{WITH A} grain.of.salt

also when you're having fun while getting old!

WOW. talk about a case of the Monday Blahs! today has been a doozy.

`constant yawning that is not decreased by coffee or coke.
`guilt from my indulgence and plans to drink more coke soon {i'm supposedly not drinking sodas}.
`headache. oh, those are no fun at all.
`oily skin! even the pores on my face are acting up!
`i went to 3 eateries during lunch in search of a peaceful spot to use their wi-fi. frustrating.
`and a blah attitude. no, i'm not snapping at people or anything but i feel kinda like the color of the sky today : grey.

ahhh well. this too shall pass, right?

anywho, we've been having some awesome services, but i wouldn't expect anything less when Bro. Carlson is having revival services with us. there's nothing like special services to cause one to really step back and evaluate their walk with God!

- walmart does not play music. well, my "friendly neighborhood" walmart doesn't anyway. ok, why did i hear music on saturday afternoon? specifically, why did i hear "the christmas waltz" {one of my favs!}? and then they played "this christmas"!  you know retailers play christmas music loudly because it is proven that people buy more when they hear it. so, i may have impulsive picked up a bag of cough drops and a can of cranberry sauce... yeah buddy! tis the season!

- we went to six flags and i had a stiff back for almost a week. i can hardly believe it. apparently i can't stand up for hours in line anymore since i'm pretty sure it wasn't a ride that messed me up. i'll be needing to splurge on that Fast Pass thingamajig whenever i go again.

- guess what, ya'll! when you aren't shopping, you can save more money! oh, and when you aren't driving to far off places during lunchtime, you don't have to fill up your gas tank as often! incredible revelations, i tell ya!

- hm. eyeing this saturday as a "pie practice" day. will definitely try THIS recipe for the crust if i can locate a place to purchase "leaf lard" in dallas {seriously, what makes it "leaf" lard?}.

it's almost the end of the year! can you believe it? yeah, i can, haha. looking forward to fun & busy weeks ahead.

happy monday {evening}!

slightly open book moment - last week a stranger gave me a really nice compliment that simultaneously flattered me and caused me to wish that i could {pardon the expression} "get the heck outta dodge". however, i was stuck. i treated myself to ordering take-out for lunch at a new restaurant and he was my server. awkward!!

i've been thinking about this episode a lot. i'm sorta ashamed to admit it but not really, haha! i mean, HELLO! i'm not really accustomed to that sort of thing. if i were, would that be a bad thing? maybe so?

why is it, especially as girls, so hard for us to accept compliments and affirmations to the point that we are floored when we hear them?
perhaps it is a bit presumptuous for me to speak for the whole female population but i find this to be true for a lot of women.

and here's another thought - i am twenty six years young.... at least, i think i am. i often have to put some thought into recalling my own age {disbelief or senility setting in?}. imagine being sixteen and some dumb jerk of a guy telling a girl flattering words. is it any wonder that so many sixteen year old end up giving up their emotions {and then some} to said jerk of a guy? all she wants is to feel pretty and behold, someone is telling her that she is. my point is, if something like this could weigh on my mind at this "old" age, sixteen year old me might have like, gone into convulsions or something.

*sigh* maybe i'm just seriously guy-deprived. LOL.
yes jen, you seriously did just write that and you are not deleting it.

recently, i've been trying to.... hmm, appreciate{?} the mirror more. not sure how to word that. i don't hate my reflection but it's never healthy to frequently criticize it.

i believe there needs to be a recognition of internal and external self-worth without the fear of vanity. can we love ourselves for who we are and how we look? or are we afraid that this will cause us to become self-absorbed and conceited? really, any self-worth is useless without the realization that God is the source of it all. 

this was a bunch of jumbled up thoughts but i hope it was somewhat coherent!

isn't it nice to know...

and He's working ALL things out



i love it when God allows things to happen that build my faith in Him!

i'm part of a chorale at my school this semester and our only requirement (besides coming to class once a week) is to participate in two concerts at the end of the semester. well, that's easy, right? haha, except when the concerts fall on the same days as my church's anniversary services. now, the saturday concert is in the evening so there wouldn't be any conflict of time with our afternoon service but the friday night concert definitely would occur during church.


so i went to God about it. :) He knows my heart. i would absolutely hate to have to miss that service! so i prayed. and guess what? i checked my campus email yesterday and my professor sent out an email this week saying:

greetings, fair bloggers/readers!

