Friday, April 30, 2004
 Well last week it was THE PAJAMA GAME at Armstrong High school - a play i attended. This week it was INTO THE WOODS at Hosterman Middle School - both excellent. I like going to see the musicals. I suprised some of the kids i worked with by being there... their eyes got really big and they were like "You really came?????????????" This was after the show, so they were on the high... ya know it if you did theater in high school or whatever. :) My mentor kid, Hannah knew i was coming and i got to sit by her grandparents who were very nice!!!
I did a lot of running around today - oil change blah blah. Ran into a very old friend at the gas station - well not "very old" but i 've not seen her since like a year after i moved here. Her son came up to me while i'm putting gas in the car and i was half asleep and that was cool.
We have CINCO DE MAYO night this upcoming wed. @ church. Jr/Sr high combined. I get to help put a band together for it and lead the praise time for the night... I'm excited about that... but it comes at bad news that Pastor Aaron's grampa died. And since we basically have no hispanics in our youth group [there may be a few...], this ought to be interesting. Bunch o' whities running around in sombreros.
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Thursday, April 29, 2004
 Anyone serving the Lord needs to read this article. It's so greatly written.
Flannelgraph drama in real life...
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 HAHAHAHA!
my horror-scope for today.
Libra
This is a moment to start being creative in your life and stop being afraid of not having any talent. Who's to say what "talent" is, anyway? And in the romance department, the love of your life might be right under your nose. Try lifting your eyes from the romance novels and look around you, dear Libra. The perfect mate could be any number of people in your daily life; you just have to let yourself see them.
OK so the talent thing relates to American idol.
The love of my life is that tron guy!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! He literally was right under my nose bc my laptop sits about that height. rof!
whoo hoo! the stars are aligned!
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 Billy Blanks, I'm going to hunt you down and kick your butt. (I'll use the "round-house" kick.)
You know Tae Bo? Well, i do. Personally. Billy is the dude who started it all. For the longest time i was just using the first real basic one... It's like 24 minutes... it was hard at first but i got so used to it i wanted to step it up a notch.
So i bought two new videos and they are kicking my butt !!!!!!!!!! "Get Ripped Basic I & II". I have not even watched II yet. Number I is killing me. I am so sore. I could die. I've been faithful to exercise and am losing weight o.k. but man i'm so sooorrrrrreeeeeeeee! This week is just hard ! I am going to skip doing it tomorrow (well later today, i mean, when i wake up) because my muscles need time to catch up. There is this one thing he has us do ("Us" like i'm part of the video or something) where we are on our hands and knees lifting up one leg so our knee is parallel to the ceiling. Basically it looks like you're a boy dog peeing on a tree, over and over and over. And then he has you hold the pose while your leg is up like that and then extend the leg out ! I don't know if my description makes you picture the pain this brings. Basically, i try it once, then collapse on the floor and bow down to the Lord of Hosts in prostration prayer position begging to be free of this evil exercise.
Well it's supposed to be the "ab" part of the workout. I just pray instead.
Through the pain though, i must admit i feel a ton better after a nice workout. It's worth it. I'll just repeat billy's motivational sayings around the house. "Believe in yourself!" "Visualize!" " Gimme some!" "Stay with it!" That'll help. That, and about 10 more salads from arby's and mcdonalds.
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 Awwwwwww Yes i cried when John got voted off. LOL. I was ready to quit watching if Jasmine was voted off though.
Bible study was interesting tonight. You can definitely tell it is the year's end. We were outside until about 7:40 p.m. (we are supposed to start at 7.) So my teaching time was cut super short... which is eerie considering i had a dream i only had 10 minutes to talk and forgot all my props. I did actually remember all my teaching aids, but i had to cut a ton of stuff out of what i was trying to say, there fore i don't think anyone really got the point. I guess i always feel that way. I was being kind of rushed thru everything so i just put the notes away and tried to talk about whatever it was the main point was. OH well.
This weekend is the jr/sr gettaway for our youth. It is a mystery where they are going... it is held in top secrecy! They are told what to pack and that's about it. They are given their choices of menu for a special meal where everyone dresses up in formal wear (ya know, like prom) and stuff. Everyone who is going is so excited about it. I was blown away by the talk of these young ladies tonight... they were all talking about how modest their dresses were and stuff pertaining to modesty. On their own! Another thing i just want to brag on God for because these kids were raised RIGHT and are not ashamed. I love it. No one would believe me from other churches how genuine these student's faith is. It blows me away all the time.
Then i over heard some of the girls talking about a guy in church who loves his wife so much and loves God even more and how they want that in a guy... So cool.
Ah and then there was OfficeMax. Big changes in our company. I am interested to see it take shape. Things are moving in very positive ways. I am suprised to hear of it. For example, (i am not sure what of this is privleged info but whatever...) we are going to be changing our entire company focus to cater primarily to business people... and will be doing completely away with any type of mail in rebates!!! THIS IS HUUUUUGE!!! I am so sick of tracking people's rebates, listening to customers say how it is a scam, reviewing all their paperwork, paying out of our store tills to cover rebates that were never sent... blah blah. That is a huge big deal. Good move! [By the way i still stand by the fact that rebates work just fine. You just have to follow the rules to the letter and keep copies of everything.]
I do have to say one quick thing that officemax has been good to me for (well there are a lot of things but now's not the time to recount them)... I'm in an environment probably for the first time in my life where i am not top chief and where i work with people who are better at things than i am. I used to always feel that no matter what room i walked in, or what job or position i held in a company (or church) that i had all the answers and i could do no wrong, and was the best at everything. Each week i am finding out more and more how flawed i really am - and how imperfect i am and basically how much i suck at life! And that is actually a good thing to be humiliated in that way over and over because it takes awhile for someone with a huge ego and pride-trip like i am to break. What is more, it amazes me how the men i work with are not Christians and do their work with excellence and here i am supposedly all into God etc., and i don't always do my job to the very best. Therefore, i don't complain that i don't get a raise. I don't deserve one. It's very good for me to work in an environment where promotion scares the crap out of me and where i fear more responsibility because i know i'm not ready for it.
and, tonight, while putting the truck away, i made up 3 verses for my cheese curd song.
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Wednesday, April 28, 2004
 Courtesy of Ross & Kel's blog...
I had to pass this on.
I am glad to know
that
there
are
weirder
people
in
the world
than I am.
THANK YOU JESUS.
Check out the Tron Costume design of Jay Maynard.
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 Good evening. Is it "eh-STEH-fahn" or "EH-steh-fahn" or "eh-steh-FAHN" ????
Does it matter?
OK A.I. is borrrrrrrrrrrring. Let's just admit it. this group of singers is sucky.
However,
1. Fantasia - Says "We love you Jennifer" during the song. Poor taste. Stupid. Not her best performance. Simon's right. She does sound like a cartoon character. Now we all know what has been bugging us about her. I'm really sick of her. Didn't think i'd be saying that.
2. George - was glad to hear he was 2nd, so i could get it over with. STOP BOUNCING! FOR THE LOVE OF ALL THINGS BRIGHT AND BEAUTIFUL IN THE WORLD! Did not do this song justice at all. Terrible rendition. Hardly recognized it. But yes i'll admit no matter what this guy does i will not choose to like him.
3. Latoya - TERRIBLE LIGHTING! DUDE DO THEY NOT REHEARSE THIS? The production team should be ashamed of themselves. The lights were blinding out the camera so all her "cool moves" were totally shrouded. Bad bad bad lighting. I can't believe they did that. It may look nice live but the cameras caught it and it just was blinding. Awful. Is this Dance Idol? I don't like her. She's old. She's almost too good. You know what it is... ? She belongs on Star Search. She reminds me of some of the hidden talent you'd see on that show. She's just too old and i dunno. I truly don't think she's going to win.
4. John Stevens. Was a bad key for him. I don't know this song he was doing so that was hard for me too. The dude was not in tune LOL. The shoes WERE great!!! Simon says he's like Chocolate ice cream & onions. And poor John just stands there and nods his head bc he knows it was bad. I do have to say that i liked how much he smiled. And i agree w/ Simon. J.S. is safe for quite awhile yet. He ain't going anywhere. I was asking some of the teens i work with this weekend about the competition and many are voting for John bc he's the only young cute guy left. :)
5. Jasmine - YESSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS! She's my favorite i'll just declare that right now. If i'm pulling for anyone, it's her. She's a total package. I loved the hair. She nailed the song. She's a natural talent. Not cocky. Paula said she is a powerhouse with a pretty tone. Yes that's right on. I really want Jasmine to win. I'd buy her album.
6. Diana - i had very high expectations for her on this night because i knew she'd pick a song to smile and shine on. Last week i wanted her to go very badly. Tonight she ROCKED and did a great job. Plus, bonus feature: I never understood the words to this song... And i've heard it one hundred million billion times bc it's on musak at work. "Turn the beat around/ love to hear percussion." I always thought that was just gibberish, the part that says "love to hear percussion" !!!!!!!!!!!!!!! LOL But she used good diction and i could understand it! Now the song makes sense! Or i thought it was "Left her here to puncture" or something HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA. I never knew those words. So good job Diana.
My predictions...
I think that Fantasia will be leaving. I would not be suprised to see all 3 remaining black people in the bottom three. I'm not trying to be racist. I just think that's what will happen.
I want Jas to win.
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Tuesday, April 27, 2004
 Hey, George W. Bush sends his regards. I met him!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I mean, i met him in a dream i had the other night. He was super nice. When i met him, i was really casual and just palled around with him like we were old buddies. Didn't get to talk to him long. My mom was in the room and i was trying to mouth to her gesturing to get in here and meet him. But then he was gone.
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 Yeeeeeeeeeeehaw. Just got off of work. Had to do a full overnight bc it was our big "strip and wax" thing where we have to take everything off the store floor so it can be ... umm... stripped and waxed. I just was there as a babysitter i guess. All these dudes in mo-hawks and tatoos walking around with their huge machines LOL. I was couped up in receiving though, doing projects and such. I really like working overnights. It was weird being the only person from the store there. Hmm...
Oh! Mountain Dew's yummy "LiveWire" is back on the shelves. That is really good stuff it's orange flavored Mt. Dew.
And in other news... Nope. that's it.
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Monday, April 26, 2004
 Ackity Black Back Jack...
I had my yearly review @ work last night. None of us in the leadership circle get a "merit increase" this year because our profit contribution was sucky bad. But i already knew that... It's the one drawback of managment... if the store sales are down, so is your pay. I talked my boss's ear off for quite some time... I guess in a month or so either Mike or I are going to have to go back to days and who ever goes to days will be in the running for promotion above the other whatever yack yack. I really like my boss. I admire his leadership. I didn't always, but i really do now. I admitted my bad choices and talked about where i want to grow. I told him i do feel like i'm "stuck" there but that's just me being honest.
Let's see there was something else i wanted to write about...
OH yes. Arby's Market Fresh salads. Rule the universe. I've tried the Martha's Vineyard one and the Santa Fe one. OMG so yummy. McDonalds also has awesome salads now. I get the grilled chicken bacon ranch one a lot for work. Mixed greens... healthy yummy. Though, i know 3 or 4 ppl who work at mcdonalds, and no one can tell me why they don't offer Light Ranch dressing. grr. :)
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Saturday, April 24, 2004
 Hey it's my brother Jon's birthday and he's McWilliamsWorld that is on the side there. I think for his birthday he wanted video games, movies, lobster and steak. I got him a card instead.
And finally my sister Amy is back from FLA so i can read her blog!!!
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Friday, April 23, 2004
 I'm jumping back up on my preaching throne for a second bc this is bothering me. And i do know there are 2 sides (or more) to every story.
But i'm in communication with a good friend of mine who used to be on my volunteer ministry staff at the church i used to work at. I won't divulge her personal info, but she made some choices a year or so ago that pretty much ousted her from that fellowship. I was on the outside of the situation at the time, and although any one of us could have seen the hurt she was headed for, the responses in a situation like that can turn a few directions. Most people in the church, instead of loving their sister and still offering friendship, turned her out. Now her world has crumbled and thru her own choices and the stupidity of the self-righteous culture that surrounds a small church, she's all alone. She's blaming the church. She's blaming the devil. She's blaming herself too.
I guess i don't know all the information. I just get mad at forgiven believers who forget about God's grace. We all have crap we're dealing with. None of us is perfect. There is a place for christian discipline in a church, but there's also got to be room for healing and love and mercy. So i'm trying to minister God's love. It's bad enough to feel like pure trash after you've completely blown it (and when everyone's telling you "I TOLD YOU SO") but is this the way people of God have to be discipled? What happened to seventy-times-seven?
I'm not making any sense even to myself. I used to be the one pointing the finger with all the answers. I've even been accused of being way too liberal now in my theology and maybe it's true. But for me, i guess as one fallen sinner, I just kneel at the cross like everyone else. And i'm singing that song "There's room at the cross for you." Isn't there room?
Well, there is room. You just have push your way thru the throngs of people standing up with their chests sticking out and noses in the air with their polished pressed suits and white-washed tomb hearts beating loudly so all can hear it.
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Thursday, April 22, 2004
 I took part in a blogging survey for someone's research project for seminary, and the results are now online. I found it interesting!! It's a lot of reading but i'll just post the link so you can read it if you want.
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 HOLY HOLY HOLY HOLY HOLY HOLY!!!!
The DIVAS WERE THE BOTTOM 3!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
LOL I can hear Amy's screaming all the way from Florida!!!!
LOL!!!
I was so shocked ya'll. George walks over to the "top group" and Latoya is standing there proud waving her arm for him to come join them. (I have the luxury of watching it on tape so i could rewind and watch their reactions!!!) So you got the whiteys in one group and the black people in the "top group" and then Ryan tells George he's in the wrong group!!!! HAHAHA. I was flipping out. Did you see John Steven's face????? Jennifer just stood there shocked as heck. Holy cow.
I'm still in shock LOL
No suprise out of those 3 that it was Jennifer to go... she cannot possibly be connecting with America with THAT VOICE. But now it's anyone's game. Truthfully, i don't think there is anything more Fantasia or Latoya can do... they've outshined every performance. I have no idea where these votes are coming from for Diana. Maybe if i took the time to dig around more websites of fans... i'd be able to tell you. The voting base for JPL must be going to John S., and Camile's votes probably go to Jasmine.
Last thought on this shocker of a night... George is driving me completely crazy. I can't stand his big eyes and blinking and UUUUGGGGGGGGGGGGG.
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Wednesday, April 21, 2004
 OK I gotta admit that blogging is not the same when my sister Amy is not blogging too. LOL She kinda inspires me, but she's in FLA this week. :)
Anyways as is new tradition here's my American Idol Run DOWN!
Yo Yo Dawg. Yeaaah Yeaaah
1. Diana - something funky happened with the audio or my tape is warped bc that was rotten performance but the judges liked it a lot. All of them! So i think something happened in the sound booth bc a couple of times her audio cut on her. She was out of tune. She's gotta go.
2. George - Stop it with the riffs. I never heard most of these Barry songs - this one, if i ever had heard it before, i wouldn't know it bc he can't stay on one note... I don't like George. Please leave now.
3. Jennifer - Must admit it was a good performance. But her voice is totally not to my liking... way toooooooo deep or whatever. Can't put my finger on it (besides she scares me) but her voice is just too ... old churchey for me.
4. Jasmine - LOVED LOVED LOVED IT! She's definitely a top fave of mine. She did a terrific rendition of "I'll never love this way again." Helped that i knew the song, but she didn't try to be all riffy with it. She just sang it and did great. And finally she's appearing as though she knows she's doing great. She can't win, up against Latoya and Fantasia, but she's awesome and her voice is one of my faves.
5. LaToya London - She also nailed it. I'm just not a fan. I can't even tell you what it is i'm looking for from her that would turn me to like her or whatever. What would she need to do? She's totally awesome singer. She has good stage presence. Maybe it's that she's TOO GOOD. Like she's a pro and the rest are amatures and i like to root for the under dog. Which leads me into ...
6. John Stevens - LOVED IT LOVED IT LOVED IT! Good song. I thought he did terrific. Like the shorter hair. He did a great job. I like it when he does the slower songs. Again, he can't win, but i hope Diana goes tomorrow, instead of him. I think he makes the show fun to watch bc otherwise it's just 3 black chix all trying to outsing each other. ZZZZZ.
7. Fantasia - I do like her a lot. She was a great performer. I never heard that song before "Miracle" - but she did good. I thought she looked too much like she had it in the bag already. Could have smiled a lot more? I don't know that she can win... people are saying her voice is too distinct.
So to sum up.
I want Diana GONE. I predict Latoya will win it all. But i wish Jasmine all the best bc she's COOL.
:)
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Monday, April 19, 2004
 I promised i would share this TRUE STORY with everyone i know so this is one way of doing that.
I met a lady on PalTalk this weekend in one of the praise/worship rooms and asked her how she came to know the Lord.
Standard question!
Her name is Sharon and she is from England! She said (i'll leave out all but the really important details bc it is HER story but she knows i'm going to tell everyone!) that she was from a bad background and had two kids and then left her husband who was a mean man. Moved to a new village, and the pastor's wife there had given her family 3 bibles. One for her and one for each of her two young boys.
For weeks the Bible lay unopen on her coffee table. Then, one day while her boys were outside playing, she felt irresistably drawn to the bible. Like she could not NOT pick it up. She had to open it.
So she opens it and it falls open and her eyes land on one word.
SHARON.
OMGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGggg! From Acts 9:35!!! A verse i bet YOU didn't even know existed... it says "....and Sharon turned and followed the Lord."
OMGGGGGGGGGG! It was then and there, she gave her heart to Jesus! Now her boys are grown up and she feels a calling to missions in Uganda. I was flipping out when i heard this story (and told it to my Edge class yesterday) and they were flipping out too.
2 Tim. 3:16 says that ALL SCRIPTURE is breathed by God. Even those little verses we think would have no meaning or reason for being in there. Heb. 4:12 says that the word is LIVING AND ACTIVE. It sure is!!!!
I pray this story totally encourages you today, and i don't think Sharon would mind if you shared it with someone else to bolster their faith too! GOD ROCKS!!!
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Friday, April 16, 2004
 Shocked, suprised and happy JPL was voted off Idol. I have a lot more i could probably say today but i'm exhausted and have to go back to work tonight. Suckin' the life right outta me haha.
and...
**Happy Birthday** to my sis Amy!!! Read her blog "Gottaloveem" on the side there. She is so coooooooooool!
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Thursday, April 15, 2004
 I was tipped off to this on Ross & Kel's blog but you gotta check out
LORD OF THE PEEPS
In memory of Easter... which, is, over. Yeah, over. OK. I had no peeps this easter. But i do call people "peeps." Keeps everyone guessing.
And now, my cereal story.
About 2 weeks ago, I purchased a box of Frosted Flakes, because I really wanted them. I was craving them. But I have this unspoken rule in my life/house (unspoken bc who would i tell it to? Well, now you know!!!!) that i cannot open a new box of cereal unless
a) there are no other opened boxes left
b) if there is an open box left, it has to be detestable and one i swear i will never finish or touch unless throwing it out- such as Special K (i get like one box of that a year and never finish it. Gag puke barf.) Such opened boxes are apt to stick around awhile - because i feel sorry for them and throwing it out is kind of like admitting to myself that i am throwing away hard earned money. And when i say "hard-earned" i'm not blowin' smoke. I work hard. Usually.
c) Gotta have non-expired milk in the fridge.
d) and even though it may stay fresh more than a month opened, the opened box cereal from #b has to be like older than a month since i bought it. I just won't eat it if i think it's old.
Well, there was a box of Cherrios (family sized - why did i do that to myself????!) that i've been working on opened and so i've not tapped into my Frosted Flakes
until
right now - i'm breaking all the rules (except #C; i do have milk) because i have faith in myself that i can finish 2 boxes of cereal. And i couldn't stomach another bowl of Cherrios. Had to have a date with Tony the Tiger.
Now you know.
What's your cereal rule? Leave me a comment. That'd be GRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRREAT!
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 I'm posting this before I read Gottaloveem's or Shopping Queen's blogs!
OK
Am. Idol thoughts.
This was their one shot to do something they like. Hmmmmm.
1. George. So sick of him. I can't stand that America seems to really like him bc even though he has a nice voice, i just don't like 'im.
2. Jennifer. Still scares me as usual but tonight was probably my favorite performance of hers. Tolerable. But she bares her teeth and it just sets me on edge. Reminds me of some type of angry animal you'd meet in the jungle.
3. JPL - "Joke Please Leave." That's what his name stands for to me. I am not even wanting 2 say i think he's cute anymore. He's a complete joke to me. I agree w/ Simon... This is not a comedy show. He has no talent. He can't dance. He can't sing. He's not a good entertainer. I don't care how the crowd reacts! He doesn't even want to win. You can just tell some of those other contestants WANT to win so badly. He is just a joke. Compare his performance (or drive to win) to someone like Fantasia or power-voice Jennifer. He doesn't stack up. He sucks ! He is not why they hold this show... GRRRRR.
4. Fantasia - Loved love loved it. Agree w/ judges it was so magical. I also agree with that director guy that she needs to get back into the funk though and spice 'er up now because we've had enough of the lady parade or how ever he put it. I loved the performance. I know some ppl can't stand her "yeah yeah's" and stuff but i think she's destined for star-dom because her voice is recognizable and she has great emotion in her songs.
5. John Stevens. I knew he'd pick a song like that and i'm glad he did. He needs to get a hair cut LOL. The white suit made him look even MORE white which i thought was impossible. But i loved his voice and he did shine as much as he's going to shine. I don't really want him to be the #1 idol but i don't want him to be voted out on Thurs. either. I agree w/ Simon. The kid's got no personality at all. No charisma. He needs that. (Also, when he smiles he looks like he smelled rotten eggs or something. Sorry.)
6. Diana - that was awful. Totally terrible. I wanted to like her. The judges probably could not hear like we can at home but she missed A LOT Of her notes. A lot of them. Probably a bad song choice too. Very risky to sing Titanic. She may be going home.
7. Jasmine - After last week i'm a fan of hers but i'd have to say that I agree w/ Simon (o.k., I always agree w/ Simon duh i don't know why but i do bc he's RIGHT) that you could have heard that performance in any hotel. She's not probably #1 idol material but she's so sweet. Jas reminds me of those little candy buttercups that Willy Wonka ate when he went into the "World of Pure Imagination." She did a good job. I do understand what Simon is saying about the kids trying to be grown ups. Connection problems.
8. Latoya. Her voice hurt my ears again LOL I said that a few weeks back. My problem with Latoya is that she looks like she's in her mid-30's to me. And she'll go far in this competition, and I'd even put her at #1 or #2 but i'd never be like a huge fan (like i am of Kelly Clarkson!!!!) or ever buy her albums. She's so forgettable to me. You know my favorite Latoya performance? Her one line in "Benny and the Jets" from last week's group number. The way she strutted out and tried to own the stage. That was cool. I rewound it a # of times for that song all the way thru (the group performance one! Thought it was cool.) Tonight, i did not rewind anyone. I usually end up rewinding at least 2 or 3. Oh well.
So if i could vote (which i can't bc i'm at work when the voting is happening) i would vote for Fantasia and Jasmine and maybe a few for John Stevens just to make my sister Amy squirm. I would not vote a lot for any of these people bc none are like HUGE STARS in my eyes. I want JPL gone and George gone.
Who do i think America will send home? I'm never right about this stuff. But i have a feeling it will be Jas or Diana. For some reason they don't clap as long 4 those 2.
G'day i gotta try to be tired now.
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Tuesday, April 13, 2004
 Oh no, now i got hooked on the 9-11 hearings....! Why why why!? I wish i would have been able to watch from the beginning. Ashcroft has done a good job today of blaming "the previous administration" - where i believe the blame truly lies for this whole mess.
Anyways!
To my dismay, Mike turned down the Edina promotion - to move to a new store... he said the money wasn't there. Which is bad news for me bc i truly thought he'd take it. I don't know that i would be a good candidate for the job (it's the highest volume store in our district and I work at the 2nd lowest volume store) - plus if they wouldn't give the pay raise to Mike, they probably won't give it to me. It's a half hour commute and i am not really big into driving all the time. But i could sure use more money. Anyways we're stuck now -- but i may send out an inquiry bottom line info - saying if i ask for "xx.xx" would they give it to me. I've been to that store. It's huge. It's got two levels for their receiving (including a freight elevator) and i'd probably have to go back to early mornings.
Way to talk myself out of it!
I just talked to one of my new Zone leaders. I guess this is the Zone with the majority of student leaders in it... the last teacher only could make 2 of the 5 meetings. Ouch. So the students are hungry to dig deep. She said i should be prepared for them asking a lot of questions and challenging me on stuff. I love that! Good way to start the summer.
Me go now.
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Monday, April 12, 2004
 Heavens; you'd think i was dead. No posts for 3 days?!
Sorry.
Truly had an uneventful sleepy weekend. I think one day i slept from 10pm-1:30 pm the next day. Insane. I must have been really really exhausted.
A new week... this week means a new Zone bible study, possible personell change @ work (hopefully Mike or I will be leaving to go to work @ the Edina store - will know very soon - we both cannot stay or i will kill him with my bare girl hands) - and My sister Amy turns 29 on Friday ! Whoo hoo!!!
I killed a spider on Sunday morning. I hate spiders.
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Friday, April 09, 2004
 My mom used to say that it's always CLOUDY on GOOD FRIDAY. Every year, i notice this is true. She said if the sun does come out, it will usually be cloudy from noon-3 PM (which is also usually true, but I guess Jesus didn't die in central time.)
But you watch, and see if it's the case. And remember, you heard it here first.
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Thursday, April 08, 2004
 Goodbye to yellow brick road.
I will rewind that and watch Camille sing it over over. I don't know what it is; i love the way she does that song. Can't believe i'm a fan of hers now. I didn't like her before. Sad to see her go. Just goes to show you like i said, John Stevens is in bc an entire city is voting for him non stop. If he would have done that "Daniel" song it would have been no problem. Anyways... Idol for this week is over. America is not voting based on talent, that's for sure... JPL should be gone along time ago! And now we have to watch Jennifer the rabid dog, another week. Yikes.
And no mom at least i'm not watching the Bachelor. I don't have time for the shows i'm hooked on as it is.
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4:51 AM
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Wednesday, April 07, 2004
 I made up a recipe!!!!!
I sort of adapted this from a much simpler one i found but I'll call it
"KT's Mexican Garbage Truck Dinner"
This is what i would imagine for dinner if you were in Mexico and a garbage truck turned over on the side of the road. But it's low-fat and good for you. I think.
Ingredients:
Can of black beans, can of chili beans, little can of green chilis, jar of enchillata sauce (i used Pace, a bigger container, medium flavor), 8 corn tortillas, chopped up cilantro, chopped up green onions, and low fat cheese like monteray jack or whatever.
Get out your casserole dish thing and spray it with Pam. Then cover the bottom in the ench. sauce. Mix the rest of the stuff (but not the cheese) in a bowl. I didn't measure how much cilantro i used but i like a lot of it - so i probably used about 1/3 of a "bunch" of it! I used about 3 or 4 green onions. Probably would have been more beneficial if i was not in such a time crunch to saute the onions and other stuff heat it up first together but it still turned out.
OK then you layer the tortillas and garbage truck ingredients until it's all used up. In between layers make sure you put your cheese and more ench. sauce. Save the sauce wisely bc you need to have it for each layer and to pour over the top. Lots of cheese on the top too and more sauce. Don't worry, the stuff is going to spill out into the dish but that's OK. Some ppl suggest soaking your corn tortillas in the sauce before you put it in there. That is a good idea but i didn't do that. You want the tortillas to be SOFT.
Bake it for like 25 min. at 350. MMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMM
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3:09 PM
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 My thoughts on last night's IDOL:
Some of this even suprises me how i feel.
I only really liked Camille & Jasmine. I am not sure why everyone thought Camille was so bad. That is a very wide-range song and she hit most of the notes and i thought she did very good. Jasmine did miss quite a few power notes but i thought she did great. Latoya was just "aiight" and i didn't like Fantasia's song choice. JPL gotta go. That guy is NOT an idol. John Stevens... dude he's so DONE! LOL That was completely terrible. But what are we going to do when he doesn't get voted out this week? Because, he won't. Remember, it takes votes. I am so sick of George Huff yet it looks &sounds like the crowd likes him the most. He reminds me of Bubba Gump sorry that probably sounds racist. I hate the squat dance.
Jennifer still scares me so bad. I can't stand her voice (although it is a powerful voice) and she managed to take a Disney song and turn it into something that could come from a horror movie. [Did you hear Elton say that he liked Jennifer the best? Yuck!] Diana = can't figure out why Paula likes her so much either. She's OK and fun but not that great. She's no Kelly Clarkson.
In fact,
In my opinion we don't have any Kellys, Justins, Reubens or even Clays up there. No way. And i can't help making the comparisons because well, they are there.
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Tuesday, April 06, 2004
 I know there are some YP's and youth leaders who read this blog so i'm posting this for you guys. These are notes from our leader's meeting last night. Jr. High youth pastor, Heather Flies from Wooddale Church spoke.
HOW TO MINISTER TO TEENAGE GIRLS
Girls like to share, a lot. They process their thinking out loud most of the time. Let them talk.
S - Show up at their activities
Outside of the church walls. Go see them swim, kick, play chess, act, sing, whatever. They will always love it, and you will have gained a stage to talk to them on a more authoritative level. Get excited about what they get excited about. At least show interest, because that communicates importance to them.
H – Hear her Heart
Let them talk, give an ear, give them time. You will see how they think, rationalize and then be equipped to guide them toward Jesus.
Don’t jump in with a story about you and your teenage years. The want to talk about themselves, not you.
Don’t think of a response while they talk. They will be able to tell. Just listen. Make sure you understand what they mean. Get clarification for things that are not clear.
A – Affirm her Character
Too much is made of the physical side of girls. How they should look is blasted at them and they will never be able to measure up. Therefore, build up her character. Affirm her actions, thoughts as beautiful to God. What is inside is more important to God. De-emphasize talking about the outward stuff and focus more on the character, the thinking behind actions, and being beautiful to God.
Notice some physical stuff like new hair and clothes but make that less noticeable than your emphasis and praise of their character. Applaud them when they do good. She suggested following up ANY comment on physical appearance ("Hey you got new Nikes!!") within 15 seconds to talk about her character "I appreciate the way you helped that new student feel comfortable last week..."
