Hey bloggies,

I am here at the home-whirlwind. Here's a summary of my Christmas gifts, clothes, money, CDs (none that I really wanted- my Dad picked them out), and a surprise. My Dad told me that I had a surprise and I got really excited thinking that it might be the cross necklace (w/my Mom's wedding diamond in it) I've asked for for 4 years, or the complete works of CS Lewis that was super expensive but I really wanted, or a myrad of DVD's I really wanted, but it wasn't any of those things.

When I was home for Thanksgiving my Dad and I came upon an ipod in Best Buy and he asked me what it was. I told him what an ipod was and that I thought they were really rad and he said maybe someday I would get one.

Well, he tried. He got me an mp3 player from Wal-mart (I place I don't particularly like to shop at anymore after watching the Dateline special on our beloved American slave shop that runs down small towns like Bryan, OH) that holds 15 songs. Don't get me wrong, I think it's pretty cool, but I need to get a big memory card before it will reach any sort of real coolness. It is very small though and has an armband which is quite convienient because I don't have to carry anything around.

My Christmas was really good otherwise too. I got to spend some quailty time with fam and especially hanging out with my sister. I cannot wait till tomorrow because we are going early to the YMCA, library, coffee shop, and then the art room to throw some clay. Sounds like a perfect day in my book:)

Hope all who are sick with a viral thing get better. I hope all who are sick of their families, will make it through somehow. Back to coloring posters for IMPACT (Tess, send me a pictoral idea for yours) and watching the 50 best moments on SNL.

Later,
boo

i love being home. no unpleasant distractions. just the occasional family feud. my fam already got their big christmas present. my dad picked out a flat screen for our computer and a wireless keyboard and mouse. don't ask me why they thought they needed it, but they got them anyway.

so far break hasn't been much of one (in that i consider sleep to be a main part of the word "break"). i've started my reading list, but i haven't been able to do much else that i've wanted to. however, helping out with family stuff hasn't been too bad.

well, that's all for now. i have to go make snowflakes with alex (a 3 yr old that my mom babysits for).

keep my mom in your prayers as she is having an outpatient surgery tomorrow. pray that she heals well and that she will have a pleasant christmas despite some expected soreness.

later,

boo

This blog is mostly to inform the lady readers of this blog about a new musician I heard about. His name is Josh Groban and he has a really cool deep operatic voice. The lyrics of his music are either in Italian (or some other language), but when they are in English (and I can understand them), they seem very God-centered.

This is his latest song:

Starts out with an Irishy intro (Tess):).

"You raise me up, so I can stand on mountains,
you raise me up, to walk on stormy seas,
I am strong when I am on your shoulders,
You raise me up to more than I can be."

That's the chorus. I cannot type fast enough to do the verses, but they are way better.

So check out joshgroban.com to hear the songs for yourself.

Later,

boo

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Hey readers o' my blog,

I love this exam week because I love my classes. I am going to start my dreaded Shakespeare paper tomorrow, but tonight I am going to chill out and watch one of my favorite movies, "Little Women." Mi amigas got me that movie for my Christmas gift and I've been tempted to watch it since.

Okay so now for a funny story (funny to me at least):

Last night the 5 of us had Christmas together. We put my 2 ft Christmas tree in the middle of the floor and all sat around it and put our presents under it, then we take turns opening each other's gifts. We also turn on some Bing Crosby (Mele Kalikimaka being our favorite) and laugh and have a merry time.

Well in the midst of our merry fun, there is a knock at the door. Assuming it is someone normal we said, "Come in" in unison (as we usually do when there is a knock on the door). Low and behold, the person was not a normal person, but was Dr. Browne.

Mr. anti-Christmas walked in on our joyous festivities and it was hillarious. He said, "Don't you dare even tell me that your exams are stressing you out." Ha... It may be one of those things where you just had to be there. But as soon as he left we burst into laughter for a good few minutes.

My exams have been going well thus far. I started and finished my Brit Lit paper in 2 hours, I breezed through my Brit Lit exam and I only prepared for 1 hour (we had to write 5 singlespaced pages though:P), and I breezed through my Linguistics exam and actually got a little teary-eyed on the way back to my dorm because I loved my class so much.

God has really blessed me with good classes and good profs this semester. After having cried my eyes out after getting a C in my T.V. class (yes, I got a C, the prof was a jerk and I never watch T.V.-- bad combo-- he felt slighted that I didn't appreciate the genre as much as he did. Maybe I shouldn't have quoted "Amusing Ourselves to Death" in one of my papers) last year and praying to our Lord above that I would never have to go through something like that again, it is sooo nice to have had a good semester with good profs. Hopefully next semester will be just as wonderful. Praise God for good teachers. Hopefully I will be one, one day.

