Today I was told that I sound exactly like Juno.
Should I take this as a compliment or not???
Live Today
13 years ago
Friday, October 31, 2008
Wednesday, October 29, 2008
Strength Finders
I had to take a Strength Finder's test for my Life Group and here are my results. Do you agree?
How well do you think these themes describe me?
Input
You are inquisitive. You collect things. You might collect information—words, facts, books, and quotations—or you might collect tangible objects such as butterflies, baseball cards, porcelain dolls, or sepia photographs. Whatever you collect, you collect it because it interests you. And yours is the kind of mind that finds so many things interesting. The world is exciting precisely because of its infinite variety and complexity. If you read a great deal, it is not necessarily to refine your theories but, rather, to add more information to your archives. If you like to travel, it is because each new location offers novel artifacts and facts. These can be acquired and then stored away. Why are they worth storing? At the time of storing it is often hard to say exactly when or why you might need them, but who knows when they might become useful? With all those possible uses in mind, you really don’t feel comfortable throwing anything away. So you keep acquiring and compiling and filing stuff away. It’s interesting. It keeps your mind fresh. And perhaps one day some of it will prove valuable.
Context
You look back. You look back because that is where the answers lie. You look back to understand the present. From your vantage point the present is unstable, a confusing clamor of competing voices. It is only by casting your mind back to an earlier time, a time when the plans were being drawn up, that the present regains its stability. The earlier time was a simpler time. It was a time of blueprints. As you look back, you begin to see these blueprints emerge. You realize what the initial intentions were. These blueprints or intentions have since become so embellished that they are almost unrecognizable, but now this Context theme reveals them again. This understanding brings you confidence. No longer disoriented, you make better decisions because you sense the underlying structure. You become a better partner because you understand how your colleagues came to be who they are. And counterintuitively you become wiser about the future because you saw its seeds being sown in the past. Faced with new people and new situations, it will take you a little time to orient yourself, but you must give yourself this time. You must discipline yourself to ask the questions and allow the blueprints to emerge because no matter what the situation, if you haven’t seen the blueprints, you will have less confidence in your decisions.
Learner
You love to learn. The subject matter that interests you most will be determined by your other themes and experiences, but whatever the subject, you will always be drawn to the process of learning. The process, more than the content or the result, is especially exciting for you. You are energized by the steady and deliberate journey from ignorance to competence. The thrill of the first few facts, the early efforts to recite or practice what you have learned, the growing confidence of a skill mastered—this is the process that entices you. Your excitement leads you to engage in adult learning experiences—yoga or piano lessons or graduate classes. It enables you to thrive in dynamic work environments where you are asked to take on short project assignments and are expected to learn a lot about the new subject matter in a short period of time and then move on to the next one. This Learner theme does not necessarily mean that you seek to become the subject matter expert, or that you are striving for the respect that accompanies a professional or academic credential. The outcome of the learning is less significant than the “getting there.”
Intellection
You like to think. You like mental activity. You like exercising the “muscles” of your brain, stretching them in multiple directions. This need for mental activity may be focused; for example, you may be trying to solve a problem or develop an idea or understand another person’s feelings. The exact focus will depend on your other strengths. On the other hand, this mental activity may very well lack focus. The theme of Intellection does not dictate what you are thinking about; it simply describes that you like to think. You are the kind of person who enjoys your time alone because it is your time for musing and reflection. You are introspective. In a sense you are your own best companion, as you pose yourself questions and try out answers on yourself to see how they sound. This introspection may lead you to a slight sense of discontent as you compare what you are actually doing with all the thoughts and ideas that your mind conceives. Or this introspection may tend toward more pragmatic matters such as the events of the day or a conversation that you plan to have later. Wherever it leads you, this mental hum is one of the constants of your life.
Empathy
You can sense the emotions of those around you. You can feel what they are feeling as though their feelings are your own. Intuitively, you are able to see the world through their eyes and share their perspective. You do not necessarily agree with each person’s perspective. You do not necessarily feel pity for each person’s predicament—this would be sympathy, not Empathy. You do not necessarily condone the choices each person makes, but you do understand. This instinctive ability to understand is powerful. You hear the unvoiced questions. You anticipate the need. Where others grapple for words, you seem to find the right words and the right tone. You help people find the right phrases to express their feelings—to themselves as well as to others. You help them give voice to their emotional life. For all these reasons other people are drawn to you.
