Somewhat Social

Most people who know me know would tell you that I am not the most social person. I am an introvert by nature, as in I'm pretty certain that I scored 99 on the scale when extroverted was 0 and introverted was 100. If it wasn't 99, it was 98. But, for the last ten years, I have been somewhat social. I realized this today as I was setting up our church's social media sites. (Yes, Trinity has reached the 21st century and now has a Facebook page and a Twitter account!) It started back in the Fall of 2000, my junior year of college, when I began helping my friend Mark moderate the message board for his band, The Normals.

{Side note: Does anyone else remember The Normals secret site: "The Attic?" Wow. That was a long time ago!}

From there, I went on to be a part of many different boards. I even created and moderated a board for a nation-wide nightly radio show on WAY-FM out of Nashville for a while. All of that seems like a life-time ago. In a way, I guess it was. The thing is, I forgot how much I enjoy promoting and supporting causes/people/groups that I really believe in. I'm really excited for the chance to be a part of something like this again! You can follow Trinity here and check out our Facebook page here.

{im}perfection

Ben & I have been married for a year & 5 months now. That’s 529 days for those of you who are counting (which is no one). Shouldn’t I have this perfect wife thing down by now? {wink, wink} Oh, right. I’m not perfect. And yet, I expect myself to somehow be Super-wife. We moved into a new house (still renting) the last weekend in January and are still trying to get settled. Ben & I both work full time and he has class two nights a week. This means that on Tuesday and Thursday he leaves for work at 5:30am and doesn’t get home from Tampa until 10:45-11:00pm. With all of our other activities (Worship Team, church commitments, etc) we don’t have a lot of time to spend together. Unfortunately this means that the house hasn’t been worked on very much. There are still fan/lights that need to be switched out, shelves that need to be hung, and pictures that need to be hung. I tend to be a very high stress person, so this starts to bug me really fast. I’m trying to learn that the important thing is that we are loving each other well and doing the work that God has for us, not that the office gets set up or all of the dishes get washed. Oh yes, that’s right, no dishwasher except these:



The kitchen itself is another whole point of stress for me. I’m FAR from being a good cook. My husband, however, is a great cook. He’s worked a kitchen at several different places. (One of his MANY talents. Seriously, it would take me a while to list all of the different types of jobs he’s had and other random things he can do.) Unfortunately, he’s not home very much when it comes to cooking. I mostly make crockpot meals, but have tried to venture out a few {unsuccessful} times. This frustrates me to no end. We’re talking “crying over the skillet” frustration.

[Sorry, Ree, I probably won’t be making the Pantry Pasta for Two again.]

I keep trying to find my identity in being “the perfect wife,” when this is an impossibility. I was so thankful to find Rachel’s blog on No. 17 Cherry Tree Lane the other day. Not just my TRUE identity, but Scripture to back it up. I need to print that up and put it over the stove in the kitchen. and in the laundry room. and over the sink. (You get the idea.)

So that’s me opening myself up a little. Hopefully this is just the first of many posts like this.

Holly!

Well, I didn't walk today either, but it was for a very good reason. And here she is:



Meet Holly.



She's a 4-year-old beagle mix from the SPCA. We picked her up after work this evening. I think she likes her bed. She's going to be my new walking partner. (Once we work on a little more leash-training.)

Relief?

No walking today. Today is the day of the headache. One would think that it would have gotten better after I left work and headed home. Nope. Not my headache. At least the postman knew that I needed some relief today. This was in the mail when I came home.



Of course, I already had some, but it looks like I'll need some more! Other than that, the day was a really good day. First day back to work and much was accomplished!

Tree

Ok, so last year I forgot to take any pictures of our Christmas tree. This year I didn't remember until right before we took it down.



Christmas has left our apartment. Well, technically it is sitting in boxes waiting to leave our apartment tomorrow. Now to try to get things back to normal. But first, sleep.

Oh, and I walked again today!

*Also, it really sad to see that the post about me forgetting to take Christmas pictures is still on the same page as this post. New leaf! Need to turn new leaf!

