I have no idea what I'm doing

This makes me laugh

2007-05-14T13:01:00.000-07:00

You know who it is??

I'm going to get fired for this...

2007-05-12T14:46:00.000-07:00

To tell the truth it's something that I've been thinking about for six years. When I was eighteen I planned on it... then the parents stepped in and said they would pay me NOT to.

I took the cash.

I guess I owe them.

I did it, it didn't hurt, and yeah..people stare at me now.

Registering

2007-04-11T12:18:00.000-07:00

I just registered for one summer class. I was planning on taking two, but that's hard when there are only about three classes available.

I was either going to take speech or American government. I picked government since speech is the class I fear most.

I don't get student aid, so my parents are quite happy I'm only taking one class this summer.

Also, I got excited to sign up for fall courses. This fall I'll be taking more classes that seem fun (until half was through the semester anyway) like sociology and world religions. I'm already signed up for those two, and I'll be siging up for a couple more.

While I'm on the subject of my classes...the current courses I'm taking are going well. I'm really enjoying my English comp. class because my teacher is awesome. I'm not so sure about the rest of the class though, many of them seem to be struggling through it. I've handed papers out to be peer edited and got them back with no marks of anything wrong. Come on! I know there's always something wrong with each paper, so that's when I chase down my poor teacher and ask her to peer edit my paper herself. (I know what you're thinking Jay, I'm just a little scared you'll tear me apart with your mad editing skills).

Why forgiveness is important

2007-04-09T17:28:00.000-07:00

There's someone close to me who has never been able to forgive the people who wronged him many years ago. Do you know what's happened to him? Besides becoming a narcissistic introvert (kidding)?

He's become bitter.

He couldn't bring himself to forgive in the beginning, the anger built up inside him until he wasn't able to forgive. Forgiveness practically doesn't exist to him.

When you forgive someone, you're not really saying, "oh that's ok, I don't mind that you punched me in the face..."

Forgiveness is meaningful and spiritual, and although it doesn't come easy, it's important.

I'll sum it up with these two quotes by one of my favorit authors, C.S Lewis.

"To be a Christian means to forgive the inexcusable, because God has forgiven the inexcusable in you."

and...

"Forgiveness does not mean excusing."

Or a more popular one by Alexander Pope.

"To err is human, to forgive, divine."

I'm back!

2007-04-09T17:08:00.000-07:00

...back at work. I was so excited to get back to work that I layed my uniform out last night.

I was so tired by the time my shift got over though. Not working for a month kicked my butt. Not to mention there's something wrong with my eye. It's been brewing for a month, then yesterday after church it began to hurt so bad I couldn't stand it anymore. So I did what I always do when I'm not feeling well...I had my mom call Lois Mertes. She told me that it sounded like an infection. I went to the ER (yes it was hurting that bad) and they gave me some drops until I can get to the eye doctor on wednesday.

So I went to work with a seriously red eye thinking they might send me home...they didn't. I'm glad because I really need the money.

Easter!

2007-04-07T13:05:00.000-07:00

I haven't painted eggs in a few years, I just haven't been into it. I used to love painting them, but then I grew out of it.

The other day I got the urge to color some eggs, so I sat there for hours painting eggs. I drew a lot of peeps and bunnies. Drawing on eggs is hard!

Spring Break

2007-03-28T16:21:00.000-07:00

What am I talking about? I've already been on break for a couple of weeks, I haven't worked in a while. Honestly, I can't wait to go back to work.

No work=No money=No fun.

Plus, I enjoy my job, there's some fun people there.

So, back to spring break. I'm planning on getting way ahead on my homework since most of it is predictable anyway. My psych class is especially predictable, but it's actually a fun class. Yesterday I had psych and we were doing inkblots. My teacher-man asked what one of them looked like, and I immediatly blurted out, "the devil!" while some else timidly said it looked like a puppy. I felt a little embarrassed.

I saw my heart!

2007-03-28T16:07:00.000-07:00

I went to the hospital today to (hopefully) have my final testing done on my heart. I knew I was going to be having an echocardiogram..actually I was walking around all week calling it an "echo graph..type.."

I threw on a stylin' hospital gown and hopped up on the bed. I've never had an ultrasound, of course, but it was kind of like that.

I was so excited because I could see and hear the wump, wump of my heart. It was a really cool experience.

By the way, my hearts totally normal.

Now..I'm sure I'll be moving on to other tests *frown* three hours for a glucose test.

coffee!

2007-03-28T15:56:00.000-07:00

It was my dads B-day yesterday and no one ever knows what to get him. Every birthday he gets showered with flashlights and coffee...that's what makes him happy though. Not to mention he got sent some seriously amazing ribs from my bro and sissy-in-law in Cincinnati, which I will definitely be scamming in on.

love it

2007-03-26T08:43:00.000-07:00

I was recently thinking how I need to update my music collection, so I spent most of the day yeasterday downloading songs.

I got relient k's new cd, which I'm so excited about! I was introduced to them from when I first started working at taco bell five years ago and I was addicted right away.

I mostly got 60/70's music! I love it. I used to watch Forrest Gump over and over just to hear the soundtrack, well now I have it.

And, for the first time ever..it's official, I got two country songs. That's a big deal for me! I'm not seeing any more country songs in my future though.

game time!

2007-03-19T13:20:00.000-07:00

I went over to my friends house to visit after my doc appointment, but we both ended up playing video games we're addicted to at the moment. She's playing the new Zelda for Wii, and I'm into Children of Mana for DS, which I've logged eighteen hours on since I borrowed it from my bro two days ago. Eighteen hours in two days!! My brother would slap me five for that one.

Anyway, we got some real bonding time in. Her daughter (who also loves video games), just sat on my lap the whole time and watched.

Speaking of games, my niece is turning five soon, so she decided to start naming people off she wants to come to her party. She said, "Grandma, Grandpa, Aunt Jennifer, and Uncle Paul...as soon as he's done watching movies and playing video games."

too cool

2007-03-14T20:12:00.000-07:00

I went and saw 300 tonight.

How was it, you ask?

"Incredible, best movie I've seen in a long time," raves Jen.

and if you decide to see it...please tell me what's up with goat-man.

so about that..

2007-03-14T19:34:00.000-07:00

I passed out at work again the other day.

At first I decided not to tell anyone...that didn't work out too well. My boss called my house to check if I was alright, leading to my parents being quite mad at me for not telling them. Truthfully, I didn't want to see the look on their faces when they found out their youngest keeps passing out for no apparent reason.

When you black out, your feet feel like concrete and all the blood rushes down. There's really nothing like it..a dizzy rush. I was told I did a crazy spin, but really I think I was just trying to run away so no one would see. When I woke up I was breathing all wild. Luckily my friend was right there being comforting, and I calmed down.

So here's the thing, I've had quite a few tests and they've never found anything serious enough to make me pass right out. I'm not in the least bit scared that there's anything wrong with me, I'm more worried about the people around me who seem so concerned.

My doc's going to call me tomorrow to see if I have to be monitored for a 24 hour period, as in I take a heart monitor with me wherever I go...bummer. If I do, it's going to be especially high when I'm taking my algebra exam tomorrow night.

300

2007-03-06T09:52:00.000-08:00

How awesome does this movie look?? Seriously.

I can't wait to see it. I saw the first preview for it when I was watching the premier of Heroes and I'm not kidding, my jaw dropped and I got goosebumps. It looks sweet.

So I've only seen two previews for it but I'm guessing it's based the Battle of Thermopylae which is the three hundred Spartans and seven hundred Thespians (no, not actors) who defended a pass in Greece against the Persians. I won't spoil it too much by telling you who won.

It comes out on friday.

sniff

2007-03-06T09:30:00.000-08:00

I couldn't handle it anymore, I finally went to the doctor for my cold. She gave me my three perscriptions: anitbiotic, allegra D, and some kind of codeine cough syrup that knocks me out. I've been prescribed to the cough syrup before and one time I took way too much. A couple hours later I woke up sideways drooling on the couch arm.

Anyway my doc seems to think I have allergies since my colds have been virtually nonstop since October. I'll be staying on the allegra until I can get checked for allergies.

busy bee

2007-02-21T17:39:00.000-08:00

I'm taking a little brake from my homework to update a little. I know, it's about time.

