alrighty then

"If I'm not back in five minutes... just wait longer."  - Mr. Ace Ventura

My friend Pete bought "Ace Ventura: Pet Detective" and "Ace Ventura: When Nature Calls" yesterday at Best Buy.  Its a two disc set.  Today at work we started laughing about how random that movie purchase seemed to be.  The more I thought about that movie, the more I remembered how funny it was the first time I saw it.  Pete's random purchase turned into a really fun movie night.  (Side note) Before the movie started I drove to Kroger to fill the car up and then picked up some Taco Bell because I'd been craving a bean burrito for two days.  I'd planned to go straight to Pete's, but he wasn't home so I drove to Main Street.  I sat in my car in downtown Jasper right in front of the Court House, ate my burrito and chased it with a Dr. Pepper. (End side note)  I think what I may have enjoyed more than the movie was the laughter of my friends around me.  Some people have contagious laughter.  I appreciate that.  I sat next to a friend tonight and whenever she laughed, it caused me to laugh.  Have you ever played the "Ha" game?  Its the one where one person lays on the floor and another person lays their head on the first person's stomach, then another and another.  Each person, starting with the first, laughs once "HA".  The "laugh" passes on, stomachs are contracting and eventually everyone is laughing uncontrollably in a big heap on the floor.  You should try it; its pretty entertaining, as was this evening. 

eye candy

That title might be a little confusing.  It is actually a salad, but I call it "eye candy" because its so nice to look at.  On Tuesday night I wasn't feeling well.   I'm okay now, but on that particular night I had a stomach ache.  I took a little nap and when I woke up, my stomach still hurt a little, but the nausea had subsided.  Jacob offered to make me a stomach friendly dinner and I accepted.  This is what he made!  It is a bed of delicious salad greens topped with sliced apples, ripe strawberries, tomato, seasoned chicken, walnuts and cranberry dressing.  Yum!  I have quite the reputation for not finishing my meals, but I ate every bite of this concoction.  Tummy likey.  What a caring boyfriend I have.

a "vein" to pick

So you know the old expression "I've got a bone to pick with you"? Well I altered it a little. What the heck is wrong with the Red Cross? I went to a blood drive today to donate a pint of my hard-earned blood and I had rude interactions with 2 Red Cross employees before feeling remotely welcomed or appreciated. The first interaction was with the "I'm going to prick your finger and ask you forty personal questions" employee. She didn't communicate with me. If she wanted me to move my arm, she would man-handle me rather than using her words. She asked me to remove my long sleeve sweater so she could examine my veins. Her reaction to my arms was very discouraging. "You've donated blood before?" She asked this in such a way as to imply that this was preposterous ... "with those veins?" Yes, I know my veins are small, but they are pumping O negative blood people so get to work! I then moved to the navy blue lawn chair where I sat for 20 minutes before being addressed. Then the "vampire" said hello, poked around on my arms while mumbling something and called for a vein check. I had to ask him repeat everything he said to me. That's really a trait that you want in the person sticking a large, sharp metallic tube in your arm. Finally, the head lady who did the vein check came over and was very nice to me. She drew some dots with a blue felt-tip marker on my arm. I asked her if she thought it would work and she said the outside veins are more difficult. Great, I had been there an hour already. I really wanted this to work. The vampire came back around and hit the vein on the first try. It didn't hurt at all. I snapped some pics, ten minutes later my bag was full and I was sitting at a table sipping orange pineapple juice and eating nutter butter cookies. Thanks for the snack... and for the sticker "Be nice to me. I gave blood today."

do not fear

I followed a couple of links from a blog this morning and discovered a sermon about relationships and sex. The pastor is pretty hip, pretty trendy, but as far as I can tell his teaching is Biblical. He started the sermon by talking about man's responsibility to lead and women's desire for men to lead. He referenced Song of Solomon. In chapter 2 Solomon says to his beloved, "Arise, my darling, my beautiful one, and come with me." Come with me! Solomon has a plan. He is inviting this woman to come with him. Solomon can do this only because he knows where he's going. Masculine initiative is the foundation for Godly relationship? I don't know if that's entirely true, it seems like there are more important things that come first, but I definitely think its near the bottom of the foundation. "A man with a plan" which is the title of this sermon. This is contradictory to man's current role in the dating scene. This is something a man would say today, "hey girl, what are you doing? I don't know what I'm going to be doing, but you can come with me if you want. Only if you want, its your decision because I don't want the responsibility of leading." Pastor Tim Lucas says that men are taught to treat relationships like a game. "'Play it cool. Gotta keep her guessing. Don't commit to anything cause I gotta keep my options open.' Instead of being clear and communicative about our intentions, we're coy." That sounds familiar. But to be fair, women play games too and lots of women don't have any idea what they want either. In general people don't usually know what they want, but Solomon knew what he wanted. But as a woman, I have a responsibility to respond well to man's initiative. I should honor his willingness to take a risk. Have you seen the movie "He's Just Not That Into You"? Its a whole movie about men without Godly initiative and women who don't respect their men. Movies like that sell because we relate to them and think they're funny. "Its funny cause its true." I think this blog is coming off as a little "man-hater" but that's not my intention. I'm in a relationship with a wonderful man, we both love the Lord and I see these things play out in our relationship daily. I'm not a cynic, I'm a realist.

