Saturday, September 16, 2006

Taylor Sept 15




yup, she's officially a cutie!

Wednesday, September 13, 2006

Velvet Elvis Quote

“Suffering is a place where clichés don’t work and words often fail. I was at lunch last week with a friend who is in the middle of some difficult days, and I don’t have any answers. I just don’t. I can’t fix it for him. I’ve tried. And we sat there and talked and ate, and I let him know that I’m in it with him. It isn’t very pretty and it isn’t very fun, but when we join each other in the pain and confusion, God is there. Sometimes it means we sit in silence for awhile, not knowing what to say. And it is in our suffering together that we find out we are not alone. We find out who really loves us. We find out that with these people around us, we can make it through anything. And that gives us something to celebrate.”

From Velvet Elvis by Rob Bell

Tuesday, September 12, 2006

my birthday!



yup, I'm 27 today!

Thursday, September 07, 2006

Taylor Sept 7



Taylor Day 1

today is the first day that I am caring for my niece Taylor. I'm really looking forward to it. I'm not too worried...she is such a good little baby. I'll probably be exhausted by the end of the day, but oh well, it is worth it to spend time with her!
wish me luck!

Monday, September 04, 2006

Ok GO!

These guys are hysterical - I love this video! We saw them on the VMAs and they were definitely the highlight of the show. Mike and I were cracking up. Check out their video at youtube here.

Linde Road Trip Play List

just to give you an idea of how totally random my taste in music is. I made a playlist for some friends who are dropping their daughter off at school on the west coast this past weekend. They drove out and back so I thought a nice little mix would be a treat. He is a pretty serious musician, so I tried to come up with some good stuff. So here it is:

Bring Em Out Hawk Nelson
Across the Great Divide Semisonic
The Good Life Weezer
Somethings Gotta Give LeeAnn Rimes
Whose Chariot? OAR
At the Stars covered by Howie Day
Addicted Kelly Clarkson
Baby's Got Sauce G Love and Special Sauce
Breathe (2 am) Anna Nalick
India.Arie India.Arie
Lady is a Tramp Ella Fitzgerald
Delicious Semisonic
About Mr Brown OAR

yup, pretty random. but all good tunes.

Saturday, September 02, 2006

State Fair 2006!




Yup, we love the state fair. One more year of work at the Gustavus booth and enjoying the timber sports show. Fun times.

Friday, September 01, 2006

two more pics

Mike's Birthday

Chilling in San Antonio

Burnsy and Brian's Wedding Pics....

This is from the rehearsal dinner....



I love this hairdo...I'm wondering about it for Lauren's wedding.

September 1

Today is the first day of September. This summer simply flew by. It was a good summer though, busy and fun and kinda random. I hope that the fall will be fun as well, I know that it will be busy!

Today is my last official day off before I start taking care of Taylor. I haven't really done much. Slept till 9, had a massage (my back hurts like heck, I messed it up pretty bad somehow), went to Target, and came home. Now I'm just chilling, attempting to make a DVD for Luke, our friends kid who is going on a plane ride and has a super short attention span. So lots of pictures of baby animals.

I'll try and catch up on posting pics today as well. I realized I don't have any from Burnsy and Brian's wedding up yet. The best were the black and whites that I took, but those aren't digital! I'm trying to think of what else I missed....

Monday, August 28, 2006

old friends...

what is it about googling old friends that is sooo fun?

but how to begin that email is always difficult.

Monday, August 21, 2006

Dagget Lake

We spent the weekend with Mike's aunt and uncle, mom and dad, and sis and fiance. Fun in the sun...lots of boating and hanging out. Glad to be home though.




Wednesday, August 16, 2006

Leadership Conference...

I recently attended the Willow Creek Summit Leadership Conference at Eagle Brook Church in Lino Lakes. I was only able to attend Thursday all day and Friday morning, due to Burnsy's wedding. It was interesting and challenging, and really got me thinking about a lot of stuff.

Where am I in the lifecycle of a leader? I'd like to think that I am more than just passion. Am I? Do I have truly have the skills to do what I think I am doing? I hope so! I would like to think that I have the skills and the passion, and that I am training up other leaders. It was hard to hear Bill Hybels say that people in their 20s only have the passion. Why am I so defensive that I have more? Is it because I worked hard for my education and to be commissioned?

