Satan's Doom

Today I celebrated 24.5 years of birth and it turns out it's just as cool as my actual birthday. Proving that God can do whatever he wants, He decided to make it all of 68 degrees in January. So I played frisbee for 2 hours, Grace and I wrote a song at church called Satan's Doom (Revelation 20 look it up), my favorite Dad ever came up and took me to lunch, I had a great talk with the youngest roommate about Jesus over happy meals, and my bible study tore it up on Ephesians. How great of a day is that? And then to top the greatness off, I got to talk to my discipler from Santa Cruz on the PHONE! That doesn't mean hardly anything to you but that is a huge deal, people. Dawn Kirk taught me how to disciple people, lead a bible study, how to wake up at 7am totally against my will, how to order a bagel, and encouraged me to pull pranks. She's pretty much the older version of me (literally look her up on facebook. Our faces match). She's going to be the assistant director in Santa Cruz this summer, giving me even more reason to go visit the Peter Pan Motel. I hope the 6 months I have left to be 24 is as cool as today was.

And the quote of the day as Brittany figures out what to do with her life in one night:
"I'm just gonna do drugs and see what comes up in dreams."

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Wise words for all you football fans out there...

Dr. Bowers: "The thing about the Jets is, their quarterback can't grow a beard. It's not like a Roethlisberger or Tom Brady beard. You look in that helmet and he looks like a terrorist. If you're gonna grow a beard, grow a BEARD!"

Pastor Ken (voicemail): "Just wanna make sure you're not proclaiming the Steelers on facebook. I'd hate to have to ship you off to Elevation and trade you for 3 guitarists and a drummer."

Too School For Cool

A year and a half ago I decided to further educate my life being fully aware of what I was getting into. I knew I'd have to write a thesis (I even knew when it would be due...oops). I knew I would be a graduate assistant and get to do fun things that take up a lot of time. I knew I would still be working at my same job. I also told myself that I wouldn't complain about school. I felt like I had done it way too often in undergrad and I'm tired of all the facebook status's that complain about staying up late to write a 3 page paper that should've been done at the beginning of the semester. When I started this adventure towards a higher degree I was really optimistic about it, I was literally never behind in my work, and I really didn't have a bad thing to say about life. Recently this has not been the case. Truth is, not even a month into it, Spring 2011 has handed me the busiest time of my life. This also goes to prove I haven't had a very stressful life I guess. All this to say, I need one of those attitude make-overs where I don't talk crap about school anymore. I don't wanna be that kid. Afterall I'm getting paid thousands of dollars to learn more about the stuff I love, to teach/go kayaking and rockclimbing twice a week, go on backpacking trips, make cool new friends, and get the Winthrop discount at Moe's. Sure I'm busy literally every second but hey, I have the rest of my life to be a normal working adult with a 9-5 job. That is until I'm the Director of Parks and Rec. But I have time to prepare for that.

Application: I don't intend on going around shouting about how much I love school. I don't want to shout lies at people. But there's no need in me acting like I lost an arm just because I have to write a paper. So bloggers, next time I facebook, tweet, or write about school with uncalled for negativity, you can yell at me. Maybe I'll give you a quarter. I can't afford to be doing all that, so here's hoping it works.

For Kesler

Teach me how to Snuggie.

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Playing Spades with the Jacksonville crew...

Me: "Here's Ruth over here being awesome and I barely know what the hearts look like."
Jon: "It's the one shaped like a prostate."

All in one week

I got snowed in for 3 days, I had to visit the doctor because the whole anxiety thing came back and sleep was non-existent, got my blood taken for the first time at said doctor visit, and my computer got a virus. Since that time, the blood that I still have inside me came back normal, I've slept a lot thanks to my new medicine, and my computer is now at the computer doctor. The snow is still trying to melt. Go Jesus. Now. Let's get em Steelers!

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Pastor Ken: "Rarely do you pick up a newborn baby and say, look at this bundle of sin!"
*then looks at Grace* "Well, some people do."

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Me: "We need to get some snacky snacks for the racial day marathon."
Britt: "Yea we were trying to think of some black and white things to get."
Me and Britt: "Oreos...."

Happy days are here again

I'm already to the point in my grad school life where if I quit school now, I would only feel a little bit bad about it. What would be my conscience yelling at me for not finishing my last semester for the rest of my life doesn't even have an argument. That's the mood I'm currently in. The library has been closed for most of christmas break and thanks to the snow, it's still closed. I can't get any articles I need for my thesis paper because of it and my computer has a virus which leaves me with my work computer that doesn't have everything I need on it. And thanks to the snow, I can't get my computer fixed. Oh and I'm not getting paid every hour I'm not working thanks to the snow. My thesis is due April 1st and if it snows every second from now until that day, that fact will not change. On top of that looming evil, I have an online class this semester that is teaching me how to work Microsoft Word basically. It's a complete waste of my time and the book/software was $184. I thought the point of going to school FULL-TIME meant that you actually go to class and learn from a person, not take classes online where you teach yourself everything. It all comes down to this really: I have the job I went to school for and I don't want to be in school anymore. I'm ready to put all my efforts toward my job and not have to skip the fun things I get to do at work because of school, when the point of school is to get the job I already have. Make sense? The good news I just got is that I get to be the GA for the kayaking class this semester so I get to kayak every tuesday night starting in March. As far as all this snow goes, can we all just pray that it NEVER happens again? Thanks. Jesus is good.

quote of the day

Grace to Brittany: "I don't know what you're doing, but it sounds like you're going into the attic. But we don't have an attic."

