Old Friends and New

Well I am reflecting on how blessed I am to have amazing, wonderful friends. My friend Jessica came to visit last weekend - she was only here for 1 night and I only saw her for a total of 6 hours, but it was completely wonderful. She was my roommate in college for sophomore and senior years, and we just have a great connection. She spent the past year in China so we hadn't talked in over a year - but when we got together it was like we never spent a day apart! I just love that!
She arrived at my home Friday around 5pm. I showed her my home as she had never seen it, and then we went to the Bangor City Forest for a walk. It was great to just talk and enjoy the beautiful Maine air. Then we went out to eat along with my hubby and had lots of fun laughing and sharing about our lives. Once back at home, I got to see some (not all) of her photos from China. They were so amazing! She spent a big part of her time in some of the larger cities doing language study, but then the rest of the time she traveled around western China seeing some of the much more rural areas of the huge country. It was hard to go to sleep that night because I just wanted to use up every possible minute talking with her, but the fact that I had to work the next morning motivated me to get some sleep. Anyway, it was a blessed time with an old friend.
Then recently I've also connected with my friend Tony. We were friends in high school and sort of lost touch during the college years. Now he's married to Jolie and we have reconnected through myspace - of all things! So they invited us over for dinner Saturday night. It was so much fun! I had never met Jolie before, plus they had two other friends there - Morgan and Jason. It was great to catch up with an old friend - Tony - but also start to develop new friendships with everyone else. We laughed so hard that I started to have trouble breathing (the only time my asthma kicks in is during intense laughter), and we had serious conversations about faith and church and life. And we played Cranium - girls vs. boys, and the girls won - of course!
That's what I've been thinking about today, so I thought I'd share.

Remembering

Yesterday was an important day for a few reasons. One - the most obvious - was that it was the 5 year anniversary of the day our country was attacked by terrorists on 9/11. I remember the day it happened. I was at Gordon in a class upstairs in the chapel. One of my classmates had gone to use the bathroom, and when she came back up, she brought us the news. Our country was under attack. It was a shock to us all. We stayed in class for a little bit, but then most of us were wanting to go call our families and find out what was really going on. We went downstairs and I headed to Lane where I saw people gathered around the televisions. It was then that it hit me - this was big. I decided to head to my room where I could process what was going on. I called my mom and she had not been aware of it. I went to school about 1/2 hour from Boston, which is where some of the planes were hijacked from, so it was close to where I was.

All of this took place on my 21st birthday. It was hard to celebrate on that day - a day of tragedy, sorrow, and death. And now, 5 years later, I will never forget that day. I hope that we always remember how we felt on that day and how we came together for the sake of our neighbors.

Life Is Good

Well I'm sitting on the couch watching TV with my dog curled up at my feet. Yes, she's supposed to sleep only on the futon, but lately we've let her up on the couch when we're up with her. (We're softies...)

Anyway, life is good. I just had a 4 day weekend with my hubby. We got a bunch of stuff done plus had some nice time with each other. It's been a while since we've been able to do that. One of the most exciting things we did this weekend was paint our bedroom and our guest room. We painted our previously dark teal bedroom a light gray-blue and then sponge painted a darker bluish gray over it. It looks so good! I am so excited, because our room is so much brighter and happier to be in now. And, the guest room which used to be sky blue is now a nice sea green-blue color. Plus, both rooms ceilings are now painted white instead of icky half-painted grossness.

So it's been nice, and I am not looking forward to going back to work tomorrow. I feel like I need another day off so that I can clean up all the mess we've made with the painting projects... Well I'm signing off for now. I'm going to finish off my weekend with a nice bubble bath.

Profiling and other stuff

I hesitate to express my political views on my blog for some reason. I usually like to just write about my everyday life and the goings on around small town Maine. However, today I am just frustrated about a few things.

Airline travel. Profiling or not. Some photos I just viewed.

A few weeks ago I traveled from NH to MN. As I went through the security checkpoints, I was asked how old I was. (Instead of just being asked for an ID). Apparently I looked under 18??? Then she asked for my ID, as if I looked suspicious and probably had a reason to lie about my age... Then I was asked to take my shoes off even though I was wearing Teva flip flops. I started to do it even though I was thinking, "What are you, an idiot? Can't you see these are flip flops and I'm obviously not storing some C4 under my heels?" As soon as I began removing them, another security guy said, "No, those shoes are okay", and I breathed a sigh of relief that one person actually has some common sense.