Do I cheat the church or do I cheat my family? I think I am pretty good about being responsible with my time. I work a lot, yes, but I am home alot as well. And Mike is sooo busy that we don't have a ton of time together so I think we value it even more when we are together. I also love my job, which makes it easier to work a lot. Why don't people think that life can be balanced? I know it won't be balanced all of the time, but sometimes it does feel right.

What is the deal with people still thinking men are more important than women. One of the speakers I really enjoyed, but the think that I will most remember is that he said husbands love your wives and wives submit to your husbands. What is that all about? I'm not fine with other faiths thinking that nor am I fine with hearing that. I am a strong, independent young woman who has learned to stand up for herself. Being repeatedly told that I am "just" a women or that I should submit to my husband (hopefully) won't affect me. But maybe it will. Psychology states that if you hear something over and over and over again you may come to believe it. I do not want to. I want to be a positive female role model for young women and men. But I do believe that we need more female role models in powerful roles at the church. And as speakers. I need to get over this fear of speaking and develop a presentation that is strong, effective, and motiviating to others in youth ministry.

and now, i'm going to go zone out in front of the tv, eat some rice, and wait for laguna beach to premiere. the producers was a horrible movie, don't waste your time with it.

Friday, August 04, 2006

i am simply appalled by this story.

here it is...it is by Bob Von Sternberg and Chao Xoing, Star Tribune

A family of five Minnesota Zoo meerkats destroyed after a girl was bitten did not have rabies after all, a zoo official said today.
The 9-year-old girl, who has not been identified, was bitten Wednesday when she reached her hand into the animals' exhibit.
The meerkats -- two mates and their three offspring born this spring -- had been vaccinated for rabies but were killed because the girl's parents didn't want her to have to undergo a series of rabies shots, said zoo collections manager Tony Fisher.
State health department rules mandate that exotic animals must be tested for rabies if a bite victim is not treated, said department spokesman Doug Schultz. "And the only way to test the animal is to put it down," he said.
Zoo spokeswoman Kelly Lessard said the animals' destruction was necessary "even though we were 99 percent sure they didn't have rabies. We had to protect the child."
Meerkats are a highly social relative of the mongoose and are native to the African desert. They were popularized in the Disney animated movie "The Lion King" and have been on display at the zoo for about four years.
Pam Bennett-Wallberg, who runs what she calls "a retirement home" for meerkats in the California desert, said the animals "are not at all aggressive. People go into our enclosure all the time, and never in 20 years has anyone been bitten."
Although meerkats are known to carry rabies in the wild, they are routinely vaccinated against the disease when placed in captivity, she said.
"This is a tragedy, one of the saddest things I've heard of in a long time," said Bennett-Wallberg, who attended the grand opening of the Minnesota Zoo meerkat exhibit in 2001.
A 1994 study of meerkats found that only 10 documented cases of rabies-infected meerkats attacking humans or domestic animals in the previous decade.
The girl had climbed atop 3 feet of rock work and reached over a 4-foot glass barrier Wednesday afternoon when she was bitten, said zoo collections manager Tony Fisher said. The rock work is designed to allow kids to climb up for a better view, he said.
Zoo staff members were notified soon after the incident. The exhibit was closed until crews can lower the rock work to prevent anyone else from reaching over the glass, Fisher said.
A second group of meerkats will be moved from an indoor exhibit to the outdoor one when the modifications are complete, a process that should takje a week or two, Lessard said.
The entire family of meerkats was destroyed because it is unknown which one bit the girl, Fisher said, adding there is little to no chance that the animals carried the disease.
Meerkats are curious, bold animals, traits that make them highly popular at zoos, Fisher said, but they are still wild. "We handle them with thick leather gloves," he said. "They're not pets."
Incidents of visitors trying to pet animals or even scaling barriers for a closer view are not uncommon, he said.

end of the story, my opinion follows:

okay, i'm sorry, but sometime you do need to simply blame the parents. come on folks, this is pretty ridiculous. to kill 5 innocent animals that thousands of people were enjoying because your daughter did something stupid seems pretty selfish to me. what kind of lesson did she learn from this? i hope the parents learned something.
I was able to see the meerkats last week when I was at the zoo...but I feel for everyone that didn't get to see them because of this family.
what happened to thinking about your actions and the affects your actions have on others?

