Another weekend...

Ahhhh...another weekend. And this time we are staying home. Megan has to work tonight so I'll be home alone working on some homework. I hope to get it done early because I would really like to put in the extended version of LOTR: The Fellowship of the Ring. I haven't watched that in a while and it would be nice to sit on the couch and do nothing while feeding my mind with images of Middle earth.

Speaking of homework. Finals start in three weeks!!! Oh my...time is flying by. I really need to start studying for my finals as I really don't want to have to do too much cramming the days before. We'll see how that goes. I have one more big paper to finish up and a funeral sermon to write for my preaching clinic. It's weird to be doing a funeral sermon but I guess it is good for us to learn.

Some random stuff:

-I have started a new blog. It's a site where I (and hopefully a friend or two) will post pictures and (hopefully) people will comment with captions (sort of like the post below...). It's still in the early phases of planning, etc. Have a look and don't be shy - try out your own caption. http://thecaption.blogspot.com

-Speaking of captions, my friend Noah has decided to play the caption game on his blog. I think you'll like it. He "stole" a picture of me from Facebook. Noah is one of the funniest guys I know and I hope y'all will enjoy his contributions to the new blog, The Caption.

-Am I the only one on the planet who was actually happy to see Carly get kicked off American Idol this week? Seriously, if cats could meow with an Irish accent they would sound just like her.

-Along the lines of American Idol, I want to publicly thank the producers for allowing those kids to absolutely destroy the genius works of Andrew Lloyd Weber. I can only hope that they do justice to Neil Diamond this week. It would absolutely rock if Brooke sang 'Cracklin' Rosie'. What's next? Idol does songs from Barry White? The Wiggles? Heck, why not just do songs from the collection of John Denver. Seriously...

-This is the last week of the Sunday school class on the Reformation I have been co-teaching. I am working on Sunday's lesson this afternoon which will cover the reformation in Scotland. I'm also going to sneak in some time to talk about the Covenanters - which is so ARP of me.

-Anybody know of any good Irish movies? Meg and I are going to Dublin, Ireland this July with World Harvest Mission and want to get a glimpse of Irish culture through film.

Enough for now. Hope everyone has a great weekend!

Ocean refreshment...

This past weekend was absolutely delightful!!!! I had an absolutely wonderful 29th birthday and I cannot wait to see what this next year will bring. Originally, I had asked for a bowling birthday party! Yes, I love to bowl and I hardly ever do it anymore. Dan had agreed to throw such a party (I have such a great husband), but then I had the opportunity to go on a women's retreat at Emerald Isle with our church in Apex, NC. As much as I desired a bowling party, the opportunity to go and spend 2 days at the beach with all my friends was something I could not pass up!!!

The retreat's theme was Seeing and Savoring Jesus (loosely based on the book written by John Piper). I actually spoke on Saturday morning regarding Christ's joy and the joy that he gives to us.....even in the midst of disappointment. The talk went well. All glory to God and my thankfulness to him. The other two talks were equally encouraging and challenging. After each teaching time, we spend about 45 minutes to 1 hour in a discussion group and I LOVED my group. I got to know several ladies much better and am so blessed by their sharing, honesty, laughter and wisdom. God's church is such a sweet, sweet thing.

The beach house that we stayed in was absolutely lovely! The first night, I arrived after the sun had set, but I was able to set on the porch and just listen to the ocean. The second afternoon I spent just a couple hours laying in the sun and enjoying God's powerful creation. Then a couple of my friends and I did some exploring and found a little, tacky, antique shop.... Emily got a lovely oar and I managed to find a lovely tea cup, saucer and dessert plate to add to my collection! Happy Birthday to me!!!!! As the finale for my 29th birthday, my darling, thoughtful husband had arranged to surprised me with an actually birthday cake! Yes, he did have some accomplices (Karen and Matt) , but still it was such a special thing for them all to do. It was an absolutely wonderful day... even if there was no bowling! I would not have traded it for anything.

I rode back to Apex on Sunday morning with the ladies and then Dan and I drove on to Charlotte.... I must say that I was absolutely exhausted and I totally went to bed shortly after getting home and did not get out of bed until about 9 am this morning. Soooo now back to reality. I've already started the laundry and have some light house keeping to take care of as well as some grocery shopping to do. But I am doing so with a song in my heart, and a spring in my step....the joy of the Lord is overflowing....

