The iPhone Itch

Some how I have managed to steer clear of the iPhone craze mainly because I didn't see the need.

But what once was simple has now become complex and I need the sanity of my fellow bloggers to keep me from jumping over the edge... or push me over altogether.

Here are the facts:

Fact: I get lost more than anyone I know (depsite being a Dallas resident all my life) and in these times of lostness I can't seem to get my go-to people on the phone (Sister, Husband, Mom). Thus I end up in tears somewhere between a one-way street and a missed right turn. The twilight zone does exist.

Fact: The iPhone has a GPS

Fact: My iPod went ka-put a while back so I don't have one of those

Fact: The iPhone IS an iPod

Fact: We have a stero system that only plays an iSomething. No radio/CD's/Tapes. The only iSomething we have is Jerry's phone which means I can only listen things to when A.) Jerry is home and B.) not on the phone. Are you feeling me? 

(Do people still use the term 'stereo system' now-a-days? Sounds a little 90's to me)

Fact: I sit at my desk most of the day so I have no need for a phone that does anything but ring 90% of my life

Fact: The reason iPhone DOES all these cool things is because you PAY for it... we can not forget that part $$

Fact: I think Looped looks fun!!!!

So here are your voting options:

A.) Purchase an iPhone

B.) Purchase an iPod 

C.) Sit contentedly and enjoy the quiet

THOUGHTS??????!!!

What a missing cord will do to you...

Obviously I am a bit behind. But my dad always told me "Better late than never" and "Sooner better than later."

There was a third saying but I can't remember it now, which is unfortunate because I am sure it holds the answers to all my life's errancies.

First things first:

Christmas at my parents house...

Then, after one short drive to Alabama, Christmas at Jerry's parents house.

Both were a Blast!

On the way home we swung by Memphis with Jamey and Mel to see tiny little Z and her new Mama and Daddy.

So fun :)

And then there was Summer's house-warming party where everyone was in rare form (without the help of even caffeine.. just plain-old crazy running though the veins). At this point only Geoff and Kevin had lost it, which you can tell if you look them closely in the eyes.

Next in photos we have a picture of my good friend Jenny's rehearsal dinner at Nick and Sam's where I had my first steak since middle school. I was pretty sicked out with myself the next day but I didn't feel right about ordering fish at one of the best steak houses in Dallas.

Then there was the wedding which I didn't take many pics at because they had an instant-photo booth set up. Man, an instant-photo booth will bring out the narcissist in the most humble of people.

It was awesome!!

And that brings us up to date!

Sorry you only get the details on events that I took pictures at but those are the only ones I remember at the moment!

For my Mom

This blog is in honor of my mom who's birthday was on Friday! I am not going to say which number she turned but let's say it's a nice round number that's worth of making note! :)

These are a few of her pics from the University of Alabama homecoming. She got to go on the field because she was a cheerleader when Paul "Bear" Bryant was there!

Obviously, we have cheerleading in common but there is so much more about my mom that I love and and hope to inherit.

To name a few:
Southern Charm, Quick whit, Strength, Beauty (you would never guess her birthday!!), Determination, Positive, Always encourages to do the right thing even when it might go bad (aka: tell the truth about a 'cheerleading shoes' mishap!), Knows more about College football than most guys I know combined!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY MOM!

My mom and brother Scott

Mom pointing out her brick at the Pi Phi house!


Brother (luckily) standing in front of the Bama Pi Phi house



Don't know my college football trivia but I know that this guy is real good!



Ok, that's it for now. I found my photo cord so hopefully I will get a chance to update soon...

Plus, before my mom's birthday there was another family member with a significant birthday that I will blog on too! I just need a few things first...

Lists of Things

Things I am enjoying while Jerry is out of town fishing:

1.  Being able to park smack dab in the middle of the garage

2.  Being able to turn my heating blanket up to full blast when I go to sleep at night

3.  Hmm, yep, that's it.  COME HOME HUSBAND!

Things I have been obsessing over in my fridge/pantry:

1. Almond stuffed olives.  Don't even really like olives but these are irresistible.

2. Blue cheese.  A few weeks ago I made blue cheese stuffed turkey burgers and fell in love with the flavor.  

3. Smoked Gouda.  Why did I waste most of my life without trying this?  Why wasn't there intervention?? Are you not my friends?

