Good bye 09!

Well the New Year is quickly approaching and I figured one last post in 2009 should be in order. The past few eeks have been fabulous, mostly because I took some extra time off work. The week before Christmas I got sick and even though I attempted to go into work that Friday, I was sent home after an hour. I was back home in bed by 6:45 am and slept the rest of the day away! Fortunately my fever went away the next day and I was just left with a lot of nasty congestion. That didn't disappear until Christmas day, but who can't handle a little head cold? I left for my parents' house on Tuesday afternoon after work and didn't come back into town until Monday night. I was so glad for some time off work--especially since co-workers said a few of those days were really crazy! So it was back to work yesterday and today, but we are closed for the rest of the week. (New Year's day is a given holiday, and we didn't have enough patients scheduled to stay open tomorrow). So I've had a two day work week followed by another two day work week--could life be anymore better?!? Christmas in Fredericksburg was fun, and it's always amusing spending time with my sisters.



I am hoping to spend my next couple of days off doing some deep-cleaning of the apartment, doing some serious job-searching, and running a few errands. Of course, hopefully lots of sleep and laying around will be happening in the midst of everything else :)

The gift of music

In case I forgot to mention it in previous posts, I joined my church choir about two months ago. This officially makes me an old lady now, as is going to bed at 9pm every night wasn't enough. But oddly enough, singing in the choir has been SO GREAT. True, most of the people there have white/grey hair and are old enough to be my parents, if not my grandparents. But there are also a few parents of young families, and one other girl in her 20s, so it is an eclectic yet fun group. By now, it feels like home. I join right in making fun of the bald old men and let them joke about how I should join the bass section instead of the sopranos since I don't know what I'm doing. And at the same time I feel like I'm getting free music lessons each week. The choir director is FABULOUS. Having degrees in both nursing and music, she definitely knows what she's doing. Plus she's just the sweetest thing (and it helps that her 4 yr old daughter seems to have a taken a liking to me). We had our Christmas cantata last Sunday night and it turned out wonderfully. Plus, it was just so fun to sing in! I don't really know how to sing, and never really had the idea that I was any good at it, but MAN is it fun! We've been talking in choir practice about how music somehow bypasses the head and goes straight to the heart. This is something I've been doing some thinking about, and it really is true. There have definitely been times when there have been spiritual truths I have been sure of, yet it was not until I sung them or heard them sung that my heart had understanding and was really moved by it. What a gift music is! If you have ever read the young adult novel "The Giver", you also are aware of the wonderful gift of music. I don't think of music as a necessity in life, yet for some reason God decided to create it, to bring more beauty and joy to the world. What a wonderful Creator He is--creating things simply for our enjoyment, simply to bless us, simply to enrich our lives. Take a minute to think of life without music (especially during this holiday time!) It would be a bad life, but a large something would definitely be missing! Thank you Lord for your unnecessary yet beautiful gifts!

The bigger picture

How wonderful it is to be alive!

This past year of my live has truly been the happiest one yet! I have so many good things in my life, and so many little things that bring me joy. I was reminded again today of little joys despite larger problems.

Things at work have steadily been getting worse. The job in and of itself is not that bad, although I can say it's not something I want to be doing the rest of my life. I enjoy most of my co-workers as well, and have had some chances to hang out with a few of them on random occasions, and it's been fun. I think the real problem is my boss. I could go on for hours about all that I dislike about her, but it will be sufficient enough just to say "she sucks". So the past month or so I've absolutely dreaded going into work each day, and have felt such relief when I'm done for the day and can forget about being there for a few hours. (Thanksgiving break has been WONDERFUL and TOO SHORT!). And church today I was catching up with a family that I love, and the dad started asking me questions about my job, and what I was looking for so he could keep an ear out for me. It was great being able just to vent for a minute to an impartial person, and after our 2 minute conversation he told me that he would pray for direction. It was just such an unexpected smile to my heart. First of all, that this man with many responsibilities would pray for me. And secondly, that he had the insight to know what I needed prayer for. Yes he could have said he would pray for a new job to come along for me (and that would be great as well), but something about him praying for the bigger picture was encouraging. I have no idea what I actually want to do "when I grow up", and I'm not too stressed about it. But in job searching, I do need to have a least somewhat of an idea so that I can know where to begin looking. So his prayers for direction for me are wonderful, and it's things like that that will help me get up at 5 tomorrow morning for another day at work.

On a completely other note, I put up my Christmas tree this afternoon and it is so beautiful. I've decided I like all white lights on my tree. So there is another thing to make me smile--at least for another month. :)

best.video.ever

These are not mine, but after seeing this, who WOULDN'T love these cuties??

