'Member That Time?

'Member that time last summer when I decided it would be a good idea to finally get in shape and get up at the nothing-is-good hour of 5am to do that and join bootcamp? Jeff was so awesome at making me nearly throw up because I was working out so hard.

Randy and I told Jack if he joined bootcamp in March, we would make our reappearance and join again. I left that day with Jack being very doubtful he would join, and I was pretty confident he wasn't going to budge from his post of refusing to get up early.

It's 5am on Monday morning. Take a wild guess where I am right now.

Conviction

Today, I wasn't so sure I wanted to go to church. Honestly. And it's all because of last week's message.

Did any other Cornerstoners get the sucker-punch in the gut from that message?

Philippians 2:14-18. I know you know it.... "Do everything without grumbling and arguing, so that you may be blameless and pure, children of God who are faultless in a crooked and perverted generation, among whom you shine like stars in the world..."

It's so simple, but seriously, how often do we follow it? I don't consider myself a terrible grumbler and complainer (flashback to the woman at Block who, after complaining for 5+ minutes about how she's be treated unfairly by employers, says anyone who knows her knows she's not a complainer...), but I do have my moments, I know. I justify it by saying I need to "rant" about something that's bothering me.

Why can't I just let it go? Why must I speak about it, as if saying it out loud somehow justifies how I've been wronged? Or, to take it one step further, why do I meditate on it and ruminate over each situation where my rights to comfort and pleasure have been pushed aside?

To my credit (which we all know, totally counts because God's keeping a little tally book up in heaven for each of us), I've kept my tongue much better this week. But still. Someone doesn't take me seriously enough, and I immediately start looking for a willing victim to unleash my barely-lethal-but-really-annoying venom on. Ugh... I can't imagine how detestable that noise is to God. He gave us everything when we deserved nothing. No, more than nothing, we deserved hell, but now we have LIFE.

Please just tell me to shut up next time I start going off. Please. I mean that 100%.

Btw, I did go to church and was challenged deeply once again. ~sigh~ At least this week it's not going to be about sin issues....

That's what we said...

Me: My skin would be all, "Ahhhhh!!! What are you putting on me?!?!"

Emma: "Can I make a zit out of it? I think so!!"

'Member That Time?

'Member that time when I was young and in Patch the Pirate club (church group that met on Wednesdays)? 'Member how we were given a prize if we were extra good during the lesson and singing?

I figured out the system. After a month of being the perfect angel and only getting one prize, I realized that they do a rotation, and each kid only wins once every 4 weeks, even the "bad" ones.

'Member how I was so proud I figured it out and from that point on, was only "good" every 4th week, because really, if you're not getting toys for being well behaved, why exert all that energy?

All of a sudden, my good behavior was more praised because it wasn't the norm anymore.

Confessions: Pancheros

I love it when I get extra stamps when I buy burritos from Pancheros. I like to think it's because I'm lookin' extra good that day and all that work of getting prettified has paid off in the form of getting that much closer to my free burrito.

Saturday, I must have been rocking it because I got THREE stamps.

Someday, I'm going to be mildly devastated if I discover that there is double stamp and triple stamp days at my favorite burrito joint.

Must See.

I jumped on this bandwagon several months ago and have horded it like the greedy little sinner I am. But the cat is coming out of the bag, with or without me sharing.

This ever-melodic duo needs to be introduced to you.

Ladies and gentlemen.... The Civil Wars.

Sick day?

I thought I had out-smarted the system.

See, whenever you say something with complete confidence, the universe turns around, takes notice, and hits you where it hurts to ruin that confidence.

"I have a super power. I cannot get sick."

I've been around SO many sick people lately. Flu, influenza, really nasty colds, weird coughs, viral pleurisy, my roommate had strep possibly....I've seen it all. Don't get me wrong, I'm not intentionally putting myself in harms way; it's more-so sharing life with my brothers and sisters in Christ, the good and bad. Life can't be all peaches and ice cream, right?

(Why peaches and ice cream....?)

I figured, if I claim this enough, karma would come back to bite me. Lo and behold...

I woke up this morning with a mildly irritated throat that feels dry all the time. Is that all you got, Universe?!?! Pathetic.

