I have some exciting news: we have our first "progress" with our adoption to announce in a long time. Last night we finished the paperwork to submit to the Indian Government, and today I put it in the mail. Narasimha's brother and his wife leave for India from the East Coast in a few days, and we thought it would be better to send it with people versus in the mail if possible. So we buckled down and finished the packet, and right now it's on the way to New Jersey. In a few days it will be on the flight to India as part of carry-on luggage. Then my brother-in-law will hand deliver it to the orphanage for us. It's not a huge start, but with our snail pace I'll be happy with anything!
Please be in prayer: the situation in India that I've had in my prayer request list in the sidebar for several months now is not completely resolved. And, it could still very much affect our progress. Please pray for those whose lives are affected there (my in-laws) and that God would allow further adoption progress for our family as He sees fit. Of course we want a child now, but if God makes it clear that His plan is for us to wait even longer, then that is what we will do with peaceful and thankful hearts with grace God alone can give.
From here: We need to be preparing for our homestudy. We have no timeline for this as of now. I also need to be researching the immigration issue from an American standpoint. My initial thought is that it will be harder to get our child into our country (and home) than it will be to have one placed in our care.
Monday, December 29, 2008
Digital Camera Flub Update
This post is to follow the blurb I had at the bottom of my post from Christmas Day. If you don't have a digital camera, or if you have a digital camera and know your stuff, or if you're already bored reading this, this post isn't for you ;)
So...here's what happened on Christmas. Our camera is a few years old, and we have always liked its performance (it's a Canon SD800 IS, if you're interested). However, recently, some of the shots have been a little blurry, or the lighting is a little weird, or whatever. So after the Christmas Day festivities Narasimha was absent-mindedly messing with the settings to see if he could figure out why these annoying things were going on. I think he was tired after the long day, and he happened upon the option to "format card." To say the least, the meaning of this action is lost on me. However, Narasimha says even now that he knew this was bad. He scrolled from the preset function of "no" to "yes" and pushed enter. Immediately the camera screen said "no files found." Which is bad. 2 seconds earlier we had several hundred pics saved on our disk. And they were all gone in an instant. He tried to retrieve the pics, and even downloaded some free retrieval software from the internet. Nothing worked. He found the number of a company who specializes in retrieving lost stuff, but when he called first thing Friday morning found out they were closed for the holiday until Monday. However, what he found out on the website was that there was some special reading software you could buy for $75, and if that didn't work, you could send your card to them and they would try to get it off for between $75-200-ish. Ouch. And, we weren't sure we'd get our disk back if we had to send it to them, and those are pretty spendy as well. Not to mention, no guarantees of success.
So we waited over the weekend, and Narasimha called first thing this morning. He talked to a guy who said it sounded like if anything would work, this thing called a "reader" (or something like that) would do it. No use sending it in. It looked for some reason like the computer wasn't reading our files (are you lost yet, because I was a while ago...). So we went to Staples this afternoon, and bought this like $15 thing. And it worked for the most part - Yay!!! Some of the pics have like inverted colors, and we're missing some we think, and some of them only load like half way for whatever reason. But I think we have about 90-ish% of our pics in tact. We're very thankful!
A few things we walked away from this now knowing: First, memory cards have a "lock" function. I knew that, but never used it before. This is good because you have to "unlock" (with the push of a little lever thing) to be able to do anything to your card besides add to it (so take pics, etc.). It's probably a little annoying and cumbersome at times, but it safeguards against accidental slips. Also, if anything (camera, computer, etc.) has technical functions with preset answers - you tell it to do something and it brings up 2 answers, no and yes for example, and one of them is highlighted - the one that is highlighted is generally the "right" answer unless you know what you're doing, or you're actually trying to do something specific. Our whole problem would have never happened had Narasimha went with the preset answer "no" for his little disk formatting escapade. This may seem obvious to some or all of you, but I am what you would call technologically challenged, and these little reminders will likely be helpful to me in the future.
Any suggestions or things to add? I hope this never happens to any of you.
*Note (as of 12/30): Locking the card doesn't actually work. When the card is locked (at least the one we have) it won't take or delete pics or make formatting changes. So nevermind that "advice" from above.
