Funny Monday

Well, there’s a long explanation but the story is funny, especially if you even remotely know my family.

We’re sitting around the dinner table, all 6 of us, which is rare and awesome. Mom wants to examine the new MC ring of our just-graduated sister. They redesigned the rings this year, and it looks more like a signet than….than what they looked like before. So someone joked “don’t want to meet you in a dark alley with that ring on!” and the youngest sister responds, “you’re supposed to hit people with your knuckles, not with the flat part of your hands, because that doesn’t hurt as much.”

Dad joins in, “actually, you’re not supposed to use your fists to hit someone…”

Mom jumps in “yeah, just use a baseball bat!”

Oh, Mother…. you can always count on her to be both wise and witty in any situation.

Oh yeah, I’m leaving today. AUGHSLDJV;NLSFV;LSADKDJF;AKHJ;ALKFJ;SOADF that was my excitement typing. And on that note, I bid you adieu.

One Week

In one week, my sister and I will be in Berlin, Germany. WHAT!?!!? Crazy, right?? We leave on Monday and arrive on Tuesday- yay, long international flights! But hey, the journey is part of the destination, right? Or something corny like that. Oh, ps, this trip means I probably won’t be able to keep up posting, so please forgive me in advance, and I’ll a) see if I can schedule posts ahead of time, and b) show you lots of pictures afterwards.

Before we leave, our other sister graduates from Master’s Commission. Woot! This weekend is filled with festivities for her class, which means we need to pack beforehand!

After we get back, all 3 of my sisters will be moving! One will be moving up to college; one will be moving back home; and one will be moving somewhere in our church community to start Master’s Commission.

Thank God the only moving I have to do is across the hallway!

So I’ll be getting my own room and it has built-in bookshelves on the top half of one wall…what should I do with them?? I was thinking of painting the vertical part of them, so there’s something fun to look at when I take a book off the shelf… I was also thinking of putting contact paper (am I thinking of the right thing?) down on the horizontal part of the shelf just so there’s something funky there. Any ideas or suggestions are welcome.

Also, I told you a while ago that I bought a frame from Goodwill. Well, what should I do with it??? I was thinking  of combining a couple craft ideas and putting magazine pieces inside the frame, with or without paint on it, and then using the glass as a note-writing board. Or maybe using chalk paint? Or making a magnetic frame… let me see if I can find pictures to show you…


                    source


               source

The first one is what I’m leaning towards doing, only inside a frame instead of on a canvas, and I’m not sure if I would put the stencil over it or not. Thoughts? Votes?

In closing, I’m going to go to bed and re-read Persuasion. Again. Because I love it. Sigh. Captain Wentworth is my man.

Restless

Tonight I want to go for a run, and rearrange my room, and paint something, and maybe crochet something, and still finish my book, and practice my piano, and paint my nails, and it’s almost 10pm for the love of Pete!
But I’m restless… do you ever get that way, where you feel like you have to do something in order to not go crazy? Or is that just me?

It might be related to having sugar after dinner-crack popcorn gets me every time. And it might be related to the fact that today was such a beautiful day that I wanted to read in my swimsuit instead of sweat and run around the track. It is probably related to the fact that I’m going to an arbitration on Thursday for the lovely MVA a couple years ago. And it is definitely related to Family Camp starting tomorrow.

I’ll tell you what I am going to do tonight: I am going to listen to this song on repeat and write a cover letter for an internship I’m applying for. Shoot, maybe I will paint my nails. That is multi-tasking, my friends.
Alright. I’m off. Thanks for listening to my restless ramblings.

Draft

Like many Americans, I have a few television shows that I watch regularly. And like most Americans, that means that I make these shows a priority. I wouldn’t call myself an addict or obsessed or anything too extreme, but I make sure that the family is done with dinner and dishes in time for the show.
My family’s top show is The Closer produced by TNT. The show stars Kyra Sedgwick as Chief Brenda Johnson of the LAPD. Like most crime shows, there are dead bodies and bad guys and guns and general excitement, excitement that has made this show a highly-rated one.
While watching, with many other Americans, the highly-anticipated last six episodes of The Closer, I was struck by how fiercely the characters fought for life. These fictitious law enforcers made every effort to not kill bad guys, to make deals with them so that victims could be saved and death row could be avoided. Now, I recognize that these are made-up stories written by people who want their show to succeed, but they also have an agenda; they are promoting their ideals whether we are aware of it or not.
Let me bring in something seemingly unrelated, and I promise to tie them together. I am taking a business course right now from a Christian organization. The book we are reading is explaining the single-generation mindset of our economic system’s founder, John Maynard Keynes. Keynes was a homosexual who had no thought of the next generation; hence, our “have it now, pay for it later” generation and ensuing economic struggles. The author of the book points out the connection between our economic situation and our morals. Abortion is the epitome of single-generation living. Abortion thinks only of the here and now, not of the future. No wonder our economy is so bad and our nation is on its knees.
So let’s go back to The Closer and let’s tie these two concepts together. Ironically, like the ultimate problem is solved, this connection was made most clear to me in the finale of the show and in the premiere of the follow-up show. As Chief Johnson moves positions and Captain Raydar steps up, my conclusion was revealed. Capt. Raydar focuses on getting criminals sentenced, and the first sentencing she does puts a prisoner away for life instead of the death penalty. But one of her subordinates complains that she settled for his conviction instead of his execution because it saved the city money. Let’s think about the parallels in this fictional television show and the very real state of our nation: life and death come down to economics. What saves us money now? Putting criminals in jail instead of executing them. What else saves us money now? Aborting our children instead of raising them. What is more expensive long-term? The caring for of life-long prisoners. What else is more expensive long-term? Depression, breast cancer, difficulty carrying a full-term pregnancy, suicide, and all the other risks increased by abortion; this is not to mention a diminished work force, and let’s not even get into the culture of death pervading this nation.
**EDIT: What really gets to me is the fact that in today's society, life and death are decided by economics. How has it come to this, that we value life based on revenue? In a sad, sardonic way, our society is consistent: we abort our young and euthanize our old because it is more "economically feasible" to have them die. Have morals become so far removed? Or is our deception that complete?**
If you’ve read a few Bound4Life posts, I’m sure you’re familiar with all the ways Planned Parenthood deceives and bullies organizations into continual funding. I am not ignorant of the link between our nation’s moral compass, the nation’s largest abortion provider, and our national economic crisis. I would simply like to point out yet another connection, drawing from our entertainment sector, and I would like to encourage you to pray, even more fervently, for our nation.
Jesus, I plead Your Blood over my sins and the sins of my nation. God, end abortion and send revival to America!


