the new place of residence! 

at Kip & Lafawnduh's wedding

Kip, singing :
Yes, I love technology
But not as much as you, you see
But I still love technology, Always and forever. Always and forever.

Tom O'Dell fans unite

back when i was in college, Mar & I thought that we were the ONLY crazies watching Mr. Tom O'Dell. We became fans... we went as far as to tape the programs we missed... sad but true. hey, when you're a college student up in the WEE hours of the morning... the shopping networks become entertainment... apparently, we weren't the only ones. Mar sent this link to me: http://www.astreetproductions.com/weblog/archives/2004/01/28/so-long-tom-odell/ Glad to see that there are other true O'Dell fans. haha... oh man... these people are funny. sorry to say that it's probably only funny to those of us who used to watch it "back in the day". what's O'Dell up to these days you ask? http://www.cutlerycorner.net/ man, i'm glad i'm not in college anymore... but sometimes i miss those O'Dell nights 'o fun.

kamikaze mode

i've been in this workaholic mode at work... i've been in a mode in every part of my life... kinda feel like i've hit "cruise control". yikes....? :(
Rebecca & i are moving on the 19th. we're moving into a house in the Brookside area. think it's gonna be great.
now, all we have to do is pack everything up over the next 2.5 weeks & haul it over. whoohoo.
so, since i haven't blogged in AGES, let me just say concerning my trip to CO, i had a great time. it was good for me to get away for a bit. i ran errands for Ingrid in an attempt to be helpful. one day, i drove through the Garden of the Gods. love that place. it was very surreal. it was awesome. actually, the whole trip was surreal. can't wait to go back to visit my friend & do some fun colorado stuff. she & i didn't have anytime to do that on this trip... but that's cool cause we knew that we probably wouldn't anyway. when i get the rest of my pics developed(yes, i said developed) i will post a couple from the Garden of the G.
i'm reading a fabulous book that ingrid suggested to me, it's The Secret Life of Bees. i'm loving it. i plan on typing out a couple excerpts that have really stuck out to me.
i haven't been faithful to my blog lately & i haven't been a faithful blog reader lately. oh well, just a short hiatus. does it matter really? probably not. :)
well, i better go before it gets too late. i have a lot to do tonight. i'll type more at you later. love ya! ~k

i'm back from springs

well, i'm back from C. Springs. i haven't had a chance to type out all my thoughts from the trip & i don't really feel like typing it all out right now because it's after 5:40 on a Friday night and I need to get out of here(yes, i'm still at the office). things have been a whirlwind... big flippin' surprise.
i love king soopers in Colorado... could i enjoy shopping at a grocery store more? no, i doubt it. love the music they play... i love their super friendly employees... i could go on & on... but i won't. there are too many companies that have turned me into Customer Evangelists for them. (www.creatingcustomerevangelists.com)
also, before i log off here, let me also say, i love colorado! the land of the suburau & land rover drivers! and, might i add, they all safely break the speed limit constantly. "Go Speedracer, GO!"

lunch on thursday

Life is too short to not risk being remarkable. If doing what people expect you to do is not getting you where you want to go, why keep doing it? Do the unexpected. Be remarkable.
~C. Michael Johnson
http://www.breakthroughchurch.com/