So...here's what happened on Christmas. Our camera is a few years old, and we have always liked its performance (it's a Canon SD800 IS, if you're interested). However, recently, some of the shots have been a little blurry, or the lighting is a little weird, or whatever. So after the Christmas Day festivities Narasimha was absent-mindedly messing with the settings to see if he could figure out why these annoying things were going on. I think he was tired after the long day, and he happened upon the option to "format card." To say the least, the meaning of this action is lost on me. However, Narasimha says even now that he knew this was bad. He scrolled from the preset function of "no" to "yes" and pushed enter. Immediately the camera screen said "no files found." Which is bad. 2 seconds earlier we had several hundred pics saved on our disk. And they were all gone in an instant. He tried to retrieve the pics, and even downloaded some free retrieval software from the internet. Nothing worked. He found the number of a company who specializes in retrieving lost stuff, but when he called first thing Friday morning found out they were closed for the holiday until Monday. However, what he found out on the website was that there was some special reading software you could buy for $75, and if that didn't work, you could send your card to them and they would try to get it off for between $75-200-ish. Ouch. And, we weren't sure we'd get our disk back if we had to send it to them, and those are pretty spendy as well. Not to mention, no guarantees of success.
So we waited over the weekend, and Narasimha called first thing this morning. He talked to a guy who said it sounded like if anything would work, this thing called a "reader" (or something like that) would do it. No use sending it in. It looked for some reason like the computer wasn't reading our files (are you lost yet, because I was a while ago...). So we went to Staples this afternoon, and bought this like $15 thing. And it worked for the most part - Yay!!! Some of the pics have like inverted colors, and we're missing some we think, and some of them only load like half way for whatever reason. But I think we have about 90-ish% of our pics in tact. We're very thankful!
A few things we walked away from this now knowing: First, memory cards have a "lock" function. I knew that, but never used it before. This is good because you have to "unlock" (with the push of a little lever thing) to be able to do anything to your card besides add to it (so take pics, etc.). It's probably a little annoying and cumbersome at times, but it safeguards against accidental slips. Also, if anything (camera, computer, etc.) has technical functions with preset answers - you tell it to do something and it brings up 2 answers, no and yes for example, and one of them is highlighted - the one that is highlighted is generally the "right" answer unless you know what you're doing, or you're actually trying to do something specific. Our whole problem would have never happened had Narasimha went with the preset answer "no" for his little disk formatting escapade. This may seem obvious to some or all of you, but I am what you would call technologically challenged, and these little reminders will likely be helpful to me in the future.
Any suggestions or things to add? I hope this never happens to any of you.
*Note (as of 12/30): Locking the card doesn't actually work. When the card is locked (at least the one we have) it won't take or delete pics or make formatting changes. So nevermind that "advice" from above.
Thursday, December 25, 2008
Merry Christmas!
My family, friends and I had a wonderful and blessed Christmas - I hope the same is true for you and yours.
Christmas Eve Narasimha and I celebrated at home with gifts and special time together. Our exciting joint gift this year was an espresso machine. I'm finding out that making espresso drinks is more of an art than I remembered from my days as a barista in the coffee shop of my dorm freshman year of college. We'll have to see how this goes...
Christmas Eve we drove to Dad and Mom's so we could wake up there after sleeping in a bit longer than if we came in the morning. We opened gifts as a family, and then off to the neighbors (no blood relation, but still family) for Christmas dinner - an annual tradition. Then the Christmas Day nap, and back over to the neighbors for leftovers and more time with family and friends.
I am also fortunate enough to get together with both Mom and Dad's sides for weekends around Christmas time - one down, one to go later into the New Year.
The bummer of the day: Narasimha had a slip on our digital camera and we lost all of our pics. Actually, I haven't transferred pictures to our computer from the camera since right after our marathon in October, so we lost several hundred pictures of some special times, including all of today's. I'm pretty bummed, and Narasimha is really kicking himself. So, I'd post a few pics of us and my family, but I can't... He has been frantically searching the internet since his flub a bit ago, and there is a chance we can hire someone to "retrieve" them. The free software he found on the internet isn't working... We'll have to see when everything opens back up early next week. I guess technology works best when it's on your side... :(
Christmas Eve Narasimha and I celebrated at home with gifts and special time together. Our exciting joint gift this year was an espresso machine. I'm finding out that making espresso drinks is more of an art than I remembered from my days as a barista in the coffee shop of my dorm freshman year of college. We'll have to see how this goes...
