Yesterday on my way home, I left work accidentally in time to catch CTA's Holiday Train. It's a tradition here for almost 20 years I think. I didn't even know that it was going to be on my train line. I wasn't even thinking about it, but it pulled up with all its festivity and joy. It was one of the coolest things that's happened to me here. You couldn't help but smile and be in a good mood when you rode it. Unfortunately I didn't get to ride for very long, I could have rode it all the way to the end, it was great. I looked up pictures today and this site probably has the best pictures for it http://iconeon.net/blog/2006/11/27/cta-holiday-train/ and this is a good picture of the exterior http://rides.webshots.com/photo/1524252119048480006MlMzGx so check it out and make yourself smile. I even got to see the big man
in red himself!
Thursday, December 13, 2007
Monday, December 10, 2007
Niece pictures
Here are some pictures of my new niece!
Proud papa and new baby, already wore each other out.
Wide awake and ready to greet the world. Hello, world!
Proud papa and new baby, already wore each other out.
Wide awake and ready to greet the world. Hello, world!
Sunday, December 9, 2007
Retreat experience
Almost a month ago, I went on a retreat with a group called Charis. The topic was "Decisions... and the transitions that follow." I went into the retreat thinking about getting advice on how to make decisions, particularly with my career or where we want to live. That's not all all what came out of it. This retreat was a life-changing event for me. The second talk that was given was about letting go of the things that hold us back from making transitions in our lives (internal change of how we view our identity, as opposed to a tangible change). The woman who spoke gave a testimonial about herself, something she never talked about in public before. She was bipolar and had to learn how to live with her major ups and downs. She wondered if she would ever have a "normal" life with someone who loves her for who she is. What she had to let go of was the feeling like something was missing in her life and the attitude that this was a debilitating disability. It hit home with me and my depression. After she talked, we were all given index cards to write a few words about the things that are obstructing us from moving on in transitioning. Since her talk really struck me, I felt it was my turn to let go. I wrote about how I don't always like who I am or where I'm at in my life and all those bad things that are not helping me be happy. Then we went outside and when we were truly ready, we ripped up the index cards and threw them in the fire.
After that, we went into the church and gathered around the baptismal font. We talked about how we were all God's Beloved. They transformed the church into a labyrinth afterwards. We all took different journeys through it. We ran into obstructions along the way, but we also had people encouraging us, just like our journey through life.
The whole experience for me was life-changing. I felt so free afterwards. I've had a positive outlook ever since. I'm seeing things more positive, acting more positive and I've found myself saying things I normally wouldn't say in that way. It's been a month now and I'm coming down off the excitement high of the retreat, but the experience is so close to my heart that I know that this is the real thing and it will stick with me. I'm hoping that this experience and the transition I'm going through now will eventually carry over into my depression and help me with that.
During the retreat, after the labyrinth, we wrote letters to God about the things we wanted to let go of. In response, we had to write a letter from God to ourselves. Both of my letters flowed out so easily when I wrote them, that I truly believe God had a hand in those letters. I keep those letters with me and and pray about them often. I am contemplating ways to make the letters pocket sized to have readily available throughout the day when I need a pick-me-up. I hope someday, I can share those letters with you guys because the power I feel in those letters is unlike anything I've ever felt.
After that, we went into the church and gathered around the baptismal font. We talked about how we were all God's Beloved. They transformed the church into a labyrinth afterwards. We all took different journeys through it. We ran into obstructions along the way, but we also had people encouraging us, just like our journey through life.
The whole experience for me was life-changing. I felt so free afterwards. I've had a positive outlook ever since. I'm seeing things more positive, acting more positive and I've found myself saying things I normally wouldn't say in that way. It's been a month now and I'm coming down off the excitement high of the retreat, but the experience is so close to my heart that I know that this is the real thing and it will stick with me. I'm hoping that this experience and the transition I'm going through now will eventually carry over into my depression and help me with that.
