Some of my Favorites of the Recent Past....

Getting a new $150.00 dollar rug for $40.00.

Decorating the house with said rug and a sundry of other small items I purchased.

Exploring to the depths what God is trying to teach me: what it means to truly, unbiasedly love everyone and what it means to be a follower of HIM. Which means stripping away the laws, the rules, the imposed Christian standards and resorting back to how the Bible shows we are to live and how Christ lived.

Saturday I was able to see most of my family. My birthday gift from my parents was an Ohio State quilt and it is finally finished. My mom is GREAT at a lot of things. One of them is quilt making. Another is making homemade pizza. I was fortunate to be a recipient of both that day. I also got to spend some time playing with my nieces, Grace and Bekah. Then in the evening I traveled to Columbus to watch some of my other nieces and nephews, Logan, Lauryn, Lanie, and Lucas.

Leeland Concert on Friday night. Best Christian concert ever. Leeland, has an amazing voice. But more importantly he comes across with such a sincere humbleness when leading worship. (See above picture).

Watching a documentary on PBS about George H.W. Bush. I learned a lot about his life I didn't know.

Finding amybutlerdesign.com. Love her fabric. I want to be her...but not in the weird stalker way...but in the I really admire her from a really far safe distance....

Discovering my love for Patty Griffin's lyrics and music.

Enjoying an evening of great friends, great food, and a horrible, horrible reality show, which shall remain nameless because I'm embarrassed that I waste my time watching it...(but I'm SO MAD at Jason for getting rid of Jillian.)

I renewed my love with legalsounds.com. You pay only $0.09 per song. The only downside is you first have to purchase a $25.00 credit.

Road Trip

On our flight back from a ski trip in Jackson, Wyoming, Jen (Littlefoot) and I stopped off in Dallas. Jen had moved down to Texas in February. (I like to refer to it as the great mistake of 2008.) She couldn't live without Rita's italian ice, the Thornburgs, and myself, so she moved back in the fall. (Okay, I think that her parents living up here might have played some kind of role...) However, her furniture and some of her belongings were residing in Dallas. So with the help of her friends, we packed up a Uhaul and early Monday morning headed back to Ohio. Over 1,000 miles later, several deplorable restrooms and really shady and small gas stations we made it home. Here's a rundown by state of our trip.

Texas: Boring to drive through. But rather enjoyable if you're in the passenger's seat sleeping.

Arkansas: It's state motto is "the natural state". ..Didn't really find anything natural there... Except for natural hill-jacks. Jen was also pulled over by a State Trooper for going left of the yellow line. Really??! On a ridiculously windy day?? Driving a big uhaul?? You're going to tell me that you can do it perfectly without ever crossing over a line? Jen and I were split up and both interrogated. Here are a sampling of questions: "Where did you live?", Where do you live now?", "How do you know her?", "What job did you have in Dallas?", "What were you doing in Wyoming?", "Why are you're pupils constricted?", "Have you been taking drugs?", "Do you have any drugs or firearms in the back?", "Are you crying?" For the record, Jen wasn't crying, her eyes were watering from standing out in the blasted cold wind. Luckily, she wasn't ticketed....and they didn't open the back to find all the illegal immigrants we were smuggling. Hey, they never asked us specifically....

Tennessee: Within 30 miles of entering Tennessee, I passed 10 different Highway patrolmen. It's evident that Tennessee hasn't felt the brunt of the economic recession, because the Troopers ride in tinted, pimped out, unmarked, white or black SUVs. Out of our trip it felt like we were in Tennessee 15.5 of the 16 hours that we were actually on the road. We also got stuck in dead stopped traffic in Nashville for over an hour.

Kentucky: By the time we rolled into Kentucky it was 9p.m. and it seemed to be when Jen and I had the most energy and were the most alert. But who wouldn't want to air guitar and seat dance when FREEBIRD is playing??? We drove right through the line of the ice storm that happened five days prior. It was so eerie to be driving on the interstate and see so many downed trees.

Ohio: Such a beautiful thing to be back in Ohio after being on the road for a straight nineteen hours.

Conclusion: No accidents. No fights. A couple of good conversations. One broken iPod that catapulted us into the fate of the deplorable Clearstation radio empire. Resulting in Two ridiculous Creed songs, three Tracy Chapman songs, countless plays of "Love Song" by Taylor Swift and "I'm Yours" by Jason Mraz (which coincidently, I have loved for sometime, but since am now contemplating NOT being his.)