I just polished my descriptive essay on my trip to Chicago. When I stapled it to my rough draft and other papers, I sneezed right on it. Who does that?? I do. I sneeze on my essays.

I've been telling everyone I've seen today how I've had eight colds and one flu since October, like it's some sort of record and I deserve a trophy. When you have a cold, a cough drop is sort of like a trophy.

I haven't been blogging much lately becuase I've got nothing interesting to blog about, and I'm busy now. I have a routine. Me? a routine? yup. Class, work, homework, heroes (the show). There it is.

Oh, I just remembered something! I know this sounds a little morbid, but last week someone ran over one of my favorite cats, Rampage. So I had to get a garbage bag and shovel her up myself, and if you've ever had to shovel your frozen pet off the road...well, it's difficult anyway. SO, I pulled into my driveway after work, got out of my car, and do a double-take, there's Rampage sitting right by the door. Imagine my surprise. There was no doubt (at the time) it was her that got ran over. So who's cat was that??? Probably mine, just a different one than I thought, or was it? oooh, ghost Rampage.

the DS

2007-02-08T12:29:00.000-08:00

I didn't think I would be getting much for my B-day this year since I'm super broke and my parents are helping my make my car payments. Well, I got a DS and got all excited like a little girl. I can play all of my game boy games on it and I've been wanting one for a while now.

I got a game that just came out yesterday from Paul, Diddy Kong racing. I'm wishing I brought it with me about now, I'm between classes.

I must be the only 24 year old girl that still plays video games (thinks of brothers)...thanks a lot guys.

Zelda

2007-02-08T12:19:00.000-08:00

So this doesn't have anything to do with Zelda, but it does have to do with Link!

Linking Jay Mertes on my "cool links" section to the right over there.

I've been meaning to do it for a while.

24

2007-02-07T18:43:00.000-08:00

I can't believe that I'm turning 24 tomorrow! It feels like I was just in high school not too long ago. I'm feeling pretty old just about now.

Anyway, I got my hair cut for my b-day. I totally dig the colors (copper and dark red) but I'm just not feelin' the bangs. Ooh, and no make-up on.

thinking about my future

2007-01-21T20:48:00.000-08:00

Ah, I'm in college. It feels pretty good.

Ok, so I've only had one week of classes, but I'm feeling pretty confident about how well I'll do in them. I practically skipped into my first class becuase I was so excited about it.

Then in walked in my psych teacher, big sweater, ferocious eyebrows. He scares me a little, he's a staple-your-papers-at-a-forty-five-degree-angle-only kind of guy. Not to mention that he quoted Socrates wrong. Ok, I'll stop talkin smack about my psych teacher. Apparently, talking bad about someone means you have an insecurity issue. So he did teach me something.

Here are my plans for college.

I'm working on my associate of arts. It's a transfer program, usually to a four year college. It's going to take me about two years to complete.

I'm majoring in human services. When I get my associate, hopefully I can get a job somewhere as a counselor. But we all know that you can't get very far with an associate degree. So then I'll be working on my bachelors...and unless I was to be a student advisor or work at the local rehab center, I'll be going for my masters.

I can do this. I'm so ready.

Just do me a little favor and pray for me?

uh-oh, winking is sin.

2007-01-21T19:17:00.000-08:00

It's weird to think that at this time last year I hadn't let God into my life yet. I was thinking of how much I've changed since then. Have I really changed? Not much. I'm still the same Jen, I still hang out with the same people.

When I first becam a Christian I thought, "oh man, this is so awesome, I'm going to be a witness to everyone! they'll se what this is really all about." I started having a lot of conversations about God openly with my friends, even with my friends parents. After a few months of being Christian I started to stress that people weren't lining up at church doors, waiting to be born again. So I stressed; I stressed so bad I couldn't sleep for more than two hours a night, I didn't eat for a week, and I got pretty sick from it all. I had a save-the-world complex, and it was hurting me.

So I chilled on the overwhelming convo's about God. I only give advice when asked, I throw in something about God with a sneak attack, maybe just a sentence and a wink to let my friends know I'm still with it.

Speaking of friends ( and I know this is a pretty random blog..), I got a call last night from someone close to me asking me what I was up to. I told him, and he replied with anger, asking me what I was doing hanging out with this person (a friend I've known for nine years). He was shocked that I would stoop so low and hang around such a sinful person.

That hurt, big time. After he hung up on me, I was speechless. I just sat there watching all these "sinful" people move around me. I've never felt so out of place. I'm a Christian hanging out with a bunch of sinners.

Back up.

When I snapped back and started thinking clearly I realized I did belong. I'm with them but apart from them at the same time. I'm not like them, but I like them. Sinners are the ones I call when I have a bad day, or when I need something to laugh about, or something serious to talk about, I cry on sinners shoulders, they cry on mine.

Anyway, Jesus loved the outcasts.

That's good enough for me.

No, I can't cure the sick, or make the blind see. And as much as I would love to hold up my hand and say, "go, and sin no more," that won't work either. But I can bide my time, throw in a sentence about God, and a little wink.

If it takes me my whole life of "stooping" so low as to hang around sinners to have just one person be influenced (i.e. take God into their lives), then I'm in. I believe that your presence and actions can be so much more influential that words alone.
I'm like the friend at the funeral that's there for you, I can't say much to make you feel better, but I'm here when you need me. *wink*

Christmas Eve

2006-12-24T19:14:00.000-08:00

We decided to open some presents with my brother Mark, and Wife, and their kids tonight.

It was so much fun!

My niece, Alex, decided that she was going to pick out a present for my dad all by herself. No one knew what it was going to be, not even her parents, so we were all waiting to see what she picked and when he opened the gift it was a sparkley heart-shaped key chain! It was the funniest thing ever.

I caught Alexandria making her "excited face" every time she sent a car down the ramp, she makes me laugh.

Every time she gives me five, she yells out, "I love Aunt Jennifer." They are some very cool kids.

The other day I was talking to my bro Paul about a shirt that I wanted. We were saying how great this weather is and how much I love global warming. So I told him how funny it would be if I had a shirt that said, "I love global warming," and there was a smiling sunshine in the background.

He was dying to give me this present. Sure enough, he had the shirt made for me. When I opened it I actually screamed! It's so awesome, and I hope it's sunny out tomorrow, because I'm wearing it.

A Christmas Civil War?

2006-12-22T20:41:00.000-08:00

I decided to do some searcing after I heard some stuff on the news today about...

well, you'll see...

— New Port Richey, Fla.: County officials banned the display of Christmas trees from public property and buildings and removed the last of them on Wednesday, a decision that outraged many in the community. On Friday, the Pasco County attorney reversed that ban, saying the Supreme Court had never declared Christmas trees religious symbols.

— Bay Harbor Islands, Fla.: A local resident offered to donate a Christmas nativity scene to be displayed alongside a public Hanukkah exhibit and was at first turned down by town officials. She took the matter to federal court, and the judge sided with her, forcing the town to allow her to put up her display.

— Plano, Texas: A federal judge ordered the Plano school district to let students give gifts that include religious messages — like Christian-themed candy canes — at school holiday parties. Parents had sued this week over the school's policy banning any religious expression in classrooms, though officials said they'd already reversed the policy Dec. 1.

— Maplewood, N.J.: Baby Jesus, herald angels and other religious figures won't be sung about in holiday choral concerts this year, after a few people complained last year that Christian references in lyrics made non-Christians feel left out. To avoid similar problems this time around, the music director decided that all songs representing any religion were to be omitted from the program. Many parents were unhappy with that edict, saying at a recent school board meeting that the policy is based on misinterpretations of school rules. The matter won't be voted on by the school board until January, after this year's holiday concerts are over.

I'm addicted.

2006-12-12T21:48:00.001-08:00

I'm admitting it.

I'm an addict.

Addicted to my video game! I can't stop, it's like my hands are aching to play it all the time. With all this spare time I've had it's all I've been doing. I can't be pryed away from it. Instead of hanging out like usual, I'm playing my game.

I'm a little annoyed though, because Smaug keeps roasting me with his dragon breath. I'll get him.

New stuff

2006-12-12T21:42:00.000-08:00

I threw on a couple new drawings I did the other day for my deviant art.

