The Templar Legacy

I loved this book by Steve Berry. A little slow in the begining, but well written and thought provoking. Truly it makes you wonder what we read is true and what is made up by the church. This section is towards the end, and fascinated me. If you are planning on reading this book, don't read this.
"All doubt left me. Grief vanished. Confusion became clarity. The man Jesus was not dead. He was alive. Resurrected within me was the risen Lord. I feld his presence as clearly as wehn he once stood beside me. I recalled what he said to me many times. "Simon, if you love me you will find my sheep." I finally knew that loving as he loved will allow anyone to know the Lord. Doing as he did will allow us all to know the Lord. Living as he lived is that way to salvation. God has come from heaven to dwell within the man Jesus and through his ees and words that Lord became known. The message was clear. Care for the needy, comfort the distressed, befriend the rejected. Do those things and the Lord will be pleased. God took the man Jesus's life so that we could see. I was merely the first to accept that truth. The task became clear. The message must live through me and others who lifewise believe."

good stuff...

beer! and funny road signs

So my mom and I are on our adventure in Utah and Colorado. We drove all the way from Orem, Utah to Estes Park, Colorado today. We left Orem at about 6:30 am and arrived in Estes Park around 4:30. It was a long drive...but a beautiful drive. We started out on 6 in Utah, beautiful. Then on to I-70, which was absolutely stunning. We drove past Vail and Breckenridge and Copper Mt. We ranged in temperature from 24 to 75. We saw people skiing and at the bottom of the same mountain saw a golf course and people playing tennis. It was a good day. Of course, we noticed some interesting road signs. My favorite from today were:

( I didn't take this pic, just found it, but we actually saw this sign today!)







and

In case of Flood
climb higher.

Similar to this sign, but without the instructive drawing.













And of course, the one from salt lake city on Wednesday:

Tornadoes
2 for
$159.


but I still love "avoid broken windshields" from Wyoming 2 summers ago.

And, I tried a new beer tonight that I think I might actually like better than Fat Tire (gasp!). It is called Avalanche, brewed by the Breckenridge Brewing Co. And it appears you can buy it in MN! Fat Tire will always hold a special place in my heart, mainly because of Patrick's. I always love to try the local brew though...I might have to try something else tomorrow night at the game. I'm pumped to go to a Rockies game...I love outdoor baseball!

Anyway, the trip has been great so far and very productive. I feel like I am getting lots of work done for the summer trip. I'll put pictures up when I get home on Sunday, I totally forgot to bring my charger/cable with me for the camera.

Miss you Mike!

cookies - Yum-O!

I got a cookie bouquet from one of the kids last night. It is too cute! And yummy, I must admit I had a cookie at lunch today and it was way better than I expected!

AIM, Finally!

I was commissioned last night as an Associate In Ministry, I was also installed at church. It was a pretty amazing night for me. So cool to have family, friends, coworkers, kids, all together for a night. Thanks to all that were there!

















I am somewhere in the middle of all that! Even Taylor was touching me, it was very cool.

I miss Saturdays

I have to work. again. on a saturday. I miss having weekends, like actually two whole days off in a row. Although, I never really worked a job where I didn't have to work nights and weekends. But, man would it be nice to have a weekend!
Don't get me wrong, I love my job. I love that I was able to be outside most of the day yesterday, meet with lots of youth, and visit caribou twice in one day. But I have a lot to do today (and before I leave for Utah). So i'm going to be at the post office when it opens at 9, then run to target, then at the library when it opens at 10, then at work by 10:15.
So I should probably get ready now.
I hope that you enjoy your saturdays off!

Not so bright construction dude!

Afternoon rush hour commuters should avoid eastbound Interstate-494 in Bloomington. MnDOT says a piece of heavy equipment, an excavator, got stuck underneath the bridge at 494 and Xerxes Avenue around 1 p.m. The surface of the overpass was clearly damaged, and the bridge was closed to traffic and could remain so for some time. Eastbound 494 was reduced to one lane for much of the afternoon as crews worked to remove the stuck excavator and then evaluate the damage. By 3:30, the excavator was moved to the shoulder, just past the bridge and by 4:15 a large truck was able to haul the equipment off the freeway. Westbound traffic is also snarled as drivers slowed down to look at the incident.

Beautiful Weather!

Today was the most perfect day outside. 70 plus degrees out, light wind, and sunny. I wish that I could have spent the whole day outside. I went for an early (for me) morning walk and it was warm out! Then off to work for the whole day, except for a 30 minute break at home on the deck. But tonight, oh tonight was beautiful. We had a bonfire outside. Some played ultimate, some played volleyball, some hung out and chatted, some roasted marshmellows. It was perfect.
I think one of the reasons I love Minnesota so much is because the seasons change. Could you really appreciate the perfect spring day if you hadn't been through the snow and the cold? Could you really appreciate that first super hot day of summer if spring hadn't prepared you for it? Ditto for fall and winter. I love the variety, I love the reawakening of the sense that it brings. I guess I am a Minnesota girl forever.

