i'm not very in to halloween...

ok, my family has never really done halloween. i think i've had about 5 outfits in my entire life. i distinctly remember two being an angel and then Mary (both of those costumes came from the very old stack of church Christmas pageant clothes).
several of the people at work are dressing up. since i'm working halloween night at starbucks, i think i'd disappoint some kiddos if i didn't have some kind of costume on.....so here are the options (my lack of creativity is definitely showing here):
1. Rebekah of Sunnybrook Farm (you know, overalls, straw hat, big smile and failure to see anything as negative)
or
2. a nerd (complete with Violet Vickerstaff braids and an i heart calculus pin)


what should i do???

prayer

this may be un-Christianlike, but i usually don't pass along prayer requests. i pray for the situation and will tell a friend or family member if they know the person, but other than that, i sometimes just see "prayer requests" as really just being another way to gossip. and let's be honest, alot of times, those forward emails about a sick child could be way out of date and are too far removed from the source to know what's actually going on. (maybe that is very pessimistic, but that is how i feel)

that being said, i uncharacteristically want to pass along a prayer need for a boy in Romania, Daniel. He is one of the Livada kids that i spent my summer with and as they are all very dear to my heart, i wanted to let more people know. Daniel has reverted back to some old habits of aggression due to some deep-seeded issues in his life. A staff member of Livada, Kelly, has written about it here. So please pray for Daniel and the others in his home.

Thanks. :-)

my red backyard

so i really need to take a picture of my backyard right now because it is bright red. they leveled out the yard and took down the tree the result being a field of Georgia red clay. it's pretty exciting though because it means work is being done and we are that much closer to having my grandparents move in with us.
however, because of the construction, we had an exposed cable wire that was cut by the bobcat, meaning that we have no cable tv and no internet. it was amazingly quiet at my house last night without dad turning on football!

i had a fantastic weekend with matt and his family. it was the perfect balance of friend time, family time and then time with just matt. we visited his grandparents and i was in awe of their beautiful farm. matt and i also made a trip to the zoo, which was a really fun and relaxing thing to do. After the zoo, matt and i went to Dillards and he got a $700 Hugo Boss suit for only $200!!!! what a deal. matt was pretty excited about that. :-)

well, i think that's all for now.

currently listening to: ella fitzgerald (at starbucks, enjoying an orange-mango banana vivanno)

rainy rain rain...

As much as rain pains my joints (gosh, i sound like i'm a senior citizen), i do love the way rainy days can be. people tend to dress down a little more, they don't stress as much about where they're going to or coming from. it's just more relaxed. at least, that's what i have observed. another thing about rain, is the smell. as strange as it sounds, i love the smell of wet asphault, right after it starts raining. yeah, weird, i know.

i'm headed to rome for the evening and then matt and i are going to visit his grandparents tomorrow! i have not met this grandmother and i'm very excited to do so. it should be a very pleasant weekend with his wonderful family. and some much needed quality time with matt is going to be great. we have "spontaneously planned" to go to the zoo this weekend as well! i do hope it dries up enough so that we can do that. :-)

this Sunday at Oak Leaf , we are continuing our whirlwind tour of some major religions (Mormonism, Islam, Judaism, Catholicism, and Christianity). This week is Judaism. I am sad to miss it, but so grateful we record our services and put them on podcasts. Technology can sometimes be so wonderful....and then sometimes not.

i went to an awesome, awesome concert last night at Eddie's Attic. Saw some fantastic musicians. i love seeing true talent, especially at a good cafe-like venue. check out these dudes: Joal Rush, Joel Hamilton, and Jay Clifford. Definitely worth it!

ok, i think that's about all. happy friday!!!

what is going on?

so i wish i understood the economy. maybe i should have paid more attention back in that one semester of economics in high school.

in other news. my uncle robbie, aunt christine and their girls are coming up for the weekend! elise and rachel are two of the most beautiful kids. they are really awesome and i'm very excited to see them. i wish i weren't working so much this weekend.

that's pretty much all that is going on with me at the moment. other than being obsessed with the elizabethtown soundtrack. it's brilliant. :-)

i wish....

....i were an artist. despite my efforts to be artistic, most of my works do not turn out like they should.

....i could play the guitar.