C'mon, hit it up.

Everybody's doing it.

No pressure though.

Debbie Downer

2006-12-12T21:33:00.000-08:00

I'm feeling like that SNL character Debbie Downer that has nothing but bad news to say.

My last four posts have been a little...depressing.

SO, on a happier note..I get to go back to work, yay! I just don't know when yet. Hopefully this week. The doc called me the other day and told me that there was nothing wrong with my brain. That's good to know.

Her best guess was that I passed out because I don't eat a whole lot of meat. That doesn't make sense to me, I didn't know that could happen. Ok though, whatev. So my mother has been sneaking around and preparing meals that consist of lots and lots of meat. Blarf.

I've been choking that crap down though. I decided that I really don't want a repeat of what happened at work.

seriously though..

2006-12-12T21:17:00.000-08:00

I promise I'll write about happier stuff soon. But really, something ate one of my cats!!! Not just any random kitty, this one was my dad's fave, along with everyone else's. Bummer. My dad's too sad to bury her, which means I have to. I've lost a lot of animals but I've never had to bury one, this sucks! Poor little Wylie Kit.

parking ticket

2006-12-10T10:19:00.000-08:00

Who gets parking tickets for parking on a residential road at 4:00 AM? I do, of course. I didn't even know you couldn't park on a side road between 3 and 6. I happened to leave a 4:05..

my tests

2006-12-07T07:53:00.000-08:00

A while ago I passed out at work, and they wont let me come back until we all know what's wrong with me.

So far, since I've first passed out I've had a EKG, EEG, MRI, and 2 diabetes testing. Yesterday they said that I might have to come back for another MRI. They have to give you this IV, and they poked me eight times trying to get it in my arm with three different people. They only stopped when they realized I was trying to hide that I was crying. Well, it hurt, and I'm one of those "needle" people. At least I didn't have to wear one of those backless gowns, worn by other sickly patients, yuck.

Anyway, as far as my testing they gave me the usual, telling me my glucose is low, and I need to eat meat, which isn't going to happen. I'll get my protien from somewhere else.

My EEG (brain) was nomal, so was the EKG (heart).

I won't know about the MRI until Monday, or if I have to go back..*tear*

I feel like I'm being punished.

sigh

2006-12-04T19:22:00.000-08:00

I'm known for being kind of clumsy. I'm always running into a wall, stubbing my toe, tripping, dropping something...sometimes I even pass out, that's the worst one.

My mom says that if there were such a thing as bad luck, then I have it. I would have to agree with her.

What did I do today?

I ripped my bumper off. It wasn't really my fault, the person behind me parked their hitch under my car. Who does that? So when I drove away I heard a crunch. It ripped almost clean off, so I called the boys.

"911"

"Hi, I ripped my bumper off at the hospital."

"well that's private property, so we can't send anyone, but what you can do-"

"no, I really don't have a bumper."

"oh, we'll send someone right over."

"thanks"

My dad insists it's my fault becuase I should have checked to make sure the hitch wasn't under my bumper before I pulled away. Sigh.

season 2

2006-11-23T19:12:00.000-08:00

Since my sis-in-law and bro aren't going to be up here for Christmas, they brought the gifts up early. Mine is season 2 of smallville. Yay!!

Dinner and the fam

2006-11-23T15:42:00.000-08:00

I've got lots of family, which means lots of food.

I've got Thanksgiving down: you get up and don't eat all day until it's time for dinner, then you stuff yourself till you can't eat anymore, then you sleep, and then you get up and eat some more.

To bad I don't like turkey, ewww.

(if you look closely, you can see paul in the kitchen with the ladies, lol)

There were almost thirty people here today.

I love seeing my family! I'm babsitting right now, why they trust me is a wonder. I just stuck them in front of some video games.

We got all of my nephews, and my neice, together today for a picture. Getting six kids, age six and under, to stand still is hard work.

It's been a great day, and I definitely have a lot to be thankful for.

The Nintendo Wii

2006-11-19T16:24:00.000-08:00

It's pronounced "weee," not "why." And I want one.

Of course my bro has one, and it's freakin sweet. There's a new zelda game out for it too! I went over to his house to play, and all the controllers are wireless. There's this boxing game we were playing and you actually have to use punching actions to fight each other.

I need one.

oooh, scary!

2006-11-14T20:20:00.000-08:00

If you know my brother, then you know that he has an obsession for cheesy-B rated movies.

He called me earlier and asked me if I wanted to come over and watch one with him and a friend. I wouldn't watch them alone because it's not nearly as fun. When the guts pour out, they'll point and clap, along with random funny guy noises. So it's a good time.

Tonight we watched Basket Case. It's about a young man that had a freak siamese twin connected, and against his will, removed. Well the twin was supposed to die, but didn't and then it gained all these weird powers, and started killing the doctors who removed him from his twin. It was hilarious. There was a really funny part where he was hiding in the toilet. Here, I'll give you an idea..

I'm going to have to say that it wasn't as bad and the one we watched a couple of years ago about a killer fridge, appropriatly named "the refrigerator"

The Quotable Christian

2006-11-13T17:38:00.000-08:00

It's cool.

View it

There's a lot by C.S. Lewis

did I do that?

2006-11-13T15:38:00.000-08:00

Tomorrow is a friend’s birthday, but I haven't seen her in forever. I'm thinking about calling her to see what she's doing. I already know what she's doing though, either going to the bar or the casino. We stopped hanging out because we both chose separate lifestyles, that reason doesn’t always change friendships, but in our case it did. She thinks I'm out thumping my bible, and I'm not sure about the way I feel with her decisions to date another chick.

I'm thinking, maybe if I just call her. I don't want to give up on her. Maybe she thinks I'm just going to judge her all the time? What if I can make a difference? She doesn't believe in God, I can't change her, but maybe I can make her want to change. And what if I don't call her?

If I just leave the situation alone will everything be ok? I'm sure it will..for me. So if I just forget her, give it all up, and go on with my Christian life, then what does that mean for her? Who knows if one thing I say or do could help?

We're judging each other. I feel like I'm supposed to be judging her, but if Christians keep judging like this will it really do any good? I could be the reason she hates Christians.

So I'm wondering, do Christians sometimes cause atheism?

ahh

2006-11-13T15:09:00.000-08:00

I work ten days in a row with five left to go, so I wont be doing much. I was supposed to have Saturday off, and I was gonna go get my books for my classes in Petoskey, but it's a no go on that one. It's great having my schedule full though, I'm not really going out much and doing things I shouldn't be doing. I've got heroes at Paul's house tonight (oh yeah), bible study tomorrow afta work, church after work on wed, and (yay!) I have sunday off! which means church in the morning and night.

HEROOEES!

oh, and if you don't watch this show, then you're seriously missing out.

lets go out to the kitchen

2006-11-12T17:11:00.000-08:00

Ahhh, so the kitchen is done. I didn't have anything to do with it, I just kind of sat there and watched. There's an awful lot of brown, like the cupboards, the walls, the floor, the tile..you get it, but my mother likes brown, she even only eats the brown m&m's. SO, after months of work (not on my part), we (what I really mean is they) are almost done. Fab.

not exactly a winter wonderland

2006-11-12T17:04:00.000-08:00

I woke up yesterday to this. If you live around here you see it too. Boo! The only fun thing about winter is when the snowmobilers come around, and if you have a big yard, then they like to plow through it. Well that gets really annoying, so if you're motivated you'll dig a hole, if you're lucky you'll catch one in it, and if you're really lucky you'll get to see it. what? you don't do that?

fun little reception

2006-11-12T16:47:00.000-08:00

Went to my friends reception yesterday because I got out of work early. It was so fun! I saw a lot of people that I haven't seen in a long time. There was this cute little girl there that I haven't seen since she was a baby, I think she is six now. Anyway, she was breakin it down on the dance floor just about the whole time I was there, and it was so funny! she was dancing like a 20 year old. Hey, she's better than me.

My friend looked so pretty!