R – Reassure her of her Worth
This is a lot like Affirm her character, but this has more to do with her position in Christ, identity in Christ, and source of worth. All this is for the same reasons of the outward appearance being everything, which they will never measure up to anyway.
Psalm 139:13-16
I Corinthians 6:19-20
Psalm 31:30
E – Encourage female relationships
De-escalate the boy crazy stuff. Recognize they exist and how cool God made them, but don’t let boy talk dominate the conversation. This is for all the reasons that girls will not be themselves when boys are around. The outward appearance stuff will be more important because that is how you get the boys attention. They are so self conscious anyway, elevate that when boys are around.
Let the girls be free to be girls. Have a girls night out. Do things without the boys once in a while. Celebrate who God made them to be as young women.
Last words:
SHARE in their lives
SHARE your life with them
SHARE the truth of God with them
SHARE in their excitement
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12:31 PM
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 I have something to admit, confess, and own up to.
What you are about to read may be sort of shocking, but i want you to know that i am not ashamed.
My normal bedtime has rounded off (during the week) to usually be around 5 a.m. No matter what time i get off of work, it seems this is when i get tired enough to doze off. In the hour prior to the doze, I have become accostomed to doing something that some people would find apalling, laughable, hideous, and downright shameful.
I watch... FULL HOUSE.
It's on Nick At Night. The whole gang is there... Michelle, Jesse, Joey, Danny, Rebecca, the two little twin boys, Comet the Dog, Stephanie, Deeeej, you know. And it's 2 episodes back to back. And i actually look forward to watching the show. Mind you, there isn't much else on TV at that time. Exercise shows, old movies, and informericals about exercise. But i'd still pick Full House.
Thanks. have a nice day; please come again.
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 Wow in addition to the last post, guess what tonight's leader meeting topic was ?!!
LOL!
"How to minister to teenage girls." It was guest speaker Jr. High pastor from Wooddale church over here in Eden Prairie. She was an awesome speaker. Probably one of the best i've ever heard in regards to hands-on ministry. Very timely for my situation. I may take the time to post my notes tomorrow afternoon.
Then, since no representative from my next zone showed up (why don't adults take these meetings more seriously?!!! We usually have just as many student leaders there as adults. That is just ODD) i decided to go to the jr. high meeting instead of the sr. high one. And nothing of what they were saying pertained to me bc i don't go to jr. high on wed. nights and wed. nights was the topic of discussion. But i sat and listened anyway. Then i realized there was a purpose for my being there. I learned one of the ladies that volunteers on Wed. nights is the parent of a student i've been trying to get all year long to play keys for us for Edge Band. Pastor Craig dropped her name and then i'm like dude, that's Jenna's MOM!!! So i grabbed her after the meeting and asked if she really was Jenna's mom, and she said yes.
It was then discovered by both of us that we had the same mission and goal regarding Jenna. We both want her involved in this ministry!! Jenna's just lacked the confidence to keep at it. [She did join us up there one week and then i had a hard time getting her to another practice.] I guess she talks me up so much and tells her mom like every word i ever say to her (all good) and really looks up to me and wants to work with me on this. They even restructured her piano lessons so she could learn how to "chord" and not just read notes so she could be involved in the worship team. LOL I didn't know that. So her mom was so happy i introduced myself and I really raved about Jenna (she's such an awesome believer!) and we chatted like old friends for quite awhile... just about my goals for the team and how i want the students involved in off-stage ministry as well as on stage, and how Jenna's been wanting to be more involved in Jr. High ministry and this band. LOL I was so happy. So i've got to contact her this week and make sure she's down wit dat. Yo.
I had to miss a few hrs. of work tonight for the church mtng. But it was funny when i got to work, i think Mike really had missed me because he had a whole clipboard stuffed with notes for me on what we had to get done and all this stuff from our manager that we gripe about and no one would understand but us. We kinda run our own show i guess.
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Monday, April 05, 2004
 This is how God works in my life.
True story follows...
As i was in prep yesterday morning for our praise team bible study, and praying and whatnot, I had the faces of my students in my head and one of those little God-thoughts floated by. "You will mentor Hannah." It wasn't a big noisy ocean oil tanker floating by. More like a little motorized toy sail boat. So i kind of raised my eyebrows, and went on about my day. I've learned in situations like this (it truly happens so often to me that i don't make a fuss over it anymore) to just nod my head and go "ok whatever Lord..." because He'll usually get his way even if i kick and scream. I've learned not to kick and scream so much :)
So anyways, I went to pick Hannah up for practice at like 7:35 a.m. She's my youth pastor's daughter in the 8th grade. By now, i had no thoughts of the sail boat anymore... not really anyways. I think she's such a nifty kid. Always have. She holds her own in a family that is very prominent in our church... and definitely struggles with being a PK on top of being middle child etc. She is usually the one at practice to have everyone on their last nerve at times because she's high strung and on the immature side yet - well that's normal bc she's only 13.
Leaving church, I was talking to Colleen and then Pastor Geoff, her dad, drives up. He calls me over to their SUV, and we have small talk about the Maple Grove hooey (which he didn't know about...) and then, he gets more serious... and asks me if i would consider approaching Hannah to mentor her.