i'm on lunch

okay... i know, i know, it's been more than a few days since i've typed here. things have been nuts.
ever since i've found out that Ing is moving, i've been on the GO-GO-GO! btw, we leave this friday to move her out to springs... whoohoo! i'm sure everything will go well. anyway, i'll be out there a few days helping her & won't return until the middle of next week. :)
i must say that i thoroughly enjoyed the President's State of the Union last week. very enjoyable. was that last week? ...i've lost track of time.
i have found time to play poker a couple more times with my friends... and guess what? yup, i keep winning. what's the deal? should i quit my day job and become a fulltime poker player? i'm seriously considering it.
please see this story: http://marshillproject.typepad.com/the_mars_hill_project/2005/02/one_bet_you_don.html
what the heck was this guy thinking? this game is more important than any of my own offspring! I'll prove it! thx to brandon for blogging about this, my opinion of Welsh people will never be the same.
now, for my favorite techie-nerd gadget blog, http://www.gizmodo.com/
i'm eating dirty rice for lunch and dang, is it spicy! yum! i'm washing it down w/diet A&W rootbeer. just thought you'd like to know today's menu.
i watched the finale of Amazing Race last night. I wonder if Jon & Kris would have won if the train hadn't have decided to cruise on by? I was very proud of their great attitude about the whole thing. They were my favorite team & i wish they could have won... they're probably the only team that can watch the show & not be embarrassed of themselves... they never once acted or reacted like idiots. (idiots! said in the Napoleon D. tone.) oh well, good game Jon & Kris! i still love you guys!
type at you later.

Grandpa in WWII. 

passion

i’ve promised to say something about Perpetua… i enjoyed the book thoroughly. might be too spiritual for some… but what book about martyrdom isn’t uncomfortable for everyone in one way or another? http://www.relevantstore.com/catalog/product_info.php?cPath=21&products_id=101
I won’t say anything that will ruin the book for you… just in case you decide to pick it up. It’s a story based on the true events of this young woman's life… go ahead… google Perpetua… you’ll see. She was a real person- a real martyr. have you ever truly thought that you might give up your life for something or someone? ever loved someone that you would give your life for?? have you ever risked loving someone or something that much? it’s a huge step… and it can be a hard one to make. i hate when i get “poetic” and “deep” sometimes… oh well. the thing is, Perpetua is a book that’s for the courageous & passionate people alone. this young woman knew that she had no life without Christ. when she met Him and invited Him into her life as Lord, she finally found her life… and she loved living more & more everyday… with Him. it didn’t take her long to realize that she would be forced to give up one of two things: her life or her Lord. which, you must understand, she hated the thought of her life without Christ… to her, there would simply be no life at all without Him. it was easier for her to make the decision of giving up her life than giving up her Lord. that’s how it is when you love something or someone that much… make sense? can i get an amen? she knew long before she was martyred… she had already made her decision, already knew how it would all play out. then she lived her life with no regrets… doing everything in her power to see to it that other people would have this same opportunity as her… the opportunity to truly live and not die.
speaking of passionate people, i hope that i am like my grandfather. i want to be the type of person who my neighbors and friends will talk about 20+ years after i’m gone. no joke, there have been times, when i’ve spent time in the town that my parents are from, that the people in the town have taken the time to tell me stories about this man who they all loved. i feel like i know him because of all of the stories i know about him. i hope that my grandkids would be able to say that about me. i have had wonderful grandparents on both sides that were all amazing people. i wish that i could have known all of them. i know that my grandpa invested time into other people… why else would these people invest time into me to tell me about him? it’s cool to see the “memory light” come on in people’s eyes when they meet me and find out that i’m his granddaughter. i met one of his bestfriends a few years back… my dad introduced me to him. he almost started crying when he shook my hand & told me stories… i feel lucky to have had experiences like that one. lucky for me that i have family members that still live there so that opportunities like highschool graduations have created these meetings and memories for me. one of the town people once told my dad that they thought that he walked like my grandpa… i love the “little” stuff like that. i’ve included a pic of him from WWII. i like this pic a lot. i know him from this pic… what i mean to say is that this is the most familiar pic of him to me… it’s this young face of his that i think of & associate any & all stories. he didn’t know that when someone snapped this shot of him that it would be this smile that his granddaughter would hold on to… he didn’t know he was smiling for me… but he was. man, am i a romantic or what?
anyway, back to passionate people, there’s a lot of us in this generation… we are a generation of mosh pits, tattoos, brandings, extreme athletics, so on & so forth. those are passionate things… some(old farts) might call those things stupid… but they scoff at what they do not understand. am i right? to me, all of those things require a certain degree of endurance, courage, and/or passion… if you’ve never participated in a mosh pit then you probably have no idea what the heck i’m talking about right now. ever been shot by a paintball gun? ever been shot by a real gun? ever been skydiving? ever been bungee jumping? tattooed? branded? moshed? headbanging? cliffhanging? we’re a generation of thrill-seekers & risk-takers… what in the world could be next for us? what are we to do with ourselves now? :)

steph sent this link to me:

http://www.users.muohio.edu/miyamadm/here.htm

glad i have a sense of humor enough to know that this guy is not serious.