4. Cinnamon.  I have been putting this on anything remotely sweet; coffee, toast, cereal, ice-cream. Yummm

Things I have been doing with my spare time:

1.  Cleaning out and organizing all my pictures.  This is a CHORE.  Right now I have pictures from all time periods in random nooks and crannies of my house and car.  It's time for some adult organization.  I am only in the beginning stages of this but hope to finish by this time next week... we'll see.

2.  Painting.  I fell in love with a painting that was expensive so I though I would just try and paint it.  Is this the picture of over-ambition?  Probably.  Anyways yesterday I sat down on my kitchen floor and gave it a go.  (That's the one and only bonus to hating your floral print kitchen floor- you can paint on it and not worry too much about making it look bad).  Well the picture I was trying to emulate was an abstract and my finished product looks decisively literal. Oh well.  Maybe Jerry will like it :)

In closing I would like to apologize for the lack of photos.  I can't seem to find the cord that hooks to my laptop.  Probably in a nook somewhere with aged photos.

The President, the Passengers, and the Patience of God

I liked this article. I found it here.

January 21, 2009

Sometimes we are so overwhelmed at being treated better than we deserve that we must exult in the all-sovereign God—the God of birds' flight and Obama’s rise. When King David pondered how many were God’s “wondrous deeds,” he said, “I will proclaim and tell of them, yet they are more than can be told” (Psalm 40:5). That’s the way I feel watching God’s public mercies in the last few days.

Have you considered how unlikely was the crash of USAir flight 1549 in the Hudson River on January 15—not just the rescue but the crash itself? Picture this: The Airbus A320 is taking off at an angle—maybe 30 degrees. It’s not flying horizontal with the earth. Not only that, it is flying fast—not full speed yet, but perhaps four times as fast as your car would go at top highway speeds.

The geese are flying horizontally with the ground, more or less. They are not flying in a cloud like a swarm of bees. They fly level with the ground, often shaped like a V. In view of all that, what are the odds that, traveling at this speed and at this angle, this airplane would intersect with the flight of those geese at that very millisecond which would put a bird not just in one of those engines, but both of them?

Two laser-guided missiles would not have been as amazingly effective as were those geese. It is incredible, statistically speaking. If God governs nature down to the fall (and the flight) of every bird, as Jesus says (Matthew 10:29), then the crash of flight 1549 was designed by God.

Which leads to the landing in the Hudson River—which is just as unlikely. The airbus now has no thrust in either engine. The flight attendants said it was as quiet as a library in the plane without the sound of engines. The plane is now a 77-ton glider with its belly full of fuel. Captain Sullenberger decides to land in the river. Anywhere else would mean one big fireball.

He banks and misses the George Washington Bridge by 900 feet and glides the plane into a perfect belly landing. A few degrees tilt to the front or back or the right or left and the plane would have done cartwheels down the river and broken up. On the water, the flight attendant does not let passengers open the rear door. That would have flooded the cabin too fast. The emergency doors and front doors provide exits for everyone and the plane floats long enough for all of them to climb out. Ferry boats are there almost instantly. The captain walks the aisle twice to make sure everyone is off. Then he leaves. Later the plane sinks.

If God guides geese so precisely, he also guides the captain’s hands. God knew that when he took the plane down, he would also give a spectacular deliverance. So why would he do that? If he means for all to live, why not just skip the crash?

Because he meant to give our nation a parable of his power and mercy the week before a new President takes office. God can take down a plane any time he pleases—and if he does, he wrongs no one. Apart from Christ, none of us deserves anything from God but judgment. We have belittled him so consistently that he would be perfectly just to take any of us any time in any way he chooses.

But God is longsuffering. He is slow to anger. He withholds wrath every day. This is what we saw in the parable. The crash of Flight 1549 illustrates God’s right and power to judge. The landing of the plane represents God’s mercy. It was God’s call to all the passengers and all their families and all who heard the story to repent and turn to God’s Son, Jesus Christ, and receive forgiveness for sin.

I am writing these thoughts on the evening after the inauguration of Barack Obama, the first African-American President of the United States. I cried twice today. There were two points when I was overwhelmed by the magnitude of it all. Once was when I prayed with some brothers after Obama’s speech and was overcome with the sinfulness of my own racist background. The other was in trying to express my emotion to an African-American brother about what this must mean for him.