So profiling. I am not sure what I think. In a way, it is sort of obvious that the majority of the suicide bombers and hijackers were of Middle Eastern descent. Therefore, it does make sense to me that airport screeners, etc, would pay closer attention to that same group of people when they are going through security. We do this all the time. For example, what comes to mind when I mention pit bulls, rottweilers, or german shepherds? Probably you're thinking that those dogs are dangerous and more likely to bite. As a home owner, I know that my insurance bans these dogs - they won't insure my home if I own one. I know that not all pit bulls, rotties, and shepherds are dangerous. I know that they are not necessarily any more likely to bite than another dog - just that they do more damage when they do bite. However, I also know that I'm probably going to be more on guard around a 140 lb rottie than a 65 lb golden retriever. Why? Because statistics show that rotties do more damage and have a different temperament than retrievers. (By the way, rotties are my favorite dogs).

Ok, so some of you are probably raging at the computer screen right now saying, "Are you comparing anyone of Middle Eastern origin with dangerous dogs?" No, I'm not. What I am saying is that if a certain group of people is known to be doing a particular thing (i.e. teen gang members spraying graffiti or middle age white men looking at child porn), then I think that it make sense to look more closely at that group when you are trying to prevent a crime. I don't think the first person the police will look at in a marijuana bust would be my 75 year old grandmother....

I guess I'm done rambling. Agree? Disagree? Feel free to share your comments...

Re-Connecting

It's interesting how you can go days, even weeks and months, without hearing from certain people in your life - and then boom, all at once, you get reconnected. This just happened today. I opened my email and had about 6 or 7 emails from former LASPers. LASP (Latin American Studies Program) is a program that I did my junior year in college. It was by far the best semester of my college life. I lived in Costa Rica with a Costa Rican (or "Tican") family and studied amongst an amazing group of college students from all sorts of Christian colleges across the country. We laughed, cried, learned, and traveled together. Sometimes we even threw up together (remember that Cuba trip?). I am always thinking of my experiences during those 3 and 1/2 months and how they have molded me into who I am today. Although I had done some short term missions trips before that experience, LASP was truly a turning point in my life. I was challenged to really assess how I live, not just what I believe. And I did so in an incredibly supportive group of men and women who were all wrestling with this same issue.

I love looking back over my photos from this experience. And I love encouraging others to take the opportunity to travel and study abroad, because there's really no way I would've learned all I did sitting in a college class about Latin American culture.

Well, anyway, it's good to reconnect. It's good to remember. I love this verse which summarizes why I believe so much in journaling and photos as a powerful tool: "You will be able to tell wonderful stories to your children and grandchildren about the marvelous things I am doing among the Egyptians to prove that I am the LORD." (Exodus 10:2)

Why Album Making?

I love Creative Memories! Ok, most of you who know me already know this. But it is really true. I went to Showcase (our national convention) last week and it was so amazing. I am realizing just how important creating albums can be for people. Not only to preserve the photos and the stories, but really to heal, encourage, and grow someone.

If you want to know more, check out this movie. I am actually watching Scrapped right now and it is so great. It shows how album making can be something that ANYONE can do, including a motorcycle riding tough guy. Everyone has a story to tell! That's why I love CM's new tagline: Your Life | Your Story | Your Way.

Anyway, there's my rant for the day. Do you have photos? How much do they mean to you? Think about it. Then go to my site or find a consultant near you.

Vacation Adventures

So much has happened in the past week that it feels like I've been gone a year. I have had an incredible week full of fun, challenges, being stretched, learning, laughing, crying, and loving. To start, our trip to Soulfest was great. We knew it was a true youth group trip when we had not 1 but 2 tires blow out on the way there. Then when we did arrive at SoulFest (7 and 1/2 hours later), no one seemed to know where to send us. We finally made it to our campsites - on the side of a ski slope. It took some time to set up all the tents on the flattest area we could find, and even then I think most of us slid down in our tents every night.