How well do you think these themes describe me?
Input
You are inquisitive. You collect things. You might collect information—words, facts, books, and quotations—or you might collect tangible objects such as butterflies, baseball cards, porcelain dolls, or sepia photographs. Whatever you collect, you collect it because it interests you. And yours is the kind of mind that finds so many things interesting. The world is exciting precisely because of its infinite variety and complexity. If you read a great deal, it is not necessarily to refine your theories but, rather, to add more information to your archives. If you like to travel, it is because each new location offers novel artifacts and facts. These can be acquired and then stored away. Why are they worth storing? At the time of storing it is often hard to say exactly when or why you might need them, but who knows when they might become useful? With all those possible uses in mind, you really don’t feel comfortable throwing anything away. So you keep acquiring and compiling and filing stuff away. It’s interesting. It keeps your mind fresh. And perhaps one day some of it will prove valuable.
Context
You look back. You look back because that is where the answers lie. You look back to understand the present. From your vantage point the present is unstable, a confusing clamor of competing voices. It is only by casting your mind back to an earlier time, a time when the plans were being drawn up, that the present regains its stability. The earlier time was a simpler time. It was a time of blueprints. As you look back, you begin to see these blueprints emerge. You realize what the initial intentions were. These blueprints or intentions have since become so embellished that they are almost unrecognizable, but now this Context theme reveals them again. This understanding brings you confidence. No longer disoriented, you make better decisions because you sense the underlying structure. You become a better partner because you understand how your colleagues came to be who they are. And counterintuitively you become wiser about the future because you saw its seeds being sown in the past. Faced with new people and new situations, it will take you a little time to orient yourself, but you must give yourself this time. You must discipline yourself to ask the questions and allow the blueprints to emerge because no matter what the situation, if you haven’t seen the blueprints, you will have less confidence in your decisions.
Learner
You love to learn. The subject matter that interests you most will be determined by your other themes and experiences, but whatever the subject, you will always be drawn to the process of learning. The process, more than the content or the result, is especially exciting for you. You are energized by the steady and deliberate journey from ignorance to competence. The thrill of the first few facts, the early efforts to recite or practice what you have learned, the growing confidence of a skill mastered—this is the process that entices you. Your excitement leads you to engage in adult learning experiences—yoga or piano lessons or graduate classes. It enables you to thrive in dynamic work environments where you are asked to take on short project assignments and are expected to learn a lot about the new subject matter in a short period of time and then move on to the next one. This Learner theme does not necessarily mean that you seek to become the subject matter expert, or that you are striving for the respect that accompanies a professional or academic credential. The outcome of the learning is less significant than the “getting there.”
Intellection
You like to think. You like mental activity. You like exercising the “muscles” of your brain, stretching them in multiple directions. This need for mental activity may be focused; for example, you may be trying to solve a problem or develop an idea or understand another person’s feelings. The exact focus will depend on your other strengths. On the other hand, this mental activity may very well lack focus. The theme of Intellection does not dictate what you are thinking about; it simply describes that you like to think. You are the kind of person who enjoys your time alone because it is your time for musing and reflection. You are introspective. In a sense you are your own best companion, as you pose yourself questions and try out answers on yourself to see how they sound. This introspection may lead you to a slight sense of discontent as you compare what you are actually doing with all the thoughts and ideas that your mind conceives. Or this introspection may tend toward more pragmatic matters such as the events of the day or a conversation that you plan to have later. Wherever it leads you, this mental hum is one of the constants of your life.
Empathy
You can sense the emotions of those around you. You can feel what they are feeling as though their feelings are your own. Intuitively, you are able to see the world through their eyes and share their perspective. You do not necessarily agree with each person’s perspective. You do not necessarily feel pity for each person’s predicament—this would be sympathy, not Empathy. You do not necessarily condone the choices each person makes, but you do understand. This instinctive ability to understand is powerful. You hear the unvoiced questions. You anticipate the need. Where others grapple for words, you seem to find the right words and the right tone. You help people find the right phrases to express their feelings—to themselves as well as to others. You help them give voice to their emotional life. For all these reasons other people are drawn to you.
Progression
A few days ago I got a whim to read over my old stories. Out of the 68 that I have right now, I only really write on a regular basis on probably a good ten or so (#28, #46, #52, #58, #60-64 and #66 being the main ones). However, some of these stories date back to the seventh grade and I was absolutely fascinated to go back and reread them.