Christmas Eve we drove to Dad and Mom's so we could wake up there after sleeping in a bit longer than if we came in the morning. We opened gifts as a family, and then off to the neighbors (no blood relation, but still family) for Christmas dinner - an annual tradition. Then the Christmas Day nap, and back over to the neighbors for leftovers and more time with family and friends.
I am also fortunate enough to get together with both Mom and Dad's sides for weekends around Christmas time - one down, one to go later into the New Year.
The bummer of the day: Narasimha had a slip on our digital camera and we lost all of our pics. Actually, I haven't transferred pictures to our computer from the camera since right after our marathon in October, so we lost several hundred pictures of some special times, including all of today's. I'm pretty bummed, and Narasimha is really kicking himself. So, I'd post a few pics of us and my family, but I can't... He has been frantically searching the internet since his flub a bit ago, and there is a chance we can hire someone to "retrieve" them. The free software he found on the internet isn't working... We'll have to see when everything opens back up early next week. I guess technology works best when it's on your side... :(
Wednesday, December 24, 2008
Snow
I wanted to give a review of this album on my blog - I think this is possibly my favorite Christmas CD. One I can listen to over and over and over again. I recommend it - it's lots of fun. And, technically, Go Fish is a kids' group. However, their slogan is something to the effect of "Music that kids love that won't drive their parents bonkers." And I agree - I don't even have kids and I listen to it voluntarily :) I have also put the lyrics of two of the songs on the blog just a bit ago - the words to these songs (Go Fish originals, I believe) are powerful and important. Hope you enjoy my "review." :) **Note: I am no music expert. That will likely be obvious to those of you who may be. These are just my thoughts with a little music terminology that I hope I used correctly... If you're an expert, read on at your own risk ;)
1. Joy To The World - This Christmas classic is tweaked Go Fish style. It's great to sing along with - upbeat and fun, and as far as I can tell the voices are accompanied by drums only, and only a little. 3 of the 4 verses are recorded, along with a small interlude of Go Fish original material. The unison voices in this piece I think show the musicianship of the group.
1. Joy To The World - This Christmas classic is tweaked Go Fish style. It's great to sing along with - upbeat and fun, and as far as I can tell the voices are accompanied by drums only, and only a little. 3 of the 4 verses are recorded, along with a small interlude of Go Fish original material. The unison voices in this piece I think show the musicianship of the group.2. We Three Kings - A little slower than the first, and a few more percussion instruments than drums for accompaniment. Still lots of fun. Another small Go Fish interlude. Lots of emphasis on Jesus being Christmas' "star." 2 of 5 verses, but the first verse is sung twice (before and after second verse).
3. Away In A Manger/Beautiful Savior - A capella. Beautiful. Slow and "quiet." The group's bass singer is great I think - and the whole song has real depth. 2 verses of Away In A Manger, though the second verse has slightly different words than I'm used to. Transition into Beautiful Savior, which I think is a great combo focusing on who the Baby in the manger was. 1 verse of Beautiful Savior.
4. Christmas Time - Fun with a good beat. A Go Fish original, I think. Drum accompaniment. A jab at Santa that I can appreciate ;) Focus on cultural Christmas "atmosphere" with very clear and well-done Jesus focus in the middle. For some reason I feel like it's a mix (or somewhat of a remix) of one or a few popular secular Christmas songs, but I can't place which ones for sure. I don't know...
5. Christmas With A Capital "C" - Lyrics below. A Go Fish original, and I believe it's the name of their Christmas tour. An important song for Christians in an increasingly secular world who'd like to take Jesus right out of Christmas. Fun and funny with a message. Speaking parts by comedian Brad Stine who does a good job. Encouragement for us as Christians to stand up for ourselves against Santa and a culture who embraces him (only). I don't know that I go along with all the points made - however, I appreciate the stand being made. And, overall, their point is appropriate and well-said. And, since the target audience is children, I think the message does a good job of helping to give (our) kids the courage and attitude to stand up for Jesus. These songs are the things that stick with kids as they grow and face life.
