (those green balls inside its head are its eyes)

"Crevasse" by Edgar Mueller.

It's actually sidewalk art!

(There's another picture of the artist standing in the middle of it while working... messes with your mind!)

These two adorable guys are called Emperor Tamarins. Apparently they look like some emperor of somewhere (you can tell I really did my research here).

But isn't the baby adorable!!!

Okay, so this band called Connersvine... they're pretty cool.

I don't really know anything about them except:

They are a Christian band

They have a song called "Hero" that's really good

They have a website: connersvine.com

Their posts (on the website) are pretty random and funny

Check it out.

In hockey news:

Rod Brind'Amour was nominated for the Bill Masterton Trophy

The trophy is awarded to the player who best exemplifies

perserverance,

sportsmanship and

dedication to hockey

Also, the Hurricanes are currently #5 in the eastern division standings

In other hockey news....

Hahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha!

Okay, I just find this picture amusing :)

Alexander Semin (of the Washington Capitals) awkwardly holding a baby

And what's more awkward: can you imagine how he got into this situation?

Woman: Oh, Alexander Semin! I'm a huge fan!

Alex: (doesn't speak English)

Woman: Can you hold my newborn so I can take a picture?

Alex: (still doesn't speak English and is left holding a stranger's baby)

Hahaha!

My Spring Break...

2009-03-29T21:02:00.000-07:00

this is pretty much what i did

Precious...

2009-03-12T18:02:00.000-07:00

My life is actually pretty dull. So the most interesting thing I have to post is this ADORABLE picture of my sweet little nephew, Owen.

Enjoy!

Owen James Hoffert

2009-02-27T07:01:00.000-08:00

Born: Wednesday, February 25, 2009

10:53 am

6lb. 13oz.

20 inches

Perfect <3

Baby Shower Pictures!!!

2009-02-18T07:58:00.000-08:00

Life at Salem...

2009-01-30T10:06:00.000-08:00

So what have I been doing in Winston Salem this month?

Here's a look at January for me...

My new obsession with trees:

Seriously, look at this tree...

It's freakin awesome!

God's Acre (the Moravian cemetery) has tons of cool old trees like this.

Trip to the Belhaven Museum:

Amazing.

Tons of old stuff this lady collected.

The nice old man behind me gave us the scoop on like everything in there.

And he let us hold the giant German gun!

Trip to VA Beach:

It was freezing.

I totaled my car.

Dress Up:

The picture says it all.

Rest In Peace

2009-01-24T09:26:00.000-08:00

Kay Yow

1942-2009

You will be missed

Thank you Tim

2009-01-12T15:15:00.000-08:00

It's official: Tim Tebow is returning to Florida for his senior year

$20 for me

Thanks Tim

In other news...

Kat and I have discovered a new ghost at Salem

We call her Christina

because that's what we heard the other night (in a whisper)

She lives in our room

A little freaky

We climbed a mountain!

2009-01-11T14:58:00.000-08:00

So my roommate Kat and I decided to take a day trip this Saturday. We ended up at Stone Mountain in Roaring Gap, NC. We took the 4.5ish mile hike up/over the mountain.... and it was GORGEOUS!!!

Here's a short summary in pictures:

This is one of the first things we saw... the granite dome. Naturally we wanted to stand at the top of it, but we weren't sure there was a way up there...

This is where we stopped for lunch... 200 ft waterfall! Need I say more?

The sign we finally reached after several hours hiking...

... and the view!

You could see for miles! This picture doesn't even come close to depicting all we could see. It was the most breathtaking sight!

It was pretty much an amazingly fun and fulfilling trip. We stood at the top and thought... we just climbed a mountain... what else can we do? Kat has gotten me completely addicted to hiking now. We're looking for our next mountain for this weekend :)

The new BCS title goes to...

2009-01-08T23:38:00.000-08:00

Florida Gators!!!

Congratualtions on a 24-14 win over Oklahoma!

(Tim threw his first two interceptions of the season... not good... but was still....) Amazing!

Mermaids?

2008-12-30T14:49:00.001-08:00

So... I was thinking about mermaids today (don't ask why) and I began to wonder... how exactly do mermaids have babies?

So here is what I came up with:

This mermaid, Shiloh, does not have *cough*lady-parts*cough* so, logically, she cannot have babies.