Anyway, it was a blast going to the concerts, having meals at the campsite, hanging out with all the teens, and going to a women's conference there. I really enjoyed Constance Rhodes who runs Finding Balance. She was a great speaker and challenged me in many areas. Specifically she talked about how we as women are constantly comparing ourselves to each other and the reason is that we are focused on ourselves. I was challenged to remember that it's not about me and that when we take our focus off ourselves and put it onto God, that is when he makes us truly successful.

As for the concerts, I'd have to say that Newsboys were my fave. I've seen them several times before but there was something about this concert that hit me. Peter Furler was open, honest, and talked about having a true hunger for God's word. He said that for a long time, he didn't really have a hunger and found it a struggle to read the Bible. So he began to pray about it, and that is when God's word came alive to him. I realized that I have been in a place of complacency, where I do read God's word but I don't hunger for it. So I am praying that God will put in my heart a desire to know his word and meditate on it.

On Saturday I had to leave all the fun of Soulfest to head to Minneapolis for the Creative Memories Showcase. As sad as I was to leave the group, I was very excited to attend Showcase and learn all that I did. Once I arrived I found that our hotel was not exactly in the best part of town and we had a tight squeeze with 6 people in our suite. There was only 1 double bed - everyone else had to sleep on the floor, a sofa bed (which felt like sleeping directly on springs), or a cot. Thankfully, my roomies were gracious and allowed me to sleep on the bed since I'd been camping the previous 4 days. Praise God!

At Showcase, we had the privilege of hearing Dewitt Jones speak and share his photography. He was amazing - not only the photos but his story as well. I enjoyed it immensely and of course did some crying as well. I also had fun shopping at MarketPlace, which is full of CM goodies and gifts that you can't find anywhere else! I'll use them for my hosts, downline, and customers (and myself of course). We also had lots of training, saw all kinds of new products, heard from consultants on the mainstage, and had a great time dancing on the stage after the closing session. Yes, we stayed there until about 11:30 (it ended at 10:30) dancing and having fun. Then we headed back to our hotel (again, in the not so great part of town) and finally got to sleep around 1am. Then I was up at 4am to head to the airport for my 6am flight. I arrived in Manchester aound noon and finally got home around 5pm. I'm happy to be home even though I didn't want all the adventures to end. Sometimes it's nice to sleep in your own bed... where I'm headed now.

Blogging Hiatus

I want to apologize in advance that I will be out of the blogosphere starting Wednesday for a full week. That is, unless I manage to find internet access at a music festival in NH or at the CM Showcase in MN. We shall see...

As for an update around here, I am currently sitting in my living room watching my dog play with a yogurt cup. I should probably take it away from her, seeing how she is now actually eating the plastic. The other things I need to do are: pack for 2 separate events that I am going to one right after the other, pay bills for the next week since we'll be gone, do lots of laundry so that we can pack, prepare for Monday night youth group, and lots of other stuff that I'm not thinking of. I guess I should go and start perhaps getting ready for all the fun!

Funniest Thing Ever

Today I saw one of the funniest things ever. Perhaps it won't be funny to you, but it was to me. Scott and I decided to head down to the coast today due to it being beautiful, sunny, and one of the only days that we have had or will have together in a while. So we went to Acadia National Park and decided to go to a place we hadn't been - at least not together. We went to Seawall down in Southwest Harbor. It was BEAUTIFUL! It was the perfect spot - not too many people, plenty of rocks to explore and sit on, and tons of ocean to see and listen to. I could stay there for hours.

Anyway, back to the funny thing. We, of course, had our dog Mia with us. She's a cutie and always loves to go on road trips. This morning when we said, "You wanna go for a ride", she began running around the house like crazy, then banging into the back door window, indicating that yes, in fact, she did want to go for ride. So once down at Seawall we had lunch while sitting on the rocks. They were so beautifully smoothed by years of the pounding ocean. After lunch, we walked over to a section of rocks that juts out into the ocean, and the waves come crashing down onto them. Mia always loves playing in water (although she's learned the difference between fresh and salt water), so she began exploring and checking out the tidal pools. A few moments later, a huge wave came crashing down in front of her. This is the funny part - she ran away like she was scared! She usually plays and makes splashes of her own, but this time she had no control over the splashes. She began running out onto the rocks, only to retreat when the waves would come. Then she began barking loudly at the waves, as if to scare them away. Scott and I could not control our laughter! It was just hilarious!