6. White Christmas - A sort-of barber shop sound, voices and light drums, complete with snapping of fingers. The bass sings the melody on this one, and he's great. Fun and easy-going. The only song on the CD that never mentions Jesus, which is fine with me due to the heavy focus on the whole rest of the CD. A well-done Christmas classic.
7. Christmas And You - Somewhat of a "love song." Go Fish original. Voices and drums. Focus on celebrating Jesus with a person (or people) who are special to you. Great focus on Jesus and the point of His life. Some cultural (even "secular") Christmas references, well-done and appropriate I think. Fun and slower.
8. It's About The Cross - Great song. Medium speed. Lyrics below. Go fish original. Powerful way to bridge Christmas and its importance to Easter. Draws focus from "details" of the holiday to the "big picture." I truly can't pick a favorite between this and number 5. I feel like every line in the whole song is worthy of meditating on. Great song of worship and focus on our wonderful and sacrificial Father and Son. The line that I highlighted in the post below brings tears to my eyes every time I listen to it ("Every drop of blood...").
9. The Little Drummer Boy - You've heard it. They do it well. Starts slow and picks up a bit - great to sing along with (they all are). A great drum "line" - what would you expect? The voice/special/drum effects are very well done and a lot of fun to listen to. A good focus in the middle and at the end of giving what we can, no matter how small (details the "drumming" as service and praise), to our Savior. 3 verses. A lot of activity.
10. My Jesus I Love Thee - Not generally a Christmas song I don't think, but a great focus on praise to our Savior to round out the album. Piano, special effects and drums (I don't remember anything but percussion on any other song). This song, especially the way they do it, brings tears to my eyes. A true pledge of allegiance and love to our Savior Jesus, the Christ of Christmas. 3 verses. Medium speed, and in my opinion, wonderful musicianship and harmony line. I love it.
As you can probably tell, I love this album. I have listened to it a million times in the last month, and am sad to have to put it away for 11 months in a few days. There are a few small things I don't love about it (one that comes to mind is a few references to "kissing" and "mistletoe"). However, all things considered, I will likely be "jamming" to this album every Christmas for a long time.
Christmas With A Capital "C"
From Go Fish's Album Snow, with comedian Brad Stine (speaking parts - in italics).
Speaking:
I remember when people used to say things like "Merry Christmas" to each other.
Everybody said "Merry Christmas."
"Hey, Merry Christmas to you Mr. Lowenstein."
You know why? Cuz it wasn't about a religion.
It was something as a culture we thought was so valuable
that'd we'd all do it together even if I disagreed with the religion behind it because it was good for all of us instead of just me.
But what do people say now? "Happy holidays."
See I just say "Happy holidays" cuz I don't want to say Christmas cuz
you don't believe in Christmas and I don't want to offend you...
It's called Christmas
Well I went to the coffee shop to get myself a mocha
The lady at the counter said "Happy Holidays"
I said "Thanks lady, I am pretty happy
But there's only one holiday that makes me feel that way and..."
[Chorus]
It's called Christmas
What more can I say
It's about the birth of Christ
And you can't take that away
You can call it something else
But that's not what it'll be
It's called Christmas with a capital C
God's got a law and we've pretty much destroyed it
We're gonna get judged, there's no way to avoid it
But Jesus came down to take the punishment for me
He did it for you too, so now maybe you can see why
[Chorus]
It's called Christmas
Oh yes, we want to say "Happy holidays" because we don't want to leave anybody out. Really, how come there's a ton of holidays in February, and nobody ever says "Happy holidays" in February do they? They say what it is: "Happy Valentine's D..." Ooh, do you believe in love?
It's called Christmas
But nobody wants to say "Christmas" anymore more. Why? I know why - you do too. It's because it's got "Christ" in it, and after 2000 years, He's still intimidatin' people. You see, when a religious Person says "I am the Way" people don't want to hear it. They don't!
It's called Christmas
I say you've got to say "Merry Christmas" cuz it is. You don't believe in it? Fine. But I have a flash for you. Christianity happens to be the religious heritage of my country, whether you like it or not.