New Mercies

Well, it is the first day of 2011. Really? 2011? That doesn't even sound possible! If you read my last post you will notice several things. #1: I did not post anything for 26 days. (Yep, I'm a slacker!) #2: Part of this was due to the fact that I only made it out walking in the morning once, the day after I posted. (It was cold and I started getting sick, but enough with the excuses already!) Well, this evening I did walk and it was beautiful.



As I was walking, I listened to Andrew Peterson's "Counting Stars." This picture was taken as the song "The Magic Hour" came on. I think that I like walking at this time more than in the morning. It might just become a new habit. (I hope.)

Inspiration

So, call me crazy, but this week I'm going to try something. Ben has to be out the door by 5:00 a.m. to head to work now and I am going to attempt to get up and walk with some ladies from church at 5:15. (Like I said, call me crazy. Seriously, do.) When I get home, my goal is to actually start doing something (like finding a good time to do my Community Bible Reading or BLOGGING!) before I head to work. I that not a lot of people read this, but maybe that's because I never actually write anything on it anymore! We shall see. For now I will leave you with a link to my friend, Laura's page with a yummy late fall/winter drink recipe. I'm off to find cinnamon sticks so that I can whip some up myself! Laura is an amazing event planner here in Lakeland. Seriously, I wish I had known her better before our wedding. But I digress...the yummy drinks: Apple Cider Hot Toddies. While you're there check out some of her work! Have a great night and see you all in the morning!

Hutchmoot recap

*Sheepishly enters the blogosphere after 4 months of silence*

I'm back to share another newsletter article that I wrote for our church! I've included the intro that our Arts & Worship Director wrote as well. I know that there is still more bits of wisdom from the conference floating around in my head. Hopefully I'll write more soon. (Famous last words...)

When Heather mentioned the conference she describes below, I was immediately excited for her. She was not asking me if I thought she should (or could) attend, but I knew it would be a great adventure for her to spend time under the same roof with people she has followed and supported for many years. When I decided to offer her financial support from the A&W Ministry for the trip (with permission from our supervisors!) it was certainly because I hoped she would be changed for the better by the experience (even it is just a little polishing and not a reshaping, the Potter's work is never unfruitful). But more than that, I certainly believed it was a wonderful opportunity to say thank you to one who has cheerfully served me and this ministry for many months. I hope you enjoy her thoughts on her experience.
~Adam

In August I had the privilege to go to a conference in Nashville put on by Andrew Peterson and The Rabbit Room website. As someone who has frequented The Rabbit Room since it began, I was thrilled to have the chance to rub shoulders with the folks whose writing, song-crafting, observations about everyday life have inspired me over the years. They called the conference a “Hutchmoot” {Hutch- n. A coop for the housing of small animals, especially rabbits. Moot- n. An ancient English meeting, especially a meeting of the freemen of a shire. v. To discuss.} and this is how they described the event:

“We want you to come and enjoy a weekend of music and conversation about the stories all around us in song, film, books - and most importantly the story being told through our lives; our own story - what it means to get to the holy hidden heart of it, how to tell a better story with the days we’re given, and how our stories intersect each other's and connect to the Great Story.”

The Great Story. We’ve used the term many times here at Trinity. Last year around this time the Women’s Ministry held a retreat with the title “The Stories that Shape Us.” This past Spring the Student Ministry went through a series titled “The God Stories.” We are all a part of this “capital-S” Story. We know this, but we rarely stop to think about it. It takes someone pointing it out to us for us to really take notice. Thankfully we had plenty of people to point it out for us that weekend.

The keynote speaker on Saturday night was Walter Wangerin, Jr., author of The Book of the Dun Cow, Saint Julian, and Ragman. He spoke to us about our duty as scops in the lives of those around us. Scop (pronounced “shop”), he told us, as he wrote on the imaginary blackboard in the air, is Old English for “shaper,” “poet,” or “artist.” The Scop is a “heaper into heaps” and a “piler into piles,” one who crafts or shapes into something tangible. “We come upon the mess and apart from our own wisdom we make order of it.” We have the ability, as well as the duty, to shape Truth and reality into something that can be understood, to “weave the world around those who have no world or personhood or name.” The bottom line, though, is this: “We tell the Old, Old Story over and over again - but we introduce the moments of Now.”