live music

Tonight I went to Atlanta with friends to see Dave Barnes play at Smith's Olde Bar.  Drew and Ellie Holcomb opened the show.  All the performances were top notch.  I really love live music.  I like music with great lyrics.  I like lyrics that tell stories.  The artists we heard tonight tell great stories with their music.  Some of the stories are about love.  Those are good.  I enjoy sharing glances with friends when meaningful lyrics are being sung out over us.  Its cool to know that I will probably never be in that venue listening to this musician with these friends ever again.  "This is a once in a lifetime night" crossed through my mind tonight.  I just love all the parts of a great, small scale, live show.  Dave (yeah we're on a first name basis) performed a song tonight and he asked for the crowd to sing along.  Last time I saw him perform he asked for a similar interaction.  Both times the result gave me chills.  Seriously, both times I've heard crowds sing this song it has been beautiful!  Also before the show, we went to The Highlander which was featured on the Food Networks "Diners, Drive-ins, and Dives".  It was not disappointing.  Thank you Guy for the suggestion.

hiking season

Today, Michele and I drove to Dillon, GA to hike a section of Bartram trail which leads to Rabun Bald.  We read about it on the internet.   It is apparently the second highest peak in Georgia.  The day started beautifully with a cup of Irish breakfast tea at Michele's.  We departed Jasper at 8:30 a.m. and drove northeast toward Ellijay, Blue Ridge, Young Harris, Clayton and finally, Dillon.  We quickly ducked in and out of North Carolina for a few miles too.  Our directions were flawless until the final leg of the trip.  The website directed us to turn onto Hale Ridge Road, but it was nowhere to be found.  We turned around (the first of many) and visited a local gas station/ trout steamer place.  Inside the station, we met "Squeakie".  That is seriously what her name tag read.  Squeakie told us to turn onto Bald - something, I can't remember the name - but that was the name of the second turn we were hunting.  We trusted Squeakie.  She seemed pretty reliable.  I should probably also mention that while walking into the station we noticed a golf cart parked outside with a rifle on the seat, thus reminding us that even though the towns grew increasingly "cool" the further we drove from Jasper, we were in fact still in the North Georgia hills.  Eventually, after about an hour of hunting "Park Service Road #7", we found what we were looking for.  The trail was 4.2 miles from trailhead to summit.  The first 2.7 miles were pretty boring, but the last 1.5 miles were beautiful and challenging.  The top had a cool, but weird wooden structure.  It looked like a deck on stilts.  We climbed to the top, snapped some pics and dined on the best trail food I've ever had.  It was a perfect day for a hike - cool and sunny.  And now my body is rejecting the simple task of walking...

sleeping in

Does this mean I'm an adult?  Normally, my biological clock is cursed to wake me up at eight o'clock on my days off.  Today was an exception.  Today I slept until 1:40 pm.  I know, its very slothful of me.  Of course, I woke up a few times before finally getting out of bed, but I never looked at the clock until 1:40.  Here's another key piece of information that makes this feat even more amazing.  I don't currently have a bed.  The picture on the left shows my "bed".  It looks pretty comfortable, but is really most suitable for a hobbit or "little person".  The "bed" consists of an oversized chair, a mismatched ottoman and a queen size mattress pad.  Together, they are not terribly uncomfortable, but they require me to sleep mostly in the fetal position, otherwise subjecting my feet to the nighttime chill of my basement abode.  

Just in case you're curious, this is what the inside of a movie theater looks like on a Tuesday night at 10 pm in Canton, GA.  Last night I saw "He's Just Not That Into You" by myself, which I'm fine with.  I actually enjoy an occasionally movie solo.  Last night, however, "solo" took on a whole new meaning.  I was in the theater by myself the ENTIRE time!  It was weird, but totally cool.

relationships need verbs... and mallomars.

