8 in 2008

Ok, so it's the 9th...sorry, I forgot to do this earlier. Here's my update for the 8 in 2008.
1. Make devotions and prayer a priority
I think I've done pretty good at this one. Of course there's always room for improvement, but I bought a great new devotional that actually has Bible verses in it to read (unlike my previous one!?!?!?), and it has prayer suggestions.
2. Listen more, talk less
This one is kinda funny, because it was actually an assignment in my communication class, to improve our listening skills. I'm still working on this though...
3. Don't choose favorites- pay attention to everyone
This has always been a hard one for me, I think of it in terms of younger (like really little) kids at my church. Seriously, there's just some kids I love more than others, and I tend to pay more attention to them. I still love my girls, but I think I've started to branch out and hang out with some other kids too.
4. JOY. Jesus, Others, Yourself
Well, this one is always a work in progress. I am the type of person who will do anything for you. No matter what it is, I'm there to help you. So putting others first isn't so much a problem for me. It's just that I'm so concentrated on helping others (not such a bad thing!) that sometimes I forget that Jesus should be first in my life.
5. Be able to run 5 miles by December
If you look at my sidebar "A New You/Me" you can see my progress. I haven't been running much because it's too cold outside. And I tried running on the treadmill in the basement, but the air down there is freezing cold too! I think my other cardio exercises will help me toward this goal though.
6. Keep my room clean
I was doing really well with this one until this week. Now it needs a good cleaning, but it's not as bad as it used to be!
7. Live with Kaylyn and Libby for a week this summer (preferably July 21-25)
Kinda hard to do seeing's how it's only February. We'll take care of this one in about 5 months :)
8. Teach the Hill girls how to cook a full course meal for their parent's anniversary (July 14)
This is a work in progress. The girls are very excited for their "lessons", but we haven't had the time to get together yet. I hear rumor that they want to do something next week though, so we'll see.
Anyway, there's my 8 things. Some of them I feel good about, others definitely need more work. Check back in a month to see if I've gotten any better! :)

They made it!!!!

Yesterday afternoon, I went to the airport to see the Haiti team come home. Now, if you haven't been following their journey, it's been a very interesting one. We're blaming it on the snow. You can go here to read the details... I got to the airport at about 1:35. Their plane was scheduled to land at 2. I checked the arrival time and found out it was delayed until 2:21. No big deal. I sat down, to wait, and then I saw Brenda. I joined their group and waited with Brenda, Tammy, and Diane, and all the kids. Jennifer and Anna came also.



At 2:15, we went to look out the window. At 2:30, they still hadn't arrived. Then we found out they were delayed again until 2:40. Finally, we saw their plane land.







When the kids saw I had my camera, they wanted to take tons of pictures. This one made me laugh because it looks like I just photo shopped my head into the picture!!








Their plane pulling up to the gate








Waiting (not so patiently). It was hilarious because when the kids saw people walk down the terminal, and it wasn't our group, they started to "boo". We put an end to that!







There they are!!!!!!!!!









We were all very excited!











The kids were so thrilled to see their dads again!










The second half of the group arrived about 25 minutes after the first group, so we hung around and greeted them too!





It was really exciting for me to be able to be there!
Last night, I went ice-skating with Jennifer's family. She posted her family's adventure last week here. It was so much fun!!!!! I brought my camera, but I was having too much fun skating to stop and take pictures! Jennifer's husband, Mark, took some pictures, so maybe Jennifer will have them posted on her blog. You can check them out there :)

Hip Hoppin'

I had so much fun last night!!! My editing parter from my creative writing class invited me to come to a Hip Hop Dance class at her work. It's only $20 for a whole month (every Tuesday night) of lessons! So basically, over 50% off the normal price! Who could resist? I didn't really want to go with myself though, and I was talking about it at authentic on Saturday and my friend Wendy offered to come with me!

After both of us getting lost (we drove separately), we finally made it to the dance place. The class was so much fun. I've never taken any form of dance before. My extent of experience is just the few moves we learned in Color Guard (which doesn't really count). Oh yeah, and I've learned a Spanish Salsa and the Cumbia. Believe me, both of those are way different than Hip Hop.