i was asked by someone who i will not name *AHEM* when i would blog again. so here i is!

i think about blogging often {ummm probably everyday honestly!}but it's a matter of making time to do it ESPECIALLY if you want to post pics and ESPECIALLY if you're slightly picture snobby and want to edit them before pressing that magical upload button. i'm just gonna stick em on here. they aren't that great anyway and besides, i don't have much time before class begins.

so anywho.
our camping trip was da bomb dot com. LOL!

 it was! it was grand and fun and awesome. friday night, many many cookies were baked at mich's house. some of which were BURNT! and she made me take them anyway! so embarrassing. ughhh!

while at her house i discovered that i had forgotten my camera's charger {with barely any battery life on the camera}.  noooooooooo! and a sheet. and a pillow.
THIS is why i always make a list of everything that i'm going to pack. obviously, i failed to make a list this time. :(

so we went to walmart at like, 3am which is always a good time, no matter what the circumstances. my hatred for walmart turns into insane love during the early morning hours. i can't explain it.

then we got breakfast tacos at taco cabana! :)

then i tried to sleep for like 30 minutes till sis. menzies told me to wake up.

the next few hours were filled with the longing for a nice bed and the annoyance of having to sleep in a van. or at least, attempting to sleep.

but, we made it there! there were squatters at our campsite *GASP* but they would be gone in a couple hours or so. it wasn't too bad and they were really nice after the initial stand-off.

so we ate and set up tents and took beautiful naps. ooohhhh, that was some good sleep under a canopy of trees.

my front view from my nap! the lake!

hello, odd grin.

the dinner team made dinner and we ate! then we went off for showers and such. some hung out at the table to keep talking. jennifer went to her tent. still rather tired!
ok, so i was talking to someone and then this BUG fell on me. ew. ew. it was a somewhat paralyzed roach. yes. i am still amazed at how calm i was at the time. the peace of God passed alllll understanding, ok?

rhonda bravely disposed of that nasty thing and the group chatting at the table were now sitting on top of the table because mr. pepe le pew {the skunk} and swiper the fox decided the make their first appearance. they wanted into the eating area bad and the humans were in the way. so yeah. needless to say, paranoia began setting in strongly during the first night. :)

star and i made breakfast the next morn and our group had devotions. then some of us hung out by the lake and had a picnic during lunch time. yay!



 afterwards, we went to watch people jump off a really high rock, which was really cool! most of our guys who tried to get there almost died. so {potentially} tragic. so they didn't get to jump.

we girls left the guys and went swimming. we had a blast!

then there were long lines for the shower and dinner and discussions/debate. funny how our lightheartedness can make such a serious turn! oh and pepe le pew showed up with an armadillo and they were staring at us! that skunk had a lot of friends.

it was around 3am or so when i finally got in my tent. i was so sleepy and wanted to go in earlier but i remember thinking that i love being with my bestest friends in the world and i wanted to stay up forever!

that night, cool and amazing breeze flooded the area. it was awesome. i woke with slight chills. and when i opened my eyes, a little herd of deer were near our tent!

monday was boat day. we ate breakfast and went out in two groups to ride. very nice!



annnddd yeah, that's pretty much it! what a great group and a fun time!
mich has a way better summary on her blog ---> http://shelleydianne.blogspot.com/2011/09/me-and-my-gang.html

i am jump-up-and-down excited about going on our annual camping trip this weekend!!!!!!11!!!!11

really, i'm mostly crazy happy about the weather forecast. Jesus decided to start turning down the thermostat!! praise Him, saints. jen loves central a/c and cute bags and lovely shoes and pedicures and skyscrapers and such. but she also loves roughin' it in the woods every once in a while.... just not sweating buckets in the process though.

ok, yeah it's a tad bit warm still but does thou see any triple digit temps??? nope, sure don't!
when i saw this earlier today, i literally wanted to jump up and down.

but that would've been a bad idea because i might have been escorted out of the building.
and that's no fun, lemme tell ya!
 

so this week was my first full week of school for fall, blah blah blah, just ready to be done. :)

and what else? hmm... i got a 2nd degree burn overnight on monday. kids - i don't recommend falling asleep underneath the bonnet hair dryer, no matter how soothing that warm air may feel. i would post a pic buuuut that's kinda gross. it looks like a raisin now. and fun fact, it's on my arm right near a burn scar i had gotten from the oven a few years ago. TMI, i know, i know....

