239 Things.

Fin

2009-02-03T14:39:00.001+02:00

I feel a little bittersweet about this 239th post. Sad that this blog is over. Happy that I don't have to post 34 times a day.

I have created a new blog in order to satisfy my blogging needs. It already has a first post, and since I'm introducing it here, it's not the typical "first post" that usually says something about your experience with blogging, your intentions with the blog, and a "we'll see if I actually keep this up."

I just dove right into it. So here is some of what the typical first post might say, if I were to have one for my new blog. At first I just picked the first template that came up, with intentions to change it later, once I had some time/content, but now it's growing on me, and I might leave it the way it is. We'll see.

Anyway, here is what I plan on for this blog:
1. I won't post every day. I will try to post frequently, though.
2. In order to push myself creatively, I am going to try to have a picture accompanied by words in every post.
3. In another attempt to challenge myself creatively, I will keep to 4 categories (which I've had since before Target started putting them on everything): Live, Love, Laugh, Learn.
4. Who knows? The sky is the limit. It will in all actuality be a lot like this blog. Let's be honest.

What do I need from you?
1. If you follow this blog, or have it in your reader (look at me using words like, "in your reader"), or whatever you do in order to remind yourself to read this blog, please change over to the new address. Start following, reading, or whatever the new blog.
2. That's it. It would be nice to get some comments every once in a while, too. But not required.

Until we meet again.

CBS

2009-02-03T00:24:00.002+02:00

Last year (2007-2008 school year) I had the privilege and joy to be a part of Community Bible Study. I loved it, and if you've done CBS, you can probably agree with me.

When I knew we were moving, I prayed that I would be able to find a great Bible study again. One semester passed, and no such Bible study.

Then by miracle, I've been able to connect with someone who lives close by and knows all about CBS. God has placed it on her heart to bring CBS to Lithuania. As in, bringing it to Lithuanians, in their language. But meanwhile, CBS International also makes Bible studies for multicultural folks. So now I can take part of a mini-CBS! Yay, prayers answered.

But this is only background to what I wanted to post on.

Something that has been brought to my mind prior to this study, and now during it, is the idea of our actions reflecting our beliefs. If we truly believe that God loves us, how then should we respond/act?

Or, if I truly believe that sitting in a draft causes one illness (I don't), but if I truly believed it, how would I act? I would try at all costs to avoid drafts. If I walked into a room where there was an open window, I would politely ask if we could close it, or, I would assume everyone else believed like I do, and go close it without asking.

The fruit of what we do is a result of what is within.

Matthew 12:33 "A tree is identified by its fruit. If a tree is good, its fruit will be good. If a tree is bad, its fruit will be bad."

So then, how should we respond if we truly believe what we say we believe about God?

Math

2009-02-03T00:08:00.002+02:00

Ok. Well according to my dashboard, just moments ago I made my 238th post with "Laughs."

But according to the numbers on the left side of the blog, I had only 236.

I was confused.

After some research, I realized that the dashboard counts posts that you have saved as "Drafts."

The drafts were not worth posting. I deleted them.

So now I have to post a couple more times than I anticipated.

I wish I had something inspired to make this post better than the ones that I deleted from the drafts.

Sorry.

I do really like math though. A lot. I like reading, writing, and arithmetic.

I suck at history and government.

Laughs

2009-02-02T23:48:00.002+02:00

We watch a lot of TV via DVD. Lately I've been amazed that Debra Jo Rupp's character on Friends and her character on That 70's Show have completely different laughs. I appreciate the fact that changes it up with each character.

And since this is the second to the last post (I think) and since I'm on a video posting kick, here you can hear each laugh.

As Kitty on That 70's Show

As Alice on Friends

Colorful while blurry

2009-02-02T23:29:00.001+02:00

Ages ago, when the sun was setting at 3:30pm, I had plenty of opportunities to take pictures of sunsets. Now, a month or two later, and the sun is setting almost two hours later in the day. It can only get better!

Anyway, I am a fan of photography that uses natural light (I don't know, I've been calling it flash-free photography for so long I don't know what it's actually called). I'm not talking about the crappy out of focus pictures that people take at a concert from too far away. I'm talking about really good photography, just without the flash. Sometimes certain things are in focus, other times they aren't. And that's ok. I'm no expert by all means (not like am with football). But I'm hoping to become more learned via reading and practicing (one of the 9 goals for 2009).