Most importantly is the context in which this Story-telling takes place. You can tell your Story, but unless you have an audience or a community to present it to, it ends there where it begins. Until this event the community that we had shared was an online community. Part of the inspiration for the event was to remove this barrier. Andrew told us at the opening dinner that someone had asked the author Wendell Berry what he thought of online community and his answer was this: “You’re not in community with someone until you’ve pulled their cow out of a ditch or spanked their child.” I think that sounds about right! These days we are much more inclined to have a network of “friends” online than to really be present in honest community.

How do we break this mold? How do we find somewhere to tell our story and live our story? Community Groups are one of the many outlets that we have here at Trinity to aid us in doing this. I’m sure that there are many other ways that we as a church and as individuals can find to break into the realm of true community. Whether it means starting a book discussion group, seeking out other artists (of all kinds!) to collaborate with, reaching out to your neighbors or simply taking advantage of the tools already in place, it is well worth doing. Of course, this also means that we have to drop our guard and let people truly know us. Trust me, I know that this is a scary thought. I am just as scared of this thought as the rest of you (if not more!). The encouragement is that we have an Author who has gone before. He invites us into the Story and infuses us with the courage to tell our story. And as we drop our guard, it becomes an encouragement for others to do the same.

My hope in sharing what I learned is that it will spark conversation that will hopefully lead to more opportunities for intentional community. I certainly don’t have the answers, but I’m willing to try to find them. As I write this, it has been close to two months since the conference and I’m still trying to process everything that I experienced that weekend. It takes time for a new perspective to become a part of you, but it is time worth spending. And if we, the Church, the body of Christ are strengthened and encouraged it is especially time well spent.

Top Ten Tuesday

In no particular order of importance, mainly just order of happening:

1. Melanie Penn
2. "The Reckoning (How Long)" by Andrew Peterson. Cannot wait for the full album to come out!
3. Catching up on the "Song(s) of the Day" at The Rabbit Room (see above)
4. 5 Free songs from Amazon (see above...)
5. Finding out that Andy Gullahorn still does "Haiku Reviews"
6. Almost finishing The Hobbit (I am so close!)
7. New music from Andy Osenga!
8. Naps at lunchtime
9. Massage (even if she did use too much lotion...seriously...WAY too much)
10. The fact that most of these things were done BEFORE 8am (1-6)

Bad blogger

I've been inspired to do a better job keeping up my blog. Thanks, Lindy. That isn't going to happen at this particular moment, since I don't have time to stop and write much right now, but stay tuned.

Monogram Chick Give-away!

Enter to win until noon today!

I could definitely use one of these bags. Of course, I could also use a free vacation to go with it! We'll just have to see how our annual Valentine's Day lottery tickets did after the drawing tonight...

stolen quote

“The great thing with unhappy times is to take them bit by bit, hour by hour, like an illness. It is seldom the present, the exact present, that is unbearable. Remember one is given strength to bear what happens to one, but not the 100 and 1 different things that might happen.”

C.S. Lewis, Letter to An American Lady

From: S.D. Smith (Thanks!)

passing by

So, I just realized that we took 0 pictures of our apartment at Christmas, 0 pictures of our cute little Christmas tree with our 1st year ornaments on it and the happy little train going around it, 0 pictures of us at Christmastime (other than the family pictures up in Ohio). How sad is that? We will have to go on our failing memories for everything having to do with our 1st Christmas. The way our memories are going I think we're going to be in trouble.