Smallville

2006-11-10T16:42:00.000-08:00

I'm starting season 1. We'll see how that goes, I know my cousin is hooked on it..actually she's obsessed.

blah

2006-11-09T16:15:00.000-08:00

I was thinking that maybe I would give this whole, just drinking a little bit at a time thing a try. I can do this, I can so do this. At least that’s what I’m telling myself. Last night I did it, yup, three drinks. The only thing is that I was so very bored. It was a ho-hum Wednesday, when usually Wednesdays at the mill are the place to be, and you have a rockin’ time, but nope, not this time. So if I’m not supposed to drink heavily, and drinking only a little isn’t really fun…at all…then, oh man, what am I going to do for fun?

Maybe I'll go back to the things that I did before I ever started drinking. Oh, I played with toys, video games...I never really gave myself that chance to grow up. It's like I'm stuck at fourteen, because the last nine years of my life were a total blur. Arggg

huh?

2006-11-09T16:06:00.000-08:00

"are you used to working a lot?"

"no, I haven't had my license for a year, I lost it, so I didn't work."

"soo, you were a drug dealer?"

"uhh, no, speeding tickets.."

the BK thing

2006-11-09T15:35:00.000-08:00

Work. It's not bad, actually it's pretty fun. I started on monday. I know it's weird, but I like working, especially in places with a lot of people. Everyone there's been cool to me...even when I dumped a whole bag of hash browns in the fries...but that wasn't my fault!

So when I got home today and got out of my car I was like, "ouch, what the heck?" my feet hurt. Wah. I know, I'm a baby, but I'll get used to it. Tomorrow I work my first eight hour shift in over a year, rock on. And I think my feet are hurtin' now.

Panic! at the disco

2006-11-06T18:01:00.000-08:00

I'm loving this band. It's one of those cd's that you can listen to over and over. Their in a genre of their own, and the name of the band cracks me up too.

I just might delete this post in the morning

2006-11-05T19:29:00.000-08:00

I walked into a new church today, well kind of a church. It was someone’s house, where they were holding church. Anyway, I walked in and froze, seriously, I just couldn’t move. I even started shaking badly. I’m not scared of people, I love people. So I’m sitting there trying to figure out why I’m so freaked out by all of this, and I’m looking around at all the families, they were totally comfortable with all of this.

So I started breaking it all down.

“I’m scared of Christians. Why? I feel like I’m nothing like the rest of them. Why is that? Oh, I know. I drink, I smoke, I never read my bible anymore, heck..I’m not even praying anymore. I’m slipping, big time.”

I was thinking all this when I probably should have been listening, but I finally admitted something to myself that I was in denial about for a while. It’s like I was waiting for someone to come along and say, “ok Jen, stop being stupid and get with it.” No one did that, and that’s because I didn’t tell anyone, not even God, and if I don’t tell anyone then there isn’t anyone there to help me out.

I’m always going off about how I don’t have Christian friends. I don’t have any because I never really wanted any, and I didn’t want any because I never wanted to tell any of them the things that I do. I was thinking that if I tell them how I really am then they won’t like me. My non-Christian friends are ok with what I do, so it’s all good.

It’s not really all good. Right now I want to say that I’m just going to quit going out and drinking, smoking, and start praying immediately, but that might just be a lie. In all honesty I don’t want to do those things I do, and I’m mad at myself for being all weak about it.

I’m exhausted, and I start work tomorrow. And if you tell my parents all this stuff I just wrote, you won’t be helping me, you’ll be hurting me, so please don’t.

And I love advice, I tear it up.

I really don't have any idea what I'm doing

2006-11-02T16:42:00.000-08:00

Don't give up on me, I'm still here, blogging away.

I haven't been home a whole lot lately. If you asked me what I've been doing, I don't think I could tell you becuase I don't really know.

When my friends little bro, and his friend died last week it hit our whole little community pretty hard. And it made me question a lot about my standing with God. The day that they died, my friend asked, "why would God do something like this?" and I've been struggling with that question. I know I'm not supposed to ask God that, and I didn't. I wanted to tell her that it's not God's fault, and that they are in heaven right beside her mom, but the truth is that I just don't know. I don't know if he is really in heaven. I haven't prayed once since that day. It's not that I'm mad at God, I love Him, but praying seems awkward right now. I've been to church three times since then, the first time I freaked out and started crying, and had to leave. I want to be there so bad becuase every time I go it's a chance to learn a little more about the God I love so much, but it's hard right now.

ok..

2006-10-24T03:43:00.000-07:00

So I've been a little busy lately. Actually right now it's six thirty nine AM, I can't sleep! I'm super sick, like can't talk, can't swollow, don't know what I've got. I'm waiting for my mom to get home so that she can call the doc for me, because if I called all they would hear is heavy breathing on the other end.

I've GOT to get better, um, by two. I know, that's not likely, but I am going to a viewing for one of my girls little bro's. He died in a car crash only a few yards from his house on Friday. Needless to say it's been a rough week for me, my friends, and a lot of others.

freeeedom!

2006-10-10T09:27:00.000-07:00

I just didn’t realize how busy I would be when I got my license back. It’s like there’s so much stuff that I have to catch up on that I missed over that year I didn’t have one. I’ve been doing some job hunting, my last resort will be fast food. The sad thing is that I’ve only ever worked fast food, and I’m good at it, but I’m just burned out on it.

Tomorrow I have an appointment to take my compass test at the university center. It’s multiple choice. My cousin informed me that I would probably be taking “retard math.” Thanks.

..............................................................

I have season two of LOST. Made my week.

I went to the mall yesterday with a friend, and we just had to go into game stop because we are the only girls we know that are so into video games. We had her three year old daughter with us, who is obsessed with Mario. When she turned on her game boy the other day, she sat next to me and said, “watch and learn, Jenny,” cute.

Back like a Vertebrae

2006-10-02T16:22:00.000-07:00

Six days without my computer, ahhhh. It was actually really nice! I went outside. I even went shopping for groceries with my pops. That was an interesting experience. Lets just say that his driving is a little..well, terrible. I let out a "slow down!!" and he suggested that I shut my eyes if I don't like his driving, and my mouth for that matter. R

We're in the store and I'm in the chip isle away from him, and I hear, "Jen.... Jennn.... Jennifer... Jennifer...JENNIFER!!"

Really, though, nothing new happened since I haven't had my computer.

HEROES

2006-09-26T17:18:00.000-07:00

Sweet show. When I watched it last night I thought that it reminded me of X-Men, even cooler. The pilot was last night, but if you missed it, don't worry, you can watch it tonight! It's on NBC at 8 PM, you should for sure catch it.

"a seemingly random group of individuals has emerged with what can only be described as 'special' abilities. Although unaware of it now, these individuals will not only save the world, but change it forever."

aeroplane

2006-09-26T14:48:00.001-07:00

I won't be blogging much between now and monday. My bro's (Paul) taking my laptop with him to texas for the week! It's his first time flying and he is deathly afraid of heights, so I thought I would be nice for a change;)

So if you want to get ahold of me...do it stone age style.

Random Thoughts

2006-09-23T22:24:00.000-07:00

These are some random things I've written down over the six months I've been a Christian.

Why do I find it so hard to tell people how much I love God?

Why don't I bring my bible to church? I'm afraid I'll be too busy looking for the verse pastor named, and miss something important he has to say.

I think wearing a cross necklace to church is like wearing a budweiser shirt to the bar. Your presence there it already announcing you like the beer.

I don't like to pray in front of people, or in groups. I know it shouldn't, but it feels personal.

What good is it to put a Jesus Fish on the back of my car?

Other Christians are confusing to me, and for some reason I'm a little scared of them.

This honesty is killing me.

I hate it when my dad tells me how glad he is that I attend the house of the Lord, when he's never once told me how glad he is that I've found God.

I can't stand wondering if my friends will ever find God. There's nothing like hurting for people you love.

I don't like thinking about if I will ever be content with where I am at in life. I feel like whatever point I'll be at, I'll always be wanting something more, feeling like it's just out of my reach, and I think that something is to be with my Father in heaven.

I know that there will always be something there to make me unhappy. I'm not being pessimistic, I'm being realistic, and I'm talking about the lost. According fo Joseph Campell, suffering cannot be denied if life is to be affirmed.

Phobias

2006-09-23T13:15:00.000-07:00

Here's a list of some interesting phobias that I found when I was browsing around. I think I have some of these..