During the retreat, after the labyrinth, we wrote letters to God about the things we wanted to let go of. In response, we had to write a letter from God to ourselves. Both of my letters flowed out so easily when I wrote them, that I truly believe God had a hand in those letters. I keep those letters with me and and pray about them often. I am contemplating ways to make the letters pocket sized to have readily available throughout the day when I need a pick-me-up. I hope someday, I can share those letters with you guys because the power I feel in those letters is unlike anything I've ever felt.
Thursday, December 6, 2007
Expanded family
My family has expanded! My brother's wife gave birth today to a baby girl. Addison Jayne is 8 lbs 2 oz and 20 inches. This all happened less than 2 hours ago, so I haven't even seen pictures. I'll post one when I get one, but seeing that she comes from my family, I'm sure she's gorgeous.
Wednesday, October 31, 2007
Aveda facials
Last week I went for a facial at the Aveda Institute, that someone gave me as a gift. I've never had a facial before, but it was a great experience. Here's what I expected. Basically, I'm sitting in a chair and somebody puts a mud-like substance on my face and it sits there for about 10 minutes till they walk me over to a sink and I wash it off. Now this wouldn't be bad, but it was what I was expecting... Nope, that's not at all what this was like.
First, they take me to this room and tell me to undress from the waist up and they give me a towel to cover myself with. In the meantime, my girl left the room. She came back and soaked my feet before the facial. Then she used an exfoliating cream on them. It was nice. So I crawl on to the bed/table and lay down. She covers me up and tells me that during the facial, I'll be getting a foot and leg massage as well as a neck and shoulder massage. Aaaaahhhh, perfect. She shined a light on my face to study it, found all my pimples and blackheads as well as explored my skin type. (According to her, my skin elasticity is great and my texture is amazing.) So from that she chose the clay mask. Somewhere in here, she did some manual extractions, which means she squeezed my pimples. :) She applied the clay mask, then put something that blew hot steam on my face so it would sort of dry. In the meantime, I got my foot and leg massage. The only problem was she tickled my feet! I still managed to relax though. After she wiped that one off, she put another mask on, some rejuvinating thing, I don't remember exactly. That's when I got my neck and shoulder massage. It wasn't anything great, since I like my massages hard, but it still felt nice. After the actual facial, she used a tinted moisturizer for my face and used a lightly colored lip balm to brighten my face.
Overall, I loved the facial. It was so relaxing to have someone do that stuff for you and take care of your beauty for you. I would totally do it again and would recommend it for anyone who wants to pamper themselves a bit. My face didn't feel too much different, since my skin is pretty smooth to begin with, but I was really relaxed afterwards. I was glad I didn't have to go to work afterwards. :)
P.S. You know who you are, but thanks for the gift!
First, they take me to this room and tell me to undress from the waist up and they give me a towel to cover myself with. In the meantime, my girl left the room. She came back and soaked my feet before the facial. Then she used an exfoliating cream on them. It was nice. So I crawl on to the bed/table and lay down. She covers me up and tells me that during the facial, I'll be getting a foot and leg massage as well as a neck and shoulder massage. Aaaaahhhh, perfect. She shined a light on my face to study it, found all my pimples and blackheads as well as explored my skin type. (According to her, my skin elasticity is great and my texture is amazing.) So from that she chose the clay mask. Somewhere in here, she did some manual extractions, which means she squeezed my pimples. :) She applied the clay mask, then put something that blew hot steam on my face so it would sort of dry. In the meantime, I got my foot and leg massage. The only problem was she tickled my feet! I still managed to relax though. After she wiped that one off, she put another mask on, some rejuvinating thing, I don't remember exactly. That's when I got my neck and shoulder massage. It wasn't anything great, since I like my massages hard, but it still felt nice. After the actual facial, she used a tinted moisturizer for my face and used a lightly colored lip balm to brighten my face.
