Don't Get Bent Out of Shape

Seriously.  If anyone says they're from (or lived there) southern California or Hawaii, I always ask if they surf.  For some reason people who don't surf think this is a weird question.  I don't get it.  I really don't.  They give you that awkward, "why are you asking me that?" look.  You know which one I mean.  The one where their face turns slightly to the side, one eyebrow lifts a tiny bit, their nose scrunches, and they overall seem annoyed.  WHY ARE YOU ANNOYED!?!?  (and more importantly - WHY DON'T YOU SURF!?!?!)  

I mean, I'm a skier.  I can understand why all people in areas with awesome ski areas don't ski (or board) - it's expensive.  However, if you WANT to do it, there are ways to do so relatively inexpensively, or at least at major reduced cost.  

Being a skier, though, I still ask people in snowy, mountainous areas (or relatively close proximity to them) if they've at least tried it (or snow boarding).  Skiers and boarders do not get bent out of shape by these questions.  In my experience other people in these areas don't either.  

What's the difference?  I have no clue.  

I DO know, if I lived somewhere where surfing was an option, count me in, I want to at least try it!  As for you bent out of shape folks, mom always said, "Careful, your face might stick that way."

The Best Parts of Being an Adult (to be added to!)

• Eating ice cream sundaes for supper or cookies for breakfast
• Driving
• Taking really long showers without someone yelling, "You're using too much hot water!"
• Popcorn is allowed to be a major food group
• Bedtime can be whenever you want (as long as you remember to set your alarm :) )
• You only have to clean up your own messes (well, as long as you're single and aren't obsessed with cleaning up everyone's messes for them!)
• You can eat junk cereal two days in a row without getting into trouble
• If you forget to clean your room before you go "play" you aren't grounded
• You don't HAVE to brush your teeth before you go to bed......but it's still a good idea
• If you feel like wearing plaid with those polka dots, YOU CAN! (but you might end up on the next episode of What Not To Wear)
• You can be friends with whomever you choose and how you choose is up to you
• You (hopefully) realize that you're an integral piece of a great puzzle and everything you do has repercussions and meaning. Life has a purpose and you're important!

Sweet Show!

Thunder and lightning go together like peanut butter and jelly or milk and cookies right?  Apparently not always so!  Up until last night, I have NEVER in my life seen so much lightning without even a low rumble of thunder.  It was extremely eerie watching lightning that close with so many rapid fire flashes but all the time being completely and utterly silent.

Apparently, (according to my aunt (a science teacher) and a little bit of internet research) this phenomenon is called cloud lightning or cloud to cloud lightning.  It is caused when a charge builds up on only one side of the cloud and the lightning stays within the cloud and doesn't strike the ground.  Generally, the cloud lights up and flickers (which is what we observed) and the lightning occurs at very rapid intervals.

Who knew!?

(This isn't my pic, just one of Intra Cloud Cloud to Cloud lightning)

A Little 90's Flashback

Audio Adrenaline has always been a favorite band of mine, pretty much since I was old enough to pick out my own music :)  They're right up there with Jennifer Knapp for being the music carrying me through the rough spots in life.  

This is "Underdog" one of my favorite songs and a fantastic mood booster......and this vid is ADORABLE......the little underdog is running around with a jock strap on his head LOL  :)  Enjoy!  Lyrics below

I am so weak and I'm so tired

It's hard for me to

Find enough strength to feed the fires

That fuel my ego

And consequently all my pride has all but died

Which leaves me

Down on my knees

Back to the place I

Should have started from

Been beat up

Been broken down

Nowhere but up

When you're facedown

On the ground

I'm in last place

If I place at all

But there's hope for this underdog!

That's the way, uh-huh, we like it!

That's the way, uh-huh, we like it!

You can call me the underdog

I'm in this race to win a prize

The odds against me

The world has plans for my demise

What they don't see

Is that a winner is not judged by his small size

But by the substitute he picks to run the race

And mine's already won

Summer Rains and Nights

The Walk:

As I walked out my back door last night to go to work I was overcome by the smell of wet grass and asphalt, smoothly blended with the heavy, amplified aroma of flower blooms.  It's funny how a cold, cloudy day can be changed so quickly by just 15 minutes of rain.  It was the smell of summer.

The Drive:

My mind was still preoccupied with processing the smells from a few minutes prior but I couldn't help but observe with awe the deep pigments and fading light of an almost spent sunset.  Wow.  It was so beautiful.  Who am I to deserve to witness and partake of this beauty? Everyday?

The After:

Pulling back into my parking lot the moon, or rather the obvious lack thereof of a definite "moon" caught my attention.  Sometimes the nature of something shines through even though the face of it is hidden. Like the moon behind a cloud, the bright streams of light break through the patches of open sky giving one glimpses of the bright hope that is beyond and even though you can't see the face of the moon, you know it is there by the beautiful reflected light.

Isn't that what my life is supposed to look like? Like the moon, seeing ME is unnecessary.  My purpose is to reflect the light of my Father's Grace, Mercy, Love, and Hope to the dark world.  That light much more observable if the moon's face isn't distractingly drawing attention to itself.  

Sometimes there are just songs that scream SUMMER!

FABULOUS deals of the week!

It's Thursday once again and that means: YARD SALE DAY!  