Tuesday, August 01, 2006

from movie time to no time

so it has been a busy week and it is only tuesday. wow. i'm tired already and the week continues to be busy! yesterday was crazy at work...i just wanted to get the slideshow done and it refused to burn. it would get to 79% complete and then quit. So finally this morning Todd offered me his computer...which meant I had to start over, again, and that I had basically wasted the past two weeks of my life. But, on the positive side, I was done and it was burned in about 2 hours. So I am using his computer Sunday morning to finish the other slideshow as well. I'm not even going to really think about it till then.
I was at work by 8 am this morning, then home at 1 for a meeting and to be here for the arrival of our stuff for national night out. We had a nice party...about 70 people from our neighborhood. It absolutely poured, which was a bummer. But, it was fun and we have a ton of food left over.
Tomorrow I am bringing lunch to Mike and coworkers. Then off to St Peter to say hello, than to Mankato to get the girls. We are staying here tomorrow night because Mike leaves super early Thursday for detroit. We are going to swim at his folks house Thursday morning, then i have to bring the girls back and go to one of Lauren's wedding showers.

Busy busy busy.

it finally cooled down, which is nice.

Thursday, July 27, 2006

movies!

So apparently I am on a bit of a movie kick. I guess it is because I am attempting to complete two slideshows using the slowest computers and slowest program ever. So right now I am watching Jewel of Nile. This was a movie we watched all the time growing up and I love it. Mike does not like it, so I get to watch it cause he is gone! I also watched A Cinderella Story this afternoon. Not as good as Ever After. Tonight I'm watching In Her Shoes with Holly. I read the book and liked it, so we will see how the movie is.

I watched Finding Neverland yesterday and loved it. It was sooo sad though! I do like Johnny Depp though. And I love romantic movies. I also watched Good Night, and Good Luck and The New World. New World was kinda boring...stunningly beautfiul, but kinda boring. Good Night was just okay. I love to watch movies, so it was a nice way to spend an evening.

Okay, back at the slideshows. Then tomorrow, off to the lake with Mike, Megan, Steve, and Taylor. So I'll have more baby pictures later!

Does anyone know of a really good program for making slideshows that run about 25 minutes long? I'm using ProShowGold now and I like it, but it is sooooooooooooo slow. Thanks!

Monday, July 24, 2006

Saturday, July 22, 2006

another AWOL pic


another pic of me from AWOL...with my insanely long hair!

Wednesday, July 19, 2006

what is the next challenge?

So I know that life is insanely busy and crazy. But somehow recently I have begun to wonder what the next challenge is. I miss being challenged intellectually, I miss having to read and really think things through. I miss having to argue for what I believe. I think I am getting out of practice of being a learner, and that makes me nervous.

So what is the next challenge for me? My job keeps me busy enough, and it would be great to have a social life. Do we have time for me to go back to school? Do we have the energy for me to go back? Or is it Mike's turn? If I learn how to do the lifetimes then would he have time to go back?

Some stuff to start thinking about. I missed the deadline for applying anyway, it is in January.

Wednesday, July 12, 2006

San Antonio




Pictures of me in San Antonio for you Mom!

Thursday, July 06, 2006

burdens...

Is it sad that I am trying to lose weight and yet here I sit, eating coco krispies? I guess i'm not very dedicated!

Anyway, I liked this forward I got a lot...and it just happened to come on a day when I was highly stressed.

A lecturer, when explaining stress management to an audience, raised a glass of water and asked,
"How heavy is this glass of water? "
Answers called out ranged from 8 oz. to 20 oz.
The lecturer replied,
"The absolute weight doesn't matter.
It depends on how long you try to hold it.
If I hold it for a minute, that's not a problem.
If I hold it for an hour, I'll have an ache in my right arm.
If I hold it for a day, you'll have to call an ambulance.
In each case, it's the same weight, but the longer I hold it, the heavier it becomes."
He continued,
"And that's the way it is with stress management.
If we carry our burdens all the time, sooner or later, as the burden becomes increasingly heavy, we won't be able to carry on.

As with the glass of water, you have to put it down for a while and rest before holding it again.
When we're refreshed, we can carry on with that burden.
So, before you return home tonight, put the burden of work down.
Don't carry it home. You can pick it up tomorrow.
Whatever burdens you're carrying now, put them down for a moment if you can.
Relax, then pick them up after you've rested.
Life is short.
Enjoy it!