To try and remember this moment, I gave Scott the camera and asked him to take a few photos of Mia and I near the water. Mia didn't really like this idea - she thought that going up with Scott to higher ground looked better. But I got her to stay with me for a few shots. Here's one where you can actually tell that she is trying to get away from the water!

The My Space Debate Vol. 2

Well, because there was so much to-do about my space a while back, I decided to go ahead and get my own my space site. I figured that would be the best way to determine whether this is a good or bad thing, or just something that is based on how you use it. And, to my surprise, I've learned how addicting it can be. Uh-oh. I discovered, for example, about 5 or 6 friends that I went to high school with, and about 5 or 6 that I was friends with in college. And I know there's more out there! It's actually fun and makes me feel very reminiscent of the "good old days" in high school and college. It's also neat to see where all those people are at in life - married, kids, careers, etc., and how people have or have not changed.

So, as for the good, bad, or neutral issue on my space... I've yet to decide. Although I'm leaning towards the neutral option - I think it's really about how it is used. My Space offers people a chance to connect with new friends or old. It offers a place to express your views and share your thoughts. The danger is in the fact that there are SO MANY people on my space, and there is absolutely no way to know who someone is unless you know them in REAL life (i.e. not just cyber-life). I've yet to have any strange people try and become my friend... but my husband already did and I can see how an insecure, lonely teen could easily be lured into a very bad thing.

Well I guess you could say I'm doing an "invesitigative study" on the issue by becoming a My Space member. While doing so, I'm having fun reconnecting with people. At the same time, I'm recognizing how easily one could spend hours upon hours without even reazling it!

A Day Away

On Tuesday I took a day for myself. It's not often that I do this, and I just felt the need to get away. There are times that I just want to drive, and drive, and drive. So, on Tuesday, I did that. I took Mia with me, but Scott couldn't go because of speaking at Fairhaven this week. We drove down to the coast, to little towns and inlets and stuff. Finally we arrived at our desired location - Blue Hill Falls. It's a set of reversing falls that change with the tides. When we arrived, there were some people kayaking through the falls. We went down to one side of the beach and it started to rain. Shortly after, it stopped raining and the sun came out. I was so thankful, because I was able to find a nice spot to sit, let Mia run around exploring, while I sat, read, and prayed. It was nourishing to my soul and my body. Just sitting in the sun, watching the waves and listening to the ocean sounds. One of the best places on earth to be...

Here's a few shots of the beauty of the day.

This one is funny because Mia is rubbing her head on the barnacles on the rocks. She really liked the smell or the feeling perhaps? What a goofball.


My feet as I was sitting next to the ocean.


Mia sitting beautifully next to the ocean.

Our Latest Adventures

Last Monday Scott and I went and hiked a mountain and explored the wonderful coast of Maine. It was a great time because I love both the mountains and the coast. I could sit for hours just listening to the ocean. We enjoyed the sunny, clear day and the crisp ocean air. Here aresome fun shots of our adventures.

Priorities

How does one determine which priorities are the most important? How does one decide where to spend her time or energy? It seems that every day there are new, more pressing things that must be done, yet still only one me to do them. It seems that there are many people with many expectations and many needs. Yet only one me to handle all that.

It's an ongoing struggle, I know, for most of us. Yet somehow these days it just seems more real than ever. I want to be spending so much time doing each important thing in my life. I want to be the best wife I can be and truly meet my husband's needs. I want to be available for our youth group girls and really focus on them. I want to be a good social worker and supervisor at the group home and help others learn and grow. I want to reach out to new people who want to take care of their photos and share their memories and stories with others. I want to be working in my garden and stopping all the weeds from coming up. I want to jump on my bike and ride away...

Well, there's a piece of me right now.

Discrimination Against Small Feet

I told my friends this story this morning at church and they asked if I had blogged about it yet. Well, here it is. So I went to a local sporting goods store recently and found a pair of the cutest Teva sandals. I just loved them and tried on a pair. They were close to my size, but not quite. See I have small feet (size 6 in women's), and the shoes were a 7. So I looked over the entire rack, only to be disappointed. Then I went to the counter to request a size 6. The clerk told me they don't carry size 6 in the store normally. I found this odd, and mentioned that it sounds like discrimination against small feet. The guy said whenever they carry size 6 or 6 and 1/2, they always sell out so quickly. Which again made me wonder why they don't normally carry those sizes: more sales = more money, right?

