liquid love on the go

im not obsessed...i just like coffee. and yes, i call it liquid love. so what?

instant coffee is NASTY. i love to doctor up a STRONG cup of coffee. its the best thing one can possibly do. add a little cream and a bunch of sugar. fabulous. so aaron and i were up in valpo visiting some friends and their church started giving out 'starbucks via instant coffee because they had ran out of regular starbucks coffee for the visitors. our friend was raving about the coffee and gave me a packet of it (which comes with 3 instant coffee mix tubes). i got it like 2 weeks ago but have been skeptical of trying it. today was the day. its awesome. =)

ill give you a $1 if...

...you keep your 2 cents.

when we had been married about 6 months, we realized it was time to get a pet. we opted for a sweet little kitty cat. we adopted momo. she was our little princess for a whole year. the queen of the roost. she would sleep on our pillow and ride around on my shoulder as i did housework. come july of 08...it felt like we needed another little kitty. hence, maximus came along.

let me give you a little insight to this before i continue. my mom and brother both developed cat allergies. my mom has had them since she was a girl so we never had cats growing up. we had 2 golden retrievers, a poodle schnauzzer mix (when i was very young), and now my brother has a very cute mutt. dogs have never been an allergy issue. cats never had for me even when i was at other people's houses or when we had momo...but then it happened.

there was a miserable couple days where i thought i was getting pink eye because i was about ready to scratch my eyes out. i couldn't breath and was sneezing all the time (which i attributed to getting a cold). then it hit me. i tried keeping the kitties away from me and then my symptoms would slowly clear. crap. cat allergies.over the next year and a half i fought my itchy, watery eyes with doses of claritan. finally...i just realized...this is silly. i gave away my little kitty babies...which was really hard because i had become so attached to them.

which brings me to my point.

after a lot of talking...we decided to get a puppy. she is a golden retriever and we pick her up from her mom on dec 28. we are very excited! there are bunch of killjoys out there though! everyone likes to give their comments, for example: 'puppies are just as much work as babies' ; 'golden retrievers shed A LOT' ; 'if you have cat allergies, you have to be allergic to goldens' ; 'they are going to chew up everything in your house'. OY VE! i called our vet to see what mazie (that is her name) was going to need as far as vaccinations go when we first get her and she was shocked i was getting a golden when i have cat allergies. i told her, 'well i have grown up around goldens and never had a problem with allergies so i think it will be fine.' however, she continued to give me her opinion.

if you wanna give me your 2 cents...then here's mine...

i strongly doubt puppies are as much work as babies. babies need diapers, puppies go outside once they are potty trained. if they potty in the house all the time, its your fault you didn't take them out enough. babies need to be nursed or bottle fed pretty much all day, dogs need a bowl of food in the morning and evening and a bowl of water. you have to get up feed/change baby in the night, you put puppy in her crate and tell her to go to bed. yeah you are right...babies are just like puppies.

yes, goldens shed a lot. there are 3 solutions for that: a good vacuum (check), a brush (check), and something called the furminator http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/B000FSN0A4/ref=ord_cart_shr?_encoding=UTF8&m=A2EMARD2PYKYXH&v=glance

you are dumb. people who are allergic to cats are allergic to their dander...not their hair. since these are two different animals (cats and dogs) dont you think they could have different kinds of dander? i know this is abstract...dont hurt your brain.

they might chew up some stuff...but everything? i read a bunch of puppy training books and they all say that when puppy is new to the house to do crate training when she is alone and put a toy in there that is okay for her to chew on. when she is out of the crate. to always have her in the same room as you. if you are keeping an eye on her, how is she going to chew something up? hmm...maybe with her mind? like super powers like matilda?? no. you aren't careful enough. i expect something will get destroyed...but you can put an end to it.

FIN

One Homeless Night

This is my jump back into the blogging world. It has been too long.