Russophobia: fear of Russians

Judeophobia: fear of Jews

Kathisophobia: fear of sitting down

Alliumphobia: Fear of garlic

Anthophobia: Fear of flowers

Arachibutyrophobia: Fear of peanut butter sticking to the roof of the mouth

Autodysomophobia: Fear of one that has a vile odor

Coprastasophobia: Fear of constipation

Dendrophobia: Fear of trees

Dextrophobia: Fear of objects at the right side of the body

Levophobia: Fear of things to the left side of the body

Dutchphobia: Fear of the Dutch

Francophobia: Fear of France

Geniophobia: Fear of chins

Helminthophobia: Fear of being infested with worms

Japanophobia: Fear of Japanese

Koniophobia: Fear of dust

Lutraphobia: Fear of otters

Metrophobia: Fear or hatred of poetry (I think I have this one)

Octophobia: Fear of the figure 8

Papaphobia: Fear of the Pope

Peladophobia: Fear of bald people

Phronemophobia: Fear of thinking

Porphyrophobia: Fear of the color purple

Pteronophobia: Fear of being tickled by feathers.

Rhabdophobia: Fear of being severely punished or beaten by a rod. Also fear of magic

Theologicophobia: Fear of theology

Walloonphobia: Fear of the Walloons (French speaking people living in Belgium)

Zemmiphobia: fear the great mole rat

The Tile Mile

2006-09-23T10:26:00.000-07:00

That's the official name I gave my house today. There isn't a single inch of carpet. Sure it's nice for people to look at, but if you live here then you're guaranteed to have cold feet 24/7. Somebody rescue me, and get me a pair of slippers.

Here are a couple of pictures of things we've changed around..I think the cupboards are almost the same, but they are a different color. Also the new chandalier, that tractor in the background really sets it off.

que?

2006-09-22T20:17:00.000-07:00

My dad is always watching the news, always. I like watching it with him, but lately he's been watching the Espaniol version of it. So I asked him why he's watching Spanish news, and he answered with, "because it makes more sense."

My License

2006-09-21T17:03:00.000-07:00

As of the 27^th of this month it will be one year since I’ve had a license. Yesterday I had the appointment to get it back at the secretary of state. I had to bring in an evaluation I got earlier this year along with some other papers, and convince someone that I can be a responsible driver.

So I got there, handed the guy my evaluation, and he gave me a written road test. It seems funny now, but when I was filling in the boxes I was shaking so bad that I could hardly do it at all. There were some weird questions, one was like: out of 10,000 Michigan drivers, how many have acquired 12 points within a 2 year period? What kind of a question is that?? So I guessed (multiple answer), 647. I did that, a vision test, and a road test. I passed with a hundred percent on everything, sweet.

When the examiner was done reading my evaluation, he asked me some questions. It mentioned my involvement in church, so he asked. Some evaluations, he said, talk about what people do when they are in remission. One that he got said, when Joe is sad he goes out and hugs his oak tree. I was scared about mentioning church, but I was honest, and I told him that God has helped me. Then he told me something like this, I don’t care if you go out and hug your oak tree when you’re sad, or look out the window at the traffic passing. I’m a Christian too, and I know that having God in your life is right. Shocker! And almost the whole road test he gave me advice about my friends and being a Christian. I was so nervous the whole time I didn’t really take in what he said to me until later. It was so random and great to be able to meet him in that situation.

Too bad I didn’t get my license.

It’s ok though, I need to update my evaluation to a one year remission. I should have it in a week. I will have a one year restriction of no tickets, drugs, or alcohol.

Oh, did I mention that I prayed really hard for it to turn out all good?

Note: It took me hours to write this blog! During it I had four phone calls, a couple friends, my bro (we usually chat for about twenty minutes), and my grandma, who called the house phone instead of my cell, and kicked me off the internet to tell me that there was an hour long Elvis special on the Christian TV station (she knows I like the king). So when I finally get back online there’s a maintenance notice for forty five minutes. I still have forty two left before I can actually post this.

my kitten named sticky

2006-09-21T11:11:00.000-07:00

Yesterday my friend came to pick me up, and as we were leaving I looked over the road as we were pulling out and saw a smooshed rabbit. No...that's not a rabbit, that's my cat. Sigh. I got out to look at my poor run-over kitten, and a couple of friends driving by see me and stop, so we all stood around in a circle looking at my smooshed kitty, it was a really weird moment. Then I had to beg my dad to shovel him off the road. It put me in a bad mood.

I also found out yesterday that something terrible happened to someone I love. Double bad mood. So I went along with my day and night being moody and mean to my friends, I mean I was trying to make them angry with me, for some reason I just wanted them to fight with me and feel how I felt. The thing is none of them responded like I thought, no one said anything mean back, they just tolerated it. We hung out all night, and in the morning, when I was in a better mood, my friend told me that I was being heinous last night. We both just laughed about it and shrugged it off. And that's why I love my friends so much.

just whining

2006-09-19T19:06:00.000-07:00

Tomorrow is my big day with getting my license...I hope. I'm so nervous! I bet my blood pressure is really high, oh! I'm gonna check it right now, it's like if I don't keep myself busy I go crazy because I think about it. I'm scared.

I can see

2006-09-17T19:21:00.000-07:00

I've been waiting since January for this eye doc appt. and I finally had it in August, but I just got my contacts the other day. Finally! I can see..just in time to get my license back..hopefully anyway.

Without it, it's been one crazy, stressful year. I learned a lot in that year too. I think if I hadn't lost my license, things would be so different for me right now. I probably would have never realized that I needed God, I wouldn't have any plans for my future, and I would probably just be getting crunked all the time, and working some crappy job that I hate, barely making my car payments. But now I'm excited for the future. Who knows maybe none of it will work out, maybe I'll be working some crappy job that I hate for the rest of my life, but at least this time I'll have God.

Hey! that's funny, the title of this post has a double meaning..

New York City?

2006-09-16T23:01:00.000-07:00

My friend, Darcie and I are planning a trip to New York for new years, and I'm so excited! I've been there before, but we just drove straight through...for seven hours! It was during rush hour, and we drove down times square and everything, but never even got out of the car.

We are looking for a couple of recruits to go with us. With four people we would only need two hundred and fifty a piece to survive. That's only if we don't want any souvenirs though. We'll be there for three or four nights.

So when you're watching it I'll hopefully be there :D

Before and After

2006-09-12T18:46:00.000-07:00

I worked three hours on this today! The first one is a picture I took, and was just messin around with. The one below is a drawing of Twink from Rainbow Brite. I scanned it then brightened the colors, it took so long!I fixed it up on the photoshop stuff I got the other day, sweet!

photoshopping

2006-09-10T22:06:00.000-07:00

I went to see the covenant with my bro on Friday night. Boo! It was beyond terrible, ever been to a movie where you actually wanted to walk out, but stayed because you paid for the thing, and you are still hoping there might be a just a fraction of something that seems just a little bit decent?? Whew, feels good to get that out. I was a little interesting seeing that it was set in Salem, I was there three years ago, and it was awesome.

So enough about the junky movie. I went to TC today with the parents. We hit up Sam's Club, which is my fav because everything comes in bulk for cheaper. I saw season two of LOST, and then almost broke in to tears wanting it so bad, and not being able of afford it. So what do I do? "daaaad??" like I'm twelve years old. It was only forty bucks! But no luck, he wouldn't go for it. So I was walking down the next isle, looking at software, and what do I find? The Adobe Photoshop Elements 4.0 ! Uh oh, it's twice as much as LOST, I'll ask for it anyway. I had to come up with some interesting catch in order to get this one. So I told my mother, ''oh look, I can restore old photos with this."

So I've been working on figuring it out ever since I got home. It's tough, there's a lot to it. I had to transfer all of my photos, tag, and organize them. That took me two hours alone, and the guide book is two hundred pages long. But there's so much that I can do with it, I'm very excited. Definitely worth restoring a lot of old photos for.

finally!

2006-09-09T12:32:00.000-07:00

I had this dream last night that was so crazy, and it seemed like it lasted forever! I was being chased by the cops all night, only the cops were celebs like Leslie Nielson, Patrick Stewert, and Brad Pitt. They couldn't catch me, it was like an all-out man hunt for me, and I kept evading them, I remember actually feeling scared when I woke up, it was so weird!