I'm so sad on Fridays because I don't get to go to work the next day

For over a year now I have been working under a lady who is such a GOOD boss and who everyone LOVES. I simply ADORE her. In honor of her, here are some things that, in my opinion, that a good boss would do:

-Say "hello" to her employees when she comes in for the day.
-Inform her employees when she's hired someone new that's going to be working with them.
-Not have a look of "Whatareyoutalkingabout yourethethedumbestpersoniveeverseen" whenever one of her employees talks to her or asks her a question.
-Tell her employees when they're doing a good job.
-Know what her employees do and be able to answer their basic questions.
-Help her employees when they are overwhelmed instead of sitting in her office chatting on her cell phone all day. This, of course, can only be done if she knows what her employees actually do (see above).
-Not tell her employees their job is "boring" when in actuality it is stressful and she wouldn't have a clue how to handle any of it if she were in the position.
-Not give an employee extra work that is someone else's job because said employee is paid less and she doesn't want to have to pay higher-paid employees to do said work.
-Be able to know how to answer the phone after working at the company for over a year.
-Leave her office door unlocked when she steps out for a few minutes because she trusts her employees and does not think they will steal her stuff or read all her "important" documents.
-Is willing to park far away from the building just like her employees, instead of making calls to see if she can get her name painted on the parking spot closest to the building.

Oh the list could go on. Oh how I love my job.

Smiles all around

In the same vein as my friend Kristen I have been wanting to post on happy things. A year or so ago my friend Desirae sent me a book entitled "14,000 things to be happy about" and I thought it was such a great idea. Recently I've started my own word document of "1,000 happy things". Right now I only have 192 listed, but I am well on my way to 1,000! So here are some things that recently have just brought me joy in my heart:

- Dancing crazy by yourself
- Lazy days with absolutely nothing to do
- Spotting a deer in the woods
- Riding your bike top speed down hill
- Cleaning out lint from between your toes
- Seeing in people’s windows when it’s dark outside and you drive by
- Baking cookies
- Holiday parties
- Sleeping in
- The smell of freshly printed pages in new books
- White teeth
- Good-looking boys
- Picking your nose when you really need to
- Banana Bread
- Picking a wedgie
- Finding something you lost
- Memorizing random facts
- Inside jokes
- little children


Get the idea?! Tell me some of yours and maybe I can add them to my list!!

Thoughts heading into November

-I've recently joined my church choir and it's so great. Most everyone is twice my age, but they have great sense of humor and they don't seem to mind when I sing off-key!

-Having moles removed was seriously one of the most fun experiences. Definitely great to watch! I highly recommend it.

-I was excited about my first Halloween by myself willing to hand out candy to little children stopping by. I guess not many children go around apartment complexes, because I got no knocks on my door. :( Oh well--more candy for me!

-My vacuum is seriously the best vacuum ever. It sucks up whole leaves and even dryer sheets. It makes me want to vacuum all the time. So I do.

-Papa John's pineapple pizza. There's pretty much nothing better in the world. I would like to eat it all the time. I wish it were free. And calorie free.

-Once college is paid for and once I get rich, the first two things I am signing up for are cable tv and renters insurance.

The hardest I've laughed in weeks?

Yes and Amen.

Old ladies and red leaves

This past Friday evening I attended a "Women's Movie Night" at church on a whim. I was glad when I went, that there were a few people I knew, and that I finally got to meet the pastor's wife who is the most gorgeous pastor's wife I've ever seen. I was the youngest one there, and was kind of expecting that, but it was so fun! Out of about a dozen women at the event, half of them were at least over the age of 70. There were a couple in there middle years, and a few moms of young children. For some reason being surrounded by women in different stages of life makes me so happy. Even these 80 yr old women were excited about eating popcorn and chocolate! I do not regret spending my Friday night with such an electic (and funny!) bunch.

On another note, the changing of seasons always makes me so happy. It's hard for me to say which is my "favorite" season (though if asked, I usually say Spring). I think my favorite is just all the inbetween times of seasons. Right now the first leaves are barely changing to oranges and reds, the air is cool in the morning but sometimes still gets in the 70s during the afternoon. My pumpkin spice candle is my favorite thing to come home to (other than my guinea pigs, of course), and the farmers market is now full of pumpkins and apples and corn. There is something in the air each time a season changes that just makes me SO HAPPY! :) I am nowhere near ready for winter yet--last winter seemed to last soooo long--but I am looking forward to a little while of autumn bliss.

