oh....

and I cut my hair. But this time it seems I cut it enough that people are actually saying, "Wow. you cut your hair!" Well, it's not that much shorter than the last time, but it has more layers and that makes it appear shorter. I am a little nervous about seeing Melody this morning. She will tell me exactly what she thinks of it and her comment, whether good or bad, will pierce directly into my self-perception. She has that kind of power. I remember I had this dress my freshman/sophomore year of college, back in the day when I had to wear dresses to church. I loved it. My sister, then 15-16 years old, said that I didn't look good in it. I never wore it again. And I loved that dress! I value her opinion greatly, in most things, especially these things. That's why when I had a date with this guy named Tim (he-he), she went shopping with me for my outfit. And that's why when I married this guy named Timmy (he-he), she was the only person I wanted there to help with my wedding dress. I knew that everyone else would say "you look beautiful" to every dress I put on, but Melody would keep real.

hi

Well we are back from vacation and back to life. Timmy is on night shift. I just got back from the Media 5 Mile. And ha-ha if you thought I ran! I helped hand out water to the runners and ate hot dogs and drank soda. This really is one of the events we do at BRV that I really enjoy. Probably because I don't have to speak to any strangers. I give them water and they keep running.

I am thankful that my first week back was pretty painless. I feared my inbox. Both the Outlook inbox and the desk inbox. They were pretty calm. Thanks guys for taking care of the work yourself :)

Vacation was very restful, but short, as all vacations tend to be. Timmy and I did nothing. It was great. We watched movies. I studied for my final while he read a book. Jessie just lounged around. However, she did twist her ankle or something when she ran down the stairs. She was limping for a few days. It's been a week, though, and she is back to being a running fool.

I am very excited to say that I will be going to the Vineyard Regional Conference afterall. I had a few reasons for not going but at the end, they didn't make any sense. Who knows how many of these conferences I will be able to go without any concerns. Lots of people I know would love to go but can't because of work. I have a boss who asks "Why aren't you going to the conference?" It's a perk. And the church is willing to pay for my registration. Seriously, why wasn't I gonna go?? Oh yea, Timmy won't be coming - boo. He doesn't like conferences and he has to work and someone needs to tend to our neurotic dog. So, I have made a new friend and she is going to be my roomie for the few days. I am excited about a few days where I can hide out in a big auditorium and just hang out with Jesus. I miss that since we left DCCS and since I started working for the church.

Well, I just wanted to say hi. I want to go and rest for a bit. I need to be up early tomorrow to have lunch with my sisters.

missy's life

This will probably be my last blog for at least a week. The next three days are going to be insane. The last week has been insane in preparation for the next three days. I have an area meeting today, which is why I am up so early. I have the normal Friday craziness tomorrow plus a wedding rehearsal and rearranging the church for the wedding. Saturday morning is the management team meeting - I'll start working at 7am. Wedding at 4pm. Followed by a super late night getting the church ready for Sunday morning. I don't expect to leave the church until after midnight, but I suppose if the party goes well, clean up will go even later in the morning.

I am thankful that I don't have to try to fit in an intensive there as well. I am thankful for being able to listen to the lectures online and for Columbus being two weeks ahead of us.

I am curious to see how the building will function as a full wedding venue. We've had a ceremony there before ( he-he ). We've had parties there before. Never had the whole wedding festivities: ceremony, hor dourves, dinner, and dancing. From an administration end, I am curious if we can pull it off.

I am so, so, so excited for Nathanael and Kristin. A happy marriage makes a big difference in how I experience weddings. I think this one is going to be great - the wedding and the marriage :) Congratulations you guys. Thanks for letting me be a part of it.

And lastly, what has pushed me through this past weekend and five lectures and pushes me through the next few days - I am so looking forward to our vacation on Sunday. It wasn't planned to fall after a crazy week. It just kind of did. But it has been my motivator - "Sunday. Sunday. Just get to Sunday." Then we are off to a cabin, just me, my boy, and our dog - nice.

..... Oh yeah, and yesterday I picked up my brand new prescription sunglasses. I have wanted them so long and now I have them. I may never wear contacts again!!! Well, besides weddings :)

peace out, my friends!