It's called Christmas
So if you're not a Christian, or you don't like it, and you don't want Christmas celebrated, God bless ya. But let me tell ya somethin', if you think you're gonna stop me from saying it because it offends you, hey I've got a flash for ya: Put a helmet on! It's my country too!
[Chorus x2]
Speaking:
I remember when people used to say things like "Merry Christmas" to each other.
Everybody said "Merry Christmas."
"Hey, Merry Christmas to you Mr. Lowenstein."
You know why? Cuz it wasn't about a religion.
It was something as a culture we thought was so valuable
that'd we'd all do it together even if I disagreed with the religion behind it because it was good for all of us instead of just me.
But what do people say now? "Happy holidays."
See I just say "Happy holidays" cuz I don't want to say Christmas cuz
you don't believe in Christmas and I don't want to offend you...
It's called Christmas
Well I went to the coffee shop to get myself a mocha
The lady at the counter said "Happy Holidays"
I said "Thanks lady, I am pretty happy
But there's only one holiday that makes me feel that way and..."
[Chorus]
It's called Christmas
What more can I say
It's about the birth of Christ
And you can't take that away
You can call it something else
But that's not what it'll be
It's called Christmas with a capital C
God's got a law and we've pretty much destroyed it
We're gonna get judged, there's no way to avoid it
But Jesus came down to take the punishment for me
He did it for you too, so now maybe you can see why
[Chorus]
It's called Christmas
Oh yes, we want to say "Happy holidays" because we don't want to leave anybody out. Really, how come there's a ton of holidays in February, and nobody ever says "Happy holidays" in February do they? They say what it is: "Happy Valentine's D..." Ooh, do you believe in love?
It's called Christmas
But nobody wants to say "Christmas" anymore more. Why? I know why - you do too. It's because it's got "Christ" in it, and after 2000 years, He's still intimidatin' people. You see, when a religious Person says "I am the Way" people don't want to hear it. They don't!
It's called Christmas
I say you've got to say "Merry Christmas" cuz it is. You don't believe in it? Fine. But I have a flash for you. Christianity happens to be the religious heritage of my country, whether you like it or not.
It's called Christmas
So if you're not a Christian, or you don't like it, and you don't want Christmas celebrated, God bless ya. But let me tell ya somethin', if you think you're gonna stop me from saying it because it offends you, hey I've got a flash for ya: Put a helmet on! It's my country too!
[Chorus x2]
It's About The Cross
From Go Fish's Album Snow.
It's not just about the manger where the Baby laid
It's not all about the angels who sang for Him that day
It's not just about the shepherds or the bright and shining star
Oh, it's not all about the wisemen who traveled from afar
[Chorus]
It's about the cross
It's about my sin
It's about how Jesus came to be born once
So that we could be born again
It's about the stone
That was rolled away
So that you and I could have real life someday
It's about the cross
It's not just about the presents underneath the tree
It's not all about the feeling that this season brings to me
It's not just about coming home to be with those you love
Oh, it's not all about the beauty and the snow I'm dreaming of
[Chorus]
The beginning of the story is wonderful and great
But it's the ending that can save you and that's why we celebrate
It's about the cross
It's about my sin
It's about how Jesus came to be born once
So that we could be born again
It's about God's love nailed to a tree
It's about every drop of blood that flowed from Him
When it should've been me
It's about the stone that was rolled away
So that you and I could have real life someday
It's about the cross
**Bolded emphasis mine.
It's not just about the manger where the Baby laid
It's not all about the angels who sang for Him that day
It's not just about the shepherds or the bright and shining star
Oh, it's not all about the wisemen who traveled from afar
[Chorus]
It's about the cross
It's about my sin
It's about how Jesus came to be born once
So that we could be born again
It's about the stone
That was rolled away
So that you and I could have real life someday
It's about the cross
It's not just about the presents underneath the tree
It's not all about the feeling that this season brings to me
It's not just about coming home to be with those you love
Oh, it's not all about the beauty and the snow I'm dreaming of
[Chorus]
The beginning of the story is wonderful and great
But it's the ending that can save you and that's why we celebrate
It's about the cross
It's about my sin
It's about how Jesus came to be born once
So that we could be born again
It's about God's love nailed to a tree
It's about every drop of blood that flowed from Him
When it should've been me
It's about the stone that was rolled away
So that you and I could have real life someday
It's about the cross
**Bolded emphasis mine.
Saturday, December 13, 2008
The Bible Supports Gay Marriage?!?
