long overdue

Ok so I'm long overdue in getting this out since being tagged by mary. so here goes...


HISTORY
10 years ago: I was 16. I don't really remember much of my 16th year. I know I didn't have the traditional 16th birthday party or anything special.....either that or I don't remember it.....I do remember however that the year before I went with Teen Missions International and a group of 24 other kids and 4 leaders to the Phillippines.....that was a really great experience for me...I came back with a completely different and significantly positive world view (one less sheltered), which was positive although a down side of the trip was that I came back way over-religious towards my siblings. I don't really know how it happened either but it affected them so much that even today they still comment on how damaging it was for them and our relationship.....when I look back on that time in my life I shudder to think I was really like that.....but I guess that's how you learn....

5 years ago: Let's see...that would make me 21....Hmmmm.....I had been married for a year by then to my incredible hubby. (who spoils me rotten and by the way never posts so I don't even know why I link to him anymore!) ;-) ) I think by then we had bought our first house...way out in BFE...oh, I mean Battle Ground...I was working in the accounting department at the corporate office of an Assisted Living Facility called Prestige Care as an accounting assistant. (wow, that was a mouthful) The job was a much needed change from my previous Customer Service job at ROSS. And I actually requested to be placed in the Customer Service department!! How naive was that!?!? Anyway...I don't know what else I was doing....oh, not talking to my parents? Ya, how could I forget that one?

1 year ago (in June): My husband and I celebrated our 5 year anniversary! I was also in school full-time at the local community college studying to become a Radiation Therapist and working part-time at the PRC as their bookkeeper. I don't know much else of what happened last year that was significant....

Yesterday: What did I do yesterday? It was Saturday.....oh ya, I went shopping for tikki torches for decorating the stage for Under One Sky, then dropped nate off at McKenzie Stadum, went to Master Cuts, bought a few T-shirts, then went back to the stadium where we were setting up for Under One Sky (see below). I tried to help set up decorations but ended up running to pick up more supplies, got stuck in traffic, and by the time I came back, the decorating was done. So, since I had nothing better to do I came home and went to bed.

PRESENT
Today: I got up and went to an event my church puts on once a year called Under One Sky where on our last day of Summer Festival, the entire church meets in a huge stadium (open roof, hence the "sky" part) for one large service instead of the usual 3 services Saturday pm and 3 services Sunday am. Summer Festival, in case you were wondering, is this big thing my church does every year where a bunch of events (over 50) are planned/coordinated and jam packed into two weeks of "family fun!" (see the big smile on my face as I say that? - whenever I explain Summer Festival to people I feel like I sound like a commercial.)

Tomorrow: I am going to sleep in. I love sleeping in. I just plain love to sleep. I think that's why I like camping so much. You get to just sit around and do just about nothing all day. Hike here, nap there...a little bit of marshmallow there....ok, random...moving on...

5 snacks I enjoy:
1. Pistachios
2. Smarties
3. Pepsi
4. Chocolate-covered cherries.
5. Starbucks Venti Carmel Macchiato with extra carmel.

5 bands whose songs I know most of the lyrics to:
1. Nichole Nordeman
2. Sarah McLaughlin
3. Fiona Apple
3. Radiohead
4. Alanis Morrisette

5 things I would do with $100,000,000:
1. Give to my church and other area churches.
2. Pay off the debt of my close friends and family members.
3. Put money away for future-kids' college fund(s).
4. Misc. renovation projects on my home.
5. ???????

5 locations I'd like to run away to:
1. Any cool camping spot.
2. Any place where Nate and I can hang out for a time of rest and relaxation.
3. France
4. Ireland
5. Papua, Indonesia

5 bad habits I have:
1. Being forgetful
2. Not fully listening
3. Never admitting when I'm wrong
4. Clipping my finger nails no matter where I am, no matter who's around. (Mary, you reminded me of this. I do it too!)
5. Constantly re-setting the alarm and waking up 15 minutes past when I'm supposed to each morning.

5 things I like doing:
1. Camping and/or Yurting
2. Hiking
3. Weeding my yard - there's something about it, I don't know....
4. Jogging - very slowly I might add
5. Walking with my best friend around the neighborhood

5 things I would never wear:
1. Capris - I don't know....just can't do it.
2. Anything uncomfortable
3. Leggings - haven't done it since the 80's...will never do it again....never.
4. Pegged and/or tapered jeans/pants. (ones that you have to pull over your heel to get on...ya, just bad. - I guess it's another 80's thing)
5. Hmmm, can't think of anything else....I think "anything uncomfortable" about sums it up.