First of all, they were absolutely terrible. I don't deem to call myself the next Hemingway or Hawthorne or Austen or anything but man alive, I have improved on my writing my leaps and bounds since the seventh grade. I literally cringe when I read some of the things that I've written. It's akin to looking back at old pictures and asking yourself "What the heck was I doing in that velour sweatsuit" or "Is that a ponytail coming out of the side of my head with a huge bow stuck to the rubber band?" It's literally cringe-worthy! The way that I "coincidentally" caused this to happen- it's so obvious! Part of me wants to throw these stories away because they're so terrible but part of me knows I never will because they are so precious!
And then there's what I thought was cool or popular or fun at the time. I remember reading the Baby-Sitter's Club books and listening to the author describe the outrageous clothing that the characters were wearing. Which, in the early 1990s was probably uber cool but when I was reading them in the late 90s, were horrific. Now I'm doing the same. I read what I thought I was describing as a cool outfit in 1999 and now, in 2008, I'm shocked to think that I thought that was cool. I'm doing the same thing that I always used to gripe about! I certainly hope my sense of fashion has improved so that when I reread some of my later stories in a good ten years from now, my reaction will be different.
And what about the characters in my stories. My very first story came about right after I had finished watching and adoring Wild American, starring Devon Sawa, Jonathan Taylor Thomas and Scott Bairstowe. I was smitten with them, so what do I do? Give them starring roles as the older brothers of the main character in my very first story. And how do I explain how these three actors all ended up as brothers? They changed their names when they became famous. Good grief! Where the heck did this absurd imagination of mine come from! And that's just the beginning. My favorite Concordia basketball player who I had a crush on for a good three years became the older brother of the character in Story #4. Michael Owen needed to get in there somewhere so he became the older brother in Story #8. When I later made a return to Story #8 having not written in it for years, Sean Biggerstaff, the hottest guy in the Harry Potter movie got the starring role as the boyfriend of the main character, replacing a guy who played the cello in my orchestra who, despite being beautiful, I hadn't seen in four years. Ridiculousness!
But at the same time, so much fun. It has been a real treat to see how these stories have just improved and improved over the years. I'm definitely proud of some of my later ones, despite knowing that they are incredibly silly and no one will ever read them. But in some way, I think that I have a journal of my past. I've put in events that have happened to me, to my friends, I've observed people and places and given them the opportunity to become molded into my stories. They've given me a way to get what my emotions and my desires and although nothing will ever come of them ever, I'm glad that I have them and will never delete or throw them away.
First of all, they were absolutely terrible. I don't deem to call myself the next Hemingway or Hawthorne or Austen or anything but man alive, I have improved on my writing my leaps and bounds since the seventh grade. I literally cringe when I read some of the things that I've written. It's akin to looking back at old pictures and asking yourself "What the heck was I doing in that velour sweatsuit" or "Is that a ponytail coming out of the side of my head with a huge bow stuck to the rubber band?" It's literally cringe-worthy! The way that I "coincidentally" caused this to happen- it's so obvious! Part of me wants to throw these stories away because they're so terrible but part of me knows I never will because they are so precious!
And then there's what I thought was cool or popular or fun at the time. I remember reading the Baby-Sitter's Club books and listening to the author describe the outrageous clothing that the characters were wearing. Which, in the early 1990s was probably uber cool but when I was reading them in the late 90s, were horrific. Now I'm doing the same. I read what I thought I was describing as a cool outfit in 1999 and now, in 2008, I'm shocked to think that I thought that was cool. I'm doing the same thing that I always used to gripe about! I certainly hope my sense of fashion has improved so that when I reread some of my later stories in a good ten years from now, my reaction will be different.
And what about the characters in my stories. My very first story came about right after I had finished watching and adoring Wild American, starring Devon Sawa, Jonathan Taylor Thomas and Scott Bairstowe. I was smitten with them, so what do I do? Give them starring roles as the older brothers of the main character in my very first story. And how do I explain how these three actors all ended up as brothers? They changed their names when they became famous. Good grief! Where the heck did this absurd imagination of mine come from! And that's just the beginning. My favorite Concordia basketball player who I had a crush on for a good three years became the older brother of the character in Story #4. Michael Owen needed to get in there somewhere so he became the older brother in Story #8. When I later made a return to Story #8 having not written in it for years, Sean Biggerstaff, the hottest guy in the Harry Potter movie got the starring role as the boyfriend of the main character, replacing a guy who played the cello in my orchestra who, despite being beautiful, I hadn't seen in four years. Ridiculousness!