This morning started a little shaky as mom's alarm didn't go off and as we were about 15 minutes late leaving.  Since this is homecoming week we expected GREAT deals and my aunt even drove down to go with us and our friend Annie.  We all piled into the Prius (best vehicle for all those starts and stops :)  ) and we were off!  The first couple yard sales only yielded a couple "finds" but the third one was a HIT!   Very cool stuff and very cheap prices......mom, Annie and I had the back of the Prius full and spent the next hour driving around with a kayak paddle in the back seat.   After a quick stop for some breakfast sandwiches from High St. Market we were quickly on our way to the next one; embarrassingly, I still had my mouth full and was chewing as we ran up the driveway to check for some more bargains. LOL

Overall it was a great day, but the heat and humidity definitely could both be better and I returned home exhausted and ready for a nap.

Today was one of those yardsale days I was glad I had grabbed a little extra money on my way running out the door.   My "Treasure" list this week consisted of:

• 3 Pictures (for the apartment)
• 1 Really cool tea canister
• 1 Set measuring cups
• 1 Like new tupperware container (in the shape I like)
• 1 Handmade napkin/muffin basket
• 18 Books
• 2 High quality pottery mugs
• 3 Joan Baez LPs
• 1 Grease Soundtrack LP
• 1 Mary Poppins Soundtrack LP
• 1 Bert and I LP
• 1 Yellow sundress
• 2 Vintage "Lady and the Tramp" figurines (wicked cool!)

All for a grand total of $30.......but spending 4 hours crammed in a car with 3 of my favorite ladies was priceless LOL

HAHA, LOL, and ROFL

O dear.  God has quite a sense of humor, and thankfully my friends do, too!

I packed up my stuff on Friday and headed north to my apartment for the weekend.  I had a wedding to attend on Saturday afternoon and a couple of movie dates with friends to catch.  Yes, one of them was the new Harry Potter :)  (But, I will certainly admit, while the movies are pretty good in their own right, the books are FAR better.)

I had a very long, hot ride up with no air conditioning and was VERY much looking forward to a nice, cool shower to clean up.  I had my arms full of stuff to lug into my apartment and when I opened my back door to drop it off I was dumbfounded.  My apartment was a DISASTER.  Ceiling tiles out, disposable drop cloths covering everything and all my cupboards, the floors had protective stuff on them, too.  AHHH!! I was entirely confused.

I had been told at the beginning of the summer there would be no work done in my apartment this summer (a welcome change from last summer when I had to move 5 times around campus as they were remodeling.....) so to find my apartment in this kind of shape when I'd been planning on staying for 3 days was a bit frustrating.  No one had even called to say they were going to be working on it!

Thankfully, I have a fabulous friend who, even though we had just been planning a movie night, let me sleep in her extra bed all weekend.....even though we ended up with a seven-girl girls night last night and it was a little cramped in the 2 bedroom apartment!

We had a blast, watched the last HP, ate ice cream (Jess and I reminisced about how we ate half of a 3 gallon tub of black raspberry ice cream all by ourselves in the cafeteria last spring....over 2 days :)  (She's not supposed to eat sugar and I'm lactose intolerant LOL)

Overall, it was a great break and mini vacation......now it is back to cleaning and weeding the garden.  Woohoo summer!

e.

Yard Sales! :)

A bargain hunter's dream! :)  This summer the yard sales in have been pretty "blah" overall but I've managed to scoop up some spectacular finds this week! For example, I spent $11 today and brought home:

• 2 shirts 
• 4 DVDs 
• DVD player
• Necklace
• Votive holder    

What a steal!  Yesterday's deals included:

• 5 CD's
• SWEET homemade potholder
• DVD
• Blueberry cookbook
• Dress 

All for a $7.50 total.  Seriously, I can't go wrong here! LOL

A man in the community recently started a pretty nifty website called "Exploring Lincoln" where he highlights business, people, and things to do.  One of the newest features of the site is a "Yard Sale" section where you can see all the local yardsales, post your own and even map out your route!   Yard-Saling is meeting technological advances here! =D

Summer is almost over?!!?!?!

I don't know how it got to be the end of August and I haven't written since February... I kind of stink at this blog/updating thing. lol

Anyways I only have a minute so this is the bulleted edition of my update: :)

* I spent my Easter break in the beautiful state of Colorado with friends;it was a blast and I even got to go skiing in the Rockies :):):)

* The school year rounded out okay and I didn't die on my 22 page long (single spaced) Genetics final...though it was a close call!

* I am Working at Lincoln Paper and Tissue again this summer. I am head of the yard crew....there are two of us :) I don't really like the ring of "yard crew" so instead we've changed it to Horticultural Engineer...and I'm the Chief one. lol

* I am not returning to Grove City this fall. I spent a lot of time praying about what God would have me do for my life and what I was doing in Biology (which I do love). Through some obvious God stuff (cause I'm kind of thick) in Colorado and on the flight back I have decided to attend Northern Maine Community College in Presque Isle, Maine. God has been opening doors left and right and things are really falling into place. I am accepted into their Nursing program (2years) and will be living on campus in a single (which is a double that I have all to myself! :) )

Well, I have homework already for my nursing stuff so I need to get back on that :):) Dad and I went and jumped in the river this afternoon...the water is WICKED high and we both jump/dove off the dock. It felt wonderful as the weather was miserably muggy today. It was pretty though and I took this pic :):):)

Hugs, hopefully the next update will be sooner than 6 months from now! E.