Overall, I loved the facial. It was so relaxing to have someone do that stuff for you and take care of your beauty for you. I would totally do it again and would recommend it for anyone who wants to pamper themselves a bit. My face didn't feel too much different, since my skin is pretty smooth to begin with, but I was really relaxed afterwards. I was glad I didn't have to go to work afterwards. :)
P.S. You know who you are, but thanks for the gift!
Monday, October 22, 2007
Next year is our year...
I am totallly convinced that I jinxed them. The Cleveland Indians lost the last 3 games of the ALCS and a chance to go to the World Series. My last post, I said I wanted them to win the World Series for my birthday and that did it. I jinxed them. But I'm not giving up, I'm pretty sure next year is the year. We'll do it then, I have confidence in my boys... and I won't jinx it again.
Good year boys! Everybody in Cleveland is proud of what you've accomplished, especially for such a young team.
Good year boys! Everybody in Cleveland is proud of what you've accomplished, especially for such a young team.
Wednesday, October 10, 2007
Wahoo!
Wahoo! Way to go, Indians! Those are my boys. Okay, I know I say this every year, but I'll say it again since this year is a big year. For my birthday, my 30th birthday this year, I want the Indians to win the World Series. And hopefully I didn't jinx them. :)
Thursday, October 4, 2007
Baseball playoffs
So we're at the start of the baseball playoffs and my team, the Indians, are in. I found a place online that I can listen to a Cleveland radio station. I'm SOOOO excited. In the past, I could only listen to games when the Tribe was in my city and the announcers here are awful. You can't tell what's going on in the game because they talk about so much other stuff for most of the game, and they have no enthusiasm. Even for their team, if someone gets a homerun, it's so blase and you can't even tell it was the home team! Well, it made me realize how great the Cleveland announcers are... Tom Hamilton and Mike Hegan. If you ever get a chance to listen to them, they get so excited, even for the other team. I'm so glad they're in Cleveland.
Right now the Tribe is winning 4-2.... Go Indians!
Right now the Tribe is winning 4-2.... Go Indians!
Monday, October 1, 2007
Bathroom Etiquette
This is a post I've been meaning to write for a long time. I'm sick of people not following proper bathroom etiquette. I work on a floor of an office building that has part of a major corporation on it. We share the bathroom on the floor. There are 8 stalls, so no shortage of them. Most of the time, the bathroom is empty, but there are times when it fills up. Here are a few items of concern that my co-workers and I are absolutely disgusted with and want to demand women of the world to change. I can't vouch for the men's restroom, but it could be the same with them too.
1. Please don't choose a stall next to someone else if there are other stalls available. Let us have our privacy, as much as we can.
2. Do not talk on your cell phone in the bathroom, and especially not in the stall. Again, let us have our privacy and not be forced to hear your conversations. I WILL flush the toilet...
3. If you have bodily functions that produce noises you cannot prevent (and I'm not talking about blowing your nose) please use the "courtesy flush" technique to drown out the noise.
4. I know most of the time you can't help it, but if something is upsetting your stomach, don't eat it every day.
5. Please, please, please... wash your hands... with soap! It doesn't work to turn on the water, wet your hands for half a second, dry them, then touch the door handle that we all have to touch to leave the bathroom. My bathroom doesn't have disposable towels, we have the cloth ones on a roll (which is another pet peeve of mine by the way), so I've resorted to using toilet paper to open the door, especially when I see something like that. Gross!
6. Wait till you're in the stall to undo your pants. Close the door before you sit down. (Yes, I've actually seen this, it's disgusting! We've deduced that this woman has a bladder problem or something, but I don't think that's much of an excuse to not close the door.)
7. Eating your lunch in the bathroom is just nasty. Yes, there are couches separate from the stalls, but that's still nasty.
8. A bathroom is for just that, going to the bathroom, not napping. We've had people sleeping consistently on the couches, even bringing up an alarm clock to wake them up in time. These people are just weird.
9. Please keep your legs to yourself. If you need room to sit down, please don't put your legs into my stall. Use the bigger, handicap stall.