You're probably wondering why I'm taking Hip Hop. I mean, usually when people think of Hip Hop music, it's music with a bunch of people rapping that you can't understand and talking about thing that you don't even want to think about! Not to mention the dancing that you see on TV with guys grabbing themselves (sorry, it's the truth!) and girls dancing provocatively. Now, can you really see me dancing like that? I hope not...cuz I didn't! This place is a Christian dance place. So all the music is Christian music, and the moves are totally cool!

We learned a bunch of new moves. It was difficult because I have absolutely NO experience, so my feet ended up getting tangled up a bit! :) But my friend, Stacey, had never done Hip Hop before, and Wendy hadn't either (though she knows Salsa). We were the only people in the class with no exprience. But that really didn't matter...no one made fun of us! The only bad part about the class was that at the end, we had to freestyle! Huh?!?!?! Sorry, I don't like doing stuff in front of people I barely know! Not to mention making up my own dance moves! Stacey didn't want to do it either, so our instructor (I should mention that he's so good that "So You Think You Can Dance? or Dancing With The Stars wants him for a choreographer!) let the two of us go together! haha! It was a riot!

It was great exercise and a ton of fun....I can't wait until next Tuesday!!!!!

Martyr Monday

I would like to invite you to join me on Martyr Mondays. Feel free to copy this picture (I just made it into a linky button), and post any story you might have about a martyr for Christ!







"EXTREME WEAKNESS
RUSSIA: REVEREND MIKHAIL

"If you will renounce your faith and trample the cross, you will go free," the Bolshevik gang said. "If you do not, we will kill you."
Reverend Mikhail had seen eighty thousand of his felow Russian Orthodox leaders and lay people murdered by the Communists. Amidst all of that pain and suffering, he decided that God, if he did exist, would not have allowed such misery.
"I don't believe," he thought as he faced the gang. "What does a cross mean to me? Let me save my life."
But when he opened his mouth to go along with the gang's orders, the words that came out shocked him. "I only believe in one God. I will not trample on the cross!"
The gang put a sack around his shoulders as a royal garment and used his fur hat for Jesus' crown of thorns. One of them, a former member of Mikhail's church, knelt before him, saying "Hail, King of the Jews." They took turns beating him and mocking his God.
Silently, the reverend prayed. "If you exist, please save my life." As he was beaten, he cried out again, "I believe in one God."
His show of faith made such an impression on the drunken gang that they released him. When he arrived in his house, he fell face down on the flooor, weeping and repeating, "I believe."

But He said to me, "My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness." 2 Corinthians 12:9

The Christian faith is full of paradoxes. Die to live. Lose to win. Be weak in order to be strong. In fact, unless we are willing to embrace our own failures, we cannot experience God's strength. When we undergo hardship and trial or even witness the unjust suffering of others from afar, we may begin to doubt God's goodness. That is a human, natural response. However, God does not reject our human weakness. He restores our weakness with his strength. Therefore, we can rejoice in our failures because they remind us that human strength is no substitute for Godly power. We may fail, but our God remains strong. What are you learning about your own weakness? What does that teach you about God's strength? "

(White, Tom, comp. "Extreme Weakness." Extreme Devotion. Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson, 2001. 54.)

Boooooo!!!!!!!!!!

It's past my bedtime, so this will be a quick post.
I have to say that I'm quite disappointed with the Super Bowl overall, and not just because the Patriots lost!
The first three quarters were quite boring. A lot of throwing, but not too much going on. Especially pointwise. At halftime, the score was 3-7 Patriots. Third quarter was nothing. Fourth quarter things finally got interesting. The Giants got another TD bringing the score up to 10-7 Giants. 2:42 left in the game and the Patriots got another touchdown. 10-14 Patriots. Now I'm excited because the game is actually moving. (And cuz I think the Pats have a good chance of making it a 19-0 season). Then the Giants came back with a TD with 0:35 on the clock. The Patriots made a few good/feeble attempts, but the Giants took home the Super Bowl winnings.
I was quite disappointed in the commercials as well. Every year people look forward to the good commercials, and usually they are pretty good. Maybe it's due to our poor economic standing, and companies couldn't afford commercial slots, but it was quite disappointing. I'd say close to half of the commercials were for FOX TV programs or new movie advertisement. Unfortunately (because I don't advocate alcohol), I'd have to say that the Bud Light commercials were some of the best. The caveman one would have to be my favorite, but then again, I didn't have much to choose from!
I guess it was a pretty well spent evening though, didn't have much else to do on a freezing cold Sunday night!
What did you think, did your team win? Were you impressed or unimpressed with the commercials?