i've been thinking alot about fall this week.... trying on my boots, getting a hoodie with my school's name on it.... and pie. i've been thinking about pie A Lot. i will perfect my pie this year which would be really Good! .....and really BAD all at the same time. i'm sure it can't be too hard to figure out the BAD in this.

not much to say! anxious to go home and gather my belongings and clear my memory card!

i'll leave you with some words of wisdom from a throwback Newsong song:

hmmm, where to begin??

i've been churning on this post in my mind for a while... like, for a few months really but i've never figured how i would start it. or even what to title it. craziness! it's part informative/part venting/part self-disclosure. funny how being a blogger still doesn't make self-disclosure any more comfortable for me!

ok so, around may of last year i made a rather big decision in my life: i decided that i would no longer chemically straighten / relax my hair. if your hair is nowhere near the excessively curly state that mine's is, you may be thinking, "and the big deal is....?" but to other people, this statement can elicit an audible gasp, an "Are you for real?", a "But why?", etc. see, it's a straight haired girl's world, for the most part. our society is heavily influenced by the european standards of beauty.

the problem is when a large group of people who have tightly curled hair {sorry, i've never been a fan of the word "nappy/knappy"} decide that they need to have straight hair because their hair isn't "good enough" or they do not possess the coveted "good hair" {loosely curled hair}. isn't it odd that my hair is called "natural hair" since i don't chemically straighten it but hair that has been chemically altered is just called "hair"? isn't that backwards?!

so i've pretty much always hated my hair. i've wanted to have hair like the little girl on the box of the Just For Me or PCJ hair relaxer kit, LOL! SOOO many black little girls wanted her hair! but alas, i wasn't born with "good hair" {i CRINGE every time i hear someone use that phrase}.

i've scoffed internally at preachers when they declare that hair is my glory. Glory?! umm... more like Shame! it's not growing so who cares if it's uncut? in actuality my hair was growing BUT it was breaking also so i could never retain length. thus, it never seemed to get any much longer.

so what spurred me?
- i was in a funk last year and i needed change. like, big time major change. 
- i was kinda tired of going to the salon. seriously, i am hightailing it across town to go to your salon and i still have to sit and Wait for you even though i have an appointment? oh, and pay that much? um, no.
- a book i had picked up at west coast conference 2009 by Juli Jasinski called "Her Ebony Glory". i remember scoffing at the book when she began to talk about not relaxing our hair.
- my convictions. yep, i've had this nagging thought for a few years now but never did anything about it: if i shouldn't dye my hair because i'm changing it from my natural color, why should i relax it and change it from its natural texture?

so i took the plunge and let me tell you, it was one of the best decisions i have ever made. God is bringing me closer each and everyday to more self-acceptance. do i love my hair now? i'm getting there.... i'm not in love with my hair but i don't hate it anymore.... in fact, i like it now and THAT, my friends, is one giant leap for mankind. my hair is not bad hair, it is Good Hair because God made it and it was Good Enough for Him.

and besides,  why would anyone argue against  having heathly, strong hair with less breakage and more growth??? all to conform to society's beauty standards.

hair is a hot button issue among some for sure. what prompted me to write this today was a conversation i had last night. "so, you mean you're never relaxing your hair again?" nope. "well, what if you meet a guy and he won't marry you unless you relax your hair?"

um.... if i met a guy and he said, "you know, i really like you but you need to do something about that nose"
should jen run to her laptop and check out if her job's health insurance covers plastic surgery?? noooooo...

see, it's really sad but you'd be shocked to know how many people feel like the person in the above convo.

so, i try to brush off the ignorance. it's all i can do.
after all, i am good enough in His eyes, right?

{ i suppose it would seem fitting that i stick a picture in this post but i don't really have hair pics! and i'm sporting french braids today. so yeah. :) }

*one of my favorite new songs this summer :)

CANNONBALL! notice the lovely golden hue of my grass.

this picture has mostly nothing to do with this entry. 
it was inspired by this post....
http://mcmomentsandmemories.blogspot.com/2011/08/wordless-wednesday-where-you-can-find.html

love ya, Sis. Kathy! soo jealous too! ;)

an attitude of gratitude.
i've really been feeling this lately and it's been awesome! how do i love Thee? let me count the way:

:: 8/4/2011 was my Holy Ghost birthday! so that makes me umm.... 14?? purty cool! smack dab in holy ghost teenage years. oh, the drama..... not really. thank God!