If the curb of the sidewalk had not been right behind me, I may have backed up about 4 feet and then gasped for fresh air. But since the curb was there, i could not easily go anywhere and before I could start my speel, he started talking very frankly about her situation right now. Her and her brother both, and how extremely difficult a time they are having with their dad as their dad and their pastor and he likened it to "Cradle Christians" (those born into Christian families) growing up with a finger shoved up their nose. It's irritating. Sometimes it's necessary, to have that finger to get the bad boogers, but for the most part it's uncomfortable and awkward. And people look at you differently ALL THE TIME. You're constantly under scrutiny. You're never just yourself. You're always the pastor's kid. And you never actually SEE the finger since it's shoved up your nose... so you're never really sure you own it or if it's just some one else imposing their will on you.
Well he picked an illustration that really makes sense to me. Gruesome as it is. Finally i got to get a word in edgewise, and started to say how very weird it was (but i corrected myself and told him it was a god-thing) that he brings this up bc it had crossed my mind. He said normally the students are supposed to approach the person they want to mentor them, but he is not sure she'd approach me, but that she did tell him she wanted to work with me out of anyone else.
I told him i'd definitely pray about it and walked away more than scratching my head. I'm not writing all this to brag that i get messages from God (it's actually quite a heavy burden some days) but just to glorify Him how He works in such cool ways. So last night @ work as i was tasking and just fixing stuff in the store, I was keeping a note of all the things i vision for us doing and learning together - and adding that up against her personality (which honestly will be a struggle for me at times - she's full of energy) and balancing it against her awesome strong relationship with Christ. I've got no doubts this young lady has really grounded herself in the Word. It's just time to make it personal.
So that's cool, huh?
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Saturday, April 03, 2004
 Here is the article Colleen was talking about about the gay trip...
Very poorly written from my standards of journalism that i learned. Holy cow. But it's some "facts" (not backed up with any sources, mind you.) I should go work for a paper and show them how to write a story. Hmph.
Ironically, State Senator Rep. Warren Limmer [R] is the dad of one of my jr. high students from church!!!! I just found this out on Sunday. I felt like i was meeting royalty. She's a sweetie too. (He is mentioned in the article.)
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Friday, April 02, 2004
 Hey...
Here's something of newsworthy interest.
Students in my current Zone bible study are juniors - half i think go to Maple Grove High School. Anyways we had this big "rally" at the state capitol a week or more ago, and it was pro-marriage - to show support for the legislation that would keep marriage just male/female and none of this gay bizness. It was during school, so the students had to leave during school. Turns out, the school would not grant them religious leave, because it was not thru a school sponsored club!! So they got an unexcused absence, which means that every class they had for that day, they get an "F" for that day, in. And they can't make up the work.
But there's more.
The gay club (it's probably not called the "gay club") has a faculty advisor that knows how to get around the rules. So when the gay students got out of school, for the rally that the gay ppl had at the capitol, they were excused!!!!!!!!!!!!! Something like, because the gay club is considered a "support group" and is sponsored by the school, where as the christian students are not allowed a faculty sponsor (bc they are religious in nature) so they didn't know the protocol. So three of the students in my group are going to be really super brave and go speak to the school board next week and all the students (and any supporters) are asked to come and stand behind them when they speak. And if there isn't enough support (not sure what that means either) they will not be recognized. Talk about religious persecution. STUPIDNESS! We've talked about this the last 2 wednesdays and i forgot to post it on here. Keep these brave kids in your prayers bc they are in an uphill battle.
What's more, i think about how times have changed in only 10 years since i was in high school. I could NEVER imagine there being a GAY CLUB in my school!!!!!! OMG! Look how much society has changed in the last decade. I remember debating gays in the military in history class (Mr. Evans) - bc that's when Clinton was in office. And that's what was going on when i was a junior in high school. Now, we have open gay students with equal rights unashamed to flaunt their values - while Christians are told to shut up. Someone outta call Jay Sekulo.
But as has been said elsewhere, it's actually not the worst thing, because this forces people with christian values to stand up and be counted. There's no more fence-sitting and no more hiding in the shadows. It's an interesting thing to finally see Christian students stand up for what they believe, even if they are going to get persecuted (they are now telling me they're in the "minority" bc they believe homosexuality is a sin - most students think it's OK to be gay if that's a person's choice.) And it's a cool thing on the one hand, to see Christian students move their faith from just wearing some Jesus t-shirt, to actually bringing their faith to their mouth and having to deal with it everyday. A war zone, yeah, but something that when we look back in 20 years is going to be history in the making, i think.
It reminds me of this old hymn:
Rise up, O men of God!
Have done with lesser things.
Give heart and mind and soul and strength
To serve the King of kings.
Rise up, O men of God!
The kingdom tarries long.
Bring in the day of brotherhood
And end the night of wrong.
Rise up, O men of God!
The church for you doth wait,
Her strength unequal to her task;
Rise up and make her great!
Lift high the cross of Christ!
Tread where His feet have trod.
As brothers of the Son of Man,
Rise up, O men of God!
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Thursday, April 01, 2004
 Dude i just got off of work a little bit ago and need to go eat but i just wanted 2 report that the credit card illustration totally made sense and no one tried to contradict me!! LOL
Yay God.
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