But this mermaid... well, I'm not sure.

Is she like a fish and lays eggs?

But wait a minute...

MAMMAL: (noun) Any vertebrate of the class Mammalia, having the body more or less covered with hair, nourishing the young with milk from the mammary glands, and, with the exception of the egg-laying monotremes, giving birth to live young.

She's definitely got the mammary glands covered so she's a mammal. But I don't really like the thought of her being like a dolphin or whale or something. So that got me thinking...

MONOTREME: (noun) A member of the Monotremata, an order of primitive egg-laying mammals restricted to Australia and New Guinea and consisting of only the platypus and the echidna.

So... maybe Ariel is a Monotreme... if she lives in Australia or New Guinea... and if those scientists forgot to put "mermaid" on the list with platypus and echidna.

So now my only mermaid question is...

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Should this really be procreating?

Update on the bet:

2008-12-27T21:05:00.000-08:00

The bet has been raised to $20... because I want more money when I win :) Here's what Tim has to say about going pro next year:

"I don't think so, to tell you the truth, because win or lose, there's going to be a lot to come back and play for. A win, coming back you have a chance to come back and go to three out of four (national titles) which isn't bad. Lose, you have a chance to come back here and get your second one. Either way it would be fun."

I think Tim's on my side.

Another reason to post my favorite Gator

2008-12-23T19:57:00.000-08:00

So my dad and I have a bet. We're both counting on Florida winning the National Championship on January 8 (against Oklahoma). But my dad thinks Tim Tebow will drop out of college and go to the NFL. I think that is absurd. I have complete faith in Tebow to play his senior year before going to the pros. We have $10 on it.

In other news....

Here's Bean! Lauren let me go to her appointment today and I got to see the ultrasound. So cool!!! They did these cool 3D pictures. Bean's definitely looking like Lauren :)

And the 2008 Heisman Winner is...

2008-12-13T18:01:00.000-08:00

Sam Bradford!

Congratulations!

I was actually expecting Colt McCoy to win. Poor Sam was a little awkward as he stumbled through his speech. But congrats anyway!

Tebow goes for two!

2008-12-10T20:32:00.000-08:00

So of course I'm always looking for a reason to put this pretty face on my blog... (I'm in love with him if you haven't heard).

Tim Tebow is a finalist for the Heisman Trophy along with Colt McCoy (Texas) and Sam Bradford (Oklahoma). If Tebow wins he'll be the second player in history to be a two-time Heisman winner!

Thanksgiving!

2008-11-30T20:12:00.000-08:00

Me and mom made cookies Tuesday night!

Some family history in Aulander, NC. My great great grandfather built/organized this church back in the 1800's. Still standing!

Some family... Ann Fate (cousin) , Jack (uncle), Alex (cousin) at the Brinkley house for Thanksgiving dinner!

Dad and James (cousin) talking.

Little Alice had her first birthday on the 28th. Blue's Clues cake!

Ann Fate LOVED blowing out the candle!

Blue mouth :)

Alice loved her some icing!

She got a huge mouse for her birthday! Could a baby get any happier? Nope!

Opening another present (baby's first laptop).

Invisible Children

2008-11-17T20:51:00.000-08:00

I just finished a project on Invisible Children and it reminded me how much I care about this organization (www.invisiblechildren.com). I was thinking today about how I am living such a comfortable life, yet I complain about the bad food in the refectory or my loud neighbors or my dying car. These kids in Uganda are just trying to stay alive. If you haven't seen the documentary "Invisible Children: Rough Cut" I strongly encourage you to watch it (you can find it on youtube in six parts). These kids are younger than me and have endured more than any person should ever have to. They just want to feel safe in their own beds! I am still struck by the huge contrast in our lives. How can there be such injustice? Why is it so unbalanced?

I read other people's blogs who seem to have such a handle on all these big issues, blogging about them in the light of God's grace. They seem to have all the right answers. Don't get me wrong, I totally believe in the power of God's grace (and I am currently rediscovering the passion and love he has for me), but the evil and injustice that has entered the world since the Fall in the Garden still horrifies me. So here's what I've decided to do:

1. Pray for Uganda (the nation) and for the kids victimized by the war.

2. Raise awareness: it started with just three guys... and grew into Invisible Children Inc. Word of mouth is a powerful messenger... so is the movie. We're hoping to start an Invisible Children club at Salem; showing the movie is a good way to educate people (and tug at their heart strings).