As much as I reject Obama’s stance on abortion, I am thankful to the bottom of my soul that an African-American can be President of United States. The enormity of it all is unspeakable. This is God’s doing. The geese were God’s doing. The landing of Flight 1549 was God’s doing. And the Obama presidency is God’s doing. “He removes kings and sets up kings” (Daniel 2:21).

And I pray that President Obama has eyes to see. The “miracle on the Hudson” and the “miracle in the White House” are not unrelated. God has been merciful to us as a nation. Our racial sins deserved judgment a thousand times over. God does not owe America anything. We owe him everything. And instead of destruction, he has given us another soft landing. We are not dead at the bottom of the Hudson.

O that Barack Obama would see the mercies of God and look to the One whose blood bought everlasting life for all who trust him. The parables of God’s mercy are everywhere. The point of them is this: God is a just and patient Ruler, and Jesus Christ is a great Savior. Turn. Turn. Turn, O President of the United States and passengers of this planet.

Full of thanks for all God’s mercies,

Pastor John

The Interruption!

So last week we were interrupted with the classic 'knock on the door.' Actually it was more of a 'frantic banging and doorbell ringing'.

It was a policeman telling us to get out of the house cause there was a fire. So we ran out around back and saw that our shed was in flames about 15 feet high going up the two trees and down the fence. Pretty quickly three fire trucks whipped around the corner, hooked up their hoses and began working on putting it out. (that's gonna be you Kevo!)

I am not going to lie, I was scared. I wasn't really afraid of the house burning down so much as I was afraid seeing a fire so out of control. The result? Feeling vulnerable. And I do not like feeling vulnerable.

But it is good. I hope to become one of those weathered women that knows and trusts in the Lord through experience of Him being faithful. Even when the fire trucks don't come and everything burns to the ground.

So I didn't exactly float around the fire trucks saying "Ah, the Lord giveth and the Lord taketh away" but I have hope that Jesus will finish what He has started in me. Even when it looks like we have a long way to go :)

Here are some pics i got once it was clear that the fire was pretty much out:









The aftermath:






And in come the demolition team:


First you hook the dolly (clearly)


Then you tie it to the truck

Then you watch as the impossible happens

Victory.

Little game of tug-a-war

Heave!

HO!

All in a days work!

(Seriously, thanks to all who helped, i know Saturday mornings are precious!!)

Post Addendum:

What caused the fire? Squirrels. They found little squirrel-home residue (nuts and the like). They think they gnawed off the insulation on the electric wires in the shed. If they found a roasted little squirrel I didn't want to know about it!!

From Fall to Winter: All the fun things

This is my favorite time of year for a few reasons:

1. Lot's of family birthday's
2. Football championships
3. Leaves turning fiery red (even if only slightly here in Texas)
4. Cold weather (thanks to birth control- who knew hormones had a play in what kind of whether you preferred?)
4. Reading by the fire
5. And celebrating Jesus during the Christmas season!

One random thing:

Did anyone know that this is an actual line in Little Drummer Boy-
"The ox and lamb kept time, par-rum-pa-pum-pum."
Weird. Kind of Narnia-ish.

Even after noticing that odd line it's still up there in my top Christmas songs. I love the picture of the little boy playing his heart out, his Very Best (which may or may not have actually been that good) out of love for Jesus.

Anyway, here are some 'Fall to Winter' pics:

Jerry acting very adult and intellectual in the coffee area of the DMA- one of my favorite places to wander.

What's fun is to notice my taste change and change again through the years as different areas in the museum become more or less appealing.

After this we went to my All Time Favorite restaurant, Kenichi. If you go please order the 'Blake' roll and the 'Baked Freddy'. You will die on the spot it's so good. And if you don't, you will definitely die when you get your check.

And everybody loves free birthday desert- especially if it's fried ice-cream (I didn't know we were at the fair).

Sorry for the black and white- i don't even know how that happened- but you needed to see the ice-cream

Another HUGE day of note is when we bought our first Christmas tree! We went to a cute little tree farm and looked for trees. It turns out that the trees at the tree farm were 3 times more expensive, for no visible reason, than the ones at the Neimans/Walmart. So we went back there instead!

Only thing is that at Neimans you can't tell what they look like cause they are all bound up.

But i think we got a good one! It's so pretty!

Yea Christmas!