something you might not have know about melbourne. the area code here is 321. well, i found out that is because we are on the space coast and they changed the area code to mimic the launch countdown.
speaking of countdowns, matt and i watched the first night launch in 4 years saturday night. he had never seen a launch, and i had only seen them from ocala - just a bright spot in the sky. seeing it up close was incredible.
in melbourne, we're just 20 miles away. on saturday night, we went to downtown melbourne to walk around the little shops. they were all lighted up and the parade was going on at the same time. at 8.30 we ran down to the causeway bridge and sat at the edge of the water and waited with our feet dangling over the bridge. it was a beautiful clear night, really dark. then suddenly, it looked like the sun was rising. the whole sky lit up with the shuttle Discovery. did you know the shuttle accelerates to over 17,000 miles per hour before it starts to orbit? i was so impressed. and i've never seen anything like that launch - it gave me chills.
this morning we took our car in for some maintenance and walked home. i wondered how funny we looked just walking out the parking lot and down the street! hopefully it gave the mechanics incentive to finish our car quickly knowing they were sending us out with only the shoes on our feet to get us around. ha! now i'm just dreading the call that the car is done, because it means another hike!
Monday, December 11, 2006
Friday, December 08, 2006
baaa
well i feel a little sheepish posting after a very long dry spell. especially because a few posts ago i vowed to post more. mmm...
i can't really claim busyness as an excuse, because our regent semester ended right before thanksgiving. i can, however, fill in the past few weeks in case anyone is keeping a jodi timeline and is fretting about a break from november to december 2006. haha
first, the wedding. scott and holly were married in omaha on november 18th. she was beautiful. he was dashing. they had a military wedding complete with a tunnel of swords for the new couple to walk through. (i tried to convince them to re-create the tunnel for me to walk thru, but it never happened) the whole family was there and in the wedding party, which was so much fun. i'll post some pictures before too long.
thanksgiving. we were in ocala, with todd for most of the week. scott and holly came for a few days after their honeymoon. of course, we ran the ymca turkey trot at 8 am on thanksgiving morning. they say it's good to have a starting point to look back on. let's just say that i hope one day i can look back on that running time and see that i've come a very long way! the low point was on a hill, i heard a whooshing behind me. this mom pushing a 60 pound stroller was running through the grass beside me. it took all of 3 seconds for her to power past me and fly up the hill.
regent break. these last few weeks, we've been scoping the melbourne area for places to live. the house-hunting process is very time consuming, but it's been fun to think that we might really find a place to land soon. i'll post any updates. it's a beautiful time of year here. we put up our mini-tree in the living room and some white lights around the apartment. i'm sure matt gets sick of the dim lighting, but i just love it!
until next time...
i can't really claim busyness as an excuse, because our regent semester ended right before thanksgiving. i can, however, fill in the past few weeks in case anyone is keeping a jodi timeline and is fretting about a break from november to december 2006. haha
first, the wedding. scott and holly were married in omaha on november 18th. she was beautiful. he was dashing. they had a military wedding complete with a tunnel of swords for the new couple to walk through. (i tried to convince them to re-create the tunnel for me to walk thru, but it never happened) the whole family was there and in the wedding party, which was so much fun. i'll post some pictures before too long.
thanksgiving. we were in ocala, with todd for most of the week. scott and holly came for a few days after their honeymoon. of course, we ran the ymca turkey trot at 8 am on thanksgiving morning. they say it's good to have a starting point to look back on. let's just say that i hope one day i can look back on that running time and see that i've come a very long way! the low point was on a hill, i heard a whooshing behind me. this mom pushing a 60 pound stroller was running through the grass beside me. it took all of 3 seconds for her to power past me and fly up the hill.
regent break. these last few weeks, we've been scoping the melbourne area for places to live. the house-hunting process is very time consuming, but it's been fun to think that we might really find a place to land soon. i'll post any updates. it's a beautiful time of year here. we put up our mini-tree in the living room and some white lights around the apartment. i'm sure matt gets sick of the dim lighting, but i just love it!
until next time...
Sunday, November 05, 2006
sunday night football
sitting here in our newly moved yellow chair, loving the smell of my new mandarin cranberry candle. that is until matt blew it out - it was giving him a headache. not a good sign, since i bought the candle today, and it has about 150 hours of burn time left!
we had a great weekend - finished a paper friday afternoon, went to firedweller. saturday was beautiful, so matt and i went down to the beach and sat up on the rail watching the waves come in. last night we went ice skating in rockledge with mike and ashley. i only fell once during a 'red light, green light' game. of course i couldn't get up on my own, so i sat there on the ice with my knees soaking wet and waited for matt to rescue me. i never want to throw in the towel on anything, but i think it's time to admit i will never be comfortable on the ice. it's more about surviving than actually enjoying it at this point!
oh, here's a few pictures of what we've been doing lately.
we had a great weekend - finished a paper friday afternoon, went to firedweller. saturday was beautiful, so matt and i went down to the beach and sat up on the rail watching the waves come in. last night we went ice skating in rockledge with mike and ashley. i only fell once during a 'red light, green light' game. of course i couldn't get up on my own, so i sat there on the ice with my knees soaking wet and waited for matt to rescue me. i never want to throw in the towel on anything, but i think it's time to admit i will never be comfortable on the ice. it's more about surviving than actually enjoying it at this point!
oh, here's a few pictures of what we've been doing lately.
Thursday, October 26, 2006
the move
this was our rear view for 24 hours. we drove straight from chicago to melbourne, blew a tire along the way, and rolled in at 4 am. i will never drive that again...
oh, and i dropped the couch on my leg, just when i thought this move couldn't be any more painful. now we're here, and it's worth it. maybe i'll post some pictures of our place with furniture later!
getting her first tooth
when matt and i first saw ella on monday, she gave us a huge smile - she is the cutest, happpiest baby. oh, and she's going to be a ladybug for halloween. with tights and everything. it gives me a few ideas for the costume party....
holly's shower
one of the best things about the weekend was spending time with holly. she and scott will be married in less than four weeks, so it was fun to have a snatch of time with her...
no matter what...
dad is always up for driving the boat. oh, and he's really good at teaching people to ski. it's a little embarrassing at the time putting on skis, life vests, and being 'pulled' by a rope while still in the boat, but it works! and i am living proof, even if i don't 'prove it' very often! (i stayed warm and dry in the boat this weekend)
two can play this game...
for the other side of this picture, go to www.photomark2006.blogspot.com
mark and i made the first trip to ohio for fall break my freshman year at wheaton. we packed up the old 4 runner, popped in a mixed cd of collective soul, goo goo dolls, and blessed union of souls and spent the weekend on the lake, skiiing, eating amazing food, and seeing family. and six years later, it's very similar. well, i guess the soundtrack would be a little different.
Monday, October 16, 2006
beach days and sweet 16
the weather is finally bearable. around 70 during the day, so obviously we've been spending a lot of time at the beach. i love the beach in the fall/winter - very few crowds, great sunsets, and a lot of animals around.
this weekend we went to a school play for one of our youth kids - he was definitely the star of the show. they kept making announcements about cupcakes that would be for sale at intermission, so the entire first act, all i could think about was cupcakes. at intermission, matt and i kept saying that we hoped the cupcakes were only a quarter so we could get 4....(we only had a dollar in cash). imagine our horror when we got to the cupcake stand and they were two dollars! per cupcake! i couldn't believe it - and there was a line snaking around the building to buy these! cupcakes. mob mentality at work again. i wonder if anyone stopped to ask themselves, 'why am i paying 2 dollars for 1 cupcake??' actually, who am i kidding? if we would have had 2 bucks, i would have downed that overpriced cupcake so fast....
saturday, we went to a sweet 16 birthday party for one of our youth girls. it had all the elements of a great birthday party - shaving cream fights, pizza and candy, red rover, and a ton of group games i haven't played for years. i'll admit, i spent the shaving cream fight sitting in our car with the doors locked, but it was a blast.
yesterday, went on a picnic after church by the intercoastal waterway. just when we started eating, a group of dolphins started playing in the water 50 yards out. there was even a baby fin next to one of them. it was all i could do not to jump in with them, and live out my fantasy of being a dolphin trainer...
this weekend we went to a school play for one of our youth kids - he was definitely the star of the show. they kept making announcements about cupcakes that would be for sale at intermission, so the entire first act, all i could think about was cupcakes. at intermission, matt and i kept saying that we hoped the cupcakes were only a quarter so we could get 4....(we only had a dollar in cash). imagine our horror when we got to the cupcake stand and they were two dollars! per cupcake! i couldn't believe it - and there was a line snaking around the building to buy these! cupcakes. mob mentality at work again. i wonder if anyone stopped to ask themselves, 'why am i paying 2 dollars for 1 cupcake??' actually, who am i kidding? if we would have had 2 bucks, i would have downed that overpriced cupcake so fast....
saturday, we went to a sweet 16 birthday party for one of our youth girls. it had all the elements of a great birthday party - shaving cream fights, pizza and candy, red rover, and a ton of group games i haven't played for years. i'll admit, i spent the shaving cream fight sitting in our car with the doors locked, but it was a blast.
yesterday, went on a picnic after church by the intercoastal waterway. just when we started eating, a group of dolphins started playing in the water 50 yards out. there was even a baby fin next to one of them. it was all i could do not to jump in with them, and live out my fantasy of being a dolphin trainer...