please tell me what you think of this post! Give me everything-grammatical, content, point, details. Was I clear? Do I need more? Less? Please, tell me your thoughts! Thank you!

Fail Blog

I know, I know. Fail. Oh well. I figure, this is what, the third time in this whole year? Sometimes a girl just has to live her life without technology, ok?
Speaking of which, I just went a week without a phone. Gasp. Lurch. Faint. Yup. My little phon-o kicked the bucket, so I had to send for a new one. Hopefully this will be the one that lasts. Third time’s the charm, right?
So I got a camera for graduation, right? Wanna see some of the b-e-a-utiful pictures that it takes!? Of course you do!
Feast your eyes…





Aren’t these fab??? I totes feel like a tourist, much to the embarrassment of my sisters, walking around our home city with a camera around my neck. But hey, this is a gorgeous camera and it takes gorgeous pictures and we live in a gorgeous city- what’s not to like?
So there you have it!

Total Trust

Yesterday my sister and I visited the library of our childhood. It is uniquely situated over a river, and my family has many fond memories of walking (or biking or stroller-ing) along the river walk to the library. The joke in the family is that my sister J always, always ended up in the river, no matter what. In fact, she ended up in any body of water nearby, be it a puddle, lake, or river. {Later she joined swim team and excelled- we know why!}

While my sis and I looked at the river yesterday, I noted how fast the current was, and I considered how my mom willingly, regularly, took her 4 daughters on a walk next to this river, knowing that at least one of them was going in, and I wondered if I would let my children in or near the river. Then the thought came to me, well, It trust God… and I wondered if I trusted God to not let anything bad happen….or if I trusted Him no matter what happened. See the difference? One thought says that nothing bad will happen because I trust God, and the other thought says that no matter what happens, good or bad, I will continue to trust God.
Like in the river. Will I let my kids play in the river because I trust that nothing bad will happen to them, or do I let them play in the river because no matter what happens, I’m choosing to trust God?

Just a thought as I get closer to the heart of God.

All Across the Board in August

Wow. It’s the second day of August already. Dang!

Ok, so we’re gonna go crazy on this post. Just kidding. Actually not. I’m just going to hit you with a bunch of stuff and you can recover and read it later. Ha. Sorta.

First off, I ordered 2 swimsuits tonight! Woot! One of them is my favorite; I think I've had the same cut for the past 5 years. I love it. Come on, girls, how many swimsuits are there that are flattering, modest, and fabulous? Not that many, so let’s stick with a good thing, eh? And on that note, I actually ordered one that was a different cut. Oh, irony, there you are!

Best part? S-A-L-E! Score! Ok, pictures aren't working right now, but I’m sure I’ll have some once they get here.

Secondly, I am in love with this song. Ohhhhemgeeeee!
Steffany Frizzell, anyone? I hadn't heard of her that much, only through Bethel Music, but this morning, discovery! Really loving this song!

Thirdly, and warning, we’re switching gears into serious, how do I bond with my introvert, private, different-than-me-like-night-is-day sister??? Especially when we haven’t lived together (besides the 2-month summer breaks) for the past 3 years, and won’t for another 2 years (she’s going off to college in the fall)?? We’ll be good, and then suddenly we’re not. I don’t know how to prove that I've matured, and we have different schedules so we don’t have a lot of hang-out time. Plus, quality time is my main love language {proof in this post} and she is definitely more introverted and has a limit to the amount of time she can spend with people. Sigh. What to do, what to do.

Fourthly, less serious now, I’m making slippers! What! That’s right; I’m crocheting slippers for my friend E {she’s the hysterical one talking about Downton Abbey on Funny Friday}and if I do say so myself, they look fabulous. Well, it looks fabulous. I’m only done with one. But I’m working on the second one. Check out the pic!

                                    {credit}
You can check out the website for instructions, but hers are kind of confusing if you don’t know the stitch {ahem, like me} and I personally you.tubed it and that made a lot more sense. Also, she sews, and I was like, um, I crochet. I hate needles. I will find a way around the sewing! and I did. So that’s my soapbox/pat on the back.

Oh, and if you would like me to make a pair for you, 1) get in line! :) and 2) just leave a comment and we’ll chat.

Alright. First post of August = done. Hope you can recover ;)
peace out, yo