Here is the picture that characterizes my youthful years:

Melissa up front and center, me in the background, but Natalie popping in and making faces and being a goofball.

Christmas Day 2000

We bought a camera for our computer about 10ish years ago and thought it was the coolest thing ever. This was before the rise of digital cameras. Here we are gathered around the computer for a family picture, before we were complete at 7 people. Thats how we roll.

Well, I was originally going to post old and new pics, but couldn't find many old pics. This is me and Sarah in high school trying to be cute with our winter caps! We were nerds then, I think we are growing out of that, at least Sarah is! Hurrah for old friends!

Kristi the Magnanimous

This is Kristi:

She is one of my bestest friends. She is a former roommate and maybe soon to be roommate again! I love this girl! Here is why:

She is gorgeous!

She doesn't mind when I'm a silly goofball and laughs at me as if I am entertaining when in fact more often I am not.

She makes a pretty cool looking hologram.

She watches the Olympics with me, even cross country skiing and biathalon. If you can watch those with me, you are golden.

Kristi loves Jesus and has helped me to see His work in different areas of life. She is an encouragement to me in the daily struggles. When we met almost 4 years ago, I didn't think we clicked at all. Circumstances put us together as roommates for one year and I am so thankful for that! She is a beautiful person inside and out. Love you, friend! Thanks for being there and not leaving me yet!

Happy Valentine's Day! The day of love... Today I will be doing what I love: watching the Olympics and reading. I love it! So excited for the Olympics, I will be glued to the tv.

As a child I had an abnormal obsession with the Olympics, which still lives on today in my "grownup" self.

Today at church, I opened my Bible right up to the very exact passage of Scripture for the sermon. And I had no one around me to show it to, sad. It doesn't happen very much, people! One other time for me. I think I reached a new level of Christianity today.

In 2 weeks I will get to experience a whole new mode of nursing. I am going to be the "camp nurse" for a middle school midwinter retreat. Its only 2 days (whew), but it should be fun! I am praying for no more than splinters, bruises, scrapes, and a bloody nose or two. No broken fingers, concussions, ect. So please pray for that weekend as I will be the person to decide what to do in all those situations. Yikes! But it will be fun. This is the same midwinter my church used to go to, I believe. I never went as a child, but now am going as an adult and as the camp nurse. How funny. Its so much better going as staff to a camp, much more fun! You can do whatever you want, well almost anything.

Musical Confessions

Recently I have been drawn to the music of my childhood.

Michael Card: The moment I hear his voice I feel like I'm a little 6 year old girl dancing around the kitchen with my Dad. His music is the soundtrack of my early years. My Dad was a Michael Card fan and I can remember from my earliest years his music playing at our house. I love his original songs and hymns he sings. The orchestral music with the Irish mixed in is very comforting to me and brings back many memories.

Promise Keepers: Again, musical choice of my Dad. I remember my Dad coming home from his first Promise Keepers conference in Washington D.C. He bought a CD, one of the first CD's in our house. I remember listening to it on our computer when I would play Chip's Challenge or Keene 4. And tidbit here: my first CD all my own was Amy Grant Home For Christmas. That CD takes me back to 1996 and cherished memories of old Christmases at my grandparents.

Maranatha Singers: I love Maranatha!! Again, listened to them as a child. Remember my parents singing their music throughout the day or putting it on at night when we would do dishes and clean up after dinner.

Michael W. Smith: Oh man…I remember the time when his music was too "pop" sounding for my mom. She didn't allow us to listen to him a whole year after someone gave my sister his tape for her birthday. Now we have MWS albums coming out the whazoo.

Steven Curtis Chapman: Remember the mullet CD, For the Sake of the Call?? We have it, it is awesome. Heaven in the Real World? Signs of Life? All remind me of good old days I spent as a jr. high student at Camp Kulaqua.