'Member That Time?

'Member that time when I was absentmindedly playing with one of those big rubber "poppers" and watching tv at the same time? And remember how I absentmindedly stuck it to my forehead because the suction felt funny? I left it on there for the rest of the show, mostly because I forgot about it.

Then, remember how I went into the kitchen to ask about dinner and my mom took one look at me and burst out laughing hysterically? Unfortunately, I was not lucky enough to avoid the consequences of suctioning the toy to my head and I had a giant hickey right in the middle of my forehead.

Fortunately for me it was winter, so I could pull my headband down over my forehead as I walked to school alone. Unfortunately for me, it was not winter inside the school and I was forced to take my headband off. No one ever said anything to my face about the hickey, but in 5th grade, that type of gossip spreads like wildfire. Good thing I moved away 2 years later.

I'll never be able to live that week of humiliation, especially since there are pictures. (thank you mom.)

New Step!

Lately, I've been thinking about/wishing/wanting a mentor - someone who's older and wiser and can pour their wealth of wisdom on me and challenge me.

Of course, I'm surrounded by amazing women around my age who care for me deeply and love me no matter what mood I'm in (which, admittedly, hasn't been very fun lately...I'm feeling run down and beat up by life); it would take me forever to list all of them out. But there's something different/lovely/inspiring about having a Godly older woman who has experienced life and can share those experiences and lessons with you.

I finally asked an amazing woman who's on our coordinating team for Perspectives and who I completely respect to be that person for me. Without hesitation, she answered yes.

She blew me away after Perspectives when she approached me to talk more and said that this past year (since she first met me, really), she's been praying that I would seek someone out to play that role in my life and that I would grow in wisdom.

She's been praying for me!! For the past year!! I know you know the feeling (at the very least, I hope you do) when you find out someone has been earnestly seeking God on your behalf. Complete joy and elation! Kindergarten word = warm fuzzies EVERYWHERE.

And surprise surprise...Satan tries worms his way in to rob me of my joy by placing doubt in my mind. Nope, not this time (or any time, preferably). This is from God.

Just a word of advice...

If you're going to get something pierced, you should probably do it by someone who has a face that would set off a metal detector and not a grossly overweight man with a speech impediment when he's nervous.

Seems so obvious now....

Yep, That's What We Said

Me: "Is it time?!?!"

Emma: "No, it's cilantro!"

Such a waste....

One of the most irritating things for me is buying a food item that I need for a certain recipe with full knowledge that I won't be able to use it all before it goes bad. I hate wasting the money and food item!

For instance...milk. I cannot buy a gallon of milk (or a quart for that matter) and use it all before it goes bad. I hate drinking it, so I only use it for cooking, and therefore, it usually goes bad before I use it all. Solution? Almond milk. It's thicker/creamier and yummy and lasts MUCH longer!! And since I use it for cooking, it's generally not noticeable that I didn't use the real thing. Win win win.

But one thing I couldn't get past? Cilantro. Usually when I'm making a recipe, I only need one tablespoon at a time, and whaddaya know....cilantro doesn't come in 1 tbsp increments. Nope, gotta buy the whole bag and hope a lot goes a little ways. (hint, it doesn't usually)

But my friend Paige? She's a genius. Look at what she does!

It freezes!!! Loooooove it!! Guess who's no longer wasting herbs?! A tablespoon fits in each little cube in the ice-cube tray and after about 2 tablespoons of water in each one, it's ready to freeze!! Gah, I'm so excited about this! Sure, it's just $2 I'm not wasting...but that's a tea at Cafe Diem that I can have now!!! Whoop!

Also, with the insane blizzard that we had here, I came home early and got a bunch done, including laundry. When I went downstairs to finish my last load, I found that our washer had moved here:

...when it used to be here:

Whoops!! Guess I should have balanced it out a little better in there... And it's a really good thing our hoses are so long and flexible!! That sucker must have been moving because it was AT LEAST a foot and a half further away from the dryer than it should have been. Yikes...

Disclaimer....our washer/dryer are in the basement and I swear, it doesn't actually look this gross down there. Also, don't look too close at the laundry coming out of the dryer. Just in case.