3. Send my support: I don't have much $ to spare, but I'm asking for one of the bracelets (check out the website) for Christmas. That way $ will still be going to Uganda and someone can knock a Christmas present out :) Seriously, things like t-shirts, scarves, bracelets, etc. that they are selling make great presents and almost all the funds go directly to Uganda. (also, it raises awareness - that's three birds with one stone!)

Watch this. Pray.

My Best Friend...

2008-11-07T09:31:00.000-08:00

The Leaf-blower...

(a typical morning at Salem College)

What I've Neglected to Post...

2008-10-28T15:07:00.001-07:00

Wake Forest vs. Clemson (the game that cost Tommy Bowden his job)

Lauren and I pimpin it out at the rehearsal dinner

Adventures in the library... we got bored reading Wangari Maathai :P

Korner's Folly (awesome house in Kernersville)

Kat and I took a day trip a couple Saturdays ago- so much fun!

Balloon hats!!!! (in Greensboro on our Saturday outing)

SGA Halloween Carnival! Kat was a witch from Harry Potter, I was Vincent van Gogh

It was this awesome carnival for kids in the area!

This kid was my favorite! He was soooo cute!

So this is the past three weeks of my life. I've been checking everyone's blog and everyone else seems to have these super interesting lives. So I decided to pull bits from all my recent albums to display. Hopefully it was entertaining (for my one reader).

Lauren's Wedding!

2008-10-12T14:27:00.000-07:00

She was so beautiful

Haha! Last funny face w/ my single sister

Lauren shows off the ring

Removing the garter

The happy couple

Bridal Shower! (and Bean)

2008-10-06T18:06:00.000-07:00

Look how beautiful the table looks! (I decorated)

Lauren chewing 10 pieces of gum while reading over a list of questions about James (she missed 10). Also, note the lovely dress-up veil she got to wear all night.

Toilet paper game clean up!

Bean!!! 17 weeks! Look at his cute little button nose!

Spirit Week!

2008-09-19T20:02:00.000-07:00

International Day (I was scottish)

Kat tried on this ridiculous mask while we were shopping for wigs.

I'm preggers!!!

Not really. Kat and I went (to Celebrities in the Future day) as prego Katie Holmes and crazy Tom Cruise. So much fun! No one really got it :( But it was HILARIOUS!

Haunted College

2008-09-14T21:31:00.000-07:00

So I haven't updated in a while (like anyone reads these) but I thought I'd a few interesting bits of my life. First of all, I am now living at a haunted school- as you can see from this picture of me and a giant orb in my room. We're hearing some strange noises at night so we're not sure what's going on. Maybe Mary Babcock is just getting bored.

I have started going to Calvary Baptist in Winston Salem. Today was officially my second Sunday there and I really really like it. The teaching is very Bible-based. And today Whitney and I went out to lunch with a bunch of people from the college class (and Meredith Hermann was there too). It was a lot of fun.

As you probably know Lauren is pregnant. For pics and updates check out her blog or thebeanbump.blogspot.com

It's very exciting- and stressful as they're planning a wedding in a month.

That's pretty much it for now. College life isn't that interesting unless you're there :)

2008-09-01T17:01:00.000-07:00

All Moved In!

2008-08-24T17:52:00.000-07:00

So I moved into Salem yesterday and had my first full day today. We're mostly still doing orientation, but I met my academic advisor (who is awesome) and got the outline of my schedule planned. Tomorrow I'm free until 2pm so I'm going to explore Winston Salem and hopefully hit up the gym in the morning with Whitney (my roommate). Also today, our clock was set an hour early (on accident of course) so we were an hour early for everything. But it was a surprisingly leisurely morning (coffee and a book before ham biscuits and sugar cake for breakfast). After breakfast I got to experience a traditional Moravian lovefeast. Contrary to Providence's depiction of it, it does not include sticky buns and cider, rather coffee and these interesting (but delicious) buns. It was a good experience but the service was a little too traditional for my liking. I'm going to check out Calvary Baptist next week :)
This is my desk area, and as Reem pointed out, my macbook is open to facebook (just to show you what I've been doing since I got to college).