Saturday, October 3, 2009

The Plan: We met at the church at 5pm on Saturday. We were ready to set out to walk to Columbian Park/The Cove to camp out for our homeless experience. I knew that this was going to be a miserable night but was looking for a learning experience. Call me crazy but I enjoy being forced to be greatful for something. The walk to the park was about 3 miles and has always seemed like such a short drive to me. The majority of us had piled on layers to keep warm for the coming night and we quickly began to sweat and shed layers. This was miserable. My feet began to get very sore from the long walk that I am unaccustomed to. My neck and back started aching (maybe it had something to do with being on my feet all day from the photo shoot I did earlier) from my backpack that I carried. It didn't seem heavy but it began to feel like a sack of bricks. The more I sweat the worse I felt. To be hot and sweaty and not be able to take more layers off but its cold outside is a weird feeling. We then got to our "camp", set up our "sleeping" spaces, and awaited 7am to come when we could get out of the cold and rain.

The Thoughts: I am a grazer. I prefer to not eat giant, whopping meals but to snack here and there. I figured this whole "no food for 14 hours" thing would be a peice of cake since I dont really get that hungry. Well, I didn't get hungry. A group of teens went off to beg and to experience what a humbling thing it would be to plead with someone to feed you. A couple guys were turned away at one establishment (which we won't name) and another joint gave them a to-go container full of fries. These are teenagers...everyone knows how teenagers eat. If you open a container of ANYTHING, they FLOCK; grabbing and stuffing food down as fast as humanly possible. These guys walked into our huddle of "homeless" people and said "We only have enough for everyone to get 2 fries." I felt something I never felt before. I actually felt sad! I looked around at everyone taking their two fries and some of them nibbling and some enhaling. I felt blessed that I was important enough to receive ANY fries....let alone 2. I also felt grateful to our "providers" who received a blessing and witheld from chowing them all themselves and brought back to us. What a selfless act.

I do not hate many things. One thing I hate....is to be cold. After the long walk I was very appreciative of the cool breeze. I was hot. Then something interesting happened. I was still sweating a little from the layers but the cold breeze with the sweat...made me REALLY cold. So I put on another sweatshirt. Still cold. I put on my coat. Still cold. I put on my hat, ear muffs, two pairs of gloves and a scarf. I was semi-warm. For a little bit. Within an hour I realized that it didn't matter how many layers I had on. It was raining and there was enough wind that it was blowing the rain on us and there wasn't really anywhere to go to get out of it. The rain was cold and it was only 40 degrees out or so. I had on at least 4 layers and a blanket and was frigid.

Aaron and I had scoped out a spot to sleep where we thought it would block some of the wind. This was an interesting experience. I am going to say these next thoughts with the understand that God is ultimate in all things. My husband is my provider. He is my comfort, my security, and my shelter. If I need something, I know he will provide. He is my hero. There we lay on the very cold concrete with only a 1/2 centimeter of cardboard to cushion. I am wrapped up in his arms and still shivering from the thorough cold. I had been unable to fall asleep for what seemed to be several hours. I had curled up into a little ball trying to keep warm and without knowing it had tensed every muscle in my body for too long. I now had a bit of a charlie-horse problem in all my muscles. I looked at my husband and realized....he is trying the best he can to keep me warm and there is simply nothing more one can do. It was the most helpless feeling in the world to know there were no more options and my husband had no more resources for me. It then hit me like a semi that our sense of security is a joke. It doesn't matter where you are in life; it can be taken away as quickly as it came and you can be left with NOTHING to comfort you but your thoughts and God.

I stood up to stretch out my muscles because they were sore. I looked around the cold, misting, empty waterpark and felt very lonely. I thought everyone was asleep from me. I am the one praying for sleep but it will not find me. I decided to go for a walk hoping to warm up when my husband looked up and asked me if he could come too. I guess I wasn't alone in my non-slumber after all. We walked around one of the buildings and saw Josh Crabtree and Ray Nipper. We just stood there with them for a while. None of us really talked....we just waited together. Waited to go home. I felt increasingly lonely even with these people standing around. I thought....the only thing keeping me going with this...is the thought of going to church and then heading home at 7am. What would the hopelessness feel like to NOT have that thought? To think....this will be my life tomorrow too. Friends of ours, Billy & Stacy Spencer, told Aaron & I a story once about a homeless friend. He was mentally handicapped. He had been severely beaten as a child by his father with an extension chord and had severe scars. He was homeless and had no money. Bill tells the story of when he heard him sing the line, "The Lord has not failed me yet."