Monday, October 02, 2006
Tuesday, September 26, 2006
long sleeves, here i come
the day after tomorrow, matt and i are heading to wilmington, north carolina for a one tree hill marathon. and i do mean marathon. sumanth, emily, matt and i will be watching 22 episodes of one tree hill season 3 in 1 weekend. it's quite a task, i know, but we're ready. we're willing. and we're able.
we'll take breaks of course...to tour the studio where the show is produced, and we might venture out a few other times. but this will be a focused weekend...we're not leaving until the season is over!
so for one of our classes we have a weekly conference call (monday night 7.30-9.00) with the rest of the class and the professor. imagine matt and i sitting on the couch, both wearing headsets (the 'call' is over the computer) now, i can't even describe to you how awkward these calls are! so many people start talking at the same time, and then there's very long stretches of silence. the worst is when the prof. singles me out and i have to scramble for an answer...every part of my body starts sweating. and the worst part is that the sound for these 'calls' is so bad that every other word goes out. so not only do i sound frantic, but it sounds like i have a speech impediment as well! it is so embarrassing! i am so glad that's over for another week, and only 8 to go....
we'll take breaks of course...to tour the studio where the show is produced, and we might venture out a few other times. but this will be a focused weekend...we're not leaving until the season is over!
so for one of our classes we have a weekly conference call (monday night 7.30-9.00) with the rest of the class and the professor. imagine matt and i sitting on the couch, both wearing headsets (the 'call' is over the computer) now, i can't even describe to you how awkward these calls are! so many people start talking at the same time, and then there's very long stretches of silence. the worst is when the prof. singles me out and i have to scramble for an answer...every part of my body starts sweating. and the worst part is that the sound for these 'calls' is so bad that every other word goes out. so not only do i sound frantic, but it sounds like i have a speech impediment as well! it is so embarrassing! i am so glad that's over for another week, and only 8 to go....
Thursday, September 21, 2006
good day
today i woke up in a flurry because my mom was driving from ocala for a visit, and i realized the toilet seats were disgusting and there was dirty pizza pans in the sink, the list goes on.
when she got here we had pumpkin spice coffee then went out to lunch for my favorite soup in the world: tomato basil at jason's deli. it is perfect.
it was a quick visit, so after my mom left, matt and i went out to buy 2 bistro chairs for the porch. i'm dying to get outside without dying from the heat! getting so excited to go to cooler weather in wilmington next weekend.
tonight we cleaned out our storage places to make room for the rest of our stuff we're moving down in october. its been so long since i've seen some of this stuff, i hope i recognize it! haha.
mmm. what else? youth was awesome last night, we had the kids write down dreams God has given them for their lives - really cool to read over. we've got some amazing people in this group.
watching gilmore girls season 6 and trying to catch up before season 7 premeire. i've got 5 days, and i feel up to the task, so we'll see!
when she got here we had pumpkin spice coffee then went out to lunch for my favorite soup in the world: tomato basil at jason's deli. it is perfect.
it was a quick visit, so after my mom left, matt and i went out to buy 2 bistro chairs for the porch. i'm dying to get outside without dying from the heat! getting so excited to go to cooler weather in wilmington next weekend.
tonight we cleaned out our storage places to make room for the rest of our stuff we're moving down in october. its been so long since i've seen some of this stuff, i hope i recognize it! haha.
mmm. what else? youth was awesome last night, we had the kids write down dreams God has given them for their lives - really cool to read over. we've got some amazing people in this group.
watching gilmore girls season 6 and trying to catch up before season 7 premeire. i've got 5 days, and i feel up to the task, so we'll see!
Saturday, September 16, 2006
recovering
strange, strange, strange. waking up at 5 in the afternoon when you've been asleep since 8 am is very strange. i hate this feeling, but today i had no choice.
over 50 kids showed up at the lock-in. we had a bonfire, played soccer, madame conductor (yes, i brought kerstin's game out in a pinch...and the kids loooved it!), the kids beat each other with foam sticks, played video games and watched movies. and behind all these events was endless hours of drama. i forgot what it's like to be 14, but this night brought it all back!
'so and so is mad at so and so'
'why isn't so and so talking to me?'
'eewww! so and so likes so and so'
you get the idea. so matt and i spent from around 2 am to 7 am patrolling all the nooks and crannies of the church for 'couples'. we got a tip from one of the older kids to keep checking by the outside baptismal where (quoting him) 'quite a few kids have gotten their first kiss'. thankfully, everytime we checked it, it was clear.
so we're home, and rested. and swearing we won't do another lock-in for 15 years! but of course we will as soon as one of those sweet kids asks us to...we'll forget this feeling and start making plans.
over 50 kids showed up at the lock-in. we had a bonfire, played soccer, madame conductor (yes, i brought kerstin's game out in a pinch...and the kids loooved it!), the kids beat each other with foam sticks, played video games and watched movies. and behind all these events was endless hours of drama. i forgot what it's like to be 14, but this night brought it all back!
'so and so is mad at so and so'
'why isn't so and so talking to me?'
'eewww! so and so likes so and so'
you get the idea. so matt and i spent from around 2 am to 7 am patrolling all the nooks and crannies of the church for 'couples'. we got a tip from one of the older kids to keep checking by the outside baptismal where (quoting him) 'quite a few kids have gotten their first kiss'. thankfully, everytime we checked it, it was clear.
so we're home, and rested. and swearing we won't do another lock-in for 15 years! but of course we will as soon as one of those sweet kids asks us to...we'll forget this feeling and start making plans.
Wednesday, September 13, 2006
must blog more
not that i think the masses are enjoying my blog, but i realized the other day how much i count on the blogs i check to have new posts! it's scary how much i check other blogs. so, if there are those of you that do this too...here's a long awaited treat!
what have i done lately? went to ohio for a weekend with dad and mom - saw the new baby. last weekend we went to ft. meyers to see matt's auntie ellie. what a precious lady. she gave me a tea cup and setting just in case we have 'high tea'.
off to olive garden for soup, salad, and breadsticks. but mostly we're going to visit some of our youth kids that work there.
more later. and more often. i'll really try!
what have i done lately? went to ohio for a weekend with dad and mom - saw the new baby. last weekend we went to ft. meyers to see matt's auntie ellie. what a precious lady. she gave me a tea cup and setting just in case we have 'high tea'.
off to olive garden for soup, salad, and breadsticks. but mostly we're going to visit some of our youth kids that work there.
more later. and more often. i'll really try!
Tuesday, August 29, 2006
waiting out ernesto
we went to walgreens and got tropical storm/hurricane supplies. anti-itch cream for a strange rash on my back, hot tamales and nerds. so we're set for the storm.
Thursday, August 24, 2006
one of those days
today was one of those days that was so great. for a lot of reasons.
we're on regent break until monday so there was time to:
sit on the couch with matt in my pj's and drink 2 cups of coffee with vanilla nut creamer. we planned the next few months of youth group activities, other trips, things we want to do this fall - which involved my giant calendar and multi-colored markers (i love ever opportunity to bust my calendar and markers out!...matt is a good sport about it)
re-arrange the living room. again, matt was a great sport. i couldn't for the life of me decide which wall the bookshelf should go on. it needs to be near a plug, which limits our options, but there's still 4 possibilities. it ended up in the dining room near the kitchen...strange, i know.
replace the brake pads. well, we didn't, midas did. but apparently the back brakes were shot, so i'm glad we did that before some of our upcoming trips! gulp.
have panera soup (brocolli cheddar of course) and start our regent work early. even though the semester starts monday, we're supposed to be a week ahead in reading and work. i give myself a lot of slack the week before, though, because technically we haven't started yet.
take a beautiful run over the causeway. the sun was setting over the intercoastal, and we saw 5 or 6 manatees swimming 10 feet off shore. we went out on the rocks and could practically touch their little snouts. it's at these times i love living in melbourne, florida.
watch alternating episodes of gilmore girls and 24. i am equally addicted to both. and right now, i'm going to go start the 'rotation'......
i loved today.
we're on regent break until monday so there was time to:
sit on the couch with matt in my pj's and drink 2 cups of coffee with vanilla nut creamer. we planned the next few months of youth group activities, other trips, things we want to do this fall - which involved my giant calendar and multi-colored markers (i love ever opportunity to bust my calendar and markers out!...matt is a good sport about it)
re-arrange the living room. again, matt was a great sport. i couldn't for the life of me decide which wall the bookshelf should go on. it needs to be near a plug, which limits our options, but there's still 4 possibilities. it ended up in the dining room near the kitchen...strange, i know.
replace the brake pads. well, we didn't, midas did. but apparently the back brakes were shot, so i'm glad we did that before some of our upcoming trips! gulp.
have panera soup (brocolli cheddar of course) and start our regent work early. even though the semester starts monday, we're supposed to be a week ahead in reading and work. i give myself a lot of slack the week before, though, because technically we haven't started yet.
take a beautiful run over the causeway. the sun was setting over the intercoastal, and we saw 5 or 6 manatees swimming 10 feet off shore. we went out on the rocks and could practically touch their little snouts. it's at these times i love living in melbourne, florida.
watch alternating episodes of gilmore girls and 24. i am equally addicted to both. and right now, i'm going to go start the 'rotation'......
i loved today.
Sunday, August 20, 2006
a new teapot
i found a baby blue teapot at target today. for as much tea as we drink, i think it's time we had one. although it might be hard to find a tea that we agree on every time to make a pot...i like english/irish breakfast, vanilla, and any type of red tea. matt likes green teas, fruit teas and earl grey. so we'll see. half the fun is pouring tea out of a real pot, so maybe i'll develop a taste for earl grey one of these days.
we played golf this morning. by 'we' i mean matt, but i walked the 9 hole course with him before church. it was a beautiful morning outside. there was even a little alligator in the pond next to hole 1. but now our early morning is hitting me, so i'm off for a sunday afternoon nap...
we played golf this morning. by 'we' i mean matt, but i walked the 9 hole course with him before church. it was a beautiful morning outside. there was even a little alligator in the pond next to hole 1. but now our early morning is hitting me, so i'm off for a sunday afternoon nap...