The weekend ahead...

It has been a long time since I have been this ready for a weekend. I have been on the go ever since Monday morning and I need to take some time to slow down. I had such a wonderful time on my date with Meg last night, and it did provide some relief, but I was definitely shaken back to reality as soon as the blasted alarm started calling out to me this morning.

So what's on tap for the weekend you may be asking. You probably aren't but I am going to tell you anyway.

-We're on the way back to Apex tomorrow afternoon. As soon as we get there Meg is getting into another car and driving another few hours out to the beach (Emerald Isle) to go to the church's (i.e. Ambassador Pres) Ladies' Retreat. If you think about it, please pray for her. She is one of the speakers for the weekend - so pray that the talk goes well and that she gets some much needed rest.

- I don't have much of a plan for the weekend. I really only want to accomplish two things: hang out with some of the guys and work on a paper. I know, I need to slow down a bit, but this paper is actually going to be fun. It's a dialog for my New Testament Canon class. I am doing a debate between Calvin and Erasmus. Now most of you probably don't consider that fun, but I am a nerd and that's all I have to say about that.

-Saturday is Meg's birthday!!!

I'll try to post some over the weekend and Meg will provide you all with an update of how things went for her sometime early next week. Enjoy your Friday and your weekends!

"I don't want to work...

...I just want to bang on this drum all day!" So, yeah, that song has been stuck in my head for the last hour or so.

What a beautiful day in Charlotte today! It's mild outside, there's a slight breeze, and the hills are alive with the sound of music - wait! Never mind...

Meg and I are looking forward to a good time this weekend. We're having dinner with some friends tonight and then tomorrow afternoon we are leaving for Apex. We're staying with our friends Matt and Karen - which is always fun - and then Dan is preaching at Ambassador Presbyterian on Sunday morning. We absolutely love the Apex/Cary/Raleigh area and going back there is always a real treat.

So, that's what's up with us this weekend! We hope y'all have a great weekend yourselves!

Randomness...

Well, I did it. This is officially my fifth post in five days. That's right, one post every day this week. I am proud of myself and you should be too. To mark this monumental occasion, I present to you some randomness:

* I miss Beavis and Butthead. Beavis came up very randomly in a conversation with a friend this morning and I remembered that his 'Cornholio' skit is still one of the funniest moments in TV history.

* Megan and I have a date tonight. I am so excited. We're going to dinner at our favorite Sushi restaurant and are then going to see 'Leatherheads'. Should be a fun evening.

* I really really really want a black Macbook...

* The brown brick EVERYWHERE at RTS does nothing to motivate me to study.

* "I don't care if Monday's blue; Tuesday's grey and Wednesday too; Thursday I don't care about you; It's Friday, I'm in love."

* One day I would like to sneak into a grocery store after it has closed and absolutely rearrange everything on the shelves and change the signs around just to confuse the manager and employees the next morning.

* I really need to get our VW looked at. The transmission is kind of acting up and I am horrified at what it might cost to get fixed if there is a serious problem.

* I am preaching at Ambassador Pres (our home church) next weekend on 1 Corinthians 12:1-11. I've tentatively titled the sermon "So Spiritual". Surely I can do better than that.

* I just noticed that my friend Matt changed his facebook status to say he is eating Cadbury eggs. Matt, I am jealous and demand that you save one for me next weekend. I'll trade you three Resse's cups for one cadbury egg. (Speaking of Facebook statuses (stati?), I wonder if Link is playing the recorder...)

* Today I actually missed something about the ole' hometown. I miss taking off from lunch at work to go see a Cards game at Busch. Plus it is a good reason to drink beer at noon. Oooh, I also miss Imo's Pizza and gyros from Majestic and that really-bad-for-you-but-oh-so-amazing-tasting Chinese food from Hon's Wok. This reminds me that Hon's was right next door to a Cat Clinic. Hahahaha. Folks, I am not making that up. It was classic.

* I need new flip-flops. And a pedicure...

Have a great weekend, friends!