Ooooooh Tuberculosis

So the main adventure in my life of late has been my excitement with Tuberculosis. Or rather, my lack thereof. A couple of weeks ago I was given a tb test at work, along with all my other fellow employees. And mine came back positive. Of COURSE this would happen to me. The silly thing is that the test was pretty much pointless. Evidently I was supposed to be given a TB test when I first started employment. Then as I was given one each year, they would know if/when I had picked up TB and go from there. Well, since my workplace is so organized, they did not give me the test when I started working there over a year ago. The last TB test I think I had was when I was 14 and volunteering at my hospital back home. But anyways, so my test came back positive. So I had to go to my primary care doctor. Of course, I don't have a primary care doctor in Greensboro. So I found one. haha. I got to go and have some chest xrays. The good part about this is that my boss let me stay clocked in during my doctor's appointment, since I convinced her that it was "work related". Long story short, I don't have TB, but sometime inbetween now and my TB test when I was 14, I was exposed. It could've been anywhere--when I was doing missions abroad, or even just someone sitting next to me on the bus. Who knows. But there's a 5% chance it will turn in to TB sometime in my life. So he put my on this medicine to cut that risk in half. Now the story get really fun. I get to be on this drug for 9 months. This medicine can kill your liver. So I have to get blood tests done each month to check my liver levers (try saying liver levels 10 times fast...I can't even say it once!). The warnings with my medicine are scary. Not just the typical side effects. Warnings about foods not to eat that can cause dangerously high blood pressure. All kinds of conditions that should alert me to call my doctor: dizziness, blurred vision, excessive sweating, dark urine, nausea, extreme stomach pains, limb numbness, heart palpitations, etc etc etc. Funtimes! Of course, he also put me on over %1,000 of Vit B-6 daily which is supposed to help with the arm and leg numbness. It's actually kind of fun though, to be really watchful what I'm putting into my body, and any side effects. It's been a little over a week since I started taking the meds, and so far so good. So, here's to me and to my 2.5% chance of developing TB. If I start hacking up a lung anytime soon, you should probably avoid my spittle.

Routine in NC

I've recently been reminded of how much I enjoy and value order and consistency. There are times that I enjoy being spontaneous, and there have been changes in my life that have been extremely good for me (ie moving to Greensboro), but there is something about the familiar of a routine that puts my heart at ease. Here are some things I can count on seeing during my work week that I've begun to look forward to:

-The sound of me getting my breakfast wakes us my guinea pigs. They then sqeak for their breakfast too.

-The man always standing at the bus stop in the dark at 5:30am. Wearing a backpack, holding a hanger with a button-up shirt hanging on it. I wonder about his life.

-The way all the stoplights change immediately just for me on my way to work, since no one else is on the roads that early in the moring.

-The way Jim, the laundry man, is always waiting in his truck when I get to work. He waits for me to open the building and turn off the alarm so he can come in and bring a fresh supply of scrubs, sheets, and who knows what else.

-My creepy old man neighbor is always waiting on his front patio for me when I get home from work. He always wants to talk about how my day is going.

-My guine pigs running and hiding when they hear the front door open as I arrive home from work, then sqeaking loudly for a snack.

There are so many more, but those are the main highlights. And now for something to brighten your day considerably, here is my little cheez-it (she did this all by herself):

Minus the rotten fish

So today I've been thinking a lot about our 5 senses (don't ask). I was thinking about our seeing and smelling and touching and hearing and tasting. I've really been struck by the sense of smell, and what a gift it is. I mean, let's think: we have hearing aids to assisting with hearing, lenses to assist with seeing, dentures to assist with chewing which assists with tasting. But smelling is unique. Smelling isn't really needed for communication the way the other senses are. Of course, having the sense of smell can be useful, as in detecting a fire by smelling smoke, etc. But I think when it comes down to it, smelling is just a gift of beauty. We can get along fine without it. And sure since we're in a fallen world there are things unpleasant to smell (ie rotten fish). But how sad to not be able to smell lumber, flowers, varnish, sea breeze, perfume, fresh cut grass, snow, baking bread, candles, cinnamon, freshly printed pages of a book, blueberries, woodsmoke, and coffee. I think really the main purpose of the sense of smell is for our enjoyment, and how awesome is that?? I love it when God gives us things that we could absolutely live with out, but by having them life is so much more enjoyable. So there's your random thought for the day--so go smell something good and enjoy the gift!!

Life in a FedEx package

Somewhere in North Carolina there is a FedEx packing floating around that needs many prayers.

One of my life goals is to donate a kidney (along with many other random things). In April, I met a woman that needs a kidney. I called Duke, they said I had to actually have a relationship with this woman, that it couldn't just be a good deed. So for the past 3 1/2 months she and I have been talking on the phone, going to dinner, getting ice cream together, etc. A few weeks ago I again called Duke and they mailed out a package to me. Today, I had 6 tubes of blood sucked out of my body. Today, I sealed these tubes in a FedEx package and sent them to be shipped overnight.

In approximately 3 weeks the results will be back. I am okay either way. If the blood matches and it's a good--that is scary and exciting and good. If the blood is not a match, that is disappointing but less stressful. But from my friend's point of view, it is much different. The blood tests offer hope of a longer life. Of a life that doesn't require her to hook up to her dialysis machines 2-3 times a day. Of a life where she can go on vacation without having to organize with medical transport to ship a dialysis maching to her vacation destination. There is fear in me too, of going through the whole process and having my friend's body reject the kidney and it all seeming pointless. Or fears of the blood not matching and feeling like I've wasted my time getting to know my friend.

So if you have a send, send up a prayer for my FedExed blood, that whether it matches or doesn't match, all will be well.