cardboard cakes

no, Jared didn't make it home this weekend... :(
The first time I tried rice cakes, I thought “what the *%$#! are they thinking with these things!” It was like some sort of food they served in prison camps as torture. But, I guess the makers of these healthy “snacks” eventually realized they’d have to put something on these things(sugar) in order to keep people interested… I remember it years ago… I remember them running a huge marketing thing when I was a kid…
I remember that my mom bought some… but that healthy alternative didn’t last too long… we went back to the potato chips and cookies in no time.
Anyway, I recently bought some http://www.quakerquakes.com/QRS_Products/Product.cfm?ProductID=22
And I have to say, they are quite enjoyable. I’m quite sure that all of the sugar, etc that they have to add to the little rice cake absolutely ruins the whole purpose of trying to eat healthy… oh well. Now they’re making soy cakes… hmmmm. What, the rice cakes aren't dry enough for you… don’t taste like cardboard enough? Solution: soy cakes.

too toasty.

it's after 5pm... why am i still at work? to type at least a little something into my blog so you know i'm still alive. things have been nuts & i haven't had the opportunity to say anything. anyway, so, it snowed today. it's all sloshy & white outside. :) now i just have to go drive in it. Jared(my brother) was supposed to drive home from Norman today. i don't know if the weather stopped him... i sure hope that he came.
you know what i love? Big Al's Health Subs on 15th. great place, great wraps, great hummus, great smoothies, and great prices! what more could you want?? yes, i am a living commercial. i can't help it.
so, last night, as i was stopped at a big & busy intersection, i saw 2 people way over on the other side of the street waiting for the signal to walk across. it was 2 women. from what i could tell, it was a teenager & her mother. as they started to cross the street, i noticed the mother had a cane and the daughter was helping her walk... i'm pretty sure that everyone sitting at the intersection was watching them. my light turned green and as i started to drive away, i immediately thought of turning around to pick them up. but, i was in the far lane and couldn't get to the place to turn around due to all of the traffic in the other lane.... anyway... started getting further & further away... and i passed another place that i could of turned around at... thinking that i was too tired, it was too late, etc. anyway, got to the next intersection and finally turned around because it didn't matter if i was too tired. it was chilly & what the heck is my car for anyway??? so i got back to the place i'd seen them walking & searched & searched as i drove around for several minutes looking for them. i finally decided that someone else had beat me to it.... probably one of the other drivers who'd witnessed them hobbling across the street. so then i started home looking for anyone else who might have needed a ride. have you ever given a ride to a stranger before? it's good for the soul. word of caution: you must practice this w/common sense. i do not suggest women picking up anyone of the opposite sex... so, don't hold me responsible if you pick up a guy with a machedi. (<-sp?) don't worry dad, i never offer rides to men walking along the side of the road. ;)
but anyway, i drove home mad at myself for not turning around quick enough... ugh!!! i'm not looking for "oh, that was thoughtful of you, lamb...blah,blah" comments so don't give them to me... just wanted to get that off my chest... wanted to say that God is still having to work on getting rid of the selfishness in me... i was too tired to turn around! i was too warm & toasty in my car... in my NEW car at that! ugh, okay, i'm done.
dang i gotta get outta here- type atcha later.

type at you later

hey everyone.
i finished that book, Perpetua, a while back... sorry i haven't given my final analysis yet. i'll do that soon.
i have a lot in my head that i need to type out this weekend... so check me out next week.
happy b-day to me... yup, my b-day is sunday. whoop-de-frickin-do. (haha... sound familiar?)
thanks for stopping by- i'll type at you later.

