LONG day! But a good day. I got to hang out with Noah while Kim went to the dentist this morning. He is very active and talkative. Apparently he is into naming things and showed me my eyes, ears, nose, hair, etc, and then his own: "Noey's hair, Noey's mouth," etc. He also was into wearing my stuff--through the course of the morning, he wore my watch, my bracelet and my shoes. It was pretty darn cute, but I had to reclaim my bracelet when he tried to put it on Chester. :) After he got tired of my shoes, he put them back on my feet and walked around with the biggest-size plastic cups that fit inside each other (whatever you call those) on his feet, proudly pointing to them and saying, "Noey's shoes!" My favorite was when we were both sitting in the recliner watching Cars, and he turned around, stuck his tongue quickly in and out like a snake, then announced, "Tongue!" and laughed. His laugh is pretty stinking adorable. I got to hold little miss cutie Callie while Kim finished getting ready, too. I had her for about ten minutes, and she made good use of that window of time to throw up on my shirt. I didn't really mind, though--I came mentally prepared, and when I was wiping off her face, she almost smiled at me. She is going to have the cutest smile. When I was leaving, Kim told Noah to say thank you, and he said, "Thank you, Kels!" It pretty much made me melt.

It was a long day at the flower shop. With the amount of work that's available right now, I've been leaving generally around 1:30-2, so I haven't been working enough hours to take a lunch. Today happened to be one of the days that I actually needed to stay later. It also happened to be the day that I decided not to eat breakfast. I didn't get off until 4:30 and all I'd had was coffee. My metabolism wasn't going, so I wasn't so much hungry as cranky and shaky. The good thing about being that food-deprived is that whatever you eat next tastes AMAZING. I ran to Panera and grabbed a bite, and then to Exotic Thai where I met Kimberley, a family friend who does counseling, to ask her some questions about grad school.

It was really helpful talking with Kimberley. She has lots of practical experience and encouragement. The most encouraging thing she said was when I asked her if it was hard to spend all of her working days with maladjusted, angry, dysfunctional people. She said, "Honestly, I don't see them that way. I pray to see the beauty in them, and God always shows beauty. They are opportunities for Jesus to be born in them, and I get to be the midwife." That is so wonderful.

After that, I met my sister at the mall and we picked out a dress for her to wear to summer weddings and events. We found a beautiful red dress at the Limited. It looked so great on her. Sssmokin'! I love shopping, even if it's not for me.

I intend on writing a "deeper" post soon about the stuff God's been doing in my life. But right now, it's almost 11 and I need to go to bed. Have a great Thursday, everyone!

Joy

–noun

1.	the emotion of great delight or happiness caused by something exceptionally good or satisfying; keen pleasure; elation: She felt the joy of seeing her son's success.

2.	a source or cause of keen pleasure or delight; something or someone greatly valued or appreciated: Her prose style is a pure joy.

3.	the expression or display of glad feeling; festive gaiety.

4.	a state of happiness or felicity.

–verb (used without object)

5.	to feel joy; be glad; rejoice.

–verb (used with object)

6.	Obsolete. to gladden.

The word "joy" occurs in 209 verses of the NIV version of the Bible. Joy is also my middle name. I plan on doing some sort of word study in the near future. More to come...

Quick question

Do any of you RVCers know what time the baptismal service is this Sunday? Since I wasn't at church last Sunday to note it, I figured I could look it up on the website, but it wasn't listed under events. My family's going out of town this weekend, but I really want to be back in time for the baptisms. So...anyone? Beuler?

Melodic Monday--Sweetly Broken by Jeremy Riddle

To the cross I look, to the cross I cling
Of its suffering I do drink
Of its work I do sing
For on it my Savior, both bruised and crushed
Showed that God is love
And God is just

At the cross You beckon me
You draw me gently to my knees, and I am
Lost for words, so lost in love,
I’m sweetly broken, wholly surrendered

What a priceless gift, undeserved life
Have I been given
Through Christ crucified
You’ve called me out of death
You’ve called me into life
I was under Your wrath
Now through the cross I’m reconciled

At the cross you beckon me
You draw me gently to my knees, and I am
Lost for words, so lost in love
I'm sweetly broken, wholly surrendered

In awe of the cross I must confess
How wondrous Your redeeming love and
How great is Your faithfulness

Earthquake!

So, like many of you, I woke up around 5:40 to feel the house shaking. Our house is kind of loosely constructed, and I thought at first that it was thunder shaking it, but this was more like a rolling feeling, like being on a really windy sea. My first thought was "Earthquake!" and then my second thought was, "We don't have earthquakes here. Maybe something exploded near our house (gas tank, plane crash)." However, I heard my dad get in his car and drive off to work. For some reason that is one of the most assuring sounds to me--that and his car returning home. Just the assurance that life is going on as planned. Also, I am not at all a morning person, and I don't process anything too well at 5:40 am. I wasn't even scared by the thought of a plane crash. It was simply too early to be awake and I went back to sleep.