:: see that there kiddie pool? i kinda sorta dropped my phone in it for 3 seconds yesterday. yeahh....it was barely showing any signs of life. i took the phone apart, let it dry out on the patio table, lay the parts on my blow dryer and did the "stick the phone and battery overnight in rice" trick {rice absorbs moisture}. i pressed the power button this morning, sighed and typed "Ebay.com" into my browser window.... then my phone began booting up! Jesus resurrected my phone.

:: i read some of the horrible ordeals that people have had to face in their lives. it reminds me of how blessed i am to have been kept from so much.

:: i say over and over how it is such a privilege to be living for God with a {mostly} sane mind. people give up on God for the dumbest reasons. i honestly cannot wrap my mind around some of these reasons.

:: job. work. employment. trabajo. i despise having to be awake before 9:30am {my wakey time is around 5:30am} BUT with this country in so much economic turmoil, it's a crazy, wonderful blessing to have a job.

i could go on! God is good, friends. thank Him for every breath you're given!

haha, not really. just more incessant chatter from yours truly! i love you too.

* i'm melllllllllll-ting!!! i'm mellllllll-ting!!!!
{just more redundant complaining about the summer heat. *sigh*}


* we did a garage sale on Saturday at my house. one of the ladies from church happened to bring a fur coat. i somehow ended up buying it {on a 100 degree day}.... she wanted to give it to me b/c it fit me but i insisted on paying the $20 that she was originally asking for it. all this time, i'm assuming that it's a faux fur, okay?!

oh my, so i tried it on again just now and randomly searched the brand on ebay... um, yeah it's really real, considering the prices that these people are asking for them. i've never had any real fur before {OH WAIT I have. looooong ago, i had earmuffs with rabbit fur. they were so soft. i lost them though.}. and deep inside, there is a little animal activist, PETA picketing, fur spraying person lurking. BUT i choose not to unleash the dragon. ignorance is bliss.

in any case, this coat will be passed down to my children (in Jesus' name) and grandchildren (in Jesus' name).
wanna see??

i did it black & white to look all vintage-y

* the dog is seriously packing on the pounds. we went to the vet on saturday. so the last time i weighed him (in november), he was 15 lbs which is okay for an already large sized yorkie {largest in his litter!}. bro man is now 20 lbs! oh wow. so, i take partial blame b/c due to the sweltering heat, i haven't been walking him very often. most of the blame, however, lies on my parental unit, ESPECIALLY the male parental unit who often insists feeding the dog various things. this makes me very unhappy but it doesn't change things!

so i'm thinking of changing Toby's full name of Toby Antonio Lord to Tubby O'Lord........like "tub of lard?!" hardy har har!

we did walk for like 20 minutes tonight and got inside of the house before we could pass out on the sidewalk. it's nasty out there. people DIE in this weather! sorry, i'm bitter. i miss my Colorado dry heat and 60 degree nights! *tear*

* Every. One. Of. These. Entries. refers to the heat. it's invaded my mind!!

emily, ??, and lis!

emily, lis & brittany!

me & amander waiting for the lock-in to be over! :)

jalissa, troy & madison!

cabrea & paola!

many people

emily, lis & i!

me and jac! we finally found each other!

the gurls!

a hoppy burt-day to you!

lake trinidad

wading at the lake

mich and our awesome chauffeur!

*i don't like it when people are under the delusion that when they leave a conference, they are like superheroes! nothing can bring them down after the experience they had! oh sure, there is a definite adrenaline rush. That's unavoidable. but guys and gals, i feel changed. it's hard to explain. i really feel more affected by this last conference than i've felt in a loooonnnggg time. this conference had an unmistakable DEPTH {a rarity for a youth conference}. the presence of God was so incredibly tangible at times, i felt unworthy to be experiencing it. all i want to do is re-listen to all of the great messages that i heard last week.... that's not normal behavior for me.


*pursuit. living for God is a constant pursuit. if i let my guard down, i will gradually become weaker. just like a natural relationship, if i do not make an effort to maintain my walk with Him, the relationship will dwindle down to nothingness. yesterday, i could already feel.... well it sounds weird but! - it almost felt as though some of my strength was seeping out. i had to remind myself of the pursuit.


