Coming to Visit

Peeps, this is cool. Between interviewing Dahlia, swapping blogs with Yvonne, and guest posting on Victoria's blog, this little blog is seeing a lot of visitors. And without further ado, I have an announcement to make.

This Thursday, Victoria will be guest posting here! Hooray!!

meet Victoria!

Victoria and I met at Berea College in 2010 {whoa, that's like a hundred years ago} and became friends pretty quickly. She has an amazing laugh, which often interrupts comes out in her wonderful story telling. Victoria is passionate about Jesus and people and coffee and writing, and she is one of the warmest people I know. This lady is also a talented writer, as you can see on her blog and as you will see on Thursday. I'm so excited for you to read Victoria's post later this week - stay tuned!

7QT: Fangirl and Funny Friday

Linking up with Jen at Conversion Diary for 7 Quick Takes!

1. This article from Relevant magazine made me stand up and applaud. So good!

2. My roomie from college wrote this beautiful poem. Please join me in praying for her family as her mom transitions to eternity with Jesus.

3. This article about women in ministry is incredible. Suzanne Burden writes about her journey of understanding women in ministry. My favorite line is a quote from Ruth Haley Barton: "When we require women to pay over and over again for Eve's transgression with their silence and submission, we negate the full redemptive power of the gospel."

4. I know that winter in the Northwest is like a wet fall to the rest of the country; therefore, I should not complain about the weather. BUT! The bi-polar-ness of March has been horrendous and my previously-nonexistent allergies have been hosting dance parties in my head and sinuses. Ugh!

5. My dad is hosting a meeting in July for some other business owners, and he's delegated me to get the hotel and meeting space taken care of. This has been an adventure, and it's been fun to learn how Dad thinks and what he means by what he says and what he expects out of me. And when I say "fun" I'm using my high school rhetoric professor's definition of fun, which means the process was challenging but the result is a positive.

6. For consistency, I think this Take has to involve some sort of fangirl imagery. "But wait!" the normal people cry, "What is the fangirling of which you speak?" Ah, yes... I too used to be as you are. Let me lead you to the light. The next two images you are about to see describe the life of a fangirl. Please proceed cautiously.

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If you want some more fandom experiences, you can read Doctor Who love, Sherlock cosplay, fanfiction, and a letter to Moffat.

7. Ending 7QT with a Funny Friday story! As you probably know, my bff and I live in a condo, and to put it mildly, we have way too much fun together! I've lost countless hours of sleep to lying in the hallway or sitting on her floor talking, and ya know what? Those are hours of sleep I don't wish back {unless my alarm is going off}, because bonding with my bestie is sweet, sweet time.

That's not the funny part. That's the serious part and the explanation of the funny part. Just to be clear.

So our upstairs neighbor is a lady who is really quiet. Samara and I have both met her once...I think. She works a lot and is super quiet and those are great qualities to have in a neighbor, may I just add. But just about once a month, Samara and I will be chilling on a Saturday morning {ok, fine, afternoon} and we'l hear the pitter patter of little feet upstairs. Perplexed, we speculated and finally concluded that our neighbor must participate in a "Rent A Toddler" program and that's what we were hearing.

Last night was the annual home owners' meeting, and I ended up sitting next to this upstairs neighbor. She's quite nice and smart, and after the meeting as we were walking back up to our respective condos, I told her that if Samara and I were ever too loud, she should feel free to tell us to shut up immediately. And she laughed and said we'd never been a problem {PHEW!!!!}. Then she said, "I'm having some people over on Saturday, and there's going to be...a few kids..and a two year old."

I then felt compelled {by what awkward social forces, I don't know} to tell her about Samara and my line about her "renting a toddler" and {thankfully!} she started laughing and said, "We tell him not to run around, but he just runs laps around the living room!" And I started laughing {both out of amusement and gratitude} and told her we wondered what was going on because it did sound like a toddler running laps...and that's what it was!

So we had a good chuckle and then I fled inside and said to Samara: "You know how we joke about Rent A Toddler upstairs??? It's real!!!" and we laughed at both how prophetic our hearing was and what dorks we looked like to the neighbor. Such fun.

Ta-da! Head over to Conversion Diary for more 7QT, and happy weekend!

Finish This: Week Twelve

Linking up with Becky at The Java Mama, Lisa at Coastlined, Jen at The Arizona Russums, and Nicole at Three 31.

I know it's a little weird, but  I'd rather have ice cream than cake. For family birthday celebrations, I often ask for just ice cream. If I'm going to indulge in treats, I'd rather have something I really enjoy.
My friend Rebecca just told me that she could eat cake all day, every day, so I think we balance each other out. Our friendship is a good thing for the world. :)

When stopped at a stoplight, I look and see if any other drivers are dancing in their cars. Hehe! I also make sure that the car behind me is actually stopping, because my preference would be to NOT be rear-ended again.

