RUFFLES

Everywhere that Rachel went; her ruffles were sure to go!

(Not sure why but apparently I am all about putting myself in to nursery rhymes lately)

Ruffles went with me to chapel:

Today was a big day.......

It was at least for this little group of people invested in the Moody Bible Institute. The 9th president was announced. The big reveal - I've been referring to it as. It was not Dwight Edwards as I had so so so hoped. Alas, God had other plans... Dr. Paul Nyquist. I don't know him at all. I haven't met him. In fact, I couldn't even really see him that well because I was sitting in the very last row of the auditorium. He seemed to be genuinely humble. Totally appreciated the way he said he was going to spend the first few months as a learner and when it was over stood back with his family to take in the moment, not in the limelight to soak up the applause. And he made a joke about Ed Cannon's hair which was enough to win my affection! kinda pathetic, I know. :) hahahaha. He will be an aggressive learner though and I am so looking forward to his coming vision and leadership. And he likes people- which is HUGE. He remembered my boss' name which we were both very impressed with.

On a comedic note: There was regularly scheduled programming (chapel) right before the announcement. So the board and the trustees and the VP's and everybody came in right before the big reveal. As the suits were filing in; all I could think was "here comes the Fuzz." And then Jerry Jenkins got up there to make the announcement and it hit me: He totally looks like Diego from Ice Age!

Do you see it?

(Disclaimer: Maybe this is too corporate for the blog, but I just want to say that I totally respect and appreciate ALL that Jerry Jenkins does for this school. His support, faithfulness and leadership is outstanding. I just couldn't help but notice there was some similarities in his face structure... that's all!)

Ruffles went with me to Dr. Hockey:

Dr. Hockey was looking so fine today- he had the scruff going for him. I was also looking fine today. Confession: maybe I spent an extra 1/2 hour getting myself together this morning. I even wore tinted lip gloss instead of clear. Serious business here folks! He was totally distracted by this blondie that came in right before me though and I spent most of my time with Dr. Asian Receptionist. S-A-D! All I can think is that maybe he had a traumatic experience with ruffles as a child........maybe.

Ruffles went with me to Lush:

No, it's not "Old Country Buffet" for alcoholics. It's a homemade soap store. I bought a 3 step facial routine and got a free lotion. The girl who helped me was the most outstandingly cheerful person ever and well she ought to be because I was in the mood to let her sell me just about the whole store. So check out my face sometime- hopefully it will be radiant.

Ruffles went with me all over downtown:
When I got off the "el" I couldn't bring myself to go indoors- it was such a glorious day. The kind of day I wish I had a tent, a whole lot of days off and a car to get me to someplace ruggedly beautiful.... quick! I didn't have an agenda. Just walked around exploring, letting the red hand or the white man decide where I turned. On one of the red hands, some lights were burnt out and so it looked like it was flashing I love you in sign language. I ended up at Walgreens to buy some bleach for our smelly little apartment. Seriously, the stench is KILLING me. The land-lady came up today and I showed her the cabinet and the wood where the mysterious odor is coming from. She is sure that it is tuna or cat food. Hmmm. That's strange ----- we don't have either! Any suggestions? Miracle cleaning salves? An old Polish grandma who can figure it out?

Today a girl asked me about my thoughts on the future and feeling about the present. (i.e.- what are you doing with your life and are you good with that?) It was interesting to see how my response has changed from this anxious script of it "being a temporary job" and justifying it by saying how quickly I'm outta here. The Lord has been teaching me so much in this time of my life. I know that I would hate to miss out on that. I do still want to be involved with missions in the future (just FYI for those of you I fear are judging); however the Lord has been convicting me about my tainted motives. I'm a pretty black and white person- ok, I'm a TOTALLY black and white person. So it would be much easier for me to live either a totally lavish life or a totally desolate one. Living in moderation and having self-control balanced with generosity and trust in the Lord requires walking in the Spirit. That sounds noble, but it's hard for me. What does it look like to depend on the Lord when there is enough money in my bank account? How do you trust God to meet your needs when the fridg is full? Where is your reliance on the Lord when you are walking around in ruffles?

Top 5

Top 5 reasons today was great:
5. I saw Jerry Jenkins wearing blue jeans.
4. I found a Sholom Aleichem finger puppet/magnet and bought it for my Jewish Lit. Professor.
3. Chapel with Dr. Tim Sisk. The man was on fire with the Spirit, delivering such a convicting call to compassion and prayer.
2. I went with my friend to purchase "Everybody Poops" in Japanese.
1. I got a voicemail today from Dr. Hockey!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
(OK, so I called the office to reschedule my appointment for tomorrow, but no one answered so I left a message and he called me back himself!!!!!!!!)


#4. Sholom.