But at the same time, so much fun. It has been a real treat to see how these stories have just improved and improved over the years. I'm definitely proud of some of my later ones, despite knowing that they are incredibly silly and no one will ever read them. But in some way, I think that I have a journal of my past. I've put in events that have happened to me, to my friends, I've observed people and places and given them the opportunity to become molded into my stories. They've given me a way to get what my emotions and my desires and although nothing will ever come of them ever, I'm glad that I have them and will never delete or throw them away.
Monday, October 27, 2008
Anecdote
I forgot a little anecdote about Idaho. So I'm chilling at Brooke's house and we somehow get onto the subject of what people in different states are called (i.e. CalifornIANS, IdahoANS, OregonIANS, etc.). However, we realized that we had no idea what people from Illinois are called. (Illinoisans? Illinoisites, what?) We're not having much lucky googling so Brooke has an idea. Here is the conversation.
Brooke: Let's just call them!
Michal: What, call Illinois?
Brooke: Yeah, there's got to be a chamber of commerce we can call.
Michal googles Chamber of Commerce in Chicago and gives Brooke the number. Brooke dials.
Brooke: Hi, I'm from Idaho and we were just wondering, what do you call people from Illinois? Like we're Idahoans and there are New Yorkers and Californians and all that.... oh, you don't know... well, that's OK....
Michal: Wait, Wikipedia! It says Illinoisans!
Brooke: Is there someone around you that knows? One of your co-workers or something? (pauses for a moement).... OK, great, yeah, we just found. Tell him thanks..... OK, yeah, we'll send it. Thanks a lot! Bye! (hangs up).... This guy who works next to her said we have to send them a bag of Idaho potatoes since he told us what is was.... Funny that potatoes from Oregon adn Washington are better.
Oh man, I adore her. Who would do that! Only Brooke! That's why I love spending time with her.
Plus, now I know that people are Illinois are called Illinoisans (pronounced Illi-noyans, FYI).
Brooke: Let's just call them!
Michal: What, call Illinois?
Brooke: Yeah, there's got to be a chamber of commerce we can call.
Michal googles Chamber of Commerce in Chicago and gives Brooke the number. Brooke dials.
Brooke: Hi, I'm from Idaho and we were just wondering, what do you call people from Illinois? Like we're Idahoans and there are New Yorkers and Californians and all that.... oh, you don't know... well, that's OK....
Michal: Wait, Wikipedia! It says Illinoisans!
Brooke: Is there someone around you that knows? One of your co-workers or something? (pauses for a moement).... OK, great, yeah, we just found. Tell him thanks..... OK, yeah, we'll send it. Thanks a lot! Bye! (hangs up).... This guy who works next to her said we have to send them a bag of Idaho potatoes since he told us what is was.... Funny that potatoes from Oregon adn Washington are better.
Oh man, I adore her. Who would do that! Only Brooke! That's why I love spending time with her.
Plus, now I know that people are Illinois are called Illinoisans (pronounced Illi-noyans, FYI).
Sunday, October 19, 2008
No pictures
What? No pictures from your Idaho trip? Who are you and what have you done to Michal?
Ok, so that's a lie. I have three pictures from my Idaho trip. One of Allie playing soccer and two of the Ralph Smeed sign (one of the old and one of the new). And that is it. Honestly, I promise. So again, I will ask, who are you and what have you done to Michal?
Well anyway, even without the pictures, it was an awesome trip. Here's a quick recap of each day.
Friday: Wake up at the buttcrack of dawn (and yes Megan, I said buttcrack) and spent all day driving up to Idaho. Stop at the WONDERFUL bread place in Bishop and a few other places but mostly drive all the way up. Chris does all the driving while Michal gets to sleep, listening to books of CD and sleep some more.