A few weeks ago some of you may have seen this attention-grabbing headline on the MSN homepage: The Bible Supports Gay Marriage. When I saw the title I was afraid to read on, but had to. Since then I have read on msn that there was a backlash and that the source who originally printed the article (Newsweek) received a fair amount of mail and criticism for printing such a thing. Here's the link to the article, if you haven't already seen it:
Our Mutual Joy - Cover Story: Gay Marriage
Oh there's a lot to say after reading something like that. But I am going to leave the arguements to the experts - there are many people out there much smarter and well-versed in Scripture than I am to be defending our Bible and the sanctity of marriage as the Bible would actually define it.
However, I will say this: This article did stir up a few emotions in me. First, I am angry. This is my Bible, and people are twisting and manipulating it in stark contrast to what Scripture actually indicates. This is an attack on my God and my Bible and I don't like it. My children will have to grow up in a world where this nonsense is taking over, and people are twisting the Bible to say what they want it to say so they can do what they want to do and have a "clear" conscience. And there are "Christians" out there who are going to jump on the bandwagon in the name of tolerance or ease and buy into this. They will read the article (or a million others out there just like it) and think "Yeah, ok. That makes sense. And it's certainly popular. I guess I can see it. I'll go with it." And that same Christian who thinks this will allow these negligent thought processes influence their political stance, their interpretation of the Bible in other realms, and even what is to be tolerated in the churches they attend. We are becoming lazy and complacent in our Christian standards and every time we do it becomes easier to do what feels ok rather than what Christ would desire.
I am also sad. It breaks my heart to see people turning their backs on God in this way. The person who wrote this article knows a fair amount about what is actually written in the Bible. Yet somehow she is seriously missing the point. And she's not alone. And, as I mentioned above, there are many people who call themselves Christians who go along with this twisted thought process and then somehow try to justify it with the Bible. Ouch. It makes me very sad to see how far our society has fallen, and I can't believe how fast it happens. And I am also sad for the many who blindly receive poor counsel, and buy into it, and make grave and sometimes fatal (literal and figurative) mistakes with their lives based on misinformation.
The God I know from reading the pages of the Bible does not like this. He will not approve or bless our society for embracing blasphemy to His name such as is written in the words of this article. Christian, my plea to you is this: Stand up for what you believe. And figure out what you believe from reading God's Word, not Newsweek. And be ready for a fight, because in this day and age, if you do those two things, you will be standing in the company of very few.
Our Mutual Joy - Cover Story: Gay Marriage
Oh there's a lot to say after reading something like that. But I am going to leave the arguements to the experts - there are many people out there much smarter and well-versed in Scripture than I am to be defending our Bible and the sanctity of marriage as the Bible would actually define it.
However, I will say this: This article did stir up a few emotions in me. First, I am angry. This is my Bible, and people are twisting and manipulating it in stark contrast to what Scripture actually indicates. This is an attack on my God and my Bible and I don't like it. My children will have to grow up in a world where this nonsense is taking over, and people are twisting the Bible to say what they want it to say so they can do what they want to do and have a "clear" conscience. And there are "Christians" out there who are going to jump on the bandwagon in the name of tolerance or ease and buy into this. They will read the article (or a million others out there just like it) and think "Yeah, ok. That makes sense. And it's certainly popular. I guess I can see it. I'll go with it." And that same Christian who thinks this will allow these negligent thought processes influence their political stance, their interpretation of the Bible in other realms, and even what is to be tolerated in the churches they attend. We are becoming lazy and complacent in our Christian standards and every time we do it becomes easier to do what feels ok rather than what Christ would desire.
I am also sad. It breaks my heart to see people turning their backs on God in this way. The person who wrote this article knows a fair amount about what is actually written in the Bible. Yet somehow she is seriously missing the point. And she's not alone. And, as I mentioned above, there are many people who call themselves Christians who go along with this twisted thought process and then somehow try to justify it with the Bible. Ouch. It makes me very sad to see how far our society has fallen, and I can't believe how fast it happens. And I am also sad for the many who blindly receive poor counsel, and buy into it, and make grave and sometimes fatal (literal and figurative) mistakes with their lives based on misinformation.