Home Again, Home Again - Jiggity Jig!

To market, to market

to buy a fat pig

Home again, home again

jiggity jig!

Is there anymore to that rhyme???

Seems like there should be............

Tuesday night I flew home for the Easter week celebrations. I had taken a cab to the airport in Chicago. (I know I could take CTA, but given my track record with them- I was not about to mess with that.) I met the nicest old man though driving the cab. His name was Ricardo. He used to be shy but now he talks too much. He said being a cabbie brought him out of his shell and that if I wanted him to stop talking he would. He had a bunch of stories and reminded me of my grandpa- a Mexican version. He was telling me how he had not gone to school because of family problems but all of his children had gone to school and someday he would finish and get the certificates and be so proud to see his name. We talked about Moody a little and how I had studied there to teach people in other countries about the Bible. He was intrigued by this and we talked about true faith. It was encouraging. On the flight, I sat next to a man who was in his 30's and had not flown much. He was scared and I did all but hold his hand on the landing. Admittedly, it was rougher than normal, but he was holding on to the seat in front of him like it was his job. Poor little fella!

Home was fun and as always- full of delicious food and treats. (Seriously, I am afraid of Darlene and the scale tonight.... dom da dom da--- dom!) I got to see my puppies... I love them. The basement was my Mom's "newest" project. It is a project 20+ years in the making- this may be the time they finish it for real though. ;) We have an organ (don't ask me why) and a pool table in our basement that don't get a whole lot of use so my Mom decided that they were going to the curb. They are super heavy so we left them in a pile at the bottom of the stairs for my Dad and my sister's boyfriend to carry out. Seeing the strain coming up the stairs put on them my Mom came up with an alternate plan for getting the oversize items to the end of the driveway- hook them to a tow rope and drag them down with the mini-van! So that's what we did:

I have not felt like I belonged in the country more than in those moments.

This is our curb:
1 organ
1 pool table
1 toy plastic spring horse
4 cubicle walls and
4 desk chairs later
hahahaha!
You will not believe it but someone actually took the horse and pool table.
"You know you're a redneck if........"

In that same vein, we also patronized the local Sam's Club.

This is an amazing place where everything is in bulk.
It's a dream come true for my family. I am joking, but yet I am not.
Here's us with our 2 carts.... that's right 2!

Besides all the "hick"-esque things we did while I was home, it was so great to celebrate Easter with my family. It is my fave holiday! I love that Jesus conquered all that darkness and is alive... I love that He's real and here... right now! There is this Storykeepers movie that has become tradition to watch on Easter (2 of my sisters hate it, but I try to pretend they are just kidding). I have seen it alot of years but it always makes me cry. Ben the Baker is too cool. I love that he sacrifices his chance for escape just so he has the chance to tell this evil Roman soldier the "rest of the story." No matter what my sisters say-- that's the power of the gospel and it thrills me.
Not to mention I think short, pudgy bakers are super cute. :)

We colored eggs together trying a new technique with rubber bands. I saw it on someone's facebook and thought it would be a good idea- I feel like we were missing part of the skill. We were just making a mess! We played Clue and I am proud to say that I beat my Dad. Introduced my sisters to "Girls just want to have fun." They were less amused with it than I anticipated!
SAD! They just could appreciate it's raw comedic form the way Alli and I could I guess. And I bought some new clothes; a shirt with ruffles! A shirt which I had made fun of and swore I would never buy, and yet tomorrow I am debuting it at the Chiropractor's.

On Sunday after church I went to Speedway and purchased the LARGEST Fro-Co they had to offer. For those amateurs, that is Frozen Coke. What a delicious treat! Not having pop was so humbling lent. It would seem a simple task and yet I need the Lord's help- even for this small thing. I cannot even imagine the things that Christ gave up in order to make salvation free to me. Things far better than Fro-co's.

To Michigan, to Michigan
to see the family
To Chicago again, Chicago again
to reckon with Darlene!

Many Much Mornings and Bizarre Umbrellas

Today has been a strange one. I woke up at the equivalent to 2:40am Chicago time and have still not rested. This morning I got up at my house in Michigan- my Dad drove me to the airport (bless his heart).