*our Sunday night service consisted of only singing, testimony and offering. all of us Heritage people testified and it was so powerful. what a blessing to hear how God helped the teens at my church. it's not easy for them in this psychotic world.


*le sigh. Colorado Springs.... how i miss your 60 degree nights. 


*i love seeing old friends, meeting new ones, and Finally becoming acquainted with bloggin' friends! i love going to conferences and being around people who are like me. think about it: everywhere we go, we're surrounded by a ton of people who are not saved. besides our local churches, isn't it cool to go somewhere and be around hundreds of people that you do not know but yet they have the holy ghost too? i love that our teens got to experience that also. it's easy to feel like you're the only one trying to live for God out there.

*on the last night of every conference, i usually take a few minutes to sit still and look all around me. i feel like i have to soak it all in before i leave. this is what Heaven will be like. will there be a large amount of animal print, ruffled high collars and taffeta dresses in Heaven? i'll get back to you on that..... but Heaven = worshiping God forever and ever and ever, etc.

to say that we've been having "great church" at Heritage is a huge understatement.

so it's currently the resting time between services and i'm awake and jittery. yes, i did drink 2 cups of coffee this morn but also i'm sooo excited about the service tonight! i can't wait to see what God has in store for us.

i knew we'd be going to a good conference but i never anticipated that it would be this incredibly powerful. there is a strong hunger for God and it is Beautiful. last night, prayer began at 6:30pm and ended about 8:10pm! the Spirit was so strong! i can't imagine how many strongholds were crushed in that prayer meeting. after an awesome message from Bro. Frazier, there was a powerful altar call. i was amazed at how many were still praying in the church even with a lock-in looming around the corner.

i'm sooo glad that my group was able to come! in my room are three 16 year old girls. oh my word. :) it isn't that bad though, despite the occasional bickering and periodic bouts of uncontrollable giggling! i know that they are getting alot out of this conference and i just thank God sooo very much for giving us the opportunity to be here.

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Howdy! I'm riding the church van, headed to Colorado Springs! Quite excited. Currently we're cruising through New Mexico, which has also seemed like such a dismal state to me. I guess we never pass through the pretty part, if it exists!

I do like these big hill things/rock formations/ I don't know what they are. Dallas is exceedingly flat so anything with some elevation excites me.

Yeah sooooo we (3 young adults) are chaperoning most of the teens from my church. Never done this before! We're headed to Heritage Conference which used to be my summer highlight back in the day! Awww nostalgia!

For a few weeks, my Saturdays were spent asking for money in some form or fashion. This is also known as "fundraising". NOT one of my favorite things to do! It's funny what happens when determination kicks in though. You don't care that its crazy Hot outside.... You're gonna wash those cars because you need that money.

I was seriously ready to throw in the towel a few times: "we're never going to reach our goal!" {Said internally}

But once again, God came sailing in, going beyond the amount that we needed.
OH YE OF LITTLE FAITH!
I think He likes proving me wrong. I like that He likes doing that.

More updates to come!
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throughout the duration of the Casey Anthony trial, i hadn't been one of those glued to her computer screen or newspaper. i didn't even realize that the trial was going on. i remember when the mom was first arrested in 2008 only because of the candid picture that the media released of Caylee -- the little girl with big brown eyes in a pensive stare and her hand under her chin.

so really, i was made aware of the trial at the end of it.... mostly because of the public outrage.

honestly, i think that Casey did it. there were way too many odd elements in that case. party girl mom who didn't report her missing child? getting a tattoo while your daughter is missing? lying about your alleged nanny kidnapping your child? falsifying your place of employment? tooo weird.

however.... there was not enough proof to convict that crazy chick. so guess what? in the eyes of the law, she innocent! see that's how the law works. i can theorize and hypothesize all the live long day until i'm blue in the face. that doesn't change the fact that there is no physical incriminating evidence that says, "aha! she did it!".

so alot of people don't like the vedict. okay. what gets me is how Psychotically Passionate strangers are. they have no link to the case and have never met Caylee but are driven to act irrationally.

have you heard the story about Casey Anthony being harassed on her facebook account? OH WAIT! that's not Casey. that's actually the same name of a 43 year old black man who lives in philly. i don't know what picture was on his profile but that didn't stop him from getting hundreds of friend requests, threatening messages and phone calls.

what about Casey Anthony getting attacked while at the convenience store she worked at in oklahoma? OH, MY BAD! that's not Casey again! this lady just sorta kinda looks like her and a woman attacked her.