To tie the two paragraphs together, here is a picture I took of the sunset sometime in December/beginning of January. I moved the camera on purpose, because the beauty as I saw it was in the colors of the sky, and the darkness of tree (not in the yard, or the fence, or the basketball court, or anything else that you might see, were this picture in focus).

Some thoughts on The Lovely Bones

2009-02-02T22:39:00.003+02:00

It's been a few days, and here are some thoughts on The Lovely Bones. Had I posted the second after I finished reading, I might have more to say. I might have more to say in comments, later. Also, the thoughts aren't necessarily connected. I'm typing as I think.

Brief synopsis: The story is told from the point of view of a girl who was raped and murdered and is now in her own heaven looking down on her family/neighborhood. We the reader know who did it, and we learn more details as the book goes on, but to most of the people in the book, it is still an unsolved crime.

Throw away whatever you think is incorrect about a "personal heaven" and pretend you're reading Lord of the Rings or Harry Potter (you know the worlds in these books don't completely exist, but you forget about that for the sake of the story).

It's such a great point of view to read from, because it's in first person, but can be as knowledgeable as a book narrated from the third person, because she sees everything.

Upon hearing the synopsis before reading this, I was intrigued by the fact that it was told from the point of view of the girl who was murdered. I was leery about the fact that she was raped and cut to pieces. I don't like to read those kind of graphic details. I don't like to think about them, and I have a hard time looking past them (I can look past "personal heavens" but I can' look past graphic-ness). All that to say, while I wouldn't let someone with a child's mind read this, I myself with an adult mind thought that it wasn't too graphically described.

I thought the story was so intriguing that I read it over the course of two evenings. The first 3/4 of the book went really fast, and I was completely engrossed. The last quarter seemed to lose steam (much like me last week). Most of the chapters were not titled, but there was one about 3/4 through that was titled "snapshots." It seemed like an epilogue, and I would've been glad to set the book down and finish the story there.

But then it went on. More story. More things that seemed like the author wanted it to have a happy ending.

Two thoughts: perhaps everything that was after the "snapshots" chapter was her story as told from her personal heaven point of view.
or
perhaps the author wanted to show that life does go on, eventually, after death (for the people left behind).

I don't know.

Anyway, it is interesting and sad to read about the way her family and neighborhood mourn/deal with her loss.

Use(d) to

2009-02-02T22:18:00.003+02:00

Never do you question grammar more than when you read something written by someone who doesn't take for granted the same grammar rules you take for granted (sorry if that sounded redundant).

I'm just going to get straight to the point (rather than ramble on and on, and give myself ample time to make a grammatical error while complaining about grammar). I have recently started second guessing the use of "use to" and "used to."

Not necessarily when spoken (they sound quite similar), but when written.

I couldn't make a decision about which was proper and which was improper...or if they both are proper/improper depending on the circumstance.

So I looked it up. Some sources gave a whole bunch of examples to show the meaning of use(d) to. This is not what I was looking for. I know when to use it in a sentence. I know what it means. The only thing the list of examples gave me was the answer to the question, "Are both proper sometimes?" The answer is yes.

Another source suggested that you use "used to" for something in the past, and you use "use to" after "did" or "didn't."

Examples: "I used to live in Minnesota."

"Did you use to live in Minnesota?" and "I didn't use to live in Canada."

Another source says that it is always "used to" because you are always talking about the past.

A great deal more sources thought I needed to know the difference between "I used to smoke" and "I am used to smoke." Thank you, but that's not my question. I know the different meanings.

This source gives probably more information than you want, but backs up the "did" and "didn't" rule. I tend to agree with this.

At any rate, you're probably questioning the whole thing. "Use(d) to" is such a weird pairing of words anyway.

Oh the things I will look up just to have another post.

Who am I kidding. I would look it up anyway.

Hawaii Chair

2009-02-01T23:03:00.003+02:00

For those of us who can't currently be in Hawaii, we have to settle for the Hawaii Chair. Or even better, we get to watch someone else benefiting from the Hawaii Chair.

I always have a difficult time answering the age old question, "If you could pick anyone, living or dead, to sit and talk with over coffee, who would it be?"

I think it would be great to sit down for coffee and chat with Ellen. That, and everyone else is already in line to sit down and have coffee with President Obama.

Please enjoy this:

Futures

2009-01-31T21:22:00.002+02:00

I'm sitting here wondering how I will possibly come up with more interesting things to post about in the next few days.

And then I remembered that after Tuesday I will have to decide whether or not to continue blogging on this blog, or start a new one.

Things the new blog could have:
Average three posts a week (I know, I know, 11 less than this one. But I think that's ok in a less obnoxious way)
Labels (I love putting things into categories...I would have to challenge myself to limit the amount of categories).

Things I will miss about this blog:
The title
The Get Fuzzy cartoon at the top

See this is difficult.

And when will I have time to work on the other one to make it welcoming enough that everyone will want to add it to their list of blogs they read?

Super bowl predictions from the expert

2009-01-31T21:07:00.002+02:00

Stillers: 46
Other Team: 34

Now I will be sleeping through this, and will have to rely on other sources the next day to find out if it's true...but since I am an expert, I probably won't even look it up.

I'm just going to trust my instinct.

Other predictions: ***SPOILER ALERT***

75% of all commercials will have animals in them (down 5% from last year)
Number 88 will break a bone. Probably his leg.
Number 11 for the other team will make 2 touchdowns.
In Pittsburgh, the Steeler's theme song is probably already playing on repeat on all the streets, and will continue to do so well into 2009.
The Boss will only have a minor wardrobe malfunction, so minor that only fashion experts like myself (my expertise is not only limited to sports) will notice.
Some coach will get some energy drink full of electrolytes dumped on him at the end (sorry if I ruined the end for you).

The Lovely Bones

2009-01-31T03:37:00.001+02:00

After a recommendation, I read the Lovely Bones. It is quite the read. I'm still chewing on it. I can't decide if I want to write a review on it, or write my thoughts on it as if I were discussing it with someone who has already read it.

I will give it until Sunday or so. That way, if you want to read it before I write about it, you have some time.

Trust me, you can read it by then, and you won't be able to put it down.

PS...It's a book for grown-ups. If you must, look it up on amazon. I'm not putting a link here, because you know how to use amazon.

Confession

2009-01-31T03:33:00.000+02:00

I joined a group on Facebook that was something about not going on Facebook for the whole month of February. Then I invited everyone on my friend list to join, challenging them. Then I realized that February is starting on Sunday and thought, am I mentally prepared for this?

So I left the group.

Then I noticed that people started joining it after I sent the invite.

I'm kind of amused with my sudden flakiness.

Oh well. No one will ever find out if they're truly in the group. And don't read this blog post.

Oops.

I think I can

2009-01-31T03:29:00.002+02:00

I'm totally losing steam on this posting 2 times a day every day thing.

Or I'm just totally losing steam anyway. For the past week I have not been sleeping well. Can't fall asleep at night. Totally tired during the day. Haven't been napping. Feeling completely wiped out when my alarm goes off.

Thank God it's Friday, and even now, it's the middle of the night and I can't fall asleep.

I'm not usually an insomniac. I'm a night owl, yes. But I've always prided myself in being able to fall asleep with no problems.

Maybe it's because I'm afraid I will have another prophetic dream that indicates that I have 12 months to figure out what I really think about believer baptism.

dream

2009-01-29T11:10:00.003+02:00

This morning in between snoozes I dreamed that I was being believer baptized.

And it was this whole big show. Fancier than a wedding. Or maybe fancy isn't the word. It was certainly an event though. It was outdoors, and I was wearing a long white dress. In the dream I was watching myself. At the beginning was all this fanfare. The coolest part was these little pockets of confetti that were launched in a similar way to fireworks. They were shot off, and then when they were just above everyone's heads they would burst and confetti would be everywhere. After it was over, Steve whispered in my ear, "You only have 12 months to figure out what you actually believe about all this."

That's it. When I woke up, I couldn't stop thinking, "That was ridiculous." When I told Steve this, he asked, "Why, because of all the ceremony, or the fact that you were wearing a white dress that would be see-through when you were done?"

I hadn't thought of that second part. Both in and out of the dream.

Anyway, I'm not sure what 12 months means either. Other than 1 year.

Overfed and Under-exercised

2009-01-28T19:17:00.002+02:00

What happens when people are overfed and under-exercised?

Sluggish, lazy, fat, tired, etc are words that come to mind.

What happens when a church is overfed and under-exercised?

What happens when people hear the Word and don't do what it says?

James 1:22-25 says, "But don't just listen to God's word. You must do what it says. Otherwise, you are only fooling yourselves. For if you listen to the word and don't obey, it is like glancing at your face in a mirror. You see yourself, walk away, and forget what you look like. But if you look carefully into the perfect law that sets you free, and if you do what it says and don't forget what you heard, then God will bless you for doing it."

I love to indulge in the Bible, in God's Word. I just hope I'm exercising my faith enough so I don't become a fathead know-it-all Christian that can't relate to anything.

One step in the right direction

2009-01-27T22:12:00.002+02:00

The other night as I was going to sleep, I envisioned in my head a nice dish of beef stroganoff. I love stroganoff. Growing up it was the only hamburger helper that I really loved.

Side story: I would always pick out the hamburger and eat all of the noodles. My mom, wanting to not waste money on meat, made it once without the meat. It did not taste very good.

Anyway, as a grown-up, I'm realizing that those boxed meals aren't really saving you that much time (you still have to provide your own meat, for one) or energy (you still have to boil noodles and mix ingredients)...and they don't taste nearly as good as the same thing made from scratch.

So, for a little bit of extra time and energy (but not that much), the average person can make tasty meals without having them taste like the cardboard box they came in.

Anyway, the other night, as I dreamed about beef stroganoff, I thought: we should make it.

We were in luck, because:
a) they don't sell very much convenience food here, if you know what I mean
b) we can find all of the necessary ingredients at the store to make it from scratch

So the next evening, on our way home from church (seriously, I'm getting so hungry just thinking about it) Steve asked what I would like to do for dinner.

I said I would like to stop at the store, get some ingredients, and make beef stroganoff (I have a feeling I keep misspelling this word. Sorry if I am).

We didn't have a specific recipe in mind, but guessed on what we would need. I'm not going to share the recipe here, because that's not what this post is about. If it were, the title would be "great recipe" but instead it's about taking a step in the right direction. I'm getting to that part. Hopefully.

Steve loves loves loves loves mushrooms, and eats them as often as possible. I don't like mushrooms, and I avoid eating them as often as possible.

Typical made-from-scratch (hyphens for Warren) stroganoff calls for mushrooms. I can't deny it.

So we got a whole bag of mushrooms. Steve promised he would chop them up really finely. And he did.

It took a while to get over the smell. To me, it all just smelled so strongly of mushrooms.

But seriously, all mushrooms aside, it was so good. Everything about it turned out so so good. And from start to finish, it took less than an hour from the time we started browning the meat to the time we were sitting and praying for our food.

And I ate it, mushrooms and all.

It's a really big step for me, as far as food goes. I still don't love mushrooms. But it's a step in the right direction.

Hey, that's the title of the post.

I looked up some reasons to eat almonds

2009-01-27T21:30:00.002+02:00

A fitness "superfood" (I paraphrased the main 4 points)
1. Lowers your cholesterol; good for your heart
2. Nutritionally dense -- good source of fiber (which could account for less tp), and an excellent source of vitamin E and Magnesium.
3. May help maintain or lose weight (let's be honest. I'm not in the market to lose weight)
4. Almonds are tasty, satisfying, and versatile.

Confirmed.

Top 3 unresearched reasons to love naked almonds

2009-01-26T22:33:00.002+02:00

They taste so good
They save you on toilet paper
They're always available by the kg at Iki

I'm sure there are more reasons to like them...they're probably good for you and have certain vitamins that you need. But the 3 that I listed I came up with on my own. I didn't look anything up.

Of brown sugar and Jesus

2009-01-26T22:27:00.003+02:00

Sometimes it's easier for me to preach the gospel of brown sugar and to introduce chocolate chips than to preach the Gospel of Jesus and to introduce Christianity.

Although, sometimes it's easier for people to ask questions about chocolate chips than to ask questions about Jesus...and if people don't care for brown sugar, who cares? I still like it, but it doesn't have an effect on eternity.

Benjamin Button Your Fly

2009-01-26T00:54:00.003+02:00

Ok, Ok, cheesiest title for a post ever. But it's past my bedtime, so you'll have to get over it.

I was sitting here, reading the news and suddenly came up with something to post about. And since I must average 2 a day, I can't pass up an opportunity like this.

Apparently my old* friend Brad Pitt was promoting his latest film unaware that his zipper was down. Maybe it was to take away the attention from his mustache?

Oh well. It happens to the best of us. I would just like to take this time to lament over the fact that Benjamin Button will not grace our theater here until February 6th. Over a month after it came out in the states. No wonder missionaries always come back dressed weirdly. How can we keep up with the styles if we can't even watch Benjamin Button at Christmastime like the rest of the world?

I will tell you this much though. I won't come back with a denim skirt and fanny-pack. I may however be wearing skinny jeans and knee-high boots (pants tucked in them of course). We shall see.

*He and I had a falling out after he and Jennifer Aniston called it quits.

anticipation haiku

2009-01-25T21:58:00.002+02:00

daydreaming all day
of the possibilities
what will be diff'rent

Names

2009-01-25T21:42:00.003+02:00

It's no secret that I've always liked looking up name meanings. It's always interesting to me, even if I look up the same names more than once...or 3,552 times.

Every time I look up my own name, I'm told it means something along the lines of Latin, a crown of laurel leaves. Feminine form of Lawrence. Some take it a step further and say it means "victorious." I'm guessing this is probably because crowns of laurel leaves were given to Olympic victors in the olden days. A laurel leaf is also known as a bay leaf. Blah blah blah. I could go on and on, and this is all off the top of my head.

Anyway, I decided to look up my name in the dictionary. Why not. You know it's not the first time and it certainly won't be the last.

Here's the definition, and it's one that I don't remember seeing before...so that's why it's interesting enough to me to post about.

Laura–noun Greek Orthodox Church. a monastery consisting formerly of a group of cells or huts for monks who met together for meals and worship.

I like it.

Two Quotes that I deleted off my facebook in an effort to wean myself from its grasps.

2009-01-24T15:02:00.001+02:00

"I think that the choice is clear. Oprah Winfrey. You can see a lot of similarities. We're both geniuses, we're both incredibly wealthy, and we've both started schools in Africa." (on who would play herself in a movie on her life)
-Mary Lynn Rajskub

"How long have you been working here?"
"I don't know. Time is a cruel mistress."
(Spinal Tap Live Earth Tour)

Of Porches and Networks

2009-01-24T14:38:00.004+02:00

Last night while watching "That 70's Show," I was struck by the detail that Red and Kitty sit outside with each other in the evening. Their neighbor (whether they like him or not) Bob comes and visits with them, sharing a problem (the comedy is that Red is behind the problem, but that's not what this post is about).

I like that kind of community. I don't know that I'm necessarily at the point in my life where Steve and I spend our evenings out on the porch (1. We currently don't have a porch 2. If we did have a porch, we'd share it with 150 other people 3. It's January in Eastern Europe 4. We don't speak the same language as our neighbors), but I would like to someday be there.

Am I developing the habits that I need to develop in order to be the type of person who has a porch and utilizes it?

I don't want to be the old lady who has to check her facebook before she can go enjoy an evening out on the porch with her husband and neighborhood. But I also get the feeling that the neighbors might be doing the same.

It's with this that I wonder how much longer this facebook will last? For me? I think it's a great way to keep in touch with people you haven't seen in forever or won't see in a while. I think it's a great way to share pictures and experiences...and has even come to replace email in certain aspects. It's definitely great for those people who don't love to talk on the phone (there are more and more of us). But is this the future?

What about our neighbors? I still think that real life interaction is better than online interaction. It's easier, yes, to check your facebook and see what others are up to. But sometimes it seems emptier that way as well.

I would like to say that by the time I'm 30, I will no longer check my facebook more than once a week. That will give me more time for real life interactions (review: more difficult sometimes, but always better).

What about blogging? I can't say that I will give that up anytime soon. I like it because it allows me to write things down, and to read things that other people bothered to write down. It seems a little deeper to me than updating your status every 3 minutes.

Couch sleeping

2009-01-23T16:56:00.002+02:00

I don't know that I'd want to spend the whole night there, but the couch is a superb place for a nap. Comfort for your back and your side. And your back side. Excuse me. I must go now.