Anyway, I was forced to wander away from shopping locally (after searching several other local stores for those exact sandals, only to find the wrong sizes and colors) to shopping online. And after much searching, I found what I was looking for on Amazon.com (click to see the sandals). I ended up getting 2 pair and receiving free shipping.

So tough luck to the local stores who decided that small feet don't deserve the same treatment of cute shoes!

Fun in the Sun!

As the sun peeked through the clouds at the end of the day today, it made me think of all the fun we've had thus far this summer. Here's a few shots of our adventures. Here's a shot of our nephew and our dog, Mia. They are good pals, especially when they get to play together in the water.

Here's me getting ready to go for a kayak ride. NO, Mia, you are not going with me!

Lastly, here's Mia splashing in the water. She likes to try and bite the water, which results in her drinking a huge amount! On this day, she realized that she actually does like swimming. Usually she just wades in the water, but here she finally swam, getting her entire body wet!

Tommy Needs a Van

We have a young man in our youth group, Tommy, who has Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy and is in need of a wheelchair van. Please visit his website to learn more about his needs. Also you can see their blog to learn about their progress in raising money. I really hope and pray that Tommy and his family will be able to get the money they need for this so that Tommy can participate in the normal, everyday activities that he enjoys, such as coming to youth group.

My Sister's Wedding

My little sister got married on Saturday. It was an exhausting weekend, but everything turned out nicely. Here are a few photos from the event. Of course, I was in the wedding so I didn't get to take any of the actual ceremony.

My Fortune

I like Chinese food. It's yummy. Sometimes I buy it. A few weeks ago, I stopped by a new Chinese place on Main St in Bangor. I got what I usually buy - Chicken Chow Mein with Pork Fried Rice and a side of Teryaki Beef. It wasn't the best Chinese food I've had, but it did the trick of curing my immediate hunger pains.

The most interesting part of the meal was the fortune cookie. Now, while I find any "dessert" that doesn't involve chocolate to be proposterous, I still usually eat my fortune cookie. When I opened mine up, I found the most absurb fortune ever: "You love Chinese food." It made me laugh, along with everyone else that was sitting around watching me eat. What kind of fortune is that anyway? You bought the food, so of course you like it! It's not a fortune at all, it's simply a statement of the obvious. I mean, it's not that I put any faith in the "fortunes" in fortune cookies, but come on - it should at least be something that makes me wonder... "You'll meet a true friend today" or "Your truest friend will betray you"... be creative already!

So, to whoever writes those fortune cookies, here are a few suggestions:

• Find a way to incorporate chocolate into Chinese food desserts.
• Don't simply state the obvious in the fortune cookies.
• Or, if you do state the obvious, make it funny. ("You'll be hungry 1 hour from now").

Being Sick

Well, being sick isn't fun. Over the past 2 weeks, I've been sick quite a bit and I am ready to be done. I am feeling better right now, but as I learned Wednesday, just because you feel okay for a few days doesn't mean you're all better. I finally went to the doctor on Thursday because I though something must be up. So apparently I have a sinus infection, which is probably what was causing the major headaches, followed by nasuea and vomiting. Oh, yes, fun fun. So now I'm on an antibiotic and hopefully that'll help. I guess if it doesn't we'll be looking at migraines possibly. Who knows really. I'm looking forward to having full energy again and being able to go out to eat with my hubby as we had planned for our anniversary (4 years!).

I realize that this is an extremely boring post but when you've been sick there's not a lot of exciting things to write about...

Promised Photos

Sea Otters at the Monterey Bay Aquarium. This is where we spent our last night during the wonderful CM trip to Monterey in May. We had the whole aquarium to ourselves, and we spent the evening seeing all the amazing sea creatures. I have to say that sea otters are my favorite!

The Lone Cypress on the Seventeen Mile Drive. This was such a beautiful spot on the California coast. I was so excited to get to go on the drive with some fellow CM Consultants that I met while in Monterey. This was my favorite part of the trip - I love adventure and couldn't pass up the opportunity to see more of God's amazing creation!