Clover visits the Doctor

I'm finding that life if always full of various kinds of doctor's appointments. I feel I'm contantly picking up prescriptions, I'm going to the eye doctor on a regular basis, just went to the dentist last week, and need to set up an appointment with the dermotologist. So many appointments! Yesterday I had to add another visit to my list--The Vet. Poor little Clover has been losing her hair for a month or so, and I started noticing she had a few scabs on her. So I packed Clover and her sister Parsley (I figured it would be even more traumatic for Clover if she had to go to the doctor without her favorite sister). First of all, they don't like riding in the car, and they had just been in the car for 5 hrs the day before while I drove back from Virginia. But, back in the car they went. The doctor checked little Clover out, and then took her to the back to do a little test on her. While Parsley and I were worrying in the examination room, Clover was having some of her skin scraped off to check for mites. Fortunately she didn't have any, but I'm starting to understand the terror of parenthood! I was close to tears when I envisioned scared little Clover in a room with a strange man with is scraping scabs of her and causing pain. I just wanted to cuddle with her and make her understand it's all okay. Hopefully, she won't remember the trauma. Of course, I had my own traumatic moment when I had to pay for everything! Exams, skin scrapes, medicine, and special shampoo definitely adds up. It cost more than 3 times what I paid for Clover, but she is worth it. :) And the good news is we don't think she had anything serious. We think she had extremely dry skin (and Parsley has a little bit of it too, probably due to dry air in my apartment?). Hopefully they will be cured with bathing with special shampoo every week or so, have this fish oil/omega-3 oil spread on their food, and putting conditioner on their skin (weird), they will be better in just a few weeks! The downside is that the fish oil STINKS (like fish), and they don't really want to eat it. And if I happen to get it on my finger while I am putting it on their food, the smell does NOT leave my skin. Even after washing with soap, my finger just smells like soapy fish. So the next time you see me, if I smell like the fishing docks, just remember that it's all for my children.

No DNA match required

When I was in elementary school, Lisa and Steve joined our church. All that Lisa wanted was a little girl, but she didn't have one (yet), so she adopted my sisters and I. She babysat us, she invited us over to her house to make crafts, she gave us holiday gifts. When I was in middle school she finally had her little girl, Kirsten. My older sister would babysit her, and sometimes I would come along. A year and a half later came little red-headed Callie. And for some reason Lisa and Steve and Kirsten and Callie adopted me as part of the fam. I was over all the time. I loved them more than anything in the world. They took me with them to disney world when the girls were 2 and 3, and later they took me with them on a cruise to the Bahamas when the girls were about 6 and 7. I was just part of the family. My freshman year of college they finally got the baby girl they had been hoping to adopt, and they traveled to China to pick up their Cassie. The end of this summer they will be going up to pick up their other daughter, Mary, who is over there just waiting for the paperwork to go through.

Lucky for me, I'm still just part of their fam. I get to cuddle with the girls and bake brownies with them. I get to help put them to bed and then stay up watching tv or sitting in the jacuzzi with Lisa. And now that the girls are bigger--they made a special trip just to visit me!

This past weekend my mom, Lisa, Kirsten, Callie, and Cassie came for a visit. It is so much more fun to go to the swimming pool when you have 3 awesome girls with you! It's wonderful to just have snuggle time on the futon, it's wonderful to hear about what's happening in the life of an 11 year old and have her tell you that she always misses you, and it's just wonderful to have fun with people that you've always loved and have always loved you. I can't wait for them to babysit my kids someday!

Callie (11), me, Cassie (6), Kirsten (almost 13)

Old friends!

A few weeks ago my wonderful friend Ashleigh came with Grandma Lois to stop by and have some lunch with me on their way to South Carolina. It is always good to spend time with old friends!





Ashleigh and I have been friends since 4th grade when we were both in Mr. Sipple's class. We actually met in 1st grade when we were both called on to come up front during a Smokey the Bear presentation, but we didn't even realize that until years later. Ashleigh and I were best friends in middle school and stayed friends in high school even though we didn't go to school together. We were roommates freshman year at CNU and have stayed friends ever since!




So Ashleigh and her grandma stopped by and took me out to lunch and we also stopped in at a cute coffee shop. It is always refreshing to catch up with people that knew what was happening in your life when you were 10 years old. I'm so thankful that Ashleigh and I have stayed good friends even though we've both changed a lot since our days at Grafton Village Elementary, and hopefully we'll be able to laugh about our childhood stories even when we are old grannies.

Just another frustrating day at the surgery center

Conversation I had at work today with an old woman waiting in the lobby while her family member was having foot surgery:

lady: Can I turn this tv to channel 2?
me: We don't get any local channels, we only have satellite, but you're welcome to scroll through and find something else you'd rather watch.
lady: Oh, well I just wanted to see the news or something on channel 2.
me: We don't get any news channels, but you're welcome to find something else you'd like to watch.
lady: Well it's almost time for my Soap to come on channel 2 and I think the news comes on before it.
me: Aw, well we don't get channel 2, I'm sorry. But you can find something else if you'd like.
lady: Oh. No. That's okay. I just wanted to see if we could watch channel 2.
lady sits back down in lobby.
10 minutes later--
lady: Can I change this channel at all??? I didn't sleep at all last night and now this coffee is making me antsy.