The Update

Well, it seems we will be staying here a little while longer. Guess I will have to live with the sex noises, the f-bombs, the bass, the cigarette smoke, the absentee landlord, and watching JJ poo. At least I know longer have to shower in a few inches of my own filth. I love drano.

brv.txt

One of my brother's suggestion for when I don't have anything to blog is to write what God has taught me. I took his advice this afternoon when I couldn't think of anything to write for the brv.txt. For those of you who don't know about the txt, every week our church sends out a mass email with lots of information. Part of the information is a message from the pastor. Well, Mark has been on vacation for the last two weeks, so Rich, our associate pastor, wrote last week's txt and I agreed to do this week's txt. I had writers block, but then took Tom's advice. So here is a copy of my txt.

Yesterday morning, a good friend of mine sent me a message via Google chat. It was a simple prayer, a blessing for the day ahead. In that moment, I appreciated it. Knowing that my husband and I would be taking a serious look at our finances, I had a feeling that it was going to be a rough day. I replied to his message with a similar blessing. Then I changed my mind. I told him, “Instead, how about I pray that we would both see the many blessings God has already given us?”

The day was a rough day as I expected it to be. That night as I got ready for bed, my head throbbing from the tears shed, I remembered that prayer. Actually I didn’t remember that prayer so much as I remembered someone else, another family. One of the things about working for the church is I see things most people don’t see. Most likely you come to church on Sunday morning and see a bunch of smiling faces. During the week, I see many faces that aren’t smiling – people who are scared, people who are lonely, people who don’t know how they are going to make rent, people who don’t have money for food. Simple things that I never think about. I may have a hard time buying a house, but I never worry about rent, about food, about health insurance.

While writing this entry, I answered a call at the church office: it was a young woman asking if we helped with food. We get these kinds of calls often, from people in our church and from people in our community. A lot of the times we can help and it’s because of your generosity. There’s a Generosity Box that sits between the sound booth and the doors in the sanctuary. It’s a way to offer a gift to the poor. Many of you give faithfully. Many of you give generously. I thank all of you who do. It’s because of you and your giving that we can help people when they call us. A special thanks to all of you who gave this weekend. I know it was a blessing to the family who received your gift.

Remember - you’re not just giving to a box: you are giving to real people with real needs.

I’ll see you Sunday.
Melissa

Thanks Thomas for your help :)

Weird Dream Last Night

I was back in college, I think. But it wasn't Eastern's campus. It was a shopping mall. I recognized Sallie, Laurice, and Rob from LGP at Eastern, so I knew it was college. But also, in my class were the cast of Saved By The Bell - well, I saw Jesse Spano and it was Jesse Spano not Elizabeth Berkley. And also in my class was David Archuleta from American Idol and I am not an Archie fan. Between our classes, we all went back to the same clothing section of this one store and changed our clothes. I changed once, but then I kept thinking, "why does everyone change between classes?" Well, I was late for two classes, each of them by five minutes and everyone else got there on time. I think it was because I was always eating food when I was late. However, there were also these vampires chasing us, but Buffy was there to save us (the slayer, not the dog). At the end of it, I got a call from Iris, my sister in law/realtor, and she was telling me about home repairs. When I looked over, Timmy was next to me, but we were still at the store and I was still in my nice new clothes, eating french fries, looking at the time because I was going to be late to class again.

I am a nerd.

I just looked at my syllabus for next quarter: History of the Christian Church and Theology AND Systematic Theology. I felt my eyes widen and a grin came on my face.

Hi Tom

My brother says I need to blog more regularly.

.....


Yesterday I got a call at the church. Some guy offering us a free visit to his chiropractor. I said no thanks but before I could get off the phone, he asked, "do you have an accent?" It made me smile. I just had this same conversation last week with a member of the church. I get that comment fairly regularly. I guess it's the growing up with people who have accents and growing up with two languages around me. And it doesn't help that I speak really quickly and end up slurring my words. But the next comment the guy made really made me laugh, he said, "yes, you sound English." English? As in like the Brits? Her Royal Majesty, the Queen? I've never gotten that before.

Top Ten Reason I Pray Tomorrow Goes Well

1. No more waking up to sex noises.

2. No more cigarette smoke.

3. No more F bombs.

4. No more bass.

5. No more waiting for Jessie to poo.

6. No more absentee landlords.

7. No more showering in a few inches of my own filth.

...

I'm sure if I thought about it harder, I could come up with three more reasons. Or if my husband were here, he would list another dozen. Here's to a good home inspection.