Not our Christmas tree.

yogurt & granola

I have a new love. Don't worry. Ben isn't in trouble. My new love is yogurt and granola. You know how you can buy the Yo-Crunch that has it all nicely packaged for you? Yeah. That costs way too much for me. I decided to come up with my own snazzy packaging so that I could take it to work with me. I bought the big container of strawberry yogurt at the grocery. (I usually buy Yoplait, but they were out of it the other day, so I bought the Wal-Mart brand. I actually really like it! It has strawberry pieces in it.) I then went to Publix because it is the only place that I've found granola. They have it with the nuts in the produce section. I then took my wonderful "prep bowls" from Pampered Chef (To get some of your own Pampered Chef "Prep Bowls" click HERE to go to my friend, Jenifer's page.)


I filled the bowl up to the 1/2 cup mark to leave room the granola.


I added the granola.


I ate a tasty treat. (And did it inexpensively!)

tardy (or Heather should have posted something by now!)

Yes, yes. I know. It has been a month since the wedding. I should have posted something by now. I haven't. I haven't wanted to touch the computer when I get home from work. I will post something of a little more substance later, but for now, here is a picture from the wedding:

the apartment

Ok, so here are pictures of the apartment as promised!

Our stairs leading up to our door:



Looking out our picture window into the stairwell:



Looking out our front door from the kitchen:



Our kitchen from one angle:



And another:



And yet another or "Look! There's a dishwasher!":



Dining room:



Another view of the dining room:



Dining room into the kitchen:



Living room:



Bathroom:



Guest room/Office:



Guest room/Office again:



Hallway from guest room to master bedroom (bathroom on the right):



Master bedroom:



The fun-sized closets:



More to come once we start adding our own touches!

"small" is relative

So, Ben and I now have a place to live after we get married! Yeah! Ben will be moving in next week and we are already trying to think logically about where to place things. It is a two bedroom/one bath apartment with a large living room/dining room area and a fair-sized kitchen with washer/dryer hookups. The problem: storage. There is only one closet in the master bedroom and even that it fairly small. (And as Ben likes to remind me, it is made for someone like me -a very short person- because of the placement of the doorknob, which is about at his kneecaps!) The kitchen is lacking in storage space if you think about the fact that if all of our dishes & other such things go in the cabinets, there won't be any space for pantry items and the same is true if we do it the other way around. Since I love looking at magazines, I thought, "Hey, I'm sure that there is something out there for living in small spaces!" Lo and behold, I found something! It was then that I realized that "small" is a relative term. Most of the "small" rooms would take up the majority of our apartment. When did that become small?!? I guess I've always known that small is relative, but I've always looked at it in the other direction. I look at these rooms and say, "Well, the second bedroom doesn't have a closet, but at least it's larger than the length of a bed. I didn't have that in the second half of my junior year!" or "At least I don't have to walk across the hall in a house full of girls to get to my dresser and closet like I did the first half of my junior year!" (Rest in peace, Music House...)

So, now I'm on the hunt for creative storage. My friend, Patty, just told me that I need to look at it as a European would. So, now I think that I need to set out to find some sort of "European Apartment Living" magazine or book. Anyone know of any? Our other plan of action is to head to Ikea on Saturday. We were headed there with my mom already to buy decorations for our reception, but this gives us just one more reason to scour the store! Number 1 on the list is a wardrobe to put in the second bedroom. Number 2 is some sort of cabinet for either dishes or to act as a pantry. Number 3 is a filing system for the second bedroom/office. We've got some work to do!

I'll try to get some pictures up of the apartment and of what we are looking at as far as storage goes. Thank goodness there are only 20 minutes left of the workday today and tomorrow is Friday!

Three Word Thursday

Taking a cue from Just Something I Made, here is my Three Word Thursday:

Fifty-one days left.

Mrs. Darcy says chill

I just found a little gem thanks to one of my favorite websites, Snippet & Ink. This post is from The Future Mrs. Darcy. I absolutely love Pride & Prejudice. For a short time I even considered using music from the new movie in my wedding. This is a good reminder for me:

So here we find ourselves. Smack in the middle of wedding season. Let's take a deep breath.
Read more...

60 days

60 days until the wedding. Crazy. I'll post some of my inspirations and decisions in the next few days!