Anyway, I woke up around noon, stumbled around like I always do in the morning, and found a letter from the driver assessment office. I was so excited I was actually shaking when I opened it, or maybe it was the three cups of coffee. The first thing I read was: our records indicated that you may have a medical condition that could effect your ability to operate a motor vehicle safely. WHAT?? I don't have any medical conditions...I don't know what that's all about. Then it went on to say that I have an appointment on the 20th, and I have to take a written, vision, road sign, and road test. Ugh.

I hope they decide that I, uh, don't have a medical condition because I'm signed up for North Central in the winter semester to start my associate of arts :D

TP

2006-09-04T15:08:00.000-07:00

I decided to thoroughly clean my closet today, it’s no small closet, and there’s tons of stuff in there I totally forgot I even had! I found high school letters from friends, a diary I started when I was eleven, old school work, and even some old comic books I made when I was about twelve.

You find an old diary and you can’t help but read it. I was in aw over this thing, I talked about roller skating, my crushes, what I did that day, typical stuff. Then I was reading some stuff from when I was older, and I can’t believe some of the stuff I wrote about, a lot of it I don’t even remember doing, I was a bad kid! From my diary I watched myself transform from this great kid to something terrible.

I’m all good now, it took me years to get back where I was, that eleven year old state. I’m not a child anymore, but I’m His child.

I also found a roll of toilet paper. It was a gift I got for my best friend when we were pretty young. Every year we would write something on the roll and give it back to each other for our birthday, or Christmas. It’s barely together anymore, mostly in shreds, but I took it, and pieced it together. We’re not best friends anymore, were not even friends. I changed too much to be her friend. I was getting a kick out of it until I got to the last note, then I cried because I never paid any attention to what she was saying to me. Here’s what I got out of it:

Me: From your best friend, Jennifer

Kelly: Dear best friend Jennifer, who gives me toilet paper EVERY birthday and Christmas, I wrestled this from Jason when we ran out of toilet paper, just to give you. Got to go, Happy fourteenth, your BFF….PS..is this quilted?

Me: Kelly, we really should have gotten thicker toilet paper. I hope you are having a good B-Day! I’m writing in red again, and you should keep writing in green! How long do you think this toilet paper will last, it hasn’t been that long! Happy 15^th! -Jennifer

Kelly: Jen, Merry Christmas 2000! Your Present? My advice in quotes I’ve collected.

Friendship: “Some people come into our lives and quickly go, some people stay for a while and leave footprints on out hearts, and we are never, ever the same.” -Unknown
Dreams: “Some people follow their dreams…others savagely hunt them down and beat them unmercifully into submission” -Unknown

“Twenty years from now you’ll be more disappointed by the things you didn’t do than by the things you didn’t do. So throw of the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream, Discover.” -Mark Twain

Life: “Only the wisest and stupidest of men never change.”
-Confucius

“Do not take life too seriously. You’ll never escape it alive anyway.”
-Elbert Hubbard

“Imagination is the one weapon in the war against reality:
-Jules deGaultier

“Every normal man must be tempted at times to spit on his hands, hoist the black flag, and begin slitting throats.” -Mencken

“Have the courage to live. Anyone can die.” -Robert Cody

“Always leave them laughing when you say goodbye.” –George M. Cohan

I miss my old friend, but I suppose you’ve changed too much to be her anymore. So, I just want to say good luck and thanks for being the friend I needed when I needed it.
Love Always

After reading that I almost used the TP to blow my nose, she was obviously saying goodbye.

my strength

2006-09-03T22:32:00.000-07:00

When I was young, my mother was a Sunday school teacher. She made an analogy that will stay with me forever. She held up a toothpick and a nail, the toothpick, she said, represents us, and she broke it in half. She held up the nail and tried to bend it, no luck. The nail represented God, she got out another toothpick and held it next to the nail, “with God by our side we are strong.”

When I was in school people would always ask me what I wanted to do with my life, I couldn’t just say, “I dunno,” so I threw out answers like a vet, reporter, or doctor. The truth is I never knew what I wanted to do, I always lived in the moment. I had no direction and no desire to have one, that is, until I found God.

When we are lost in the dark our eyes will naturally search out even the smallest amount of light, we will seek, and follow that light, it’s our instinct.

Now I have direction, for the first time in my life, and I pray that I’m doing what He wants.

I kind of stumbled across this verse, and I’ve heard it many times since then, but I just can’t get enough of it,

Psalms 19:14

May the words of my mouth, and the meditation of my heart, be acceptable in thy sight, O Lord, my strength, and my redeemer

Dizzy..

2006-08-30T19:53:00.000-07:00

I stared at this forever! stare at it for a while..

it's like if you stare at just one right in the center then all the other one's slow down, but if you're fidgety like you've had a lot of coffee recently and your eyes are dodgy, then they seem to move faster. I thought that this was interesting. It's cooler when it's bigger, you can click on the pic.

Kyle XY

2006-08-28T18:45:00.000-07:00

I've been watching a the series Kyle xy all day. Nine hours actually..I know, but it was like love at first episode, couldn't stop one I started. There was a marathon of it on abcfamily What's weird is that I hate TV, most of it anyway. I'll definitely be buying the series when it comes out on DVD, so good!

Addicted

2006-08-27T21:45:00.000-07:00

Yup, I am. Can't get enough of deviantART. It's very cool, and it's easy to appreciate other peoples work when you're an arteest yourself. I put a few more drawings up today, took me hours, so you better look, or else. The pic in the corner's one of 'em. ;D YAY

Bulletins

2006-08-26T16:08:00.000-07:00

Sure, some people think myspace is evil, yes, stupid stuff goes on there like fighting, and weird guys looking for young girls. It's not ALL bad though, I met a Pastor in California, and he helped me realize how bad I needed God in my life, and that's very cool, but this isn't about that. It's about bulletins, hehe. In case you don't know bulletins are like emails that you send to all of your friends on your contact list. Anyway, some of them are retarted, like saying "if you don't repost this then you don't love God," stuff like that. There is one that I recently got that just made me laugh, I get ones like this all the time:

you've been hit with the bulletin train.

make a wish

now scroll down

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
vvvvvvvvv
!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
scroll
!!!!!!!!!!

If you don't send this bulletin out TONIGHT a crazy drunk hunter will knock on your door asking for circus peanuts!!he will taunt you with a duck call and a deer head and lead you in a chase and you will get shot in the back with a arrow. and in your last moments of life you will meet a singing fish.

Yup, it's true.

90 in a 55 (not really)

2006-08-26T15:35:00.000-07:00

I've been cleaning my room all day today, I had no idea I even had so many clothes. I'm running out of places to put stuff! I found some stuff I misplaced a long time ago, some coins my parents got me in Paris, and my driving record (ouch) now I remember why I'm having so much trouble getting my license back, it's three pages long, and a total of 22 tickets!!! I'm terrible.

DeviantART

2006-08-22T21:05:00.000-07:00

It took me forever but I got around to uploading some of my art onto this site, which rocks (thanks Tob). It's deviantART, but none of my drawings are deviant! more like fluffy bunny type with rainbows and skipping children. I'll draw something morbid just to fit in.

I think I put up about eight drawings. I was looking at them and I noticed that no two are alike, as in I don't have a certain style I stick with. I never really stepped back and looked at my art. Some are anime, and others I do are portraits. I'm always trying to change something around. I dunno, you'll have to see for yourself. CLICK!!

Motivation Proclamation

2006-08-22T00:02:00.000-07:00

I'm sadly tempted to paste a "get-r-done" for my picture for this post. It would pertain because, well, that's how I feel right now. It's 3 AM and I've never been more awake.

I just had an art attack and drew three pictures. So fun! I have killer arm cramp though, and I bite my lip when I draw...pain.

About a month ago, I had this epiphany. I realized that there's so much that I want to do with my life, and there's only so much time to..hehe, git-r-done (I know, I hate that saying too). Tolkien said something like, the only thing we can do is to choose what to do with the time that is given to us. Well I don't have a better explaination on life than that.