Conversations like are why I will be insane before the age of 30.

Gboro Year 1

A year ago today was my first full day living in Greensboro. The day before was crazy: loading up the uhaul (with the help of dearest Amy P. and also a strange boy that was wandering around and wanted to help). I was scared out of my mind to drive the Uhaul to Greensboro and then back to Raleigh, but I managed to do it without killing anyone. Then I drove back to Greensboro in my car and came back to a strange (and sketchy) apartment cluttered with boxes and furniture. I remember that I was so tired that night I just curled up on my mattress without any sheets or anything and slept that way. I hardly knew anyone in Greensboro and I didn't have any job prospects, but I was glad to be here.

And I still am! Greensboro has been such a great year! I found a job a month after I moved here, I've found one of the best friends I've ever had in sweet Lisa, I'm the proud mother of two guinea pigs that I adore, I do lots of grown up things, and life is good. I like it here so much, and am SO EXCITED at the though of NO UPHEAVAL and having to move again this year, that I went ahead and renewed my lease 3 months early. Hahah. There are still plenty of challenges and still not-good things, but Greensboro year has been a good year for growth and for settling and for not feeling pressure to do things or be something specific. I think Jesus knew I needed a break from life when He sent me to Greensboro!

So here's to looking at least another year in Greensboro!

Living today vs dying tomorrow

Recently I've been thinking a lot about the idea of "living like today is your last". I feel like this message comes to us from a lot of different directions nowadays. From movies like "The Bucket List" (which, by the way, I do enjoy watching) to quotes and hallmark cards about living like you won't have a tomorrow or hurrying up to do whatever it is you want to do before you die. I think on the surface this idea, though semi-mushy, seems like a good and noble one. Yes--if I was going to die tomorrow there are a million people I would want to call to remind them I love them, there are trips I would want to take and places I would have to see.

But when it comes down to it, I can't do that every day. There are days when I need to sleep. There are days when I need to ignore people and just be by myself. I have to go to work 5 days a week so I can afford a place to live. I have to eat and I have to pee. I have to do a lot of cleaning. I have to run errands and buy groceries and pay bills. When I think of what I would be doing today if it was my last day, I would probably not be watching "Friends" right now and I wouldn't have taken a 3 hr nap this afternoon since I was up late last night. I probably wouldn't have gone to church either because there would be so much else to do.

I cannot live my life like today is my last, and I don't think I'm supposed to. Even Jesus spent time eating, going to the bathroom (although I suppose technically the Bible never mentions He does that, but I'm assuming his human-ness would make him have to), and even spent hours by himself sometimes.

I think there is a wisdom we can hold on to about realizing that we will all die some day and so we should use our time wisely. Of course we are called to be good stewards of our time! But I don't think it's wrong to play a game of solitaire on the computer or to spend an afternoon reading a good book. I think Jesus knows that since most of us don't know when we're going to die, we have to live like we are alive. We have to pay bills and we have to do menial work. And I don't think we are supposed to resent these things. There is an order to life and there are dishes that have to be washed.

So for today, I am going to live like I will probably wake up tomorrow. I am going to go to bed in an hour so I won't be grumpy when I'm at work at 5:45 in the moring. I'm going to feed my guinea pigs and maybe do some sudoku.

(And if by chance I die in my sleep, I love you all very much and someone please be responsible for taking good care of my guinea pigs).

Last Week's "Maine" Events

It's been 2 years since I went to visit Emily up in Maine, and I was so glad to be able to go again last week! She's pretty much my favorite person on earth, and we had a great time--even with my parents coming along as well! We drove to the top of Cadillac Mountain in Acadia National Park, drove around Baxter State Park and saw a moose, played miniature golf, saw a 1700 lb chocolate moose (the world's only life-sized chocolate moose), went bowling, walked along the boardwalk on the beach, went to millions of touristy gift shops, and all around had a great time. Maine is a GORGOUS state--mostly due just to its climate and natural environment, but also partly due to its anti-billboard law. And of course, everything is more fun when you're with people that make you laugh. Here are a few pictures:

Outdoor Adventures

Now that the weather is warmer and beautiful, Evan and I have gotten to do fun things outside! On Easter Sunday afternoon we went on a hike at Pilot Mountain (a noticable mountain only about 30 mins from Evan's apartment in Winston-Salem). The weather was wonderful and the mountain was crowded! I did great though and was happy that I didn't have to taken any more breaks than Evan did (although I also have the feeling that he didn't need all the breaks he made us take and was only stopping more for my sake) :-P

We also recently had the chance to go canoeing one afternoon! We rented a canoe on Salem lake and spent some time paddling around enjoying the nice day! It was a fun experience and made me feel very outdoorsy :)

Okay so I know in the picture we are in front of a sailboay and not a canoe, but it looks more exciting to be in front of a big boat. And who knows--maybe we will go sailing some day!

Travels out of the Eastern Time Zone

"Sisters, Sisters, there were never such devoted sisters...." 10 brownie points if you know off the top of your head what movie that song is from!