10. Don't make a mess for everyone else on the sink. When your hands are wet, shake them into the sink before grabbing the towels. If there is a puddle on the sink, grab a towel (if the bathroom has one) or toilet paper and clean it up. A lot of people on my floor are very well dressed and don't want to lean into a puddle and ruin their clothes.
11. If the bathroom has paper towels, make sure they go into the trash can when you leave. If it is full, use your paper towels to push down the rest of the pile as best as you can. I'm not saying to flatten the towels to the point where there's a dense brick at the bottom, but enough for a few people to throw away their trash. Don't leave it on the floor either, if it falls. That just creates more work for the person cleaning the bathroom. Would you rather they refill the toilet paper or pick up your towels? Think about it.
1. Please don't choose a stall next to someone else if there are other stalls available. Let us have our privacy, as much as we can.
2. Do not talk on your cell phone in the bathroom, and especially not in the stall. Again, let us have our privacy and not be forced to hear your conversations. I WILL flush the toilet...
3. If you have bodily functions that produce noises you cannot prevent (and I'm not talking about blowing your nose) please use the "courtesy flush" technique to drown out the noise.
4. I know most of the time you can't help it, but if something is upsetting your stomach, don't eat it every day.
5. Please, please, please... wash your hands... with soap! It doesn't work to turn on the water, wet your hands for half a second, dry them, then touch the door handle that we all have to touch to leave the bathroom. My bathroom doesn't have disposable towels, we have the cloth ones on a roll (which is another pet peeve of mine by the way), so I've resorted to using toilet paper to open the door, especially when I see something like that. Gross!
6. Wait till you're in the stall to undo your pants. Close the door before you sit down. (Yes, I've actually seen this, it's disgusting! We've deduced that this woman has a bladder problem or something, but I don't think that's much of an excuse to not close the door.)
7. Eating your lunch in the bathroom is just nasty. Yes, there are couches separate from the stalls, but that's still nasty.
8. A bathroom is for just that, going to the bathroom, not napping. We've had people sleeping consistently on the couches, even bringing up an alarm clock to wake them up in time. These people are just weird.
9. Please keep your legs to yourself. If you need room to sit down, please don't put your legs into my stall. Use the bigger, handicap stall.
10. Don't make a mess for everyone else on the sink. When your hands are wet, shake them into the sink before grabbing the towels. If there is a puddle on the sink, grab a towel (if the bathroom has one) or toilet paper and clean it up. A lot of people on my floor are very well dressed and don't want to lean into a puddle and ruin their clothes.
11. If the bathroom has paper towels, make sure they go into the trash can when you leave. If it is full, use your paper towels to push down the rest of the pile as best as you can. I'm not saying to flatten the towels to the point where there's a dense brick at the bottom, but enough for a few people to throw away their trash. Don't leave it on the floor either, if it falls. That just creates more work for the person cleaning the bathroom. Would you rather they refill the toilet paper or pick up your towels? Think about it.
Monday, September 24, 2007
Fun-filled weekend
We had a busy weekend this past weekend. We wanted to do something fun on Friday night so I went to rent a movie that my husband's uncle had been recommending. It was called Without a Paddle. He said one of the character's REALLY reminded him of my husband. Well Blockbuster only had it in stock to buy previously viewed. Not being a big movie couple, I didn't know what to do. Since uncle had recommended this to everyone in the family, I took the risk and decided we could pass it around the family. The movie was pretty unrealistic, but I laughed a lot. I thought it was good.
Saturday composed of us volunteering at a local park getting rid of invasive species. We were cutting down mulberries and buck thorns and hauling them to the trailhead. We spent about 4 hours doing this. It was a lot of fun and very rewarding, though, very hard work. It was great to see the progress we made. When we got home we both collapsed. The rest of the day consisted just of us playing some "new" Nintendo games I bought for us on eBay. I bought the Legend of Zelda and Ms. Pacman. They were so much fun, but I don't know if it was a good idea or not because we both got Nintendo magnets and didn't want to do anything else.