Thursday, August 17, 2006
so it's been awhile...
i've thought of a million stories i want to blog. a million pictures i want to post. and yet two weeks goes by and...nothing! i'm posting some pictures of emily and sumanth's wedding weekend - it was such a fun time. the wedding was beautiful. got to see everyone again, even for a few short days.
when we got back from the wedding, we left 3 days later for chicago and the wisconsin dells with matt's family. i'm also posting some pictures of ella. it was her first time in a tankini, so i wanted to capture it!
and now we're home for a bit - had our first 'official' youth group as leaders last night. it went really well - almost 60 kids showed up, which was a bit shocking but really exciting. tonight we're meeting my parents in tampa at berns steakhouse for a belated birthday dinner...i'm already craving the chateubriand tips and macadamia vanilla bean salad dressing.
so here's the pictures, along with my vow that i won't fall off the blogging wagon again!
when we got back from the wedding, we left 3 days later for chicago and the wisconsin dells with matt's family. i'm also posting some pictures of ella. it was her first time in a tankini, so i wanted to capture it!
and now we're home for a bit - had our first 'official' youth group as leaders last night. it went really well - almost 60 kids showed up, which was a bit shocking but really exciting. tonight we're meeting my parents in tampa at berns steakhouse for a belated birthday dinner...i'm already craving the chateubriand tips and macadamia vanilla bean salad dressing.
so here's the pictures, along with my vow that i won't fall off the blogging wagon again!
Tuesday, August 01, 2006
what a headache!
we finally got packed for our long-awaited anniversary in flagler beach. to kick off the celebration, we stopped at our favorite sandwich shop - jimmy johns, on the drive up. it was then i first noticed it...i couldn't read the menu over the spots in the air. and i knew...a migraine is coming, and at the worst possible time (well, i've had a few others at worse times - like on our honeymoon when i got my first one...). i took two pills and managed to get my sandwich down and drive the rest of the way to flagler laying down in matt's aviator sunglasses. when we pulled up to the b & b, matt checked us in and started the tour while i stayed in the car. during his 'tour' of the spa and grounds, he noticed that i wasn't in the car anymore, but was in the bushes across the street, puking. poor thing (both of us!), but matt tried to distract the lady so she wouldn't notice my (rather loud) vomiting...it was so gross. you know how you have 'throw-up thoughts'? the last thing you think before you throw up that just sends you over the edge? mine was the 'provalone cheese' and avacado' on my sandwich!
i am glad to report that after a 2 hour nap with a cloth over my head and one more throw-up session, i was good to go. the rest of the time was so fun - went on a beach walk, had a picnic dinner, and went for a soak in the mineral pool (supposedly good for the joints). this morning, we watched the sun rise on the balcony with coffee then took a bike ride around flagler beach - followed by a really great breakfast - they would basically cook you anything you wanted, so i had pancakes and greek quiche, while matt polished off a 3 meat omelette. when we left, we drove A1A towards ocala and saw the ocean the whole way...
i am glad to report that after a 2 hour nap with a cloth over my head and one more throw-up session, i was good to go. the rest of the time was so fun - went on a beach walk, had a picnic dinner, and went for a soak in the mineral pool (supposedly good for the joints). this morning, we watched the sun rise on the balcony with coffee then took a bike ride around flagler beach - followed by a really great breakfast - they would basically cook you anything you wanted, so i had pancakes and greek quiche, while matt polished off a 3 meat omelette. when we left, we drove A1A towards ocala and saw the ocean the whole way...
Sunday, July 30, 2006
toast time
matt and i had a great idea last night. watch movies in our room and eat dinner at the same time! so. we lugged the tv in, set that up and went to check the kitchen for our dinner options. we had gone to sam's earlier in the day (for the pool party - it's amazing how much these kids love dr. pepper) and picked up 2 giant loaves of french bread. it is amazing - if you have a sam's membership, don't walk...run to sam's today and pick up some! and if you don't have a membership, get one! the bread is WORTH IT! haha. anyway, our favorite thing is to toast this bread and butter the toast right after. words cannot describe how good this is. so what did we do? brought the toaster into our room and plugged it in next to the bed! matt would keep the pieces coming - we set up plates, softened butter, napkins, the whole works! we toasted our way through 6 rounds of toast. sometimes it got a little hard to hear the movie over the sounds of matt jerking the tab up trying to get the toast to pop out, but it was worth it! the only gross thing (besides making toast next to your bed!) was sleeping on a few crumbs last night...oh, and the worst part! i woke up this morning to find one of our four pillows laying in the butter! we will never have 'toast time' again.
yesterday, we had a youth pool party and then played sand volleyball when i had been squirted with a water gun in the face 78 times. we had a blast with the kids. today we went to the beach after church and bobbed around in the waves for awhile - the water felt really good! not resembling a lukewarm bath like our pool...
packing up for flagler tomorrow, then we'll stay tuesday night in ocala, so i can pick up elisha bright and early wednesday morning for our trip to wilmington! can't wait!
now, to turn in my final paper for school - replacing our 'regent to do' list is a list of 14 fun things to do over the break...i'll let you know as we check them off.
oh. so far:
swim/surf at the beach. check.
go to barnes and noble to read magazines. check.
make toast from bed. (not on the list, but...check.)
yesterday, we had a youth pool party and then played sand volleyball when i had been squirted with a water gun in the face 78 times. we had a blast with the kids. today we went to the beach after church and bobbed around in the waves for awhile - the water felt really good! not resembling a lukewarm bath like our pool...
packing up for flagler tomorrow, then we'll stay tuesday night in ocala, so i can pick up elisha bright and early wednesday morning for our trip to wilmington! can't wait!
now, to turn in my final paper for school - replacing our 'regent to do' list is a list of 14 fun things to do over the break...i'll let you know as we check them off.
oh. so far:
swim/surf at the beach. check.
go to barnes and noble to read magazines. check.
make toast from bed. (not on the list, but...check.)
Thursday, July 27, 2006
today's the last day!
we've been working our tails off lately trying to finish this semester early, and i think it's finally going to happen! i have that 'finals week' feel- still in my pajamas at 3.45 in the afternoon because i've been sitting at this computer working on a paper since this morning. got an early start this morning when elisha called me from a doorframe in her house during an earthquake! a strange, but fun early-morning wakeup. we've also eaten almost a whole box of dunkin' donuts, washed down with their coffee. don't ask me why, but when everything else is in chaos, it always seems so satisfying to ruin my health! haha.
for those of you i haven't told yet, last night tony and rachel announced to the youth that matt and i would be the new youth leaders. we've prayed about this for a long time, and know that this is what we're supposed to be doing now. it's a little scary, of course, but we're really excited about this! more later.
ok. one last mini-paper, then we're d.o.n.e.
for those of you i haven't told yet, last night tony and rachel announced to the youth that matt and i would be the new youth leaders. we've prayed about this for a long time, and know that this is what we're supposed to be doing now. it's a little scary, of course, but we're really excited about this! more later.
ok. one last mini-paper, then we're d.o.n.e.
Wednesday, July 19, 2006
being curious...
has it's consequenses! we were sitting on the couch this morning doing some work when i decided to check our bank balance. i noticed a deduction for the white orchid inn and spa in flagler beach, fl. my first thought was that it had finally happened. the girdens had become identity theft victims. of course, i instantly flipped out and screamed 'WHATT!!!!!???'. well, it seems that i had accidentally stumbled on our 'surprise' anniversary trip that matt had been planning. he had made the reservations the day before hoping that i wouldn't notice the deduction...i just hate ruining surprises. but i guess if you're as curious as i am, it's hard to keep things from me!
back into the swing of things now - had a great time at peter's wedding. it was beautiful to be on the mountain so much. got my first taste of white water rafting...i wedged my foot in the boat so hard i have bruises on my shins now! good times with friends from wheaton. now, the countdown begins to the next wedding...emily and sumanth's!
back into the swing of things now - had a great time at peter's wedding. it was beautiful to be on the mountain so much. got my first taste of white water rafting...i wedged my foot in the boat so hard i have bruises on my shins now! good times with friends from wheaton. now, the countdown begins to the next wedding...emily and sumanth's!