I love taking road trips with friends, especially where silence can be shared and it be okay. More importantly, I love my friend, Jen Troyer, and am happy she's completely back in Ohio.

Secrets, Secrets....

So, I can’t go to sleep...and as I sit here in the glow of the most beautiful Christmas tree ever…(that coincidently, because of tradition, will not come down until at least January 15th…so if you haven’t checked it out, you should, its hot) I have something to admit. This has been a well-kept secret, known to only a few precious souls who also have dabbled in such amazingness. They shall remain nameless, because it is their secret to keep or, if they are brave enough, to tell. But in the spirit of the approaching new year I feel like I need to get this off my chest. Okay here it goes……

I’m in love with PBS. Yes, Public Broadcasting System. I am truly, unashamedly, madly, in love with it. Call me old. Call me lame. Whatever. I can take it. I’ve come to the conclusion that there is no other channel on television that gives me such delight and satisfaction than the channel that is PBS. Sometimes I like to call it the public biased system…because they love to slip in their little political correctness slant. I tend not to watch those shows anyway. But there are two shows in particular that I would be fine with if they were on every day of the week.

The Antique Roadshow: In my personal opinion I think the roadshow was the first reality show. Before the over-saturation of trashy reality shows, there was the roadshow. Where you’d see real people bring in their real treasures or real junk to real appraisers who gives them a two-minute summary on what exactly it is. And in the final moments of the segment they either deliver them a tragic blow; that their aunts, grandmothers, third cousins, little wooden horse was actually a replica made by a knockoff, and it is only good for kindling a fire. OR, the unsuspecting grandfather figure that brings in a side table that is actually a missing piece of George Washington’s Mount Vernon Estate…and it’s a happy day for grandfather – or Mr. Moneybags, as he’ll be referred to for the rest of his life.

Austin City Limits: This is actually my muse for this entry. I couldn’t get to sleep. So I’m up folding laundry and a flip through channels (livin’ the dream, I know) when I come across Austin City Limits. And although, I didn’t know who the artist was, I stopped and listened. Come to find out in the end, it was Wilco. I had heard about them…but never really listened, but liked what I heard. Anyway, when I try to dissect what is so alluring about said show, I think it’s a little of all of the following: its void of intermission, it doesn’t have any of that awkward “in between songs time filler conversation”. I can go to the concert curled up in a blanket while Chris Martin rocks out to “Clocks”. But I won’t get annoyed because there is a middle aged intoxicated lady standing in my line of view, swaying back in forth out of rhythm. I won’t have that “I immediately need to take a shower because that concert venue might have just given me a disease” feeling, I don’t have to wait in line, and I don’t have to pay $6 for a bottle of water and $78 for a ticket.

Not to mention the countless documentaries I’ve watched. That have taught me the history behind the WW2 or given me a glimpse of what it looks like for families who have children who suffer with leukemia. Regardless of what show I watch, I always walk away feeling a little more cultured…a little more well-rounded and a little more sophisticated.

Thank you PBS for being free and being good.

Random.

So this morning, I woke up with the following Hall & Oates lyrics running through my mind:

Oh here she comes
Watch out boy shell chew you up
Oh here she comes
Shes a maneater
Oh here she comes
Watch out boy shell chew you up
Oh here she comes
Shes a maneater

It took almost two consecutive hours of Christmas Song Quick Mix from Pandora to kill that beast. Anyway, I know I owe a post for what was the whole month of November. Hopefully, that will happen in the next few days.

ode to jode.

Today is the birthday one of my best friends, Jody. This short post to is say HAPPY BIRTHDAY! Everyone should have a little Jody in their lives. As part of her birthday celebration I have written her a poem:

Ode to Jode (Imagine Ode of Joy playing in the background)
Have an amazing birthday my dear friend!
Without you, my heart would need a mend.
You bring me great gladness and joy.
And you've produced such a cute little boy.
Thanks for your friendship, love, and food.
If it weren't for you, or delicious ash-flavored soup, I might continually be in a bad mood.
Vacations without you just aren't the same,
They lack the excitement and sometimes, are quite lame.
Relaxing with you to watch Tim & Heidi, Michael, and "Dog" is great.
And although, yet to be successful, its interesting, your quest to find me a mate.
You have filled my life with happiness, fun, laughter, and lots of opportunities at beating the boys at games.
When will they ever learn, that if we are on a team together, we will put them to shames. (Meaning continually shaming.)
I wish for you, the day of your birth,
Many more years of being beautiful and still having the same, small girth.