Sunday I meet with my Sunday School teaching partner. I start teaching kindergarten next weekend. I'm so excited and scared, but I think it'll be a good experience. After that, we went home and did some house work a little
bit, then played some more Ms. Pacman. That game has a feature where you can play 2 players cooperatively instead of competetively, so you have Pacman and Ms. Pacman playing on the screen at the same time.
That was so much fun, I couldn't believe how much we played. We didn't do much after dinner, just grocery shopping and research
on a digital camera since ours decided to stop working.
It's also been nice to have our dishwasher working now. We bought a portable dishwasher on craigslist last week and have run it 2 or 3 times. We cleaned it and fixed it up a bit and it works
like a charm. It's got a little leak that we're exploring where it's coming from, but I think we'll eventually find it and take care of it. The only thing left we'd like to do now with it is to find a splitter for the kitchen faucet so we don't have to unscrew the water filter everytime we want
to use the dishwasher. Not a big deal, but a minor in convenience.
Over the weekend, my baseball team clinched their division title for the first time since 2001. Congratulations, Cleveland Indians. I know I say this every year and I don't want to jinx it again, but for my birthday this year, I'd like to see you guys win the World Series, okay? I'm turning 30 on October 24th, so see what you can do for me... I've been surprised how well they have been doing this year. I thought for most of the year that they were just decent, but in the past few weeks I've been keeping an eye on their record and that of the rest of baseball. Today they have the best record in all of baseball by 1/2 a game. They can definately go all the way. There's a few players who have World Series experience and there's a quite a few veterans on the team who have been there for a while even if not in the post season. I think they've worked together long enough to be able to do it.
Saturday composed of us volunteering at a local park getting rid of invasive species. We were cutting down mulberries and buck thorns and hauling them to the trailhead. We spent about 4 hours doing this. It was a lot of fun and very rewarding, though, very hard work. It was great to see the progress we made. When we got home we both collapsed. The rest of the day consisted just of us playing some "new" Nintendo games I bought for us on eBay. I bought the Legend of Zelda and Ms. Pacman. They were so much fun, but I don't know if it was a good idea or not because we both got Nintendo magnets and didn't want to do anything else.
Sunday I meet with my Sunday School teaching partner. I start teaching kindergarten next weekend. I'm so excited and scared, but I think it'll be a good experience. After that, we went home and did some house work a little
bit, then played some more Ms. Pacman. That game has a feature where you can play 2 players cooperatively instead of competetively, so you have Pacman and Ms. Pacman playing on the screen at the same time.
That was so much fun, I couldn't believe how much we played. We didn't do much after dinner, just grocery shopping and research
on a digital camera since ours decided to stop working.
It's also been nice to have our dishwasher working now. We bought a portable dishwasher on craigslist last week and have run it 2 or 3 times. We cleaned it and fixed it up a bit and it works
like a charm. It's got a little leak that we're exploring where it's coming from, but I think we'll eventually find it and take care of it. The only thing left we'd like to do now with it is to find a splitter for the kitchen faucet so we don't have to unscrew the water filter everytime we want
to use the dishwasher. Not a big deal, but a minor in convenience.
Over the weekend, my baseball team clinched their division title for the first time since 2001. Congratulations, Cleveland Indians. I know I say this every year and I don't want to jinx it again, but for my birthday this year, I'd like to see you guys win the World Series, okay? I'm turning 30 on October 24th, so see what you can do for me... I've been surprised how well they have been doing this year. I thought for most of the year that they were just decent, but in the past few weeks I've been keeping an eye on their record and that of the rest of baseball. Today they have the best record in all of baseball by 1/2 a game. They can definately go all the way. There's a few players who have World Series experience and there's a quite a few veterans on the team who have been there for a while even if not in the post season. I think they've worked together long enough to be able to do it.