Rock Hill's Best Pizza Search

Pizza is the second greatest thing in the world. As my craving for pizza hit me at my desk friday morning, I had no weekend plans and was trying to think of something dumb to do. So Grace and I picked 4 local pizza joints, gathered some extra soldiers, made a spreadsheet, and started our stomachs up for adventure on Friday night. The results are in, folks. And commentary is free of charge.

1. Amici's-This is a great place to take your significant friend, but make sure you make a reservation. The pizza is brick oven, the crust is thin and crispy, and they have cheeseburger flavor with ketchup as the sauce. The bar is stacked with good imported beer and you can watch your pizza bake in the fire oven. Great atmosphere, good hostesses on staff who'll fight for a table for you.

2. Ouzo's-This was my personal favorite and despite what I think is true, not everyone agrees with me. I was told by several co-workers to get the greek special with chicken. Let's just say my taste buds for pizza will forever be depressed while I eat anything else.

3. White Horse-Say what? White Horse has pizza? They do, but their sweet tea is better. Too much sauce, too much chesse (I didn't think that was possible either) and not enough topping choices. The atmosphere was great, as our waiter refilled our drinks every 55 seconds. Yea, we timed it.

4. Stone Pizza-As our final stop on Sunday lunch, it didn't dissapoint. They were the largest pizza slices I've ever seen and because I'd been eating pizza for 3 straight days, I only ate one slice. But make sure you're in the mood for take-out, because it's your only option. Good specialty pizza's, lots of toppings. Thumbs up.

As far as our stomachs go, Amici's wins the title of Rock Hill's best pizza! You just can't beat brick oven, Italian beer, and dim lighting that makes you feel important on a Friday night. Truth is, there are plenty of options for your own pizza opinion, but this is what we've decided collectively. It's safe to say Rock Hill has plenty of tastey pizza to satisfy any kind of craving. Now I need to decide what to eat for dinner...

quote of the day

Leaving McHale's for the night...

Andy: "Well, guess I'll go home to the woman."
Stephen: "I'm leaving with a woman."
Me: "I'm leaving as a woman."

Your Name

So I wear this ring everyday that says “Joy.” I got it in Santa Cruz on summer project and it was a perfect reminder for me while I was there. It was literally my joy to get up at 8am every day and work at the surf shop. It was my joy to live in a run down motel in the middle of gang territory. It was my joy to share one bathroom with 5 other girls. I heard a sermon from Jon Piper (and do I have to explain his credibility?) a few days ago about our joy in making much of God and not ourselves. He talked about when our foundation and the bottom of our joy and desires are in Jesus, that’s when we see a difference. In the interest of getting personal for a sec, I haven’t felt joy for much of anything since last July. When Mom died, it literally took me down about a thousand notches…in my relationship with God, in my everyday just getting out of bed life, and even physically. I was obsessed with death and for a while thought that nothing we did on the planet mattered because we live a few years, we’re gone, and then generations later we’re forgotten. Yes I actually thought that some days. In a few generations, Mom’s name may never be spoken again by anyone. Truthfully, very few of us are that important. So what the crap do we do with ourselves while we’re just waiting to be forgotten? Well, if Jesus is at the bottom of my desires, I should talk about His name more than my own. In Acts 9 it talks about how Paul was out there killing all these Christians (meaning he was the least likely guy ever) but God called after Him: “Go! This man is my chosen instrument to carry my name before the Gentiles and their kings and before the people of Isreal. I will show him how much he must suffer for my name.” I think God’s hoping we’d do the same, carry the name of Jesus. Because that name will last when ours is way gone. We’re called to do a lot of different things. Go to some cool places, take certain jobs, marry a certain person, have a kid or three, maybe start a church, but not for our own benefit. For His. And there's endless amounts of joy in that. word.

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Watching Pretty Little Liars...

Me: "She looks like Selena Gomez for reals."
Erica: "Who's dating Justin Bieber! I heard it on the radio. They was groping on a yacht."

Generous Justice

Yesterday was a beautiful day: it was sunny, 65 degrees, and I bought a new book. I love anything written or said by Tim Keller, a pastor in NYC who has done urban ministry pretty much his whole adult life. His neweset book is about justice and loving the poor and what the Bible has to say about all that (not his opinion). I got out on our awesome porch swing to start reading and the first paragraph of the book is Luke 4:17-18--"Unrolling the scroll, he found the place where it is written: The Spirit of the Sovereign Lord is on me, because the Lord has anointed me to preach good news to the poor. He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim freedom for the captives, and release from darkness for the prisoners." I caught myself smiling just reading that passage. Since going to Jacksonville in October, I've been really into learning more about what God has to say about justice, how to serve those who live a different lifestyle than me, how to give more, and just about urban ministry in general. I got through the introduction and a third of the chapter and a couple of my neighbors came outside to play basketball on the goal they had just put up across the street. I've lived in the Cabin for almost 2 years and I have yet to meet my neighbors. There are tons of them across the street on any given day so I'm not totally sure who all lives there, they're all REALLY loud at all hours, and I'm pretty sure drugs are among their popular hobbies. I have none of that in common with them. But basketball, I do. As I thought to myself "I can't just go over there and ball with them, I'm a skinny white girl", God seems to have said "I didn't create you to be comfortable." So I asked if they needed another player and we played basketball in the street until it was too dark to see the ball. I may never speak to those guys again and I know having a white girl shoot 3-pointers with them didn't change their lives in any way. But to do justice is to understand people who don't live like you. It's to see past racism, see past social class or salary level or lifestyle. It's about just loving humans because Jesus came to love and save humans. At some point in my Christian life, the good news of what Jesus did for me has to balance out with the way I live my life. I'll probably talk about this topic and this book a lot more lately because I'm abnormally pumped about it. Stay tuned if you're interested in such things, too!