I love you. And have come to realize the need for us to take more pictures together...



And in case you're wondering, I will keep my day job and not pursue a career as a poetess.

Love & Hate, Hate & Love

LOVE: The brilliant colors of the leaves, mums, pumpkins, spiced things from drinks to desserts, football, going to bed with my windows open but lost under a mound of blankets, and the smell of burning leaves.
HATE: The smell of wet drying leaves, having to wear socks, knowing that fall is a precursor to the long bleak winter, that is Ohio.
LOVE: Unseasonably warm days coupled with crisp mornings and evenings. I could get use to that.

LOVE: Organizing things and getting rid of unnecessary junk that only complicates life. Maybe its because of the visual sense of instant gratification from all the hard work. I got to do a little of that this weekend. I love helping make others lives a little less burdensome.
HATE: Not having more time to devote to that.

LOVE: The music renderings of Bon Iver. Can't get enough.
HATE: Three Doors Down. I actually use to like them. However, they now grate on my last nerve. Get some new material already.

LOVE: Started to read "Searching for God knows What" by Donald Miller. Lots of good thoughts.
HATE: (Not hate, more of a strong disliking...) I haven't gotten use to his structure of writing.

LOVE: Studying Genesis. Amazed how many times some of the "Spiritual Giants" of the Bible did really shady things, yet God still loved them and used them as cornerstones of our mutual faith.

HATE: HATE HATE HATE politics. But I'm still going to vote.

LOVE: Being resourceful.
HATE: That I can easily get caught up in a materialistic frame of mind.

Vote.

It is my honor and privilege to live in a country where I have the right to vote. And I don't take that role lightly. Even in elections that aren't considered "cool", where you only end up voting for say a low ranking county official or issues regarding an obscure wetland on farmer Joe's lot, I still drag myself out of bed earlier than normal, and trudged down to my polling place. I stand in line with a demographic that consists primarily of people twice my age, give or take a decade or two. As big of a dork as this next statement will make me, I can't wait to get that sticker that says "I voted today". Regardless, that its just a stupid sticker, that day I have more of a bounce in my step, I walk a little taller, and I feel more American than I ever do even after eating way too much and watching a fireworks on July Fourth.

The more I listen to people about the impending election, the more I am convinced that EVERYONE SHOULD HAVE TO PASS A SHORT CIVICS EXAM BEFORE YOU'RE ABLE TO VOTE. (If you fail the test, sorry. You are excluded from getting to vote this round. However, because this is a democracy, you'll get a chance to take the same exam next opportunity to vote.)

This stems from unintelligent reasons why people are voting for a particular candidate. They included, 1). he's is just cool, 2). he has the hottest wife, 3). I like how he talks, 4). I was raised by a single mom too, 5). I want a v.p. that looks like Tina Fey, 6). I like how he dresses. Unfortunately there are more reasons, these are just the ones I hear the most.

I mean REALLY?! You're going to choose the next leader of the free world because he wears the nicest tailored suits??!! Know the issues. Know where you, as a free American, stands on the issues. Put down your US Weekly, step away from Facebook, turn off You Tube, and actually research both candidates. Don't vote merely because you usually vote for the Democratic or Republican party. Don't let forwarded bulk emails from your Grandma, who has always voted Republican, be your deciding source. Get down and dirty, and do some old fashion research. Don't take the overwhelmingly liberal media's slant on the election as truth. Everything you read and hear about the candidate is NOT TRUTH. Look at both sides and vote for which candidate you think will do the best job as the leader of our country. Which candidate do you agree with on how they propose to handle foreign policy, their value on human life, health care, the increasing debt, the ongoing war, etc. Make a decision, and then go and vote. (You can even document every aspect of your voting experience via camera and then post them on your Facebook letting the world know just how American you are.)

It matters every time you vote, but for whatever reason, there is this misconception that it only matters when you are voting for someone in Washington. But hey, if you've never voted start now. By taking this baby step, maybe, just maybe, I'll see you at the polling place come Spring 2009, voting for some obscure ballot issue. I'll nod to you, in quiet respect, that you actually take your freedom seriously.