Wednesday, September 12, 2007
I saw some pretty crazy things this week outside my window at work. I have the good fortune of having a great view down the river. Walking past the window earlier on Monday, I looked outside as I normally do. There was a barge floating on the river, that was in the process of turning around. It wasn't an ordinary barge though. Imagine a barge with a lid, so it had a flat top. On top of this lid was, of all things, a boxing match. It was complete with a boxing ring, two fighters and a ref (or judge, whatever you call them in boxing). They were promoting the 2007 Boxing Championship that must obviously be coming up soon. Strangest, most random thing I've ever seen.
So that led to conversations of REO Speedwagon giving a concert on the river. I LOVE REO Speedwagon! Lots of people at work were joking about those old-timers, but I still enjoy listening to their music. In fact, they are on my Ipod. :) The concert was for the radio station in the building next to mine and it was set for this morning. I heard it was going to be crazy. Well, I walked over on my way to work and checked it out. There were a lot of people there, but it wasn't a wall-to-wall crowd.
I actually got a spot on the wall of the river where I had a pretty good view. The sound wasn't so
good where I was, but I did get to hear some good songs. The first one they played when I was there was a new song. I did get to hear "Time For Me to Fly" and "Keep On Going" and part of
another song I recognized, but didn't know. I was already late for work, so I had to leave.
So to commemorate this event, I tried out my new camera phone. I finally activated it this weekend and am still learning it's features. I took a couple pictures of REO Speedwagon. The pictures are pretty poor quality and you can't even tell who is in it, but you can see the boat they are on and some of the crowd on the boat. I'm proud of myself that I figured out how to take the picture, then somehow transfer it to my computer. That was an amusing experience. :) But here's the picture. It's "time for me to fly".
So that led to conversations of REO Speedwagon giving a concert on the river. I LOVE REO Speedwagon! Lots of people at work were joking about those old-timers, but I still enjoy listening to their music. In fact, they are on my Ipod. :) The concert was for the radio station in the building next to mine and it was set for this morning. I heard it was going to be crazy. Well, I walked over on my way to work and checked it out. There were a lot of people there, but it wasn't a wall-to-wall crowd.
I actually got a spot on the wall of the river where I had a pretty good view. The sound wasn't so
good where I was, but I did get to hear some good songs. The first one they played when I was there was a new song. I did get to hear "Time For Me to Fly" and "Keep On Going" and part of
another song I recognized, but didn't know. I was already late for work, so I had to leave.
So to commemorate this event, I tried out my new camera phone. I finally activated it this weekend and am still learning it's features. I took a couple pictures of REO Speedwagon. The pictures are pretty poor quality and you can't even tell who is in it, but you can see the boat they are on and some of the crowd on the boat. I'm proud of myself that I figured out how to take the picture, then somehow transfer it to my computer. That was an amusing experience. :) But here's the picture. It's "time for me to fly".
Tuesday, September 11, 2007
September 11th
Today being the anniversary of the September 11th terrorist attacks, I can't not write some thoughts about it. Six years ago today, life in the US was good. People were going on their daily life not knowing what was coming that morning. I was in bed, living on the West Coast and totally oblivious to the fact that life was going on around me. My parents had decided to take a trip on Amtrak to New York City. I heard from my parents on Saturday, that they had made it to the city and were having a great time. A phone call around 6:15 on Tuesday morning from my sister woke up me and my husband. He got up to answer it and came back to tell me that it was my sister. Somebody had flown a plane into the World Trade Center in New York City. I was shocked, but a few seconds later, it hit me: my parents, they're in New York! He said my sister hadn't heard from them yet. I now realize that we didn't know the extent of what was happening at this point. We didn't know there were 2 planes and both buildings would crumble. The reality of my parents being in the city and not knowing their fate hit me and I started crying. My husband suggested I get up and shower, and he was going to get ready for work. I didn't want to go because I didn't want to miss any phone calls, no matter what the outcome. He told me he would wait till I got out of the shower to get ready. In the shower, I cried more. He came into the bathroom halfway through my shower to tell me that my sister had called. My stomach shot into my throat; good news or bad news? Thankfully, good news. My parents had called my sister's house and left a message that they were okay and were going shopping. They had not realized the extent of what was going on either.