for those who've asked...

here's the link to The Village movie:
http://video.movies.go.com/thevillage/splash.html

it was a movie weekend.

i got my fill of entertainment this weekend- what with the video rentals & trip to the movie theater. Rented “The Village” and went to see “Meet the Fockers”.
I really enjoyed The Village. My favorite part was the “dancing” conversation between Ivy & Lucius. I also love every time she says she can see his color. That Howard girl is a superb actress. In fact, that entire film is filled with refined theater veterans… fabulous talent in that movie. I will say that it didn’t catch me off guard too terribly much… I had key elements figured out… but I did enjoy the movie nonetheless. It still made me jump a little. it’s one that i think i could buy.
Meet the Fockers… that was pretty good too. It was a lot better than i thought it would be actually. the kid’s first word was funny. Robert DeNiro carcks me up.
helped some friends move this weekend.. they had so many people helping them… went well i think. didn’t really feel like i did much… but i’m glad i went. their new house is beautiful- exciting stuff. i think they’re going to love it there.
ingrid is packing. packing, packing. i wish she wasn’t moving. but i know it’s what she wants… and i know it’s probably the best for her… ugh. :( i hope we live in the same city again at some point in our lives.
i downloaded the asteroids game onto my phone. usually, i’m not one for games on phones… but i was bored the other night when i couldn’t sleep. i have the highest ranking scores… ha… makes me think that there must not be too many other folks playing it.

bloggy fog

did you read my last blog entry? please tell me you did. if you didn’t, get to it. learning to surf… it relates to this entry. how so? well, my very close friend & confidant, Ingrid, is moving to a different state. she got a job offer on Friday. She must report at her new job in approximately 4 weeks. yes, it’s heartbreaking… it’s bittersweet. my roommate put it well when she said: “it’s almost as exciting as it is sad.” i know Ingrid will love her new job & new home… so i’m excited for her. but at the same time, the girl who 99.9% of the time cannot successfully get her tear ducts to create any kind of flippin’ moisture when she wants it the most, cried Friday night. the tears were flowing down my cheeks. i’m going to miss being able to hang out with Ingrid anytime i want… but i’ll look forward to visiting her in Colorado. so, the waves of change wasted no time & hit sooner than i expected… within the first week of the new year.

last night i drove home through thick fog. i mean that literally… i’ll get to the figurative & symbolic in a minute. ain’t nothing like it: driving home from a friend’s house, listening to what seems to be my own personal Switchfoot concert late at night. [side-note: i’m tired of driving home from other people’s houses… i’m ready to leave this stage of my life behind. do you know how bad it sucks to get home to your apartment and have no flippin’ place to park?? ugh! i’m too old for this…. circling around the dang complex in search of some golden space… I wish I could jump the curb & park in the dead grass.]
where was i? ah yes, my personal Switchfoot concert in the car… driving through fog.
i noticed street lights that i’ve never saw before. ever notice how light cuts sharp lines through the fog? i love that. you can see how far the beams reach in fog. so, here i am feeling unsettled & a little “foggy” in life at the moment… and i’m driving home in this massive fog noticing street lights & beams from other vehicle’s headlights… can i get symbolic on you now? in my mind, my future seems foggy with a slight chance of more drizzle on the way… but there’s these steadfast light posts… they cut through the fog and steer me clear of the ditches and the potholes. what does the light represent? well, take a wild guess. if you know me, you know that i’m a spiritual person & i like God. i like to pray, etc. so the light may represent Him, or His Word, or my fellow believers… any or all of the above. I won’t take this too far… but I just wanted to share some.
so, on the way home, i sat, stopped at a light. as the light turned green, i happened to turn my head and see one of those stupid, lovely, yellow “waves of change” signs staring back at me. and yes, i gave it a smirk as i slammed the gas pedal, gunning it through the thick fog closing in around me… lights cutting the pathway ahead.