Saturday: Breakfast at Perkins with Allie and the Dufault girls (minus Beth). Allie regales us of stories from the corn maze, including her chucking a corn cob at a girl who came after her later. After some hanging out at the hotel, we head over to ACI (Sorry, I still have trouble calling it C of I)for the games and Taste of the Harvest. I miss the first half (when the other team scores) of the women's game because i am drinking wine and hanging out. I saw Jocelyn, Dori, John Reuter, Steph Carlson and a few other people. Felt bad about missing the first half so sat with Amy and Aussie inside McCain while the rain POURED down and threatened to ruin the rest of teh game. Eventually it went away and watched Allie score in the second half. Got some more wine and then watched the boy's game. Man, I miss this! The heckling, the shoving, the fighting, the scoring, it was epic! Headed back to the hotel to grab my stuff, drove out to Boise, picked up my SWEET red ride, went to dinner at the Cheesecake Factory, bought my Ste. Chapelle wine and then headed to Miss Kristen's house.
Sunday: Headed out to Sterry for church. Was marveled over by all the lovely people there. Pastor Mark and his family weren't there but Paul Epperson introduced me which was nice. Went to lunch with Hester, Sandy and a few of the other old ladies. They love me. It's very nice. Chatted with them, caught them up on my life and then headed into Caldwell. Had a LONG chat with Dori at Moxie about pretty much everything. She gave me some book recs and vice versa and overall, it was an AWESOME chat. I was late to get to Mary and Ted's house for our very reduced but still awesome small group dinner. It was great to chat with everyone and enjoy Mary's amazing cooking (I was STUFFED!)
Monday: Spent the night at Mary's and then headed over to school. Chatted with Dennis and Sue, saw Mee-Ae, Steve, Howard, had lunch at good old Simp with Allie (no croissant sandwiches!) :( went to say hi to Mark Smith, arranged to meet with Steve the next day, worked on getting my thesis printed, pretty much had a great day wandering around my alma mater. Headed back into Boise, had dinner on the balcony with Brookie and Bailie and then went downtown to see Alisa's apartment and walk to Thomas Hammer to have coffee. Told her all about the fated England trip, spied on Daniel Grad, got to haer all about what she was doing. IT was a great catch-up session. Felt like CRUD when I got back so I downed a few Tylenol PM and crashed.
Tuesday: When I finally woke up (seriously, it was like 10:30), I hung around Brooke's house for a bit and then headed out to buy Allie a "California lunch." I showed up at the house with Del Taco and Jamba Juice, yum! We had a really good chat and then i headed over Moxie to meet with my favorite prof ever, Dr. Steven Maughan. It's always awesome to talk with him and get some book recs (two of which I've already read and loved). Then I headed over to Jocelyn's classroom. It's so incredibly cute, I am so in awe of people who teach elementary school. We headed over to Rembrandt's afterwards to have some coffee in the uber cool coffee house. I had dinner with Brooke and Bailie again and hung out with my girl Bailie after dinner.
Wednesday: I had nothing the whole morning so I hung out at Brooke's, watched Smokin' Aces in her AWESOME basement movie theatre and eventually headed over to Timberline. I talked to Charles and Doug, told them about my last year, got some lesson ideas from Doug and then headed over to the alumni event at the Bardenay. Yosh and Kirk and Jake and a few other people that I knew were there. We talked and listened to Jasper LiCalzi spout his ideas about local and national politics. I'm definitely bummed that I never got a chance to take a class from him but this sort of kind of made up for it. After the even, Yosh, Eric, Lourdes, Sam and I went out to sushi. I wasn't sure what I liked (I had to make an emergency call to Megan) but had a cucumber roll and california roll and it was delis. And I used chopsticks! Go me! Afterwards we headed over to the HAPENNY! My favorite place! I had the Ace Pear Cider and it was yummy yummy yummy. I didn't really know Eric, Sam or Lourdes at school but again, this is why I love ACI. We didn't have too much in common but we had an awesome time all hanging out and talking and it's all because we went to the same school. Love it!
Thursday: Said goodbye to Brooke and headed into town to get coffee and bagels with Kristen. Even though I had spent the night at her house as well as had dinner with her at Mary's, it was good to have some one-on-one chat time with her. After, I headed to Pita Pit, grabbed lunch and then went to the airport. The flight home was uneventful, I spent my two and a half hours in SLC grading papers and listening to classic rock and reading my Supernatural magazine. Got home in time to make it to the baptism. Love it!
I LOVE YOU IDAHO!