I was not working at the time, so I spent the rest of the day glued to the TV, watching as news unfolded and events started falling into place. The country was starting to learn what happened and who was behind it. Why is it when bad things happen, you can't tear yourself away from the news, even though it hurts more to watch it?
I'm not a very patriotic person. I don't cheer "yea for the US" or "God bless America". I think more of God bless everyone. But today, I can't help but pull together with all the people of America and the other countries who are affected and ask God for strength and hope to get through tough times like today. Life is tough, people are often heartless or misguided. Help us to do our part to be strength to others and be an example of peace and love to the world. I truly believe that everyone can make a change in this world, however big or small. Ever read the book "Pay It Forward" or see the movie? Excellent concept! When someone does something extraordinary for you, don't pay it back, pay it forward. That's how we can make a difference.
I recently met someone from the Philippines who plays guitar and sings. She just moved to the US to go to school, in the past month. So she was not physically close to the terrorist attacks 6 years ago. However, from the other side of the earth, she was affected nonetheless. Ten minutes after meeting her, she sang a song she had written after that horrible day. It was a beautiful prayer tobring to God and to us. It was unbelieveably touching to know that someone
who was so far away and so uninvolved, could be so affected by the events of the day. God bless her and fears.
And now my prayer for today: Loving God, source of hope and love, give us the strength to love and support those people who are hurting today. Many people lost loved ones. Be with those people on the anniversary of the day when their lives changed forever. Give them courage to carry on without the physical presence of those they lost. Other people were deeply affected, even if they did not directly lose a family member, friend, or acquaintance. Their lives were changed forever as well. Heal our hearts. Help us to ease the fears we live with now and turn those feelings into hope and peace in our world.
-Amen
I was not working at the time, so I spent the rest of the day glued to the TV, watching as news unfolded and events started falling into place. The country was starting to learn what happened and who was behind it. Why is it when bad things happen, you can't tear yourself away from the news, even though it hurts more to watch it?
I'm not a very patriotic person. I don't cheer "yea for the US" or "God bless America". I think more of God bless everyone. But today, I can't help but pull together with all the people of America and the other countries who are affected and ask God for strength and hope to get through tough times like today. Life is tough, people are often heartless or misguided. Help us to do our part to be strength to others and be an example of peace and love to the world. I truly believe that everyone can make a change in this world, however big or small. Ever read the book "Pay It Forward" or see the movie? Excellent concept! When someone does something extraordinary for you, don't pay it back, pay it forward. That's how we can make a difference.
I recently met someone from the Philippines who plays guitar and sings. She just moved to the US to go to school, in the past month. So she was not physically close to the terrorist attacks 6 years ago. However, from the other side of the earth, she was affected nonetheless. Ten minutes after meeting her, she sang a song she had written after that horrible day. It was a beautiful prayer tobring to God and to us. It was unbelieveably touching to know that someone
who was so far away and so uninvolved, could be so affected by the events of the day. God bless her and fears.
And now my prayer for today: Loving God, source of hope and love, give us the strength to love and support those people who are hurting today. Many people lost loved ones. Be with those people on the anniversary of the day when their lives changed forever. Give them courage to carry on without the physical presence of those they lost. Other people were deeply affected, even if they did not directly lose a family member, friend, or acquaintance. Their lives were changed forever as well. Heal our hearts. Help us to ease the fears we live with now and turn those feelings into hope and peace in our world.
-Amen
VMA
So the talk this week has been the flop performance of Britney Spears at the Video Music Awards. I watched the video, yeah, it sucked. She had no enthusiasm and looked like it was the first time she was performing. She looked so nervous and her moves were done so conservatively compared to the people dancing in the background.