FIN

our break from reality

aaron and i have spent the last week on our vacation. we went to lake geneva, wisconsin from tuesday evening to thursday late afternoon. there is a camp through our denomination up there and they have a 'retreat center' for covenant staff. so we went up there and stayed for a few days to unwind and begin our vacation. it was really nice. we didnt do very much of anything which was a great contrast from our usual life activities. every meal we made a point to eat at a new restaurant (a local place...or at least somewhere we had never been). for us, that is a big change of pace since my husband is a man of very predictable eating patterns ;) (aka picky...) here is a quick run-down of my restaurant assessment...

tuesday dinner-next door pub and grill. it was pretty tasty...but humorous. the menu is pretty extensive ranging from pulled pork sandwiches and beer to imported wines from italy and fine pasta. you eat on more or less card tables and puny tv's where basketball games were playing. the people at the table next to us were doctors and were snickering at the latest medical doozy and sipping on their fine wine yet they proceeded to chat with us about the game on tv. it was interesting.

wednesday lunch-potbelly's. i know that this is a chain but we had never been there before. not too shabby. the sandwich i had was really good and aaron and i came to the conclusion that EVERYTHING tastes better with thousand island dressing.

wednesday dinner-popeye's. this is not the chicken popeye's chain you are thinking. it was a seafood place and it was awesome. right on the lake with cool yellow, green, red, blue lights and VERY nautically themed. it was a tad pricey but it was a beautiful view over the lake and the food was delicious!

wednesday coffee-we went to starbucks....we drove around for what seemed like an hour and couldnt find any local joints...and we desired a coffee and a nice chat between best friends =) 

thursday lunch-fischer's bar and grill. this was a PRIME location. it was right on the lake and had a HUUUUGE deck out front. it was obviously made more for a bar but when you show up at 2 in the afternoon for lunch and its raining...the bar aspect isnt really prominent with people. the menus were just printed on white computer paper. the waitress spilled a sprite on me and ruined one of the handy-made menus. the food was pretty tasty and the company (the people sitting at the table next to us) were entertaining. its when a 75 year old lady orders 2 brandy's, a 50-something lady orders 2 cosmos and the guy downs 3 beers at 2pm that you know it should be pretty interesting.

i digress, that was the first half of our trip. we then headed 4 hours south to visit our wonderful college friends. tyler and jenny were some of our very best friends during our years in missouri, were co-best man and maitron of honor in our wedding, and are the expecting mom and dad of our fake niece or nephew (we will find out on wednesday!). also, we were able to spend a lot of time with bjoe (aaron's roomie from college). i know it was really nice for aaron to spend sometime video gaming with him and of course playing card/board games. we also got to go to lunch with him on sunday afternoon and we both really enjoyed talking and laughing with him. 

i always drive away having had a great time with the myers: playing board/card games, laughing, ...farting/pooping..., and eating. i never leave though without learning some things whether it be from them or others. they are very refreshing to be around and always energize and revive me to head back into our real life. everything about them is inspiring: the way they do ministry, their desire for a wonderful future for their family, and just their overall general attitude. i am so greatful for such wonderful friends =) they are so incredibly uplifting and you find them so few and far between that you hang on to them...for life. 

laundry theifs, sex appeal, and expectations

all of the snippets of a post you are about to read, all occurred around the same time. thus being the need for all them in one post...unless you would rather i wrote three separate posts in one day...which im thinking you wouldnt want...it would just be confusing.
-------

laundry theifs
something is amiss. i have a pair of favorite socks. they are black, thicker ankle socks. they are the perfect balance of warmth and softness. just the right cut that they never fall down when my sneakers pull on them. i bought 6 pairs of them in college. i now have...one and a half. yes i said one and a half. there is one pair of socks and then just one sock that has a few bleach stains on it. what the heck?? the majority of the time i do laundry on a weekly basis. i take our hamper downstairs to the laundry room. i set the hamper on top of the dryer. i load in clothes into the washer. when that cycle is finished, that load goes into the dryer and in goes the next load to the washer. i am anal and so i always check to make sure no clothing items are left behind from the previous load and check in between the two appliances...for fear one has decided to make a fast escape.

