quote of the day

Sarah: "Death by chocolate....what are the side effects of that?"
Everyone: "Umm. Death."

Ice Ice Baby

You’ve probably heard me say that hate is a pretty strong word and I try to refrain from using it except for those times when I really mean it. So when I say I hate being cold, I mean, I HATE it. I hate sweaters and snow and ice storms and static electricity when you touch someone and dry skin and being inside and high gas bills and having to wear actual shoes. The winter months are just awful for me. I will say that we in South Carolina have completely lucked out this winter though, and I have complained very little. A snow big enough to ice the road from home to work would’ve been nice for a couple days, but I really am ok with not seeing a single snowflake. I’ve been unreasonably cold twice in my life. One was when I went surfing in Ireland in 2010. The temperature outside the water was in the 40’s, but I put on an already wet wetsuit and jumped into the stretch of Atlantic Ocean where the Titanic sank only to get out about 30 minutes later with mild hypothermia. I didn’t realize what it was until one of the surfing guys told me afterwards and I thought “oh. that’s why I couldn’t feel any part of my body.” Another time was when I went backpacking last March. We whitewater rafted 10 miles in the rain to start off our trip, and I never warmed up over the next 2 days. Even at night when Brittany Brock and I were literally in the same sleeping bag. During both of these experiences, I legitimately thought my organs were going to freeze. So after learning these lessons, I STILL thought it would be cool to run into Lake Wylie this weekend for the Special Olympics Polar Plunge. The high temperature was a warm (for February) 53 degrees, which really was a miracle, because it could’ve been a lot worse. There were TONS of people there plunging, and we raised $12, 524. Thanks to my scuba diver costume, I fell in, which gave me a bloody knee and water up to my chest. Neither of those things felt good. But it was awesome. It was so encouraging to see the amount of people that were there to risk the cold and quite possibly their health, for a great cause. And a BIG thank you to everyone who donated so that I could plunge! If you were disappointed that I didn’t go all the way in, you should see my knee. It was definitely sacrificial.

quote of the day

Me: "Man, people think too much. I'm glad I don't over-think everything and I'm just like yea, God is awesome."
Erica: "You blog. Therefore, you think."

Love Week

Who knows what their love language is? Theres all these books in the world that talk about what yours might be, and I've never read one. I'm not even sure of what all the love languages are. But I do know that mine is gifts, and I get it genetically. My Mom was always REALLY good at giving gifts just for fun and I really loved that. Giving gifts makes me happy too, even though I'm not always the best at picking them out. I like to let people know they are special or that I'm thinking of them by physically giving them something that makes them happy. Because really, how good is just a facebook wall post or text message? All that to say, I have felt super duper loved this week. It's Valentine's week obviously and that has everything to do with it, but a lot of people and things have made me happy. I got a card and some money from my Grandma and a valentines/late graduation present from one of my best friends Mom's in the mail. I got some beautiful flowers, Lady and the Tramp DVD/Blu-Ray combo pack (whaddup), and a Justin Bieber valentine from my awesome boyfriend on Valentine's day, proving that guys are not hopeless at giving gifts. A bunch of my co-workers gave me lots of candy. I have way too much candy. And this morning, a co-worker brought me starbucks just because she said I was doing a "fabulous job." That's the kind of thing that makes my day. But outside of material things (gotta stay humble) I've had some good phone time with friends I haven't talked to in a while this week and been reminded of how undeservingly loved I am. I've always liked Valentine's day, because it's mostly stupid and it's important to tell people how awesome they are. Sure you should do that every day, but who actually does? And we all could use an obnoxious reminder during the month of the cold and depressing death that is the month of February.

Quote of the day:
Erica: "Sorry, I'm rubbing in my treatments."
Me: "Ew."

Retweet the Sounding Joy

Coming soon to a Rock Hill near you.

quote of the day

Sarah (on guys being creepers): "This guy is ALWAYS trying to talk to me and ask how my day was! First of all, I'm goal-oriented. I'm trying to get somewhere. And two, I don't want to have this conversation a million times."

The Hangover

It was said last year that nearly 1.4 million adults planned to call in sick to work on the day after the Super Bowl. I'm thinking I should've been one of them today. Not because I ate too much or had too much to drink but because of everyone elses Super Bowl hangovers. As soon as I got to work this morning, I heard all the opinions on the game, the commercials, the halftime show. And I just have to ask, what are you people's standards for a halftime show? If you want Dave Barnes or John Mayer up in there with the acoustic guitar being all mellow and low-key, then you might as well be watching the High School Musical Marathon that was on Disney last night. Cause that aint happening. The Super Bowl is EPIC. Maybe not the football part exactly, but the event is a whole production. Cities spend billions to get the big game to come to them, they build extra hotels, there are parties and parades and celebrities coming out of the walls the entire week. So why would the halftime show be nothing less than some crazy 3-D techno light show with fireworks? Mostly every American and/or human would agree that Madonna is a pop icon. Whether you like her or not, she's a big deal to the music industry. But she lip-sings the halftime show with 3 different sets and suddenly everyone thinks she's crap? No I do not wish for my daughter to grow up and be like her someday, but that doesn't mean I wasn't completely entertained for those 15 minutes. And I actually didn't think she would have much of a wardrobe to malfunction, so the simple fact that she was wearing clothes is a big win for the NFL. All that to say, I should just stay home from work and stay off facebook and twitter after the Super Bowl. Everyone has their opinion and nothing reminds me more than social media the day of a big event. #haters
Whatever your opinions were on the game, we all HAVE to agree that this was the best commercial. Good dog.

quote of the day

Erica: "Is your house number really 100?"
Laura: "No I just have those up there."

Laura: "I'm sending out letters next week."
Erica: "I want K!"

Erica (at cook-out): "Get out, I want to eat my feelings!"

quote of the day

Youth Council meeting...

Johnathan: "Are we talking about legit local bands or like, karaoke? Because I can do a mean rendition of Turn Me On by Nicki Minaj."

Over the Sun

I just WISH my prayers were half as epic as the Psalms, ya know? I read Psalm 17:14 this week that says: “Lord, by your hand save me from such men, from men of this world whose reward is in this life.” What a cool realization, the idea that this world has anything to offer me is a lie. Most of us go our whole lives thinking that if we just have that “one more thing” then we’ll be happy. Subconsciously I sometimes think marriage is some big reward. That if you worked really hard and said all the right things and God answered enough “where is my husband/wife?” prayers, then you were all good. But when God took away my Mom, I realized that even spouses don’t last. Almost every week I get told the lie that I should be valued more in my job. It’s true that sometimes I do a lot of work but everyone else gets the credit, that’s just part of being the youngster at my job. I sometimes believe that I deserve more credit or more money or a higher status with my name on stuff and when that happens, I’ll be set. And then I’m reminded that my name won’t last. The more satisfaction I find in Jesus, the more I find that that’s all I have to go on anyway. I spend so much time getting stressed over that “one more thing” I have to have but if I actually get it, then what? I was listening to a sermon the other day by a Pastor in Texas talking about idols, where he said that it’s probably worse to actually GET that thing you want so bad. Actually getting our idols, the thing we’ve got our heart SO set on, is worse than just the wishing we had it. I gotta say he’s probably right on that one. Getting that promotion or that marriage or that dream house and kids isn’t a bad thing unless it becomes your life’s reward. All this is why I’m super glad Jesus came, because we’re just screwed in the hope category without Him. King Solomon had literally everything he wanted under the sun. Nothing existed that he couldn’t have. And then he found it all lacked REAL satisfaction and all his shiney gods left him empty. Note taken, dude.