The God I know from reading the pages of the Bible does not like this. He will not approve or bless our society for embracing blasphemy to His name such as is written in the words of this article. Christian, my plea to you is this: Stand up for what you believe. And figure out what you believe from reading God's Word, not Newsweek. And be ready for a fight, because in this day and age, if you do those two things, you will be standing in the company of very few.
Friday, December 5, 2008
27 Things About Me In No Particular Order
Note: This idea was stolen from the blog of a friend. Betsy did this first and I'm copying it now - hope that's ok Betsy! :)
1. I play the trumpet, and I started in the 5th grade.
2. I have been to India 3 times and Mexico once.
3. I love to paint my nails but have never had a professional mani/pedi. And I don't want one - I'd rather do it myself.
4. I cried the day the last original Friends was aired. And I'll probably cry during the last ER.
5. I love my family more than I can articulate, though I don't tell them nearly enough.
6. Though sometimes we want to beat each other over the head, I love my husband more than I ever could have hoped for and I can't imagine navigating life with any other person. I am so blessed to be married to my best friend.
7. I love volleyball. I would play it all the time if I could. But I'm truly not that good at it. I am a better coach than I am a player.
8. I don't pray nearly enough.
9. I would rather have a few close friends than a million blah acquaintances. I am so thankful for the people I can truly call friends (you know who you are).
10. I like to scrapbook but am waaaaay behind.
11. I am a perfectionist - 100%. Sometimes it's annoying.
12. I have a hard time admitting fault, and an even harder time apologizing.
13. I have somewhat of a weakness for designer handbags.
14. I am a Christian. Every thing I learn about Jesus makes me realize how little I actually know.
15. I did not grow up with inside pets, but now have 3 inside doggies, and can't imagine my life without them.
16. I cannot have a baby. I have known this for over 2 years now and sometimes it still devastates me more than I can describe.
17. I love children. No matter to age, gender, personality - every single child is a special little person in their own way. They make me smile.
18. It is my plan to get a Master's in Nouthetic (Christian) Counseling someday. I have only taken one class, but truly feel it's my calling in life.
19. I enjoy formulating intelligent answers and arguments.
20. I like the taste of nearly every food on the planet except sauerkraut. If I don't like a food, it's generally because I don't like its texture. And I might even like sauerkraut - I haven't had it since I was like 6.
21. I like to read just about anything, and I'm a fairly fast reader.
22. I have names for my future children picked out. And I have bought a ton of baby/toddler clothes.
23. I wish I had a clean house. I could organize anything (including a pile of garbage), but if you saw my house, you'd never know it.
24. I like to write. And I like to blog. Maybe I'll write a book someday.
25. I believe God has the adoption of children in our family plan. We hope to adopt a child from an orphanage in India sometime next year.
26. I've always had a tough persona, and I think it surprises people who have known me for a long time to find out how sensitive and spiritual I really am. I could cry at the drop of a hat these days, but still have a hard time letting myself cry in front of others (even my husband).
27. Today is my birthday :)
Note #2: This is my 100th blog post :)
1. I play the trumpet, and I started in the 5th grade.
2. I have been to India 3 times and Mexico once.
3. I love to paint my nails but have never had a professional mani/pedi. And I don't want one - I'd rather do it myself.
4. I cried the day the last original Friends was aired. And I'll probably cry during the last ER.
5. I love my family more than I can articulate, though I don't tell them nearly enough.
6. Though sometimes we want to beat each other over the head, I love my husband more than I ever could have hoped for and I can't imagine navigating life with any other person. I am so blessed to be married to my best friend.
7. I love volleyball. I would play it all the time if I could. But I'm truly not that good at it. I am a better coach than I am a player.
8. I don't pray nearly enough.
9. I would rather have a few close friends than a million blah acquaintances. I am so thankful for the people I can truly call friends (you know who you are).