5 TV shows I like:
1. 24
2. ER
3. Everybody Loves Raymond
4. Arrested Development
5. Friends

5 movies I like: (gosh, there's too many!)
1. Garden State
2. Fight Club
3. Lock, Stock & Two Smoking Barrels
4. The Usual Suspect
5. Romeo & Juliet

5 famous people I'd like to meet:
There really aren't any famous people I'd like to meet....I'm sure they'd all just about turn out to be lower than my expectations of them anyway....how well do you "know" famous people anyway....I don't know. Before meeting the author of Blue Like Jazz, Don Miller, I think I would have said him I guess....

5 biggest joys at the moment:
1. Having great, supportive friends. They are my family.
2. Having a job I love.
3. Owning my own home.
4. Having two awesome dogs.
5. The security of knowing that God is seriously in capable control of everything going on in my life....even now.

5 favorite toys:
1. My ipod
2. My new camera - I got it for graduation/26th birthday. It's a Canon, Digital Rebel XT, 8 megapixel - I know you were wondering.
3. My hiking gear - I know it sounds retarded.
I can't think of any others at the moment....

5 people to tag:
In a last, desperate attempt to get the church nerds posting again, I tag:
1. Nate
2. Hohman
3. Peter
4. Kenny

& last, but not least....

5. Allan (non-church nerd - at least not one from the above listed group)

.....BTW, this is a double tag - you better get to it! ;-)

spies

I awake to find no peace of mind
I said, how do you live as a fugitive?

Down here where I cannot see so clear.

I said, what do I know?
Show me the right way to go
And the spies came out of the water
But you’re feeling so bad cos you know
And the spies hide out in every corner
But you can’t touch them no
Cos they’re all spies, they’re all spies

I awake to see that no one is free
We’re all fugitives
Look at the way we live
Down here, I cannot sleep from fear no

I said, which way do I turn?
I forget everything I learn
But the spies came out of the water
But you’re feeling so bad cos you know
And the spies hide out in every corner
But you can’t touch them though
Cos they’re all spies, they’re all spies

And if we don’t hide here
They’re going to find us
If we don’t hide now
They’re going to catch us where we sleep
And if we don’t hide here
They’re going to find us
~Coldplay - Parachutes

Click here to listen to a clip from itunes.

for whatever reason, I was raised in a very fear-driven home. everyone else (outside the family) were always not to be trusted...."they don't understand," "they don't know," etc........there was also an ever present feeling of paranoia and irrationalism in my home life................hence "spies." and i felt like we were constantly running and always isolated; we were essentially "fugitives."

my life

My Life - Mary J. Blige - My Life
**New! Click on the pic to listen to a clip from itunes!**

If you looked in my life
And see what I’ve seen...
If you looked in my life
And see what I’ve seen...

Life can be only what you make it
When you’re feeling down
You should never fake it
Say what’s on your mind
And you’ll find in time
That all the negative energy
It would all cease

And you’ll be at peace with yourself
You won’t really need no one else
Except for the Man up above
Because He’ll give you love

If you looked in my life
And see what I've seen
You will see I'm so blue
Down and out
Crying every day
Don't know what to do or to say
If you looked into my life
And see what I've seen

Take your time
Baby don’t you rush a thing
Don’t you know, I know
We all are struggling
I know it is hard
But we will get by
And if you don’t believe in me
Just believe in He

Cause He’ll give you peace of mind
Yes He will
And you will see the sunshine
For real, yes you would
And you’ll get to free your mind
And things will turn out fine
Oh, I know that things will turn out fine
Yes they would, yes they would

If you looked at my life
And see what I've seen
All you got to do is
Take your time
One day at a time
It's all on you
What you're going to do
If you looked at my life
And see what I've seen

office space

"damn, it feels good to be a gansta!"

Joanna: So, where do you work, Peter?
Peter Gibbons: Initech.
Joanna: In... yeah, what do you do there?
Peter Gibbons: I sit in a cubicle and I update bank software for the 2000 switch.
Joanna: What's that?
Peter Gibbons: Well see, they wrote all this bank software, and, uh, to save space, they used two digits instead of four.
So, like 98 instead of 1998? Uh... so I go through these thousands of lines of code and, uh... it doesn't really matter. I uh... I don't like my job, and, uh... I don't think I'm gonna go anymore.
Joanna: You're just not gonna go?
Peter Gibbons: Yeah.
Joanna: Won't you get fired?
Peter Gibbons: I don't know, but I really don't like it, and, uh, I'm not gonna go.
Joanna: So you're gonna quit?
Peter Gibbons: Nah-uh. Not really. Uh... I'm just gonna stop going.
Joanna: When did you decide all that?
Peter Gibbons: About an hour ago.
Joanna: An hour ago... so you're gonna get another job?
Peter Gibbons: I don't think I'd like another job.
Joanna: Well, what are you going to do about money and bills and...
Peter Gibbons: You know... I've never really liked paying bills. I don't think I'm gonna do that, either.

ok allan here's my office space. and I'm sporting my "i-hate-posing-for-pictures-and-I'm-trying-really-hard-not-to-look-dorky" face. :)