there is never anything left behind. so why is it that INEVITABLY, there is one or more socks left after all the laundry is done with no mate??? what happens to them? is there a little troll in my dryer or washer who has a sock fetish? mind you...we do have someone in our house with a bit of an obsession for the sock culture. it is our kitty momo. it is not uncommon to find a sock in the bathroom, one on the couch, one in my bed...or the like. but i doubt she is stashing all these socks somewhere...

sex appeal
i dont like it but i understand it. it can be an effective way to get someone to buy a certain product...it just sticks the product in their mind...not necessarily because the person who is being portrayed to have owned this item is good looking but they use that "good looking factor" to simply get you to remember the product. well if someone is going to attempt this aspect of marketing...i figure they should at least be decent at it. aaron and i were working in our office at home the other day and he pulls out a box for an external CD-ROM thing. im busy cleaning and hes just looking at it and says "have you ever noticed the picture on this box?" i said "no" and went over to check it out. there is a blonde lady on it with her shirt tied up to expose her stomach. i guess she was pretty but the really odd thing was that she was eating a stack of CD's. ...I dont quite understand what they were going for here. here she is looking all sexy and eating CD's...i had no idea that was supposed to be attractive. maybe im just out of touch with the hip,upcoming things now-a-days. aaron said something to the effect of, "thats not sexy...thats just weird". haha.

(side note: there is a commercial on tv for a cadillac and a woman is driving. the commercial is obviously made for woman...it is the only commercial i have EVER seen that has actually made me want to buy the product because of the marketing. they basically make this woman look powerful but she still loves dark chocolate and stilletos....and the car is a beast but she makes it look sexy. very appealing to women...kind of a power hungry thing i guess).

expectations
for some odd reason a completely random saying popped into my head this morning. i just thought "nobody ever said it would be easy". hmm...that is pretty self-explanatory. however, sometimes i find myself complaing about why life is so hard sometimes and then i think...nobody ever said that i was going to be a piece of pie...so why do you have those expectations? a friend of mine has hit a rocky patch in her marriage and i dont know all the details but its looking like they have called it quits. i just thought the same phrase...nobody ever said that marriage was easy...so dont pretend like its going to be. every married couple has those days where they think "oh boy...what did i get myself into?" however, for aaron and i its different. when i think that, in turn i know that we are in it forever, divorce is NOT an option, and we make whatever it is work.

nobody said that marriage would be easy, so dont expect that it will be

new found understanding

jennifer knapp is probably one of my favorite christian artists. she has this really awesome deep voice and kind of a bluegrass....rock feel to her music. she is just fantastic. her lyrics are also really unique and im basically all about them.

one of my very favorite songs is called 'hold me now'. i have heard it probably around 50 times or more (considering it is on one of my favorite CD's). i have listened to the words and thought them to be very thought provoking and really powerful...but i understood something different today.

i was cleaning the house and kind of tuned out to whatever was going on around me but all of a sudden i heard the lyrics from her song...



Let he without sin cast the first stone if you will.
To say that my bride isn't worth half the blood that I've spilled.
Point your finger and laugh if you choose to say my beloved is borrowed and used

wow. it made me think about all the times that i judge people. when i say judge...i mean their faith. when i see people who dont live it out...its easier to wonder what the heck they are doing with some of their choices. i would not compare myself to those who were threatening to stone that oman...casting all the blame on her. however, every sin is the same and even if i do this to a lesser degree, i am still judging her/him. this isnt a habitual thing for me but it really put me in my place for those times i have done it. i like how her lyrics are written...from Jesus' view point and it really portrays His love and devotion to us. it kind of reminds me of how a husband might speak of his wife...as if people would say she isnt worth it and he thinks that is the most awful thing they could say.

talk about humbling.

what makes you different?