We departed from FNT at 6:10am and arrived at ORD at 6:15am. (No typo folks... it's the time difference!) Security was pretty tight at the Flint Bishop International Airport this morning. 5:30am- Get patted down for wearing a sweatshirt. CHECK. There were two little boys on the plane- both with window seats who were so fun to watch. Twin 6ish year olds- they were pointing out everything to eachother and their parents. We touched down in Chicago before the sun had a chance to show off it's glory. Actually while the sun was dawning- I was in the tunnels of Chicago waiting for the Blue Line to get it together. There was a man who had fallen on the tracks being rescued. (He was OK, just drunk or exhausted- I couldn't tell which) They had shut down the line for safety and took a little bit to reboot. In the mean time, a man thought he would take the opportunity to "make water" inbetween the train cars. (Oh that he had been as discreet as my description!) Welcome back to Chicago Rach! I had missed it as much as it missed me- especially CTA. Later when I transferred to the bus I fell.... Not outside on the sidewalk running to catch the bus, OH NO! Much too conventional for me. I fell inside where everyone had a better view of the fact that I cannot balance a suitcase on a pair of flip-flops. I made it back to the apartment in just enough time to take a shower and get to work. OK, so I was 3 minutes late. Boss was undoubtedly happy to see that I had returned... also I think he was more amused with my morning antics than he let on about. :) That's what I'm telling myself anyway. By lunchtime I had been awake for nearly 10 hours and yet was still going strong. A bowl of oatmeal and I was headed back down the block to work. It been pretty overcast in Chicago today; dreary, cold, miserable. I saw this woman walking toward me under the shelter of a large umbrella. Each slat had a letter at the end of it- spelling something all the way around. (When I got closer, I realized that it was for PEN INSurance) but from far away the first 6 letters were a little "iffy." If you know what I mean. I'm so junior high, I know... but I couldn't help it!

Other things of significance from today:
1. As I spread my cream cheese on a bagel in Flint waiting for my flight to board, I was overcome with a desire to base an emergency escape plan on my plastic-ware knife just like MacGyver.
2. I saw a singing goat hand puppet today: "high on a hill was a lonely goat herder... yodela-hi yodela-hi, yodale-hi, hoo!"
3. There is a Snapple in one of the stalls on the third floor women's washroom of the building where I work. It has been there since before I went home for Easter last week (FYI: Blog about that to come-- with photos. Promise it's worth the wait!). The thing about the Snapple is that I swear there is some gone since last week. Hmmmm. Kinda makes you wonder doesn't it? Hypothesis' welcome.

My frenzied amusement with life is crashing into anger right now... A good time to end this post I think. ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz.................................

The Longest Weekend ... EVER!

Friday began with my boss calling me into his office to tell me that due to "strategic reductions," he would no longer need a full-time assistant as of the end of May. Happy Friday, right?! I was totally shocked. Predictably; I had been running late and instead of taking the time to put on shoes, I wore flip flops to work. Boss was so kind to assure me that the change had nothing to do with my abilities or performance (in my head I added 'or flip flops'). I was totally teary over the news but did not cry. Hooray for being a grown-up. Boss also was beyond thoughtful in working to make another position here available to me. I still need to decide about this...more on this in a few paragraphs. It was a crazy day to get this news because I was extremely busy getting things settled for the Parent Association that was in town this weekend. So I didn't really get time to process it much.

I spent Friday night and all day Saturday with the Parent Association. It was fun... what can I say? I love taking care of details and I am a super schmoozer. Be assured; these are things my Mom is phenomenally proud of. When I am a parent maybe I will think the very same things these men and women do now, but there are a good deal of their concerns that have never even entered my mind. I think this is a good discussion- how different ages look at life and responsibilities and money and technology, etc. The spectrum is so very wide.

At each Parent Association get together, we like to have a student leader come and share about their group and perspective. This meeting an RA was going to come, but it fell through so I ended up sharing from my previous experience. That was actually such a blessing to me. Suddenly I was telling stories I had not thought of in awhile and reflecting on lessons learned that had been filed away this past year. It refreshed me not only to call to mind all the ways I saw God's faithfulness in those 2 years, but also reminded me how much passion I have for spiritual formation and student development and residence life. (I was actually looking at RS/RD positions last year before this job opportunity came up). The other position that is available to me is working more closely to this world. This vein of work also dovetails nicely with what I would love to do in the future- give people rest, coordinate details, etc. I will still be continuing to pray about it- but right now it looks like a go to me.

Friday also held a super amusing visit to Dr. Hockey. The blog could not do it justice, so ask me sometime in person and I will tell you the whole story- demonstration included. (A $50 value, absolutely free if you call in the next 10 minutes!) hahaha. :) If this is any indication, the beginning of the story involves me asking him if he makes art, him telling me he draws a little-comics and plays the guitar, and then me knocking the roll paper off it's holder and sending it rolling across the room. Awesome.