and during Casey's prison release early sunday morning, there was a mob of people outside chanting "baby killer"among other things.

all of this reminded me of a high school english class. we learned about the Salem witch trials. read on that! you'll see some modern day similarities.

i've noticed that i tend to get annoyed at the excuse, "well, i was going to _________ BUT i didn't have time!"

i always think to myself, "nope, you just didn't MAKE the time!!"

but then again, who i am i to judge?
after all, one of my strengths is wasting time!

i promise that i'm not as proud of this as i sound. :)

tonight was another one of those evenings when i should have started to diligently complete some schoolwork as soon as i got home. key phrase: should have.

but then i make excuses about me being at work all day long and needing to shut my brain off. "i don't wanna think!!!!"

anywho... i was just reminded of the lyrics of this song by one of my favorite songwriters, chris rice:

how will we use the time that we are given?
in pursuit of life's pleasures, wealth, popularity.... or in a pursuit of God?

sometimes God allows things to occur that remind us of how futile this life is without Him.

today, we were informed that someone who had backslid fairly recently had died in a car accident.

it's so sad.... especially since many clearly remember the warning that he heard at his last church service.... the last night of a revival.

we never know when our time will be up. some decide to walk away from God and do their own thing. but what about those who  never leave the church? the prospect of being a backslider on the pew is chilling.

the time we have now is PRECIOUS.
it's only by the grace of God that we still have the opportunity to cry out to Him at an altar or to heartily sing His praises. we should be grateful for the time that we still have to make our hearts right in His eyes. God forbid that I should choose to take all of this lightly.

i missed a day of blogging! i didn't forget.... i was too busy relaxing at home {yes, one can busily relax}.
around 11pm, i started to figure out what i should type before my midnight deadline but i gave up. so i'll do 2 today.

* always listen to your car. just like smartphones, i am getting used to having a smart car. and when i say "smart", i am Not talking about those cars that are reminiscent of the little tike cars that we've all played with at some point in our lives.

but anyway. :) a little light came on in my car and i didn't know what it was! it took me a while but eventually i looked it up and realized, "oh! my tire pressure is low!". so i had my dad check my tire and he freaked out a bit that it was that low. the moral of the story IS: if your car is trying to tell you something, Listen!! i very well could've been stuck out in the middle of no where with a flat tire on monday.

* words cannot express my love for this coffee. it's great! i "smuggled" it from puerto rico and i'm enjoying it right this second. and speaking of PR, i looked at my pics last night and i wanted to post them but well.... they look kind of ghastly. i need to tweak the coloring and such!

* EXCITED! i no longer have any credit card payment as of today! i cut my card into little pieces last year which is Very Good.... because all of a sudden i want to buy shoes.

* the letter "b" fell off of my phone. not cool! it's not so much the letter that bothers me.... it's the fact that the other character on that key is this: !. the exclamation point. how do i live....?
going now to google for a keypad.

happy 4th of july!

hahaha, so in regards to this "july challenge" to post everyday, i'll be limiting it to weekdays. weekends are optional. saturday was sooooo extremely exhausting. i'll elaborate on that later! and sunday was just sunday.... a very long day!

hope that everyone had a happy 4th! we went to the lake. well, on the drive to the lake i picked up some contraband explosives once i was safely out of the city limits of dallas. my first contraband explosives purchase were sparklers! so innocent, right?

the lake was fun. laughing with the church fam was quite enjoyable. the dog will sleep well tonight after swimming so much.

i like driving through the country! well, only if the country area has lots of trees. i heart trees. what's also fun is seeing the firework displays while cruising on the highway. fireworks are like big poofs of glitter thrown into the sky. that's absolutely lovely to me.

i tried one sparkler out in the backyard once i got home. it was neat but..... it mildly freaked me out.

did You know that sparklers spark? lots of little sparks come out! who woulda thunk?!?!

suffice it to say that while it was pretty and all, i didn't want to get in trouble for setting the backyard furniture on fire. so i hosed it down. yeah.

my sparklin' sparkler

let me start off with this: i honestly do count it a PRIVILEGE to serve God in the psychotic world that we reside in.

some years ago, i heard a message from Bro. Steve Pixler entitled "Redefining Normal". in this mortal life, we believers are the "normal ones" in God's eyes. in the eyes of the overwhelming majority, we're actually the "peculiar people", in the modern day, literal sense.