....money was never a problem (ok, i know God is in control, and on those terms, it is never an issue, but you know what i mean)

....my store manager would schedule me to work during the week more. weekends are already like a jigsaw puzzle.

....i understood myself and never went through doubts, struggles, and down times. but i guess that's what makes the "up times" even better.

....i had a new car. :-)

....to one day not have to be on the phone so much with the people i love.

....i knew more about how computers work and how to fix things. that goes for cars too.

....i could speak Romanian fluently. and Spanish. and French. and Swahili. and Chinese. and Russian. and Arabic. ok, so i guess i really wish for there to be no language barrier. dumb tower of babel.

....i could sew. making my own clothes, doing my own alterations would be awesome.

....i were always motivated to work out and eat healthy. it seems to come in spurts.

....there were not an ocean between here and Romania and it was as easy as a little drive to see my kids.

i think that's all for now. :-) in thinking about these few things that i wish could happen or were possible. it's interesting to note which ones are actually attainable and within reach. maybe we don't take enough credit and action on what we wish could happen. it's just that most of the time we want it now, without working for it, taking action, or putting much thought into the process.

i'm frustrated!

alright, i admit that i did not watch the entire presidential debate last night. i also admit that apart from social issues (aka welfare, abortion, and other social programs), i'm not that interested in the political issues at hand. it's hard for me to have an opinion on the economy or healthcare, the war on terrorism or "change in Washington," because honestly, i don't feel the effects of a change in the White House. it is hard for me to see beyond my local area and come up with answers for an entire nation's problems. nevertheless, i try to be politically involved and active. i try not to be the silent girl in the corner when a political discussion arises, because there are things that i care about on both national and global scales. also, because Matt (my politically-fired boyfriend) loves for me to talk politics with him, even though it ends up being a very short discussion. :-)
ok, so for the ten minutes i watched the debate last night, i think about five of those minutes were either McCain or Obama bashing the other guys "record" or "philosophy." you know what, i don't care how witty you are in regards to your opponent's methods or beliefs! it was so frustrating for them to ramble on and on about how the other guy's theory won't work. this left them with no time to actually speak on what they would do. and when they were talking about what they would do, they came off as being arrogant and snooty.
so maybe i am being unfair because i only watched a few minutes of this backstabbing, but i honestly couldn't take anymore. i've now resolved to only look at the candidates' websites to understand where they stand on the issues. let's just say that i'm glad that we are on the home stretch when it comes to election day. i'm ready to see something else on the news, because the world has continued to revolve despite the fact that one country is in the middle of a presidential election.

:-) whew, why can't i articulate things like this in person? it seems to only come out in writing. haha

OCTOBER!!!

ok, i think i say this over and over again this time of year, but i absolutely love fall. it is the most amazing season to me. it has fantastic smells, colors, and don't forget the incredible warmth of apple cider. mmmm....:-) i haven't been a hayride in a long time...it'd be fun to find a hayride somewhere! good things always happen in October. i was looking back in my journal this last week and noticed how this time a year ago was when my feelings really started to change about Matt. as hard as i tried to fight feelings for him, i could see glimmers of hope through the words i wrote. i can't believe where a year brought me. i'm always amazed at how far the Lord moves me and changes me. things happen like a flash. i don't even realize the changes he guides me through until i've passed them. i'm very grateful for that quality of the Lord's, His never-failing patience and faithfulness to continue a good work in me.

mountain day is this saturday. and i'm pretty stinkin' excited about it! it's so cheesy, but i love it. what i look forward to the most is just being with my dear friends, scratch that, my dear family. although, not everyone will be able to make it (tisk tisk!), it shall be a grand time. we've got quite the picnic spread in the works. :-)

starbucks is going really well. i haven't had my certification yet, but have worked real shifts and everyone says that i'm doing just fine. i feel pretty confident, just slow. but i know that i'll get into a rhythm and will get faster. i had an amazing breakthrough with this lady the other day. a non-coffee drinker, she wanted to get something. so i suggested that she just try a chai latte. she took my word for it and ordered it. two hours later, she drives back up, walks in and is searching the menu for the name of the drink. she found me and asked me what the name of it was again because she loved it so much! that's why i love working in a coffee shop. it was a great feeling.

well, i better get ready for bed, even though i've got caffeine in me. i was trying to make it through closing, so i had this espresso brownie that is loaded with caffeine. terrible, but awesome. :-)

peace!