so i had a thought provoking...thought. it seems to me that we treat people who are closer to us differently...than the average joe or just a good friend. i dont just mean tell them a deep dark secret that you have kept for the past 20 years. i mean general attitude. it just kind of dawned on me very recently. the way i talk to someone at the grocery store...i do not always talk to my husband the same way....why not? what makes me think i need to be sweet and polite to the random lady at walmart....verses being that same sweet, polite woman to my husband...or any very close friend for that fact. of course, i would have a heart-to-heart confrontation with a close friend...but i doubt i would go up to someone at walmart and tell them they have a problem. what i am talking about is general attitude. where i might get a little short fused with a good friend and SHOW my frustration...i would not do the same with a stranger or someone that i knew less well. why??? why are those stranger's feelings and self-esteem all of a sudden more important than my very closest friends and family?

this has provoked a lot of self-reflection with in me very recently...i have also noticed the same occurrence in my own life. someone will make a snide remark, show how frustrated they are or snap at me and i think "i never saw them treat so-and-so like that....why are they more important than me that they get preferred treatment?". im pretty sure everyone can relate.

maybe making some suggestions in how i can correct this in my own life would be helpful. i know i cannot correct it in other people....each of us has to "pull our own weight" so to speak.

time is a tickin...

schedules. to do lists. appointments. it seems to be how i run my life.

this can be so frustrating some times. how does one get out of that time limit mind frame? there are certain things i stick time limits on that really shouldnt have time limits. you should do what you do and when it is done, it is done. it is frustrating to stick a time frame on something, and that time frame is possibly unrealistic..., and then go over that time limit only to find disappointment and feel there is no way out.

kind of a depressing post i am aware. i could use some advice from those of you who have the mind set of everything being in time. how do you deal with it? maybe my faith isnt strong enough...to rely on God for all things...maybe that is the problem...

which one is not like the others?

the answer is seemingly obvious...to the untrained taste-buds. i am a loyal coke drinking. i'll drink pepsi but i will hate it. i loooove coke products. yes, the containers which hold the harmonious liquid of heaven are all different but so is the fluid that will soon course through your digestive tract. i do NOT like plastic bottles of coke...it tastes different. canned coke is good. HOWEVER, if you want a really good coke, you have to go for the glass bottles or the fountain coke. why do they all taste different???? who knows!?!?!? it doesnt make sense. im sure if you want to get all technical about it it has something to do with the shape of the bottle and the carbonation and what not and the air exposure but seriously? it makes that big of a difference? i think something foul is at hand and someone needs to put a stop to this tragic conspiracy...someone is obviously out to ruin one form of coke after another and we must put an end to them. (ps try coke with lime or vanilla coke...also awesome)

all hail the pumpkin pie!

oh thanksgiving.
it has came and went, once again.

of course, as usual, i ate way too much. i didnt eat too much at dinner...i ate too much ALL day..so when i had A bite of turkey i was already full. but of course had to top the evening off with a peice of pumpkin pie and TOOONS of whipped cream :)

i enjoyed a GREAT family football game in the front yard. it was obviously not very competitive and thats ok because im not very good. in the movies there are always these scenes of families playing football together and it seems to...perfect. thats what this football game felt like. we were laughing, show boating, it was great :) it was cold so we had our scarves on but no coats because that makes it difficult to maneuver. it was a great time :) i went for a 2 mile walk with my father-in-law (who walks that 2 miler every day) and my aunt peg. it was VERY theraputic. we just walked and watched the land and chatted casually. it was hard work though that im not used to but i was able to keep up fine :)

unfortunetly, i find myself coming down with something. i have been feeling a sore throat coming on the last few days and now im really feeling it. but thanksgiving is a time for thanksgiving!!! not complaining :)

ps if you have not heard this song, then you should be ashamed of yourself. its called suzy snowflake by venus hum. its my new favorite christmas song and it makes me soooo happy that i just sit and smile and laugh...seriously...it has power over me.

anyways, im going to keep hanging out with fam and listening to the first awakenings of christmas music and will blog more later when i dont have all my loved ones around me at one time ;)