Argh

I just found out that my favorite aunt, who lives in California, whom I haven't seen since Dec 05 when she meant Timmy, is coming to town...the same weekend we are going to Columbus - ugh. I still haven't heard exact arrival and departure times, but hopefully there will be a few hours where we can actually see each other.

Catching up.....

So lots of things have happened in the two and a half months since we last put up a blog. I guess we're both just lazy. Blogging isn't as much fun without a laptop. But since more than one person has said, 'yo, what's up with the blog?", here are some highlights:

I turned 28 in January. I'm feeling good about 28. Not sure why, but I do. I'm excited. But I have to admit, growing older is easier being married.

A few days after my birthday, we spent the weekend with friends from Pittsburgh. We rented a cabin: seven people, two dogs, lots of games, some GSN, and a small hike. That's where Timmy's new Facebook pictures came from. Funny story from that weekend, but I only feel comfortable sharing with my lady friends. I'm not going to blog about it. Sorry, but if you are a girlfriend and you want to know, ask me next time you see me.

Speaking of Pitt people, Megan's pregnant - que emocion, yay. So excited, seriously. It's been a while since I was so excited to hear someone was pregnant. They told us in December. They are due the first week in September. Then a week later, I find out my niece is pregnant - shocker. No seriously, shocker. Sat in silence for a few minutes unable to say anything. She's due in early September. Then a few weeks ago, I find out that my friend Janice from college is pregnant - what? Guess when she is due? That's right September. I asked Timmy, "where were we when they were all making babies?" He turned to me and with this look I can't quite describe, but if you know Timmy, you can probably guess, he turned and said, "Um, we're on the pill." It's true; I can't argue with that.

So those three pregnancies are on top of the at least five that I know of from BRV.This week when Rich told me Jess was pregnant, I told him "please don't tell me she's due in September." I think he was thrown off a little about the question. And there were eight babies dedicated on Sunday. And more could have been dedicated. I'm telling you - babies everywhere.

And it gives me a little itch, but not enough of an itch to start trying for a baby now. We have discussed it. In the future we will try. For now, Jessie is enough of a baby - literally. She still can't be left alone so our schedule revolves around her. I don't know what we would do if the Kaisers didn't live five minutes away.

But for all of her issues, she's so worth it. And how could she not have issues; she's adopted. Who knows what her life was before she came to our loving home. I try not to think about it too much, but it's hard not too with Animal Channel and those Pedigree adoption commercials, and those Sarah McLachlan SPCA ads. I cried the first time I saw them. Now my comfort is the fact that Timmy and I are playing our part. We adopted a dog and we love her and care for her. She is a part of my family. And not just me and Timmy family. The Kaisers love her. I know if anything happened to me and Timmy, they would take her and wouldn't let anything happen to her. And she's a part of the BRV family. She comes to the church with me when Timmy is at work. Mark loves her! He comes into my office, throws himself on the floor, and plays/fights with her. She loves it.

Random note: A few weeks ago, Timmy and I saw Caedmon's Call and Derek Webb in concert. Caedmon's were good; they were enjoyable but there were a few things I could have done without. However, Mr. Webb - wow. I really love his music. I find myself thinking more about his lyrics than anyone else except maybe Andrew (Peterson, that is, another obsession thanks to Timmy). So, we have spent the last few weeks buying cds and downloading songs. Good stuff. Really good stuff. Currently, listing to "King and A Kingdom" from Mockingbird. Ew. Offensive. I love it.

Do you know what today is?........let's just say that one week from today, Timmy and I will leaving Jessie with our parents and going away for a few days. Can you believe it's been two years? Wow.

JJ just let out a belch that could have come out of a big drunk guy at a frat party. It's gross, but it also makes me smile. She's a lot like me :) Alright, that's it for now. I need a little snack and The View is on.

Where Have I Been That I Didn't Know?

Rent's closing. Ugh. And of course the first thought that came to mind, "Gotta figure out when I can go." I told myself I wouldn't spend $70 to see a show I have already seen four times on Broadway, but...how could I not go see it one more time? Alright, now I need just think this through, look at my calendar, talk to some people. Sad.

Merry Christmas.

In him was given so much, that heaven could give no more.

Of all the things that Mark said this morning, this is what I remember. It was part of his opening prayer. I don't know exactly where it came from, just that it was part of a book of prayers. Some day I will send out Christmas cards and this is all it will say. Not four words, but quality words nonetheless.