Anyway, back to my motivation, I decided to be a psychologist. It's what I want, I mean really! But how do I know it's what God wants me to do? I don't. How are we supposed to know stuff like that?? By the way that question is rhetorical, but you can answer if you want.

Drawing

2006-08-20T22:39:00.000-07:00

I took up drawing again. I tend to take these long breaks in between, I only draw when I feel like it, which isn't really very often. I don't know where else I can display them. I don't have any pics yet of new ones, but here are some that I did earlier this year.

Jefferson Airplane

2006-08-20T22:15:00.000-07:00

"Stop, hey, whats that sound?" It's Jefferson Airplane, and I'm totally in love with them. I've been listening to White Rabbit and Good Morning, Vietnam on repeat for-ev-er.

I've learned to appreciate music not just from my generation, but my parents as well. I especially like what I call revolution music from the mid sixties, including the Mamas and the Papas, Janis Joplin, the Fugs, and Peter, Paul, and Mary. OH, and I really like Simon and Garfunkel!

Hmmm

2006-08-20T20:45:00.000-07:00

I’ve been curious about this for a long while, what is the difference between democrats and republicans? Seriously. I can’t seem to get a real answer from anyone. I continually ask my dad, who is a black hole of information, and the only thing he can seem to come up with is, “republicans are the good guys.” It’s like an instant headache to get an answer like that when you really want to know. It seems like nothing more than, republicans are pro-life, anti-gay, church-going, fundamentalists, and democrats..well, are the opposite. But isn’t there so much more? How did we decide on our votes before, abortion, drug issues, and social security benefits? Half of the people my age (23) either don’t vote, or don’t know why they are voting for the person they are voting for when they do. I wish we were closer to an election time, so that I could walk up to someone my age and ask them to give me five reasons why they are voting for who they are voting for. Am I boring you? I think I’m boring myself. Ok, here’s some definitions.

Republican:

supporter of republic as government: somebody who believes that the best government is one in which supreme power is vested in an electorate.

Democrat:

supporter of democracy: somebody who believes in or supports democracy or the democratic system of government (oh yeah, that explains it)

I finally found a good answer to both sides in wikipedia
I'm content. You can check out the ideological base on either democrat or republican.

When I posed the question I ended up finding a gold mine of quotes, and I got sidetracked. Some are amusing, and some are just scary.

“Democrats have no qualms about about recreational drugs. In fact they think the use of such drugs is cool.”

“There are huge differences between the Democratic and Republican parties and the people who are members of them. To suggest otherwise is naive.
Democrats are for the working people in this country.
Republicans are for the rich and powerful.”

"I think the puppet on the left shares my beliefs.
I think the puppet on the right shares my beliefs.
Hey! There's one guy holding both puppets!!!"

“Republicans-stupid, democrats-evil”

“For the record, I used to be a Democrat, switched to Republican in '96, and since this fiasco with governmental centralization since 9/11, I am not voting anymore.”

for dummies..

2006-08-20T09:28:00.000-07:00

I caught myself looking at my bookshelf and grinning just now. I was thinking about all the books that I love, and how I could never do without reading. Honestly, I don't know how some people can handle not reading. Well, maybe it's that when you go to a bookstore they charge you a hefty 30 big ones for a brand new hard cover.

I'm trying to expand my reading to books other than just fantasy, which will always be my favorite, but I recently picked up a copy of Dan Browns Angels and Demons. I'm also reading Catholicism for dummies, 1984, Jesus Freaks, and Dragon Rider. I probably should be reading Christianity for dummies, but I'm curious about the catholic religion..and what better way to find out than something that was made for dummies;)

In the News

2006-08-14T19:11:00.000-07:00

With a lot of stay at home time, and a whole lot of nothing to do lately, I've been catching up on the news with my pops. He's a fun guy to watch it with, we both chuckle at the same things, for example the leader of Hezbollah claiming a victory over Israel, morbidly amusing, I'll admit, but funny none the less. No doubt I wouldn't be laughing if it were America. Fortunatly there was a cease firing today, leaving both Israel and Lebanon with a sort of..irresolute peace.

On a lighter note, I've been noticing Tucker Carlson without his charming bow tie. It's his trademark, he's never without it. Not anymore, I'm wondering what became of it.

Where is Tuckers bow tie??

Now you see it ...................................................................gone!

Dell Recall

2006-08-14T17:14:00.000-07:00

Exploding computers!

Not really, but that's the way my dad described it when he heard it on the news today. It's actually the laptop battaries that are being recalled, and they don't explode, there is a small chance it might catch on fire. I do own one of those laptops in which the battaries are being recalled, it sucks. Check it all out at CNN.

reigning cats and dogs...

2006-08-12T13:40:00.000-07:00

Yesterday I decided to spend the entire day outside with my cats and dogs, which I'm very attatched to. My friends have said the I treat my husky, Kita, better than them. She's my girl! I can't help it, she hates everyone that's not me, and who doesn't like that? She jumped on me, and I twisted my back around, killing me today.

I was spraying her down with the hose and I noticed a massive bees nest three feet away from my face. I don't know how I didn't get stung because I was practically spraying the water on the nest. Then I went out and fed the cats, all twenty of them. It's probably more like twenty
five of them now that one of the adults had kittens a coupe of days ago.

I hated all of them at first, but I'm so used to them being around, I couldn't imagine it without them, especially the one I named Hampster, he looked like one when he was a kitten.

But if you want one, good luck, they are all wild, except for Hampster of course, but he's so mine.

Then there's my crazy hyper beagle, Kaylee. She's the friendliest dog ever.

Yesterday was the first time I've been outside in
a while, and I think I actually enjoyed it. I just might do it again today.

makes me laugh

2006-08-10T22:23:00.000-07:00

I saw this on a commercial and I thought it was a joke at first, yes this is the title, 'the most relaxing classical album in the world...ever!'

The way the announcer said is was even great.

Funniest thing...EVER!!! Bach would be proud.

30 Days

2006-08-10T21:11:00.000-07:00

This is a series that I picked up a couple of weeks ago, from Morgan Spurlock, the creator of Super Size Me. I saw the commercials and couldn't resist. It's a show featuring six, one hour episodes of everyday people trying out someone elses lifestyle for the appropriatly named 30 days.

Not only are they entering a different lifstyle, but they're entering one the is completly opposite to their, religion, profession, ect. The first episode is Morgan himself, and his girlfriend living on minimum wage. They had a lot of issues between the two of them because of the $5.15 they were each making an hour. I saw this one on Oprah (one of the few oprah show I've ever seen) and the majority of the audience seemed horrified. In that case they would be clutching their hearts just stepping into my hometown of Frederic. According to the 2000 census the median income of males was $31,058 while females raked in an entire $20,625, we also had a 12.1% below poverty level within the entire population.

Another episode is of a homophobic religious man from Michigan going to live in the Castro area of San Francisco. Click here for some statistics on the amount of gay males living in San Fransisco. He goes to gay bars, clubs, and even gay churches. I had no idea they even existed until I watched this. On the streets there were protestors of the homosexuals, with signs reading, "God hates fags," which I believe isn't true, and that He hates the sin. This was by far the most interesting of the episodes. One quote I picked up from the homosexual preacher, Penny Davis, is, "I think God cares more about what we do with our resources than what we do with our genitalia." ...

Others include a binge drinking mom, american consumers forced to live in an environmentally friendly neighborhood, and a devout Christian living with Muslums. Not all of the characters are as interisting or charasmatic as others, but it's the experience that they had to go through that got my attention.

Questions Answered

2006-08-09T19:50:00.000-07:00

I've had friends asking me about God lately, and a lot about science mixing in with God. I'm studying what I can with my slow resources (dial-up) but I managed to find some intersting web sites thanks to ask Jeeves.

One web site that I recentle stumbled across is dealing with God and science, ironically named Godandscience.org which answered a lot of questions that have been nagging me for a while. I'm not agreeing with everything written on the site, such as the smashing of Harry Potter, which I happen to read, but I learned something from it. This site deals with things like, "is it ok for Christians to use marijuana?" you can go to that page here.

Another good site, in which I learned there were dinosaurs written about in the bible is drdino.com

In any case, anything can contradict this guy is a good thing.
Boo Darwin!

Bible Study!