My guilty pleasure is the television show "Suits." Crack popcorn. Mojitos. The game "quelf." Anything written by Kristen Heitzmann. Staying up way too late reading anything, really. Raw cookie dough. French toast. Going out with friends after another event. Taylor Swift. Coloring my hair.

My favorite way to unwind is with hard cider and either a good book or an episode of "Miranda," preferably post-shower and in pajamas. So wonderful!

There ya go! Add your post to the link-up or answer the questions in the comments. See ya next week!

Not Alone Series: Deal Breakers

Linking up with Jen at Jumping in Puddles and Morgan at Follow and Believe.

{Before we jump into this week's prompt, give me two seconds to toot my own horn. Today I wrote a guest post for Victoria's blog. Care to read something short and humorous? {And I'm not just saying that - it really is both short and humorous, like me!} Head her way!}

We have all thought about our list of qualities for a future spouse {or maybe religious community}, but those things can be pretty limiting on who God has planned for you. Instead, think about the few things that are so important to you that if a guy you were considering dating {or a community you were entering} didn't have these things, you would have to move on. Why are these things important to you?

Alright, you caught me. I have a list. It's a list that I made several times during my angsty and anxious teens, and then a couple more times as a wise {cough} college freshman. And since that time, I've not really looked at it. I know what's on it. God knows what's on it. These character traits that I seek in a husband are really beyond my control, so I don't worry about them. God know what I need even better than that list does, and I'd definitely rather have God bring the man He has for me than someone who can check off everything on the list.

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That being said, there are a few things that Mr. TDH needs to have going on before he's considered.  My pastor called these non-negotiables, and that's how I think of them. There are the traits that are absolutely non-negotiable and there are things that are negotiable. Because I don't know where God is going to lead me/us, I don't want to limit Him with my lists. The things on my list are important, but trusting God is more important, and the most important item on my list is a relationship with Jesus. No close relationship with Jesus = no close relationship with Bek.

A group of gals went through the book Lady In Waiting last summer, and while the book was cheesy {SO cheesy!}, some great discussions came from it, and our fearless and lovely leader encouraged us to ask ourselves how we are preparing to be excellent wives. Am I learning skills and character qualities that my TDH will be looking for, or am I just focusing on what I want in him? That's a convicting thought, and something I pray about regularly.

That's all, folks! Thanks for reading, and be sure to show our hostesses some link-up love.

Oh Yeah, Real Life

It occurred to me last week that it's been a while since I've done a non-link-up post. This thought entered my brain, and the thought to follow was "I should use that as one of my 7QT." Sigh. *shakes head*

So life lately? Busy. Awesome. Full. Friends. Adulting. Books. Thoughts. Family. Plans. Allergies {ugh!}.

On Saturday, I finished Jesus Feminist. Wow. That book. So many people read it and said "this wasn't what I was expecting" and so I stopped expecting whatever I was expecting. And still, my expectations were blown out of the water. It is so different and refreshing and Jesus-focused and kind... I read it in just a few days like holding my breath and powering from one end of a pool to the other, and now I want to go back and re-read it slowly in order to, as "Bright Star" credits Keats with saying so beautifully, "luxuriate in the sensation of water." After a second {or third or fourth} reading, I will post a review.

One crochet project is finished! For Christmas, I jokingly told my friend Rosemary that I would make her a scarf "for Valentine's Day." Make that St. Patrick's Day. Oh wait, make that the first day of Spring. Crap, make that April Fool's Day. Whatever. The moral of the story is, I finished her scarf! The yarn was a bi...I mean beast to work with. Ugh. But it's finally done - hooray!

wrong color but same texture of awfulness

Samara told me that she was planning a Spring Cleaning session this {previous} weekend, and I got inspired and decided to join her separately. Unfortunately, Samara got sick this weekend, so she focused instead on getting better. I felt bad for her and sprayed Lysol and went through old documents and did laundry. No actual cleaning took place; my house desperately needs vacuumed.
Do you have any Spring Cleaning "rituals" or big tasks you save for spring? Samara's sister Melissa is writing a series on this {with a giveaway coming up!}, and I'm really looking forward to her posts.

Friday, I promised the Notions crew that I would make cookies, but when I got home later than planned, I realized that our fridge lacked eggs. {Please note the passive voice that blames the fridge, not the two residents who remove and consume items from the fridge.} Thankfully, my sister was allergic to eggs for a while and so I knew that applesauce works as a substitute for eggs {I'm thankful that I knew this, not that my sister had allergies, for the record.}.
The whole time I was mixing the batter, I was worried that the applesauce was bad {it wasn't} or that the cookies would taste awful {they didn't} or that everything would smell like baby food forever {of course it didn't}. Everything turned out just fine, and even with only 4 people eating cookies, there were just a handful left at the end of the night, and our hosts graciously agreed to keep them.