Ah, walk down memory lane. I downloaded Promise Keepers and Michael Card yesterday. And I have old MSW and Steven Curtis Chapman on my iTunes that I pull out. All bring back good memories of my childhood. I don't have children, but I hope when I do they will have great memories of their childhood soundtracks. And I hope it will be the kind of music I remember, ok well not exactly but sort of. More along the lines of Andrew Peterson perhaps.

I am back to work!! Hurrah! I have had 2 days on the floor and haven't had an entire load of patient yet. So, we shall see how much I like it when I have a full load. But thus far, I am happy to say I understand more what is going on and how to do things. My confidence is coming back.

I just made some great purchases today!!! 3 David McCullough books! I am getting back into reading, the long forgotten past time of my childhood. John Adams, 1796, and Mornings on Horseback. I'll let you know how it goes. Thats what is on tap for this afternoon: reading!!

Want a laugh? Go watch this: Snowpocalypse. I did some research and this is his normal type broadcast. But nonetheless, this video is pretty funny. I laugh out loud every time.

It is 2:45AM, all reasonable people are sleeping. I can't sleep. Probably doesn't help that I had no coffee today and slept some of the late afternoon and evening.

Tonight I watched a documentary called "America the Beautiful". I recommend it! It followed one main story, but brought in different elements of beauty. The striking thing from that movie to me were the little girls that were interviewed who already thought they were ugly. No one had told them that, they weren't even sure why they thought they were ugly. But it was set, they were ugly, when in fact they were beautiful young girls! It is amazing the standard of beautiful that we put ourselves up to, to which we compare ourselves. And then the extremes women go to become beautiful. I am guilty on so many levels of this, striving to look better according to the standards of the world/Hollywood.

In a sense it also made me feel kind of superfluous. Where does seeking beauty on the outside get me? Obviously, I strive for beauty to make myself feel whole, worthy, and accepted, to name a few. In reality it leaves me very empty, depressed, and striving for more. Why do I think my worth is so fixed on how I look and how I am accepted. Its true, thats what I believe.

Well, I started this last night when I couldn't fall asleep. Ended up listening to a podcasts from RUF at UCF. Been struggling a lot with believing in Jesus and that I can trust him. Jesus owns the storms, He owns my failures, my successes. Thank goodness my faith is not my hope, because this girl's faith is so weak. I run to so many things, not finding rest in any of them, in fact finding discontent and loneliness.

On a lighter note, the other night I was having some fun on my computer with two of my favorite peeps:

Talking about parks with Scout. Seriously, I want this dog. At least one of his offspring, so please go get a lady friend, Scout!!

Owen and I took some pics and made some videos for some friends. He was so enthralled with just looking at himself. Seriously, can you find a cuter little guy? Hope my little kiddos are as cute as that! Love going to play with him. We fly around his backyard playing airplane, drop rocks on the ground (because we don't throw them), read books, build crazy tall towers made of blocks, play in his tunnel which makes one claustrophobic. I love kids. I want to be one when I grow up.

Have you ever had a more boring day than I had today?

8:15: Wake up and go to the couch and turn on Fox & Friends, make coffee

8:20: Fall asleep on couch

10:30: Wake up, reheat coffee

11:00: Call and email work trying to figure out schedules

12:30: Complete online course for license renewal

12:45: Still on the couch this whole entire time with Fox News on

1:00: Lunch, Rush Limbaugh on, and yes, Fox News is still on. All the while still on the couch

2:00: Nap time on the couch with all of the above on.

2:30: Talk with sis, no change in listening or viewing preferences or place

3:00: Finally get my butt off the couch and go to the gym and run 3 miles, walk 2.

I used to dream of such days!! When I could just sit and not study, not read, not do anything!! Oh my gosh, it is so boring and so dull to do that. I was motivated when my roommate got home, because she had been teaching all day and I had sat in my pj's all day. But then, as my sis told me, I have paid my dues.

I figured I have 25 total soundtracks on iTunes. 25, people, 25. And it will keep growing. I love soundtracks, I am such a soundtrack geek!!! Even all instrumental ones. They are a personal favorite of mine.

What a very unproductive day, outside of getting my credit hours finished for my license.