Ok, so that's a lie. I have three pictures from my Idaho trip. One of Allie playing soccer and two of the Ralph Smeed sign (one of the old and one of the new). And that is it. Honestly, I promise. So again, I will ask, who are you and what have you done to Michal?
Well anyway, even without the pictures, it was an awesome trip. Here's a quick recap of each day.
Friday: Wake up at the buttcrack of dawn (and yes Megan, I said buttcrack) and spent all day driving up to Idaho. Stop at the WONDERFUL bread place in Bishop and a few other places but mostly drive all the way up. Chris does all the driving while Michal gets to sleep, listening to books of CD and sleep some more.
Saturday: Breakfast at Perkins with Allie and the Dufault girls (minus Beth). Allie regales us of stories from the corn maze, including her chucking a corn cob at a girl who came after her later. After some hanging out at the hotel, we head over to ACI (Sorry, I still have trouble calling it C of I)for the games and Taste of the Harvest. I miss the first half (when the other team scores) of the women's game because i am drinking wine and hanging out. I saw Jocelyn, Dori, John Reuter, Steph Carlson and a few other people. Felt bad about missing the first half so sat with Amy and Aussie inside McCain while the rain POURED down and threatened to ruin the rest of teh game. Eventually it went away and watched Allie score in the second half. Got some more wine and then watched the boy's game. Man, I miss this! The heckling, the shoving, the fighting, the scoring, it was epic! Headed back to the hotel to grab my stuff, drove out to Boise, picked up my SWEET red ride, went to dinner at the Cheesecake Factory, bought my Ste. Chapelle wine and then headed to Miss Kristen's house.
Sunday: Headed out to Sterry for church. Was marveled over by all the lovely people there. Pastor Mark and his family weren't there but Paul Epperson introduced me which was nice. Went to lunch with Hester, Sandy and a few of the other old ladies. They love me. It's very nice. Chatted with them, caught them up on my life and then headed into Caldwell. Had a LONG chat with Dori at Moxie about pretty much everything. She gave me some book recs and vice versa and overall, it was an AWESOME chat. I was late to get to Mary and Ted's house for our very reduced but still awesome small group dinner. It was great to chat with everyone and enjoy Mary's amazing cooking (I was STUFFED!)
Monday: Spent the night at Mary's and then headed over to school. Chatted with Dennis and Sue, saw Mee-Ae, Steve, Howard, had lunch at good old Simp with Allie (no croissant sandwiches!) :( went to say hi to Mark Smith, arranged to meet with Steve the next day, worked on getting my thesis printed, pretty much had a great day wandering around my alma mater. Headed back into Boise, had dinner on the balcony with Brookie and Bailie and then went downtown to see Alisa's apartment and walk to Thomas Hammer to have coffee. Told her all about the fated England trip, spied on Daniel Grad, got to haer all about what she was doing. IT was a great catch-up session. Felt like CRUD when I got back so I downed a few Tylenol PM and crashed.
Tuesday: When I finally woke up (seriously, it was like 10:30), I hung around Brooke's house for a bit and then headed out to buy Allie a "California lunch." I showed up at the house with Del Taco and Jamba Juice, yum! We had a really good chat and then i headed over Moxie to meet with my favorite prof ever, Dr. Steven Maughan. It's always awesome to talk with him and get some book recs (two of which I've already read and loved). Then I headed over to Jocelyn's classroom. It's so incredibly cute, I am so in awe of people who teach elementary school. We headed over to Rembrandt's afterwards to have some coffee in the uber cool coffee house. I had dinner with Brooke and Bailie again and hung out with my girl Bailie after dinner.
Wednesday: I had nothing the whole morning so I hung out at Brooke's, watched Smokin' Aces in her AWESOME basement movie theatre and eventually headed over to Timberline. I talked to Charles and Doug, told them about my last year, got some lesson ideas from Doug and then headed over to the alumni event at the Bardenay. Yosh and Kirk and Jake and a few other people that I knew were there. We talked and listened to Jasper LiCalzi spout his ideas about local and national politics. I'm definitely bummed that I never got a chance to take a class from him but this sort of kind of made up for it. After the even, Yosh, Eric, Lourdes, Sam and I went out to sushi. I wasn't sure what I liked (I had to make an emergency call to Megan) but had a cucumber roll and california roll and it was delis. And I used chopsticks! Go me! Afterwards we headed over to the HAPENNY! My favorite place! I had the Ace Pear Cider and it was yummy yummy yummy. I didn't really know Eric, Sam or Lourdes at school but again, this is why I love ACI. We didn't have too much in common but we had an awesome time all hanging out and talking and it's all because we went to the same school. Love it!