Have you heard John Legend's song "All of Me"? Oh my goodness, this song!!! Enjoy.

My friend Rebecca and I watched more than half of Season Two of "The Office" yesterday. Prior to yesterday, the only episodes I'd seen were in my Human Resource Management class {as bad examples, obviously}, so it's been fun to get the whole Jim-Pam relationship arc in order. Kinda feeling like this about the whole thing {I'm caught up to Christmas}:

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My dear friend Victoria asked me to guest post on her blog, and here is her announcement! I'm pretty excited, and I'm also thrilled that my roomie is another guest. Good manners and common sense tell me that I should invite Victoria to guest post here - keep your eyes open for that!

Well, blogging compadres, that's life. The other parts of life are too boring to blog about {like tutoring algebra or changing the water filter} or deserve their own posts {like a response to Jesus Feminist}.
Thanks for catching up on life. Tune in tomorrow for another link-up with the Not Alone Series.

Finish This: Week Ten

Whoa, it's been ten weeks already! That means we have only 42 weeks left in this year. Time flies when...you're old, I guess. Sigh.

Linking up with Becky at The Java Mama, Nicole at Three 31, Jen at The Arizona Russums, and Lisa at Coastlined for this week's edition of Finish This!

My heart is full! This Lent season has been really challenging so far: falling asleep without a book to help me has been hard, and I've only written one note of encouragement thus far, even though I should be writing my third and fourth this week. But the Lord has been reminding me that Lent is about focusing back on Him, not about doing things to cross them off a spiritual to-do list. So I'm learning to be okay with that, and it's been good.

One thing every woman should know is how loved she is, no matter how similar or dissimilar she is to her peers. This month feels like the Lord is taking a machete to the comparison habit in my mind, and oh my word it hurts and oh my word it's so freeing!

My breakfast typically consists of Noosa! Seriously, it is THE best Greek yogurt out there. I may or may not be a little obsessed:

I'm so glad I learned the secret to crack popcorn and chocolate chip cookies. Starting a lawn mower. Travelling by myself. Homemade chai lattes. Straightening my hair. Blogging with links and pictures. Flexibility. Surprising my bosom friend. Keeping life organized with a daily planner. Feeding my spirit with worship music and Jesus time.

Thanks for joining this week! If you want to jump on this train, you can answer the prompts in the comments, or go to one of the hosting blogs and enter your URL. See ya next time!

7 Quick Takes: Life is Hard

Linking up with Jen at Conversion Diary for 7QT!

1. This article by Sarah Bessey {who is definitely becoming one of my favorite writers ever!} is really wonderful. I think I'm going to join her challenge on Pinterest {not like I need another excuse to be on there...}. What do you think?

2. Speaking of Sarah Bessey, for her birthday this week, her book Jesus Feminist was on sale for $1.99! You better believe I snatched that sucker up - I even shared the love with Samara, who also downloaded it. When we both got home for dinner, I confessed that I was a couple chapters into it already, and she laughed and said she was at the same spot. Oh, reading nerds :)

3. It's the Land o' Links! Rachel Held Evans' response to an article about women teaching; a great piece about being a good Samaritan; and the Church regarding our obsession with pastors.

4. It's World Down Syndrome Day! Read Laura's beautiful post about her brother, and go show some love to people.

5. A group of friends and I went to see "The Grand Budapest Hotel" last weekend. My friends had all purchased their tickets online, so they got in the "print your ticket" line. I hadn't purchased a ticket yet, so I got in the regular line. And I got carded. Yep. That's about how I felt, too. Are you kidding me? That's never happened to me at a movie theater. Purchasing alcohol? I expect it to happen, since businesses can get shut down if they sell alcohol to minors. But to an R-rated movie?? I was stunned. Because this blog can be found by anyone and everyone, I won't tell you the comments that ran through my brain as I pulled out my i.d., but they were definitely snarky, to say the least.

6. Thanks to swapping blogs with Yvonne {her post on my blog; my post on her blog} earlier this week, I learned that I can share a gif just like sharing a picture. But now that I'm trying to share my own, all knowledge has left me. Help, talented people of the internet!

7. What I don't know is the correct way to say "gif." I hear it most often with a J sound, but then I've heard tech-y people get mad and say that the only "j-if" is a peanut butter. But saying it with a hard G sounds awful. Sigh.

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Happy weekend!