10. I like to scrapbook but am waaaaay behind.
11. I am a perfectionist - 100%. Sometimes it's annoying.
12. I have a hard time admitting fault, and an even harder time apologizing.
13. I have somewhat of a weakness for designer handbags.
14. I am a Christian. Every thing I learn about Jesus makes me realize how little I actually know.
15. I did not grow up with inside pets, but now have 3 inside doggies, and can't imagine my life without them.
16. I cannot have a baby. I have known this for over 2 years now and sometimes it still devastates me more than I can describe.
17. I love children. No matter to age, gender, personality - every single child is a special little person in their own way. They make me smile.
18. It is my plan to get a Master's in Nouthetic (Christian) Counseling someday. I have only taken one class, but truly feel it's my calling in life.
19. I enjoy formulating intelligent answers and arguments.
20. I like the taste of nearly every food on the planet except sauerkraut. If I don't like a food, it's generally because I don't like its texture. And I might even like sauerkraut - I haven't had it since I was like 6.
21. I like to read just about anything, and I'm a fairly fast reader.
22. I have names for my future children picked out. And I have bought a ton of baby/toddler clothes.
23. I wish I had a clean house. I could organize anything (including a pile of garbage), but if you saw my house, you'd never know it.
24. I like to write. And I like to blog. Maybe I'll write a book someday.
25. I believe God has the adoption of children in our family plan. We hope to adopt a child from an orphanage in India sometime next year.
26. I've always had a tough persona, and I think it surprises people who have known me for a long time to find out how sensitive and spiritual I really am. I could cry at the drop of a hat these days, but still have a hard time letting myself cry in front of others (even my husband).
27. Today is my birthday :)
Note #2: This is my 100th blog post :)
Tuesday, December 2, 2008
I'm Back :)
Hello, nice to talk to you all again :) It's been a while... I'm still here, and still kickin'. We had a fairly busy November, and December doesn't seem to be coming at us any slower (yikes!). But I have had a few things I have been meaning to post about for what seems like FOREVER! So I am going to see if I can make some progress in the next few weeks here.
A bit of an update, for those who are interested, on the last 2 posts I wrote (in November): I posted them on another site as well, and received quite a bit of feedback on that site. Especially on the second one I wrote (posted here on Nov 5). Quite a bit of feedback from people who aren't Christians, and who strongly disagreed with me and were even offended by what I said. So, I took the opportunity to respond to their responses to my original note(s). I wrote a VERY LONG response, addressing a few of them individually. I didn't post that response on here - partially because you who read on here would not be able to read what I was responding to, so it might not make a whole lot of sense. Also, it was very long - very, very long. So - if any of you did not have a chance to read what I wrote, and would like to, let me know. I'd be more than happy to send you my response (or tell you how to access it yourself). I also got quite a bit of feedback on this final response. Some people even deleted what they said - as some of my "commenters" were commenting on what others had commented (sounds confusing doesn't it). Anyways, all this writing any commenting kinda burned me out for a bit - which is why I haven't written in a while.
Also, Narasimha and I went to New Jersey last week, so I will plan to post trip highlights in the next few days.
And, I am excited: There have been a few answers to prayer regarding some friends - see sidebar on right.
A bit of an update, for those who are interested, on the last 2 posts I wrote (in November): I posted them on another site as well, and received quite a bit of feedback on that site. Especially on the second one I wrote (posted here on Nov 5). Quite a bit of feedback from people who aren't Christians, and who strongly disagreed with me and were even offended by what I said. So, I took the opportunity to respond to their responses to my original note(s). I wrote a VERY LONG response, addressing a few of them individually. I didn't post that response on here - partially because you who read on here would not be able to read what I was responding to, so it might not make a whole lot of sense. Also, it was very long - very, very long. So - if any of you did not have a chance to read what I wrote, and would like to, let me know. I'd be more than happy to send you my response (or tell you how to access it yourself). I also got quite a bit of feedback on this final response. Some people even deleted what they said - as some of my "commenters" were commenting on what others had commented (sounds confusing doesn't it). Anyways, all this writing any commenting kinda burned me out for a bit - which is why I haven't written in a while.
Also, Narasimha and I went to New Jersey last week, so I will plan to post trip highlights in the next few days.
And, I am excited: There have been a few answers to prayer regarding some friends - see sidebar on right.
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