It is such a bittersweet feeling to be done with a class that you loved. It always feels good to get an exam overwith and to complete a class; but, sometimes you just love everything about a class, the people who are in it, the time of day it is at, the room its in, the subject you are learning, and the prof. In the words of Tessica, "tear... wink"

Okay... so time to chill out and watch Little Women.

toodaloo,

boo

This time of year always makes me wish to be with my family. When I was home for Thanksgiving, my Dad started singing this song to my sister and I. In his tone deaf way, the song he sang made me very appreciative of my family and how he has shown me love in the deepest of ways. My Dad's love was the first realization I had of God, my father's love. Thanks Dad:)

"On behalf of every man, looking out for every girl
You are guarding the weight of her world

So fathers be good to your daughters
Daughters will love like you do
Girls become lovers, who turn into mothers
So mothers be good to your daughters too"

Mom, I love you too and all of us in BG are all praying for you and your health. "Seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own." Matt. 6:33-34

-boo

and we have to spend it studying. geez. btw. i love making christmas presents and i hate studying. that's all. lit and crit here i come.

here's a funny christmas pic

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It's amazing how God helps me appreciate the littlest things in life when the biggest things are going wrong or are just shifting. I am eating an orange right now and as I make my keyboard reak of orange, I find myself thanking God for the little things. Tess can attest to the fact that I spent a whole half hour or so smelling this orange and the whole time I was thinking about how wonderful it was for God to give us such a wonderful little thing.

I love the movie Amelle because it epitomizes the notion of enjoying the smallest things in life, like skipping stones, sniffing an orange, licking a drip off of a coffee cup: ), or even saying the word "poop" over and over and still finding it humorous: )

Anyway, I think these small things are sooo important and a reminder of God's love and all of His other awesome characteristics. Especially when the world and people let you down. Sometimes it is better to have faith that the orange will be there for me than it is to have faith that a friend will be there for me. While God created both things, one is affected by individual desires; whereas the other is affected by nothing (good nor evil). An orange just exists and is there because God created it for our enjoyment. A person (myself included) exists to serve God.

Unfortunately serving oneself often gets confused with serving God and others. Does God not call us to a life of collective responsiblity and community? What is the deal with individualism, independence, and individual responsiblity anyway?

What's to get confused? God calls us to live a life according to his will. Unfortuanely, I am learning that in order to do that, one has to sick his neck on the chopping block and just wait for the axe to fall.

What I forget is that even after my head gets chopped off, that my God is the supreme seamstress and he'll sew it on in a heartbeat. Suffering is a condition of the Christian life. I don't know why I get so bent out of shape when people get me down or could give a crap about others. God gives a crap, and that's all that matters, even if it does hurt as the axe severs my neckbone.

Sorry, I'm just down and need to blog about God's love. It is good to remind myself that other people's opinions of me do not matter as much as God's opinions of me.

I'm out,

boo

Hola, que tal?

You know that feeling you get right before something is about to happen (something bad or tough)... that's what I am feeling right now. I have fear of looking at my planner right now, so I thought I would blog before the storm hits. It's gonna be a two week marathon from now until Christmas break.

(I guess that's okay though because the great Puff Daddy once said, "Life ain't a track meet, it's a marathon..." And the great Pastor Malanga and Mr. Larson (quoting from the great C.S. Lewis, who got his profound thoughts from God's word (probably somewhere in 1 Thes. and elsewhere) said, that pain and suffering is okay. And of course you should always trust "great" people because "great people" trust in a great God.)

Anyway, so I'm pre-freaking out and I shouldn't be, because having a lot of stuff to do is just a part of life. I am the one that makes "stuff to do" turn into stress, unnecessarily. Stress is a very negative thing that doesn't need to happen for a Christian. God has the biggest backpack ever, and he'll load all my crap (no "poop" meanings intended (jer)) onto his shoulders because he loves us soooo much. Why am I worrying... duh...

So onto something else to think about... Read the NYtimes today because there are two articles about Bryan, OH (yes the small town I am from) in the NYTIMES!!!! Geez... what were they thinking.

The articles are actually kinda sad. They are about Ohio Art (the toy factory that makes Etch-a-Sketches in our town) moving the Etchy line to China and how it is destroying our town. I agree with the conclusions the article makes about small town demise due to the free-trade agreement. It is unfortunate that people like my Mom lose their Etchy jobs just so a person in China can be underpaid and mistreated. However, I realize it is a nasty cycle that companies are put into. I used to go to church and hang out with the executitve's son in middle school and they are nice people that had to make a tough decision to save a whole company. Little did they know that by saving the company, they were killing a town. All little industrial towns in our area are suffering in similar ways, and it is very unfortunate.