2006-08-08T23:21:00.000-07:00

How awesome that I had my first bible study today!

I got a messege from the pastors wife the other day asking me if I wanted to do a weekly bible study with her. I was so excited that I actually almost cried. I had been praying for friends to have a bible study with! So I talked to her on sunday and we set it up for tuesdays, which is perfect for me.

She knows so much about the bible, and makes it so easy for me, and I totally felt comfortable in her house.

I had a million questions to ask (as usual), and she was so good about answering them all. I finally feel like I'm getting some forward motion in here. The more I study the bible the closer I feel to God. It's so exciting to be a part of something so big and important. I thank God for blessing me so much and giving me the opportunity to learn and grow, and give me direction.

Real Conversations

2006-08-07T19:59:00.000-07:00

My parents were on a vacation this last week, so I took the opportunity to *ahem* have a few friends over.

The other night one of my friends stayed the night, and we had time to just hang out together and be ourselves.

We just kicked back and had a good time.

I love those moments when you get to have those real conversations with your friends, when you put away the talk about who wears what and all the latest gossip.

We were able to open up and talk about being Christians. I realized how much easier it's getting to talk about God openly than it was a few months ago. I was shy and scared to tell people, especially my friends, but to my surprise they are the ones who are easiest to talk to about it.

comments

2006-08-01T13:48:00.000-07:00

I finally realized that my comments weren't on, so it you want to, you can comment now.

I'm new to the whole blogging thing so I'm having some trouble with my links and whole setup.

Marathon Weekend

2006-07-30T19:53:00.000-07:00

This is actually the best picture that I managed to take of the paddlers.

For those of you that don't know, the canoe marathon is pretty much Grayling largest even of the year...it IS the largest event. People run, hop into their canoes, and take off on about a fifteen hour trip from point A (Grayling) to point B (whetever that is).

It was an good time, besides not being able to walk ten minutes outside without breaking a sweat, or trying to find a cool place to retreat to, only to have it completly packed (spikes).

If you're from Grayling you might think this is amusing. I was talking to my sister-in-law who is up for the weekend, and she's is from Ohio. So the race is something she's never heard of before. Friday night I was talking to her about it, and I told her that it starts at 9. Well the next day we got up at 9:30 AM and she was like, "oh, looks like we missed the race." I got a kick out of that.

I don't follow the race, never have, I don't buy the shirts that say MO and whoever else, I rarely know who wins, but going and being with my friends is just...tradition. I feel like I should care less whether I go or not, but there's something about being in that town and knowing half the people that live in it, and meeting the ones you don't already know is just too fun, I decided that I like living in a small town. Ok, so I don't exactly live in Grayling, but close enough.

Reunion!

2006-07-29T12:30:00.000-07:00

It was great! Me and all my brothers were able to be there at the same time for the first time in years, and they had all their kids with them. Here are some funny pics of Mark divin' in the pool!

Dance Dance Revolution

2006-07-29T01:44:00.000-07:00

So fun! Mario Dance Dance Revolution us just about the best
game eva! My brother and fam. is up for the weekend so we're
doing a lot of cool stuff together. My mom even busted a move..

alright, this is Marshan rockin out.
At one point she even was holding
her youngest kid, Kaleb, while
dancing!

Eric and Marshan playing
donkey konga, also a
sweet game at which I'm
am a master at.

I was playing go fish
with my nephews,
Blake and Luke
what cuties!

Nicole was pretty the best at this one..

Kaleb eating a
lemon when we
went out to eat
at applebees!
GROSS

Ayers family reunion

2006-07-27T20:38:00.000-07:00

Pure Excitement.

The Ayers family reunion (this saturday) is something I usually miss due to a concert I attend every year, the warped tour. Well this year I get to go, yes the warped tour is on the same day as usual, but I'm skipping it.

I'm actually pumped for this reunion, my Grandma puts a lot into it, and it comes equipped with a theme, this year it's aquatic. Something about spraying my relatives with freezing water all day is just too exciting to miss out on.

To add to it my bro. and his fam are heading up for the weekend to stay with us. They have four kids that I absoutly love, they are hilarious, and if I recall, all love star wars, which is a plus. Maybe we can have a saber fight, yes.

Sick as a...

2006-07-25T23:10:00.000-07:00

Sick as a dog. I've got it all, and yet, here I am still at the computer...

My brother, his wife, and their kids are coming to stay with us for the weekend, they'll probably all be sick by the time they leave, muah-ha.

We've got this awesome family reunion to go to on saturday..which also happens to be the same day as the canoe marathon (dilemma).

Does anyone else get sick in the middle of summer like this? No? Didn't think so.

I'm going to bed.

Vacation Bible School

2006-07-24T16:48:00.000-07:00

VBS, I remember it when I was a kid! I used to get so excited, games, singing, prizes... all that stuff. Learning about God wasn't at the top of my list though. I didn't really wanna learn about God, but if memorizing a verse meant getting a present, sure, I'd do it, I'd memorize ten. Thats just me though.

I volunteered for VBS at the Frederic Baptist Church last week, I had no idea it would be so much fun. I got to know the people that attend so much better. I would never have been getting interested in getting to know any of them a year ago, but that are all so awesome! They treated me like I actually belonged to the church. Very cool people.

I think I learned about as much as the kids this past week. I really didn't know about teaching them because half the time I don't even know what I'm talking about, so I had to listen very carefully to what preacher was saying. I worked with an awesome girl named Tammy on teaching the five year olds. Yes, they were SO hyper!! but it was fun, and they learned at lot throughout the week. I've been walking around singing those little songs we all learned for days.

Well, I think the most amount of kids we had all week was about fourteen. Yeah, that's it. Someone told me that usually the kids were lined up, waiting to come inside and start VBS, but not this year.

I really couldn't stop thinking about it, I asked someone and she said, "it's the times."

I still can't stop thinking about it.

The Door Within

2006-07-22T17:59:00.000-07:00

I saw this book for ten dollars at wal-mart a couple of months ago. Ten dollars? Great, so I bought it.

I'm always reading something, usually four or five books at a time. Well I set all of my other books aside for this one, which is rare. It's a young adults book. I admit it, I like to read books made for the younger generation, but I believe we can learn a lot from childrens books.

The story line reminds me of the bible in so many ways! wow. It starts out with this kid (Aiden) who moves to the other side of the country with his parents to live, and take care of his grandfather. He's bored, he has no friends, in fact, he was always different from the kids at his school, call it a dork.
Aiden gets bored at his grandpas, and decides to explore the basement. He ends up finding some ancient scrolls. He reads a story that is written on the scrolls and feels so strong that this story is true. At the end of all the scrolls it is written, "believe and you shall enter." Aiden believes, he enters.

I'll try not to ruin it too much, but there is a king who has a guard (Paragal). Paragal wants to be king...desperately. He convinces others to join him, then he takes the king in the middle of the night, along with some kidnapped people of the kingdom, and he gives the king an option, to remain king, or sacrifice himself to save the kidnapped people. Of course he sacrifices himself.

I'm not quite sure how, I'm only half way through the book, but the king gets resurrected. Paragal, now named Pargor (meaning one of darkness), cannot occupy the castle, he is cast out into Paragory (land of darkness).

This is where Aiden comes in, he enters the door within, and finds himself being chosen by the king himself as the twelfth knight to be sent on a mission to bring the people of distant land to the good king Eliam instead of "joining the dark side" with Paragor. TWELVE knights.

Aiden trains to become a knight, and leaves on the mission. On the adventure, one of the twelve knights betrays the king, and all of the other knights, and leaves to join Paragor.

I can't wait to see how it ends, actually it's gonna be a trilogy. So to sum it up, the king dies for his people, is resurrected, has twelve knights, one of them decieves him...

Here is a quote from the book, "The Betrayer is yet powerful,and does all he can do blind and deceive, so that no one will believe. Perhaps that is why so many people have the story of Alleble, but deem it nothing more that a...fairy tale."

Here is a verse from the bible, 2 Cor. 4:4
In whom the god of this world hath blinded the minds of them which believe not, lest the light of the glorious gospel of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine unto them.

One more thing. On the side of Paragor, there is man second in charge..his name is Rucifel, mix those letters around and you get LUCIFER, lol.