But what bugs me most about the talk about her performance is the criticism on the way she looks. Everyone is saying how fat she is. Yes, she had 2 children in the past 3 years or so. What do you expect her to look like? She's still beautiful and she's DEFINATELY not fat. She's a little larger than she used to be, but I think she looks healthy. From what I could see, she didn't have any fat flopping around as she danced, so it wasn't disgusting. She looked a lot better than I do! Okay, she didn't have the most flattering outfit on, since she has gained some healthy-looking weight, but if she wore something that covered her up, she'd be criticized for that. No matter what she wore, it was a lose-lose situation. I commend her for going out there and doing her thing and trying to make a name for herself again and forget the whole K-Fed time of her life. Don't get me wrong, I'm not a fan of Britney Spears, but I think people are WAY to critical of her and it's those things that prompts her to lose it and do crazy things like shave her head or go to Vegas and marry a childhood friend. Hollywood life is tough and the people of America are harsh on our "icons". Give her a break.
But what bugs me most about the talk about her performance is the criticism on the way she looks. Everyone is saying how fat she is. Yes, she had 2 children in the past 3 years or so. What do you expect her to look like? She's still beautiful and she's DEFINATELY not fat. She's a little larger than she used to be, but I think she looks healthy. From what I could see, she didn't have any fat flopping around as she danced, so it wasn't disgusting. She looked a lot better than I do! Okay, she didn't have the most flattering outfit on, since she has gained some healthy-looking weight, but if she wore something that covered her up, she'd be criticized for that. No matter what she wore, it was a lose-lose situation. I commend her for going out there and doing her thing and trying to make a name for herself again and forget the whole K-Fed time of her life. Don't get me wrong, I'm not a fan of Britney Spears, but I think people are WAY to critical of her and it's those things that prompts her to lose it and do crazy things like shave her head or go to Vegas and marry a childhood friend. Hollywood life is tough and the people of America are harsh on our "icons". Give her a break.
Monday, September 10, 2007
Weekend affairs
This weekend was pretty busy. Got to see a lot of friends. Saw some friends from hubby's school on Friday night at our place for dinner. We had a lot of fun there, we laughed a lot! Saturday night we saw some old friends from undergrad. It was nice to catch up with them andwhat's going on with them. Sunday morning was a half marathon that started a block from our apartment. We rolled out of bed to meet a friend there who was running. We saw her off for the start and we also waited about 20 minutes to see her in the crowd the second time past the site we were waiting at. That was fun to see her and cheer her on. She said it was great to have people cheering her on because that's what motivates her. This is the friend we knew in Portland. Right before last year's half-marathon, she emailed people for donations to support the school she was running for. We were so surprised to get her email and to know that she had moved here. So we went out to see her last year too. Since then we have seen each other a couple of times for dinner and at parties of mutual friends.
These mutual friends... it's kind of ironic how it has worked out. This Portland friend invited us over for dinner a few months ago and we met her roommate and her roommate's boyfriend. A few months after that, hubby took a class at Loyola and met some great people who have become friends. One of these guys is the Portland friend's roommate's boyfriend. We figured that out because he has a unique name, but it's ironic because now we all have these mutual friends who seem to have a lot of parties and we often run into each other at them.
These mutual friends... it's kind of ironic how it has worked out. This Portland friend invited us over for dinner a few months ago and we met her roommate and her roommate's boyfriend. A few months after that, hubby took a class at Loyola and met some great people who have become friends. One of these guys is the Portland friend's roommate's boyfriend. We figured that out because he has a unique name, but it's ironic because now we all have these mutual friends who seem to have a lot of parties and we often run into each other at them.
Thursday, September 6, 2007
First post
Everyone has a blog nowadays. Since everyone's doing it, I'm going to try this out and see if I can come up with anything interesting for my blog. I'm hoping to stay in touch with people better these days and maybe this is the best way to tell everyone what's going on with me. Let me know what you think of my blog and what you may want to know about me.
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