I would say "Buy American" wholeheartedly like my Union-lovin father, but where would that leave the Chinese. I don't know if by removing "Made in China" from our products, we would be removing them from the awful work conditions they are placed under? Maybe awful work for them, is better than no work. Maybe we can send our Union over there to fight for better wages and treatment for the Chinese working on the Etchy line. I dunno?

On a lighter note... my b-day turned out to be good despite my thinking the world would end when my friends told me they wouldn't go to the Reuben concert with me (on account of bad weather). I learned a lesson about compromise and my temper this weekend. I always think that I am easy going and quick to compromise, until someone makes it really tough for me to compromise. I don't think the easy decisions count; therefore, I don't think I am all that easy-going. Not very often am I faced with hard situations that need me to be loving, patient, and kind.

I keep hearing that "we are at a selfish time in our lives," but that sounds like such an excuse for a lot of bad things. It is true that we are at the University to soak up knowledge for ourselves, so we can get a job for ourselves, and make money for ourselves, and learn to be independent. However, is this God's call for our lives? As a Christian, I don't want to be at a "selfish time of my life," but at a "giving time." Is this impossible for a college student? I think not, or why else would God call some of us to college. I think that I can be driven for my career, but if my focus is on God; then I surely won't be at a selfish point in my life.

Now I have to go and make some tough decisions about where I am going to live next semester. I guess the question I should be asking myself is "where will you be giving the most?" If God wants me to live with my friends so that I can give back to them some of what they have given to me, or if he wants me to remain on the IMPACT floor and give to those who have given little to me??? And how do I go about giving when everyone else seems to be taking (and not only taking, but grabbing for the goods). I say, down with competition. The last shall be first and the first shall be last.

later,

boo

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Sup Peeps, I just want to give a shout out to the creator of holidays. I do not care how trivial or pagan the origins might be, I love to celebrate. Okay so origins are important (ie. Christmas, Birthdays) but people that get all huffy about Santa Claus being a pagan tradition-- I say to them--Get over it... You live in a pagan world and if you could give a crap about their Santa, they could give a crap about your Jesus. (ontological assumption: the powers of reciprocity are noble and should thus be used).

Anyway... I love December because in two days it will be my b-day and I am currently surrounded in B-day week decorations. Also, in three days I will be embarking on a journey to Toledo (Ohio, not Spain) with some friends (those who can stand to be away from "First Down Falcons.... arrrh!!!" for the night) to see the Reuben concert. (Maybe-- or maybe we will go to the Friday concert in Tipp City OH-- we'll see) Woo hoo!!!

While I was at home, after helping cook, eat, and set up the Christmas decorations, I also obtained a "liscense to drink" as the lady at the liscense bureau called it. Then she proceeded to give me a lecture about drinking and driving and how even though it was close to my b-day, I still could not lawfully drink alcohol. Pleez...

Sorry Roo that the break wasn't all stuffing and goodness... We'll make up for it this week with b-day celebrations. "Dude, Sweet."

Sounds like a superb time in sunny San Diego, Mike. I mirror Tess' laments of the ocean and the California breeze. Oh and the "type of music when you go to San Diego, crusin down the strip in my black winabego, and sipping on a soda with my cream cheese bagel." (la symph song)

Anyway, if you were curious, my break was good. I did a bunch of errand type tasks, visited a lot of family, ate a lot of turkey, and did a lot of shopping. Then I helped set up our tree and fell asleep part way through because I contracted a cold. Saturday and Sunday were the best because I spent that time trying to get rid of my cold by chilling out in bed reading, sleeping, or watching TV and I had time to take a bubble bath (my favorite pastime) and read.

More importantly though, on Sunday my sister got baptized at church. She gave her life to Christ a couple weeks ago and I was sooooo happy (as was she). She and I had talked about it sooo many times before, but God hadn't moved within her yet. She was still kind of lost in her teenage "look at me, look at me" world. She went on a retreat called "The Awakening" a couple weekends ago, and it was there that she found Christ.

So she asked me if I would read her testimonial in front of the church (our church has the person being baptised write a testimonial, and then have someone read it for her right before she is dunked). I said yes, and I am so glad I did it. It was such an awesome experience to see someone I am sooo close to and someone I've been praying for sooo much to come to Christ. I have always kinda known that she would, but it was awesome to see God move in her like He did. Her testimonial was so raw and honest too. People in the congregation were crying because of the blatant truth shining through. It was awesome. The Pastor came up to me after the service and told me how awesome my sister's testimonial was and how it touched his heart so much (and this was truely amazing because our church is so large and I've only talked to the Pastor once or twice before). Yeah... so that was way cool.

Stay tooned for b-day week info. It looks like we are leaning towards Friday for the Reuben concert, but I dunno yet.

Later, boo