Monday, July 03, 2006

Baby got Book

Okay, this is a pretty funny video. It is about 5 minutes long though, so make sure you have some time!

tracy's wedding

I can't believe that Tracy is married! it was a fun wedding...great to catch up with old friends. Here are some photos from the night...I like that dress alot but i'm not too sure how it looks in pictures!







Friday, June 30, 2006

There are pictures of me from AWOL...


just not very many. I'll try to post them here for you Mom!

More Taylor Pics!




yup, that's my niece!

Charlie...


My swimming buddy for today!

home again!

I just got back from an amazing 12 days in Utah. We had great kids on the trip and vitrually no problems whatsoever. I'm glad to be home, but it is always hard to end a trip. To go from being surrounded by 38 people who deeply care about you to being home alone most of the day is a hard transition. Luckily, Mike gets it, so he is really good when I come home from these trips.

And, we leave today for his grandparent's cabin and a wedding in Pelican Rapids. Then I leave again next Saturday for 10 days in San Antonio with 42 youths.

I love summer!

Thursday, June 15, 2006

Leavin...

So this was a crazy week. I'm so glad that I got to see Taylor before I leave tomorrow morning. It was nice of her to come a little early!
I had dinner last night with an old friend who I had not seen in 5 years...how crazy is that??
Tomorrow morning at 5:30 am we leave for Utah for 12 days. I'm responsible for 38 other people for 12 whole days. That intimidates me just a little bit. I guess that is why I never sleep the night before!
Pray for us please.

Sunday, June 11, 2006

Taylor pics!

Here's my niece! She is now 1 day old. And I think she is just perfect.

Saturday, June 10, 2006

baby!

My niece was born today! Taylor Josephine was born at 8:37 pm tonight! She was 6 pounds 2 ounces and 19 inches long. I got to hold her about 30 minutes after she was born! I'm sure I'll be posting lots and lots of pictures soon.

Friday, June 09, 2006

Lauren's b-day

Pics from Lauren's birthday party last Wednesday. I know, I'm slow.

Anna Nalick

So I really like the song "Breathe (2am)." I had heard it on the radio a couple of times and just liked the melody and the words. I kept hearing it and thinking I should put the lyrics on here. I even tried once and got rejected (my computer is occasionaly stupid). I actually thought about buying the CD when I buy the new Dixie Chicks. But then today, I was cleaning, and I found that we own the CD! How totally random is that? We won it in a raffle at Isaac's rugby thing. So I'm listening to the CD and I'm really like it. Anyway, check out her website. I'm sure she'll have the lyrics there!

Monday, June 05, 2006

100,000 miles

We hit 100,000 miles on the Rodeo tonight. We drove around for abou 45 minutes after a picnic so we could hit it together. It was actually kinda fun, we even got caught in traffic at 9:45 pm on 94 southbound. go figure.

Friday, June 02, 2006

it simply cannot be June

How is it possible that it is June 2 already? What happened to May? I love the change in seasons, I love the heat that has come to Minnesota. I don't love running the AC all the time, but hey, that's okay. We don't have shades yet, so it is not easy to regulate the temp in our house. One of Mike's many projects for when I am gone this summer.

Today marks the beginning of open house season. One tonight and two tomorrow, then free till next weekend. I love going to open houses because I have no idea where most of the kids live, so it is fun to see their homes, as well as the picture boards of their life. I'm especially excited when they have pictures up from AWOL and other church stuff. I need to start wrapping gifts and writing cards...I'll have to do that this afternoon. We also have a picnic tonight, a combo of the youth and children's staff. I'm looking forward to it, I really enjoy all the people that I work with.

Okay, yoga did not go well this morning, it hurt my knees to much. So I'm slightly ahead of schedule cause I had to cut it short. Of course, now that I am on the internet I'll be way behind, so I should be off to shower and look pretty. Have a wonderful day!

Wednesday, May 31, 2006

patiently waiting...

so now i'm waiting for mike to pick me up. I'm clean and dressed up a little, and just realized that it is raining outside. So good thing I just washed and dried my hair. Having long hair is not as fun as I thought it would be, actually it drives me rather insane. I can't believe that I will not cut it till November. That will be a fun before and after picture though!
Speaking of before and after, pretty sure my soon to be niece Taylor will be on here a lot, so here is a pic of my cute pregnant sis and her hubby.