Wednesday, July 12, 2006
from the upstairs room
it's a little funny to be in my ocala house by myself, wandering the rooms and thinking 'really,what did i do all those years i lived here?' i rolled in around 8 after dropping matt off at the airport. i leave at 7 am for a long drive to chatanooga, tn for peter and elizabeth's wedding. i do love driving in the mountains, but oh, the thought of south georgia is making me tired already! it's been a long time since i've driven even more than an hour. matt always drives on our trips, it's one of the things i love about him...of course i do my part - find snacks, cds to play, tell jokes...
finally caught up on sleep after the lock in. we had blast- all the girls brought clothes to exchange, but before that, we had everyone pick out an outfit then walk the 'catwalk' with the music blaring and the lights dimmed. the 'catwalk' was really from the back of the church to the stage. my outfit was a skirt about 7 inches long, and an equally small top. i realized i'm not a teenager years ago, but wow. this really reminded me! i got an idea of just how short my skirt was when one of the girls asked if 'the shorts under the skirt were attached'. there were no 'shorts' under the skirt!
after the catwalk, we did battle of the airbands - my band lost, but i wasn't surprised. there's only so much you can do to queen's bohemian rhaspody (sp?). i ran out of moves in the first minute. at this point it was after midnight, so we started doing girl stuff - painting nails, makeup, coloring hair. after the hair color disaster's i've had this month, i stayed far away even from the fumes!
well, to answer the question, i DID sleep. from 4-5.45 which was wonderful but hardly enough. so after 2 more naps that day i was good to go. i'll need that kind of endurance for the drive tomorrow!
finally caught up on sleep after the lock in. we had blast- all the girls brought clothes to exchange, but before that, we had everyone pick out an outfit then walk the 'catwalk' with the music blaring and the lights dimmed. the 'catwalk' was really from the back of the church to the stage. my outfit was a skirt about 7 inches long, and an equally small top. i realized i'm not a teenager years ago, but wow. this really reminded me! i got an idea of just how short my skirt was when one of the girls asked if 'the shorts under the skirt were attached'. there were no 'shorts' under the skirt!
after the catwalk, we did battle of the airbands - my band lost, but i wasn't surprised. there's only so much you can do to queen's bohemian rhaspody (sp?). i ran out of moves in the first minute. at this point it was after midnight, so we started doing girl stuff - painting nails, makeup, coloring hair. after the hair color disaster's i've had this month, i stayed far away even from the fumes!
well, to answer the question, i DID sleep. from 4-5.45 which was wonderful but hardly enough. so after 2 more naps that day i was good to go. i'll need that kind of endurance for the drive tomorrow!
Sunday, July 09, 2006
done!
'regent weekend' is over. after 13 hours on friday, 12 hours saturday, and 4 hours today, we stopped doing schoolwork. this semester has been our favorite, but the hardest, i think. we're now a little ahead, so we can go to peter's wedding and not have to be holed up in the hotel doing work.
i'm exhausted, but feel relieved. we went to the twistee-cone tonight for ice cream (i'm obsessed with their zebra cones), and played with jack and pal in the back yard. oh yeah, we watched the last game of the world cup - i was glad italy won after zidane's head-butt to that poor man's chest.
i'm trying not to get too relaxed as tomorrow night is the all-girls lock in at the church. we're dying hair, doing makeup, having knitting lessons, playing games, watching movies, making cookies, the list goes on. i just hope the list will go on to say that i get to sleep for a few hours! i'll keep you posted.
oh! good news! the rash has cleared!
i'm exhausted, but feel relieved. we went to the twistee-cone tonight for ice cream (i'm obsessed with their zebra cones), and played with jack and pal in the back yard. oh yeah, we watched the last game of the world cup - i was glad italy won after zidane's head-butt to that poor man's chest.
i'm trying not to get too relaxed as tomorrow night is the all-girls lock in at the church. we're dying hair, doing makeup, having knitting lessons, playing games, watching movies, making cookies, the list goes on. i just hope the list will go on to say that i get to sleep for a few hours! i'll keep you posted.
oh! good news! the rash has cleared!
Thursday, July 06, 2006
reminder of the weekend
the fourth of july weekend was a blast. we rolled in thursday night to have dinner at grandpa's. on friday, we watched world cup soccer in the basement workout room. now that there's a tv in there, it's hard to find any motivation to work out! we spent a lot of time on the lake, skiing and swimming, playing with hunter in the water. it was so good to be back.
todd came in on saturday, and scott and holly arrived on sunday morning. mark, matt, todd, and i got to set up the island in the middle of the lake with candles, flowers and a picnic...that same night scott took holly to the island and proposed! she's an awesome girl, and i'm so excited to have an older sister! they'll be married before the end of the year.
on the fourth of july, we went to cedar point for the day. as you know, i'm not the hugest fan of roller coasters, but this day, i thought it was time to get over my fear and ride a few of the big ones. after the magnum xl, and the top thrill dragster (shoots you at 120 mph 420 feet into the air and back down!) i was feeling a little queasy, and remembered why i didn't like roller coasters in the first place. things hit rock bottom when i was throwing up in the bushes in the afternoon, and little families dressed in red, white and blue were walking by with the kid's screaming 'EEEWWW! DON'T look over there, that lady's throwing up.' maybe one day i'll get over this motion sickness, but 2006 is not the year!
my other reminder of the weekend is a strange rash that developed after swimming in the lake. it covers my entire body with what looks like measles (you can only get them once, right?!), and hasn't gone away in 3 days. i'm giving it until saturday to clear up...
tomorrow we'll be petsitting for tony and rachel, and getting caught up on a lot of school work. we're in week 9 out of 13, so the end is in sight!
todd came in on saturday, and scott and holly arrived on sunday morning. mark, matt, todd, and i got to set up the island in the middle of the lake with candles, flowers and a picnic...that same night scott took holly to the island and proposed! she's an awesome girl, and i'm so excited to have an older sister! they'll be married before the end of the year.
on the fourth of july, we went to cedar point for the day. as you know, i'm not the hugest fan of roller coasters, but this day, i thought it was time to get over my fear and ride a few of the big ones. after the magnum xl, and the top thrill dragster (shoots you at 120 mph 420 feet into the air and back down!) i was feeling a little queasy, and remembered why i didn't like roller coasters in the first place. things hit rock bottom when i was throwing up in the bushes in the afternoon, and little families dressed in red, white and blue were walking by with the kid's screaming 'EEEWWW! DON'T look over there, that lady's throwing up.' maybe one day i'll get over this motion sickness, but 2006 is not the year!
my other reminder of the weekend is a strange rash that developed after swimming in the lake. it covers my entire body with what looks like measles (you can only get them once, right?!), and hasn't gone away in 3 days. i'm giving it until saturday to clear up...
tomorrow we'll be petsitting for tony and rachel, and getting caught up on a lot of school work. we're in week 9 out of 13, so the end is in sight!
Saturday, July 01, 2006
Thursday, June 29, 2006
we're off!
in a few hours matt and i will be in our final pre-trip scramble. then we'll hit the road to orlando, park in our favorite remote parking lot (it's called 'park, bark, and fly' - also features a kennel for your pets to stay- how great is that!), then hop on the plane to ohio.
i love the fourth of july on the lake. swimming with hunter while he retrieves apples out of the water, tubing, knee-boarding (can't you see i'll really be showcasing my talent! ;) having amazing meals on our deck, seeing family and all being together again. and, oh! the fireflies that come out at night makes it seem so magical and calm.
this week has been a frenzy getting ready for the trip - even with so much planning ahead, i find myself still in my pajamas with matt on the porch painting his surfboard! it's turning out really great, in case you were wondering! elisha, thanks for the color suggestions - i think we made the right choice.
ok. now to get some stuff done so we actually CAN leave...
i love the fourth of july on the lake. swimming with hunter while he retrieves apples out of the water, tubing, knee-boarding (can't you see i'll really be showcasing my talent! ;) having amazing meals on our deck, seeing family and all being together again. and, oh! the fireflies that come out at night makes it seem so magical and calm.
this week has been a frenzy getting ready for the trip - even with so much planning ahead, i find myself still in my pajamas with matt on the porch painting his surfboard! it's turning out really great, in case you were wondering! elisha, thanks for the color suggestions - i think we made the right choice.
ok. now to get some stuff done so we actually CAN leave...
Friday, June 23, 2006
turtle watching
elisha's here! i picked her up from the airport in the blazing heat of the day. poor thing - alaska would never feel this hot in a million years of summers. ( i won't get into global warming debates on this ;) We watched the brazil vs. japan game, then went down to the pool. We brought a beach ball to play with in the water, which turned out to be a huge mistake. as it turned out, as soon as we were stepping into the pool, this little girl said, 'can i play with your beach ball?' how can you say no to that?! but then, we found we also couldn't say no to her demands that we play with her. and i do mean demands. she ordered elisha and i around that pool for so long! and if we didn't do something, she would sit on the top step with a pout and declare 'we're just going to sit here until you get in a line!' quite the boss. after being held captive for 45 minutes, she left, and we were free to swim wherever we wanted. oh the freedom!
at 9 pm, we met the exleys at coconut point on A1A. with flashlights and water bottles, we took off down the beach looking for turtle tracks. it was a beautiful night, really starry and a warm breeze off the ocean. and then we saw one! these turtles are amazingly huge. plowing their way back to the ocean after crawling out of the water, digging a hole, and laying 100 eggs! we got to see one turtle laying eggs - by standing behind her, she didn't even know we were there...it was amazing.
in august we'll have to go back to see all the hatchlings making a run for the ocean, because i want to cheer them on - they have such bad odds of making it. so we've found another really fun thing to do in melbourne...i'll post some pictures of it later!
at 9 pm, we met the exleys at coconut point on A1A. with flashlights and water bottles, we took off down the beach looking for turtle tracks. it was a beautiful night, really starry and a warm breeze off the ocean. and then we saw one! these turtles are amazingly huge. plowing their way back to the ocean after crawling out of the water, digging a hole, and laying 100 eggs! we got to see one turtle laying eggs - by standing behind her, she didn't even know we were there...it was amazing.
in august we'll have to go back to see all the hatchlings making a run for the ocean, because i want to cheer them on - they have such bad odds of making it. so we've found another really fun thing to do in melbourne...i'll post some pictures of it later!
Saturday, June 17, 2006
star party and a slow saturday
we went to the star party last night...there were about 8 different telescopes pointing on saturn and jupiter - it was really impressive. the main telescope required climbing a ladder just to get to the eyepiece! when i climbed up, though, i was rewarded with an up-close shot of jupiter and four moons. really cool. before that, i was looking through a small telescope, and all i could see was a blur - so i yelled to matt that it must not be on...he told me later that some dude was standing over the other end, trying to see in the other side! well no wonder...
we're going to carissa's 16th barbeque and beach party in a few hours, but for now, i'm still in my pajamas, drinking tea and taking it easy. there's something so wonderfully quiet about saturday morning.
i was inspired by mark's recent blog, so while we were in ocala yesterday, i picked up several manila envelopes of old letters from wheaton. so i'm drinking tea and reading old letters - stereotypical i know, but i'm having a blast (from the past haha)!
we're going to carissa's 16th barbeque and beach party in a few hours, but for now, i'm still in my pajamas, drinking tea and taking it easy. there's something so wonderfully quiet about saturday morning.
i was inspired by mark's recent blog, so while we were in ocala yesterday, i picked up several manila envelopes of old letters from wheaton. so i'm drinking tea and reading old letters - stereotypical i know, but i'm having a blast (from the past haha)!
Thursday, June 15, 2006
return of the pink sandals
we found a pair of pink sandals like the ones i lost in the intercoastal waterway today! hurrah! we're in ocala today. after youth last night, matt and i took dawnie and savannah on a 'double date' to twistee-cone. we got home at 10.45 and by 10.57 we were packed and on the road to ocala. we're good at this packing thing...
our days this week have been mostly like this. wake up 7.30, watch the 8.55 world cup game while doing regent work. watch the 11.55 world cup game while doing gomissiontrip work, then the 2.55 game...it is taking up quite a bit of our day as you can see! but the next time this event rolls around, i'll be pushing 29 so i thought i should carpe worlde cupe IF you know what i mean!
it's been a nice schedule.
back to melbourne tomorrow. we're going to a 'star' party with telescopes! i'll keep you posted.
our days this week have been mostly like this. wake up 7.30, watch the 8.55 world cup game while doing regent work. watch the 11.55 world cup game while doing gomissiontrip work, then the 2.55 game...it is taking up quite a bit of our day as you can see! but the next time this event rolls around, i'll be pushing 29 so i thought i should carpe worlde cupe IF you know what i mean!
it's been a nice schedule.
back to melbourne tomorrow. we're going to a 'star' party with telescopes! i'll keep you posted.
Friday, June 09, 2006
'locked' and a table for two
we're home. we walked into a sweltering apartment - i guess we'll be thankful when we get the power bill this month, but for the first few hours, we could hardly stand it.
we had a great trip home. when we arrived at the orlando airport we stopped at the macaroni grill in terminal a. i started laughing so hard when matt asked for a 'table for two', because we had a mountain of gear behind us! 2 bookbags, a computer bag, purse, duffel bag, a huge suitcase, matt's hockey bag (i could easily fit inside) and two hockey sticks. we were quite a sight! all of our stuff took up a whole side of the booth and spilled into the aisle. i felt very materialistic at that moment...
on the plane, i tried to silence my phone, and i guess i got distracted by the shrill screaming in my ear from all the kids going to disney, and i accidentally 'locked' my phone. i didn't even know it was possible to 'lock' a phone. it kept asking for my four digit pass-code, and would only let me dial '911' or other 'emergency numbers'. needless to say i tried every four-digit code that would mean anything to me, with no luck. on the drive home we had to stop at a verizon store where they told me to simply enter the last four digits of my phone number. duh. i can't believe i didn't think of that! oh it's good to have my phone back!
we had a great trip home. when we arrived at the orlando airport we stopped at the macaroni grill in terminal a. i started laughing so hard when matt asked for a 'table for two', because we had a mountain of gear behind us! 2 bookbags, a computer bag, purse, duffel bag, a huge suitcase, matt's hockey bag (i could easily fit inside) and two hockey sticks. we were quite a sight! all of our stuff took up a whole side of the booth and spilled into the aisle. i felt very materialistic at that moment...
on the plane, i tried to silence my phone, and i guess i got distracted by the shrill screaming in my ear from all the kids going to disney, and i accidentally 'locked' my phone. i didn't even know it was possible to 'lock' a phone. it kept asking for my four digit pass-code, and would only let me dial '911' or other 'emergency numbers'. needless to say i tried every four-digit code that would mean anything to me, with no luck. on the drive home we had to stop at a verizon store where they told me to simply enter the last four digits of my phone number. duh. i can't believe i didn't think of that! oh it's good to have my phone back!
Thursday, June 08, 2006
marley and me
i just finished marley and me. it should come as no surprise to those that know me that i closed the book and started sobbing. i came upstairs for dinner with bleary eyes and blotchy skin after wailing for 15 minutes. i had to restrain myself from buying a yellow, mis-behaved dog tonight. i knew i would love that book! if you like dogs at all, please read it.
we leave tomorrow, after our 2 week stay in chicago. ella is getting cuter by the day, so i'll post some pictures for you to see.
we're considering buying cable again for the world cup. seeing all the soccer 'greats' sure makes me wish i would have practiced a little harder at ol' forest high school! haha.
we leave tomorrow, after our 2 week stay in chicago. ella is getting cuter by the day, so i'll post some pictures for you to see.
we're considering buying cable again for the world cup. seeing all the soccer 'greats' sure makes me wish i would have practiced a little harder at ol' forest high school! haha.
Sunday, June 04, 2006
ella!
ella delaney girden has arrived! after 14 hours of labor, she came at 22 inches, and for the kicker: 9 pounds 7 ounces. she is such a doll! kaileigh did a wonderful job. we're off to the hospital now to see our niece. pictures later!
Thursday, June 01, 2006
lap 1
while we're waiting for ella to come, matt and i thought we'd get into shape a bit. we decided to take a few laps around his block to ease into it. after 3 minutes of running, we rounded the corner, and out of nowhere, the sidewalk crease caught my shoe. everything slowed way down as i did the pinwheel move in the air. the next thing i knew i was sprawled on the sidewalk. of course i started bawling while matt was caught between laughing and helping me up. when i looked down, i started crying even harder...there was a ruby red, silver dollar sized spot on my knee where the sidewalk had scraped the first two layers of skin off. did anyone else see? oh yes. several families were out in their yards, kids riding down the sidewalk. (i'm now jealous of their gracefulness!) it seems like such an elementary school injury to have. a scraped knee (and hands) from a spill on the sidewalk. and it somehow doesn't match my almost-25 year old body. needless to say my plans for getting in shape have taken the back burner once again.
Thursday, May 25, 2006
The DMV
just got back from the driver's license bureau. it feels so so good to be a florida resident again! i got a new picture that was strangely fuzzy, and poor matt, all he got was an 8x11 piece of paper that is his 'temporary' license until his real one comes in a month from the capital. i guess down here in brevard county they don't trust canadians!
we've had this pending for months now, but once you start, you have to switch everything, so we've been putting it off...we're switching car insurance, car registration, title, and tags tomorrow, then health insurance. like i said, it starts to get overwhelming, but since we've lived here since october, it's time...
we've had this pending for months now, but once you start, you have to switch everything, so we've been putting it off...we're switching car insurance, car registration, title, and tags tomorrow, then health insurance. like i said, it starts to get overwhelming, but since we've lived here since october, it's time...
Friday, May 19, 2006
petsitting again
we're at tony and rachel's again, and sad to say jack has already taken a bite out of my leg. it would seem that he doesn't like his tail stepped on...of course i burst into tears from the shock.
matt's making perogies right now. we just finished a corporate finance exam that took me at least 10 hours. whew. i'm so glad that's over! yesterday i got a huge box of hot tamales and started snacking on them during my test. i started feeling a little sick in my stomach and realized i had eaten over half the box without even realizing it! gross.
matt's dad is coming tomorrow, so we're hitting the golf course. i should be an interesting combo - i'm not sure my game is up to par. haha.
i'm tired out, will write more later.
matt's making perogies right now. we just finished a corporate finance exam that took me at least 10 hours. whew. i'm so glad that's over! yesterday i got a huge box of hot tamales and started snacking on them during my test. i started feeling a little sick in my stomach and realized i had eaten over half the box without even realizing it! gross.
matt's dad is coming tomorrow, so we're hitting the golf course. i should be an interesting combo - i'm not sure my game is up to par. haha.
i'm tired out, will write more later.
Monday, May 15, 2006
weddings, wild waters, and what a weekend!
we've been in ocala for the weekend. pulled in saturday afternoon in time for heather's wedding. it was really beautiful. the perfect early summer evening...my favorite part was the 'wedding walk' - a candle and lantern-lit walkway through the rose garden, around the pool and into the tent. after the wedding, sumanth and emily came over to play 'apples to apples'. oh i love that game!
mark gave matt and i an early 2nd anniversary gift - a day at wild waters - ocala's very own water park! there is something so fun about running around barefoot in your bathing suit from ride to ride. i forgot that i was 24...we went down the 'silver bullet' a 220 foot slide straight down. i was going so fast that when i hit the pool my top came up to my armpits. thankfully the water was swirling so much i had time to fix it.
today it's back to school and work, but nice to be in ocala - sometimes a change of pace is just what you need.
mark gave matt and i an early 2nd anniversary gift - a day at wild waters - ocala's very own water park! there is something so fun about running around barefoot in your bathing suit from ride to ride. i forgot that i was 24...we went down the 'silver bullet' a 220 foot slide straight down. i was going so fast that when i hit the pool my top came up to my armpits. thankfully the water was swirling so much i had time to fix it.
today it's back to school and work, but nice to be in ocala - sometimes a change of pace is just what you need.
Saturday, May 13, 2006
friday nights aren't what they used to be...
i realized this at 11.45 last night when matt and i were still working on a paper due today. school is definitely not what it used to be either...since when do we have a major paper due on the first week?! aren't we supposed to go around the class and share about our summer's first? we made the most of the night though - went to our little workout room at the clubhouse at 9 for a break, then went for a night swim - it was the most beautiful night, so beautiful in fact that i wanted to sleep in the pool. of course the morning would be rough, waking up all wrinkly with the sun baking us. so we slept in our dry, air conditioned apartment instead.
i love being out of college for a lot of reasons, but i realized last night that i don't miss the pressure to do something awesome on friday night. i don't know how friday got set aside as 'do something cool at night, or you're pathetic' night. why not tuesday? there were too many friday nights that i'd find myself at dinner at 7.50 and realize 'something cool' was not in the cards for that night! it's nice that in real life, friday is a night just like saturday and monday.
so when i say 'friday nights aren't what they used to be', i'm just kidding. they are a lot like they used to be, but now i have the perspective to enjoy them for what they are....
i love being out of college for a lot of reasons, but i realized last night that i don't miss the pressure to do something awesome on friday night. i don't know how friday got set aside as 'do something cool at night, or you're pathetic' night. why not tuesday? there were too many friday nights that i'd find myself at dinner at 7.50 and realize 'something cool' was not in the cards for that night! it's nice that in real life, friday is a night just like saturday and monday.
so when i say 'friday nights aren't what they used to be', i'm just kidding. they are a lot like they used to be, but now i have the perspective to enjoy them for what they are....
Wednesday, May 10, 2006
in the swing of things
something about taking classes in the summer just feels wrong! the hardest part of is planning our time. working from home can be so flexible and fun, but some days it's overwhelming to realize all the things we have to do and when to do them?
our new plan for summer 2006. wake up early, start working on regent by 7.30 for 3 hours, then start work until the late afternoon. after that...free time to work out, have youth group, and do whatever we want. so far, we've done our plan one time. today, actually! and i'm happy to report, so far...so good!
tonight we have a going away party for elizabeth, one of the student leaders. she's grown up in the church and is moving to virginia for a job...we'll miss her even though we haven't known her that long. she's one of the few people our age that we know!
we discovered that our apartment complex has a gym! who knew? we sure didn't for the first 6 months living here! we started to get suspicious when we noticed so many fit bodies walking around...where were they working out? right under our noses all this time! we found the mini-gym in the clubhouse, so we got a key and went last night. i'll be honest here and tell you that the real motivation was the tv in the corner of the room and the chance to watch the season finale of gilmore girls. ouch - not what i was expecting! but i won't give it away if you didn't see it...
our new plan for summer 2006. wake up early, start working on regent by 7.30 for 3 hours, then start work until the late afternoon. after that...free time to work out, have youth group, and do whatever we want. so far, we've done our plan one time. today, actually! and i'm happy to report, so far...so good!
tonight we have a going away party for elizabeth, one of the student leaders. she's grown up in the church and is moving to virginia for a job...we'll miss her even though we haven't known her that long. she's one of the few people our age that we know!
we discovered that our apartment complex has a gym! who knew? we sure didn't for the first 6 months living here! we started to get suspicious when we noticed so many fit bodies walking around...where were they working out? right under our noses all this time! we found the mini-gym in the clubhouse, so we got a key and went last night. i'll be honest here and tell you that the real motivation was the tv in the corner of the room and the chance to watch the season finale of gilmore girls. ouch - not what i was expecting! but i won't give it away if you didn't see it...
Saturday, May 06, 2006
my favorite time of day
the sun is low and it's right before dinner time...don't ask me why that is my favorite time! haha. it's been a really busy day, but i knew it would be - our last weekend before classes start again. we helped our friends matthew and elisa pack up for their move to minnesota this morning. oh my it was a scorcher! i've never been so tempted to jump into knee deep moldy water (the community pool under contruction) in my life! they took us out for lunch before they hit the road...i got a chili dog and onion rings and my stomach is still reeling.
we've been cleaning the bathroom this afternoon. my thoughts on cleaning are that as long as it looks clean, then no need to really bring out the chemicals. once in awhile though, i reach a point where i know 'it's time', and then we go crazy, spraying, scrubbing, really cleaning. the rest of the time i just tidy up and put things away and think of how good 'cheating' feels. after today though, i'm wondering if it would be less work to keep things clean all along rather than wait until i have to wear sandals in the shower to keep my feet off the skuzzy tile. we'll see...
mark's coming in a few hours for the weekend, so we'll probably make calzones and watch movies tonight. tomorrow is 'youth sunday', the youth do the announcements, worship, usher, everything. matt is teaching, so i'm sure i'll like the message tomorrow! the kids are really excited to be running the show. it should be really fun.
tomorrow todd graduates. the lanker's time at wheaton is ending after 8 years of being there. i'm excited for his move to kansas city this fall...i swear i was just sweating in those bleachers two seconds ago.
we've been cleaning the bathroom this afternoon. my thoughts on cleaning are that as long as it looks clean, then no need to really bring out the chemicals. once in awhile though, i reach a point where i know 'it's time', and then we go crazy, spraying, scrubbing, really cleaning. the rest of the time i just tidy up and put things away and think of how good 'cheating' feels. after today though, i'm wondering if it would be less work to keep things clean all along rather than wait until i have to wear sandals in the shower to keep my feet off the skuzzy tile. we'll see...
mark's coming in a few hours for the weekend, so we'll probably make calzones and watch movies tonight. tomorrow is 'youth sunday', the youth do the announcements, worship, usher, everything. matt is teaching, so i'm sure i'll like the message tomorrow! the kids are really excited to be running the show. it should be really fun.
tomorrow todd graduates. the lanker's time at wheaton is ending after 8 years of being there. i'm excited for his move to kansas city this fall...i swear i was just sweating in those bleachers two seconds ago.
Thursday, May 04, 2006
Tea in the morning...
i woke up with a dilemma. do i have english breakfast tea with sugar and milk or coffee with my new 'coconut creme' creamer? if you haven't tried it by the way...try it! it is so very good.
pros of tea - it's quick, throw the bag in the giant blue mug i got in seattle, add water (and cream and sugar!), and viola! something nice to sip during the morning. pros of coffee - a nice jolt in the morning so i'm not walking around in a half-daze for several hours, and did i mention the coconut creamer?! but...cons of coffee - matt doesn't drink it, so i always make about 4 cups and find myself pouring it out all morning! not wanting to make myself entirely dependent on it, i took a bold step and made tea.
it was a good choice.
pros of tea - it's quick, throw the bag in the giant blue mug i got in seattle, add water (and cream and sugar!), and viola! something nice to sip during the morning. pros of coffee - a nice jolt in the morning so i'm not walking around in a half-daze for several hours, and did i mention the coconut creamer?! but...cons of coffee - matt doesn't drink it, so i always make about 4 cups and find myself pouring it out all morning! not wanting to make myself entirely dependent on it, i took a bold step and made tea.
it was a good choice.
Monday, May 01, 2006
sitting easy
i've been on the edge of my seat for 2 days now. no, i'm not excited about anything; i'm just in pain! everyone knows that just because you can't see the sun doesn't mean your skin isn't burning - i don't know why i always ignore this wisdom and go with my thinking 'how could i possibly get burned today?' the backs of my legs are just fried from the youth beach day. and the saddest part: it wasn't warm enough to swim, so i stayed in jean shorts and laid on my stomach on the blanket most of the day - creating a definite line in the middle of the leg- one half purple, the other half cream-colored!
outside of this small inconvenience, we had a great weekend. had matthew and elisa over several times (their apartment is being packed up right now) watched movies, played games, made calzones. yesterday i got to take a nap for over 2 hours. it was wonderful! read magazines at barnes and noble on the kid's stage area...i always feel bad when we try to read there. Last night, a sweet little kid was flipping through a book by the stage. She looked up and ran away after seeing us coming. hey! we like reading on the stage too! there's room enough for all of us!
a quiet night. matt's working on the website, so i think i'll go to target - the perfect place to go when you're not quite sure what you're looking for....but i'm sure i'll find it!
outside of this small inconvenience, we had a great weekend. had matthew and elisa over several times (their apartment is being packed up right now) watched movies, played games, made calzones. yesterday i got to take a nap for over 2 hours. it was wonderful! read magazines at barnes and noble on the kid's stage area...i always feel bad when we try to read there. Last night, a sweet little kid was flipping through a book by the stage. She looked up and ran away after seeing us coming. hey! we like reading on the stage too! there's room enough for all of us!
a quiet night. matt's working on the website, so i think i'll go to target - the perfect place to go when you're not quite sure what you're looking for....but i'm sure i'll find it!
Friday, April 28, 2006
thirsty thursday
yesterday was the perfect spring day. after work, we went on a jog...it was so hot out that i was just SURE i was going to get heat stroke. i didn't, so when we got back, we threw on our suits and jumped in the pool. oh, it was heaven!
i made spinach artichoke dip for a little snack. from a 'real simple' recipe - which turned out alright...i was expecting more like tgi. fridays. mmm. it wasn't quite the same.
the l.a. dodgers have a farm team that plays in vero beach - about 45 minutes away, so matt and i hopped in the car and went down to see a game last night. it was the baseball ideal. no crowds, a small stadium with freckle faced kids running around with snow cones and huge plates of nachos. the sun was just setting, and it was the most beautiful, cloudless day. i forgot to mention our real reason for being there! it was 'thirsty thursday', meaning all hot dogs and drinks were $1. matt ate 4 hot dogs in less than an hour! it was a really fun, just being outside and watching people.
we stayed up too late last night listening to old music on itunes. we would take turns playing clips and laughing hysterically that we still remember bands like savage garden and eagle eye cherry.
we switched the living room around this morning, the couch now faces the porch directly, which makes going into the living room a little difficult - it's now a one way streetwith no way out, so it might not last, but i love the feeling of little changes like that. haha, when we moved the couch, i found about 20 multi-colored nerds in the carpet. just when you think you can brush things under the couch and forget about them....!
i made spinach artichoke dip for a little snack. from a 'real simple' recipe - which turned out alright...i was expecting more like tgi. fridays. mmm. it wasn't quite the same.
the l.a. dodgers have a farm team that plays in vero beach - about 45 minutes away, so matt and i hopped in the car and went down to see a game last night. it was the baseball ideal. no crowds, a small stadium with freckle faced kids running around with snow cones and huge plates of nachos. the sun was just setting, and it was the most beautiful, cloudless day. i forgot to mention our real reason for being there! it was 'thirsty thursday', meaning all hot dogs and drinks were $1. matt ate 4 hot dogs in less than an hour! it was a really fun, just being outside and watching people.
we stayed up too late last night listening to old music on itunes. we would take turns playing clips and laughing hysterically that we still remember bands like savage garden and eagle eye cherry.
we switched the living room around this morning, the couch now faces the porch directly, which makes going into the living room a little difficult - it's now a one way streetwith no way out, so it might not last, but i love the feeling of little changes like that. haha, when we moved the couch, i found about 20 multi-colored nerds in the carpet. just when you think you can brush things under the couch and forget about them....!
Tuesday, April 25, 2006
my first attempt at surfing
today was the perfect beach day, 87 degrees and clear. matt and i decided to swim for a bit, then he hoisted me up on the surfboard when a wave was coming for us. with almost no effort the wave caught the board, and shot me toward the shore. i never stood up, it was more like being on a body board, but going much faster. much much faster. suddenly, the water ended, the board stopped, but i kept going. i slid off the front of the board and scraped across the sand in 2 inches of water. it was so embarrassing when the water receeded and i was beeched on the beach in front of a couple that were just trying to enjoy the view! there was an unbelievable amount of sand in my bathing suit, and my legs got very scraped up from the sand and shells, but i guess my first try could have been worse. i don't know how, but it probably could have...i'll keep you posted on my surfing progess. if i ever try again!
Monday, April 24, 2006
a sweet weekend
during the week, it's nice to have the evenings free, but i had a feeling that we would really KNOW we were on break during the weekends. it's been so fun! friday night we stopped by a concert that some of our youth kids were at - ok, i admit it was mostly for the free food. the strangest food to serve at a high school concert i might add. i don't know who's idea it was to serve homemade clam chowder, seared tuna with pickled ginger, and caesar salad with fresh parmesean cheese...very strange combo on paper plates and kids running around everywhere on their cell phones. it's times like these that i'm glad matt and i still look so young, we blended right into the food lines!
saturday morning we woke up with nothing to do which was an awesome feeling. we made egos and watched 'grey's anatomy'. since the regent break started, we've been sleeping on our mattress in the living room - it feels like we're camping out all the time. plus it's under the fan, which is a must at night. we read at barnes and nobles in the afternoon...actually, matt read, while i passed out in a chair for 20 minutes...strange to wake up with people walking by, and makes me wish i didn't sleep with my mouth open! we stopped by the melbourne art festival downtown, saw some great photography, and some even funnier people. why do people put their kids on a leash in public places? i'll say it now, that's something i'll never do.
we woke up this morning sore after playing dodgeball after church for 3 hours. i've never loved that game, and yesterday confirmed it when i tripped over a ball thrown at my feet and did the sideways splits in front of everyone. i slid down so far that i couldn't get up on my own! but did i really expect to play dodgeball for 3 hours and not have an 'incident'?
saturday morning we woke up with nothing to do which was an awesome feeling. we made egos and watched 'grey's anatomy'. since the regent break started, we've been sleeping on our mattress in the living room - it feels like we're camping out all the time. plus it's under the fan, which is a must at night. we read at barnes and nobles in the afternoon...actually, matt read, while i passed out in a chair for 20 minutes...strange to wake up with people walking by, and makes me wish i didn't sleep with my mouth open! we stopped by the melbourne art festival downtown, saw some great photography, and some even funnier people. why do people put their kids on a leash in public places? i'll say it now, that's something i'll never do.
we woke up this morning sore after playing dodgeball after church for 3 hours. i've never loved that game, and yesterday confirmed it when i tripped over a ball thrown at my feet and did the sideways splits in front of everyone. i slid down so far that i couldn't get up on my own! but did i really expect to play dodgeball for 3 hours and not have an 'incident'?
Thursday, April 20, 2006
back in the saddle...
it's not even a question anymore. we have to run the a/c to get through the day. the past few months, we would leave the windows open, turn on the ceiling fan and enjoy the afternoon breeze. there doesn't seem to be an 'afternoon breeze' anymore. i started to wonder why i was getting so irritable in the afternoon, then i realized the backs of my knees were soaked with sweat, and it was so muggy i wondered if i could still breathe! yesterday, we got back from ocala and my first move was to turn on the a/c...it's been glorious!
we had a great time in ocala. mark made a 9 hole golf course in our yard, so we played through several times. i spent an afternoon with my mom, having chicken salad and chocolate cake for lunch, then spending 2 hours trying to get my eyebrows waxed...not that they really need it, but it makes my whole face feel neat - i can't really describe it, but i love having it done. when we finally found someone to wax them, she pulled a uv light over my face and declared that i was getting melanoma. mmm. a diagnosis AND waxing for $10 - what a deal!
we had a great time at youth last night - got groceries afterwords. for future reference 11.30 at night is not the best time to shop for groceries. matt and i got to the checkout and wondered 'what in the world did we even get?' our cart was filled with snacks and funny impulses...this might not be the most balanced eating week.
this break is wonderful. i love having time to read without guilt and going swimming in the apartment pool. that might be on the agenda for the afternoon...
we had a great time in ocala. mark made a 9 hole golf course in our yard, so we played through several times. i spent an afternoon with my mom, having chicken salad and chocolate cake for lunch, then spending 2 hours trying to get my eyebrows waxed...not that they really need it, but it makes my whole face feel neat - i can't really describe it, but i love having it done. when we finally found someone to wax them, she pulled a uv light over my face and declared that i was getting melanoma. mmm. a diagnosis AND waxing for $10 - what a deal!
we had a great time at youth last night - got groceries afterwords. for future reference 11.30 at night is not the best time to shop for groceries. matt and i got to the checkout and wondered 'what in the world did we even get?' our cart was filled with snacks and funny impulses...this might not be the most balanced eating week.
this break is wonderful. i love having time to read without guilt and going swimming in the apartment pool. that might be on the agenda for the afternoon...
Saturday, April 15, 2006
matt and me at sun cruz casino
they don't let you take pictures inside the boat, so you'll just have to picture what it's like in there...oh, it's a little blurry, because we took the picture into the window reflection.
red the cat...
...who accidentally bit me this week. i guess rubbing it's stomach wasn't the best move!
something i thought i'd never do
well, there are a lot of things i thought i would never do, but one of them moved from 'never do' to 'done!' today. matt and i with our friends matthew and elisa climbed aboard a cruise ship for the day. not just any cruise ship though. a sun cruz casino ship. normally sitting in dark, smokey, constantly swaying casino room with all the calmness of a video arcade would freak me out, but for some reason, it sounded fun today - like the perfect thing to do. and so we did. i guess i should have known, but we lost ten bucks on the slot machines (the machine was 'wild cherry' if you must know). the house always wins, but there were some people on the boat that don't believe that saying right now. we just wish we would have been one of them!
it was a beautiful day outside, warm, breezy, so we spent a lot of time on the deck in the sun. coming in to dock (5 hours later), we saw a team? herd? flock? of dolphins swimming beside the ship - it made my day.
so we're done with the semester! four down and 3 to go. after working 10 solid hours on thursday, we finished our last paper and said hello to a three week break! to celebrate, we went to sebastian on friday afternoon to walk along the rocks and out on the pier. supposedly this is where the manatees come and let you swim with them, but the tide was so low that we walked clear out into the swimming area and it only came up to our knees.
tomorrow we're going to a sunrise service on the beach, then heading up to ocala for a few days. i can't wait to go home for a bit of a break. oh i'll post some pictures of some recent things...
Thursday, April 13, 2006
a slow start
these overcast mornings make it a bit hard to get started...after youth last night, we had some guys over here for snacks and a movie. they brought a 'california pizza kitchen' frozen pizza over - i have to admit, it was better than i was expecting. i didn't last for the movie. after watching so many tv show series lately, my attention span is not what it used to be. after 40 minutes, i'm ready for a change! they were here really late, so we slept in a bit.
matt's mom sent us coffee from her trip to hawaii, so that was my first thought when i woke up. i'm now sitting in the sunroom here, drinking coffee, still in my pj's (such a struggle when you work from home!) and thinking about the day. today, we're turning in two final papers for one class, and in matt's words 'Lord willing', we'll finish our last paper today!
oh, as soon as we go home again, i'll be able to get an attachment to our camera so i can upload some pictures i took at youth last night. there are some cute kids in that group.
our ipod is fixed and working like a charm! matt and i go on jogs in the afternoon with it. we tried to share yesterday (one headphone for each person) but i think there are some things that shouldn't be shared! both of our heads were tilted toward each other, our elbows kept hitting, and if someone stepped to the side, it would yank the earpiece out of our ear. now we just take turns - 2 songs on, 2 songs off.
matt's mom sent us coffee from her trip to hawaii, so that was my first thought when i woke up. i'm now sitting in the sunroom here, drinking coffee, still in my pj's (such a struggle when you work from home!) and thinking about the day. today, we're turning in two final papers for one class, and in matt's words 'Lord willing', we'll finish our last paper today!
oh, as soon as we go home again, i'll be able to get an attachment to our camera so i can upload some pictures i took at youth last night. there are some cute kids in that group.
our ipod is fixed and working like a charm! matt and i go on jogs in the afternoon with it. we tried to share yesterday (one headphone for each person) but i think there are some things that shouldn't be shared! both of our heads were tilted toward each other, our elbows kept hitting, and if someone stepped to the side, it would yank the earpiece out of our ear. now we just take turns - 2 songs on, 2 songs off.