alright, for the sake of you reading, i’ll try to have a lighter entry next time and try to keep it fun… i don’t know if it’s as therapeutic for you to read as it is for me to write. check out my “Rambler” shot below… sometimes i wish i could leave my day job in search of fun photo opps like this car. don’t tell me; keep the day job, right? :(

The "RAMBLER" 

learning to surf

well, here i am six days into the new year. our team lost the Orange Bowl this week… not the best way to start out 2005… but i’m optimistic. luckily, my life’s happiness does not depend on any football team’s record. :)
on a serious note, i just want to say that i feel a little unsettled in life right now. i’m kinda feeling like things will be shifting in some way. unfortunately, i don’t know what things or which way… and i’m too busy to think or worry about it. do you ever just have a knowing that something is about to happen? …like you’re on the verge of something? i was thinking about this as i was driving a couple days ago… have you realized that i’m a “pondering” driver yet? anyway, as i drove up to a traffic light near an intersection with a gas station on the corner, i was thinking & praying about my unsettled feelings and I glanced over at the gas station and saw: WAVES OF CHANGE- Coming Soon. (see the pic below.) Talk about a sign… literally. a big, bright, yellow, waving banner staring at me. hmm… guess i better learn how to surf.
okay, i’m done being serious.
on an advertising note, i like that banner… it’s cool because it fits into the company’s theme… the Shell Gas Company. get it? beach, waves, shell? anyway, thought it was cute & clever. not only that, but the sign itself was designed very well with the colors and graphics. the only unfortunate thing for them right now is that in a very round-about way, it reminds me (and probably reminds others) of the world’s current tsunami disaster. now, of course, it wouldn’t keep anyone from doing business with them right away… but signs and colors do weird stuff to people… that’s why i like advertising & graphics so much… people make associations in their minds without realizing it and so, seeing that sign might have some negative reactions in the unconscious minds of some folks. i know, you think i’m crazy… but it’s true.
am i the only person who’s noticed that every moviestar wants to be a rockstar and every rockstar wants to be a moviestar? so annoying! please! most of them clearly are not capable of both… why don’t their managers tell them? Please, We the People do not want to be witnesses to this behavior anymore. Spare us… please!

hmm... 

Happy B-day to Ingrid & Happy 2005 to everyone else!

last night i drove home in the rain with my music blaring.
drives like that give me room to think.
i watched that show last night- that show that makes me and everyone else i know cry. and believe me, i don't cry easily.
i totally agree with Mike. see: http://michaelstaires.typepad.com/weblog/2004/12/the_best_christ.html
Extreme Makeover Home Edition -the show is pure good. tonight one of the guys on the show said something like "i'm so glad that i get to just reflect the light, man, it's great." hmm- what light do you think he may have been referring to? gee, i don't know what the heck he could've meant by that.
have you ever read Max Lucado's book, You Are Special? No? well, you need to. a friend of mine got it for me in college. At first I was like, oh great, my friend thinks I'm depressed or something. But seriously, it's a great little inspirational book. i think that the people of Extreme Makeover Home Edition would love the book- they would get it. the book is about these little wooden people called Wemmicks. we’re all a bunch of Wemmicks. you see, it's up to you whether or not you let labels stick to you- you are not and do not have to be what other people try to make you or tell you. what i love about Extreme Makeover Home Edition is that they decided that families were special and deserved to be helped and they stepped out of “the norm” to produce a program where deserving families are blessed. they throw away the old and they put on new. without even realizing it, they are helping people see God... and they're accidently running into Him theirselves. oops. :) and all the producers wanted was good ratings.
The show gives me warm fuzzies... and the book gives me warm fuzzies...
anyway, what did i do for new year's you ask? well, i did a little karaoke, i did a little "dance revolution", and i played poker. no, not w/real cash but i wish we had because i came out the winner... and it was my first time to play poker. came out w/$1,052 worth of chips! maybe i should visit Vegas? ...nah.