When I woke up this morning there was a note from my mom asking if I'd felt the earthquake. She said it happens here about every 20 years. This was interesting because one of my early childhood memories is of my Dad carrying me down the hall, wrapped in a towel because I had just finished my bath, and then the house starting to shake. It was just like this morning's, over very briefly, and as a child I wasn't even concerned, just curious. Since it was on such a small scale, I think it's kind of cool to have experiened this natural phenomenon twice!

Yay!

I woke up this morning with killer cramps and the feeling that the very last thing I wanted to do was go to work, and the very first thing I wanted was to curl up on the couch. I was making breakfast when the phone rang. It was my cousin saying that she didn't really have anything for me to do today and I didn't need to come in. YAY! I made chocolate chip pancakes for breakfast and then curled up on the couch with season 3 of Friends for a couple hours. If only every day could be like that. Well, then I'd be broke, but still...

I got my hair cut today. I would like to take this opportunity to put in a plug for Samson and Delilah's Salon and Spa on Ferry St. They did an awesome job cutting and styling my hair, plus it is a very nice AND reasonably priced place with lots of complementary amenities. Before the girl cut my hair, she gave me a back massage, and while she was cutting it, one of the other girls gave me a mini hand treatment. They also offer you free beverages--I saw one customer with a glass of wine. They are all about creating an "experience" for you--they let you choose from four scents and use products that are all that scent--the shampoo and conditioner, massage oil, and hand lotion. I thoroughly enjoyed my experience. :)

God's small graces

I have been worried about money lately. As I think I've stated before, I really suck at managing it. All the things I need to get/do before I go back to CO have been swimming through my mind. One of the (dumb and counterproductive) things I do when I get upset is go shopping. Not going to help when what I'm worried about is money, I know, but I convince myself that if I buy something small it will be okay. Of course, the small things have a way of adding up...like this time, I bought a bunch of makeup. I was shocked when it was totalled up at the register but I really wanted the makeup (one of the idols I've been realizing since the past 2 Sundays' sermons is my appearance) so I bought it. Later, though, I knew I had to take it back, so except for a couple things that I honestly had run out of, I returned it. Once I got back home my mind started going again--"I really do need new mascara, too...I don't need Mary Kay, but I really like it the best...how am I going to get Mary Kay delivered out to the middle of the Rockies...should I even bother spending that much on mascara?" Then my mom walked into my room with a little pink box. "Is this the kind of mascara you wear? A lady at work was giving it away." It WAS the kind of mascara I wear! Exact color and code # and everything. God is so amazing, and I love how He fulfills our little, "trivial" desires as well as the big whopping problems in our lives.

I've been wanting to post this song for Melodic Monday for a while. I heard it on our roadtrip and I thought it was hilarious. It reminds me of myself...although I don't think I'd have the courage to talk to the boy.

Taylor the Latte Boy by Kristin Chenoweth

There's a boy who works at Starbucks
Who is very inspirational.
He is very inspirational because of many things.

I come in at 8:11, and he smiles and says, "How are you?"
When he smiles and says, "How are you?"
I could swear my heart grows wings!

So today at 8:11
I decided I should meet him
I decided I should meet him
In a proper formal way.

So today at 8:11 when he smiled and said "How are you?"
I said "Fine, and my name’s Kristin"
And he softly answered, "Hey."
And I said "My name is Kristen, and thank you
for the extra foam…"

And he said his name was Taylor,
Which provides the inspiration for this poem:

Taylor the latte boy,
Bring me java, bring me joy!
Oh Taylor the latte boy,
I love him, I love him, I love him…

So I’d like to get my nerve up
To recite my poem musical.
He would like the fact it’s musical
Because he plays guitar.
So today at 8:11, Taylor told me he was playing
In a band down in the village
in the basement of a bar.

And he smoothly flipped the lever
to prepare my double latte,
But for me he made it triple!
And he didn’t think I knew
But I saw him flip the lever,
and for me he made it triple,
And I knew that triple latte meant
that Taylor loved me too!
I said, "What time are you playing?
And thank you for the extra skim…"
He said, "Keep the $3.55,"
because this triple latte was on him.

Taylor the latte boy,
Bring me java, bring me joy!
Oh Taylor the latte boy,
I love him, I love him, I love him…

I used to be the kind of girl who'd run
when love rushed toward her.
But finally a voice whispered "Love can be yours,
if you step up to the counter, and order."

Taylor, the latte boy
Bring me java, bring me joy
Oh Taylor the latte boy
I love him, I love him, I love him.