i just looked up "peculiar" from the Greek in 1 Peter 2:9  -- what it actually means there is:  a people for acquisition; a people for God's own possession.

hey, that's pretty cool!! but the world shakes their collective heads and says, "umm no... you guys really are crazies."

i am very okay with being considered strange or different. it comes with the territory.

but recently, i've gotten a bit annoyed with it all.
i don't want to look like the world. i really don't care to blend in with them. what i want is to be invisible.

i often wish that i could really get into people's heads and hear their thoughts. why are they looking at me like that?

sometimes i know that people can see a difference in me and are wondering what it is.
sometimes the looks are of disdain -- "why is she wearing so much clothes? it's hot!"
sometimes i can interpret the stares. sometimes i can't.

i hate being stared or gawked at. 
sometimes i wish the whole world would mind their own business!
it's not the right attitude, i know. i need to be an example of God's love and goodness, i know.

balloooooons at work, for being such a good girl

first and foremost ---

HAPPY FRIDAY!!!!! 3 day weekends that consist of being away from work on a MONDAY are absolutely fantabulous, ohmygosh. i feel a shout comin' on....

HAPPY JULY!!!! 

because it is my birth month.... and since i'm feeling GREAT with it being friday and all.... and because i'm feeling good because dropped one of my summer classes last night  { LOL i was not going to pass it, folks. yeah, i know "quitters never win" and all that jazz. i have way too much on my plate! }.....

I'M gonna do 2 posts today!

and for the month of july, i'm going to post everyday! ha, we'll see how sundays go. i may need to be proactive and cool and attempt the whole scheduled post deal on the previous saturday night.

RANDOMNESS OF THE WEEK

* technically, i'm a college senior {been that way for a while} annnnnd.... as ashamed as i am to admit it.... i've never gotten the whole "studying" thing down. study?? what is this thing you speak of??

i blame my attention span and that may be true but in reality, i'm not all that great with diligence and perseverance and fun stuff like that. this week, i really experienced what real studying is like.... umm, not fun!

but i will have to sacrifice my personal time and sleep so i can finish school next year and land a great job one month after graduation and earn a healthy paycheck and get a month of PTO per year because EVERYBODY KNOWS that the employers of the world are dying to hire recipients of bachelors degrees.
/end sarcasm

* last week, a new in-n-out opened.
  it is about 15 minutes from my house.
  it's across the highway from my favoritest mall.
  this is bad, folks. 
  must....exercise.... self-restraint.

* my birthday is sunday!
   i'm excited! why???????
   ha, i hate putting my age on this here blog thing but see cuz....

i'm turning 26. 26 is my favorite number! when i was a wee little girl, i used to make up personalities for the numbers zero through nine. i guess it was a game or something? i was kind of an only child growing up so i had to {still have to?} make up games to amuse myself!

so 2 and 6 were my favs.
2 is a nice little girl and 6 is a young woman. i don't remember that many details about them but i liked their demeanor! plus i like the way they look!

anywho, i love the fact that i'm going to be my favorite number.

and my birthday is soooo cool {or temperature-wise - soooo HOT, hehe} since it's next door to a national holiday. i will definitely be rocking the rojo, blanco y azul for church.

that's all for now! i need material to write about for the rest of the month. ;)

a few more wedding pics!
ugh, please forgive the blurriness. i wasn't trying too hard for "perfection" :D

wedding party

hugging her mom

yes, i know.... they are way too cute!

crazy groomsmen

the guys singing their goodbye song for the groom

I do! I do!



{written saturday, june 11th}

I'm currently in New Orleans, waiting to depart to Mississippi for the wedding of a dear friend!

I am soooo over the moon for him and his bride-to-be. Isn't it amazing how God has a way of bringing people from two different areas, families, personalities, cultures etc and making them one? And isn't it crazy how the blending of these two very different people just makes sense? Compatibility is a crazy thing.

What I also love is knowing someone's history.... growing up in a youth group and experiencing the happiness and heartbreaks of life that have brought him to this place today. God is good and forever faithful.

remember those news stories soooo long ago about the tornadoes in Joplin? well, not really all that long ago but in our era of constant news being fed to us, the devastation that so many experienced has been pushed to the back burners of our brains.


so here's a refresher and a opportunity for we who were not affected to help someone else in need!
Sis. Nila Marxer wrote the below and i received the green light from her to post this: