I have a cold

So, my sister says I should blog like I e-mail. I like that idea. Except that my sis and I can e-mail a lot about nothing and I don't think I can have a blog about nothing. It would then have to be at least as entertaining as Seinfeld - and if I were that talented, well then I probably wouldn't be working in the field of supply management.

Today I am sick. I sound like a man. It's very attractive. Especially when paired with a red nose and washed out features.

I am going through cough drops like they are candy. They are strawberry. I am pretty sure they only say strawberry because they are pink - because no strawberry I have ever tasted comes close to this. My sister and I are having a debate whether you should record the calories in a cough drop if you are counting calories. I say yes. She says no. I actually don't think you should have to count calories of things that you are forced to eat. But in the spirit of legalism - they are 15 calories a piece. Lame. The whole bag is like the same amount of calories as a Snickers bar. So unfortunate.

I am also using the Puffs with Vicks Kleenex. This is not your ordinary kleenex - it is infused with menthol and has changed my life - or at least the part of my life that is impacted by the brand of kleenex I use. Seriously. If you have not tried these kleenex, run, do not walk, to your nearest drug store. Three people in my life have purchased this kleenex as a result of me talking about it. Kleenex evangelism people. It works. I just read a news story about a family in Australia who's pet python ate their chihuahua. So sad. Except that, you would think that a family owning a python would avoid having small furry animals around. That's like if I owned both a frog and a fly farm. Much too tempting for the frog.

And with that - my blog has perhaps reached a low point.

Subway

Um. Is anyone else annoyed that everytime they walk into Subway they are confronted with a lifesize cardboard cutout of Jared holding up a giant pair of jeans?

This is their latest in-store ad campaign and I find it a bit sub par (I couldn't resist a bad pun).

I mean, everytime I go in - I initially think Jared is a real man, smiling and holding up his pants for the world to see, and I get scared for a half second.

Then I realize Jared is just made of cardboard and he is simply trying to share just how big his pants were before Subway came into his life. Big sigh of relief.

I am all about motivational weight loss tools...but I think they should get one of those mirrors that makes you look like 20 pounds lighter. And then they could say how eating Subway will help you lose 20 pounds. And the mirror could talk to you and tell you how ridiculously good looking you would be if you ordered the turkey sub with no cheese and light mayo. Just a thought.

Also, if they got rid of the flimsy carboard Jared you wouldn't have to worry about accidently knocking him over with your giant purse as you are digging around for your wallet. Yeah, that was embarassing.

Oh Piper.

I am not much of a spiritual blogger, however - I like to quote spiritual bloggers - such as Johnny P - a.k.a John Piper.

Quotes from 'The Office' are to humor; as John Piper sermons are to my spiritual life - soo many places where they seem to fit perfectly.

Today he had a great article on alcohol found at http://www.desiringgod.org/.

At first I thought it sounded kind of harsh and maybe a little legalistic but as I read, he really gave some great points and probably the most convincing point I have heard about why we should think about abstaining:

"In general, drinking alcoholic beverages does not increase one's sensitivity to
the will of God. On the contrary, it weakens the intensity of our desire to be
holy as God is holy. Therefore, I feel no need whatsoever to make wine or beer
or any other alcoholic beverage part of my diet. It contradicts and threatens
what I value most."

Certainly following Jesus is not about rules. But if we feel something weakens our desire for holiness - it certainly begs consideration as to how much, if at all, we should engage in certain activities. Mmm.

And thus concludes my spiritual entry for the day.

I must now go empty the flask I keep in my purse. Kidding!

Sisters

Joy of all joys. My sister has started a blog.

http://www.1000hillsranch.blogspot.com/

My sister lives on a ranch in Nebraska and has the cutest kids in all the land, Clay and Crew.

I am hoping she will update her blog because my sister is full of wit and humor. Actually our dad is always saying stuff like: "Isn't your sister funny?" "Beth's soo funny," etc., etc.

But, I don't feel too bad because he contantly tells me that I have beautiful handwriting - arguably the best in the whole family. Handwriting is just as enviable as wit.


To give you a visual of my sis - here you go.

She is the one who looks much more comfortable holding a child in her arms.

Please note the John Deere tractor and barn in the background. Also, you can't see it but we are wearing our matching girl cowboy boots. They are really cute.

Now - just to give a little sample of my sister's writing here is a funny blurb from an e-mail she wrote me last week:

"We are recording how well clay is doing without pullups by putting
stickers on a calendar. I am such a bad mom though.... the stickers are
pathetic. They are ripped in half free address labels. Today we even used a old
stamp ripped off a letter. So sad."

Ah. I love that story. A flashy sticker does not a good mother make. I think I have a sticker book from the 80s and all I have in it are the stickers you got for free of off bananas. Ghetto.

Ode to Rita and Extreme Bean

I haven't blogged much this week. And, I feel as if so many potential blogs are running through my mind.

First. Let me give a shoutout to Flagstaff and my good friend Rita. Pictured here:

I possibly screwed up the dimensions in this picture - allowing all of our faces to look thinner than they actually are. But hey, it's my blog and I can do that. Anyways - Rita is the hot lady on the right. Rita - let me stay with her in her amazing apartment in Flagstaff this weekend. Adding to it's amazing-ness, this apartment had a loft:

Ok, this is a small pic - but if you can see the loft, that is what I got to sleep in. It was amazing. I always wanted a loft when I was little - I actually would have settled for bunk beds. I did not get either...nor did I ever get a Teddy Ruxpin doll or one of those Fisher Price tape players that came with a microphone - but, whatever. I am so not bitter.