Kaitlyn had cleaned like crazy while I was working on Saturday. She made the place sparkle with her "woman's touch" however, it had not gotten rid of this mysterious odor coming from near and/or around our fridg. (PS- "mysterious odor" is an awesome thing to search for on google) This may be too graphic for those with weak stomachs, but to me it smells like urine and chicken broth. NASTY basically. Nothing smells funny in the fridg or freezer. We pulled out the fridg and Pine-Sol-ed behind it even; and still it smells. 2 thoughts I have are a dead mouse in our wall- ick! or something funky with our washer/dryer that sits on the other side of that wall. Hopefully the landlord will come look at it soon. That night Amy, Kaits and I went out to McCormick and Schmidt's. They have the best spinach and artichoke dip I have ever tasted. The three of us were all pretty impressed with our heads: my hot (high school free) hair, Kaitlyn's flower band and Amy's hat. Maybe we got hollered at by a man in a van as we walked across the street. "How you doing?" hahahahha.

Oh my word- this blog is getting to be as long as my weekend. hahahaha.

Sunday I had the little ones for church. I had prepared a lesson and stuff but didn't realize A.)how young some of them are and B.) how long I should prepare for. At one point one of the little children knocked a glass table over and a potted plant spilled all it's soil on the carpet and then all 8 children were running through it. My "helper" bit off the marker point and spit it out on the carpet also. hahaha. Teaching FAIL!

After church I had a long talk with Jolanda. She offered that if things should change now or in the future even more with my job or finances, that I could always come stay with her. She told me a bit of her testimony and how no one had ever offered her that in her younger struggling years. Can I just say that God's grace is truly incredible?! Jolanda's life is such an example of that. In the moment, I didn't realize what a big deal it was but as I left I was crying. Crying because I had just experienced from her a sense of stability and support I never expected outside of my blood relatives. I knew that if I asked my church for help in any way, they would take care of me but for her to offer independent of my desperation was more assuring than I could handle. That longing to be taken care of which I usually blame on not having a husband was suddenly completely taken care of by Christ's Body. Wow! Being a part of the church has turned my world upsidedown... How I wish everyone could experience what it means to be part of God's family. Realistically, I'm not concerned about not having a place to stay or anything right now, but just to know that somebody's got me just in case. That is so comforting. So so so so comforting.

Sunday was full of friends! I went to Alli's for a delicious lunch and time to catch up.
Then went with Scott and Joe to a burrito place for dinner. On the way we saw a man who looked like Sherlock Holmes board the bus- tweed suit, hat with feather, round glasses, red beard. Good times! We also saw a Mariachi Band. The boys totally had "pant envy."

OK, I think that's all. That's enough anyway right?... hahaha.

"so High School" no longer!

BEFORE:

It had been awhile since I got my hair cut and my friend Amy told me about a great salon in the city. When I went in, the stylist and part owner- Cora Lee told me that my hair was "so high school". I'm not sure what it is now- "so post-college" maybe, but at the very least I know that I now have a sexy bang that I'm going to try out tomorrow on Dr. Hockey. Hahahhahaa.

AFTER:

What do you think??

Filling in the Cracks

Here's some random things I have wanted to share, but at the time didn't seem long enough to blog about independently.

Movies I have watched recently:
Be Kind, Rewind-awesome movie, love Jack Black and all his extreme silliness!
Kiss Kiss Bang Bang-terrible movie, please don't watch or tell anyone I did!
Calendar Girls-sweet movie, worth watching if you are a girl!

Inventory at Lifeway made my life complete on Saturday. I was assigned the card section (with a couple other people). Imagine if you will -scanning every single card. bleep bleep bleep bleep....... BLEEP BLEEP BLEEP.......! I know to some it may sound awful but it is such a great outlet for me; a context where it is OK to be obsessed with being right! Hooray!

Sunday morning I could not get to church- I waited for the Clark bus for 40 minutes. "CTA, why do you hate me so? I am a nice girl. What have I done to offend you?" That night I played ENCORE. It is the funnest game ever. Two teams alternate thinking of songs that have a particular word in them or from a particular category (EX: Songs that have a number over 10 in them) My team was defeated in the end, but we were pretty great anyway. I took the red line as far north as I have ever been on the "el"- to the Morse stop. My friend Carol was in town and it was so fun to catch up with her in person. The phone just cannot do this woman justice! :) One of her daughter's best friends was there who looked familar to me. Later when she mentioned that she worked at Urban Oasis on Maple, I realized that she had given me a massage about a month ago! Crazy small, awkward world.

Yesterday was the text book bad day..... started off good, got paid, got some sad news, paid my bills, all my friends were busy, gained weight instead of losing it, and it was raining. However, it ended pretty well. I bought an exercise ball finally to do some stretches Dr. Hockey gave me. It is breast cancer awareness pink and so so fun! I felt like a little kid at recess rolling around my apartment.

Today I am getting my hair cut. I think we're going for long layers (ie- Jennifer Anniston in the 90's) but who knows?? I might end up going crazy (ie- Susan Powter in the 90's). Stop the Insanity!