Monday, April 10, 2006
jack and pal and red
matt and i are housesitting for tony and rachel this week. they have two dogs, jack and pal (who are father and son) and a cat named red. jack and pal had their first major brawl this afternoon in the yard over a raquetball. we're having a blast with the animals and it's so quiet here, so it's nice for work - one paper to go before the semester is over!
we're making minestrone soup with sausage right now for dinner. i think its going to be a night in since i've had my pj pants on since 6.00...
we're making minestrone soup with sausage right now for dinner. i think its going to be a night in since i've had my pj pants on since 6.00...
Saturday, April 08, 2006
no shirt, no shoes, no service...
yesterday was beautiful. about 80 degrees and just perfect for being outside. matt and i went swimming in our neighborhood pool in the afternoon, then decided to have a picnic outside. we found the perfect spot - a pier that extends into the intercoastal waterway. we sat down and started eating bread, hummus, cheese, and crackers and watched the sun go down over the water. my shoes were off, and the wind was blowing fairly strong. a perfect moment! all of the sudden, i saw my beloved pink sandal roll off the dock and fall into the water!
the current was so strong that my sandal bobbed out of reach within seconds. i ran down the dock with one shoe and asked one of the fisherman to please fish my sandal out. he was very willing to try 'once i take the shrimp off the hook'....after several casts and an awkward silence, my sandal had floated so far out that we couldn't recover it.
mmm. so i went barefoot the rest of the night. to wendy's for frostys. to firedweller. to t.g.i.fridays afterwords with the firedweller group. one thing i will say about that place - the floors are very sticky. not to mention it's so dark in there that i couldn't see what was on the floor. when i washed my feet in the tub later that night the water turned instantly dark. gross.
so goodbye little pink sandal...
the current was so strong that my sandal bobbed out of reach within seconds. i ran down the dock with one shoe and asked one of the fisherman to please fish my sandal out. he was very willing to try 'once i take the shrimp off the hook'....after several casts and an awkward silence, my sandal had floated so far out that we couldn't recover it.
mmm. so i went barefoot the rest of the night. to wendy's for frostys. to firedweller. to t.g.i.fridays afterwords with the firedweller group. one thing i will say about that place - the floors are very sticky. not to mention it's so dark in there that i couldn't see what was on the floor. when i washed my feet in the tub later that night the water turned instantly dark. gross.
so goodbye little pink sandal...
Wednesday, April 05, 2006
the other night...
we made dirt pudding this weekend. it's one of matt's favorite desserts, and we had a whole bag of oreos in the cupboard. we were invited over to tony and rachel's (our youth pastors) to watch the final 'march madness' game and i thought 'oh! i'll bring the dirt pudding!!'. i put it on the floor of the car in front of my seat, and started reading a magazine with my bare feet sitting indian-style on the seat. when we pulled up to the house, i completely forgot about the dirt pudding - put my feet down to find my sandals on the floor and stuck my entire right foot into the dessert.
i couldn't stop laughing as i poured water over my foot in their driveway, trying to remove the evidence (not that you wouldn't notice a foot-shaped mark in the dessert!). we arrived at the door in hysterics and feeling very sheepish. to top it off, while we were explaining what happened their dog ran up to me and started licking the remains of the dessert off of my feet!
i smoothed it over, scooped out my toe marks, and we all had a piece, leaving the question in all of our minds, 'how much dirt is in this dirt pudding anyway?'
i couldn't stop laughing as i poured water over my foot in their driveway, trying to remove the evidence (not that you wouldn't notice a foot-shaped mark in the dessert!). we arrived at the door in hysterics and feeling very sheepish. to top it off, while we were explaining what happened their dog ran up to me and started licking the remains of the dessert off of my feet!
i smoothed it over, scooped out my toe marks, and we all had a piece, leaving the question in all of our minds, 'how much dirt is in this dirt pudding anyway?'
Monday, April 03, 2006
Broke, Broke, Broke.
mmm. why is nothing working lately? it all started with my dear cell phone. can't hold a charge to save it's life. i get 5 minutes of freedom with it - otherwise it has to be plugged into the wall. which means i have to stand next to the wall. it reminds me of time-outs in elementary school.
on top of the cell phone, matt took a surf board to the beach the other day, and on the first wave in...split in half. whoops. the worst part is that it was a borrowed board. so we need to get that fixed...
next up, the ipod. we finally got an ipod. it was going to be our 'dream machine'. and it can't hold a charge! all we see is a blank screen - so it's going back to apple a.s.a.p. for repairs.
the battery on matt's computer went out last week as well. now he's plugged into the wall to. sometimes when he's on the computer and i'm on the phone, we're on the same wall ;)
and last night the dvd drive broke on his laptop. makes a whirring noise then complete silence.
this was the last straw. we went to best buy this afternoon and bought a tv/dvd player (thanks emily and sumanth!) it is just glorious to have a piece of technology that works!
on top of the cell phone, matt took a surf board to the beach the other day, and on the first wave in...split in half. whoops. the worst part is that it was a borrowed board. so we need to get that fixed...
next up, the ipod. we finally got an ipod. it was going to be our 'dream machine'. and it can't hold a charge! all we see is a blank screen - so it's going back to apple a.s.a.p. for repairs.
the battery on matt's computer went out last week as well. now he's plugged into the wall to. sometimes when he's on the computer and i'm on the phone, we're on the same wall ;)
and last night the dvd drive broke on his laptop. makes a whirring noise then complete silence.
this was the last straw. we went to best buy this afternoon and bought a tv/dvd player (thanks emily and sumanth!) it is just glorious to have a piece of technology that works!
Saturday, April 01, 2006
the sorrow may last for a night...
oh and it did.
i'm feeling the full force of staying up all night with 30 middle and high schoolers last night. the last time i stayed up all night? it must have been in the 90's.
the lock-in kicked off at 9 pm. thankfully, we weren't completely 'locked in' - we spent the first 5 hours playing soccer outside, i stopped every 20 minutes or so to escort an injured player off the field. finding out very quickly that high school boys and junior high girls aren't the ideal mix for sports. after a bloody nose, loss of air, several kicks to the face, and about 20 face plants in the ground, we decided soccer was done for the night.
'underground church' was the next event. the 'christians' hid from the 'romans' until they were found and sent to jail. i sat on a huge couch and watched the jailbirds. at our most ragged point, i escaped into a girls bathroom to do a peel off facial mask - it had the consistency of elmer's glue, smelled like pinapple, and worked like a charm!
as the night/morning wore on, we started to realize something: no yawns, no sleepy eyes, no one eying their pillow or blankets. well, i shouldn't say 'no one'. there were two girdens that were doing all of the above.
now we're home. one of my favorite things in this life is happening in t minus 6 hours. daylight savings is the highlight of my spring.
i'm feeling the full force of staying up all night with 30 middle and high schoolers last night. the last time i stayed up all night? it must have been in the 90's.
the lock-in kicked off at 9 pm. thankfully, we weren't completely 'locked in' - we spent the first 5 hours playing soccer outside, i stopped every 20 minutes or so to escort an injured player off the field. finding out very quickly that high school boys and junior high girls aren't the ideal mix for sports. after a bloody nose, loss of air, several kicks to the face, and about 20 face plants in the ground, we decided soccer was done for the night.
'underground church' was the next event. the 'christians' hid from the 'romans' until they were found and sent to jail. i sat on a huge couch and watched the jailbirds. at our most ragged point, i escaped into a girls bathroom to do a peel off facial mask - it had the consistency of elmer's glue, smelled like pinapple, and worked like a charm!
as the night/morning wore on, we started to realize something: no yawns, no sleepy eyes, no one eying their pillow or blankets. well, i shouldn't say 'no one'. there were two girdens that were doing all of the above.
now we're home. one of my favorite things in this life is happening in t minus 6 hours. daylight savings is the highlight of my spring.
Wednesday, March 29, 2006
The Secret Blog of Jodi Girden
I read a book last month called the Secret Blog of Raisin Rodrigez. It was recommended reading for young adults, which translates - Jodi would love it. Raisin Rodrigez moved to a new town and started a secret blog to keep in touch with her friends back home. Raisin only gave the address to a few of her friends, but...enter the drama, THE WHOLE SCHOOL FOUND OUT and her life was ruined. But in a Mean Girls sort of way, everyone ends up ok with this, don't ask me how. With that in mind, I'm going to give this a whirl. I've thought about it several times, but never got up the courage or want-to.
Driving over the intercoastal waterway with emily yesterday we started talking about blogs, and she said 'jodi, if you had a blog, I would read it' So there we have it. That gave me the courage to start typing. This may be a flash in the pan, but then only a few people would know anyway.
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