I have this insanely busy lfe until May 11. I am thinking about taking some time off then, maybe traveling a little. I would love to go somewhere fun, but really would prefer to travel with my hubby and not sure he can take the time off. I don't mind traveling alone, but I hate to spend the money on it. Something to start thinking about I guess!

girls night

Tonight I am hosting a girls night for the senior high girls that I work with. I'm excited, yet apprehensive. Last year's night was a fun time for all, but this year I think there will be more girls. Will it still go well or will that cattiness that comes from having 10 or more girls together be out in full force? I sure hope not! I guess I am just not that much of a girly girl. Oh, don't get me wrong, I love dressing up, I love buying new shoes, I love being a woman and all that comes with it. But I am not that into drama, or makeup, or being super pretty to impress someone. I would rather be a strong, healthy, and happy young woman.
I just finished reading a great book about inner beauty and strength. The book is The Goddesses of Kitchen Avenue, by Barbara Samuel (recommend by Brooke in her blog Odious Women). I am very blessed that I have never had a rough life or a major trauma, but I would like to think that I am still a strong individual. I guess I just hope that I never have to find out!
Have a lovely weekend...get out there and enjoy the sunshine!

Religion

From The Last Templar by Raymond Khoury:
"Polls consistently confirm that most Christians, Jews, and Muslims today are unaware of their religions' shared roots in Abraham, the patriarch of all three religions and the founder of monotheism," Vance explained. "Ironically, according to the book of Genesis, God had sent Abraham on a mission to heal the divisions between men. His messager was that regardless of different languages or cultures, all of mankind was to be part of one human family, before one God who sustains the whole creation. Somehow, this lofty message got perverted," Vance said mockingly, "like something out of a bad episode of Dallas. Abraham's wife, Sarah, couldn't have children, so he took on a second wife, his Arab maidservant Hagar, who gave him a son they called Ishmael. Thirteen years later, Sarah manages to have a son, Isaac. Abraham dies, sarah banished Hagar and Ishmael, and the Semitic race is split between Arab and Jew."
Vance shook his head, laughing to himself. "The galling thin is that all three religions claim to believe in the same God, the God of Abraham. Things only got screwed up once people started squabbling over whose words were the truest representation of God's tradition...(p 295).

Never quite thought about it that way. I definetely do not believe the story of the book, but he brings up some good nuggets to think about. The writing style was okay, but these books are getting to be a little too predictable. Of course, I love a good romance, so it was nice to see some of that in the book as well.

Went for a nice walk today. I am sooo out of shape! Glad that the snow is finally gone and I can start walking again on a regular basis. Of course, it is supposed to rain tomorrow, but oh well!

a few random thoughts...

1. West Wing was phenomenal last night. I don't want it to end! I'm sure that I will cry next week when Leo dies, but I am so glad that they are doing it tastefully. What a hard thing to go through. And I'm pumped that Donna and Josh finally hooked up...way too long in coming if you ask me. Sad but true that I think of them as real people...I want to name our dog toby ziegler.
2. I'm about to start reading The Last Templar by Raymound Khoury. It got great reviews and I really like that kind of book (i've been reading too much chick lit lately, need a change) but I'm worried I wont' like it. I'm pretty loyal to Steve Berry and I know he has a similar book out, so I'm torn. I'll try and get through it by the end of the week and let you know what I think. I'm always looking for good book recommendations, so let me know if you read a good one!
3. Work was fun tonight. I work with such great kids. I just wish one night they could all be there at the same time. It would be awesome so see 80-100 all at the same time. maybe for my commissioning?? I only hope that it goes smoothly and that people show up!
4. I think my new favorite game might just be Apples to Apples. Fun to play with a variety of ages...it is interesting to see what people know and what they don't know. Could be very education I would think.
5. In the fight of Starbucks vs Caribou...although I do not drink coffee, Caribou wins hands down. That is the final answer!

Have a great night...I'm off to climb into bed and read!

interesting thoughts...

I just read John C. Mawell's Ethics 101. Here is the one main quote that stuck with m:

"Wrong Decisions Leave Scars: every time people make wrong decisions, there is an impact, even if they don't immediately notice it. My wife, Margaret, says that her grandmother used to tell her about a father who was trying to teach his son the consequences of bad decisions. Each time the boy made a poor decicion, his father asked him to hammer a nail in a post. Each day he made good choices, he was asked to remove a nail. In time, after much hammering and much pulling of nails, there came a day when the wood was nail-free. That's when the boy noticed the post was covered with holes. (p47)"

Interesting, huh?