Back in April I took a few days off of work and ventured down to Dadeville, Alabama for the second time. Karin and her husband Tom live in that tiny little town that is only about a 7.5 hr drive from my apartment. Karin and I had a great time hanging out watching tv, jumping on the trampoline, and walking around the town (takes about 15 minutes to walk around the entire town). We went to see a movie, and also spent a little time at her relatives' lake house. My sisters really are probably my two most favorite people in the world, so it was great to spend some time with Karin. (and I'll be up in Maine visiting Emily for a week in the beginning of June!) Enjoy some pictures:

Little joys

If you know me, you know that I LOVE baby ducks. Well at the drainage ditch where I work, three different pairs of Canada Geese have had babies, and a pair of Mallards has babies too! So they are always swimming in the pond and walking around the parking lot making me happy. Here are some fun pictures:

In with the new

As of about an hour ago, I am the proud new owner of a beautiful toshiba laptop (my first ever). My old trusty desktop still has a place in my heart, of course, but just like we have to let people go who die from viruses, we must also let electronics go that die from viruses. Hopefully my new baby will stay virus-free for awhile. His/Her name is still TBA. (come on, I've only had it for an hour!)

It is a wonderful thing to be using the internet again! I have so much to catch all 4 of you up on ;-) Upcoming entries:

-Trip to Alabama to have fun with Karin
-Hiking Pilot Mountain with Evan
-Pics of the ADORABLE baby ducks that live in the drainage ditch at work
-Gardening with Lisa
-General life updates

and probably more.

For now I must clean and go to bed (and put my new baby to bed as well!), but I'm so excited to be back!

Amy Van Winkle

Computer problem is still far from being fixed, but I have to share how wonderful life is.

Yesterday was Friday which is ALWAYS a good thing. I went a got ice cream with a lady I might be giving my kidney to (another post for another day), came home and talked on the phone with Evan for awhile. I finished reading a fun book, and then decided to take a nap. It was 6:30, so I figured I'd sleep or rest a little while, watch Jeopardy at 7:30, and then talk on the phone with my sister because we were supposed to have a phone date that evening. Well, the next thing I know I look at my clock and it is 7:30 am. HA! I slept 13 hrs in my clothes, with my contacts in, with my blinds open, and didn't even eat dinner! It was pretty awesome (and strange). So needless to say, today I am feeling VERY well-rested and therefore very happy! It's been a great day of running errands and talking to my sister on the phone and cleaning and playing with my guinea pigs.

Life is so crazy and fun sometimes.

Long Gone...

I haven't filled you in on my life in over a month and that makes me sad :( So the free internet that I was "borrowing" disappeared. I lived without it for a bit, then decided to pay for some internet. So my internet finally got hooked up after the Time Warner guy had a lot of problems. The next day, some asian voices start coming out of my speakers and popups with asian people keep popping up. Those have finally went away, but it's odd. Then it would only let me internet explorer pop up, and before I could even open an email the internet completely disappears. Awesome. So now I'm paying over $35 a month so I can have asian voices come out of my speakers. :-P Hence the lack of updates. Hopefully I will soon take my computer to a computer-fixer-guy and he will clean off my virus or whatever it is that I have. Unless, of course, you reading this know what my problem is and can come to my rescue. :)

So, the sad news is that the unsecured internet I have been "borrowing" since October has disappeared. People were moving out a few days ago, and I think they took my free internet with them. Slighty frustrating, but something I knew would happen eventually. So while I'm in the process of finding the cheapest way for me to access internet in my apartment, I am daily trekking over to my apartment's clubhouse to borrow one of their laptops and spend a little time on their wireless. And today, it's nice. Today I am sitting and typing next to one of the big picture windows in the clubhouse. Outside is one of our two fishing ponds, with a fountain in the middle, our two resident swams sitting around, and flowers blooming in the warm(ish) weather. One of the office staff is baking chocolate chip cookies, and I'm able to put offmy to-do list of laundry and phone calls and bill payings and just enjoy the moment. Yay for living in the moment (something I'm not always good at)!

I've been enjoying life recently. I've been feeling good about my circumstances and myself. Not just because of a nice boyfriend I've found that likes to tell me how great I am ;-), and not just because the weather is getting warmer and more sunshiny, and not just because I've started to go to the gym every once in awhile to get endorphins to make me happy. It's "just because" I guess. Maybe a combination of things, and maybe just a little gift from God. But I'm really happy (even though I am internetless!) and don't dread getting up every day. Yay!

There are fun things coming up as well that are good to look forward to: work being closed on Good Friday (I have never heard of such a thing!), a day hike with Evan, a short trip to visit my little sister in Alabama, and a longer trip this summer to spend more time adventuring in Maine with my older sister and parents. Things are looking up :)

Who knows when my next update will be (Probably when I am a little poorer after paying for internet!), but there is my little list of happiness for you.