Have you ever tasted a Mallomar?  They're delicious and have no nutritional value.  I discovered them while watching a favorite TV show "Gilmore Girls".  It is actually quite difficult to find Mallomars in many stores.  But I have succeeded on many occasions.  Some days can just be deemed "Mallomar Days".  What defines a Mallomar day?  Its not easily defined.  Today I was in the mood to watch sad movies (Steel Magnolias and Step Mom) and eat unhealthy, but meaningful food.  I felt a need for sentiment and Mallomars hold a lot of sentimental value in my heart.  A previous roommate and I would munch on them and watch hours of Gilmore Girls together in college.  Today, I couldn't be with her (or anyone else, really) so I wanted a cookie.  It worked.  I actually felt a little better while eating them... perhaps it was the sugar.

"fresh" pressed coffee

Yesterday, a good friend of mine gave me some yummy whole bean coffee from a roastery in Athens, GA called Jittery Joes.  A few weeks ago, I splurged and finally purchased my own french press coffee maker.  Tonight, these two wonderful items met for the first time and the product is divine.  It's better than chocolate.

i like free stuff

I'm excited.  Micah Dalton is in town.  Almost every weekend there's a person that provides "special music" who comes to Sharp Top to perform for campers and leaders. I know, the title "special music" is kind of funny and nondescript.  What is "special" about it?  I think it's one of those things that someone said once and it caught on... and on and on. Whatever the reason, it's a good system.  Their time is usually volunteered in hope that they will sell lots of cds when people hear their music.  Also, I think they're promised all the free water they can stomach during performances.  This weekend Micah is at Sharp Top.  This is one of the many unwritten benefits of working at Sharp Top or most Young Life properties, along with unlimited bad coffee 24 hours/day, free lunches, unlabeled, mysterious beef from local cattle and free trash disposal.  I love my job.  You can check out Micah's music on his myspace page.  The link is added below.  I hope you like it.  

http://www.myspace.com/micahdalton

leashes are for pets

Today I drove home from work  and I met this dog.  I called him Ron.  He ran across the road in front of me which I found ironic because clearly something already happened to injure Ron at least once before because he's wearing a "I can't bite my stitches" cone around his neck.  He was very friendly.  But here's my question.  Where is his owner?  Obviously he has an owner and he/she must care for the dog enough to pay for that white cone so why let Ron roam freely into traffic?  Come on Georgia!  Let's enforce some leash laws, ya?  Ron needs our help.

barack obama has this phone. not really.

I got a new phone today.  I think my smart phone may be smarter than me.  I want to fully harness the power of the Blackberry.  I have subscribed to internet for the first month, but I don't think I really need it.  It has been a lot of fun.  I didn't intend to get a new phone but they practically gave it to me.  Thanks Verizon.  

baby teena

This is a picture of me when I was Addyson's age.  See the family resemblance?   Man, I was cute.

i am the cool aunt

This is Addyson.  She's almost 2 years old.  She's my youngest niece.  Her older sister, Sydney, and I were playing with Garage Band last night.  We were recording ourselves saying funny things using the helium voice setting.  Addyson thought this was the funniest thing!  She would cover her mouth with both hands and laugh dramatically.  She is stubborn and willful.  She's nothing like me really...  Kids are interesting.  I watch her develop bad habits to achieve her own goals.  I just want to scream and say to her, "Addy don't do that!  Save yourself the time of unlearning that later in life."  But I choose not to scream.  I resort to hugging, loving, kissing... and correcting when necessary.  Its necessary a lot.  I want her to know she is loved and cherished so that she will know how to love others.  I want to teach her how to make good choices.  I want her to respect herself and others.  When she's older I'll tell her about Jesus.  Maybe she'll be more inclined to follow and trust Jesus if she can learn these things early.  That's my prayer for her and her sister.  

2.3.09

So this is my first blog entry. I'm officially a blogger. I started this because I'm at my parents house for an unfortunate purpose and I need an escape. I drove to Lenoir City, TN this morning to spend 3 days at my parents house. The reason? My grandfather's life is slowly ending. In December Claudie was diagnosed with stomach cancer and its been a quick progression to our family's current reality. We're all just hanging out and waiting. Sometimes we talk about it, but most of the time things feel pretty normal. I cried for the first hour that I was home today. The house felt very dark and sad. I felt very overwhelmed by the circumstances. I kept praying, "Lord, I don't think I can handle all of this". And then a wise man said, "of course you can't because we're not supposed to be able to handle these things on our own". I started thinking about that. God hasn't required me to walk through all of this with my own strength. "No temptation has seized you except what is common to man. And God is faithful. He will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, he will also provide a way out so that you can stand up under it." But His strength is of no value to me if I don't trust that He is enough and that He is near. So I will try to trust in the Lord during this difficult time. May Christ be glorified during all of this.