Healer

I was so excited to sing for praise team this morning. We have been working on a new song, and today was the first time to sing it in church. When I woke up this morning, my throat hurt so bad, and I could barely talk! So I called our leader and told him I wouldn't be singing. My throat felt a bit better and I had a very croaky voice at church this morning, so it's a good thing that I didn't try to sing with the praise team! Jennifer, sorry if my singing behind you made you want to walk out this morning!
Anyway, here's the song that they did for the first time this morning...



You hold my every moment
You calm my raging seas
You walk with me through fire
And heal all my disease

I trust in You
I trust in You

I believe You're my Healer
I believe You are all I need
I believe You're my Portion
I believe You're more than enough for me
Jesus You're all I need

My Healer, You're my Healer

Nothing is impossible for You
Nothing is impossible for You
Nothing is impossible for You
You hold my world in Your hands

The Showdown!

Here we go!!!!!! It's Super Bowl Sunday!












Who are you cheering for in this evening's game? Patriots or Giants?













I'm the only one in my family who watches football, so I'll be cheering by myself tonight. What about you? Do you have a big party? Or watch with your family? Or by yourself? Or don't you watch at all?!?!

Home again...

My car is home again. :)
My dad and I went out after I got home from work today to get my car. We called a locksmith and he came and met us at the GRCC parking ramp. He couldn't get the buttons on the front two doors to open, but he got it on the first time when he tried a back door. Yay!
Well, we tried the electric locks and I guess now, they only work when they want to. He accidently locked the doors again, because when I went to get into my car, it was locked again, so we had to call him to come back and open them again. Then when I got home I tried it, and it works to lock the doors, but not to open them. I guess I won't be locking my doors anymore!!!

Baking catch up

I thought I'd share some more things that I've baked recently. I had a snowday (from college!!!) on Wednesday, so I baked biscotti, breadsticks, and a Jamacian rice dish for dinner...



Banana-Nut Biscotti










Wheat Breadsticks











Rice with pork carrots, red pepper, egg, pineapple, and BBQ sauce






I don't have class on Friday, so I usually bake. Today my projects were Chocolate Chip Cookies (especially for Anna because it's her birthday today! Happy 14th Anna!!!) and Crab Rangoons.




Before










and After. Yummy!







Next was crab rangoons. I bought some imitation crab meat last week Horrocks'. Who knew that "imitation" crab meat was really Polluck with crab coloring and flavoring?!?!?
Anyway, cut it up really small...










Then mix in 1/4 cup light mayonaise and 4 oz Nauftechal cheese. I also threw in some dried onion (I didn't feel like cutting any fresh onion!)









I made homemade dough, instead of using wonton wrappers. Roll out and cut into 3"x3" squares. Can you tell I didn't measure?! Then put the crab mixture in the middle.








I couldn't remember how Rangoons were supposed to look, so I improvised. I checked online later and apparently you can make 'em look however you want!











Put in a muffin tin. Bake on 375 for 20 minutes, until they're nice and golden brown.












Simply delicious!!!










I had some extra crab mixture left over, so I threw in some Chive Rings. It will make a great cracker dip for Super Bowl!

4 things

I was tagged by Jennifer, just for reading her blog, to do this meme... It looks like fun, so here we go...

Four jobs you've had in your life:
1. Babysitting
2. Mowing the lawn
3. Laundry aide at the nursing home
4.

Four movies that you would watch over and over:
1. 300
2. Charlie and the Chocolate Factory
3. Sisterhood of the Travelling Pants
4. Remember the Titans

Four Places where I lived:
1. Mescalero, NM
2. Culterville, MI
3. old house in A-town MI
4. current house in A-town MI

Four TV shows that you love to watch (or used to watch):
1. Bones
2. House
3. Don't Forget the Lyrics
4. American Idol

Four places you've been on vacation:
1. Kentucky
2. Nashville, TN
3. Canada
4. Washington DC

Four websites you visit daily:
1. facebook.com
2. hotmail.com
3. google.com/reader (to read blogs!)
4. grcc.edu

Four of your favorite foods
1. Chicken
2. Chinese
3. Pizza (Romanian style)
4. Anything sweet!

Four places you would rather be right now:
1. Hanging out with my friends
2. Romania
3. Curled up on the couch with a book, or watching Rachel Ray
4. In the kitchen

I won't tag anyone, but if you want to do this, go ahead!