Art in the bathroom

Don't ask me how I discovered this, but you HAVE to check out this website! These are urinals that I wouldn't mind having as decoration in my living room! (Seriously). Let me know what you think!

http://www.urinal.net/naturescall/

Last weekend was a wonderful weekend. Weather in the upper 70s makes any weekend a great weekend! I was able to take a few walks in the park by myself and with Lisa, which is always a wonderful time. Saturday I also got to hang out with some fantastic nearby friends (see above picture)...endulging in krispy kreme and playing phase 10. Any day is a good day that involves doughnuts and phase 10. :) The weather this weekend isn't going to be nearly as nice, but here's hoping that it's still a good one!

i like to play in the dirt

Yesterday I had the opportunity to enjoy the 70+ degree weather by helping my wonderful friend Lisa with some yard work. Can I just tell you how much I love doing stuff like that? We spent some time fixing some trees that had been pushed over from our winter storm last week. Then we got to work building the sides of her compost pile! Sooo fun! I got to rake (which I always love!) and play in the dirt. I love getting fresh dirt under my fingernails! It is always a fun sign of spring (or fall). I think I desire to have a yard and a garden and fun outdoorsy things probably more that I want to have kids. Yes, I am odd. but hey, I like to play in the dirt!

life is good....

-Using a coupon and getting 2 bags of jellybeans at Walgreens for 99 cents.

-Having a 13 yr old boy that I started babysitting when he was 2 send me a letter in the mail and a bracelet he made....that is actually pretty enough for me to wear!

-Having a disastrous cooking experience and being able to laugh at myself.

-www.cakewrecks.blogspot.com I spent probably a good hour looking at it last night, and had myself laughing so hard there were steady tears rolling down my face.

-79 degrees tomorrow. Enough said.

Awaiting Response

Which is better: Wendys or McDonalds?

If you are reading this. You need to answer.

Used Books and Judges

In Greensboro there is a fabulous HUGE used book store that I seriously could spend time in every day if I had an unlimited income. They have Zillions of used dvds and books to keep me busy for years. They also have a small free section, which usually has nothing worthwhile in it, although recently I did find 3 books that I wanted! I've purchased several dvds for $3 or $5, and I was able to get the entire Harry Potter series in hardback for $57 (which is EXTREMELY AMAZING). The other wonderful thing about this bookstore is that they will buy my books! I have been having a WONDERFUL time of taking books that I have no interest in, getting cash or store credit from them, and being able to spend it on other fun books or dvds. I've dedicated a shelf on my bookcase to books that I think I probably don't want, but want to read through once just to make sure I'm okay with selling it. I got quite a few IVP books from working on staff last year that are no use to me, so it's been fun to get some money from those.

Anyways, so the book I just finished reading to see if I wanted to sell it or not was a free IVP one called "Sex and Dating". In one chapter the author was referencing a story in Judges, and I had to look it up. If you don't know it, Judges is a HILARIOUS book of the Bible. In chapter 3 of Judges a fat guy gets stabbed with a sword, and the author writes in verse 21-22 "Ehud reached with his left hand, drew the sword from his right thigh and plunged it into the king's belly. Even the handle sank in after the blade, which came out his back. Ehud did not pull the sword out, and the far closed in over it." How gross and kind of awesome is that??

Along the same lines, I feel like part of 2 Kings chapter 2 should be in the book of Judges instead. "From there Elisha went up to Bethel. As he was walking along the road, some youths came out of the town and jeered at him. "Go on up, you baldhead!" they said. "Go on up, you baldhead!" He turned around, looked at them and called down a curse on them in the name of the LORD. Then two bears came out of the woods and mauled forty-two of the youths. And he went on to Mount Carmel and from there returned to Samaria." There are some crazy stories in the Bible.

Anyways, back to what I was talking about. The "sex and dating" book referenced this passages in Judges 21, which I had never noticed before. "So they instructed the Benjamites, saying, "Go and hide in the vineyards and watch. When the girls of Shiloh come out to join in the dancing, then rush from the vineyards and each of you seize a wife from the girls of Shiloh and go to the land of Benjamin. When their fathers or brothers complain to us, we will say to them, 'Do us a kindness by helping them, because we did not get wives for them during the war, and you are innocent, since you did not give your daughters to them.'So that is what the Benjamites did. While the girls were dancing, each man caught one and carried her off to be his wife. Then they returned to their inheritance and rebuilt the towns and settled in them." I don't know how I would feel if a guy was so desperate for a wife he just ran and captured me while I was dancing in a vineyard. Ha! Just a funny story I felt like sharing.

It's been awhile!! I don't like it when it's been awhile!! And yet I still don't have much to say. Here are some of my happy thoughts for the moment:

-I had a wonderful weekend snuggling with a dog and spending some catch up time with my friend Danielle.

-my guinea pigs are the best things ever and I love them!

-Cake at work today. Mmmmmm...

-New work clothes, on major sale - Yes!!

-Tomorrow my sponsored kid in Columbia is turning 8! I am so excited for him and love him lots. Happy birthday Duvan!

-I love Nickel Creek.