Thursday: Said goodbye to Brooke and headed into town to get coffee and bagels with Kristen. Even though I had spent the night at her house as well as had dinner with her at Mary's, it was good to have some one-on-one chat time with her. After, I headed to Pita Pit, grabbed lunch and then went to the airport. The flight home was uneventful, I spent my two and a half hours in SLC grading papers and listening to classic rock and reading my Supernatural magazine. Got home in time to make it to the baptism. Love it!
I LOVE YOU IDAHO!
Happy Birthday
To my youngest sister- sixteen! Holy crap! She's not allowed to be sixteen! Remember when she was young and cute and just a little baby? Where the heck has the time flown! Anyway, happy birthday, one day late. I love you!
PS- OK, so that picture's kinda old- from Aug 2007. But get over it, I love this pic.
Wednesday, October 15, 2008
Life Groups
Last night I went to my second (although overall its the third) Life Group meeting at Rock Harbor. I was bummed to miss last week but starting on Friday of last week, I was thinking about it and honestly, was not feeling the urge to go. I was just so complacent- I much rather would have stayed home and watched House or something. But I knew that it was something that I had really wanted to do soI pushed myself into going. And i'm so glad that I did. Both Amys were there as well as people that I remembered from the first week. A lot of people from our original table were gone but we immediately got into a good conversation. It was awesome to see Amy Risley again and it was really nice to see John and Breann and Mike and Hubur again. We talked first about how Adam and Eve's relationship to each other and God changed after they ate of the forbidden fruit. That was a really great conversation that we immediately fell into. We then watched a Nooma video by Rob Bell about "lumps". The deal was that we always want to hide when we've been caught but really, there is nothing that we can do that will make God love us less. That's when the staff threw a curveball at us. They ended up combining our table with another table and thus began the awkwardness. We didn't know how this big group of 17 was going to fit together but after a brief introduction, we fell into it. I kind of helped facilitate by asking the questions and although at first only the same people were talking, by the end, everyone had said at least one thing. Next week is our final meeting on "campus" so to speak and the week after we're going to start meeting either at Amy or Trenton Lefman's house (funny how I've been involved with things with all of the Lefmann boys at some point....) or at the Spectrum, which I think would be cool because we'd be bringing ourselves outside to the people. Hopefully be a light that way.
Both Amy's, Trenton and I hung out for a little bit afterwards (Trenton and I were both thinking about possibly being leaders.... although I still need to pray a LOT about this because it sounds like a BIG time commitment at first and with now having to take the CTEL on my own, I don't know..... we'll see) and it was hilarious because we kind of were having a little Voyagers catch up session. The more interesting part of the night though was when we some how got onto politics. Now don't get me wrong, I won't attack you for your political beliefs but when I'm talking with people who are so opposite what I believe, it gets uncomfortable. Luckily, I didn't have to say much and I ended up steering the conversation away from politics but it was definitely awkward for a moment. Politics just don't mix well with others. They probably got "doesn't play well with others" on their report card.
Anyway, though, I'm stoked that I ended up going back and although I'm still not 100% jumping waiting to get back next Tuesday, I'm glad that I forced myself to and will do so again if I ever get complacent.
Both Amy's, Trenton and I hung out for a little bit afterwards (Trenton and I were both thinking about possibly being leaders.... although I still need to pray a LOT about this because it sounds like a BIG time commitment at first and with now having to take the CTEL on my own, I don't know..... we'll see) and it was hilarious because we kind of were having a little Voyagers catch up session. The more interesting part of the night though was when we some how got onto politics. Now don't get me wrong, I won't attack you for your political beliefs but when I'm talking with people who are so opposite what I believe, it gets uncomfortable. Luckily, I didn't have to say much and I ended up steering the conversation away from politics but it was definitely awkward for a moment. Politics just don't mix well with others. They probably got "doesn't play well with others" on their report card.
Anyway, though, I'm stoked that I ended up going back and although I'm still not 100% jumping waiting to get back next Tuesday, I'm glad that I forced myself to and will do so again if I ever get complacent.
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