So many years my heart has waited,
Who’d have thought that love could be so caffeinated?
Taylor, the latte boy,
I love him, I love him, I love him.
I love him, I love him, I love him.

Biting the bullet

So, I have taken the bull by the horns. Bitten the bullet. Taken the plunge. Any other metaphorical cliches you care to use. Tonight at life group I received some good solid prayer, and of course, God brought it right back to where I really knew it was, but where I was afraid to let it go. Basically, I did something I should have done back in October. I will be happy to tell you more if you are interested, but it would make for a long and complicated blog. In a nutshell, I'm going to talk to someone that I should have already talked to.

Fort Wayne was fun! It was good to see the brother and spend some time catching up with him. He showed me around town and took me to dinner, and today we went hiking at Chain-o-Lakes state park, a place we went camping when we were really little but hadn't been since then. My shoe came off in the mud, and I had gaping holes in my socks, so my toes got completely mud-covered. Of course the brother laughed when I was hopping around in a mud puddle on one foot. I would have laughed at him, too. The highlight of my visit was definitely riding the 2-story caurosel in the mall! I rode an elephant on the top story. So fun! We rented Vertigo last night--I have been on an Alfred Hitchcock kick lately. I think he is pretty much amazing. I had a disturbing dream after watching Psycho, though. On Friday I saw a guy in Panera with the same haircut as the killer from No Country for Old Men, and in my dream, I had to bring him home with me. He asked me to bring him home, and I knew I couldn't refuse because he was a killer and there was no telling what he'd do if he didn't get his way. So he came home with me and spent the night lying next to me on my bed. He kept asking me what my family was doing and playing with his pocket knife. I knew I couldn't go to sleep because then he would get up and kill my family. However, I wasn't afraid in my dream--just aware. I knew somehow that if he tried to kill my family, I could easily stop him.

I am glad I made it home in time for life group, and glad that God doesn't give up on me even when I run the other direction with my fingers in my ears.

p.s.

p.s. After reading my last post, I realize that I seriously use the word "seriously" too much.

Sunday

I might be absent from the blog for a few days. I am going to Fort Wayne to visit the brother tomorrow. I missed his birthday on my road trip, so I am taking him birthday brownies and his birthday present. Plus, I have never seen his place since he moved up there. I can't believe how long it's been since I've seen my family. I'm not so used to this long-distance family thing. Anway, I should be back sometime Tues evening--hopefully in time for life group, but I am not sure.

I went to the video store and rented Psycho and The Sting this afternoon. Both great classic movies. I had never seen Psycho before. WOW. Outstanding acting, outstanding direction--unbelievably creepy. But it is definitely a work of art. There were moments when I got goosebumps because the filmography (is that even a word? I don't think so...) was so good. I'm watching The Sting now. Robert Redford and Paul Newman. Yes, please.

So...I have been thinking since church this morning. Thankfully, Tony's sermons have that effect on me. I haven't been thinking about the sermon per se, though...more about an old problem that the sermon reminded me of. Basically, I feel like God is prompting me to speak to someone, but I just feel too weird about it. "Hi...I know we've never really talked before, but I feel like God wants me to talk with you about the issues I have with leadership. Can we chat?" Feeling "weird" is not really a good reason not to obey God, but it's one that I have a seriously hard time overcoming.

As if this post isn't weird. I don't really know what I want to say sometimes. I guess I am just looking for reassurance, or someone to tell me to get off my butt and do it, or someone to say they've had a prophetic word from God for me. Somehow that would make it seem less "weird" to me. I think I should seriously try to make it home in time for LG, because evidently, I seriously need some prayer.

The most exciting part of my day by far--the Yenerichs having a little baby girl!! I am so happy for them. I really wanted it to be a girl! Noah gets to be a big brother to her...how cool!!

I met Jonell and Sheena for tiny group tonight. Very fun to see them again, and to see Frank and Sheena's new house! I had a really bad headache, though, so I didn't get into the conversation much. I took some Advil earlier so I kept waiting for it to kick in, but I had to take another one afterwards. It is still not gone completely. I think I am going to drink some tea and go to bed soon.

I feel like I'm in a weird place in life right now. I'm not fully invested in Colorado, and since I have such a short time here, and I'm leaving again, I don't feel like I've caught up from the time I missed and I don't have time to become fully invested again. It's a little confusing. I don't like transient existence. I'm all for change and travelling, but I'm realizing how important it is to me to have a home base anchoring me down during all of it. I don't know where that is right now, or if I can really have it right now. Lately I've been seriously longing for marriage and babies--probably prompted by people in circumstances around me. It's always been a longing for me, and sometimes I'm perfectly content to be single, but right now I just want to settle down and start living. 25 is staring around the corner. I don't want to think about that.

Okay, tea time...