-I am getting lots of money back for my taxes, so I get to visit my sister in Maine for a week this summer!

-McDonald's gift card. I know lots of people are too good for McDonalds and talk about how gross it is and how much better Wendys is...but I love McDonalds.

-The few nice people at work that I really like and care about.

-Each day is one more day closer to warm weather! (nevermind that it snowed this morning)

Soggy mattresses in Greensboro

I think I will never become a native Greensboridian/Greensborite. "Why?", you might ask. Well, let me tell you. It has to do with furniture.

There is some mysterious rule in Greensboro that I have not encountered in any of the other three cities I have lived. It seems that, in Greensboro, there are certain places you must put your old furniture. Not just things like old couches, but plenty of other things. Screen doors, broken dressers, wheels and tires, window panes, pieces of siding, end tables with missing legs, and lots and lots of mattresses.

Now, I think that these things should be taken to the dump or at least put out with the trashcan on Mondays. But maybe there is a rule against that in Greensboro, I don't know. Or if it was in okay condition, I think it should be sold on craigslist--why not make a couple bucks off it? But maybe this stuff isn't in good enough shape to resell. So, I guess that only leaves one option. These pieces of "junk" must be placed on the side of the road. But wait. This cannot just be randomly anywhere on the side of any street. There are specific places on certain streets that, no matter when I drive by, there is a pile of crap. And the pile changes. I don't know if the garbage man eventually picks it up and people put new crap there, or if people take the old crap and other people leave new crap. I do not know. But let me ask you this--who would want to take a used mattress that has also been out in several rainstorms? Not I.

Maybe this phenomenon is a type of "right of passage" into becoming a true Greensboro resident. If so, I don't know if I'll ever fit in!

Digital TV, etc.

So, I don't have tv. Well, I actually have two tv's in my one-person apartment, but I can only watch movies on them. I am too poor to afford cable, and I don't have any sort of antennas to pick up even any local channels. This has been slightly hard for me because, let's face it, I LOVE TV. Anyways, so in the middle of February is this whole change over to digital tv or whatever the crap it is (I really don't understand any of it). You can apply to get government coupons to get your tv converter box (which you only need if you aren't hooked up to cable). So, I thought I was a really smart person and was like, well, I'll get the coupons, get my converter box for free, and then I'll at least be able to pick up local channels for free! So I got my coupons...you could get 2, each worth $40, so I got both of them just incase the boxes cost more than $40 (which they do). So I'm at Walmart and Target yesterday comparing the prices on tv converter boxes, and you want to know what's lame? You still have to hook the converter box up to your antenna. And I don't have an antenna. And right now I am not going to buy an antenna (because there are more important things to spend money on, like food). So now I have $80 worth of coupons for a tv converter box that expire in April, and I'm probably not going to use them. Lame lame lame! Guess it's back to watching movies....

I'm no good at the English language

So, over time I have come to realize certain words that I just don't pronounce correctly. But since I have been pronouncing my own version of these words for as long as I can remember, deep down I really believe that my way of pronunciation is the right way! Here's the list:

Pillow = Pellow

Crayon = Cran

Sure = Shore

Poem = Poym

Marshmallow = Marshmellow

Saw = Saul


...There are probably more but those are the most frequent ones.

On another note, Krispy Kreme is giving away a free doughnut of your choice for inauguration day tomorrow--so you should go get one (I know I will!)

Big News in the Fam!

Sooo, the big news in my world is that my little sister Karin just found out she's pregnant!





She is not very far along, but we're all excited. Congrats Karin!!

8 facts on the 8th day

Sooo, I was going to title this "8 interesting facts on the 8th day", but I can't guarantee that any of these will be interesting to anyone but me! Nonetheless, here are 8 facts that few to zero people know about me.

1. Whenever I first listen to a cd, I don't like it. I'm always disappointed the first time I listen. It probably takes me about 5 times of listening to the whole album before I start thinking it's awesome.

2. I have a coin collection that I started in middle school. I keep old US coins like wheat pennies and buffalo nickels, and also foreign currency. My favorite souvenir to receive when people travel is money from the countries they have visited. I have money from places such as Canada, Egypt, Yugoslavia (no longer a country), Mexico, and a slew of others that I can't remember.

3. If I accidentally fart when I'm around people, I try to smell it up as much as I can so no one else will get a whiff of it. Truly.

4. I'm one of those annoying drivers that purposely slows down when someone is tailgating me just to teach them a lesson on patience! Yes, I am a horrible person.

5. I still pick my nose. And I firmly believe that EVERYONE picks their nose, and that it is a perfectly normally activity as long as you know the right time and place. For instance, it is okay to pick your nose when you're alone in your room reading a book. It is probably not okay to pick your nose while sitting in church.

6. I've never had pictures taken in a photo booth with anyone. I feel like that's something everyone has done. I have not.

7. My mom wouldn't let me watch the movie "step-mom" until I was in 11th grade, because it dealt with divorce. Yes, I was sheltered.

8. I still feel stupid for having a blog!!

Don't you know me so much better now?