Anyways, I digress. Rita - discipled me in college - mentored me, taught me how to be super spiritual...whatever you want to call it. Now that I am older, and chewing on spiritual meat if you will - Rita is my just my friend who has great thought-provoking ideas on ministry and makes her own yogurt. I just wanted to indroduce my blog readers (both of you) to her.

In other blog-worthy news I went to the Extreme Bean tonight. The Extreme Bean is the best coffee shop ever. Seriously. It has live great live music and an amazing crowd to people watch.

Tonight, I sat reading my Bible and drinking my latte listening to these old men play the piano when one of them asked me to sing. I said no - because hello, I am not the kind of girl to sing in a crowded coffee shop. But this guy was persistent. And I am a people pleaser - which is not a good combination. So, moments later there I was singing "Edelweiss" from Sound of Music for all to hear. And then he asked me to sing "Memories" from Cats. People clapped - probably pity claps. Oh well. I think Whitney Houston got her start in a coffee shop when some shady old man asked her to sing show tunes while she was reading - but, I am not sure.

Yikes.

WASHINGTON - The Pentagon is planning to shoot down a broken spy satellite expected to hit the Earth in early March, The Associated Press has learned. Details to follow.

Mmm...this was on msnbc.com this morning. Under the title "Breaking News." Looks like this Valentine's Day could be our last - but you don't really know because this is like the most incomplete news brief I have ever seen. Something is plummeting towards the Earth? Is it big? Should I start wearing my witness wear more than usual? Does anyone want to watch Armageddon?

And now, to prove that pictures spice up ANY blog entry (even one about potential destruction), here is a highly pixelated image of the cookies we are eating at work today in celebration of Valentine's day.

Good music

Every once in awhile music comes along that is so great it must be shared.

Vitamin String Quartet:

Ok - these guys take popular songs and then reproduce them as orchestra music. It's amazing. I recommend: "Hey there Delilah," "Here without you" and anything Coldplay. Truly you will fall in love and buy all their music - and later have to repent for spending so much money dowloading their songs when you could have supported like ten missionaries. And you will also regret giving up the viola when you were 16 so that you could play volleyball for your high school. Even though you sucked at volleyball and were borderline good at the viola. Ugh.

The new Passion CD - God of this City:

Are people tired of hearing me talk about the Passion movement yet? Probably. But holy cow. This CD is so good. I recommend the songs: "Hosanna," "God of this City," and "God of our Yesterdays." I hadn't heard a few of the songs on this CD and they are so good - with really powerful lyrics. I am even uploading a pic of the CD to demonstrate both it's awesomeness and my mad photo uploading skills.

"With you" by Chris Brown:

Admittedly, I feel dumb repeatedly singing a song that refers to a man's woman as "boo" - but when you are in the privacy of your own car and have really tinted windows - you can put your shame aside and sing. Loudly.

"The way I am" by Ingrid Michaelson:

I first heard this song on Grey's Anatomy and I thought I was so unique and cool for liking it until I found it was like 16th most popular downloaded song on iTunes. Whatever. It's good. Millions of people can't be wrong.

Witness Wear

I was checking out some things online this week and I ran across a few gems. Now, I do love fashion and I do love the gospel - but I don't think they always make a great pair. Here are some highlights.

Christians love acronyms. We do. If you give me a word - I bet I could think of a spirtual acronym for it. Try me.

Christians also love ryming. I actually may start asking people if they are on board with the Lord - just for fun.

Mmm - nevermind that this shirt is just a re-creation of a Staples ad - it's not even doctrinally sound.

Picture testing

I just wanted to test out posting pics on my blog. This is worship at the Passion conference. Sometimes instead of singing I like to watch other people. Kind of weird. But they have their eyes closed and can't see anyways. At least they should have their eyes clothes if they are truly worshipping. Kidding. Kidding.

Glasses

So. Last week I broke my glasses. Super annoying. I was holding them in my hand and ran straight into a glass door. No joke. I don't wear my glasses that much because:

a. they are kind of nerdy
b. make my nose look big
c. I sat on them once and now they are kind of crooked
d. one time I went on a few dates with a guy and on our last date I wore my glasses and then he never called me again. True story.

But still...It is impossible to see far distances without them and I am a fan of vision in general. I probably would not have made a huge deal about it - except I knew that soon I would be driving to LA and would need them to drive. So, with my impending road trip, I quickly made an eye appointment.

Now - the eye doctor said that I should get contacts. (she probably suspected my bone structure did not benefit from glasses...).

I was skeptical - but did throw caution to the wind. Turns out - with the contacts I saw waaay better than with my nerdy little, crooked glasses. Everything is so much clearer, trees have leaves, I can read street signs - and I may have been wearing too much eyeshadow for who knows how long - which I didn't notice before.

And then of course, I had to draw a spiritual parallel to it. Like, sometimes we are so used to our lame glases that don't even look that good on us - and then God takes them by making you run into a proverbial glass door and you think "what am I going to do?" But then...he provides something so much better - like contacts.

Anyways. Those are my thoughts.