Merry Christmas. God bless you all.

Dito.

This almost made me tear up.

Toes Part 2

It's official. My toe is broken. I spent the afternoon at the ER with Mary. I gave in after I lost my footing going up my stairs last night and landed on my toes. It was painful; I had to crawl up the stairs. It was pathetic. So, I feel like I am back at square one. X-ray shows a clear break. It looks like it split in half and then shifted over a little. They still can't do anything. Tape it to the other toe. Keep it elevated. Ice it. Wear a boot. And carry a cane!!! Actually, that was our idea. I just wanted to have something help me walk and they gave me a cane. Awesome.

Toes

My poor boy broke his toe last Monday. At least that is our diagnosis. It looks broken and feels broken. Not much a doctor can do, so he didn't go to the doctor. He has it wrapped to the another toe. He's taking advils and keeping it elevated as much as he can. Oh, how did he break his toe? He was going down our stairs to check the mail. He slipped and his toe went into the railing. It's been a few days and he is feeling better. But Jessie and I still need to be careful not to accidentally step on it - we aren't the most graceful creatures.

Yesterday, our little family started decorating for Christmas. We cleaned up to some holiday tunes and then decorated as we watched the Army/Navy game. I think it was around halftime when I started lighting candles around the house. I got this fun new Yankee-like candle that smells like Sugar Cookies. It was on sale which is a must because I can't bring myself to spend $20 for a candle. So, I was carrying it to the living room when it came out of my hand and straight onto my foot. Pain. Pain. Pain. A scream that even caused Jessie to come to the living room to see what was going on. It landed on its corner at the base of my two toes. I think it landed on a vein. It was instantly purple and swelled. I'm holding the candle now and I wonder how much it weighs - 22 oz candle, brand new, glass jar. Man, it hurt. Yes - I cried, a lot. Well, I can't walk right now. I hobble around because I can't put any pressure on it - it kills. I don't think the toe is broken but I wonder about the foot itself. Hopefully it will get better. It took Timmy a few days, so I am going to give a few days too. If not, I may need to see a doctor.

So for now, Timmy and I are a matching set with busted up feet.

Beer

I'm currently watching The Biggest Loser and I learned this interesting fact:

If you drink 2 beers a week for one year, you will have consumed 15,000 calories. The average American drinks 6 beers a week - that's more than 45,000 calories a year from beer.

Only two months late.

Last September, the weekend after Labor Day Weekend, Timmy and I went to Orlando. I promised to blog some pictures, but the pictures were on my phone until very recently. Here are some of those pictures.

Here's Timmy outside of Universal Studios. I liked it. It was okay. I liked that they were shows or show-like. We thankfully didn't have lots of people there. No more than 10 minutes in line. But there was a Rock the Universe concert - ah man, thousands and thousands of youth groups. We could have done without them. So we did and didn't go back to the park on Saturday when we expected them to be there all day.



Here's me outside of Islands of Adventure. I didn't like this place much. Why? Because I don't like rides. They make me cry. Yes, cry. I cried twice, maybe three times. I got onto that one ride that takes you straight up and then drops you - Doctor Dooms' something or another. Well, I started freaking out when the guy locked me in and made him release me. I walked away and started crying. And I cried at Jaws - even though, I think that's at Universal. I know it isn't a scary ride at all, but I hate the building of suspense. That's what freaks me out. So it ended and I started crying and told Timmy I didn't want to go on any more rides. I think there may have been another ride where I cried, but I can't remember.



I can't remember the name of the restaurant. It was at Islands of Adventure and it was in a tree and it was cold and I ate turkey.



Mostly the parks were just an excuse to go away and stay at a nice hotel. We stayed at The Peabody. Definitely that fanciest place I have ever been. It was one of those places where you look at what you're wearing and what everyone else was wearing and then you felt silly. This was the view of our room. I think we were on the 9th floor of like 25 or so. That's the pool. It was on the roof (can't think of the right word). Of course, we went there everyday.



The room itself was disappointing, especially compared to the Lancaster Arts Hotel(which we absolutely love!!). The TV in the bathroom was booty whack and not worth blogging. But the bed was super comfortable and they had cable. So, we watched tv. I love watching tv in hotel beds :)



So, besides hanging at the pool and watching tv, we were nerds. Here's Timmy seeking clarification on some nerdery.Can you see his little bottle of scotch next to him? We got that the first night we were there.



And yes, I have been sucked into nerdery. Not nearly as bad as Timmy and Neilie. But there I am on vacation and playing Middle Earth. Oh and that's my Manischewitz - mmm, classy.



I missed Jessie terribly. The first night we went out. We ended up at one of those dollar tourist shops, after visiting the local liquor store. I found this adorable little stuffed dog that reminded me of my baby. I held it for a half hour, tried not to buy it, but it was no good. It slept at my bedside each night we were away. I said good morning to it and good night. And I gave it kisses. I know, I know, there is something deeply wrong with me. When we got home, Timmy put a red collar on it. Now it really looks like J-J,



Overall, I am glad I can say I did the Universal thing, but Timmy and I don't like people enough to deal with lots of tourists. And we did miss the pup. So, next year, it's all about renting a house by a lake where we can take our dog. That would be a great vacation.

J-J

Today I bought Jessie a Christmas stocking. It matches ours perfectly - thanks Target for bringing the same stockings back. Now, her "J" can hang with our "T" and "M." I told Timmy that for a moment I thought about buying stockings for our not yet conceived children - Target won't continue this stocking line forever. Yeah, Timmy thought I was special too. Anyway, here are some pictures of my puppy that have been lingering on my phone.

So Jessie adores Timmy. I mean, she loves me but she ADORES Timmy. Here she is napping with Timmy.




Yeah, she likes to hang out in my favorite place - the nook of Timmy's arm. I'm okay with it. I just remind her that I came first.



Ah and there's me and my doggie. I scare her sometimes with how much I love her.

Yes, I am alive

I haven't blogged in forever. I've been too busy at the church and then when I get home, my hurting eyes don't want to look at computer monitor anymore - that's why my scrabulous response time hasn't been the best.

So, yeah, I'm sitting at the church waiting for this conference to end. This is my third conference in 6 weeks. Yes, our third conference that we are hosting in 6 weeks. I'm completely drained. Next week is our anniversary celebration and that's our last major event for the year. This conference has particular has me beat. It is the regional youth leaders conferece - so about 50 of the vineyard youth leaders from the East Region (Maine to Virginia). And honestly, most of these youth leaders act like the youth. There is so much energy and noise. This is the first time when I have felt the need to go away and be alone for a little bit (the introvert in me). But it's been really great too. Good stuff.

Other news....

I got a hair cut this week. I was desperate for it. Got rid of a lot it, but I still have a lot it. That's usually the case when you start off with really long hair. But it feels great to be able to wear it down again.

Timmy bought me an Ipod this week. :) It was supposed to be a Christmas present and then it was going to be an early christmas present then it became it - oh let's just buy it and my parents can buy you accessories for Christmas. I haven't had time, though, to get set up. Mostly because I need to finish sorting and renaming most of my songs. Then it will be all ready to go into the pod.

One of the reasons why I wanted an ipod was because I wanted to remove my music collection from my computer. My mini at home as been ridiculous and we suspect it may have to do with the almost 6000 songs in my iTunes. So, this week I deleted almosst 1200 songs, between 4.5 - 5 GB. Timmy laughs because he has less than that on his computer and I had that much to throw away. Cleaning out my music was an interesting thing. Most of what I deleted were full cds that belonged to Jeremy and Heather. It was so weird to delete it, like I was deleting a huge part of my life. But it isn't. Thankfully, Jeremy remains a good friend, and I always look forward to talking to him

Let's see...what else...

Jessie started happy pills. Prozac for doggies. Not sure if it's really working, but then again, we haven't been putting much effort into training.

So, yeah, my dog - I love her to bits!! She is so worth all of her issues. She brings so much joy to my life. I really miss her tonight. I went back and read my old blogs when we first got her. She's so cute and she makes me so happy. I got a little teary eyed. I want to kiss her and snuggle with her. Most of this is probably because I am approaching white pills :)

Also being effected by my approaching white pills, all the new babies and baby announcements have me whimpering...."Timmy, can we have a baby?" Thankfully, he knows me and my cycle well enough to know when it's just the hormones talking.

Timmy is great - even better than the dog. He brings much joy to my life. He's worth all his issues too :)

Alright, it seems that the conference has come to an end and the youth leaders are just socializing. I'm going to start cleaning up and give them a hint that they gotta go.

Til next time...